The Chaotic Touch of Harmony 2: Bonded by Fire

by law abiding pony

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Sex, Adventure, Discord, Human, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 168222

Ponies are starting to take root in human society, bent on proving their worth to humanity. But will that secure their future as the Mion threat grows worse every day?

It has been nearly a year since ponies and Mions appeared on Earth with humanity being divided in how to deal with both. While the ponies in the newly formed town of Trinity work to establish themselves, the rest are scattered throughout the planet while trying to find their place in the world and the Cult of the Koridost is quietly ramping up their genocidal campaign against humanity.

Will Discord’s vision of humanity’s ruin come to pass? Or will his less than direct intervention allow the planet to see a brighter tomorrow?

It is highly recommended to read the first arc because this is a direct sequel and many plot elements may be confusing without previously established context.

Again, thanks go out to Quite Quiet for his editing work.

Excellent cover art by Tulip

Published 2013-07-20 09:20:03 UTC
Last updated 2015-03-06 18:08:15 UTC

5: CVN 77

Alexia and the others eyed the Mion lying on his back with careful suspicion. Most of the ponies’ breathing was starting to level out from the exertion of their flight from the fire hornets, but this was mostly artificial so they did not show their captive any sign of weakness.

The red skinned humanoid stared at them with neither malice nor joy. Instead he only displayed an intense interest, focusing mostly on what he saw to be a mustard yellow unicorn stallion as he assumed him to be the group’s leader. The Herald had taken the pause in conversation to access the puppet’s recent memories. The recollection of Alexia’s actions only fueled his interest to the point where he broke the unease silence.

Teleportation? Such an extremely rare ability. I remember hearing of its use only once before. In the America west coast if I’m not mistaken. “Tell me your name, for I do not wish to know you by just your color and species.”

Tune wasn’t sure what her appearance was so she danced around the subject. “My color and tribe are all you will get out of me as far as my identity is concerned. But I’ve heard of you.” She said with curiosity of her own. “A so called holy apparition that blesses those by mere speaking with them. The mouthpiece of the gods and the glue that holds the Mions of Earth together. So…” she added with intrigued mirth. “You’re the cause of Earth’s troubles. Yes?”

He regarded her with a twinge of disappointment. “I see my ministers have failed to correctly inform you of our purpose. You will have to forgive their fanaticism, I know it can be grating to some. Nevertheless if you have any love for your homeworld, you would be wise to aid my flock in their efforts to enlighten mankind.”

Crimson stood by her alpha and waved an enraged hoof in the air. “We’ve seen your so called ‘enlightenment’. Washington was in chaos for months, Madrid burned almost down to its foundations. I’ve seen pictures of London that I would have mistaken for World War Two photos were it not for the modern landmarks. You want nothing more than to see the world burn.”

Conrad moved to Alexia’s other side. “Anything this guy says will be lies or half-truths, let’s slit his throat and be done with it.”

The herald was no stranger to fighting uphill battles. “You see our methods, but not the reason behind them. Surely you already know, if my assumption of you being intelligence operatives is correct, that my flock has raided several of the lesser nations’ nuclear stockpiles. If the world’s destruction our aim, I assure you the Earth would have been a radioactive rock by now. Such as it is, I’ve had my children dismantle every nuclear weapon they can get our hands on. I want this world to remain both intact and its biosphere healthy.”

Loki was the one to begrudgingly confirm his claim. She dug a hoof into the sand at the bitter taste of having to confirm part of the Herald’s truth. “Don’t ask how I got it, but I found intel on several stockpiles being raided a few months back. However I’ve got no word on what was done with the nuclear material afterwards.”

The puppet met Tune’s eyes with a challenge. He suspected he would be more successful in weakening her loyalties to humanity if he appealed to her equinity. “You have spent these past years and your previous bipedal lives listening to the flawed ideals humanity triumphs. I can’t blame you really, while this—ponification I believe you call it, has granted you immense purity of form and natural magic at the paltry cost of a couple of thumbs. Now that you have been released from your old species’ defects, you can forge a civilization in your new and better image. Not one steeped in corruption and political backstabbing, but of trust, honor,--and mutual friendship. Surely you cannot be so deluded as to wish to remain shackled by your human masters and defective morality?”

“You have the audacity to try and recruit us?” Conrad was more stunned than angry.

Crimson scoffed at his arguments. “You speak of defects and flaws when all I see are a bunch of red skinned louts that are hell-bent on ravaging human society for the simple crime of existing. Nobody, species or otherwise, is free of faults. And I prefer human and pony faults over the Mions any day of the week. Besides, I would never ask my human family to submit to your enlightenment.”

The herald expected her venom. He had no delusions of being able to turn them on the spot, but to plant ideas in their heads. “They need not join my flock,” he directed his statement to Crimson. “Random humans are turning into ponies yes? If you could direct these changes and turn any friends and family you have into equines, then I assure you they will not be harmed by my crusade against the hairless apes.”

Tune had mused about the idea of intentional ponification in the past, outside of Discord’s magic, but always dismissed it. However his words made a question burn in her mind, but a more pressing one was vocalized first. I want to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. “Tell me this at least, just to set the record straight. Are you an alien consciousness or are you the product of some madcap scientist?”

The puppet adopted a touch of caviler in his attitude. “A little bit of both if you can believe it. Yes. I am as much of an alien as you are, physically anyway. I find it rather peculiar that there is a second nonspacefaring species appearing away from their homeworld.”

Loki was momentarily distracted by his wording. “What do you mean second?”

The Herald inwardly cursed his slip of the tongue, but managed to play it off. “I speak of the Zerdradians, a species native to Tangent Delta nine. A rather brutish people if there ever was one. It is a wonder they managed to get one of their own into space without driving themselves to extinction first.” He spied the hint of a scholar’s curiosity in Alexia’s eye. “Should the salvation of your human family, by means of enlightenment or ponification not be sufficient motivation enough for you, I can uplift the people of Earth to join the Koridost Confederation as full members. With all of the rights and privileges that includes.” He eyed them carefully, trying to gauge their reactions. “The only thing that I ask in return, is the elimination of humanity in its current form. No one needs to die. My masters will be more than welcoming of equines and Mions alike.”

The burning question resurfaced in the silver mare’s mind. “Why single out humanity? If these Koridost were xenophobic and wanted to wipe out all intelligent life but their own, I could understand that. Abhorrent, but understandable. But what makes us ponies worthy of joining this alleged galactic community over humanity?”

Crimson was appalled that the Mion was even still breathing.” Why are we even listening to this reincarnation of Hitler? Switch humans with Jews and both men would be spouting the same filth.”

Conrad pulled her aside to whisper away from the Herald. “Sun Tzu said something along the lines of know your enemy and to learn how to defeat him. We need to learn what we can.”

She pushed him off. “We’ve already learned exactly what we need to know.” She jabbed a hoof in the Herald’s direction. “That monster is responsible for everything!” With hate in her eyes, she reared up and stomped the ground. Before anyone could try and stop it, a spike of sand condensed and impaled the prone Mion through the heart, killing him instantly.

“Good riddance to that asshole!” the pale yellow mare growled at the corpse.

Tune was disappointed that she didn’t get the chance to do that herself. “Did you really have to kill him at that moment? We could have found out why the Mions keep trying to exterminate humanity.”

Crimson spat her disgust into the sand. “He would have lied through his teeth to have our support. I think he and his ilk have made it abundantly clear they don’t want a peaceful solution with humanity, and I bet they’re just lying to the other ponies until they’re not needed anymore.”

Conrad eyed the red crowned pony with a touch of sympathy. “I hope you’re not that naive. Some may have needed lies to join them, but you saw what those pegasi allowed back in the lab. It takes either some serious malice or complete indifference to let that many people get eaten in their cages.”

“Or experiment on people like that,” Loki added with equal repulsion.

Alexia listened in silence as the Mion’s corpse started blackening at a rapid rate of decay. His dead eyes bore into the alicorn with two words in his expression: consider it. Her mates argued behind her as questions filled her head about the Herald’s words. Just how much of what he said was true? Does he really only want humans gone, or is he playing my kind for fools so he can wipe out ponies later? My own kind’s fate aside, why is he so fixated on humanity’s destruction and keeping the Earth habitable? Colonization maybe? I—don’t think so. Seems a little too convoluted when you could just bomb the planet from orbit. Unless… Tune tried to think of a reason why planetary bombardment wasn’t the Koridost’s first choice, but she felt any explanation lacking.

In the end, there was little she could do but sit there and wait for Highwind to arrive with the transport. It left her with plenty of time to think about the future. Even if we succeed against the Mions, can we even hope to fight the Koridost when they arrive?

Yakim Zorin was weary. It was the good kind of weary after a hard day’s work. The sweat on his brow and the ache in his horn told him it was hard, while the equally tired faces of his coworkers and his advance paycheck let him know that his work was appreciated and necessary to the continued growth of Trinity.

He grabbed his time card off the wall with his kinesis and clocked out. It was a new fully computerized model and all his card really had was his employee ID number, but it functioned the same as previous versions. This is the good life no? To work openly and earn honest pay without having to flinch at the police or squatting in a beat up house in the Lowlands waiting for the FSB to find us.

A unicorn mare walked up after him to clock out herself. “Yakim, going anywhere tonight?” She flashed him a flirtatious smile. The arrival of the three Russian stallions grabbed many mares’ interest and the stallions quite enjoyed the reversal.

Even so, he felt it was a strange situation to be in. A city where the woman hunt for men, glory be to my manhood… or is it stallionhood now? He found the mare, Betty Roberts, to be very attractive charcoal grey with a stark contrasting white mane. The fact that she was a unicorn as well only made her more appealing. It wasn’t that he disliked the other tribes, but more that he preferred his own when looking for romance. He shook off his introspective to answer her. “Nothing that can’t wait for tomorrow. What did you have in mind?”

“Well you heard of the new Crave Theater that just opened two days ago. Me and Carline were thinking of watching Dick Dastardly: The Musical and we thought you’d enjoy a good guy movie with us.”

The teal stallion put up an act of giving it some thought by scratching his chin. My English is still rather bad, and I probably wouldn’t understand half of what would be going on. This whole Equish thing is a godsent. Doesn’t make life any easier around humans though. Still—Carline has that nice shade of yellow fur and she's a unicorn to boot. He turned around and nodded. “Sure, it sounds like fun.”

Her eyes lit up and she kissed him on the cheek. “Great! Movie’s at eight ten. See you there!” The mare ran for the exit while pulling her phone out of her saddlebag to call Carline.

Yakim gave her a head start before exiting the warehouse himself. The movie isn’t for a few hours, so I think a meat lover’s pizza is in order. I feel sorry for the earthers and that herbivore diet they have to stick to. Me? I almost wish I was a pegasus so I could have a better excuse to eat meat than just because I can.

Halfway to the pizzeria, a familiar face walked over to him. The newcomer knew the Russian pony’s English was improving, but not sufficiently for his liking so he opened up in Equish. “Mister Zorin my friend. How fair you this fine evening?”

“Doctor Reed,” Yakim said with pleasant surprise at the pale ash colored unicorn. “Get done butchering patients early today?”

The old in mind, yet young in body physician laughed at the verbal jabbing. “Only five died on the table today. A record low for the whole ward.”

Yakim responded with mock congratulations. “Down from eight? I’d tip my hat to you if I was wearing one.”

The joking banter produced a few chuckles before Reed cleared his throat. “Tell me something Zorin. What do you think of Her Highness?”

The teal stallion looked up at the orange tinted evening sky. “Printsessa Alexia?” He remembered the only two times he had seen her: one on the news, and again when he first arrived in Trinity. “She is divinity that walks the Earth.”

“Or flies, whichever suites her fancy,” Reed quipped.

“Ha, that she does,” Zorin replied with a jolly grin before slipping back into reverent tones. “I cannot honestly say I was ever a pilgrim before growing fur, but I have been in a few holy places. Chapels mostly. And I will admit I could feel the sanctity of those places, but the princess? She radiates that godliness as if it was the more natural thing in the world. But I suppose it would be for a goddess.” He stopped himself and laughed sheepishly at the surgeon. “Sorry Doctor. I really shouldn’t speak like that. The princess has made it clear she doesn’t care for such labels.”

Reed nodded sagely as they walked down the street. The pizzeria was two blocks away, and the old soul had time to kill. “She is rather unique in that regard. Don’t you agree?”

The Russian waited for a few passing humans and ponies to walk by before answering. “In that she herself is holy?”

“Quite so,” Reed waved at a few acquaintances of his before speaking again. “I have always been a spiritual person Mister Zorin. The good lord did right by me, but after I grew a horn and my life was tossed to the winds I thought he had abandoned me in that accursed internment camp. But I was a fool. He did not abandon me, not in the slightest. For in was in that very camp that she appeared.”

In both stallions’ minds, there was only one person he could be referring to. “The Printsessa.”

Reed smiled at his walking companion. “The very same. The very moment I first heard her speak I realized what the good lord wanted me to know. He above is the god of mankind, of that there is no doubt in my mind. But Princess Alexia… Goddess Alexia,” he spoke her name reverently, as if it the act of speaking it required the utmost piety to bring her name true devotion. “She is the deity of ponykind—at least for those of us on Earth. While God tends to the souls of men, she watches after ours.”

The surgeon gently nudged Yakim to turn left rather than cross the street for the pizzeria. The teal stallion hesitated a bit before complying. “I guess I can see what you mean. But I have met the Printsessa. She always denounces such claims.”

Reed could sense lingering disappointment in his companion’s voice. “I fully understand your woe my son. But you have to remember, God is ancient beyond history, but dear Alexia has been a goddess for barely two years now. Despite her power, she is barely a foal compared to God. She needs time to mature into herself and requires sustenance worthy of a deity.”

Yakim slowed a bit. The street they were on was less populated at this hour. He briefly acknowledged they were headed towards the eastern farmlands. “You mean prayer and worship?”

“But of course,” Reed replied as if it was obvious. “That is the one factor that every god or deity in our history required. I dare say that Alexia’s growth has been stunted by a hunger she doesn’t know she suffers from.”

“Or is trying to ignore,” Yakim suggested after a moment’s thought.

The physician’s eyes gleamed at the prospect. “I hadn’t thought of that. I hope that’s not the case. The idea of the Princess starving herself out of some attachment to her mortal origins is troubling. In either case, I wanted to bring you in on a solution for that very problem.”

By now, the pair was nearing the closest farmhouse. They passed through rows of grain fields to the two story house that was already brightly lit from within and had a welcoming air to it. Yakim suspected what the old soul was alluding to. “You’ve started a congregation?”

“Indeed I have. I’ve been aware of your reverence for the Princess for some time now, and I felt you would feel right at home with us.”

The teal pony was still weary, but not because of Reed. “She won’t like this if she finds out.”

The would-be clergyman sighed with a mixture of sadness and hope. “I know.” He marched up the two steps and rapped a hoof on the door. Some shouting for patience later, a pink earth mare opened the door and smiled at the sight of the surgeon. “Mister Reed. I was getting worried you might be late.”

He chuckled as Pack Rat led him and Yakim inside. “Have no fear my dear. I would not do our revered princess such a disservice were it not for a noble cause.” He waved a hoof in the Russian’s direction. “I brought another prospective convert.”

Yakim was still a little dubious. “So what are we going to be doing exactly?”

Reed knew he sounded like an aspiring cult leader. Well if I’m going to be honest with myself, I suppose that exactly what I am about to be. Hopefully I can do it right and one day give rise to a proper church. He gave Yakim a sincere smile. “Don’t worry my friend. I will tell everyone all at once. I’m sure we have some Kool-Aid around here somewhere-“

Yakim froze at the offer and gave the old stallion a worried look. To his credit, Reed managed to hold a straight face for ten full seconds before busting out in laughter, Pack Rat joined in a moment later. Yakim nervously joined in the cheer. “You had me going there for a minute.”

The surgeon wiped a tear from his eye. “I apologize, but I couldn’t resist.” He waved toward the living room where well over two dozen ponies mingled in lively chatter. “Why don’t you get to know the others for a bit. I shall join you after I have a quick word with our esteemed host.”

“Sure.” Yakim watched Reed out of the corner of his eye as he left the small greeting room and walked into the large dining room which dominated over half of the house’s ground floor. The furniture had been mostly moved to another room and multiple large pillows had been placed in the corner for those who wished to sit.

As he expected, there were no humans in the mix. Well, I don’t think I’d see any human pray to Alexia anyway.

The teal stallion scanned the crowd, trying to find a familiar face. Most of them he had only seen in passing around town. Nearly every last one of them had a cutie mark making him slightly self-conscious. I must ask one of them later on how to obtain my mark. Perhaps extended prayer might reward me with one or at least insight.

He saw no other distinguishing features in those present. The tribe split was almost in thirds, an understandable disproportionate number of mares were present as well. Not really irregular if that’s our normal ratio. Lots of fine looking mares though…

Yakim spent more time checking out the mares than actually speaking with anyone and it was not long before Reed returned and raised his voice to be heard. “May I have your attention please.” He repeated it once more before the room quieted down to his liking. “Thank you all for coming.”

The surgeon gave a fatherly smile to the others as Pack Rat quietly slipped in to the side of the room. “You all know why we are here. Her Royal Highness, Princess Alexia, is both a goddess and a gift. Unlike man, who’s God or gods have always existed on a higher plane than us mortals, our goddess resides here on the mortal plane with us. While humans can only speak to their chosen deity through prayer, we can talk to ours face to face, over the phone, see her on TV, or even—“ he paused with a smile, “at the dinner table.”

“It’s the natural order of things really. Those on Equis have Celesta, Luna, Mi Amore Cadenza, and most recently Twilight Sparkle as their pantheon. So it was, that when we become ponies, that God knew we would need a patron deity here on Earth. And so he delivered unto us, Alexia Tune.”

Nearly all of the ponies present bowed their heads at her name. A mare in the crowd cocked her head in confusion and spoke out. “Why would God give us a different deity to worship other than himself?”

Reed had been expecting that question. “I asked myself that time and time again to try and understand God’s design, and then it hit me.” He scanned the crowd, searching for those with faith, and finding it present in all of them, Yakim most of all. “All of man’s religions and God himself follow a divine order. That he can only preside over one intelligent species: Man.”

“God is nothing if not loving,” Reed continued with his impassioned speech. “Even after the moment I grew hooves and I was forever out of his light, God still loved me. Alas, he cannot protect us as fully as he once did, so he gave the most deserving of us, Alexia Tune, godhood. So that Man has his god, and we ponies have ours. It was through this epiphany that I realized that every intelligent race has their god, and that by releasing us in Alexia’s wings, the divine order is upheld.”

The earth stallion next to Yakim spoke out. “The Princess doesn’t want to be a god though. I’ve asked her many times and she decries the notion out of hand every time. The last time she was rather—heated in her rejection.” He pawed the carpet in depressed recollection of the event.

Several others murmured similar stories, yet Reed was not dissuaded. “Yes, I myself have received such proclamations of humility. Just as our species here on Earth is new, so is our Princess. While it is true that she is adult mare, the princess is but a newborn babe in terms of her divinity. She does not yet possess the mind of a goddess and that is something we, her devout followers, can help her with.”

Reed pulled a stray chair over so he could prop one hoof on it to raise his head above the crowd while the other foreleg swept over them. “The Princess is a secular goddess. And as such, she needs food, drink, and sleep like everyone else. But, that will only keep her worldly body alive. To help her grow into a proper goddess, she needs worship through piety and prayer. Prayer, devotion, everything done in her name that follows the tenets she champions, will both honor and strengthen her. And as she grows stronger, so will her ability to watch over us in not just the world of the living, but the hereafter as well.”

While Reed’s reasoning was not universally accepted by those in the room, they could all agree that she was worthy of their devotion and faith. Every last one of them had felt the pull of her alicorn magic on numerous occasions. A few like Yakim imagined that they felt echoes of her still lingering on their spirit.

One of the mares in the crowd shouted above the din. “What aspect is she?”

Everyone, Reed included, faced the beige mare with a shared but unspoken question. The beige pegasus recoiled a bit from the attention, but found her voice again after a few seconds. “Well its just that it seems alicorns have an aspect right? Celesta and the Sun, Twilight with magic—“ she trailed off for the others to catch the hint.

Reed lowered his hoof as both he and the crowd threw out a few suggestions, but nothing felt right to everyone until Yakim made his own. “Each alicorn’s aspect is tied to their cutie mark is it not? Our Princess possesses the ankh for a mark, so would her aspect be of life then?”

“Yes. Of course, yes!” Reed cheered at the idea. “Princess Alexia, the Alicorn of Life.”

After the group gave a round of approval at the idea for a few minutes, Reed raised a quieting hoof. “Now, we all know our Princess’s view on worshiping her, so we have the dubious honor of being the only religion where we can touch our god, but can’t let her know we worship her.” He nodded his head in sympathy as many grumbled sadly at such a fate. “To that end, we must keep our devotion hidden. Convert those you think can be both devout and secretive.”

A mare at the back of the room shouted to be heard. “Aren’t we being a little hypocritical? If we truly wish to honor the Princess, shouldn’t we abide her wishes and refrain from worshiping her?”

Reed had a pained expression dance across his face before a fatherly smile replaced it. “Under any other circumstance, obeying the goddess would be paramount above all else. We all know Alexia makes for an excellent leader and princess, but—“ he paused as if the words were difficult to voice. “As a deity she is still young and fallible. I see us as her children,” he said with a hint of reverent mirth, “and sometimes it takes a child to raise a family. I have no doubt that she will accept her role as our goddess in due time. Just as she was hesitant to take up the crown in days passed, so will she one day accept the mantle of goddess. And upon that day we can shout her praises to the heavens and she will look upon us as those who helped her along the path of the benevolent and wise goddess I know she is destine to be.”

The mare’s troubled mine was placated, along with all the others who shared her concerns. Yakim looked upon the large portrait of Alexia hanging behind Reed. It was an oil painting that depicted her lying upon a bench with a sovereign expression and her crown upon her brow. The sight of it stirred feelings of pride, faith, and love. Yes. Printsessa is worthy of us. And it is up to us to make sure she becomes a goddess who will lead our people to a brighter future. He marched up to the front and stood beside Reed before facing the assembled ponies. “Then let us begin working towards that day at this very moment. Let it be known among us that we hold the reverent mother in our hearts and prayers.” He turned to Reed. “You gathered us Preacher. Would you do us the honor of leading the first group prayer?”

A nearby mare interjected. “Wait. We need a name first.”

Reed looked first at Yakim and then to the questioner. “Indeed we do…” His eyes lit up as an idea came to him quickly. “For now, we shall be the Congregation of Life. As our numbers grow, so too will our goddess.” He got off the chair. “Now let us bow our heads, and pray to lend our strength to the goddess. May her heart always lie with us as ours does with hers.”

With Reed leading the way, the nearly three dozen ponies bowed before Alexia’s portrait and joined in prayer.

It was late in the next morning when Alexia awoke feeling extremely sore. Her legs were throbbing, her wings ached, and despite her claims to the contrary, her horn was in pain from the exertions from the previous night. It was her hornache of all things that wounded her pride as it dragged the bleary mare into the waking world.

The first thing she saw was the blue and white striped bottom of the top bunk. The Bush’s captain had offered her an empty officer’s quarters, but none of the free ones had a bed that could fit all four of them. So rather than have two of their number sleep on the floor, or be in separate rooms, the herd decided to sleep in one of the rooms that had six bunks. There had been a few that were unoccupied so the herd was more than happy to claim one for their own. It was not the accommodations Tune was hoping for, but it was the best she was going to get on a warship.

Wish I could call Beth and see how the foals are doing. The silver mare dared not bring a picture of her family. All it would take is that image falling into the wrong hands and Elizabeth, Violet, Aurora, Dusty, and the Andersons could all end up as targets of war. I hope Violet hasn’t burned the house down.

Spark’s smiling face materialized in her mind’s eye. Tune imagined that she was cradling both of her daughters in her forelegs with Dusty Tinker worming his way to be in the center of it all. A sad laugh escaped her lips at knowing it was just her imagination. Even so, the silver mare hugged them closely. She mimicked her imagination in the real world by hugging herself. Alexia smiled at the thought of her children as several longing tears rolled into her fur. Hang on little ones. Momma will come home as soon as she can.

She hugged herself for a few more minutes before acknowledging the cold reality of the foals’ absence. “I love you girls. Don’t drive Beth crazy okay?” The alicorn performed a few breathing exercises to level her emotions to a neutral state. Upon her fifth exercise she started a personal mantra at the inhale. Emotional peace through harmony. Change is inevitable. As life changes, I must adapt or be swept away in the current. She repeated this several times until her racing thoughts and heart slowed to normal. Since she was still on the job, Tune felt it was prudent to recite one last mantra. Get the right information to the right person at the right time or somebody dies.

At that moment, Alexia finished reconstructing herself from the vulnerable mother to that of a special agent of the CIA. Testing her limbs, Tune gingerly leapt from the center of the three bunk high stack of beds to the ground. Putting on a tough show for that bastard Herald didn’t do my body any favors.

She stretched and generally loosened her joints up and gave her wings a few flaps to get the blood flowing. The alicorn glanced about the room, it was compact and spartan as she expected. Alexia’s mates were absent, and their harnesses hung on a nearby rung. “Must be grabbing some breakfast. I should do the same before Mercer’s briefing.”

The mare still preferred to brush her teeth after breakfast, so she took one of the smaller satchels and placed the necessary items within after taking a quick shower, preforming a cursory preen on her feathers, and brushing out her mane, tail, and coat. The activity took too long for her liking. “Bah, I’m too used to preparing for the camera instead of making myself presentable for work.”

She stopped trying to style her bangs to flow around her horn just right and settled on keeping the steel, two toned crimson, and pink stripes on the left side and the solid azure on the right. “Finally done.”

She turned about face just in the nick of time to see Crimson, Conrad, and Loki return from their meal with Conrad carrying a takeout box on his back. Tune didn’t know if she should be miffed about missing a chance to eat in the carrier’s mess hall or be glad that her mates brought breakfast to her. Well there’s always lunch. The silver mare’s mood brightened up and she affectionately nuzzled Loki who was closest. “Hey guys. Sorry I slept in.”

Loki cooed wistfully the physical display of affection. You’re still the mare I love. The green pony closed her eyes while she reciprocated her alpha’s nuzzle. “Don’t worry about it. After what we went through last night, and all the spells you were slinging, you needed a good night’s rest.”

The two mares separated so Alexia could nuzzle Crimson and Conrad before finally getting to her lukewarm breakfast. “Did Mercer tell you when our daily briefing is going to be held?” The silver pony said to no one in particular as she levitated the white styrofoam box over to hover in front of her. Within laid a treasure trove of bacon, scrambled eggs, and buttered toast.

“Said he needed to get word back from the home office about the op last night. As for your breakfast however,” Conrad wore a superior grin at seeing the mare’s jaw hang open and the look of sheer delight in her eyes. “After such a workout last night, I figured your magic could use some extra protein.”

He could not be any closer to the truth. The moment her eyes and nose beheld the meal before her, the floodgates opened and the hunger she had mostly ignored up until now drove itself to the forefront of her mind so fast it caused a headache. Alexia abandoned any pretense of ladylike mannerisms and started wolfing down the eggs and bacon with gusto. “Oh you have no idea,” she said between bites, “how freak’n much I needed bacon right now.”

Crimson fished out a can of apple juice from her small saddlebag and waved it in front of the silver mare’s eyes only to have it snatched away by her kinesis and guzzled down within a minute. Loki took a playful step back as a dollop of egg flew out of the floating box of food and nearly hit the green mare’s leg. “Should we get a second plate?”

The azure crowned pony exhaled in relief as the last bit of toast flew down her gullet. She had a look of mild contentment. “I could use a second plate. Mana doesn’t just pop out of the air for free after all, and I’m still recharging from last night.”

The alicorn was offered a napkin by Crimson who graciously accepted. “The thing is, while I can store an exorbitant amount of mana, I can only produce mana at the same rate I did if I was hovering around twenty percent back when I used to be a unicorn. At least for now,” She added quietly. She shook it off to continue speaking normally. “It’s a lot, but it’ll take more than a night sleep and some bacon to replenish all that I expended last night.”

Loki wrapped a hoof around Alexia’s withers and started dragging her to the door. “Well you didn’t oversleep that much, they’ll still be serving breakfast for another hour or so.”

Right before she left the room, Tune turned back to her harness and levitated the necklace off of it and clasped it around her neck. What is a princess without her crown? “Come on, you can’t imagine how hungry I still am.”

The once filled to the brim takeout box found its way in the trash bin completely bare of food. This caused Loki to eye the silver pony with curiosity. “Eating that much? You’re not pregnant again are you?”

Alexia shared a chuckle with the others until a seed of worry wormed its way in. I was fooling around with Conrad before all this started. Her horn lit up a second later as she cast Inner Sight to be sure, and breathed a sigh of relief. “No baby in me. Just really famished.”

Conrad let out a breath of relief. “I love my kids, but we can barely handle three as it is.”

“At least they’re good company,” Crimson added with fond remembrance of her son. The rest made nonverbal sounds of agreement while they carefully navigated to one of the very steep stairwells of the ship. The two toned red crowned mare grimaced at the cursed steps. “These stairs on the other hand.”

Conrad simply dove down the first flight, as he did before, and flared his wings to break his fall to come to a graceful landing. The two earth mares gingerly crept down them, much to the amusement of the passing sailors. Alexia watched her fellow mares’ difficulties from the top of the first flight. With the stairwell being so close to the wall, my wings are too large to try what Conrad did. I could just blink down, but it might not be the best thing to show that ability off at every opportunity. Not to mention I’d like to preserve as much mana for the next mission as possible so I don’t have to worry about restraint. She didn’t like the images her brain pulled up that depicted her as a giant battery with a comparatively slow recharge.

Dashing such thoughts aside, Alexia mulled over the difficulties of walking down the stairs from the front, so instead she tried to descend backwards. It was a pain, but was far easier on her physiology than trying to descend forwards.

The sole pegasus eyed his alpha with a snide touch of mirth as she made her way down. “And here I thought a larger wingspan would always be an asset.”

“So did I,” she replied with a barely amused snort. “Anyway, lead on to the mess hall.”

As one might expect of a one thousand foot long vessel, the mess hall was still busy with the morning crowd. Unlike an hour ago when the non-alicorns ate, the 82nd paratroopers were present and dining in their own personal corner of the hall.

Buttercup speared a sausage with a fork and bit half of it off in one go. Snake and Loewy sat across from her gnawing on their own meals. “Say what you will about those robots equines, but they can do some mean prep work on a base.”

Snake swallowed his hash brown while nodding his agreement. “I’m sure that’s exactly what they’ve been trained to do. Locking the whole place down and cutting power to everything but the security doors so the opfor was left in the dark. Can’t say the infiltrators could have done any better unless they managed to sabotage all the small arms as well.”

“You got to admit. If we had more joint operations like this with spooks doing the prep work and us the muscle, there’d be nothing that could stop us.”

The woman smirked at her companions. “I told you they were freaking robots. How else could they have hacked a network so fast and take complete control over the facility to the point where it was easier than a milk run?”

Snake exhaled in mild exasperation while rubbing his face. “Didn’t you listen to the after action report? The base was using its secrecy as a defense, so they didn’t bother with extensive network security.”

Loewy was just as miffed, but on a different topic. “And they’re not robots.”

Buttercup eyed him critically. “Got any proof to that?”

“Yeah I do actually. Those hostile ponies who had to be gunned down bled just as red as you or I do.”

She scowled at the news. “Never got to shoot any myself. All the ones my fireteam ran into surrendered.”

Snake cut into his waffles. “Are the rumors about executing them all true? I know we can’t keep a bunch of prisoners with how bad the food crisis is going. What with Nebraska and South Dakota-”

Buttercup stomped on his foot to get his attention and jabbed a finger behind him. “Check it out. The pony princess and her royal guard are here.” The silver alicorn was looking for a free table with a tray piled high with food. With the 82nd and crew of the aircraft carrier together, there wasn’t a single table that fit that criteria so she started looking for one with empty seats. “Why does she get all that food? We barely got a plateful.”

Loewy wasn’t quite as irate as she was. “After the kind of work they did, I don’t mind. Besides, I hear the horned ones need protein to fuel their magic. And in case you didn’t notice, she ain’t got no pancakes, grits, or hash browns on there.”

Finding nothing but single isolated seats, Tune faced her mates. “There doesn’t seem to be any room for all of us to sit. Since I’m the only one eating, why don’t you guys go relax somewhere?”

“Sounds good to me,” Crimson replied while dragging the others away. “I need these two to settle a wager on if we can get free back and head rubs around here.”

Tune was intrigued and cooed at the idea. “Ooh try the rec rooms, I’ll be along after I’m done eating.”

As the other ponies left, Alexia locked eyes on the empty seat next to Snake. Loewy immediately turned back around to his friends. “Shit, she’s coming this way.”

“Aww, does the baby want me to shoo the scary big eyed furry monster?”

“Kiss my ass BC,” he growled right as Alexia reached the table.

“Mind if I join you guys?”

Three sets of eyes fell upon the silver mare. Snake yanked the empty to his left out from the table. “I don’t see why not. I have to hand it to your team. You guys did quite a number on the lab last night.”

Smiling at the warm welcome, Tune levitated the tray onto the table and took the offered chair. “Thanks.”

The three troopers had not had a lot of contact with friendly ponies and none at all with unicorns. Everything they knew was hearsay or from mass media. As such, they eyed the floating tray and subsequent levitating food with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. As much as Buttercup didn’t want anything to do with her, the soldier knew the alicorn was a major figure and adopted the silent soldier demeanor so her mouth wouldn’t get her in trouble.

Loewy and Snake however, were far more interested in learning about the vaunted Princess. “Name’s Snake, combat engineer. This is Loewy, fire support, and Buttercup. Our heavy ordinance specialist.”

The azure haired alicorn offered her hoof to shake each one in turn. “You can call me Tune.”

The four of them lapsed into silence as the three humans tried to think of what to ask her. It was Loewy that spoke up first. “That’s you’re actual last name isn’t it? No secret code name or anything?”

Alexia gave him a deadpanned look. “I specialize in aggressive negotiations, not undercover work. As such I don’t use a code name while not in the field. And besides, I would think my appearance would be enough to let just about any who saw me, know who I was.” She felt it was prudent to not disclose the existence of the perception scrambler enchantment.

Buttercup didn’t believe her for a second. “Wouldn’t that make you a terrible secret agent?”

Alexia snickered. “Ha, it might if we didn’t use camo.”

Snake devoured some ham. “What kind of camo?”

Tune grinned at him while adopting a coy tone of voice. “Very good camo.”

Buttercup felt a trace of confusion by the mare’s meal. “I thought horses were herbivores.”

Snake and Loewy either groaned or tsked at their friend’s lack of tact, while Alexia arched a sardonic eyebrow at her. The alicorn fidgeted with her wings just enough to draw attention to them. “Guess I’d make a terrible horse then. What with the talking and all.”

The woman snorted a short laugh. “Mister Ed talked too, and no one said he was anything but a horse.”

The silver mare smirked. “Of course, of course.”

She got a rise out of Buttercup while the two men cast derisive grins at her discomfort. She shook it off and a sinister smirk crept over her face. “So. How are those wings of yours?”

The strip of bacon in Alexia’s kinesis hesitated before she could bite it and her eyes widened a bit. The three soldiers caught the spark of unease. “I’ll admit it took some getting used to, flying under my own power that is, and feather maintenance can be time consuming, but I’ve grown quite fond of them.” She started idling smoothing a few out of place feathers on the underside of her left wing with a fetlock. “Pretty much a requirement to do so really. They’ve become rather attached to me as you can imagine.”

The female paratrooper pursed her lips as she made sure to word her statement carefully. “Must have been quite the upgrade from having only a horn, wouldn’t you say?”

To her credit, Alexia didn’t show too much surprise. “I never thought I would run into someone who was stationed at The Ranch. But yes, I agree with you. These growths on my back have proven to be quite a helpful upgrade indeed.” Even if they came with some stupid consequences.

She stopped fiddling with her wing and took a moment to make sure it returned to its resting position without having the chair bend the tips of her primaries. Snake looked to Buttercup to see surprise written all over her face. He asked the question she was too stunned to ask. “Shouldn’t you keep something like that a secret or something? I know the brass would be interested to know why you changed twice.”

The alicorn finished a bite before speaking in an even tone. “Its hardly a secret when the entirely of the internment camp I was—resettled at knew I changed from a unicorn to an alicorn. Some secrets aren’t worth keeping.”

“What about what caused it?” Loewy inquired cautiously.

“That is.”

Loewy wanted to veer the topic towards areas that would be more open for conversation, but Buttercup beat him to it. “Why do you go around naked all the time? You too good for clothes or do you just not care about modesty?”

The two men glared at Buttercup for asking such a tactless question while Alexia rotated a ball of egg in her kinesis as she contemplated the question. When did I let that go? Was it really the same moment my hands become hooves and my physical transformation was complete, or did I not care about nudity at the time because I was alone? I didn’t give going to the science fair in the buff a second thought. I didn’t even care that Conrad and Loki were basically nude when I met them as well. Hell neither did they. “If I had to guess,” Tune said at last. The two men thought that she was going to reprimand Buttercup, but couldn’t help but remain curious for the answer. “I’d say my fur coat is clothing enough for my sense of modesty. Besides, clothing can be more fun when you have more freedom of what shape it can take if you don’t have to cover everything. And seeing as I haven’t received a single complaint about it so far, I see no reason to go back to wearing clothes as being mandatory.”

“What if I complained about it right now huh?”

Alexia chewed her sausage slowly while eying Buttercup. The woman’s question held a mocking quality to it and it was something the alicorn wanted to tactfully throw back at her. “Then I’d believe you were doing so out of spite rather than genuine insult.”

Snake wanted to ask a question, but Buttercup punched him in the chest before he could get a word out and she asked one instead. “What about them male ponies then? They get to walk around with their meat flopping around whenever they get a hard on?”

Snake jabbed her in the shoulder. “I thought you weren’t interested in man meat. You going for cross species love on us BC? And here I was about to profess my undying love for you.”

The woman was inches away from slugging his mocking face, but a snickering Alexia waved her right wing out to get their attention. “I don’t mind answering. It’s a more common question than you might think.” Both belligerents held their tongues and fists back to listen. “Of course I don’t know from personal experience, but what stallions have told me is that they know when their aroused, but they can keep themselves hidden until they want to—use it,” She said with a glint in her eye. “They wouldn’t be able to go in the buff if that wasn’t the case.”

Loewy huffed at Buttercup. Satisfied now? “As fascinating as all that is I wanted to know how you guys really come about? What keeps causing people to turn into ponies?”

“Well…” Alexia trailed off while finishing off her orange juice and the last of her bacon. She used the time to contemplate what parts of the truth she could say.

She was spared having to answer when the ship’s intercom made an announcement. “Bravo team Beta niner two. Report to your assigned briefing room at ten hundred hours.”

Tune’s ears swiveled to the source of the announcement and levitated her phone out of her satchel to check the time. “It was great meeting you all, but I gotta split. Maybe I’ll see you around the ship later.”

“I look forward to it,” Snake replied with a friendly nod.

“I hope you like poker,” Loewy added.

“Never tried it before, but I could take it up for our new friendship.” She left the table and waved goodbye at them as she disappeared into the throng of bodies surrounding the exit.

Buttercup grimaced at the alicorn until she couldn’t see her anymore. “Damn spooks. I bet everything she said was a flat out lie.”

Loewy tried to see if Tune would reappear, but she did not. “Friendlier than any spook I know of. A lot more than you are that’s for damn sure.”

“Got that right,” Snake chided. “She makes you look as friendly as a rattlesnake with a cactus shoved up its ass.”

Buttercup punched him hard in the arm. “I bet you’d like to get in her panties if she wore any.”

Snake slugged her back with a right hook in the shoulder. “Not if you don’t beat me to it taco licker.”

She was looking for an excuse to pick a fight ever since Alexia showed up and the verbal sparring was the perfect excuse for a brawl. Buttercup jumped out of her chair and grabbed Snake by the scruff of his uniform. “Say that to my face breeder!”

He was more than willing to beat some diplomacy in her. “I saw you giving her that lewd eye of yours. You want to munch on a carpet that’s all over your lover instead of just a small patch don’t you?”

With a savage growl, Buttercup’s fist went flying and punched Snake out of his chair and onto the floor. Within seconds Loewy interposed himself before the crowd could react to the altercation. He gave Buttercup a stern glare for her to back off. “Hey! You to want to fight? Take it to the sparring room!”

She cast Snake a savage grin as he climbed back to his feet. “Fine by me. You need someone to knock those ugly teeth out of your head anyway.”

The sailors around them saw the fight was averted and returned to their meals. The pair of military police in the room kept a close eye on them, but made no move against the pair thanks to Loewy’s intervention. The other members of the 82nd started wolfing down their food so they could be present for the match. Snake sneered at Buttercup. “And I need to knock the bitch out of you.”

Tune had enough time to finish her morning hygienics before rushing to the briefing room three decks below her quarters. It was a small affair, which hardly came as a surprise given the cramped nature of military vessels. This room was normally used for pilot briefings, as the group did not need the larger rooms. The chamber had ten small desk-chair combinations with Mercer standing at the front with the projector already displaying the cover page of the briefing.

Alexia’s mates were already lounging on the desks waiting for her. Conrad was actually hovering above it all. He was always in the air whenever he had an excuse to do so, and the anatomically incompatible desks were as good of one as any.

Loki repositioned six desks to have the writing surfaces intertwine so she could lay on top and snooze. Crimson was sitting on the ground in quiet contemplation of her son and parents. I hope they’re okay. Paw never was one to show a son physical affection and Dusty craves that more than anything else. I know I told him not to treat Dusty the same way he would a human baby, but I don’t know if it sunk in or not. Conrad’s been really good at showing physical affection and I’d like Paw to keep up that strong male role model while Dusty’s father is away.

The pale yellow mare remembered the first chest to chest hug she ever received from her old man, and that was only after her accepted her as his daughter. Joe didn’t know it at the time, but that first real embrace meant more to Crimson than he could possibly realize. I’m still kinda surprised how touchy feely I’ve become, but I guess its just part of my species’ nature. All the more reason Dusty needs Paw to display that sort of thing.

Mercer took notice of Alexia’s arrival and cleared his throat for attention. “Good, you’re all here.”

Loki snapped out of her snooze as all three herdmates acknowledged Alexia’s entry before facing Mercer. The Case Officer scanned the file on his podium one last time before starting. “As we covered in our debriefing last night, just before your infiltration of the laboratory, four cargo trucks departed the facility.”

A map of Europe and Northern Africa appeared onscreen with a green square fifty miles southwest of Gibraltar marking the location of the Carrier Taskforce. Algeria appeared onscreen with the now defunct research laboratory at its center. One red line emerged from the depot for twenty minutes before splitting into four different directions. “Instead of destroying the transports, we suspected that tracking them would lead us to other critical Mion bases of operation. As it turns out—“

He clicked the computer a few times to have the four lines continue on their destinations. “Each truck split off to four different coastal towns in Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. Oddly enough, they stayed well clear of the Algerian coast.”

“Any idea what was being shipped?” Conrad asked.

“Not as of yet,” Mercer replied with a note of controlled disappointment. “I had expected them to either go south, deeper into Africa, or straight up north to Algiers or Oran. My other field operatives are still relocating to put eyes on the targets. Unfortunately, my eastern most team will not reach Benghazi for another two hours and by then we may lose sight of it completely.”

Crimson looked at the distance between the Bush and Benghazi. “You’re not suggesting us to fly all the way out there, are you? Could we even make it there in two hours?”

He shook his head. “That would not be the best use of your skillset. I’m keeping you in reserve for when we need a repeat of the bio lab. But before I go any further into the briefing, I need to ask.” He directed his attention to Alexia and Crimson. “Are you two going to be able to avoid repeating the same crash as last time? The desert was one thing, but anywhere else might have caused compromising injury.”

Anderson gave Tune an apologetic look. “I’ll do my best to avoid a repeat sir. Although I never expected having to do that in the first place.”

Mercer had to give her that much and accepted it as he turned to hear Alexia speak. “I have been negligent in my flight training. I’ll begin shoring that up immediately.”

It wasn’t what Mercer wanted to hear from Thompson’s top field agents. “Don’t go too overboard with the regimen. I need you able to deploy at a moment’s notice.”

“Yes sir,” Tune replied.

Mercer clicked to have the map vanish. “While I don’t wish to cut into said training time, I did as you requested and had the red pegasus brought to the brig on the Bush instead of being shipped back to the States for interrogation. I trust you have some way of getting some information out of her. But I don’t recall interrogation techniques being on your list of training.”

Alexia hummed in thought. “I might have a unique form of persuasion. She’s still missing a cutie mark right?”

Mercer was unaware of Alexia’s alicorn magic and furrowed his brow while looking at the red mare’s picture. “Yes. But what does that have to do with anything?”

Tune adjusted her necklace which had gotten out of alignment. “If it works, I’ll tell you.”

He wanted more of an answer than that, but Thompson insisted they were to be fully trusted. “Very well. I’ll leave the matter in your hands. Just keep me apprised on your progress.”

“Yes sir.” The briefing ended shortly thereafter, and Tune left for the brig. Conrad heard the two earth mares were going to the central recreation room before he ran after Alexia.

He waited until they were well and clear of the briefing room before talking to her. He feared Tune might lose her temper again. “Are you sure you should be facing her again? Last time you nearly skewered her.”

The memory flashed back in her mind. The anger, the rage, her red rimmed vision. The nameless pegasus begging for her life. Had her mates not intervened, the alicorn would have killed her on the spot. I don’t want to be that person. She answered with a sad smile. “This is as much for my sake, as it is for hers.”

“Just remember she won’t know it was you who captured her.”

“I remember,” she stopped walking and nuzzled him affectionately. “Thanks for looking after me.”

Conrad didn’t care if any passing sailors noticed them and wrapped his wings around her. “I love you Alex, and we always will,” he tousled her alpha colors with a wing for emphasis. “You’re not the only one who can help fight off lunacy.” She smiled at his touch. “But it might be difficult to tell the difference between lunacy and PMS.”

“Ack! Shut up!” She slapped the laughing stallion with her right wing, only to have him duck out of the way. “And I do not PMS that bad.”

“Say that to the kitchen counter. We had to replace the granite slab after that,” he said while letting her wing hit his face after the second attempt.

“Yea well—“ She huffed while trying to let her anger go. Damn it. This was exactly the sort of thing I needed to be able to ignore or laugh at rather than get angry.

The brown pegasus was glad to see Alexia begin her breathing exercises. He feared Tune losing her temper more than any bodily harm she might inflict. Even so, the intensity of the outburst troubled him. If she does that to me, I don’t think she’s ready to speak with the prisoner. “Glad to see you’re staying on your toes.”

The azure crowned pony let out her fourth exhale slowly as her emotions calmed down. “We don’t have toes remember?” She kept her expression forcibly neutral, if only to hide her lingering irritation. “Anyway, go tease Loki about this sort of thing; I need to speak with our potential informant.”

Conrad’s tone switched from playful mockery to serious. “Can you do me a favor and try to keep a cool head. I can come with you if you want.”

She stepped into an empty briefing room to her right to let a few passing sailors walk by with Conrad following her in so they could have some privacy. Alexia closed her eyes and rested her head on the side of the stallion’s neck. She took the moment to take comfort in his touch, scent, and warmth. “Conrad,” she began after a minute of basking in his presence. “You, Loki, and Crimson are my rock and my heart.” She looked at the azure stripe in his mane with reaffirmed adoration. “My life and soul belong with all of you. And I wouldn’t wish it to be any other way.”

Conrad was sensing a ‘but’ in her words and he pulled his head back and cupped her head in his hooves with a worried look upon her pained expression. “Alexia, I’m not dead. Stop mourning over a grave that isn’t there yet.” His works hit the mark and the silver mare’s strong façade broke down completely and she started quietly sobbing. The pegasus wrapped his forelegs and wings around her shaking form. “You’re killing yourself by dwelling on this all the time. Please Alex, enjoy the life we’ll have together and leave the future where it belongs and return to the present.” Conrad tried his best to shield her from the pain in her mind, and cursed himself for only be able to give advice.

She wept for a few long minutes to get everything from her lingering fear of a lonely future, the sickening experiments from the desert laboratory, and the stresses of royalty out of her system. The quivering princess had her face buried in the stallion’s neck, soaking him with her tears to the point where his fur was becoming uncomfortably damp. He endured it quietly and without complaint while rubbing her mane with a fetlock in an attempt to ease her through it.

Alexia leaned against his strength and used it to build herself back up again. “Conrad,” she said shakily while keeping her muzzle buried in his fur. “I want to enjoy our time in this world together, I really do. But one day that time will end, and I’ll be alone. I need to relearn how to be alone and happy at the same time like how I was when I was human, or at least content.”

He hugged her tightly. “You’re not thinking of leaving the herd are you?”

She pulled her head back so she could be eye to eye with him. “No, I could never do that. It—it would kill me to do that. But. The opposite is true too.” Her gaze lowered along with her voice. “If any of you died, I don’t think I could ever recover. That’s why I need to relearn how to be alone. So that when the inevitable happens, it won’t destroy me.”

That’s the mare I love! She wants to work towards a solution rather than wallow in depression. He knew the alpha standing next to him wouldn’t drag her hooves for long. “Is there any way I or the mares can help you?”

“Thank you for the offer Conny.” She leaned forward and kissed him. He turned it around and returned the gesture with lusting passion before she could decline his offer. It surprised her, but Alexia felt it was exactly what she needed. Had it been at any other time, Tune would have let him ravage her until should couldn’t walk right. Yet the interrogation hung in the back of her mind, and kept her from letting their passions take them to their usual conclusions. That didn’t stop her from thoroughly enjoying his affection for a few minutes.

Yet when the time came that Alexia felt that she needed to pull away to get the interrogation she stopped. Mercer only said I have to get it done today, and what the hell, I’ve never had sex on an aircraft carrier before. “Hold on a moment Conny.” Tune’s horn lit up and they were teleported back to their quarters. “There, now we won’t get interrupted by anyone.” The brown stallion recovered from the teleport quickly enough and saw the amorous mare turn around and present herself to him. “You always know how to cheer me up.”

The pegasus saw her hungry eyes fall upon his stiff member. He gazed upon her lustfully. “Believe me honey, I love cheering you up.”

Two hours, a second shower, and a preening session later, Alexia made her way over to the brig. As with the rest of the ship, the jail was so cramped that it would give just about anyone claustrophobia. Even more so for a frightened prisoner of war. Alexia thought to herself as she reached the warden’s desk. She used her magic to straighten out a few strands of hair that had fallen over her eyes.

The jailor was a bored, yet vigilant craggy looking marine. The small desk bore little paperwork, but the man was still glad to have a distraction, even if he showed none of it in his face as he saw the alicorn approach. He had been informed of her visit, but he was a stickler for protocol. “State your name, purpose, and give me verification of your identity.”

Why would I need to show ID? Doesn’t my coloring and cutie mark—Right, the camouflage enchantments. Fortunately, Mercer had given the directive that each agent carry their identification with them at all times while onboard the Bush. Using her magic, she unzipped her black satchel and gave him her CIA badge. Unlike her human counterparts, her cutie mark was emblazoned on the bottom right side instead of a handwritten signature. “Special Agent Tune. I’m here to speak with the prisoner.”

He inspected the badge briefly before giving it back and marking her arrival in his book. He took her nearly emotionless tone as a euphemism for rough questioning. “Everything checks out. Your interrogation shouldn’t be that difficult. She’s been whimpering in solitary since she was brought in by the eighty second.”

“Has she been treated poorly?”

He gave her a questioning look at her gruff tone. “She may or may not have suffered some bruises or a hairline fracture or two in getting here. Most likely when she had to be subdued no doubt. ‘Course, she reeked of piss until one of the guards let her have a shower. Don’t know what makes her so special seeing how all the other personnel were executed on the spot.”

What!? Why? Tune would have voiced those questions, but her status as an intelligence operative kept her from doing so. She needed to appear as if it was old news to her. I’m going to have a word with Mercer about this. I know Command is starting to tighten up on rations, but I didn’t think we were so bad off we’d result to war crimes.

Alexia barely kept her shock hidden under a thin veneer of indifference. “She’s an experiment, nothing more.”

“Sure she is,” thought it was obviously there, Alexia couldn’t detect any sarcasm in his voice. He stood up and jangled his keys to find the right one. “This way.”

She couldn’t help but think about the warden’s nonchalant attitude towards killing prisoners. Have they really thrown Mions out of the protected prisoner’s rights? And what about the ponies who were there? Are they being thrown into the same category because they were helping Mions?

Tune was horribly reminded that she was more than willing to do the very same to the mare she was about to visit. I have no right to judge the soldiers for doing that. Not when I was going to do the same thing if Conrad and Crimson hadn’t stopped me.

The warden banged his fist on the bars, jarring the prisoner out of the modicum of peace she had. “Wake up! You have a visitor.”

The red mare within had not slept at all since her arrival. She had been nearly killed twice that evening. First by Alexia who was disguised as a mustard yellow unicorn stallion at the time, and again by the 82nd until they double checked that mare’s coloring matched the only prisoner they were to bring back alive. She had been blindfolded and tied up and transported to the Bush before being allowed to see and move again. The whole way back, she received extremely rough handling at the very people she had been working to erase from the planet and had several bruises and a few possible hairline fractures to show for it. The pegasus knew it would not take long before the Americans learned about what the lab’s primary purpose. To say the mare was terrified would be putting it mildly.

So when the warden banged on the door, the mare jumped in her cot and cowered at the corner of her bed. She assumed a beating or some other form of torture was about to occur, and that fear was only compounded when Alexia appeared as the warden left to return to his post.

The red pegasus’s pupils dilated enormously at the sight of the silver alicorn. Even in her disoriented state, she took in the silver fur, azure mane, wings, and horn in an instant. She stared at the alicorn in supreme disbelief. “Y-you’re dead.”

Tune fought to keep her irritation for the mare suppressed. Roughed up state or not, she was still a traitor to her species in the alicorn’s eyes; both her former species and current one. “Whoever you mistake me for, I assure you I am very much alive.”

The moment Tune’s voice hit the red pegasus’s ears, she felt a wave of calm wash over her. She knew in an instant who it was. “Princess Alexia?” Hope grew for a moment before it was squashed hard by denial. “No. No, impossible, you’re not real. You died years ago!”

This was not how Alexia wanted to start her questioning and walked fully into the cell, making the pegasus shrink even further. The outburst was in Equish so the government agent knew she didn’t have to worry about a language barrier. “As you can plainly see, that is not true. Why don’t you start by telling me your name?”

The red mare eyed the silver one frightfully, and only answered to avoid harsh treatment. “Buraddi• Marī.”

“Alright Buraddi. Tell me what you did at the facility.”

Marī would have refused to speak, even in the traumatized state that she was in, but the power of Alexia’s alicorn magic loosened her lips and induced a sense of trust. “I was a hematologist.”

The term was familiar to the silver mare, but she never the less pulled out a smartpad to write her notes. “Doing what?”

Marī shrunk at the forceful tone which tinted the alicorn’s magic to leave a slightly bitter taste in the pegasus’s mouth. It made the mare recoil from attempting to worsen Alexia’s mood. “I was one of the staff members working to ensure the Yeta strain inflicted minimal damage to the bone marrow during activation.”

The satisfactory answer made the alicorn unwittingly sweeten the taste of her magic as her mood elevated at the painlessness of her information acquisition. “Do you know enough to create a vaccine?”

Marī’s convictions warred with her desire to keep Alexia, and her magic, placated. “I-I don’t know. I just worked on damage control, not infection vectoring or incubation.”

Alexia wrote her notes on the tablet, but made sure to keep eye contact with the red pony so her innate magic would have a constant effect. “And what is the incubation period?”

“I don’t know. A day or so maybe,” she lied.

Tune marked the response as questionable and moved on to switch topics to throw the captive off balance. “Tell me why you want to participate in specicide.”

Marī’s visage gained some steel and she scowled at the alicorn. “Because they constantly kill our kind. I saw a whole pony community rounded up and slaughtered by citizens of Beijing and the guards did nothing to stop the massacre. If the Mions hadn’t shown up when they did, the humans would have killed me too. They told me atrocities like this were happening in every country worldwide, and that the only way to save ourselves was to abandon every scrap of our humanity and join them in cleansing the planet.”

A dark shadow fell over the alicorn’s face. Even if she’s exaggerating, I doubt that its not happening at least somewhere. Even if humans are capable of both great good and terrible evil, this mare just proved ponies are equally capable. Alexia felt it would be prudent to cast doubt on the mare’s claims. “And you believed that?”

Buraddi flinched at the poisonous anger in Alexia’s voice. The alicorn’s magic felt like it was squeezing her spirit and left her mentally strained. Tune assumed the mare’s pained expression was merely a reaction from accidentally poking one of her previous injuries and the pegasus fidgeted on the cot. “Yes, I do. I saw the videos of slaughter, and almost starred in one of them. There’s no way humanity will accept us, so it was either death or join the Mions and work for a better future.”

Tune lowered the smartpad away from her face, took a slow breath, and continued with a condescending tone of voice. “Have you ever stopped to think that you allying with the Mions is why humans keep trying to kill you? If you make yourself an enemy, then those that would have welcomed you will shun you instead.”

Buraddi averted her eyes as she was unable to meet the alicorn’s gaze. “I was part of a scholars-in-residence program between Japan and China in an effort to smoothen relations between our two peoples. I had been in Xi’an for three months when I started becoming a pony. Instead of letting me return to my homeland, I was rounded up and placed in an internment camp."

The scientist bit back bitter tears of the memories. Imposter or not, she didn’t want to show the alicorn any more weakness. “We were not granted basic human rights simply because we are no longer human. If you know anything about the histories of our peoples, then you don’t need me to tell you that the Chinese were cruel to us. They experimented on any foreign ponies they could get their hands on; doing any depraved thing you can wrap your mind around. I never saw what they did with their own citizens who turned into ponies though.”

Alexia kept a neutral expression while writing in her intent to investigate these claims. If Thompson can help uncover these atrocities, if they actually happened, then we can work towards weakening the Mion’s recruitment campaign. “You think I’m dead. Was that more Mion propaganda?”

“Princess Alexia is dead,” Buraddi replied spitefully. “You mock that holy lady with your pitiful imitation of her.”

Tune’s brow twitched and her left ear flicked in heavy irritation. Oh for fu-- Why do blank flanks always think I’m some kind of messiah? No wonder its so easy for madmen to successfully claim to be prophets. Even so I would think a scientist would be above that sort of thing. Through careful control honed over two years of both passing off and ignoring others’ claims that she was a god, Alexi kept her discontent hidden behind professional indifference. “And what pray tell does the real Princess Alexia look like then?”

Buraddi kept a framed picture of Alexia in her quarters at the desert research station and the silver mare standing in front of her, with a cool almost indifferent expression looked like a carbon copy of her. Even the calming quality of her radiating magic had returned and it made it difficult for the pegasus to keep lying to herself. She slowly crawled off the bed to inch closer to the silver alicorn. “She—looks exactly like you.” Her eyes took on a wild quality. “You’re brand. May I see your brand?”

Alexia regarded the red mare’s shift in demeanor. She’s worked on this Yeta strain and probably has knowledge on the Mion plague itself. If I can get her on my side, she might be able to help engineer a cure or at least a vaccine.

“I don’t see why not.” The alicorn turned ninety degrees to reveal her black ankh. “And its called a cutie mark.”

“Cutie mark?” Marī parroted slowly as realization struck her like a wrecking ball, yet doubt still remained. “May- may I touch it? It be sure its real?”

As much as Tune was trying to build trust, the request was highly suspicious. “S-sure. But if you try anything, I’ll toss you straight through the bulkhead. Understand?”

Marī nodded with her eyes stealing a glance at the alicorn’s horn. “Yes of course.” The red pegasus crossed the short distance at a slow pace so she wouldn’t make Alexia act upon that threat. She brought her face up close to the black ankh and used her hooves to split the fur apart to see if there was evidence of dyeing. Finding none, she sniffed it for trace chemicals, much to Tune’s discomfort.

That wasn’t as awkward as I thought-. Her musings were jarred away as the red mare gave Tune’s cutie mark a long lick, coating her flank in saliva. She jumped away and nearly hit the side of the cell in the process. “Da ‘ell was that for?”

Buraddi backed off and glowered at the alicorn with intense hostility. “As I thought, you have an enchantment on you. I knew you were an imposter!”

That produced an irritated eyebrow from the azure crowned pony, but most of it was from the damp fur that sent disgusted chills down her spine. “What the hell are you talking about, and what possessed you to lick me?”

Marī’s continence was the definition of smugness. “I possess an ability to taste active magic. I wanted to make sure you weren’t using an enchantment to alter your appearance, and lo and behold you have several enchantments upon you.”

Alexia snorted with a hint of mirth. “I suspect you tasted my crown’s magic.” Tune’s kinesis wrapped around the necklace and levitated it to a corner of the room away from the prisoner and gently placed it on a pillow that she took from the cot. This is really going to be uncomfortable, but I need to do this to get her on our side. “Tell you what. If you can taste any active magic on me now, then I will tell the Navy that you were a slave of the Mions and have you released to where ever you want to go. But if you don’t, then you must recognize me for who I am.”

Buraddi narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Does she really think she can try to cover up the enchantments? My taste can detect anything. She decided to play the alicorn’s game, if for nothing else than to have something to do. “It might be interesting to see how much the word of a spy is good for.”

Tune cringed in revolution as the red mare licked her flank a second time. Ohhh damn that is so grooooooss. I need a shower something fierce. A stronger wave of disgust rolled down her spine until the pegasus’s tongue departed.

Aside from the fur, Alexia’s magic had an extremely potent flavor to it. Yet it lacked the same sweat and sour flavor of active magic. “You’re…you’re really her. You’re the Goddess Alexia!”

Tune used her magic to try and pull the spit off her flank rather than let it dry. “I’m not a goddess,” she responded automatically.

Buraddi didn’t register Alexia’s terse reply as she was still trying to make sure her tongue wasn’t lying to her. “But I saw the video. You were assassinated during a speech.” Marī slumped against her cot and looked at the necklace. It looks exactly like the goddess’s sole adornment. So… the video was faked? Did the Mions really lie to me just to keep me from trying to find her?

Alexia saw the pegasus become lost in thought. Might as well give her time to recollect herself and try again later. After a much needed shower. She retrieved her necklace and replaced the pillow upon the cot, then she rapped the cell door. “Warden!” As soon as the man was in earshot she spoke again. “I’ll be continuing the interrogation later today. But I’m done for now.”

“I’ll let the next shift know.” He waited for her to fully exit the cell before closing and locking it. He took a brief glance at the red and black pegasus staring wide eyed at the spot where Alexia had just stood a few seconds prior with a shell-shocked look. Damn. What did she do or say to her in there? Red looks even worse off than before. Probably deserved it anyway.

While Alexia trotted off to take a much needed shower, Conrad found Crimson, Loki, and Gil Highwind embarrassing themselves in the recreation room. Or at least that’s what Conrad thought as he witnessed three sailors, a marine, and two paratroopers petting the two mares, who were laying nose-to-nose on one of the couches, and one stallion slumped on a table.

The three ponies were the very images of tranquility and bliss. Loki practically melted into the cushions as two sets of nimble hands rubbed her mane and back. “Could you scratch behind my ears Philips?”

The strongly built marine looked as if he could crush a boulder with his hands, and would sooner do so for kicks. Yet he was more than happy to accommodate his latest furry friend. “Sure thing little lady.” His compliance elicited a sigh of delight from the green mare.

“Ohhhh, yeah. Philips I think I’m in love.”

The paratrooper who was rubbing Crimson’s back was bemused by the whole thing. “Still don’t know why petting you guys is so relaxing. Feels kind of awkward with you being intelligent and all.”

Anderson waved feebly at his protests. “Nonsense. Humans are hardwired to like rubbing furry critters, and we furry critters like being rubbed.” The sailor rubbing her head followed Philip’s example and switched Crimson’s ears, causing her words to come out as a content sigh. “It’s a win-win for both of us.”

Highwind was in a near Zen state at the pampering the two women were assaulting him with. One was petting his head and mane, while the other scratched the fur around his wing shoulders. “If I could give you ladies a medal I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

The one scratching his back tickled him in a way to make the stallion involuntarily flutter his wings a bit, eliciting a giggle from her. “Are you sure the Misses back home don’t mind us having our fun?”

“Are you kidding? She’d be mad that she didn’t get to join in.”

Conrad left Gil alone trotted over to try and rouse the mares. “Crimmy, Loki we need to talk.”

The green pony opened drowsy eyes. “Hey samurai. You need to get on this petting thing. It feels amaaaaazing.” She drawled out her speech as the mare went limp from the attention.

He looked at the four men, who in turn eyed him. “I don’t think I’d want a bunch of men rubbing me like that.”

One of the sailors glanced at the others. “Can’t say many of us would want to either, but—“ He whistled at three female sailors who playing pool and pointed them at Conrad. The women dropped their game in an instant to walk over. “I’m sure they’d love to get the chance to pet you.”

The brown stallion eyed the eager women with trepidation. He didn’t like the idea of being pacified by simple touch, especially from strangers. “I’ll pass,” he responded diplomatically.

Loki was barely capable of responding due to the petting. “Oh come oooonnnn Conny. This is sooo…” She trailed off as her ability for thinking declined.

The first woman reached the brown pegasus in a hurry. “Hey big guy. Heard about the number you pulled during the last op. Those guys are already rewarding the mares, so its only fair you get the same reward, right?”

Before he could protest further, the woman presumptively started scratching behind his ears. The effect was immediate. His concerns felt like they weren’t so pressing anymore. His ears sagged a little along with his eyes while the mental cotton washed away his worldly troubles. No, I have to help Alexia.

One of the other women pulled a chair over and he didn’t resist being pulled up into it. “Ever since I saw you guys I’ve wanted to pet one of you. And I have to say, I am not disappointed.”

Alex, need to help—you all can go—burn in—oh my, that feels good. Try as he might, he couldn’t fight the euphoria because he had never experienced it being inflicted by nimble human fingers that easily far surpassed hooves.

Any and all attempts to break away were beaten down by the relentless hands that wrapped him in a world of bliss. The real thing that blasted away all resistance was when one of the women found a way to tickle his wings to make him reflexively puff out his feathers. Two of the women found his down feathers just as relaxing to massage as his fur and mane. Conrad laid there for half an hour as his wings were gently scratched along with his mane. This is what I’ve been missing all this time?

Eventually though, the ship sounded a call for shift change and the personnel in the recreation room bid their farewells to the four equines.

With the mind cotton fading, Conrad shook his head to clear the cobwebs loose. “Holy balls I didn’t think that would be so mind numbing. I could barely think after they started.”

Crimson stretched and yawned like a cat while Loki rubbed her eyes with a fetlock. “Nothing like a massage with your mates to recover from a mission right?”

“You said it sister,” Loki clapped hooves with her fellow mare.

Highwind eased his feathers back down and hopped off the table to join them. “If I didn’t already have so much to do, I’d open a bar or something where humans can massage us or vice versa.” The mares cooed at the idea.

Finally remembering why he had come in the first place, Conrad jumped off the chair to approach his mates. “Listen, we have a major problem.”

Crimson’s at ease faded. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

“I tried to, but I couldn’t—look that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we need to talk about—“ He stopped and turned to Gil. “No offense, but this is a personal matter.”

Highwind hummed. “I understand. If you need me though, you know I’ll be ready to help.”

“I know you will good buddy.” The two pegasi slapped their wings together before Highwind departed. Conrad waited for him to leave before turning back to the mares. “Its about Alexia. She’s getting worse. I don’t know how, but we have to help her find a way to be a peace with the fact that she’ll outlive us all. Possibly by thousands of years.” He paused a moment to emphasis his point. “No matter how effective we are at keeping her from falling to lunacy, we can’t keep doing that from the grave.”

Loki frowned while pondering his statement. “Aren’t you the one who keeps telling her not to mourn us until we’re in said grave?”

“No, he’s right,” Crimson answered for him with a cool tone. “Just as our alpha watches over us, so to must we do her the same favor. We owe it to Alex to help prepare her for a prolonged life.”

The green mare didn’t really need much persuasion to help, only to be convinced that it could be done. “Okay, but how do we do that? There isn’t a therapist in the world that could help her with that. Except maybe hop her up on a bunch of pills.”

The stallion tapped his chin in contemplation. “Maybe… We shouldn’t look to this world at all.”

6: Machinations

Summer days, warm sands, and crashing waves were the most defining features of the beaches of Haywaii. The one where Celestia, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle currently sunbathed in was no different. The independent city-state was based on a large island and was populated by a race of pegasi whose wings were on average to be twice as long as an alicorn’s. The adaption was designed more for endurance gliding and riding the plentiful thermals that rose from the ocean than for the fast acrobatic fliers Equestrian pegasi were renowned for.

The islanders were a warm and accommodating people and welcomed both tourists and their money with open arms. The trio of alicorns were pampered guests of the islanders while the pony nation back home was run smoothly by a temporary regency.

Luna held a Poñi Colada in her magic and sipped it through a bendy straw as she sat on her lounge chair. “You know Tia, we really must get away from the nobility more often. Were it not for my vigil over the dreamscape those miserable ponies would make me lose sight of the commoners’ wishes and I believe that is their aim.”

The alabaster alicorn tilted her sunhat away from her eyes to smirk at her sister. “Yes, because vacationing on an island away from our subjects allows us to reconnect with the common folk.”

“And staying in a castle surrounded by the aristocracy does?” Luna countered with a flick of her wing against Celesta’s nose.

The elder alicorn took the light smack with a titter. “Well it helps to shuffle the advisory council every now and again. I think I shall enact one upon our return. Yet despite the nobility’s efforts, word has it that there are quite a few musicians experimenting with a new genera these days in the common quarters, though I have been far too busy to investigate it myself.”

Luna was intrigued and tapped her chin with a coy smile on her face. “I’ll have to find out more; even so, I’m rather disappointed in our subjects.”

Celestia lost a bit of her good humor at the slight sourness of her sister’s words. “In what way?”

“They haven’t expanded in the arts. The painting styles, sculpting, drama,” She twisted in her chair to look her sister in the eyes. “You do realize the classical music that is so popular in Canterlot today is the same exact thing as classical music was before my little—episode?”

Celestia frowned. If Luna was willing to bring up her banishment, which still pained the sisters, to prove a point then it was something she would heed. “What did you have in mind?”

Pleased to have a chance to sell her idea, Luna sat up in her chair to more comfortably face the alabaster mare. “Equestria needs a cultural revolution. An influx of new ideas to bring about a golden age for the arts.”

The elder sister hummed in contemplation. “It would get the nobles to spend less time exploiting the working class and if we play our cards right, we could get them to fund schools for the arts.”

“At the very least it might get them to stop pointing their snouts at the sky,” Luna huffed.

Celesta cast a sympathetic eye. “But where would we get these new ideas? Equestrians are already familiar with our allies’ cultures.”

Luna gave her a mischievous grin before craning her neck to look on the other side of her sister where the thus far silent purple pony lounged. “Twilight Sparkle. You’re still friends with that earthling Princess—Alexia Tune? If I’m not mistaken.”

Twilight slumped a little at the silver mare’s mention, a deep concern danced over her face before the purple pony kept her demeanor hidden behind her sunhat. “Yes, I am.”

From her angle, the lunar alicorn couldn’t detect Twilight’s trepidation. “I’ve heard you regale of Earth’s frighteningly powerful technology. But there must be a treasure trove of the arts that she can let us have, seeing as you’ve been granting her unlimited access to our own.”

Sparkle peeked out from her hat. “I’m sure she’ll say yes. Unfortunately the security measures in my tower and her tome will only let me and me alone hear or see anything on her end. If I had direct access to her tome I could change that, but as it is she could only give us literature.”

Luna was not to be dissuaded. “There is more than one way to send music at least. She could send sheet music through correct? Perhaps even the schematics to build the instruments Earth uses.”

Being more familiar with her favored student, Celestia saw there was something bothering her protégé and quickly guessed the subject without directly inferring to it. “What troubles you Twilight?”

The purple mare felt that the royal sisters’ rare vacation was the worst time to lay new worries on her fellow rulers, but she couldn’t refuse to answer her mentor. She gave a long sad sigh before speaking. “I’m worried what will happen to her. I don’t know if I can guide her through centuries of loneliness. Being a voice in a tome is no replacement for a friend or lover you can physically embrace.”

While eight years did wonders to mend the millennium long wound in Celesta’s heart at having to banish her sister, the solar alicorn only managed to remain sane thanks to the knowledge that her sister would return to her. “Then don’t guide her. Solve the problem instead.”

Both of the other alicorns gave her a quizzical look. “Sister, just what are you suggesting?”

“I am suggesting that Twilight find some way for Alexia to not be consumed by her agelessness.” She sat up to address her pupil directly. “This is more than just the fate of a single mare. As an alicorn, were she to fall to lunacy Earth may suddenly find itself besieged by an even more terrible foe than what it faces now.”

She turned to Luna who felt the corner of her mouth tug downward, but she felt strongly against letting her mistake be repeated by another. “Aye. It took you and your friends wielding the Elements to return me to my senses. I don’t know if Earth has anything that could bring down a nightmare crazed alicorn without resorting to lethal force. Do whatever it takes to keep Alexia from suffering as I did.”

Twilight abandoned her chair and any pretense of relaxing. “How should I do that? What are my limits here? Should I-”

Celestia gestured for silence. “Do whatever it takes Twilight Sparkle, you have free reign to enact a solution.”

Sparkle nodded with a set expression on her face. “I’ll get started right away.” Without further preamble she teleported away, leaving the two sisters alone.

Luna watched the spot Twilight had just vacated for a few moments before facing her older sister. “Tia. I know this is important, but are you sure it was wise to give Sparkle free reign? You know she still goes overboard at times.”

Celestia leaned back in her chair and dropped her hat over her eyes again. “I trust her implicitly Lulu, and she returns that trust in kind. This is a task that will need that overbearing nature of hers in order to solve it. You’ve seen what she’s made of the Dusk Guard.”

Luna shook her head. “I only know them to be an elite cadre of magi that follow Twilight’s directive.”

The elder alicorn smirked under her hat. Her mirth was evident in her voice. “She’s molded them into Equestria’s first real espionage agency without turning them into a secret police like the changelings possess.”

Luna arched her eyebrow. “How do you know the changelings have a secret police? Why would they even need one?”

Celestia levitated her own drink to sip from. “Twilight discovered the changelings are not quite so blindly devoted to Chrysalis as we once believed. Sparkle and her Dusk Guard have singlehoofedly stopped Chrysalis’s second invasion before it even left the badlands, eliminated an up and coming anti-Equestrian griffin warlord, covertly installed a pro-Equestrian government in Camelu before the last administration could sign a bill that would embargo us for some trivial offense to a lesser noble house, and subverted a plot to corrupt Discord back to his old ways. And that’s just the highlights of the past two years.”

Luna was aghast. “How have I not heard of any of this?”

The elder sister’s pride was plain to see. “Our little scholar has become quite a shrewd spymaster; I dare say the Dusk Guard and the changeling infiltrators are very competitive rivals. But if you took the time to read the reports she gives us you’d know.”

Luna recalled every time she met with Twilight for the past two years. Not once did Twilight seem to be different, more comfortable in her new duties to be sure, but never dropped a hint that she was horn deep in intrigue. “How did she come about such abilities?”

“It was an exchange of knowledge from Alexia. The earthling princess is part of an organization her nation calls the Central Intelligence Agency, a rather unassuming name for a group that regularly manipulates Earth’s politics on a global scale.” Luna was dumbstruck by such vast influence of what she originally assumed was a small spy ring. It only spurred Celestia to continue. “And they are by no means the only ones who use covert action to shape their world.” The solar diarch let her co-ruler digest the information a bit before speaking again. “And that’s just speaking of their astoundingly impressive talent for espionage. There is so much our two worlds can and are learning from one another. Our magic and their fresh ideas. Humanity is absolutely fascinating to read about. You should make the time to read Twilight’s letters about them Lulu. You might find the cultural inspiration you desire in what she’s already written.”

“I think I’ll do just that,” Luna slouched back in her chair. “But only after our vacation. If I have to read another scroll, be it tax law or intelligence reports it’ll be too soon.”

Three days had passed since the desert laboratory had been destroyed. Thompson sat quietly in his office while he reviewed a report from one of his other field team’s after-action report about the chaos surrounding Messina, Sicily. The air in his office was chilly, but the words on the report made the man even colder.

“Thousands dead, more infected, and the Italian navy had to shell their own people to enforce a quarantine. One I don’t think they’re in any position to keep anymore.” He steeped his hands and rested his forehead on them. “At least the four shipments out of the desert lab led to secondary targets that we were able to shut down without the local governments knowing of our involvement.” The Herald’s threat of more pathology labs still haunted him. The fact that he had no leads as to where to look only made matters worse for him.

It didn’t help his mood that half the Sicily team ended up dead with the other half making it to the evac helicopter barely alive. The worse one will be on convalescence leave for four months at best.

The depressing truth of it all was the Sicily report was the best news he’d received all month outside of Alexia’s action in Africa. He was about to go over the latest recruit files when a priority message from the analyst team supporting Alexia’s herd appeared on his computer. The face of a worn out balding man appeared showing more energy than his appearance seemed capable of. “Director, I have something you might be interested in before the full report is complete.”

“This is unlike you Vincent. What could be so important to have you of all people break standard procedure?”

Vincent’s eyes moved away from the camera as he typed in a few commands. “You’ll understand when you see one of the videos Agent Loki recovered from their last mission.”

Thompson saw the MP4 file the analyst wanted to send and he typed in his password to allow it to continue transferring into his workstation. He opened it while Vincent waited patiently for a response.

The video cut to an obese man floating in a transparent water tank with Mions and ponies gathered around to witness red scales growing along his arm, neck, and torso. Thompson listened intently to the conversation from what he surmised to be the lead researcher as he spouted off details about the rate of mutation in the subject.

The director raised a curious eyebrow when the subject’s lack of higher intelligence was brought up. Hopefully this problem is persistent among all new strains. It should buy us some time.

He watched the lead scientist about to physically abuse another when the female Mion’s voice took on an otherworldly sound. Thompson’s brow furrowed and dropped his hands away from his face as he listened to the conversation. He paused it to speak to Vincent. “Actual footage of the Herald? And here I thought it was just some made up god of theirs.”

“That’s not the most interesting thing though. Keep listening.”

The director complied and watched a bit more until Garrdoth said something that piqued Thompson’s interest. “Reside on the ocean floor?” He watched the video until the Herald left his puppet and paused it again. He noticed Vincent was nodding his head as the man knew what the Director wanted to know.

“Our findings thus far have determined this entity has a unifying influence on the cultists, but we have always assumed it was blind devotion to an imaginary being or enigmatic prophet.”

Thompson reversed the video to when the Mions were groveling to the puppet, but the ponies were not. He noticed the equines remained tactful, but showed no sign of the manic devotion the Mions displayed. “Seems the cult doesn’t care the ponies are non-believers.” I’ll come back to that later. “What I’d like to know is this talk about this shell of his—or hers.” The puppet made it difficult to determine the Herald’s gender. If it has one.

Vincent spun around in his chair to grab a piece of paper. “We think that someone might have detected whatever this shell is and caused the Herald to step up the timetable of their plans.”

Thompson scowled at the image of the puppet. “That would explain why this Yeta strain was shipped out unfinished.” He leaned back in his chair to think. “What does your team make of this?”

Vincent skimmed the paper he was holding. “The entity expressed concerns that someone detected his shell and the scientist’s remark on him residing on the ocean floor was not corrected or deemed false by the Herald by either word or body language. As such, we think this someone, who detected whatever this shell is, was most likely either a deep sea scientific expedition, a military submarine, or possibly a destroyer on a sub sweep. I find it difficult to believe the entity would get nervous if a random fisherman pinged this ‘shell’ with a fish finder.”

“This is of course assuming we can take this information at face value,” Thompson replied cautiously.

Vincent was too amped up on the finding to cast it aside. “The research team was extremely thorough in documenting their work. It’s likely there are more visits from the entity we haven’t come across yet or passed off as doping up on hallucinogens to commune with their god. I strongly believe this is legitimate.”

Thompson’s resources were stretched thin, and the loss of operatives nearly every week was not helping. “If the Herald is that worried about his shell then that might be a way to destabilize the cultists if we destroy it.” He stopped musing aloud and faced Vincent. “Gather a crew and go over any reports of unusual findings at sea. Hopefully it was done by a naval ship and the captain’s log will contain a record of the encounter.”

“I’ll get started right away Director.”

Vincent’s image vanished, leaving Thompson alone to figure out how to protect the nation against the ever-present threats abroad. I hope this isn’t a dead end lead.

Tzadavek propped his feet up on a battered wooden table inside a recently abandoned and bullet hole riddled farmhouse. Over the years his control over his minions had improved to the point where radio communications were no longer necessary, but he did have to use others to filter the constant chatter.

It was a bright day with only a few clouds in the sky, not that he could see it very well from within the kitchen. Things were going well for the Overseer and he felt particularly proud of himself as he watched, through the eyes of his agents, as a choking fungus called Dragon’s Teeth grew along much of the Midwestern farmlands. Great swaths of farmland were filled with pink fungal mushroom caps that ruined the soil for crops, due to selective soil pollution, while having minimal effect on wild plants and the fungus was perfectly edible by any wildlife.

Save pigs and primates, but it’s a necessary evil to fulfill our goals. A nearby newly infected was cooking a soup made of the fungus which Tzadavek had come to call, unimaginatively, Dragon Stew. The mushroom got the name from its appearance of lethally sharp teeth but a tactile inspection would reveal it was no more rigid than a bathing luffa. Whisker sat to his left on a creaking wooden chair. After the human aligned ponies made long term infiltration nigh impossible, he had been regulated to being the Overseer’s personal bodyguard and jailor of former secret service agent Menville.

Tzadavek puffed on a cigar and blew the smoke high into the air. “So Agent. We might as well get around to our daily question. Are you ready to serve the Herald in all things?”

The former presidential bodyguard barely looked like his old self. As with Whisker and the Overseer, Menville was a full Mion. He had red scaly skin with a few boney protrusions at various places. None of them interfered with freedom of movement, but they occasionally snagged on clothing. The only thing that separated him from the others was that he refused to surrender his will to the Herald and thus was still outside of the Link. He knew that was only still a reality because his will had not been forcibly taken from him.

“I will resist you until you finally let me die for real or when you strip me of my ability to do so. Not before.”

Whisker eyed the soup being placed in front of him by the silent chef. “Why do we even bother with him anymore? We’ve already converted his replacement and a dozen others, any knowledge he has is out of date.”

The Overseer kept a mildly jovial tone. “But he makes such a great conversationalist, does he not?”

“I suppose you want me to silently glower at you?”

Tzadavek guffawed at the Agent’s defiance. “Ahhh, Billy. You wouldn’t be as much fun if you did.”

As the steaming bowls were place in front of them a heavy presence in the Link let everyone except Menville know the Herald’s focus was upon them. Its resonating voice still reached everyone’s ears. “Tzadavek, Whisker. I have need of your memories.”

The Overseer remained seated. He felt no need to prostrate himself to a being that had no physical body. “What is mine is yours.”

Tzadavek and Whisker felt a slight pressure in their heads as the Herald pulled what he wanted from them. What he found was intriguing, but ultimately it was only data. If he wanted a second opinion on that knowledge he would need to ask.

“What do you know of American pony Special Forces who have access to teleportation?”

Whisker knew the question was directed at Tzadavek and him only while the Herald ignored the other two Mions. “I have only seen it in person once and that was over two years ago when my infiltration of Oppenheim was exposed.”

“I have not seen anything to suggest that any pony operative has ever displayed teleportation since then, but my domain is only within North America.” the Overseer added.

“This ability must be exceptionally rare,” the Herald mused aloud to the collected Mions. “There has been no record of any other pony displaying this ability in any part of the world. Perhaps this is a unique talent of a single individual rather than a group.”

Whisker mulled over an idea. “From what our allies have told us, only advanced practitioners of magic can accomplish much beyond telekinesis and kinetic energy bolts. They also need to know the exact formula for those advanced spells as well or else it fails.”

Tzadavek rocked in his chair a bit while Menville quaked in his seat. The former secret serviceman could only hear a thunderous voice answer his two constant tormentors. Every word it uttered was like a hammer blow to his psyche, yet he couldn’t understand any of it, save for the dominating command to submit. Had the Herald wished it, breaking Menville’s now feeble resistance would have been child’s play. The only reason why he didn’t is because Tzadavek asked that the former presidential bodyguard be left alone to eventually side with the Mions.

The Herald skimmed the memories he gathered from Whisker. “Odd. The pony that displayed teleportation two years ago was female, but the one I talked to was male.”

With his master debunking his own theory, Whisker offered a different one. “Perhaps it’s not completely unique, but only teachable to a select few with the talent to use it, it could be limited by genetic factors. That could be why we haven’t seen its use until now.”

Whisker took little notice of the Agent’s physical display of strain and pain as he moved on to expand on his theory. “Since we haven’t heard of this female user in all this time, it’s likely that the CIA has been using her to seek out others who are capable of casting teleportation.”

The Overseer knew where this was going to lead. “There’s only one place I know of as to where we can ascertain the location of this female agent; the pony city of Trinity in California. I know the agency uses the town as their headquarters and training site. Unfortunately that also makes it more difficult seeing as it’s constantly monitored by their damnable detection arrays.”

“So we know the where, but as for the who—“ The Herald searched his minions’ memories again. “The best place to start would be that princess of theirs, Alexia Tune.”

Whisker idly scratched his arm as he thought about it. “It is no secret that she’s the most knowledgeable person on the subject of magic on Earth. Although we have no information about her role within the CIA.”

The Herald briefly contemplated the information until he reached a decision. “Then start there. I will leave the method up to you, but I want the secrets of teleportation for ourselves or at least deny this asset to humanity. Even if the princess cannot use the spell herself, I surmise she at least knows the incantation. Persuade her and anyone else who can use the spell to join us or kill them, I care not which.”

Whisker was dubious of bringing her in alive. “With all due respect my lord, we should forgo trying to persuade her. Outside of the Americas, our propaganda campaign been aimed to make our equine allies think she’s dead. Her actual status could make it difficult to retain their loyalty if the truth came out.”

“Or—“ Tzadavek interjected. “We play up her apparent status as a god to these technicolored quadrupeds and the ponies of the world would fall over themselves to join the cause.”

The Herald gave an audible hum of interest. “Elaborate.”

He dropped his legs off the table and stood up in conniving excitement. “Picture this. We’ve already told the ponies outside of North America that the humans killed their god-princess. The only reason we haven’t done it here is because they could just run over to Trinity and see the truth for themselves. Since most international airports have shutdown and almost all mass media being strictly controlled by the governments of the world, we’ve been able to make most ponies believe the Americans meaning humans, by extension, killed her. But a god isn’t so easily put down right?” he asked mockingly.

A wave of dark mirth wafted off the Herald’s presence in the Link. “If we turn her to our banner, we can make her say that she reincarnated herself and is calling for a holy war against their human oppressors. Even those that don’t believe she’s a god will be hard pressed by their brethren to join in. If we play it right, only a scant few will still remain by humanity’s side and they will be ostracized due to the actions of the rest of ponykind.”

“And if she doesn’t want to join us?” Whisker asked flatly.

“Every non-Mion has some sort of weakness,” the Herald declared. “Money, sport, thrill, family, even something as simple as having food three times a day. Your idea has merit Overseer. Make it happen.”

He bowed theatrically to the empty air. “It will be done.”

They felt the Herald’s attention shift towards Menville. “I grow tired of this one remaining outside of my control. Break him in a month or I will do it for you.”

Tzadavek surmised he was only being given that amount of time at all was because of the plan he had just submitted to his master. “I’ll see that it is done my lord.”

The Herald departed to tend to other matters. Whisker gave his superior a sidelong glance. “So, who’s it going to be? I know you couldn’t have come up with something like that on the spot.”

Menville was nursing a pounding headache as he tried to listen to the conversation. Tzadavek sneered while rising his hands up in surrender. “You got me. But it’s not really a plan per say.” He lowered his hands to begin eating his soup. “But I know someone who’s been dying to do more than just act as a one pony butcher shop.”

Screams of pain and agony were a common occurrence in a small poorly cleaned barn ten miles from the Overseer’s farmhouse. Tina Star was a golden furred unicorn with a cyan mane and had splashes of blood, both fresh and dry from this morning, covering her neck and chest. The mare possessed amber wild eyes that spoke of an individual who was less than sane. Her barrel and neck held many scars that were barely visible beneath her fur. Tina happily hummed to the stereo that was playing The King and I as she held an electric bone-saw in her kinesis as she amputated the left leg off the male Mion who seemed to make it his mission to drown out the song with his pained screaming.

The mare happily cauterized the stub with a blowtorch until there was nothing left but half of the thigh and blackened meat. “There we are.” She arched a disappointed eyebrow at the Mion as he whimpered on the table. “Oh don’t be such a baby. Legs grow back… well they do now anyway.”

He stopped weeping in pain and struggled against the table’s restrains to try and strangle her. “Why didn’t you at least use some fucking painkillers!?”

The unicorn casually stepped back while whistling to the song as she started cleaning her equipment. She paid him no mind as he growled more insults at her. She finally answered him after the song ended. “I’m not wasting anesthetics on you when you can be revived after death anyway.”

He kept struggling against his restraints, more so out of pain than desire to strangle her. “That doesn’t mean I don’t feel pain you demented quack!”

With startling speed, the mare raced over from the sink that was ten meters away and stuck her muzzle in his face with an iron poker in her magic. “Why would you want to stop experiencing pain?!” She stabbed him on the fleshy stub of his leg as the bone and sinew started to slowly grow back. “Pain means you’re alive! That the world around you is real! Oh, how I wish I could experience death and live to tell about it.”

His cries of agony meant nothing to her. “I really don’t know why a Mion would really care about pain anyway. Your body is transient and yet you still avoid pain like you were still human.”

He poured pure malice and hate into his gaze and words. “My body isn’t transient. I have to keep this one intact.”

That caused the mare to stop jabbing the poker in his leg. “Oh? Well you’re clearly capable of conversation, so you’re not one of the fodder they keep sending me to chop up. So tell me, did you just recently regain your intelligence or did you—“ she leaned back with a superior smirk. “Fall from grace?”

His lack of an answer, aside from glowering at her, spoke volumes. “Well don’t feel too bad dear. I’m sure you’ll get in the Herald’s favor again.” She looked at his leg which was not healing as fast as she thought it should be.

Without ceremony, she undid the straps, grabbed a crutch in her magic and levitated it over to him. “The new regeneration strain in the standard Mion DNA will probably time some time to fully activate, but some good old fashion protein would be useful.”

He shuffled his good leg off the table and made ready to stand up with the crutch placed under his armpit when his severed leg came flying and hit him square in the chest. “There you go darling. Enjoy.”

He gave the limb, which had been badly mangled by a farming machine, a nauseated look. “What the hell do you want me to do with this? If I could have safely regenerated with it still attached then why give it back now?”

The unlicensed physician gave him an incredulous look. “Why you should eat it of course. You need to regrow that leg and what better way is there to do that then to eat the old one.”

There were a lot of things the Mion had done since he was infected, many of which could be classified as depraved, not that any morality matter to him outside of obeying the Herald. Yet the consumption of intelligent flesh, be it human, pony, or Mion, was beyond him. “You’re sick you know that?”

She tutted and lightly rapped his head with the blunt side of the still bloody bone-saw. “Now, now, you have to listen to the doctor’s orders.” She had a feral glint in her eye that told him compliance was not optional. “I suggest adding garlic salt and some steak sauce if you can find any. This dragon’s teeth diet we seem to be stuck on makes meat a little…bland.”

Before he could slink away from the blood flecked mare with a cyan mane, a phone rang nearby with the sound of a tolling funeral bell ringtone. She jumped away from him to find it. “Go on get out of here unless you want to regrow an arm next.”

One of the things the cult was trying to keep active was the phone and internet services as both were too useful to allow either to collapse. The mare found her phone on the third ring and saw the caller ID was the Overseer and happily answered it. “Tazzy! You really should call more often. How are you?”

The Overseer rather enjoyed her chipper attitude and returned it. “Just another day at the office Tina. How about yourself?”

She gave a high society lady-like groan. “You would not believe how whiny some of your minions are. I’ll never understand why a race that doesn’t fear death can cry over a pinprick.”

He adopted a sympathetic tone. “Even more so since we can regenerate limbs now.”

“I knew you’d agree with me, great minds and all. I mean honestly. I strongly suggest the next improvement you people make is to cut down on the whining.” They shared a chuckle before she continued. “So tell me Tazzy, is this a pleasure call or business?”

His tone remained playful. “Business actually. Our disembodied boss has finally lifted his protection over Trinity.”

She gasped in restrained delight. “And the goddess? What of her?”

“That’s where you come in. He wants one of two things to occur. Either we convince the princess to side with us—“ she gave an almost inaudible moan of disappointment. “or, we kill her.”

The unicorn’s face was split by a murderous grin. “And I have permission to do the deed?”

She could feel him smile on the other end. “Only after you attempt to convince her to side with us. We could use her knowledge on magic.”

Her displeasure was clearly evident. “Oh poo, I was afraid you’d say that.” She used her magic to pull some errant hair from her eyes and regain some composure. “Very well Tazzy, I will make the attempt but I highly doubt the man lover would ever side with us.”

“You’re free to use whatever leverage you deem necessary, but I want you to put forth some actual effort into turning her. No half-assery.”

“As you wish my dear. Ta ta.” She hung up the phone and placed it back on the table. Tina Star stood there in quiet contemplation for several minutes before she started to pack her bags full of what few personal belongings she possessed. “I sincerely hope you decline Alex my dear, I really do.” She found a case for her surgical equipment and started packing them inside.” Two of her bone-saw blades flew to hover directly in front of her so she could inspect their edges. “You may be a god, but I will go down in history as a god killer.” She ran the edge of her hoof along the saws and found the sharpness to be adequate. “But she’s just for practice. When the Koridost arrive, I’ll earn the title of God Slayer and make my immortality greater than any of theirs.”

The universe did just fine without gods, and it’ll do so again when I cleanse them from existence. And who knows, The mare turned her head around to look at her blank flank. Maybe I’ll earn my brand for killing my goddess. I wonder what it’ll look like.

Author's Note

Its official, Spyity is now canon. :trollestia:

7:Turncoats and Symbiosis

7:Turncoats and Symbiosis

Buraddi Mari couldn’t get Alexia out of her mind, and mostly didn’t want to. For the past three days, the princess met with the hematologist to leverage her passive aura to win the scientist over under the honest pretense of gathering information out of her. The thing that tore at Mari’s loyalty to the Mion cult was that Tune fully explained why the pegasus felt the way she did every time the alicorn talked with her.

Currently the captive scientist was laying on her cot trying in vain to preen her pained feathers. So many were out of place or too damaged to remain, yet like bathing, preening was impossible for a pony to complete on their own. What preening she could do on her own was only to keep her mouth and hooves busy as her mind constantly wandered back to the silver and azure alicorn. What are you Alexia Tune? Are you really a goddess like my heart demands that I acknowledge, or are you as you say: a rare type of pony?

The pegasus winced as she plucked a broken feather out. The bruises from her initial extraction were invisible under her fur and feathers, but she felt them all the same. Her innate healing had repaired the more limiting damage, torn ligaments, cut skin, and overextended joints, but minor things like bruises and shallow abrasions did not heal at an accelerated rate. Buraddi’s scientific curiosity would have been all over why a pony’s body made such distinctions, but again her mind kept slipping over to Alexia.

I can’t believe she would be so honest with me and told me why her passive magic affects me so. She could have let her magic play with my mind and I would be hers without her ever having to lift a finger.
The red pony clutched her head in her hooves to try and do something about the massive headache forming due to her frayed emotions. Alexia says she made a home for us in the States. She even found people willing to completely integrate both of our species. Is Trinity real? Is there really a place where humans and ponies live together as Terrans?

She has plenty of reason to lie. She wants me to give up everything I know. Should I? Are the humans just using her and our kind?

Isn’t the cult doing the exact same thing? A random thought queried in the back of her mind.

The mare saw the broken feather in her hoof as a reflection of its former owner. “Of course they’re using her,” she spat in Japanese before conceding to the random thought’s point. “But the Mions lied to us, and are using us just as much as the humans would or are.”

In the end, all of her questions boiled down to one. “Who would abuse me the least?”

She dropped the feather on the floor and lifted her other wing into view. Over a dozen misaligned or damaged feathers met her eyes, giving her wing a badly disheveled look. We ponies are too scattered throughout the world and the Mions and humans are too powerful to strike out for independence. I have to choose who I want to win… Who to side with.

The horrifying memory of when she was dangling in the air in front of a furious unicorn in the biology lab flashed before her eyes. In all of her years, Mari had never been so scared. During the massacre in Xi’an, the humans had tried to gun her down at a distance rather than get up close and personal. The red pegasus believed the massacre was ultimately an impersonal affair brought upon by acute xenophobia. On the other hand, the ebony haired mare knew the unicorn stallion, which unbeknownst to Buraddi was actually Alexia, took personal offense by the purpose of the underground facility and was inches from seeking retribution on her as he did to Mari’s other coworkers.

Despite his hate, he spared me in the end. He could have killed me in an instant, yet he spared me so I could give him my secrets, or give them to his princess.

Reliving it made her hold her wings in tight and wrapped herself in the thin blanket of her cot to try and shield herself from the waking nightmare. Did I really deserve his mercy? No one gets that angry without reason; he had to have known what we were making and wanted revenge. The realization stabbed her in the heart, making her weep. “He wanted vengeance because we wanted to wipe out humanity. Why would he get angry over that if he was being mistreated by them? Does he have human friends or family? Does he think of himself as a Terran?”

The Mions were allies, but I never made friends with any. Tears streamed down her face as the revelations further compounded her guilt. “I was working to kill his friends, his family, all because I was so ready to blindly accept the Mions’ lies as truth… He had every right to kill me,” she whispered to herself.

It doesn’t matter if I convinced myself that my work would kill those inhuman animals in Xi’an. The virus, the Mions are here to kill or convert every human on the planet. All those people I was ready to consign to death—what have I become?

Her existential crisis made Mari weep silently for over an hour. She did not want to have her break down broadcast to the warden so she wrapped her thin pillow around her muzzle and shed her tears into it. In her depression, Mari felt as if her whole body ached from a lingering pain that never ceased except for when Alexia talked to her. Again Tune explained the reason behind it, but that only made it worse for Buraddi emotionally.

I’m no better than the Chinese who tried to kill me. No, I’m worse. They tried to kill a few thousand of us, so I tried to kill every last human on Earth. Why did I ever let myself think they deserved that? She curled into a fetal position on her cot. Wracking sobs escaped the pillow and leaked into the hallway. “I’m a monster.”

Alexia arrived a few minutes later for her daily questioning. Mari heard the muffled voices of the alicorn conversing with the warden and silenced her sobs. She flipped her pillow over and tried to rub the tears from her face, cursing her fur for clinging to the salty liquid. There was no way she could hide the smell of her tears, but she tried to at least mask the wet lines on her face.

Alexia entered the cell giving the crying mare a careful look as she tried to recompose herself. The alicorn decided to let the red pegasus keep her dignity and ignored the tear stains on her face.

To Mari, Alexia’s voice soothed the constant dull pain she felt in every part of her body, which was more intense around her carbuncle and brain. Tune gave the red mare a chilly but not unwelcome small smile. “How are you today Buraddi?”

The pegasus’s ears drooped a bit from the equally chilly tone of voice before they perked back up again as the throb all over her body melted away and she felt reinvigorated as the alicorn magic that was so intrinsic to Alexia’s being, worked on conforming the red pony’s spirit to match its shell.

“I’m doing a little better. Thank you for caring,” she said weakly.

Tune gave the red mare a searching gaze. The princess still felt guilty about nearly taking this mare’s life when she had no means to fight back. However she couldn’t let that guilt show. “We don’t have to be enemies Mari. I would hope by now you would understand that.”

“I—I know,” Buraddi replied sullenly.

“Good. Now why don’t we begin again,” Alexia felt her impatience slip through her control at the same topic she discussed every time she visited. Yet she noticed that the red pegasus was far less hostile and more docile than when they started three days ago.

“I’ll tell you everything,” the pegasus mare interrupted with her head hanging limp in trepidation.

Alexia stopped speaking at the sudden yet quiet declaration. “Will you?” she asked carefully.

“Yes.” Mari looked up, sorrow and pleading painfully evident on her features. “But—can I request just one thing?”

“Depends,” Tune said coolly, “but I’m listening.”

Shoring up her courage to voice the one thing she felt was the most selfish thing in the world to ask. “Can I be a Terran? Even if you have to execute me afterwards, please let me be a Terran for at least one day.”

The question was not all together unexpected. The whole point of Alexia’s visits was to let her alicorn magic help convince Buraddi to switch sides. Alexia felt rather guilty about that subtle manipulation, but her conscious was soothed by not only explaining it to Mari, but also the fact that she was doing it to protect humanity. “I don’t know. Anyone who calls themself a Terran must be able to look beyond what species they are. Human or pony, both are equal members of a singular society. I don’t know if they’ll accept someone who was willing to commit specicide against their own.”

Mari’s ears fell flat and her tail instinctively tucked between her legs. “I understand,” she replied despondently. “Both you and they have every right to refuse me.”

“Maybe so,” Alexia said flatly, “but that doesn’t mean you will get the easy way out via execution. If you wish to follow a more difficult path and atone for your crimes, I can find a place for you in Trinity. Revenge against those who tried to massacre both you and your fellow captives in China is not justification for what you worked to achieve. Even if it is an understandable motivation.”

Mari desperately wanted to convince the mare in front of her to accept her. Fortunately the red pony knew enough about the silver mare to avoid referring to Alexia as a deity in any capacity. “I’ll do anything, tell you anything you want to know Princess.” She bowed as low as possible, which was quite a lot for a pony.

Tune kept her words cold, but her tone warm. “Giving me what information I require is a good first step, so we’ll start with that.”

The silver mare withdrew her smartpad from her black satchel while gesturing with a wing for the pegasus to rise. Tune sat on her haunches and began her questioning. “First off. Since I know you have done extensive work on the Mion plague; does a cure exist, or possibly for a one to be created?”

The relief that had flooded Buraddi at the idea of being given a chance was blunted by the very first question. “No. The changes are too thorough, and the victim’s mind and body are far too dependent on the Link to ever be severed again.”

Really now? Tune managed to keep her intense curiosity hidden under years of practice in front of the camera. “In what way? Do they die upon being severed or…?” She trailed off for Mari to answer.

“I’ve only seen it one time while I was there. It was when one of the warehouse staff broke one of the pillars in the large shelves, damaging sensitive equipment and breaking fifty water drums in the process. That’s hard to come by in the desert. As punishment, she was severed from the Link for a week.” A shadow fell over Buraddi’s face. “I stayed away from the whole thing and tried to cast it out of my mind, but I still heard people talk. They said she went completely feral within two days and was little more than an animal at the end.”

Mari shivered at the recollection. “And she—she changed physically too. Parts of her atrophied rapidly after the second day while other parts became overly muscle bound. If I didn’t know what she looked like going in, I would never have guessed the—thing.”

Mari shrunk into herself to try and get the haunting memory of a gorilla sized beast trying to smash out of its cage. The cage was covered in a tarp and rolled away in the wee hours of the morning when very few ponies would be present. Mari pressed herself against the wall of the hallway to let the guards cart the beast away. A nearby air duct blew part of the tarp open and a single maddened eye zeroed in on the red pegasus sweating against the wall.

Buraddi snapped herself back to present to keep speaking. If I keep talking I get to be a Terran. Just keep talking. “I wouldn’t have known Garrdoth was the one who sentenced her had I not overheard about it later that night during dinner. After the worker's scheduled released, she determined to be too far gone to recover and had the worker taken to the lower labs. I don’t know what happened after that.”

Note to self: inquire on the effects of the Link later. Alexia was glad to know of a weakness and pressed on. “What do you know of the engineering behind the basic plague that’s in the clouds? I know that your lab was tasked to create new strains, but how was the original created?”

Mari felt chills and sat back to run her forelegs together to get rid of them. “I know that thing is a work of art. I know its purpose is horrid, but if you look at it from a scientific standpoint, the design behind it is perfect. It attacks everything in the human body, nervous system, heart, lungs, the skin, nothing is left unaffected.”

Tune’s mouth was a pressed line of mild irritation. “That’s good information to have but not the answer I’m looking for. I need to know how long it took to engineer, was it done here on Earth or by a cloaked ship in orbit perhaps?”

Mari shook her head. “Oh it certainly wasn’t done on Earth. That thing was crafted by someone or something that makes our skill at genetic engineering look like a mouse going up against a tiger. Even with such a technological gap, I still find it hard to believe this could have been so perfectly tailored to humanity without thousands of test subjects over multiple generations.”

The silver mare was starting to get a headache from the partial answers. If it hadn’t been for Twilight going off similar tangents with her lessons in magic, Tune would have suspected the hematologist was being evasive on purpose. She abandoned some of her decorum and pressed the bridge of her muzzle to keep her annoyance in check. “Let me ask this another way. Where are the clouds, which are currently falling on the Earth on a daily basis, coming from? Is it a ship in orbit or is it a ground facility?”

Mari fiddled with her hooves nervously at vexing her only ticket to freedom. “There is no cloaked vessel or ground cloud manufacturing and release centers as far as I’m aware of. I was told it all came from that meteor that crashed in the ocean a few years ago.”

“Meteor? You mean the thing that damaged the western seaboard with the resultant tsunami?”

“That’s right. I don’t know if the meteor was just a big rock or it had some kind of machine in it, but that’s the source of all clouds, and the Mions. They talked about it all the time in the cafeterias on how it was the chariot that brought salvation.” The red mare pawed the metal floor with a hoof. “At least those that bought the whole charade with the Herald being a god and what not.”

Alexia nearly dropped her tablet out of shock. “You mean to tell me not all Mions believed the Herald to be a god?”

Mari shrugged with her wings. “The nonbelievers are actually in the majority. The Herald doesn’t seem to care or else I’m sure those that do would have warred about it, or the nonbelievers would have been forced to by the Herald in either case.”

Tune hid her stunned expression as best she could behind the tablet. I don’t understand. I thought the Herald bound them together in some cult. She peeked out from behind the smartpad. “And you’re absolutely sure about this?”

Buraddi nodded. “Yes ma’am. I’ve sat with both types at meal tables, there were some snide remarks back and forth, but no dissent outside of that.”

Alexia tsked at the complete lack of intelligence. Were we so blinded by the obvious zealots that we didn’t imagine some didn’t think of the Herald as a deity? Thompson needs to know about this so he can update the psychological profiles.

After writing in her notes, Tune continued her questioning. “Do you know of any other research lab locations or how they planned to deploy the bioweapon?”

“I don’t know how the—wait.” The red mare searched her memory but found the exact information difficult to get a grip on without her notes. “The virus we were working on was going to be an airborne pathogen. I remember that it was designed to decay if not within the human bloodstream, I’d say somewhere around a week at most.”

“Do you think the other labs will use similar decay guidelines?”

“I don’t know for certain, but that was a factor set by the Herald himself so I’d imagine so. As for other lab locations—” She scratched her head as she tried to wrestle her brain for a conversation she heard over two months ago in passing. Alexia suspected Thompson might have already gleaned this information from the data Loki recovered. This was more of a test of loyalty and to fill in any gaps Loki’s data might leave behind. “Hairy…no. Cherry… that’s not it. Berry!” Mari jumped slightly at finally grabbing the right memory. “Berry College in America! That’s where we were received the Fulcrum Strain to be modified into the Yeta.”

Loki told me a place called Berry College was mentioned in the analyst report we got back this morning. But its significance was unknown. It may be too late to stop the weapon from being shipped out, but we need to close that facility. She saved her notes and put the pad away. “Thank you for your cooperation Mari. I’ll have you transported to the States for further debriefing.”

Buraddi was afraid to ask, but curiosity got the better of her. “What’s going to happen to me?”

Alexia stood there for a moment to ponder the answer. She felt it was the least she owed the scientist for her assistance. “If everything you’ve told me today and those who will handle your debriefing checks out, I’m sure you’ll placed with a research division on working on a vaccine for the plague, or at the very least a counter agent. As for your personal life, if you truly wish to be a Terran, you will have the same liberties as any other enjoys in time. My commander will still be wary of you for quite a while.”

The pegasus was flabbergasted and it showed plainly on her face. “Y-you mean no prison time or execution?”

Tune gave a coy grin. “Mari. Are you familiar with Operation Paperclip?”

“So everything she said is on the level?” Alexia asked Thompson via her satellite phone while she stood on the stern facing open walkway on the Bush’s control tower. It was the only place open to the sky that she was authorized to be as the captain refused to let anyone on the flight deck except for its operators, pilots, and personnel moving in or out of a transport.

“The data you sent back corroborates her information. I’ll have her inducted into Operation Snapper.”

Alexia sighed in relief. “Thank you Director. She’s willing to make amends so I want her to be given a chance to do so through more than living out her days behind bars or the electric chair.”

While she was technically his subordinate, Thompson valued her input immensely. “I understand Agent, but the brass is getting more desperate to keep order wherever they can. There are limits I will have to enforce on Mari.”

Tune suppressed a sad sigh. She spent most of her two years as a princess honing her diplomacy and knew how to speak to him. “I know sir. But forgiveness is a more powerful of a weapon than any nuke. In both cases you eliminate an enemy, but with forgiveness you create an ally. Make her feel welcome and I know you’ll likely not see a more steadfast patriot than her.”

“And what of the Mions and those ponies who side with them because they genuinely agree with their cause?” Thompson countered.

The politician in her was in full swing and she answered with a grin. “Sir, just like any other weapon, you have to know when its use is appropriate. In Buraddi’s case, I think forgiveness and acceptance will be the most powerful and effective one you have in your arsenal. I’ve opened the door for its use, all you have to do is walk through.”

He was silent for several seconds as he mulled over her response. I hope she never runs for office or tries to make herself a queen. Alexia waited patiently for his reply which came with a hint of conceding to her point. “Alright Agent. I’ll do it your way on this one.”

“Thank you Director. I have a strong feeling she will work out well for us.”

“I’ll hope you’re right. Back to other matters, we could not glean any information on the locations of the other laboratories. Yet we did find out several targets that Mions were planning to hit on across the globe. I’ve already forwarded the information on the US targets to the FBI so they can handle it. I have sent warnings to the other nations, but we have no way of knowing how much the cult as infiltrated in other counties. The Mions may just switch targets.”

The Director stopped speaking when he heard a fighter craft landing on the carrier. The noise, even from the distance of the control tower, was painfully loud to the alicorn’s extra sensitive hearing and she flattened her ears while pressing a hoof to the ear closest to the aircraft. When the noise subsided he continued. “However I want you and the eighty second to handle the college personally.”

Despite the bitterly cold night, Tune started sweating at the implications. “I know things aren’t going that well at home, but are we really so far gone that the National Guard can’t be used instead? We’re supposed to handle threats abroad aren’t we?”

Thompson’s voice was muffled by the wind and another aircraft coming in for a landing, but Alexia could hear the fatigue in the prematurely aging man’s voice. Its never a good sign when one of our own only listens to what we let the media tell people. “Agent—Northern Georgia is part of the US in name only anymore. Everything north of downtown Atlanta is out of our control and up towards Knoxville has been abandoned by the government to reinforce major urban centers. We’re losing control over much of rural America. So in a roundabout way, we can act upon this without the FBI being able to make a substantial claim against jurisdiction impediment.”

Tune had to take a few moments to recover from the horrifying news. “That’s why the FDA approval over magically grown food was rushed.”

“Afraid so. The other earth ponies who are still waiting for Trinity to be able to support a larger population are helping the land between the Rockies and the western seaboard become our primary agricultural center for the nation. Food exports are nearly nonexistent now.”

The silver alicorn felt guilty over eating so much on her return from the Algeria mission. “What do you expect us to find?”

“By looks of things, this was the place where much of the research on the original plague was done. But there’s no indication on whether it remains active or was abandoned. If the place is still intact, it could lead us to potentially critical information we need to work on a counter agent.”

Something about that bugged the princess immensely. “The data on Berry College said the facility only did research on just the original strain, correct?”

Thompson wasn’t sure were this line of inquire was headed, but answered her plainly. “That’s right.”

“What I don’t get is, why would they need to? Wouldn’t the Herald already give them that information right at the start?”

I hadn’t thought of that. The Director shared her confusion the moment she voiced it. It made him believe this assignment would be all the more important. “Hopefully you’ll find out once you get there. The Army commanders were quite pleased with your work in making the eighty second’s follow up operation go off without friendly causalities. If this track record of success continues they’ll be investigating making this sort of joint operation more common place between the CIA and the Army. So they’re temporarily assigning the platoon on the Bush to be your support for all future operations.”

“I’m flattered, but doesn’t the Army have Special Forces of their own?”

“They do, and the eighty second counts as one of them. But I’m sure you already knew that,” he added with the barest hint of sarcasm. Alexia’s wings fidgeted at the verbal jab while he switched topics to avoid any further embarrassment for her. “I have a C-130 en route and should be landing within six hours to gather you, the troopers, and the hematologist. I advise you get some rest in the meantime.”

It would not seem like much to some, but the odd word of professional endearment from the Director made Alexia smile slightly. “I will. Thanks for the advice.”

“Of course. Mercer will have more details for you by the time transport arrives. Good luck Secret Agent.”

As the alicorn ended the call she felt a niggling tickle in the back of her mind. She passed it off as mild seasickness coupled with the upcoming operation. I think I’ll call Beth and the other to see how the foals are doing.

Little did she know, there was nearly two hundred ponies all joined in prayer. All in worship to the Alicorn of Life. Between Reed and Yakim, the Congregation was spreading quickly among new arrivals seeking an audience with the princess and those that the two self-appointed missionaries believed could be brought into the fold.

Standing alone in the herd’s quarters, Conrad gripped one of Alexia’s reservoir crystals in his hooves and had a simple summoning array drawn on the floor with a black dry erase marker he absconded from the briefing room. “Come on, I should have gotten it right this time.”

He placed the crystal on the edge of the array and it lit up correctly. Whew good, any second now— With a whoosh of displacing air, Alexia’s tome materialized into being. “Finally.”

“Knowing Alex, she’ll head to the rec room to look for us after her call with the boss. Hopefully the girls will be able to keep Alex busy there to give me time to do this.” He flipped to the Dusk Guard section and tapped the reservoir crystal to the page. “Unlock.”

The intricate magical lock on the golden page remained passive. He scowled at the resistant paper. “Come on, all I should need is her mana and passphrase to get it to open up.”

He tried a dozen times to open it but to no avail. At least that’s what he thought when he almost gave up and rolled the half spent crystal away to think of a different tactic. “Great, I doubt there’s a solution to Alex’s problem in the civilian pages.”

His efforts to access the Dusk Guard section, grabbed Twilight’s attention and the tome activated with the purple princess’s hologram ready to attack. “Who dar-“ she hesitated at seeing the brown pegasus. “Oh, hello Conrad.” She looked around room that looked too much like a cell to the Equestrian pony. “Where are you?”

“That’s ahh…classified. Sorry,” he responded evasively.

Sparkle regarded the tight steel room with only a few adornments. If the walls and floor had been made of wood, the princess would have believed Conrad was on a ship, but steel seemed too outlandish for such a construction material to her. I’ll ask later. “I understand. I thought someone had stolen your tome.”

“Well I sort of did. Alexia doesn’t know about this.”

Twilight was confused and narrowed her eyes. “Why deceive her like this? Especially to try and get my attention when you know I’d tell her.”

Conrad looked the purple alicorn in the eyes to convey his seriousness. “Alexia’s anxiety is getting worse. When we’re here behind the lines, she acts like her usual self most of the time. But lately when we were on the last assignment, she’s been letting her fear of eventual loneliness tint her actions. I wanted to ask you if there was any possibility of giving or making a companion for her that will live as long as she will.”

The purple mare scrunched her muzzle in contemplation. “I was starting to work on that very problem a few days ago. Even so, that still doesn’t explain why you are going behind her back.”

“Because if there isn’t a solution, I’d rather not let her hear that. Better to keep her ignorant than get her hopes up only to crush them again.”

“Or the solution would not be to her liking.” Twilight detested keeping secrets from her friends, but it was the nature of her position as mistress of the Dusk Guard. Conrad was glad to have her understanding and it showed in his face. “Where is Alexia now?”

Conrad shifted his gaze away from Twilight with an uncomfortable look on his face. “She’s in the rec room with the others getting petted no doubt.”

“Petted?” Twilight arched an eyebrow at that.

Conrad wasn’t happy that a different term had not been made to replace petting. “It’s a long story,” he replied while waving it off with a wing. “Something Crimson calls a ‘symbiotic bonding experience’ or some such.”

“…Well I doubt she’d willingly subject herself to anything that was demeaning. As for your request however, I already came to the same conclusion that she needs someone to be able to endure the long years with her. But then again, it may be just as important for her to learn how to let go after someone dies and be able to kindle new relationships.”

The pegasus grimaced at the prospect. “While I suspect that will be the most likely solution, I consider that to be the worst case answer. I know Alex, she needs a partner in life. If she can learn how to do just that, then I’d be happy with it. I don’t care if it’s me or someone else, but Alex needs someone she can wake up to the morning and know that she’s loved.” Well, by more than those nuts trying to worship her anyway. He shook the tangent thought away to continue. “And if that’s the healthiest solution, I would be happier knowing she could love another stallion or herd instead of clinging to our memory.”

Twilight felt the tension in her withers evaporate at his pronouncement. I should have known that he of all ponies would keep Alex’s best interests at heart. “She’s lucky to have you Conrad.”

He gave her a wiry grin. “I got to be her first mate and the father of her children. I’m the lucky one here.”

“A fair point.” She would have laughed were it not for the subject at hand. Instead she opted for a small but genuine smile. “Well as I said I have only recently been looking into a solution for this problem. Its good to know that if said answer is less than ideal, that I’ll have your support in carrying it out.”

“I speak for Crimson and Loki as well. We want our legacy to be Alexia being able to live healthily through her ageless life.”

It was a way of sugarcoating that he didn’t want Tune to go insane, and Twilight knew it. “Well I have some preliminary ideas, but I don’t want to share them quite yet until I do more research. But rest assured that I am working on this. Until you decide to tell Alex of this, you’ll need a way to get my attention without tripping the tome’s defense wards.”

Twilight’s horn lit up and latched on to the reservoir crystal nearby and used it to fuel an identification marker on him. One was not needed on Alexia anymore thanks to the distinct signature of her alicorn magic acting as a natural substitute. It was that unique feature that allowed Twilight to do the same to Conrad. The reason Conrad failed was because he was missing the tome’s key which still resided in Alexia’s hoof.

The presence of the crystal puzzled her though and she voiced her curiosity while channeling the spell. “Why does Alex even need a reservoir crystal anymore?”

Conrad watched the solidified mana of his alpha slowly break apart and become a mist around him. “She keeps it for the three of us actually. We need her mana to summon the tome back and forth to study the civilian pages. She’s not always available to summon it herself.”

Sparkle finished weaving the spell as the mist sank into the stallion’s body. It would be nigh undetectable and would be missed by anything but the most thorough dispelling techniques. “I can’t give you direct access to the archives because this isn’t my mana, you’ll still need Alexia to open that for you. However this will allow me to know you wish to speak without tripping my usual anti-theft wards.”

“How long should I wait before asking for an update?”

Twilight tapped her chin with a wing elbow in thought. “While I know the four of you share a dangerous profession, your actual lifespans are still quite long. I’ve read about Earth’s typical house pets and horses. Aside from Alex of course, a pony’s lifespan is roughly that of humans. This is a long term problem and it needs exhaustive research to be done right.”

Conrad was not familiar with Twilight’s version of exhaustive research and surmised she was only talking about a few years maximum. “I’ll make it my mission to keep her stable until then.”

“I wish you luck Conrad. Is there anything else?”

“Actually there is. Do you happen to know any offensive ranged pegasi magic?”

The purple mare knew full well of Earth's conflict and was more than willing to help anyway she could. Even if that meant granting more access to non-civil spellcraft. “I think I know a few.”

As Alexia finished up her much needed phone call with her family back home, the niggling sound persisted returned as she wound her way through the corridors towards the herd’s favorite recreation room. She rubbed a hoof in her left ear to try and get the faint sound to go away. Ugh, did I eat some bad cabbage or something? As time went on, the faint sound slowly started to feel pleasant, almost welcome. Maybe its just the ship’s engines. It actually sounds rather nice, I might be getting my sea legs after all. By the time the mare moved from the control tower to the forward recreation room towards the bow of the vessel the pleasing noise faded completely, confirming in her mind that it must have been the engines.

Alexia found her fellow mares and pilot in a familiar scene. Six servicemen were petting them with the two women enthralled in the act of massaging Highwind's mane and back. The two mares were on the couch again with Gil lying on a table with thin cushions between him and the hard wood. Loki went so far as to be lying on one marine’s lap and cooed softly every so often as his hands washed away the green mare’s troubles. While the ponies’ utter bliss would make a casual observer think otherwise, the humans were actually enjoying the activity more than the equines. Tune was not all that surprised that Conrad wasn’t present. He still has that criminal’s paranoia, and is probably on the treadmill again in the workout room. Meh, his loss. As for me, I may be a princess, but I am not above a free petting session when it’s freely given.

The scene warmed her heart nonetheless. To see both humans and ponies fully enjoying each other’s company is always rewarding to see. We keep putting on a good sociable front to almost complete strangers and both of our species can peacefully coexist the world over, not just in Trinity. Alexia might have considered her lifetime goal to have every pony and human live as Terrans were she not an ageless alicorn.

“Hey guys.” The smiling silver mare waved her right wing at the group. The ponies barely managed to wave back in acknowledgement while the masseuses did the same only with more vigor thanks to not being so completely tranquillized. “You mind if I join in?”

Unseen by Alexia’s entry, Loewy and his two friends Buttercup and Snake were playing on an Xbox and had been watching the trio of ponies with mixed interest. Loewy seized the opportunity and tried his best to make a half jog seem nonchalance as he abandoned the game. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to do the honors.”

Alexia brightened at the offer but couldn’t help but tilt her head in mild bemusement. “I didn’t think you wanted to pet us.”

“Well—“ he replied sheepishly. “It felt kind of disrespectful since its called petting and what with you being intelligent, secret agents, and all that jazz.” He pointed at Tune’s necklace to silently indicate her royal status.

Alexia tittered and held a wing to her mouth to hide it. She removed the feathery appendage to speak with a mock insulted tone. “And just what kind of snobby princess do you take me for? I mean, true I wear only the best furs, but still.” She rubbed a hoof over the side of her barrel at the mention of fur.

She grinned while some of the servicemen chuckled around her. Loewy took the taunting is stride and laughed along with them while scratching his head. “And the whole petting thing?”

Alexia found an empty chair and flapped her wings to fly the short distance over to it and sat on her haunches while beckoning him over with a hoof. “The way I see it, petting is just a symbiotic act between us. I know humans enjoy their personal space, I was one a few years ago after all, and that is true among us ponies as well. Yet when we’re among friends that practically disappears. Right guys?”

Highwind fought through the mind cotton to give his response through his actions rather than a direct answer. He craned his head around to speak to his two masseuses. “Ladies, I would love you to the day you die if you could scratch my wings too.”

The two women saw the soft down feathers as he puffed his wings out and their fingers gladly invaded the exposed feathers. The stallion went limp from the paradise those fingers inflicted. “You know Gil,” one of the women said with a grin, “You should really think about transferring to the ship on a more permanent basis. I’d pet you every day if you did that.”

“Amen to that girl,” her partner in crime remarked.

Loki sighed contently as her head rested on the marine’s thigh. The green mare barely knew the man, but she was willing to trust any serviceman willing to pet her. “I don’t know your names,” she said referring to the two men petting her mane and back, “but I could do this all night couldn’t you?”

The two marines petting her usually couldn’t stand one another, but the mare kept them civil with each other. The one stroking her mane answered. “The world just doesn’t seem like it’s quite so bad with you guys around,” he said wistfully. “It’s going to be quite empty around here when you leave.”

One of his fellows scoffed at him. “What are you? A poet?”

“Damn right I am. Wrote a few battle hymns too.”

Tune ignored the mild banter and returned her attention to Loewy. “Come on, what a little petting between friends?”

Loewy overcame his reservations and followed the princess’s advice. Buttercup growled to herself as she watched from the paused fighting game. “When I want to pet something, I don’t want it able to talk back. Let alone have to worry about sexual harassment if I touch them the wrong way.”

Snake used it as an excuse to put the controller down. He wasn’t too keen on continuing a losing match. “They want their heads, neck, and back rubbed. I don’t think that’s classified as bad touch. Besides the whole ship loves them, though I haven’t seen any officers come down to pet them.”

Buttercup wasn’t about to let him escape defeat so easily and tossed the discarded controller back in his hands. “That’s either because this is the non-com room. Or those ponies are an experiment in human control techniques. Why else do you think a team of spooks are here playing pet the pony?”

Snake huffed and unpaused the game to keep playing. “You really got to stop thinking of them as human. They’re intelligent, but they just don’t think like us. You and I may not want to be petted by perfect strangers, but they obviously enjoy it. And apparently everyone else who isn’t a colossal bitch of a conspiracy theorist loves to pet them.”

Buttercup hit Snake’s character with a hard hitting combo and ended the match with a victory. “You want to get roped into stroking your horse and end up their mind slave, be my guest.”

Snake growled and tossed the controller on Buttercup’s chair. “I think I will.”

The woman saw him walk over to join Loewy and Alexia was more than willing to let him. Buttercup shook her head at it all. I just don’t get it. Spook experimentation or not, how can they stand complete strangers rubbing them. Hell, why do sailors and marines fall over themselves to do it?

Tune was utterly content. Even though she had only spoken to Loewy and Snake a couple of times, she trusted them enough to be completely at ease as both mare and men enjoyed the symbiotic bonding. This is just one more reason to champion social integration. We complement each other so well… All coherent thought was lost as Snake wiggled his fingers underneath her feathers and gently scratched the skin while Loewy’s hand attacked her mane.

As she fell into that blissful state, the pleasant sound of her worshipers returned to whisper in the back of her mind. Only knowing that it was a pleasing, if barely perceivable noise, Alexia let it calm her to the point where she fell asleep on Loewy’s lap.

The following morning was busy for everybody. The entire flight deck had been cleared for the medium cargo aircraft to land and it barely had time to be refueled and load its passengers before it roared down the carrier and back up into the air.

As the 82nd and the small group of CIA personnel settled in for the long flight, Alexia tested her sputtering harness. I need to get back home and have Pack Rat fix my gear. Even the antimagic field detector got fried.

The four equines talked amongst themselves in Equish for much of the flight back to the States while the paratroopers did the same.

Crimson had taken the time to actually read up on the field intelligence on the now deserted town of Rome Georgia where Berry College resided. The file in her hooves painted the same picture just with different scenery. Local authorities lost control six months ago. National Guard pulled out three months after that. Civilian evacuation was haphazard at best. Surrounding urban and rural areas are a total loss.

Any further musings were interrupted by Mercer as he leaned forward in his seat and clapped his heads together to get the ponies’ attention. “There’s one last thing you need to know about the op. Apparently the FBI was not willing to full relinquish authority to us in this matter so you’re going to have to cooperate with a field operative of theirs. He’s apparently a specialist in scouting lost US territory.”

“What’s his name?” Conrad asked with only mild interest.

Mercer’s tone was a bit sour. “An old acquaintance of yours. Agent Carter.”

Author's Note

I should point out that the sound Alexia hears from Reed's congregation can be ignored or toned down, if she A: knew what the sound was, and B: knew how to ignore it.

8: The Sirens

The cigar shaped C-130 Hercules transport aircraft did not take the 82nd and the five ponies straight to the target area. Instead it landed in Atlanta to the south before letting Alexia’s herd and two squads of the 82nd transfer over to insertion helicopters. While their stay in the city was brief, the herd noticed Atlanta was a city under siege by a foe that did not form set battle lines. From the window of their Black Hawk helicopter, the ponies saw the northern half of the city was dark save for several fires and the occasional muzzle flash. If the military arm of the Mions had any anti-air capabilities, they didn’t reveal themselves as the four transports along with two escort Viper helicopter gunships made their way to northwest to the abandoned town of Rome.

The skies beyond the outer reaches of Atlanta were heavily overcast and rain fell from the dense black clouds as if an ocean sat above the land with countless holes letting it drain out. Alexia’s herd mentally prepared themselves to go back into the field while Alexia studied the tome’s civilian pages for a gentle warmth spell to combat the winter rain without having the dramatic temperature shift as the one she used back in the Sahara. Snake and his two closest friends made final checks on each other’s gear , as did the rest of the two squads of paratroopers currently sitting in the other pair of Black Hawk helicopters. The squadron sliced through the rain high above the south side of highway 411.

While the armed forces lost control of the land, the American war machine still retained control of the skies. This allowed the convoy to travel without fighter escort as the gunships were better suited to handle any sort of ground based anti-air.

Aside from the pilots, two crewmen sat with the ponies in the passenger compartment, one manned the rotary cannon mounted on the right bay door while the other sat behind the pilots and was facing the four ponies. His expression was dour as he had not seen many ponies join the military in the fighting, but was pleased by the herd’s presence, thinking they were a sign of things to come.

The equines were lucky Thompson came through for them and had a dozen sets of equipment ready for them at the Atlanta international airport which had been tailored for various weather conditions. That included the bitter cold rain that currently blew in from the open bay door of the helicopter. Normally the door would be closed, but the convoy was pressing into enemy held territory, and if they were fired upon, the gunner wanted to be able to respond instantly.

Like all the others, Tune’s inclement weather gear completely covered her form from hoof to the base of her head, save for her wings. The two winged ponies’ gear had a pair of semi hard plastic wing slits that kept their feathered appendages dry when not in use, provided they were not turned sideways or flipped upside down. The shoulder section was the only soft plastic there so they could flap their wings without difficulty, barring the rain. The four equines clothing did not cover their tails that had been left exposed. The equipment came with a sling where the tail could be secured along the right side of the pony’s barrel but this proved too much of an impediment for normal walking or running so it went unused.

Instead their tails and the tops of their manes were coated with hydrophobic grey wax that would keep the normally bright colors of Alexia’s azure, Loki’s pink, and Anderson’s two toned crimson hair from giving them away. Conrad’s steel colored hair made the wax unnecessary. However with the fresh utility harnesses also came fresh perception scramblers so the only real purpose the wax served was to keep the rain from waterlogging the hair overmuch and allowed the ponies to minimize their mana usage.

Unlike the 82nd airborne, the four agents didn’t wear body armor and were bereft of any helmets that would be worn once they departed the helicopter. They did however have a pair of night vision goggles within their satchels along with ear and throat mounted short range radios. Even though it was a late Georgia morning, they wanted to be ready for extended time in the field.

It was the most clothing any of them had worn in years and it bothered them immensely. Loki was not above voicing her irritation over the herd’s comm channel. “Oh man, my fur’s all jacked up on my back and I can’t fix it with these damn galoshes on my hooves.”

Crimson did her best to acclimate to the heavy clothing but shared in Loki’s woe. “You’ll be thankful to have it once we leave the chopper. I don’t like the idea of slogging around in January rain without protection.”

Loki groaned, but said nothing. Alexia was doing her best to keep the mission as the sole focus in her mind. You can’t protect them if you’re distracted. Keep calm and press on to the College.

The dense forests of northern Georgia were broken sporadically by the various pit stops along the interstate highway. There were the occasional spots of cleared forests where future development had been planned, but all of that was now abandoned and nature was all too ready to reclaim lost territory. Tune noticed as she looked out of the window that the area was very hilly, a common terrain feature this close to the Appalachian Mountains. It brought up memories of Trinity. The silver mare’s mind couldn’t help but wander to the human helicopter crew. The man sitting behind the pilots and the woman manning the side mounted weapon were only mildly thrown off balance by the ponies’ presence, although it was barely perceivable under their helmets and visors. It was barely detectable from under those visors, but Tune felt that the crew cautiously welcomed the prospect of fighting alongside their equine allies.

It may take a few generations, but we’ll be united as Terrans eventually. Earth will probably remain split up between nations, but at least between our two species we’ll have unity. A slight itch in her feathers reminded her of her wings. I may actually get to be the only person to see such social change from beginning to end in my lifetime. It was a faint spark, but her potentially ageless existence seemed a little less empty.

The trio of helicopters landed on the southern outskirts of Rome near an abandoned gas station. The surrounding area was adorned with more trees and grass than anything else. Aside for the gas station, tall evergreens lined very closely along the highway to give the once busy thoroughfare the impression of being directly cut through a forest. Crimson noted a large cemetery on top of a hill to the right of the highway further into Rome and felt it wasn’t the best thing to see first of a town.

The highway which served as the convoy’s landing zone had cars scattered all over the place and not all of them were in one piece, but enough were out of the way so landing wasn’t difficult. Although the fires had long since burned away, Alexia could see at least five cars had been destroyed by more than just small arms fire. Several vehicles looked as if a great beast and torn some of the cars and semi-trucks in half before the remains were charred by fire. Others were crushed by retreating tanks as being the only real evidence of the National Guard’s presence, save for the numerous gouges in the road. The military had not given the town up easily and both sides paid dearly during the battle. Whatever bodies the conflict had left behind were absent, making the herd’s alpha wonder why the Mions bothered to move them.

The ponies piled out of the droning helicopters with the two squads of the 82nd taking both point and rear guard of the landing zone until the Black Hawks departed . The Vipers lingered momentarily to scan the landscape for hostiles before falling back to protect the Black Hawks.

The gas station was on a slight rise above the intersection that allowed traffic to skirt along the fringe of Rome if they wished to avoid the congestion of the road going straight through town. As his squad leader gave his orders to take up defensive positions, Snake scanned the tree line and browned tall grass fields for movement. The rain and dark overcast made the midday sun less than helpful. Thanks to not having to actually paradrop in, Buttercup was able to bring her favorite FGM-172 SRAW anti-armor rocket launcher, an AA-12 combat shotgun, ammunition for both, and little else. It was up to the other members of the twelve man squad to carry her survival gear as the woman couldn’t carry anything else and remain highly mobile.

Two men wearing woodland camouflage approached from the gas station. Alexia and Conrad eyed them cautiously, but the pair was expected and after a quick round of identifying themselves to the rearguard paratroopers, they were let through.

After clearing the line of soldiers, the two FBI agents headed straight for the herd with the one in front zeroing in on the alicorn who was barely taller than the rest of the ponies. The experienced federal agent still picked up on the difference even through the rain. “Special Agent Alexia Tune,” came a somewhat chiding voice she had not heard in years. “It seems you’ve done rather well for yourself.”

Neither earth mare had met Carter, but Alexia and Conrad were not too keen to work with the man. Being comfortable in her role as alpha, Alexia spoke for the herd and the three other ponies unquestionably shared her distaste for the man. “A bit here and there. How ‘bout we get this started before any of us forget our professionalism.”

“There’s no need for ill will between us Agent. We all have our role to play in the American machine.”

Conrad stepped forward to be side by side with Tune, but remained a few inches behind her. “There’s doing your job, and then there’s being a prick about it.”

Crimson decided now would a good time to intervene. “Speaking of job, how about we listen to Alex and get it over and done with eh?”

Silence fell over the conversation as both winged ponies scowled at the man. His partner decided to break the ice. “Hey, if the mission goes off well I’ll buy a round of drinks. What do ya say?”

Loki found it was a perfect excuse to cool their heads. “Great idea. Why don’t you start by telling us what to expect and what route to take?”

Both parties backed off a bit except for Loki and Carter’s partner. The surrounding paratroopers were more focused on keeping their eyes on the perimeter rather than watch the two intelligence agencies butt heads, yet they silently wished to get out of the open.

When Carter didn’t stop him, his partner pointed at the station. “We can take shelter from the rain in there and provide what we know of the surrounding area.”

Loki turned to Alexia for her alpha to give the order. Despite not caring to be in Carter’s presence, the silver mare felt his partner was at least cordial and decided to do the same; if only for the sake of the mission. “Lead the way.” She clicked her radio to communicate with the two squads of paratroopers. “Baker, Golf, we’re moving in the gas station. Keep an overwatch of the surrounding area and get comfortable. We might be here for a bit.”

Squad leaders Badgers and Smithers sent their acknowledgements and had their men settle in around the station as the two sergeants walked in to join the intelligence agents. The fuel tanks had been ignited during the evacuation and the resultant crater in the ground where the pumps used to stand was deep enough for a small pond to start forming from the rain. The building was in a horrid state as well, but the rear half still had a moderately sturdy roof over it. As the ponies walked inside the back storeroom they saw a lantern illuminating a few maps and a silent generator for the nearby laptop.

Even with their fur and protective clothing, the mares felt the cold weather trying to bite its way through to sap their body heat. The quartet was glad to have a temporary respite against the rain.

Carter reached the desk with the laptop while his partner pulled the maps to a few stacks of old soda bottles for an impromptu table. The two squad leaders were not far behind. Sergeant Huck Badgers and Sergeant Betty Smithers who led Buttercup’s squad.

Before his partner could begin, Carter rested his palms on the back of the metal folding chair next to the laptop and faced Alexia. “I’m sure you already know standard protocol when dealing with field agents in ceded lands.”

Tune wasn’t too happy about Carter keeping his snide tone, but she knew what he was referring to. “Yes, give me a moment.”

As the FBI agents adopted a slight impatient disposition, and the two NCOs watching the exits, Alexia withdrew a few pieces of chalk from a small pocket. Within a minute she drew up a divination array and scanned the surrounding area in a two mile radius. “Everyone’s clean and there are no Mions within the immediate area.”

Carter’s partner didn’t show it, but he was always relieved to hear he remained clean of the plague. He cleared his throat and offered his hand to Alexia. “Now that the formality’s out of the way, I’m Agent Mulder. You’ve met Carter,” he said diplomatically.

As the ponies and two paratroopers curtly introduced themselves, Loki could barely contain herself from asking him a question that was burning in her mind. Mulder? Are you serious?

Carter tapped a finger over the southern fringes of town. “This area’s mostly forest with a few houses here and there as you can see from the map. Our main concern is the unknown number of sentry patrols in the area.”

“They keep changing the number of sentries in the area on an almost daily basis,” Mulder added tiredly. “There’s no way we can get a group this large through the woods without getting spotted.”

“What kind of sentries are we talking about here?” Smithers inquired.

Carter scowled deeply at the memory of them. “Some of the more conventional ones you might be used to, fireteam with small arms. That sort of thing. There are also roving bands of the mindless zealots that prowl the woods. They leave the local fauna alone, but they go insane at the sight of a human.”

Mulder crossed his arms in similar dower tones. “The worst by far though, are the Sirens. Every one of them we’ve come across has been female.” The man refused to call them women. “They sing a psychic litany that burrows into your mind. It compels anyone who hears it to surrender to the cult by way of revealing themselves to be captured. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man, woman, or pony, the song snares everyone if you listen for too long. We lost three agents that way in just the past five months to that.”

“Can’t we just take them out from a distance?” Badger’s asked. “I have a sniper in my team that can handle it.”

Mulder shook his head. “It might work if the song worked like actual sound, but you can’t tell where the song is coming from, only that a Siren is nearby when you can start hearing it and where you’re being compelled to move towards.”

“As for taking them out, I advise against it,” Carter added dryly. “We’ve killed a few ourselves and it always ends up bad. Just before they die, Sirens let out an extremely painful psychic scream that’ll knock you on your ass and give you a mean bitch of a headache.”

“Not to mention the scream will bring every zealot within five miles straight to your location,” Mulder commented. “We’ve tried shots to the brain, but Sirens must have some redundancies because they’ll still let off a death knell.”

Alexia didn’t like the prospect of running into one of them. “What about the town itself? Can we go through there?”

“That’s actually our best bet,” Mulder replied with a less dower expression. “The cult is highly active in the downtown area, but interior patrols are at a minimum. We can slip by the work crews without them even realizing we’re there. Aside from the handful of ponies we’ve seen in the area, the work crews are highly focused on their work and won’t react to us if we don’t make our presence too obvious to them. What we do know is that there are more ‘conventional’ guards stationed in Berry College itself so slipping through downtown will be easy if we don’t raise any alarms. Outside of Berry, the main areas of activity are centered around the police headquarters, Darlington High School, and the country club by the river.”

Carter leaned over the laminated map and pressed a finger on a fork in the river. “It’s the Police HQ that’s going to give us the most problems. Going through the center of town is the quietest way to pass through, but the HQ presides over the two bridges along our route.”

“Then let’s not do it quietly,” Smithers interjected. “Command said they can spare one airstrike for us. We recon the area, call in the strike, and while the opfor is scrambling for cover we make our escape across the far bridge.”

Tune scanned the chart that had been made two years ago and had dry erase updates on it in various colors. “We’re on the far southeastern side of Rome and Berry is on the northern most edge. Why couldn’t we have flown in from the north and bypass the town entirely?”

“I can answer that,” Badgers perked up. “The Air Force cleaned up a corridor for us to drop in from Atlanta, but if you go ten miles north of Rome the only thing that’ll be flying out there are the Wild Weasels and Surface to Air Missiles. This was the quickest and safest way here. Plus we don’t want a direct insertion to cause the imps to purge their computer mainframe.”

Tune scrunched her snout in contemplation before dropping the matter. “Then let’s make sure we come up with a good plan of action.”

The group wordlessly agreed and after outlining the path they would take, along with alternative paths and various contingency plans, the group headed north along the right side of the highway.

The freezing rain cut everyone to the bone, making the act of keeping a sharp eye out for wandering Mions difficult. As they crept towards a clover in the highway, Crimson made her way over to walk next to Mulder. “What are the Mions doing here anyway?”

The field agent was unsettled by the question as the paratroopers preform a sweep of the next section of road. “I’m not sure what purpose it serves, but they’re erasing every trace of the town.”

Smithers motioned for silence as a group of cultists in a trio of large orange dump trucks full of debris appeared further up the road. The agents and soldiers did their best to ignore the cold and dove into the water clogged ditch on the side of the road to go unseen by the drivers as more trucks drove by from the western fringe of Rome. The ponies were worse off than the humans thanks to the water reaching up to their necks as they crouched low in the flooded ditch. The two earth mares remained dry thanks to the excellent quality of their clothing, but Conrad and Alexia suffered far more as water slipped inside their clothing from their open wing slits.

It got so bad that Alexia decided to cut into her mana and drained the ground underneath her to both Conrad and herself. She didn’t want to use too much, only enough to keep them from suffering hypothermia.

Once the convoy of trucks left, the group started moving forward again. Conrad wordlessly thanked Alexia as her magic started to dry both winged ponies starting from the barrel and down to their hooves. Carter directed them off the main boulevard and onto East Second Street where a half demolished YMCA sat in ruins. A few workers were visible as they broke the building down brick by brick and carted it all into waiting trucks. Not even the plumbing was left behind as the underground pipes were being uprooted for transport while a small collection of earth ponies moved the soil with their magic to fill the gaps back in.

The YMCA was not the only building suffering such a bizarre fate. Over half of the houses had been removed with most others lying in heaps of rubble. The group could only tell where some houses used to stand because the positions of the older and younger trees. All of the history, all of the architecture, civilization, and any trace of human existence of the old southern town was being deleted from the face of the Earth until even the memory of Rome would vanish. Crimson shuddered at the realization. Others have tried to erase their enemies from history, but the victors have always wanted to make their own history. Now, it looks as if the cult doesn’t want any human history to exist. How many Romes are there? This can’t be the first town to be removed like this.

Were it not for the YMCA being much lower than the street, the workers might have spotted the paratroopers as they made their way past a still intact liquor store and onto a bridge that spanned the Etowah River. It was painfully obvious that the store had been looted some time ago as the door hung off its hinges and was open to the elements.

When the surrounding area was not only clear of Mions, but also void of buildings, Mulder spoke to the pale yellow mare at his side. “As far as we know, they’ve kept the essentials intact, the main waterline, power, and the roads, and bridges are all still there for the time being. But all the commercial areas, the empty homes, not even religious sites are being left untouched. The cult is erasing the town from existence.”

It was one thing for her to realize that truth herself, but to hear another come to the same conclusion drove it home. “They’re being very methodical about it,” Crimson had to half shout to be heard over the rain.

Mulder wiped his eyes to try and see more clearly. “That’s why there’s no point in airstrikes. The cultists are already destroying everything on their own. If we sent a bombing run on the police HQ or the college, we may kill a few, but we’d only be doing them a favor in the end.”

“Except for us to use as a distraction,” Crimson commented.

“True enough.”

The whole area in front of them was a freshly planted forest that had every side road unearthed and replaced with sod. Only the main thoroughfare between the bridge they just crossed and the one that spanned the western side of the Oostanaula River still remained. Were it not for the old maps the two federal agents had back in the gas station, Alexia would have thought the place was a national park.

The alicorn was flabbergasted by the evidence before her. This makes no sense at all. Why conquer a place only to give it all over to nature? If the Koridost are coming to colonize the planet, then shouldn’t the Mions be building infrastructure for the coming colonists? Or at the very least clear the forests so it’s easier to build a colony?

The semi loose woods and hilly terrain masked the squads’ movements up until they got within a hundred yards from the second bridge. Unlike the first one, this bridge was guarded by several red skinned cultists and two pegasi were perched on top of the supports watching the river with an umbrella keeping the equines dry.

The sight of the two ponies made Alexia’s blood boil. They can’t all have been lied to like Buraddi was. Not that I could try revealing myself in the middle of the enemy camp.

Smithers lined her squad up along the trees and called for the group to bunker down so the workers by the side of the river would be unable to see them in the deluge. There were few streetlights still intact. The dense cloud cover coupled with the downpour made the occupying cultists turn the lights on so there was better illumination as the historic buildings of Broad Street were picked apart and removed at a steady pace. While the bridges themselves had little in terms of actual guards, there were well over a hundred workers who were predominantly Mions. Nevertheless, a few scattered dashes of color marked the presence of over a dozen ponies.

If there were any complaints about the rain, none were audible to the soldiers barely a football field’s length away. Off in the distance an open air stadium was visible, thanks to the elevation of the squads’ position and the lack of anything over ten feet tall between them. It also made the still intact police department clearly visible.

Smithers let Badgers stay with the men to keep watch while she met with the intelligence agents to work up a plan. The six of them were on the highest ridge along the eastern flank. “We’re not getting through there without a fight,” she said in with a hiss as she got close enough to speak.

“No, we’re not,” Carter agreed. “It looks like we’ll need that distraction after all. And I don’t think a singular airstrike is going to cut it.”

Alexia nodded in agreement. “We should save that for the College if the research lab is still operating.”

“I concur,” Smithers added before addressing Alexia. “It’s my job to ensure you can enter the College to find, what you need to find.” The sergeant knew the ponies’ objective was classified, she only knew where they needed to go. “I’ll have both squads lay siege to the station while my sniper clears the bridge of its guards. As soon as its clear, you should bolt across.”

Mulder recalled the map and terrain layout. “Should work. A smaller group will be able to slip into the north unnoticed.”

Alexia didn’t like having little intelligence of the surrounding area and the numbers of the cultists. “How are you going to exfiltrate?”

“The Black Hawks are on standby a few miles outside of town. We bust up the red skinned imps for as long as we can to give you time to make it to the objective. After we’ve overstayed our welcome, we bug out in the choppers. I’ll leave two riflemen to escort you.”

Tune glanced at the throng of Mions and hostile equines. “The six of us should be fine on our own, and you’ll need every rifle at your side to make this work.”

Smithers would have none of it. “With all due respect ma’am, my men can handle a few dozen imps. I won’t see you go without an escort.” Smithers didn’t want to say it aloud, but she was not about to let the princess die if she could help it. The woman felt it was rather obscene to have a major political figure being used as a field agent, especially with the success the princess made out of Trinity. The NCO firmly believed Alexia’s place was in political office where she could do far more good than potentially getting killed in battle, but it was out of her control. What was within her power, was to make sure the alicorn lived to return to that civilian life. We need a successful administrator in a position of administrating. There are plenty of soldiers who could be doing this operation instead.

“I’ll stay here then,” Mulder volunteered. “If the dust off doesn’t go smoothly you’ll need someone who can guide you back out of town.”

The silver mare shared a glance with her mates before facing Smithers. “I’ll side with your tactical expertise. I only ask that you stay alive sergeant. We need living soldiers, not dead heroes.”

The sergeant gave a curt nod of redoubled respect. “I tell my boys that every time we go in the field.”

The group split up after Smithers gave Mulder something better than his service pistol and everyone took position. Buttercup kissed her rocket launcher lovingly and took aim at the large fuel depot that sat to the west of the police headquarters where the government plaza used to stand. Badgers make sure everyone was in position before giving the heavy weapon’s specialist the order to make the first shot.

With a toothy feral smile upon her lips, Buttercup depressed the trigger and the rocket streaked unwaveringly on target. The resulting explosion of well over two thousand barrels of fuel lined across the river produced a rolling fireball that shattered every window that remained in the police building and was a beacon of trouble for every Mion and hostile pony for miles.

Those few pegasi that had been flying around the depot were blown away and most of the workers were flattened by the concussion wave. The 82nd stormed out of the newly planted forest and laid waste to Mions and ponies alike. The few intelligent Mion supervisors presiding over the workers managed to return fire with a handful of pistols along with a few unicorns and their magic, but none of the workers stayed to fight. The worker Mions were of low intelligence and fled the terrifying assault. Some jumped into the freezing rapid river, others scattered in all directions. The few pony workers were more successful in their flight from the sudden threat. No one was prepared for a direct assault.

Badgers’ squad waded through what few cultists stood and fought back after the explosion and swept the cultists from the entire bank of the river from one bridge to the other. Smithers led her men to the police HQ and wiped out all the local logistics managers in charge of the Mion efforts in destroying Rome. The paratroopers were on the attack, and it was what they were best at.

As the 82nd enacted their part of the operation, Alexia followed Carter past the western bridge that sat on the fork in the river. The group ran along the eastern bank of the south flowing river while every cultists’ attention was fixed on the firefight. Loewy and Snake had volunteered to be the intelligence agents’ escorts and the two soldiers, one FBI, and four CIA agents ran into the northern section of the city proper where many buildings still stood in whatever condition they were left in during the evacuation.

As Carter led them along the abandoned streets towards their destination, Tune felt the familiar soothing song of Reed’s congregation in the back of her mind. Even through the exertion of galloping through the relentless rain, keeping her footing from slipping on the wet grass or pavement and keeping an eye out for any hostiles that might spot them, the alicorn’s worshipers were heard.

Yet due to her current surroundings and the warning she received in the gas station, Alexia thought it meant that a Siren was nearby. She used her magic to click the radio to the group’s chosen frequency. “Siren nearby!”

Carter couldn’t hear anything from his position a few meters behind her, but didn’t want to risk one of them being pulled away by the nigh irresistible psychic song. He spied a half demolished pet shop on the other side of the street and pointed Snake, who was directly behind him, towards it. “We need to make for cover and try to determine its location.”

As one, the group piled inside the building after Loewy kicked the door open and swept the lobby along with Snake to make sure no surprises waited for them. The entire grooming, kennel, and store rooms’ walls were blasted open to the elements from a long ago disaster.

The front lobby had several dog and cat toys lying in overturned stands, making footing slightly difficult. Carter moved by the shattered north window to scan the path ahead of them. Even if the rain wasn’t there, the road forward was up a moderately steep incline and there were still a few mostly intact buildings that made seeing very far from the pet shop difficult.

As everyone nestled themselves against various walls or countertops, the federal agent gave his best advice to counter a Siren’s attack. “If you stay focused on your self identity and the mission at hand, the Siren’s influence will be too diluted to affect seven people.”

A trace of fear shot through the group’s eyes as they nodded in adherence. Carter crouched below a broken window surrounded by mildew stained animal themed wallpaper. He tried to block out the pitter-patter of the heavy rain, the breathing of those around him, and the distant staccato of gunfire to see if he could hear the telltale signature of a Siren. After twenty seconds of searching, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

He scanned the dim lit room for the silver alicorn. “Are you absolutely sure you heard a Siren?”

Alexia didn’t like his slight accusatory tone. “I still do, but its very faint. I can barely hear it over the rain.”

The FBI agent frowned at the certainty in her voice. He didn’t care for her, but doubted the CIA would keep her as a field agent if she was panicky. I can’t believe someone with the power she wields would crack at the threat of a Siren.

Loewy spoke out from his position by the front door, which barely hung in pieces to its hinges. “Think that horn of yours might be acting like an antenna and picking one up early?”

Loki agreed quickly. “You said that spike of yours is directly connected to your brain. Maybe you’re more sensitive to them.”

The silver mare was about to discount such claims but it fell flat in her mouth. “I’m not exactly familiar with psychic attacks. But I did see psychic abilities in action before, just not ones like this.” She didn’t want to elaborate that it was from Garrdoth in Africa because it was classified information.

Snake listened in while huffing in disbelief about the while situation. Three years ago if someone told me I’d be hanging out with magical talking ponies and fighting psychic red scaled imps I’d have laughed him out of the building.

Carter wasn’t interested in how she could hear it, only that she was. “Can you tell where it’s coming from? It should be compelling you to move towards the Siren.”

Tune tried to focus on the pleasing sound. Its almost like— She tried to describe the noise, but it was just barely audible at all. The only thing she could tell was that it was pleasant to listen to. She focused on it intently, trying to both find a way to put it into words and so she had an excuse to take enjoyment out of listening.

“Alex?” Crimson asked while jostling Alexia to get her to return to the present.

The silver alicorn snapped back to the present, letting the addicting song of her followers fall to the back of her mind. “S-sorry, I can’t tell where it wants me to go.”

Carter was about to declare she was calling wolf when he heard a Siren’s song as well. It was something he heard dozens of times before, and a cold pit of terror formed within at the seductive melody. One song jumped to three, then six, until over a dozen songs were pounding in everyone’s heads, calling to them to go towards the north, to Berry’s direction. Carter yelled to be heard over the mental noise. “Don’t listen to them. Stay where you are!”

Hands and hooves jammed into their respective owner’s ears to no avail. Due to the sheer number of them, the songs were maddening instead of alluring. It didn’t help that the singers were also partially insane from having only a tenuous connection to the Link.

A large pack of fifteen Sirens was being transported in three different pickup trucks; the Mion drivers were deaf to the songs. Loewy, Loki, and Conrad took the worst of the mental attack and were losing their fight against the compulsion and started to drift towards the east facing door. Snake grabbed Loewy by his backpack and pulled him back inside while Alexia and Crimson did the same for their mates.

Loewy was losing his ludicty in the chorus and struggled on the floor as Snake drug him by his feet deeper into the store. “Let me go! I have to save Vicky!”

Snake met his hysterical eyes with confusion. “What are you talking about? Vicky’s not here Loewy!” Snake shouted back as he used his actions to distract himself from the Sirens.

Loki saw a young boy, no older than nine years old, waving to her from out in the rain right as the first truck of Sirens drove by. He had dirt caking his tattered blue and white striped polo shirt and his khaki shorts were badly ripped. Blood ran down from his broken nose and bruises covered his face.

“Gwyn!? Gwyn is that really you?” The green mare’s eyes were as big as dinner plates and tried desperately to reach the phantom. Crimson tried to hook a hoof onto a nearby overturned stack of shelving, but the green pony was manic to reach the boy.

Crimson saw her mother standing outside on the road, but the phantom was blurry and fading in and out; making it easier for the pale yellow mare to ignore it. It did however allow Crimson to know what the green pony was seeing. “Snap out of it Loki! Gwyn isn’t real.”

Loki turned to Crimson with frightened eyes and a quivering lip. “He’s right there, can’t you see him!?” She turned back to see the boy turning away from her and walking to the other side of the street. “Gwyn come back! It’s me Freya!”

Crimson took a few kicks to the barrel and one to the neck, but she kept a strong grip on Loki’s hind legs to keep her from bolting outside. “He’s not there Loki!”

"Yes he is!" The green mare tried to buck Crimson off to try and save the boy yet the pale yellow mare had wised up and managed to deflect the kicks away from her while maintaining her grip. The yellow mare briefly scanned the room for help only to see Alexia using both muscle and spell to keep Conrad pinned while Carter and Snake were struggling to pull Loewy’s weapons away while also trying to grapple him to the ground.

Loki was screaming trying to get Anderson off of her only to stop dead in her tracks as the third truck roared by and hit the phantom, seemingly taking Gwyn with it. “No! Not again! Not again!” she screamed out with old pain cutting her anew.

The green mare stopped struggling as the Sirens’ distance grew and made their psychic assault too weak to reform the phantom. Conrad and Loewy both were left in emotionally vulnerable states as the others tried to recover from the ordeal.

Tune saw the distraught paratrooper was recovering his wits and shouted from her position across the room to get their attention. “Snake, Carter, get eyes on the outside, make sure we didn’t attract any unwanted guests.” The trooper obeyed without hesitation while Carter only did so begrudgingly because it was a prudent command.

The azure crowned alicorn had noticed something was off when the Sirens hit them. The vision I had didn’t seem like it was part of the other noise I heard. She chased away her introspective to refocus on her mate. “Conrad, speak to me.”

The stallion in question shifted his eyes around angrily. “Where is he?! I’m going to kill that bastard!”

Tune flipped the stallion around in her magic to make him look at her. “Easy. Easy. It wasn’t real. Whoever it is, isn’t there.”

Alexia’s face and soothing tone eased his fury back down. Once she knew he was going to be fine, she spoke again. “Let me check on Loki and Loewy okay?”

“Ye-yeah.” He slumped to his haunches while cradling his head to try and dull a massive migraine that followed the vision. The headache was shared by all seven of them, but Carter was able to shake it off a little better than the others.

The federal agent’s grip on his pistol was so tight his weapon’s grip pattern was imprinted on his hand. “I don’t get it. It’s always been just a compulsion before, a song most of the time, but never a projection like that.”

Snake gritted his teeth at the memory of seeing his dead mother seeming to call out to him. “Damn imps are truly from hell. Command never told any of us these guys had this kind of psychic power.”

Right as Alexia was about to investigate Loki, a cold pit of despair hung in her gut like a lead weight. “The others. Those Sirens are headed straight for the rest of the Eighty Second!” Everyone in the room heard her, and feared she was right.

“They’ll never know what hit them,” Loewy thought aloud.

Alexia bolted over to Loki who was carrying a stronger radio on her back and pulled the shaking green mare’s headset off and putting it on herself. Crimson took the hint and adjusted the frequency to the command channel. “Baker one, Baker one this is Zeta, come in.”

The faint sound of her worshipers faded away as she repeated the transmission. The distant echo of gunfire was still detectable above the torrential downpour. An uncomfortably long wait and a second repeat elapsed before Smithers answered. “This is Baker. Are you at the objective Zeta?”

Alexia didn’t have time to waste on words. “Nearly. You have a large group of Sirens inbound on your location in three pickup trucks from the northwest. They’ll compromise your position if they get too close.”

Smithers knew that meant the Sirens could only come in from either of the two bridges. “I’ll get it locked down. The locals are putting on more of a show than we expected. I can give you ten minutes before I call for evac.”

A screaming rocket and exploding bricks punctuated the intensity of the firefight along with the constant chatter of small arms. “Copy that Baker. Those Sirens are priority targets. Over and out.”

Tune could only hope that the warning was enough. She used her magic to take Loki’s headset off and put her own back on. “Loki, are you fit to move?”

The green mare’s gaze never left where Gwyn’s ghost had been smashed by the truck. Her ears were flat and barely audible whimpering could be heard. “Yeah. I’m good.”

The alicorn knew better than to pry. It was well known that Loki despised talking about her past, and it didn’t take Alexia much to suspect that Loki had seen a ghost from that past. She rubbed the top of the green pony’s neck to let her know she was loved while Alexia faced Carter. “We need to move. Smithers won’t be able to stay much longer.”

Carter pushed the image of his dead wife out of his mind and nodded curtly. “We should get off the main road, can you fly us over a stream?”

The silver and azure mare smirked. “I can do one better. Lead the way.”

Crimson helped Conrad get back on his hooves while Snake made sure Loewy recovered from the painful vision. Alexia sat on her haunches used her forelegs to pull Loki to her hooves. The herd alpha used her kinesis to replace the headset upon her mate’s ears while continuing to rub her mane. “You’re going to be okay green bean. Whatever you saw wasn’t actually there.” She wanted to hug the strained mare, but restrained herself in the presence of the humans.

The federal agent scanned outside the pet store to the north. Upon seeing nothing but dilapidated buildings and falling rain, he turned back to his party. “The coast is clear, let’s go!”

With a bare trace of a nod, Loki signaled she was able to keep going and the group crept from building to building as they wound their way to the last bridge between them and the college. There were a few Mions and ponies racing to the firefight, but none of them saw the seven operatives slinking their way to the college.

Unlike the first two bridges, the last one between them and Berry was barely seventy feet long, but it was still busy as more Mions and a handful of ponies raced across to join the counterattack on the paratroopers to the south.

The cold rain bit each of them as the humans and ponies huddled in the nearby brush tangled ditch. Thanks to the nearby stream being several feet lower than the runoff ditch, the rain water wasn’t enough to get more than the soles of their shoes wet.

Snake didn’t like the condition of the bridge and nudged Alexia to speak to her. “Traffic’s way too high to cross and the riverbank is too steep to try and ford it further on down as far as I can see.”

True enough, no matter where Alexia looked, the small stream looked to be in the early stages of forming a ravine. It may take a few hundred years, but it’ll get there. “Then I’ll have to teleport us across.”

“Won’t the flash give us away?” Crimson fretted.

“Teleportation?” All three men queried.

“All I can do is try and find a place where the second flash won’t be too obvious.”

Carter was more dubious than the two paratroopers. “What do you mean teleportation?”

Loewy ignored his mental fatigue from the Siren’s assault at the prospect of it. “Whoa, you mean like Star Trek teleportation? Hell yea!”

Rumbling on the road halted the hushed conversation as a stolen M1 Abrams tank grumbled down the road while five Mions in full combat gear sat on top as the vehicle transported them to the firefight. A lance of terror ran through Alexia’s mind at the thought of the tank’s presence. “When did the Army get here?”

Snake pressed himself as low to the ground as possible. “Not possible, else we wouldn’t have flown in from Atlanta. Damn imps stole one.”

Conrad grew even more worried as he saw Tune’s horn start to glow as she gathered mana to cripple the tank. “No, Alex stop!”

With her horn still aglow she turned to face him. “I can’t just let that tank hit them! It’ll rip them to shreds.”

Snake chuckled darkly. “Have more faith in the Eighty Second then that little lady. Even if Buttercup already wasted all of her rockets, the Vipers will blow that thing to hell.”

His words fell flat as three more Abrams came in from the direction of Berry College. He fully expected the gunships could destroy them, but feared there might not be anyone left to save by the time they were called in. Carter was the most pragmatic of them all and focused on the silver pony. “Look, Smithers and her team are doing their job, so we can do ours. If you have the means of getting us across the bridge then do so.”

Gritting her teeth at being unable to help, Alexia beckoned everyone to scrunch in close to her. “This won’t be pleasant for you first timers,” Crimson remarked with a smirk in Carter’s direction.

The densely packed evergreen trees made a direct visualization of the ground beyond the bridge impossible and Alexia didn’t want to risk a massive mana feedback if she planted her teleport around a too densely forested spot or too high above the ground as to cause injury. Her answer came in the form of a billboard promoting the local Harbin Clinic. The group flashed a brilliant azure from the side of the road and was deposited on the thin ledge of the billboard’s walk away. Conrad was too far off to the side and fell off, but his pegasi instincts kicked in the moment he started to fall and flared his wings to level out.

Loewy nearly fell off the edge and wrapped his arms around one of the protruding lamp posts that had not been turned on in months. “Jesus H. Christ! I just was fucking teleported! Eat your heart out Scotty.”

Snake was glad he didn’t have a full stomach because it was doing flips at the moment while Carter was doing his damnedest to keep from giving Crimson the satisfaction of seeing him squirm. The nonhorned ponies were mostly used to it by now and only took a spare moment to recover their wits.

Crimson was not a fan of high places, and the billboard was just high enough to count as one. She tried to mask her borderline acrophobia with a logical suggestion. “We should really get down from here asap.”

Loewy used his training to reign in his shock back under control. “Right, Snake get the ladder.”

Pulling out a hammer from his kit, the combat engineer popped the folded ladder from its up-locked position and it slid down to ground level. Thus allowing all three men to descend while the winged ponies flew their earth brethren to the bottom.

Carter scanned the area, and was not too happy when some of the vehicles on the road were coming to a halt near the billboard, only the dense rain and tall unkempt grass concealed the team. “The flash was seen, since there are no more rivers between us and the objective we can get away from the road until we’re closer to the college.”

The others wordlessly agreed and thanked the dense underbrush which allowed them to slip past the few Mions who saw the flashes.

As the minutes rolled by, the sounds of battle to the south were all but lost in the rain. Aside for Carter, everyone hoped that the distraction wasn’t paid in too much blood. Loki was afraid to switch her radio to the squad channel. The last thing she wanted to hear were the screams and cries of the friends she had found on the Bush dying to buy them time to reach the college unhindered. Stay alive guys.

Buttercup was both pleased and pissed. A state she rarely deviated from while in the field of battle. With her last rocket she crippled the turret of the first Abrams that had entered the skirmish. She slung her launcher on her back and gripped her favorite shotgun that had been resting next to a shattered brick and mortar wall. A couple of her rockets sent two trucks worth of Sirens to a fiery death. The third however managed to evade target lock and even now, the Sirens were still ripping into her squadmates’ minds.

The paratroopers had only suffered two casualties in the fight to take the police headquarters. Mion and pony alike were ill suited to handle the brutal efficiency of the 82nd. But the cult took unconventional warfare to a whole new level. Five paratroopers had been lured out of cover by the Sirens’ songs.

Buttercup saw her vision in the form of her life partner Madeline. The dark haired olive skinned phantom looked as if it was too badly injured to walk and was lying next to a pile of burnt out oil drums begging for her lover to rescue her. Even though every ounce of logic within her told Buttercup that her wife was in Manhattan, the Sirens’ influence was not so easily repulsed.

The trooper next to her fired his rifle at a trio of unicorns firing bolts of acidic magic back at them. He nailed one in the horn, another in the side of the mare’s neck, but took a full on blast to his left arm for his efforts. The magic splashed upon impact and covered his torso and face with green sweltering acid that corroded his flesh.

Buttercup pulled him back behind the blown out window, but he was dead by the time she got a good look at the damage. The mana relented a few seconds after impact, but the man’s face was gone along with the first few of centimeters of his neck and arm.

“Damn magic.”

A cultist armed only with a pair boney serrated spines jutting out of his forearms and maddening fervor charged her ground floor position of the headquarters. Buttercup was more than happy to pulp his chest with buckshot from her treasured AA-12 automatic shotgun. Right as she was about to do just that, Madeline flashed before her eyes and made the trooper hesitate. The Mion capitalized on that and rushed forward with both spines angling for her throat.

Thanks to the zealot’s bad aim he actually struck the center of her chest, what would have been a mortal wound to the heart was stopped by her body armor. The blow snapped Buttercup out of her vision enduced stupor. With a savage growl she kicked the assailant off and put three shells of buckshot in the man’s torso and head.

The floor above her shattered from a tank shell blowing a machine gun crew to pieces. The second tank was smart enough to stay on the far side of the bridge and shell the police building from afar. Buttercup ran further into the hallway as the ceiling tried to collapse on top of her. Her shotgun slid out from her grip as she fell to the dirt covered tile floor, clearing the falling debris scant inches from being flattened. “Can’t believe I’m going to die for a bunch of spooks with fur.”

She scrambled forward and retrieved her weapon before climbing to her feet. Smithers’ voice crackled on the woman’s helmet. “Get to the roof, evac’ll be here in two minutes. Briers, Farley, Cover the main stairs, everyone else fall back to the roof.”

Finally. Buttercup ran into two more troopers with one slung limply over the other’s shoulder on their way up the twisting wide stairs. Without thinking twice Buttercup slid in behind them to cover their back and pepper a pegasus bearing down on them along with two more spine wielding zealots. Unlike the more intelligent Mions who stayed behind cover with firearms of their own, there were countless deranged zealots pouring in from the remains of the country club to the west and the commercial zone to the east. That didn’t include those who were transported from Berry College by truck. Buttercup’s AA-12 coughed three times to put down twice as many zealots thanks to the shot spread.

“You want to bring knives to a shotgun fight!?” she roared with a predatory glint in her eyes. More frothing zealots poured into the central lobby, and each one was put down by Buttercup’s shotgun as she slowly backpedaled up the stairs. Four other paratroopers filed in from the first floor offices and the armory, each of them adding their firepower to the wave of bodies that was only there to eat up the troopers’ ammunition so the real Mions and ponies could sweep the disarmed soldiers afterwards. There were countless bodies to throw at that soldiers’ shrinking line, and ammunition was dwindling just as fast.

Buttercup ascended the first flight of stairs, firing all the while. Briers stood at her side, firing his carbine at the handful of firearm wielding Mions that started to creep in behind the fodder. The cult didn’t have a military industry to produce weapons and ammunition. The infrastructure to support it simply wasn’t there. Whatever they stole from stockpiles and stores were only given to the ponies that could use them and the intelligent Mions. The fodder however, was unending as they arrived en masse from all directions.

“BC! Get up here!!”

Buttercup glanced behind her to see Briers leaning around the bend in the stairs urging her to climb up. Seeing that there were no more survivors on the first or second floor she knew it was time to leave. A Mion was too close for comfort and she brought her weapon to bear, but the AA-12 clicked dry as the zealot trying to knife her lunged for her leg. Using her better elevation thanks to the stairs, she delivered a kick that smashed the zealot’s face in and sent him careening into three more behind him. A few of the smarter Mions used the opening to fire upon her and scored a few hits on her torso and arms and helmet. Fortunately her Kevlar proved too strong for the pistol fire and the hits only pissed her off even more.

Briers picked off the shooters, but not before a fourth Mion took aim with a fallen paratrooper’s rifle and fired a three round burst at the brawler who was in the middle of kicking another zealot in the side of the head. A bullet punched through the gap between her armor at her chest and thigh, the next smashed through her left kidney while the third grazed her leg.

Buttercup cursed a number of things as she fell at the top of the steps. Briers bit down on the pin of his last grenade and tossed it lightly to land on the bottom of the stairs while pulling his wounded squadmate out of the line of fire and behind the concrete pillar that separated the flights of stairs. “You’re not dying on me that easy BC.”

Buttercup only managed to hiss in agony as he hefted her on his shoulders following the loud crump of his grenade buying them a few seconds.

Smithers’ voice shouted in Briers’ earpiece. “Briers, Farley, get to the roof! Veers, Fang, cover their asses. Evac is in thirty.”

Briers carried Buttercup’s bleeding form up three flights of stairs and met Mires and Fang half way up as the two soldiers kept the zealots and the odd pegasus at bay. Buttercup heard the sound of four helicopters closing in while rockets from the Vipers destroyed one Abrams and sent the other scurrying behind a hill for cover. The side mounted autocannons of the Black Hawks raked the ground to discourage any ground bound retaliation. At least from the ponies, the intelligent Mions however did not fear death and kept firing at the four helicopters, drawing the attention of the two Vipers.

Briers and Buttercup boarded the first Black Hawk along with five other survivors. The second helicopter touched down shortly after the first took to the air again to provide cover for them. The third Abrams scooted out from behind the hill and fired an explosive round at the stationary helicopter right as the last of the 82nd boarded.

The shot punched through the tail and detonated in the middle of the passenger section killing everyone onboard. Seeking revenge on its fallen protectee, one of the Vipers climbed in the air to rob the tank of its cover and fired a barrage of rockets at the Abrams. Yet vengeance was denied as the tank used an old motel for impromptu cover.

The pilot wasn’t so easily evaded and circled around to get a clear line of sight on the target. The tank commander hefted a stinger and waited for the Viper to come around to attack. The pilot however, was no fool and already had his flares at the ready and was prepared to avoid a dumb fired rocket. The tank commander never got a chance to fire at all as the Viper shot first and obliterated the tank with a volley of rockets.

With his revenge satisfied, the Viper tore after the remaining Black Hawk to protect its last charge.

The Eighty Second’s medic tended to Buttercup’s wounds while aboard the helicopter. The heavy weapons expert hadn’t seen the other Black Hawk go down, but she could see the pained looks on her squadmates that very few of them survived. All of them had suffered not just physical injury, nor mental ones from the loss of their brethren, but also at the hands of the Sirens who nearly broke the minds of the few survivors. She glanced at Smithers who was doing a good job at keeping a strong front, but Buttercup knew the NCO was hurting just as much as the rest of them.

That had damned well better be worth the cost.

The distraction worked as intended and Alexia’s group did not encounter a single hostile along the way as they all raced to join the firefight to the south. Alexia heard that pleasant sound pop in again and it didn’t leave again until all seven of them crouched on the far side of the road where Berry College’s main entrance presided.

From their position behind a long wooden fence that belonged to the abandoned ranch behind them, there was practically no sign that there was a college at all except for the sign clearly marking the two lane road, which had both lanes divided by a grassy median, as the entrance. Similar wooden fences enclosed the ranch. Those fences were little more than a post with three long brown wooden beams that was more for aesthetics than to actually deter human passage. The grasslands between the highway servicing the college and the campus itself was not overgrown thanks to the large herd of cows that huddled together on the left side of the entry road so as to keep warm during the storm.

Like many older styled southern estates, the campus itself was not visible from the highway thanks to both the long service road and the dense woods that sat beyond the pastureland. There was a newly cut dirt road between the edge of the woods and the ground level highway so road traffic could bypass the lengthy service road.

Carter was at the front of the pack as he led them behind the fence of a ranch directly across the highway from Berry College. He turned around to study everyone’s faces. They don’t look it, but first time getting hit by a Siren is never easy. “We should take a six minute breather. Get whatever images or aftereffects of the visions out of your system.”

Snake wasn’t too happy about that and growled angrily at the federal agent. Both men were panting at the dead run from the billboard, but had the endurance to keep going for another twenty miles if need be. “My buddies dying back there to give us time to infiltrate the college and you want us to just dick around?”

Carter met his challenge and stepped up to be nose to nose with the soldier. Rain fell over his face and over his eyes, but he did not blink no matter how much it stung him. “We just got hit by something new, and I’ve had agents crack from just hearing the Sirens once. We stay for six minutes to make sure there’s nothing broken upstairs.”

Snake didn’t want to rest. He didn’t want to take a load off, and most certainly didn’t want to waste the time his brothers-in-arms were dying to give them. He was inches from acting on that when Loewy clapped a restraining hand on his shoulder.

Loewy looked ill, and not just from the sprinting. “I feel you man, you know I do. But if those bitches put a time bomb in our heads I’d rather explode here, rather than me going crazy at a bad time.”

Snake was still resistant to the idea of twiddling his thumbs. “I don’t see what six minutes is going to do for that sort of thing, if a mental time bomb is even there.” His scowl deepened at the prospect of cracking under something he had no defense against.

Conrad strode up to the arguing trio. “We need the time to observe the entrance anyway. There’s a good two hundred yards of open field between here and the tree line on the far side. It may be clear of hostiles at the moment, but we need at least some time to make sure it’ll stay that way.”

That got Snake to calm down enough to compromise. “Four minutes. Then we go.”

Carter didn’t like it. Standard procedure after surviving a Siren was to return to base camp and let the afflicted recover from the intense mental strain. That normally took several hours. Dumb bastard needs to learn patience.

With the decision made to take a short break, Alexia nodded quietly to her mates and they spread out to take advantage of the respite next to the fence that ran parallel to the highway. The pale yellow pony rested next to a tree that grew adjacent to the fence so she could have some reprieve from the relentless downpour of chilling rain. She didn’t want to get mud on her clothes so she opted to lean against a fence post while her mates did the same nearby. The mare eyed the elaborate, yet low to the ground, red brick sign displaying the college’s name.

“You know,” she said mostly to Loki who was trying her best to ignore the darkened pink strands of hair hanging over her face. The grey wax was irritating the earth pony’s eyes and she raised a muddy boot to wipe the strains away, but the idea of having mud on her face was less appealing so she attempted to clear her vision with a fetlock. “I almost went to Berry before I found out it wasn’t the best place for pre-med. But when did a liberal arts college change to having a genetics lab?”

Conrad was only half listening from his perch on top of the fence. A rusting tractor between him and the road allowed him to rest there without worrying about being spotted. The pegasus’s elevation was barely three feet off the ground, but it made him feel better regardless. “Maybe they wanted to branch out. Gather a wider student body or something.”

Anderson’s left ear flicked in contemplation. “Either that, or the Mions took the place over before they overran the town.”

Not participating in the conversation, Loki glanced at the humans. The two paratroopers were silently leaning against a tree. Snake was trying to ignore the memory of the Sirens’ vision of his girlfriend back home as he scanned the highway and service roads into the college. Carter stood alone, as he made sure no hostiles were bunkered in the ranch behind them. He ignored the freezing rain as he used a personal technique of his to recover from the Sirens’ influence.

It was a form of mental discipline that he had not shared with anyone, mostly out of the belief that others could not possibly replicate it.

The green mare didn’t pay attention to Crimson and Conrad’s conversation as the normally jovial mare tried to repair the damage the Sirens inflicted by ripping open an old wound that had never truly healed.

Gwyn. You may not recognize me anymore, but I’m still me in a way. I try to help realize your dream of making others happy. That’s what you wanted out of life wasn’t it? Make others smile? A few tears were lost in the rain as she remembered the only blood relative that loved her back. I know I let your—your… She couldn’t bear to say the word and decided it was best to leave it unsaid. —twist that in the past.

Memories of the torment she inflicted on Conrad and various people she wronged before and after growing fur. She never thought what she did was wrong at the time, and that her prank victims were being overly sensitive. Loki’s time with Alexia and the herd slowly altered her view on the world, and her past actions. But I’m doing it correct now though, right? Her ears fell flat and she masked her renewed grief as just hanging her head to rest so Crimson and Conrad would leave her be. Who am I kidding. If I wanted others to laugh I should have been a comedian, not a hacker or a spook.

Freya is dead, long before she grew fur and a tail. She died when that bastard killed you back in San Fran. But. Maybe as Loki, I can bring some smiles to those who need it most. It took three people giving me a chance to be loved again to do it though.

I can’t stand before a crowd and make them laugh like I know you could—would have. But maybe I can keep that fire of laughter in mage’s heart. She’ll be our legacy Gwyn. I’ll pass your laughter into her so it can make her smile through the ages.

Loki’s ears perked up and she turned to look at the silver mare in question who looked as if she was dozing while leaning against a tree trunk. A trace of a smile curled the silver mare’s lips. I might have a foal or two of my own one day, but Alex’s smile will be my real legacy. Our legacy.

Alexia was feeling somewhat proud of herself. While she was still somewhat winded from the exertion of fending off the Sirens’ attack, the seven person teleport, and the subsequent dead sprint from the billboard to the old ranch, Tune was a little excited. Whatever this—melody? That I keep hearing must be some kind of innate alicorn resistance to mental manipulation. I must have picked up on the incoming Sirens early and that’s when this sound started up again.

The silver mare had seen a vision of her father, who she had been closest to back when she was human. But unlike some of the others, she could tell right away that it really wasn’t him. Sure his sudden forgiveness of my decision to stay in the herd sounded nice, but his voice was tinny, his image was a little blurry, and I simply had no compulsion to believe that was really him in the slightest. Doesn’t make it any less creepy that those red skinned loonies were able to pull out such intimate memories, but I was still able to resist it easily thanks to that sound.

The azure crowned alicorn couldn’t explain why, but she adamantly believed the sound of her worshipers kept her from succumbing to the psychic attack. If she knew the actual source of that pleasing melody that started to fade away from her perception, she would be far less inclined to block out the world and enjoy listening to the sonnet play in her mind.

Once it had disappeared completely, Alexia opened her eyes to see Carter and the two soldiers were checking their gear while Loewy bit off one last bite of a candy bar for some quick calories before stuffing it away as well. Twilight said my body will keep changing over the next few centuries or so until I look like a silver and azure version of Celestia, and that’s just the cosmetic changes. She glanced down at her forelegs which were completely concealed behind her waterproof clothing and boots.

Nevertheless, she could still imagine seeing her silver fur beneath it. Perhaps this noise is just part of those changes. Maybe my brain is developing something new and this sound is a side effect. Not to mention its… really comforting to listen to. She had to forcibly push the memory aside to focus on the present. Either way, if it keeps me protected from psychic attacks like that, then I need to learn how to control it so it doesn’t keep going off and on like this.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, the princess trotted over to her mates. “I hope you all have recovered enough from the Sirens.”

“Well enough,” Loki replied flatly as she tried to rekindle her usual mirth with fair success.

“I’m fine,” Conrad declared evenly now that his aggression was abating, “although I wish my old man had actually been there so I can return the favor I still owe him.”

Crimson stretched like a cat, but was careful to keep her footing on the wet grass. “I’m not going to let imaginary phantoms stop me from doing my job. Lead the way Alex.”

As much as she was accustomed to doing just that, she had to give that honor to the local expert, Carter. The federal agent in question assumed Tune had her fellow equines squared away and took one final sweep of the surrounding grasslands to make sure the coast was clear. “We make for the trees on the right side of the paved service road.” He turned to Alexia. “Don’t teleport again. We got lucky last time, but I don’t want that flash giving us away.”

She frowned, but agreed with his reasoning. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Without further preamble, Carter jumped the fence and started sprinting at a grueling pace. The rest followed shortly thereafter. None of them knew what they might find beyond those woods. Be it information on the plague, a possible cure, or new horrors. The only real concern dancing in everyone’s minds was the same statement just with different wording, ‘this had better be worth it’.

9: Your Tuition at Work

If there was one thing Berry College had, it was an abundance of land. Boasting over an impressive one hundred and five square kilometers, it was the largest campus any of the ponies had ever been to. It would be more accurate to say that only Alexia and Crimson had ever been to a post high school education center, but the fact still held true. The school’s buildings were so far apart from each other that it could be considered a mix of rolling grass hills and forest with a few bits and pieces of a school sprinkled around like too little salt over a soup. It was the perfect place to build research facilities without drawing unwanted attention.

Carter knew of this from his time studying the local geography. The end of the line of trees put them parallel to the unoccupied gate guard kiosk. It had been occupied a few minutes ago, but Crimson and Conrad saw to it that the guards were permanently disposed of. The term ‘gate’ could only be loosely applied in this instance as there was nothing physically barring any possible road traffic save for a flimsy wooden bar that was currently in the upraised position.

The main administration building sat in the distance and was directly visible from the side of the road from which everyone stood. He was wary of being spotted by the dozen Mions he could see off in the distance that were coming and going from the administration building. He crouched down next to a tree to briefly scan his team. Three of the four equines looked edgy to get started while Alexia appeared to be more patient. Loewy was just as eager as his furry friends due to his itchy trigger finger. Snake mirrored his squadmate.

“Okay this is how this is going to go. He indicated to the ponies first. “You four are going into that building to find where the most critical structures are. Armories, testing sites, labs, anything of the sort. With ponies being welcome here, I doubt you’ll be attacked on sight so you should be able to just walk right on in.”

Conrad was instantly against it. “You’re joking right? We just launched an attack on their police headquarters and you think they’ll blindly accept us as one of their own?”

“You’re a resourceful bunch,” Carter replied with a bare hint of mockery, “I don’t care how you get the information, just get it. The rest of us will secure transportation. We’ll need it to traverse the bloated school grounds.”

Tune faced the herd. Each of them shivered slightly from the freezing rain, but their eyes bore a determination to follow her into hell if need be. “Fine, we’ll get the info then raise you on the comms when we have it and are in a safe place to talk.”

The trio of humans nodded and slunk out of the woods to creep along the fence lining the road. Alexia faced her mates. “Okay, let’s see if we can hide our disgust about not killing the imps on sight so we can slip in without anyone giving us a second glance.”

Crimson eyed their equipment. Between Loki’s battle grade radio, their night vision goggles, and other equipment, they definitely didn’t look like civilians. “Any chance we can hide our gear without taking it off?”

“Or do some more singing?” Loki asked hopefully. “I feel the itch to sing.”

Conrad snorted playfully while nuzzling the green mare. Now that the humans were gone, he could be open with his affection. “It would be a welcome change from the Sirens, however I doubt Alex wants to try that aura thing again.” Loki pouted a bit before planting a kiss on his cheek before nuzzling him in return.

The alicorn smirked at him. “It would be fun to do that again but alas, Thompson didn’t include Pack Rat’s addition into the new harness. But the perception scramblers on these harnesses have been upgraded to alter the appearance of our gear as well. We should be able to pass ourselves off as just heavily clothed ponies because the scramblers make our equipment look like part of the clothing and the goggles will look like hats. With the weather like it is, no one should think twice about it.” The silver alicorn felt one last thing was needed. “So long as we keep our stuff on. If you take your goggles off, it’ll return to looking like goggles to everyone else.”

“Well let’s get it on then,” Loki announced boastfully while jabbing a hoof at the administration building. “To battle!”

Alexia rolled her eyes at the green pony’s antics before walking out to be on the road and started walking towards the front building as if she belonged there. The others filed out of the woods and fell in step behind her. The princess’s horn lit up briefly to set her illusion to give her the appearance of a normal sized pegasus. I don’t know if the scrambler will hide the wing slits, so I better just go as a pegasus rather than have to explain why I’m wearing pegasus clothing.

The herd passed Carter’s group who used the quartet as a distraction. As the federal agent hoped, the few other ponies and Mions near the parking lot zeroed in on them as Alexia set hoof on the overgrown lawn in front of the admin building. The individual was an eggshell white unicorn who had a badge cap on to signify her position within the college. The hat looked like it had been stolen off a police uniform. “Hold up there!” he shouted above the rain as he made his way over from the left side of the road.

The unicorn was exceedingly overly muscled for his tribe and had a jawline that could cut glass. “Where are your identity badges?”

Alexia tried to come across as bitter, but not towards the guard. “We’re new here, came in from—“

“Shannon,” Crimson finished for her while putting up a front of emotional pain. “A bunch of Mions saved us from an airstrike and said we should come here.”

Conrad butted in so they would not sound like they had any clearly defined leader amongst them. “Yeah, said this is the place to be to get revenge on the hairless apes.”

By now a few other ponies and Mions were taking notice of the herd. Alexia was glad that her alpha colors were being masked. The guard eyed the four carefully, but could not pierce the illusion. “You came at a bad time. We just got attacked by the military to the south and the campus is on high alert. You’re going to have to wait a few days for things to calm down.”

Loki tsked loudly. “Just my luck. First they bomb my house and now they’re stopping me from joining the only group who I can turn to for any sort of future.”

Alexia decided to get back in the act. “Why is a damn military attack even a problem for you? Isn’t that shit happening like every damn day?! How can you sit there and tell me that we came a bad time when every time is bad?”

The stallion didn’t take kindly to being bullied by a bunch of newcomers. “Now you listen, and you listen good. It’s my job to protect this place and I won’t have a bunch of-“

Tune channeled a chunk of mana into her left foreleg and stomped down angrily. The resultant impact was dampened by her shoe and the wet soil, but it was enough to blast a square foot of mud away from her hoof. Most of the mud having been directed at the unicorn. “I will not stand here and listen to you deny me entry!”

The small crater the soil stunned the unicorn in backing off. He was dumbfounded that a pegasus could do that kind of damage to the earth. A nearby well-dressed female Mion was impressed by the display and walked up behind the unicorn. The four newcomers took notice of her as she separated herself from the crowd and had a baby blue umbrella to keep the rain off. “That’ll be all Curtis.”

The unicorn turned an abrupt about face after the woman’s voice snapped him out of his daze. “Minister Hazel?” He shook off his surprise. “Procedure is clear. We have to keep any new-“

“I said-“ Hazel interrupted tersely, “that’ll be all.”

Curtis’s ears flattened at the implied threat. “Yes Minister.”

He stepped aside for Hazel to approach the quartet, but kept a close eye on them nonetheless. “You’ll have to forgive my guard captain. He takes his job very seriously. Before I introduce myself however, why don’t we get out of the rain?”

Crimson flicked her mane distastefully at the white stallion. “At least someone around here has manners.”

Hazel chuckled mirthlessly and turned around to lead the group towards the administration building. Its exterior design was rather straight forward. It had two stories with plenty of windows along with a steeple perched on the roof with two chimneys on either side. There were also eight roman columns which guarded the front door. Hazel led them inside after shaking the water off of her umbrella. She deposited the article in an ornately decorated antique receptacle. As Alexia and Crimson expected, the entry hall was spaciously large and various hallways branched away from it.

The red skinned and hairless Mion was enough of a reason for everyone else in the chamber to give them a wide, if polite, berth. The herd appeared for all the world to be an even mix of earth ponies and pegasi with clothing that looked well made, but covered in rain and a bit of mud from Alexia’s display of power.

“So,” Hazel said now that they were out of the rain and could take a moment to enjoy the heated interior. “What brings you all the way through a rainstorm to Berry College?”

Loki was the one who piped up first. “Well after getting my hideout blown up by a damn air raid and the fact that I don’t trust humans any farther than I can throw them, I figured I’d sign up with you guys.” She scanned the room to see a handful of ponies walking to and fro, but the vast majority of the people present were Mions. “And it seems to me you guys aren’t going to try and spit on me any time soon.”

Hazel nodded, but wasn’t really interested in anyone except for Alexia who appeared in the guise of a pink furred violet haired pegasus. “Well you won’t see that from us here. Why don’t you go over to the front desk and have the receptionist set you up with some lodgings and food before we find a place for you to work.” She centered her attention on Alexia. “But would you Miss, walk with me for a bit?”

Tune leveraged all of her acting classes, which Thompson had insisted that she attend, to sound like a disenfranchised and ornery mare. “Sure, but I need some grub, haven’t eaten anything but brown bitter grass lately.” She turned to her mates. “Go on get out of here, I’ll catch up later so we can settle that bet.”

Crimson upturned her nose and walked off as if she was insulted. “Barbarian.”

Loki’s feral grin split her face before addressing Hazel. “You might want to throw some protein in that meal you’re going to give her. She’ll need every bit of it to survive that bet.”

Conrad acted as if he was disinterested and stretched his wings a bit to get the blood flowing before taking to the air to join the two earth mares. The three of them acted as if they were companions of convenience rather than the mutual lovers they truly were.

Alexia knew that as long as Loki wasn’t under close scrutiny, then she could move freely to gather the necessary information and return to Carter. Hazel cared little for the others. It was becoming rarer, especially in North America, but there were still quite a few ponies the world over who remained in hiding out in the wilderness. Some kept in touch with the outside world via radio or television, but some were so petrified of being captured and dissected that they were completely oblivious to the world’s events in the past three years.

Hazel needed to know what the pink pegasus mare in front of her had been doing during all that time and how she could be of use. “Would you care to walk with me Miss-?”

The disguised princess already had a name selected. “Clare Redfield.”

The woman swept a hand towards the stairs on the far side of the chamber so Alexia would start walking. Both of them stayed side by side as they made their way past the dense crowd. “You can just call me Hazel. I keep an open door policy with all of our equine allies. Which I hope you’ll become.”

The disguised alicorn used every ounce of willpower to keep up the act of a mare on the run. “I don’t know. You’re buddy outside said you were just attacked today, and I make it a habit of mine to stay out of trouble ever since this,” she unfolded a wing and waved it around a bit for emphasis, “-happened to me. And not for nothing, you guys seem to be neck deep in it.”

Hazel tapped her chin as a wiry smile played across her lips. “We are merely fighting for what is right Miss Redfield. The truth of the matter is that humanity’s actions over the past few years have definitively proven that they are irrevocably xenophobic. Their hatred of both Mions and ponies is proof of that.”

Alexia cast a narrow glance at Hazel as they started to ascend the stairs. Playing the part of a pegasus, she decided to simply fly above the steps while remaining close by so they could continue speaking. The alicorn was genuinely happy to have an excuse to use her wings, but had to keep a bit of a distance so her larger wingspan wouldn’t hit anything. “Well not for nothing Hazel, but taking over parts of the US and attacking cities and military bases isn’t exactly how I would win friends.”

“That is assuming that humanity wanted to be friends with our kind,” Hazel replied with a touch of undirected hostility. She saw the pink pegasus giving her a scrutinizing expression. “The thing is, neither of us would ever be welcome in human society, so we have to make our own. And since humans occupy all of the world’s good land, then we have no choice but to take it by force.”

Alexia decided to play ignorant of the dismantlement of Rome to the south. “You make it sound like you want to build your own civilization.”

Hazel hid a smirk, thinking she was getting through the mare’s reservations. “We are merely preparing the world for colonization by our saviors, the Koridost. They will be the ones who build a superior civilization on Earth.”

“Uh huh,” Tune replied, sounding less than convinced. “And just who are these Koridost anyway?”

“You can ask Bellerod about them later if you wish, I’m more interested in you at the moment.” The pair reached the top floor. It was well furnished from its time as a college and had the smell of an older way of life. The décor was that of very early 1900’s to later 1800’s complete with oil paintings, end tables with real potted plants, and rugs covering hardwood flooring. Few people were in the north side of the hall at this hour so Alexia was able to keep flying next to Hazel without difficulty.

The women kept speaking as she walked to her office. “I have never seen a pegasus able to move dirt and soil like an earth pony. Have you always been able to do this?”

Alexia tilted her head to think. “Ever since I grew wings.” She saw a sign post for a rest room. “You mind if I go to the little girls’ room?”

Hazel dipped her head in a slight bow. “Of course, its right over there. Take all the time you need to clean yourself up. I wish to continue speaking with you once you’re done.”

“Well I at least owe you that much for letting me get out of the rain.” The mare dashed to the women’s room and found it was both empty and meant for only one person at a time. Perfect. She locked it and scanned the room for both magical and mundane camera or microphones.

After finding neither she cast a sonic barrier around the walls, floor, and ceiling. Alexia did actually need to use the room for more than contacting her mates and stripped out of the soaked clothes so she could warm up properly and relieve her bladder.

While tact would normally make her wait until the deed was done, Alexia knew the mission couldn’t wait and clicked her radio twice to signal her mates. Loki answered a few seconds later. “What’s the word mage?”

Tune suppressed a sigh of relief as she sat down on the porcelain throne. “The big wig around here was impressed by my display of earth pony magic. I’ll try to pump her for information before I get out of here. How’s your end?

“All it took was a library request and some—persuasion to get quick access to a detailed map.”

Alexia knew better than to pry. "Well get back with Carter when you can. I’ll keep an eye out from here.”

“Ten four good buddy.”

As Alexia attended her needs, Loki and the others exited the south side exit where Carter was supposed to be procuring a vehicle. Without Alexia being present, Conrad assumed temporary leadership. At least he tried to, but the two mares were not used to taking orders from anyone outside of Alexia or Thompson. And the Director was only included in that very short list because it was their job and he had earned their respect.

That wasn’t to say Conrad didn’t have their respect, it’s just that instinctually they only answered to their alpha. It was an instinct the mares tried to ignore for the sake of the mission, but found it difficult to do so.

Crimson was nearing her wits’ end at being so close to so many Mions and being unable to act against them. All of these damned cultists and species traitors and I can’t do anything to them.

While the pale yellow mare did her best to ignore the rising bile of being in such close proximity of several Mions, and cantered outside behind Conrad and Loki. The rain was a constant and unwelcome companion as the trio marched to the far end of the parking lot.

Loki looked to Conrad who seemed to know where he was going. “What’s the four one one Acting Alpha?”

He frowned at the green mare’s snarky tone. “Carter said they procured a white van and are waiting for us on the far west side of the admin building.”

“So why are you the temporary boss?” Crimson remarked more tersely than she meant to.

“Because I was her first mate that’s why,” he countered while turning a corner. “Besides, without Alex around we need to act quickly. I don’t like her being by herself.”

Crimson frowned, but remained silent. Loki huffed at the rain more than the stallion. “Just saying we should have voted on it is all.”

The effects of a non-alpha trying to assuming a leadership role over two strong willed herd members was not a well-documented on Earth. In addition with all of them still being loyal to their current alpha, namely Alexia, the two earth mares were finding it difficult to follow Conrad’s orders after he nominated himself as the temporary leader. All of this could have been avoided if Alexia had thought to name one of them the temporary leader, but none of them knew that aspect about themselves.

Nevertheless, the two earth mares kept their peace as the van came into view. It was an old thing with worn paint and a grumbling engine that didn’t sound like it had many years left. Conrad scowled at it. Looks like the kind of vehicle I used to use for drug trafficking.

The three men dared not show their faces less their non-red toned skin be identified by any passersby. The stallion pulled the sliding door and jumped inside with the mares following closely behind. The three men had been told to expect them, and that their appearance would be very different than before.

Loewy and Snake were still wary of the equines until they deactivated their perception scramblers and resumed their normal appearance. Loewy felt most of his tension ease up as he whistled in amazement. “When Tune said you guys had some good camo, she wasn’t kidding.”

Snake, who was sitting in the passenger seat, grinned at Carter who was eying the ponies with envy. “I bet you wish your agency had that kind of tech eh?”

Carter said nothing on the subject and waited until the side door was closed to speak. “Where’s Tune?”

Loki had no shame and shook the water off of her like a dog. Those around her attempted to cover their faces from the watery onslaught. “She’s keeping the boss around here busy and is trying to get information out of her.”

The federal agent didn’t like the alicorn, but harbored no doubts about her loyalty to the States and humanity. “I trust she can keep her true loyalties secret. Did you find any useful information on the map?”

Loki fished out a few copies of the charts she found and doled them out to everyone. “There are a few places simply called labs one through five. I did manage to find out that laboratory five is spiking its power consumption and has been ever since the Eighty Second started fighting in the south.”

Crimson piped in next after she scanned the map to locate lab five. “I saw several dump trucks moving off towards that place a few minutes ago. But I couldn’t tell what was in them thanks to the tarps over the cargo beds.

Loewy flicked some of the water Loki sprayed on him with a hand and tried his best to ignore mentioning it. “I’d say that’s as good a place as any to start looking. It may be a high traffic area, but I’m sure you guys can sneak in no problem right?”

Crimson was unsure. “That depends entirely on whether or not there are ponies working there. We have bracelets that’ll let us go unseen by the Mions, but it doesn’t work against other ponies.”

Carter shifted the van out of park and started driving towards the designated location. “Then you had better hope your stealth training is up to par.”

Loki interposed herself between the two front seats. “You just be sure to get us in close without drawing attention. I don’t want to have to call evac when all we’ve got to show for our efforts is a map.”

The van fell in line with a few other cars and trucks that were going in the same general direction as the lab. “Now that we’re inside the parameter, getting there is easy. Getting inside is the tricky part.”

Alexia finished up with the bathroom and knocked on Hazel’s office door. It was of heavy oak construction, but that barely registered to the mare thanks to her shod hooves. “Come in,” announced the familiar voice of the Minister.

Alexia did not speak right away. I hope deactivating the perception filter and reactivating it makes me look the same to her.

The mare stuck her head in to survey the office in an attempt to look suspicious. Hazel was in the middle of talking via telepathy to the military commander of the college’s defenses when she saw the pony reveal herself. I’ll get back with you later Boomhaw. An important guest has arrived. Hazel severed the telepathic link with her subordinate. “Redfield. Would you kindly have a seat please?”

Whew, good. I still look the same. “Um, sure. You got any grub by chance?”

Hazel expected that request from a comment she heard earlier. “I took the liberty of having a couple bowls of dragon soup brought up here. Since you’re a pegasus, I had some beef thrown in as well.”

The woman pointed to a large covered silver dish sitting on the left side of her mahogany desk. She lifted the cover to reveal two steaming bowls of a rather exquisite smelling broth. Alexia didn’t have to try hard to play the part of the hungry pony. “Dragon soup?”

“We have a special fungus that we’ve recently begun cultivating. It tastes rather bland to us Mions, but I hear nothing but good things about it from ponies. Add some basil, a little garlic salt…”

Alexia’s first instinct was to levitate the spoon, but she managed to catch herself before activating her hidden horn. Although the ivory spire upon her head would remain invisible, the azure glow it would emit would be seen through the disguise. Not to mention a floating spoon in front of a pegasus would draw some attention. The disguised alicorn sat in the larger of the two guest chairs and wrapped her forelegs around the bowl to bring it over. She sniffed it experimentally. The broth had an extremely heady aroma. There could be anything in this soup. She thought suspiciously. “I don’t suppose you’d tell me if there was some mind control drug in here would you?”

The woman adopted a coy grin. “My, aren’t we the cautious one. I’ll admit we do have to use some methods of chemical persuasion on human aligned ponies every now and again, but there’s no need for that here.”

“If its all the same.” Alexia put the bowl back on the desk. “I’ve lost my appetite.”

Hazel’s tone of voice cooled. “If it will put your mind at ease I’ll eat from the same bowl.”

The alicorn’s suspicion was on the rise. “Whatever drug you put in there could only be effective in larger doses than a spoonful or may not affect Mions at all.” When the woman’s eyes narrowed infinitesimally, Tune knew she was right. “It appears you’re no better than the humans. At least they have the decency to be hostile to your face.” The mare jumped out of her seat and turned to the door. “I’ll be leaving now.”

Before she could open the door, an electric lock sealed the exit and the sound of a pistol’s hammer being cocked reached her ears. “I’m afraid you’re not going anywhere.”

Alexia turned away from the door with a condescending smirk on her face. “So. This is how you get recruits huh? Either by drug or by force?”

Hazel’s visage and tone of voice redefined what it meant to be snide. “You didn’t really expect us to believe a group of civilian ponies would just happen to wander past all of our northern sentries and straight to the College did you?”

The silver mare huffed with indifference and dropped all pretense of being a noncombatant. “Maybe you should train them better then.”

Hazel wore smugness as if it came naturally to her. “I believe they serve their function just fine. I’ve already given word to the campus to detain your companions. You may not be capable of joining the Link, but there’s nothing a few days of psychic persuasion can’t cure. Ponies usually last a week or so before they fully believe our methods are in the right. For you though, I’d say no more than ten days.”

Alexia snarled hatefully at the threat. “So, is that how you force ponies into joining you? You wipe their minds until they see your ‘truth’?”

“Not all of them,” Hazel replied mockingly. “It’s actually uncommon to have more than one or two be resocialized a month. Many just know which way the wind’s blowing. Even if we fail to fully destroy humanity, by the time the Koridost arrive, they will be too weak to mount anything more than token resistance. Our victory is assured.” The Minister stood up while keeping her pistol aimed right at Alexia’s head. A victorious toothy smirk creased her features. “And when that day comes, those brethren of yours who sided with us will be rewarded greatly for their allegiance. But don’t feel too bad. Even if it’s being forced upon you, you will still share in that reward.”

“That’ll be the day.” Alexia gripped the pistol in her magic and forcibly wrenched it out of Hazel’s hands. Before the woman could even register that a pegasus was using telekinesis, Alexia flipped the pistol around and shot the Mion in the forehead.

Alexia immediately scanned the room for any listening devices and found four. I bet there are a few more that I can’t sense. Tune shuffled her disguise to appear as a different pony, but kept the pegasus appearance. Then she guesstimated the distance between herself and the roof. Nothing like a blind teleport to elevate your blood pressure. I can’t go through the door because I’m sure she brought back up.

With a flash of azure light Alexia blinked from the office and back into the freezing rain twenty feet above the roof. The alicorn dove towards the steeple to avoid the attention the flash of light would undoubtedly bring. The steeple itself was wide enough for her to hide behind while she clicked her radio to speak with her mates. “Guys, we got a problem.”

Loki was just about to step outside of the van when the call came in. Everyone in the team heard it. The green mare stepped back from the door while Carter responded back. “What’s the situation?”

Alexia was shivering from the cold rain, but she preferred it over the office she had just left. “The locals weren’t fooled. They’re on the lookout for us and will be on high alert.”

Loki glanced at the others in the van. “Do we abort?”

Snake scowled at the idea. “Like hell we do. My brothers didn’t die back there just for us to back off now.”

Carter was more cautious. “If we try to fight our way in, we could be cornered, killed, or worse. I do not want to end up as some red skinned zealot.”

Alexia decided to satisfy both sides. “Listen to me. Where are you guys right now?”

“Lab five, just north of the old—” she checked the map to be sure, “Barnwell Chapel.”

Alexia pressed herself against the steeple to stay hidden from a small flock of pegasi patrolling the skies. The grounds below were in uproar and one group of people started hunting for her immediately while a second group of guards were mustering to form search parties. The alicorn let the flock of three pegasi pass by her before using her magic to forcibly lull the third one in the group to sleep while pulling the falling mare’s identification helmet off of her and reeled it back in before the stricken pony’s wingmates could notice what happened.

Tune got an idea and shared it over the radio. “Okay I got a plan. I’m going to lure everyone to the south with some personal pyrotechnics. When everyone’s attention is to the south, you guys sneak in the lab and pull what info you can.”

Conrad was completely against the idea. “Alexia. We can’t risk that. You’d be all alone with no backup.”

“I can handle myself Conrad,” she replied calmly. All I’m going to do is lure everyone towards me to keep their attention away from you. Give me two minutes to get started before you rush in.”

Loewy knew the stallion was on the verge of jumping out of the van and flying over to his alpha. He placed a restraining hand on the pegasus’s withers. “We’ll call in the second evac choppers so they’ll be on standby. In the meantime we shoot up some lab coats and set this place up for an airstrike on our way out.”

Carter didn’t like it, but he wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. If she’s so bound and determined to throw herself into the fire, then we might as well make use of it. He joined back into the conversation. “We’ll move in sixty seconds. Make it flashy Zeta one.”

Alexia secured the stolen helmet on her head and made sure the scramblers didn’t disguise it as well. “I can do flashy.” With the conversation over, Alexia focused on the necklace she always wore, and on the malleable gem it contained. Just need to make my contingency plan first.

It took her thirty seconds to weave the spell she wanted into the gem. And my magic students thought I couldn’t mentally recreate an array. “Right, let’s get the show on the road!”

Alexia looked down at the assembly of guards, both Mion and pony, assembling in the yard. The heavy rain and darkening skies cast them in that eerie gloom before what few streetlights the area had would be turned on. The sight of them made the alicorn’s visage become that of a predator. The azure crowned pony felt the urge to sing and she was more than happy to satisfy that urge. “My my, so much rain, so much water, so so very much hydrogen and oxygen. Just whatever shall I do with it all?” Tune’s smile turned venomous as a pale azure source-less light enveloped the detachment of forty guards while their commander barked out orders to form ranks.

Alexia was quite familiar with the principle behind electrolysis. As a result, she required very little mana in splitting the water molecules falling onto the group of guards. Over the course of ten seconds, much of the water split apart into its two elements and were concentrated within the azure light. It took another five seconds before some of them started to notice the ground was drying out and the rain was thinning around only them. Shouts of surprise and alarm reached Alexia’s ears and that was when she pulled the thermal energy out of the commander and concentrated it into a ball. As she compressed the ball of thermal energy, it grew hotter and hotter. Right as the Mion commander dropped to the ground as a frozen icicle, the sphere had compressed enough to spark the hydrogen.

The resulting explosion was so bright and loud that it momentarily brought pause to everyone on campus who was either outside or near a window facing the administration building. Flames licked at the roof of the building and danced across the thermal barrier surrounding the vengeful alicorn. She started singing again as she found a collection of Mions and ponies fleeing the scene. “Hush now little ones don’t say a word.” A second explosion wiped them from existence at the same time a third group caught her eye. “Momma’s going to buy you a mockingbird.”

Alexia took to the air to get a better view on the parked cars. The rain tried to beat her back down to the ground, but she ignored the stress of trying to fly in the rain to continue her work. “And if that mockingbird won’t sing.” Tune lifted one of the sedans in her magic and surrounded it with a pocket of hydrogen and oxygen gas. “Momma’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.”

The alicorn ignited the volatile gas and wreathed the car in flames. Then she used her telekinesis to throw it into the south wing of the administration building. She repeated this twice more with a pickup truck and a SUV in different spots so when the fuel tanks blew it would cause damage in multiple places.

Before she could begin the next verse of her singing poem, the innate kinetic shields of her necklace flickered as three gunshots hammered into them, dropping all but the final barrier.

Alexia utilized her larger wingspan to push herself further up into the air as two of the pegasi she had stolen the helmet from were closing in on her with two Mions on the ground firing assault rifles. Tune immediately summoned a massive kinetic bleed field. Everything within twenty feet of her slowed to an absolute crawl. She waved a mocking hoof towards the incoming pegasi. “Come on boys. I’m waiting.”

Like smacking to a tub of molasses, the two pegasi’s snouts made it through the field before slowing down considerably. Unfortunately for them, the rest of their body kept moving and the duo nearly broke their jaws on a head on collision. Gravity pulled the two ponies to the ground below a few moments later.

“Well it seems Hazel got the word out about my fake appearance faster than I thought she did. Suits me just fine.”

Something heavy and wet started pressing down on her horn causing Alexia to look up. A vast pool of water twenty feet across and three feet deep was collecting in her kinetic field and it was getting large enough that gravity was winning over the spell. The collected water was fixating everyone’s attention on her as the oddity of its presence was too conspicuous to ignore.

“Well now. Isn’t that just a big bomb waiting to happen?” A few bolts of light nearly hit her as several unicorns started firing on her from the ground. Alexia huffed and used her kinesis to open a hole in the pond above her head and flew through it to get on top. As soon as she was above it, she turned around to resume hovering. “I hope you bastards can swim.”

With a snickering dark laugh, she released the kinetic spell, and the torrent of water fell upon those below. “Surfs up!”

Loewy and Snake hide between Laboratory Five’s southern wall and the waist high shrubberies that flanked the side entrance into the building. The exterior was designed to look like part of the forest it was nestled in. It had trees growing all around and through the building. What few windows it had were completely dark from the outside thanks to some clever construction. All in all, the building looked to be nothing more than part of a highly condensed forest.

Even the entrance was well hidden enough that they needed to look at the map to see where the door was located. Snake’s boots were up to his ankles in thick sticky mud and his uniform was completely drenched, but he temporarily forgot his discomfort at the massive explosion to the south. “Looks like the little lady is putting on a good show.”

Loewy was more than a little frightened by the display. “I think she leveled a building with that one. I think I can see why the higher ups locked them away when the ponies first started showing up.”

Snake scanned the nearby area to make sure none of the people either running from the explosions or standing there in stunned silence could hear their muffled conversation. Most of the noncombatants started to flee towards the east, leaving the two soldiers alone to guard the exit. “I think you should focus more on the fact that she didn’t use that power to break out. Morality is a virtue few people with real power possess.”

His companion nodded in agreement. “…I suppose so,” he said at length. “I can’t wait til we manage to harness that kind of power for ourselves as well. You heard about the new magitech coming out of Trinity right? I heard the brass is looking to weaponize magic with it. Give it a few years and rayguns will be standard issue.”

Snake sighed and dipped his head for a few moments. He stared down at the muck he was crouched in as rain rolled off his helmet in rivulets. His carbine remained tightly held in his gloved hands. He thought about which of his friends might have died in the initial distraction.

As much as it may seem otherwise to an outside observer, he was quite fond of Buttercup. Snake squinted his eyes shut, and resisted the urge to remove his ballistic goggles to wipe his eyes. “Loewy… I’ll be happier when we can beat our swords into plowshares again. Don’t look forward to building instruments of death because you want to use them. Build them to protect yourself, your friends and family. And when all of this is over, if it ever is, I’d rather have a magic toaster than a magic gun.”

Loewy couldn’t help but to glance at his friend every now and again from his vigil over the emptying fields in front of the door. “Where did that come from?”

Snake looked back up at the fields to watch a few Mions racing towards a car to head down south. “Just thinking out loud. Pay it no mind.”

With Carter watching over the van, and keeping an ear out for any calls for assistance, the three remaining ponies used aggressive stealth to press deeper into lab five. It was a tactic mostly consisting of killing or otherwise incapacitating everyone they came across with as much silent finesse as possible so no alarms were raised. It was Conrad’s philosophy of ‘if we kill everyone we come across, then there’s no one who can raise an alarm’.

Currently, the stallion was peeking around a corner where three Mions and two ponies walked the halls. These guys sure are acting like they don’t care what’s going on outside these walls. Do they truly not know, or are they so absorbed in their own work to care? When one of the ponies entered a room he pulled his head back into the side hall where he and his fellow mates were taking cover in. Both earth ponies were dragging the last body into a storage closet where ten more were hidden. It wasn’t a permanent solution, but it would do for the time being.

Loki said the biggest room in this lab is in the center of this hallway. No doubt that’s where we can tap the computers and jack up any experiments their conducting. He turned to the green hacker. “We move as soon as the last pony turns away from us. He shouldn’t care about three more sets of hooffalls unless he turns around.”

Despite both mares’ instinctual resistance to his orders, the commands were sound enough for the earth ponies to ignore the feeling and comply. As the last pony left the hallway, Conrad made a cutting motion with his left foreleg and all three of them burst out of their hiding place.

Thanks to their bracelets hiding their forms and the sound of their hooves and wing flaps, the group followed Conrad to what was only called Chamber A-23. A keycard from one of Loki’s victims popped the door open with a hiss of escaping gasses. The trio rushed inside so the open door wouldn’t raise any suspicions.

What laid within made them stop dead in their tracks. The ponies found themselves standing on the third tier catwalk of a very large room that stank of old sweat and bile. Directly below them sat an enormous blood red slug like monstrosity that easily dwarfed an Abrams tank ten times over. Eggs of various sizes from that of a watermelon to that of an adult man either hung from the ceiling or were cradled on the ground. Each one was transparent and the figures within chilled the ponies’ blood.

Each and every egg contained a Mion identifiable only because of the red scaly skin and the bony spines protruding from the zealots’ forearms. The massive slug had feeding tubes injected at various points in its body while a dozen Mions and four pegasi monitored its status.

Conrad recovered from his disgust driven shock and pulled the mares to the far side of the catwalk that was rarely used. Crimson found her voice upon arrival. “What the hell is that thing?”

Loki was more curious than repulsed, and eyed it carefully. “I think we just found the queen imp.”

The body of the queen slug rippled from its bloated midsection that traveled towards the back and resulted in a mostly transparent black egg being ejected. A machine quickly snatched up the egg and placed it within an incubator which was little more than a giant pair of steel tongs that kept the egg firmly attached to the ceiling. A pair of tubes was implanted into the egg to make sure it had plenty of nutrients and to facilitate respiration.

Several camera sensor pods scurried around the room on ceiling mounted guide rails to inspect the raised eggs while the living caretakers inspected the more mature eggs on the ground. The room itself was ovoid in shape and dominated the rest of the building with its two hundred yard length from end to end.

Loki turned back to Conrad with Crimson doing the same a second later. An entire conversation passed silently between them in the space of a few seconds. It was an act only possible from the three of them being so tightly knit together that this particular decision ended with all three of them speaking at once. “Torch it.”

Loki glanced over at the main computer terminal on the far east side of the room. Without the need for orders, she started creeping her way over so she could hijack the computer to implant a wiretap. Crimson looked around and saw the chilled oxygen tanks sitting behind a dense steel grating with warning labels and paint barring access. The tanks were situated near the back of the room and away from the entrance they had come in from and even further away from the eggs.

Conrad gave Crimson a brief nod before both took off like a shot. Crimson vaulted over the side of the catwalk and fell fifteen feet onto the giant slug and slid on her hooves towards one of the unicorns inspecting a weeping sore on the creature’s flank. He glanced up just in time to receive a face full of hooves and was crushed under the heavy earth mare.

Without missing a beat, she leapt off her victim to put all four hooves on the ground. My favorite place to be. Searching with her innate earth pony magic, Anderson could feel the living roots of the trees beneath the floor. “Perfect.” Gathering up a sizeable chunk of mana, she reared up and slammed into the ground. The earth slowly began to rumble and quake. A larger second dose of mana caused the floor to heave and the chamber floor cracked and splintered, much to the bewilderment of the caretakers. Over a dozen thick roots burst out of the ground and either skewered them, or knocked the caretakers off their feet.

Conrad knew which ones Anderson would leave to him and danced through the air to finish off anyone the pale yellow mare left lying on the floor. The cultists never stood a chance. The only truly intelligent people there were the ponies as the caretaker Mions were little more than biological robots under Hazel’s indirect command.

Only one of the Mion aligned ponies was spared during the attack and that unicorn was currently struggling to breath in the constricting roots that firmly locked the purple mare in place. She tried to formulate a spell to help, but all of her bolts of magic sailed past the blitzing pegasus and the earth mare shielded herself with dense roots to block the unicorn’s line of sight. After the last of her coworkers were picked off by the plants and lone stallion a thin branch grew off her restraints and wrapped tightly around her horn, making any spellcraft immensely painful to attempt. In the space of a few minutes she was all that remained besides the eggs and birthing queen.

While Anderson’s tribe was barely affected by low mana levels, Crimson still felt she was well below half after performing such draining spellwork. She expended a bit more mana to bring the single survivor lower to the ground so she could stare at the unicorn mare without craning her neck. She made sure to keep the purple pony’s horn tightly wrapped so she couldn’t use magic to resist.

“Looks like we got ourselves a live one.”

Conrad fluttered down to land next to his mate. The unicorn cast a baleful glare at both of them. “You’re with the human government aren’t you?! You should be siding with us, not them!”

“Funny,” Crimson glowered. “We were going to say the same thing about you. You do realize this abomination behind me is grotesque right?” He pointed a wing at the massive slug as it birthed another egg.

The captured mare tried to spit in his face, but Conrad smoothly dodged the flying spittle. “Of course it is. But the job needs to be done. I would think a couple of killers like yourselves would understand that.”

“Killers?” Crimson spat back menacingly. “We wouldn’t need to take on such a title if your red skinned friends weren’t trying to bring down civilization.”

The prisoner was surprisingly belligerent for someone who was at the mercy of the two CIA agents. “Oh come off it. I’ve heard it all before. Kill me if you must, but every pony who sides with the children of the Koridost knows they are in the right.”

“Sure they do,” Crimson replied tersely. Yet before she could say anything more the slug let out a horrific screech and thrashed about, pulling the various cables and tubes out of its body. The rear half of the slug’s skin seemed to peel away from the body to reveal forty long thin snaking tentacles that attempted to slam down on the pair of intruders.

Conrad and Crimson fled just as the mass of flesh smashed against the crumbling floor, the captive mare was crushed under the attack that further fractured the already shattered ground. Both ponies balked at the mountain of muscled flesh that slithered out of its nest to crush the two ponies before it. Conrad could have flown up into the rafters, but that would leave Crimson alone with the beast, and he didn’t believe he could carry her and outrun the giant slug at the same time.

Anderson barely squirmed out of the way as five tentacles lunged for her legs. She barely managed to jump to the side and used one of the tree roots to block a sixth attack. “We didn’t do anything to it yet. What pissed it off?”

Loki, who was still at the computer console with three scientists lying at her hooves typed frantically into the terminal. She heard Crimson’s query through the radio. “Um, I think that was me when I activated the termination protocol.”

The brown stallion couldn’t help but hesitate to speak. “You what?!” Twenty tentacles lashed out at the dodging and weaving airborne target. Yet for all of his agility, one tentacle lucked out and wrapped around his hind legs as he attempted to flee. Anderson saw the creature lift him higher into the air with the intent to slam him down into the root covered broken floor.

“Conrad!” She scrambled out of the way from three flaying tendrils and a dozen more as she raced to get underneath the stricken pegasus before he collided with the broken terrain. Halfway to the ground, the tentacles holding onto Conrad started dissolving and was reduced to smoking hole riddled meat by the time Crimson dove to catch her stallion. Anderson spun as she kicked off so she could wrap her legs around him as his shoulders collided with her. The force of the impact between him and the ground cracked several of Crimson’s ribs and the jagged floor carved into the flesh on her back.

The impact dislocated Conrad’s left wing at the shoulder and tore some of the ligaments. Both ponies cried out in pain, but they were drowned out by the monstrosity as it unleashed a furiously pained death knell as the dissolving tissue sloughed away like a melting glacier. The tendrils tried to attack again, but the anchors lost their strength as they necrotized and was only capable of making thirty blackening tentacles drop on top of the two prone ponies.

Loki finished implanting her network tap just in time to witness her mates’ collision with the broken ground. “Shit!” The green mare slung her satchel back on and rushed over to where she saw her lovers get slammed to the ground.

The grass green mare raced over to her mates, slipping on the mass of liquefying meat and slime. She clicked her radio mic on with her tongue. “Snake, Loewy. Code red three, I repeat code red three!”

Snake primed his weapon and unstuck himself from the muck while Loewy responded. “Sit tight and keep the radio comms open so we can track you, we’re on our way.”

Snake switched channels to link his communication through Loki’s radio and out to mission command. “Hotel Actual this is Baker Five, come in over.” Loewy kicked the door open and swept the hallway, seeing no one alive thanks to the ponies’ previous efforts, the pair ran further inside.

“This is Hotel Actual. What’s your status Baker Five?” came a clipped and calm masculine voice.

“The package has been delivered and we have causalities, requesting immediate evac at this location.” The building lit up with yellow warning lights and a jarring klaxon alerting the staff and security personnel of an intruder resounded through the halls.

“Roger Baker five. ETA three minutes.” Snake thanked whoever the commander was that ordered a second pair of Black Hawks to remain on station to retrieve his team rather than be stationed further away.

A few seconds after he ended the conversation, the pair came to the end of the hallway. Loewy got there first and peeked around the corner. Snake slid up behind him and checked his carbine to make sure it was ready to fire. Loewy kept looking down the other hallway while making several hand signals to Snake that read “Ten hostiles. Five Mions. Five ponies. Two unicorns, one pegasus, two earths. Area clear of friendlies.”

Snake tapped Loewy’s shoulder to convey his understanding and pulled two fragmentation grenades. He stepped around Loewy to get the distance of the enemy who was gathered around one of the doors as they formed up to perform a breeching maneuver, pulled the pins, cooked the grenades for two seconds, and then threw them down the hall.

Both men ducked back behind the corner and waited until two explosions shook the hallway. The paratroopers wasted no time and jumped out to clean up what the grenades left behind. All but the two earth ponies and one of the Mions had fallen to the grenades. All three were shot down before they could either flee or shoot back.

The laboratory was already on high alert from the death of the slug queen after Loki activated the termination protocol. As a result, three more security ponies and seven more Mions burst down from the second floor on the stairwell to the two humans’ left flank.

The paratroopers started firing immediately, focusing on the Mions first so they couldn’t shoot back. The one unicorn in the group tried to rip Loewy’s carbine out of his hands while Snake gunned down the last Mion. Thinking quickly, Loewy kept his left hand tightly wrapped around the gun barrel so the unicorn couldn’t turn it around and shoot him with his own weapon. The trooper pulled his pistol out with his right hand and fired four rounds, two of them perforated the unicorn who relinquished her hold over the weapon upon death.

Through it all, the two earth ponies charged in and closed the distance to get within hand-to-hand combat range. Snake’s carbine clicked dry as he tried to fire upon the charcoal grey stallion bearing down on him with hatred in his eyes. The trooper remembered his sparring matches with Loki while on the U.S.S. Bush.

Remember Snake, on average an earth pony like me is going to be physically stronger than a human. So don’t try to go into a contest of strength with us. You’ve got hands and a good head on your shoulders, use them.

The combat engineer assumed a low fighting stance with his left leg seemingly too far out and an easy target. His fists moved out to either side to maintain balance. Right as the earth pony started to spin on his forelegs to deliver a buck to the man’s knee, Snake moved to counter him. Instead of taking the hit or jumping backwards like his opponent expected, Snake’s hands snapped forward and wrapped his fingers around the pony’s back hooves right before impact. The man pulled the hooves over his vulnerable knee and used his wide stance to leverage his whole body strength to lift the heavy earth pony up and over his head in roughly the same direction of the spin to slam him down on the ground behind him.

Snake utilized his advantage to give him time to draw his combat knife and spun his legs to the side while dropping his elbow on the stallion’s back. The first impact winded the stallion who struggled to get back up, but the elbow drop pinned him back down and the knife in the back of his head put him down for good.

Loewy was on his back with the earth mare trying to pummel him from on top, but the man got his right leg under her and kicked her off before emptying his pistol in her as she tried to race back towards him.

The paratroopers got back up on their feet to reload. Loewy’s helmet pinged his right ear to tell him the direction where Loki’s radio, and hopefully Loki herself, was located. Snake scanned the hall and saw more reinforcements coming from the direction they needed to go. What the hell is this place, a barrack on top of a lab?

Both men stood on either end of the main hallway and opened fire as they slowly cut their way through to Loki’s signal.

One by one, the Mions in front of them fell to grenades and bullets. Snake pushed his way into the birthing chamber while Loewy assumed overwatch in the hallway.

What he saw chilled him to the bone just as much as it did the ponies before him. Over a hundred eggs were turning grey as the humanoid beings within blacked and died as the termination protocol moved to destroy all of the evidence. His eyes drifted downward as the ping told him Loki’s signal was below and to the right. What he saw was a limping pegasus being pushed forward by Loki who had Crimson slung over her back as they tried to stay ahead of the rising tide of black pus like fluid that rushed out of the slug’s main body and the hundreds of eggs to coat the floor. Loki was bound and determined to get her mates to safety. The stench of acid eating away at wood and metal filled the air. Snake noticed the eggs scattered around the room had melted or were otherwise flooding the other entrances to the upper catwalks except for the ones near the oxygen tanks.

Slinging his carbine onto his back, the combat engineer pulled out a satchel charge and a remote detonator while running down the length of ovoid room. As soon as he had his explosives out of his bag and tucked into his armpit, he sprinted all the way around to the far end of the chamber that was clear of the acidic slime.

He was much faster than the injured ponies and was able to reach the ground floor before Loki and Conrad could. As soon as he was on the ground floor he removed a small breaching charge and blew off the lock guarding the tanks and threw the satchel charge into the midst of the containers. You can solve anything with the right application of explosives.

Once done, he bolted over to Loki who was pushing Conrad along trying to keep his hindquarters off the ground. He couldn’t fly with a dislocated wing and the slug queen had broken one of his hind legs and sprained the other.

Loki was thrilled to see the paratrooper. “We need to get to a medevac pronto. His back legs are messed up and so is a wing.”

The engineer looked to the brown stallion who was unable to stand due to his injuries. “Don’t worry buddy, I got ya.” He snatched the pegasus up into a fireman carry over his shoulders. He made sure the stallion was mostly secured by his forelegs while trying to minimize contact with his back ones. “Let’s get out of here!”

Loki followed after Snake who briskly made his way back up to Loewy who was firing off several shots at targets further down the hall. He turned back when he heard both boots and hooves heavily clanging against the steel catwalk. He noticed the wounded ponies with a grimace but said nothing on the topic. “Bastards are trying to surround the exit. Give me a second.” He pulled two more grenades off his belt and tossed them on either side of the hallway. Then he grabbed three white smoke grenades off Snake’s belt and chucked them into the passage.

“Carter says he’s right outside the exit with the van. Choppers are creating an LZ on the northwestern fields.” Snake and Loki nodded in acknowledgement. Loewy spied Loki’s night vision goggles and tore his helmet off. “Let me borrow those.”

“Ah, sure,” Loki bent her head forward so he could take them off and placed them over his head. The goggles didn’t fit right and his eyes were too small for them, but they worked well enough for the task at hand.

“Stay close and follow me.” He finished reloading and popped out into the hallway as the smoke became dense enough to obscure everything. The three Mions down the opposite way and the two bunkered down in the direction of the exit were firing blindly. Loewy picked off the ones behind him now that he could move into a better firing angle and shot the ones in front with precise accuracy. He waved Loki and Snake forward. “Move, move, move!”

They got halfway through with Loewy picking off anyone who got in their way when Snake turned to Loki. “How far along is the package?”

The mare used every bit of her field experience to keep from panicking at her mates’ injuries. “I-I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to check its progress. But it could be anywhere between ten minutes to an hour.”

Freeing his hand for a moment, Snake pulled his remote detonator and adjusted it to a timed fuse before clicking the button to arm the device. “This place is going sky high by then.”

Loewy was down to half a magazine of ammunition by the time they reached the exit. He peeked out to see two unicorns with their horns aglow. The paratrooper barely retreated in time before acidic magic could burn his head off his shoulders. “Damn it. We lost our exit.”

Snake freed his hand again to get on the radio. “Carter, where the hell are you.”

“Right outside.” Loewy heard a roaring engine outside and cries of alarm. He readied his carbine and burst out of the sizzling door. At that moment a charging white van flattened one of the unicorns barely seven feet from the door. Loewy capitalized on the surprise and shot the last unicorn. Carter jumped out of the driver’s seat and slid over to the passenger compartment to open the side door. “Get in, hurry!”

The others needed no further prompting and clambered inside. Once her mates were safe on the seats, Loki got back on the radio. “Zeta one, Zeta one. Come in.”

Alexia’s winded and strained voice answered back. “This is Zeta one.”

Loki sighed inwardly in relief that her alpha was still alive. “We’re bugging out. LZ in the far northwestern fields of the campus.”

A short pause elapsed as the alicorn tried to catch her breath. “Okay, I’ll be there shortly.”

When the transport convoy made their entrance, they did so in a big way. Two Viper helicopter gunships locked onto the paratroopers’ transponders and roared in to protect the white van as it was being chased down by three stolen Humvees. The gunships’ nose cannon fire ventilated the three pursuers as if they were tissue paper. Except for lab five, the gunships moved on to lay down rocket barrages on the other nearby laboratories. Some of them were destroyed by secondary explosions as volatile storehouses were cooked off while others suffered extensive damage from the barrage.

Unfortunately for the campus, the helicopters’ arrival was poorly timed as most of their forces were down south trying to locate Alexia who had disappeared ten minutes ago. Carter carefully slowed the van to a halt near the Black Hawks so the lightly flooded grassy fields didn’t cause him to skid out. The group piled out right as a brilliant azure flash lit up the darkening evening sky directly in front of the first transport. Tune was barely able to stand and her coat was half covered in blood, in addition an unconscious male Mion was with her lying on his back. The alicorn was so exhausted that her wings drooped to the ground and she couldn’t raise her head up. She couldn’t muster the strength to walk, but she could at least remain standing.

Two paramedics from the second helicopter ran over to help her. Alexia barely shouted over the rain and chopping blades of the transports to be heard. “Take him too, he’s a prisoner.”

The medics were dubious about taking a Mion alive, but his unconscious form made it a little easier for them to accept her request. As much as she wanted to be in the same transport as her mates, the medics wanted to get out of the battlefield quickly and took both her and the Mion to the helicopter along with Carter. Everyone else on the team went in the first Black Hawk.

Tune slumped in the stretcher of her transport and was provided an oxygen mask to which she blearily accepted. The convoy took off and headed back towards Atlanta with the Vipers close at hand. The princess was exhausted, soaked down to the bone in freezing water, and was barely able to stay awake long enough to notice the medics removing her equipment and clothing to check her over for wounds.

The action caused her to chuckle lightly. Heh, glad I don’t care about being nude, or this would be awkward.

The mare had several lacerations and abrasions across her body, some of them serious. She had acid burns in her mane and tail, but luckily only her hair and fur took any real damage from that. She also had burns along her left flank and belly, but they were minor. Once she was dried off from the rain and her wounds patched up, the medics covered her in a thick blanket to ward off the cold air in the helicopter.

Alexia was drained. Not just from a physical standpoint, but an emotional and magical one as well. She laid there in the stretcher reliving the past hour. Hazel’s taunts about psychic manipulation pained the princess as she laid there with the clear oxygen mask on her muzzle. Just how many brainwashed ponies did I kill today? How many believed in the Mion cause without having to be manipulated? Could they have been saved? I don’t even know how much this psychic mind zapping left of their old selves to be restored.

She was too tired to feel angry and could only muster enough strength to be considered a little peeved. Damn imps aren’t satisfied brainwashing themselves, they have to do it to ponies as well. She turned away from the ceiling of the aircraft towards the Mion sitting on the back end of the passenger compartment. He was heavily restrained by multiple plastic handcuffs on both his wrists and ankles along with a sack over his head to keep him from seeing anything. Not that he could so long as my sleep spell holds. He said he wouldn’t try resisting it so it should last for a day or so. We’ll see.

Her body craved sleep but she felt the need to give a message and raise a weary hoof in the air to get one of the medics’ attention. She didn’t have to wait long as the one by her side gently clenched the outstretched hoof and took his helmet off to listen when he realized she wanted to speak. “Keep him sedated at all times, don’t let him wake up for anything until I can handle him.”

The request was odd, but he nodded after a moment. “I’ll pass it along.”

With her message given, the alicorn folded her leg back under the blanket and passed out.

Dim lighting, sterile sheets, and rhythmic beeping greeted the silver mare to the waking world. The land of the living decided to harshly remind her of the dozen wounds that stitched all over her body. She found herself lying on her back with her left wing slightly pushed from her barrel by the gauze that kept her side from leaking blood. A weight was pressing down on the mattress to her left and the pony blinked her eyes to get them to bring the green and pink lump into focus.

Loki was the only one of the herd to come out of the operation unscathed. The earth pony knew Alexia was nowhere near in danger, but she still wanted to remain by her alpha. The bed was large enough that Loki was able to sleep next to Alexia without risk of pressing against her injuries or falling off the side. Unlike Tune, Loki was sleeping on her belly and her head was next to Alexia’s withers. Smiling, Alexia started rubbing the quietly snoring mare’s mane.

A faint grin crossed over the grass green pony’s muzzle as she awoke from her light sleep. “Hey mage,” she said drowsily.

“Hey green bean. How bad is it?”

Loki knew she meant the entire herd rather than just her own injuries. “Well, you got off with some minor blood loss and a few cuts and bruises. I had to forge a mana crystal and feed it to you so you didn’t suffer too much from magic exhaustion.”

Alexia’s grin widened. “Thanks.”

The pink crowned pony leaned in and stole a long kiss on Tune’s lips. Both mares relished the love they shared. Loki pulled back to speak after nearly two minutes. “The others are hurt, but nothing permanent. Conrad’s got a dislocated wing and a broken leg. The docs patched him up and he’ll be fit to fly within a few weeks. Crimmy was a bit worse off than him,” Loki’s tone darkened a bit, but did not lose its joviality.

“She’s got a few broken ribs and some bad cuts along her back. She ended up with sixty one stitches, but the medics say any scar tissue should be invisible under her fur. Lucky for her she’s an earth pony.” Loki puffed her chest out with pride. “Had she been anything else catching Conrad like she did would have broken her back.”

“Are they awake?”

Loki got off the bed to check the others who were also in the same room. “No. They’re still out of it from the anesthetics. Plus it’s been ten hours since we got back. Even if the drugs were gone they’d be too tired anyway.”

Alexia felt guilty over them getting injured and it showed on her face. I should have been there for them. I should have found some other way to distract the locals so I could have been there to protect them.

Loki could read her alpha like a book and climbed back up on the bed to nuzzle the alicorn. “Don’t get all mopey on me.” She raised Tune’s head with the tip of her hoof. “You did what you had to do, and you did it well. We got the wiretap in and the head office is falling over itself with the amount of data we pulled from there. We did it. We got a ton of research information on the original strain of the plague. Plus Snake left a little surprise for them on the way out. Blew the last lab Berry College had to hell. Or so I’m told.”

The fact that the mission was a success alleviated much of Alexia’s ill-at-ease. “Be honest with me. Are Conrad and Crimmy going to be okay?”

Loki scooted up to rest her forehead against Alexia’s. “I promise you. We are still whole. A bit banged up sure, but we’re still in one piece.”

Alexia wrapped her forelegs around the green mare and pulled her in as tightly as her injuries allowed her. “Thank you Loki,” she exhaled a shuddering breath. The green pony returned the affection and nuzzled her beloved alpha. “I needed to hear that so very much.”

The green mare pulled Alexia onto her side so Loki wouldn’t have her weight pressing down on her bandaged form. Wrapped up in her mate’s embrace, Tune drifted off to sleep again. Loki never left her side and ignored the mild discomfort of their tangled limbs and held onto the silver mare until she too left the waking world.

The following morning stabbed Alexia in the eyes with such brilliance that it burned away much of her drowsiness before she could even sit up. That action was currently impossible thanks to the green mare still wrapped around her. She would have liked nothing better than to continue resting with her cherished mate, but the open window and the early morning sun refused to let her do so as the light came from directly behind Loki. I could just cast a spell to draw the blinds, but I really should address the matter with the prisoner before someone tries to interrogate him.

Alexia lightly kissed Loki on her muzzle before carefully detangling herself and dropping to the floor. The green mare slept through it, much to Tune’s relief. She needs rest as much as any of us.

The silver alicorn’s first thought was to check on the rest of the herd. Conrad was asleep on his side with both hind legs in casts with his wing in a sling. The steady rise and fall of his chest along with the rhythmic pulse of the various life sign monitors told the princess that he was otherwise unharmed.

Crimson was lying on a customized bed. With several broken ribs and stitches all over her back, the bed had parts of it lowered so that the earth pony could still sleep on her back, but the stitches were not in direct contact with anything so the fabric wouldn’t pull on them. It wasn’t comfortable, but the bed served its purpose.

Alexia hung her head at the state her mates were in. Its my job as alpha to protect you guys. And look where that got us. Loki’s words danced in her mind. No! They aren’t children. I can’t coddle them and we live a dangerous life. I- Her rant halted before it truly began. I did my part didn’t I? I drew the campus’s attention south and away from them.

The alicorn had not been told what caused their injuries yet. I can only hope that my efforts kept these injuries from being life-threatening. And that they forgive me for not being there for them. Tune sighed and briefly nuzzled and kissed her two injured mates before withdrawing to the adjoined bathroom.

After answering the call of nature, she remained there to make a call of her own. So as to not disturb the herd, Tune summoned her tome within the walls of the bathroom. There she found Twilight was available and gladly opened communications.

After a few minutes, the purple pony appeared with a tired but happy expression. That smile faltered as she looked around the room. “Alexia! How’ve—you—why are you summoning me in the bathroom? That question was quickly forgot as the lavender mare saw Tune’s bandages and bedraggled appearance. “Alex what happened to you!?”

Tune wanted to rub the back of her neck, but it was still sore from a glancing gunshot wound. “I ah—had a bit of a run in with some cultists and went a little overboard and got reckless.”

Twilight gave her a sardonic look. “I’d tell you to be more careful, but that would fall on deaf ears wouldn’t it?”

Alexia whinnied mirthfully while covering her mouth with a hoof. “I suppose it would. But with my line of work, even careful can end badly.”

Sparkle hummed before letting the matter drop. “Well you seem to be in a good mood so I take it your herd is still intact.”

The silver mare’s face fell a bit. “As Loki put it, we’re pretty banged up, but we’ll pull through. Crimmy’s going to end up with scars most likely.”

Twilight frowned sadly. “Pass along my condolences will you?”

Some of Alexia’s good cheer returned at hearing her mentor’s compassion. “I will. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

Twilight hummed in thanks before cocking her head to the side. “Since you’re on business, even if you are convalescing at the moment, I doubt you would call me if you didn’t have something important to ask.”

Acting as if her hoof had been caught in the cookie jar, Alexia nodded sheepishly. “You know me too well Sensei. I do have need of your expertise at something.”

Chuckling at her fellow alicorn’s embarrassment, Twilight’s mood lifted. “Well you know I’m always happy to help you. What do you need?”

Tune took a breath to steel herself. “I need Discord’s spell, or at least have it cast on one person.”

Sparkle gasped at the request. “You’re not talking about the one that turned you into a pony are you?”

Alexia nodded. “The same. It’s for a Mion that surprised me with a wish to defect, if you can believe it. Former secret service agent Menville.”

Author's Note

Okay ladies and gentlemen, it’s voting time. Pick a tribe and gender for the prisoner in the comments below. I rolled the dice on this one a few times (as per the logic behind the spell) but then I thought I would leave it up to you guys. Roll the bones yourself or just voice your preference. Gender and tribe are separate categories (just in case that wasn’t clear) so let me know and I’ll see you next time!

P.S. And yes I will explain how Menville got there, but I didn’t want to push the chapter to over 14k words.

10: Menville

Alexia Tune yawned deeply as she exited an elevator on the top floor of an office building. Coffee was hard to come by when you get a summons at six in the morning, and a certain pegasus was too wrapped up in broken limbs to start a pot. Not that she blamed Conrad for that. How could she when she still felt some of the blame rested on her? However, the horrid lack of coffee, and ever present guilty conscious, was not the only thing on her mind.

Wrapped in an azure hue, her security badge floated out of her small saddlebags, and presented itself for the four marines manning a security checkpoint.

“Morning, Agent Tune,” the first soldier greeted as scanned it.

“…Morning,” she yawned. Even though the men kept a stern vigil, dark bags under their eyes betrayed their fatigue. “Long night?”

“Something like that,” was all he would say. Her badge cleared, and he gave it back to her. “Step through the dampener field, and you’ll be good to go.”

Nodding, she walked through the checkpoint, and when no illusion magic was stripped off of her, Alexia continued down the hall without issue. I wonder if there’s a Summon Coffee spell. Maybe tweak it for a French Roast, or a simple straight black for those really bad mornings. The end of the hall saw two more guards at a set of double doors. Aside from a polite nod, neither guard reacted to her entry.

Alexia found herself in the observation side of an interrogation room overlooking a prone, and unconscious pink pony covered in a white sheet. Mercer was caught rubbing his face to try and wake up, while a few physicians monitored the pony. “Agent, good you’re here, we were just about to rouse Menville.”

Alexia cantered over to the large one way mirror to spy on the former presidential bodyguard, and heaved a heavy sigh at his coat color. “This is just great. I know he asked to become a pony, but dealing with a gender swap and pink fur is not going to be easy.”

Mercer pulled himself away from a conversation with one of the doctors to stand beside Alexia. A rare teasing grin crossed his face. “He’s still male, actually.”

Alexia arched a bemused eyebrow at the horn pointed out of Menville’s navy blue and ruby red mane. I think that just makes it worse. “Well… that’s what hair dye is for, I guess.”

“So, that crystal you used to turn him…”

“Has already been destroyed and, as ordered, I didn’t study it.” Alexia returned his cautious expression.

Mercer studied her face for a few seconds before turned back to Menville. “Glad to hear it. If anyone asks, we found him in prison. You can jazz it up with a torture story if you want.”

“Wouldn't be far from the truth.”

“Agents,” one of the physicians called out. “The patient’s vitals are rising, he’ll be conscious soon.”

“Finally,” Mercer replied impatiently. “Maybe now we can get some much needed answers.”

Alexia flicked her tail impatiently. “When do you want me to speak with him?”

“I want the docs to check him out first, make sure he hasn’t gone mad on us. After that, he’s all yours.”

Alexia frowned at Menville, while he rolled onto his back while trying to blink the spots out of his eyes. Poor guy’s been through hell. She yawned again. “Blaugh, I need some java, and a doughnut couldn’t hurt.”

Mercer jabbed a thumb at a pastry box laden table near the exit. “Have at it, that is, of course, if Valery here left you any.”

The obese physician in question grumbled profanities while flicking him off.

With lukewarm coffee and a half eaten bear claw in hoof, Alexia watched Menville be poked and prodded for mental stability and temperament by the physicians, leaving the two CIA agents to themselves. Mercer remained beside her the whole time. “Do you think he’ll actually be worth all this effort?”

Alexia washed down a pastry bite. “That depends entirely on whether or not he’s loyal to the Herald, although I doubt he is. Those imps would rather die than be human again, or pony, in this case. Plus, it would be quite a stretch to think he was planted there just for me to ponify him so he could be a spy.”

Mercer observed the pink stallion grumble at his coat color. “We are not in the business to be so trusting, Agent Tune. Nevertheless, he was deep in the enemy camp, and has firsthand experience in how the Mions think, what their plans are, everything. We need as much information out of him as possible before it’s out of date.” He shot her a knowing glance. “In any case, your particular brand of magic should insure his cooperation.”

“So you know about that huh?” Alexia replied casually between sips.

Give credit where it’s due. “A whole camp’s morale soars soon after you arrive, a whole town of transformees forms around you, and now you’re worshipped as a goddess. If the director didn’t vouch for your character personally, I’d say you were plotting a coup.”

“A little fanfare hardly qualifies as worship.” She replied in hopes that the issue would correct itself in time. “Besides, global conquest is overrated, too much paperwork.”

“Then you wouldn’t know anything about the Congregation of Life, would you?”

Alexia halted in taking another sip. “Congregation of what?”

“Life,” Mercer replied flatly as he walked over to his briefcase and withdrew a manila envelope. “Apparently, you have quite the following.”

Alexia discarded her snack, and took the offered envelope. Mercer watched carefully as her neutral expression sank into a grimace, then a frown, until it reached a scowl so deep it threatened to fall off her face. The photographs revealed a farm house, its interior with Alexia’s portrait with Reed holding a golden scepter crowned with a black ankh as he preached to a group of ponies. There were several other photos depicting the same event at different angles, some of the worshipers posed for the camera, and that was all she could stand before furiously throwing the envelope on the ground.

“I can’t believe this! After everything I tell them, they still worship me!?”

Mercer inwardly sighed in relief, but his exterior was the best poker face in the business. To think there are millions of people who would want this kind of fame. “I’m surprised they thought they could hide it in the CIA’s backyard.”

Alexia took eight long deep breaths, and she was still seeing red encroaching on the edge of her vision. “I take it Thompson’s going to close this little group?”

He knelt down to gather the photos. “I’m afraid not.”

“What!? Why not?!”

“The Mion cult aside, we still practice religious freedom in America, and the CoL has done nothing illegal.”

It was taking her every ounce of self-control to keep her temper in check, and she was losing. “So your hands are tied?” He nodded. Alexia sewed her eyes shut and spoke with a clenched jaw. “Permission to take five.”

“…Granted.”

Alexia downed the last of her coffee in one go, and weaved an enchantment on it before teleporting out of the building, and flying into the thunder storm. “Why, won’t. They listen TO MEEEEE!”

Mercer glanced at his phone’s clock right as it rang. “Yes?”

“Sir, something weird’s going on with the storm, lightning activity just jumped by two hundred percent. Was there a pegasi team assigned to keep the skies clear, because they’re doing a crap job?”

“I’ll handle it Swanson, just tell the boys its under control.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mercer ended the call right as the discarded coffee cup pulsed with azure light. A moment later, a drenched Alexia reappeared before drying herself off with a spell. Mercer gauged her mood carefully. “You know, most people subjected to worship either start a cult or a reality TV show.”

Alexia took care that her identification cards were unharmed. “I’ll pass.”

Mercer paused, weighing what he should say before the intercom crackled to life. “The subject’s lucid, and in good health, as far as we can tell.”

The Case Officer rested his finger on the intercom button, but didn’t press it just yet. “Agent, are you sound enough to talk with him?”

Alexia could tell his flat tone was anything but, and sighed at herself. “I’m fine,” she replied as she grabbed two cups of coffee from the pot. “It’s the crazies back home you have to worry about.”

He studied her briefly before activating the comm. “She’s coming in, doc.”

The door hissed open, allowing Alexia entry into the rather cramped room. Menville sat impatiently on a padded table with the trio of doctors finishing their write-ups before taking their leave. He spotted Alexia instantly, but held his tongue for until they were alone.

“Thank you, for freeing me of that hell.” Menville studied his pink fur. “At least the new one isn’t as bad.”

“You can think of yourself as a panther, if you wish,” Alexia joked as she pulled a tall chair over with her magic.

Menville tried to cross his forelegs, but ended up falling on his side. “Cute.”

“It’ll take some getting used to having four legs.”

He shook off Alexia’s attempt to help him sit up. “I’ll manage.”

Alexia gave him a moment to steady himself. “At any rate, I’m sure you’ve already guessed that you’ll need a new identity before we’re done with you. As far as we know, the last case of ponification was over a year ago. Coffee?”

Menville found a steaming cup of java floating in front of his face. “I hope it actually tastes good now. Mion taste buds are completely jacked up.” He struggled on just how he was going to hold the cup with hooves, let alone drink from it. “So I get to go free at some point? Assuming, of course, that I convince you I’m not a spy or sleeper agent. Am I right?”

Alexia gently flapped her wings to take her seat. “Glad you know your position.”

“Well I’ll state this for the record: I hold loyalty to neither the cult nor the Herald.” He finally managed to stabilize the cup in his hooves, allowing Alexia to release it from her magic.

“So noted.” Alexia pulled a personnel file from her satchel. “Special Agent Gregory Jake Menville, former, you were actually on duty during the Siege of D.C. a couple of years ago.”

Grinning now that he almost had the cup near his mouth; Menville drooled as the aroma of French Roast teased his senses. Only then, did he realize he was ignoring her. “I stood in during your dinner with Fitzgerald the night before.” His tone grew playful. “You’ve upgraded since that day.”

Alexia’s wings fidgeted at their mention. Everyone’s always on about the wings. I bet no one would care if I had been a pegasus that grew a horn.

Menville cheered up immensely at his first taste of mouthwatering java. “Hot damn! I never thought coffee would taste the same again. Would you believe this tasted like greased sludge a week ago?”

The thought brought memories of The Ranch’s horrid coffee maker. “Sounds normal to me… Why don’t you tell me about the cultists’ leadership? Starting with the top.”

“Right, sure, that’d be the Herald.” He squeezed his eyes shut as the mere mention of the entity sent terror down his spine, and a pulsing migraine as an added bonus. Menville fell on the side of the table clutching his head, leaving Alexia clueless on how to help him. The pressure on his mind felt like the Herald’s overbearing eye was upon him.

Alexia shouted something, but she sounded like the Herald’s oppressive voice, driving a serrated spike through his brain. “NOOOO! I’M FREE OF YOU!”

Wild mana started spitting out of his horn, scorching the walls and setting fire to the blanket. Alexia wrapped herself in an incandescent barrier while squelching the fires. “Guys, I hope you brought an AM device!”

“Agent, cut your magic, now!”

Barely a second after Alexia drop her shield before several antimagic arrays activated, cutting Menville’s uncontrolled magic in an instant. The AM fields doubled Menville’s mind boiling agony, driving him over the edge into unconsciousness.

Alexia bounded over to check on him as the physicians ran inside to lend a professional touch. “Great,” she spat while giving the doctors room to work, “he must have still had a connection to the Herald, and it gave him an aneurism or something.”

Valery started grabbing her instruments. “Agent, leave the room,” she commanded tersely.

“Take care of him doc.” Alexia’s horn lit up, and she teleported back to her original coffee cup, only to find herself directly above the trash can, and promptly fell on top of it, spilling its contents all over the side of the room. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Mercer side stepped a rolling wad of paper, and did an admirable job not laughing at the banana peel hanging on Alexia’s horn. “I didn’t think you would be using that again.”

Grumbling to herself, Alexia peeled whatever bits of garbage she could see off her coat. “Nor did I. I forgot to dispel the relocator.”

The physicians had Menville on a stretcher with one of them running over to Mercer. “The patient’s suffered a severe panic attack. He should recover, but I recommend moving him to a more…hospitable location.”

Mercer gave it a few moments of thought. “Fine, but make sure he remains isolated, and keep an active AM device around him at all times.”

The doctor nodded and signaled his associates to take the stricken unicorn away. Mercer watched them go, allowing Alexia time to clean up after herself. “You think that’s all it was? Just a conditioned response?”

“It’d better. Menville’s useless to us otherwise.” He scrutinized her more closely. “Speaking of crazy, what the hell is up with your little display in the sky? It’s not like you to go off the deep end like this.”

Alexia almost let a grimace break through. I’m suddenly very glad my field reports downplayed my little emotional slips. “I don’t like being worshiped… it’s an alicorn matter.”

What in the world does that mean? “Is there something else about your alicorn magic you haven’t told us about?”

“I’m the only one on Earth, and once I return to Trinity, I’ll handle this personally.”

Mercer’s scowl only deepened. That’s not an answer. “…Fine, I have orders transferring him into your care. As soon as he and your team are fit enough to travel, you’ll be on the next flight out back to Trinity.”

Alexia hid a sigh of relief at the news. I get to see my girls again. “Then I’ll go ahead and check on them, even Conrad’s injuries shouldn’t keep us grounded. Call me when Menville’s status changes.” Without further preamble, Alexia teleported away, leaving Mercer alone.

“I hope she remembered to let the checkpoints know she left.”

A gold furred unicorn mare stepped off the Grey Hound bus in front of Trinity’s city hall. A worn duffle bag with a dozen old blood stains was strapped over her back as she surveyed the bustling streets. So many lively individuals, all smiles and rainbows. Makes me sick.

Her amber eyes tracked a muscle bound earth stallion pass by her, lingering extra-long on his flanks. Then again… It’s been awhile since I’ve had any action.

Before her lust could drive her onward to a night of debauchery, a musclebound man stepped between her and the stallion. “Ms. Star, I presume?”

“What of it?” she growled while pushing past him to chase after the stallion.

“I’m your business partner for the next week or so,” he called out while grabbing her duffel bag.

Tina was inches from drawing her scalpel on him when his words finally registered, causing a malkavian grin to cross her face. “Is that right?” She pushed off. “Well, let’s find place to discuss business.”

A short saunter over to a motel room later, Tina was unpacking her less than hygienic surgical tools while the man pulled a chair over to sit next to her while offering a handshake. “Name’s Frank Gill.”

Tina paused in her work to look at him. She was about to brush him off when she noticed his skin was completely normal, and his eyes showed none of the tell-tale signs of infection. “You're human… aren’t you?” she narrowed her eyes while shaking his hand.

“Born and raised. You didn’t really think the cult could sneak a Mion in town with those detection arrays around did you?”

Must be after money or a higher position within the cult later. “I suppose not, so, what has my goddess got for possible leverage?”

“Quite a number of things actually.” Frank opened the top drawer and pulled out a collection of photos. Tina momentarily forgot her tools to look at them on the table with him. “Alex has a sister, Elizabeth Tune.” He pushed a picture of a skinny red haired woman in a lab coat. “Spends her time at the ground side weather manipulation HQ. She’s written a bunch of papers, and research reports, but all the attention goes to her superiors.”

“I’ve always had a passing interest in pegasi magic, should let me get in close.”

He moved on to a photo of a middle aged couple. “Joe and Bella Anderson. She’s a house wife, and he’s a botanist. Used to be retired, but has recently gotten back into the field to study the long term effects of earth pony grown food. They live in the princess’s little palace on a hill with the Tune girl.”

“I couldn’t care less about dirt ponies, let alone any research on them.” Tina took a close look at the photo. “Why do they live with the goddess though?”

“Because of these little fur balls.” he pulled out a picture of a pair of giggling foals. “Alexia’s children, Aurora Sky and Violet Spark.”

Tina’s feral grin vanished in an instant. “Demigods or not, I don’t touch children. I’ll find something else.”

Frank eyed the off kilter unicorn with trepidation. “You can’t be serious. I’ve watched the princess for months. She’d fall over herself trying to protect them.”

“You’re such a barbarian,” Tina sighed while returning to her unpacking. “There’s no sport in killing kids, no thrill, no excitement in the hunt!”

“Even if they’re used as bait?”

“Frankie, Frankie, Frankie,” Tina teased, “you simply have no imagination, or class, apparently. No, I’ll try the sister angle, she looks trusting enough.”

Frank scowled as the mare found her music player. Whatever, she wants to waste time on the college student, I’ll nab the little runts myself.

Crimson shivered from the cold as she observed the Caribbean Sea pass beneath the C-130. Are we really in such bad shape that we can’t safely fly over the Midwest anymore?

Conrad eased over to stand next to her, favoring his left hind leg in the process. “I always wanted to go fishing down there. Wadda say we get a yacht out there one day?”

Crimson leaned her head against him, her frown barely moving. “Assuming there will be any yachts for much longer.” Thinking silence was best, Conrad simply wrapped a foreleg around her, careful to avoid her stitches. Crimson spoke as the clouds obscured the view of the water below. They sat there for well over an hour with Crimson shivering from the cold. Conrad draped his good wing carefully across her shaved back. “I’d offer you a blanket if we had any.”

Giggles erupted from the pale yellow mare as she basked in Conrad’s warmth. “You’re the only blanket I need studly.”

I’m glad to see Alex doesn’t seem to be beating herself up over us getting injured… speaking of which. “When’s Alexia going to be done talking with the pink pony? She’s been talking to him ever since he woke up.”

Crimson desperately wanted to forget the outside world for a bit longer and stayed in his embrace. “No idea, probably until she gets some usable information outta him.”

“Or correct info,” Conrad countered, “there’s no telling if he’s a spy or not.”

Her ears drooped as he didn’t catch the hint. “You really think he’s brainwashed?”

“Come on, he was one of the suits at the White House. That was like what…two, three years ago at least. There’s no way the guy’s not one of them. If Loki wasn’t in there, I wouldn’t trust him alone with Alex.”

Crimson begrudgingly glanced at the trio of ponies towards the front of the cargo bay. “Maybe.”

Menville fervently sucked a mouthful of water, and popped several pills. Alexia cast him a worried look, one that Loki shared before whispering in her ear. “Um, are you sure those anti-anxiety pills even work on us?”

“I don’t know, just let him think it helps.” She cleared her throat. “Feeling up to it now?”

A pounding headache hammered Menville’s brain like a piston, making him see spots every time his thoughts leaned towards the Herald. “No, but I’ll try anyway.”

The mares shared a worried glance before facing the stallion cradling his head in a fetal position. “Can you tell us how the Herald controls the cultists?”

Menville started to hyperventilate, but remained somewhat lucid. “Not entirely sure. He…or it, hell it might have been a she, what with being an alien intelligence and all. Everyone called it a him, but what do those brainless idiots know?”

“Menville, can you answer my question?”

He cracked an eye open to look up on the worried alicorn. “Oh uh, yeah, sure, I think. See, the Herald never broke my mind, and forced me to work with him. See, that bastard Tzadavek didn’t want me broken, he wanted me to be a willing traitor. But I showed him didn’t I?! I’m a pony, he can’t do shit to me now!”

Loki bounced over to get in his face. “Are you sure you’re okay to talk? You’re acting like you’re hearing a different question.”

“The Herald, you want to know about that thing r-right? Yeah, sure, answers… got it. It’s all telepathy, ya know, mind talk stuff. Weird though, it always sounded like he was trying to talk directly into my mind, but everyone always chatted aloud when talking to him. What’s up with that?”

Alexia pulled Loki out of his face. “I don’t think we should bother asking those kinds of questions right now.”

Loki rubbed her chin. “Okay, can you at least tell us where the Herald is?”

Menville’s stabbing migraine redoubled itself at the question, making him scream in pain. “AAHHHH DAMN IT, DAMN IT! FUUU—AHHHH!”

Loki shook Alexia out of her stupor. “Do something!”

“I don’t know what to do! The doctor’s said he was well enough to travel. Its all in his head, that’s what the pills were for!”

“Don’t you know any healing magic or something?”

“The ocean,” Menville’s screaming stopped, giving him a moment to croak out words between whimpers, catching both mares’ attention. “That bastard Tzadavek… *huff* kept saying the Herald’s phy—*eerrr* —sical body’s a giant ssssssss—ball in the Pacific.”

Loki tilted her head. “A giant ball? Are you cereal?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” he replied quickly, and he raised a shaky hoof towards a bottle of painkillers. “That rat bastard kept going on, and on, about how superior his master is.”

The pill bottle was encased in an azure aura and pulled out of his reach. “You keep popping pills, and you’re going to OD!” Menville’s raving eyes followed the medication, but that didn’t last long as a warm blanket fell over the pained pony, drowning out the world around him, and most thankfully of all, the agony abated.

Alexia’s sleep spell was quick. Menville slumped on the bed, blissfully pain free. Loki approached him, feeling for a pulse. “He’s alive, but I’d feel better if Crimmy watched over him. A toxicologist couldn’t hurt either.”

“Agreed,” Alexia commented. “The director will want to know about this ‘ball’.”

Loki frowned at Menville’s calm face, an unfortunately rare sight. Poor Pinkie… She brushed some of his mane out of his eyes. “He’s in a bad way Mage, do you really think we can believe anything he says though? He’s delusional.”

Alexia strapped Menville in his seat so he wouldn’t get jostled around. “Maybe so, but he was pretty adamant about the last bit. I want to run it by Thompson just in case. You know what they say, the truth is often stranger than fiction.”

Director Thompson tapped a troubled pen on his desk as he read Mercer’s latest report. She’s cracking faster than I thought she would. I knew Tune wouldn’t be happy with that little congregation of hers, but to be so unhinged that she would vent like that.

He stopped tapping his pen and opened a drawer. There, sitting in a mostly white carton, was the one thing he had quit five times over his career with the agency, and something brought him right back every time. I don’t know what’s going to kill me first; the job or the stress.

In one smooth motion, he grabbed a cigarette and placed it on his lips, with the lighter resting in his left hand. He stared at it with a mixture of irritation and self-defeatism. “Blowing up like that means she’s been keeping that temper of hers under control so far, but she’s slipping. I knew field duty was a bad idea. Conrad better think of something to placate her soon, or I might have to take action.”

He lit the cigarette, took a long deep satisfying drag, and held it for a few seconds before letting it out. “Of course,” he brought up Alexia’s psychological profile on the computer. “If I removed certain triggers out of her life…”

He barely got a few minutes in when his phone buzzed. “Thompson here.”

“Director, this is Tune, got a possible lead from our defector.”

Speak of the devil. He leaned back in his chair as he took another puff. “I’m listening.”

“He said the Herald lives in a big ball or sphere in the Pacific Ocean.”

Thompson’s third drag halted mid-breath. *Cough* “He said a sphere under the ocean?” *Cough* “Are you sure that’s what he meant?!”

“Positive. I take it you’ve heard about this?” Alexia asked hopefully.

“I have, did you get anything else out of him?”

“Not yet, I’m inclined to believe the ponification freed him from any direct influence, but he’s been conditioned to secrecy. Everything he tells us is either random and or causes him severe pain.”

A rare genuine smile crept over his face. “I’ll have the best therapist on the payroll tomorrow. In the meantime, the Navy will have a field day with this. I want you to find some alternative to get at this sphere, deep sea spell, teleportation, whatever it takes. This is your only priority!”

“Will do, sir.”

Thompson ended the call while his other hand brought up the war games report he received earlier. YES! We’ve got them! He tapped the speed dial for the head of the CIA. There was no more time to second guess evidence. Every day, the world grew closer to the biological weapons being used. Every day more and more people died, or were converted by the cult. God help us if I’m wrong.

“This is Brennan.”

“Director, what would you say if I could confirm the Floor Theory?”

Brennan hummed. “I’d be intrigued. Talk to me.”

Elizabeth Tune was tired, sore, cold, and in desperate need of some hot chocolate. Luckily for her, the earth mare behind the register could solve at least one of those problems. “I need a large hot coco, heavy on the cream.”

“You really should get a hiking partner Beth,” the mare cautioned as she rung her up, “what if you fall and get hurt out there?”

“Are you volunteering, Vicky?” Elizabeth replied.

She scoffed playfully. “Please, I’m perfectly happy spending my free time in front of the TV than crawling around the woods in the middle of winter. Your drink will be ready soon.”

“Thanks, have a good one.” Elizabeth waited a bit for the other worker to prepare her drink before taking a seat at the sparsely populated dining area. She sat there, sipping her drink. This is the life. Warm room, lots of people, and some delicious hot chocolate. I should bring the girls some, they’d love it.

“Elizabeth Tune, I presume?” She looked behind her to find a gold furred unicorn mare with a friendly smile. “Name’s Tina Star, I read your thesis on mana supplements on corn mutations. Fascinating work.”

Elizabeth did a double take at the praise. “Bah—, you really thought it was good?”

“Of course, not many people would risk raising warning flags on one of our last few agricultural areas.”

“I wouldn’t really call it a red flag just yet, I still don’t know what these magic induced mutations will do over multiple generations.” She flushed while pulling the other chair out of Tina. “Please, sit down.”

“Thank you.”

Elizabeth sat on the edge of her seat while sipping her coco. “So you read my work?”

“A bit,” Tina replied while taking a drink from her coffee. “Most studies only talk about the here and now when it comes to magic. Few people have the foresight and integrity to see what sort of long term effects it will have on our world. People like you,” she tilted her cup in Elizabeth’s direction.

She couldn’t help but blush and titter from the praise. “Oh I don’t think so. It was Doctor Ferras who requested the study.”

“Even so, given your relation with the goddess, it takes integrity to remain unbiased in that regard.”

Elizabeth leaned back in her chair with a wiry grin. “As surprising as it might sound, Alex wanted me to be completely honest with my findings. Not that I wouldn’t have been anyway,” she added quickly. “You must be new here,” She said with a drooping expression. “My sister doesn’t like the whole idea of people thinking she’s a god.”

Tina’s coffee fell to the floor along with her jaw. “Y-you can’t be serious!”

“Totally am,” she glanced over at a group of ponies the next table over. “Hey guys, Alex doesn’t care for the whole goddess thing does she?”

“She lectured me for twenty minutes about that when I first got here.”

“Goddess? Hell, she couldn’t stand being a princess at first.”

“I saw a guy try kissing her hooves every time he saw her for a week, I think he still has a pair of hoofprints on his flank.”

“She actually gave me a broacher about at.” The pony fished his pockets for the item before presenting it. “Here, take it, it’ll save you a lecture, and maybe a dented skull.”

Tina recoiled at the offered literature as if it was the plague. N-no, this can’t be right! How can they say that!

Elizabeth nervously rubbed her cup as Tina slipped closer and closer into a meltdown. She waved the pamphlet away after seeing Tina starting to quiver, thinking it was out of stunned astonishment. “It’s a shock to the system isn’t it?”

Tina’s temper leveled off as her scalpel returned to its sheath. It was one thing for Elizabeth, a human, to not see Alexia as a goddess, that was to be expected after all; but the audacity of the fellow ponies saying the same thing made her stomach churn. However, Tina was able to pass her rage off as simple surprise. “Yes, I-I suppose it is.”

Elizabeth was worried Tina was about to cause a scene. Wouldn’t be the first one to land themselves in jail. “Look, Miss Star, you seem to be out of sorts. Why don’t I give you my number so we can talk later?”

Tina nodded dumbly and took the offered paper into her saddlebag. “Thank you for the concern, I…” *huff* “I need some time to think.”

Without another word, she left for the motel. Fortunately for Frank, he wasn’t present to bear the brunt of her cold murderous fury. Tina jumped onto the bed and started meditating. Slowly, over the course of an hour, Tina locked her hate away in a tight little box.

She opened her eyes to find Frank watching her while sipping a beer, and giving her a lewd eye. She could feel the box unraveling. “What the hell are you looking at?”

He tilted his beer can at her. “A mare spitting enough profanity for ten episodes of Law & Order. What were you doing anyway?”

“Never mind that, why didn’t you tell me Alexia tells everyone she isn’t a goddess!?”

Frank paused mid-slurp. “Wait, you actually think she is? Ha! And here I thought you’d be different. Tune is as much of a god as my ass.”

Tina’s anger box broke. Frank suddenly found himself wrapped in her magic, and flung at the wall. “Don’t you ever insult her again, or I’ll snap your neck like a twig!”

He shot her a spiteful look while trying to reach inside his jacket. “Da fuck do you care?! You’re under orders to turn or kill her aren’t you?”

Tina marched over while sliding Frank down the wall so she could be eye level with him. “Because you are human, Frank, I will forgive your insult once. But do not ever insult the Holy One again!” She tightened her magical grip around his neck, enough to cause pain, but not enough to kill. “I bet it was people like you who poisoned her mind into thinking she isn’t a deity.”

“Hardly, she was like this before she was released from the internment camp.”

“LIES!”

Before Tina could strangle him, Frank activated his cellphone’s AM field, shorting out Tina’s magic, and sending an electric needle of pain down her horn. She cried out in agony, giving Frank time to catch his breath, and wrap her in a choke-hold. He waited for Tina to stop trying to cast so the pain would subside enough for her to be coherent. “How about you save this shit for the mark, eh?”

Tina struggled against his vice grip choke-hold, but the man proved more than strong enough to lock her down. “Let go of me, or I will rip your heart out, and eat it in front you!”

“Ah, ah, ah,” he warned. “Save your insanity for the target.”

She struggled against him for a few more seconds before going still. “Fine, you win.” Tina shook him off as he loosened up.

Frank dusted himself off. “Look, if you’re that hard up for some fellow zealots I can point you at a little secret church that’s formed up around her. You know, for some RnR.”

Tina froze in her act of combing her mane. “Wait—what?! There’s an Alexia church? But I thought everyone says she hates being worshiped! And can you turn that infernal device off so I can comb my mane properly?”

He leaned against the wall with phone in hand. “Not a chance psycho, you wanna use magic, you go over there,” Frank pointed at the bathroom. “As for the church, Alex doesn’t know about it. The little secret society formed up in spite of her saying no, hell if I know why though.”

With her anger towards her cohort forgotten, Tina tapped her chin while holding Elizabeth’s phone number. “The sister can wait. First, I want to join this church, and you’re going to point me where.”

Frank arched a confused eyebrow. “You still didn’t tell me why you want to kiss her feet, and kill your own god. Crazy as you are, you ain’t got a chance in convincing her to join us. Tzadavek has to know that.”

“Humph, I wouldn’t expect you to understand. As for the boss, he’s not exactly all there either. It’s why we mesh so well,” she mused with a titter. “Now, are you going to show me where to find this church to Alexia or not?”

“So you can do what, join the faithful?” Frank sneered.

“Hardly, I’m going to prove my faith by doing her will… then I'll kill her.”

11: Home Sweet Home

Intelligence reports. They walked a fine line between critical for national security and being duller than a bowling ball. At least they would be for most people. Luckily, Twilight Sparkle found them exhilarating, and eagerly poured over each scrap of paper. Every so often, she would call out an important fact for Spike, who was seated next to her, to jot down and add to the dizzyingly complex web of world politics.

That web covered nearly every inch of her study’s walls. Photos of VIPs were all connected in pinned twine. The threads were multicolored to denote the particular relationship each person had with another, a system known only to Twilight and Spike.

“Warlord Bent Beak must be a glutton for punishment, Spike, this is the fifth time he’s tried to usurp Emperor Steel Talon.”

The young dragon rolled his eyes at the news. “Can’t say I’m surprised, the featherbrain’s a real nut job. The Dusk Guard has a pool going on Talon actually getting rid of Beak this time.”

Twilight levitated a tankard of cider over for a long drag. It’s hard to imagine AJ’s cider’s even better than it used to be. “Oh?”

“Two hundred to one odds he’ll be executed this time.”

“You’d think after suffering the Mark of Disownment he’d have lost any support.”

Twilight offered the tankard to Spike who happily guzzled half of it down. “Thanks, I needed that. Are you done for the night?” he asked hopefully.

“Hmm… Yeah, for now. I’ve got some research to do.”

Spike hopped off his chair, and started putting his work away. “Great! I’ll be back later tonight; please don’t burn the lab down again.”

Twilight giggled while pulling the young dragon in for a squish. “No promises.”

Spike returned her affection before scampering out of the tower. Twilight stood up and stretched to pop the cricks out of her joints. Once finished, her mood fell as her thoughts drifted to the nature of her research. I’ve got to find something to help her.

Summoning her resolve, Twilight trudged over to the laboratory annex. Conrad’s last visit cast the lavender alicorn in a grim shadow.

Poor Alex. I know what those Mions were doing was reprehensible, but to be so… twisted in her retribution. Conrad’s latest gravely worried report, and far more information about the anatomy of a Mion than Twilight ever wished to know, troubled Twilight to no end.

Shaking the sudden chills out of her system, Twilight searched for her latest research tome. Come on Twilight, keep it together, for Alexia’s sake. Spike’s shelving skills were up to par, and Twilight found the book with ease.

When it came to matters of the arcane, Twilight’s laboratory had it all: all manner of obscure reagents, elaborate tools, crystal samples of every style of magic know to ponykind, more books than you can shake a stick at, and more alchemical paraphernalia than even she knew what to do with. Twilight’s domain deserved every letter of the deceptively simplistic name ‘Arcane Tower’.

With her prize in hand, Twilight made her way to a well-worn, almost flat pile of cushions. “There’s got to be something here that can help her…”

The night melted away, along with the candles as page after page failed to yield any solutions. “Viper’s method is unethical, Wanda’s Farday for the same reason, Sinestro’s Guile won’t work across such a distance, and Filament’s Theorem is just plain moronic unless you want to create a mini Discord!”

“Did somepony call my name?” a jovial voice echoed throughout the chamber.

Twilight scanned the area, but found nothing out of the ordinary, yet. “What do you want Discord? I’m busy.”

The draconequus’ mad hatter eyes appeared on the tankard in front of Twilight. “Doing woefully boring stuff I’m sure.” He flashed into existence, coiled around Twilight and her book. “You’re reading? I’m stunned, truly!”

Twilight gave him a deadpanned look. “You should try it sometime. I hear it’s all the rage in libraries.”

Discord guffawed at her snarky tone. “So you do have a sense of humor.” He teleported to the center of the room and conjured several flying pigs. “I knew this day would come. The end times are here!”

Twilight deemed fit to honor him with an unamused scowl as Discord stuck a fork in one of the pigs and pulled out some bacon. “What do you want Discord?”

“An adoring fan that follows me everywhere I go, even if he falls off a cliff a few times.”

“You could always carry a lump of salt at the Salt Saloon, that’ll get you some fans in a hurry.” she groaned, Twilight was inches from falling asleep.

That caught Discord short. He scrutinized her carefully. “You’re being awfully friendly for a change. Is this the part where you ask me for a favor?”

Twilight’s faint smile evaporated. “I was actually going to go out searching for you, but since you came to me, that saves time. Alexia needs help.”

A lounge chair materialized, allowing Discord to rest. “No can do, Twilight. Rules are rules, and I’ve already bent them enough for my liking in aiding her.”

“Are you serious? You left Alexia as the only ageless being on her planet! You cared enough about Earth to help… in a fashion. But you have got to know that kind of loneliness will eventually drive her mad.”

Discord turned around in a huff. “And what would you know about loneliness my dear? I don’t remember you being a statue for a thousand years.”

Twilight walked around to be in front of him. “You’re right, I wouldn’t, but…” She stabbed an admonishing hoof at Discord. “You would! Are you willing to inflict that kind of suffering on her?”

Discord manifested a wad of pink cotton candy, and started nibbling on it. “She has her children at least,” he replied dismissively. “All I had were bird and tourists.”

Twilight scowled at him while levitating the painting in front of Discord. “I know you care for her, in some semblance of the word. You really want her to live through that hell?”

His indignation softened a little. “I suppose I don’t. But as I said, I’ve already helped enough.” He flicked the half-eaten cotton candy at Twilight. It bounced off her snout before becoming stuck on her horn. “Alex will just have to learn how to live with her children.”

Twilight growled as she freed her horn from the snack. “What’s that supposed to—” Her sentence was cut short by Discord vanishing as quickly as he came.

“ARRRGG! Why does a spirit of chaos bother with self-imposed rules anyway!?”

Twilight’s eyes fell upon the discarded cotton candy. The spun sugar refused to give away any semblance of reason from its creator. She was about to throw it away when a thought occurred to her. “Why did he keep referring to Alexia’s children? Even they will pass away… in time.”

She cantered over to her cushion pile, with candy in tow, to brood. “Is this another one of his games? Giving hints and trying to get me to guess? He would do that.”

Twilight sat there, mulling over it all. “I get the feeling this candy wasn’t one of his random buffoonery. So what’s the connection between this, Discord, and Alexia’s foals?”

It took her a few minutes before a thought so crazy hit her that she gasped. “No flipping way.”

After safely tucking Menville away in Section Nine’s five star accommodations, Alexia’s herd was free to return home. It was well after midnight when Loki pulled the family car in the driveway. As she expected, the house lights were off, save for Elizabeth’s room. Loki parked the car a little haphazardly, but it got the job done. “Alright everybody, home sweet home.”

She looked at the others with a sidelong grin, everyone was asleep. Operation Burning Nostrils is a go.

As quietly as equinily possible, Loki shut the car off, and crept all the way into her room. From there, she retrieved a few certain unlabeled packages and tiphoofed her way back to the car. Shoving a hoof in her muzzle to keep from giggling manically, Loki dropped all four stink bombs in the car, and locked the doors and windows. She galloped over to the door, and waited for the magic to happen.

Alexia was fully in dreamland’s gentle grip until four loud pops, akin to gunshots jolted her awake. “Huh—wha?!” She scanned her surroundings, seeing nothing but the moonlit trees and house. Conrad had also been awakened by the noise, but Crimson still slept in the backseat with him.

Conrad relaxed back into the seat. “Must have been—*sniff* Ugh, what died in here?”

Alexia’s bile rose at the stench of rotten eggs and putrid meat permeating the car. “Loooooki!” She fumbled with the uncooperative door handle.

Crimson shot awake as the horrifying stench of gaseous evil burned her nose hairs. “Gah! What the actual hell!?”

Alexia glared at the resisting door. “Don’t you know locks don’t work on me?” she growled while teleporting everyone onto the front porch.

All three of them snorted to try and clear their noses while wiping the tears from their eyes. Loki pouted at the scene. “Ah no fair, you cheated.”

Crimson groggily helped Conrad to hooves. “You’re dead, Loki!”

“Uh oh.” Loki busted the door open to escape Crimson’s retribution.

“Come back here you cretin!” Crimson fumed.

“Forget that!”

Conrad limped over to Alexia’s side. “They’ll wake the whole house with all that shouting.”

Alexia rested her chin on his head. She didn’t need to seek revenge when Crimson was bound and determined to mete out proper punishment. “I wouldn’t worry; the foals sleep like the dead, and the others would want to see us anyway.”

Several loud crashes and incoherent shouting later, the upstairs lights all started to come on as Elizabeth ran over to the banister with a pistol. She took aim at the poorly lit pair of ponies as they entered the house, only to pull the gun up. “You’re back! For a second there I thought—” *CRASH* “—you guys were thieves.”

Alexia watched Elizabeth put the gun in her pants, and run down the stairs to greet them. “Not this time. Glad to see the place was in safe hands while we were gone.”

Elizabeth knelt down, and hugged her sister for all she was worth. “When you only called us once, you had us worried sick.”

“Couldn’t be helped,” Alexia shrugged. “How are the girls?”

“VS melted the patio furniture yesterday, literally, and you don’t want to know what Aurora did to the diaper can." Elizabeth released the hug to give one to Conrad only to gasp at his injuries. “What happened, are you alright?!”

“I fell down some stairs,” Conrad fussed at the young woman’s concern.

A wiry grin crossed Alexia’s face as Elizabeth shot him a sardonic look. “Right, a pegasus fell down some stairs. Why can’t you just tell me?”

Any answer was cut short by Loki with Crimson hot on her heels. She ran up the stairs only to nearly run into Bella at the top. She tripped on the last step in an attempt to avoid a collision and smacked against the banister. “Oh ah, hey Mrs. A. We’re back!”

Bella glowered at Loki, and then at Crimson. “I see you couldn’t bother yourselves with calling ahead of time.” From her angle, the middle aged grandmother caught sight of Crimson’s shaved back, and the numerous stitches. She covered her mouth in shock. “My word, honey!”

Belle knelt down while Crimson walked up to her. “Sorry to worry you, momma.”

“Worry me!?” Bella cried as she inspected her daughter’s injuries. “You got hurt, and you didn’t call me? How bad is it? Any broken bones or internal injuries?”

“Just my skin and muscle damage, momma, nothing too serious.”

“Nothing too—!?” Bella blanched before wrapping her arms around Crimson. “My poor baby. I’m just glad you made it home in one piece… more or less. How about I buy you a nice silk garment in the morning? Its freezing out there, and I don’t want you catching a cold until your fur grows back.”

“Thanks momma.” Bella gave Crimson one last squeeze before letting go. “Where’s paw and the kids?”

“Sleeping like the dead,” Bella huffed, more at her husband than the children. “There could be a war going on outside and he’d never know. I’d ask how your ‘business’ trip was, but something tells me you can’t, or won’t.”

Crimson scuffed the carpet with a hoof. “Sorry, momma. You know I can’t.”

Bella’s frown softened as her eyes started misting over. “I wish you would quit this line of work. I couldn’t stand to lose you, and Dusty needs his mother.”

Loki and Crimson embraced the silently weeping woman. “It’s only for another year Mrs. A, then Alex and the rest of us can quit the game.”

Bella held her daughter as tightly as she dared. “You’d better, you hear me? Crimson, you need to settle down into a nice practice in the hospital, not gallivanting around the world trying to get yourself killed.”

“I will momma, but just not yet. How’s Dusty? He’s in his crib right?”

Bella didn’t like the forced topic shift, but let it slide. “Right along with his sisters, yes.”

Loki detached herself from the group and trotted over to the nursery, leaving Crimson alone with Bella. “Thank you so much for caring for him whiles I was gone, it means the world to me.”

Bella waved her gratitude away. “Oh posh, you act as if I wouldn’t spoil my grandson rotten to the core.”

“Such is a grandparent’s duty, right?” Crimson chuckled.

“One I shoulder with pride. Go on and see him, I’ll make you all some breakfast in the morning to celebrate your mostly safe return.”

Later that night, Crimson entered the nursery to find Loki cradling a sleeping colt. Watching Loki’s caring face made Crimson forget most of her irritation for the stink bomb. She quietly trotted over to join her herdmate. “You know, if you want a foal so badly, you could always have one yourself.”

Loki teased a lock of Dusty’s mane, cooing as he nuzzled into her fur. “Why bother when I have this little guy?”

As much as Loki tried to hide it, Crimson knew her well enough to pick up on the emotional warble. “Because at the end of the day, he’s my little guy. I know the world’s going down the toilet but—”

“That’s why I can’t,” Loki interrupted with a brief lapse in her ever-present joviality. “Come on Crummy, we have the same security clearance, you and I both know the world’s falling apart, we couldn’t even fly over the Midwest on the way here.”

Crimson nuzzled her dissonant mate. “We’re not going to let them win, okay?”

“…Maybe,” Loki admitted. “But… I—I just couldn’t handle it if I miscarried because of injury or I was forced to stay behind while you three went on another mission. How often did Alexia come a hair’s breadth from losing the twins?”

“Loki, I’m not saying you should have a foal just so you’d leave mine alone. I just want you to be happy.”

“I can do that by just being an aunt,” some of Loki’s mirth returned.

I hope you’re right Loki, I really do.

The following afternoon, Alexia giggled cheerfully on her bed as her daughters climbed all over top of her. “Did you miss mommy?”

“Ya ya!” Violet Spark cheered as she tried to climb onto her mother’s belly. Aurora was squirming around Alexia’s mane, tossing azure strands into a tangled mess.

Alexia flinched as Violet accidentally poked her with that little stub of a horn. “You know mommy has to study, right?”

Neither filly understood the request, not that they would have complied anyway, and kept right on bouncing and playing around their mother. My little sunshines. Resigning herself to be the foals’ play pen for the next couple of hours or so, Alexia levitated the tome above her so she could read.

She went straight to the Dusk Guard section only to find Twilight’s beacon blinking. “Oh good, maybe I can ask her about this alicorn worship nonsense. If I can’t stop them, then at the very least I want this song out of my head.”

Try as she might, Alexia kept hearing that intoxicating melody come and go at semi-regular intervals. Got to have a plan B.

She activated the hologram to find Princess Twilight hunched over a workbench. She twisted her head around as the spell solidified. “Alexia!” she greeted while pulling herself away from her work. “Its good to see you, and awwww, they are just too precious!”

The two furry distractions could derail a villain’s monologue with the innocent looks they gave Twilight. Alexia put the book down, and wrapped her daughters in a smothering hug. “Aren’t they? I was absolutely miserable being away from my babies for so long.”

Between the squealing foals, and Alexia’s profound joy, Twilight felt a primal cord being tugged at the scene. No, keep it together Twilight. You have super important news to give. Clearing her throat, Twilight’s expression felt flat. “Alex, do you remember your first meeting with Discord, and the cotton candy he gave you?”

Alexia had to pull a clingy pegasus filly off her face to think. “Umm… yeah I remember, it’s the stuff that turned me into an alicorn. You asked me about that a year ago if I recall. Why do you ask?”

Twilight rubbed her foreleg nervously. “Were you pregnant when you ate it, by chance?”

Alexia’s warm expression shifted to deep musing. Given all the unprotected sex Conrad and I were having… “Probably. You’re not seriously suggesting my fillies could be alicorns, are you!?”

“I double checked some things with Celestia. An unawakened alicorn is nearly indistinguishable from a normal pony, save for a few things. As foals, they have unusually powerful mana surges. Only unicorns are supposed to have these surges at all. If I’m right, your daughters are alicorns.”

“That’s…that’s.” Alexia looked at her daughters who were perched on the edge of the bed near Twilight. “Is there any way to be absolutely sure? I’d rather not get all worked up if this is some kind of mistake.”

Twilight slowly rubbed her chin, barely restraining herself from making silly faces for the very curious foals. “As I said, unawakened alicorns are nearly impossible to detect, outside of unusually strong mana surges. While its normal for unicorns to have them, there have been extremely rare cases of pegasi having surges as well. The only way to know for sure is to awaken them with this.”

A fabrication array materialized to Twilight’s left. “If you make a crystal with this, and have them wear it, the next time they have a mana surge the crystal will refocus the wild mana back into the filly. Their ascension will be triggered once their bodies become over-saturated with their own mana.”

Pained memories of her own ascension roared to the forefront of Alexia’s mind, making her slowly tug her children into a protective embrace, only to have them squirm and cry out to escape. “They won’t suffer the same pain I did will they? I fixed their itineris systems before giving birth.”

“I can assure you they’ll be unharmed, maybe startled by what’s happening, but otherwise they’ll be fine. It’s a normal part of every alicorn’s life-cycle.”

“What happens if they aren’t alicorns, and I give them the crystals?”

“Nothing major. The surging mana would fall away from them as normal, although the results could be even more unpredictable and dangerous.”

Alexia nodded absently while bundling her wiggling foals a little tighter. “This is a lot to take in.” She looked down at her daughters’ quizzical faces. Is it possible? Could they…?

“It is,” Twilight admitted.

Every fiber of Alexia's being started tugging her emotions in a million different ways. Was this a godsend? A disaster waiting to happen? Maybe it was just Twilight misreading the evidence. How far would this affect her fillies' futures? How long of a future was there for them now? Alexia would have to spend a whole hour preening if Violet grew wings. Not to mention how long it would take Aurora to get used to having a spike on her head.

It was the little things that niggled at Alexia's mind the most. And then there's the asinine religion that's formed around me. ME! I'm as fallible as they come, and people want to worship me as a god. She hung on that last thought for a few seconds. Oh hell. A cold sweat fell over her. If they're alicorns, then those worshipers will only get worse.

Sensing Alexia needed time to think, Twilight broke Alexia out of her musings. “I'll get in touch with you later on, see you soon.”

“Wait a second, please. There's one other thing.”

A thin smile parted Twilight's lips. “Of course Alex, what is it?”

"I need some advice about some worshipers of mine.”

Later that day, Alexia carried her foals to the living room where Bella and Elizabeth were pampering the two wounded ponies. Coat brushing, mane trimming, hoof cleaning, massages, the works. Both injured ponies were being treated to spa-like accommodations by Bella and Elizabeth as Loki regaled of their adventure, without crossing into classified territory.

“So there we were,” Loki proclaimed dramatically while standing on her hind legs and sweeping her forelegs in a huge arc. “Surrounded by twenty, no thirty monstrous beasties from beyond the tainted abyss. We were almost certainly going to be in for a tough fight, as more and more of them spawned from the lab we had fought tooth and hoof to reach.”

“It was more like twelve,” Conrad corrected with a moan of pleasure at the hand that scratched his mane.

“Who’s telling the story here?” Loki retorted while Alexia quietly claimed the sofa and let the fillies join Dusty Tinker in play wrestling with a few stuffed toys. “Anyway, so, certain doom was at hand when I remembered my trusty invention, the Fire Hornets!”

“Oh God…” Crimson groaned, “not those things.”

Bella lightly slapped her daughter’s ears. “Watch your language, young lady. Go on, Loki.”

“I grabbed the hornet grenade—”

“Mason jar,” Conrad quipped.

Loki shot him a scowl before replacing it with a crazed grin. “I threw the grenade at the gathering shadow knights, and the hornets raced through them all like a match to gasoline. And that’s how I saved the team,” she ended with a triumphant smirk.

Alexia let Loki bask in the glory while the two humans sang their genuine, if mildly stunned, praise. I could tell them how we have to out run the fiery swarm, but I’ll let Loki have her moment. Right now though, we have bigger issues. Sensing now was a good time to interject, she cleared her throat. “Guys, I just got back from talking with Twilight, and she’s given me some… news.”

Most in the room sensed her troubled tone, and forgot about pampering Conrad and Crimson. “About?”

Alexia’s gaze fell upon her foals, and couldn’t drag them away to address the rest of her family. “Twilight is convinced that my daughters are unawakened alicorns.”

Conrad’s good wing nearly thwacked Elizabeth when it shot open in surprise. “What makes her say that?!”

Loki bounced over the table to sit next to Alexia. “Do you believe her?”

“Well, I don’t know if she’s right.” Alexia went on to explain the various pieces of evidence Twilight shared, bringing everyone in the room to a quiet standstill. Every so often, one of them would glance at the fillies rolling around with Dusty.

“But as I said before,” Alexia finished, “nothing is certain until if or when they awaken.”

This could be it, Conrad thought excitedly. The answer to Alex’s agelessness! “Can they be awakened at will?”

“With these,” Alexia nodded slowly, “yes.” She levitated a pair of small pale white crystals, barely the size of a thumb. “If they wear these the next time they have a magic surge, it should trigger an awakening, that is, if Twilight’s right about them.”

“Are you going to try it?” Conrad inquired.

“I—I don’t know…” Alexia fumbled with her hooves. “This is the entire future of Aurora and Violet we’re talking about.”

Loki shared a knowing look with Conrad. “They’re your children Alex, and you’re the alpha, but I think you should go for it. If I were them, I’d want to grow up knowing for sure who and what I was.”

Crimson blanched at the idea. “Now wait a minute, those fillies deserve to have a normal childhood. If they are in fact alicorns, then awakening them now would ostracize them in school. You know how cruel children can be.” She jabbed a hoof at Violet gnawing on Dusty’s ear, much to his protests. “Need I say more?” she asked while cantering over to free her son’s ear.

“So what do we do then?” Loki challenged. “Either A, we don’t tell them they’re alicorns, and hope they don’t get super mad if they awaken unexpectedly one day; or B, tell them what they are, and let them sweat that one out for years on end. B’s even worse because if the fillies aren’t alicorns, they’d live their whole lives thinking they are.”

“Its not like awakening will suddenly make them adults,” Conrad added. “They’d still be foals, right?”

“Well yeah, the only thing you would notice differently about them would be like me. Their alicorn magic won’t start developing until puberty. If they are alicorns, the reason their mana surges are so powerful now, is because only one aspect of their magic is being expressed. Like for Violet, her unicorn magic is being tripled because her earth and pegasus abilities are stunted.”

Bella had been silent up until now, but the last comment struck a particular concern. “Speaking of Violet’s little episodes. While you were gone, we had… difficulty keeping the little darling’s magic from causing property damage. Why just this past Monday she set fire to her bedroom in the middle of the night, and the day before that I sank halfway into the ground. If it wasn’t for Beth here, I wouldn’t have gotten out of there before the concrete resolidified.”

Crimson wanted to argue against it, but her mother’s brush with death stilled her tongue. W-why didn’t she say anything soon?

“I don’t know how much it means coming from me,” Elizabeth started, “but I think they should be awakened, if for nothing else than so they can grow into their abilities rather than randomly awaken later in life. There’s no telling what kind of trouble waiting around could bring.”

Alexia absorbed every word, but mostly kept her own council. Primarily so she could avoid talking about the worshiper's song that caused her attention to drift. I have to get rid of this horrid music! I don't want this song corrupting my foals' minds. I'll have to wait for Twilight to acquire the dampening array from Celestia, but—

It was at that moment when Alexia realized all eyes were focused on her. “Ahem, right, I want everyone to sleep on this.” She found the fillies running up to her crying for food. “These two don’t deserve any rushed decisions.”

And besides, I have other business to take care of. Aurora tugged at her leg, babbling insistently for food. Alexia picked both fillies up and placed them in her back. “Right after I get you girls some lunch.”

The next day, Reed felt electrified. Leading the service in Alexia’s name always brought him to the door of deification. Humility always reminded him that it was not his place to ever step past that threshold. That was the realm Alexia walked alone. However, Reed knew his purpose was equally important. He was kneeling in front of a magnificent masterpiece painting of his goddess, the Alicorn of Life, deep in prayer. “May She who guides us in this world and the next be strengthened by my unwavering devotion. May the faithful grow, and empower Her.”

It wasn’t easy for the stallion to form a system of beliefs around a reluctant deity, but a few borrowed verses and rituals from several existing religions seemed to do the trick on the absolutely crammed pews behind him. The large basement under the farmhouse was under constant expansion, and even had multiple exits across the vast farm. Currently, over four hundred ponies were in deep prayer.

Reed would have gladly prayed longer, but his phone’s alarm told said otherwise. Nevertheless, unquenchable faith surged through him as he stood up, and banged the pommel of his ankh crowned scepter on the ground. “I call the service to a close, may the will of the Goddess be with you.”

Hundreds of murmured farewells passed between them as the gathered ponies quickly departed. Only a few hung around to talk to Reed, or continued to pray. Reed never bothered the latter, he’d be there himself were it not for his obligations. The surgeon stood near the ornate silver altar, bidding farewell to those who passed his way when someone caught his eye.

“Young Miss, it’s always good to see a new face.”

Tina shouldered her duffle bag, and gingerly approached him. “Thank you, um, sir.”

Reed chuckled softly. “There’s no need to be shy, my child.” He beckoned her to join him on the front pew. “Tell me, are you new in town, are you not?”

Tina fiddled with her forelegs, and was slow to respond. “I just arrived the other day, spent all my money on room and board for the month until I can find some work.”

Reed nodded sagely. “You would certainly not be the first. I dare say that over half the townspeople started off much the same way. If you like, I could always use an extra hand, or hoof as it were, around the clinic.”

A smug grin threatened to break through Tina’s bashful façade. “That sounds wonderful.”

“Of course, my dear. So, was She of Life the one who brought you to Trinity?”

“She is, actually,” Tina muttered cautiously. “But why do we worship her against her wishes?”

“You are not the first to ask, and I doubt you’ll be the last. You see, my child, Alexia was once mortal as we are. She is not one to care about power, save for magical knowledge perhaps, so She doesn’t like the idea that She’s a goddess. After all, one can shy away from the truth for an eternity, but the truth, is still the truth.”

Strange…that sort of makes sense. A shame She of Life will die before ever embracing her birthright. “I… think I understand.”

Reed took pity on the seemingly introverted mare. “Why don’t you join me for dinner?”

Tina shot him a surprised look. “I don’t think I want a companion this evening, but thanks.”

Reed guffawed uproariously. “Heavens dear, no, no, no. I’m already in a herd. No, I just thought you’d like friendly company for a little bit. You’ve only just arrived, and a friendly face is exactly what you need.”

Smiles and rainbows. “Oh… well I guess I can do that, if its not too much trouble.”

“Of course not. Alexia triumphs the virtues of Harmony, and it is something I strive to follow. In fact—”

Pack Rat stepped up from behind, and tapped Reed on the shoulder. “We’ve got a big problem, Preacher.”

Tina instantly acted like a wallflower made herself small while Reed answered. “What’s wrong?”

Pack Rat briefly glanced at Tina, seeing something odd in how the gold unicorn carried herself, but the issue made her ignore the eerie feeling. “I don’t know how, but Thompson found out about the Congregation. We should be prepared for the strong possibly that he’ll tell the Goddess about us.”

“Oh don’t worry,” a voice roared out from behind them. All three turned around to see a heavily clothed unicorn mare, with a face so angry it could sour milk, stomp over to them. “I already know.”

Reed and Pack Rat were horrified when the unicorn threw her clothes off, revealing herself to be none other than Alexia Tune.

Tina slunk away, banking on the fact that most of Alexia’s attention was fixated on Reed and Pack Rat. YES! I get to see someone get murdered!

12: Confrontation

If there was ever a time Alexia was a hair’s breadth from committing murder, it was in this moment. The enraged alicorn’s horn was a glow with a violent sheen of mana as she marched right up to the frozen forms of Reed and Pack Rat. She raised a hoof to slap Reed, but checked herself at the last instant.

The alicorn was breathing heavily just to keep her temper from flaring. “You, Reed, are going to shut this whole thing down, and stop worshiping me!”

Both other ponies prostrated themselves in front of their goddess. “Please have mercy!” “I accept whatever punishment you see fit.”

“If were up to me,” Alexia growled, “I’d have you both rot in prison for a few decades. But such as it is…” With monumental effort, she doused her magic and put her hoof down. “I can do nothing except ask you to stop.”

Tina Star stood on the far end of the pew with her head down and her ears out. She can’t be serious. She’s a goddess, she can do whatever she deems fit!

Pack Rat peaked out from behind her hooves with a cautious expression. “You’re not going to punish us?”

Alexia gritted her teeth so hard they might have shattered. “I’ll sue you all for harassment, and anything else I can think of. I don’t care if the world’s going to shit, and I don’t have a case. I’ll drag both your asses through court for so long you’ll be wishing you were back in The Ranch!”

“But my goddess, we only did this for you. All of this,” Reed waved his hooves at the room. “All of it was for you.”

“I. don’t. CARE!” She roared while slamming a hoof so hard on the ground that it cratered the marble floor. “Get rid of it, all of it, or so help me I’ll torch the whole building to the ground!”

As Alexia raged against her two disciples, Tina was nearly heartbroken. No… it’s worse than I feared. She still binds herself to mortal laws and morality. I can’t allow her to live like this. If she dies here, then there is still a chance to salvage her reputation as a goddess!

Tina pulled her scalpel out of her mane and moved it along the ground towards Alexia. Tears dampened her face as she did.

Pack Rat drew up her courage to ask a question. “Alexia, why can’t you see what you are?”

The alicorn, who had been grilling Reed, shot her a dirty look. “I can see what I am perfectly fine! I am a pony, nothing more!”

“But you are!” Reed protested before cowering under her spiteful gaze. He could feel her anger fueled mana start to swirl around them. “You embody all three tribes in addition to your divine power.”

She slapped him hard enough to throw him to the floor. Reed felt his teeth loosen and blood starting to pool in his mouth. “Don’t you dare. Alicorn magic is not divine. I am simply unique on this world, nothing more!”

Both disciples struggled to find the right words to persuade Alexia otherwise. “B-but you’re so much more than that,” Reed pleaded. “I’ve felt it since the day I first saw you, even before you ascended. You are of the divines, a living, breathing goddess right here on Earth!”

What little control Alexia had over her temper was fading fast as magic gathered around her horn. “You just don’t get it do you!?” she spat toxically. “What will it take for you to realize I’m not A DAMN GOD—” The sickening sound of a blade slicing flesh filled the room. Everything around Alexia went numb as a scorching hot sensation lanced its way into her torso. She looked down at her left side to see a scalpel embedded in her chest, and could feel it tear into her heart. The world quickly grew dark and the last thing she saw before everything went black was the blade being ripped out of her.

Reed watched on in stunned horror as his goddess collapsed to the ground with her life fluid pooling in all directions. Pack Rat saw the scalpel fly back to its owner, but was too flabbergasted to act as Tina fled the scene with a hood over her head and her tail tucked away in a skirt.

Reed jolted out of his stupor and rushed over to cradle Alexia searching for breath or a pulse, but found neither. “No, no, no, no, this can’t be happening. This can’t be happening! Alexia, you’re a goddess, wake up!” Pack Rat nearly feinted at the sight, and just barely managed to tear her eyes away. She spotted her phone sitting on the pew and bolted over to call for an ambulance.

Reed’s brain was misfiring at an increasingly erratic rate at the sight of Alexia’s blood staining his fur, and her shocked unmoving face. Reed’s world narrowed to just his bleeding goddess. The surgeon in him knew her heart had been punctured, or at least the artery directly above it, but the disciple in him refused to believe what he was seeing.

Pack Rat wept off to the side, barely able to control herself enough to stay on the line with the hospital.

“Please wake up, please wake up, you’re a goddess, this is nothing to you.” Reed repeated this mantra again and again for ten minutes as he gently held onto Alexia’s head. A glow caught his eye, and he paused his chanting to face it. He saw the ankh on Alexia’s flank start to develop gold glowing lines across her cutie mark.

The glow caught Pack Rat’s eye as well, silencing her as Reed started backing away as the lines fully traced Alexia’s cutie marks. Once both marks were fully traced out, the ankhs flashed solid azure and golden light washed over Alexia, closing her wound. The old surgeon felt the alicorn magic wash over him, bathing him in the same divine moment he felt the first time he gazed upon Alexia. For several precious seconds, he felt blessed by her power.

Pack Rat stood stock still as the golden light started to fade back into Alexia’s horn and cutie marks. Reed stepped back, neither disciple not knowing what to do until Alexia suddenly coughed up blood and took a shuddering, blood-flecked breath.

Containing his euphoria for the moment, Reed and Pack Rat rushed over to aid their goddess.

“Wha—” Alexia blinked as Reed slowly came into focus. “…What happened?”

“Pack! Fetch some water, quickly, and have someone guard the doors. I don’t want that murderer coming back!” With the earth mare running off to obey, Reed moved over to help Alexia over to one of the nearby cushions. “Some animal tried to kill you.”

Alexia’s vision continued to swim for a few more seconds until she saw that both she and Reed were completely covered in blood. “Kill me? Wha—but, then whose blood is this?”

“…Yours, my goddess.”

“Stop calling me that and what do you mean mine?” The blood loss had taken its toll, and she fell heavily on the offered pillow. Reed was becoming more and more gleeful as Alexia recovered her strength with every breath.

“I don’t know who, but a unicorn stabbed you with a scalpel. I can only imagine the blade cut straight through to your heart.” His tone took on a fanatical tone. “But you are alive, this is irrefutable proof! You truly are the Alicorn of Life!”

That broke through her mental fog. “Wait a minute. Just because I have an ankh for a cutie mark you… Look, I just—ahh- it must have some kind of magic that—”

Reed knelt before her. “Goddess Alexia, this was a sign. A sign from God to show that you truly carry divine blood!”

Alexia shoved his prostrating out of her mind. Someone actually tried to kill me? Here, in Trinity?! Yet it all came rushing back as Reed started kissing her hooves. “Stop that! And that’s not true, it was just my alicorn magic, that’s all.”

He gazed on his god with a hymn in his heart. “And what is alicorn magic, but that of the gods? You died! Your heart stopped, your breathing ceased, and yet here you are, alive again! I know of only one other person to every return from the dead.”

“Yeah well he wasn’t exactly a god either now was he?” Alexia countered with a smug grin at her quick wit. “But—no, it’s just magic. There’s nothing divine about me. Just, stop, okay! If I was god, a stupid knife wouldn’t have been enough to kill me in the first place!” She struggled to pull her phone out of her satchel. Her revivification took a heavy toll on her mana. “I have to call the office about the attack.”

“W-why can’t you see the facts? You arose from the dead. No magic can do that or else you’d have found it by now. Please, Alexia, accept the truth, you are a god!”

“I don’t want to hear this drivel! Shut this place down by the end of the week or I’m pressing charges!” Alexia snapped before teleporting herself back home.

That proved to be a little bit of a mistake, because her blood loss made her collapse in a heap in her living room, right in full view of her entire family. Needless to say, the sight of a blood covered alicorn sent the house into a panic as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Tina Star was giggling manically to herself as she raced through the farmland to melt back into town. Her still bloody scalpel was sealed inside a plastic bag wrapped up inside her tail. I can’t believe how easy that was! Just one little stab and she went down like a stone.

Wailing police sirens reached her ears, making Tina duck a little deeper into the gently swaying crops. She started creeping along towards a convenience store on the edge of the farm. Once she was sure the coast was clear, the unicorn bolted to the store before calmly strutting inside to act as any other customer, hiding her heavy breathing from the sprint all the while.

Strange how easy it was. Perhaps the poison in her mind affected her more deeply than I thought. It would have taken more than a shredded heart to snuff her life had she accepted her place in the world.

Tina selected a few dated candy bars from the moderately bare shelves. Seems even Trinity cannot escape the wrath of a collapsing global economy. No matter, the town will fall apart without the goddess around to keep it strong. I better find a quiet place to call Tazzy and tell him the deed is done. The faster I get out of town, the sooner I’m out of the local law’s reach… I wonder what sort of reward Tazzy will give me this time, she thought with a grin as she took a bite of her well-earned treat.

The world was slow to return to Alexia. At first, all she could feel was the soft bed underneath her, two very warm lumps coiled at either side of her prone form, and a tiny horn jabbing her left wing’s elbow. She cracked her eyes open and waited for her swirling vision to clear up before looking around.

At first, the room appeared to belong to the hospital, but the window between her and the fake scenery told her exactly where she was. Section Nine’s headquarters… well at least I’m in safe hands.

She craned her neck to the two lumps to find her daughters nestled between her barrel and wings on both sides of her. The mere sight of the sleeping foals eased her thoughts, but only just. A quick glance around the room revealed Conrad sleeping quietly. She rubbed her aching head and gently nudged Violet Spark's horn off of her wing. I must be really out of it if I missed him up until now.

One of the fillies yawned loudly, waking her father up with a snort-snore. “Alex! Thank goodness,” he said rapidly while rushing over to her side, “how are you feeling?”

“Like I just ran a marathon with a vice on my head. How did I get here?”

“You tell me. You teleported into the living room completely covered in blood, and pass out on the spot.”

“I ahh…” Alexia’s memory returned, along with Reed’s words. Of all the times damn times someone had to try and kill me. “I think I pulled a Jesus in front of my biggest prophet.”

That earned a skeptical look from her herdmate, but the sour expression on his alpha erased any chance it was sarcasm. “Uh huh, Quartermaster Pack Rat said something to that effect, but I didn’t catch much before the boss took her in to be debriefed. What happened? You practically gave the Andersons and your sister a heart attack.”

Fatigue made Alexia slump back in her pillow. “Funny you should say that…”

Conrad flew over to stand by her bed, and leaned in to nuzzle her. “I should have been there. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

Alexia gingerly rubbed the spot where the scalpel sank into her flesh. Aside from a ghostly recollection of the pain, there was no trace of the injury, save for a slice of missing fur. “With all the ponies aligned with the Mions, I should have expected someone to have tried to kill me by now.”

“But why now? If the cult’s starting to move towards the coast,” his face fell into a frown. “We may have to evacuate Trinity.”

And everything I’ve tried to build for the past two years will go with it. “I really don’t want to talk about this right now.” She couldn’t wash the image of so much of her fur being covered in blood. “What’s the damage?”

Conrad scowled at her dismissiveness, but Alexia busied herself with stroking her fillies’ manes. “…You lost a lot of blood, as I’m sure you know. You’re also suffering from moderate mana withdraw, and apparently you had a deep laceration in your chest, all the way to your heart. The strange part is that for some reason, your heart is completely undamaged, but the amount of blood on you when you landed in the living room would say otherwise.”

Alexia held her children close with her wings. “I nearly died, Conrad.” He quieted down at her emotional instability. “I was so angry at Reed that I couldn’t think straight. I was yelling at him, for a bit and then… I felt a white hot needle piece my chest, and… I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up.”

Conrad’s frown lost its hard edge and he stroked his mate’s mane. “You’re safe now, Alex. Whoever it was that tried to kill you, can’t reach you here.”

“I don’t want to be coddled,” she replied with a thin edge of steel. She didn’t shake him off, but he understood the message. “I’ve been shot and stabbed more times than I care to count. It was bound to catch up to me one day.”

“Alex, there’s a big difference between getting attacked during an op, and nearly getting killed here at home.” She wanted to argue, but the lack of blood and mana robbed her of any fire. Upon seeing that, Conrad nuzzled her before tracing a hoof along her chin and pulling her over so their eyes met. “I’ll watch over you while the Director figures out who did this.”

Alexia barely nodded before slumping into his embrace. Despite it all, she took comfort in his touch, and that of her sleeping children, for together; they could heal any of her wounds.

“Back up, back up, she did what!?” Loki half yelled.

Pack Rat’s gaze kept bounced between Director Thompson, Loki, Reed, and Crimson. “She resurrected herself. Right in front of us!”

“I can confirm, good sir,” Reed proclaimed with a manic tone. “She was bleeding out right there, her holy essence spilt on all over the floor, but her divine power proved the better!”

“I’m not interested in your beliefs,” Thompson spat impatiently. “As far as I’m concerned you’ve caused nothing but trouble for my operatives. Now, what about the assassin, do you have a name, a description?”

Reed was too high on faith to be insulted. “Right, of course, well… I didn’t see who it was directly, I admit I was dumbstruck any pony would be soulless enough to murder the goddess in cold blood, but it was unicorn alright, no doubt about it.”

Thompson jotted that down. “Anything else? What about the actual pony?”

Pack Rat raised a hoof. “I remember the blade had an amber aura, and I saw that mare Reed was talking to run out of the church, she might have seen who it was.”

“Or could be the assassin herself,” Loki pointed out as she shoved her muzzle in Reed’s face. “What did she look like?”

He backed up a bit to think. “Oh, hmm, she had gold fur with a cyan mane, I forget the eye color, and she was a unicorn. But if you think she’s the would-be murderer you’re sadly mistaken. The poor girl was in over her head just being in town. The goddess’ wrath is not to be taken lightly, and it likely sent her running.”

Thompson picked up the phone while shooing the two zealots out of the room. “Follow the agent outside to finish your questioning, I have a manhunt to organize.”

Reed was practically giddy. “Yes, yes, of course officer. I have to make sure the camera captured the beauty of her resurrection before distributing it to the p-”

“WHAT!?” Everyone else in the room shouted, leaving Reed a little confused.

“Why didn’t you tell me you taped the whole thing?” Thompson barked as he stood up out of shock.

Reed wilted under the heated scrutiny of the others. “The ahh… the thing is I usually just use the tapes to improve on my sermons, I didn’t remember them until just now.”

Thompson worked his jaw to keep from verbally biting Reed’s head off. “Go with the agents outside this office and retrieve the tape for study.”

“I’ll make sure it gets done, Director.” Pack Rat practically shoved the protesting Reed out of the office.

Crimson barely waited long enough for the door to close before jump to the director’s desk. “This better not be the part where you tell me this is too personal for me to go out there and hunt this bastard down.”

“This is it exactly,” he replied definitively. “Glad we’re on the same page. You know how this works, agent, get down there and watch over your mate. I’ll handle the manhunt.”

Thompson’s intercom bleeped an incoming message. He kept his gaze on the two very angry earth mares while he pushed the button. “What is it, Sanders?”

Crimson recognized the name from the Chief Watcher over Europe. “They’ve hit us, sir, hard. You better come down to the CC.”

“How bad is it?” Thompson voiced the shared question with practiced calm.

“Bad. I can explain in more detail here.”

“Fine, I’m on my way.” He stood up while addressing the mares. “You two come with me. I have a feeling you’re going out on deployment sooner than we planned.”

“What about the assassin!?” Loki growled. “That creep could be going after our family next!”

The director kept talking as he led the ponies out into the hallway. “I’ve already ordered bodyguards for them and doubled the watch over your house.”

“Doubled?” Crimson shot her mate a confused look. “You’ve been watching our house?”

I really don’t want to get into this right now, Thompson thought as he skipped the elevator in favor of the stairs. “Did you honestly think I’d risk letting your home go on without protection? This is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to avoid.” For all the good it did.

The trio all but barged into the command center which was alive with chatter from over fifteen overseers talking frantically to various ground teams. Above and in front of the rows of computer consoles was a large screen depicting the world map with a small scattering of green dots in several locations in Europe and Asia. However, they were joined by a plethora of angry looking red dots close by.

The mares had been here only once before, but the hectic tone felt abnormal. Thompson looked to the first unicorn on his right. “Status report, Sanders.”

“I just received a report that a new bioweapon was just deployed in Singapore.” He pulled his screen up so the others could see a grainy video feed of panicking civilians fleeing in the streets. “Field teams report this stuff turns people within seconds of exposure. The masks most civilians have aren’t enough, the op leader thinks it can infect even through unbroken skin.”

Before Thompson or the mares could ask, one of the new Mions burst into view by jumping down from a low rooftop. The surging crowd was thrown into further disarray at the sight of the towering red giant that started bloating up like a water balloon frighteningly fast. Local police, who were trying to direct the crowd towards shelters, fired on the Mion. It popped like a massive pustule, flinging bile laced pus in all directions, covering the fleeing people and several police.

“Okay, that’s disgusting.” Loki shuddered at the sight. “How could someone design such a thing?!”

Crimson felt her bile rise. Everyone who got covered in the viscous grey liquid started having seizures on the ground while showing signs of rapid mutation. “Those monsters are just going after the civilians!”

Thompson couldn’t afford to let anger cloud his judgment. “What’s the status on the local military strength?”

“Umm,” Sanders began as he sifted through his reports on a second monitor. He was sweating profusely at the carnage onscreen as the fresh victims arose en masse. That was when the CIA cell leader started pulling his team out. “The local army should have enough strength to handle the situation, in time, but that’s not the primary concern. If this plague drains the civilian population, there won’t be anyone left for them to protect.”

“And no one left to support and supply the military,” Loki added worriedly. “This is a war of attrition.”

A human operator jumped out of his chair to grab the director’s attention. “Sir, Vladivostok’s been hit! Major bioweapon attack across the entire city.”

“What? I thought the FSB was having better luck than the FBI was!” Thompson half growled as he briskly walked over to see the reports coming in.

The overseer sat back down to organize the data. “They were. Our eyes on the ground say they intercepted several bombs in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and three other cities in the past two months, but it looks like Vladivostok slipped by them.”

Live satellite images revealed scenes very similar to Singapore, only with a breed of Mion built light and fast that leapt across walls and rooftops to strike at anyone they came across, human and pony alike.

Before Thompson could even think, a third overseer called out informing of an attack in France, along with a forth and on and on for well over an hour. By the end of the day, he was sweaty, tired, and almost at a loss at what to do.

Presently, Alexia and the herd were sitting in Thompson’s office as he angrily slammed the preliminary report on his desk. He couldn’t summon the strength to speak for a moment, and just rested his head in his palms. When did the Mions get the kind of numbers and funding for it all? Do they even care about money?

“This is bad,” Loki thought aloud.

Thompson felt her words were more flippant then their intent and clenched his fists hard enough to draw blood. “No shit.” He glared at the gathered equines. “Shanghai, Rotterdam, Kobe, New York, Panama City, and twenty other major shipping ports are either under siege or are being evacuated.” He lost his anger, which was quickly replaced by resignation. “…What was left of our global economy and manufacturing capability goes with them.”

The whole room knew the same thing after Conrad told Alexia about it. The alicorn was still woozy from lack of blood and mana, but she hid it well. Everyone shared in Thompson’s shock, but not his willingness to mope around.

“Well where do you want us?” Loki half shouted to get him out of his funk. “There’s got to be something we can do! Send us off to one of the ports and let us clear it out.”

Thompson scowled at her. “Send you to clear one port out of fifty two? No one single port is important by itself.”

Any further discussion was halted when the red telephone on the director’s desk started ringing. He answered it before the first ring ended. “Mister President,” he answered while trying to mask his heavily weighting doubt.

“Director, normally after a disaster like this I’d demand somebody’s resignation, but then I realized we’re in no shape to replace anyone at this point. Do you have something for Operation Seawall?”

Thompsons’s eyes flashed at Alexia for a moment. “We’re still researching, sir. We’ve hit a few bumps recently.”

“Well unbump it, because I want Agent Tune on the next flight to San Francisco.”

“Yes, Mister President. She’ll be in the air within the hour.”

Fitzgerald paused a moment. “Is she present?”

“She is.”

Thompson handed the phone over to Alexia who cleared her throat before speaking. “I’m here, sir.”

“Tune… Alexia, while I know you accepted under protest, but do you still hold yourself as the princess of your people?”

Alexia wasn’t sure how to take his causal, yet serious, tone as she unconsciously rubbed her necklace. “I do. Mister President.”

“You’re more valuable to both me, and the nation as a whole in playing the role I forced upon you. And for that, I’m sorry.”

“I expect you don’t regret it though,” she replied knowingly.

“I do, actually, but I would do it again every time, because I know, as much as you hated it, you fill that role perfectly.” That got a raised eyebrow out of her. “And from what I understand about Equis’ pony culture, it was the princesses that faced down the worst the universe could throw at them.”

Grim determination fell over Alexia’s features. “What would you have me do?”

“Whatever it takes, Princess, to end this threat before our civilization collapses. Thompson will brief you further.”

Fitzgerald hung up, prompting Alexia to do the same. Thompson nodded at the group. “Pack your bags, if you come back from this one… I’ll discharge you from fieldwork, if you so choose.”

“One thing at a time, Director, what about my family? I don’t want that assassin having free reign over the town where I can’t protect them.”

The other ponies mumbled in agreement, a sentiment Thompson fully supported. “I can arrange temporary housing for them in Frisco for the duration of the assignment. It’ll be cramped, but it’ll be on the naval base.”

“Father’s not going to like it,” Crimson declared with a touch of concern. “He never liked highly urbanized areas.”

“Better than risking him or the foals with the hit man at large,” Conrad added. “Besides, Elizabeth’s been wanting to go on road trip anyway.”

It was well past midnight before Tina Star almost broke the door of her motel room, both opening and slamming it shut, and jumped onto the bed laughing manically for several minutes. She completely missed Frank Gill glowering at her from across the room as he hastily shoved his belongings in a suitcase. When she finally regained some measure of composure, Tina sat up on the bed and gave Frank a mocking salute. “Mission complete, Gill-friend. Scratch one alicorn goddess.”

“You took your sweet time getting back.” Frank stuffed the last of his clothes in his case. “You put the whole town on high alert! If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m human, the suits would have killed me on sight for being at the royal manor’s front door.” He pulled his suitcase up. “We have to leave, now, before that alicorn comes looking for you.”

Tina chuckled at him for a few seconds until she saw his expression wasn’t lightening up. “Are serious? I killed her myself.” She pulled her blood encrusted scalpel out for inspection. She grinned at the small tuft of silver fur still clinging to it. “I pierced her heart with this. She died before hitting the floor, mission accomplished.”

“Sn’t what I heard,” he teased with a hint of mirth. “Word on the street says the supposed goddess brought herself back to life.”

To any rational person, even in the world of newfound magic, resurrection would be laughable. Tina however, could never claim to be rational. Her laughter died as she eyed him carefully. “It has to be propaganda from the local spooks. Alexia was too weakened by the false believe in her mortality to resist a mortal wound.”

Frank took a moment to lean against the wall with a sneer. “And what sort of proof do you base that on?”

“Bah, you’re no pony, you’d never understand.”

He rolled his shoulders before hefting his suitcase. “Perhaps. But I know you’ve probably been hiding and not actually hearing all the rumors around town.” Tina’s shrug was all the answer he needed. “Word has it that, that preacher, Reed, recorded the whole thing.” He fished his phone out of his pocket, selected the video, and tossed it at a seething Tina. “And he’s posted it on the net.”

Even she was willing to look at a clip before biting his head off. The video was of decent quality, and the camera was perched high above the altar, but Tina recognized the room and Alexia instantly. She was surprised that Reed had the integrity to keep Alexia’s tantrum in as well. A snide smirk slide across Frank’s face as Tina’s expression went slack as Tune’s magic brought her back from the brink of death.

A fiendishly savage grin shot across her muzzle. “Yes, yes, yes, YES! I knew she was stronger than a mortal!” Tina bounced happily on her hooves, much to Frank’s dismay. “Now she has no choice but to acknowledge her godhood! Now, when I kill her, she’ll know just how much work it takes to slay a god! How many times do you think it’ll take? Is she like a cat? Do I have to sever her head? A stake through the heart, perhaps?”

Tina kept playing the clip over and over again, never caring to notice it showed her running away from the scene of the crime. So it was that she was quite surprised by the motel’s window suddenly shattering and two grenades bounce inside the room with one rolling in front of Frank’s foot.

“Oh shit,” he muttered before the room flashed as bright as the sun and he crumpled to the ground. For a brief moment that felt like it dragged on for minutes, they were numbed to the world.

A battering ram slammed the door open and five CIA operatives stormed the room. They didn’t even bother shouting a warning before the first operative tackled Frank to the ground with a pegasus flying over the first agent and grappled Tina to the ground.

“Targets subdued, get the cuffs and wards over here!” the pegasus ordered to the two other operatives entering the room.

Tina struggled, but between the flashbangs and the anti-magic ward collar wrapped around her neck, she could do nothing but spit incoherent obscenities as she was bodily dragged outside. It wasn’t long before they were being led to a waiting black van. The late hour still saw a few bystanders watch the snarling unicorn and human get tossed inside the vehicle.

Tina wasted no time in trying to charge the heavy steel door of the van, but her hog-tying shackles turned her efforts into little more than flaying on the bench as the last operative slammed it in her face, and laughed at her while patting the door as he walked off.

“Take this damn collar off me or I’ll gore you on my horn!”

Frank let her yell a few more obscenities before chuckling at her. “Give it up will you? They don’t care how you threaten them.”

With frightening alacrity, Tina’s mood preformed a complete turn around and she laid down on the floor with a stupid grin on her face. “Too bad. They’ll probably wish they had taken me up on their offer in an hour or so.”

He eyed the mare as she tried to scratch an itch, but with little success. “Why, you going to muscle your way past that collar?” He shook his handcuffs at her. “I’d be more likely to punch through the walls.”

“You just might,” Tina replied cryptically.

The prisoner area jostled as the engine came to life. “What did you do?”

Tina inspected her hogtie for a moment before glancing up at Frank with an innocent expression. “What?”

“What. Did. You. Do?” he asked dangerously, not that Tina was bothered in the slightest by his tone.

“I called my boss, that’s all.”

Frank wasn’t satisfied, and Tina’s return to inspecting her restraints didn’t help. “I bet he’ll be pissed to know you failed your mission, right after telling him you succeeded.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get another chance to fight her in a day or so.”

“What, he’s sending back up?”

“In a manner of speaking. You see, with the goddess assumed dead, there’s no reason for him to believe that this town needs to remain anymore. So he sending a few care packages our way.”

“Care packages? Wait, is he going to bio-bomb the town?! That wasn’t part of our deal!” Frank shuffled over and started hitting the small window into the driver cabin. “Hey!” *bang bang bang* “I want to confess! I need a mask!”

The operative on the passenger side slammed the butt of his rifle at the reinforced window before speaking over the van’s intercom. “Pipe down back there. You’ll get your lawyer.”

The driver snickered darkly, along with his companion. “Right, and straight on in to the lynch mob of a jury.”

The passenger kept the intercom transmitting just long enough to catch more laughter. Frank whirled around to Tina who was rather enjoying herself. “Call him back, tell him to abort the hit!”

“Why do you care about the town all of a sudden?” she purred mockingly.

“Because I’m still in it!”

Tina shuffled enough to sit up. “Don’t be such a baby. You should have known the moment you sided up with the Mions that there were only 3 options for you, red skin, fur, or a body bag. Besides, in case you hadn’t noticed, my phone’s been confiscated, so you’re out of luck.”

“But he said he found out how all those people turned into ponies. That he’d let me choose what kind I wanted to be since he’s out to kill all humans. I don’t want to be one of those mutant freaks!”

Tina didn’t flinch as Frank vented his rage on the bench, the walls, or even the front glass. He’s dead already. Me, I just have to wait a bit. She turned around to look out of the small barred window and into the night sky. Maybe the turned townsfolk will help weaken Alexia enough that she can’t resurrect. Or I could even try raiding the SWAT armory.

A few moments later, the van turned a corner, allowing her to see a tiny streak of light in the distance before it suddenly vanished. “Oh my…” she said gleefully.

Frank was staring at his bloodied hands, but his gaze was far beyond it until Tina spoke. The off-kilter quality of her words struck a chord of terror in his heart. “What is it?”

A large toothy smile spread across the mare’s lips as she turned to her accomplice. “Tazzy really knows how to treat a lady; he’s early.”

13: Home Invasion

It was a chilly night in the top room of Section Nine’s headquarters. They were in little more than a drab concrete shelter as they waited for the Black Hawk helicopter to finish its final approach to the helipad. A quartet of black-garbed agents stood watch at the open door to the outside. The bright florescent lights cast the gathered humans and ponies in a painful radiance. When the foals were disturbed from their sleep by the loud helicopter and bright lights, Alexia and Crimson tried to keep them from crying.

Loki and Conrad listened in to Director Thompson as he gave a crash course briefing to Brad and Marcy, founders and chief researchers of Brad and Marcy’s Enchantment Company, and also well known as the inventors of Magitech. Brad was an African American in his late fifties, and even after being roused from his sleep, the man was dead set on wearing a smart business suit. On the other end of the spectrum, Marcy, a sky blue unicorn mare, couldn’t stop yawning even after several assurances that she fully understood the gravity of the situation.

Thompson was standing with his arms folded as he continued to talk to the couple. “Again, I want to thank both of you for agreeing to this mission. Your expertise in Magitech will be of great assistance to Agent Tune’s plans.”

Marcy spoke after coming out of her fiftieth yawn; she kept count. “Not like you spooks would have given us a choice.” A hardening look from Thompson was all she needed to know. “But when the fate of the world is in your hands and the princess herself is involved, who am I to say no?”

“Well, at least we’ll go down in the history books for this, right?” Brad queried with a tired yet excited grin.

That was Loki’s cue to ignore the rest of the conversation, and not a moment later the helicopter finally touched down. I hope Beth and the Andersons get here soon. My tail’s been twitching for the past hour. I hate it when that happens, because it always means—

Right before the guards would have ushered the group into the first helicopter, the inactive red strobe lights along the walls suddenly came to life. The call of an air raid siren ripped through the night from all over Trinity, including directly on top of the headquarters.

Panic set in the room as the guards shuffled inside while the Black Hawk pushed back up into the air. With the doors sealed, Thompson waved everyone to the stairs. His earpiece buzzed with news from the command center. “Satellites picked up a series of missiles coming in from the Midwest! I want every human in the basement shelter, now!”

With her foals trying to cry louder than the klaxons, Alexia weaved a sound damper around them as she ran up to stay side-by-side with Thompson. The group was thundering down the stairs as fast as their legs could carry them. “What’s going on and where do you need us?”

“Seven missiles are inbound from Nebraska. I want you in the shelter as well in case this is a conventional weapon strike.”

“And if it’s not?” Conrad asked as he flew down the stairs.

“Then I bet my job it’s a bio-bomb. I’ll need the four of you outside to neutralize anyone who gets caught in the clouds.”

“Y-yeah, okay.” Alexia fished out her smartphone and speed-dialed her sister. She barely kept enough situational awareness to keep from running into anyone or anything as the phone rang far too long for her liking. Pick up, pick up, come on pick up, do it!

“Hey, sis, got you on speaker—” Elisabeth answered with more than a little mania, only for Alexia to interrupt her.

“Tell me you’re at the gates of the building, please!” she added insistently. She glanced back at Crimson, who desperately wished she had time to put her headset on so she could use a phone on the run. All the earth mare could do is listen to Alexia’s conversation with terror in her eyes.

“No, we made it a few streets from the house’s driveway when the air raid sirens went off. We’re turning around and going back to the house!”

Bella Anderson held onto the grab handle so hard her knuckles were white. Elizabeth’s driving was only making it worse. “Honey, I know we’ve got a plane to catch, but can we try to stay on the road?”

Alexia looked at the timer on her phone and freaked enough that she would have slammed into the doorframe of the bunker if Loki hadn’t nudged her at the last minute. If she had a second to spare, Alexia would have thanked her herdmate and the stars that signal relays were present to keep the phone call active. “There’s no time, cut the engine and put it the car in isolation mode!”

The fur on Crimson’s neck stood up. “But if it’s a nuke—”

“It won’t matter!” Alexia roared back as they all skidded to a halt. “Besides,” she added a little too manically, “Nuke’s aren’t their MO.”

Elizabeth heard the whole exchange and glanced at the Andersons. Joe took one look at the long road between the royal estate and the edge of town. The steep twisting driveway up the hill didn’t help his mood. “Ain’t nothing close enough that could save us from an A-bomb. Just close us up.”

The car rocked forward as Elizabeth slammed on the breaks in the middle of town. “Glad sis got us one of the good cars.” Setting the parking brake, Elizabeth pressed the panic button on the dashboard.

“Isolation mode activated,” the car speakers announced with a prerecorded message. Grey sealing foam spread throughout the doors and sides of the windows. More of it spread throughout the intake filters before an air scrubber activated. The engine cut off with the scrubber switching to the battery. “As per Executive Order 3601, the engine is now deactivated until the viral particles decay. Be advised that forcing an engine restart could result in a fracture in the sealing foam.”

Joe growled and slapped the back of Bella’s seat in front of him. “Then you should have made better foam, you idiots.”

“Distress beacon activated. Please remain calm until the cloud has faded for at least three hours. The windows’ blow out mechanisms will be armed at that time to be used at your discretion. Thank you for trusting A&R Biohazard Protection Systems.”

No one had even a moment to think about being trapped in their own car before Bella pointed to the first missile as little more than a speck of light. A second, much faster streak of light raced towards it, but it was too late. A second before interception, the first missile exploded in an anticlimactic puff of light.

Bella wished dearly it had been anything else. Joe’s eyes widened, and he made the sign of the cross. “God help us.”

In Section Nine’s bunker, Director Thompson watched over a radar screen and punched the keyboard when the interceptor failed to connect in time before the first warhead detonated. “Damn it all! Why didn’t Satcom detect these sooner?”

A nearby observer gasped at what was on screen and quickly turned to the Director. “Sir, we’ve got a huge wave of missiles joining the first!”

“What?!” The data was quickly sent to Thompson’s monitor. There were now an additional forty-seven missiles on screen, all of them streaking straight for downtown Trinity.

“The new contacts all appeared within a hundred miles to the west!”

“Have the cultists adopted them for mobile launch platforms?” I want the National Guard informed at once!” Within seconds, all but two of the missiles had been shot down. When the building wasn’t blown away by nuclear fire or rocked by conventional warheads, he knew what the payload had been. He rubbed his face hard as he grabbed the offered headset from Conrad, who had been watching the same feed. “This is Director Thompson to all personnel. We have a Code Six-Oh-Six. I need all pony field agents suited up and on the streets.”

He didn’t want to say it aloud, not that he had to since it was implied to everyone who heard him. They’re the only ones who can safely euthanize any humans who get caught in the cloud.

Conrad reluctantly put Violet Spark down and looked to Brad and Marcy. “Please take care of them. I’d ask one of Thompson’s men, but I don’t think they’re all that good with kids.” The mares of his herd crowded around him to give their consent to the request.

“We know they’d be in good hands with you two,” Alexia added.

Brad wrung his hands and cringed at the three foals who still had tear-streaked faces and drippy noses. “I ahhh… I’m not really good with kids. But I can’t exactly say no to you four, now can I?”

Marcy was much quicker to take the foals into her care and soon got them cracking smiles with her natural charm and a silly face. “It is an honor to help you in any way I can, Princess,” she said directly to Alexia , rather than anyone else in the herd. “They’ll be well cared for.” She briefly noticed the momentary relief on their faces (and mild irritation on Conrad’s), as she glanced about the rather spartan bunker. “Assuming I can find some foalcare products in here.”

“Thank you so much.” Crimson bowed her head as the others ran off to the equipment lockers lining the walls. “Just be sure to keep their necklaces on in case the fillies have a mana flare.”

“Both of them?” Marcy and Brad looked to Violet and Aurora. The business partners knew unicorns could flare, but pegasi didn’t. Normally. Yet before either of them could press the question, the royal herd was already suiting up, and neither civilian wanted to gain the ire of the other CIA operatives in the bunker by interrupting them.

Marcy dug around in the pink and yellow diaper bag Crimson had left behind to find the gemmed necklaces and quickly put them on the fillies. The two promptly started teething on the jewelry, while Brad sat down to try his hand at childcare. “Better make sure they don’t take those off. The last thing we need is a surge somehow tearing a hole into the cloud outside.”

Tina Star rocked slightly on the floor of the paddy wagon as the engine cut out and the tell-tale sound of foam filling the joints of the vehicle filled her ears. She giggled manically to herself before shuffling in her restraints to look at her human accomplice, Frank. He had been sweating profusely and was jerking his head around as the noisy foam sealed them in. The engine had cut out while the two agents in the front could be heard contacting headquarters. Now that Frank was no longer having a panic attack at the prospect of being turned into a Mion, he finally noticed the air raid sirens.

“Ha! Yes! This thing has a sealing system. Fuck, I should have known the damn CIA would protect their own skin.” Frank sneered at Tina on the floor. “No red skin for this asshole.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Tina purred cloyingly. She managed to get her hooves under her and flopped back onto the bench. “You don’t honestly think I was the only pony Tazzy sent over here, do you?”

Frank’s crazed grin fell when the vehicle was rocked by a heavy physical impact near the front. Shattered glass was quickly accompanied by a brief series of gunshots. Tina tried to twist around to plant her ear against the wall, only to have the commotion fade away. About a minute later, the backdoor of the van blasted itself outward from built in clearing charges.

“No, no! The gas is going to come in!” Frank threw himself at the front end of the cabin as thin trails of brown opaque gas drifted in. He covered his nose and mouth with squeezed his eyes shut, sobbing all the while.

Tina ignored him as the sound of feathered wings heralded the arrival of a beige pegasus stallion. Tina purred teasingly at his rather dashing handsome face, only for it to be sullied by a furrowed brow and a frown as he stepped fully into the cabin. Frank was cowering from the inflowing cloud, but the pegasus ignored him and focused on Tina. “You really jacked it all up this time, Doctor. Tazvadak got his ass chewed out when the Herald caught wind of that resurrection video.”

“How was I supposed to know she could resurrect like that.” She hummed and tilted her head. “Although I guess I should have suspected as much from a goddess.” Tina wiggled her bindings at the stallion. “Are you going to be a gentleman or not?” Grumbling all the while, the pegasus ignored Frank and pulled some heavy bolt cutters off his back, grunting while trying to cut off the lock around Tina’s horn restraint. A few muttered curse words later, the lock snapped off, and he removed the horn cover. Tina took care of the rest with a bit of magic and undid the plastic bindings around her legs. “I never got your name. You seem to know a bit about me, and I loathe being at a disadvantage.”

He huffed in bemusement and gave a slight nod. “My name is—huerk!” Frank shot forward and used both hands to clamp down on the pegasus’ throat. His eyes were completely bloodshot, and the skin around his nose and mouth were reddening.

“You let the virus in here! I’ll kill you for that!”

Tina stepped up onto the metal bench-seat as Frank grappled the stunned pegasus. She harrumphed at both of them and started pouring raw mana into Frank. “Just because you’re a simpleton, doesn’t mean you get to act like one.”

The mana sent the man into seizures, and loosened his grip just enough for the stallion to yank himself free. “Screw this! I did what I was paid to do. You two are on your own.”

He bucked Frank for good measure before he put on a surgical mask and a pair of goggles and then tossed one of each to Tina. “Oh, before I go, the boss wants the princess dead. He and the Herald both know she won’t join us after what you pulled.”

“What a pity,” she replied with a dismissive yawn. “I thought you were leaving.”

The stallion stepped to the door and flared his wings, yet he couldn’t take off with his eyes glued on Frank. The man was in the midst of a nightmarish grand mal seizure, banging on the floor and benches while his skin reddened and his muscles began to bulge frighteningly fast. Tina’s mana kept flowing into him, causing Frank’s body to glow with her amber magic. “What the hell are you doing to him!?”

Tina cackled at her work. “Funny thing, really. Tazzy told me, before I left, that the latest strains of the Mion plague are highly reactive to magic. The more you hit them with, the more volatile and brutal the transformation. And the best part is that this whole town has developed local ambient mana in the atmosphere.” Her tone of voice grew increasingly manic the longer she talked. “The longer anyone who gets infected stays here, the more powerful and mentally degenerate they become. He won’t be a real Mion, but a living wrecking ball!”

“You’re fucked in the head, you know that. I’m gone!” Wanting to put as much distance between him and Frank as possible, the pegasus rocketed into the air.

Tina angled her head so she could keep feeding Frank mana, while also looking outside towards the pegasus. “What a bore. Now… where was I?” She cut her mana flow after seeing Frank’s skin go completely crimson and his hair fade away. Rough scales and spines protruded in haphazard angles from the rapid forced changes. “Now let’s go kill a goddess.”

By the time Alexia, the herd, and twenty other pony field agents finished suiting up and made it to the biohazard-exit point of Section Nine’s headquarters, the miasma from the three missiles had fully spread throughout the large town. The exit point was little more than an infantry marshalling area where the air could be cycled for events such as this.

Loki glanced around the room at all the familiar faces. The earth ponies wore helmet guided weapons on their backs, while the pegasi had smaller weapons on their forelegs to allow flight. Most unicorns forwent traditional weapons in favor of offensive magic, save for runeblades. There was next to no medical equipment or rescue gear among them, not that Loki needed to notice to know what the nature of their operation would be.

Search and destroy, she thought glumly as Conrad did the final checks on the light machine gun strapped to her back. I really hope people had enough time to reach a shelter.
Alexia and Crimson were fits of nervous energy pacing by the large garage door. Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long for the well-drilled agents to finalize their checks before a male mission commander spoke over the intercom. “Cameras along Ninth Avenue and Mercer Street have detected infected human activity in the area. Be prepared to handle anyone they drag out of shelters as Mions. No matter who they are, once infected, the only way to help them is a clean death.” While the commander was able to keep his voice level, everyone could feel the fear he had for friends and family.

The moment the commander finished speaking, the doors shuttered opened with the brown-greenish cloud pouring inside as if it was formless beast actively seeking new hosts to infect. It would find no such luck in the gathered ponies. Alexia’s herd were the first ones to bolt outside and into the murky depths of the dense cloud.

Between the moonless night and the heavy blanket of the cloud, streetlights and scattered signs provided the only illumination in the sudden ghost town. While the other agents fanned out onto Trinity’s streets, Alexia made a beeline straight to Elizabeth’s car.

Loki’s headset marked the car’s location. Her visor’s thermal sensors reported no activity on the primary avenue thoroughfare, but that did nothing to calm her nerves. “The way’s clear for now.”

“Good, we have to hurry!” Alexia shouted with a manic tone. Letting Loki and their only navigator through the cloud take the lead. The lenses on her gas mask started to fog over as the panicking alicorn trembled with rage. This isn’t some randomly dropped cloud. Those damned cultists did this on purpose! Once I save my human family, I’m going to kill that ocean sphere myself!

The herd thundered through the streets, seeing a handful of other cars with humans trapped inside. Standing guard was a squad of twelve ponies in gas masks. Alexia’s brief worry that they were Mion collaborators vanished when she saw former general Mayor East standing watch on top of a pickup truck.

The herd stopped briefly as the ponies have her crisp salutes while East jumped down from her perch. “Glad to see you and Section Nine are on the job. Don’t worry about these people here, if any son of a bitch cultists try to infect these folks, they’ll have to go through us.”

Conrad’s approving grunt was nearly lost behind his mask. “Glad to see the civilian life hasn’t softened you too much. You and your boys got out here faster than we did.”

“Since we’re dealing with an enemy that can strike at any moment,” East said with an self-gratifying smirk, “I decided to revive the pure American grit of the Minutemen Militia.”

Alexia gave a thankful nod. “Thank you, General, but we should get moving.”

“Right. We’ll have time to waggle tongues later.” Mirroring her subordinates, East snapped a firm salute. “Good luck out there, Princess.”

“You too, General,” Alexia saluted as she broke back into a gallop. Barely two city blocks further east, the noise of breaking glass and tormented screams spurred the royal herd even faster.

Crimson and Alexia most of all were horrified by the noise. That was in Elizabeth’s direction, Crimson worried miserably.

Shattering glass allowed the terrified screams of three women in an SUV to spill out into the street. Frank’s now massive hands easily grappled the driver’s door. His scaly skin crunched the glass as his grip tightened. “You, join Herald now,” he grumbled in a guttural drawl. With a heavy tug he ripped the latch open, with a second fully ripping the door free.

He idly dropped the door behind him. The driver was feverishly trying to undo her seatbelt so she could get away from the crimson beast, even as lines of crimson started to develop on her lips and nose. The front passenger pulled a pistol out of the glove box and aimed at Frank as he tore the seatbelt off of the driver.

Firing wildly, she hit him three times in the arm, three more in the chest, with the last shot hitting him dead center on his forehead. The first six cause him to stagger backwards with the last one tossing his head back and causing him to fall heavily onto the pavement.

Tina had been waiting in front of the engine for Frank to pull the women out, but the headshot put that on hold. “Get up, you big baby. You don’t have enough of a brain for that to kill you anymore.”

Not willing to wait for Frank to stop grumbling childishly, Tina pulled upon the ambient mana and sank it into the SUV. The manic screams and crying within the vehicle slowly died down as their minds quickly faded away. About the time the three women were climbing out of the car under the Herald’s direct control, Frank had stopped whimpering and was dragging himself to his feet.

Tina halted her mana control and cantered over to Frank. “Come on big boy, we have to rally more troops.”

“Making friends is fun,” he clapped cheerily. He bounced on the balls of his feet as the three women-turned-mions gathered around Tina. The driver looked at her with profound irritation, her spiteful scowl amplified by the crimson color eating away at the last blotches of the woman’s original skin color. “Tina Star. Your failure makes a poor impression. I should have you killed here and now.”

Tina cringed and dipped her head in submission. Even she knew the Herald when he spoke, no matter the host. “Tazzy’s ambitious, but we both know the goddess would have never sided with us. The only thing we can do is get the government to turn on her. Cut off her allies and what not.”

“As if we have any real choice in that matter now.” The Herald’s reprimand was cut short by the distinctive clop of four sets of hooves coming from the direction of Section Nine. The Herald’s attention snapped to the source of the noise, but the dense cloud concealed everything beyond five meters. “Go. Find a way to kill or isolate Alexia Tune.”

“Yes sir, boss sir.” Prodding Frank forward with her magic, the two of them ran off towards the royal manor. If the goddess has one weakness, it’s her family. I’m just glad her kids are ponies so the cloud won’t harm them.

Frank’s quick but loping gait grated on Tina’s patience. There were a few other cars on the road, but all of them were empty. The stores and businesses along their path were completely darkened, so there was no way of knowing if any humans were hiding on the other side of the windows.

The hour is late. Most of them would be at home right now, and the residential areas are further up this road. Tina’s musings came to a halt when Frank nearly ran into a car parked in the middle of the street and stopped.

“Oh boy, more friends.” Frank gave a dimwitted giggle. Tina ignored the alarmed cries from within the car, content to just let him smash the glass and keep moving. However as he raised his fists above his head, completely oblivious to the terrified screams, he hesitated and cracked a toothy grin. “Hey, I know those guys. They be them Tune family. Helloooo!” he singsonged while waving at them.

The Andersons quieted down after Elizabeth hissed at them to be quiet and whispered at them. “Play along so my sister can get here in time.” Bella and Joe nodded nervously and flashed their best fake smiles. Elizabeth wasn’t sure how to talk to a hulking Mion that seemed to not only have a few loose screws, but knew them as well. “Ah, hey buddy. What ah…” She looked at Bella, who feverishly waved at her to continue. “What’s up?”

“Da sky.” A line of brown-stained drool started to leak from his smiling face. “You’re a pretty lady.”
Elizabeth’s reply went unheard when Tina ran up from the other side of the car and jumped up onto the hood. She glared at Frank with an impatient scowl. “Would you hurry up and break it open already?” Her gaze followed her ears at the sound of gunfire and flying spells from the direction of the SUV. “We don’t have time to make friends.”

Elizabeth honked the horn to get the unicorn’s attention. “You better call off Big Red, or my sister’s going to kill your ass!”

Alexia growled a war cry as she launched a spear of magic ice at the bulky Mion between her and the road towards Elizabeth’s car. The Mion dug its fingers into the back of the SUV and toppled the vehicle into the path of the spear, tearing through the SUV entirely, and impaling its left arm.

The Herald left off a half chuckle as he yanked the spear free and tossed it onto the ground. “Careful now, you wouldn’t want to break quarantine on any buildings behind me, right?” he added condescendingly.

Alexia’s ears twitched at the Herald’s voice. That same haunting echo in his tone was unforgettable. “You!” She telekinetically heaved the SUV up and over the Mion. She briefly glanced to her left where Conrad and the others had the last two Mions pinned down between earth tremors and weapon’s fire. “Why are you doing all of this!?” Alexia’s rage seethed as her brain dredged up countless news reports of fallen cities and countries, all at the hands of the Mions and clouds. “Why do you have to kill so many people? We’ve done nothing to deserve this!”

The Herald’s puppet found itself gripped in Alexia’s magic and yanked over towards the alicorn. Her monumental anger was starting to affect her magic aura, tinting it navy blue. Despite the danger to his puppet, the Herald was unmoved by her aggression. “I must admit, Princess Alexia, you alone have my respect. I’ve been watching your little village for some time now, fully expecting it to fail.” He tilted his head slightly as he studied her.

“I don’t want your damned respect!” Alexia spat venomously. Her right ear’s radio declared most of the area around her as free of Mion activity. “I want the lives you’ve stolen returned to your victims!”

“Don’t lower yourself, Princess. You and I both know that’s impossible.”

Alexia’s knowledge about the ocean sphere and her plan came to mind, but even with her fury-addled mind, she knew not to speak of it. Nevertheless, it did cause her to sneer wickedly. “Maybe so, but that just means it will be all the more satisfying when I kill your ass.”

With a savage roar, she thrust the Mion’s head straight into the pavement, caving it in before the Herald could reply. I have to save Elizabeth, then purge every Mion from my city! I won’t let another human fall to this vile disease.

A quartet of gunshots caught her ear, and saw Loki had just peppered one of the Mions trying to flee the alleyway it had taken shelter in. The former human fell dead on the spot. Alexia clicked her radio. “I’m going ahead to secure my sister’s car.”

Conrad flew up and over the buildings to cut off the last fleeing Mion while Crimson carefully cracked the earth beneath its feet to stumble her. Loki was aiming her back-mounted weapon when Alexia’s call came in and could hear the terrified tremble in her alpha’s voice. Loki felt a muscle tick on her neck, throwing her own fear to new heights. “No, no, no, not good, that’s a bad twitch!”

Her distraction was short lived when the trapped Mion was cut down by Conrad from above. “Alex is in bad shape; we gotta save her!”

Conrad extracted a bloody hoof from the Mion’s torso, after his dive bomb managed to cave the Mion’s chest in. “What? Loki, wait for us!” Neither he nor Crimson got five steps before the mission commander barked over their radios.

“Team one, we have a containment break logged in Bill’s Liquor store one block south of you. There were four patrons and three staff reported in the lockdown. I need you four down there ASAP.”

Crimson scanned the area where Loki was running off to, and would have lost her in the dense cloud were it not for the thermal sensors on her helmet. We’re not going anywhere unless we’re together. She looked at Conrad and jabbed a hoof towards Loki while using her mouth to activate her radio. “We’ll be there as soon as we clean up here, sir.” She clicked it off as Conrad flew past her and soon joined him in sprinting off to find Alexia.

Frank fell on his rump in front of the Tune family car with a sorrowful pout marring his face. “But I wanna make more friends noooow!”

“Ugh, I almost miss your intelligence,” Tina muttered under her breath from her perch on the car’s hood. The sound of gunfire from around town was starting to ebb away to the city outskirts as she inspected the car’s occupants. Damn. Leave it to Section Nine to clean the place up so fast. If the goddess doesn’t show up soon, I might just give Frankie what he wants and get out of here.

The light thump of a fist on the windshield drew the unicorn’s attention towards Elizabeth. “You better leave before my sister shows up and kills your ass. She despises you traitors with a passion.”

“I certainly hope so,” Tina replied with a savage grin that managed to show through her mask. “Killing a goddess may no longer be possible for me directly, but I just might get your government to do it for me.” Tina closely scanned the occupants and noticed the foals were absent, and that the humans were not acting like they were physically hiding them from view. Excellent, there’s nothing holding me back from cracking this car open.

Elizabeth glanced at her telekinetically-broken phone on the dashboard. The Andersons were silently praying, with Joe reaching forward from the backseat to his wife and adopted niece. Elizabeth was too busy staring down Tina to join in. “Good luck with that,” she added with blatant sarcasm. “She’s a damn hero, not that you’d ever understand such a thing.”

Tina started impatiently tapping her hoof on the car as she thought of a plan. Where is she!? Tina ultimately ignored Elizabeth’s comment. “I’ve read a lot of Equestrian history; most of it is rather fascinating.” She turned to look at Elizabeth, who was indignant at being a hostage. “Tell me, before the plague erases your intelligence, have you heard of the Fall of Luna?”

“Haven’t had the time.”

A dangerous laugh crept out of Tina’s throat, making Elizabeth and Bella slide back into their seats. “Then allow me to show you that history loves to repeat itself.” She looked to Frank. “Big Red, bust the back door open, and get your first new friend out.”

Believing the burst of panicked shouting from the car to be cries of joy, Frankie gave off a joyful laugh. “Oh boy! Come here, friend.” Joe pushed himself to the far side of the backseat, while the women crowded around the driver seat. Frank reared a fist back and smashed through the glass in one go.

The moment the glass broke, the lights in the car instantly shifted to red, and a magic forcefield formed between the front seats and the back. “Major breach detected.”

“Joooee!” Bella screamed as she pounded her fists on the magical barrier as more foam rushed in to fill every nook and crevice between her and her husband. “No, stop it!”

Nothing could stop the giggling Frank from ripping Joe out of the car and tossing him into the dense cloud. “Happy time, friend!” Joe tried to hold his breath, but Frank patted him on the back, forcing him to breathe. “Now you can have funses with me all day.”

Tina jumped onto the roof of the car and started gathering the ambient mana in the air while addressing the two women. “I didn’t expect a second layer of defense, but this could work out even better.” She looked to Joe, who was coughing heavily as the virus started to spread through him. “As for you, I think—“

Tina was cut short by a wordless yell and the noise of running hooves upon the road. A scant few seconds later, Alexia appeared underneath a streetlight with her phone to her ear. Alexia’s blood froze at seeing Joe writhing on the ground as the virus wormed its way through him.

Alexia was caught between terrified denial and abject hatred at the unicorn and full Mion before her. Tears misted over her vision as she ground her teeth and gave of an enraged equine snort. “If only I had known exactly where she was, I could have just teleported here.” She looked to Tina with hellfire in her eyes. “You bitch!” Her horn lit up with an angry azure, and she swept it to the right, grabbing ahold of Tina and flinging her across the street.

Frank saw his mistress fly off and merrily started clapping his hands. “I didn’t know you could fly!” He scratched his head at the oddity of Tina crashing into a window of a furniture store. “You not very good at iiiittt!” he yelled as a telekinetic fist punched him out from in front of the car. A follow-up hit with a motorcycle knocked him fully off the street.

Alexia felt tears falling down her face at the sight of Joe writhing in pain. “I-I I can fix this,” she said to herself as she raced forward. I just need to get another ponification crystal from Sensei Twilight.

Tina feigned unconsciousness as she watched Alexia approach Joe. The impact had caused her bones to rattle; she felt whole, but the tell-tale feel of flowing blood could be felt on her left flank. Heh, just try to use magic on him, my goddess. Be the cause of your own fall.

Alexia quickly shaped a sleep spell while trying to think of what she would say to Crimson and her family. They’ll have to be sworn to secrecy. Maybe even move out of town, but I won’t lose him to this curse!

As Alexia cast her spell, Joe’s pain and flailing redoubled as her magic accelerated his transformation. “What?” She fed more power into the spell, but that only caused his head to turn blood red within seconds. She cut the spell in an instant. “What the hell; what’s going on?”

Joe stopped struggling and flailing after a few seconds. Then, much to the horror of the women in the car and Alexia standing over him, Joe’s legs flashed around and kicked Alexia’s hooves out from under her.

In a voice not his own, Joe growled pure indifference. “So this is Tina’s plan. Effective, I suppose.”

Alexia knew that voice. The slight echoing quality belonged to the Herald alone. She tried to scramble to her her hooves, but the Herald, in Joe’s body, was too fast, and he grappled her in a chokehold far stronger than the old man had ever been capable of. “Tell me, goddess, can you kill your own family?”

14: Nightmare

There is a point where even the most sound and kind minds snap. The sight of the herd’s adoptive father bearing the blood red skin of a Mion, and speaking with the Herald’s voice pushed her far beyond that point. With a feral cry of rage, Alexia flapped her wings strongly once to push the Herald onto his back hard enough that his grip loosened.

That gave her enough blood flow to teleport a few feet away and get back on her hooves. The Herald was the sole focus of her ire, but even with her growing fury at seeing Joe’s body mutate further, she spared a glance and thought to her remaining family members in the car. The house would have locked down the moment the air raid sirens started sounding. With a noticeable dip in her reserves, Alexia teleported Bella and Elizabeth back to Alexia’s bedroom next to the tome.

With the necessary distraction dealt with, there was nothing left to stymie her rage. When she spoke, there was an unsettling shift in tone that she ignored, but the Herald detected. “I’m going to make you regret ever coming to this planet.”

Joe’s body finally climbed to its feet. His form was distorting slowly, but the Herald made sure the face remained that of the human host. He could see a slight orange glow shining through the lenses of her gas mask. “You can try.” He threw his arms forward and launched a volley of nail sized spines at Alexia.

She teleported the moment the spines left his arms and reappeared to the Herald’s left. Charging her horn once again, it tore her heart out to cast the fire ball at Joe. It didn’t help that the Herald turned to face her the instant the spell went off, giving Alexia a full view of seeing Joe’s head burn away.

The fight had been quick and to the point, as Alexia preferred. Joe’s torso and headless body dropped to the pavement with the stench of cooked meat thankfully filtered out. Had that been the end of it, Alexia might have had time to grieve. Yet barely three seconds after Joe fell to the ground, surging muscle and sinew threaded out of the corpse to reform the missing pieces.

Her adrenaline surging again, Alexia bit down on her tears and reared up. “I will not let you desecrate his body any further!” Right as Joe’s body reknitted itself, Alexia slammed her fore legs on the ground, sending a trio of earthen spikes up and impaling the Herald, but in her rage, she missed his head and lungs.

“You don’t seem to grasp reality, Mrs. Tune. This is my body now.” With his body gorging itself of Alexia’s spellwork, Joe’s body bulked and grew to the point where the Herald was able to twist and snap itself off the earthen spears.

“Like hell it is!” Alexia charged her horn with an incendiary spell. “If I have to cremate his entire body, I will! Better that, than let you infest my father further!”

Crimson stood barely five meters away from the jolly abomination that Frank had become. The Mion stood over three meters tall now, its thick skin now a dense layer of scales that stood firm again the five seconds of fully automatic fire roaring from Crimson’s light machinegun.

Frank giggled manically when her magazine ran dry. “You tickle. Horsey play fetch!” He found a mailbox and yanked it off the sidewalk before throwing it at Crimson. The mare barely had enough time to duck behind the truck next to her. Even as the bent blue mailbox sailed past her, Conrad divebombed the mion. He flew within inches of Frank’s face before dropping two grenades at his feet.

The Mion clumsily tried to grab him as the pegasus bolted away, but only managed to brush his tail. Both earth mares ducked behind an upside down truck. Seconds later, the fragmentation grenades exploded, sending shrapnel all over the Mion’s lower body, making him collapse to the earth, yet seemingly without pain. “Not… faaair…” he said in a slow accusatory tone.

Crimson and Loki leapt out from behind the truck and leveled their weapons at Frank’s head. Both mares unloaded a full magazine into the Mion. The concussion of the grenades had dislodged a number of his protective scales, and exposed him to the ponies’ withering fire. By the time the herd stopped firing to catch their breath, all that was left of Frank was a mass of pulped flesh.

Loki just finished reloading her own weapons from behind a telephone pole and ran over to join Crimson right as Conrad landed next to them. “You think he’s dead this time? We really really need to go and help Alex!”

“You even need to ask after that?” Conrad scoffed briefly before he noticed Loki’s flopping right ear and that nervous twitch in her tail, and then looked to where Alexia’s transponder was located. Even with the dense soup of the cloud, the telltale flashes of light that lit up the whole street worried him. He pressed a hoof to his radio button and called out to his alpha. The other mares looked on in worry, which only deepened when Conrad’s face fell into a frown. “Alexia isn’t responding to comms, but from the looks of the light show, I’d say she’s going all out.”

Sure enough, the soupy cloud further to the west was being constantly lit up by scattered spellwork and small explosions. Crimson didn’t like the look of it. “She knows using explosive spells is forbidden in populated urban environments.” A particular nasty beam of magic swept through the air in a rising arc, slicing through a steel telephone pole as if it were tissue paper.

Crimson’s phone started ringing, causing the mare to nearly jump out of her skin. Loki was quick to pull it out of her herdmate’s bag. “It’s Bella!”

“Give it back!” Crimson cried out as she all but grabbed the phone away. A pit of fearful worry resided in her belly as she answered. “Momma?”

It was actually Elizabeth who responded back. From the sniffling both she was doing and in the background, Crimson tried to mentally prepare herself for the worse. “W-we’re fine, Crimmy. Sis teleported both of us to her bedroom. But... “ Elizabeth couldn’t stop herself from crying out the next part. “They got Joe.” She wanted to say more, but that was all she could before her voice gave out.

“Papa…?” Loki and Conrad had pressed their ears over the phone, consequently overhearing the conversation, Their hearts sank right along with Crimson. However, none of them had time to grieve when Conrad spotted the mass of meat that had once been Frank, was almost completely healed.

Only his head was missing and by the looks of the fleshy growth around the neck, even that wouldn’t be true long. Conrad raced over with his last grenade and shoved it in the mion’s windpipe. “Fire in the hole!” The mares’ training kicked in and the three of them dove back behind the mangled truck. After flinching from the explosion, they peered around the red vehicle to find Frank was twitching as his body tried to recover.

Conrad swore under his breath and checked his pistol’s ammunition. “I can’t believe that bastard’s regenerating! What the hell do we need to do to kill the guy?” He jumped back into the air to stand watch over Frank. “Just go help Alex, this thing can’t regenerate forever. I’ll keep it pinned and call in flamer team to burn it.”

The numerous twitches in Loki’s various parts raced to the forefront of her attention, causing her to grab Crimson and bolt towards the mana storm raging around Alexia. “R-right, come on Crimmy, we gotta save Alex!”

Conrad watched them run off as he called in a burn squad. It’s not like Alex to ignore the radio. There’s no way in hell I’m about to let this freak keep me from standing by my alpha’s side. He planted another trio of bullets in Frank’s regenerating body. Within seconds the bullets had been pushed out by the healing muscle. “Damn bastard.” Conrad scanned the area around him, and spotted a storm drain. “That’ll do.”

Taking a door breaching charge of C4, Conrad blasted Frank open again, and then dragged his stump of a body over the drain. “Let’s see you regenerate into that.” Not waiting around to see if it worked, Conrad jumped into the air and sped off after the mares.

The Herald had guided the fight with Alexia into a large commercial car lot, lined with only a spartan few new vehicles. A deep navy blue beam of corrosive magic carved a path through the cloud, and striking the Mion dead center in his chest.

“Get out of his body, you monster!” Alexia demanded as she flew over to land heavily on the roof of a car, denting it with the impact.

Instead of being burned away where he stood, the Herald only felt his scales tingle. His form jerked wildly as the virus further empowered him. Yet his attention was more on Alexia than anything else. An earlier lucky swipe at her face had torn her mask away, so she had a thin layer of magic shielding her eyes and mouth.

What actually interested him was that her eyes had draconic slits. Most of her azure mane and tail had shifted dark forest green and her fur was brightening. Her magic only gets more powerful the more this change in her progresses. Were it not for this strain’s mana absorption, she’d have won long ago. He used his now massive hands to grab a car and heaved it at her faster than she anticipated. Both she and the car collided with a pickup truck.

He fully expected her to have survived, and braced him for a counter attack. “I don’t know why you’re so upset, princess. I preserved his mind, you know.” A flash of navy blue magic blasted the car off of Alexia. “This Joe Anderson, as you call him, says he loves the gifts I’ve bestowed to his body, and only wants to share it with the rest of mankind.”

A surge of hatred heralded the growth of short fangs in Alexia, but she was far too furious to notice. “Liar! He would never want that!”

The Herald taunted her forward with a curled finger and a cruel grin. “He does now.”

Alexia screamed with hatred, but her next assault was cut off by heavy gunfire from the street. Alexia barely possessed enough mental awareness to seek cover behind a car to protect herself from ricochets off the mion’s scales. While the rounds were too small to penetrate his dense scales, the force of impact was enough to stagger him to one knee and then onto his back. When the earth mares drained their magazines, Alexia summoned her earth magic and slammed her forelegs down, sending a square meter thick pillar of earth slamming straight into the Herald’s back, sending him airborne, and clear into the next city block.

Loki nudged Crimson towards Alexia, “Come on! We gotta save her!”

“Save her? But she just tossed him across town!” Crimson watched her herdmate bolt for Alexia, only to shake her head and join in.

Loki found Alexia forcing a dislocated right hind leg back into its socket. Loki did a double take at Alexia’s changing features, which only served to spur her on even faster. Loki reached Alexia right as she gave a test flap of her wings. “I’m fine, get over there so we can…” Her permanent angry glare focused on her fellow mares longer than she intended after noticing their frightened looks. She assumed it was from the Herald’s increasingly monstrous appearance. “Well? Get moving! We have to kill that son of a bitch!”

Alexia tried to take to the air, but Loki bit her tail, earning a growl from the irate alicorn. “What now!?”

Both earth ponies cowered before the heat of Alexia’s mounting fury. Crimson took in Alexia’s altered appearance, and became acutely aware of the source of Loki’s fear. “Alex, what’s going on with you? Are you using transformation magic or something?”

“Transformation?” Alexia parroted. Loki noticed the shift in the alicorn’s coat hesitated at her confusion. “I don’t need to. Once I burn out his metabolic energy, that parasite will regret coming to our planet!”

Loki jumped forward, dragging one of Alexia’s hooves to the ground. “I knew it. You’re going all Darth Nightmare! You gotta take a serious chill pill or this crazy streak you’ve been on all year’ll mess you up.”

“You never used to be like this, Alex,” Crimson pleaded while grabbing Alexia’s other hoof. The alicorn found it difficult to stay in the air, and promptly landed. “Let someone else take out that guy, you got our family out, and that’s enough.”

“How can you say that!?” Alexia boomed. “The Herald claimed your father’s body!” Crimson went wide eyed with her legs falling out from under her. “He’s the only father figure any of us have ever had or could accept what we’ve become! I’m not going to let Joe suffer that curse a second longer.” Alexia snorted and shook Loki off her hoof and took to the air. “I’ll expect you to back me up on this.” Before either mare could reply, Alexia flew off towards where she sent the Herald.

Crimson’s training tried to kick in, and make her follow orders, but her father’s fate weighed her down. Loki however, was able to bounce back much quicker. I already grieved the loss of one father, I can wait on the second. She shook Crimson’s withers to snap the mare back to the present. “You saw her, come on, we need to save Alex!”

The image of Alexia’s horribly altered face flashed before Crimson’s eyes. It was like staring into a nightmare… that explains a few things.

The sound of feathered wings heralded Conrad’s arrival. “Found a way to keep our old friend locked down for a few hours, hopefully. What’s the word, and where’s boss mare?” Marshalling all of her courage and willpower, Crimson steeled herself and gave him the abridged version. His already sour demeanor worsened considerably to match the wrinkled scowl plastered on his face. “This is bad. We need to get her out of the combat zone now before anyone else can see her.”

Loki nodded and looked at the line of cars they were closest to. “I hear you, but…” Loki reared up and leveraged her tribe’s innate strength to punch one car’s driver side mirror a few times until it broke off. Once she tucked it into her harness, she did the same with the adjacent car’s passenger mirror. She picked them up a moment later. Good, they didn’t break after falling to the ground. “Come on, we’ll need these to get Alex to back down.” Crimson took one of the mirrors and led the full on gallop to where Alexia ran off.

The Herald was still flying through the air from Alexia’s attack, and did a backflip to land on his feet. He dug his right claws into the road as he landed near a gun store. His momentum propelled him into the sidewalk where he grabbed the curb to halt his movement. He heard a slight clop behind and to the left, and spoke with a pleased tone as he rose to his feet.

“This plan of yours is working quite well.” He turned to spy Tina Star approaching to stand underneath the nearby streetlight. “The princess is getting sloppy, and hasn’t figured out that every spell she sends my way only makes this body stronger.”

“It’s a shame I won’t have the honor of killing the goddess personally.” Tina raised a dramatic hoof to her forehead and swooned in place. “But at least I can say I had a part in it.” She looked to the Mion’s face, and saw it still perfectly matched Joe’s human form. “I see you adapted to the plan in your own devious manner.”

“It’s proven effective.” The Herald saw the gun store’s door was actually open. A man in a gasmask was lying dead in a pool of dried blood with three bullet wounds in his chest and one in his arm. His body was propping the door open. Perhaps a firearm will work where raw muscle has failed thus far. Seeing that Alexia was taking her time in pursuing him, the Herald marched over to the gun shop and slid through the relatively narrow door frame to take stock of the wide selection of weapons.

Tina followed in after the hulking red behemoth. “Stores like this would probably have the whole shop floor covered in an AM array in the event of a robbery.”

The Herald skipped the pistols and rifles, and ultimately found nothing that would fit his oversized hands. Only a planet full of primitives would think to rob a weapon’s store. Eventually, he found a shotgun and ripped off the trigger guard. He went looking for shells while speaking. “You may yet get your chance then, assassin. Take a weapon and hide in ambush. When I lure her here, activate the array and kill her. With the AM field up, I doubt the princess’ magic could save her a second time.”

Tina’s heart pounded at the prospect of being a godslayer, and she leapt at the chance. “By your will, Herald.” The noise of someone landing hard on the roof of a car brought the Herald’s eyes towards the street. He spoke in a hushed tone. “Even if we fail to kill her here, breaking her mind will be enough.”

Alexia scanned the abandoned gloomy street. Damned cloud should just dissipate already. A feral grin crossed her features as she charged her horn. A blast wave of navy blue magic rattled windows and pushed a wide swath of the cloud away for a whole city block. The cleared air revealed the shallow gouges in the pavement where the Herald landed, but the clearing was to be short lived as the cloud closed back in. Alexia briefly wondered why her magic was different. It felt off, like it was slightly acidic as it coursed through her horn. However, she was too far gone for revenge to care. The Herald revealed himself by standing in the doorway of the gun shop with a double barreled shotgun.

Experience and training kicked in faster than conscious thought, and Alexia formed a kinetic absorption field scant seconds before being fired upon. Half expecting his attack to fail, the Herald was quick to retreat deeper into the shop. Alexia’s first response was to carve a line of molten mana all across the front of the store, slagging the glass and steel bars alike.

The beam caught the Herald in the shoulder before he could react in time. After hearing a yelp of pain, and watching him fall out of sight, Alexia teleported inside to stand on top of a counter, and slipped a little before finding proper footing. She found the Herald trying to prop himself up on a wall, seemingly exhausted. Alexia immediately started channeling a spell to finish this when the Herald spoke in Joe’s voice. “Don’t do it, Alexia, I don’t want to die!”

Alexia’s spell fizzed as she reeled from the voice, but she gritted her teeth and reformed the spell. “Bastard!”

The Herald used the split second hesitation to jump forward, grabbed a counter for leverage, and tackled the alicorn in midair. He slammed her against the wall near the cash register. Feigning defeat. Such a childish ploy to fall for. “Let’s see you cheat death twice.”

Tina was leaning against wall opposite of the register and held an earth pony adapted rifle in her forelegs. With a dark chuckle, she aimed it at Alexia at point blank range while the Herald only acted to pin the alicorn down with his sheer mass. The impact forced Alexia’s sheathed runesword against her spine, eliciting a pained scream as her back bent slight against the scabbard. Tina waited just long enough for Alexia to go wide eyed at the sight of the rifle and start charging a teleport. The moment her horn started glowing, Tina kicked the alarm switch with a hind leg, piercing the air with a harsh ringing bells and the oppressive weight of antimagic fields blanketing the room.

Tina took a moment to make sure her aim was true. Right as she pressed the trigger, Alexia’s magic returned in full force and she telekinetically shoved the Herald into her would be killer.

“Did you honestly think those fields can stop me,” Alexia growled. She pulled her sword out, finding the runes were glowing bright red as it was having a violent reaction to her warded magic and the AM field, draining her mana at an alarming rate, causing the whole sword to quickly heat up from red to white hot in a matter of seconds. As the Herald scrambled to his feet, Alexia swung the sword in an overhead arc, planting the blade in his skull. Alexia’s vision had narrowed to Joe’s reddened face being cleaved in half by her sword.

The blade cut too deep for him to be conscious of any pain. Between the heat and the runes now draining his body of mana away from regeneration, the Herald went still before dropping to his knees and then keeling over dead. His head was nothing more than a mass of burning meat and half molten steel.

Tina’s heart skipped beat at the sight of Alexia, the Nightmare of Life lording over a dead Herald. Tina tried to bring her magic to defend herself, but the AM fields disrupted any attempt and left her with a splitting headache. “H-how can you use magic!? It’s not-urk!” Tina’s throat was caught in Alexia’s magic and constricted enough to keep her from talking.

Alexia levitated the unicorn over to be nose to nose. Much to the alicorn’s confusion, Tina started crying tears of joy. I should have expected a goddess to be immune to a paltry AM array. To see my goddess take her true form, and be her first sacrifice. What an honor.

“You try to kill me twice, and then went after my family!” Alexia could hear that infuriating song of her worshipers in the back of her mind that only served to piss her off even further. “I think after reduce your body to cinders, I have a preacher to… Reeducate.” She tightened her magical grip, causing Tina’s eyes to redden and bulge. Her assassin’s pain brought a predatory snarl to Alexia’s face. “Maybe the whole damned congregation before moving on to—.”

“Alexia Tune, stop!” cried three voices.

The mare in question turned with a raised eyebrow, still choking Tina in her magic, to find Conrad flying over to her while Loki and Crimson bounded over to reach her. “Better late than never,” she replied in a fuming tone.

This was the first time Conrad had a good view of Alexia’s altered form, and was dumbfounded. He barely maintained enough sense to keep hovering as Loki ripped Tina to the ground, freeing her from Alexia’s magic. “Alex, there’s no need to kill her like this.”

Crimson interposed herself between Tina and Alexia, stopping the alicorn from forming a more lethal spell. “We take her into custody.”

“Fuck that! She’s responsible for infesting Joe, your father! I will not suffer the bitch to live!”

Alexia studied Crimson’s face, trying to find the other mare’s backbone. Crimson couldn’t find the words. Her heart roared at her to let Alexia have her way with Tina. Hell, I want to join her. Yet the longer she stared into the furnace of rage that marred Alexia’s face and the corruption that was over taking her, the more she saw that revenge was the last thing anyone needed. “Alexia, my alpha, please.”

Alexia’s fury blinded her and she forcefully shoved Crimson out of the way just strong enough to clear a path to Tina. Even in her current mental state, she found it extremely difficult to bring harm to a herdmate. “She escaped once already, I won’t allow her a second chance.”

Dropping the unconscious Tina, Loki joined Crimson in holding their murderous alpha back. It was only then that Conrad snapped out of it and supported the earth mares’ efforts by physically blocking Alexia’s view of the unconscious assassin. Along the way, he grabbed the two mirrors the mares had discarded in their haste. “Alexia, look at yourself! This is jacked up to hell.”

When Alexia caught her reflection on both mirrors, she stopped dead in her attempt to magically remove the mares. The fangs, the slitted orange eyes, the ethereal, starkly green mane, dancing about as if wild grass in the wind. The addition of the pure white coat paralyzed Alexia’s mind. Loki used the hesitation to give Alexia a bear hug, pouring all her love into the act. “The dark side isn’t stronger, Alex. Don’t let these creeps win. You’re so much stronger than this.”

Crimson joined in on the hug with Conrad dropping the mirrors and lent his weight to the embrace. He gently rubbed Alexia’s mane and slowly nuzzled her. “You’ve done enough, my love, more than enough.” He could feel Alexia’s tension start to sag. “We all promised to be your anchor.”

Loki held onto her alpha as if the world depended on it. The promise she made so long ago was screaming in her mind. “This isn’t you Alex. You’re not some nightmare, you’re a wonderfully kind and ball’n party animal.”

The bad joke derailed Alexia’s internal struggle enough cause her anger to melt away into a sobbing depression. The group sort of collapsed on top of the alicorn as Alexia backed down. She hugged them back with hoof and wings alike for all their worth, while weeping shuddering tears into Conrad’s shoulder. Her mane and coat slowly faded back to normal as her anger bled away.

Loki smiled broadly at Alexia’s mane returning to a rich, if not dirt riddled, azure. “You’re going to be fine, Alexia. You’ve got my word on that.”

The mote of magic that had been fading beneath Alexia's cutie mark surged anew, and was joined by those of the herd. Conrad had been keeping one eye on Tina, and subsequently noticed Loki and Crimson’s glowing marks. He separated from the hug, which grabbed the mares’ attention. “What’s going on with your marks?”

Crimson’s eyes widened at the red glow coming from her flank. “Hey, the same’s happening to you as well.”

The group’s confusion only mounted when Alexia’s azure glow, Conrad’s brown, Loki’s green, and Crimson’s motes of mana departed their respective flanks. Alexia's bewilderment put a halt to her sobs. The herd was mesmerized by the odd lights as they floated up to be eye level with Alexia while remaining between each pony. The motes circled each other as they slowly closed the distance and fused with each other. The combined mote of mana started glowing a gentle forest green light. Almost on instinct, Alexia brought a hoof underneath the green magic as it coalesced into an acorn. The seed was awash with the mane colors of the four ponies.

Alexia lowered her hoof and everyone crowded their heads over the seed with wonder in their eyes. “What is it?” Crimson asked.

“I don’t have a clue…” Alexia said at length. She tucked the object into her harness. “But I bet Sensei Twilight knows something about it.”

The radio crackled with the Section Nine mission commander. “Sensor array operators report all Mion signatures neutralized. I want all agents maintaining overwatch until the cloud decays.”

One by one, the field operative leaders reported their acknowledgement. With the bewilderment surrounding the acorn fading, the mental and physical exhaustion of the night’s events caught up to Alexia and she suddenly felt as if her bones weighed a metric ton. “I can’t keep doing this, guys. It’s too much. I don’t want…” The reflection of her mutated features haunted her, stinging her eyes and heart. “That to happen again.”

Conrad was busy tying up Tina Star with some thin rope he found under the clerk’s counter. “Only if this plan of yours with the navy works.”

“It has to work,” Alexia muttered to herself. Her fellow mares remained close to lend support. “I can’t afford it otherwise.”

15: The Spherical White Whale

Alexia stood at the head of a brightly lit classroom amphitheater double checking her notes for the twentieth time in the past two days. The whiteboard at her side held a heavily modified shielding array in blue ink. Various notes and bullet points lined either side of the circular array, some pointed out various runes while others professed the importance of line thickness.

Sitting in the stands were over one hundred naval officers and engineers of various rank. Just over a half of their number wore the casual white uniform of the US Navy or the black Royal British uniform. A third was dressed in that of the Russian Navy, and the rest of the audience hailed from other nations. Alexia allowed a warm smile at the sight of a scattered few ponies in the mix. Those in the back of the room were still walking in, and booting up their own computers. The majority of them possessed laptops and were reading over the preliminary files related to the class while the more artistically inclined were practicing drawing the shield array from a file she had given to all of them upon entering the room.

The alicorn was bereft of everything, save her royal necklace. She used her magic to hold a pointing baton at her side and briefly checked her phone for the time. Three, two, one. With a touch of magic, she enhanced her voice to carry. “Good morning, Sailors. As I’m sure you’re already aware of, I am Princess Alexia Tune. I want to start by thanking you for volunteering for this mission. We all know the stakes. This is bigger than any one nation, and we must act as a whole to see our civilization survive.”

There were a few murmurs in agreement and nodding heads. Alexia knew to keep such an introduction short, time was not their ally. The earpiece she always wore on duty buzzed in her ear. “No Mion signatures detected in the building, and the background checks all come up clean, we’re good to go.”

Not outwardly acknowledging the comment from Thompson, Alexia pointed her baton at the array on the board. “This as I’m sure you’ve already guessed from the files is a shield array. Thanks to the assistance of some magitech researchers,” that and Sensei Twilight, “we have devised a way to modify it to allow military submarines to descend the ocean floor, and engage the alien sphere. Power will be pulled directly from the nuclear reactor. All of you will receive both the necessary equipment and technicians to assist in connecting the arrays.

In addition, we fully expect that traditional torpedoes will be insufficient to damage the sphere.” She scanned their faces. As far as she could tell, Alexia couldn’t find a doubter so far. Perhaps magic has been around long enough for everyone to accept it, but not long enough for everyone to know its limits. “Judging from our findings of early Mion strains reacting poorly to the presence of magic, we have assumed that the aliens who created this sphere are as completely ignorant of magic as we were. Therefore, the torpedoes’ warheads will be replaced by a shaped charged with a mana payload. This is just guesswork, but we’re hoping the interior of the sphere is far more susceptible to being crushed by oceanic pressure.”

One of the engineers, an Australian if Alexia was not mistaken, in the front coughed and raised his hand. He spoke after Alexia acknowledged him. “Just how much power will this be taking?”

Alexia tried to hide her ill-at-ease. “Even if the sphere has no defenses to speak of, this might be a one way trip. Electric to mana transformers are still practically in their infancy and the array itself is power hungry in the extreme at the required depth. The exact numbers will be given to you by more qualified nuclear engineers later. All I can say is that this might very well be a one way trip.”

The engineer leaned back in his chair. A cold yet determined look on his face. I knew that much coming in. It better be my crew who take that damned thing down if we’re going with it.

The class went on for another hour before finally ending. Alexia’s part in it all was ultimately rather small. Between herself and the Magitech company, they had developed the necessary arrays, but it was up to the naval personnel to implement it.

At present, Alexia was walking out of the building and into the San Francisco US Naval base. The sky was as bright and shiny as any other day on the western coast as she jumped into a low level flight back to the hotel. While flying was permitted within US military bases, she could only go five meters high, and still had to go through a security checkpoint at the perimeter fence before leaving for the hotel.

She mulled over the past two weeks since leaving Trinity, and Joe’s funeral five days ago. Fortunately, the act of flying was almost automatic for her now. Damn it all. I only hope the arrays hold. With the current predictions coming out of headquarters, if we wait any longer, there won’t be a civilization to save. Nor will we have the logistics to crew and supply a fleet of submarines to strike at the sphere.

She came up to the checkpoint and landed next to the guard post. A Humvee was ahead of her, yet it sped off before she even finished tucking her wings in. The closer of the two marines waved his buddy back. While protocol demanded an ID check, everyone knew the alicorn when they saw her. “Good morning, Princess Alexia,” he said while pulling out a smartphone.

Alexia double checked the uniform to make sure she had the correct military branch. “Morning, Marine. I trust your day’s been hectic with so many foreign officers coming in.” She withdrew her Section Nine badge and ID.

There was an almost personable nature about Alexia that caused the man to slacken his military bearing enough to give an exaggerated sigh. “I’m just glad the computer can scan all that stuff.” He pulled out said scanner and swept it over her ID and badge. He was not surprised when her badge came up as classified and the security check date was promptly erased from the registry. “Right…” Even now, spooks can’t get enough secrecy. “You’re all clear.” He gave her items back and snapped a crisp salute. “Have a good day, Princess.”

She returned the salute with a wing before taking off. She soared to a comfortable altitude that gave her a grand view of the not so grand city. The past few years and dwindling world market had taken its toll. A large number of the high rises that used to be centers of business and commerce had been converted into domiciles and shanty towers. Large groups of refugees from the rural states had been congregated in the coastal states. Down below, food lines wrapped around several city blocks. San Francisco was one of the few major cities that didn’t have typical biological defenses.

Alexia saw three large blimps one might have seen over a sports stadium. Now they were repurposed as bases of operation for pegasi weather teams to divert any virus clouds towards the ocean via a new technique of directing wind currents rather than directly manipulating the clouds. Upon various buildings, even in the heart of downtown, sat a number of missile defense systems, all under heavy guard. More than one city, Paris included, fell due to sabotage of the local missile defense batteries.

She hummed as she passed one such battery on top of one of the few remaining office buildings. Even with her harness’ transponder, the guards watched her closely. They didn’t raise their weapons, but they were thinking about it.

Pushing the city out of her mind, Alexia settled down on top her hotel. It was one of the few that had a more decorated roof for pegasi patrons. Granted those accommodations were limited to a rather friendly human bellhop who was extremely uncomfortable in the high cold air. Red carpeting led the way into a lobby which was little more than a reception desk and elevator housing. A couple of passing hellos and a short elevator ride later, she arrived at the presidential suite.

While Elizabeth and Bella Anderson were staying in the suite next door, the herd and three foals were staying in the same one. Even though we ponies rarely wear clothes, sis and Bella still can’t let Conrad stay in the same room, she scoffed as she walked inside. In the end, she couldn’t blame them. I suppose I don’t give personal privacy as much weight as it did in my human days.

The first room of the suite was a den larger than a studio apartment. The rest of the suite consisted of two bedrooms, a full bar, and even more these days was a Jacuzzi. All of it was pro bono on the hotel’s part for hosting America’s princess. Of course, Thompson dropping a hint to the manager and owner that she was planning the end of the Mion threat, and that she would still be staying there when the press was informed.

I suppose it’s a fair exchange. The manager sure thought so at least. Alexia walked in to Conrad sitting on the couch with the trio of foals watching old reruns of Sesame Street. Crimson and Loki were absent. The room itself was comfortable enough, the furniture was clean and well maintained, but there were subtle signs of wear and tear everywhere Alexia looked. A few loose threads in the rug, the polish on the glass table was less than perfect, and a corner of a lounge chair had popped a staple and was hanging loose. Something most people would overlook, if they spotted it at all. And yet if this was five years ago, the managers might have had someone shot for allowing it.

She didn’t have a moment more to contemplate it, or even fully enter the room, when her daughters looked at her and squealed in delight. “Momma!!” Aurora Sky leapt from the couch and sprinted forward, while Violet Spark climbed over her father to do the same.

If there was one thing besides her fellow herdmates that could brighten Alexia’s day, it was her daughters. Even with Joe’s funeral and wake being only a week past, the fillies still managed to draw a smile, however faint, from their mother.

Alexia shut the door and rested on her belly so she could scoop her children up in her wings, and nuzzle them affectionately. I only wish I could have been there to see it happen.

Marcy rather enjoyed the foals’ company. Dusty was easily placated with a rattler, for the moment. Violet was teething on her necklace, finally relieving Aurora’s ear from the hunt. The little pegasus was sound asleep across Brad’s lap as he gently petted her mane. Marcy looked at the man with a knowing eye. “You should think of finally settling down with a nice woman and having a kid or two. You’re a natural, you know that?”

He huffed loudly. “I’d be better off adopting. I can’t hold a relationship down to save my life.”

“Only because you love your work. maybe if you…” Marcy trailed off when she noticed Violet’s pendent was starting to luminesce. “What the?”

Brad stopped petting Aurora when her necklace started glowing as well. “That’s normal, right? Tell me it’s normal.”

Marcy looked around the drab concrete room. Aside Brad and foals, they were the only ones in the windowless room. The security guards stayed outside to keep the foals at ease. “I ahh... I think the princess said to keep these on so their mana flares wouldn’t damage the room.”

Brad was started to sweat as Aurora’s necklace started to be a little too bright to look at directly. “I think we need to get a mana grounder before these overload.”

Violet was getting scared from the glow from her own necklace, causing the filly to start crying. Marcy started gently shusing her. “It’s okay little one. Umm…” I can’t take it off because of the clouds outside, and I am not going to let wild mana melt a hole to the outside. She grabbed a cloth from the diaper bag with her magic and wrapped it around the now blindingly bright necklace.

She looked to Brad who simply took his suit jacket off and had the necklace wrapped in it before it awoke the sleeping pegasus. “See? Yet another reason you ponies should wear clothes more often.”

Marcy playfully huffed at him while passing a hoof over her barrel. “And hide this luxurious coat and cutie mark? Perish the thought.”

Any reply Brad had in the works was cut off when Aurora started glowing a gentle white. “Ummm… Actually I think we really need that mana sink right about now.” Aurora awoke with a start as she started floating and started flapping her wings to try and stop only to find her magic was funneling through the necklace. Brad tried to pick her out of the air, but the necklace slipped out of his jacket as Aurora pushed herself up in the air. The necklace burned his eyes with its brightness, making him stumble backwards.

Marcy was shielding her eyes while Violet was bawling as she floated in the air. The two guards noticed the change from generic baby crying to that of actual terror and ran inside only to stand in awe as the light from each filly started to localize. The light around Aurora moved to her forehead as a horn started growing. Violet’s light moved to her back where a pair of wings painlessly appeared. The moment both alicorns had fully awakened, they dropped to the floor. Thankfully, Brad and one of the guards had been quick enough to catch the fillies before they could hit the ground.

Everyone was stunned before the guard and Brad tried to calm the fillies down. When her wits returned, Marcy slumped to her haunches with tears of joy and a quivering lip at the sight of the fillies. “My stars, I got to see two new goddess awaken into our world!”

Brad gave her a concerned eye as he petted Aurora into calmer sniffling. “I’d be more worried about how the Princess will react to not being able to see it herself.”

The guard jabbed a finger at a ceiling mounted camera. “At least we have a recording of it.”

Alexia’s recollection of that video was interrupted by Conrad walking over with Dusty on his back and nuzzled her. “How’d your class go, Honey?”

Alexia had to jerk her head up to avoid having an eye poked by Aurora’s new horn. “The world’s remaining navies have been fighting their respective governments to remain active for the past year and half. Giving them my plan just vindicated all of their efforts.” She watched Violet start spinning in circles trying to bite her new wings. I just preened them this morning. “Even though some of them have only recently started putting trust in Magitech, it wasn’t a difficult sell.”

“Then the fate of the world is up to the navies.” Conrad gently tugged Violet’s muzzle away from her thoroughly slobbered wing. “I still can’t get over the fact that I fathered a pair of alicorns.”

Alexia shot him a wry grin. “So the fact that you’re married to one has worn off?” Both chuckled, but Alexia was still reeling from the massive weight of a lonely ageless existence no longer dragging her down. Between Violet fumbling with her disobedient wings, and Aurora trying to pull her horn off every so often, Alexia could relate.

“Hardly…” Conrad replied with his first thought to flirt, but the shadow of the funeral stayed his tongue. Alexia turned away from the two sources of hope for a bright, if personal, future. She saw Conrad staring vacantly at the closed bedroom door.

“Crimson’s still hasn’t come out?”

Conrad’s ear flicked her way, but his gaze never moved. “She did for breakfast, but only just. Family is everything to her.” He finally looked to her while mussing up Dusty’s mane and placed him down to play with his sisters. “How about you? Twilight’s reaction to your nightmare episode wasn’t exactly pleasant.”

Shivers ran down Alexia’s spine. Her mind recalled the look of pain and disappointment in Twilight’s eyes. Deep down, Alexia knew that disappointment wasn’t directed at her, but it was Twilight blaming herself. For letting a human turned pony then to alicorn go that long without at least some form of self control training that didn’t pertain to magic.

“I’m so sorry, Alexia. With everything you’ve been going through, I thought that growing up in such a world would have hardened you enough so that the nightmare was next to impossible to come out.”

Alexia was sitting alone with her tome in a private room back at Section Nine. The book was on a metal table with Twilight’s phantom standing nearby. A solitary hanging light cast the room in stark white light. Alexia herself was on a removed sofa cushion, shivering despite not being cold. Joe had only been cremated barely four hours ago, and she was still reeling from both the loss and the nightmare.

It took her several moments to find her voice, and even then it was still shaky. “I-I don’t know what to say… I lost control.” Twilight wanted to say something, but let Alexia continue. “I used to be such a laid back person. My biggest worry used to be getting route seven on my mail delivery. Boss always yelled at me no matter what I did on that route.” She gave a weak chuckle. “Now? I become a monster if I get too angry.” She looked up at Twilight purple eyes, wishing for all the world that she could see pride in them again. “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

The one thing she feared most at that moment, was Twilight giving up as her instructor and friend. Alexia read the short history of Nightmare Moon. She knew Twilight had personal history with such matters, and feared what she would do. Twilight heaved a sigh. “I don’t know if I can help you with this, or if this first incident opened… Pandora’s Box, I believe is the saying. So I’m going to request that Princess Luna to assist you personally on this matter.”

Alexia returned to the present when Violet started whimpering. She looked down to see the filly crying every time she bit her own wing. A light chuckle escaped the gloomy atmosphere as Alexia pushed a hoof between the filly’s mouth and distraught wing. “That’s not a toy, that’s a limb.”

Conrad shook his head. “You think these girls will ever stop fussing over their new parts?”

“Oh give them time.” Alexia smoothed out the filly’s feathers after seeing Violet start to cry over the obvious pain. “I’ll admit having a large weight on my forehead took some getting used to, and don’t me started on all the stiff-wings I had for the first month.”

Conrad smirked and nibbled her ear a little. “With your history, I’d have thought you’d be used to handling unruly stiffies.”

Alexia huffed in forced amusement. “How do you do it, Conrad?” He looked at her questioningly. “I have to be able to function in case the navy calls on me or Thompson has further news from the National Guard around Trinity. But you… You and Joe were close. How can you be so upbeat?”

He gave her lopsided grin while brushing a lock of azure hair out of her eyes. “Because you give me strength, so that I in turn, can give some to you.” Alexia’s eyes started misting over as he spoke. “I’ve noticed that we ponies are miserable creatures when we’re alone, far more than a human when solo. But so long as, the four or seven,” he added with a short chuckle, “of us stand together, the pain of loss doesn’t feel as bad as it used to.”

It was a bittersweet comment that Alexia easily picked up on. Conrad never spoke about it, but she knew that his father’s betrayal left its mark on him.

Just then, Alexia’s tome started glowing on the coffee table. The silver alicorn cringed while stepping away from the foals. “That’ll be Twilight and Luna.”

Conrad nodded and scooped up the fillies, much to their protests at wanting to cling to their mother. Dusty was more than happy to drool over his father’s mane. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stick around? I know the mares would welcome three noisy distractions right about now.”

“Thank you, but no.” Alexia’s skin crawled as she fretted over what Luna wanted to say. “Princess Luna asked that I be alone with her. Not even Twilight will remain after activating the transmission.”

He already knew that would be her answer, but he felt obliged to ask anyway. He simply nodded to her before slipping into the bedroom.

Steeling herself, Alexia set the tome in the middle of the room and opened it. A few moments later, the images of Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna materialized. It was the first time Alexia had seen another alicorn besides Twilight. Since Twilight kept her tome at her tower in Ponyville, the option to have one of the three other alicorns pop in for a quick introduction could never fit anyone’s time table. Twilight had tried taking the tome to Canterlot a few times for that exact reason, but the needs of the CIA always pulled Alexia away. However, an emergency of nightmarish proportions was enough for Luna to suspend her royal duties.

At present, Alexia couldn’t help but to study Luna, as she was studied in turn. Will I really grow to that size?

“Princess Luna, I’d like you to meet Princess Alexia.” Twilight’s nervous introduction snapped Alexia out of her musings. “I only wish we could have done this sooner and under better circumstances.”

Alexia managed a feeble wave and nod. Luna on her part went from cold to slightly chilly at the readily apparent self-disappointment Alexia was showing. “Such is the way of things, Twilight Sparkle.” She tilted her head in Twilight’s direction. “But you must admit, if we weren’t so busy, we’d go crazy regardless.”

“I suppose.” Twilight cleared her throat enviously. “Well I better leave you two to it then.” She nodded towards Alexia to convey her silent assurances before walking away from the tome and disappearing.

Luna watched Alexia squirm uncomfortably for a few moments before speaking in a flat tone. “As I understand it, by your own admission, you had an… episode in which you apparently fully transformed into a Nightmare. Am I correct?”

“Y-yes.” Alexia couldn’t help but to stammer. She didn’t truly fear any sort of punishment, from Luna at least. Outside of Tina, who was already largely insane as it was, no one on Earth outside of the immediate herd knew of the incident. The only thing Alexia feared from the midnight blue alicorn was her cutting off her only link to Equestria.

Luna nodded slowly, she stood up to idly flex her wings. “I expected this to happen at some point. But even I didn’t expect it so early, even if I can understand what triggered it.”

Alexia blinked a few times at that before raising an eyebrow. “You expected me to go nightmare?!”

“Truly, I do indeed enjoy Twilight's company,” Luna commented with mild disdain. “But sometimes she doesn’t want to see the bitter truth about those she cares about.” Which is rather odd considering she’s at the head of Equestrian Intelligence. Luna stopped fidgeting and fixed Alexia with an icy stare. “I’ve read your world’s history. Genocide, wars, holy wars, oppression,” her tone grew a little condescending, “did you know this United States of yours has been in seventy eight wars since it’s inception barely two hundred years ago? Taking a moment to ignore the wars of your world’s other nations, and the Mion war you’ve been fighting so far.”

Damn, seventy eight? Really? I know about the world wars, and the other big ones, but damn… “Equestria’s history isn’t exactly bloodless either.”

Luna scoffed, but not at Alexia. “Oh, believe me, I’m fully aware of what Equestria has done to become as large as it is. But what I’m getting at, is that Twilight is ill prepared to teach you how to control certain aspects of alicornhood. Something I must admit, I should have been more adamant about given her own lack of experience.”

I… guess that means she isn’t too pissed at me. Alexia absentmindedly started scuffing the carpet with a hoof. “So what does that have to do with the Nightmare?”

“Tell me, Alexia,” Luna started as she ignored the question for the moment. “Do you fear what you became?”

A flash of all the hate and rage boiling over to explode, and the reflection of her frightful features replayed itself in Alexia’s mind. “Yes. I do.” She shrank a bit, feeling like a prisoner in an interrogation room. “Is there anyway you can train me or at least give me some pointers to never do it again?”

Luna rubbed her chin, humming all the while. “Yes and no.” That got a bewildered look out of Alexia, although Luna acted as if she didn’t notice. “As you are no doubt aware, anger and hatred is what caused this. The trigger, I must give you my most sincere condolences,” Luna hesitated, giving Alexia time to give a nod of thanks. “Was a herdmember’s, or honorary one I believe, death. Having succumbed to the nightmare once myself, I am hardly one to judge, and even if I was, that is about as good of a reason as any I suppose.”

Alexia said nothing as Luna grabbed a glass of water before continuing. “Since then, I’ve learned how to control myself. Now, even if my fury knows no bounds, I can at least rest easy, knowing I will not have a repeat performance.” She paused to study Alexia intently. “Personally though, I believe that the Nightmare is a tool. A dangerous one, but a tool all the same.” Alexia’s eyes widened considerably. “And I want to train you how to use it without falling into the same hate again.”

“B-but why?!” Alexia finally managed to say after losing her voice for a moment. “Everything I read from your incident and what I nearly did to Tina…” Alexia wrapped herself in her wings to escape the sudden chill. “What I might have done across the world… I never want to touch that stuff again.”

“I thought the same for year and a half,” Luna agreed. Curiously, her tone shifted to inquisitive. “But tell me this. Do you fear nuclear weapons?”

“What does that have…” Alexia connected the dots faster than Luna predicted. “Hold on. Nukes are deterrents. The whole point of having them is so that they’re never used.”

“Ahh, but your planet does use them. Constantly I might add.” Luna grinned slightly at Alexia’s obvious confusion. “And no, I don’t mean nuclear tests. I am referring to nuclear power plants. From what Twilight explained to me, these plants, as you call them, are basically controlled nuclear explosions. Is that fair to say?”

“I…think it’s a little more complex than that,” Alexia commented before understanding dawned on her. She looked at Luna as if she had grown a second head. “You want me to use the Nightmare!?”

At that, Luna’s form started shining brightly as she grew to Celestia’s height. Alexia was paralyzed by the armored form of Nightmare Moon standing before her in all her dark glory. Her first reaction was to freak, but a tiny voice grunted in frustration. Damn it, she looks a lot prettier than my nightmare did.

Nightmare Moon breathed deeply to relish the power for a bit before reverting back to her normal Luna form. “You earthlings have a curious history when it comes to war technology. Within the span of twenty years you took the airplane from a novelty to a weapon of war and then into a civilian industry that today spans the globe.” Luna inwardly chuckled at that. A global industry. Will these aliens never cease to amaze. “You’ve done the same with gunpowder of all things,” she added with concealed amazement. “A tool you use for both war and delightful fireworks. Something we can only imitate through magic.

“So I ask you, continue this unwritten earthling tradition of turning the destructive into something constructive.”

Alexia averted her gaze to think. Luna watched on in unreadable patience. All I ever saw of the nightmare was evil, but… She looked up at Luna. “I suppose it’s better to control the beast rather than let it fester behind a cage.”

“That’s a start,” Luna commented with an approving nod. “I thought the same way when I began my journey towards self-mastery. True self-mastery that only applies to us alicorns. When you have the time, I will teach you all I know about controlling the Nightmare that is a part of every alicorn, whether my sister and her former student accepts that truth or not.”

Alexia searched herself for a few minutes to collect her thoughts. “Alright, I’m in. I have to learn this anyway should my daughters ever have an episode of their own.”

“A prudent choice,” Luna replied with an approving nod. “I dare say you earthling alicorns are going to be more vulnerable to the nightmare by nature. Best you learn sooner, than later.”

Captain Walker of the USS North Dakota leaned over his sonar operator’s shoulder as the submarine descended into the depths of the Pacific Ocean. The crew was at general quarters and everyone was on edge. The red lights in the operations compartment affirmed to all aboard that this was it.

“The objective is still on the move, captain. Wolfpacks one and four are maintaining their distance.” The sonar operator was sweating profusely as he whispered to his commander, the captain noted. “Seems like the Russians and Aussies are sticking to the plan.”

Walker was pleased to see the four submarines under his command were staying in formation behind the North Dakota. It was expected of course, but he was still pleased to see it. “This is not some battle for vain glory, son. You would do well to remember that.”

With his weak joke backfiring, the operator gulped and refocused on his monitor. “Aye, sir.”

Walker patted the sailor on the shoulder. “Inform me immediately if there’s a change.”

“Aye sir.” With that, Walker stepped back to give the fraying sailor some space. His eyes wandered around the room. They eventually rested upon the large array that spread out from the ladder that led to the bridge. All over the hull, both inside and out, were Magitech arrays that burned softly in the otherwise red-shifted room.

The hull creaked and groaned under his feet. More than one person glanced at the depth meter reading well over twelve thousand feet below the surface. My boys nearly panicked when we kept diving below crush depth. I just hope these arrays hold long enough for us to get the job done.

His train of thoughts was interrupted by the sonar operator. “Captain, the objective has stopped!”

Walker raced over as quietly as possible to look at the sonar screen. Sure enough, the large sphere had come to a dead stop in the middle of a large flat plain. “Has it finally decided to take notice of us?”

The sonar operator pressed his headphones tight over his ears to listen. With both a stern look and cutting gesture from Walker, what little noise the crew was making ceased immediately. Thankfully, the other submarines in Wolfpack Two mirrored his boat’s actions.

The operator listened intently for a minute. “I don’t think it’s taking any hostile or defensive action. It just seems to be making a lot of noise while staying in place. I think it’s taking in a massive amount of water.”

“Good! Now’s our chance.” Walker looked to his comms officer who was just pulling his headphones off to speak. “Captain, Pack One has given the order, all boats are to close and open fire.”

“Very well, relay those orders to the rest of our pack.”

Within moments, the world’s remaining submarines closed in on sphere. The current situation rolled around in Walker’s head as he foresaw multiple outcomes. We have to hit it hard and fast before it can try to get a message out to its creators. There’s no time for silent running as it’ll start moving again soon.

As planned, sixteen submarines closed in from all directions, each one opening all forward tubes with the Magitech torpedoes lying in wait. Is the sphere aware of us and simply ignoring us? Does it have defenses? What will set it off to phone home, requesting an actual fleet be sent to Earth?

All of his worries and concerns came to a head when the time came to attack. As one, all sixteen submarines fired a full spread of torpedoes. The collective volley ripped through the water and every last one of them connected with the target. The resulting explosion rippled through the water with a pressure wave so violent it tore into the circle of submarines. The shockwave damaged the array on two of them so much they almost immediately crushed under the weight of the ocean. Four more were damaged and were on an emergency ascent within seconds of impact.

Walker feared the same for the North Dakota, but fortunately all of the damage control crews reported minimal damage. “Sonar, report!”

“We did it, Captain! There’s nothing left of it but debris. The thing crumpled with one go.”

The image of Captain Walker standing over the sonar screen faded and was moved to the top left corner of the screen with a news anchor taking over the TV. The frozen image of the cheering sailors was captioned, “Reenactment.” The woman sat beside a mint green earth stallion with a carefully crafted cheery smile. “Our best wishes and thanks go out to the families of those lost in Operation Vindication.”

The pony nodded firmly as a graphical reimaging of the attack started playing for the viewers. “Military officials claim that the unifying intelligence behind the Mion threat resided with the sphere that was destroyed by joint forces two months ago. It was believed that intelligence operatives from the United States discovered this fact some time before, and the theory was corroborated by findings in Britain, Russia, and several other surviving governments at the time. Intelligence theorized that by removing this “Herald” as it was known, the Mions would cease to be a threat. We now go live to our reporter, Cathy Macerson for an on the scene update. Cathy?” he asked as he swiveled in his chair to the next camera.

The viewers saw the screen split between the anchors and a rather young woman standing behind an army armor division as it growled its ways up a highway into a half dismantled town. The afternoon light allowed the camera to catch sporadic gunfire much further into town. “Hello, David, as you can see I am standing outside of what used to be Birmingham, Alabama.” She paused to let a trio of low flying helicopter gunships fly overhead. “The military is committing to a massive offensive to retake territory lost to the Cultists and I have Lieutenant Joffre here to tell us what he can of the situation.”

The camera panned left and down to a pale brown unicorn mare in BDUs who took the microphone. “Forward observers noticed a distinct breakdown of unit cohesion among the Mion ranks soon after we were told to look for signs of it forty five days ago. Ever since then, the Mions have been steadily growing increasingly incoherent and animalistic. One observer witnessed a pack of cultists hunting down their pony supporters and either gunning them down, or slicing them open like animals.” As if on cue, the new anchor’s image was replaced by several images of mutilated ponies in grassy fields or in parking lots. “Command decided to let both sides kill each other off for a while as we marshaled up for a major offensive.”

The female news anchor replaced the gore soon thereafter to ask a question. “So would you say the operation is going smoothly? How long do you think it will take to recapture the lost inner states?”

“I am not at liberty to say. But I have been advised to inform your viewers to not try to assist the armed forces in this matter. While the Mions seem to be devolving into little more than animals, they are still dangerous and infectious. Let the professionals do their jobs.”

The camera switched over to the reporter. “Thank you Lieutenant. Back to you, News Room.”

The female anchor took center stage with a fly in title reading “Road to Victory” displaying under her. “There you have it ladies and gentlemen. With similar reports of mentally destabilizing Mions coming in from all over the globe, it is this station’s firm stance that the storm has finally passed. We need only to retake what was once ours before the road to rebuild can truly begin. Coming up, we have a live statement coming in from Washington.”

Alexia was in a backstage powder room while the news report came to an end. Conrad clicked it off to trot over to his alpha as she touched up her mane with some hairspray in front of a mirror. He braved the chemical cloud to sneak a quick kiss on her cheek. “You ready for this?” He bounced back to get out of the hairspray cloud.

“As I’ll ever be.” She sized herself up in the oversized mirror and used a hoof to smoothen the fur where he kissed her. “I knew Fitzgerald wanted me to be a rallying figurehead for America’s ponies, but to try and extend that to the world?”

“You practically are already,” Conrad shot back with a shrug. “Besides, he said you could turn the offer down. After all we’ve done, even he wouldn’t try to force an obligation like this on you.”

With her fur and mane perfect, Alexia looked down at her necklace and traced it with a hoof. “I know. it’s just… I feel if I’m not the one to do it, I don’t think anyone else will try and push the idea that we should unite as terrans of a single world nation.” She looked at him with steel in her eyes. “No UN, but an actual single nation. After everything this planet’s been through, now’s our chance to push for it.”

He nodded in agreement. “Not to mention the Koridost are still out there. We can’t afford not to.”

A secret serviceman outside the room poked his head through the door. “Princess Alexia, the president’s opening address will be ending soon.”

“I’ll be right there,” she called back. She looked to Conrad and pecked him on the lips. She drank in his loving expression, drawing strength from his support. I only wish Crimson and Loki didn’t need to watch the foals so they could be here. “See you after the show,” she told him.

Alexia walked out to follow the servicemen through a few corridors in the White House and into the press confrence room. This it is, Alexia ol girl. Time to see if the Earth is ready to stand united. It’s the only way we’ll have a chance when the Koridost show up.

With her mind made up, Alexia stepped up to the podium to take her best shot at her hopes and dreams. “Good Evening, my fellow Terrans.”

Author's Note

Don't worry, you'll see what finally becomes of Tazvadek and the Herald next chapter. i have something special in mind for them.

16: The Signal

High in the remote parts of The Alps mountain range stood a solitary building. It was barely a concrete slab formed into the peak with a steel door being the only sign that it had ever been used. The drab and weathered orange paint bore the tell-tale scorch marks of a breaching charge. A jury-rigged rat’s nest of barbed wire served to seal the door and the facility behind it from most of the blizzard that raged against the mountain ice.

A singular orange light flickered sporadically above the ice-covered door, casting Loki, Conrad, and five human intelligence field operatives clad in warm white winter gear in a tense gloom. The pegasus looked to Loki while the mare gently tapped the ground with her eyes closed. “Sniff out any alarms or traps?”

Loki’s magic echoed through the stone and concrete, finding many places her earth magic could not tread within the door frame and the stairs that descended far below. She shivered as she spoke. “Yeah, both the walls and concrete have been wired with C4.”

She gently tapped her left forehoof on a cleared patch of ground three times, sending small razors of rocks to slice through several wires. “It’s going to take a bit to make it safe to enter from here, not to mention the alarms I have to disable.”

Conrad scowled and looked to the men. “This might take some time, form a perimeter and stay frosty.” The men looked first at him, then at all the snow blowing around them.

While the operatives had enough professionalism to keep from groaning, Loki outright snickered at him. “You’re terrible at jokes, ya know?”

Conrad snorted, but otherwise ignored the comment. I hope Alex finds an alternate route in the chopper, or we’re going nowhere fast. He settled into a nook of ice to wait out Loki’s progress on the traps. We’ve got ten MLRSs scattered throughout the area and the entirety of Europe’s Comsat watching this mountain. If anyone tries to flee like that desert base back in Africa, we’ll have a tomahawk on it in five seconds flat. All we need to do is storm the place.

Deep beneath the frozen rock, Tzadavek was sweating profusely over a computer terminal as he hastily typed away. “Subspace Transmission coil… online. power plant… fully operational. Still need to wait for the capacitors.”

Pain shot through his spine and into every fiber of his being, causing him to double over. He forced himself to remain silent, even as every instinct wanted him to scream out in pain. His muscles bulged, his bones thickened and cracked to form new shapes. The light of intelligence started to leave his eyes as more animalistic thoughts tore away at his sanity.

He writhed in an otherwise empty chamber with no one to hear him scream until Whesker leapt from an open stairwell and rushed over to cup Tzadavek’s head in his hands. “I still have need of you, Overseer.”

The Herald, in Whesker’s body, tried to exert his control signal over the bulking Mion. He was having an affect, but it was painfully slow to act. Tzadavek fought through the pain to point a claw at the terminal. “It issss… ready for you, my Heraaaawwwwooo!”

Tzadavek howled out in pain and manic confusion as his mind faded away completely as the virus ran wild. All that was left by the time the Herald finally got his Overseer’s body under control was a hulking hungry behemoth. All it took from the Herald was a single probe of his mind to know there was little more to save. “Damn these wretched Terrans!” He heaved Tzadavek away from the computers and onto a long empty concrete floor. “Had I not been controlling this body when my shell was destroyed…” He trailed off as the computer screen’s command console caught his eye.

The screen was rather simple. A scattered few readouts proclaimed all systems green with a field for a message and transmission coordinates. A cruel vindictive grin crept across his face as he ignored Tzadavek, keeping only enough of his severely limited control to make sure the fallen Mion stayed away from any electronics. The Herald started tapping away at the console. “These Terrans think they’ve won. Pah. My masters offered them a kindness in sending me here, and this is the thanks I get? Once they receive my signal, the Golden Fleet will obliterate this damned world from existence!”

With the message he had prewritten selected, a triple check of the access code, and the space-time coordinates punched in, the Herald’s eyes glinted as he all but smashed the enter key. A small message popped up.

Coordinates locked. Powering subspace transmitter now…

“Good. The Algalon Failsafe is hardly the way I wanted to greet my creators, but better this, than failing them entirely.”

The Herald sat back and sighed in relief, keeping only enough psychic control over Tzadavek to keep him from moving. He slumped in his chair digging furrows in his scalp out of impotent rage. Damned humans, I never should have had to use this contingency plan. I underestimated them, badly. True, their technological development exceeded even the most extreme estimates my masters had, but I should have been able to handle it. After all, not only did I have the wisdom of my masters, but full use of human technology as well.

His mind wandered to the news reports several months ago. Even with their underestimated technological growth, they still didn’t have the power to reach my shell… not without magic. His eye idly watched the monitor’s command console execute thousands of lines of code that flashed past the screen too fast for his organic eyes to follow. Renewed hatred flashed through him at the loss of his grossly superior intellect. I don’t know where those equines came from, but the Koridost will no doubt want to thoroughly test my findings on mana.

No doubt I’ll be deactivated after this failure. An AI that’s trapped in an organic body? He ground his teeth and hung his head in absolute shame. Even if I must face my creators in such a shameful state, my directive is clear. The Herald rotated in his chair to give his last remaining Mion a cool stare. Such a pity. He alone might have convinced the masters to ascend him to their lowest of ranks.

A tiny, almost inaudible clink from above turned the Herald’s eyes upward. The chamber he was in was a vast hollow, carved from the mountain with metal and stone stairs running along the circular edge. He saw a faint glint of red light and several shadows along one particular side. Realization struck him, causing him to gasp in shock before several silenced flashes of light appeared. A split second later, the Herald was riddled with over two dozen bullets before three lucky shots caved his head in.

The Herald’s consciousness barely transferred into Tzadavek in time to avoid death. He hardly had two seconds to gather his wits before looking up to see one of the assailants heft a rocket launcher and fire at him. Using the serrated claws in his new hands and feet, the Herald tore at the ground in his haste to reach the stairwell. He grabbed the railing the instant the rocket exploded behind him. Shrapnel tore chunks off his flesh when the explosion failed to send him clear across the room. A hail of gunfire ripped across the stairs as he tumbled down them towards the transmitter. I have to protect it at all costs until the transmission is complete!

With the Herald on the run, and no other hostiles in sight, ropes fell to the ground as the human operatives repelled down. Conrad carried Loki down and was headed towards the stairs until she pointed at the computer terminal. “Wait, take me over there. I need to try and pull any records they have before they’re wiped!”

“Alright,” He bit down on his mouth radio. “Echo three, take the rest of the team down to finish off that runner, and anyone else you find. Avoid further collateral damage at all costs.”

The first human to hit the deck, brought his weapon to bear on the stairwell. “Roger, Echo One.”

As soon as Conrad was close enough, he dropped Loki to the ground who proceeded to sprint to the computer and shoved the body away. She snatched a flash drive from a pouch and jammed it into an open port. Scowling at the rapid text, Loki placed her hooves over the keyboard to try and stop whatever program was running.

Conrad took a close look at the dead Mion before taking up a defensive posture in case of ambush. “Looks like our intel was on the money. These are the same guys we’ve been chasing since Miami. Are you going to be able to save anything this time?”

Loki managed to slow the text scrawl enough to catch glimpses into the code. “I don’t think this is a data wipe…” Her throat caught as a few words struck fear into her. “Transmission, some physics mumbojumbo. Hold on, I’ve never seen coordinates with so many ... Wait a second! This isn’t a data center, this is some kind of communication center!” She turned to Conrad while trying to fish out a different flash drive. “Whoever ran off is trying to get a signal somewhere.”

“Weird coordinates?” Conrad’s brow furrowed as his thoughts darkened. “You don’t think that guy was trying to contact the Koridost, do you?”

“Oh fuck me sideways and call me Earl,” Loki freaked.

Doing what he did best, Conrad pulled out a pistol and leveled it at the computer, only for Loki to pull his aim up before he could fire. “No, no, no! Don’t it, bad idea!”

Conrad scowled at her and kept trying to point his gun at the computer. “Why not? We break it, the system goes down.”

“Cause my left flank is pinchy and my ears are wiggily! That means breaking something will be super bad news.”

Conrad shot Loki a glare that could melt iron. Loki’s determined and pleading pout eventually made him growl and put his gun down. Still the weirdest person I know. “How long do we have?”

Making sure he would behave, Loki returned to the screen to activate her next drive. “A minute, if we’re lucky. There’s not exactly a progress bar here.” She grunted in irritation. Every command she entered was blocked. “Damn it all, the whole program is locked until the transmission goes through.”

“As if you ever let that stop you before,” Conrad rebuked humorlessly.

“Yea… my magic,” Loki replied with far too much concern for Conrad’s liking.

Conrad tapped his radio. “Echo team, forget the Mion, he’s a decoy. Look for any sort of power generator or Communication or some sort of strange equipment and blow it to hell!”

Loki’s ears perked up at his comment, but missed the operative’s reply. “Generator? Duh, of course, you Green Goblin!” Loki rummaged around her pack and pulled out a red flash drive with ‘Kill Command’ written on it. “Conrad, I don’t have an opportunity to say this much, but you’re a genius!”

The pegasus arched an eyebrow as Loki jammed the drive home and waited for the virus to execute. “Thanks, I think. Did you come up with something?”

“Sure did. The security on the comm program and allocated resources are tighter than a penny pincher on Christmas, but I’m betting the rest of the network was largely overlooked. Whoever set all this up probably didn’t have the time, sooo…”

A predatory grin flashed across her muzzle as her virus worked its magic across the command console. Her mirth started dying rapidly the longer it took for the virus’ work to complete. A deep hum started to emanate from the ground as the subspace transmitter started to open a comm channel.

“This is Echo Three,” he was interrupted by constant gunfire and a mix of human and Mion cries of anger and pain. “The bastard’s not going down easy. He sealed himself inside a large room that was glowing like the sun. We’re trying to find another way in.”

Conrad swore under his breath as he grew increasingly concerned by Loki’s worried expression. “Keep at it, Echo Three!”

“Yes, sir.”

Both ponies started shivering where they stood as the hum grew louder and louder until it started rattling their teeth. Conrad felt the vibrations spike in frequency right up until all the lights cut out, and the hum abruptly ceased. The room remained dark for an eerie few moments before the emergency lights cut on. Most were so old that they burned out immediately, leaving the ponies with only a single light at the far top of the stairs.

“Ya da!” Loki shouted when the hum remained silent. “I think I did it!”

Conrad didn’t share her short lived optimism as he brought his low light vision goggles on. “What do you mean, you think? Did the transmission go out or not?”

“Err…” Loki tried to remember if the screen had told her. “I think I cut the power before that happened, but I can’t be sure.”

The ponies couldn’t shake the adrenaline rush out for a solid minute, causing Conrad to jump in fright when his radio crackled in his ear. “Echo One, this is Echo Three, target has been neutralized. He had no chance in the dark. We’re sweeping the area now for additional hostiles, but I think he was alone here.”

“Roger Echo Three, good work.” Conrad looked to Loki who couldn’t keep from rubbing her fore hooves together out of nervous energy. “I hope the tech teams that come in after us can tell us if you stopped it or not.”

Alexia stood in the center of the garden in her manor’s backyard barely three days after the raid on the Alps facility. A large swath of land had been cleared of trees to be replaced by several palm trees, and an assortment of various flowers ranging from sunflowers to roses were scattered between walkways cut into the shape of a healing array. At the center of the garden, almost as if a crown jewel, was a small crystalline sapling. The tiny tree was not even a foot high, but it was strong and proud as its prismatic leaves reached for the sun above.

Twilight Sparkle’s phantom stood beside the quiet silver alicorn as they gazed upon the sapling. Her image had been improved to replicate her coloration to the point where it was almost impossible to tell she wasn’t actually physically there. For the time being, Alexia was content to pretend.

“I still can’t believe it,” Twilight thought aloud, drawing Alexia’s attention. “To think that ponies, not nature, created a Tree of Harmony.” She looked to Alexia with a scholarly smile. “If this is how our tree came to be, it would shed some very important light on our own history.”

“Do… Do you think it might have been tainted by my nightmare episode? It formed from… us I guess, right after I calmed down.”

Twilight rubbed her chin with a wing while slowly walking around the sapling. “It doesn’t look like it. But then again…” Twilight studied the plant intently with both her eyes and magic. “I don’t think this is a Tree of Harmony, per say, but it is still a tree of power. As to what it reflects, I have no idea. In any event, the garden you’ve been tending to around it will certainly help it mature into a force of good.”

A rich smile danced over Alexia as she observed her garden with pride. “You like it? All I’ve ever really used my earth magic for was combat. So I wanted to do something more constructive, and,” she took a long deep breath of the pollen filled spring air. “I only wish I had discovered gardening sooner.”

I’m glad she’s finding more civil uses for magic. Twilight sidestepped the sapling to join her student and friend. “It’s a common hobby among ponies. Celestia has a castle garden as well, maybe you can see it sometime tomorrow, now that your last day in the CIA is finally over.”

Twilight’s wording piqued Alexia’s curiosity, making her refocus on her friend. “I would love nothing better but-”

Girlish squeals heralded two galloping alicorn fillies racing from the backdoor. Crimson watched from the door with Dusty on her back and a knowing grin across her muzzle. Alexia knelt down and opened her wings to catch her daughters as they barreled into her, giggling up a storm. “Did you girls have fun at preschool today?”

Violet blew a short raspberry. “Nou, it was boooring! I wanted to eat the flowars but mean boss lady said no all the time.”

Aurora jumped for joy at the suggestion. “Oooo! Ooo! I wanna eat flowars! Can we eat these now, pleeeeease!”

Before Alexia could reply, Twilight stepped over and spoke with a coy tone. “Your momma still needs to grow them, but how about I take all of you to an even bigger flower garden?”

The fillies squealed in delight, yet Alexia balked at the suggestion. “You take? But how?”

Twilight looked away to bring her own tome over to an unseen table. “I had multiple plans to help you cope with agelessness. Even though your daughters are a prime cure for that loneliness, I didn’t stop pursuing my own project.” Twilight set her tome on a device that looked for all the world to be a heavily glorified stand for a full length mirror. “I was planning on waiting to tell you this in a decade or so, but that sapling of yours is giving off enough ambient mana to finally allow… this!”

A bright teal light burst forth from Alexia’s tome, and molded itself into a hole in space the same shape as the mirror. Twilight’s phantom walked straight through it and, in a moment that Alexia would always remember, the purple princess set hoof on planet Earth. Alexia was dumbstruck to the point where her brain was misfiring out of joyful overload.

The fillies, on the other hand, belted off more happy squeals and bolted over to Twilight and proceeded to bounce up and down around a snickering Twilight. “I can’t keep the portal open for very long, but I can finally cross over.”

Twilight waited a moment for Alexia to gather her wits, but the poor mare was in dire need of a jump start. So Twilight walked over a gently nuzzled her, finally snapping Alexia back to the present. Alexia shed several tears before latching onto Twilight with both forelegs and wings. With a gentle grin that would make Celestia proud, Twilight wrapped her own wings around the joy struck alicorn.

Crimson was equally stunned by Twilight’s portal, but she was cut off from joining her alpha by Thompson himself when he laid a hand on her withers. She looked up at him in surprise while he studied the portal off in the distance, along with Alexia’s tender moment. “Director! what are you doing here?”

He remained outwardly emotionless towards the portal, but Crimson could see the gears churning in his head. “I came in to personally wish all of you good luck on your herd’s retirement from Section Nine. I had Jackson bring you all a cake. Yet before all that, we need to get down to brass tacks. The tech teams finished their preliminary findings of the Alps operation. I know your security clearance will be downgraded starting tomorrow, but I felt the four of you deserved to know.”

Crimson’s ears wilted slightly when the Director’s voice didn’t brighten. “So I take it there’s some really bad news.”

He sighed, and turned away from the portal for the moment, and affixed the earth mare with a calculated neutral expression. “More like indeterminable news, which can be just as bad if not worse. I’m having a more in-depth analysis already underway, but so far we know that the facility was a comms station. Far beyond anything we have. Command and the Joint Chiefs are in agreement that those Mions were trying to get a message out to the Koridost. What we don’t know is whether or not the message they were trying to send got out, let alone received. Our best minds are scratching their heads at how the transmitter even works, let alone if it fired off a flare or not. I’m hoping the computer techs will give me a clearer answer. The only thing we’re sure of, is that there were no records, deleted or otherwise, that shows the facility had been in use prior to the raid.”

“But that’s still good in another way, right?” Crimson added optimistically. “That means they have been unable to send a signal up until now, and that group was the last reported intelligent Mions left, correct?”

“As far as we know,” Thompson admitted with a curt nod. He leaned against the wall while crossing his arms and drumming his fingers. “The good news is twofold. The first is obvious. We managed to acquire an intact communication device so far beyond our technology that scientists are going to wet themselves over the chance to study it. Secondly, the techs did in fact, pull the complete transmission coordinates from the servers.”

Crimson saw a flash of vindictive victory in the man’s eyes for a brief moment. “So now we know where to look for incoming ships.”

He cast a slightly dissapointed look her way. “Assuming they use a propulsion method that would actually give us any real sort of advanced notice. I don’t think they’d bother using a second virus sphere. However…” His gaze returned to the portal. “There might be a better opportunity to defend ourselves.”

Crimson followed his gaze. She thought he was focusing on Twilight Sparkle and Alexia. “Such as?”

Thompson’s eyes moved back over to Twilight and her portal. “Princess Twilight Sparkle…” he trailed off with concealed astonishment. “So she’s actually physically here.” Crimson nodded slightly. “That changes things.”

“Very much so,” Crimson agreed. She started pawing the wooden deck nervously on how he would take the existence of the portal. I hope he doesn’t try anything crazy. He knows what Alexia will and will not accept. I hope.

Thompson huffed in appreciation, and shot Twilight a short salute, even though the mare wasn’t watching to see it. “If Twilight could open a portal to cover the distance between our two worlds, then maybe we could do the same to whatever planet the Koridost are based at in that star system.”

Understanding caused a vengeful sneer to mar Crimson’s features. The idea of enacting revenge upon the Mions’ alien masters was seductive. “And take the fight to the assholes who tried to wipe us all out.”

“The Koridost didn’t even have the god damned common courtesy to do it themselves,” Thompson added in an equally acidic tone. “I won’t ask Princess Twilight to give us this technology… directly anyway.” He turned to Crimson with all of his command authority. “Which is why I’m asking you to do that. I suspect you or Alexia would have far more pull over the subject than I would.”

“I understand, sir. I doubt she’ll refuse after all we’ve done to save our world.”

“I suspect as much.” Thompson made to leave, but stopped short of the door. “Make this request shortly. I’ll need to draw up a report about this portal to my superiors regardless of Twilight’s decision. Her cooperation would be the final bit of leverage we need to keep everyone in Washington from trying to press any of you back into service against your will.”

“I wish I shared your optimism, Director, but I agree with your plan in any event. I’ll make sure Twilight sees it our way.” She watched him go, spying in the corner of her eye that Dusty had remained asleep on her back during the whole conversation. Well, before I inform Twilight of Thompson’s request, I want to enjoy Twilight’s company for a while.

The mare in question was snort-laughing at the fillies’ attempts to play pirate robot robbers while acting like their mother was Loot Mountain, and were trying to climb all over top of her to touch Alexia’s horn. An event Crimson hardly wanted to interrupt with shop-talk. It can wait a bit.

Back on Equis, Discord lounged on a waterbed in his little corner of chaos in the northern mountains. The bed had an outer lining of hard liquid water keeping a core of sloshy plastic in the center. He was sipping Chardonnay through a silly straw while he watched the Earth from his crystal ball. “Well, it seems as though my plan worked beautifully! Not only did I,” he said with a dramatic flourish that would send Rarity in a tizzy, “The Great and Benevolent Discord save an intelligent, and delightfully chaotic, species from the brink of death, but I also managed to create some less harmonious ponies in the process.

A victory if ever there was one.” He tossed his glass away to spin the crystal ball. “To think Purple Smart beat me to it in fully manifesting on their world. Poo…” He soured in disappointment, only to spring right back up to jolly. “Ah well, let her have her fun, and I’ll have mine. I think I’ll see those two little whippersnappers of Alexia’s a little later when things get too boring around there. In the meantime though…”

The crystal ball came to a sudden halt when a new world caught his eye. “Let’s see what other good deeds I can pin to my belt. Ohh, that starship captain looks like an interesting fellow.” A mischievous chuckle resounded throughout the cavern as Discord toiled on how to reveal himself to his unwitting new playmate.

A Solemn Day guest writer: Boldish42

A Solemn Day guest writer: Boldish42

My good friend Boldish42 wanted to write up a piece set shortly after the herd arrived in San Fransisco, so here it is. Hope you all enjoy it.

Despite the depressing day, the sun stubbornly continued to shine. The repairs to town were progressing slowly. Materials were hard to come by, and buildings that might have been saved, were being cannibalized to rebuild others. The damage evident for all to see, the losses they had suffered stayed fresh in everyone’s mind. Perhaps more so for what they had all gathered together for.

The vast majority of citizens were amassed in the park where a small stage was set up. Suits and dresses were worn by many, even ponies that rarely wore clothes brought their finest, others wore black bands. They had suffered loss before, but this was different. This was an attack, directed and focused at them, not just some random cloud.

And they stood strong.

Camera crews had finished setting up, microphones were in place, even cellphones and personal video cameras were set to capture Princess Alexia’s speech. Thousands of faces looked towards the silver princess flanked by her herd. She took her steps to the podium, and began to speak.

Crimson Anderson honestly didn’t hear any of it.

She had heard it before as Alexia bounced ideas off them, practicing another speech that would probably become famous. So she wasn’t too concerned with focusing on Alex’s words, well not the ones she was saying now at least.

I’m sorry Crimmy.. I’m so sorry…
If I had just been faster…
I couldn’t save him…

Crimson didn’t blame Alexia, she never could. But the pain was still there.

She had the herd to give her strength. She had Dusty to give her joy. She had Momma to share memories.

But there was still a hole filled with pain, right there in her heart.

She didn’t see him until it was over. Alex had told her what had happened, but she still didn’t see the transformation, and so it wasn’t until that moment that it became real for her. When she saw her father’s face grafted onto the red hulking abomination of a Mion, it all became real. Joseph Turner Anderson, the man she had looked up to and loved all her life, was dead. There he lay with a ruined spellblade lodged in his face. Alexia’s spellblade. No! Don’t think like that!

Her mind went back to the family reunion where her whole world changed. A human guy, terrified of an inexplicable tail, his biggest problem trying to come up with an excuse to explain why he wouldn’t go swimming. She twitched her tail remembering how it had saved her. She had cousins who weren’t so lucky, taken, a parasite shoved into them and twisted into blood colored demons. Was that supposed to be her fate? Had Fate extracted its toll for her escape? No, this wasn’t fate, this was conscious action, a sick destiny forced on the world. I’ll return it to them somehow. If I didn't know any better, I'd think they went into the ocean to spite me. I can’t help with Alex’s enchantments, I can't crew the submarines. I can't be the one to pull the trigger that ends the Herald’s demonic existence.

Epic revenge fantasies ran through Crimson’s head. They were comforting, irrational, and felt unpleasantly dark. Over a lifetime of living in the south you learn some bible verses; Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Anyone… the Koridost, the Herald, and the Mions aren’t people though, monsters don’t count as ‘anyone’.

Crimson’s eyes shifted from looking out at the crowd over to the side of the stage where Bella was holding onto Dusty. I will protect everyone I have left, and no Koridost monsters will stop me from making sure they’re safe.

You’re a Doctor in training not a crusading master warrior.

I’m plenty good in a fight.

You’re supposed to help people.

I can do that by killing all those monsters. Doctors can make weapons.

Or you can find a way to stop them from changing anyone else.

I want them to pay!

Is that what Paw would want?

… Paw wouldn’t want to be dead, he wouldn’t have wanted to be made a monster and forced to fight against his family.

He would have wanted to live in peace with his wife, daughter, and grandson. Letting all others live in peace too. Killing won’t bring peace, not really.

Her internal debate culminated at that thought. She wanted to fight that thought, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was what her father had taught her after all.

They won’t get away with this though. All this pain and suffering.

No they won’t, and I won’t let them destroy who I am.

Alex was about at the middle of her oration, encouraging everyone to keep the memory of those lost in their hearts, but to also let the healing begin. Or something along those lines anyway. Crimson felt a little guilty, Alex, her Alpha, was speaking about something relevant to her and she wasn’t listening. Well she could always follow the advice if not the speech.

So she thought about her Paw.

Instantly that red, sword filled face came to mind. She forced it away. That is not how I will remember you. The offensive image was banished from Crimson’s thoughts, replaced with the memory of Paw hugging her. The first memory was painful and bitter, this one made her ache, it took so much of her strength not to show the toll it was taking. Standing next to Conrad helped, Loki too. Wait wasn’t she on his other side?

She continued to hold onto that precious memory, that feeling total of acceptance. That moment when her father went from being a good man and transcended into an incredible man, who had earned every single speck of respect she had ever given him, and so much more that she would never be able to pay what he deserved.

Joseph Turner Anderson would never have the opportunity to be Dusty and the Girls’ wise grandpa, never pick him up from school to go out for ice cream behind her back, never tell him crazy made up stories that only a grandpa could get away with, never... He would never...

She reached to wipe her eyes. She had been crying, when did that start? Conrad’s wing rested across her back, squeezing her softly, Loki pressed up against her side leaning heavily into her.

She kept repeating his name in her head, as if she were afraid of forgetting. Joseph Turner Anderson taught her to fish. Joseph Turner Anderson taught her to ride a bike. Joseph Turner Anderson pushed her to be better and better, to make something of herself. Joseph Turner Anderson, Her Paw, was dead.

But worse than that, he might not be gone. That terrible thought came to her. The Herald brought Menville back, what if he brought Joe back to torture them some more, to torture him more? What if her Paw wasn’t able to rest?

That thought almost broke her, the sorrow she felt washing through her at the future they missed together, was replaced with anguish over the question.

Her response was nearly automatic, another habit to dealing with life that her parents had taught her together.

Hello, umm, God. It’s me, Crimson. Uh, that is to say Michael… You know who I am. I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you in a while. I’ve been pretty busy, what with being a pony secret agent mother and all… I just haven’t thought much about you lately have I? I was never too busy to do this, I just… I’m not sure what to think or believe anymore. There’s aliens, magic, magic alien ponies, and whatever Alexia is… Is our understanding incomplete? Or… Do you exist at all? I choose to believe in you, and I’m sorry that the first time I call on you in so long, all I can do is ask your favor. Please. Please help my father. Please let Paw be at peace. I’m so scared that he might not be, that they all may not be. Please help us to find peace too. Amen.

Somewhat calmed, Crimson looked to her Alpha. Her prayer to God really started as a reflex, but she kept going, because Joe was human. Reed was devout, borderline fanatical, and she didn’t agree with all he said. However, she did believe that for ponies the Alicorns were held in the place of God. Alexia knew her views, and while frustrated, respected them, and so Crimson respected her wishes to not be prayed to. Usually this was no problem, but today brought about a moment of weakness.

Alex, please give me strength, please help me to… What am I doing? I don’t need to pray to you Alex. You’re right there for me, whenever I need you. It’s not everyone that gets to talk directly to their God, but I do, whenever you or I wish.

A course of action settled for the future, Crimson was finally able to focus. Just in time for Alex to finish speaking.

Reed had hung on every word that came from his Goddess’ mouth. Her words of strength burning their way into his mind and camcorder. To be transcribed for religious text purposes later of course.

Her entreaty to the crowd to strengthen and support one another would make for fantastic scripture. As would accounts of her galloping straight to Trinity’s defence. Really, it had been a religious gold mine from the moment of her resurrection to now. It seemed like nothing could keep Reed’s spirits down for long lately, not even that Defiant Vigil pony.

No, not thinking about him, not going to think about him, not at all… Dammit. Reed just didn’t know what to think about that stallion, and while his Goddess’ sermon had occupied all his attention just a short while ago, Vigil began to creep into his thoughts.

It was just a few days ago that the pink unicorn with the blue and red mane had joined their congregation, but he was already well known. I’m Defiant Vigil, but you can just call me Vigil, or Mr. if you’re feeling formal. It was unusual for a blank flank to take a pony name, but given what the stallion apparently went through, certainly understandable. He was rescued from a Mion controlled pony camp by the Royal Herd, but was unfortunately the only survivor. After an initial medical screening and psych evaluation he had been asked by the Goddess to come to Trinity to find some peace. So he came, and even found The Congregation.

He was a passionate, humble sort with a definite air of mystery about him. Which made his observations and ideas seem all the more reasonable. It frustrated Reed, the aspects of The CoL and its chapel, the designs and services, all seemed to be criticized by Vigil. Perhaps worst of all, Reed kind of agreed with him, or at least couldn’t find much of an argument against him.

In retrospect, perhaps his plans were a bit... Ostentatious. Ok, the silver altar and scepter are maybe a bit much, but isn’t that the point? To glorify Alexia was the whole point of The CoL, but then Vigil countered. It could be argued that many churches tried that and ended up glorifying someone or something else, besides, why put this much effort into a building when our Goddess is just down the street?

That was not his only debate.

Aren’t we all under Alexia as her children? If so why do you call everybody ‘child’? Wouldn’t it be better to call each other brother and sister? That way you avoid accidentally insulting someone by implying they’re under you.

Doesn’t a collection plate seem… presumptuous? It feels like you’re demanding money and if they don’t give, then the ponies next to them that see may think negatively of them. Why not just anonymous donations, then ponies can practice generosity, and reflect the unassuming humility that Alexia displays. Keep everyone up to date with the finances and come up with projects involving the Virtues to remind them to donate and we should get by ok.

A less pious approach might draw more ponies in. Don’t shove the congregation in their faces, but be right there to see in plain view. Lead by example of the Virtues and let them come to you.

I heard that at the Ranch there were quite a few support groups for transformees, but they mostly dissolved when everypony left. Maybe we should start a few. Some ponies, myself included, still don’t have Cutie Marks yet. Starting a group to support one another would be nice. And we’ve got a few foals running around too, it might be nice for them to have a place to go to try to get their marks when they’re ready too.

Vigil had some solid points, and he was thinking of the future of the congregation too. There was just so much for Reed to do: write Holy scripture, reorganize The CoL, have dinner with the herd.

Good days were coming, he could just feel it.

Defiant Vigil had watched the Memorial from the back, Alex’s Alicorn magic still unnerved him a little and he liked to pretend that the distance muted its effect. It didn’t, but he liked the assurance that he could leave whenever. Listening to her, he marveled at how far she had come.

Much more confident than in DC, and it’s not just the magic either. How much longer until I’m really praying to you? You won’t force me, hell you don’t even want me to, that’s the whole reason I’m doing this for you. You saved more than just my life, so it seems only fair that I try to make yours a bit easier. I wonder though… where are you going take us?

The speech ended and the pony that had been Gregory Jake Menville walked off to live his new life.

Tina Star sat, strapped in a modified straight jacket, inside a magic proof cell. Her face filled with excitement and contentment.

“She was sooo beautiful. Those eyes, those viscous, pitiless, predatory eyes. That magic burning me with its touch! I can still feel it.” She closed her eyes in bliss, savoring the memory, when a piously poetic muse come over her.

“Oh my wonderful Goddess Alexia. Keeper of life, Taker of life, I see more now! I’ve felt more, crushed and burned in your holy embrace than I ever thought possible! I understand now, at first I thought you were weak, poisoned by your morality, but now I know. You have none of those trappings! A masterful camouflage to conceal your black glory amongst your prey! You stalk us and prepare to devour us, all while drawing us closer, allowing all us mortals to believe you are benevolent. Oh how I wish I could have been your first sacrifice. Someday, I will grant you sacrifices, perhaps I will die along the way and get to offer myself to you, or maybe you will grant me another chance, one final opportunity to remove your physical shell from your divine darkness. I will spread the true worship of you. In your name I pray Alexia, My Goddess of Life and Death. Amen.”

Tina Star could very well imagine her prayer feeding the beast that hid beneath the benevolent facade of Alexia Tune. More prayers meant more power...

“Oh Goddess of Life, hear my prayer…”

Author's Note

Boldish42: I've really enjoyed this story so far, and really I wish it were more popular, then maybe there would be side fics of it. So finally I got sick of waiting and decided I'd try to help it get there. I asked if I could write a guest chapter and LAP was nice enough to let me try. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to help fill in some more of the tale, or at least make some Non-Canon additions.

17: Equestria

In her brightly lit bedroom, Alexia Tune sat in front of a full length mirror as Loki combed her alpha’s mane and tail with a master’s touch. The earth mare’s tongue stuck out the side of her mouth as she tunnel visioned onto getting the magically ensnared brush and a sizable dose of hairspray to make Alexia’s azure hair look as if she had water cascading around her face and down the length of her neck. Alexia was busying herself with a brush as well, only she was focusing on her coat to bring out the silver sheen her shampoo bottle promised.

“Do you have to be so liberal with the hair spray?” Alexia queried between coughing fits and stinging eyes. “How’s it going to look when I show up blind in Canterlot?”

“Tut, tut, tut,” Loki chastised when Alexia shied away from the looming spray bottle of torment. “You’ve escaped this for far too long. It is every female Terran’s duty to build up an immunity to it.” Loki tapped her chin with the end of her comb. “We gotta come up with a gender term for Terrans.” She tilted her head at the sour look Alexia was shooting her.

“I think we have more important things to worry about than thinking up new words, like my suffering eyes!”

Conrad stuck his head through the door, whistling at how cleaned up the mares looked. I’m too used to seeing them in casual or combat gear. “As much as I love to see my lovely ladies looking as ravishing as ever, are you two going to be done any time soon? Twilight’s going to be opening the portal in about five minutes.”

Alexia used the excuse to teleport the vile can of hairspray out of the house and grabbed some visine. “We’ll be right there, honey.”

Loki took the sudden disappearance of the spray can in stride and skipped out of the room while planting a kiss on Conrad’s snout. “See you by the Mystery Tree.”

With Loki on her way out, Conrad took the time to walk in and stand next to Alexia. “Never seen you so dolled up before, except for your first press conference at the White House. You look great!”

“Ugh!” Alexia groaned as she blinked the eye drops in, visibly calming. “How can I look good with bloodshot eyes?”

“Here let me look,” Conrad placated as he gently pulled her head towards him. He carefully flicked away her tears with a wing so her eye mascara wouldn’t be ruined. “You’ll be fine, it’s already clearing up.”

Any other day, Alexia might have gone off about hairspray and Loki, but today was special. Today they were going to a party at Canterlot Castle. Yet enjoying the party was ultimately secondary for Alexia. There are some key matters I have to discuss with the Equestrian princesses about Earth’s future. I hope Twilight remembered to get Celestia to talk as soon as possible. I’d rather not stew over it during the party itself. Alexia returned to the present when Conrad gave her a long affectionate nuzzle. “Thanks, Conny. Come on, we don’t want to keep Twilight waiting.”

Charging up her horn, Alexia teleported both Conrad and herself to the garden. They reappeared in the garden surrounding the sapling. The rest of Alexia’s family was waiting for Twilight’s phantom to open the portal. Crimson was in the middle of hugging her mother. “I wish you and Beth could come too.”

“I know, Dear, but I don’t think my nerves could handle it.” Bella kissed her daughter’s forehead before briefly scratching behind her ear. “Now get on, and have fun.”

Twilight Sparkle watched Loki canter up to the group, causing the purple mage to rub her hooves together. “Alright everyone, I’m opening it now, please be quick so your garden has enough ambient mana left for your return trip.”

Resting on a small concrete slab, Alexia’s tome jostled before an oblong portal opened before them. Alexia’s herd and foals, jumped through to arrive at Twilight’s old study in Canterlot Castle. Careful to keep from messing up her fur or mane, Alexia quickly bounced over to Twilight, nuzzling her mentor who returned it in kind.

“Welcome to Equestria, everypony!” Twilight broke off from Alexia, only to be swarmed by three giggling foals. “And a very warm greeting to you three.” As per usual, none of the royal herd wore any sort of clothing upon hearing Canterlot’s weather was comfortable, but they made sure their mane and coats were given an american style to allow them to stand out among the crowd. Loki was the exception in that she was wearing her computer harness, partly because she wanted to work on a new virus, and partly to show off Earth technology, and no amount of persuasion from her mates could convince her to do otherwise.

The herd noticed Celestia and Luna standing off to the side. The regal sisters stepped forward as the portal closed. “Greetings, everypony, I’m so glad to see all of you in person.”

While Alexia wasn’t one to feel like an outsider around other tribes of pony, she couldn’t quite label how she felt being around three other alicorns. Between Twilight’s exuberance, Celestia’s measured grace, and Luna’s polite friendliness, Alexia wrestled with her emotions. Maybe this is as close to being with equals as I’ll ever get. She inwardly groaned at herself. Assuming I could ever really be anywhere close to the equal of two beings that move celestial bodies, and the embodiment of magic itself. The niggling thought that her worshipers seemed dead-set on calling her the Alicorn of Life made her mood sour a little, especially since Crimson believed it as well.

Conrad noticed his alpha was a little lost in the clouds and nudged her as he bowed. “I have to admit, I never thought I’d ever walk on the birth planet of my species.”

Alexia yelped first at the prod in her ribs and then at her faux pas. “Ah – he he, yeah, me too. Well, I’ve been here a couple of times in the past month, but not for as long as a garden party before.” She gave a wide sheepish grin to hide her embarrassment.

Celestia easily saw Alexia’s embarrassment, yet what really had her attention was a strong thread she sensed linking the silver alicorn with her herd members. As Luna talked with the others, Celestia watched the others carefully, and the link itself.

It appeared to her as an ethereal blue tether bound to each adult herd member’s carbuncle. I’ve seen many magical bonds before but… None of the others seemed to notice the tethers. If Luna had seen them, she’d at least have glanced my way to make sure I saw them too, but she’s made no reaction. I know Twilight has her secrets thanks to her work with the Dusk Guard, but I doubt she would hide this from me, especially since I can see it plain as day.

The conversation started moving everyone down the hall towards the garden. Celestia input her own comments here and there, and was about to let the tether issue drop. Perhaps it’s just a safeguard Alexia created in case she and her mates were ever separated. There’s no way to tell without plucking it apart and that’d be an invasion of privacy. She physically stopped walking when her eyes glanced towards Conrad where the tether went from blue to brown. No. It’s not possible! She looked to Crimson and Loki to find the color of the threads matched each pony’s eye color. Only one form of bond blends like that!

“Something wrong, sister?”

Celestia smoothly snapped out of it and gave a regal grin. The particular bond Alexia’s herd shared was extremely subtle soul magic. It was only Celestia’s much older arcane senses that detected the bond at all. “No, Luna, everything is fine. Just something coming to light is all. Alexia, Twilight?” the mares in question hummed inquisitively. “Would you mind walking with me a bit?”

“Oh right, of course.” I wonder if Twilight told her I prefer to settle things quickly . Alexia nuzzled her mates as Conrad and Loki took one filly each off their alpha’s back. “I’ll catch you guys in a few.”

“Of course, Celestia,” Twilight cantered over towards the hallway Celestia pointed to with a wing. “I’m sure my friends would love to see you. I kinda talked to them about you a lot,” she added sheepishly.

The rest of the herd was baffled as to why Celestia pulled Alexia away from the group, but they had no reason to believe there was any foul play at work. Loki bounced over to Twilight. “Sounds great, I can’t wait to meet this Pinkie Pie character you’ve said so much about.”

“See you later Alex!” Crimson called out as the trio of alicorns walked down a stained glass hallway.

Luna cast her sister an arched eyebrow. What does that make me, the tour guide? “Let me show you to the room you’ll be staying in tonight.”

“Thank you for reviewing my request so quickly, Princess Celestia. Even if you refuse, I’d feel better knowing now rather than stew over it at the party.” Alexia perked up after they were well out of earshot.

Celestia gave a slight nod of respect. “I try to accommodate the friends of Equestria when I can, even more so when lives are on the line. I know you will want to discuss them with your herd later, but I felt some measure of privacy was needed since you brought the foals along with you.”

“Thank you, for that.” Alexia nodded slightly, but said nothing as she waited for Celestia to gather her thoughts.

Those musings forced Celestia into a rather awkward position. “Alexia, before we go into your request, I need to ask. Are you, by chance, aware that your soul is bound to your herdmates?” Twilight furrowed her brow in befuddlement, and looked rapidly between her old mentor and Alexia.

“Bound?” Alexia queried genuinely, momentarily worried due to Twilight’s reaction. She was briefly distracted by the large ornate stained glass windows depicting ancient equestrian heroes of old. “I know the four of us are very close, but other than that I don’t know what you mean.”

Celestia looked reassuringly at both mares. “The love you share with one another is a powerful thing, Alexia. What I mean is that you, Conrad, Loki, and Crimson are immortal… in a sense.”

Alexia’s stunned shock was tempered both by skepticism and not wanting to get over excited at the prospect of her mates living alongside her. “That’s a tall attribute to fill. What do you mean? How did this happen?”

“I only had a hunch for all these years,” Celestia answered as the group turned a corner near the kitchens. The smell of cooking food was a welcome distraction. “The original six ponies who overcame generations of hatred and mistrust outlined in the Hearths Warming Eve play created the Tree of Harmony. Are you familiar with it?”

“Mostly,” Alexia replied shakily. “That’s the story with Commander Hurricane and Princess Platinum, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Correct, and now that I see you and your herd are bonded the same way as those six ponies’ current incarnations are, I know now that when a group of ponies create a Tree of Power, they are bonded for eternity.”

Twilight nodded and couldn’t help but feel mixed about it all. She only looked up from the ground when Alexia turned to her for verification. “She’s talking about you and your friends, isn’t she?”

“That’s… right.” Twilight looked to her old mentor to continue and did so when Celestia gave her a nod. “Celestia told me about our soul forge a year after I became an alicorn. She waited to tell me so that my friends and I could form natural friendships before we knew the whole truth. That way we eliminated the risk of resentment of being fated together.”

“I felt it would instill a stronger friendship if I informed you later rather than make it feel forced if I told you right from the start.”

Thus far, Alexia was still in disbelief now that she had a minute to collect her thoughts. “I have yet to hear what this soul bonding actually means to any of us. I already know the four of us would never leave the herd, but they will die someday. I like to think I’ve come to terms with that.” It pained her to dredge up her mates’ mortality when it didn’t feel necessary.

“The thing of it is, Alexia,” Twilight began with carefully measured neutrality. “Yes, your herdmates will die, hopefully at peace in their sleep, surrounded by loved ones. But whatever the cause may be, that is an insurmountable fact. However, what a soul forge means is that in the event of their death, their spirit will not cross over as normal, but instead will reincarnate into a new body, without fail.” Alexia’s heart caught in her throat. “They’ll start off as foals, and have no memory of their previous life at all. The only thing that sets them apart from a normal foal is that they’ll always have a strong resemblance to the original soul, like a mane and coat color.” Twilight used a foreleg to flop her mane. “Clover the Clever looked exactly like me, except the exact mane colors and I style my hair differently.”

“Wait, wait,” Alexia rubbed her head to keep the headache at bay. “You believe you’re the Clover the Clever? How can you be so sure?”

“This,” Twilight pointed at a massive four square meter oil painting of six ponies posing for the artist. In it, two ponies of each tribe were present. Both unicorns were mares, the earth ponies were stallions with Commander Hurricane being a stallion and Private Pansy being a mare. Alexia recalled a few pictures Twilight had shown her months ago of her five friends. It was like looking at the direct ancestors of Twilight and her friends, their colorations were so similar. Hell, even their cutie marks look like they mean the same thing. “It’s kind of strange to see my original self. Considering I've reincarnated dozens of times, it should come as no surprise that my spirit has changed quite a bit. I like to think it was for the better.”

“Now wait a minute,” Alexia began a little too quickly. “I’ll admit I don’t remember the descriptions of those six in the book very well, but none of them looked anything like you or your friends.”

“That was my doing,” Celestia interjected calmly. “After I discovered the connection centuries ago, and the theory about them forging the Tree of Harmony, I covered that part up to protect their future incarnations. As you can imagine, more than a few mothers would attempt dying their newborn foals to match that of the tree's creators, should that part ever be made public knowledge.”

“The only way to break such a bond is for all members of the soul forge to be dead all at once,” Twilight added, “something that’s going to be rather unlikely to happen since you and I are alicorns.”

“This is a bit much to accept.” Alexia had to get away from the old painting, and started wandering further down the hall. Alexia saw that the only way to give herself time to digest the odd news was to talk about something else. “As fascinating as all this is, can we please leave it for another time?”

“As you wish,” Celestia replied reassuringly. “It is not an immediate matter, just one I thought you should be made aware of.”

Alexia took a few deep breaths to calm down and shove the whole soul forge thing into the corner of her mind for later. “Have you come to a decision about my request?”

Celestia’s face darkened at the topic, while Twilight’s expression became forlorn. “Your planet has suffered so much in so little time,” a tear fell from the alabaster alicorn’s face at the thought of billions dead. Even for one such as her, the sheer weight of the dead in such a short timeframe chilled Celestia to the core. “And yet you wish to plunge straight back into fighting.”

“It’s not like we have much of a choice, Princess Celestia,” Alexia rebuked with an edge of steel. “Sooner or later, the Koridost are going to learn of the Mions’ failure. Even with Magitech, we have no hope of defending ourselves against an actual fleet of starships. Even one ship might be enough to raze the Earth. We need a way to level the field, and the sooner we strike, the better.”

“You misunderstand me, Alexia,” Celestia started guiding them to a long flight of stairs towards the royal quarters. “To have the will to stand and defend your planet in the face of the overwhelming power of an intergalactic species says much for the character of you terrans. It is saddening that this is necessary at all, but the method of the Koridost’s attack upon your world tells me they believe you are beneath them.”

“Many of our leaders believe that is the aliens’ twisted logic as well.” Alexia decided to slowly fly over the stairs, rather than walk. “As for fighting back, what else can we do? Only a few stubborn idiots think the Koridost won’t come sooner or later to check on the Mions’ progress, if they haven’t already.”

“Sadly, I agree.” Celestia turned to Twilight with a nod.

As always, Twilight had sought her old mentor’s approval, and sighed in relief now that she had it. “I’ll give you all the information I can on extended long range teleportation and beacon placement for portals. The destination will be exponentially inaccurate the further away you send it, but you could theoretically find a way to teleport a beacon to another world.” Stupid Discord and his chaos magic aside.

Alexia felt like a physical weight had been lifted from her withers, and she sighed in profound relief. “Thank you so much, Princesses. You don’t know just how much it means to my people to have a way to fight back. At the very least it will give us the possibility of colonizing other worlds if worst comes to worst.”

“Your people are fighters, Princess Alexia, it will do them well to have a focus for such energies.” Celestia added that last part with emphasis, much to Alexia’s chagrin.

Not exactly wrong, but I can’t help but feel she’s being a little condescending by saying that.

Celestia found the royal guest quarters, usually reserved for Cadence, had the scattered few belongings left over from Alexia’s herd, but the they were no where to be found. “They must have departed to tour the castle no doubt,” Celestia commented as Alexia got a full view of the room. Yet what really drew Alexia’s attention was the sweeping vista of Canterlot and the pristine natural landscape beyond. The graceful marble and gold spires mixed with the whitewashed city combined with the huge forest below to bring a tear of joy to Alexia’s eye. With so much damage caused by the Mions both before and after going feral from the Herald’s destruction, Alexia never had time to sightsee outside of refugee crowded cities and Trinity under reconstruction.

“Given what your planet’s been through, it must be a bit of a shock to see an undamaged city.”

“A sad truth,” Alexia replied weakly. “Trinity came under attack last week by a horde of feral mions burrowing underground. They nearly destroyed my garden. Even with detection arrays, it’s going to be a long time before we rid our planet of them.” She shook herself to get rid of the pale funk that such topics brought out of her so she could focus on happier things. “I wonder where my mates ran off too.”

A few minutes earlier, Loki practically barged her way into the royal suite and her jaw fell to the floor at the opulent luxury of it all. Her jaw was soon joined by Crimson and Conrad’s own. It was a three story tower chamber that was open along the center for flight. The walls looked like pure ivory with gold inlay finish. The walls were covered in stuffed bookshelves and artwork that would keep a collector happy for years. As the group moved inside, the ground floor rug almost felt like a memory foam floor that massaged their hooves as they walked. Incense burned at key points in the room to give it an atmosphere of Zen calm.

And then there was the bed.

The bed was a bit larger than a king size, with a mountain of colorful pillows with tastefully done sheets. With Dusty on her back, Loki raced over and jumped on the bed. With a girlish squeal of delight, Loki rolled around on the bed with Dusty howling with laughter.

“You guys gotta try this bed! It’s like taking a hit of E, but totally legal and without the drug trip!”

Luna couldn’t help but to smile at Loki’s liveliness. “I’ll leave you all to settle in,” she looked at the bright late morning sky and yawned. “It’s very late for me, and I’m exhausted. I’ll leave my guards here if you need anything.”

“What about a tour?” Crimson asked without missing a beat. Luna blinked at the widely grinning earth mare. “I’ve never been in an actual castle before! It’ll give us something to do while Alexia’s busy.”

Luna nodded at the simple request. “Sounds perfectly reasonable. I’ll have a guard tend to you shortly.”

Luna departed while closing the door behind her. Conrad couldn’t help but to huff derisively at the room as he let the scrambling fillies off his back so they could join their aunt in assaulting the bed. He flew over to land next to Crimson. “Bloody hell, would you look at this place? I don’t think even Ol Trump could afford a pad like this, if he were still alive.”

“Bah,” Crimson snorted irritably. “The rich didn’t exactly like the governments of the world seizing most of their assets. At least Trump would have willingly donated most of his wealth to help rebuild civilization.” If only to get his name down in history.

“…Yeah, it’s going to be a long time before anyone can get stupidly rich. Even international companies are being restricting on how much they can pay for non-practical expenses.” Conrad felt a shiver roll up his spine at how dense the atmospheric mana was on Equis. Feels like I could fly for days.

Loki bounced particularly hard on the edge of the bed and landed right in between her herd mates. Her mane was a mess, so she thrashed her head around like a wet dog for a few seconds before it returned to its original perfectly sculpted form.

Crimson scowled at how easy that was. That’s so unfair. It took me two hours to get my mane and tail done.

Missing her mate’s ire, Loki barged into the conversation now that her antics caused a pause in the talks. “All that means is we should enjoy this place while we’re here. And to be honest, the more distracted the better.” She roped both mates’ heads over to look at her harness visor’s display. “A whole castle and no Wi-Fi! It’s criminal!”

A knock on the open door brought everyone’s attention towards a dapper looking pale purple unicorn stallion with a noblestallion’s tuxedo on. While he tried to present a mature image, he was clearly a late adolescent. He further cleared his throat and spoke with a holier-than-thou tone. “You must be the extra-planetary visitors I was told about. I am Count Demonie, and I’m…” He had to choke out the next few words. “Here to escort you around the castle as a tour guide.”

Looks of confusion bounced around the herd, with Loki asking the shared question. “I thought we were getting a guard.”

“You were, but Princess Luna saw me in the hall outside her sister’s chambers and made it a royal decree that I point you around the castle.” A thought occurred to him, and his mood suddenly brightened. If this whole portal thing becomes lucrative, it might be a good idea to get a measure of these Terran ponies.

Between Demonie’s attitude and the fact that he reminded Conrad and Loki of self-centered rich kids during Earth’s golden era, they took an instant dislike of the noblepony. Crimson saw the privileged arrogance she hoped Dusty would never have. Or any of our children for that matter.

Loki prodded Conrad in the ribs and whispered to him. “Hey, why don’t we have some fun with this guy? See what it takes to make him run off.”

Conrad was jostled by Violet and Aurora as the giggling fillies rammed into his back legs. “Hmm, tempting, but what are we going to do if our tour guide runs off?”

Loki scooped up Aurora and started tickling her as Crimson talked with Demonie. “There’re guards everywhere. All we need to do is flag one of them down, flash these alicorn girly girls at them and they’ll take us where ever we want to go.”

He couldn’t help but to chuckle at the idea. “One of these days, we’re going to have to tell them about all the times we waved our daughters around as a form of identification and free pass.”

With his compliance in the plan assured, Loki grabbed Violet and placed the filly on her back. “Follow my lead!”

The hacker soon had Crimson joining in on the con, and the herd set out to enjoy the palace, and laugh at one noblepony’s expense.

Author's Note

With the heavy stuff of this chapter out of the way, I can put in some much needed Loki antics next time.

18: Of Titles and Demigods

The vast hallways of Canterlot Castle seemed to stretch forever with a gentle curve. The late afternoon sun cast the numerous planes of stained glass windows into a myriad of colors. Count Demonie was leading the royal herd, sans one alicorn, along the scenic route to the garden party which was no doubt already starting.

Not that any of the terrans knew that of course, as the Equestrian tried to get a measure of them. Thus far, Conrad had shown only cursory interest in the murals and grandiose nature of the palace architecture. Crimson, by contrast, was floored by the sheer height of the marble arches and ceilings. She’s be the first to admit she wasn’t an architectural engineer, but some rooms didn’t seem possible. Well okay, you could probably say that about almost all of the skyscrapers back home. You’d think I’d have grown out of the boonies by now.

Loki on the other hand, wasn’t paying any attention to the castle at all, and was focusing almost entirely on Demonie. His mannerisms, walking gait, posture, and above all, his absolute devotion to the idea that the nobility are the Crème de la crème, all of it was taken in by the scheming green and pink earth pony.

“Now, that lovely work of art there,” Demonie pointed towards a stained glass window, “depicts the climactic victory of the nobility over the peasant uprising of 1254 B.L.R.” The trio of terrans shared a groaned look while Demonie was basking in the majesty. “That was, of course, back before the princesses came to power, when everypony knew their place in the world.” He turned away from the glass to give the terrans a forlorn look. “I’m sure as royalty, or at least nobles, yourselves, you understand how the peasantry can be so daft sometimes.”

“Ahh, yeah,” Crimson replied while swinging her hoof. “Those gosh darn peasants, am I right?”

Conrad leaned into Loki’s ear to whisper in English. “Pretty sure the average American would have our hides if we started calling ourselves nobles, royal herd or not.”

“Ha, and here I was thinking that you were finally an official samurai.”

Demonie cleared his throat. “Pardon my interruption, but I feel we should keep moving. We mustn’t keep the princesses waiting any longer.”

“Hey, you’re the guide, go on,” Loki chided teasingly. “I want to find out what kind of food you guys serve on this planet.”

Everyone could tell Demonie was put off by Loki’s lack of tact, but he said nothing about it as he started cantering towards the party. A minute later he devised a plan of action. “Say, there has been something I was… requested to discover.” The terrans only gave him moderate attention, not that he noticed. “Seeing as how the princesses have been quite hesitant to share any information about you Earthlings and your culture, I would like to know a few things, if that is satisfactory to you.”

“Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer,” Conrad replied cautiously.

Demonie slowed his pace as he worriedly looked at Conrad. The slip in his aristocratic expression was brief, but noticeable. “Be that it may, life is full of risk. So, given that you are from an entirely different planet, I feel it would be a good idea to find out some aspects of your culture, to limit the possibility of insult. To start, what do you terrans typically consider the title for a pony of noble birth?”

“Fuckface," Loki replied in English without missing a beat and with a perfect poker face.

“Ah, well it certainly sounds respectable.” Demonie replied with measured grace, wholly missing Crimson’s surprised expression and Conrad’s look of extreme exasperation. He repeated the word under his breath over and over trying to get it down perfectly.

No doubt of that, Crimson mused while trying to hide her laughter. She carefully hid her face behind Conrad so she wouldn’t betray the prank.

Demonie felt he got it down a few seconds later and turned to Conrad. “Do all of you carry that title?”

“Only her,” Conrad replied quickly while jabbing a wing at Loki. Crimson snickered behind Conrad. “As my mate said, it is a rare honor.”

“Err, well,” he turned to Loki who was doing her best to look serious. “Then I must congratulate you. I’m sure it was well deserved.” Demonie turned back around to make sure he was leading them down the right path, giving Loki a chance to scowl at Conrad.

So that’s how he’s going to play it huh?

Demonie rounded a corner, prompting the terrans to do the same. Once he was sure of the path, he turned back to the earthlings. “One of the things I take in high regard is good music.” He made a show of pointing at the window they were passing. It revealed a unicorn mare with a flute standing above a dragon with its wings flared out. “Not only is our music rich with culture, it has even saved the nation on occasion. Propagating peace where others would only find war.

I would find sampling your native music to be a most enlightening experience.”

“Would you now?” Loki replied with a devilish grin. She pulled her headset’s visor down and used a hoof to type while she walked. “I can play some of our most popular music right here and now.”

Oh no, she’s got that look in her eye. Crimson’s tail flicked about nervously.

“Truly?” Demonie replied with great enthusiasm. His original poor assessment of Loki’s wearable computer moved up a notch or two. Clothing that has more uses than fashion? Incredible.

Hovering her hoof above the final keystroke, Loki addressed Demonie with a mischievous smile. “Allow me to play you, the song of my people.”

Conrad’s indifferent mood spiked with amusement once Loki’s death metal music started blasting throughout the halls. “Now this is music!” His comment was totally lost to the gut grinding music that was disturbing Demonie on so many levels it made his bile rise.

He waved at Loki for several seconds to get her to stop the insufferable racket. Eventually, Crimson couldn’t stand anymore either and cantered over and pulled the plug for him. Loki shot her a betrayed look only to be rebuffed by Crimson’s own sour scowl.

“In the interest of diplomacy, turn that shit off!” Crimson glowered before switching to English. “The locals would toss us back to Earth on our ass if we paraded through the halls playing Dethklok.”

“Ah you’re no fun.” Loki pouted and promptly clicked the audio feed back into her helmet to listen to her music.

“Thank you, Fuckface Crimson Anderson. I don’t know if my sensibilities could have handled any more of that.” Demonie thought using the title would flatter Crimson. Unfortunately, he failed to notice Crimson’s agitated eye-twitch at the inglorious title. “I think it best if we continue to the party.” His ears remained flattened by the still audible music blaring in Loki’s headset. I think I’ve learned just about enough of their culture for one day.

Hoping to avoid any more of the green and pink one’s music, Demonie cut through several shortcuts to reach the garden party.

Once the group rounded the last corner to bring the garden party into view, Loki stopped dead in her tracks and narrowed her eyes while focusing on a pony in the distance. Conrad grew worried at her stern expression, which was blunted by the tongue hanging out of the corner of her mouth. “Something wrong?”

“Yes. I sense a great disturbance in the Force.”

Crimson halted to and gave her green and pink comrade a sardonic eyebrow. “What kind of disturbance?”

A manic Machiavellian grin split Loki’s muzzle. “Someone who knows the power of the Pink.”

Celestia, Twilight, and Alexia reached a balcony overlooking the garden itself. The last several minutes had been spent in silence as Alexia digested everything she had been told. Of it all, Alexia was more than happy to leave things as they were so she had a few days to contemplate Celestia’s wisdom.

The garden below was an amazing sight to see. The artfully crafted trees and shrubberies were plentiful and strategically placed across a full one acre square patch of land overseeing the vast lowlands below the mountain. Yet for all of its aristocratic atmosphere, the blanket of streamers, party games, cakes, banners, a dance floor fit for a rave, and a DJ’s table revealed to Twilight who the planner was in an instant.

Alexia wanted nothing more than to jump right into the gathering crowd of ponies below. A navy blue stallion stood out to her above all others due to his striking similarities to Reed, the self-proclaimed priest of the Congregation of Life. Alexia checked her emotions and turned to Celestia. “The party looks wonderful, thank you.”

Celestia let off a light titter. “Oh, I only offer the space. It was Twilight’s friend Pinkie Pie who set it all up. I think she’s down there now, introducing her friends with the rest of your herd.”

The trio of alicorns looked down to see Twilight’s friends join Pinkie in introducing themselves. Were it not for the thought that danced in her head, Alexia would have flown down to join them. “Before I lose the rest of this beautiful night, I needed to ask you about how to block out the constant drone of my worshipers back home. The sound in the back of my head can be highly distracting,” she said as politely as possible. “Do you know of a way to make it stop?”

Alexia was still contemplating on whether or not she should take Thompson’s offer to have Reed quietly blackmailed into disbanding the Congregation. You would think your own focus of worship telling you to stop would be enough.

“Hmm, yes, I know first hoof how that can be dangerous,” Celestia replied with a slight worried crack in her regal mask. “There’s no time for it tonight, but I will write down all of my notes so Twilight can give them to you later.” She looked at Twilight for a wordless request.

“I’d be glad to,” Twilight replied sullenly. “I probably need to train myself in that too.”

Alexia’s brow furrowed at her sensei’s lack of enthusiasm, and initially thought it was because she assumed Twilight was sad for her. Yet Celestia’s next comment dashed any of that sentiment rather quickly. “I know it is difficult to accept, Twilight, but you must recognize what you are, so you can better understand.”

“Understand what?” Alexia blurted out before hastily trying to recover from the social faux pas. “Sorry, it’s probably none of my business.”

“You might be right,” Celestia commented with an ever so slightly frown. “But I fear my former student hasn’t quite done you justice.” She looked at Twilight who was trying to drill a hole in the floor with a hoof and was looking away with concern written all over her face.

“Justice in what? I’m sure it was a misunderstanding.” Alexia couldn’t believe it was in Twilight’s character to lead her astray.

Twilight’s silence was all Celestia needed to understand, and turned to Alexia. “Blocking the prayers of your followers is an important issue that needs to be resolved quickly, and I suggest you train your foals to do the same, the younger the better.

However, I feel it must be said,” Celestia shored up her voice of authority, tempered by a millennia of rule. “We alicorns are deities. Of that, I am wholly certain.”

“I don’t feel like it,” Twilight mumbled under her breath. Unfortunately her old mentor was used to picking up such mutterings.

“Well, umm…” Alexia shuffled nervously. The last thing she wanted to do is to let her typical style of arguing the goddess issue to insult the one pony who could help her the most. “I’m sure the Equestrian definition of god or deity differs a lot from that of Earth.”

“Does it?” Celestia challenged, earning an internal groan from Alexia. Celestia’s tone and face shifted to critical neutrality. One Twilight knew all too well whenever her old mentor started playing devil’s advocate. “Ever since Twilight started sharing information on your world, I noticed her focus was rather slanted. Science, astrology, modern culture, the phenomenon of the Internet in particular. I however know that the best way to know somepony is to learn how their history has brought them to this point. And a key part of that understanding is mythology.”

“Feels like a comprehensive field of investigation,” Alexia conceded, suppressing an irritated huff. “But I don’t see the relevance. Our species is from this world, not Earth.”

Celestia nodded with a smile. The wise old alicorn could easily sniff out Alexia’s discomfort, but felt the conversation needed to happen. “Granted, but the definition of god has evolved a great deal in your planet’s history. And seeing as how my former student has taken such a liking to you, I studied the history of the United States.

“If I may be so bold, I assume that your idea of a deity comes from the Christian god: a being of absolute power and knowledge. Is that true?”

Alexia shrugged with her wings. “In a nutshell. Seeing how I nearly died from a knife to the heart, I have no business calling myself a god compared to that.”

As I suspected. “That must have been a very trying moment.” Celestia turned to look up at the starry sky to let the conversation lapse briefly to clear the air. Alexia hoped the whole thing would have been dropped then and there, but Celestia spoke right before Alexia could suggest joining the party. “In that context, I agree with you completely. But… I think we alicorns have more in common with the gods of what you call ancient Rome and Greece. We each have an aspect, and we are hardly all powerful or omniscient. They are the closest analog that I feel we alicorns fit.”

She’s not going to let me get away with the whole “I don’t wanna talk about it” excuse is she? Fine. Alexia furrowed her brow in contemplation while using a wing to rub her chin. “I guess that argument has some merit. But even the Greek and roman gods lived above mortals. I don’t think Canterlot Castle quite lives up to the hype of Mount Olympus.”

The Equestrians giggled at that with Twilight adding, “not to mention anypony could easily climb Mount Olympus to see the place for themselves.”

“Plus, those gods didn’t live among mortals as we do,” Alexia commented with a little irritation that she had to use the word ‘mortal’.

“Quite right, Alexia.” Celestia said after recovering from the good humor before shifting back to a serious tone. “So then you must ask the opposite question. Can you really call yourself a normal pony, a mortal, after resurrecting from your assassination? Or even the prolonged lives my sister and myself have had? No other tribe of pony can live as long as we do.”

“I ahh…” Alexia wrestled with the question that she’d been fighting to avoid answering for months. Reed’s face proclaimnig her divinity flashed in her memory, souring her mood further. “I still think it’s possible to be a mortal and still have extra-normal abilities. We can die, right?”

Celestia hummed in approval. “Anything can die, Alexia. You of all people should know that. But what are gods if not mortals with, as you say, extra-normal abilities?”

Twilight’s face lit up in dawning understanding. “Are you trying to say we’re demi-gods then?”

“It’s worth considering, Twilight,” Celestia commented with a respectful nod. Alexia’s mounting irritation about the whole topic was threatening to boil over into anger, and it showed clear as day on her face. Celestia knew she had pushed a bit too far, but that was ultimately her goal. Tie just enough emotion to it, and Alexia will finally start giving the issue serious consideration, rather than stubborn refusal.

Celestia looked down to the party below which was now in full swing. “Perhaps we should save this conversation for later. For now, let’s go down and enjoy the company of family and friends.”

Author's Note

I know it's short, but i wanted to get the last of the talks out of the way before the forces of Pink meet on the partyfield.

19: Curtain Call

19: Curtain Call

Alexia rested on a lounge chair watching the spectacular array of fireworks going off above Canterlot. Being from a small town in Kansas, she never had a chance to watch the truly magnificent fireworks displays in D.C. or any other major United States city during the Fourth of July pre-mion. Closest thing for me was watching it on the news or that one online game that celebrated the Fourth. Salina never had much of a budget for that sort of thing.

The dazzling explosions filled the eyes with all manner of color. Some of the more expensive fireworks managed to create griffins, minotaurs, and even dragons of sparkles and flame. Princess Luna even made it a new moon so that the fireworks would stand out even more brilliantly.

The alicorn was sitting peacefully by herself, off to the side while the rest of the royal herd continued to mingle with the other party goers. Alexia had more than her fill of the off and on celebrations over the past few months as civilization was still rapturous from surviving the war. Victory Day they call it. HA! The parties were non stop for a month back home.

At present, her mates and the rest of the party goers were dancing up a storm courtesy of a white unicorn DJ. For all the books Discord sent over to Earth, pony dancing some how slipped the cracks. As a result, the three terrans on the dance floor jostled and swung about in a lethal manner that betrayed their former profession. Most Equestrians were put off by the fighting moves turned to dance, but some, including visiting generals, saw the lethal beauty in them.

The scattered nobles scoffed at the notion of dancing to the ‘uncivilized’ music Loki had given the DJ access to via her wearable computer. The mane six and the DJ were ecstatic over the jamming beats thumping from the magic speakers. Fluttershy was even able to overcome her anxiety to join in. One elaborately dressed mare was stunned to see the water in the bird bath writhing in its basin in tune to the deep base thundering through the garden.

Only Applejack was absent from the dance floor, although merely just long enough for her to get some of the palace servants to help deliver some of her world famous cider.

As the farm mare set her drinks and kegs out on a few banquet tables near some hedgerows, Rainbow Dash was showing Conrad some aerial dance moves. The moves themselves made him snort out of amusement, and he yelled at her to be heard over the music. “Why do all your moves look like what everyone does on the ground, just in the air?”

“Because reasons!” Rainbow shot back with a sly grin. She bristled slightly from the sardonically raised eyebrow he gave her. “I’m a stunt flier, not a dancer. Besides, if I brought out my real awesome moves, your jaw would drop off the map.”

Conrad’s colorful retort died in his throat when he saw the carefully laid out mugs of Sweet Apple Acres cider. Twilight sang such praises about Applejack’s cider that there’s no way I’m passing this up. Leveraging his spy training, Conrad put on a show of false humility. “I’m sure you could.”

Without further word, Conrad raced over to the cider table. The spreading smell of alcohol tickled his nose with its heavenly fruitful aroma. Damn, I can’t remember the last time I had a drink.

Applejack spared no expense in gathering a whole collection of different containers, ranging from steins, to champagne glasses, to shot glasses (for the special reserve).

“Howdy, Mr. Conrad,” Applejack said during a lull in the music as it switched to a slow dance. “Go ahead and take yer pick.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Licking his lips, Conrad grabbed the largest tankard he could find. Real Equestrian alcohol. I wonder how it’ll measure up. He started slow, taking only half a mouthful to roll the cider around on his tongue.

Applejack watched him with a half smile, to see how the extraequestrial pony would react. He was still in the middle of his assessment when Rainbow Dash came in so fast she rustled Conrad’s mane with her backdraft. “Hey! I love cider as much as the next pony, but we were in the middle of a lesson!”

Forgetting his taste test, Conrad lazily averted his gaze from the stein. “I think you’ve shown me enough for tonight. How about we have a drinking game instead?”

A small number of party goers were making their way over to sample the cider as well. Rainbow and Applejack gave each other a brief look of bewilderment. “Ah drinking game? Can’t say ah ever heard of those.”

Conrad put his mug down in astonishment. “No games? Are you serious?!” The mares shook their heads as Loki, Crimson, and the rest of the mane six arrived to join them. He looked to his herd mates with snorting laughter. “Can you believe this? This planet has no drinking games!”

“You’re kidding?”

“Ha, no way!”

Applejack was more intrigued than annoyed. “Ah’ve seen ponies drink to unwind, friends, guilt, and all kinds of things, but for a game? That just don’t sound smart.”

“Smart or not, I’m up for any game you got!” Rainbow Dash blustered while thumping her chest.

“A GAME?!” Pinkie Pie jumped into the middle of the conversation with all the subtlety of a fog horn. “I’m game for any game! How do you play?”

Snickering at a fully expected win, Conrad shot Rainbow Dash a predatory eye. “How about we start off simple; Rainbow and I go one on one first. We drink at the same time. The first one to give up or puke loses.”

Rarity, Fluttershy, and most of the nobles were put off by the rules, but Rainbow Dash’s competitive spirit beat down any reservations. She spit on her hoof and presented it to Conrad. “You’re. On!”

Conrad and Rainbow Dash were surrounded by their friends, and the few nobles whose sensibilities could tolerate such reckless drinking, as the two sat at a table completely covered in empty tankards.

Loki and Crimson urged their stallion on with a rhythmic chant. “Chug, chug, chug, chug!” After the first seven rounds of both terran mares chanting and cheering each round, Pinkie Pie and her friends joined in. Rainbow’s friends flanked her, giving the same chant as the terrans. Many of the aristocracy fuffed and feigned insult at Princess Twilight Sparkle’s personal approval of such a ‘low-brow’ game. However, where there was money to be made, ponies found it easy to overlook such social slights.

The very idea that members of the Terran royal family would debase themselves with an uncouth game more fit for bums on the street is appalling, mused one particularly stubborn noblemare. So much was her disgust that she walked off. Profit be damned, I’ll just wait for real diplomats and businessponies. Assuming their whole planet isn’t full of such uncivilized behavior. The mare saw Alexia lounging by herself. Perhaps their princess is more respectable.

As much as the noblemare would have wanted to introduce herself to the terran princess, caution stayed her hoof. I think more observation is needed before I speak with her directly.

Uncaring for the flagrant aristocratic judgement, both mugs slammed on the table with a satisfying bang. Rainbow Dash shook a wobbly hoof at her opponent. “Youuu cun really ho’ yur cidar there, budda.”

Conrad could have sworn he saw two Rainbow Dashes in front of him, and casually leaned against the table to hold steady. “I toll you I’mma champ. Buddiesh alvays call meh, the tank!” He roared with gusto.

“Oh yeah!?” Rainbow half turned, half swung her drunken head around to Applejack. “Hit ush agin!” And with that, Rainbow Dash promptly keeled over and fell to the ground, snoring with thunderous effect.

Conrad gave a drunken smirk, and was about to deliver a scathing victory barb worthy of the ages, to be sure, but he collapsed onto the table and into drunken oblivion.

“It’s a draw,” Applejack chuckled. She shuffled her sky blue friend onto her back as Crimson did the same with Conrad. The crowd started to break away as the fireworks and other party favors caught their eyes.

Loki playfully nuzzled her stallion. “Poor guy, hasn’t had a drop to drink since the girls’ last birthday.”

One of Count Demonie’s close allies, Greased Hooves, stepped forward eager to slide into the Royal Herd’s inner circle. His dull grey fur and oily mane fit well with his extravagant tuxedo. “A marvelous show. I dare we should let Fuckface Loki have a go at it next.”

Twilight Sparkle lifted a foreleg in stunned surprise. “Excuse me?!”

The nobles perked up at the sudden flash of anger on Twilight’s face. Loki and Crimson were snickering madly out of view from Twilight as the purple alicorn stared daggers into Greased Hooves. The young noble’s ears fell flat. “Did I say something wrong?”

“I don’t…” It finally registered to Twilight that he had spoken it in English, not Equeish. Her anger shifted to moody indignation as she swiftly looked at Loki who was doing a fine job looking insulted.

“Why I never!” Loki fumed with all the acting of an oscar winner. “I am insulted beyond comprehension! Imagine it! Me Drinking! The very idea!”

Before Twilight could glare Loki into fessing up, Greased Hooves prostrated himself at Loki. “I deeply apologize and recant my ignorant error inflicted upon you Fuckface Loki. I didn’t mean to presume your abstinence from drink.”

Ordinarily, Twilight Sparkle would be quick to set the record straight about what Greased’s error truely was. However, the spymistress held her tongue and resumed her glower at the distraught noble. My Guard has been building a criminal case against him on racketeering, embezzlement, and corruption. I think he can sweat this one out. I wonder how much confusion this little prank’s going to cause when real diplomats arrive.

“I’ll have you know,” Loki began again with a flourishing hoof wave in the air. “That my family’s sobriety goes back for generations since the Fourth Great Rum War of 1589 BC.”

The believed insult was compounded exponentially by the revelation of it spanning multiple generations. Greased Hooves slowly started backing away from the crowd. “I ah, I see. Again, I must express my profound apologies. I think it would be best if I take my leave.”

With far more haste than his station would normally permit, Greased Hooves bolted out of the gardens leaving his compatriots to act as if they’d never met the stallion before.

Fearing any further social faux pas with the terrans, the majority of the remaining nobles decided to split away and mingle with other like minded ponies, while leaving the guests of honor to their own devices. Of course, they still kept close enough to listen in on everything they could.

“Why don’t you take him to your guest room?” Twilight Sparkle offered with a wry grin at Loki’s snickering and Conrad’s lolling face. “I’ll have a guard show you the way.”

Crimson nodded with a smile. “Thank, you Princess. He should really get to have a guys' night out more often. But he dotes on the kids too much to drink around them.”

Twilight hummed in agreement as she beckoned a unicorn Dusk Guard over to her. “Escort our guests to their accommodations.”

“At once, your majesty.”

As Applejack and Crimson followed after the guard, Fluttershy scampered after them to look after her friends new and old. Pinkie Pie bounced over to Loki with a party hat on. “Come on, Loki Dokie, you gotta show me how you work your computer wazzit thingy!”

“Nu uh,” Loki grinned. “The bet was that Rainbow Dash would beat my samurai. And since Rainbow passed out first, Conny won.” She earned a mildly condescending eyebrow from Twilight and Rarity. “Close enough at least!” she rebutted to the silent commentary.

Rarity sipped on her sparkly champagne. “It’s alright, Pinkie Pie. Why don’t you challenge Loki to a drinking game as well?” She gave the green mare a knowing grin. “Assuming her ancestors don’t come back to haunt her for it.”

Loki and Pinkie Pie shook their heads in unison. “Can’t do that” They blinked at each other and started giggling manically. “Jinx! Double jinx!”

Rarity leaned in Twilight’s ear to whisper with mock terror in her voice. “Oh dear, now there are two of them.”

“And here I thought there could be only one,” Twilight snickered quietly.

Since she was already familiar with Loki’s antics, Twilight Sparkle was more confused by the answer, than the two pink ponies’ antics. “What do you mean, can’t? We still have plenty of cider left.”

“Nope, nope, nope,” Pinkie bounced over to Twilight and wiggled her tail in the air. “Cramped hoof, itchy mane, and angry teeth means she has a bun in the oven, so no drinking allowed.”

Rarity’s high society veneer faded briefly, and she kept glancing at the terran’s belly. “You are?” Loki gave a massive toothy grin and nodded. “Well I must say congratulations are in order.”

“So that’s why you messed with Greased.” Twilight tactfully kept her low opinion of the stallion to herself. “When did this happen?” she inquired with a wide grin.

Loki twisted around and started swatting at her twitching tail, while looking up to make sure nothing was falling. “Conny and I did the deed only two weeks ago.”

“I must say,” Rarity began with wistful reminiscence, “my first child was such a blessing.” Even if she’s turned into a whirlwind of fashionless terror. “You have my sincere congratulations.”

“Well ya better save some of those congrats for Alex and Crimson too.” Loki completely missed the Equestrians’ bewildered expressions while she kept swatting her twitching tail.

“My word,” Rarity commented absently after recovering from the shock. “My herd could barely handle two little ones at a time, let alone three, not to mention the three you already have must be a hoofful to deal with.”

Twilight coughed into her hoof nervously. “It’s more likely to be four, actually. Alicorns usually have twins or higher, depending on our size.” I should know.

Loki stopped fussing with her tail long enough to shrug. “Really? I bet Alex is going to love that little tidbit. Me though,” Loki sighed with joy at the memories with Aurora, Violet, and Dusty. “We already have some cool awesome kiddos, and then there’s the whole unofficial ‘next generation’ plan SOL is funding, and we were like, yeah, more kids sounds great, let’s do that thing.” she cackled madly.

Pinkie Pie joined in on the laughter, sending the sane ponies into a bedlam of confusion. Rarity was the first to brush it aside. It’s hardly my business… but then again, it is such juicy gossip. Finishing off her glass of champagne, Rarity cantered around the gathering of giggling pink to reach Twilight on the other side. “My dear, we might get a less ‘Pinkie’ answer from your protégé, don’t you think?”

The pair started walking off towards Alexia. Pinkie Pie alone was a very friendly, if sometimes difficult pony to deal with. The presence of a second pony like Pinkie was too much for most ponies to handle for any extended period of time.

Loki was gnawing on a massive piece of cake with Pinkie bouncing on the table, rocking the empty steins, when she noticed everyone walking off. Her left ear started flopping while her jaw got creaky. “So ahh, any chance you can teach me this ‘Pinkie Sense’? I get this stuff all the time and I can’t figure it out half the time.”

Grabbing a square academic cap out of her mane, and some brown robes from under the table. “Gladly! Lessonario number one! You must unlearn what you have learned.”

Loki gave a smiling salute before lightly bonking her head. “Done.”

“Now, in order to use the Pink you must learn to let go of the woooorrllldd,” Pinkie continued sagely as she started to float while meditating.

“Aww…” Loki’s head sunk as she abandoned her cake, only to find Pinkie Pie had snuck up on her and wolfed it down in one go. “Hey!”

“Lesson three: Pinkie Sense needs lots of sugar! So let’s eat up!” She swung her hooves towards the freshly rolled out table of chocolate frosted cake.

A few of the stuffier party goers meandered by the table when inspiration struck Loki. Meditating is such a drag anyway. “Hey what if we pranked somebody?”

A manic grin creased the party pony. “What did you have in mind?”

As Pinkie and Loki schemed and plotted, Twilight and Rarity approached Alexia and exchanged pleasantries before sitting down and joining her in watching the fireworks. Wanting to glean as much information out of the terrans as possible, several nobles tactfully joined them to get within ear shot. None of them currently tried to speak with Alexia directly, knowing that Twilight would brook no interruption, especially after Greased Hooves.

The last several hours of dancing, small talk, party games, and general celebration caught up to the three mares. The official reason for the party was to welcome the terran ponies into Equestria. The unofficial purpose was to be a celebration of the Earth’s victory over the Mions.

For the royal herd however, this was more in commemoration of the assistance of Twilight (and Equestria in general) in helping the terran ponies learn to cope and thrive with their shift in species.

Being the one sitting close to Alexia’s left side, Twilight eventually spoke up after a bright azure firework lit up the night sky. “So I hear you’re with child, congratulations.” The rest of Twilight’s friends repeated the purple pony’s accolades.

Alexia snorted with amusement. “I wonder who let that slip.” She sighed wistfully and absently rubbed her belly. “Yeah, I can’t help it really. Even before I became a pony, I always wanted a large family.” Course back then I never thought I’d be the one carrying them. She turned her head to look at her smiling mentor. “It sorta helps that there’s been a general call for us ponies to… grow in numbers.”

Rarity arched an eyebrow at that, but recovered her composure to keep a polite tone. “I suppose after such ghastly loss of life, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise.” The equestrians shivered at the prospect of billions dead, yet couldn’t truly comprehend it. Few could without seeing dead cities across the globe in person.

Twilight’s insight saw the meaning between the lines. “You didn’t say terrans, only ponies.”

“Nothing gets past you, sensei.” Alexia looked back up at the fireworks with an approving grin. “Even after the war, humans still number over two billion, while we ponies number just over a one point two million.” No one’s counting those damned traitors who signed up with the mions. May they rot in hell. “So we ponies have some catching up to do if we really want to walk side-by-side with humanity on more equal footing.”

“It certainly sounds like a plan,” Rarity commented dryly. “Although it seems like it might cause a lot of friction. From what I understand, humans were alone on Earth for a long time, and now they have to share it with another species. Sure it helped that you were former humans, but after hearing what happened to you new ponies...” she shuddered at the dreadful thought, nearly dropping her glass of cider.

“We managed in the end,” Alexia said reassuringly. “As xenophobic as they are sometimes, make a friend of humanity, and you’ll have one for life.” At least that’s what I tell people. It seems to be working so far.

The conversation lapsed into silence for a while, the pause giving the fashionista time to mull over it all. “Glad to hear it. It’ll be most interesting indeed to see a human face to face.” I hope that nasty business hasn’t destroyed their love for fashion. Some of the designs Twilight showed me from Paris and New York were simply marvelous. Checking herself, Rarity recovered from her spiral of excitement before she could squeal. “At any rate, I wonder what will you do now? As a planet I mean.”

Alexia mulled over the answer for a minute. The fireworks gave one last grand finale before returning the night sky to the stars. The silver alicorn couldn’t help but to see a threat among the sea of twinkling lights. She lifted a wing and pointed at a random star. “Somewhere out there is an alien species that tried to wipe us out. We terrans are sort of used to living in fear, sad to say, but that used to be from each other, natural disaster or diseases. It was things and situations we at least had some measure of control over and within our scope of understanding.”

She dropped her wing, but kept glaring at that point of light. “But the Koridost are a bigger threat than any despot or plague ever was. If there is one thing we terrans are good at, it’s banding together in the face of a bigger threat.

“We’re unifying. A notion that was laughable even two years ago, but the war…” She heaved a heavy sigh. “We used to see each other as separate people. Americans, Russian, German, Chinese, and hundreds of others. The war galvanized what’s left of us into one identity: terrans. And the consensus of the people is behind it. ” Alexia recalled a news report on the war torn UN headquarters being remodeled to fit the singular government. Of the original one hundred and ninety three flags that used to fly in front of it, now only eight flew. The center mast bore a new flag with a grey and light blue globe of the Earth super embossed over flanking olive branches with three stars on top. The politicians rushed to enter the building while construction work continued.

“We’re going to rebuild.” Alexia’s mind wandered to Moscow and the sea of cranes and scaffolding. To the industrious farms and mines of the Rhineland, and as far as the rebuilt desert oil fields. Even the vast farmlands of the North America’s Great Plains, now cleared of the Mion fungal weapon, brought pride to the silver alicorn.

“And we’re going to find some way to defend ourselves when the time comes.” Alexia’s CIA training unconsciously kicked in, making her face unreadable. Being a silent partner in B&M Magitech, and a key researcher in magic, Alexia was privy to a great deal of weapons that would hopefully drive off the aliens that everyone on the planet knew would be coming. Everyone except for the conspiracy nut jobs at least.

She gave her mentor and friend a pensive frown. “It’s all we can do to survive what is to come.”

Rarity looked back at the struggles against Discord, Tirek, and Sombra, just to name a few. “The world, and now I guess the universe as well, can be a rather dangerous place. But I haven’t a shadow of a doubt that you will succeed in giving those horrid Koridost a good thrashing when the time comes.”

“Isn’t there any way to avoid fighting?” Twilight inquired with drooped ears and sad eyes. “I’m not saying you should just accept a demand for surrender,” she quickly clarified after Alexia cast her a confused glower. “But these Koridost have the capability to make something as incredibly horrible as the Mion plague. You don’t even know what sort of military technology they have. Things that could make your nuclear weapons look like firecrackers!” Twilight's ears wilted at terrifying prospect of hostile aliens glassing Earth. “Peace might be your only real hope.”

Alexia hummed contemplatively to acknowledge she understood what Twilight meant, but remained quiet. Some nobles were already planning on possible trade opportunities from Alexia’s comments. Information on Earth was extremely sparse, mostly from Twilight being the only contact until now. Yet there was plenty of magic export potential in exchange for technological secrets. None of that crossed Alexia’s mind. She had already decided to leave that issue to businessmen and economists.

“Peace…” she said at last. “There’s all kinds of peace, Sensei. I have a hard time seeing any worthwhile outcome where we don’t have to fight for it. It’d be nice though…” Maybe the Herald was sent by terrorists or a rebel faction within Koridost society. Wouldn’t that be a trip.

“No matter what happens, Alexia, we’ll stand by you all the way.” Twilight made sure her regal tone was enough to convey the gravity of her declaration. Alexia expected no less, given how much Twilight valued friendship, but it still managed to rouse a genuine smile out of her. “Earth doesn’t stand alone.”

“Thank you, Sensei.” Both alicorns wrapped themselves into a hug.

With the party winding down, and the DJ only playing slow music, most ponies were leaving. Perched upon a dimly lit balcony with his ear stretched out like a boat’s sail, Discord hummed in bemusement. “Interesting.”

Princess Luna stood at his side, half for the company, and half to keep an eye on him since her sister went to bed a few hours prior. She had been snickering at Loki and Pinkie Pie bombarding guards with confetti and pastries with her patented Party Cannon™. Stewing in their armor, the guards had to take it all without complaint since the Captain of the Guard was making his rounds at the party. Making a mental note to give those guards only a half shift tomorrow, Luna prepared herself to hold Night Court when his comment grabbed her attention.

“What is?”

Discord shrunk his ear back to normal and started floating on a chair sized tangerine. “It seems your species has just passed my little test. If barely.”

Confusion washed over Luna for a few seconds before remembering what Twilight had told her years ago. “You mean if ponies are naturally harmonious?”

“Quite so.” Discord started peeling his chair and eating the rind. “For the briefest of moments, Alexia actually considered peace with the Koridost. A foe she personally faced for years, who she has every reason to revile and hate, and yet…” He purposefully took several suspenseful seconds to chew his last bite of chair rind. “She desired a mutually peaceful resolution.”

“Don’t tell me you started this whole thing with Earth just to test that?”

“Maybe yes, maybe no,” Discord replied innocently.

“Your methods of entertainment are appalling,” she huffed irritably. “There’s no telling how much pain you caused by forcibly changing the species of her people.”

“Is this the thanks I get for saving a whole civilization from being wiped away?” He languished with a dramatic claw to his forehead.

Luna snorted in disapproval and started cantering out of the room. “I sincerely hope this is the last time you toy with another world just to put us ponies on one of your little trials.”

Discord teleported over to lean against the door she was about to cross. A rare serious scowl on his lips caused her to hesitate. “You just don’t get it, do you Princess Luna? The trial never ends. I wanted to see just how naturally harmonious and mentally advanced ponies are, and for one brief instant Alexia surprised me. For that one moment, however brief, she was open to possibilities beyond any of her kin.”

Luna took a moment to search the draconequss’ face. The serious expression melted away as he slid through the wall like a ghost, prompting Luna to follow him into the hallway. “You make it seem like she reached enlightenment.”

He started doing the backstroke through the ground. “If you really want to think in such small terms, I suppose the word fits. I wanted to see just how harmonious you ponies are by turning some violent aliens into ponies. To see if your inbred harmony was strong enough to overcome an enemy that would never be swayed by friendship.

“Puzzlingly these self-proclaimed terrans astound me. They can be the most violent people imaginable, and yet, to those they consider friends and allies, they will fight tooth and claw to protect them. Like you ponies did with the griffins and minotaurs, these terrans have a history of turning hated enemies into their best friends.” He looked at Luna with a superior grin. “To think there is another species, a wholly different world that adheres to a similar interpretation to harmony as you ponies. Yes…” he rubbed his chin contemplatively. “These terrans are beyond fascinating.” I wonder how they’ll act once they finally meet the Koridost.

Luna furrowed her brow in deep exasperation, and stopped to stare down the spirit of chaos pushing a rubber ducky across the floor as if it was water. “You speak as if your whole purpose isn’t to spread chaos.”

“It isn’t?” Discord asked with profound mockery, putting Luna off guard with his sudden mood swing. He put a claw to his chest and swooned in a circle around Luna. “What could possibly give you that idea?”

Luna just ignored the question and lowered her head to be a hair’s breadth from Discord. “There’s something I’ve always found off about you, Discord. You were the one who ‘inadvertently’ led my sister and I to the Tree of Harmony in the first place. You sat there, allowing us to use the elements on you, acting as if the Elements wouldn’t work. The crux of it all was the lockbox.”

“What? That old thing?” Discord replied mockingly. “I do admit that whole Rainbow Power magic body paint was a rather convenient fix for Tirek’s little power trip, but it wasn’t my doing.”

Luna gave a superior smirk, knowing she had him. “I’m more interested in how the lockbox was opened. Twilight told me you bookmarked all the relevant entries regarding the individual keys in their journal. I’m beginning to wonder if your ‘betrayal’ was just a part of your game to test Twilight and her friends.” She finally had Discord’s real attention, and he pulled himself out of the floor with a flat look. “You always put up just enough of a fight to make it seem real.”

She narrowed her gaze out of concern due to his shift in demeanor, but his silence prompted Luna to continue. “Every test you’ve thrown against Twilight and her friends, from the plunder vines, to your ‘reformation’, and the blue flu incident, was some test of yours disguised in a convincing façade of chaos and abrasiveness, wasn’t it?”

“This is all fascinating,” Discord sighed dismissively, purposely evading the question, before turning around to begin walking away. “But if you’re trying to make a point, then make it.”

Shoring up her thoughts, Luna tried to distill her theory into far fewer words. “Ponies across time, myself included, have always just assumed you live to spread chaos at your whim. So why test Alexia, and the people of Earth like you did? You know she’d never have an Equestrian pony’s perspective, let alone any of the humans. Why even stay on this planet if you could be free to do as you please elsewhere?” With her suspicions laid out, Luna pressed home with her most desired question. “What is your purpose, Discord?”

The spirit of chaos teleported to be face to face with Luna. “You want to know my goals and agenda, do you?” He leaned in to whisper in her ear, yet right as he opened his mouth, he stopped himself. With his trademark mischievous grin he floated backwards and away from Luna. “You almost convinced me to break the rules. Such a naughty pony.” He was rewarded with an ill-humored scowl from Luna. “I think I’ve left enough clues for you to figure it out on your own. You’ve already pieced together this much. Let’s see if you can fill in the blanks. Au revoir, Princess,” he smirked before vanishing into a cloud of parasprite balloons.

Luna huffed at so many unanswered questions. Why do I get the feeling the game he’s playing is on a far larger scale than he’s letting on?

A few thousand light-years from Earth, a space station was orbiting a gas giant of solid blue coloring. Screens and monitors sizzled and sparkled to life as several red warning light came on. On the primary screen a warning flashed: Preparatory Sphere designation 397 has declared total mission failure. Immediate action recommended.

Author's Note

I know, i know, this was a set up for a book 3, and i'm leaving it like this in case i go so far as a book 3, but idk if that'll happen. and if it does, it would be low priority, sorry.

Big thanks to my editors: Bitter Pill and boldish42

Chapter 0: Interlude

A hospital waiting room was typically a place of nervous energy, and today was no different. Trinity’s Mercy Hospital was still under construction, but had been done in a way that allowed the lower two floors to be fully operational until the structure was complete. This waiting room in particular saw its first set of family members, but it would soon pick up in the weeks and months to come.

It was the tenth of January and Loki and Crimson waited for their nieces to come into the world. A pegasus mare sat behind the nurse’s counter and kept a silent vigil over her domain. Crimson was already well underway with her pregnancy and was pacing in front of her green counterpart who was joyfully toiling away with a brand new computer harness. The new design was lighter and more robust to wear and tear.

While Loki sat in a chair designed to be more comfortable for ponies, in that the seat was little more than a raised cushion, Crimson was radiating anxious energy. Eventually the pale yellow mare had had enough waiting and walked over to the nurse. “Are you sure I can’t go in there?”

“Sorry ma’am, policy dictates only the father can be in the room.”

“Oh come on. That works with monogamy, but we’re a herd. We should all be there.”

The nurse remained polite, but steadfast. “I realize that ma’am, but we can’t make exceptions. More people means the doctor and nurses may not be able to move around if something goes wrong.”

Anderson remembered her medical studies. Even though her clinical side was greatly assaulted by her emotional half. “R-right. Of course.”

“Simmer down would ya?” Loki called out as a savage grin creased her face as the visor headset concealed most of her large eyes. “You keep that up and you’ll mess up my groove.”

Crimson’s face scrunched up in irritation and she marched over to sit next to her herdmate. “You do realize this is a historic occasion right?”

“Uh huh,” Loki replied absently.

Anderson was having increasing difficulty in laying on her belly, so she opted to rest on her right side so she could face her green gamer. “We could be in there witnessing the birth of the first two ponies, who were born as ponies, be brought into the world.”

“Uh huh.”

“And they’re our alpha’s children,” the pale yellow mare added with emphasis.

“Last I checked.”

Crimson’s brow twitched in exasperation. “I can’t believe you’re playing…”

“Half Life Three.”

Anderson chaffed at the flippancy of her mate. “You know, years from now I would like to look back on this day and tell people ‘I saw history being born’. Not sitting in a waiting room playing games.”

“Better than being stuck in a waiting room fussing over which room you get to sit in. Besides, its nothing we can control, so don’t worry about it.”

The pregnant earth pony shook her green herdmate with frustration, nearly knocking the headset off of her. “But this is history!”

Loki’s luck ran out and she lost the gnome during a jump. “Damn it all. Now I gotta go all the way back.”

Crimson let go of her insufferable mate and sulked in her chair. “My sincere condolences.”

Loki pulled her headset off and looked at her brooding companion. “Look girl, we’re already herdmates to probably the only alicorn Earth will ever see. We’re already historic figures. I think just being aunts to the first ponies born on Earth is enough, don’t you think?”

The pale yellow mare slumped as she thought about it for a minute. “I guess you’re right. I really just want to know what to expect in nineteen weeks.”

“You really don’t want to know. Sure you get a bundle of joy for your effort, but giving birth is a nasty sweaty process, and I do not want a kid badly enough to go through that. Plus they’re really ugly for like…a month or two.”

A predatory gleam flashed in Crimson’s eye. “You’re scared of the act of giving birth aren’t you?”

“Of course not,” The green mare said a little too quickly.

Crimson had her now. “All I hear are lies and misinformation.” She got up to lean in the green mare’s ear with a spooky mocking tone. “Just the thought of it scares you.”

Loki grimaced. “I wouldn’t mind having a foal. But we’re going to have three of them to take care of soon enough, and adding one more will be overkill.”

Anderson had a smug expression on her face. “Its like one of those alien movies to you isn’t it? An ugly xenomorph starts growing inside you. Feeding off of you as it gets bigger and bigger.” Loki was sweating at the mental image. “Then almost ten months later they burst out of you wailing, crying, and covered in blood.”

“That’s enough mind rape thank you.”

Anderson wasn’t finished yet. “And they’re insidious to boot.” The pale yellow mare pulled Loki’s face over to her bulging belly while rubbing lovingly on it. “They pull on your heartstrings with those cute little faces and mind powers that enslave the parents into showering it with love. Until one day they’re strong enough to leave you behind while still sucking on you dry for college money.”

“Assuming there will still be colleges the way the world’s going,” Loki cracked with grim humor.

Before Crimson could become morose, Doctor Wilder exited the maternity ward. “Crimson, Loki? You may enter now.”

Both mares dropped their taunting and raced inside to find Alexia and Conrad. They found the new parents in the center of the room. The silver alicorn was no longer panting from the effort, but was still physically weakened, and Conrad was propping himself up on the reclining bed Tune was resting on so he could look upon his twin daughters with pride.

Alexia was beaming a brilliant smile and shifted position so she could show off her foals to the two arriving mares. Both were wrapped in pink blankets and the pegasus filly was named first. “May I present my first born, by a matter of fifteen minutes, Aurora Sky.” She turned her gaze to the newborn unicorn filly. “and Violet Spark.”

Aurora Sky had alabaster fur with her mother’s azure mane, but it was in four different shades. Her mane was mostly azure, but the other three shades of blue formed down the left side of her mane as if mirroring her mother’s alpha colors. The only reason Alexia didn’t think this was a strange side effect of borrowing her mates’ colors was that Aurora’s tail also possessed the four shades, whereas the alicorn’s tail did not.

Violet Spark’s fur was unsurprisingly, a rich violet, but her mane carried a similarly strange coloration like her sister. Spark’s mane was somewhere between a dark pink and a light purple, and it had streaks of pure white that was rimmed by a thin layer of pale blue which gave the illusion that her mane had arcs of electricity running through it. The illusion was foiled with the filly’s mane and tail lying still and concealed by the blanket, but if the wind was blowing through it, the optical illusion would return.

The tired and exuberant silver alicorn was far too wrapped up in a mother’s love to think the colorations of her daughters anything unusual and felt only immense pride and joy for them.

Conrad was equally enamored by Violet and Aurora and he gently rubbed Sky with a fetlock. “I can’t wait until she’s old enough to fly.” His heart swelled with pride as the little filly feebly attempted to ensnare his hoof with her forelegs.

The herd cooed over the newborn foals for two hours until Wilder returned to stand between Loki and Conrad. “I’m very sorry, but we should begin vaccinations and other health tests before too much longer.”

“What if they get hungry before you’re done?” Tune inquired with a trace of worry.

“Fear not. I’ll get the most important ones out of the way first so I can return your fillies if that happens. I’m sure you already know that we currently can’t synthesize proper baby formula as of yet. So to that end, would you mind donating a few pints so I can send them down to the labs so we can discover the needed nutrients to begin making formula?”

Tune didn’t need a single second to think. “I’d be honored to. I’ve been following the diet plan in one of the book’s Twilight made available, so my milk should be on par with what any foal should need.” The new mother reluctantly allowed the former veterinarian, who’s official title was now Doctor after the latest legislature that the president passed into law, to take the foals into the other part of the maternity ward.

“Glad to hear it. If all goes well, all three of you should be out of here by Sunday.”

Conrad wanted to follow after Wilder, but knew his daughters were in good hands. “Please take good care of them.”

Wilder gave a reassuring grin at the joyful herd. “Don’t worry, they’ll be just fine.”

The eighteenth day of February marked the day Alexia’s herd moved into their permanent home. It was a two story house designed specifically for ponies. The overall height of the ceiling remained the same so human guests could stand comfortably, but the door handles, tables, counters, sinks, and everything else had been lowered to shoulder height of the average mare and the doors were wide enough that a pegasus stallion could easily fly through. It had one master bedroom and four guestrooms with one being the foals’ room. The kitchen, dining room, living room, and den, occupied the first floor with the living quarters on the second and a play room was situated above the two car garage.

The herd rolled up in the neon blue Volt to find the work crew of twenty nine ponies and five humans who had lent their expertise to the project. An additional three hundred ponies who had donated funds for the project stood or hovered in attendance as the royal herd arrived. All of them cheered by either clapping or stomping on the ground as Mayor East stood by the front door with a pair of giant scissors suspended in her telekinesis. A bright red ribbon was wrapped around the two roman columns in front of the windowed double doors.

The black unicorn kept a professionally warm smile, but couldn’t help but let a little more friendliness slip in at the approach of her friends. “Princess Alexia,” she began loudly through a microphone so the cheering would die down for her speech. “The good citizens of Trinity are a proud people, and they have good reason to be. This fair town is not even half a year old, and it has already proven both to its citizens, and to the world at large, that we ponies have much to offer the world.”

“By harnessing the innate power of all three tribes, Trinity is quickly becoming the hub of a brand new industry: magic. Even now, our small but highly productive farmlands to the east will soon start producing enough food to where we can start exporting. But magically grown plants need an exorbitant amount of water. And we have none other than the two masterminds behind our burgeoning weather control service than Conrad Lemay, and Gill Highwind.”

A brief round of applause resounded for the two pegasus stallions who waved at their weather crews. A few of the more rowdy pegasi patted their work bosses heavily on the back. East let the cheering die down again. “And let us not forget everyone’s work at Brad and Marcy’s Enchantment Company for their exceptional merger of technological and magical innovation.” The mayor stopped when she saw Alexia quietly gesture that she wanted to add something. “And without further ado, Princess Alexia.”

The silver alicorn took the microphone from Julie and stood in front of the ribbon to face the audience. Both Aurora Sky and Violet Spark sat on her back, both because their mother wanted them close and because the twins were a symbol of the ponies’ future on Earth. The princess didn’t feel the need to go out of her way to present her children as such, but felt their mere presence was sufficient. The unicorn filly was sitting on Tune’s withers as she gnawed on her mother’s mane. Aurora was nestled between Alexia’s wings and was sleeping soundly despite the noise.

The princess took a moment to try and meet all of her subjects’ eyes. Much to her initial resistance, East’s role as mayor was becoming more of an advisory and stand in position and it was Alexia who was holding more and more political power within Trinity every day. The black unicorn was in full support of Tune being more than just a figurehead, even if the princess’s power meant little outside of town.

“Our good Mayor brings up a good point about the BMEC.” She dearly wished she had one of their products on hand, but had to continue without the visual aid. “Magic and technology. Combined into a single machine. I love it every time I hear about it, because that is what we are all striving for isn’t it?”

“Magic and technology, ponies and humans, both united in a better synergy.”

“History has shown us from both Earth and from Equestria, that both of our species can stand alone. But together, we do more than just stand. We thrive. We are more than the sum of our parts and our actions in these past few months more than proves that humans and ponies can and will stand united.” She looked to the three dozen humans who joined the crowd, Wilder and some of Thompson’s men from the nearby training grounds were in the mix. “I am both happy and proud of everyone who have made Trinity the success that it is.”

She paused to gesture at the house behind her. “Trinity is like this wonderful house. I didn’t build it.” She faced the crowd while focusing on the work crew. “This was not my doing, or that of any one being, but of us all.”

“That is why I know we cannot possibly call ourselves a pony society nor can we call it human society either. Because our town hasn’t become what it is without the help and support of every citizen. So with all of you as witnesses to history,” she said with her wings flaring to encompass the entire crowd. “That I can honestly declare Trinity as the first true Terran community.”

The renewed cheering of both species was deafening and redoubled as Tune cut the ribbon. It was loud enough to wake the sleeping Aurora Sky who started crying at the noise. Alexia took the little pegasus in her magic and levitated her over so she could see her soothing mother’s face. Tune weaved a sound damping field around the crying foal who calmed at the lack of noise and latched onto her mother’s muzzle. Aurora’s magenta eyes locked upon Alexia’s azure ones causing the filly to giggle at the close proximity.

The silver alicorn was not above public displays of affection to her daughters and herdmates, but did have to reposition Sky so the princess could see more than the smiling alabaster filly’s face, and to get the repugnant stench off her snout. “Come along little one, let’s get that diaper off you.”

Conrad was nearby and took the filly into wings before placing her on his back. “Let me take care of that. I’m sure the public will want to see you for a little longer.”

“Thanks honey.” Sky fluttered her wings as she clung to her father’s back. Alexia released the sonic dampening field as soon as the door was shut behind Conrad.

The ribbon cutting ceremony would last for a few more hours until the herd was left alone to settle in. As usual, the four adults claimed the master bedroom as their sleeping quarters. Thankfully the king sized bed was more than enough to accommodate them.

The family settled in to the evening around the living where a wood burning fireplace crackled as the ponies enjoyed themselves. Crimson was continuing her medical studies, Loki was snatching funds out of an Italian politician’s bank account, while Conrad was half watching a football game on low volume and going over the latest work reports on the weather teams pulling water from the Pacific Ocean. Alexia was reading about conjuration magic while nursing her daughters.

Anderson’s concentration was broken by her foal kicking. Have a hoof kicking her was much more noticeable than a hand or foot and she winced at the impact. If my kid’s old enough to kick me, then I bet I can find out what it is.

She left her books open and walked over to the silver alicorn who had one alabaster and one violet leech sucking on their mother. “Hey Alex, can I ask a favor of you?”

Tune put the book down while answering. “Of course, what do you need?”

Anderson was glad Alexia’s chair kept them eye level so she wouldn’t need to kneel down. “My foal is kicking. Do you think you can see what tribe and gender it is?”

Loki and Conrad’s ears perked up at the question and both of the eagerly walked over to hear the results. Alexia beamed a smile. “That’s hardly a favor, but I’ll be glad to check it for you.”

The green and brown ponies started gently stroking the two fillies as the princess laid a hoof the pale yellow mare and used her Inner Sight to find the answer. A few moments later and Tune’s smile threatened to split her face. “You’re having an earth colt.”

Anderson’s jaw dropped. “A son? I’m having a son!?”

Conrad glomped the earth pony with a maniacal laugh. “YES! I have a son!” Crimson urked under his bear hug. “Thank you Alarm Clock Disease!”

Anderson rolled her eyes. “So glad my lapse in mental stability makes you happy.” He kissed her to show he meant no insult. She melted into the affection and wrapped her forelegs around him.

“No offense to you mares and fillies,” he said after breaking contact, “but I’m a lone island in an estrogen ocean here. The house needs more testosterone.”

Loki nibbled tauntingly on the stallion’s ear. “Are you trying to say you’re not man enough to handle all of us?”

“All I want is a diversion when my daughters get old enough to try and force a makeover on me,” he answered quickly to dissuade any playful retribution later.

Crimson and Loki shared a conspiratory glance at each other before the pale yellow mare spoke. “Why wait for your daughters to do it? Your hair has been getting rather long as of late. Don’t you think Loki?”

The green mare grinned savagely. “No doubt. Let’s try our hooves at styling it.”

Conrad shook his head once. “Nope.” He took to the air and buzzed out to the front door.

Both earth mares chased after him. “You’re only making it worse on yourself!”

“If you fly out of grabbing range I’ll pound you!”

Alexia snickered as her mates left the house to chase Conrad through the woods. Left alone with the fillies, she closed the book to lay her head down so she could look upon her children. The sight of Aurora and Violet always warmed Tune’s heart. I don’t know if it’s a natural part of motherhood or me being a bit more deviant, but I prefer nursing over bottle feeding when I can. To literally give of myself to make my daughters stronger, isn’t that what any mother should want to do? With this being her last month off from her work as a training instructor, she knew she wouldn’t be able to nurse as often as needed. Well despite Wilder’s assurances, I’m still not buying any of that formula. That sort of thing takes years if not decades to get it right, not a month. I’ll just have to fill the bottles myself, or find a sitter who can wet nurse.

Casting her thoughts aside, she laid there, silently watching her suckling foals. I’m really not looking forward to breaking the news to Qubert and my folks on Thursday. At least Q knew I was a mare already, but trying to convince mom and dad their son is now a mother of two isn’t going to be fun or easy, let alone that I’m a different species. Plus we’re going to talk with Crimmy’s folks a week after that.

Alexia noticed Violet was done feeding and grabbed a nearby cloth so she could burp her. “Even if you two can’t say you're blood relatives anymore, given the species difference and what not, you still deserve to know your grandparents.”

“All of their grandparents?” a familiar voice called out from her right ear.

Tune looked around the room, her ears swiveling to try and catch the source. “Hello?”

Violet chose that moment to belch, but instead of just air, a white wispy puff of cloud came out and circled around both ponies’ heads before congealing into an ethereal version of Discord’s head. “I thought I’d stop by to see how my favorite daughter was doing.”

It took the alicorn a moment to realize who was speaking, and was then unsure of how to react to his declaration. “You-you see me as a daughter?”

“Is it really that big of a surprise my dear?” the disembodied head replied as it sailed lazily around her. Discord’s avatar gazed upon Alexia’s foals. Aurora was too busy nursing to notice, but Violet giggled as she tried to swipe at the flying wisp of smoke. “I never touched your soul, but the body you inhabit was of my own creation.”

Alexia fought to find the right words. “I understand you turned me into a pony and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that, but that’s just it. You turned me into a pony, you didn’t create me.”

Discord briefly contemplated washing her mind to make the silver mare think of him as her father. No. I have a good rapport going with these earthling ponies. Falling back into old habits would ruin it. “You can’t blame an old soul for getting sentimental.”

His wispy features turning a dark grey and wrinkly, causing Spark to try even harder to swat the avatar with her hooves. Tune felt better about him giving up the claim. “I guess not. I take it you came to see me for a reason?”

“Reason reason reasons,” he complained as he moved over to spy on Aurora who was finally done eating. “Must I really need a reason to visit anymore?”

The cautious mother took the little pegasus to burp her as well. “Well no, its just I know it can’t be easy to keep communicating with me. Not unless you have an entangled book like the tome is.”

Discord remained silent for a lengthy pause as he let Violet swat at his incorporeal face. The little unicorn laughed manically every time his long face was destroyed and reformed. Alexia was the only mother in existence who had no qualms about letting him see children up close. She knew he was powerful and knew of his past on Equestria, but with all that he had given her she felt friendship was the best response.

“I’d offer you some of our scotch, but I don’t think you could drink it as a wisp.”

“I’ve never heard of scotch, but in either case you’d be right.” Trinity’s ambient magic was barely strong enough to support Discord’s avatar, and trying to do anything but act like smoke would be impossible. Having satisfied his curiosity about his favorite princess’s children, he focused on her. “I did come here for a reason. To give you a warning about your fall, and how you bring Earth down with you.”

The flippancy of his tone made her question his seriousness. “So the dark side is stronger after all?”

“It has it perks,” he replied as he coiled around the room. “But so does the light.” He looked at her with a teasing expression. “The real problem is that good guys are too scared to use the dark, and the evil ones scoff at the light as unworthy. The tricky part is learning how to wield both.”

Alexia watched the two fillies chase after Discord as he did slow laps around the alicorn, all the while making silly faces at the squealing foals. Always slow enough for one of the twins to swat or bite him before moving on. “I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me.”

“Oh… Just musing aloud is all,” he replied cryptically.

She eyed him warily. “Then what’s all this talk about me falling and taking Earth with me?”

He paused near Tune’s belly with a contemplative look on his face. “Did I say something like that?” His hesitation allowed Violet to try and bite the cloudy avatar, but the taste of it soured in her mouth and she spat the wisps of cloud back out with a cough. “I suppose I did.” He reformed his avatar to look at the mare. “Do you know-“ He paused again before a sad chuckle escaped his ethereal lips. “No. I said I would help you once and leave you to your fate, and that is exactly what I’ll do. But I will give you this one piece of advice.” He flew around Alexia’s head a few times before stopping to whisper into her right ear. “When an immortal’s heart is broken, her pain becomes the world’s pain.”

He pushed up and away from her, with Tune turning to face his retreating avatar. “What do you mean by that?”

Discord’s voice became reedy and weak as the wisp lost cohesion. “Ask about the lunacy phenomena.”

“What do you mean about an immortal?” she called out with a raised hoof, only to be met with silence as the avatar vanished. She was left with far more questions than she was comfortable with and only looked away from the spot he disappeared from when she heard Sky crying because Spark was pulling on her wing to try and eat it.

Tune cooed while pulling the two infants apart. She grabbed a chew toy form the table and gave it to Violet while soothing Aurora’s over extended wing. The sniffling pegasus quieted down after receiving a pacifier and a long hug. “Alright you two, play nice.” She set the alabaster pegasus back down and the fillies started crawling over each other.

Discord’s warning played through Alexia’s mind as she absently watched her daughters play. “Lunacy, and immortal… He never said anything about doing anything other than turning humans into ponies, so I doubt its something he did. Unless he actually did create something other than ponies on Earth.”

Tune watched the fillies get into an argument over the squeaky yellow and black bee plush toy. “Could he have been referring to me as the immortal though?” The fillies decided to chew on the toy together. She idly recalled her gunshot wounds and studied her long since healed wing. “Immortals don’t get injured from mundane weapons.” Her eyes looked up to the right. “Well okay all I have to go on with immortals is theology and Hollywood, so maybe some do. But I can’t be one. I’ve got all three tribes’ magic in me sure, but that doesn’t make me immortal.”

Violet decided Aurora’s ear looked better than the toy and let go of the plastic bee to latch onto her sister’s left ear. Sky retaliated by going after Spark’s right foreleg’s fetlock. Alexia saw they were doing no real harm to each other and let them be. “Maybe the immortality thing is a metaphor for something else. Something to do with this lunacy, and I bet it’s a reference only a native of Equis would know.”

She brought the book back and opened to the Guard page. As it had been for the past seven weeks, Twilight was absent. Only a single letter detailing the lavender princess was over seeing an archeological expedition to the frozen north surrounding the Crystal Empire and a murky date of her return in roughly four months’ time was all Tune had. That was shortly before the twin’s birthday.

Alexia watched the two girls fall asleep, one with drool all over her leg, with the other having it run down from her ear. The scene caused her to cringe mirthfully and pulled them apart. “We don’t need slobber pooling in your ear now.”

Both fillies stretched and reached for their mother, so she stood up and placed them on her back. Before she could take them upstairs to the crib her phone rang. Grabbing it in her magic and pulling it from on top of the table, she checked the caller before answering it. “What can I do for you Director?”

Thompson’s voice was curt. “Are you watching CNN?”

The alicorn’s brow furrowed as she took the remote in her magic and flicked the news on and turned the volume up. A stone faced balding man appeared with a headliner that read: Botswanian Government Collapses. “Experts are saying the country of Botswana has finally collapsed as of yesterday. Widespread food poisoning, tainted drinking water, and a lethal pandemic across all major cities along with insufficient foreign relief aid have destroyed all public confidence in the local parliament.”

The picture switched from the news anchor to video footage of rioting civilians with little to no police or military personnel around to keep order. While the alicorn couldn’t understand the language, it was clear that many people were ransacking Red Cross food trucks, marketplaces, and government buildings. “The UN has made it clear that it will not stop until local hysteria and civil order are back under control. However given that this situation has been progressing for four months now, it is unlikely that public unrest will be resolved any time soon.”

The silver mare still had the phone up to her ear and Thompson spoke up as soon as the broadcast moved on to a different story. “Stories like that have been on the upswing for close to a month now, but the agency’s been getting similar reports from every continent except the Americas and Europe.”

Feeling that the television was no longer needed, she turned the disquieting news off and made her way to the stairs to drop the foals off in their cribs. “Do you have any leads on the culprits?”

“My hunch tells me it’s the Koridosonites, but enough of the brass remains unconvinced to act on it. They believe the cult is limited to the Americas and western Europe.”

“Mass poisoning and starvation doesn’t seem like the same modus operandi for the same group that laid siege to the capital.”

His tone was a little crestfallen with his theory finding another hole. “And the Cult did lay claim to the siege of both D.C. and Rocky Springs, but no one has come forward to claim responsibility for the poisonings.”

She kissed her daughters before tucking them into bed, glad that they were safe from the world’s troubles. “Speaking of which, how much prestige did they get from the underworld for claiming responsibility for the siege?”

“Between having D.C. in flames plastered over every news network in the world and with a damaged White House being the centerpiece? Incalculable. The other anti-American extremists out there won’t give a damn what the cult’s ultimate objective is, they won the hearts and minds of the underworld. Needless to say its making our job of weeding them out all the more difficult.”

Tune closed the door to let her foals sleep in peace. “As much as we want to get back out there, we can’t operate in the field until Crimson’s pregnancy is over.”

He paused for a bit. “I wouldn’t ask you to split the herd up for an assignment anyway.” As much I need lone operatives, I can’t argue with those four’s track record. “As far as the higher up are concerned, lending your expertise to advanced training is more crucial for the time being. But I want you to stay informed of global events from here on. There may come a time soon when I’ll need to pull you off the instructor cadre.”

Alexia stared out of the window into the setting sun. Gnawing trepidation sat in her gut. Both for the declining situations abroad, and from Discord’s warning. “I wouldn’t doubt it.”

The flight over to Kansas city and subsequent drive to a hotel prior to meeting with Tune’s parents was uneventful. Aside from the twins calling far more attention to themselves than human children would. As Alexia predicted, revealing the existence of adult ponies was one thing, but the presence of foals hit home to all of their fellow passengers and witnesses in the Wheeler Downtown Airport that human’s new ally was to be a permanent addition to society.

Again Tune knew Violet Spark and Aurora Sky were symbols, and that she didn’t have to go out of her way, even in the slightest, to project that image. While the passing humans’ response was generally positive, her thoughts kept drifting towards Discord’s warning. It kept her mostly silent on the plane. The herd was used to her silence, but generally only because she was studying, not brooding.

As the herd was walking towards the baggage claim Conrad didn’t want to see her silently brood anymore and rubbed his head against her to get Tune’s attention. “Hey sourpuss. You going to join the world of the living?”

She responded to his touch with a small smile. “Sorry. Just thinking about what Discord said.”

“I know. You’ve been doing that all week.”

She apologized again. Violet caused the silver mare to laugh as the filly started gumming her father’s ear while she sat on his head. Sky was sleeping between his wings. “Its just I can’t help but think that he was referring to me when he said immortal’s pain.” She stopped watching her unicorn daughter’s cannibalistic habits to look at her mate. “I skimmed over Equestria’s history, Celestia and Luna have been alive for well over a thousand years. And they’re both alicorns,” she said at length.

She was speaking in Equish so the passing humans wouldn’t understand, but the herd could. It was Crimson so spoke next. “So you really think you’re immortal?”

“I don’t know what to think,” the azure and silver alicorn replied with a sadness at the thought of out living everyone.

Loki, who had been walking behind everyone, ran to be in front and then started walking backwards. “What makes you so sure that alicornhood equals immortality? Maybe those two had to get something else done to them to go all demigod mode.”

Conrad nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Besides, you were badly injured from a couple of bullets. You’d make a horrible goddess if a piece of bad cheese could counter immortality.”

“Gee thanks.” The stallion’s teasing got a more genuine smile out of her.

Crimson had not been looking over Equestrian history in favor of their medical knowledge, focusing more on pediatric and emergency care for her roles as future mother and medic respectively. But some of her extracurricular readings made her think of a different possibly. “Maybe he was speaking in a metaphor. Immortality and agelessness are often mixed and synonymous with each other. And given that equestrian alicorns are considered immortals thanks to the Sisters, he could have still been talking about you, but in a roundabout way.”

The explanation didn’t make the silver mare feel any better. “Do you think he was foreseeing a something bad happening to us?”

Loki snorted dismissively at that. “He probably saw you were becoming too much of a busybody. I think he was telling you to stop worrying and just go with the flow. Don’t fret over eventually losing something. Live in the moment and enjoy what you’ve got while you’ve got it.”

Tune looked at her mates before resting her eyes on Violet who was starting to fall forward off of Conrad’s face. He took the giggling filly into a wing and placed her on her mother’s back. Alexia turned around to gaze lovingly at her daughters. “Yeah. I can do that.”

Just beyond the security line into the baggage claim milled a very familiar face to the silver pony. She barely remembered to secure her unicorn daughter into the back mounted foal carriers she wore in lieu of saddlebags before galloping over to meet Qubert Smith.

The man was standing around impatiently until he heard his name called and saw the silver mare bounding towards him. He recognized her instantly. “Alex! How’ve you uump!” he grunted as the pony bounced up on her forelegs at the last step and planted her chest into his stomach and tightly wrapped her forelegs around him.

She was careful not to stab him with her horn as she buried the side of her head in his chest. “You would not believe the craziness that’s happened to me since the party.”

Smith hugged his old friend back, but was rendered mute by the presence of her wings and more shockingly, the two foals strapped to her back so they wouldn’t interfere with flight. “Alex—long time no see. Are those yours?”

Tune dropped back down to all fours about the time the rest of the ponies arrived and she angled her body to be perpendicular to Smith. “Yup, going on eight weeks today.” She gestured with a wing first to the green, then brown, then finally pale yellow ponies. “You’ve already met Loki and Conrad, and this is Crimson Anderson.”

He shook their offered hooves one by one before settling back on his old friend. “I thought you were lying in pieces on some mad scientist’s dissection table until I saw you on the news with Prez Fizz and find out I’m best friends with royalty. You gotta tell me where you’ve been and--” he looked at the foals. “How they happened.”

Director Thompson had given the herd an exhaustively thorough list of every classified piece of information she was not allowed to disclose to her human friend and family. Most of it dealt with operations conducted as members of Section Nine and the vast majority of information regarding the Mions.

All four adult ponies regaled their story on the way to Qubert’s car and towards Alexia’s parents’ house. Qubert mulled over the information as lightly as possible given that he had to focus on driving in traffic in unheard of levels compared to Salina. When a few minutes had passed since Loki finished telling the tale Qubert had an idea. “Say, does Trinity have any nightlife yet?”

Conrad turned away from his driver side backseat window. “Aside from a few dive bars not really. Not much a point in strip bars either since we typically don’t wear clothes.”

Crimson and Alexia smacked him while Loki was filled with perverted ideas about a reinvention of that type of establishment. After pounding the snickering stallion, Tune directed a smirk at the expected question Smith was about to voice. “As much as I enjoy Salina and what not, you think a night club could make a profit in Trinity yet?”

Loki filed away her new schemes in her harness to voice her opinion as she loved the idea instantly. “Oh hell yea! Our town’s only going to get bigger and we need a proper dance club-“ Among other things. “-if we’re ever going to advance to a proper city one day.” The green mare stared through the ceiling in thought. “Smog, a never sleeping city, light pollution galore, and graffiti covered walls.” She leaned against Crimson who was both amused and annoyed by the off kilter pony. “Now that would be perfect for Trinity.”

Anderson rolled her eyes and spoke in a teasing fashion. “I don’t know. With all the hype around electric cars these days, by the time the town’s big enough to have smog, most cars will be nearly emission free.”

Loki’s wistful expression was replaced by one of horror. “You don’t think that’ll actually happen do you? No city is complete without smoooog.”

Smith parked the car in the parking lot of a whitewashed condominium. It wasn’t the most luxurious one in the city, but it held a level of class about it. “Well here we are. Home of psychopath A and megabitch nine thousand.”

“Q!” Tune growled while punching the man on the shoulder. “Those are my parents you’re insulting.”

He rubbed his shoulder as everyone piled out of the car. “Yeah I know exactly who I’m insulting. I can tell you right now they aren’t going to be too happy with what has become of you.”

Loki and Conrad couldn’t say anything about having a good upbringing save for the stallion’s grandfather. So it was left to Crimson to make the necessary reply. “If they loved you the same way you love Sky and Spark then it won’t matter to them what you are.”

That was when a very equine snort escape the stallion who grabbed the diaper bag out of the trunk. “Believe me. My father was quite happy at what I became.”

Anderson didn’t have an answer to being reduced to less than a slave and sold as property as Conrad’s father did to him. She gave him a sad expression but otherwise kept her peace and let the herd alpha lead the way.

Smith walked side by side with his old friend as the group made their way indoors. “So did you call them to tell them you were coming at least?”

Alexia cringed in her response. “Through text and emails that I was hit by the pony pox. I was scared to reveal my soprano voice to them.”

“Why? I think you have a beautiful voice,” he replied casually.

She gave him a critical, if friendly, eye. “Since when did you start complementing me on my beauty?”

He returned the expression as he pressed the elevator button. The rest of the herd wanted to hear the response. “Well, seeing as you speak, act, and dote on your kids as much as you do, I’d say your mind is quite firmly entrenched in being female, so I figured I would treat you like any other female friend.”

Alexia leaned her head against his leg for a moment. “I knew there was a reason I ignored my parents’ demands that I stop being your friend.”

Conrad didn’t feel anything more than a twinge of jealousy at the attention Qubert was receiving. She was his alpha and had shown no interest in human men. Besides, its not like a pony’s love is restricted to just one person. He pulled the two earth mares in close with his wings to whisper off to the side. “If things go south, will you two take the foals out of the room?”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that, but okay.”

“You got it samurai.”

The group went up to the fifteenth floor with only little small talk about how Salina was doing and how the entertainment business was flagging because of recent elevations in public unease. It was Qubert’s last comment before the doors opened that bothered the ponies most. “I don’t know about the coastal states, but in and around my area, people are starting to get scared to venture too far from town or home anymore, its been killing my business.”

Tune couldn’t think of a response thanks to an unsavory smell emanated from the two lumps of fur on her back who started to whimper at the feeling of it. “I need to use the washroom guys, I’ll be back.”

Conrad held up a restraining hoof. “No let me do that. You need to get your parents used to the idea of having a daughter. You can drop the baby bomb later.”

“That might be for the best.” She undid the harness with her telekinesis and strapped it onto the stallion. “Thanks.”

“Just take it slow,” he cautioned before a wily grin came over him. “Unless you got your rapid adaption from your parents.”

She playfully rubbed her daughters’ noses with her own to get them to calm down a little before stepping away. “Afraid not.”

He took the added weight with ease. “I’m going to have to thank Gill for having the foresight to design the foal harness so it could be worn with normal saddlebags.” Not to mention the wing slits. With the infants secured in place he kissed his alpha, glancing at the steel colored stripe proudly displayed in her bangs. “Good luck in there. I’ll be along shortly so don’t hold off the mother reveal for too long.”

“Not that you’ll give me a choice,” she stated matter-of-factly.

He nodded. “Damn right. You’re terrible at beating around the bush. Now get going.” Conrad knew a slightly heavy hand was needed to get the mare to move forward.

“Right, right.” She left him so he could return to the ground floor where the only public restroom was. The building was small, so each condo occupied half of each story with a small hallway separating the two.

The two earth mares were waited patiently by the door with Qubert leaning against the wall closer to the elevator with a handheld game in his hands. Alexia walked up to him. “So are you coming in with us?”

He didn’t look away from his handheld game. “Not unless you ask me to. And I think it would be a mistake if you did. You know they can’t stand the sight of me.”

“That’s putting it a little harsh isn’t it? Surely they’ve calmed down after all these years.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it. But in any event, I’ll be here if you need me to go in and save the day.”

She gave him a friendly smirk. “You’re all heart Q.”

Steeling herself, the silver princess adjusted the necklace to be more comfortable and walked the five steps to the door to her parents’ home. Crimson was doing a little dance. “Do you think we could hurry it up a bit, I’ve got to use the restroom.”

Loki remained silent, yet the same smile that rarely left her lips anymore was comforting to see. That was until she saw the malkavian glint to it. “You’re not planning anything are you?”

A short titter escaped the green mare. “Depends on what they do.”

Fearing the worse, but wanting as much time as possible before Conrad returned with the infants, Alexia hit the buzzer. At least they’re already expecting a pony to greet them.

A gruff older man’s voice responded after a few moments. “I thought the sign said we don’t want no damned visitors.”

Tune looked at the door and a sign in even less polite language than that sat at five feet above the floor. “Its me James. I’ve come home.” Alexia didn’t like using that name, but it was her former identity.

“James?” the voice queried with a warmer yet questioning tone. “Hold on.”

A louder buzzer and a mechanical click signaled the door was unlatched. A weathered feminine voice called through the intercom next. “Come on in gummy bear.”

Tune closed her eyes as the expected snickering from her fellow mares threated to spill into laughter. “Gummy bear? Really?!”

Alexia didn’t bother answering the green pony’s taunting and stepped inside. The entry hall had a heady aged musk and was still decorated and furnished with modern styles. Alexia’s only sister, Elizabeth, was residing in a boarding school so the mare didn’t expect to see her. What she did see however, were two very familiar people who were happy, expectant, and confused by the three ponies that walked into the main living room.

Alexia stepped forward to introduce herself for the first time since becoming a pony. “Mom, dad…” Tune tried to think of the right words, but they failed her as her emotions got the better of her.

Mister and Misses Tune didn’t know the difference between mares and stallion and the absence of Conrad made the couple think there was no noticeable difference. As a result, they quickly assumed the lithe and high pitched ponies in front of them were male. Alexia’s mother bent down and threw her arms open. “Come on son, we still love you.”

The silver mare let the male form of address go for the moment and ran into her mother’s arms. She wrapped her forelegs and wings around the woman who rubbed her daughter’s back and mane. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to see you after all this stuff happened to me.”

Mister Tune was a little off put by his assumed son’s very emotional reaction, but chalked it up to not having spoken to them in nearly a year compounded with the change in species. His wife was too caught up in the reunion to care. “It’s mighty good to see you again son,” he said while bending down to pat Alexia on the back. “I’d prefer a miniature horse for a son over a corpse any day.”

Crimson and Loki shared apprehensive glances with each other and Alexia was losing the moment in a bout of nervousness. She pulled herself free so she could look at both of her parents while speaking. “Umm. What do you guys know about ponies?”

Her mother remained in a crouch so she could be eye level with her changed offspring. “Well like everyone else, we heard thousands of people were turned into ponies of all kinds of crazy colors.”

Her father nodded sagely. “And that it was forced on them by unknown causes, turning some into pegasi and unicorns of all things.”

Tune didn’t like what she was going to have to do. “Did umm. Did they say anything about the occasional forced gender change?”

Her father’s voice became a little hard. “If they did, I didn’t hear it.”

The silver mare heard the light clip clop of her mates closing in to lend silent support. “Well the thing is—that’s what happened to me. I got turned into a mare instead of a stallion, so I go by Alexia now.” Her voice shrank as she expected him to reject her.

The alicorn’s mother saw that look in her husband’s eyes. “Harold! Its not like he-she chose that.” She turned to her daughter. “You didn’t choose it right?”

Crimson was angered by the haughty and accusatory tone her voice. “No she didn’t! But what would it matter if she did? She’s your daughter.”

“Keep your pets on a leash James,” Harold growled spitefully refusing to say his daughter’s chosen name. “I will not be addressed as such in my own home.”

Tune knew what was coming next, but couldn’t stop Crimson in time. “We are not her pets! We are her herdmates.”

Tune’s mother stood up while giving both Crimson and Alexia a puzzled glance. “What do you mean herdmate?”

Anderson received a pleading face from Alexia to back down. The pale yellow mare obeyed, but it left the silver pony in a bind. She could lie about it and say the herd was simply their term for friends, or be true to her mates and speak the truth.

For close to twenty seconds she looked between her mates and parents searching for what course to take. As much as she wanted to reconnect with her parents, the alicorn couldn’t betray her mates by lying. They all deserve the truth. “Mom, dad. A herd is where three or more ponies enter a polyamory relationship. Crimson, Loki, and I are in a herd together along with a stallion named Conrad who isn’t here right now.”

Her mother grew silent while Harold boiled with barely contained rage. “You—you dare come into my house being guilty of destroying the sanctity of marriage? You are no son or daughter mine. As far as I’m concerned, James died last year, and that’s all there it is to it. Now get out of my house.”

Alexia tried to keep tears from forming, but was failing miserably. “But dad, its normal for us because we-.”

“Normal?” he roared disdainfully. “Normal is you still being a man! But no, I could look past you being a pony. I could have even accepted you marrying a stallion, or even you being a lesbian, seeing as you used to be a man. But you come in my house a polygamist!?” His rage was so loud and forceful that spittle flew from his mouth and splattered over his daughter. “Leave! And do not return until you can restrain yourself to one life-partner.”

“Father please, can’t we just forget all that and be a family ag-“

“Your father’s right James.” Miss Tune interrupted harshly, following her husband’s example of not using the alicorn’s proper name. “You know polygamy is a not just moral depravity, but a grievous sin as well. We will allow you to come back once you have atoned for that.”

Alexia’s lip trembled in mounting depression because she didn’t believe what she was hearing. This can’t be happening. It-it can’t be. Her ears fell along with Loki’s smile while Crimson’s aggression was bolstered. The silver mare let the tears flow. “So that’s it then? You don’t care that I’m alive? Only that I’m a polygamist even though my species has to be that way?” In a flash of anger she stared at her parents with her eyes rimmed with azure light. “Twenty seven years and that’s all it takes to throw me out?!”

“Margret,” Harold said coolly to his wife. “See to it the barn animals leave, I have a teleconference I should be attending.”

Harold’s complete dismissal sapped Alexia of all anger and replaced it tenfold with despair. Her mother adopted a holier-than-thou stance and tone. “I suggest you leave before I call the police and press charges for trespassing.”

It was all Alexia could stand and she ran out of the condo with Crimson right after. Loki lingered just long enough to speak condescendingly to the aloof woman. “Lady, you just made the biggest mistake of your life.”

“Wrong. Our biggest mistake was failing to raise him right.”

You could at least use proper pronouns. The green mare huffed. “Guess there’s no point in arguing with stupidity.” And they wonder why I want to forget my folks. Loki departed while slamming the door. She saw Tune was in hysterics at the end of the windowed hallway and teleported through it so she could put some immediate distance between her and the condo.

Qubert watched her go and put his game down as Crimson skidded to a halt next to him after seeing the alicorn vacate the building. “I warned you guys this would happen.”

Crimson yelled in exasperation and kicked the wall, leaving cracks in the plaster. She had to heavily restrain herself from doing more than that. “How can anyone be so damned callous to their own child?”

“I think a better question is how she survived them for eighteen years.”

Loki joined in a moment later and rested a hoof on Crimson’s withers. “Next time Fireball, leave delicate situations to the team politician okay?”

Anderson looked at her herdmate with rage. “He called us pets!”

“Does Alex see us as pets?” the green mare inquired calmly.

Crimson’s anger faltered. “Of course she doesn’t, but that’s not the point.”

“Then don’t worry about what some jackass thinks.”

“That wasn’t some jackass. That was her father. He should have treated both us and her with more respect. Alex at the very least.”

Qubert sighed in irritation. “Don’t hold your breath. Those two make the Klan seem downright neighborly in Harlem.”

A few seconds later, the elevator dinged and Conrad walked out with the infants. His even demeanor shifted into a grimace after seeing their faces. “I take it, it did not go well.”

Crimson was too caught up between revulsion and regret to speak so it was left to Loki to do it. “No. Ma and Pa are grade-A jerks. Alex teleported out of the window and flew off.” She decided to leave out Anderson’s antagonizing them for the moment.

It was the worse-case scenario he had been dreading. “She didn’t go far. We’ll catch up to you guys at the hotel later.”

Qubert fished out the hotel keycard and walked over to hand it to the brown pony. “You’ll need this then.”

Conrad took the card in his mouth before depositing it in the diaper saddlebag. “Thanks.” The pegasus went back into the elevator to go up to the roof.

Smith turned back to the two earth ponies. “So,” he said while clapping his hands loudly. “Who’s ready to forget this place and find a bite to eat?”

Conrad didn’t have to go far to find his alpha. Despite the multitude of air conditioning units on the roof threatening to drown everything out, he could still make out her sobs towards the south side near the curving front side of the building.

The noise of the roof units was making the foals antsy. He found Tune curled up in a ball with her head cradled in her forelegs. Without a word, Conrad knelt down to comfort her. The foals stretched and whimpered in their restraints to reach their mother.

Alexia’s top foreleg moved away from her red puffy eyes to see the three ponies who had come to help lift her spirits. “Some princess I am,” she choked out between sobs. “I can’t even han-handle-”

He finished releasing the twins so all three of them could embrace the weeping mare for several minutes. The two fillies didn’t understand what was going on, but their presence was enough to resurrect their mother’s spirits. Although it didn’t take long before hunger drove the fillies towards Alexia’s abdomen.

Tune finally calmed down enough to speak and reposition herself to let the foals nurse. “There’s nothing left except for Qubert.”

Conrad laid down so she could use his barrel as a pillow instead of the gravel floor. “Nothing left of what?”

She gratefully rested her head on him. “Things tethering me to my old self. I have James’ memories and continued friendship with Q, but that’s it. I might as well follow your lead and drop my family name. Everyone calls me Princess Alexia anyway.”

“Didn’t you say you have a sister?”

Her ears perked up from their flat position. “Elizabeth. That’s right.” She turned to plant a kiss on him for reminding her and a ghost of a smile found its way to her lips. “She’s in boarding school because mom couldn’t stand the sight of her anymore. I know she’d accept us.”

“Because she’s a hippy?” he teased.

Tune giggled. “She prefers the term eco activist. She only kowtows to the folks because she’s still financially dependent on them.”

Conrad knew exactly what would make his alpha happy. “Think we could find a place for her in Trinity?”

“Yeah…” Alexia’s smile returned at the prospect of holding onto her sister. “She’d drool over the chance to intern under the scientists studying the long and short term effects of earth pony farming on the environment.”

He nudged the alicorn. “And I’m sure you could give a good word in for her.”

Alexia’s smile weakened. “I can introduce her. But Beth will still have to prove her worth to the lead scientist to stick around. There’s an extent to how far I’ll commit nepotism.”

Conrad remained positive. “Well if she’s anything like you, I bet she’ll be more than capable.”

Calm Spring Louisiana was a stark contrast to Kansas City and the California Bay Area. Where before you could rarely go a mile without seeing the human touch upon the land, be it buildings or highways, Calm Spring was nothing more than the name of a large piece of property where a small log cabin sat next to a river. Trees were so dense around the two square acre clearing of the house that the road to the Anderson home was more of a tunnel with braches forming the walls and ceiling.

The herd left Kansas City early the day after the debacle with Tune’s parents and had switched flights. Alexia partially blamed Crimson for forcing the herd reveal right in the middle of trying to get them to accept her being a mare. The alicorn wasn’t petty enough to stop speaking with Crimson, but it remained terse.

Conrad was a slower driver than the rest of the herd, but his excuse was the uneven dirt road and not possessing the same hoof dexterity of the earth mares. Aside from the Violet and Aurora, the toned down jazz music was the only sound in the rental car.

True to form, Loki kept Alexia from venting her anger on anything but the green mare’s ear the previous night. She looked at her alpha sitting across from her in the backseat feeding the twins so they wouldn’t be a bother during the meeting with the Andersons.

Crimson for her part was remorseful and after a few attempts at apologizing, she let the silver mare sulk until she was willing to fully forgive.

Calm Spring came into view as a few squares of light under the night sky of the heavily wooded area. As the car pulled up to the side of the house, the headlights illuminated the wooden dock and tethered airboat.

Despite the house being so removed from civilization to the point where using public utilities was impossible, the home was well lit and had a generator with a large one thousand gallon red gas tank that could power the home for long periods of time.

The middle aged couple was already standing by the door, having seen the headlights from quite a distance away along the straight road and watched as the quartet of ponies stepped out. The porch light was on and the prematurely grey haired couple waited patiently for their child to reveal which one of the four he was.

Crimson did not make them wait long and pushed her regret over ruining Alexia’s chance to reconnect with her human family so she could put on a hopeful smile. “Momma, Paw. I’m back.”

Crimson’s mother, Bella, was deathly afraid of horses. The good lord tests me, and I will not fail him nor my child. She bent down slowly on her good knee so she could wrap her arms around Crimson. She let her love, faith, and joy of reuniting overcome her phobia. “I can’t tell you how hard it was to think we lost you Miky.”

The pale yellow mare’s father, Joe, wasn’t sure how he should show physical affection for his former son so he bent down next to his wife and patted Crimson on the back. “Hell of a way to come back from the dead son.”

Crimson didn’t want to rush her father by hugging him yet, but she had to address the pronouns. “Paw. I know it must be hard to hear, but I’m your daughter now.”

Joe searched for what to say or do in this situation as the pregnant mare pulled her head away from her mother’s shoulder to look at him. Bella was doing an admirable job keeping her fear in check for Crimson’s sake, and it was his wife’s strength in which he found the resolve to follow suite. “Are you happy with what you’ve become?”

The hopeful query was all Crimson needed to hear. “More than I ever imagined.”

A trace of a smile found its way on his craggy face. “Then what reason do I have to not do the same?”

Crimson fully detached from Bella to, for the first time in her life, embrace her father with a chest to chest hug. Joe had always been one to strictly avoid most forms of physical affections with Michael. So when he was willing to embrace her the way he was now, Crimson knew she had nothing to fear about them rejecting her.

Bella braced herself on a nearby chair to stand back up and addressed the rest of the ponies. “Well don’t just stand there, come on in. You won’t see better southern hospitality than you will from the Anderson house.”

Joe stood up as well and eyed his daughter’s bulging belly as she walked inside. Given the very noticeable differences between the mares and stallion, his eyes went straight towards Conrad and he placed a restraining foot in front of pegasus as the other two mares filed into the house unaware of the exchange. “I suspect that baby in her belly is yours. Am I right?” he asked with a threatening tone.

The pegasus didn’t want a second failed parent reunion so he did his best to remain civil. “It is.”

Joe’s first thought was to ask if he had put a ring on her finger before the foal, but he quickly realized they didn’t have fingers. The man didn’t notice the simple bracelet on the pony’s leg thanks to the poor lighting. “Seeing as you’re by her side, I trust you did right by her.”

Conrad had to respect the man. Accepts her as a daughter in one minute and then switches to protective father the next. Makes me wonder if they are Alex’s real parents. “My personal honor would demand no less of me. But it is love that binds us together.”

Joe found it acceptable and thrust an open hand at him. “As long as it stays that way, then you and I won’t have any problems.”

Conrad reciprocated the gesture. “I like the way you think.”

“Soup's on you two!” Bella called out from inside.

The two males entered the house to be hit by the rich smell of vegetable stew. Bella could be heard in the kitchen chatting up a storm. “I wasn’t sure what you could eat so I threw a bit of everything in the stew. Peas, carrots, pretty much anything that goes well together.”

While she could hide it from the ponies, Joe could tell his wife was bundled in nervous fearful energy. Her phobia wanted to make her leave the room, so the aging woman was focusing intently on what differentiated ponies from horses. Just keep talking old girl. They’re a lot smaller than horses, so that’s good. Plus two of ‘ems got wings and one has a horn. Not to mention those large expressive eyes. The intelligence is a plus too.

Loki was not happy about there being only two buildings within fifty miles of her current location, but the mention of food or booze could always distract her, especially carrots. “So Misses A, you should know Crimson here is still going into medicine.”

Bella turned away from the cabinet where she was pulling several bowls down from to look at her nervous daughter, and ignored the new name for the moment. “That is excellent news, “ she said cheerfully. “I was afraid what with the coming baby and change in species would make you abandon renewing the family tradition.”

The pale yellow mare rubbed the back of her neck to try and ease the jitters out. At least I’m authorized to tell her my occupation. “Well see. I’m sort of a medic for the CIA.”

Joe stood in to speak. “The government? Bah. Do you know they told us that after you supposedly died of that super virus you talked about after being whisked away, that they cremated your body?”

Conrad couldn’t keep his wings still any long and started hovering by the kitchen entrance where his downwash wouldn’t disrupt anything. “I wouldn’t put it passed them. But despite it all, they did it to protect the public.” Doesn’t excuse people like Bowler though.

Bella was actually grateful that the pegasus was flying as it weakened her phobia a little. “Yes, we heard about the government and their cover story. But enough about all that. Let’s dig in.” She faced Alexia. “Darling, we still have a couple of high chairs in the closet if you want to fetch them for the youngins.”

Tune kept her demeanor pleasant. “Thank you.”

Joe was about to offer to do it for her, but the two foals made him think. I thought she had a thing for the green one, but they’re both women. He directed his attention to the lone stallion who was gathering filled bowls for the other two mares. So who’s their baby daddy?

Once everyone was settled into dinner and the twins were gnawing on a few toys since they had already eaten, Joe ventured the question that had been bugging him towards Alexia. “That’s a nice pair of sprouts you’ve got there.”

Tune beamed with pride at the two foals. “Thanks. Their names are Violet Spark an Aurora Sky.” She pointed to the purple unicorn and alabaster pegasus respectively.

Joe’s original question was derailed by a new one. “If you don’t mind my askin’. Where did you get such—unusual names from?”

“Dad!” Crimson said in embarrassment.

Her alpha raised a restraining hoof. “No its fair question. They are unusual by human standards after all.” She redirected her focus to Joe while Crimson took a bite of stew to shut herself up. “Aside from my children here, every pony on Earth used to be human. And as far as I know, we all kept human style names. But our species originates from a different world, complete with its own culture and civilization.”

Bella was aghast. “You mean you were turned into aliens? By who?”

Crimson spoke next. “I guess you could put it that way. As for who or what, we can’t say.”

Joe swallowed his bite. “More government cover ups?”

“No…” his daughter said at length as she struggled to follow orders of nondisclosure. If word of a being as powerful as Discord got out, it would be pandemonium. “More like a mistake on the part of our species’ government.”

Joe worked his jaw to buy time to think. “So you’re in contact with this other world?”

“The four of us are, yes. But we received numerous books on how our species lives and functions. So there’s been a big movement by us transformees to adopt what pony customs we need to integrate in order to function effectively. The names are an elective most of us have chosen to give our children.”

Bella was the next to speak. “What sort of other customs?”

Crimson noticed her father’s eyes kept shifting between the twins and Conrad. Better get the big one out of the way before something goes awry. “Well, most aren’t really that big. But one of the things we found out in a hurry was the imbalanced gender ratio.”

Both humans were used to the concept of double standards when it came to the sexes, but both firmly knew the ratio for man was split down the middle. “Ratio?” Bella inquired.

“We’re not sure why, and not even our kind’s original civilization knows. I think that’s mostly because their medical science is nowhere near on par as Earth’s is, but for every stallion there are three mares.”

Joe got an inkling of what Crimson was alluding to. “That must make to very difficult to find a husband.” He glanced at Conrad and the twins.

Crimson flinched at the implied accusation that only she and Bella caught on to. Alexia hid a smug grin behind a flat expression. I think seeing her try to explain the herd on her own is revenge enough. I’m not going to be the one to weaken the herd because of a grudge.

The pale yellow mare looked to Tune for assistance and received a short dismissive snort. I should have done the same. She looked to her father, whose glower was increasing by the second. “Well you see, Paw. Its that three to one ratio is why we can’t, as a species, support monogamy. Half of our population would be restricted from finding love if we did.”

Both humans fell silent for a long time while the ponies fidgeted in apprehension. Joe kept working his jaw while Bella thought quietly. It was his wife that broke the long tense silence. “I take it all four of you…” All four adult ponies nodded. Bella looked to her husband who was still on the fence. “Do you hold your—union in the same sanctity as traditional marriage?”

Crimson nodded eagerly. “We most certainly do.” She turned to her mates. “Right guys?”

Loki’s smile grew a little. “Most def.”

Conrad nodded. “Everyone one of us is united by mutual love and admiration.”

Joe seemed to be relieved at little at the stallion’s words. He’s willing to put up with three women? Lord have mercy I couldn’t summon the strength to handle two Bellas let alone three.

It fell to the alpha to speak last. “If there is anything such an imbalanced ratio fosters in us, it is cooperation. The four of us are united in all things. The good, the ill, and everything in between. Not because we have to, but because we want to.”

Joe saw his daughter wordlessly confirm Tune’s statement and nodded lightly in approval. “Good lord knows after hearing that, what kind of father would I be if I didn’t respect my only child’s wishes?”

Alexia was struck with a knife of despair and used every ounce of willpower to keep it from showing. A bad one.

Bella was proud for both Crimson and her husband and reached out a hand to squeeze Crimson’s hoof and Joe’s hand. “So long as they make you happy dear, we’ll support you.”

“Thanks momma,” she said with a tear losing itself in her fur.

Bella let go after a few moments to keep eating. “Now, I trust the bun in the oven is our grandson.”

A round of polite chuckles escaped the ponies with Crimson blushing in embarrassment. “Actually it is. His name’s going to be Dusky Tinker.”

Joe wrinkled his nose at that and at the memory of the twins’ names. “What is the inspiration of these—pony style names? You get a book or something?”

Conrad and Loki were kind of puzzled by that as well. Tune shrugged her wings a bit. “I can’t really explain it, but the names sort of came to me after I found out what they were going to be. They seemed to fit better in my mind then what I had originally thought of on my own.” She looked to her daughters were getting agitated for sitting too long. “If I wanted to be dramatic about it, I’d say its like they psychically told me what their names should be.”

“Well I’m sure that must have something to do with that magic of yours.” Bella replied as she kept glancing at Tune’s telekinesis. “Now, I want to hear about your adventures since that dreadful day of the family reunion.”

“Well like I said, I’m part of the CIA now, and you know that means I can’t tell you very much.”

“I know dearie, just tell us what you can. I want to hear it all.”

With her parents full, if hesitant approval, Crimson felt at home again. A broad smile creased her features. “I’d love to.”

1: Calm Days and Storm Clouds

It was late into the evening as Alexia slouched at her computer desk. The darkened study was lit only by a single crystal that reacted to her mana to create a pale white light that barely went past the desk’s sole occupant. It was joined by the glowing computer monitor, and the trace amount of light from the town below through an octagon window. The house the citizens of Trinity had gifted her with was hardly quiet. Yesterday marked the twins’, Aurora Sky and Violet Spark, first birthday. The rest of the family was getting the two fillies, along with their half-brother Dusty Tinker, ready for bed so that the adults could hopefully get a full night’s rest.

As much as the silver alicorn wanted to be a part of that, she felt it was necessary to start something new: a journal. Her chair had an arching padded back rest to which she lounged in, with the keyboard laying across her hind legs and a forehoof resting on the keys. Her magic was ready to start typing once its master called for it, but at the moment she stared at the blinking black cursor at a loss on how to start.

A glass of red wine sat in an aura of azure light, and a bottle sitting on the far side of the desk read Tour De Belfort 2010. It was a gift from President Fitzgerald, his way of ensuring a cordial friendship between the two of them. She didn’t expect to receive another. Not because of declining relations between them, but of recent world events.

With the twins having been weaned from nursing, the last brief feeding being two weeks ago, the mare was at last allowed to partake in Earth’s favorite beverage: alcohol. Her mood was less than content at the topics she would transcript to into data, and took a sip to try and raise them.

The spicy aroma tingled in her nose as the fruity suppleness tantalized her senses. Nothing like a dry spell to make your first taste all the better. Her mood was improved, but only just.

Without really knowing how to start, she simply began with what was on her mind.

January 11th 2015

I’m not really supposed to keep a journal. CIA regulation sees it as a security risk and I can’t say I disagree. So it is for that reason I’m probably just going to keep this computer cut off from the Net or just format the hard drive later.

But I feel that I have to have an unbiased confessor. Even if all the computer will ever say back is this silent, blinking cursor, ever hungry for words.

Well I guess I can start with the good. Spark and Sky are going strong and Tinker is a fun little guy. But I missed Spark and Sky’s first words! I was so pissed because I was covering Kellerman’s class on abjuration magic when they spoke. I did get to see them make their first steps but in all honesty… a foal learning to walk isn’t as big of an accomplishment for human babies learning to walk on two legs rather than our four. But it was still a proud moment to witness.

I’m glad to say my personal life for the past year has been more or less uneventful. At least in the grand scheme of things. After all the insanity with changing species, The Ranch, Bowler, Section Nine, and that last mission at Oppenheim… Blah. I really needed some peace, no. WE needed some peace. Get a chance to have some normality in our lives.

Crimson needed time to find a way to balance her own motherhood and keeping up her medical apprenticeship like I have with magic. Conrad’s even had to limit his involvement with the weather company thanks to the heavy load Thompson’s put on our training schedule. Thankfully Gill Highwind was more than capable of picking up the slack.

Loki. Loki is the only pony I know who has magic I can’t even fathom. I find its best not to think of it too hard and just be glad she’s on our side. I will say this though. She’s taken a shine to Dusty that rivals Crimson. She gets along with Sky and Spark too, but the way that mare acts, you’d think Tinker was her kid.

Trinity has been growing steadily and I would be remiss to forget that my work as a training instructor under Thompson has been rewarding. Even if this computer isn’t connected to the net, I’m not going into any details here. But I can say that ponies are well on their way to showing the world that we can stand side by side with humanity outside of Trinity.

As for the home front though, I did have to tell Julie to heavily scale back on what she presents to me to work with around town. It was impossible to juggle motherhood, work, and all of the political decisions East kept throwing my way. I get that she wants me to be active in the community for morale purposes, but I refuse to be one of those parents who is too busy to be a parent.

Besides, East does a fine job, and her heart is in the right place. And if I’m going to be completely honest with myself, I don’t want the life of a politician. As dangerous as it is, I’d prefer to stay on with the CIA. Let the terrans decide policy for themselves and leave me to their defense. They need both in equal measure, and I’d rather let the public decide how they want to be governed.

Trinity is doing what it does best, push boundaries. We’ve reached seven thousand people now.

Alexia paused before retyping the last sentence.

Our local population is at seven thousand terrans now. I get the feeling they like that term; Terrans. There’s been some rough spots, and growing pains, but nothing that I think will stymie our progress for long. I know other parts of the world are rather… resistant to ponies. But I can at least say we’re seeing more acceptance in a few countries outside of the States.

Just last week, Germany started granting a few more civil rights to its equine population. It really only took a month after my first news conference before the last of the world’s countries finally stopped lying to its people and admitted we ponies exist. Now if only acknowledgement and restoration of civil liberty meant the same thing, but alas it is not the case.

Many countries out there were both shocked and appalled at how quickly Fitzgerald granted us freedoms after deeming us safe for social integration. He received a lot of flak for the decision, and some claimed it as political suicide. But I think it could have been worse if the siege on D.C. hadn’t have taken a lot of the thunder out of the announcement.

A good many like China, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, even Italy are still treating ponies as both threats and potential weapons. And as for our predominantly female population, I’m not going into the quagmire that started in certain areas of the world.

But I will say this much about it, both the States and Canada have received a ton of pony immigrates. I think it’s mostly because America’s hat followed Fitzgerald’s lead in opening the doors to ponies in the same week. Britain has too, as far as my clearance level tells me anyway, but they were a little late in ratifying our kind into their legislature because the Prez didn’t let anyone know he was planning on bringing us into the light when he did.

Alexia stopped typing to think, taking another sip of wine as she did. It was only then that she realized she was typing in Equish. She wasn’t using the pony’s alphabet, but typing it phonetically with the Latin one. It caught her off-guard for a moment to realize that she was using it automatically. Well if anything, its just another layer of encryption.

As much as I love seeing more of my people, they’ve proven to be rather overzealous at times. Especially immigrants from countries who don’t see us as people. I’ll be walking, flying, or doing something in town and a bunch of ponies will come up to me and beg for a moment of my time. If only to see me in person.

It’s really easy to tell they’re foreigners. What with the accents, broken if not completely absent English, and most telling of all; almost none of them have cutie marks. But the scary ones are those suffering from Soul Rot. They’ll be dragged or carried by their friends or family of either species to wherever I am and beg for me to heal them.

I really don’t have a problem with using my… I guess it would be proper to say alicorn magic… to heal them. But I found out fairly quickly that my alicorn soul-bridging magic only works on TV if the broadcast is live, so viral videos in intolerant nations don’t work and any scheduled broadcasts are censored.

That in of itself isn’t what really scares me though, it’s the reactions I receive when their loved ones regain their color and vitality. I feel like one of those televangelists claiming he can cure cancer by just faith and his touch alone.

Personally I couldn’t care less what other people believe in religions that don’t concern me, but sometimes it’s really hard to keep them from putting me on the same pedestal as Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, Elvis, or whoever other person people pray to. I had a nightmare once where I walked in on a church dedicated to me.

The silver mare took a large swig of wine at the thought of it before continuing.

Luckily I’ve managed to avoid becoming the latest in a long line of messiahs. It really helps that I can fully explain how my magic works. The world has enough religions as it is. And to be perfectly honest, it’s damn creepy to be worshipped like that. Hero and celebrity worship is bad enough, but I can tolerate that because us Americans love our celebrities. Especially in these days. But deity worship? You can forget it.

Moving on.

Tune let the glass rest on the desk as she pressed a hoof on her forehead. She exhaled slowly to release the tension the next topic brought up in her.

Mion.

Just saying the name is grounds for a pay grade and security clearance reduction. But as of last month its on everyone’s lips in the agency thanks to a letter signed by what we believe to be the Cult leader here in North America, Tzadavek. It was delivered to the White House in person before the messenger shot himself. The contents are classified, but it was about as what you could expect. Threats against both the president and the American people in general along with promises to bring down the diseased temple that is the current administration.

Thankfully, the top dogs of both intelligence agencies regarded the threat seriously as it basically pointed out that the attack on D.C. was only the beginning, saying that they had people placed in the highest levels of government. So…Who do you think everyone turned to, to root out the moles? Section Nine.

Alexia refilled her glass as her mood went from sour to a touch of pride.

I can’t tell you how happy I was that my efforts with Thompson made Section Nine’s services in extremely high demand. All of it thanks to that little retrieval operation in Oppenheim. I’m still refining it, but I’ve almost perfected the divination array that can isolate Mions from normal humans. The trick is locating the newly infected as quickly as possible.

All it took was Thompson letting the brass know about my array and they practically threw themselves at our feet/hooves begging to place us in key major cities and transport hubs. Well, they did so with a lot more tact than that, but you get the idea.

I didn’t personally get involved in any of the sweep-and-clean operations that followed. It was all handled by my trainees.

The first thing we did was silently sweep all intelligence and military agencies for moles like Whisker. We cleaned out over two thousand cultists from the Army alone and the rest of the branches in the space of a few months.

Such a number is terrifying to say the least, and the Mions didn’t always go down easy or cleanly either. Plus they got smart fast. After we cleared the upper ranks of the military, FBI, and CIA, there was a sudden upswing in people going AWOL among the lower ranks.

Yet all of that was before they found out how we were tracking them down. It was just outside Keesler AFB when it first started. A promising cadet of mine, Jake Palmer, was going to power the array when a sniper’s bullet ended his life. Right outside the damn security gate. They never did find the bastard. But the assassination told us that it was the work of a professional, so we certainly have the cult’s attention. Poor Jake left behind two mares and a foal. He was the first of thirty one agents who died trying to uncover more Mion cells in the past year.

The alicorn found it difficult to remain professionally detached. She turned to look at the family portrait that sat on the desk. It had been taken right after reuniting with her sister. It was backdropped by Elizabeth’s boarding school. The herd had subconsciously made Alexia take the center of the photo with the twins held in her magic with the other ponies standing at her side. Elizabeth was a seventeen year old young woman who had shoulder blade length red hair and a fair complexion. She was thin as a rail thanks to her spending far too much time out on nature hikes, and not enough time studying. Much to her chagrin, that also nearly made her as flat chested as Alexia.

Tune’s sister stood behind the alicorn with a massive smile on her face.

Alexia stared at the framed photo with a trace of a frown as Palmer stayed in her mind’s eye. “How long will it be… before that happens to one of us?” she asked the air rhetorically. “Thompson’s being pushed to put us back in the field.”

She grabbed the picture in her magic to bring it over for closer inspection. “Will it be me?” She couldn’t bear the thought of tempting fate with any of her herdmates. “Will the Cult even wait that long and instead come for us here? Do they even know Trinity is the source of the CIA’s pony members? I have to assume they do. And if so, why haven’t they moved against us?”

Tune’s thoughts drifted to what Twilight told her in regards to Discord’s warning. Lunacy.

Alexia had been working with Conrad in refining her divination array after being given the life sign data from the other two Mions who were captured at the Oppenheim. The twins were with Loki and Crimson as the two earth mares took them on a walk through the woods.

Conrad’s part in the running experiments was to wear a harness that had twenty different crystals on it to simulate the data so he would appear as a Mion to Alexia’s array. He had gotten the idea after watching reruns of Star Trek with Crimson, and Alexia jumped on it to make him her test subject.

They were about to run the fifth trial when the tome indicated that Twilight Sparkle had returned from her prolonged archeology expedition. Both earthlings dropped what they were doing to activate their side of the tome. The lavender princess’s avatar appeared moments later. “Alex, Conrad! Its been far too long.”

Tune was glad to see her mentor again. “It has Sensei. Was your trip fruitful?”

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck in a sheepish expression. “I got way more than I bargained for, but it was highly productive. I managed to secure Commander Hurricane’s journal from a sealed off archive in the frozen wastes. It gave firsthoof account of the pegasi’s last emperor before they and the other two tribes unified into a single banner.”

“Sounds like it was worth it then,” Conrad commented with a trace of a congratulatory smile.

Sparkle was very satisfied with herself. “Very much so. I’m already planning to start rectifying historical inaccuracies with the journal. Hurricane sounds like a very honest pony, and wasn’t afraid to put unflattering things about himself in there for the sake of the truth.” She waved a hoof at the air to push the topic away. “But enough about that. How have you been doing?” She fully inspected Tune. “Sorry I missed the twin’s birthday.”

Alexia pulled Conrad in for a side long hug. “It’s fine. Hopefully those two fur balls will have plenty more birthdays to come.”

The lavender mare smiled at that. “I bet they will. So how’s Trinity coming along? Last I heard you were just getting it started up.”

Conrad held up a restraining wing. “We’d love to tell you all about it, but I’ve been wondering about something Discord warned us about recently.”

Twilight’s smile vanished. “He didn’t foalnap you again did he?” she directed the question to Alexia.

“No. He came here in the form of smoke. But Conny’s right. I was kind of concerned about what he said.” She was far more than a little worried, but she didn’t want to make her mentor overreact. “He gave me a warning about two things: the lunacy phenomena, and an immortal’s pain.”

Twilight’s frown soured into sadness as her face went cold. “I see he’s not willing to wait then.”

“Wait for what?” inquired the fellow alicorn.

Twilight sat on her haunches and took a slow breath to calm herself. “Alex. You should know that we alicorns don’t decay with time.”

The stallion was confused by that. “What do you mean don’t decay?”

Sparkle feared what her student’s reaction would be. It has to be done. “We alicorns do not measure our lives in years or decades. In fact, we do not measure them at all because age is meaningless to us. So long as no calamity befalls you Alexia, you will never die.”

Tune paled. “Y-you mean I’m immortal?”

Twilight regained more of her composure. “No. You can die. But it takes a lot to do so, more so than an average pony. And as you get older, it will be increasingly difficult for you to die as your power will only increase over time.” She hated talking about death, but the question needed a thorough answer. “But no matter your age, you will never be truly immortal.”

The room’s attention shifted to the silver alicorn who let go of her mate and stumbled to sit on her rump. “Y-you mean. Everyone I love…”

Twilight remembered Celestia’s own talk regarding this subject and assumed a stern visage. “Don’t start worrying about mortality Alex. Don’t dwell on what you will lose. Plan for the future, but live in the present.”

Her mentor’s words sparked a memory of what Loki said weeks earlier. “Don’t fret over eventually losing something. Live in the moment and enjoy what you’ve got while you’ve got it,” Tune quoted so low it was almost inaudible. The memory of Loki’s infectious laughter chipped away at the short-lived despair.

Conrad tilted the silver mare’s head up with a hoof, giving her a chiding smile. “Don’t be weeping over my grave before I’m in it ok?” Her down cast ears perked back up as he planted a kiss on her, burning away the fear that Loki’s words left behind. Alexia let him take command of the embrace and he seized it without hesitation.

Twilight blushed at the affectionate display, silently chiding herself for not finding a herd of her own. Eventually, Conrad broke contact and hugged Alexia tightly. He felt honor-bound to protect his alpha from every serious threat, but he knew enough not to coddle her. Now was one of those times. Sparkle gasped slightly when she saw his sword and shield cutie mark glowing slightly.

The stallion folded his wings around his mate. “Alex. Don’t even start thinking about out living us. You do that and it’ll drive you mad.” He made sure to impart as much love as possible in his words. “Loki’s insane. Criminally most of the time, but she’s right. Live in the present, not the future.”

Tune returned the embrace, relishing in his strength and nuzzled him. “I think I can do that.” Her fears were placated for the moment and she slowly let go of him only to catch sight of Twilight and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”

Sparkle was glad that Conrad had been present to keep Alexia calm. “Think nothing of it.”

As much as he hated to drag the conversation back down, Conrad felt it was necessary to ask about the other topic. “Can you tell us about Lunacy? I’m guessing it has to do with going crazy.”

Both alicorns sobered, with the purple one nodded. “An odd similarity in both of our native tongues, but yes it does. As you may have already been aware of Alex, your mana flare was a precursor to your awakening as an alicorn. Since you’ve repaired the damage it left behind, how does your level of mana feel compared to your time as a unicorn?”

“Almost inexhaustible. I’ve cut back all meat in my diet and I still feel like I’m sitting on a time bomb here.”

Twilight understood the feeling all too well. “So long as you keep your mana discipline up, you’ll be perfectly stable. But as time goes on, your mana will only induce further changes.” The lavender mare turned to the side and pulled her mane up and to the side with a hoof. The earthlings didn’t know what they were looking for a first, but Conrad noticed a few points of light in the purple princess’s mane that seemed to sparkle like stars. They were small, and were only perceivable because Twilight was trying to show them. “Eventually, your mana will begin maturing and changing your fur and hair.”

“That’s—unsettling,” Alexia began carefully, “but what does that have to do with lunacy?”

Twilight let her mane and leg fall back to their normal positions. “Lunacy is only the most recent name for a…condition that can afflict any alicorn who is driven to the brink of insanity. Be it from despair, jealousy, or simple overzealousness; we are more deeply affected by madness than a normal pony. So much so that it has its own name: Nightmare.”

Her memories of the stark differences between Night Mare Moon and Luna caused a worm of fear to seed its way into Twilight, making her worry that she could suffer such a fate, as well as her student. “An alicorn’s magic becomes twisted as such feelings start to erode at you until you physically become a dark reflection of your normal self.”

Alexia’s concern was blunted again by Loki’s eerie predictions. “So I would become Darth Alexia.”

Twilight was unfamiliar with the term, but Conrad made the same connection. “I’m not exactly sure how you can protect yourself against something like that without cutting yourself off from the world or your emotions.”

Alexia’s thoughts danced around the idea. It seemed abhorrent, but so did falling to nightmare. “Is that how Celestia and Luna live?”

Sparkle became unreadable. “They remain warm and cordial to everypony, but they form few lasting relationships. They most certainly do not cut themselves off from the world however.”

Tune stood up to put some steel in her voice. “Then I see no reason to do the same. You’re sure the nightmare can only be triggered by my own emotions? No external forces?”

Sparkle shrugged in spite of herself. “I have no idea. The history books don’t go too deeply into what caused Luna’s fall, and neither she nor Celestia wished to go too far into it. It’s a—painful subject.”

The silver mare could sympathize, but the topic at hand was still mostly focused on her. “Well unless they say it takes something else to trigger a fall, then I’m not going to dwell on it.” She looked at Conrad for his freely given assurances before turning back to her mentor. “Why think about eternity if I might not see tomorrow?”

Both other ponies caught on to her moderate flippancy. Conrad knew her well enough that she wanted to push it from her mind, while Twilight knew exactly how Tune felt. She needs time, and that’s one thing she has plenty of.

Alexia snapped to the present when the computer screen went black from lack of use. Despite her claim, the silver pony’s thoughts always seemed to drift back to the idea of being ageless and succumbing to lunacy. Tune chased them away when she finally noticed the rest of the house had gone silent and checked the clock. Half past nine, and we have work tomorrow. I’ve got a bit more time. She jiggled the mouse with her kinesis to wake the machine back up and started typing again.

Of course, one can’t really write about the Mions without talking about those damnable clouds. We’re still not exactly sure what came first, either the Mions were just normal people who were corrupted by the brown clouds that covering the Earth at random places; or the cult is perpetrating the clouds somehow. The random nature of how they drop to the surface, most of them by far end up in the sea, makes the brass think the Mions might be a symptom of the clouds. Not the other way around.

Either way, we know they’re linked. As to what we can do about them, other than duck and cover, is just try to find the source/s.

Trinity was hit by a cloud just last week. We lost five terrans to that, three humans and two pegasi. They kept trying to divert the brown mist away or simply break it up, but those fogs are unnatural. Pegasi magic doesn’t affect them at all, no matter how much the weather team tried, the brown fog would not be broken up or driven away. The ponies we lost were due to choking and falling out of the sky and crashing hard.

The humans had been in one of the older buildings that didn’t have an air tight room. By the time we found them, they were already awake and raving mad.

It was… difficult to handle. It was Trinity’s first deaths. Inside our borders anyway. You would think after all the death the herd and I have dealt in the field I’d be sort of numbed by it. But it hurts just as hard the last time as it did the first. I asked Loki about it offhandedly, and she brought up an interesting point. As to whether its true or not, I can’t say.

But she thinks it might be based in our herd mentality. Crimson’s already suspected that’s the reason none of us seems to get depressed for very long. Loki’s theory is that we can never build an emotional barrier against harsh events because of how open we are to each other. Sure I can logically accept death as a normal part of life and our job, but if this theory is correct, then we can never emotionally protect ourselves. Only recover from it quicker.

At least so long as we’re part of a herd, and I don’t see that ending any time soon. Crimson took a personal interest in this and has been studying equestrian text on this topic. But I haven’t asked her about her progress as of late.

Alexia stopped typing to think about her mates. She held the family picture up again. Each person in it tugged at her heartstrings and brought a smile to her lips, at least until Elizabeth’s presence reminded the alicorn of her parents. “They still won’t talk to me.” She huffed disdainfully. “At least not after they ask me if I’m still in the herd. Doesn’t matter that they’ve barely ever heard my feminine voice, they can tell when I try and lie.” I wonder if I’ll gain that parental lie detector ability with Sky and Spark, she thought absently. “Maybe with Dusty too.”

Tune didn’t want to think about her parents anymore as they left a bitter taste in her mouth, and regarded her journal. She contemplated saving it or not with the mouse hovering over the save button. Better give it top level encryption. After doing just that, she shut the computer down. Alexia corked the bottle and downed the last of her glass before walking off to the kitchen, a slight buzz helping to alleviate her various worries.

After dealing with the dishes and evening hygienics, she went back up to the master bedroom to find a sight that always burned away any fear or apprehension; her family. Between work and the three foals, the late hour had driven them to exhaustion.

The three adults formed an incomplete box around the infants with the position at the head of the bed being left open for Alexia. Sky and Spark were nestled between Loki and their father, while the grey colt was curled up next to his mother.

Tune was especially happy with how Loki treated the foals, doting on them as if they were her own. It came as no real surprise to the alicorn that all three children would end up seeing the other two mares as mothers as well, given how much they all cared for one another.

The silver alicorn eased her way onto the bed and used her magic to pluck Aurora from her resting place. The little alabaster pegasus had been washed and fed, but her father had passed out before he could preen her wings.

She held the foal close to her face so she could whisper. “Did he fall asleep on the job again?” she asked playfully. Aurora only mumbled in tired incoherent gibberish while fluttering her wings. “He did? For shame.”

Preening was one of the few activities Tune did by mouth instead of magic. It was something she could never quite explain why it was a personal preference to do it the hard way. Alexia wrapped the filly in a large wing and gently preened the little pegasus with only a mild horn light spell to see with. With tender care, she pulled the wing open with her magic and gently bit on the awry feathers and moved them back into their proper place. She repeated this action five more times on the underside of Aurora’s wing. She smiled at seeing the look of utter contentment on her daughter’s face. I never knew how amazing it felt for him when I used to help Conrad preen. But after he returned the favor for the first time. She paused and smirked at how worn out they were after that night. We ended up having to preen again.

Alexia found a very different form of satisfaction at helping her daughter preen. After finishing the filly’s wing, Tune had a motherly smile from the act of successfully straightening Sky’s feathers, which was only reaffirmed after seeing the right wing was a pristine and smooth white. I never expected the act of grooming another would feel so fulfilling.

She chuckled as Aurora cooed in her sleep. The foal burrowed into her mother’s silver wings, mussing up Alexia’s feathers. Tune’s heart melted over the adorable little filly and silently preened the other wing.

With her work complete, the silver mare let the filly sleep on her mother’s belly with a silver wing draped over Sky to keep her warm. Good night little one.

Midshipman Sanders was a little tense as he sat in front of the sonar console aboard the HMAS Sheean. The Australian submarine was participating in joint war games with British and American naval forces in the southern Pacific. The activity was meant to test each nation’s capabilities in the event of war. However the war games had been delayed by three months so each nation could test their equine seamen to see if they could continue to effectively serve on ships that were unfriendly to hooves.

The Sheean lacked any pony crewmen and was on an active hunt for the British submarine. A fellow Australian destroyer caught wind of it but lost track of its prey ten minutes ago. Acting Captain Roberts was eager to prove himself worthy of captaincy. He kept a pleasant, if stern hold on the crew. Yet it was his ambition that currently put a lot of strain on Sanders who currently had Roberts breathing down his neck as the Midshipman tried to locate the British vessel.

“Anything yet?”

“No sir,” Sanders whispered back. The Sheean was operating on silent running and was trying to catch the British in case they tried to make a break to the north.

With the vessel so quiet that the sonar operator could hear a pin drop in a ship over a kilometer away, Sanders waited and listened for over three hours as the Sheean silently crept around in a search pattern at close to one thousand feet below the waves. That was when the Midshipman heard the most peculiar noise. Sanders’ sudden shift in position made Roberts walk back over to his side. He knew his presence was known, and that Sanders would speak when he could.

“I’m not sure what it is, but there’s definitely something coming our way.”

“Is it the Brits?”

Sanders pressed the headset into his ear. “Not a chance. It’s very feint, but it sounds like…a heavy metal wheel or semi-hollow sphere is rolling across the ocean floor.”

That threw the skipper for a loop. “The ocean floor?” It was a rhetorical question as he trusted the sonar operator to know what he was doing. “Think it might be a new kind of decoy? Something the Yanks are field testing?”

Roberts was becoming a little put off by the signal return. “They’re crazy enough to do a lot of things skipper, but I don’t think they’d waste money to what amounts to a loud ball on the floor. Whatever it is, its big, way too big to be a deployable decoy.”

The captain’s curiosity was piqued. “Where is it going?”

“The object is at grid one seven point six nine, bearing seven degrees north northwest at seven knots. Its going to pass within a hundred meters of the X-axis.”

Roberts mulled over the information. I think Sanders is right. This is a little odd for it to be a decoy. Perhaps its some new weapon the war games are supposed to be testing. If the latter is true, then that would explain why no one was told about it during the briefings. This could guarantee my promotion if I’m able to tail it and knock it out of the game. He made his way to the helm officer. “Match our heading to keep up with the object, but don’t spook it. Let’s see if its just here for surveillance, or if it’s a weapon system.”

“Aye aye sir.”

Sanders made his way back to the captain’s chair and typed in his findings and actions into the main computer for later review by the military brass.

The giant sphere designated as XJ-29 moved along the ocean floor, crushing or rolling over anything in its path. It cared for nothing save fulfilling its directive. Relocation protocol: terminated. Initiating disbursement directive.

As it had been doing for the past two years, it sucked in massive amounts of water and converted all of the biological impurities into building blocks for the Mion Plague. Yet unlike every time before, someone was listening.

The Sheean drifted to a halt just under a kilometer to the south and three and half kilometers above. Roberts had to keep himself from pacing so he wouldn’t create any excess noise. So, it stopped right outside of the war zone. I doubt the Yanks or Brits would violate the RoE just to better hide their toy. At least not if they were going to have it participate in the games.

“Skipper, what do you make of this?” Sanders asked as he handed the headset over his shoulder. The captain took it and listened in. What played out of the speakers was the sound of what he could only guess to be machinery, but unlike any he had ever heard before. In addition, the sound of rushing water and hydro pumps was also detectable.

He stood there, listening to it, for several minutes trying to figure how he should proceed. The skipper went over to his XO. “Make sure all of this is being recorded. I don’t want anything to be missed.”

Disbursement directive forty nine percent complete… Subroutine Eight twelve time elapsed. Commencing active scan of surrounding area.

So as to avoid any tectonic hot spots and other hazards, XJ-29’s sensors swept the deep waters in a ten thousand square kilometer area. As the computer mapped out the landscape, the submarine was picked up and was too close to be ignored. Anomalous signal detected. Analyzing… small pocket of atmosphere surrounded by metallic alloy shell. Narrowing scanners… Alert. Human life signs detected. Vessel sensor suite is capable of detecting this unit. Scanning vessel armament… Current depth beyond vessel’s capability to attack. Likelihood of engagement… Zero percent. Vessel threat index: negligible.

Native technological reassessment subroutine active…

Extrapolating technology level required to create target vessel… Error. Human technology level far above projected estimates.

Contingency Protocol stage one activated. Query: contact homeworld? Under evaluation. Possibility of transmission interception: High. Reevaluating Mion timetable… Estimated time for human extinction within acceptable parameters. Query: possibility of encryption failure upon transmission? Deemed low. Query: probability of humans conferring transmission of being nonhuman origin? Ninety nine point zero one percent.

Repeat query: contact homeworld? Negative. Mions have same access to human technology. Human extermination will occur within acceptable time frame. Humans unaware of this unit’s purpose or origins.

Ignore vessel deemed best action. Query: halt Contingency Protocol? Negative. Move to standby status. Continuing disbursement directive.

Back aboard the Sheean, Roberts looked at his watch. Yank stealth toy or not, Command will have my arse if I linger here any longer. “Helm. Bring us about and back to our original station. Knowing the Brits, they’ve probably been sipping tea the whole time and haven’t budged.”

“Aye aye skipper.”

A few minutes later the XO approached his captain. “Think Command will tell the Brits or Yanks what we found?”

“No doubt. Its part of standard procedure that all ship actions are accounted for the duration of the exercise.” He gave the XO a troubled glance. “Shouldn’t you already know that?”

The officer shrugged. “Just making sure you know it. That way if you don’t get this promotion, you know who and what to blame.”

Roberts gave him a smug grin. “We’ll see.”

A charcoal earth mare pressed herself against a tree. The midday sun lit forest around her was quiet. Far too quiet for her liking, but she had a target that needed eliminating. So caution was in order. The target had a hostage at gun point and she needed to be exact in her attack or both would die.

She kept her breathing calm and level as to reduce noise. Okay Bethy, the ground’s uneven, so you have to comp for that. Plus he’s holding the hostage really tight, so I need to make sure not to screw it up.

She gathered a heavy dose of mana in her right foreleg and found a patch of moss to stomp down on. Her hooffall was quiet and the magic coursed through the earth to impale the target. The ground rippled and cracked with moderate noise between her and the target. She watched with satisfaction as a spear of stone shot out and stabbed right through the terrorist’s chest in an explosion of straw and brightly colored confetti.

She pumped a hoof and quietly hissed a cheer, yet it proved to be short lived. The charcoal pony heard a slight crackling of wood and almost pushed off and away from the tree in time before five branches shot out from the trunk and ensnared her limbs. She struggled for a few seconds, but the branches thickened until she was completely immobilized.

She sagged as she knew what was coming. Loki dropped out of the tree and landed heavily on the ground next to the trainee. She blew on her left hoof as if it was a smoking gun barrel. “Know what you did wrong cadet?”

“I went up against Houdini in pony form,” the trainee muttered to herself a she tested her restrains again.

It wasn’t meant to be heard, but Loki picked it up anyway. “Partially, but mostly because you let the mana trail between you and the target run too close to the surface. Even a magic blind human could see the rippling in the ground.”

Loki lightly tapped a hoof on the tree and the braches broke off. The bark reformed so the plant would suffer no lasting damage. The charcoal mare looked up at the top branches and saw no hiding spot or any climbing equipment Loki could have used. “Mind if I ask how you got up there ma’am? I didn’t see you on the way in.”

Both ponies knew the use of invisibly bracelets was forbidden under the assumption that the enemy would have a counter to them. Namely, a hostile pony. It wasn’t something Loki or the herd liked to think about, but it was hardly outside of the realm of possibility.

However that was not what was currently on the green mare’s mind. Loki scowled at the pony in front of her. “What have I said about calling me ma’am?”

The trainee cringed a little. “Sorry boss.”

Satisfied, the hacker gave a cryptic answer to the previous question. “Because I wanted to. Now go back to the starting area and get a better camo job this time. Solid charcoal is only good in a few areas around here.”

The cadet nodded in acceptance. “Yes boss.”

The green mare was about to hunt down the next trainee when her headset crackled to life. “Loki, its Alex. How’s your group doing?”

The green mare waited until the trainee was far out of earshot. “We’re making progress. Some of them don’t like painting themselves in camo colors though.”

Tune’s snide smirk could be heard through the radio. “This coming from the mare who never touches the stuff.”

“Pah. I could sneak up on you even if you were using a divination array. I don’t need it.”

That had actually been proven as fact, and it irked the alicorn to no end. “How do you do that anyway? Give it to me straight this time.”

“Easy. I just think of myself as still being human.”

“But…” Alexia’s brain skipped a synapse at the completely serious tone that told the silver pony that she wasn’t lying this time. “That’s not how arrays work!”

“Works for me,” Loki deadpanned.

Alexia groaned loudly as her ear ticked in irritation. At least you’re the only person who can do that. “Anyway, this isn’t why I called. My sister Elizabeth will be arriving earlier than expected. She’ll be at the post office in an hour.”

Loki looked at her phone from her small satchel. “Sorry, work’s going to take a few more hours. But I have to ask, why this early?”

“Bummer. Beth wouldn’t say why over the phone. She was extremely pissed at the folks so I can only imagine she mouthed off to them for the last time.”

Loki started trotting back to the marshaling area after putting the phone away. “They’re still against that?” disgust evident in her tone.

Tune was more than a little despondent. “They and half the country. People like them don’t believe the three to one gender imbalance. Every other mammal on Earth has fifty/fifty.”

“They do know our species didn’t originate on Earth right?”

Alexia sighed in depleted exasperation over the phone. “I don’t know. We’ve told everyone that time and time again, but some of the more paranoid people are still convinced we’re a genetic experiment from the government.”

Loki saw the simple wood and straw sun shade where the other trainees were milling as she crested a ridge. “Well good luck. I gotta go.”

The cadets snapped to attention at her approach. “Alright lads and lasses, those of you who failed get to run laps around the yard.” A round of muted groans came from over half the group. “The rest of you, still get to run laps around the DQ before you get a blizzard.”

The victors were mostly grateful for that, except for one of the very newest trainees. “What if we don’t like ice cream?”

Loki was appalled, and every cadet knew what the green mare’s view on sweets was. “How could you possibly hate ice cream Cadet Biggs?” her tone was level for the moment.

The drab green paint was wearing off of the mustard yellow stallion. Some thought that was from the amount of sweating he was doing under Loki’s scrutiny. “L-lactose intolerant?”

Loki eyed him carefully for several seconds. “Funny. Your medical file doesn’t mention that.”

His brow furrowed. “I was told no one but Bravo level and higher had clearance to see medical files.”

“It doesn’t matter how I got it,” Loki replied to derail the accusation. “You and I are going to have an ice cream eating contest, and you better not wimp out before the first two gallons.”

“With all due respect ma’am. That hardly seems like proper use of government tax dollars.”

The rest of the trainees inched away from the stallion as Loki’s face grew cold as ice. “That’s why its not coming out of the agency’s pocket,” she said as she walked over to get in his face. “Its coming out of yours if you lose. I think right after our contest you and I are going to do some suicide sprints. One hundred yards at ten yard intervals. Do I make myself clear?”

He paled behind his camo paint. “Right after binging on ice cream? But ma’am-”

Her brow twitched at the address far more than the complaining. “Two hundred.”

“I-I”

One of the mares in the sidelines shouted so Loki couldn’t identify her. “Just shut up Biggs.”

He complied, prompting Loki to face the small gathering. “Well don’t just stand there. Get going.” As Biggs followed suit, Loki spoke as he passed. “See you at the DQ, Mustard.”

Alexia had just returned from the daycare with the herd’s three foals and lounged on a plastic covered metal bench in front of the post office. The two fillies and one colt squealed with laughter as she danced them around in her kinesis. Sky was enjoying the activity far more than her siblings, causing her mother’s smile to broaden. She’s a pegasus alright. Aurora can’t get enough of the air.

Tune was especially happy that her fellow citizens of Trinity were quite comfortable referring to themselves as Terrans. She stopped dancing the foals in the air and settled them down onto the ground so they could run about. It’s a good feeling, to think of myself as a terran first and pony second. Sort of how like the three tribes think of themselves as ponies first and foremost, instead of as separate tribes.

The alicorn had an understanding with the citizens of Trinity. While she was more than happy to play the part of princess, she made it quite clear that if she was not wearing her crown, she was not to be the subject of fawning or celebrity harassment. In her own words, “If the crown is off, I’m off the clock”. The locals were willing to accommodate the unwritten rule. After all, they saw her almost on a daily basis and the glamour of having her live amongst them became a normal part of life.

Yet that understanding didn’t always reach pilgrims before they saw her. I hate that word, she thought to herself. Acting as if I’m some messiah, but the way new arrivals act towards me, there really isn’t a better word to describe them.

She checked her phone to see Elizabeth was still twenty minutes away. Upon putting the phone down, she saw them. Pilgrims were painfully obvious to her by now. The seven ponies and three humans that were piling out of the commuter bus smacked of weary travelers. None of them have cutie marks either. Only new arrivals lack them anymore…well aside from the foal population anyway.

The teal colored Russian unicorn by the name of Yakim was exhausted and filled with energy. A paradox only possible when someone was physically tired and was exuberant at the same time. “We’ve done it comrades. Printsessa Alexia is here. I can feel it.”

His human sister smacked him with annoyance. “Would you stop calling us comrade you stupid idiot.”

The term had greatly fallen out of favor in Russia, yet Yakim used it anyway out of spite. “Comrade Lyudmila. Why torment your only brother?” Three other ponies punched Yakim to shut him up. “Help, help! I’m being repressed.”

His sister was getting tired of his idiocy, even if it was deliberately meant to amuse himself. Maybe he’ll meet an American that rides a scooter and shouts about freedom all day. Let them kill each other.

Alexia chuckled at the rough but friendly banter as she watched all of this from a distance, even if she couldn’t understand the language. She mentally prepared herself to speak with them as she fully expected the Russians to zero in on her soon enough. I hope I can get them to leave before Beth shows up.

One of the immigrants saw Alexia and jabbed his companions to get their attention. “There she is! The Printsessa.”

They saw right away that they had her attention, so they huddled together to work up a plan of action.

“How do we speak with her?” asked a navy blue mare.

“Just walk up to her,” offered her human brother Rurik.

“We can’t do that govniuk,” hissed a purple stallion. “She’s royalty! You think the Danish queen would let you just walk up to her?”

“I don’t see guards or a crown. Are you sure that’s her?” asked Lyudmila.

“Maybe the Americans don’t know how to protect the royal family. They’ve never had one before,” commented one of the other stallions.

Rurik groaned in exasperation. “Durak.” He adopted a pleasant expression and walked across the street to prove them all wrong. Approachable or not, he knew with children running around her hooves, that she would become hostile if he came across as belligerent. He knew right off that the silver pony was the correct person thanks to the presence of wings and a horn. He tried to remain polite, but the year and a half journey out of Russia had been extremely taxing. While the Motherland had recently opened civil rights to its equine population, the Federal Security Service was still tailing them in particular. Mostly because some of their group had to take violent measures to escape custody more than once.

Glad my English is better than most, he thought as he closed to a respectable distance. Alexia’s smile was polite, but her eyes displayed a clear warning in regards to the foals. “Ah-greetings I am Rurik Arsov. You are Printsessa Alexia, yes?”

Tune did not activate her crown, and responded in a patient tone. “I am. Is there something I can do for you?”

“Not for me so much. But my friends back there.” He jabbed a thumb behind him. “Would love to talk with you, if only for a moment.”

She nodded, much to his relief. “I can spare some time.”

Tune could already tell her passive alicorn magic was affecting the Russian ponies. As soon as Rurik gave the signal, all seven ran over and stopped in a semicircle with Yakim in the center. Every single one of them had expressions of admiration and respect. “Printsessa Alexia. We submit ourselves to your will.” He practiced that line for months to making sure his accent wouldn’t color it too badly.

Why do they always do this? the alicorn groaned internally, while keeping a pleasant expression. “Listen. I don’t know what your preconceptions of me are, but I regard my royal status as a job. Not entitlement. All of you are free to do as you will, within the constraints of the law of course.”

Yakim wasn’t quite satisfied with that after Rurik translated. As Alexia predicted, it did much to crumble the holy pedestal pilgrims tended to bestow on her. “Is there anything you require of us?”

She remained polite. “Only that if you decide to stay in Trinity, that you do everything in your power to make it better. We still have to prove to the world that long-term relations between our two species is not only possible, but also mutually beneficial.” She pointed with a wing to the post office behind her. “There is an office inside that can help you get situated with that if you like. Talk to Miss Barrymore at the front desk for more information.”

The human travelers thought she was far more down to Earth than expected, but the alicorn’s passive magic made their equine companions hang on her every word. All they saw was that the silver alicorn, who had been the reason of their flight from their homeland, was offering them an opportunity to serve her. The very thing they wanted to do. Yakim’s faith was redoubled. She grants us to not only live in the same city, but to help unite the races? She is everything I could have hoped for. He faced his companions. “Oi Comrades, let’s go.”

The other ponies waited until they were inside and out of earshot of Alexia before pounding more physical abuse on him for being distasteful.

Alexia sighed and picked up Dusty in her magic to give the colt a bottle. “Well that was relatively painless.”

Sky and Spark were far more energetic than their brother and were actively chasing each other now that the mass of visitors had left. Tune could already tell that they were different from other foals and not just because of their age. Violet was plagued by magic surges at least three times every week, and Aurora’s magic tended to leave the filly weightless every now and then.

Violet’s first episode terrified her mother the first time it happened, thinking it was a mana flare. Thankfully Crimson was already informed of infant unicorns having random magic surges and that it was normal. What was not normal however, was the frequency. It was a side effect to Alexia’s mana flare, and Aurora’s condition was potentially dangerous in its own right.

Sky’s bouts of weightlessness were funny the first few times until the pegasus’s magic returned to normal and she nearly hit her head on the way back down. Had Loki not been there to catch her, Sky might have suffered serious injury.

Just as that though crossed her mind, Tune noticed Aurora trip over her hooves and instead of face planting the ground, she started to drift away into the air. Alexia kept a gentle telekinetic hold over the giggling alabaster filly as she buzzed her wings to try and fly properly. This only doubled her power and made Alexia have to put extra effort in keeping the foal from flying off. She guided the upside down pegasus back over so that she stopped next to her mother. “You are such a goofball, you know that?”

Aurora wiggled in the air to hug the silver mare. “Mama.”

“Daww.” Alexia loved every time Sky called her that and pulled the currently weightless filly over so she could rest next to her brother.

Violet propped herself up onto the bench to try and get at her sister. A familiar voice called out from the street. “I thought I’d never see the day someone calls you mom.”

The silver pony looked away from her child to see Elizabeth Tune standing by the sidewalk. Alexia’s grin threatened to split her face and she left the foals on the bench and dove through the air to glomp her sister.

Elizabeth had only a second to brace herself against the hatchback as the alicorn collided with her. “Beth! Oh I’m so glad you finally came. Its been AGES!”

“I know right?” It had in actuality only been a few months. “But when our totally understanding and accepting parents don’t agree with what we like, we find ourselves not only disowned, but out of money too.”

That got Alexia to back off, her smile gone. “They actually disowned you? You’re not just saying that are you?”

Elizabeth knew she had a flare for the dramatic sometimes, but her mood kept her from holding it in check. “They did. I got the legal paper work and everything to prove those two backwards—assholes! Dropped us both from the family.”

Alexia’s mood plummeted from the news. “Oh.” She knew it was her fault in the end. “I’m sorry I caused all that.”

Ah shit. Beth knew she had screwed up. “No, its not your fault. I said some really…unkind things to that witch and the topic of pony herds came up and I kinda blew up on them. They only mentioned your disownment in passing.” It helped smooth out Alexia’s mood, prompting Beth to continue. “Besides, what the hell am I doing talking about this first thing?”

She bent down and gave the alicorn a proper hug this time. “I’m really glad to see you sis.”

The silver mare leaned into the affection. “At least someone on my human family uses the proper pronouns.”

Beth spied the foals prancing back to their caretaker. “Speaking of family. Where are those youngins? You didn’t bring them over last time.” Both of them spun around to gather up the foals, with Elizabeth picking Dusty up. “Okay, Alex. I have to say this.” She shrieked in girlish delight. “You ponies are painfully adorable! And who’s this little guy?” She turned to her sister. “It is a guy right?”

Tinker was cradled in her left arm while she tickled his belly with the other. Tune was too busy keeping Sky from floating away again to give anything more than a simple answer. “Yup, his name is Dusty Tinker.” Aurora floated back over to her mother right as the pegasus’s out of control mana normalized and gravity took hold of her once again.

“His fur even makes him looks a little dusty.” She put the squirming colt back on the ground. “Say, I got something for you.”

With Violet and Sky secure in her foal harness, the mare looked to pick Tinker up while Beth went to the black car’s trunk. She reappeared with a half life-sized plush pony shaped doll. Terror crept into Alexia’s mind when she saw the horn, wings, azure mane, silver fur, and black ankh. “Oh bloody hell…” she said slowly. “You didn’t.”

“I did,” The princess’s sister replied with a snarky tone. “And I’ve got ten more back there. I call them Ankh Flank. It doesn’t rhythm all that well, but I made it work.”

Tune saw a few people looking their way with eyes locked on the doll. She cringed deeply and yanked the doll into her magic and shoved it back into the car, eliciting a yelp of indignation from her sister. “No no no no no no no. What the hell Beth?! Do you realize what people do to dolls?”

“Um—collect or play with them?” she offered.

Tune threw her hooves and wings up in exasperation. “Yes play! Have you seen the internet? The last thing I need is some creep doing unspeakable acts to my image.”

“Oh lighten up. Those people would be doing that to you anyway. Besides,” she said while opening the trunk back up. “Its every little girl’s dream to have a unicorn. Now they can have a plushy of a real one.”

Alexia made sure Dusty was not getting into trouble before giving her sister an evil eye. “First off, I’m not a unicorn, nor is the doll. Second, I distinctly remember you never liking girl toys.” She craned her neck to spy the Decepticon logo sticker on the car’s back wind shield. “In fact…what was it you used to do for a certain robot?”

Elizabeth groaned at the coming insult and decided to beat her to the punch. “That I scream for Starscream.” The alicorn snickered derisively at Beth’s discomfort. “He’s hot for a robot. But whatever, I’m talking about more-- traditional girls out there. There are already pony dolls out there, and before you think its weird; there is such a thing as a Barbie doll. So you know full well this sort of thing is normal.”

Alexia didn’t like having this conversation in the middle of a public street, and she would be given a reason why in the form of a middle aged woman tapping Elizabeth on the shoulder. “I’ll pay you two thousand dollars for one of those dolls.”

Alexia was rendered speechless, while Beth was pleasantly flummoxed by the offer. “D-Deal!”

The lady looked at the princess. “Sorry dear, but my daughter in Orlando wants one of you bad.” She pulled a checkbook out and wrote it up and traded it for one of the dolls.

Seeing that the alicorn was too stunned to stop them, a dozen more people lined up by the car, all of them offering exorbitant sums of money. Beth was only too happy to oblige. Tune recovered after the second sale and growled in exasperation and teleported the foals and herself to the roof of the post office.

“Well this is just great! I ask Beth to come over here to take a job as an intern scientist and she comes here as a—as a… toymaker.” She wanted to slump to the ground at not being able to find a fitting and unflattering term for her supposedly dear sister. Instead she kicked the gravel stones around. I should have seen this coming. Beth was always conniving at making a buck when she’s broke.

With Dusty secure in her kinesis and her daughters strapped to the harness, the alicorn flew over to the edge of the building to wait out the impromptu auction Beth set up around the eight dozen people who were trying to buy an Alexia doll. “I hope the cops get over here and break this up soon.”

Ten minutes later, the police came and tactfully ended the auction and ten people walked away with empty wallets and arms full of cotton.

Elizabeth pocketed the checks in her small purse and was thumbing her wad of cash with a massive grin when her sister glided down so she could let the whimpering foals out of the harness so they could run free. “You know we could make a huge toy line with you as the flagship.”

“You can forget it,” Alexia blustered as she took half of the dollar bills in her magic and pulled them into the diaper bag.

Elizabeth tried to grab the fleeing bill, but to no avail. “What the hell sis?”

Tune huffed. “I’m just taking my cut of your ill-gotten gains. You’re using my image after all. Just be glad I don’t take some of the checks too.”

Beth quickly deposited the rest of the cash in her purse. “So hey, why don’t you show me your pad. I bet you got like a million square foot mansion around here.”

Alexia magically pulled Dusty from scampering into the street and directed him towards his sisters. “Why? You going to point out how much of an ecological disaster it is?”

Beth gave her older sister a superior smirk. “That is why you offered me a job here right? To study the ecological impact of pony magic farming.”

The mare scoffed. “You’re here to intern for Doctor Paler who’s doing that. You’re far too young to be a project lead.”

Now, Elizabeth was insulted. “Seventeen is not too young! I’ll have you know I was chairman of my-“

“Of your high school eco team, yes I know,” she interrupted with a pseudo mocking grin. “That hardly qualifies against a doctorate.”

She hated to admit it, but her big sister was right. She pouted in defeat. “Yeah, yeah. Fine. Hey, at least you got me in. Do you wanna use your car or mine?”

“Yours. I don’t use mine in town.”

Beth popped the door locks with the key remote to let Alexia put the foals in the back. “So what? Do you run everywhere?”

Tune’s voice was muffled by the car as Beth walked to the other side. “Either that or fly. I have to keep in shape with what exercise I can. Plus-“ Tune blinked in a flash of light and reappeared in the passenger seat. “I have that too.”

To say Beth was jealous would be a gross understatement. However she was not jealous enough to put up with a tail and fur. Far too much maintenance work if you ask me. And the idea of depersonalized bathing… just eww. And I quite like my hands where they are thank you very much. She slid into the seat and started the engine. “Well, lead the way. The sooner you show me that environmental disaster you call a home, the quicker I can make it greener.”

Tune rolled her eyes, but was in truth glad to have Elizabeth around. “Alright, just keep it real slow and careful. You don’t have any child seats, and the kids don’t like being buckled in.”

As the car drove off to the west, Alexia kept a loose kinetic hold over the foals who were either crying, spouting random words while sucking his hoof, or trying to eat her sister’s ear.

Why do you keep eating her ear you purple cannibal? The alicorn cast an eye to her own sister from time to time, a thin smile crawled its way to her cheeks. “I’m really glad you’re here sis,” she said at length.

Beth took a stop light as an opportunity to look over at the silver alicorn. A toothy grin on her face. “I am too.” She gave the pony a quick hug before the light change. After a few moments, she saw Alexia doting on the three foals to keep Sky from hitting Violet for constantly biting her ear. At the same time, she pulled a chocolate chip cookie from the diaper bag and broke it in three pieces for each child. “You’ve really thrown yourself into motherhood haven’t you?”

The alicorn raised a sarcastic eyebrow. “Is it that obvious? And here I was trying to be subtle.”

“Okay smartass,” Beth jabs her playfully before her face went flat. “You know I support you and all, but its still weird to see my former brother, a mother.” Ugh. Just the thought of James not only getting it on— she cut that train of thoughts off at the pass before the mental images could assail her. “So I ah, get the impression you’re living the good life now.” She wanted her mind to get as far away from the image of her ponified sibling from having intercourse as possible.

The foals finished the cookie pieces in short order, with Spark finishing first. Sky was actually trying to make the cookie last, but that prompted her sister to try and take it. The alabaster filly started pushing the purple one away so she couldn't steal her treat. "Nou nou!"

Alexia grinned at the baby babble and pulled Violet off of Sky and gave her a teething toy. The purple filly ignored it for the sake of the cookie. The silver mare relented and broke a second cookie apart and gave a piece to each foal.

None of them had any real control over their hooves’ gripping magic yet so they had to use both legs to keep the pastries from falling. “It has its perks." Alexia answered after almost waiting too long. "But I get the feeling the good life won’t stay all good for long.”

Beth stopped at another light. An intense look of concern washed over her at her sister’s foreboding tone. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tune’s eyes hovered over the children. “You know I can’t tell you about work; aside that its both legal and dangerous. At times anyway. And with the way the world’s going to shit…” She looked at Beth for a long time. “I wanted to make sure you were safe on the west coast.”

Beth was starting to get a little more than just concerned. “Why is the west coast safer than any other part of the U.S.?”

Alexia hated having to keep the media’s truth and the CIA’s truth separate from her last remaining human family member. “You’ve seen the news. Africa’s one step away from going feral. Asia’s not looking good either, and the rest of world, us included, is in hot water.”

Were it not for the alicorn’s direness, Beth would have brushed it off as fear mongering. “What exactly are you trying to say? What kind of work do you really do?”

“I’m a part time politician for the town and a training instructor, nothing more.” Tune felt bad for being so good at half lying. “But I’m trying to say is, be safe, here in Trinity. Or at least remain west of the Rockies.”

Beth parked in front of the estate. A grim look was plastered over her features. “Sure sis. But promise me one thing.”

The mare’s partially haunted gaze told the younger sister that she should take the warning very seriously. “I can try.”

Beth’s grimace deepened. “Promise me that whatever you do out there, you come home safe too. With our parents no longer wanting to be our parents, you’re all I’ve got left too.”

Both adults unbuckled their seat belts so they could share in a tense hug. “I promise Beth.”

The young woman wished her sister would be capable of upholding that promise. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Author's Note

Just in case anyone is wondering/worried, no there will not be another time any time soon. Except for something short like a day or a few hours.

2: Family

Crimson Anderson was completely exhausted. She had just spent the last nine hours in the emergency room playing the role of half nurse half surgeon to six causalities in a natural gas explosion. Instead of trying to catch a nap in one of the bedrooms, she decided to spend time with her son who was in the playroom with Loki watching over him. His sisters were being bathed by their parents, so he was spending his time with his grass green aunt as they played peekaboo.

Loki took one look at the groggy pale yellow pony and was rather amused by what she saw. “You look like hell Crimmy.”

Crimson yawned loudly and flopped onto her back near the pair. “I feel like it. You would not believe the day I’ve had.”

Her mate stopped her game with Tinker as the grey colt ran over to be with his mother who laid on the light blue carpet of the foals’ playroom. “I bet. I’m going to go help Conrad cook and let you two spend some quality time together.”

“Thanks green bean,” Anderson replied sleepily, barely aware of her son trying to get her to play with him.

Loki gave the foal a friendly nuzzle. “Be nice to your mommy okay?”

“Bata brrum.” Dusty Tinker returned his aunt’s affection and watched her leave before turning back to his mother and tried to roll the half snoozing mare off her back and onto her side.

Crimson’s sluggish thoughts drifted back to the emergency room. Even with the refined earth pony hoof magic she possessed, scalpels were difficult to handle. So it was to her immense gratitude that the robotic surgical suite had been installed a month prior. Her experience being the team medic saved the two critically injured patients she had worked on with the other four being assisted by other physicians. If it had only been that, she wouldn’t have been so worn out, but other medical emergencies cropped up all day, requiring her attention.

Dusty was ignorant of this and was continuing his attempt to roll her over so he could get her attention. “Mamaba baba.”

His babble brought a trace of a smile to the tired mare and she let him succeed in rolling her to the left so he could scamper around to her front. “Sorry I’m not more fun right now little guy. Mama’s really tired.”

The grey colt’s emerald green eyes shown forth with intelligence, but not understanding. “Tamabbbbrr.” He sat down next to his mother’s neck and nuzzled her pale yellow fur.

Crimson giggled as the colt unwittingly tickled her. Tinker was becoming more and more physically active in the past two weeks, with his current activity being the most common. “I think someone just wants a head rub.” She gazed into his comically big eyes, seeing the unconditional love and trust he shared with her. While she had seen Dusty display that in the past, it was this moment that moved her the most. No matter what cost, I will do everything in my power to keep that love or trust in his eyes.

Tinker impatiently nuzzled her into giving him a head rub again. "Caba wooba!"

In a burst of energy, she snatched up the little colt who let out a peal of laughter. “You want a head rub huh? Well you have to pay the toll first.”

She snuck her muzzle past his kicking legs and blew on his belly, eliciting more laughter from the colt. “Maba baaaarrrbbt.”

“Where did you pick up that kind of language?” Crimson acted as if her son was cussing up a storm. “Sounds like you’ve been listening to your father while he watches the games.” She blew more raspberries on his belly, Dusty howled with laughter while trying to kick her off.

Anderson managed to avoid taking a hoof to the eye, but her son managed to connect too many hooves to her jaw before she stopped. “Ow.” She rubbed the side of her muzzle with a wiry smirk peeking out from behind her leg. “Well you certainly have your mama’s kick.”

Tinker was on his hooves in an instant and propped himself up on her so his head reached her chest. A massive grin was on his face as he babbled some more. “Fravvt babbba.”

“More French I see.” Anderson relented and lovingly gathered the foal in her forelegs and started rubbing his mane. Dusty simmered down within a few seconds. Anderson calmed with him, treasuring the moment to try and burn it into her memory. She sat on her haunches while rubbing her son’s mane. He started to drift off to sleep while sucking his right hoof.

With the moment passed, her exhaustion caught back up with her and she gently dropped to her side and held Tinker close to her chest and curled around him, both were asleep within seconds. The colt snored lightly and his ears twitched as his mother’s breath tousled his bangs.

Three hours later, the intercom crackled with Conrad’s voice. Conversation rambled on behind his announcement. “Dinner’s ready everyone, meat and veggie spaghetti.”

It was loud enough to wake the snoozing mare and she cracked her eyes open to see the grey ball of fur was still nestled in her forelegs. The colt warmed both her skin and her heart with his mere presence. Ever since birth, the little colt would only find unconditional peace when in the presence of the herd, most of all with his mother and father. It was a mother’s love that made her linger instead of shattering the moment for a few more seconds. Alarm Clock Disease or not, I’m glad I had you Dusty.

Unfortunately, her stomach refused to be ignored and grumbled loudly enough to wake the small colt. She gave him a lopsided grin. “Sorry Tink.”

He grumbled unintelligible blabber to express his annoyance and shared hunger. She dislodged herself from him to stretch and yawn sleepily. Tinker did the same, albeit more clumsily and he fell on his side in the attempt to copy his mother.

He may be only an infant, but mimicry is the most sincere form of flattery. She couldn’t help but to feel honored regardless of the reason. To his squeaking protest she grabbed him by the scruff of his neck in her mouth and placed him on her back. “Come on Dusty, time for dinner.”

His eyes lit up and his ears perked forward. “Dina bada ba!” he babbled while happily clinging to her mane. The kitchen was alive with conversation and the noise of two rowdy fillies.

The house was built with a large family in mind and the kitchen and dining room were separated only by a change in flooring. The room was decorated to have a very rustic feel with hanging pots, pans, cutlery, and spices of various conditions ranging from garlic strings to tied up cinnamon sticks. The various home appliances, microwave, electric stove, and an assortment of others were given a once over to make it look as if it was straight out of the colonial period.

As if designed by not only a different interior designer, but one who had a grudge against the kitchen, the dining room looked futuristic with the entire far wall being a one way mirror so there was an unobstructed view of Trinity below. The floor, ten chairs, table, and assorted decorations on said table were predominately white with black being the secondary color and chrome as a tertiary. The hanging light fixture was set inside a mirrored sphere that reflected the light of a single bulb across both itself and the reflective ceiling to light the large room.

The table itself was normally a two-tiered geometrically sectioned circle and could only seat the four adult ponies with the three highchairs off to the side. Yet there were three human guests that made that too cramped so the table had to be pulled apart into ten wedges that had two long sloping legs each. The second tier of the table remained as the anchor point and held the two steaming pots of spaghetti sauce and one for the noodles.

Crimson did a double take at the sight of the guests. The first was Elizabeth, which the pale yellow mare expected to see, but the other two were her parents: Bella and Joe Anderson. Joe was enraptured by Conrad’s description of the weather control service that would soon be able to branch off to cover more of northern California. Loki was sharing jokes with Elizabeth, while Bella and Alexia set the table. Violet Spark and Aurora Sky were running around underfoot and chasing each other giggling manically all the while.

“Momma? Paw?” Crimson said with a rare lapse into her accent. “What are you doing here?” The mare ran over to her mother who was closer.

Having been around the ponies for over an hour, and some powerful anti-anxiety medication, Bella was able to display no outward sign of her phobia. The aging woman put her stack of plates down so she could address her daughter, only to find her grandson perched on her back. Were it not for her composure, Bella might have almost squealed in delight at the grey furred and dirty blonde haired colt. “Well you know I hate to arrive unannounced, but your father wanted it to be a surprise.”

She grabbed onto a nearby countertop to brace herself to bend down and take the squirming colt into her hands. “Plus you had the nerve to not fly down and let us visit our grandson.”

Bella’s harsh words had no bite in them and she gave the pale yellow mare a warm hug after setting Dusty down for a moment. Crimson didn’t complain when Bella started to stroke her mane. “I would have liked to momma, but we’ve been so busy.”

Bella let go so she could scoop up her curious grandson. “Oh posh. You and I both know that’s no excuse to forget your manners or poor decrepit mother. But I will harass you later,” she turned her attention to the wiggling foal in her arms. “Right now I have a grandson to spoil rotten.”

“Momma,” Crimson half whined, half laughed at the idea of her mother being so rapid to play the role of overindulgent grandmother despite her equinophobia.

The mare’s protests were interrupted by her father coming over to inspect his grandson. “There he is.” He redirected his attention to Crimson. “We would have told you we were coming, but your mother wanted it to be a surprise.” Although I doubt you didn’t already know we were coming. Joe kept the scathing thought to himself at the moment.

He bent down while she reared up so they could hug. “Its really good to see you Paw.”

He hugged her tightly, rubbing her mane slowly. His voice became laced with concern. “Is everything alright around here?”

She dropped back down on all fours to give him a puzzled look. “If you mean the herd, we’re still happy together.”

Bella gave the man a knowing glance. “We can fuss about that later Joe,” she fixed a big smile for her daughter and grandson. “This is family time and we shouldn’t sully it with that kind of talk.”

Joe worked his jaw trying to work out if breaking that tradition was worth it, but ultimately agreed with his wife for the moment. “Alright.” He tried to sweep it away and took Dusty into his arms. “Besides this little guy needs to get to know his old man.”

The grey colt looked at Joe’s craggy aged face with curiosity and experimentally placed a hoof on the man’s chin. “Bada nnah?”

Joe couldn’t help but to be enamored by the lad, but something felt off about the baby babble. “That doesn’t sound like early English to me.”

Crimson nodded. “We’re trying to raise all three foals on both English and Equish.”

Bella was mildly put off. “That can’t be easy for the poor boy. Why make him go through such trouble?” She rubbed the colt’s hair, prompting him to lean into it. A human hand and its fingers were by far more enjoyable to be petted by than a hoof or fetlock could ever hope to be.

“Well it’s mostly because the four of us,” Crimson gestured to her adult herdmates, “tend to speak exclusively in Equish when not around humans or other ponies who don’t know it.”

Bella harrumphed. “Well it seems like way more work than necessary, but it’s not my place to tell you how to raise your child.”

It was Joe’s turn to snort in dismissal. “Hypocrisy doesn’t suite you Bella.”

Before she could give him a scathing answer, Elizabeth called over from the table. “Are you guys going to join us over here?”

Loki jabbed Elizabeth in the shoulder while the Andersons complied with the indirect request. “Think you could make some dolls of me?”

Beth twirled a bite of pasta, her capitalistic predisposition resurfacing in an instant. Her internship could not give her sufficient income to live off of, and she was loath to ask her sister for a handout. So she was eager to make money when it presented itself. “Personal or commercial use?”

The grass green mare had a machiavellian grin. “A little of both. I need a calling card.”

Beth knew of Loki’s penchant for pranks and mirrored the mare’s grin. “If you let me in on a few I can give you a discount.”

Loki threw a hoof out to shake. “Deal.”

Dusty quickly found himself in a highchair in between his sisters with a small plate of the vegetarian sauce spaghetti along with Violet. With the little unicorn’s itineris system producing an exorbitant amount of mana for a pony her age, both parents felt it was best to keep her on a vegetarian diet. Aurora was the only foal to have the meat spaghetti sauce since her tribe required at least some meat in their diet. The humans and three winged also had the meat sauce for their noodles. Tune knew she’d have an overabundance of mana no matter what her diet would be, but she had the mental discipline Spark lacked so she was able to indulge herself.

Once The Andersons finished saying grace, the conversation started off with Elizabeth’s fascination of the weather control service Conrad had slipped into being a silent partner on due to an overburdening workload. “So Conny, have you guys taken into account the ecological impact of artificially generating more rainfall for the surrounding areas?”

The brown stallion briefly noticed his culinary expertise wasn’t nearly as bad as it used to be as he swallowed his bite. “Well that’s part of the reason why we hired people like you. So we could get some useful data out of what our weather manipulating abilities could do to the environment as a whole. But we do know that extending our services would likely make some regions dependent on us.”

Joe peered at his grandson who was already staining his fur with pasta, along with his sisters. “I’m sure some good ol’ ingenuity could keep everything in order. What I’m worried about is all of this hullabaloo oversees.” He added some salt to his dish before continuing. Conrad eyed the act with a touch of wounded pride for his cooking. “All that nonsense in Africa could spread anywhere.”

The four ponies knew they had to tread lightly around the subject with Crimson speaking first. “Well the continent’s never been that stable anyway. The UN will be able to rein in all in soon enough.”

“Bah,” Joe grumbled while stabbing his fork in his daughter’s direction. “Don’t piss on my foot and tell me its rain. I know fool talk when I hear it. You spooks know something the rest of the world doesn’t.”

Bella glowered at her husband. “Joe I think you should remember your manners as our daughter’s guest.”

“Spooks?” Elizabeth inquired, causing Alexia to cringe. “You guys are G-men?”

Tune folded her forelegs in defiance towards the inquiry. “We’re simply government employees,” she glared a bit at Joe. “Nothing more.”

Bella nudged her husband and hissed his name to get him to drop it, but he was too upset to stop now. “Well, I might believe you if we weren’t met by a couple of suits that knocked on our door and told us our home was no longer safe.”

Crimson blanched. “What? Who?”

The other ponies had one name on their minds: Thompson. Joe studied her daughter, stunned by how readable her inhuman face was. The genuine mixture of confusion, honesty, and surprise softened his tone a little. “Wouldn’t tell me who sent them or what branch they work for, only that we should pack up and move out. Saying some nonsense that we were critical to national security.” He laughed darkly at the idea. “A botanist and his housewife are not critical to the security of the nation, but I know my daughter and her family is.”

Crimson’s indignation faltered, knowing full well what Thompson was trying to do. She returned to her meal. “We had nothing to do with that. You know I would never try to get you to leave home like that Paw.”

“You may not have—“ His piercing gaze danced around the other ponies, searching for a target to accuse.

The tense moment was lost when a wad of spaghetti flew through the air and planted itself on the scowling man’s head. The violet unicorn filly was howling with laughter at her successful telekinetic throw. The adults were caught between snickering to outright laughing in Loki and Elizabeth’s case. The tension of the conversation bled away as the man gave up his anger.

Alexia saw the signs of a preventable disaster. Spark wouldn’t have that kind of power unless she was on the verge of a magic surge and her mother removed the foal from her high chair. “Sorry about that Mister Anderson, I need to take her outside before she destroys anything.” He took a napkin and silently nodded in agreement while wiping the food off. He witnessed one of Violet’s magic surges back at his home, and would not wish the house to suffer the same fate the bayou around his house had.

Tune retreated to the backyard just as Violet’s surge took full swing and caused all of the nearby toys to either float, inflate in size, or come to life and crawl around. Unfortunately that included Alexia’s necklace and saddlebag contents. The ‘crown’ unclasped itself to flop around the wooden deck as if it was a two legged spider. Her small saddlebag opened on its own and its contents spilled out to roam the deck. The only reason things were not catching fire or phasing in and out of this plane of reality was because the large forty square meter wooden deck was thoroughly covered in warding charms and diagrams that would let the profusely radiating mana painlessly flow from the filly, but in a way that it would not harm the environment.

“You are one diabolical little imp,” the silver mare said half-jokingly at the little filly as she chased after the necklace, the foal’s horn was a spear of brilliant amber light as the foal’s body rapidly expelled most of her mana. Alexia reinforced the enchantment over the deck’s railing and floor so nothing would sink through and get stuck underground again. Then she relocated her necklace and easily wiped the filly’s mana off of it and replaced it around her neck. “No, you can’t have my ‘crown’ either.”

Spark propped herself up on her mother to poke at the only jewelry the azure haired pony ever wore. “Maba frabut.”

The princess made sure to keep a telekinetic hold on the necklace’s clasp. Being a direct descendent, Violet Spark would have no difficulty removing the necklace should her mother’s diligence waver. “No, this isn’t a toy.” Violet was not willing to give up the ghost until a plushy bee incased in an azure glow flew over to interpose itself between mother and daughter. “Uh oh, Mister Bee is going to sting you.”

Spark hopped down and bounced away with a playful giggle. The foal turned around to taunt the bee into chasing her by blowing a raspberry and shaking her tail at it. “Here he comes. Bzzzzz.” Tune made the cotton wings flutter and had the toy chase after Violet around the other objects on the deck. The filly squealed with laughter every time the bee stung her with its soft cotton stinger only to reverse roles and she would chase after the bee.

This carried on for several minutes with both ponies thoroughly enjoying the playtime as the magic surge ran its course. Yet as with all things, it was not to last. The moment was broken by Tune’s phone ringing next to her ear. It hurt the alicorn’s left ear and she plucked it out of the air from her daughter’s wild mana and answered it with a level tone. “This is Tune.”

Thompson’s voice responded with an air of importance. “Word has come down. I need the four of you in my office in two hours.”

Alexia’s control over the bee faded and Violet pounced and started biting it. The mare knew being given two hours was a gift, as it only required twenty minutes to get to his office, shorter if by teleportation. Her tone was kept professional so she could hide the lace of worry. “We’ll be there.”

The phone clicked as the Director hung up, prompting Tune to do the same. The mare sighed as she reclaimed the bee in her magic and had it chase after the filly. Her thoughts drifted to those still inside the house. I can at least let them have peace until Violet’s surge is over.

She did not have to wait long as the various objects slowly lost their amber hue and gently fell to the wooden deck over the space of four minutes. With resignation, Alexia opened the door and guided the filly back inside with the bee fleeing from the purple terror still covered head to hoof in drying red spaghetti sauce.

Alexia reached the table with a practiced mask of nonchalance as she took her seat and resumed eating. The food was a little cold, but she didn’t mind overmuch. Conrad could see past her mask and hazarded a question. “Our little girl didn’t blow a hole through the railing again did she?”

“It was aimed at my head actually, but I managed to deflect it in time,” the alicorn replied off handedly as if it was a common occurrence. The humans at the table cast worrying glances at Spark who was happily stuffing her muzzle with more food. Although half of the meal ended up on her face or the floor. “But I got a call from the head office. We need to be there in an hour and a half.”

“He didn’t catch wind of my fire hornet jars did he?” The green hacker had a look of abject terror.

“Fire hornets?” Conrad asked, suspicion written all over his face.

“Oh um, nothing,” Loki replied as she slipped back into a casual mood while she bit into her garlic bread.

Crimson ignored the pair to inquire further. “Did he say why?”

“Just business.” Alexia didn’t want to say anything more with the humans around. While the Andersons knew of their occupation, Elizabeth was not supposed to. However she was left with a problem and she faced Crimson’s parents along with her sister. “I hate to ask you all, but since you’re here. I have the distinct impression that we may be out of town for a while. Do you mind watching the foals until we get back?”

Bella was quick to offer her services. “Oh that won’t be an issue at all dear. We would love the chance to get to know our grandchildren better.” The southern lady spoke presumptuously for her husband who nodded in agreement.

The Tune sisters found it surprising that late middle-aged couple more or less adopted Aurora and Violet so readily. “Children? As in plural?”

Joe pat his wife on the arm to let him answer for her after finishing his bite of garlic bread. “It doesn’t take a genius to know what happened with the rest your kin.” He said in response to the silver mare’s question. He swept a hand towards the ponies, sans his daughter. “Between now and your visit at our home, we haven’t heard hide nor hair of any of your kin save for Elizabeth. Now I can respect not speaking ill of others when ill is all you can say, but silence in of itself is telling.” He gave a piercing stare at the rest of the adult ponies. “Is there anyone who would object to us showing these youngins what proper grandparents should be?”

Crimson and Alexia were momentarily dumbstruck by the offer, while Loki shrugged playfully. “If you’re adopting, I wouldn’t mind knowing what its like to have real parents.”

Conrad bowed his head in respect. “I know full well the impact a wise grandfather can have. I cannot express my gratitude enough for your offer.”

Loki mentally snickered at the stallion’s wording. All he’s missing is a katana. I think I’ll grab one from the net.

Bella replied with mock indignation. “Well darling, don’t discount the effect a kind old grandmother can have on a child’s life.”

While Conrad tried in vain to dissuade Bella that he meant no insult Alexia mulled over the offer. Well its sort of like having in-laws after all. So it makes sense they would extend the offer to my foals as well. Even with that cold logic, it did much to lift the mare’s hopes that she could maintain a stronger personal attachment to humanity outside of just her sister alone. “I think that would be wonderful. On behalf of our herd, I graciously accept.”

Bella gave Conrad a teasing grin before turning to the herd’s alpha. The aging lady had seen how the four adult ponies kept a very loose and equalist relationship. However if anything affected them as a whole it was always Alexia who said the final word. “Oh it’s really not a thing dearie. All four of you are one big family, so its only proper that we see your sprouts in the same light as Dusty. Even then, they are our son in law’s children after all.”

Joe returned his hand to his meal. “She speaks for us both. And I would be lying if I said those little girls hadn’t grown on me back in Louisiana.” He subconsciously rubbed the spot where the little unicorn pegged him with spaghetti earlier. “And I do have a soft spot for fiery individuals.” Bella gave him a coy grin.

Crimson grinned happily at that. “Well that certainly describes the three of them that’s for sure.”

The rest of the meal lapsed into small talk about the differences in how to care for a foal instead of a human baby until it was time for the herd to leave.

Alexia fussed with Elizabeth at the front door. “Now remember to take Violet to the back deck when she has a magic surge. The house can’t take too many more episodes of hers indoors. Now when Aurora starts floating around, you need to keep her in your arms or tethered to something soft when her surge cuts off and gravity reclaims her.”

Elizabeth filed the information away in her head. “You act as if you know you’re leaving for a while.”

The alicorn shrugged with her wings. “I’m just covering my bases. You know I’ve told you-“

“That your job can be chaotic at times, yes, you’ve told me.” The teenager cutoff. “Don’t worry, I have Mister and Misses A to help out. We can handle three little foals.”

Tune looked at the Andersons to find Sky and Spark chasing each other under Bella’s feet while Dusty Tinker was crying because his mother leaving him to get in the car. “I think you’ll be lucky if they don’t turn you off to having kids of your own someday.”

“Pah, and let the family line be carried on by ponies only? You can forget that…I just need to find a good man to latch onto.”

Alexia raised a condescending eyebrow. “The apple doesn’t fall far does it?”

Beth feigned insult. “I’m in no hurry. I’m looking for a fellow scientist so we can go on expeditions together, not a money tree.”

As much as the silver alicorn wished to keep teasing her, Thompson was willing to wait only so long. She reared up and hugged Beth. The mare wrapped her wings around her sister, in an attempt to hold onto the moment as long as possible. “I love you so much sis. Thank you for being here.”

The young woman noticed the slight emotional warble in the mare’s voice and interpreted it as it being lingering pain from their parents’ rejection. “You should just forget those jerks.” Alexia looked up to meet Beth’s stern frown. “They want to hang onto irrelevant traditions out of spite, then ignore them.” Beth squeezed the alicorn tightly. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only family that matters anymore.”

Alexia had actually been more concerned that Elizabeth was safe in Trinity, but decided to play it out as if her sister had been accurate. The proclamation still managed to draw some silent tears out of her. “Thanks Beth. I needed that.”

The sisters embraced for several silent seconds until Beth tried to lighten the mood. “You’ve gotten really sappy since you grew fur.” Alexia gave a short laugh at the mockery prompting her sister to continue. “When you get back, you wanna watch Big Miracle when you get back? I always loved that movie.”

Now back on all fours, the alicorn looked up to her little sister with puffy red eyes and a weak smile. “Why not? I may actually like it this time.”

Loki stuck her head out of the car towards the only remaining member of the herd who wasn’t in the vehicle. “Are you going to ride with us or blink over?”

I better not. I need time to compose myself. “I’ll be right there,” she called back before returning to her sister. “One last thing. Don’t drive the Andersons nuts. I know how you can get.”

Beth scrunched her face at the fierce debate raging in her head. “No promises.”

“Beth…” Alexia replied warningly.

The younger sister held her ground. “I will make the attempt, but I’m still not promising anything.”

Tune grinned at her sister. Elizabeth was still her same old self. “Fair enough.”

The four ponies waved their final goodbyes to the three humans and three foals before heading off towards Section Nine’s headquarters.

Section Nine’s head office was located half a mile north east from the town hall and was the only building with a heavy duty concrete wall and security gate. Set at ten yard intervals on top of the fence, were crystals that radiated a semi-opaque white barrier that blocked all access from the air so the only way to enter the area was through the front gate.

The crystals ran off electricity thanks to power converters designed by Brad and Marcy’s Enchantment Company. It allowed a second smaller crystal to convert electrical power into mana for the barrier crystals.

The main office was also the only structure in town that was over five stories tall, reaching a total of seven. While Section Nine was originally established to be the intelligence agency’s equine division, Thompson and Tune both agreed that it was best to have joint species teams when possible.

The herd dropped the car off at the first basement parking garage and took the elevator to the third floor. Thompson was unwilling to take a top floor or a wall side office so he worked from the dead center of the structure.

Alexia had completely washed herself of the emotional state she had been in by the time they left the elevator and wore a strong mask of professionalism. She knocked on the office and admitted herself in right after.

The Director was reading off several documents when he saw the equines enter. “Good, you’re all here.” He had four copies of a dossier and had Alexia dole them out with her kinesis. The four ponies found seats around the room, which were all pointed towards the midpoint between the front of Thompson’s desk and a massive computer screen.

The Director had a few knick knacks scattered in precise locations, but it was otherwise left unremarkable. Alexia’s herd were not the only people to enter his office and he wanted nothing that could hint too strongly into his personal life. He was a strong believer in separating work and his personal life.

This was one of the few things he had in common with most of his superiors, but he was unconventional in others. The Director maintained an impersonal, if warm, relationship with Alexia’s herd. The agency was by its very nature, a secretive and untrusting subculture. To be anything else risked both the nation and personal security. Thompson’s friendlier approach with the ponies was unorthodox in his trusting relation with a few of his agents, but his results and their thus far unwavering loyalty gave him the leeway he needed to keep his equine subordinates at peak condition. Even he was surprised how receptive his pony agents were to such treatment to the point where he extended that information to other branches of government and the military. Few were willing to bother however.

Thompson thumbed the original dossier in his hand, only the faintest trace of apprehension showing through. “The top brass feel the lot of you can no longer properly continue training new recruits due to your extended absence from field work. As such, you’ve been tapped for an infiltration assignment.”

The herd glanced at each other for a few moments. Thompson had been warning of this day for weeks, so this day was hardly unexpected. Loki was rather excited about it. “Tell me you found some ne’er-do-wells at Disney World. I’ve always wanted to go.”

Thompson pressed a button on his desk and a projector screen slid down. “Afraid not.” The image that appeared was a small camp that was hidden in between the sand dunes of a vast desert. The visual image would have been completely useless due to the excellent camouflage. The only way for the equines to see anything at all was the overlay of several red circles and arrows pointing out imperfections in the concealment. “Your destination is in southern Algeria, deep in the Sahara Desert.” Half of the projection split off and zoomed out to show a satellite view of northern Africa with a red rectangle highlighting the location.

Thompson continued his briefing. “We’ve had surveillance on this particular complex for the past three months, and we know the local government couldn’t possibly be funding it.”

Conrad looked away from the images to the Director. “What makes you so sure?”

Thompson flipped the pages in his copy of the dossier. “Because of the shipments its been receiving.” The satellite view was replaced by a long list of supplies ranging from medical supplies, lab equipment, jet fuel, and machine parts all arriving at one of the northern ports before being shipped down to this location. “We believe the place is a biological research lab, a big one too. The jet fuel is troubling though as we can only guess as to why it's on the list.”

“A philanthropist or pharmaceutical company perhaps?” Crimson ventured. “If it’s a bio lab, then someone might be trying to find a cure for the clouds or the pandemic to the south.”

Conrad had seen and been victim to greed many times over his life, and his trust outside of his new family and Thompson was paper thin. “A cure or at least a vaccine would mean big money if found. And the desert would be a good place to keep a lab if you don’t want prying eyes keeping watch.”

Thompson tilted his head in acknowledgement. “Sound theories, but I believe something else is afoot. Its no real secret between us that Africa is far worse than the tabloids say. Even if placing the facility in Africa allows easier access to victims of the pandemic, the whole area is too volatile to be worth the risk.”

Loki tapped her hoof on the lacquer wooden armrest of her chair in contemplation. “So the question is who feels safe enough to put a bio lab in the worst place on Earth?”

“The Mions would.” Three sets of equine eyes turned to Alexia with the lone human nodding.

“The brass and I concur. I want you to go in, find out the purpose of the facility and verify who’s running it. Apprise the overwatch team of the situation and they will inform you on your next move.”

It was a simplified explanation of the plan, Thompson was never one to trust in minute plans Instead the man gave only general guidelines for all of his operatives, both solo and teams, and let those in the field decide on how to accomplish their goals. Conrad was a fan of that command style as he would have a very difficult time accepting micromanagement. “Do we know who’s on overwatch?”

The Director shook his head. “They are not in our department, and I haven’t been told who so I can’t tell you if they are pro or con pony. I would like to think the higher ups wouldn’t stick you with a team that would have trouble cooperating.”

Crimson sniffed contemptuously. “If they don’t we’ll sick Loki on them once all is said and done.”

The pale yellow mare turned to her fellow earth pony to see she was gently tossing a glass jar filled with swirling clear liquid and a devilish smirk on her face. “I was intending to use these on that skank Betty, but I can make more.”

Alexia looked at the bouncing jar with concern; both with the implied warning and that Loki had not been wearing or carrying anything until now. “What is that?”

“Fire hornets. For when you really can’t stand someone, yet don’t want to cause permanent physical damage.”

Conrad eyed the jar with interest. I could use some of those.

Thompson eyed the chronometer on his computer, pointedly trying to ignore his most unpredictable agent’s extracurricular activities. “Desert kits are already assembled in the armory, but as usual you can customize it to your personal needs; time permitting at least. The chopper will arrive within the hour so make it quick. Good luck out there,” he added to signal the dismissal. The herd took the dossiers with them to study on the way to the armory.

Loki was last to leave and hesitated by the door to add one last question. “Big T. Did you ever get around to filling my request?”

He gave her a slightly raised eyebrow. “Yes, it is in storage locker one two nine.” He opened a drawer in his desk and retrieved a key before throwing it at the mare who caught it in her teeth after she shuffled her computer harness off. “Have fun,” he said with a trace of mirth the mare always seemed to infect people with.

“Al rays,” she replied from behind the key with a massive smile. Loki darted out to chase her mates down, leaving Thompson back to his work.

His eyes lingered on the door for several seconds before falling back to the computer monitor. There was always more work to do; reports to review, leads to follow, and agents to coordinate. I better assign someone to watch their house while Tune is away. I need them focused on the mission and not at home.

He retrieved his phone and found the correct speed dial. He raised the phone to his ear and waited two rings before the person answered. “GH, I need you to hold the fortress for a while.”

“Of course sir.”

The director hung up and returned the phone to its place on his desk. The man had an instinctual need to cover his bases, but he hoped his actions would ultimately prove to be unnecessary.

3: SPF 40

The armory was five stories underground and under enough security to give anyone pause, save the alicorns of Equestria or anyone who knew how to bypass the antimagic ward.

Between cameras, guards, and three meter steel walls, the passage between the vault door made airport security seem like the front door of a welcoming grocery store. The elevator dinged four seconds before the doors opened and the three human guards met the four ponies with guns raised as the solders waited for the ceiling mounted camera to verify their identity on the private network.

The herd had only been down here a few times since construction was complete and it still unnerved the mares to stare down the barrel of two AA-12 shotguns two meters out of arm’s reach. None of them moved until the scanning lasers faded and the lights around the elevator went green, signaling the guards to stand down.

The guards resumed their posts and gave curt yet respectful nods to the herd as they moved past the checkpoint and twenty meters of cold concrete to the happily whistling earth mare quartermaster. At odds with her environment, the bright pink quartermaster was a cheery individual and waved Alexia down as the four ponies approached.

“Alex hey! So boss man finally dragged you guys back into fieldwork did he?”

Tune stopped at the ballistic glass window between her and the pink earth pony. “More like he was ordered to drag us back.”

“Such is the way of things,” she replied evenly as she checked each member of the herd into the system. “Okay, I have the requisition orders for desert load outs for two earth ponies and a pegasus already assembled and ready to wear. As for you Special Agent, I’ve had to customize your harness due to your—unique combo.”

Tune gave the pink mare a sarcastic eye as she waited for the vault to open. “You can just say because I’m an alicorn.”

The pink mare had problems with being too much of a conversationalist and found it very difficult to to keep her answer brief and professional. “Sorry ma’am.”

The Special Agent gave her a polite smile. “There’s no need to apologize. If anything, you should be praised for taking the initiative.”

The quartermaster’s sullenness evaporated into a bright smile. “Thank you your hi-.” She stopped herself and cleared her throat. Um, right this way please.”

While Brad and Marcy’s Enchantment Company had a very lucrative public front, a whole separate division of the company was exclusively oriented to military contracting to Section Nine. Alexia was the one to find the latest inventions waiting for her, although she was not aware of its importance until the quartermaster unlocked the armory’s vault door to introduce the team to what laid within.

The pink pony was as big of a technophile as Loki was and once the novelty of magic wore off over the past two years, she viewed all magic application for what it was: a discipline of science for technology to latch on to. That love of technology always brought a beaming smile to the quartermaster’s face when she was introducing new tech to the agents that came down to see her.

The four field agents found themselves in a room that spanned the entire underground story. Florescent lights lit up drab green metal racks of tools, weapons, and other gear for humans and ponies alike. Each rack was neatly packed next to the other and the various tools and equipment were all neatly organized and stored to maximize efficiency.

From the right side of the door and midway to the far right wall, were lockers housing all of the off duty agents. Most were empty due to the agency being hard pressed in the current world crises.

The pink mare was thrilled at the prospect of finally getting the chance to equip her beloved princess. Keep it together Gumball. Remember your job. Right now, I have to act as if she’s just another field agent, not the mare responsible for your freedom and saving you from a life in a concentration camp.

With that being said, that did not mean she wasn’t going to enjoy herself. She stopped near Crimson, who was closest, to speak to them again. “Where are my manners, I forgot to introduce myself,” she said fumbling for words. “I’m Pack Rat.”

Loki temporarily forgot the satchel she was putting together to giggle. “I didn’t know anyone wanted to change their name to a pony one.”

Pack Rat’s face was laced with confusion for a moment before realization dawned on her. “Oh no, that’s not my real name. Just my code name for the agency.”

Tune found that odd. “We were never given code names.”

Rat nodded knowingly. “Likely because of that perception scrambler you came up with didn’t make it necessary for you at the time. But after reading some of the equestrian books that the military released back to us, I found out that Equestria’s royal guard use something similar to this by enchanting their armor to make them all of their fur and hair identical. So I managed to do something similar to all of our equipment harnesses. Instead of making us all look alike, which would give us away too easily, they instead alter our colors and cutie marks to be random upon activation so no one will know who we really are.”

Conrad was both greatly intrigued and annoyed by the information. “Seems being relegated to training instructors has left us out of the loop for much of the department’s changes over the year.”

Pack shrugged. “Such is the nature of our profession. Anyway, since your back on in the need-to-know, I can introduce you guys to the latest gear!” The pink mare squealed inwardly with girlish delight at being in the presence of the royal herd.

The four other ponies lined up behind Pack Rat as she went to the racks holding unclaimed harnesses. “This one is tailored for earth mares.” She pressed a button towards the side of the rack and the steel rods holding it up moved away from the rack and down to shoulder level of the ponies. “Its called the EPM-UH-10.”

“That’s a mouthful,” Loki replied while casting a critical eye at the gear.

The pink mare grinned at the assumed compliment. “Its still an efficient acronym though. Either way, the UH ten comes with the standard polyester harness along with the scrambler enchantment I told you about. Given that your ponies, the enchantment feeds off your own mana, where as our human agents have a limited battery life of about ten hours or so.”

Loki was enamored by the idea of humans wielding magic. “How did we manage that?”

Pack Rat couldn’t have been asked a more enticing question and she beamed an even bigger smile. “Well I’d love to claim the transformer crystals were my own doing, but that belongs solely to the B and M Enchantment Company. But what I do know is that basically, mana is energy just waiting to be converted into some other form of energy. Now, while we ponies produce that naturally through our carbuncles, as you well know,” she explained while gesturing to Alexia. “Humans obviously do not.

She continued with a bit of a self-gratification. “But when has that ever stopped man from doing what can’t be done right?” While every pony in Trinity fully accepted, both emotionally and cognitively, as being a different species, they still mostly saw themselves as having human mindsets and desires. “So Brad, from the company, worked up the first prototype transformer roughly five months ago.” Rat started rummaging around in one of the human utility harnesses and taking one of the pockets apart to pull a crystal out. “Behold!” she announced proudly. “The biggest real step forward for magtronics; where pony magic and Earth’s technology are made one.”

The crystal was as small as a thumb, and was transparent sea foam green with copper wiring running all through it and small silicon chips completely encased in the jewel. From her own experience, Alexia easily identified the crystal to be a heavily modified reservoir crystal. It looks as if it was forged around the electronics instead of being implanted with it.

Pack Rat gazed upon it as if it was the Holy Grail. “As long as the battery holds out, this baby can make anyone mage. It might one day help stave off magic exhaustion.”

Tune and the others looked it over carefully, but the object never left Rat’s hoof. “Surely there has to be limitations to it. Having mana and actually making it do anything is two very different tasks.”

Pack nodded sadly as she replaced the crystal back into its home. “I guess of all people, you would know that most of all. Its capable of powering any enchantment within its power capacity and enables the use of some arrays, but anything else is beyond our reach at the moment.”

Crimson eyed the crystal until it was hidden again by the harness. “Its still a big step towards the integration of magic into our technology though. And what are Terrans known for most of all?” She said with dramatic flair, giving Conrad a wink in the process. The stallion huffed in pseudo indignation as the green pony continued. “Ingenuity my good mare. I have no doubt this will rock the world like the internet has.”

Rat perked back up. “All the more reason I wish I was listed as its inventor instead,” she replied with a smirk. “Moving on though,” she pointed out a few small pockets and satchels sewn seamlessly into the harness. “This eliminates the need for a noisy and comparatively ponderous saddlebag while granting some additional protection from blunt trauma or ballistics. Just don’t bet on it saving you though. We are not a full-on military organization after all, so the harnesses are just meant for utility, not outright protection.”

Pack Rat removed the harness from the rank and handed it over to Loki before pressing the buttons again to get a second harness for Crimson. The material was light grey and fit snuggly on their bodies with them being anchored at the points where their legs connected to their barrels. Without the need to physically hide their coat or marks, it left much of their fur open to the air in its minimalist approach. The only exception was along the spine where the harness tactfully hid the magtronics necessary to power the perception scrambler and the various pockets and detachable satchels along the sides.

Pack Rat’s cycling of the rack came to a halt mid-way through the point where the two earth mares were donning their equipment. “This is the PS-UH-7. Basically the same thing as the EPM, except its designed to be more comfortable and aerodynamic during flight. It also comes standard with goggles and a personal radio built into the frames of the lens. The range isn’t very far, but its meant for inter-team communications only.”

After Conrad retrieved his harness, Pack Rat moved over to an isolated rack that stood apart from the rest of the room and beckoned Tune to follow her. “Now, I never actually knew you’d ever return to fieldwork, but I couldn’t help myself from making a harness especially for you.”

The princess forcibly hid her sarcasm. “Not all that surprising. You would hardly be alone in that sort of thing.”

The pink mare concealed her goofy grin and opened the metal casing around the rack. “I present to you the A-UH-09. The only harness specifically designed for an alicorn—or for you seeing as you’re the only one,” Pack Rat added hesitantly.

“I get that a lot,” Tune replied lightheartedly. “I take it, this harness is a combination for unicorns and pegasi correct?”

The pink earth pony nodded. “Mostly. But I know you are the leading expert in magic arrays so I had a couple of friends of mine help program this while I crafted the hardware. I integrated a small onboard computer that can allow you to doooo this!”

Pack finished booting the harness’s computer and switched to the appropriate application. A few seconds later a very simplistic holographic array materialized around the harness. “Pretty snazzy eh? I also made sure you can wear this with your necklace.”

Tune couldn’t help but to coo at the sight and her delight was reflected in her eyes. Pack Rat felt euphoric at pleasing her princess. The alicorn walked over to fully inspect the hologram. “Have you tested to see if this can do what I think it can?”

Pack Rat was afraid of just that very question and she laughed haltingly, her elation deflated. “Well, to be honest I just finished putting that bit on there three days ago and have since been debugging it. But as far as a real test, then no.”

Alexia rubbed her chin in contemplation. “In theory it should work. All a chalk drawn array does is shape the mana into the proper configuration to achieve the desired effect.”

Loki finished donning her harness first and bounced over to comment. “Like programming right?”

The green mare had often times spoken to the members of the herd about hacking and computer related information that mostly flew so far over everyone else’s head that it might as well have been a passing satellite. Yet a few things stuck out to Alexia as her work with diagrams and their relation to spellweaving created various parallels. “Right, not only does the pattern have to be correct, but the medium itself has to work as well. That’s why I always try to use white chalk because it provides a neutral platform for most arrays, sort of like silicon for electronics.”

Pack Rat hummed at the different point of view. “So I was right, the pattern itself is like the software, while the medium is the hardware.”

Tune tilted her head in a half shrug half nod. “Eh, roughly I suppose.”

The pink earth pony handed the goggles over to the azure haired mare. It was a little heavier than Conrad’s own pair. “The standard unicorn harness also has a sort of radar if you will, that pulses small amounts of mana out away from you. The purpose is to detect any antimagic wards that may be nearby. This headgear will give you a visual warning when one is detected. That way you’re not caught off guard by the presence of one being in the area.”

Alexia hummed at the idea. The alicorn was still keeping the existence of a counterspell for the antimagic ward a secret. As much as I trust Thompson, I also trust him to tell his superiors about my counterspell. I think plausible deniability is his best defense if and when I reveal it. For the mission though, I think I’ll keep it active so the antimagic zones don’t affect me from here on out. She decided to focus more on the customized gift. “Well there’s nothing quite as exciting as being on the bleeding edge of technology. Let me put it on and give it a go.”

Tune’s harness took a little doing, but she managed to put it on and activate the integrated electronics by the time everyone else was ready to go. Pack Rat took two stylus pens out of Alexia’s left hind leg pocket that looked as if they had been taken from a touch pad. “These will take the place of your chalk. As you draw through the air, the onboard computer will map out the positions and will automatically tell the crystals where to project the lines. The center of the array will be your carbuncle, as I predict that might create even more effective results. But I have only a hunch to base that off of.”

The pink mare carefully twisted the top of each pen in her hoof. It was not exactly easy when it was meant for nimble human fingers or a unicorn’s kinesis. Nevertheless, spending two years with nothing but hooves have given Pack Rat, along with almost every other non-unicorn pony, enough practice to make it look as if it was no real difficulty. “You click the pen to make it stop and stop drawing like you would a real ink pen. And my personal touch on this is that if you twist this piece here to the left that will increase the thickness of the line, and turn right to thin it out.”

“Clever,” the silver alicorn commented with genuine enthusiasm. Her biggest concern up to that point was going to be that very issue, but Pack Rat had learned enough about diagrams over the past year to know line thickness played an important role in both conjuration and abjuration arrays, but less so in other disciplines. “Even if this only ends up as a partial success, this is still most impressive.”

Even though the alicorn’s magic had no effect on the cutie mark bearing earth mare, Pack Rat still felt exuberant at her princess’s praise. “Glad to be of service ma’am. Oh one last thing before I forget, if the pen breaks for any reason, you can simulate the pen with that unicorn illumination spell where the mote of light moves on its own. Brighter for thicker lines, and dimmer for thinner, I managed to link that up to the computer straight through the crystals instead of from the computer to the crystals. Don’t ask me on the ratios on that one, because I’m still working out the bugs. I just know it works, sort of. Plus it’s a little difficult to do when I don’t have a horn and all.”

The pink mare was caught between excitement at revealing her custom built creation all just for her princess, and chilling terror because her invention was not out of the prototype phase yet. It was not called the bleeding edge for nothing. Alexia couldn’t help but to fall into her role as princess for a few moments as she looked between invention and inventor with what Pack Rat perceived as a regal smile. “I think this is a marvelous creation. It really epitomizes what we Terrans hope to strive for does it not? Even if I cannot officially recognize your work, seeing as you’re using the agency’s tech, I must express my profound gratitude. Thank you for this marvelous gift.”

Pack Rat was grinning ear to ear at the praise and had difficulty speaking. “Well, I ah—I mean. It was—“ Her face flushed red at that embarrassment so she bowed low to Tune. “Thank you Princess! Thank you so much.” Words failed her beyond that single phrase, so she tried switching topics. “Actually, since you’re back on the in-the-know list and I made this thing entirely off the books, you can keep it if you like.”

“Truly?” I should be glad she was doing this for me instead of black market profiteering. “I would be honored to have it. I won’t mind being your guinea pig for some field tests,” she added with a wiry grin.

The joke made the pink pony stutter again after raising her head back up. “I-if I had known you were returning to field duty sooner I would have had it ready by now, but with so much to do-“

Alexia raised a polite restraining hoof. “I tease, I tease. Why don’t you help me put it on.”

The quartermaster blinked two times before realizing the joke and her good humor returned. “I’d be honored!”

The alicorn and earth mare were in the middle of testing the pens when Crimson’s phone bleeped a warning. She walked across the armory to find her alpha after silencing it. “Hate to break this up, but we’ve got fifteen minutes to be on the pad.”

Tune hummed in mild irritation. “We can resume tests later.” She replaced the pens into their pocket. “Thank you again for the equipment Pack Rat.”

“Not at all your hi- Special Agent,” she quickly amended now that she was no longer alone with Alexia. A thought struck her and she clapped her hooves together. “I can’t believe I almost forgot. Your requisition order also specified desert survival gear. Come with me.”

The quartermaster beckoned the herd to follow her down five rows of equipment to the appropriate section. “First thing up is hoofwear.” She waved off any questions. “Now I know what you’re going to say, and that you probably don’t like the idea of wearing horseshoes. Honestly I can’t imagine anyone who does. Getting something nailed into your hoof is not pleasant. Trust me I know.”

Crimson grabbed what she could only assume was a boot that went up just past her fetlock. She gave it a critical scan. It was a light grey cylindrical item that was very thin, save for the sole which was rubber with hollow air pockets. The soles were also thin enough for a pony’s hoof magic to still manipulate objects through it. Anderson was impressed. I don’t know much about foot—hoofwear, but it feels like it was designed with the desert heat in mind. Instead of laces, it had Velcro that was oriented so that the wearer could easily secure it with their mouth if need be. “Do you know how effective these are?”

Pack Rat shook her head. “I have not tested them personally, but I’ve heard some positive remarks from a few other operatives. Either way its better than having your frog burnt by sand. Not to mention it would raise your body temp if the frog isn’t protected.”

The quartermaster helped find the correct sizes before moving on to the next piece. “All of you will need CamelBaks and you two will need eye protection,” she directed her last comment to her fellow earth ponies as she withdrew the required pieces of equipment. They were long soft plastic water reservoirs that were wrapped in grey material. The two for Conrad and Alexia were thinner around the wings so they would not interfere with wing movement. All of them had ease of access drinking straws that could be secured by being tied into the mane, or wrapped around the neck.

“I’m sure you’re not going to be taking a helicopter all the way out to whatever desert you’re going to, so you can fill them up before you get there.” Pack Rat tapped her hoof on the ground as she gave it a second thought. “But just in case you don’t though, I’ll sign off a ten gallon water drum and I’ll throw in twelve MREs for you as well.” Conrad helped Alexia put her gear on while Pack Rat doled out the glasses. “All of the eye wear is glare resistant and darkens in bright light.”

Once everyone was situated Pack Rat gave everyone’s gear a once over. She checked to make sure all of the straps were tightened, the onboard enchantments were functioning properly, and that the CamelBaks didn’t have any leaks. “That should account for everything since you’re packing light.”

Having spent most of her adult life with a computer at her side, Loki felt naked without her personalized harness. This was a difficult thing to accomplish for someone who never wore clothing if she could help it. Unfortunately it was not designed for the sand and heat of the Sahara so she was forced to leave it behind in Thompson’s office whole would return it to the manor later. “Any chance I can get a laptop or something? I can’t be much of a network infiltration expert without one.”

The pink mare scratched the back of her neck. “For a desert environment? Hmm… I can’t guarantee if it’ll survive the heat and sand, but—“ The quartermaster ran over to a small collection of sturdy laptops, picked one and then brought it back over. “This little guy should be all you need.”

Loki sized up the one and a half inch thick computer and the ten by five inch screen. She scowled at the device as she did not favor anything she did not build personally. “I should be able to pull something off with this.” I hope.

Conrad finished checking his wings to make sure they could move freely. Once satisfied, he politely interposing himself between the pink and green mares. “You can inspect it on the way over, but we need to leave now.”

The quartermaster knew they were pressed for time, but she needed one last thing. “Of course, but if I can just get your electronic signature here to sign off on all your gear—” Alexia was not willing to be late for her first field assignment in years. As Pack Rat was withdrawing a smartpad from her shirt pocket, Tune magically gripped the stylus and signed off. “—rightio, well everything’s in order. See you when you get back.”

The herd was more pressed for time than they would have liked, and Tune tapped her left front hoof nervously as the elevator seemed to crawl its way to the roof. Loki was already inspecting her laptop, tsking in both agony and disgust every so often. Conrad leaned against the far wall in silent preparation for the mission at hand. Crimson was quietly typing out a text message to her parents to let them know the herd would not be returning tonight.

The silver princess was frightened at the prospect of the coming days. We’ve been so lucky thus far. But what if one of us gets hurt or—dies. Tune cast a worrisome glance at her mates, careful not to arouse attention towards her souring mood. She took a slow calming breath, but it only seemed to exaggerate her fears even further. We’ve lived together for so long, I can’t imagine life without them anymore. Hell, how am I going to live for hundreds of years after they die of old age and I still—

The azure haired alicorn looked at her near perfect reflection in the elevator doors. Having let her mane grow out to the point where she could see her bangs without a mirror, Alexia could see the herd’s colors in her hair if her bangs got jostled into her eyes. The pink, two toned crimson, and steel colored stripes in her bangs had become part of her identity over the past year and a half. They completed her self-image. So much so that she would feel incomplete without the three colors present whenever she imagined them to be missing. It was the thought of them one day vanishing from her mane that caused the pit of her stomach to go cold.

She mentally shook herself of the thought. No, I have to stay mission oriented. I can’t let this affect my ability to get them home safely. Try as she might, the shadow of her agelessness refused to depart.

A little voice in the back of her head gave voice to her fears. You may not live to see tomorrow, but you might live to see ten thousand years. No matter what you do, they will die eventually and you will endure.

Alexia shuddered, quickly masking it as being cold from the elevator’s air conditioning. The voice’s words brought the alicorn’s reflection back to the forefront of her mind. Most people couldn’t see it, but she could tell she was already slightly different than other mares, besides possessing both wings and a horn. The silver pony was slightly taller than any other mare, save for some of the more powerfully built earth mares who seemed to take on more muscle than should be possible. Her horn was definitely longer by almost a full inch. It may not seem like much to others, if they spotted the difference at all, but Alexia had seen pictures of Luna and Celestia. From that, she knew what form she would take one day. If I live that long.

I’ll just keep getting stronger with time and—Conrad, Crimmy, Loki—they’ll, they’ll all wither and die. And there’s nothing I can do about it. The silver mare was compounding her fears of loneliness to the point where her eyes were misting over, but the tears never fully came due to the elevator dinging loudly and the doors opening up to the warm late July night.

The roof’s helipad was brightly lit against the sleepy town of Trinity below it. Despite the rapid growth and Qubert Smith’s efforts, the town was not quite up to being alive with a serious night life. The buffeting noise of the descending helicopter masked Tune’s mostly successful attempts to bury her worries and assume the demeanor of team commander. With nearly everyone in Trinity always looking to her to fill the same role the Equestrian princesses do for their own country, it was easy to bury her emotions from the public eye when needed. But she was too easily readable to her herdmates, and all of them knew something was bothering her, yet could not act on it for the moment due to the job at hand.

The old Sea Stallion helicopter was a sight that almost brought a sense of nostalgia to the awaiting herd. The old aircraft was a familiar sight in Trinity, as it was the transport of choice by Section Nine because of how easy it was to modify them to comfortably seat both humans and ponies.

One of the pegasi roof guards ran ahead of the herd to open the passenger bay doors for them and the group ducked inside. The masculine voice of the pilot sounded through the headsets a few moments after the put them on. “Welcome aboard Spookums Airlines, this is your captain speaking. I wouldn’t get too comfortable, we’re only a connector flight.”

Conrad was midway through buckling himself in when recognition of the voice made him hesitate and clicked his helmet’s speech button. “Gill Highwind? Is that you?”

“Conrad?” The pegasi pilot leaned away from the instrument panels to reveal his navy blue coat and blonde hair. “Well I’ll be damned. So the boss man finally pulled you out of field retirement huh?”

Conrad chuckled as he trotted over to grab hold of Gill’s outstretched hoof. “Yea he did. But what about you? I didn’t know you were CIA.”

Highwind gave him an incredulous look before tapping his human copilot to contact the local air control for a flight plan. “What? You didn’t really think the government would let something like a weather control company operate without oversight did you? I’ll tell you about it once I get this bird in the air.”

The Sea Stallion took off and headed south to an Air Force base just west of the Rocky Mountains for a long distance aircraft. Loki was friends with Gill as well, but she reluctantly had to spend all of her time hardening her laptop and preparing it for network infiltration. The green mare reached into her mane and withdrew a memory stick and stuck it into the UBS port. Good thing Thompson came through with my new my toys. Now, let’s see if I can turn this rubbish of a trash-top into something useable.

Crimson was the only one actually sleeping. Between raising three foals, her growing medical career, and her studies, the pale yellow mare was taking any chance she could get to grab some sleep. Alexia sat in between the two other mares, with her head and left wing draped over Crimson. The alicorn felt the intimate contact helped dampen her fear of eventual loneliness. However her real terror was the shadow of lunacy such loneliness might cause hung over her mind.

She hugged her fellow mare a little tighter. Please, stay in one piece guys. I can’t live without you. Her eyes misted over at the gnawing fear, both for herself and for the safety of those she loved unconditionally.

Standing on his hind legs and leaning against the two pilot seats, Conrad was chatting away with Gill Highwind. “So when did the CIA recruit you?”

By now the aircraft was on autopilot, so the navy blue pegasus didn’t have to worry too much about flying. “I was already in the agency before my ponification if you can believe it. It started happening right in the middle of an op.” He leans over to punch his copilot in the shoulder. “In fact, Squeaker here was there to save my stubborn ass when my fingers stopped wanting to be fingers and I couldn’t control the chopper anymore.”

Conrad wondered how one would earn the call sign Squeaker until the copilot reluctantly opened his mouth. “You really should have just told the chief sooner. We almost got the ground team killed thanks to you.”

The brown stallion’s ears tried to flatten within his helmet every time the man’s voice cracked to a painfully high note. Gill was used to it and he paid the cracking voice no mind. “Yes, I know I was being stupid---and stubborn. But anyway, when I presented my book on weather control, I traded my time as a weather technician to get my pilot’s wings back.”

Conrad was sad to hear that. The two of them had started the weather control company with the thrill of bringing a new frontier of both business and science to Earth. The last Conrad knew; that sentiment had never faded from either stallion. “I was under the impression you loved your weather job. You’re not going to quit are you?”

Highwind slumped a little in his chair and stared out into the black night for the longest time. His answer did not come for a solid minute. “Con, switch to channel two.”

Both ponies did so for privacy. “We’ve spent enough time together to know each other well enough. And you know as well as I do that that we pegasi love to fly. Hell, love is too weak of a word. We were created to fly. It’s in our blood.” He shifted position so he could flare a wing. “I know you can feel it. We’re in the air, but not under our own power.”

Conrad felt his own wings begging to fly. It had been over a year since he rode in an aircraft, and that made his feathered limbs fidget even worse. “I’ve seen quite a few pegasi who might argue against it being in our blood, but I do feel it. I prefer to hover or fly instead of walking or standing when I can help it.”

Highwind did a double take at his friend’s admission while lowering his wing back down. “And I thought I had it bad.”

Conrad shrugged with his wings, if only for an excuse to move them. “I try not to think of it as a negative. But Alex-“ He turned back to look at his alpha. The mare’s wings twitched in what looked like restless sleep. “I’m not exactly sure with her, seeing as she’s only one third pegasus. But I think she’s got the whole package of all three tribes, quirks and all.” I’m not sure how she manages to balance the three.

Gill accepted the assessment of alicorn, if only to return the topic to himself. “I think I derailed my own point. But what I’m trying to say is that I loved the air back when I was still human. I’m a pilot through and though. I don’t think I’ll ever fully quit the weather industry, but the cockpit is my home, and the air is my backyard.” He paused in his speech to answer the airbase’s control tower query.

Conrad was about to leave him to it and return to his mates, but Highwind tugged on his tail to keep him there. After clearing matters up with air traffic control, the blonde haired pegasus spoke to him. “I don’t think I could ever fully quit the weather business. But I will always answer the call for a needed pilot.”

The brown stallion found the causality of Gill’s last comment a little off. He’s not one for random speeches. Before he could inquire further, the helicopter was nearing the pad and Conrad had to retreat back to the passenger compartment.

He found that only Loki was still awake. When the helicopter touched down, she woke up the other mares after putting her laptop away. A look of concern danced over both his and her face when they saw Alexia’s red rimmed eyes. The green mare asked what both were wondering. “Alex are you alright? You look like hell.”

The alicorn rubbed her eyes sleepily. The last thing she wanted was to revisit the source of her fear. “I’ll be fine. Just pre-mission jitters is all.”

Conrad and Loki searched their alpha’s face for a lie. Every member of the herd was an open book to one another, and that made them easily readable as well. However, they were pressed for time with the transport touching down and Tune was rubbing her face to wake up which made the search fruitless.

Loki decided to play it safe and thought of a way to raise her spirits as the group left the dossiers on the Sea Stallion to be returned to Section Nine. “I totally understand,” she said while bumping Alexia to her hooves and nudging her down the ramp with her forehead. “But Old Man Thompson wants us to show the brass we still got what it takes to lead the next gen agents. We can pull the big caper like the old days. Hell we’re not even in our thirties yet, this is our prime!”

The earth pony’s words did more for Alexia than she knew. “Thanks Loki. I needed that.”

Loki smiled, thinking her work was done for the moment and walked the silver alicorn out onto the tarmac as Conrad did the same with Crimson. The group managed to shake off most of the visible signs of their fatigue and meet with a well groomed and smart suited man waiting to escort them to a waiting C-130 Hercules. It was a large transport aircraft that could hold ninety soldiers with ease, so the thirty human paratroopers loading themselves into the aircraft was hardly a challenge for the powerful craft. The drab grey paint would have blended it into the night were it not for the well-lit tarmac. Its four engines were already whining as the pilots finished the preflight checklist.

The man in the black suit saw Tune take the lead and offered his hand to shake while shouting to be heard over the Sea Stallion’s engine. “Special Agent Tune. I’m Case Officer Mercer. I’ll be your handler for this operation.”

Alexia shook the offered hand, noticing it was curt and hard before the man led them towards the Hercules. “You’re coming with us?”

“Only so far as the carrier. I’ll be overseeing you from there.”

Loki took one look between the transport and Mercer. “Are you saying they’re actually going to land that big bird on an aircraft carrier?”

The Case Officer didn’t get a chance to reply because a voice to the green mare’s left answered for him. “It’s not fun to try, but it has been done before.”

Mercer was the only one who did not turn to see Gill Highwind had joined them. Conrad was puzzled by him being there. “Shouldn’t you be flying back home?”

Gill shook his head. “I’ve been assigned to be your pilot. The Bush will offer local air support, but Thompson wanted someone in house to do the personnel transport, and not tethered to the Navy’s command structure.”

Mercer was in agreement. “There are numerous people within both the military and the world over who are extremely opposed to allowing your kind to stay within society, or stay alive. We felt it was best to make sure your exfiltration pilot would not have any reason to—fail in his duties.”

The comment only made Alexia feel worse. I really shouldn’t be surprised. Humans can barely stand each other for petty differences, and here we are being a different species. Will everyone ever see themselves as Terrans? She huffed in mild defeat. I may not see it even with my considerable lifespan.

The group was the last to board the C-130. All thirty paratroopers were already sitting neatly in four rows towards the rear of the aircraft. Each of them eyed the ponies with glances mixed between indifference, amusement, irritation, and a large number of the soldiers found them to be adorable. It was only professional courtesy that kept the latter from trying to pet them as the ponies moved to the front of the aircraft.

Mercer strapped himself into a seat along with the herd plus one stallion. “Its going to be a long flight. I suggest you get some rest. We’ll have plenty of time to go over the mission parameters in the morning.”

Crimson’s fatigue returned in full force. “Sounds good to me.” With Conrad sitting next to her, the pale yellow mare leaned her head over and draped herself over him before promptly falling asleep.

The brown pony laughed inwardly as Alexia did the same a moment later. Well I guess its only fair since I mount them during pleasure time, they get to lie on top of me during sleep.

Little did he know, Tune cast a sleep spell on herself to escape her worries. He glanced to see Mercer was at odds with his seat. The man was trying to hide his effort in keeping his suit from developing wrinkles thanks to the five point harness. I think someone like him would have ended being one of the few of us who still wear clothes on a regular basis had he become a pony.

Loki rested her head on Alexia, having given up on the laptop in the interest of sleep. Of them all, she slept the deepest, completely unaffected by the flight’s noise and occasional turbulence.

The C-130 made its way across the world without incident. Almost everyone, save the pilots, took the opportunity to sleep the time away. Those who couldn’t sleep produced decks of cards or handheld games to toil away the time.

Three of them in particular were near the back ramp playing poker to keep their hands busy during conversation. The dealer was an overly muscle-bound woman who went by the nickname: Buttercup. It was not a name of her choosing. She cast a wiry grin at the private to her right before shifting it to the averagely built man with a snake tattooed on his harm sitting in front of her. “The game is five card stud. Twos, sixes, and one eyed jacks are wild.”

The private went by his last name only: Loewy. He took his cards and spied on them only to not like what he saw and tossed three of them back to the dealer. Why must she always make the cards I don’t have wild?

The tattooed private did the same, but only with two cards. “So what do you think the deal is with our special cargo up there?”

Buttercup finished doling out the first round of cards. “Why should I care? I raise fifty.” The soldier dropped one ten and two twenty dollar bills inside an upturned hat.

The tattooed man craned his neck to look at the sleeping equines before turning back to his hand. “You should. That one over there is the vaunted princess of ponies everywhere. In America anyway,” he added derisively.

Buttercup snorted disdainfully at the memory of seeing that on the news. “We don’t need some damned royal family. Why do you think we rebelled against the Brits eh?” Curiosity got the better of her and she made sure to rest a protective hand over her cards and the deck before stealing a glance at the ponies. “How can you tell its her anyway?”

“That silver and blue one’s got wings and horn. As far as I know, there’s only one person who has both. I’ll match your fifty and raise fifty more.” He tossed several crumbled bills into the pot.

Both the dealer and Loewy met the ante. Buttercup snorted scornfully at the comment. “You make it sound as if those things are actually people Snake.”

Snake eyed her carefully but said nothing. Loewy increased the bet by twenty five. “I don’t see what the big deal is with you BC. Shouldn’t you be up there trying to pet them and give them kissy faces?”

Buttercup was sorely tempted to plant a fist on his mouth, but her revenge was in the cards so she let it slide for the moment. “I might as well. Those things are just one step up from being pets.”

Snake laid his cards face up. “I call. Straight, jack high.”

Loewy tossed his cards to the dealer. “I got nothing.”

Buttercup smirked. “Two twos and three nines, full house.”

“Bah,” Snake growled as he tossed his cards on the deck in front of her. “I wouldn’t go calling those ponies pets if I were you.”

She scoffed at him while raking in her winnings. “I’ll say it to their damned faces. Stupid government’s giving them way too much freedom. They need to be kept under heel.”

The other player made a sound of disbelief as he took his new cards. “This coming from the woman who marched at the front of the pride parade,” he said mockingly.

This time she actually did punch somebody, and her victim was glad he was wearing a combat loadout so the impact would only leave a bruise instead of a dislocated shoulder. “You know damn well what I mean,” she hissed. “Those things aren’t human.”

“They used to be,” Snake commented offhandedly while checking his new cards and tossing one away.

Buttercup gave up a card while casting him a scathing glare. “You don’t really believe those lies from the media do you? There ain’t no way those things used to be human.”

Loewy pulled out a photograph depicting a man fleeing from the cameraman. A bright green tail and aqua fur ears were clearly visible. “So I guess this is just a Photoshop then huh?”

She grunted dismissively while upping the ante again. “Fifty in. Loewy, you should know by now that computers could make Godzilla look like he was having tea with Slayer.”

“I took this picture myself Buttercup,” Loewy declared a little too loudly.

“Yeah?” she responded accusingly. “And everyone knows you love doctoring photos for blackmail. So that pic isn’t worth the paper its printed on. I’m telling you guys, these ponies are nothing more than some jacked up social experiment on top of a Skynet invention with a cute face. I went to the science fair last time it was in Kansas. I saw both that green one and the silver one on stage claiming they were robots during the main exposition.”

I’m shocked to know you actually went there willingly. Snake thought to himself as he dumped more bills into the pot. “Don’t you think they would have lied about their origins? Saying you’re a robot is easier for people to believe than saying you were magically turned into a different species.”

Buttercup added more bills. “Raise sixty. That’s because they were trying to create conspiracies man. You get people from different areas saying the same thing came from different sources and people will never know what to believe. But I know for a fact that the science fair was the first we had ever seen one of those robot horses in public. That truth was snuffed out of the airwaves faster than greased lightning. I even had all of the video from my computer erased.”

“I see you, and raise another twenty.” Loewy dropped more bills in the pot while giving Buttercup an admonishing stare. “You could just ask them.”

She met the ante. “Lot of good that’ll do. You saw that suit they were talking with earlier. I bet the spooks made sure they were programmed to lie about it all. And I’ll tell you another thing. That silver one didn’t have wings when I saw her at the fair, nor on TV with Fitzgerald. There’s no way a flesh and blood creature just up and grows wings like that. I’m telling you she’s a robot that got upgraded for obeying her masters.”

Snake looked at her as if he was beholding a moron. “Or it could be—ya know. Magic.”

She returned the expression back at him. “You’re not going to tell me magic is real are you? I guess you still fantasize about Hermione and-.”

“Say another word, and I’ll tell the company about the layers incident.” Snake very calmly interrupted her.

Buttercup snarled at the prospect. “You wouldn’t dare!”

The nearby lieutenant was sick of the conversation keeping him awake. The droning engines were possible to ignore since they were a constant sound, but the talking was highly disruptive to him. He bent around the center isle to stare them down. “Save the bickering for tomorrow night or I’ll have the three of you swimming laps around the Bush.”

A round of affirmatives silently rang out from the players and they packed up the winnings and cards. Buttercup flashed Snake a “this isn’t over” face before trying to grab some sleep.

Snake brushed it off and tried to catch some sleep. Loewy took one last look at the ponies. I’d still like to get a chance to talk to one of them before making any real judgments.

It was well into the afternoon by the time the C-130 was flying over the far western edge of the Sahara Desert. The herd had a light meal scant twenty minutes ago and plenty of water before the cargo doors opened up. Loki and Crimson were strapped to Conrad and Alexia respectively.

The alicorn was not happy. I haven’t really been exercising my wings enough for this. So why did I say yes? The intimidating desert below and the prospect of Crimson’s added weight dragging them both down to a gravity induced death was not doing the mare’s nerves any favors.

The jump light on the side of the ramp was blinking yellow for three seconds before switching to a sold green. Mercer’s voice yelled in her ears via radio. “Operation is a go. Jump!”

Not willing to let it seem that a winged pony was afraid of jumping out of an aircraft in front of the herd, thirty paratroopers, and her Case Officer; Alexia tightened telekinetic grip on the pale yellow mare and jumped out of the Hercules. Conrad and Loki were right behind them, hooping and cheering at the adrenaline rush.

The silver alicorn reeled Crimson in so both mares could wrap their legs around each other. Tune angled them so her nose would be slightly below the horizon then opened her wings to ease into a glide. Despite the added weight and the looming fears in the back of her mind, the feel of the wind in her mane, the speed, and the call of the air reinvigorated the alicorn’s mood. However, there was one thing putting a damper on the moment. Anderson’s death grip on Tune’s neck and waist was sapping her strength and making it hard to breath, let alone fly.

“Hey uh Alex.” Unlike her winged kin, Anderson was heavily influenced by her earth pony nature of not liking to be off the ground. She could handle being in an aircraft without issue, but with nothing more than Alexia’s wings being the only thing between her and plummeting to her death, the earth mare was on the verge of a panic attack. “Any chance we can go slower, or land?”

Tune struggled to fill her lungs, let alone speak. “Crimmy, loosen up will ya? I can’t fly right if your pressing too hard on my ribs.”

The pale yellow mare paled even further when she glanced at the sand dunes whipping by at over fifty miles per hour as Alexia leveled out a few hundred feet above the deck. It was an act of extreme willpower that Crimson loosened up a bit. She closed her eyes and held on for dear life. “Tell me when its over okay?”

Loki was thoroughly enjoying herself. The green mare kept trying to act like it was roller coaster ride and threw her forelegs out while cheering. “Woo yeah! Damn samurai, you’ve got to take me in air the more often.”

Conrad looked over to his wingmate, who was less than twenty feet away to his left, and saw the sorry state Anderson was in. He pitied Alexia, but there was nothing he could do for her at the moment. The group needed to fly seventy miles before landing, and then walk the last twenty on hoof.

“Glad you like it,” he said returning his attention to his passenger. “I just might take you up more often when we get back home.”

The flight was gruelingly long for both Crimson and Tune, but the alicorn managed to stay airborne for an hour. Alexia was not in bad physical shape, but she had not trained herself for either marathon nor heavyweight flying and was flagging badly. Even Tune’s earth pony side couldn’t prolong the inevitable and she started trying to slow down and descend at the same time. Anderson alarmingly noticed the impending crash and promptly freaked out.

Crimson had been hearing Alexia’s breathing was ragged for some time, and she could tell they were falling at a speed far too quick to be healthy even with the silver mare’s attempts to slow down. “Alex. I know I wanted to land, I really really do; but not this faaaaasst!”

Anderson barely cleared the sand dune before finding the tether holding their harnesse together had been cut loose by Alexia’s magic and her legs were telekinetically pulled off of the alicorn. Crimson hit the sloping sands at twenty miles per hour and rolled down the dune while barely remembering to tuck into a ball. Tune barely had the strength to clear the next sand dune and make sure she would roll along her side so her horn wouldn’t get caught in the sand. The alicorn barely managed to fold her wings in tight before gravity fully claimed her.

Conrad dove down to catch up to the two mares rolling down to the bottom of the dune. “Loki, I’m going to cut you loose so you can help Crimson. I’ll go after Alex.”

“Bombs away!” The green mare saluted and hit the release on the tether. She fell to the sand giggling cheerfully. She rolled down the dune with the laptop tucked in her legs so it would avoid getting damaged and went forty five feet before coming to a rest next to an extremely dizzy Crimson. Seeing that the pale yellow mare was not in pain, Loki flopped on her back, laughing at the roll down the hill. “Now that was some serious fun. I can’t believe we’ve been missing out on this kinda thing back home.”

Anderson was trying her best to keep her breakfast in her stomach. “I’ll pass on that source of fun thanks.” Once the world around her stopped spinning, she gave herself a once over. “No broken bones, and no damaged or lost equipment—except for having sand everywhere,” she growled with a twitching eyebrow. “I think I’m good.”

Loki jumped to her hooves and shook herself like a dog to try and dislodge some of the sand in her fur. “Great! Boss mare fell down way over that way. If she’s hurt we’ll need you to help fix her.”

Anderson watched Loki happily trot towards the alicorn’s crash site whistling a merry tune. “She is one crazy mare.”

Sand. Sand, boiling heat, along with aches and pains ruled Alexia’s world after she finally came to a halt at the bottom of the next dune over. Her wings were a mess in both stinging fatigue and ruffled feathers from the fall. I really should have cut down on the caramel apples, but they are just so damned good. Throw some almonds on them; maybe double dip the caramel after the nuts… Maybe stick my hoof in the cameral dip and skip the apple… I could really use some caramel right now.

Tune’s brief dreams of sugary delight were banished by the sound of feathers ruffling on air. She kept her eyes shut so the blowing sand would get into eyes since the goggles had been wrenched out of place on the way down. “You look like hell Alex.”

The stallion gripped her harness in his mouth and helped pull her to her hooves. “I feel like hell.” Conrad helped cleanse some of the sand out of her mane and tail while she used her magic to put her goggles back in place. “Thanks Conny.”

“No problem. We should get moving soon though. We don’t want to stay in one place without shade.”

“I can fix that in a minute.” Tune inspected her wings by trying to unfold them, but the hour long flight with over double her normal weight had left them so sore she couldn’t even fully extend them. “Ow.” She cringed in pain before folding them back into their normal resting place. “That could have gone better. How are you’re wings holding up?”

Conrad flexed his feathery appendages to ease out the stiffness that was starting to settle in. “Not too badly. You really need to learn how to ride the thermals better. You were exerting yourself far more than necessary.”

Tune’s fear over losing a herdmate had soured her mood, causing her to take the comment personally. “Yeah well you try juggling magic studies, training cadets, motherhood, East constantly begging me for public appearances, trying to keep your coat and mane as perfect as possible so you look good on camera, and then tell me to throw in advanced flying techniques.” Tune snapped while struggling to keep her hooves from shifting too much in the sand.

He assumed Alexia to be a rather stable individual, and not prone to emotional outburst. As such, he was taken aback by the venom in her words. “I know it was a rough landing, but I think you did rather well considering we were living the soft life up until yesterday.”

She wasn’t sure if he was patronizing her, or being sincere. She decided to take it as a complement and hung her head apologetically. “Sorry, I’ve just been under a lot of stress.”

Before he could comfort her, the two earth mares arrived with Loki shouting a greeting. “Hey ho Silver! You’ve given me the itch to get a dune buggy.” Crimson grumbled about an extremely uncomfortable itch of her own.

Alexia shook off her irritation and adopted the demeanor of mission leader. She ignored her physical condition to bring things into order. “Maybe later Loki. Right now,” she faced Conrad, “since you’re still able to fly, I want you to go up and find us a path through the dunes. Be sure not to go too high or you might get spotted by any possible patrols.”

He nodded as he fell back into the mission at hand. “I’ll try to keep the summits between us and the sun.”

He took to the air, giving Tune the chance to face Crimson. “I want you to double check both of our physical states, make sure our fall didn’t cause any injuries we can’t feel.”

The medic was going to suggest that anyway and dipped her head in obedience. “Since neither one of us are limping or bleeding, I’d say we’re in decent shape. But if its all the same let me check you first then.”

Alexia nodded her compliance before switching to Loki. “Get Mercer on the horn. Let him know we didn’t make the LZ and we’ll be behind schedule.”

“Got it boss.”

With the orders given, Tune let the pale yellow medic give her a full visual inspection. Anderson started with the wings, careful not to put any unnecessary strain on the silver mare’s tired muscles. The alicorn winced as her left wing was pulled partially open. With the situation back under control, Tune dropped some of her commander’s air. “Sorry about this Crim. I should have tried to find a shallower dune to crash on.”

Anderson tutted her alpha’s apology away as unnecessary. “Honey, I’m just glad to be back on solid ground.” Both mares looked down at the sand. “Well, solid enough. And it was partially my fault for not getting over the whole ‘flying while not in an aircraft’ thing.’ I should have trusted your abilities more.” The silver mare smiled weakly at her mate’s reassurances while Crimson gently tugged on her wing. “Does this cause any pain or discomfort?”

The azure haired mare hissed as pain lanced down the entire appendage from tip to shoulder. “Yes, please let go.” The medic did so which allowed her to refold her wing against her barrel. “I think I took a hard hit on the way down.”

“Well it doesn’t help that your wing bones are hollow. I need to check for a fracture.”

By the time Conrad and Loki finished their tasks, Crimson’s examination was mostly complete. Loki muted her microphone now that her conversation with Mercer was over. “What’s the prognosis doc?”

“Boss girl here has a sprained left wing and a few broken feathers on each.” She faced her alpha. “You’re lucky it was sand we landed on instead of the mountainous forests back home.”

“My legs are still fine, and we need to walk the distance anyway.” Tune cast an opaque shield above them to provide the group some much needed shade.

“Well it’s a good thing too. You’re in no shape to fly for at a minimum of twenty four hours,” Anderson announced. “And only after you let me finish plucking these broken feathers.”

With yelps of pain at each feather being pulled, the alicorn listened in on Loki’s report. With their shafts broken, the mana bled away from the ruined feathers, causing them to turn grey and brittle after being detached from their owner. The vanes decayed so rapidly that they were reduced to ash within seconds, leaving only the crumbling shafts.

The trio of mares gave the event barely a momentary glance before returning to their conversation. Only Alexia’s feathers decayed in that fashion, and only when the feather is broken and plucked from her wing. It gave Conrad a start the first time it happened, but a quick talk with Twilight said it was normal for an alicorn’s feathers.

Loki tried poking the spellbound sunscreen, but her hoof moved right passed it as if it was air. “Mercer said our timetable needs to be kept on schedule. We’re going to need to book it to make up for lost distance.”

It came to no surprise to the lone stallion. “If we can maintain a brisk pace, this shouldn’t be too difficult thanks to this shade spell of yours.” He eyed the blanket of tan color mana that spread out in an arching hemisphere roughly seventeen feet in diameter. The surface seemed to dance and swirl as if it was a mirage of sand. “That’s not going to be too taxing it is?”

Tune scoffed while blowing her long bangs out of her eyes. “If there’s one thing I have too much of, its mana. Let’s move out.”

As the equines followed after their alpha, the desert welcomed them with all the kindness it was known for.

Heat. Relentless, oppressive, and omnipresent. The Sahara was known for many things, and mercy was not one of them.

Even with the magical sunscreen and decent supply of water, the trek across the burning sands of the Sahara was anything but pleasant. The pounding heat of the mid afternoon sun pounded away at the ponies. The desert seemed to laugh at Alexia’s magic, for the sun did not just press down on them from above. It came at them from every angle imaginable.

The sun’s rays bounced off the pale dunes around them and slipped under the arrogant shield and pelted the equines with heat that was only compounded by hot sands beneath their hooves. Crimson looked worriedly at the sunscreen. That thing is making me think we’re in a pissin’ oven.

As if that were not enough, the inexperienced desert travelers were hammered by windblown sand. The gritty course particles got everywhere, niggling away at the ponies as they trekked across the endless dune sea.

Loki bent her neck to the right and kicked the side of her head to knock some sand out of her ear. I could really use that dune buggy right about now. She turned to Alexia who was trying to just focus on putting one hoof in front of the other. “Hey magic mare, got any ice spells by chance?”

Alexia shook her head. “That would be a really bad idea.”

The others looked at her in disbelief. The dark red haired earth mare voiced the shared concern. “Are you sure the heat’s not getting to you? She said ice, not fire.”

“I heard what she said,” Tune halfheartedly growled back. She was angry more with herself for crash and beyond irritated by the sweltering desert that was so hot, no sweat clung to her body. All of it evaporated the moment it left her pores. It was so bad that the metallic invisibility bracelets threatened to cause burns so everyone removed the fetlock burners and sat them on top of the CamelBak. “Ice doesn’t just come from nowhere, I have to dump the thermal energy somewhere to make ice and that would mean making the air around us even hotter.”

“Wouldn’t all this wind blow that heat away?”

The bleary alicorn looked at Conrad for a few seconds as if regarding him for the first time. The desert was cooking her brain to the point where higher logic was nearly impossible. “Umm--- Maybe?” She blinked, but her eyes couldn’t manage to do them in sync. “I didn’t think of that.”

Loki flopped on the ground next to her. “Could you do it fast? I’m sorta dying here.” Her tongue lolled out her mouth in an otherwise comical fashion.

The green mare’s words cut straight through Alexia’s sluggishness and terrified her. Tune’s synapses started firing again as she saw her mate on the cusp of heat stroke. She dropped the sunscreen to focus on gathering her magic to try and pull the thermal energy out of each pony and send it into the sand and out into the air.

The effect was immediate and the group felt much cooler, but the surrounding air and ground became even hotter than before. Loki yelped from the conflicting energies as Alexia tried to push the heat out of her green mate, but the thermal imbalance tried to force the energy to go right back in. “Eoowwiiee! I’m awake I’m awake!” She was on her hooves in a second, glad that her boots separated her from the ground.

Tune cut the spell off leaving everyone refreshed and the wind carried most of the boiling air away. Crimson felt a cold induced shiver run down her spine. “This can’t be a healthy way to cool off.”

Alexia reformed the sunscreen. “I may have been a bit overzealous,” she admitted hastily. “We need to get off the sand or it might start melting our boots.”

Not wanting to even question such a claim, the mares ran several meters further along the path while Conrad simply took to the air. He raced to be adjacent to Alexia. “We should rest some time soon. We’ll be at the location in less than forty minutes if we resume our original speed.”

Tune shook her head. “We shouldn’t let our guard down so close to the objective. There’s no telling if they send patrols out or not.”

Crimson was in agreement and scanned the crest of the dune they were standing beside. “We have to assume they do. And we’re going to suffer heat stroke if we don’t get out of the open soon.”

Loki took a long drag of water from her CamelBak. The water was almost scalding her tongue thanks to Alexia spellwork, but the green mare sucked it down anyway until she was panting for breath. “Ya know with all this lack of sweat. I think I miss being furless… But I’m not sure yet.”

The earth mare’s moderately nonsensical phrasing did not go unnoticed, Alexia most of all. In the corner of her vision, the alicorn’s long bangs hover low enough that she could see the pink stripe in her hair. For the briefest of seconds, she imagined it fading back to its original azure. “We can’t linger anymore.”

Eager to see something other than the unending trackless sands, the herd followed after the galloping princess. Anderson’s prediction of a heat stroke only confirmed the alicorn’s own pressing anxiety. Just hang on a bit longer guys.

Conrad and Anderson shared a knowing look with each other as their alpha’s distress threatened to become detrimental to her ability to lead. With a nod to the red haired mare, Conrad pressed forward in to be side by side with Tune while Crimson kept an eye on the flagging Loki. Alex is running from more than the Sahara.

The pegasus saw she was suffering emotionally, and could guess at the source. Stop grieving for us when we’re still here Alex. He hoped she would not fall apart before he had time to confront her with this, but the mission had to come first.

While ever mindful of succumbing to the elements of the merciless desert, Tune was bound and determined to get to the objective. Mercer said the only activity the satellites detect are the irregular deliveries going in and out by cargo truck. I bet they actually don’t send patrols because that could be detected.

Thirty minutes into the run, Alexia cut off her sunscreen and trudged up the last sand dune. “This should give us a view of the target area.”

The four equines saw the early evening sun cast the small collection of camouflage tarps in a rather anticlimactic light. The facility seemed more like an abandoned World War Two supply depot more than anything else. From their ground side view from on top of a smallish sand dune, they were able to peer beneath the camo tarps roughly two hundred and fifty meters away.

The whole area was nestled in a large flat track of sand with only one last dune between the tarps and a vast stretch of flat sand beyond it. At a distance, the depot looked for all the world to be abandoned. Nothing moved save what was disturbed by the dying down wind. Unfortunately details were difficult to come by at such a distance. Conrad and Loki scanned their surroundings and found nothing that would hint at the presence of any patrols or stationary guards. The green mare wanted to get out of the baking sun, but avoiding a bullet wound was also high on her list of priorities. She tapped Tune with a hoof. “Place looks empty. What do we do?”

Alexia’s muzzle scrunched in contemplation after shuffling behind the crest of the dune. “Intel has it that this place is getting irregularly timed shipments, so it can’t be truly abandoned. I bet there are a few traps or alarms if anyone tries to approach the facility.” A superior smirk creased her face. “Gather up, I’m going to teleport us to that collection of barrels on the far side.”

The herd huddled around their alpha as the alicorn popped her head back over the dune to get a visual on the supply cache to pick a destination. Better go ahead and weave in my ward against antimagic fields. The last thing I need is to get cut off.

Tune’s horn radiated a nearly blinding azure light as she weaved the spell into being. In a flash of blue light and a slight clap of air, the four ponies disappeared from behind the dune and rematerialized in the middle of a large collection of rusting oil drums. Once the non-alicorns recovered from the teleport, they automatically spread out to carefully search the area.

The depot was of moderate size. Fuel drums lined the entire perimeter, save for the front gate. The containers were either bone dry, or filled with ruined lubricants. The barrels were typically stacked three high, but several breaks in the form of toppled cans allowed the three searching equines to map the area. Tune remained behind to try and program in a Mion detection diagram in her harness’s computer.

The depot had several structures including a single barracks and two separated five car garages with an additional seven open air repair stations for tanks. Both former criminals noticed several old vehicles were still present. Three partially broken stripped-down halftracks sat in the garages while two Tiger tanks sat on the open repair bays.

One of the last two structures was an armory that Crimson explored briefly after risking a venture from the fuel drums. It was two stories tall and was still crammed with munitions ranging from tank rounds to small arms and ammunition for the ten eighty eight millimeter anti-aircraft guns that were cooking in the arid climate around the depot.

The final structure looked to be the command center, but was structurally unsound thanks to the half dozen holes left behind by Allied bombing from almost a century ago. There was nothing to suggest that the depot had been touched by anything other than sand save for the very feint single line of tire tracks. Leading up to the center open space of the depot, but then turning around and leaving.

Conrad was the first to return to Alexia with news. He could tell right away that she was having some difficulty getting the holographic diagram working, but he ignored it to give his report. “I checked out the garages and the camo tarps. Nothing looks like its been touched since the war. Tools, engine parts, and the garages in general are covered in sand. If there is anyone here, the only sign of it would be the tarps. They look old, but I can’t believe the desert wouldn’t have ripped some of them off by now. As it is, the entire complex is still fully covered by them.”

Loki bounced over a tipped over barrel as the pegasus was giving more details about the mountings holding the tarps in place. “Whoever resecured them used old pikes and rope and it all looks like it was done by the Germans, but I just don’t buy it.”

Tune nodded as she digested the information. “Loki, boot that laptop and write down his findings while you tell me your own.”

“Righto!” The green mare was thrilled at finally being in some real shade again, and the wall of fuel drums kept the sand laced wind from depositing more granules into her fur and mane. She sat on her haunches and spoke while waiting for the computer to wake up. “All of the fuel drums here are empty or filled with gunk. There’s no way the gas Thompson’s intelligence team discovered is being stored in these things.”

She rapped a hoof on a nearby empty barrel to emphasize her point. “The CC’s trashed. It’s a wonder the thing is still standing after all this time. The tanks in the yard won’t be moving any time soon, as the engines and main guns have all been sabotaged; likely from the retreating Germans.”

Anderson arrived last with a plastic bottle in her mouth as she navigated the toppled barrels with more grace than Loki did. She lowered her head to place the bottle quietly at her alpha’s feet so she could speak. “Found this discarded water bottle in the barracks.” Alexia used her kinesis to bring it up to her eyes which immediately fell upon the trace of water at the bottom. “I know the tarps keep this place relatively cool, but there’s no way liquid water could stay for long around here.”

“This means someone was here very recently,” Tune replied with a satisfied grin. “Excellent find.” She turned to Loki. “Did Mercer say there’s been any recent activity in the area?”

She shook her head. “He didn’t say anything, but then again, I didn’t ask.”

“Ask,” Tune commanded. “I will operate under the assumption that there hasn’t been unless you tell me otherwise.” Loki nodded her understanding and backed away to speak away from the conversation. Tune faced her other two mates. “Keep an eye out while I finish this divination diagram. If this is just a meeting place, I need to see if there might be someone still nearby. But I don’t want any surprises if someone comes back.” Hopefully I’ll be able to get the stupid thing done by nightfall.

The ponies broke up to leave Alexia in peace while keeping watch over the area. Tune pulled the two electronic styluses out of her pouch again and stared at the infernal things with a glare that could boil paint. I’m so used to drawing on a hard surface that writing on thin air is a serious pain in the flank.

Her aching wings had settled down to a dull throbbing discomfort. The silver mare’s mastery over her telekinesis was to the point where she could gently massage her stiff muscles while still being able to focus on the two pens. However that was mostly because she was used to drawing arrays with up to ten pieces of chalk at a time.

“I love the idea of a computer assisted holographic array, because that will allow me to conjure one up in an instant, but I still have to enter in correctly or its worthless.” This is probably just a meeting place and the Mions are using some other location out in the desert to house the lab itself.

She reactivated the hologram with the outer ring appearing a foot in front of her by default so she had a frame of reference. She started painting in the first dozen lines to exacting specifications. But it never hurts to be thorough. I’m going to drop a scan for a five mile radius and see if anything pops up.

An hour passed with nothing to do but stand watch as Tune tried to learn how to draw on air. Loki was becoming rather bored at that point as Mercer assured her that nothing had slipped in or out of the facility within the past twelve hours. She looked to her fellow earth pony for amusement, but Crimson was in the middle of combing her tail. The green mare blinked in dumbstruck amazement for a moment before speaking. “You brought a hair brush with you?”

Anderson looked up from her work, with the grooming implement in her mouth and carefully placed it in a side pocket so she could speak. “What? There’s nothing here. We’ve triple checked everything and the place is empty. There's not even any footprints around besides our own. I just thought with having nothing better to do than twiddle our nonexistent thumbs, I’d get rid of some of these tangles.”

Loki shrugged. “I hear ya. I don’ know what the mage hopes to find with the array. This is probably just a rendezvous place.” She stood up and arched her back to stretch.

Conrad had been listening in on the conversation from on top of stacked barrels. Whenever he wasn’t flying, he preferred to be on raised platforms or furniture. “You guys don’t think we might be sitting on top of an underground facility by chance do you?”

Both mares gave him a quizzical look with Crimson huffing in amusement. “No one is dumb enough to make an underground complex in sand. That’s just stupid.”

He waved an indignant hoof in the air. “You don’t honestly believe the desert is nothing but sand between here and the mantle do you?”

“Of course not! But I also know sand is way too unstable for that kind of construction.”

As her two mates bickered, Loki’s tail twitched. She froze for almost four seconds until her tail twitch a second time. She twisted around to grab it in her forelegs. “Somethings coming.”

Anderson stopped mid-sentence and both other ponies turned towards Loki. “What?”

The green mare looked at her twitching tail. “Something’s coming!” She let go of the awry appendage and jumped up two stacks of barrels to pull Conrad off the stack of barrels and down to the dirt.

“Heeey!” He grunted in mild pain and surprise as he hit the ground. He blinked a few times to get his eyes refocused. “Give me a warning before you do stuff like that wouldja?”

Loki’s answer came in the form of grumbling machinery under their hooves and the large empty marshaling area opened into a yawning tunnel where a heavy laden flatbed truck grumbled out from underground.

The ponies ducked behind the wall of fuel barrels and peeked out from breaks in the drums. They went unnoticed by the driver of the first truck and the three that came after it. As soon as the fourth truck left the broken down security gate, the large trap doors closed back up. A massive fan revealed itself from the sealed off part of the nearby barracks and kicked up a small dust storm to conceal the doors with a layer of sand. The equines ducked behind the rattling stacks of barrels, trying to protect themselves from the sandstorm. After two minutes, the fan receded back into the barracks and the depot fell silent once more, save for the distant sound of grumbling engines.

Conrad popped up out of cover and smirked in the direction of the trap doors and jabbed Crimson in the shoulder. “Ha! Called it.”

Author's Note

I was so tempted to name this chapter Tatooine.

4: Fire Hornets

Oypla Garrdoth was a proud man. No, he was not a man; not any more. Man is weak, he thought as he marched down to laboratory one. Mions of various purposes and prestige filled the hall. Garrdoth stood above them all, not because of his physical height as he could only boast a five foot stature, but in intelligence. They are directionless, genetically defective, incompetent, and utterly worthless save for one crucial attribute: they are malleable.

The well-lit and hygienic stainless steel halls reeked of chemicals from the labs along this level, but all were beneath Oypla’s notice. He was the Herald’s top researcher in northern Africa, and took immense pride in that fact. As he entered the elevator to go to the lower levels, he found himself alone in the mobile room, so he took the opportunity to vocalize his daily mantra. “I, Oypla, will see the Herald’s great plan come to fruition and through my acts, I will earn my place at the side of the gods.” He bowed his head in reverence; even speaking their name was a holy act. “The Koridost.”

He prayed for guidance as the slow decent brought him towards his destination. His once-a-day act of humility was over the instant the doors opened and he resumed his usual haughty demeanor as he walked towards the only place that truly mattered in his world. Thirty meters saw him to those very doors and after a quick entry of a security code and keycard swipe, he found himself in the room where he would assure his ascension to godhood.

Before him sat a vast array of equipment, personnel, and prisoners all dedicated to finding the solution to the human problem. Well, the first two anyway. He thought as he eyed the humans in their cages in various mental and physical states ranging from healthy to sickly and violent to suicidal. They had been taken from all over the world and were clean of the Mion plague. The cells had all been soundproofed so the scientists would not be bothered by threats, weeping, or begs for mercy. Garrdoth would have preferred to be able to listen to it all, as it was music to his ears, but alas he found it did get distracting after a while. Anything that distracted him from achieving godhood was abhorrent so he accepted the soundproofing as a necessary evil. He did however, let the prisoners remain visible, not only so the scientists could see what they were molding into perfection, but so the humans could see what fate awaited them.

The plexiglass cages lined the northern half of the principle laboratory. The main genetic engineering and sample production equipment sat in the center of the large chamber. On the far western side was the sole other entrance to the lab. The larger steel doors on the west side led to the cargo tunnel where the prisoners and other large equipment was flown in from a remote hangar miles away. On the south side of the laboratory, and in plain view of the captives to the north, were the experimentation tanks.

Each one was in use, and not a one was devoid of some new kind of horror. The tanks were filled with water that suspended the sedated occupants. Each one ranged in size from those that could house a man to that which could swallow an elephant with room to spare.

It was no longer a new sight for him, but Garrdoth was still pleased to notice that Mions were not the only scientists in the room. In a staff of twenty eight researchers, eleven of which were ponies of various tribes. With an exceedingly rare display of respect for someone other than him or the Herald, he gave a polite nod to each one as he passed. My fellow Mions obey the will of the Herald, but these ponies can never accept the Koridost’s gifts. And yet they are here, helping us achieve our goals willingly and without coercion.

They are like us in a way. They knew how inferior they were in their previous lives, and work to rid this world of the persistent vermin so the Koridost can arrive to a pristine world for colonization.

The Herald never spoke of what the Koridost would do once they arrived on Earth, but Garrdoth reasoned colonization to be the only logical conclusion. Oypla found a tan furred unicorn researcher by the name of Edfu Mubarak leaving to grab some dinner. The ponies and Mions all came from different regions and languages, but thanks to certain books, all of them had a unified language: Equish. Garrdoth found the language difficult to enunciate properly, but muscled through it for the sake of practicality.

The unicorn yawned with exhaustion and was completely at ease, if worn out. “There you are Oypla. You’re just in time, Fenuku was about to summon you to witness our latest test results of the Yeta strain.”

The chief researcher clapped his hands in excitement. “Excellent, that strain showed particular promise.”

His companion nodded, showing some regret. “I wish I could see it myself, but I have gone all day without food, and my mind suffers for it.”

“I will make sure the data is recorded fully for your purview later.” With scientific curiosity at the forefront of his mind, he ignored any other pleasantries and went straight to the middle row of specimen tanks. The stallion shared in Garrdoth’s excitement, but his body demanded sustenance and so he resigned himself to only witness it later through records.

Oypla found three other Mions and two ponies glancing between the specimen, a naked man in his late forties who was incredibly overweight, and the data being extracted by various instruments. The breathing mask was the only thing the unfortunate man was wearing. “Is it time?”

One of his fellow Mions nodded after tearing his eyes away from the screens. “Yes, the incubation period is moments from completion.”

Garrdoth shoved one of the lesser researchers away from the main computer terminal so he could watch both the data and the specimen directly.

The floating human just shy of being lucid as the sedatives were beginning to taper off. For over a minute he simply floated there, occasionally trying to pierce the fading fog in his mind so he could see past the mirrored glass of his tank.

The change was slow at first; his fingers started twitching as they grew thicker while the nails morphed into claws. The little finger atrophied and the hand reshaped itself to compensate. The alterations accelerated as his skin developed thick red scales that raced up his arms. His fat boiled away as it was used as fuel for the metamorphosis which was now converting it into muscle mass over the man’s arms and torso. His head lost all of its hair as the scales grew up to his chin, but went no further. His teeth sharpened to that of a carnivore and an animalistic rage fell over his eyes. Everything below his chest and most of the top half of his head remained human in appearance.

Garrdoth tapped away at the keyboard as the changes stopped. “Metabolism is stabilizing. Excess fat gone, and the body is not driving itself into metabolic collapse to finish alterations. Brain waves however, are abysmal. Animalistic intelligence at best, and the connection to the Link is minimal. Best case is general guidance only, no possibility of complex or even simplistic orders being understood. Instinctual only.”

He growled in anger. “So much work over this new Enforcer and we still can’t get the intelligence above a worthless animal!”

All of the Mions in his vicinity trembled slightly as his anger was not only felt by the force of his words, but his emotion bled over the Link. One of the females tried to placate him. “But chief, we’ve had to focus all of our efforts on stabilizing the metabolism. Without that, newly infected would just die outright.”

He grabbed her by the collar. “Better they die than roam the world unbound by the Herald’s will!” He threw her against one of the other tanks, sloshing the water and putting a slight crack in the glass. The outburst was nothing new, and the more senior researchers knew to keep their mouths shut and let Oypla vent his frustration.

However before Garrdoth could fully lay into the unfortunate scientist, she went ridged and spoke with a voice that was not her own. “Stay your hand Garrdoth.”

Oypla backed away from her. Every Mion in the room knew the Herald spoke through her for the benefit of the Mion’s equine allies. “Master, forgive our failures.”

The Herald silenced him with a gesture. Not a simple movement to signal silence, but by actually blocking all brain signals to the man’s mouth. “I will make my own judgment of your progress.” The puppet closed her eyes as her memory was given freely to the mouthpiece of the gods. A few seconds passed before a curious hum emerged from the Mion. “I see. The Yeta strain will be adequate in its current state.”

The Herald released his hold over Garrdoth’s voice who immediately turned to the others. “What are you waiting for? Get the incubation pods seeded and ready for transport!”

Mions and ponies alike scattered to obey, giving a supplicating Oypla time to face his window to the gods. “If I may humbly ask Master, why would you wish for this project cut short? I’m sure in a few months’ time we could have their intelligence back to at least human standards.”

“You can keep working to improve it, but I am no longer willing to wait that long for a completed strain. Humanity has detected my shell.” Oypla felt horror wash over him. “While I believe my shell avoided giving its purpose away, it is only a matter of time before someone realizes its importance and tries to destroy it and me in the process.”

Garrdoth was appalled. “But you preside over the ocean floor. Surely no warship in existence could possibly touch you there.”

The Herald gave him a critical look, one that was comical in the puppet he wore. “You are a scientist Garrdoth, not a strategist. So I will give you this advice. Leave such decisions to the Koridost, for they are wiser than the stars are numerous.”

Oypla bowed his head. “I submit to your wise council.”

“As you should.”

One of the pegasus researchers respectfully approached from the side. “Begging your pardons my lords, but I thought you would like to know the seeding process will take two hours. After that it will take three days for the cultures to grow and will then be ready for deployment.”

Because the person was a pony, and thus outside of the Link, the Herald had to ask his questions aloud. “Do the culture pods meet my specifications?”

The stallion nodded. “Yes my lord. Each one can be fitted into a missile with minimal effort or technical expertise. They are all attached to a central incubation pod which will keep the samples alive indefinitely. Once detached, the virus samples will survive a maximum of one week before decaying.”

“Excellent. I want them shipped out as soon as possible, I have already informed the transport aircraft to be prepared and ready to receive the cargo.”

Oypla took that moment to interpose himself between the pony and the Herald’s puppet. “It will be done Master.”

The Herald left his puppet’s body, leaving her mind in a bewildered state. Garrdoth only gave her three seconds to recover before barking orders. “You heard him, help with the seeding process!”

“Yes chief!” She tripped over her own feet, while the pony withdrew before he could be yelled at too.

As his minions scampered away, Oypla couldn’t help but feel cheated. I was so close to perfecting this, and yet those damned apes spooked the Herald into stepping up the timetable. “Fine then,” he muttered under his breath as he stared daggers at the caged humans on the far side. “Let the cities of the world burn, I will still work to perfecting the Enforcer. It will be my masterpiece offering to the Koridost.”

Infiltration used to be a rather easy affair for the herd. The bracelets they all wore rendered them invisible to humans and Mions alike. Yet they were not the only ones inhabiting the pathogenics laboratory.

They were the minority, but ponies of all three tribes moved freely about the underground facility in sufficient quantities that the four Americans would have found it extremely difficulty to sneak around. At present, they were inside the loading bay where the ramp from the abandoned German depot led to.

During her time in the CIA, Alexia had heard reports of her former trainees fighting against ponies who were allied with gangs, larger crime families, hostile foreign nationals, basically the standard fair for a field operative for the CIA. That was hardly a surprise to the alicorn, if she were honest with herself, she would have fully expected ponies to be fighting other ponies just like humans have fought other humans for almost the entirely of the species’ history. What troubled her though, were those that sided with the Mions. It was something strictly kept within the agency, and even then it still damaged morale. It was even worse on Alexia who felt each pony who served alongside the Mions was a slap in the face to both her and Trinity. Her only hope was that they were being forced to work with the red skinned humanoids.

Knowing that if she brooded on it for very long she was liable to lose her temper, Tune decided to push that knowledge away to focus on her surroundings.

The herd found the ramp that led deep into the earth was unwatched and snuck into the first chamber unchallenged or detected. It was roughly half the size of the depot above, yet was nearly devoid of sand. A fact Crimson was grateful for. The bay was filled with cargo trucks to the north and a single repair station to the south. The exit they arrived through was to the east and the loading platforms sat on the opposite side.

The group was currently hiding inside the cargo bed of a covered truck on the north end with Conrad and Crimson keeping watch. Alexia sat towards the truck’s cabin as she tried to cobble a plan together. Loki grinned madly at her laptop.

There’s a WiFi signal here. Oh Lawdy I can’t believe they would actually put WiFi down here. That’s what you get for having fanatics in a hidden base. No one thinks to lock down system security. The network shark tested the waters, cackling manically as she found a possible entry point. “Yessss, my darling, yeeesss. Open yourself to meeeee, for I. Am. Your. GODDESS OF THE MACHINE!”

Loki caught herself too late and glanced about to see scowling glares from her mates. She shrunk down with a sheepish grin. “Hehe, sorry.”

Conrad was thankful that the chamber was more or less empty now that the day’s shipments had been squared away and the work crews were wrapping things up. “Just keep your insanity to a low boil.”

“Normality is overrated,” the green mare replied as she dove back into her work. “If I were normal, I’d have gone insane long ago.”

“Aren’t you already insane?” Crimson quipped.

Loki abandoned her computer for the moment and wrapped a leg around Crimson and placed a hoof over her mouth for silence. “Hush now. Its hacken cracking time, and I need all of the wublub I can get to massage the door open for my charms to say hello to their new compadres. Ya get it weggit?”

The green mare left the pale yellow pony exceedingly disturbed. As Loki returned to her computer happily humming a ditty Anderson turned to her alpha. “…I think I need an adult.”

“You are an adult,” Tune replied with a snorting chuckle while brushing off Loki’s antics as she returned her attention to the tome she had summoned several minutes ago. The Dusk Guard section was open and Alexia made sure the golden glow of the text would not bleed outside of the covered truck by casting a darker version of her sunscreen around the book.

The more magically inclined pony of the group shifted through the pages of militant illusion magic. Over a dozen were already earmarked, including the one she was searching for. Okay, I know I saw that spell a few months ago when I was searching for—Yes I think this is it!

The entry she desired was tapped with a mote of her mana and it expanded from a single name in a long list to a full text document in the image of a scroll. Several pictures accompanied the text, showing the mental calculations needed to weave the spell without the need for a diagram.

Alexia couldn’t help but to read the words in Twilight Sparkle’s voice.

Here I will go into the specifics of the Plain Sight spell. This is of course, short for the old adage: hidden in plain sight. The spell operates on a simple principle: if somepony is not looking for something, that pony can stumble onto whatever or whoever is trying to get around stealthily.

However, if ponies are actively looking for a person or object, they can often overlook it when its right in front of their face. In a way, the hydra in the throne room has a better chance of hiding by sitting on the throne itself when the whole Royal Guard is hunting it, than a parasprite in a mouse hole being happened upon by a hawk if both were using this spell.

This is a bit of a stretch for many to trust, and honestly I don’t blame you. However, it’s the audacity of the tactic that warrants attention. After all, if even we don’t want to try it, then those who wish harm against Equestria wouldn’t think to try and counter it.

Plan Sight works by passively tricking the mind of all those who would see or hear the caster by thinking he or she should be doing whatever it is that they are doing. Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that as I will explain in great detail shortly. Say for example, you are using this spell and hostile troopers are trying to find you. By using this spell, you can reenact the entire play of Marebeth as you act your way from your hiding spot and away to safety. The soldiers will still see you acting out a one-pony-play of course, but will assume you are somepony who belongs there and should be doing whatever it is that you’re doing.(acting out a scene in this case) However it does not need to be singing in order to make the spell function. Simply be as conspicuous as possible and it will strengthen the effect of the spell.

Remember, it is the audacious nature of such a defense that will catch many by surprise and will not think to shield themselves from this style of perception manipulation.

Plain Sight does have its drawbacks of course. Even when using a ward against antimagic fields, the fields will still strip away any effects Plain Sight will have on anyone. In addition, a strong mind can see past the illusion and if they call attention to you, then even the unaware will see you for what you are. So be mindful of that as you infiltrate unfriendly territory.

Alexia scanned the rest of the text with fervid interest, but she ran into one big snag. Damn. This affects the caster and personal effects only. She scowled at the text for a few seconds until a thought occurred to her. Its not fully tested, but now would be a good a time as any to give this new array of mine a field trial… Assuming I can get the damn thing entered into the harness correctly.

She turned to her companions. “Okay guys, I have a plan. Just hear me out while I try to write my patented aura diagram into the computer here.”

A brief explanation of both the spell and the aura diagram later, the silver alicorn was receiving two looks of complete bewilderment and one of complete and utter joy.

Conrad was the first to recover his voice. “That has got to be the craziest thing I have ever heard—outside of Loki. There’s no way this will work.”

“I have to agree,” Crimson agreed. “How in blazes is parading around like the Macy’s Day parade supposed to keep us hidden. Magic or not, it seems highly illogical.”

Tune never got a chance to answer because Loki did it for her. “Not at all my good mare. Magic is energy waiting to be converted into some other form of energy right? And the brain works by bioelectrical and chemical reactions. Given the right formula, magic can trick the brain into thinking that the illogical is logical. Drugs do that sort of thing quite easily and all the time. I’ve seen ponies get just as drunk off beer and just as high off pot as any human has, and I bet the same will be true for the Red Menace.”

Alexia couldn’t help but nod at that. “That’s a clear way to put it without going too far into the technical details. At any rate, I should be done with this aura diagram shortly.”

“Which does what exactly?”

The alicorn, like her mentor, loved to talk about magic. So it was with an exuberant grin that she explain herself to the stallion. “It’s a personal project I designed myself. There are plenty of spells that are area of effects, and others that only affect a target or just the caster. But there’s nothing that lets you change the nature of these spells. That’s mostly because if you try to turn say—a love spell intended for a single person into a mass love spell. You need to change the formula entirely, almost to the point where the two different versions are barely similar anymore in their original structure. This aura diagram bypasses that entirely by reflecting the spell’s effect to everyone within five feet of me at the cost of some instability and almost quintuple the mana cost.”

Crimson remembered Alexia saying she had plenty of mana to spare, but concern still washed over her. “Are you sure that’s wise?”

Alexia puffed her chest out a bit. “If there’s anything I’m good at, its magic. And thanks to certain events of the past, I am practically made of mana. The cost is something I’ll try to tone down later.”

A few more minutes and Alexia deemed the holographic diagram to be in good shape. “Okay, let’s give this a spin.”

The pale chalk white holographic circle moved from a foot in front of her face to being centered around her chest. The array itself was dizzyingly complicated with lines that crisscrossed to form a weave of lines that had runes of varying sizes. However the reason behind the busy design was that it was extreme hollow, and was more akin to a four inch thick ring than a real diagram. The array was static and made it look like she was wearing a two dimensional skirt that had been pulled up to the top of her abdomen. It also sat at a twenty degree tilt with the top part of the array leaning away from her head.

Crimson gave it a sour look. “Now I know I’m a medic, not a spell-weaver. But wouldn’t your normal walking gait break the array, thus rendering it useless?”

Alexia hummed. “It would actually. I guess I didn’t really think this one through.” She cast a simple spell to test and sure enough, every time she moved her leg through the array it failed. The resulting feedback was only a mild discomfort due to the simplicity of the incantation.

The alicorn stopped casting and flared her wings. Then she took the two pens and dragged the array to sit half a foot above her spine and in between her wings. She also resized the array to fit. “There. I’ll have to mark each of you for the aura to recognize you, but it will increase the range by fifteen feet… hopefully.”

Loki clapped her hooves together and had a mad hatter grin plastered over her face. “Perfect. And I know just how to cause the perfect commotion.”

She went back to her laptop and tapped in a few commands into the network. “Now I can’t glean the true purpose of this place’s research from here. I need to get down to the lower levels and get direct access to the closed network. These morons who thought “12345” was a good password for the WiFi at least had the sense to protect themselves that much. This smacks of non-IT people making the security policies.”

Conrad was appalled. “12345? I wouldn’t even—never mind.”

Loki wrote a few more commands before raising her left hoof in the air in a dramatic fashion. She took a deep breath to savor the moment, as if it was an act of extreme patience to let the moment hang. Then with what everyone else thought was a rather anti-climactic motion, she tapped the enter button and started giggling manically.

The others waited for something to happen for a minute but nothing seemed to occur as Loki watched the laptop’s screen execute a rapid fire chain of commands into the network. Crimson looked over her fellow earth pony’s shoulder to see the command prompt blitz lines of text she couldn’t even read because it was going too fast. “What did you do?” The pale yellow mare’s voice was laced with dread.

“Alex needs a distraction, I gave us one.” Loki said with glee as she popped her ear out of the covered truck and angled her ear to the loading bays.

A five toned klaxon resounded throughout the garage. A voice akin to a screeching cat clawing a chalkboard spoke out in Equish. “Alert! No less than thirty ponies have been reported to be breaking standards of conduct regulations by singing and dancing blasphemous music in the hallways. This is a blatant disregard for civil conduct and an outright attack against the Gods! All personnel are to find these individuals and detain them without delay.”

Conrad was stunned, but not enough where he couldn’t speak his surprise at the mare who was clipping the laptop to her back while leaving it open with a song on a timer start. “Singing and dancing? I would ask if you’re mad, but I already know the answer.”

“Hey we need a conspicuous distraction, so there we go. Now take a sip of water and warm up your vocal cords guys. We’re putting on a show!” Tune barely had enough time to unsummon the tome before Loki grabbed her by the forelegs and threw her out of the truck. “Just follow my lead guys!”

Alexia considered herself fortunate that she landed on all fours and that Crimson and Conrad found themselves doing the same moments later. Loki jumped up and over the alicorn to land in front of her. It was only with refined presence of mind that Alexia thought to activate the Plain Sight. Fortunately it interacted with the array as planned and the five workers around the loading bay paid them no more than a passing glance as they laughed about the announcement that would repeat itself every twenty seconds.

Although because of the enchantment on the harnesses, they only saw a unicorn mare and three earth stallions. Ordinarily they would have seen the reverse, but the untested aura array was not inert to that enchantment. It was a side effect Tune had no knowledge of, and none of them could see for themselves because they could pierce the illusion.

Loki shakily tried to stand up on her hind legs so she could act like a composer with her right hoof being the baton. “I know you guys can feel the instinctual need to sing.”

Conrad wanted to duck back behind cover, but the workers seemed to be ignoring them for the moment. “I try to ignore it whenever possible.”

“Ditto,” Crimson replied.

Alexia was sweating profusely at the prospect of her aura losing stability without her knowing if it was about to happen. “I don’t really feel comfortable doing anything more than humming in public. But singing would strengthen the spell’s influence.”

It was all the verification Loki needed. “Then it looks like we all have an instinct that demands satisfaction.” With her trademark less than sane toothy grin, Loki waved her hoof back and forth in time with her words. “A one, a two, a one two three.”

As if the mare had timed it perfectly, a fast playing piano opened up from her laptop with a surprisingly loud speaker. Loki dropped back to all fours and started marching to the server room. She started singing the main lead with as much soul and enthusiasm that would have made Jim Croce nod in approval. “Woah! Bad, bad Leroy Brown.”

The others chased after the singing mare. “Well the south side of Chicago is the baddest part of town-“

Loki jumped the four foot ledge up into the store room with the herd hot on her heels. The public address system kept repeating the declaration to find all of the singing ponies. So with Alexia’s spell in effect, the workers around the herd thought nothing of the four ponies with one of them singing her heart out. “Now Leroy more than trouble. You see he stand ‘bout six foot four.”

They trotted out of the store room and into the main thoroughfare to the elevator. “All the men just call him ‘Sir’.”

Loki’s memory of the map she pulled from the network let her know she needed to go down four floors. She started skipping and bobbing her head to the beat. “And he’s bad, bad Leroy Brown.”

Alexia felt it worse than the others. A spring in her step and an urge to join in tickled her badly in the back of her mind. Crimson tried to ignore the cursory stares they received from the passing workers or guards, but even she was nodding her head to the beat.

“Badder than old King Kong, and meaner than a junkyard dog.” Loki threw herself into the song, finally exercising that nagging need to sing.

Everyone in the herd knew the song, and the other mares couldn’t stop themselves from joining in as Loki’s chorus. “He’s bad.”

“He’s bad.”

They sang in unison. “Bad Leroy Brown. The baddest man in the whole damn town.” Conrad looked at the mares with growing concern. More so for himself as he struggled not to join them. “Badder than old King Kong, and meaner than a junkyard dog.”

Loki started her solo right as they were arriving at the elevators and pressed the call button. “Now Leroy he a gambler, and he likes his fancy clothes. And he like to wave his diamond rings under everybody’s nose!”

The elevator arrived, revealing it was large enough for twenty people to squeeze inside. So they found themselves cramming inside with five Mions and three other ponies. Alexia despised the fact that these fellow ponies were working alongside the Mions. Yet she did not let that stop her from joining in Loki’s next chorus. “And oh that girl looked nice!”

Loki went back into her solo as the elevator filled up and started its decent. “Well he cast his eyes upon her and the trouble soon began. And Leroy Brown had learned a lesson ‘bout a-messin with the wife of a jealous man.”

The song came to an end right as the doors opened and Loki’s playlist moved right on to the next selection. Shockingly, the elevator, while depositing them on the correct floor, opened straight into the cafeteria’s dinner crowd. The surrounding patrons gave the four ponies quizzical looks, Alexia most of all with her horn aglow. She elbow’s Crimson and whispered, “Crimmy start singing.”

“But this song is degrading.”

“These people will degrade our flesh if we don’t keep singing,” Alexia hissed back.

Shoring up her courage and dignity, Crimson started singing the first verse. “Finally I get to teach a whoooole lesson all by myself. And I’m going to teach something relevant, something modern, the internet!”

Conrad’s resistance at hearing the intro crumbled to dust. Loki just had to pick that song!

As the group followed Loki towards the other side of the cafeteria, Crimson kept singing. “The internet is really really great.”

The stallion’s resistance faltered for a moment and he belted out two musical words. “For porn.”

“I’ve got a fast connection so I don’t have to waaaait.”

“For porn.”

A few lines of the song went by as the herd managed to exit the northwestern exit garnering no more than a few disinterested glances. The klaxons warned of singing equines again. This time the herd was trotting directly underneath one of the loudspeakers and the ten Mions and ponies listened to the announcement and then paid the quartet no mind.

Loki happily pointed towards the server room while Crimson was fully in the swing of the song. “Hold on a second!” The herd nearly complied with the assumed order until Anderson continued the line. “Now I know for a fact that you, mage, play video games and mock people on forums.”

“That’s correct.” When I have time anyway, She added silently.

“And Samurai, you watch sports and have an unhealthy fixation on the San Francisco obituaries.”

“Sure.” Hopefully I’ll see my father on that list one day.

“And Green Bean, you know exactly what you do,” Crimson sang accusingly.

“Yes I do!”

Conrad couldn’t help but tap Crimson with the tip of his wing. “Oh but Doc- What do you think they do after? Hmm?”

As Anderson sang her disgust, Loki turned the corner and spotted the server room. The herd started galloping towards the room, passing fifteen Mions along the way. Loki skidded to a halt in front of the keycard scanner and pulled a cord from her harness, one end was a USB male connector and a rewritable keycard in the other. “The internet is for-“

She slid it into her laptop’s USB port and waited for the computer to recognize it. “The internet is for-“ Everyone sang merrily besides Crimson.

The laptop proclaimed the card was ready and the hacker slid it through the scanner. The virus was implanted into the scanner and quickly caused an overload and burned it out, opening the door. “The internet is for PORN!”

The herd bolted inside with Conrad going last and pushed the door shut behind him by pressing his back to it while shouting the ending verse. “Yeah!”

Alexia’s aura flickered as the harness spat a few sparks as the heavy mana load was too much and some of the critical circuitry burned out, causing the hologram to vanish. This made the three system administrators, two Mions and one earth pony, to go from giving them a passing glance to growing alarm.

“How da hell you get in here!?” The pastel purple stallion barked.

Crimson was the first to respond. “Mage, pancake maneuver!”

The command snapped Tune out of her mild stupor and switch her mana from maintaining the illusion, which had shrunk to just herself, to grappling each administrator in her kinesis and slamming them once against the rocky ceiling and a second time against the stone floor. Without hesitation, Conrad ran over and delivered a hard kick to each one to make sure none of them would ever get up again.

Loki was at the SysAdmin terminal in a second, the man had left himself logged in so it was trivial for her to work with. The first thing she did was to cancel the running program that was repeating the warning about singing ponies. “Even the written language is in Equish. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say ponies were running the show here.”

Conrad stayed by the door to ambush anyone that went inside. It was within earshot of Loki’s station so he was able to respond. “Doesn’t really surprise me. These people probably hail from all over the world and we can learn Equish within a few days. It makes sense they would make it the unified language here.” He glanced at the sputtering crystals on Alexia’s back. “That has got to be the stupidest thing we’ve ever done.”

Loki nickered in response. “It worked though. No one raised the alarm and now the guards are busy scratching their heads.”

Tune couldn’t stop staring at the purple stallion’s broken corpse lying on the cold ground. She may not have delivered the final blow, but she was the herd’s alpha. She alone was ultimately responsible for their actions, especially when on assignment. “We—we killed a pony.”

Crimson nodded to the others to keep working and let her handle this. The pale yellow mare walked up to the silver one and nuzzled her. “He made his choice. He chose to work with these cultists who are trying to commit specicide. I say good riddance.”

The alicorn hung her head a little, her voice became soft. “I guess it would be hypocritical of me to wish no harm to my fellow ponies when I’ve been clamoring for equality with humanity after all.”

“That it would,” Crimson replied with both steel and sympathy. “But you’re a politician so I guess hypocrisy is just par for the course.”

“Way to make me feel better,” Alexia managed a choked laugh despite herself. She’s right though. None of the ponies I saw along the way look as if they are being mistreated, and some of them were even throwing jokes around the lunch table with those red skinned bastards. What disturbed her most of all was that at least half of the ones she saw in passing had their cutie marks. There’s nothing I can do for them. Even if I were to try and leverage my alicorn magic to convince them to switch sides, I can’t do anything for those with their marks. They found purpose and a will to live in the act of extinction.

Crimson felt a wash of cold air radiate from the alicorn and she took a step back. She noticed Tune’s horn was inactive, but she knew the chill was the alicorn’s doing. The silver mare’s stature became stony, and her jaw clenched in boiling fury. The Mions she could at least say were mentally corrupted by the plague, but the ponies were a different matter. She saw no evidence of coercion or even mistreatment. Hell, they’re even using our language to help coordinate their efforts. Our language! she shouted in her mind.

Before the alicorn could give voice to her rage, Loki chirped a musical note at finding the facility’s purpose. “This place is definitely a bio lab, that’s for sure. Let’s see what you people have been doing exactly—”

The other two mares walked over to see. Tune’s hate was not directed at her mates, and was loath to lash out at them. Crimson glanced at the data, but it was too far outside of her expertise to know more than that the base’s focus of study was pathology. “If I had to guess. This might be the place where the Mion plague was engineered. Probably right under the Algerian government’s nose.”

“That or the officials were bribed to look the other way,” Conrad suggested from his post at the door.

Loki scanned for recent activity. A large flurry of data appeared on screen. “Here we are, the primary lab’s main project.”

Loki had her laptop sitting on the desk and promptly gathered a connector wire from her harness and slotted it into both computers to start copying everything. The text was beyond any of them, but the video recordings were plain for all to see. Human captives were seen thrashing inside water filled tanks as their bodies warped and changed. Most of the recordings were marked as failures, the mutations were unusable or deformed from the intended design. All of it was gruesome to watch.

It was not until some of the unicorn scientists started infusing the viral particles with mana that the test subjects’ changes were more thorough. With the abundant energy that mana provided, what were once a few alterations that used to barely cover something the size of a forearm could now encompass half of the body before the rapid changes ceased. From a series of pictures, it was obvious the rest of the changes came later, after the victim ate an abundance of food.

Tune’s wings trembled with her rage. To her, it was as if the Mions and their equine allies had taken everything Trinity and its inhabitants stood for and twisted it into a horrific mockery of her new hometown. If Alexia could have been called slightly miffed before, now her fury was boundless. Her eyes started glowing with an angry azure. She needed to vent and the first thing that came to her mind were the three corpses of the network administrators.

The herd looked at her and then the corpses as they were encased in azure and were levitated two feet off the ground. With a roar of hatred, Alexia used an inversion of her pegasi magic and created a singularity at the center of each corpse and crushed the bodies into lumps of meat that became small and smaller as she increased the gravity. The sound of cracking bones and squelching fluids filled the room as the objects of the alicorn’s hatred were squeezed tighter and tighter until they were no bigger than a billiard’s ball. Not a drop of gas or liquid escaped her gravity spell.

She wasn’t done. No, her anger over such perversion perpetrated by her own kind fueled her magic further and with a one last scream of wrath she squashed them further into the side of grapes before the internal pressure of that much mass was finally strong enough to counter her power and she let go. Tune barely managed to shield her face with a wing before the three pieces of compressed meat exploded back out showering the room in blood while three pieces of ruined meat dropped to the floor in pieces. There was nothing left to identify who they had been.

With a fury choked exhale, she faced her reddened mates. “We are going to raze this entire facility. Everyone. Dies.”

An alert on the screen managed to claw Loki’s eyes away from the carnage. “You might want to leave that to the troops. It looks like they finished their main project early and are shipping the incomplete viruses out of here.”

Tune scoffed as her eyes returned to normal, but the malice was still there. “And? We can just get a message out to Mercer to have him intercept the trucks.”

Loki shook her head as she read the orders. “They aren’t stated for the trucks. There’s a second part of the facility to the north that’s on a different closed network. I can’t access it from here and I can’t reroute the virus containers. We need to get down to the lab itself and try to destroy them before they’re moved. If the second exit is too far away, the Bush may not be looking in a wide enough area to intercept it.”

Crimson was eager for a reason to ignore the blood covering both the room and her fur. She pointed a hoof at the background of some of the pictures. “Plus there has to be some prisoners around here somewhere. I bet you the captives and the other supplies were being shipped in from that location.”

Alexia’s fury simmered for the moment. She would have her retribution, but her responsibilities as team commander pushed themselves far enough to the front of her mind that she was able to remain somewhat logical. “Can you get us down there?”

Loki tapped a few more commands and a keycard writer blinked a green light. The hacker opened several drawers to find a box of blanks and found them in the bottom drawer. After inserting it, the machine took a few seconds to work before spitting back out again. “Right here. Every floor below us has key codes as well so I locked all of the door codes to 12345. A memento I left behind for their stupidity.”

“Good, set the house up for the cavalry.” Alexia faced Crimson and pointed a wing at the computer’s microphone. “Get a message out to Mercer. Tell him to get the paratroopers over here to clean house, we’re going after those canisters.” And I will destroy anyone that gets in our way.

Loki gave the seat to Crimson after activating the lab’s radio and moved over to her laptop to set the place up for the assault. Thompson’s gifted viruses and worms, along with other penetration software came with a multitude of moddable malware. The methods of infiltration were already in place. All she needed was to transcribe whatever prewritten code she had into the worms and do minor alterations to make them function within the Mion network.

It took fifteen minutes to modify three worms to do what she needed and after Crimson finished talking with Mercer, the hacker made sure to lock down all security functionality within the network so nothing could stop her save a complete system shutdown. The alicorn levitated some water out of her CamelBak’s straw and washed the blood off herself and the others. She was still furious, but that anger was never directed at the herd.

During this time, Conrad was becoming increasingly nervous. He remembered being part of a few heists in his time and didn’t want to stay there much longer. The more we linger, the more likely we’ll get caught.

Loki finished a last few commands and some of her mirth returned as she held her hoof magic back a bit so she could physically tap the enter button one last time. “There it’s done. We have ten seconds before this place descends into anarchy. Every door is rigged to slam shut and remain sealed until the paratroopers come in guns blazing.”

A stray arc of mana roiled from the base to the tip of Alexia’s horn. “Good,” she said with impatient anger. “We take care of those canisters and then we rip this vile place to pieces.”

Mercer stood on the bridge of the USS George H. W. Bush looking out over the flight deck. With Crimson’s transmission coming through loud and clear, the paratroopers were already loading to the waiting Chinook towards the rear of the ship.

Loud whining engines heralded the launching of the first of three fighters that would provide air superiority and be equipped to take on armored trucks if need be. Both the case officer and the carrier’s captain took the warning of a bioweapon seriously. As a result, the third fighter that was to be launched was equipped with four Mark seventy seven incendiary bombs to burn the virus canisters should they escape the labs.

The case officer did not know the royal herd personally, reputation only, but he could sense the tremble in Anderson’s words. She was scared. But I don’t think it was for her life or that of her mates. I think she was scared by one of them. To what cause or end, I wish I knew.

After Loki informed the silver and azure alicorn of the direction to the next set of elevators, she wrenched the door off its hinges with her magic and the air around her took on an azure radiance as the alicorn activated her Kinetic Bleed Field. “We make our way to the elevator, secure the canisters, and kill everything in our way.”

The others moved to be inside the curtain of blue air in a five meter radius around the silver mare. All three of them knew what she really meant: to kill everything in her way. Four Mions and two ponies were startled by a door being torn from its mounting and thrown at full force into the opposite wall.

Alexia walked out of the server room in the guise of a very irate white unicorn surrounded by an azure aura. Before the Mions could even ask what happened, Alexia gathered a point of mana a few inches away from the tip of her horn and converted it into electrical power. Then she expended more mana to move over to each target and convert into dense collections of protons. The churning mass of electrons above her horn were all too eager to blast forth and fried everyone around her. There was no distinction for species in her mind. The Mions she almost pitied because they were no longer the people they once were, but the ponies still had their minds if not their bodies. She was not going to let a single one escape her sight and further taint the bridge she had been fighting to build between the two species.

Alexia looked down the hallway opposite of her destination and saw five more people who were stunned into motionlessness. She grabbed each one in her kinesis and flung them closer to her so she could rip the thermal energy out of two of them until she left the two female Mions as little more than blocks of ice and compressed the superheated air into balls and flung them at the heads of the other two Mions, boiling their brains within their skulls. The flailing pegasus mare screamed fearfully in her native tongue. The alicorn couldn’t make out the words, but their meaning was clear enough. Tune growled back at her in Equish. “What about the pleas of mercy from your test subjects? Or the billions your work will kill?”

Alexia crafted ten shards of razor thin needles of condensed mana. The mare stared at both the mana spikes and the perceived unicorn with terror so profound she wet herself.

Conrad raced over and places a restraining hoof on his alpha’s withers. “Don’t kill her like this.” He wanted to say her name, but knew that would be a bad idea from where they were. “There’s killing a combatant, and then there’s killing a helpless person. We should take her prisoner.”

Tune bit back a snarl as she addressed him in English. “We don’t have time for prisoners!”

“Then put her under a sleep spell and let the cavalry take care of her. They might find out if there are other facilities just like this if we leave someone behind for them to capture.” He knew the computer system or even Loki’s data could do just that, but he needed her to step away from the proverbial cliff.

Tune looked back at the mare still pinned in her mental grasp with the azure needles ready to plunge forth at their master’s call. The red pegasus, like the pony in the server room, represented more than just an unconscionable scientist. The sobbing red mare stood against everything the alicorn poured her heart and soul into forging ponies and humans into a unified society.

By now, the alarms were sounding and red warning lights lit the corridor. Conrad knew Alexia could handle any firearms leveled against them, but he needed her to still be herself. Crimson tugged on the silver equine’s right wing. “We don’t know her story. Maybe she was traumatized or raped after becoming a pony. She may have had her family killed in front of her eyes and she left for dead by humans and joined the cult in revenge for all we know. Leave her to the paratroopers.”

Tune’s expression barely changed, but her mate’s words did much to stay her hand. She turned back to her prisoner who was stunned that she was still alive. “To be so naive and let the actions of a few color an entire species. Fool,” she added disgustedly. Alexia disbanded the needles and weaved a sleep spell strong enough to last a full day. Tune may have been persuaded to spare her captive, but a vindictive streak still needed to be satisfied. Alexia unceremoniously dropped the red mare in the puddle of her own spreading urine. If this one lives through the day, I will see to her myself. Tune made sure to remember the red furred, and black maned pegasus for later. She barely noticed the blank flank as she turned to abandon the red mare.

Strengthening her kinetic bleed field, the alicorn ran after Loki who was galloping towards the other set of elevators. Loki raced past the various people without caring what they did. With it being a research lab that had successfully hidden for months, only an extreme few Mions were augmented for combat. And no one in the herd’s path between the server room and the second elevator were in any shape to stop them as the three agents incapacitated them with either spell or hoof as they chased after their green member. The alicorn was rougher with her magic than normal, not caring if anyone died from being thrown against the walls or a sleep spell that brought many dangerously close to a coma.

Loki reached the elevator, tapped in the code, and swiped the keycard to open the doors. She got inside and waved a hoof to her galloping mates. “Hurry, you don’t have much time before the lockdown starts!”

Loki’s computer worms acted right on schedule, and that was too early thanks to Alexia’s moral intervention. Loki was forced back into the elevator as the heavy doors moved to seal the elevator shaft and no amount of jamming the open doors button would reverse it.

Crimson ran alongside Tune with a worried tone. “We can’t make it inside now.”

“Yes we can,” Alexia shouted as her horn lit up. Loki jumped to the side of the wall to give them space and right as the doors shut, Alexia’s teleport activated and the three other members of the group made it inside. However their momentum followed them in and all three slammed against the far wall.

Loki quickly tapped on the inside keypad and swiped the card again before pressing the correct button to begin their decent. As her mates recollected themselves, Loki stood on her hind legs and leaned against the wall near the buttons. “Hell of a time to have a crisis of morality boss mare. I never expected you to have one of that caliber though.”

The alicorn huffed indignantly and sat on her haunches while the others spread out. Had she been more attentive, she would have noticed Loki’s joviality was hanging by a thread. “I don’t care what her reasons are. That mare, and every pony out there is just one tabloid cover away from ruining everything Trinity has done over the past two years. You don’t see any humans working with the Mions do you?”

“Are you kidding?” Crimson genuinely asked. “The tabloids always spread that kind of stuff. Even some of the news stations say regular people and Mions work to take over the world.”

Mana coursed through Alexia left foreleg as she slammed it against the wall, cracking it, but not enough to do more than superficial damage. “But this place is solid proof! The Mions are being manipulated by the plague, we know that.” At least us in the CIA anyway. “But the ponies are not! This isn’t like any other war in history. We’re not talking about simply beating an rival nation or even an opposing ideology. They willingly want to erase humanity with this this—enhanced virus!” She lowered her leg from the damaged wall. “You all have seen the psychological reports on captured Mions. We all know what their end all goal is. I get human mercenaries. They either only care about money, don’t know who their working for, or kill for fun.”

Conrad shook his head sadly. “Do you really think its limited to that? Let me tell you something Alex. There are people out there who would make the orchestrator of the D.C. Siege look like a saint. Not every pony will be like the ones in Trinity. You said yourself that Discord’s magic only targeted those who were mentally and physically capable of leaving whatever society they happened to be in at the time. And I don’t think I need to tell you all again the sort of life I led before sprouting fur.”

Loki’s cheer faded entirely and her head dipped bit. In the face of Conrad’s readmission of his past, she felt obligated to do the same. “Looking back on it… I wasn’t such a hot person to be around either. Please remember Alex that not all transformees started off as good people like you and Crimmy here.” She paused while nervously rubbing her hooves together. “And I probably would have stayed that way-- if not for you guys,” she added at length. “Becoming a pony wasn’t the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” She looked to her mates with tears soaking her face’s fur.

Crimson listened in silence with a sympathetic look while Conrad was still agitated towards Alexia. The silver mare’s fury deflated at what she suspected Loki would say next. “It was meeting you guys. Falling in love with all of you.” Her gaze passed over all of them before settling on Tune. “I mean, I’m supposed to be the lunatic of the group right?”

Loki’s unintentional choice of words hit Alexia like a gunshot to her heart. She had no time to apologize or recover because the elevator arrived at their destination and the doors opened up to warning klaxons and a lone figure standing between them and the main laboratory.

The way the Mion stood in the center of the hallway, with his hands tightly clasped behind his back and his otherwise loose posture within his white lab coat spoke of a man who believed what he was facing was a threat to his work, but not to him personally. As with all the Mions seen in the facility thus far, his skin was the color of dried blood. What set him apart was a series of small bony protrusions across his scalp that had completely replaced his hair.

The mood in the elevator shifted in an instant. Gone was the apologetic alicorn and she stood up and walked towards the scientist in a slow careful manner. Her Bleed Field was at the ready, but she didn’t want to tip her hand too early. Loki splashed some water on her face to mask the tears and was able to recollect herself while the silver alicorn kept the Mion’s attention focused on her alone.

The rest of the herd filed out behind Tune and took up flanking positions, but none of them walked past their alpha.

The scientist adjusted his half-moon spectacles, which he wore out of habit from his human days, to peer at what he saw as one mustard yellow unicorn stallion, two earth stallions, and one black pegasus mare. He sighed with indifference as he took his glasses off to rub the lenses with a cloth from his pocket. He spoke Equish in a lofty, if difficult tone. “It seems the Gods were right in accelerating things. While I care little about you four personally, I can only imagine that if you’re here, then your government’s military isn’t far behind.” He replaced his glasses over his eyes. “So tell me, who are you? British? French?”

Tune knew he was stalling for time. “Stand down, and I’ll make sure your death is painless.”

Garrdoth tsked at her a few times while pacing back and forth one time before returning to the center. “I fear Iblis no longer, for he has no sway over my soul. Even if I should die, I will return anew, forever out of his grasp.”

Conrad snorted derisively. “Why does every cultist everywhere always say that?”

The Mion smirked. “Ah. Judging by your accent, I’d say you’re American. Gods know you lot can’t stop sticking your noses in the world’s business where it doesn’t belong. I dare say if the Mouthpiece had not arrived when he did, America would have been in more wars within ten years than England has in its entire history.”

Conrad had had enough. “We didn’t come here to talk.” He bolted forward, ready to plant his hooves across the Mion’s jaw.

“Nor did I,” Garrdoth replied calmly as he focused on the pegasus and shot a wave of crackling sickly green energy from his forehead. Conrad tried to reverse his momentum, but the wall was too fast and it pushed him back through the air. The wall faded shortly after contact and the pegasus landed back on his hooves nearly right back where he began.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to disturb the seeding process. Its in its final stages and will depart shortly. After that you can have the run of the place for all I care.”

Alexia had no qualms about killing a Mion. No matter how civilized this one acted, they were all brainwashed zealots in her eyes. “Then it seems like we don’t have time to waste on your welcoming committee anymore.”

Tune grabbed ahold of the scientist with her kinesis and was about to slam him against the walls until he stopped moving when the same green pulse of energy radiated from his forehead and he dropped back down to the ground, only to dust off his pants before standing back up again. “I half expected that not to work. I will need to inform the others of its success when I return to headquarters after we’re done here.”

The ponies were stunned that Alexia’s kinesis was repulsed, but the disguised alicorn quickly recovered. “You really expect to leave here alive Mion? Your gods won’t save you from us.”

He huffed at the venom in her words. “I suppose followers of the more ‘established’ religions take comfort in giving their mythological rivals pejorative connotations, so I will let that slide on account of your ignorance. That ignorance will not last much longer,” he added with a sinister grin. “Of that, I assure you. Be grateful your kind has garnered the Koridost’s interest, rather than their ire.”

Alexia was not willing to waste any more words and forged a dozen meter long needles of solidified mana and threw them at the scientist. Oypla out stretched his hand and a hemisphere of green light surrounded him. Upon impact the needles destabilized and washed over him as nothing more than intangible motes of light.

“Having fought against you unicorns for some time now, and working with a helpful few, we’ve had plenty of time to perfect our own counters to magic. After all, spells are only held together by willpower and exacting specific matrixes are they not? Subvert your will and the spell falls apart like—“ He turned around to see the last few fading motes of mana. “so many dancing lights.” He turned back around to face them with a calculating grin. “I’m actually quite happy someone like you arrived. The nagging thought that our allied unicorns were holding back was always at the back of my mind. I thank you for proving me wrong—its a rare event and I will savor this moment for decades to come.”

Loki glanced at Crimson and nodded before both mares walked towards the walls. “Savor this!” Both earth ponies gathered their mana and bucked the walls.

A few moments passed without anything visibly happening. Garrdoth tilted his head in amusement. “Am I supposed to be intimidated by physical prowess?”

Loki sat on her haunches and yawned lazily. “No.”

With only a brief moment of rumbling earth as a warning, twin spikes of rock and stone speared out of the walls and impaled the scientist in both the head and chest. He was dead before the first drop of blood hit the ground.

Loki rubbed her chin contemplatively. “Do you think he was intimidated in the end?

Tune started running forward. “You can figure that out later when we stop the transfer.”

The rest bounded after her, with Loki lingering just long enough to study the Mion’s surprised expression before joining her mates.

Alexia reached the door and was about to turn to Loki to open it, but she noticed the keypad was smoking. Damn looks like he overloaded the door. He really wasn’t expecting to leave alive was he?

The lone stallion tapped the open button on the opposite side of the door frame to at least be able to say he tried the obvious. When it failed he turned to the silver mare. “Can you teleport us inside?”

The alicorn grimaced as she remembered the bunker under the White House. “It would be risky. I have no idea what’s on the other side and I have no way to craft a diagram to scry what’s inside. We could materialize on top of a bunch of landmines or into a vat of acid. Teleportation will only correct itself if any of us would reappear inside a solid object.”

Coming up with a new plan, Conrad bucked the keypad off the wall to expose the wires within. “Loki, think you can hotwire the door?”

“Damn it I’m a hacker not an electrician! Besides, did you just forget Mister Swiss Cheese back there?” Loki demonstrated her point by gently pushing Alexia back away from the door. She rearing up and gather a large amount of mana in her hooves before crashing back down on the ground and the earth in front of her ripped its way out from under the steel floor and pierced the door enough to see through. Or at least it was once Loki kicked the shard of stone and caused to crumble into gravel. “You guys need to think outside the box more often.”

Conrad grunted in amusement. “What do you think we have you for?”

“Too true,” Loki replied as she stepped aside for Alexia to peer through the hole. She heard a multitude of noises and all of them were unpleasant. She could identify the sound of breaking bones, slurping liquids and groans of joyful messy eating.

The alicorn scowled. “Be ready for a fight, and probably something nasty from those videos we saw.” After finding a good spot and her mates gathering around her, Tune teleported the group inside. What they found were that all of the failed test subjects had been let out of their tanks and were gorging themselves on the remains of the human captives. Although the equines could only guess at what the subjects’ meal was because none of the chunks of flesh were identifiable anymore.

The mystery didn’t last long. Two pegasi researchers finished attaching the last two crates containing the virus to the ceiling mounted cargo conveyor and noticed the four Americans at the far end of the room. The first scientist escorted the cargo out of the room while the second found a microphone to speak to the agents via the public address speakers. “I hope you enjoy our pets. We let them feed on the cattle, but they are still growing, so don’t expect them to ignore fresh meat when it happens to present itself.”

Tune snarled and yelled back at him. “Well let’s test that theory shall we?”

She selected two random Enforcers, gripped them in her magic and flung them at the pegasus sitting at the cargo controls. The scientist took wing as the two howling Enforcers landed where the pony had just been sitting. The bestial creatures moved to grab him, but stopped as they sniffed the air. A moment later the Enforcers ignored the researcher and turned away to return to their meal.

“It was a good plan I’ll grant you,” said the smug pegasus. “But they know who their masters are.” The researcher hit a button and the massive steel doors started closing. He turned back to say one last sarcastic word before it closed. “Farvel!”

The two Enforcers that had been thrown across the room were shaken out of their blind march to the piles of meat when the heavy steel doors slammed shut. They turned and looked at the four ponies and all of the fresh meat they represented. The bigger of the two howled a guttural sound that was more akin to a loud growl than anything else. As one, the others turned to their new prey.

Conrad stepped forward to place himself between Alexia and the bipedal brutes. “We don’t have time for this.”

Loki produced a glass mason jar and tossed it up and down in her hoof. “This looks like a job for my fire hornets.”

The others turned to the green mare with a shared question. “Wait, what?”

“Fire in the hole!” Loki threw the jar and it smacked one of the Enforcers square in the face. “Bingo!” The green mare’s cheer faded in an instant and bypassed bothered, scared, and went straight on to full on terror as to what she had just done. “Oh um Alex, could you cast a heat shield around us or something? Like right now? As in now now!”

The liquid in the broken jar flared to life as a raging purple fire that covered the howling Enforcer head to toe. Scant seconds later, buzzing embers of liquid fire leapt off of the burning corpse and latched onto every other Enforcer in the room and tried to reach the herd, but Tune’s ward kept the hornets at bay.

The test subjects were not so fortunate and all of them burned away to cinders within moments. The hornets were not content with just the failed Mion strain, and were starting to bounce all over the room, setting everything on fire. Conrad glared at Loki. “What the hell was that!?”

“Run now talk later,” Alexia cried as she bolted the hundred meters between her and the cargo delivery dock on the far side of the lab. The heat shield was not designed with prolonged casting or enduring stability in mind, only instant protection, and it failed before she reached the door controls.

Tune screeched to a halt at the controls to find which one opened the giant steel portal. Loki eyed the fire behind them as it rapidly consumed everything in its path. “I guess I should have remembered this earlier, but fire hornets should never be used in an enclosed area with no access to the outside… like ever.”

The traces of snaking fire shot every which way, spreading flames in all directions. Most alarmingly was that the hornets themselves were moving rapidly towards the herd at a frightening speed.

Fortunately there were only a handful of buttons on the control panel and Tune quickly found the correct one. The heavy doors opened and the herd galloped through the exit. The hornets were too close to risk trying and close the door behind them so the ponies galloped as fast as they could down the long straight hallway.

Conrad felt faster in the air flew up and over the herd to be adjacent to the green mare. “What the hell did you throw?”

Loki poured on as much speed as she could muster, knowing full well what her creation was capable of. “I told you they’re fire hornets didn’t I?”

“That’s not an answer.” He glanced at the streams of living fire that clawed its way past the door and started charging after the ponies like a swarm of locust to wheat. He cursed and saved his breath to match the mares’ pace.

They were coming up on the two pegasi researchers who were riding on top of the cargo crate as it zipped along the ceiling. One of them looked behind him and saw the four agents being chased by a wall of fire and started screaming at the operator to make the rail engine go faster. Alexia turned to see an unwanted sight. The hornets bounced off every surface of the rocky corridor, burning everything that had no right to be combustible.

The alicorn cringed at the display. There’s no possible way I could snuff that fire out. She regarded the cargo cart ahead of them. “Leave the bastards to the hornets!”

The four agents ran past the cart with Conrad waving at them in their passing. “See ya in hell jerkasses!”

The passenger looked back with horror and grabbed the intercom that was linked to the other end of the tunnel. “Go on without the last shipment, we’re dead already and the whole place is going up in flames.”

Within moments, the two researchers and the crate were consumed by the ever hungry hornets who showed no sign of stopping. Only a mild explosion of compressed gas marked the virus canisters’ destruction as well.

The long wide tunnel stretched for three miles up an incline before the racing equines. Barely a mile in, the lighting failed as the power lines were burned through. They were left in darkness for only a moment until the silver mare lit the way with a forward angled horn light.

The passage itself was mostly barren save for the two heavy cargo carrier tracks that ran along the ceiling. Though they had not seen it in their flight, the passage lead to other sections of the labs behind them.

Every so often a piece of debris or uneven flooring had to be navigated by the ponies in their mad dash from the steadily encroaching fire hornets.

While having a mixture of all three tribes within her might seem like a blessing to many, the pegasi’s speed and earth pony’s endurance hardly did the silver mare any good when she only routinely practiced unicorn magic over the others. As such, Tune was starting to lag behind even as she tried using her sore wings to give her frantic sprint a much needed boost. Her muscles ached and screamed for oxygen, but still she pressed on with the others. Sweat clung to her fur and mane on the front while the racing hornets behind her kept her hindquarters bone dry and threatened to roast the end of her tail.

Her horn lit up and the mare timed a blink forward when all four hooves were off the ground during her galloping gait. She dared not risk a mass teleport because the others would be momentarily dazed by it. It did however, encourage them to go full tilt in their sprint now that they didn’t feel the instinctual need to hold back for their alpha’s sake.

Every time they left the alicorn behind a few paces she would blink forward again. This process repeated itself five times until a light could be seen on the far end. As they feared, the steel doors were sealed shut. The light they saw was the reflection of the fire behind them on the massive doors. All four ponies were panting heavily and running on nothing more than fear and adrenaline.

Crimson flinched at another one of Alexia’s blinks when it placed her side by side with the pale yellow mare. “Are we going to blind port through?”

Tune spared a glance at the hornets. The fire was scant inches behind them and seemed to accelerate even further at the prospect of finally having cornered four very combustible morsels. “Its our only chance.”

Anderson didn’t want to look back. All she needed to know was that her tail was uncomfortably hot. Alexia stopped flapping her wings and held them in tight. “Get in close and hold on to your butts.”

The others followed the alicorn’s lead and were about to smack into the steel doors when a brilliant flash of azure light saw them through to the other side.

They found themselves inside a large underground hanger where a medium sized cargo plane was throttling up to roar down the lit up runway towards the dark night sky. The aircraft was in such a hurry to make off with its precious cargo that the back ramp was only just starting to raise up as the plane started its take off. “Oh no you don’t!” Before the others could even come close to regaining their wits, Tune teleported the four of them into an empty space above the canisters and three of the researcher Mions and the one remaining unicorn.

The momentum of the aircraft made the back ramp smack the ponies, and stalled its hydraulics. It groaned as it tried to finish closing and started to succeed once the four ponies were brought up to the aircraft’s acceleration.

“Kill them or get them off the plane!” one of the female Mions commanded as she ran towards the front to find a weapon, leaving two Mions and one unicorn mare to safeguard the cargo.

The unicorn tried to blast Crimson off the half open ramp, but between the drowsiness of the two rapid teleports, the dead sprint for over three miles up an incline, and a sudden lurch in the aircraft, the mare could barely stand and flopped back down to the deck. The energy blast passed right over the prone mare and rent a hole large enough to see through. And what was visible through that hole stopped every hostile person from making a move.

Alexia gulped and looked back to see the steels doors had been slagged and the fire hornets were already engulfing the back of the hanger, detonating the spare fuel tanks. As if spurred by the enticingly flammable lump of fuel encased in aluminum, the hornets chased after the fleeing aircraft with wild abandon.

One of the Mions took advantage of the distraction and kicked the lever to fully reopen the ramp and cut the rear most canister loose so it would roll back and push the barely lucid agents to their demise. Tune saw what he was doing and barely managed to latch her kinesis onto the rolling cargo before it smacked into Conrad and the others. She found several guard wires and tried to wrap enough around the canisters so she could use her focus on offense.

The unicorn fired a second kinetic blast at her, but Tune deflected it with a wave of her horn and the spell punched through the airframe inflicting minor structural damage. The distraction was enough for the second Mion to race forward and sacrifice himself by tackling the alicorn far enough to where they rolled back towards the edge of the ramp.

At the same time, the aircraft tilted up as it crawled into the air, sending the rear most canisters rolling back and it pushed the four agents and one Mion out of the aircraft and onto the desert sands. The four guard wires Tune managed to wrap around the canisters kept them from fully falling out after them and the remaining Mions and one unicorn fought to reel it back inside.

The four ponies and one Mion rolled far enough away from the entrance to the underground runway that when the fire hornets emerged into the open air they withered and died instead of roasting the five prone forms. The hornets left nothing behind save for grey ash.

After the alicorn managed to stabilize their roll, she pinned the Mion to the ground with her kinesis. He didn’t bother struggling and let her press him into the sands while Tune checked on her mates. He let off a loud victorious chuckle as he fought against her magic to see the escaping aircraft. He didn’t know if she spoke Equish, but decided to taunt her in it anyway. “Ha ha ha ha. You have failed, thralls of humanity. Soon your masters will be one with the Herald along with the rest of the world.”

Alexia lit the surrounding area with her magic and saw her mates were dusting themselves off. Exhausted, but in one piece. That great weight lifted from her withers and she was able to breathe a sigh of relief. She turned to the unresisting scientist who had a sneer plastered over his face. “Do what you will. My sacrifice has earned my place with the gods.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it. You guys lost the moment we found this place.” She grabbed a radio from her harness and adjusted the frequency. “Bravo actual, this is Charlie one.”

The scientist’s mirth froze over as he couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation.

“Package is onboard the bogey retreating from my position. We are not onboard. I repeat, we are not onboard.”

A few moments later, the distant sound of fighter craft could be heard high above. Two fast moving points of light appeared and streaked down towards the cargo aircraft. Twin flashes of light later, the plane came down with a sudden case of missing wing. It careened into the flat desert ground a flaming mess and dragged along the soft sands for quite a distance before finally coming to a rest.

A few seconds after that, four incendiary bombs were dropped; two on the wreckage and two on the long drag mark in the sands. Nothing remained except for fire and charred scraps of metal.

Alexia turned back to the dumbstruck Mion. She heard the fighter pilot’s comm chatter. “Target neutralized, nothing left but a smoking crater.”

The Bush’s mission control responded. “Good work Arrow three. Hang loose Charlie one, evac is inbound.”

“Copy that Bravo.” When she turned back around to the Mion, he wasn’t wearing the expression she was expecting of him. Instead of fear, anger, outrage, or even disappointment, he possessed a look of complete indifference.

“So. One is lost,” he said at length as he stared at the moonlit smoke before facing the what he perceived as an orange unicorn stallion. Alexia’s aura array had permanently twisted the illusion enchantment and would need to be fixed later. “What a shame.” This was not the same voice the Mion possessed earlier. It was calm, collected, and spoke with superiority. He would have made a gesture if the puppet were not restrained by Alexia’s magic. “I have over a dozen more scattered throughout the world, your accomplishments tonight mean little.”

By now the other ponies were picking themselves back up with Crimson being closest and having heard the entire conversation. The thing she picked up on most was the voice was impossibly unstable. It fluctuated between unnaturally deep baritone to midrange alto in a seamless transition that did not crack during speech. It most certainly did not sound like the Mion’s voice a few seconds ago. “Who are you?”

The person in question regarded what he saw to be a ruby red unicorn stallion, ‘his’ voice matched his image. The Mion thought about his answer for a few seconds as he studied the disguised ponies, unable to pierce the veil of their harnesses’ enchantments. “I am called many things by my flock, annoyingly so at times, but it hardly matters. You however may call me The Herald of the Koridost, and you have garnered my attention.”

Author's Note

Realistically it would have taken between six to ten songs to get to the server room, but I wasn't going too far into realism for that.