All-American Girl

by Shinzakura

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rarity, Other, Adventure, Sex, Twilight Sparkle, Gore, Dark, Alternate Universe, Human, Princess Luna, Thriller, Drama
Length: 439283

A pony raised amongst humans finds out about her birth mother - Rarity.

“My name’s Daisy Jo Martinez. I was born – or so my birth certificate says – on March 30, 2012. I’m married with two kids, my husband’s a Naval officer. I’m originally from a town just outside of DC called Winchester, Virginia – apple capital of America, yay, go me. I’m a Republican – that tends to shock a lot of people – and I’m a practicing Catholic – and that tends to shock more people than the first, and like I said, I’m married – I think people start passing out at that point. I've lived a happy, charmed life and I’m proud to be an American.

“And as you can also see, I’m a pony. Well, physically anyway."

The first main story of The All-American Girl Saga.
TV Tropes page
Selected as "Humans Aren't Bastards" Group's Mods' Choice July 2013

Published 2012-05-10 01:14:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-07-19 22:30:10 UTC

Book I Prologue: All-American Girl

"Well I'm on my way
I don't know where I'm going
I'm on my way I'm taking my time
But I don't know where"
- Paul Simon

Chapter Twenty-Three: What is Done in Vain, Truth is Hard to Swallow

“This is how it must be,” the dark, shadowy figure told its twin in presence if not in standing, said counterpart as light as the sun itself.

Both stood upon the dying light of their latest battle. Rivulets of lava, once solid ground, burned around the two, though neither seemed to notice. The very air itself in the area had been annihilated to nothing more than the ozone stench of pure energy, a place where nothing mortal could exist, much less live. In the distance, two massive gullies, carved by great gouts of force channeled away from the central crater for miles and miles.

“No, it doesn’t have to be,” the ivory shape replied, its tones pleading. “We have suffered enough, we two, this I know. But must it always be like this?”

“Yes – or have you forgotten already?” the dark one sneered. “Have you forgotten what our sister has done? Have you forgotten that we no longer dwell with whom we loved so? That we were given this realm, even as he and she have moved on?” There was a laugh, but it was bitter, cold, chilling. “Of course you’ve forgotten. Why else would you take my heart’s desire from me?”

The light one grew angry. “Because you would do something to shatter the balance!” The voice was now a roar of anger, fear and defiance. “BECAUSE YOU WOULD DESTROY WHAT YOU CLAIM TO LOVE SO MUCH!”

“That is its purpose,” the dark one said, coldly. “As is my own and neither are for you to question.”

“They are when it comes to destroying a life!”

The dark one charged its horn once more. “So be it. If that’s your answer, then we’ve nothing more to discuss.”

“Please, there has to be another way, F—”

“I don’t answer by that name any longer,” the dark alicorn sneered. “You may call me Nightmare. Or you may call me by my first name – the name that was taken from us when we were Commanded! But I will take from you my heart’s desire.” The Nightmare snickered. “Perhaps I’ll even take your dearest love as well, Faust!”

“YOU’LL TOUCH NEITHER!” Faust roared, as a shaft of blue, thicker than the base of the largest mountain, tore away from her horn, exhausting her in one go. But as difficult for her as it was, it caught the Nightmare completely unaware, vaporizing its body in one blow, a fatal strike.

Endless minutes Faust lay, exhausted, unable to move as her strength failed and her stamina broke. Then finally, she managed to scramble to her hooves, looked around and realized what she’d done, wept for the equicide she’d committed. Perhaps it was justified; she could probably convince their followers as much given F – no, Nightmare, that’s what she wanted to be called in the end – given the Nightmare’s recent attitudes, which had greatly disturbed the pony chieftains under their banner.

And even still, you failed. The voice was silky sweet yet cold as ice, and Faust froze in a flash. You struck me down; you will pay dearly for that someday. Even better…you freed me to work towards my final goal! I will have my h—

“Never. She’s mine now. Both of them, and to hell with you. I will fight you until the end of days if need be, Nightmare,” Faust vowed.

So be it, Princess of Equus…or should I call you Queen? the voice taunted.

And with a start, Faust woke up in her bed, her husband dozing beside her. A quick spell proved her children to be safe, with Screw Loose asleep in the guest room…and Screwball asleep on the ceiling.

She was about to go back to sleep when she heard what she was expecting: I have taken another. And this time, you will lose.

A cocky sneer came onto Faust’s face as she snuggled into her pillow, scooting closer to her husband. Don’t plan your victory celebration yet, Nightmare. You’re farther from victory than you realize.

Or perhaps it is you, Faust, who is and cannot see it yet? The alicorn-as-woman ignored the specter’s taunts; it was the best insult she could toss. Drifting back to sleep, Faust entered the Dreamlands. She was going to have to start shaking the tree again.

Standing on her balcony, Luna began the daily ritual of lowering her moon. On the other end, on her own balcony, Celestia should be doing her part in the phenomenon, shepherding her moon along its ageless path, in a perpetual game of chase with its solar counterpart. That was how things had worked since the day they had first assumed this responsibility and executed it. It was as much a part of them as it was a part of the fabric of the nation.

As Luna sent the moon on its way to the other side of the world, she noticed that the sky was not brightening but instead remaining dark. She sent out an invisible tendril of magic to search for the sun and found it sitting at its starting point above the eastern edge of the Ethopic Ocean, waiting to be given its daily push. The dusky alicorn felt around for any traces of her sister’s magic and found none.

«Sister? Is everything okay?» Luna asked, sending a mental signal to her elder sibling. Usually Celestia would answer within seconds, unless something was amiss – not likely within the castle – or she wanted to be left alone, which was more likely. Sure enough, the sun alicorn did not respond to the psychic missive, and Luna tried again.

Finally, she received a blatant «What?» from Celestia. The tone sounded groggy, as though Celestia had just awoken from a deep slumber, something that was very much unlike the sunny sister.

«Tia, did you forget something?» Luna asked. «Such as…oh, I don’t know, this huge ball of fire and plasma that’s parked itself just west of Donkonia?»

«Is it that time already?» The send seemed panicked, as though Celestia had somehow lost track of time – a virtual impossibility, Luna knew, given that her sister was the source of time…or at least her sun was, based on how ponies once tracked it. The alicorn of the day had always marked this as a personal note of pride and was sure to keep things under tight control as a result.

However, today did not seem like that day. «Yes, it is that time already, sister! How can you have forgotten?»

«I’m…indisposed,» came the response.

«You mean you’re with your paramour,» Luna seethed. «You need to get your priorities straight – I am more than happy that you’ve found somepony to love, but truthfully, even my time with Robin didn’t impinge on my work schedule. And right now—»
«Luna, please attend to the sun for me,» Celestia pled. «I’ll explain later, I promise. It’s just…now is not a good time, okay?»

«What is keeping you so busy that you cannot walk to the balcony and move the sun?»

«Uh…you don’t want to know.»

Luna groaned. «Fine. But you owe me – and Cadance – some answers. And don’t forget today’s priority – unless Twilight and the others no lon—»

«Don’t you dare joke about that,» Celestia seethed.

«Then get out of your bed, send your lover off and come meet me and Cadance as soon as possible,» the younger alicorn reproached. «This will be tedious and dangerous enough as is; let’s not make it any worse than it has to be.» Not waiting for a response from Celestia, Luna closed that magical circuit, and opened another one. «Cadance, would y—»

«Already expected this. I’ll call my office and let them know I’m not coming in. Let me check my son into the daycare facility and grab a quick breakfast before I check in with Celestia’s office. Hopefully it’ll be a quiet day until…well, you know.»

«I agree – and I’m sure that will go swimmingly as well. As soon as I’ve raised the sun, I’ll meet you for breakfast; we need to plan our strategy as to how we’ll proceed with this afternoon’s meeting with Blueblood. I’m already dreading that.»

«Same here,» Cadance admitted, and the night alicorn could practically hear her heartbreak. «See you in a few.»

«Please let the chefs know it’s going to be a two-pot of coffee day,» Luna asked her, then closed the connection and started to focus on the sun.

Sister, she thought, you had damn well better have a good explanation.

The two lovers collapsed in the pungent scents of sweat, chocolate and wild honey. Celestia looked at Sam and sighed, both in contentment and guilt. It’s the first time in a while that I’ve forgotten about my solar duties. The last was when I lost Luna. Instinctively she turned away in shame.

“Hey, I’m not that bad, am I?” Sam asked, reaching over to her.

“No,” she commented, turning back to him. “In fact…we’ve only been together these past few days, and they’ve been a balm for me – the best time I’ve had in years.” She leaned over and kissed him. “It’s just…I’m not comfortable with us being in this sort of situation.”

“Cel, I think it’s a little early to be talking about anything more solid in our relationship,” he said, half-jokingly.

She flashed him a smile, but said soberly, “I think we need to think about how our relationship is going to affect…well, everything. I mean, how far do we plan to go?”

“Nobody plans to go anywhere in life,” he told her. “Hell, if you’d told me a year ago that I’d find myself here with you, I’d have laughed and said you’re nuts.”

“You sure about that, given how you said how you’ve felt about me all this time?”

“Generic ‘you’, then,” he amended. “But seriously, if you think that I’m going to allow myself to screw up because of the responsibilities you gave me, then hide behind your tail when people come for my head, you’re wrong. I can keep things personal, and our relationship shouldn’t bother anyone in the slightest, especially given the fact that you’re dating is bound to give ponies an aneurysm anyway.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” the alicorn as woman told him. “I mean…I’m worried about me losing my focus. You…you’re used to balancing work and personal life, or else you wouldn’t be able to function effectively. But for me…for so long my work and my personal life have been the same; I told you that. I’m always Princess Celestia, when there are times I just want to be Celestia. That’s why what friends and family I have are important to me, because they give me a tiny hole to peek out of my gilded prison. But….”

“But?”

“Argent Lance and I…we never went as far as you and I have; those were different times back then, and it was scandalous enough with him being the paramour of the ‘Goddess of All’. But there are records that will tell you how much…well, they would now describe it as me having ‘lost it’ due to my love for Argent. He was one of the most important ponies in my life, along with the Blueblood and Bluebelle of that time, and I likely didn’t behave as a princess should. And then when Blue and Belle passed on, I was disconsolate for quite some time.”

“All that proves is that you’re human, er, pony, Cel. Everyone has bad days, and you’re not allowed to be an exception just because you’re an ageless beauty.”

“Flatterer,” she said with a smile, then continued. “Seriously, though: I let the country go to hell because I was in a relationship and let everything fall apart when I lost it all. That happened once before, when I banished Luna. I let the world come to hell and my ponies suffer twice for that, and I’m not sure I could do it a third time.”

“So, is there something you’re trying to tell me?” he asked, wondering exactly what she meant.

“Yes, though not what you’re thinking: How do you – and please excuse the term – mortals do it? I’ve lived for thousands of years, and while I can live with it, it seems like when I want something in my personal life, everything seems to go to Tartarus.”

“So, you’re saying you want what I have?” he asked, and when she nodded, he laughed. As she looked at him oddly and he explained: “There’s a saying we have, and I’d be surprised if you don’t have anything similar: ‘The grass is greener on the other side.’ You’re craving stability that you see others have – Fluttershy, Applejack, Cadance and so many others – and you want it for yourself. That’s only natural…but you need someone there to help guide that stability. And that’s why I’m here, so I can give it to you.”

She sat up in bed. “You know, it’s funny: I’m used to being the one to dispense advice and giving assistance, but I’m rarely on the receiving end. I take it you’ll be dispensing with many nuggets of wisdom?”

“For as long as you want…because I’m certainly hoping it’ll be for a long, long time.” He leaned in to kiss her…

…and then his phone chimed. “Great. Well, I need to get ready to go: shower, shampoo, shave and shine, then Potato Chip and I need to find a location suitable for the new headquarters for the REAL. I don’t want to operate out of the Guild facility and frankly, we’re going to need some room to operate without the military or other agencies in the way.”

“Well, what about Tangled Tail Trail? It’s a small town at the base of the mountain, and it has an old Guard base that was deactivated in the reorganization. The ERG has been keeping it up in case it was ever needed, so it’s in top shape, at least from the last time I did an inspection. Maybe that’s something to look into?”

“It’s a thought,” he said, getting up from the bed. “Plus, I need to set up my home.” Pulling her from the bed – she was amazingly light as a human – he helped her to her feet and she in turn took a few steps from him before changing to her normal form.

“I swear, I’m never going to get used to that,” he told her.

She leaned over and kissed him. “If you’re going to be my coltfriend, there’s a lot of things you’re going to have to get used to, Sam.”

“Like what? Feathers all over the bed?”

“Well, I plan to sleep in my human form when we’re together for obvious reasons, but I was referring to the…less savory parts of life.” The look on her face took a guilty cast as she added, “Like the plans for tonight.”

He reached over and placed a caressing hand on her cheek; she in turn nuzzled it. “Hey, everything’s going to turn out as right as rain. You’ve put up with worse, and Twi can survive anything.”

“I hope so,” the alicorn said softly. “I hope so.”

Eyes bleary, DJ smacked the iCoffee and waited semi-patiently for the thirty seconds it took the heating element in the machine to warm up the water so she could slap the coffee pod in and get her big mug of brown joy. I really need to get her the newest model, but she’s always like “Oh, that’s sweet of you, DJ, but really, I’m fine with what I have!” The humanized pony sighed. No, dear aunt of mine, what you mean to say is, “Oh, that’s sweet of you, DJ, but really, I’m fine with paying for overpriced white chocolate honey mochas at the local Sugarcube Corner, even if I have a lifetime discount!”

Finally, the screen on the machine stated that it was ready, and DJ moved into action like only a dedicated caffeine addict could. She popped the top open, slipped in the two coffee pods – pumpkin spice hazelnut, her current favorite for the moment – then pressed the BREW button as though she was smacking a giant red button labeled EASY. With that in mind, she walked over to Twilight’s kitchen, pulled out the creamer, walked over and got the sugar – I didn’t know that Sugarcube Corner had its own brand of house sugar, odd – then parked herself right in front of the iCoffee, watching as the steady drips of clear brown liquid percolated away from the chrome-and-black colored plastic machine towards the decently sized mug below. The violet eyes moved up and down like a game of NeoArkanoid, watching each drop of umber-colored bliss fall, the basin they careened towards slowly but surely depleting its empty space….

Finally, after sixty torturous seconds, the machine chimed, letting its clientele know that it was open for business. And soon after, a very good attempt at breaking the non-Pinkie speed record for loading down on cream and sugar was made, followed by the first sip of ambrosia, as the caffeine molecules dispersed through her body to perform their heroic deed, etched down into the annals of java justice since before the dawn of time itself….

DJ allowed herself a private little squee as she enjoyed her coffee in the morning light, watching her eldest aunt’s dawn as it started to come up. Fine, I’ll admit it, she thought to herself, there are days when I can stand Equestria. I guess it’s like the saying goes? “Great place, but I wouldn’t want to live here.”

Except that was the problem, wasn’t it? By the end of the year, the four of them – her, Mike and their boys – would all be living in Northside Canterlot, in the house so generously provided by Twilight. Japan would be a memory, as well as Human-Earth, her home.

Or to hear that bitch Rarity, I’d be coming home, DJ thought, the distaste visible on her face. She quickly brushed off the thought; she promised that she would try to keep things civil and besides, it was too nice of a morning to spoil by thinking of undeserving bitches who she was only related to by the most bare of concepts.

Besides, she had to make breakfast. She had a whole bunch of things planned for the day, and then they had to start wrapping things up so they could return to Japan to finish out the boys’ year there before they headed back here. Hopefully by then the modifications would be made, and they’d be made correctly.

I guess I can lean on Sam for that. That would be another adjustment she would have to make: Her younger brother, Sam, was moving here as well, having accepted a job to create a national police force. Part of her smiled in pride at that; she’d always known her little brother was capable of being more than just a beat cop, something that he’d already proved when he moved to Hawaii. But despite the fact that Celestia had tapped him for the spot...well, the humanized pony thought that there was more than just potential nepotism by proxy involved.

I’m sure Celestia respects his talents, DJ assured herself. Honestly, I think Sam’s biggest problem is getting a girlfriend.

A second cup of coffee later, violet eyes were a lot more bright and alert than they’d been just two mugs ago. And it was a good thing too, as Mike picked that moment to come through the door after his morning jog. “Gotta say, it’s definitely different jogging at this time of the morning,” he said, giving his wife a quick grin and a kiss. “Folks are so friendly here that I have to actively go out of my way to avoid them or else I’ll end up chatting forever and a century with them. But on the bright side, I think I found a nice place to have breakfast at when we move here.”

“Yeah,” DJ said morosely. She’d accepted that she was going to live here, and she’d do it for Mike, but she still didn’t like the idea. He caught that and simply put an arm around her, and the two sat there in silence for a while.

Finally, she spoke: “Maybe it won’t be so bad…. After all, I was born here.” Her eyes took on an uncertain cast as she added, “The fact that I know almost nothing about this place other than nightmares is beside the point. The fact that my biological mother is trying to make my life utter hell is besides all that. The fact that my birth family wants nothing but me to be back wi—”

“Hon, stop worrying about that. Nobody wants you to be anything other than yourself. And they don’t want you to give up on who you are instead of who you will be.”

“It feels like I don’t have control of my world anymore,” she told him.

“You do. We’ve been over this a billion times, DJ. You are Daisy Jo Hikaru Martinez. That is all you know, and that is all you need to be. Sandalwood is a name from the past, and everyone and everypony knows that and will deal with that. The only ones who don’t seem to realize that are Rarity…and you.”

“Me?”

He sighed. “We’ve had this conversation how many times since Luna first asked you to come back?” A thoughtful grin came onto his face as he whimsically added, “If I had a nickel for every time we’ve had this conversation….”

“You’d still be underpaid by the Navy,” she snarked back. But the smile soon came off her face as she told him, “Sorry. I just feel completely out of sorts this morning.”

“Nervous about today?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Today’s the big day, and either Twilight survives…or I’m out several aunts. Well, then again, the bitch will die too, so I suppose that’s some consolation.”

“I don’t think Elusive would agree with that. Or Silversteel.”

“I guess not.” She looked towards the hallway where the spare bedrooms lay, specifically the ones used by her sons. “Well, I can’t let the boys down, so I guess that means I’ll deal with it.”

He gave her a lidded look. “Until the next time you go emo on me, you mean.”

“Damn skippy, dude. Do you have time to have breakfast, or do you need to get going?”

He shook his head. “I need a shower, but other than that, I only have duty staff working today. It’s the weekend, you know.”

DJ blinked. “It is?” When he nodded, she groaned. “I swear I lose track of time here.”

Mike shook his head and laughed as he let go of her. “How? This time zone is the same as Eastern.”

“Hey, remember how long it took me to get used to Pacific Time, and then JST?” She shrugged, taking care not to drop the mug. “Well, let me get breakfast ready and you go take a shower.”

He looked at her mussed mane. “Or you could join me.” She gave him a minor glare for that, and he chuckled. “Fine, fine, I’ll take a shower – alone.”

“Yeah, so long as it’s a cold one.” She patted him on the back, then went off to start fiddling around in the kitchen.

“Cadance, is there something wrong?” Champagne Dreams passed her cousin-in-law while the latter was on the way to the throne room. The romance alicorn found that surprising; usually Champagne wasn’t found in the castle this early in the morning.

“Oh, hello, Champagne. Odd seeing you here.”

She nodded. “Well, I have a meeting with some staffers from the Summerdream Museum in Fallshoof. Unfortunately, they had a very busy schedule today and asked if we could meet at eight. I agreed to it, but since I figured that it would be too far to travel from my family’s mansion to here, I opted to stay the night in one of the guest rooms.” She sighed theatrically and added, “Couldn’t sleep a wink; too used to my husband’s warm touch near me.”

“Glad to see you’re doing so well,” Cadance commented. “How is your family doing?”

“Blue’s just wonderful. I wish you would come over sometime and visit; I’m sure he’d love to see you again.” The words were a lie and both mares knew it. “Additionally, Silver Platter? I do wish he would find a nice mare and settle down; he’s a bit restless in his youthful years and while I certainly understand the need to ‘run in the meadow’, even still – he’s a prince and should compunct himself as one.

“As for Lily…while I do believe my little filly has found herself a paramour, she doesn’t wish to discuss it. Perhaps she’s dating beneath her station and doesn’t wish to admit such a shame to her father.” She gave Cadance a weak smile and said, “Certainly, I wouldn’t mind, but you know how my husband can be at times. He hasn’t completely changed his habits.”

“I…see. Well, perhaps we can all go out to dinner after our meeting with Blueblood,” Cadance commented, knowing that wouldn’t be the case. “I think you’d be interested in meeting my son.”

“Ah, yes – I’d heard that you recently adopted,” Champagne replied. “Well, it should be interesting. If my dearest and I can arrange it, certainly, count us in.”

“That would be great,” Cadance said with a smile she didn’t really feel; it had been something she’d picked up over the years from Celestia – the ability to smile and make it look authentic when she knew it wasn’t. “In any case, I have to prepare for Court, as well as some other things before my meeting with Blueblood, so if you’ll excuse me.” Champagne nodded and Cadance continued on, walking on towards the Solar Throne.

As she walked off, Champagne tried hard to tamp down the rage she felt on her face; she’d heard rumors over the last few days that Cadance had adopted a foal that wasn’t a pony. Did she adopt some mongrel hybrid, like the chef in the kitchen whose mother was a donkey? Or something even more obscene, like a minotaur or kitsune? Maybe even a human, if she truly wanted to shame herself? What was she thinking?

She wasn’t, Champagne told herself as she continued down the hallway towards her objective. She’s just being the Avatar of Love, not the Avatar of Braincells – I’m not truly sure she has any in that pretty little head of hers. In any case, Champagne put it out of her mind, stopping in an alcove down the empty hallway.

Summoning her magic, she focused, pulling a small vial of green liquid from a hidden satchel she had in her mane. Uncorking the vial, she powered up a new spell, her horn turning a brilliant blue before fading. A second later, before her stood a copy of herself; her true self: Sunset Shimmer. The doppelganger had been created from her own mane and been trained to serve semi-independently, always asking for permission to execute the big deals. Using the doppelganger had allowed her and “Sunset” to be in two locations at once, and also helped to serve as “proof” that Champagne was serving as Sunset’s benefactor in running the Purehooves.

The doppleganger looked at Champagne, vacant-eyed. “How may I serve you, Mistress?”

“Form Sixty-One,” Champage abruptly said, and watched as Sunset’s eyes glowed a myriad of colors as the mental suggestions took hold. Champagne had programmed her doppelganger to make sure she was usable in a variety of situations, and had even once or twice had her impersonate herself – as Champagne – while the real one attended to other business.

The glaze in Sunset’s eyes went away, and she blinked. Looking around, she said, “Are you sure this is a good idea to have me with you, your highness?”

Champagne smiled sweetly. “Sunset, anything you did in the past is that; you’re my secretary, you’ve served me faithfully for years, and I couldn’t trust anypony more than you. Besides, we’ve been friends since foalhood – why are you still calling me ‘your highness’?”

“Look, Chammie, you and I might have grown up together,” the doppelganger said, reacting to its “programming”, “but here you’re still a princess, and I’m still just your secretary.”

“Not just a secretary,” Champagne commented as she ushered her servant down the hall, “but a good one: trust me, I know you like I know myself. Now, did you bring the documentation to speak to the delegation?” The museum’s delegation was a legitimate meeting, but who Champagne really wanted to talk to was Display Space, the most junior member of the group – as well as her regional commander for the Purehooves, a stallion whose father had killed himself when he lost his job to humans. He’d sought the Purehooves out and had worked himself up the ranks in no time flat, an impressive accomplishment.

The pieces are falling into place, Champagne thought, a soft smile coming onto her face, and soon my husband and I will rule all – and we will make the other species beg for mercy!

“Okay, mark that area just like I showed you,” Twilight Sparkle instructed.

“On it!” Shining Dawn chirped happily, eager to help her mother. Flittering over to the area of the ruined containment center they were currently still quarantined and trapped in, she started to clear away rubble from the area, making sure she had enough space to create the rune her mother had shown her.

Twilight, for her part, smiled widely with motherly pride. “She learns fast,” Twilight said, the swelling of joy in her chest palpable. “She may be untrained, but I think she has the makings of a mage within her.”

“I’ve…already done the apprentice route, Twi,” Sweetie Belle coughed, barely able to stand. The curse was claiming her fast, and unless they did something about it soon – meaning tonight – then there would be nothing else they could do for her. Every minute counted, and Twilight hoped that nothing would go wrong. Now it was just a matter of racing against the clock.

“Twi?” Sweetie looked up at her boss and mentor with glazed eyes. “If I…if I don’t make it…tell Pip that I….”

“You’ll make it.” Twilight pointed to her daughter, who had already started working on the next layer of runes, without Twilight even having asked her to. “Your niece will need you.”

Sweetie smiled wanly. “I have more than enough nieces and nephews. I was hoping to have a foal of my own by now.” Sweetie studiously avoided saying anything about Pip; Twilight didn’t know and she didn’t want to upset anything, especially when the mare knew she was fighting for her own life.

“That’ll happen, I’m sure of it.” Twilight took Sweetie’s hoof in hers and stroked it, trying to get her to relax. “Have I ever told you how proud you make me, Sweetie?”

“About a dozen times, at least. The first time when I found out I was adept at magic. After when you made me your apprentice, and then after that when I became a mage on my own, then every time I was promoted, then….” Sweetie flashed a grin. “Don’t worry about me, Twi. Check on Rarity and the others, and I’ll still be right here. In fact, if you need me to, I can help direct Shiny to set things up.”

“Okay. Just don’t strain yourself, okay?”

“I promise I won’t.”

Sweetie watched Twilight walk off to check on the others, then nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard a voice behind her, “You know, she’s still worried about you.”

Sweetie turned to see Shining. So much of her is like Twi – her voice, her stance, the way she carries herself like Twi first did when we met back in Ponyville. That memory, in the wake of the defeat of Nightmare Moon, when the silly, eager filly that Sweetie used to be met the somewhat shy, bookish unicorn, without any idea of the great destiny that she would face, much less the fact that Sweetie herself would join Twilight on that journey eventually.

“I know,” Sweetie told her. “That’s the thing about family: they’ll always worry about you whether or not it’s warranted. I get the feeling you’re not familiar with that?”

Shining shook her head. “Chrysalis cares nothing for her troops, save those that are her acknowledged brood. Anything else is a pawn to be used or thrown away, so long as it furthers her goals. I may have been surrounded by pepsis and changelings that I was related to, but I have never known family until now – until others showed me that there’s a way better way than being nothing more than a broken, unfeeling tool.”

“You’re no tool,” Sweetie told her, catching the sorrow when she’d said tool. “You’re the daughter of Twilight Sparkle, and you have the blood of some of the most powerful unicorns in history flowing through you. Besides, you’re my niece: if anypony ever tells you that you’re nothing but a tool, they’ll have words with me, got that?”

Shining leaned forward, giving Sweetie a nuzzle and a hug. “Got it. So what now?”

“Well, I see you were working on a spell matrix.” Focusing on the distance, Sweetie could just make out the edges of a few of the runes, but it was more than enough. “And a pretty advanced one, too. Way more than just first year at the Academy; these are the sort of matrices that you learn when you start an apprenticeship.” Despite the pain of the curse burning through her as she used her magic, Sweetie focused on the runes, seeing that they held a latent charge. That shouldn’t really be possible, not at her level of skill, unless she’s a lot more advanced than she seems….

Sweetie looked on at the seemingly-teenage pepsis in front of her. Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised: she is the daughter of Twilight Sparkle, after all.

“Twi, Ah still think yer completely off yer rocker, gal!” Applejack said as Twilight explained the plan to her. Applejack had already heard it once, but had now asked Twilight to explain it again, just in case. Given that she was no mage, but more familiar with magic than the average earth pony due to her station, the former farmmare was beginning to wonder if her sister royal had finally slipped the surly bonds of sanity.

“It will work, Applejack, I know it will!” Twilight insisted. “You had faith in me earlier, what happened then?”

“Ah didn’t think you’d come up with a cockamamie plan t’ get us all killed!” Applejack retorted, though she knew Twilight wasn’t to blame for any of this. Without a doubt, that was entirely due to both Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon, and both were still out there, causing catastrophes for Equestria and who knew how many other nations besides. That was the job of the Knights: to solve problems like that…but they couldn’t do it if they were stuck here, which is why Twilight had devised her plan.

If it worked, they’d all be mobile again.
If it didn’t…stopping the bad guys would no longer be a concern.

As Twilight turned away, Applejack murmured, “Sorry, Twi. Ah know y’ jest tryin’ t’ do yer job, an’ get us out of here. Ah’m…Ah’m afraid. Whut if it doesn’t work? Ah don’t want mah family t’ have t’ go on without me. An’ Ah don’t want t’ lose any o’ y’all.”

“You won’t,” the unicorn insisted. “We’ll all make it through this, and then we’ll stop both of them before anything else happens.” Twilight took her old friend’s hooves in hers. “And then once we do? Everything’s going to change, Applejack.” The look of confidence and surety was so etched on Twilight’s face that it was hard for the earth pony to deny her friend’s faith in what was to come.

“Now that’s the Twilight Ah know that c’n solve all this,” Applejack said with a grin. “C’mon, let me go get some food, an’ when that’s done, then y’ c’n tell me what we’re doin’ next.”

“What’s next is that we wake up Rarity and Rainbow, then explain what’s going on. It’s going to be hard enough, after everything that happened, to get us all on the same page again. But if we’re going to make it through all this together, then we have to try.”

“Father, I’m not sure this is a wise idea,” Elusive said to Silversteel as they met in the location where the latter was convalescing. “You’re still recovering from your own injuries, and now putting yourself at risk further is a foolish thing to do.”

“Your mother needs me,” Silversteel replied, as if it was the most natural – and only – thing in the world. “If that briefing I received an hour ago is true, then Rarity needs me and I will not shirk my duty, as her husband, to stand by her side.”

Elusive gave his father a lidded look. “Yes, I do believe that was what you already told me. A dozen times, no less. But look at it from my position, Father: my mother is on the verge of death. You’ve been injured, as has my wife. I’m tending to my children with DJ’s help, but she cannot be everywhere at once. And frankly, I dislike like this idea of you throwing yourself at the problem. You’re no schoolcolt, you know.”

“Son, in case you forgot, I’m a military stallion. Always have been, always will be. And your mother has been up against things far worse than I have. You’re too young to remember the bugbear infestation we had when you were six months old. Lost a lot of good ponies during that fracas, and your aunt Goldie was hurt as well. But we made it through that, and we’ll continue to work our way through problems. Because that’s what your mother and I do.”

“I still don’t like this,” Elusive said, leaning back in his seat.

“You don’t have to like it, son. You don’t have to even understand it. You just have to accept that it’s going to happen. Your mother, despite everything, means the world to me and I don’t think I could be the stallion I am if I let her go into this alone. Maybe I’ll be risking myself for nothing. Maybe I won’t walk away from it – Sweetie’s down for the count, and she’s in as much danger now. Or maybe it’ll be the last time I see her. But the thing is, danger or not, stupid or not, I’m going. It’s part of the vow I took when I married her.”

The young unicorn then decided to use his trump card: “Then what about DJ? Don’t you think she gets to have something to say about this? Or are you fine with just disappearing out of her life so soon after coming back into it?”

Silversteel shuddered in his seat, and by the look on his face, Elusive knew he’d struck home – perhaps a little too successfully. Backing down, the younger stallion began, “I apologize. That was untoward of me.”

But the older stallion sighed. “No, you’re right. I didn’t take that into account. Just as I haven’t taken into account Minty’s loss…or the fact that I just recently came out of a coma and nearly died, taking your sister and her husband with me.” He shook his head. “It’s just…none of this feels real. I’m not sure how I can quantify it, Elusive.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember the myth about the four ponies of the apocalypse? Celestia once told me that they were based on four real-life ponies that served her mother, but got out of hoof and committed atrocities. As a result, Queen Faust sentenced them to roam the world, unable to have peace until they repented for their sins. Even Celestia doesn’t know what truly happened to them; she believes that her mother imprisoned them. Either way, the legend remains.”

“I don’t understand wha—”

“It feels like since the day when your mother and your aunts confronted Chrysalis and got waylaid by Nightmare Moon that events have been spinning out of control and that all of us who are surviving are doing so by the skin of our teeth. Most of us have been in life-threatening situations over the past few weeks, and I have no reason to believe that it’s all nothing but flukes. Something is changing, son. Something that wants to make me tell you to leave Equestria – hell, leave our world – and never come back.” When Elusive stared at his father, Silversteel said, “Something big is coming, and I think we’ve just seen the start.”

“And so how does this have to tie in with you?”

“I took a vow to protect Equestria. And while I’m not in the best of shape, protecting her is what I do. Besides, I also have your mother and your aunts to think of. And lastly, I know Soarin’’s going to be there, and far be it from me to just let him do whatever he wants without me getting involved to either slow him down or drag him along with me.” That earned Silversteel a chuckle from his son; Soarin’ and Elusive had always gotten along.

Regardless of that cheer-up, however, Elusive wasn’t sitting easy with his father’s decision. “And there’s no way that I can convince you to change your mind?”

Silversteel chuckled. “You’d have a better chance getting Celestia and Luna to join one of those matchmaking sites they always show on TV. I mean, Match.com? PonyDate? Well, maybe Tia; she’s always been the more technical-minded of the two.”

“I see.” Elusive got up, then walked over and hugged his father. “Please be careful. I’m running out of family members at this rate, and I do want you and Mother to finally make up with DJ, as well as have the chance to finally discuss Minty with her.”

“That’s a whole different mess in and of itself,” Silversteel mourned.

“She’s vexing me,” Faust said in the Dreamlands. At the moment, the great alicorn was conversing with Discord over coffee and donuts (her choice) and onion juice and stale bread (his.) “I know she’s pushing my buttons, but she’s doing a damn good job of it.”

“Well,” Discord said in arch tones, “you did do it to her, first.”

“Because a life was at stake! You know what she would have done!” the alicorn practically shouted.

“I know, old friend, I know,” he told her gently. “Who was it that suggested it to you, after all? It was a great way not only to stop her from committing that atrocity, but to cause a grand amount of chaos on my behalf. And besides, I have always been on your side, you know that – her side is more generally in tune with mine, but in the long run yours is the better bargain; you can’t cause chaos when all around you is nothing but death. That’s the ultimate equalizer, the last level of order – and my existence thrives on anything but.”

“You’re a flatterer,” Faust said with a smile. “But seriously, I need to know what else I can do to thwart her plans. She has means and ways of getting to things that I can’t.”

“And vice versa, in your regard: you have dozens of advantages that she cannot hope to claim,” he reminded her. “And there’s little more I can do. The rest must fall into Luna’s hooves, for she is the one looking into the riddles.”

“I see,” Faust said calmly. If there was a mare who was attuned to mysteries and enigmas, it would be her younger daughter, the Princess of the Night. “I have every confidence that she’ll be able to solve them. I just hope she can do it in time.”

“If she doesn’t,” Discord warned, “we will be in for the kind of roller-coaster ride that might even make me beg for a little order…and by that point, we might be a little too late.”

“So….” Star Swirl began, looking at Rumble over the edge of the table.

“So….” he replied, looking back at her. It was the late morning, and both were sitting at Star’s kitchen table, drinking coffee and wondering what happened next. Not much sleep was had last night, and Star was glad that Spines was over at her friend’s place; it made what was going on a lot more tolerable when you didn’t have a baby dragon wondering just what was going on.

Star had woken up next to the wounded pegasus in her bed, and from the look of things, it had not been a quiet night, either. She was sore, and not all of it was from yesterday’s misadventure. Especially in that part. She peered into her coffee once more, as if hoping that the Arabica and Kona blend would be able to give her some sort of answer as to what to do in this situation.

“So….” she said again, trying to figure out what more to say. Finally, she looked right into his eyes and asked, “Hungry? I can make us some breakfast, if you want.”

“Sure, if you don’t mind,” he said, a mere answer, instead of the questions that she required, like what happened, why he and she went as far as they did, and was this the end of it all? She knew all the stories that she’d been told about “foxhole romances,” as the term was called in the military; truth be told, she’d had a couple of them while on assignment with other mages – those she knew weren’t going to work out and go anywhere.

So why did something feel a little different about this one?

As she walked to the kitchen to start putting something together, Rumble asked, “So…about last night….” She froze, unable to take another step. She turned to look at him, and to his mortification, his wings were on full display. She knew what the deal with pegasus wings was, and that they were basically telegraphing what a pegasus thought in that regard.

She looked at him with a mixture of fear and wonder, unable to say anything and hoping he’d clarify all.

On Rumble’s end, his brain was short circuiting. The first thing he wanted to do was to rip off his wings, but the traitors had moved a little too fast for his comfort. He dared not stand up, because the other little traitor was probably going to hint something as well. And then there was something about his head spinning, and he wasn’t altogether sure that was due to the supposed concussion he had from the high-speed impact. So he kept looking at the mare who was half his age, the one he’d slept with: Sweetie Belle’s former apprentice, the mare he’d turned to ask for help from, not end up in the sack with.

But he’d ended up saving her life. And from what he remembered of last night, she’d initiated things, and he hadn’t exactly been inclined to turn them down. And past that very strange meet-cute, a whole lot of stuff had gone on. Part of it had surprised him: she definitely knew what she was doing when it came to that sort of stuff, possibly even more than he did. But the point was that he knew that he and she had formed the two-backed beast and would have to figure out where to go next.

“What about last night?” she finally spoke, seeming as though she was reluctant to voice anything. She looked at him and asked, “So…no breakfast?”

Rumble was trying to think of how he and she could discuss it in a neutral setting. Then an idea hit him: “Tell you what: Why don’t we go out and grab some breakfast? That way you don’t have to cook and we can discuss…things.”

“Things? Are there things that we need to discuss?” Star looked at him, then back at the kitchen. The last thing on her mind was cooking, as that would probably delay the inevitable. But walking out in public would cause its own concerns. And what would Sweetie think, if she just happened to show up? That could cost Star her chance forever, not that Sweetie’s relationship with Pip made it any easier.

And yet, I wanted something last night, and I wanted it with him – what does that tell me? She looked at the stallion before her, twice her age, and wondered what it was that echoed within her. Was it the slight attraction that she felt for him? He was a looker, no doubt about that. Was it because he saved her life? She was grateful for that, but she didn’t exactly see her trade favor for favor, in a manner of speaking. Or was it just her need to be loved by somepony aside from Spines?

“Any suggestions?” Star asked.

“What about Sugarcube Corner?” he volunteered. “I haven’t been to the original in a while, and I can’t believe that it’s changed much over the years.”

“Sounds good to me,” she commented, falling into line right next to him. Maybe by the time they got there, she’d think of something else to say – something that might just make her feel less conflicted about everything.

The REA helicopter pulled away from the Ponyville Garrison, moving on its flight path towards Canterlot. Within the helicopter were the pilot, the co-pilot and two mares, watching their families wave them off.

“Oh, don’t be such a worrywart, Flutters!” Pinkie said with a smile. “This plan of Twilight’s will work! I just know it!”

“We haven’t even heard what the plan is,” Fluttershy reminded her friend, “and the fact that Twilight asked us to bring our Elements and retrieve the others is a concern. I mean, I have faith in Twilight, but I dislike not having details.”

“You know, you’re sounding a little like your old self,” Pinkie told her. “Relax, okay? Twilight’ll have brained her way out of this, we’ll use the Elements and BOOM! Everything’ll be perfectly fine. Really!”

“But we’re talking about the Elements, here, Pinkie. They didn’t work when we faced Nightmare Moon, because we were all disparate! How can you be so sure that they’ll work this time?”

Pinkie’s face took a thoughtful, sober look, the rare expression flitting upon the businessmare’s countenance. “Because we’re family. Because when all is said and done, Fluttershy, we are family, and I can’t bear to see the ponies I love suffer anymore. And so I choose to believe – I have to believe – that Twilight knows what she’s doing, and that she’s doing it for all of us.”

Fluttershy nodded and smiled. “Did your Pinkie Sense tell you that?”

Pinkie simply shook her head, even though a soft, fillyish smile came onto her face. She pointed at her heart, saying, “This told me.”

“You sure about this?” Matt asked his daughter. “Sounds dangerous, especially after what you went through – and I’m not happy about that.”

“Dad, that wasn’t my fault,” she told him. “Besides, Twilight needs me there, and if there’s one member of the family I’ll always support, it’s her. Plus, Sweetie and AJ are involved and I can’t let them down either.”

Anna looked at her daughter, then at Mike. “What’s your take on this?”

“Truthfully? I’m in agreement with you: I don’t like the idea that DJ’s putting herself at risk by going, especially since she’s been more of a disaster magnet than usual.”

DJ folded her arms. “Gee, thanks.”

“I’m being serious here, sweetheart. Your life has been at risk no less than three times in the past few weeks, and each time you nearly died. You almost bit the big one in Singapore, for fuck’s sake, DJ!”

“So did you,” DJ pointed out. “How the hell do you think I felt when you fell off the side of Cloudsdale? Or the fact that I managed to barely save your ass with my tail?”

“Sweetheart, I’m the one who’s supposed to risk my life – it comes with the territory. But you’re not military; when push comes to shove, you’re a civilian, and not supposed to be in the line of fire.”

She gave him a defiant look. “You’re not going to make me change my mind. They need me, else they wouldn’t have asked for me to be there. I won’t let them down.”

Anna looked at her daughter and her son-in-law. “I’m not taking sides here, kids, but…have either of you thought about your sons? What would happen to them if one of you was lost? If both?” That argument stopped everything right there, as both of the younger adults halted in mid-snipe, their words pulled before they could even utter them. As both looked at the older woman, Anna smirked. “I didn’t think you did. DJ – and Mike, I’m sure your parents would agree – you two have more than just yourselves to look after, you know. You both know that either Matt and I or your parents, Mike, would happily take your sons in if we needed to – but how do you think everyone would feel if we lost you both? It’s a terrible thing, to lose a child, and you can’t have forgotten how I was when I saw you after thinking you were dead, DJ.”

The look on DJ’s face indicated that no, she hadn’t thought about it. Mike, though it was clear that it had crossed his mind, wasn’t about to gainsay his wife on that, especially since he knew that in the heat of the moment, it hadn’t been a priority to him.

Seeing that she got their attention, Anna continued. “DJ, Twilight will understand if you can’t go. Mike can go in your place, since if I remember what we were told, humans are immune – though, Mike, given the condition of where they are, I would personally prefer that you didn’t.”

“I’ll contact some of my duty staff and liaise with REA forces on site and see if we can’t get some sort of rig hooked up. That way DJ can be there in spirit if not in person,” Mike suggested. “And as for me, well, it’s what she said: they’re family and they need us, so one of us has to go. Given how the situation is, if there’s another round of changeling insurgents, they’ll be at their weakest and they’ll need someone to cover them. In fact, I’ll contact the quarterdeck and ask for human volunteers. Better be safe than sorry.”

“Good idea,” Matt told him. “Will that be okay, DJ?”

DJ looked at her parents, then her husband. She knew she was being stupid and obstinate about the whole thing, but that was just in her nature. “Fine, but…be careful, Mike?”

“Careful’s what I do,” he told her. “Guess I’d better go change into my working gear and make some calls.” He walked over and kissed her on the forehead. “Everything’s going to be fine, DJ. They’ll be safe, and if anyone tries anything, we’ll put them down.”

“You’d better,” she insisted. He flashed her a smile and he went off to change.

Without prompting, Matt suddenly said, “No.”

“No?” DJ asked.

“Yes, as in, I changed your diapers, put you through school and college and so I know what sneaky shit you’re up to, mainly because you learned it from your mother and I,” Matt told her. “Sorry, kiddo, but no, you’re not ‘gonna go out for a walk’ at a convenient time and suddenly head towards the hospital. We’re not stupid.” Anna merely nodded at her husband’s observation.

DJ shook her head. “Do you really think I’d try that?”

“Yes,” both parents said at once.

In a camp thousands of miles to the south, a man looked at a changeling queen. “You know that if you do this, you will have the world on your backs – both worlds,” Ghino di Tacco warned.

“I do…and frankly, I don’t care,” Chrysalis told him. “I want this ready to go, and I’m sure our erstwhile partner does as well. Your people know who to get and how to get it, and once it’s done, then I’ll send in everything I have to claim the lands.”

“You’ll lose a lot of troops – a lot of troops,” he told her.

“I just conquered every changeling hive out there, thanks to your troops!” she laughed. “I have more than enough troops to spare. Besides, with the additional training that you’ve been giving my pepsis, they will make far superior troops than the drones ever would.” She added, “It seems that mating with non-changeling species has been a net benefit.” She then eyed him and asked, “Perhaps you are interested?”

“Sorry, never mix business with pleasure with the employer”, Di Tacco demurred. “It’s unprofessional, and besides, you have already offered me the services of one of your subordinates as a liaison, so my needs are met in that regard.”

The changeling queen shrugged irritably. “Suit yourself, though I daresay I might be able to change the minds of your subordinates.”

“Entirely none of my business, madam; what they do when not on the clock is their own business, though I would inform you that they too are professionals. Keeping constant vigil is what prevents us from ending up dead or worse – and I can assure you, we make a lot of enemies in this business.”

“I see,” Chrysalis said, then continued to look at the plans that sat on the table. She didn’t know too much about human technologies, but she knew a weapon when she saw one. Though how this spear-like weapon was supposed to be something of such power that it would be able to annihilate the alicorns was beyond her. “And you’re sure that this will be able to work against Celestia and Luna?” she inquired again.

“Your majesty, lesser versions of this weapon were used a century ago to stop a war that threatened to wipe out a large amount of mankind. The weapons did untold damage and forced a previously unstoppable empire to its knees.” Di Tacco knew there was more to Japan’s defeat by the US in World War II, but a good salesman never muddied the waters by giving an overly long explanation. “In order to successfully kidnap the scientists, I will need your best changelings, ones that you may consider disposable – because once these people are confirmed to be in your custody, you will start a global panic that might start the offensive early.” He pointed to the distance. “Over those mountains is the ocean, and Equestrian, Griphonican and Polaran vessels prowl the seas. American, Russian and British warships are starting to make ventures into this world as well. Now imagine each of those, armed with missiles not as powerful as the one you wish but no less lethal for the damage they can do. And then imagine submarines – vessels you can’t see because they’re nearly always underwater – and those carry the kind of missiles that this one is.”

“Nothing ventured is nothing gained, correct?” she asked him. “I have waited more than enough for my revenge against Equestria. I will have those lands, I will own those ponies and I will have the heads of the alicorns mounted on spikes in the palace. I want the world to know that changelings are the superior species of this world, and if the human realm wants the resources of this one, then it’d best be prepared to acknowledge its rightful empress.”

“I’m sure that day will come soon enough,” Di Tacco said, without a trace of emotion. That only served to annoy Chrysalis further.

In an earlier age, the Ballroom of the Skies was a small but serviceable chamber used for smaller soirees. The finest artisans of Cloudsdale and other pegasi cities had made the place a beautiful work of art, from the cloud bunting that sat at the top of the walls to the half-pillars, ensconced in the walls, that brought a serene majesty to the room; from the finest marble floor, quarried from a mountain considered nigh sacred to the winged ponies, to the small, inset stage that allowed chamber quartets and similar arrangements to play here. It had been this room where Celestia and Luna had met Robin so long ago.

But the world and times changed, and not even ballrooms could stand by it. Now the ballroom had been turned into a large conference center, modernized for heavy-duty diplomatic sessions and other matters of similar import. While the décor remained, it now clashed with the panoramic displays, whiteboards and volumetric displays on the large table in the center of the room. The chamber stage now was a set of workstations for staffers who worked the room and worked both the tech and communications for the room. Even the marble flooring had not gone unscathed, mostly covered up by the carpeting moved in so that the table wouldn’t mar the exquisite tiles. What had once been a welcoming and inviting ballroom was now the Skies Grand Conference Room, the most secure room in the palace complex that didn’t have a military-grade security clearance attached to it – and that was due to be fixed in the near future.

As she sat down in the seat assigned to her, Lyra looked over the documentation that she’d received from a courier this morning. What she was reading…it both shocked and terrified her. “Your majesty,” she said to Celestia, “you can’t be serious about this.”

“I am very much so,” Celestia said, favoring her diplomat with a smile. “You are a very capable mare, Lyra Heartstrings, and I cannot think of somepony more suited than this.”

“Oh, I don’t know, what about…well, everypony else?” she asked. Turning to Cadance she asked, “Surely you don’t agree with her, do you?”

“I was the one who suggested it, Lyra,” the romance alicorn said with a smile. “I believe in you.”

“Gee, thanks,” the unicorn muttered. “You know I’m not a politician, right?”

“You’re a diplomat, Viscountess,” Luna chimed in. “There’s not much of a difference. Besides, you’re the kind that we like around here – the honest type.”

Lyra would have said more, save at that point, Blueblood walked in, flanked by Champagne Dreams and, to Celestia’s surprise, Sunset Shimmer. Before Celestia could say anything, Champagne asked, “Your majesty, if I may: I know you have issues with my secretary, but she’s proven to be invaluable. All I ask is that she be allowed to prove herself. Plus, even if not, given the urgency of the situation, I don’t think it’s wise to worry about such issues right now.”

“That’s fine, but I would like to have a chance to talk to her later,” Celestia added.

Champagne bristled nearly imperceptibly but nodded. “As you wish, your majesty.” Then she turned to Sunset. “Take a seat at one of the control consoles and monitor whatever needs to be dealt with.” The junior unicorn bowed, then walked over to the computer.

“Seems unusual of you to have her as a servant, Champagne,” Luna observed, “given what I know of her past.”

“I believe in second chances, your highness,” the junior princess replied to the alicorn, “and besides, she and I grew up together, old foalhood friends. I know her to be completely trustworthy, and I will argue that point to anypony.”

“So noted. Besides, I was just inquiring, not accusing.”

“Fair enough, Princess,” Champagne commented.

Several other ministers filtered in over the next few minutes, with Spitfire, serving as Acting Defense Minister, bringing up the rear. As they all entered, Celestia said, “Everypony, please take a seat. For what we have to discuss here, we don’t have much time to do it in, so we must make this fast. Furthermore, because I don’t want to waste time with pleasantries, I expect everypony here to be honest and forthright – don’t hide what you really want to say because you feel you might hurt another’s feelings. Now’s the time to be clear.

“With that, let’s begin. As many of you know, four of our Knights Elemental, as well as one of our senior mages, has been infected with a curse that is slowly killing them. As of two days ago, Knight Elemental Commander Twilight Sparkle has discovered a way to counteract that curse, and has cured herself in the process.” The murmurs, as expected, filled the room, and even Lyra did a double-take at that, looking with surprise at Cadance, who merely gave an imperceptible nod. “However, she has chosen to stay in the quarantine zone in order to assist her fellow Knights in vanquishing their own curses. However, during the attack on the hospital, Senior Mage Sweetie Belle was injured and infected as well. Furthermore, Knight Elemental Rarity is in an advanced stage, and Knight Elemental Rainbow Dash is pregnant, complicating matters.

“However, Archmagus Sparkle has uncovered a method, using the Elements, by which we can completely cure the afflicted Knights and Mage Belle. However, it will take a lot of power, as well as other necessary steps, that will involve the presence of we three alicorns.” Celestia fixed her eyes on each of her ponies and added, “I will not lie: this step puts us at an extreme risk to the curse, and because we will be using our magic to the utmost, there is more than a slight risk that we three, as well as the Knights, will fall.”

A noble in the back of the room gasped. “Your majesty, you’re not saying that—!”

Luna nodded. “My sister is saying so, Count Andravida: we could all fail in trying to stop the curse, and if so, it will cost us our lives. If such is the case, The REAF has orders to saturate bomb the area, followed by a permanent sealing spell thrown up by the Mage Guild, and there will be general request made by the government to the mages of the world – and it will likely take all of them to pull this off – to take the vicinity of the hospital grounds and launch it into deep space, with no chance of it returning. After that, Protocol Rebirth will be enacted.

“One last thing: in order to prevent potential public panic, the operation – and if our failure occurs, Protocol Rebirth – will be enacted at sunset tonight – or roughly, in about six hours.”

The room practically exploded into pandemonium and it took several minutes for order to be restored. Finally, when the room calmed down to a dull but terrified roar, it was a shocked Spitfire who asked the impossible: “Are you seriously suggesting that Protocol Rebirth be activated – that we make that idiot—” she said, pointing to Blueblood, “—King of Equestria?”

“I would watch your tongue if I were you, General,” Blueblood said archly. “While I am more than willing to disregard the slight for the sake of the realm, I will not tolerate anything that would undermine my potential rule should it come to that.”

“Don’t worry, nephew,” Luna said with a flourish, “because it wouldn’t. Protocol Rebirth requires the nation be turned into a constitutional monarchy with the majority of the head of government authority being invested in the prime minister should it come to pass.”

Blueblood shifted in his chair; it was clear that he’d only read the protocol documents insofar as they made him king. “And, praytell, who would be this prime minister?” he asked in a stilted voice.

Cadance gestured towards her left. “Based on her long service and her diplomatic record, we have agreed that Lyra Heartstrings, Viscountess Morgan, will assume the position of Prime Minister of Equestria, should the alicorns fall. She commands the respect of good many diplomats in both worlds and would be an invaluable asset to the realm in a time of crisis.”

The flicker in Blueblood’s eyes as he watched his supreme power head virtually defenestrated with prejudice would have been comical had he not fixed Lyra with a murderous stare. “I see, then. Well, Viscountess, we shall see if you wield power effective—”

“Objection!” Everypony in the room turned to see one of the nobles, a fat, balding pegasus stallion known for being one of Blueblood’s supporters, leap to his hooves. “The viscountess cannot stand as minister; she’s compromised. She is married not only to somepo—no, someone who is not of Equestriani standing, he’s not even native to any species we should allow to live within the country’s borders!” The pony huffed. “Perhaps it was acceptable when the viscountess was a mere fillyfooler, but now she chooses to rut wi—”

“Lord Karabair, with all due,” Lyra snarled, “Go fuck yourself. You can criticize me all you want, but the moment you even consider throwing things at my husband and children, you’ve crossed a line that I will punt your fat ass back across, got that?”

“Buck. Plot.” Karabair narrowed his eyes. “It seems the good ambassador cannot even remember the slurs she grew up with, instead preferring the human ones. How do we know she won’t be in the pocket of Washington, London or Beijing?”

“You’re out of line, Oakbarrel.” Fancy Pants, always willing to believe in the Crown, stepped up to back Lyra by pointedly using Count Karabair’s actual name vice his title. “Ambassador Phillips has been an immense asset to the nation and I feel she would make for a wonderful prime minister. I feel I speak for many of the nobility when I say that I believe in her ability to rule.”

A second voice, an earth pony mare, joined in the counter argument. “Perhaps, but how are we supposed to take the word of Lyra Phillips, not Lyra Heartstrings? She doesn’t even use her secondary name, but instead has replaced it with a human surname! I suspect the only reason she didn’t fully change her name is because Lyra is a human name as well! And her children!” The mare then turned to address – or more accurately, accuse – the mother of the children in question. “Did you or did you not pick names that existed in both cultures?”

Spitfire chimed in. “Hey, knock it off, Wine Harvest! Lyra’s one of the good guys, and she’s got my support!”

Lyra was about to speak, but held back when Celestia looked at her with sympathetic eyes which seemed to say, Let me deal with this. Looking at those assembled, the eldest princess said, “The positions will not be changed. You may have misgivings, and I understand that. But if we alicorns lose our lives in the service of our realm, then I want to ensure that those who are more than capable of ruling shall do so. For the nonce, these are who we put our faith in and they will not be countermanded, understood?” Reluctantly everypony else nodded, and the room fell silent.

“Okay, now that that issue’s out of the way,” Celestia said, “Now we have to go over all the plans so that a smooth transition would be possible should this come to pass; I don’t think anypony would disagree if I said that panic in the streets of our major cities would be any kind of blessing at all. Please turn to page forty-two of the documentation, and we’ll proceed from there.”

In Silversteel’s guest quarters at the base, there was a knock at the door. The general had been reading from a book when he heard it. “C’mon on in, Soarin’,” he said. “Not expecting anypony else at this time.”

The pegasus stallion walked in, wearing his dress uniform. “Reading from a book? Are you trying to go for the grandpa look, Silver?”

The earth stallion laughed. “I am a grandfather, in case you haven’t forgotten.”

“Oh, I haven’t. Looking at you makes me feel really fucking old, especially when I realize my own boy’s just about at that age.” The pegasus shook his head and asked, “So, how’d Elusive take the news?”

“He thinks I’m being suicidal, and that I’m risking myself needlessly. I love my son, but I think he picked up his mother’s sense of worrywartism without the spine to back it up. My girls were always a little braver, admittedly.”

“Yeah, but he’s a good kid, dutiful son and all that,” Soarin’ said. “Now my son, there’s somepony who I’m surprised managed to make it to captain without mine or Rainbow’s help.”

“Blitz is brave, one of the finest officers I’ve ever seen,” Silver added. “And I usually don’t comment, much less praise, junior officers, because for the most part, they’re worthless. But your son’s sharp, Soarin’, and don’t you ever forget that.”

“Yeah,” the pegasus agreed, and the two stallions stared at each other, unable to speak for a few minutes. Then Silver stood up and hugged his old friend.

“You ready to go and face the music?” Soarin’ asked him as he let go.

“To free our wives…or join them in the Great Pasture, I’m in,” Silver said soberly.

Author's Note

I've been away from AAG for eight months, intensely in the wilds of 7DSJ, and so very focused on that. I needed to regain my focus here, but I did promise a 4th of July chapter. (Believe me, I was up until three in the morning still working on stuff.) But Nacho's comment that it has to be done right or not at all resonated with me, and the choice (against one of my editor's opinions, mind) was made.

Also, there's probably a lot of mistakes there. That's expected; this went up half-edited because I waited too long to let the editors see it. Chances are if you see a mistake, feel free to point it out, but it will be caught.

Chapter One: Equine-American

The rain fell from the sky, a dark and dreary thing. The woman raced back to the house, her faithful dog following her. At the same time, an SUV pulled up and a man cleared it, racing toward the pair, a dour look on his face.

“Weird, I thought the sky was supposed to be clear this week,” the woman said to the man. “I mean, it is spring, isn’t it?”

The man leaned over to kiss his wife. “Well, at least it isn’t supposed to snow into April like it did last year,” the man drolled, adjusting his glasses. “Let’s get in; it looks like it’s going to be a ba—”

The man’s words were cut off as an ear-shattering thunderclap sounded, and a jag of lightning, thicker than any tree, slammed down in their backyard. From the backyard, portions of what was the backyard storage shed flew over the house, and a thick column of smoke rushed to the sky. The man turned to the woman and shouted, “Call 911!” as he raced into the back, hoping he’d be able to put the fire out. The gas for the lawnmower and the snowblower were stored in the back shed and his mind went back to his Navy days; was the fire extinguisher they had just outside the adjacent gazebo rated for Class Bravo fires?

All thoughts stopped the moment he heard the shrill cry of a baby – a baby? – any thoughts of putting out the fire ceased. He rushed into the burning wreck and pulled the baby out. Why was a baby abandoned in the shed? Had an illegal immigrant or a drug addict left their child here to die? Or worse, was living in the shed, a substandard life when winter’s weather was still flitting away from the area. Either way, the baby needed help now, and he had to do something.

The man raced into the house with the baby, just as the fire department arrived.

Twenty minutes later, it was over. The man thanked the firefighters for the effort, though the shed and the gazebo not too far away from it were total losses. With that done, the man went back into the house, where the woman was holding the baby. “Uh, hon?” she said, a worried look on her face. The baby was cooing softly, gurgling as if it knew it was in arms of comfort and love.

“You okay?” the man asked his wife.

“It’s the baby….” she told her husband, as she handed the child to the man. The man lifted the face cover off the swaddling…

…and beneath the fabric, a pair of precious purple eyes peeked out at the human pair, the eyes’ owner looking and gurgling at both, as a coo of happiness came out of the infant’s muzzle, a sound somewhere between an equine neigh and a child’s laugh.

March 30, 2047. A beautiful day at the United States Naval Station, Yokosuka, Japan. The bastion of the United States Seventh Fleet, this facility was the paramount structure of American power in the western Pacific. Two aircraft carrier strike groups called this place home; the base buzzed daily with life both military and the civilians that either worked for the Navy or joined their families here in this slice of Americana in Japan’s 35th largest city.

And in the middle of the hustle and bustle of NAVSTA YOKO, in a home in the David Farragut Officer’s Housing section of the base, an interview was being conducted. And at present, the interviewee was clearly nervous. “Is this thing on? Good – wait, let me tilt it a little bit. There. Well, it looks straight. If not, they can digitally correct this, right?” she asked, flittering with anxious energy.

The interviewer grinned, trying to set the interviewee at ease. “It’s okay, Ms. Martinez—”

The interviewee relaxed. “Just call me DJ, Ms. St. Germain. Everyone does.”

“Okay, then DJ. I’m Nicole. And to be honest, I’m a bit nervous, too The network usually has the big guns come out for these kinds of interviews, but since I’m the only one in the Tokyo bureau who has a press pass for American bases, I get to be the lucky one.”

DJ sighed, trying to get the remaining nervousness out. “Sorry – haven’t been this anxious since…well, I’ll get to that later, I guess. Okay, let me see, where to start? Well, my name is Daisy Jo Martinez, it’s 2:15 pm here in Yokosuka, Japan, and I guess you’re interviewing me for the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, right?”

Nicole nodded. “Well, that, but from what I understand, you’ve done a lot of firsts.”

DJ shrugged. “It’s not like I wanted to, but hey, Dad always said you don’t get fate, it gets you. But I guess I should start. It’s March 30, 2047, twenty-five years after the Supreme Court made that decision that I was declared a person, and it just happens to coincidentally be my 35th birthday today.”

Nicole smiled. “I didn’t know that. Well, congratulations and Happy Birthday!”

“Thanks! I wish my husband was here to celebrate it with me and the kids, but he’s out at sea right now. But I’m probably getting ahead of myself, right? Let me start again.” She bowed her head and murmured something that sounded like a prayer before looking up at the camera again. “My name’s Daisy Jo Martinez. I was born – or so my birth certificate says – on March 30, 2012. I’m married with two kids, my husband’s a Naval officer—” DJ turned to Nicole, asking, “You’re interviewing him as well, right?”

“The Navy’s agreed to let the network interview him as soon as they can get a reporter to his ship.”

“Good; this is just as much his story as mine. Anyway, I’m originally from a town just outside of DC called Winchester, Virginia – apple capital of America, yay, go me. I’m a Republican – that tends to shock a lot of people – and I’m a practicing Catholic – and that tends to shock more people than the first, and like I said, I’m married – I think people start passing out at that point. Like my Dad, I’m a novelist, and at the risk of shamelessly plugging my next book, it’ll be available for purchase and download in August. I’ve lived a happy, charmed life and I’m proud to be an American.”

She then smiled as she looked straight at the camera and added, “And as you can also see, I’m a pony. Well, physically anyway.”

Nicole then spoke into the camera’s mike: “For those of you listening to the audio-only broadcast, Ms. Martinez is a light cream-colored pony, with a dark brown mane and purple eyes. DJ, do you have one of those…um, what are they called again?”

“Cutie marks?” DJ smiled softly as she shook her head. “Nope, my butt’s plain as vanilla, or what some call a ‘blank flank.’ I realize that for ponies my age, that’s an extremely terrifying thing, for which I’ll get into later. For me, meh, no different than my husband, who doesn’t have any tattoos. Maybe that’s just another first – being a pony that doesn’t care…but then again, I don’t think that I’ve ever felt like a pony in my entire life; as far as I’m concerned, I’m human, just pony shaped. And maybe that’s where I’ll start,” she said, closing her eyes as if to focus.

“Cue back to way before I was born. My father, Matt Martinez, spent some time in the Navy before he got all James Michener and got famous with his first novel. My mom, Anna Van Hoed, was in the Army at the time, an aspiring comic artist. They met in Hawaii when they were both stationed there, and when they got out they moved to Mom’s hometown, Washington – Dad’s from LA, by the way. They bought a house in Winchester because hey, the housing market was down at the time and Mom needed the space for her art studio, just in time too as her first graphic novel broke sales records. They had the ideal life: house, picket fence, Jindo dog with a name in Korean no one could remember but they called her Stinkerbell. They had it all.

“Except for kids. Mom and Dad tried for years to have kids, but it just never happened. Maybe Mom was barren, or Dad spent a little too much time in front of a radar dish. They were willing to adopt, but who takes careers like theirs seriously? Adoption agencies always want banker dads and CEO moms, and I suppose they qualified: they owned an at-the-time small media company, but hey, not-serious jobs. By the time Dad turned 40, it was clear that their chances of even adopting were slim.

“Cut to March 30, 2012. As the old cliché goes, it was a dark and stormy night. It had been raining all day and the sky was black, Mom said. By the way, did you interview my parents for this part?”

“The local station’s taking care of that and their portion will be mixed into the final segment,” Nicole explained. “But we’d like to get your perspective too.”

“What perspective?” DJ laughed. “I was just a baby! How is a newborn supposed to have any kind of perspective?”

Nicole felt embarrassed; this was her potential breakout interview, and a rookie question like that obviously made her seem a tad on the green side. “Didn’t your parents tell you anything?”

“What Mom told me was that she was getting home from walking Stinky, and that Dad had just gotten back from the lawyer’s office; they were optioning his third novel for a film and he and the lawyer were going over the fine print. It seemed like just another typical rainy spring day, when suddenly there was massive bolt of lightning that hit the shed in the back yard.

“Needless to say, my parents freaked. Lightning bolts don’t usually hit like that in that part of the country, and so needless to say the shed was on fire. They were about to call the fire department when they heard a baby’s cry.”

“A baby’s cry?”

“Well, what, did you think I neighed? No, I cried my soggy little butt off, and when Dad approached, he saw a baby covered in bloody swaddling, apparently abandoned, in the rain. They got me inside and were taking off the swaddling, when they found two things: one, my diaper needed changing, and two: well, let’s just say I kinda surprised them.”

Nicole looked concerned at DJ’s explanation of her baby blanket. “Why was the swaddling bloody?”

“All of us found out at the same time, but I’ll explain that later. To continue, the fire department arrived, put out the storm-assisted backyard barbeque, and when they asked my parents if anything else was wrong, my parents, somewhat shaken, said no. Of course they were shaken: they had just been handed an alien, or a demon child, or whatever. Either way, the baby – me – wasn’t human.

“For a few hours, they didn’t know what to do. Who does, in that kind of situation? They wrapped me up in a dishcloth for the moment because they obviously didn’t have diapers. I was crying like a baby – because I was one – when Mom said Dad make his first stupid mistake: he went to the store to get baby items, just running on brainless automatic. When he got back, she was cradling me and I was sound asleep. She later told me that after that, both she and Dad agreed that they didn’t know what I was, but one thing was for sure: they weren’t going to just hand a defenseless baby over to anyone.

“Well, hours turned into days turned into weeks, and by that time, a childless couple figured that whatever I was, I was intelligent and curious and bright, just like any baby. But I reacted in ways that Mom and Dad said they’d seen human babies do, not animals. And then one day, they just looked at each other and decided what I was: their daughter, via grace of God. That’s about the time when Dad said Mom made her first stupid mistake – by the way, you’re going to be hearing this phrase a lot; I think it’s some weird family tradition. The mistake was waiting so long to choose a name for teh bebe, quote unquote. Well, they decided to compound the mistakes further: Dad’s a huge otaku – he grew up on that stuff and I learned Japanese and Spanish from him. Being a raging otaku, he was partial to Japanese names, and he wanted to name me Hikaru. Mom, on the other hand, just wanted to pick a name that wasn’t humiliatingly bizarre; if I was going to be raised by people I was already going to have a hard enough life as is without having to deal with a name people couldn’t pronounce. But Mom couldn’t think of a good name. Fortunately, it was about that time that Mom realized that I looked kinda sorta equine-ish and she came up with a compromise. That was stupid mistake number three, she later told me.

“Mom was a fan of a cartoon show and toys when she was a kid: My Little Pony. First generation, not the third generation crap that made Hasbro give up on the franchise for decades. There was supposedly a character on the show that looks nothing like me, but had a semi-normal name: Daisyjo, and that’s how they got my name, though mine’s not all one word. As an embarrassing side note, I didn’t find out until later that Mom misremembered; apparently Daisyjo is G3, not G1. Oh, and Dad kinda got what he wanted, my middle name’s Hikaru.”

“Hikaru? Isn’t that a boy’s name?”

“It’s supposedly gender neutral,” DJ sighed, shifting in her seat. “Most Japanese names are. Frankly, I would have preferred Rebecca, or Andrea, or something normal. Hell, I could have lived with either of my grandmother’s first names: Patricia or Lauren. I swear, if I ever have a daughter, Hikaru is not on the list.”

Nicole grinned. “I don’t blame you – my middle name’s Gertrude, after my grandmother. But we’re digressing.”

DJ nodded, then continued. “For about four years, it was just us three and Stinky. The first few years were tough; when I was smaller than Stinky, Mom and Dad had to make sure she didn’t think I was a mobile play toy; oh was that fun. When I finally started walking on all fours and then on feet, like a normal person—”

“Excuse me, did you say ‘feet’?”

DJ nodded. “Yeah. I know it sounds funny. I know that I have just four hooves and four legs, and I call them that when I’m in ‘Four Wheel Drive’, as Dad calls it. But when I’m walking upright – my normal way of walking – back hooves, to my mind, become feet. My forelegs become arms, and my forehooves become hands. I know they don’t actually change, and it’s just terminology, but that’s part of who I am: my parents didn’t raise a pony; they raised a girl that just happened to be a pony.

“Anyway, it was just us three and Stinky right up until I turned five. That was about the time that Mom and Dad finally got lucky with the adoption process and brought home my brother, Sam. But his arrival added a new wrinkle to the whole process: Mom was more than willing to home school me – she’s a substitute teacher for the local school district and her mother is a teacher as well – but the addition of Sam to the family made it difficult to take care of the baby, have a career and take care of me. It meant I was going to have to go to regular school, and while my education needs would be solved, it also meant I’d be revealed to the world.”

Nicole paused the camera. “Do you want to talk about this part?”

DJ shrugged. “Well, I’m sure you’re going to edit out the boring parts, right? I honestly wish my life was so dull that I wouldn’t be bothered at all, but I didn’t get that lucky.”

“Er…right.” The reporter pressed the button on the camera to continue recording. “Well, please continue.”

“Anyway, revealing me to the public would change everything: I was probably an alien, definitely not normal, and there was the fear that I’d end up in some government lab. But my parents wanted the best for me; I deserved a shot at life, just like all the other girls my age – ‘we girls can do anything, right, Barbie?’ So, they went to enroll me in Catholic elementary, also known as Sacred Heart Academy at the other end of town. By the way, that was mistake number four.

“After I inadvertently scared half the faculty, my parents assuring the parish priest that I was not a demon out to eat everyone’s souls, as well as someone finally noticing I was hiding behind my mom’s legs because I was terrified, they realized I was more afraid of them than vice versa. Thankfully, another parent was also enrolling their kid at school, overheard my parents’ pleas and offered to help. That was when I met my newest protector, as well as one of my lifelong best friends.

“Tyson McAllister was an attorney working for his congressman; when said congressman lost the election, the McAllisters opted to stay local instead of returning to Michigan. Anyway, Uncle Mac, as I call him, threatened to sue any and everything if that’s what it took to get me enrolled, because no child deserved to go without an education, human or not; he threatened to play every card, from the fact that Dad’s Hispanic to the fact that Mom and Dad were vets to the point that they weren’t taking him seriously because he was an African-American. We didn’t know how much of a battle that was going to be later on, but for the moment, it was enough to get the principal to relent. Eventually, the school became one of my most vociferous supporters, but that wasn’t until later.

“Meanwhile, a girl the same age as me knew I needed a friend and hugged a scared, strange little alien, not worried about repercussions or diseases or anything adults do. Erica McAllister thus became my best friend, the sister I never had. From that point on, our families bonded: Erica and I, and eventually a boy named Carlos Salazar, became our own little club, outsiders of a sort. And I needed those friends, too: when parents found out someone was bringing a horse foal to school – Winchester, even today, is still mostly farms and apple orchards – they chewed out the faculty; when they found out that the foal was sapient and a student, parents started pulling their kids out of the school; and when the school decided to back me, parents picketed the school – because, as people trying to raise their kids as good little Christians, they decided that being as un-Christian as possible was the correct thing to do, right? Thankfully, some parents were willing to give the school a chance that it was doing God’s work – and give me a chance that I wasn’t the monster other parents claimed me to be.

“There was just one problem: sooner or later, the news was going to get out of control and beyond the town, that either the diocese would find out or the government, someone who could put a stop to it because I wasn’t a human and so in the eyes of just about everyone who didn’t know me, I didn’t count. That was when Uncle Mac decided on the plan that eventually got him so famous that he’s Senator McAllister now….” DJ trailed off.

Nicole picked up on that. “The network interviewed Senator McAllister last week during his campaign stop in Illinois. If it matters, I wasn’t sure if I could vote for him for president – I’m a Democrat – but if even half of what you’re telling me is true, he’s got my vote.”

“Thanks. That means a lot to me,” DJ said with a smile. “Anyways, he and my parents, three people who had spent extensive time at one point or another in their lives working for the government, decided that they were going to tell Capitol Hill that it could just go stick it and I had the same rights as Erica or Principal Matherson or Father Lucas or Valerie Anderson, that girl in kindergarten that was even at that age turning out to be a royal pain – more on her later.

“So the next day, the three of them sued the government to force it to accord me the same rights that everyone had under the Civil Rights Act and all those related laws. When I think about it now, it kinda bothers me, in a sense: I didn’t go through what all those people in the 20th century did to get those rights they deserved; I didn’t go to school being escorted by police; and thankfully we didn’t have crosses burning on our lawn. I never dealt with any of that, as far as I saw: they were heroes back then when it was needed. I was just a kid whose biggest problem in life was finishing Super Mario Galaxy 5.

“I really didn’t realize it until later, but those were probably some of the most humiliating years of my life. My family became the local freakshow: when word got out, we had newsvans parked on the street in front of the house, they wanted interviews and sound bites and everything. At first I thought it was fun, but after it didn’t stop I got scared: I couldn’t go play in the front yard or the back, because there were paparazzi everywhere, talent scouts hounded my parents to let me be a model or act or something, because they all wanted a piece of the horse-thingie that could talk, and even at one point, Mom says we even got a massive offer from Hasbro – because of me, they wanted to restart the My Little Pony line and base the main character on me. Mom and Dad said no, however, because that was the last thing I needed. As for the rest of that part, you already know that story; Hasbro merged with a Japanese toy company and Takara-Hasbro finally started making a fourth generation MLP toyline last year…at least I’m getting paid as a spokeswoman, and the stock option’s nice. But I’m digressing.”

“Is there one based on you?” Nicole asked, hitting pause. “It’s not going into the interview; I’m just curious.”

DJ grinned. “They based ‘DJ the GroovePony’ on me, initially, but after a trademark violation lawsuit from a certain individual, all the variations got pulled from the market. Apparently they’re collector’s items now.” She walked over to the shelf, producing a MLP Dance Party box set; the DJ-Pony was boxed behind a turntable setup, while a Firefly doll was on a dance floor; the disc jockey did have her namesake’s colors, though the real life individual holding the box wasn’t a pegasus. The box also mentioned that the turntable doubled as a 20PB FLAC player. “Personally, I’m glad. Least thing I need is a billion kids asking me where I hide wings I don’t have.”

Nicole hit play again. “Okay, go ahead and continue. You were talking about the legal battle.”

She nodded. “But the part that really hurt my parents was the humiliation of having to treat their daughter like a pet at some points. Whenever I got sick – remember, this was back in the day before the development of equiniatric medical practitioners – I had to go to the same veterinarian as Stinky. I had to have the range of human and animal shots in order to go to school, but at the same time, I had to be registered with the county like other ‘horses’. I couldn’t go on half the field trips with my class because of regulations preventing pets from going. I couldn’t go into certain stores.”

“Did you realize any of this was going on?”

A sullen look crossed the pony’s face. “People who cared about me tried to shield me from it: for example, the vets got so offended at the way human doctors treated me, or rather, didn’t, Dr. Hilton – my ‘doctor’ and one of the founders of equiniatric medicine – spent money out of his pocket to retool one particular room in the vet office to be more like a regular doctor’s office.” She looked down for a second before adding, “But in the end, it didn’t really help. I started to understand what was going on when Dad and Mom took me to one of his book signings, and an old man who turned out to have lived during the Selma marches back in the 60s took a look at me and told my parents that no child should ever have to see the look of hate.

“It went on for years. Five whole years, and while now that seems like not much time has gone on, for a child, it’s an eternity. An eternity of being told you’re not the same as others. An eternity of being singled out because you just, and I quote, ‘don’t belong.’ And all I wanted to do was belong, all I wanted to be was just like every other kid. But it felt so many times like so many adults didn’t want me to, or worse, actively tried to make sure I was anything less than I am.

“But finally, on my tenth birthday the Supreme Court unanimously decreed that the 14th Amendment undoubtedly applied to anyone born in the United States, regardless of race, creed, color, gender, sexual orientation…or species, provided that said species was sentient, as applicable to the modified Turing Test.”

“Could you explain what the Turing Test is, for the folks in the audience?”

“Sure. The test is named after scientist Alan Turing, and it’s supposed to measure artificial intelligence. Back in 1974, an anthropologist, Dr. Amy Rogers-Keating modified the test to see how smart homonids – the great apes – were, in comparison to humans. The test isn’t precise, as some apes pass it and some don’t, but considering it involved a lot of stuff that was on the range of things I learned in, oh, say, kindergarten, everyone was pretty sure I passed it with flying colors. Dr. Rogers-Keating herself was impressed.”

“So the test was made to be passed by Homo sapiens and…uh….”

“Equus sapiens,” DJ supplied. “I eventually found out I’m Equus sapiens familiaris, rather than bellerophon or monoceros, but that’s down the line. In any case, the State of Virginia was required to give me a birth certificate, which the governor was more than happy to sign personally. The president called my parents and me to congratulate us on the successful end of a long fight. But now I had my birth certificate and was a United States citizen – but the most important thing was that it made me finally, totally and officially my parents’ daughter. What we fought for a decade of my life came true for us at last.” DJ stopped at this point, tears filling her eyes.

Nicole handed the tissues to her. “That’s just…I can’t even picture anyone going through that, but you lived it.”

DJ took it, wiping tears from her eyes. “Believe it or not, I hear that from a lot of people, and every time I do, I never know what to say to that.” She paused for a second. “Listen, I’m going to get something to drink. Would you care for something?”

“Sure, bring me whatever.”

DJ walked to the kitchen then came back with a bag of chips and two Cokes. “I stress eat when I’m flustered,” she admitted with some embarrassment. “I’m lucky my metabolism is much higher than a human’s, because otherwise? Cellulite City. Even still, I have to spend some time on a treadmill to keep my girlish figure,” she said with a laugh.

She took a moment to compose herself, then continued. “The summer after I turned ten was like a dream. We spent the summer in LA with my grandparents, and let me tell you – ever want to see a spoiled kid? Well, that was me. True, my parents objected, but only half-heartedly: I was getting all the things that every other little girl had already experienced by my age; my cousins already knew and weren’t about to complain. But to me? It was heaven. I was finally – finally! – like every other kid out there, and free to be me. I really didn’t get most of the legal ramifications as until I was a few years older, but for the ‘teal deer’ version, I was finally normal.

“When I returned to school in the fall, it was a different world now. Some parents freaked, but most were supportive. Erica, Carlos and I were inseparable, and no one could deny I was just a normal little girl, just another one of the kids. I did everything that a good little Catholic girl did: catechism, first communion, all that. Yeah, sure, I was still a kid and like any girl that age, got in trouble on occasion, but a normal trouble, not a ‘oh my God, someone call the Ghostbusters’ kind of trouble.

“The next few years passed, and like any kid who finishes eighth grade, I then went on to high school, Freshman year at Winchester Christian High. By then, I had started to reach….” She paused for a second, before laughing. “Um, I went into puberty. That was a very difficult time for me and Mom – especially Mom. That’s where we get into Mistake Number Five: trying to explain the Birds and the Bees to your non-human daughter when you have no idea which way she goes biologically – it’s hard enough to have ‘the Talk’ to any girl, but me, yeah, I was unique to say the least. I mean, Mom explained to me human biology, dating and all that…and then she got the bright idea to take me down to a farm to get an explanation on horse biology and, um, mating. She meant well, and I love her for that, but I don’t think she was quite prepared for what happened.”

“May I ask what happened? Did you find them…attractive?”

DJ looked as if she’d been slapped. “What? Of course not! Humans are primates; do you get turned on any time you see an ape at the zoo?” When she saw her comment had hit hard, she felt guilty. “Sorry, that was rude of me. No, what happened was that stallions smelled me and became aroused, a budding equinoid who was now capable of having children. That sent them up the wall. Then they saw me.” The look on the pony’s face was sad, as if this reminded her of how different she was. “In some degree or other, apes have been around humans since the dawn of time, so they’re used to them. However, a pony is not the same as a regular horse or even what they used to call ponies, like Shetlands. Horses are unique in that due to their cranial configuration, they have a mixture of predator and prey eyes. But the hallmark of sapient creatures – me included – is a configuration that makes the eyes completely predatory. Yup, I was an equine predator in their eyes, so….” She brought up a wistful smile, the memory coming to mind.

“After the stampede was cleaned up, all the animals recovered, and Mom and were I banned from that farm, we agreed I probably fit the human standard with some changes here and there. I’m not going into detail on that because there’s more than enough books out there now that cover pony physiology. Now, Mom and I laugh about it, but at the time it was going to be very interesting: here I was, the world’s only non-human person, and I’d reached that age. My grandparents all say that God works in mysterious ways, and that He’d relieve all my problems. Well, I think He removed all the problems regarding my life because there were new ones on the horizon.

“Freshman year was a disaster. Yes, any teenager will tell you their teen years were disasters, but that year hurt. First off, our family dog …she was too old, and…well, she lived a good life. But it felt like I cried for days, feeling death’s sting for the first time. Just as I recovered, I got the next one, a double whammy: Erica got hit by a car; I wasn’t paying attention and I likely could have pulled her out of the way – one thing about being a pony is that I’m much more muscular than I seem, and had I been raised as a pony, I probably would have reacted instead of just standing there and looking stupid. Nobody blamed me for what happened; no, I did that myself, the founding member of the emo party. Erica was seriously injured and was going to be in the hospital for a long while, and because of that it was the first time I hated myself for being ‘human’ and not a pony.”

Nicole took a quick sip from her soda. “I’m guessing there have been other times?”

DJ, as she’d stated, started munching on the chips. “Yes, but I’d rather not go into that right now. To continue, the administration at the time did a raid on several businesses in the area to ferret out illegal immigrants; while they didn’t deport Carlos, they did that to his parents; and that he blamed me for – no real reason, but I guess it was that I wasn’t human and got a break instead of him, who was. My uncle took him in, but for a long time Carlos wouldn’t speak to me and Erica, recovering from the crash, couldn’t play peacekeeper.

“Seeing that I was completely on my own for the first time and very vulnerable, like any teenage clique Valerie and her followers noticed and moved in like sharks, using every little nasty trick in the book: writing in my textbooks, breaking my laptop, passing notes around school and spreading rumors about ‘the thing that thinks she’s human.’ I couldn’t tell anyone; one of my best friends was mad at me and the other had her own problems at the time. My parents probably could have helped but I didn’t want to put them through another round of misery at my expense. Even Sam, little brother that thought the world of his big sister, wanted to help but he was too young to really understand. So I suffered every blow and cut, every soda poured on me and every time gum was stuck in my tail, every time they put horseshoes in my locker with a note that read These are the only shoes you’ll ever wear! High school’s a cruel place, cruel enough for teenage girls who are normal. Far worse for those that aren’t.

“I needed a miracle, and I didn’t think I’d ever deserve one. I used them up when I became a person, right? When Mom and Dad finally got to be my parents, right? Well, oh me of little faith at that point, learned otherwise. I got the first two when I made up with Carlos and got the news that Erica would be released from the hospital soon. And a third when Valerie’s former boyfriend, Logan Bradford, joined my circle of friends. And then after all that, I got my White Knight,” she said with a smile, one filled with love and life. “My stallion.”

“Stallion?” Nicole repeated. “That’s a pony term, and I didn’t think you used them for yourself.”

“I don’t; it’s a joke of sorts and really, the only one I use. One day, when I felt I couldn’t take it anymore, I was leaning against my locker, crying. Suddenly, I got a friendly word from the new transfer student. He saw me from the back, and I was upright, so he didn’t notice who I was. For some reason, he didn’t see my ears,” she said, flicking them in demonstration. “My hair was as long as the typical teenage girl’s and in a typical fashion for a time, so it made me look more human. I had just put on my coat so I could go to the hospital and visit Erica, so my body, including my tail, was covered; and I was wearing bellbottoms that day, so he couldn’t see my feet.” She smiled widely, nourishing a memory that was clearly important to her. “He didn’t know who I was, only that there was, in his words, a cute girl crying and he had to do something. When I turned around, he was surprised to see that he was talking to the school’s Legendary Alien Girl, but he didn’t mind. His name was…is…Michael Hengst.” She smiled demurely as she added, “Hengst is German for stallion.”

“I was a wreck, so we went to go get coffee; we talked for a while and he calmed me down. He was from a Navy family as well; his father had been stationed in Spain before he retired and went to work at the IRS office up in Martinsburg. That made me smile; Dad always loved to tell sea stories and some of them were about the days he was stationed in Rota. As for Mike, it was the first time since he was a kid that he’d been back in the States, so he was trying to get the hang of things. I took him to meet Erica and Carlos and we all became fast friends, all of us. I just don’t think that we expected it to go farther than that.”

“So, I take it this is how you met your husband, then.”

She nodded slightly. “I know, not what you expect – every girl gets that Happily Ever After fantasy about meeting the guy of their dreams at the prom, only to find out that you never speak to him after graduation. For me, I didn’t know what to think: I only had one reference in my life, human males; and so Erica and I often talked about which guy was a total Alex—”

“Alex?”

“Oh, just teenage slang from back then for a guy who was utterly perfect and it comes from that werewolf romance novel series back in the mid-20s. Anyways, we always used to talk about the Alexes, and I think Carlos was a bit jealous that we never rated him that way – blame the Westermarck effect, I guess.”

“Oh, the Gloaming series. Personally, I’ve always disliked Tiffany Breyer’s works.”

“Well, I chalk my experiences up to being young and dumb,” DJ giggled. “In any case, I liked guys, but I never thought there’d be anyone thinking of me that way. And as Mike and I got closer, it kinda scared me; I think it scared him, too. History in the making: the first mixed-species couple. And the day he told me that he didn’t see me as the upright pony girl, he saw me as his girl, my mind just went stratospheric, and our first kiss? I still remember it, and what it told me was that while my birth certificate told me I was a person, his kiss told me I was a woman.

“When I told Mom, she was floored; I know she wanted me to be happy, but I don’t think that she was actually expecting me to find someone. Dad, however, is a hopeless romantic, so he was wholeheartedly for it. Mike’s parents, on the other hand; well, now Carl and Lila love me dearly, but back then, understandably, they freaked, just freaked the fuck out.” She paused for a second before asking, “Um, this is going to be censored as necessary, right?”

“Always. FCC broadcasting rules, you know.”

“One bad thing about being the daughter of a Sailor and married to another Naval family is that I swear like one at times. Mom keeps telling me it’s not ladylike, but I think she’s just as bad, being exposed to Dad. And speaking of Dad, when I came home looking morose because Mike’s parents wouldn’t accept us, Dad went all Missouri broadside on Carl. Ever seen two Old Salts argue? The sheer amount of profanity alone peels paint off the walls, but he got through to Carl, that no one was going to talk about Dad’s little girl like that unless they actually got to know her. Somehow, he changed Carl’s opinions, and they allowed Mike and me to date. I don’t think Mom could have been any prouder of Dad than she was that night.

“One thing that Dad warned us both about was that there were going to be plenty of people who didn’t and wouldn’t accept our relationship, not just Valerie and her petty jealousy, but others who felt that their lives were impacted by things that weren’t any of their business, like us being together. Sure enough, Dad was right. Mike told me about all the insulting whispers like ‘Horsefucker’ and ‘Bestiality Boy’, while I told him about the betting pool Erica heard about, the one where people could bet on who or what species I’d be sleeping with next. But you know what? They kept coming…and we didn’t care. We had each other, and we weren’t letting go. And we beat them all, and the insults died down by around Christmastime.”

“I’m sure you felt vindicated by that.”

“Oh, did we. At one point, some pranksters in the school put up some photoshops of Mike, well, er….” She leaned forward. “This might be best off the record. Could you pause the camera?”

Nicole did so. “I’ll keep this in confidence and off the record,” she promised.

“I’ll be right back.” DJ darted upstairs, and when she came down, she was carrying a picture. “We don’t hang this up, obviously, because of our kids, but we’ve kept it all these years. As for the photoshop, well…here. You can see for yourself.”

Nicole took one look at the picture and blanched. “Someone did this? At a Christian high school?” She handed the picture back to DJ as if it were a snake.

“As if that should shock you. Just about everyone knows the least behaved kids are always from private schools,” she said with a soft laugh. “But he took that picture and framed it, then walked around one day with it, a smile on his face and pretty much telling everyone if he could satisfy that cow, well, I just had to be the luckiest girl in the world. He got detention for it, but no one tried doing that again.”

“I’m turning the camera back on,” Nicole commented, trying to forget about what she just saw.

DJ nodded, placing the offending picture on the floor, face down. “So, by year’s end, the world was perfect: I had my friends back, Erica was going to be off the crutches soon, and I had the cutest guy in school as my beau. I was on top of the world, and I needed to be because what came next came so far out of left field that to this day, I’m still bitter about it in some regards.”

“I take it you’re referring to the Foalnapping Affair.”

Surprisingly, DJ’s brows scrunched with anger. “Sorry, but I hate that term: foalnapping. Just the very word demeans me and my parents, insults everything they fought for. But, yes, that’s what history calls it, and that began to answer so many questions about me and in some ways, I wish they’d never had been.” The pony sat in her chair, shivering; despite the fact that she wore a sweater and jeans, she looked as if she was reliving some chilling memory.

“Would you like to take this up tomorrow?” Nicole said, shutting off the camera drone. “Honestly, DJ, you look like you need some time to process this.”

She held her forehooves together in the same way a human would temple hands, resting her head on it. “I’d appreciate it. Should I meet you at your office?”

Nicole pulled out a business card and wrote an address on the back. “Actually, meet me here. It’s a cafe in the Ginza I usually go to, and it’s quiet enough that we won’t be bothered there.” She smiled and said, “And if it means anything, you’re probably one of the most fascinating women I’ve ever met, human or otherwise.”

That seemed to be the balm that brought DJ back to a semblance of normalcy. “Thanks, Nicole. I’ll see you tomorrow.” The reporter saw herself out and sighed; her parents, father-in-law and husband might have been all military, but it was DJ herself that had post-traumatic stress disorder; what she was about to reveal truly bothered the hell out of her.

In the living room in the military housing she had with her husband, DJ prayed that she would calm down. Getting up, she found herself briefly standing as a normal pony, and the feeling made her feel uneasy in the worst way possible; even though she used this form of locomotion on occasion, it just wasn’t her. Shifting upright and on her feet, she felt much better, and leaned briefly against the wall. 5:00 – time to pick the kids up from Karen’s. As she headed towards the door, she saw the picture of her husband, resplendent in his dress uniform, sitting on a nearby shelf. Picking it up to kiss it, she thought, Mike, I wish you were here. I need you right now. The picture, of course, never answered; it never could, and his ship was still on month three of a six-month deployment.

But first, she needed to put away that photoshop. Never going to hear the end of it from him if the kids see it, she mused silently. I wonder if he knows I actually kept it?

The following morning found her here in the Ginza, Tokyo’s hub for shopping. It was a chilly morning for the last day of March, and during the couple of hours ride, the rime on the windows of the train gave her a new idea for a story; she and her father had been meaning to co-write a book together sometime and this might just be the idea. As she switched trains in Shinagawa, she got the distinctive feeling she was being watched, and she hated that for two reasons: one, the premonition was a reminder of her biological heritage; and two, unfortunately the feeling was never wrong.

As she sat down in the train that snaked down the Yamanote line, she found the car was empty, save for two gentlemen. Both Japanese, both also dressed for the chilly weather, and both rough-looking, not in the yakuza way that so many people in the land of the rising sun were used to, but in the way she’d seen many a time in her life: that of military personnel.

As the train reached her stop, she stood up to go. As she did, one of the men sidled up to her, speaking in accented English. “Miss Sandalwood?” DJ stepped off the train, headed for the gates, completely ignoring him. Unperturbed, the man said it again. “Excuse me, Miss Sandalwood?”

“Sorry, don’t know who you’re talking about,” DJ continued to walk past them, straight through the booths and out of the station.

“I’m sorry; do you prefer Ms. Martinez or Mrs. Hengst?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” She stopped and turned around. “Can I help you gentlemen? And you can cut to the chase; I already know where you’re from.”

The first man produced a badge. “Agent Shinoda Kenichi, Japanese National Police Bureau. The other gentleman here is Inspector Katsuragi Minoru of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. We need a moment of your time; won’t take long.”

“Okay, now that I wasn’t expecting.” She crossed her arms. “Gentlemen, I’m already late for an appointment, so unless it’s an imminent issue, do you mind if I meet you later? I’ll give you my cell phone number and we can talk then.”

“Actually, that won’t be necessary,” a new voice said. “They’re here to escort me at my request because my usual complement of guards is a bit more conspicuous. I apologize if I unduly panicked you.” Leaning against a vending machine on two legs and drinking from a hot coffee can, the newcomer smiled. “Wow, this Wonda coffee is great. I wonder if I can work a deal with Asahi to enter the Equestriani market?”

“Considering what you look like, you must be Princess Luna. And try Georgia next time; the Coca-Cola Company’s expanding it into new markets, and that’d be good for the stock my husband and I own.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Sandalwood…sorry, I meant DJ. And that was an honest slip of the tongue, sorry.” The alicorn dropped to all fours, the can magically floating in front of her. “You’ve grown quite a bit: I haven’t seen you since you were a newborn foal.”

“Funny, because I’ve never been a foal. The term you’re looking for is ‘baby’.”

Luna drank the rest of the can, before floating it to the side. “DJ, you’re not human and you know it. I understand that you very much want to be, but wanting to be doesn’t always mean you will be. Take it from someone who knows the fruit of futility.” Luna used her magic to dump the empty can in the adjacent recycling bin. “There are some things even I can’t do.”

DJ fought the urge to roll her eyes at that. “So, Princess, what brings you to Japan? Or the human world, for that matter?”

“Your mother needs you right now. It’s urgent.”

“She didn’t bring anything up, and she and I talked just the other day. I’m sure Mom would have told me something as important as that.”

“You know who I mean.” Luna walked up to DJ; with the alicorn on all fours and the earth pony upright, they were eye to eye. “I’d like you to finally forgive her and at least make things right.”

“Forgive what? I love my Mom and Dad – my real Mom and Dad, that is, so there’s nothing to forgive them for. The gene donor, however….”

“You really shouldn’t talk about your mother like that.”

“Believe me, I don’t. After all, my parents raised me to be a good little Catholic girl. Now, if you’re talking about your pony buddy, well….”

“Please.” The look in Luna’s eyes was pleading. “Don’t make me beg. To be honest, I would have sent Twilight instead, but she’s…tied up with other things at the moment – she seems to be the only pony you respect.”

“For the record, if you really did know about me you’d know I get along with several of the others as well.” She gave a sarcastic grin as she asked, “So, an all-powerful princess is now running errands for others?”

“No, I’m doing something for my family, the ponies I love.” Luna started to get annoyed; she knew her buttons were being pushed, likely intentionally. “You know, when I saw you as a foal, I didn’t think you’d grow up to be such a harridelle.”

“Harridelle, it’s French, I think. Means nag, if I remember correctly. Sorry, the term you’re looking for is bitch – and yes, that’s me.” She looked at the three of them and said, “I think this conversation’s over, folks.”

“Here, take this.” A business card winked into existence before the upright pony. “It’s the direct line to the Ambassador’s office. She’ll know how to contact me and I’ll be in town for a few more days. Gentlestallions, I think we should leave her be for the moment.” The three headed up the street as DJ turned back towards her destination. But just before she walked out of earshot, Luna called out, “If you’re truly the pon…person you want to be, consider a kindness for…for somepony who desperately wants to see you again.”

DJ had nothing to say as the trio left and the card continued to float in front of her. After a few more seconds, she plucked from the air and put it in her purse. She wasn’t sure why, but it wasn’t something to worry about right now; she was already late for her meeting with Nicole.

A few minutes later, DJ entered the café. She realized she’d been here a little over a year ago when she and her family was taking a tour of Tokyo for the first time, and fortunately there were a lot less stares than she’d expected. For a place with so many legends about intelligent animals, she thought, they didn’t seem to react well to a real one appearing. However, the peace and quiet was very much what she needed.

At the other end of the café, Nicole waved from her chair, and DJ happily sat down. “I hope you don’t mind meeting here. This is a nice place to get away from the insanity of everyday Tokyo life, and I’ve been coming here since a colleague introduced me to it.”

DJ nodded. “My family stopped here the first time we visited the Ginza, and I loved it, although I’ll admit the reception this time around is a lot better than the last time I came. The owner looked at me oddly, like there was something very unusual about a gaijin speaking Japanese. I’d like to think that it’s because I was rusty – didn’t have much chance to practice it except with Dad – and not because I’m, well, me.”

“I don’t think that’s the case: here comes the waitress.” A younger pink-colored pegasus with a white mane stopped in front of them to drop off the coffee and pastries Nicole had ordered for them; just like DJ, she walked upright and was wearing clothing, in this case an elegant gray yukata with plum obi. When the two equinoids saw each other, both registered surprise. At that, Nicole said, “DJ, this is Ueda Tsubasa, the daughter of the owners and someone who’s wanted to meet you for the longest time. Tsubasa-chan, this is DJ, the first pony – sorry, DJ – to live with humans.” Turning back to the older one, she added, “I hope you don’t mind if she sits in. She was adopted a few years back and has been having a hard time adjusting to life here on Earth.”

“I see. Well, I don’t mind. And Tsubasa-chan, kimi no sainō no shinboru o shinpaishinaide kudasai. Wareware wa, yori jiyū ni sunde imasu.”

The pegasus blushed, clearly relieved. “Arigatō! Thank you!” she said, bowing as deeply as she could and unfurling her wings in a sign of respect.

“Um, what did…?”

“When you said it was problems, I thought it could be one of two things: either boy problems, or she was worried about the lie surrounding cutie marks; I guessed it was the cutie mark, since that’s generally a bigger fear. I simply told her that she doesn’t need to worry about her cutie mark – the Japanese call it a talent symbol – because here, we make our own fortune. Like I mentioned yesterday, the stigma regarding ‘blank flanks’ is huge.”

That was Nicole’s cue to activate the camera drone. “Would you mind talking about cutie marks for a second? I’m not sure many humans know about them.”

DJ pondered for a moment before adding, “Is that really necessary? Didn’t they just do that PBS special on Cutie Marks a few months ago? Saw it on base TV the other day, which means it had to be on stateside TV months ago. All it’s going to do is just add a lot of pointless stuff that the average person doesn’t care about. I’m pretty sure every human interviewed by ponies don’t get asked about being left-handed. Then again, maybe they do – I don’t get the mindset of the average pony.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” The reporter hit pause on the remote and said, “Sorry, this is my first big get for the network. If I do this right, I could end up with bigger interviews. So, are you up to the big part?”

“Yeah. Had enough time to think about it yesterday and sent an email to my husband. He sent one back, telling me that I should go for it since it’ll give me peace of mind. Oh, and before I forget…” DJ reached into her purse and pulled out a pen and paper. Scribbling an autograph on it, she gave it to the teen pegasus. “You looked like you wanted to ask, but were too embarrassed.” The older equinoid earned an instant hug for that.

Nicole grinned inwardly; she’d known people, true humans, who were less than humane whereas this not-human person tried to be the very model of what a human should be. It was both comforting that someone cared about things like that; and sad that so few of her own species actually did. Pressing the record button on the remote once more, she added, “Okay, let’s go into the Foalnapping Affair.”

“I had just turned fifteen the night before. I was at home, just spending a quiet evening with my boyfriend and friends, doing the usual thing – listening to them make fun of my taste in music. I wasn’t into the typical manufactured pop of the day; I love the music of my parents’ era: Led Zeppelin, Flying Lotus, The Cure, Alan Parsons, Cocteau Twins, Fleet Foxes, that kind of stuff. Like the day of my birth so many years before, it was a heavily rainy and dark night, but this time, it was foggy. I remember that night well, because the pizza was late and we had to reheat it. Anyway, it was getting dark and the guys were getting going; Erica was going to stay the night, because we were planning my quinceañera – it’s a traditional 15th birthday celebration for Hispanic girls, and Dad said my grandmother insisted I was going to have one.

“As we saw the saw the guys out, I had just enough time to kiss Mike goodbye before black arms reached out of the sky, pulling me. I screamed; I had no idea what was going on. I looked up…and found myself staring into the firm eyes of a heavily barded pegasus.”

“Barded?”

“Horse armor; he looked like a Roman legionnaire. Anyway, I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things or not, but I just screamed. The pegasus responded by starting to tear my clothing off while screaming to another pegasus behind him to ‘contact dash’, that the Lost Foal had been found. To this day, I’m not even sure if those were the exact words; I just remember being scared of my wits that I had just encountered the first being like me ever – and that I was going to be raped by him. All I could do was to scream and cry for help.

“Of course Dad, Mike, Sam and Carlos were going to help me; they were the men in my life and weren’t going to stand for what was happening. But no regular human is a match for an earth pony in terms of strength: there were two hiding behind the side of the house and they attacked immediately. Dad got slammed into a tree; broke a rib before they knocked him out. One of the earth ponies bucked Carlos in the face, breaking his nose and dislocating his jaw. When it came to Sam, somehow they knew he was just a kid and left him alone, but scared him enough that he wasn’t able to do much. My beloved stallion, however, kept fighting; he’d taken a couple of hard blows but was fighting like a madman to save me. But even he couldn’t stand for long; a direct buck to his arm broke it in two places.

“Mom ran back inside to get the guns, while Erica was trying to call 911. All I could feel was them pulling the last of my clothing off me, leaving me naked and frightened. I was trying to hold onto the cherry tree by the front door like my life depended on it. But my Dad was down, Carlos was bleeding horrifically, Sam was checking on Carlos and there was only so much Mike could do with one arm. Meanwhile, I was seconds away from what I thought was rape and abduction…or worse – these were soldiers, after all, and that meant they carried swords.

“Thankfully, the neighbors heard me. Mr. Muhammed next door and Mrs. Marbury across the street checked to see what was going on; Mr. Muhammed was an officer for the Winchester PD, while Mrs. Marbury was a State Police officer. Seeing my predicament, they raced back in, grabbed their guns and ordered the strangers to stop; instead, the attackers kept on doing what they were doing, forcefully trying to pull me away from the tree. I was so terrified; the tugging felt like I was being violated and it was happening in front of my family. When they wouldn’t stop, one of the neighbors – I wasn’t sure which – opened fire and killed one of the pegasi. The pony fell, dead in an instant and crashed on Mom’s car. With police sirens now in the distance, the remaining pegasi took off into the air while there was a flash from the gully by the house; we found out later there were unicorns there in case magic had been needed, but they had been spooked by the gunfire.

“They took everyone to Apple Valley Medical while the police stayed behind and arrested the remaining ponies – Mr. Muhammed later told me that they had to actually call up a local farm to get some horse hobbles, because they had never thought of how a pony could be handcuffed; I was the only one known until that time and obviously not a juvie. Dad and the others were treated, though Carlos would be in the hospital for a while. Mom and Erica took me to see a doctor, where they used a rape kit on me. There I was, covered in a blanket and shivering with terror while my Mom held me, and the first human-medicine doctor I’d ever seen was poking and prodding me like an object.”

“So the first human doctor you ever saw was more clinical than hospitable?”

“Yeah. I think she did it only because it was needed for a court case. I’m not going to call her specist but it felt as though it was beneath her. Maybe she was just on the rag that day, or maybe just didn’t have enough sleep. Either way, I felt like an object. Had Dr. Hilton been there, there would have been no way I would have been treated that way, I know – but he was off studying at medical school and creating equiniatric medicine; there was no way he could have been there at the time.”

“The next few days were a blur; the ponies were slapped into the jail and charged with battery, kidnapping and attempted rape. I locked myself in my room and – well, let’s not get into that, as it’s rather embarrassing.”

“How so?”

“Krautrock. 118 hours of the same song over and over again,” she said. “I realize now that I probably made it worse for myself by doing that, but tell that to a traumatized young woman. Anyway, the results came back and I hadn’t been touched. My maternal grandparents, who lived in Sterling, were there in a heartbeat, and my other grandparents were on the first available flight to Dulles. During this time, Erica never left my side, and Mike, bless his heart, slept in Sam’s room, ready to rush over in a heartbeat despite his injuries. I realize I was just 15 at the time, but I think that was the first time I thought that I’d be his wife someday.

“It was a couple of weeks later, when I started feeling somewhat normal again, that they showed up at my doorstep.”

“Who’s they?”

“Some bureaucrats from the State Department, a few FBI agents and others like me – several of them; the latter delegation was led by this beautiful unicorn probably about Mom’s age. She was purple, with plum hair and two lighter stripes of purple in her hair; some streaks of gray, too. She looked furious; not angry at us, but at what had happened. The unicorn looked at me and my family, and there was a huge sorrow in her eyes. Then…she spoke. In English. I know, I said that my attackers had said something that I understood, but that came in hindsight.

“She said her name was Twilight Sparkle, and that she was the Royal Archmagus of Equestria and a special envoy of their government. She apologized on behalf of her government, but there had been weeks of heavy negotiations between the State Department and the Principality of Equestria regarding the revelation of their nation to the human world at large. The plan was to quietly work for the return of what they called the Lost Foal to Equestria in return for an alliance and the US’ announcement of the existence of another world, a parallel Earth filled with dozens of nations, chief amongst them Equestria. But someone in the Equestriani military had ordered an unauthorized attempt to ‘foalnap’ me – that’s where the word came from – and repatriate me to my rightful home. They had torn off my clothing because they’d never seen human clothes before and thought they were bonds meant to keep me enslaved.

“She told me more: that my real name was Sandalwood, and that I was actually born two weeks earlier than we thought; Unidecimus 27, 1480 in the Equestriani Royal Calendar turned out to be March 16th in ours. That my birth parents, a unicorn named Rarity and an earth pony named Silversteel, had been wishing for years for my return and they hadn’t discovered the existence of our Earth until a year prior, 2027. That Rarity was what they called the Bearer of the Element of Generosity and that she was a legendary hero in Equestria; and that Silversteel, while nowhere near as famous as his wife, was a general in the Royal Guard and that they had despaired that they would never see their oldest foal again. Lastly, Twilight told me that she was my aunt, and that she’d spent the last decade and a half tearing apart universe after universe trying to find me with some help of another pony named Pinkie Pie, who was another one of my aunts – at the time, I thought that Rarity just had a big family, but in truth they were just her best friends and had been there at my birth. Twilight had begun to tear up during this part, tears of joy, and I couldn’t deny them. I was afraid of the species that had just attacked me the fortnight before, but I could not – and never would – hold it against Twilight.”

“Meant that much to you?” Nicole asked.

DJ smiled. “She’s my aunt. And she’s always been there for me since.” The pony sat there for a few moments, quiet and still, a simple smile on her face before she continued. “But to continue, Twilight told my parents that her government would take care of all the damages and the medical bills as well as provide remuneration. As for the attackers, they would let the county’s district attorney decide how to proceed. And then she apologized once more, because she felt bad about what she was about to say: when they found me, the Equestriani government had initially pressed to have the Federal government press kidnapping charges against my parents. But after they realized that I was no abducted child and that my parents genuinely and truly loved me, there was no way they could have them indicted. But Rarity and Silversteel wanted me back no matter what…so the soon-to-be-recognized Equestriani government’s first public duty would be to demand the United States return me under the agreement of the 1996 Hague Convention.”

“The one that covered international child abductions,” Nicole commented. “I remember working on an assignment where I had to familiarize myself with it.”

“Then you know that the law does not apply to children 17 and older. Problem was I was two years under the limit and so fair game. Furthermore, the government was trying to negotiate similar cases with Brazil and Japan at the time, so to turn down a new nation would have been hypocritical, even if Equestria was so new to the world it wasn’t a signatory to the convention yet. Due to my schooling, they were willing to let me finish out the year, but when school got out I would be on the next plane, or train, or whatever, back to Equestria. I would lose everything: my family, my friends, my life.

“One of the blessed things about what happened earlier in my life is that I didn’t understand the gravity of what was going on. Well, this time I did, and I couldn’t think straight. I wasn’t some lone, freak being: there was a whole world of ponies, as well as gryphons, dragons and all the things that we were told were just myths. Heck, my biological mother was a freakin’ unicorn! But as that sank in, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t speak whatever the language was, I didn’t know the customs or the history, and I didn’t want to. I wasn’t a pony, no matter what Twilight said, no matter what I looked like. I was my mother and father’s daughter, their oldest child in every way but blood. I had a loving boyfriend, the best friends in the world, a wonderful little brother, and my own life.

“I remember one night, I woke up on my bed, and there was my stallion, asleep next to me, holding me close to him as if he refused to let go. The door opened and Dad looked in, a sweet smile on his face; I think he somehow knew Mike would be his future son-in-law. Letting Mike sleep, he assured me I was theirs, not some unicorn that had no involvement in my life. Mom and Dad didn’t care how or why I came into their lives; they only cared about what was best for their little girl, and they’d take on the whole galaxy to protect me.”

“That’s very sweet. You must be very proud of your parents.”

“They’re fighters, and they taught me how to slug right along with what comes my way,” she said with a proud smile. “I am who I am because of them.”

“Go ahead – sorry for interrupting.”

“Well, the next day Dad called the State Department – the Equestriani embassy wasn’t in existence yet – and told them that it didn’t matter if it was in District Court or whatever the hell Equestria had, we were fighting. A couple of days after that, Twilight Sparkle arrived at our door again, first thing on a Saturday morning. My parents told her the same thing that they told the State folks, but Twilight simply asked that she simply have a few hours alone to talk to me. She gave my parents her word that nothing would happen to me, and considering that she had followed up on everything she’d promised earlier, my parents uneasily agreed to it. She asked if there was a place we could go, and I recommended the French café in the ped mall downtown. Somehow, Twilight was able to figure out where that was and she teleported us just outside.”

“Teleported? What’s that like?”

“Like a roller coaster ride from hell, all in the space of a second. I felt really queasy when after it stopped; teleporting was something she was long used to, but I’d never experienced it before, and it felt like being ripped apart and slapped back together again.”

“Doesn’t sound like the Star Trek stuff you see in the movies.”

“Or maybe,” DJ conjectured, “that is how the Star Trek stuff is, and they just don’t cover that in the movies. Anyways, we went in; the owner knew me so he just waved hi, but was very surprised to see someone else like me though Twilight walked in on all fours and wasn’t dressed. I think Twilight realized that she was essentially naked as far as we were concerned, and she doublechecked this with me. After looking around at what some of the other women were wearing, a second later she had on a black polo top and slacks. She told me that in Equestria clothing was a formal thing, and that had she known that clothing was common here she would have dressed appropriately the first time. She also admitted that she was glad it was happening now instead of when she was younger; she blew fuses over the smallest things when she was my age and only years of adult wisdom had tempered that.

“But we talked for hours on end, about a myriad of subjects. No, I didn’t know Equestria had existed until that day. Yes, I wondered where I came from, but I never worried about being alone because I had so much. No, I’d never been abused or mistreated; I got punished when I was younger like every kid that misbehaved, but that’s different from child abuse. Yes, I wore clothing like everyone else because I was normal and not forced to. No, I didn’t think I’d fit in with Equestriani culture, especially since I was still growing up and hadn’t thought about what I wanted to do for a living – that’s when she explained everything to me about cutie marks, from their perspective at least. And most important, no, I didn’t want to leave. I was from their world but not a part of it, and this was the only life I’d known.

“We walked around the mall for a bit – she absolutely loved the local bookstore and I was surprised to find that she was a book lover. I knew the guy who owned the store, so he gave her a whole bunch of books on the house. She picked out a bunch on human psychology, culture and history. After that, we went back to my place. Mom was making spinach lasagna for dinner, and Twilight joined us. During dinner, Twilight told us about Equestria, how she met Rarity, and her life there. She’d never married and had no interest in relationships, so to her Rarity’s kids were like her own; that was why when I had been lost she obsessed over finding me because it was more than a duty to her friend, because she’d genuinely loved me and wanted to save me. But Twilight never thought my fate would be to have a loving family.

“And then she told us something we didn’t expect to hear: that despite everything, she listened to everything my parents and I said…and agreed with us. I had a family and she couldn’t in good conscience split us up. Sandalwood was long gone, and I was all that remained, and the two were vastly different as far as she was concerned. She would join our cause to let me stay in the human world and she’d use every resource at her disposal to ensure it. She also told us that she’d probably pay a heavy personal price for this: Rarity was one of her best friends, and everyone she knew would be the wall that Twilight was running up against. But she’d do it for me because it was the right thing to do, because she had a personal reason.

“When she was eight, she’d done the impossible: hatched a dragon egg. As she was too young to be a mother, her parents adopted the young hatchling, though eventually Twilight took over most of his rearing. Over the years, Spike, as she named him, was her Number One Assistant, but there was something else, something that she never admitted to him because she didn’t know how: she loved her younger brother, but was never really able to express it. Except for an older brother, she wasn’t close to her family so Spike had been the only daily thing in her life and it just clicked. But even he wondered where he came from and one day went on a quest to learn about himself, but what he learned was that despite physically being a dragon, at heart he was a pony and in the end returned home. It was then that Twilight overcame her fears and told him how proud she was of him and how she really felt. He broke down in tears that day; he never really knew how she felt about him and for years feared he was nothing more to her than a familiar who’d been conveniently adopted. But as the years passed, the two of them became as close as brother and sister could be.

“Now that she knew me, when Twilight looked at me, all she could see was the pain Spike suffered back then, and saw I never had that problem since day one – no, she didn’t know about all the legal struggles during my childhood. But she never wanted what happened to Spike to happen to anyone else; even if she agreed that I needed to go back, she knew she couldn’t look her younger brother in the face unless she did something. So even if it was going to cause her a great amount of grief, she was going to fight for us.”

“That’s amazing. She must have really looked out for you,” Nicole commented.

DJ nodded, saying with a fond smile, “Like an aunt looking out for her oldest niece.” Taking another drink, she continued. “The day after school let out for the year, my family and I left for Equestria, and Erica, Carlos and Mike also went. We went via a permanent portal at the newly-established Equestriani embassy; that was certainly much easier than teleporting. We arrived in a portal in Twilight’s home, a mansion in the capital of Canterlot. She assigned us all rooms, and said tomorrow we would go meet my birth family because that was necessary as well as tell them how we were going to fight this.

“The next day, we headed to Ponyville, where they lived.”

“Ponyville? Isn’t that a little bit…self-descriptive?”

“No kidding,” DJ drolled. “They have a town in the same place as LA on their Earth called Las Pegasas, and another place equivalent to San Antonio called San Caballo. I wouldn’t be surprised if they recommend the first human colony on Alter Earth be named Humanton or Manville or something like that.

“So anyway, we flew via a chariot pulled by pegasi who looked uncomfortable; Twilight later told me that they had been specifically chosen as punishment because they were part of the second team of pegasi who were supposed to have joined the attack several months prior, but didn’t have the chance. We flew about an hour or so southwest of Canterlot, which, for the record, looks like something cribbed from a Tolkien novel. We landed in a small town that looked like a living historical anachronism; while the majority of it looked like something out of the 1950s, there was also a train station that dated to the 1800s, art deco houses, and the like, as if someone was building a bizarre version of Disney World.

“We landed by City Hall, and as we walked through the town, we were treated like monsters. Ponies pulled their kids indoors and shuttered the windows; stores suddenly announced they were closed for the day – with customers still inside; those that couldn’t find a place to hide simply cowered or played dead, hoping that we’d pass them by. As we walked towards the end of town, Twilight told me that on this version of Earth, humans were mythical creatures seen as monstrous, diabolical, warmongering beasts. Her exposure to humanity told her otherwise, but she and her assistants were the only ones who really knew.”

A thought suddenly came to Nicole. “Twilight was bringing humans – considered monsters by ponies in their mythology – and it didn’t occur to her that this might be a problem?”

DJ shrugged. “Twilight’s faced down angry gods, monsters and all sorts of challenges and trials. Plus, she knew who and what we really were. I mean, true, other ponies didn’t, but Twilight’s a huge believer in the magic of friendship and all that jazz, so she thought that all it would take is just ponies getting to know humans to understand we’re all the same.” A pause, soon followed by, “Yes, it was probably naïve of her. But given her stature and experience, it was a mistake she felt she could make.

“But after all the travel, finally, we reached a large house at the end of town, and if you thought my earlier description of Ponyville was odd, this gets weirder. It was a house shaped like a giant merry-go-round, with colorful topiary in the front yard and an apple tree for shade.”

Nicole smiled. “Sounds quaint, in a sorta Thomas Kinkaide way.”

DJ shrugged. “Maybe. But the big rock with the sunglasses, by a small grave underneath the apple tree, gave me a huge Twilight Zone vibe.”

“Big rock…with sunglasses.” The look on Nicole’s face was doubtful.

“In fairness, Twilight said it supposedly made Tom look 20% cooler.” DJ looked as if she was completely embarrassed explaining this. “Please don’t ask me to clarify, because I have no idea.”

“I…see. Please, continue.”

“Twilight asked us to wait outside; we’re not sure how long we waited. I remember wondering how I was going to react, what they were going to think of me, if I’d underdressed – and then remembered I was in a place where the whole nation was a virtual nudist colony. I remember everyone telling me that it’d be okay, and Mike’s kiss, assuring me he’d always be there. I remember the gathering crowd and guards showing up to provide security for what was turning out to be a huge event in the town. Finally, Twilight asked us to come in. We all had to duck when going in; the door was about five and a half feet or so in height.

“We walked into what looked like a custom clothing shop, only designed for ponies: the majority of the room was taken up by display space, with hangars and pony-shaped clothing dummies dressed in various formal attire, some of it I’d wear if it were shaped for normal people and some of it no different than the crap they make in the fashion houses in Paris. Standing in the middle of the room was a unicorn mare, elegant and white with a purple mane; there were shots of gray in it, like Twilight’s. Next to her was a huge pony that looked like a Clydesdale back on Earth; he was dark gray with a short-cropped bluish-gray mane. Next to him were two smaller ponies; a mint-green earth pony apparently close to my age; she had a bright pink mane, tied up with a large red-and-white hairbow. Next to her was a smaller unicorn colt that looked physically like the stallion, but clearly had his mother’s colors. Against the wall were several other ponies: a yellow pegasus with a long, pink mane; a blue pegasus with a rough-and-tumble mane that looked like it had been attacked by the Crayola company; an orange earth pony with a yellow mane and wearing a Stetson – how that happened, I’ve no idea; and a wild-eyed pink earth pony whose magenta hair looked like it had been savaged by a cotton candy machine – I’d guessed that she was probably my aunt Pinkie Pie; as well as three others, a light yellow earth pony with a candy-apple red mane; a white unicorn with a pink and lilac mane in soft curls; and an orange pegasus with a magenta mane in the same style as the blue pegasus. Standing near all of us, slightly tense as if she prepared for all hell to break loose, was Twilight.

“Clearing her throat, she began. ‘DJ, in order against the back wall are your aunts Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The filly here is your younger sister Minty, and the colt is your brother Elusive. And last, but not least, this is your mother, Rarity; and your father, Silversteel.’

“Rarity looked at me as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her eyes began to water as she looked at me and asked, ‘Are you really my precious Sandalwood, come back to me?’

“I turned and looked at my parents, and though neither of them voiced anything, their eyes said it all: it’s okay. I looked at Erica and Carlos; Carlos’ eyes also told me to go – since he hadn’t seen his parents in months, he understood the situation. As for my stallion, he was my strength, saying a simple, ‘Go. We’re here for you.’

“Rarity looked at me, unsure of what to do. Not wanting to look like a total dork, I raised a hand and waved, saying, ‘Um, hi.’ Yes, I managed to sound like a retard anyway. Next thing I knew, she was on her hind legs, hugging me in a practical death grip, crying and murmuring that she’d failed me, she never wanted to lose me, that now that she found me she’d hold me close forever. Soon after that, Silversteel joined in the hug, crying in that way macho men do when they hate to admit they’re crying. One after another a pony joined the hugs and I felt like I was holding up the weight of Ponyville. In the corner of my eye, I caught Twilight talking to my parents and telling them that they should be proud of the foal they raised.”

“What then?” Nicole asked.

“After a few minutes, the hugs stopped. ‘Sandalwood,’ she said, ‘go ahead and say goodbye to your…humans.’ That last word sounded venomous, like an epithet. Barely gracing my parents with a look, she said, ‘I suppose I should thank you for taking care of my daughter. You can leave now; we’ll take it from here.’ She looked at me again and added, ‘Dear, you can stop rearing now – it must be dreadfully painful having to stand so long like that.’

“I looked at Twilight; I knew this was going to happen. ‘Rarity,’ Twilight began, ‘Sandalwood…DJ’s here because she wanted to meet you all, but she’s decided she’s returning to human Earth.’

“Rarity looked like I ripped her heart out. ‘Sandalwood, is this true?’ She turned to Twilight and said, ‘Twilight, see if you can erase whatever kind of spell they’ve got on her.’ She then looked at the people behind me with a murderous glance, snarling, ‘I expected trickery from humans, but I never expected they’d steal my daughter from me!’

“I was at a loss for words. I’d just met the people…er, ponies who were responsible for giving me life and nurturing me through the first two weeks, but they weren’t my family. I’d spent all of two weeks in Equestria; I’d spent my whole life in Winchester, so Ponyville was definitely not my home!

“‘Say something, Sandalwood,’ Silversteel intoned, just as angry as Rarity. His right forehoof twitched slightly; seeing enough bad Hollywood films made me realize it was the move of someone pulling a gun…or in his case, a sword. Fortunately, he had his barding off and was completely unarmed. Behind them, the others reacted the same way as Rarity, except for Rainbow Dash; she was emulating Silversteel and from that move, I assumed she was a member of the military as well.

“‘Rarity,’ Twilight spoke again, and I could see she was about to say was going to hurt her as much if not more than Rarity. ‘DJ’s family is here to fight the court order requiring her return to Equestria. And I’ll…I’ll be serving as their attorney for the case.’

“‘Family? What kind of monsters could even think of raising such a sweet and delicate foal like my Sandalwood?’ Rarity looked at Twilight, horrified for a second, before she paused. ‘Oh, I get it…Twilight, darling, I see you’ve been learning pranks from Pinkie and Rainbow! You almost had me fooled!’

“As for me, I was floored. Rarity’s behavior during this whole meeting was rude, condescending and ungrateful to my parents, treating me like some prize in a cereal box; when Twilight spoke up, she thought her old friend had been joking, because who wanted to be raised by humans? You know who? Me and my brother, that’s who. Erica, Carlos and Mike would say the same thing about their parents. If I had any doubt before, it was gone now: my parents were the ones who raised me to be an upstanding person – pun unintended. But if Rarity and Silversteel’s attitudes were any indicator, this was a house of bigotry and intolerance. My parents raised me better than that and these ponies didn’t.

“I looked at Silversteel and Rarity, trying to keep my temper down. ‘My name is Daisy Jo, DJ for short. I have two of the most wonderful parents a girl could ever ask for. And I won’t stand for you insulting them, no matter who you are.’ I was pissed but forced myself to calm down. After that, I added, ‘I’m sorry, Rarity and Silversteel, but I’m…I’m not your daughter. I know you spent years looking for me, but that child is long gone.’

“If the earlier comment seemed to have ripped out her heart, my words definitely did. “It can’t be true….” Rarity said before collapsing in a heap. Minty rushed to her side, hugging her mother briefly before looking at me with hate, so much so that a typical day dealing with Valerie made her my Bestest Buddy in comparison. ‘Come back to me, Sandalwood, come back,’ Rarity sobbed before wailing as if she’d lost the most precious thing in her life…maybe she did.

“Silversteel looked fit to kill. ‘You bucking humans!’ he seethed, charging for my dad. ‘You thieves!’

“‘Got your back, Silver!’ Rainbow Dash had rocketed forward, clearing the space between where she stood and the front faster than Silversteel. She was going to hit my family hard just from impact alone, when she seemed to bounce off something invisible; it didn’t stay invisible for long. A wide…field of transparent purple was between us as the others. Twilight’s horn glowed purple; I guess she was creating some sort of magic deflector shield or something. ‘Twilight, what the hay is this?’ Rainbow Dash snarled; while the hit didn’t do any harm to her, it was clear that she was shocked at Twilight’s actions.

“Twilight told Dad, ‘Get everyone out of here and wait outside. I’ll throw up a second shield to protect you.’

“‘Kiddo, let’s go,’ I heard my father say. I knew that tone; it was his pissed-off Sailor voice.

“‘Aunt Twilight, how could you?’ Minty said, looking at me as if I’d masterminded the whole thing. When Twilight didn’t speak, she pointed at me and snarled, ‘Get that…freak out of here.’

“Rarity, eyes red with tears, looked at Twilight as if she’d watched her best friend turn into a monster, absconding with precious me. ‘Twilight! Give her back! Give me back my daughter!’

“I looked to Twilight, and I saw her eyes were beginning to water. ‘I’m sorry, Rarity…but she’s not mine to give, or yours to take.’ Tears finally began to slide down her cheeks. ‘You have to understand, all of you: I…I’m doing the right thing….’

“‘Twi, get the buck out of here before I say or do something I’ll regret,’ Rainbow Dash grimaced. Her look was enraged and it was clear she was adding the unicorn to her list of potential targets.”

“That must have been significantly intense,” Nicole asked. “It sounds like you barely got away.”

“That’s the impression I was given at the time,” DJ admitted. “The ride back to Canterlot was quiet; Twilight said she was going to keep the shield up until we arrived at her home; if she took it down at any time before that, one of the pegasi, especially Rainbow Dash, would be on us in a heartbeat. ‘You just saw three of the fastest fliers in Equestria,’ she told us. ‘Each of them can fly at supersonic speeds and be on us in no time flat.’ All of us wondered at the potential of a non-aerodynamic flier reaching speeds requiring aerodynamics, but not for long, as they fell quiet again.

“Dad thanked her for all the help, but Twilight looked as though she’d been cut to the bone. ‘I didn’t mean to, but I know I hurt Rarity, and I’ve probably just lost all my friends.’ She just turned away from us all, looking as if she’d cut her own heart out; she had been right – she was going to pay a personal price for this and it had just begun.

“When we got back to Twilight’s home, Spike was there waiting for us. Obviously, none of us had ever seen a dragon before, and he was huge, probably ten feet tall; it became really shocking when he told us he was still growing. But for such a supposedly fearsome creature, he had the gentlest eyes and voice, and when he saw his older sister coming in looking like her life was completely destroyed he instantly scooped her up into a hug. ‘I’m here for you,’ he said in that soft-spoken voice, ‘You’ll never lose me, Twi.’ Seeing that those two were in a private moment, we all decided to go rest for a bit.”

“So what’s a dragon like? I realize ponies aren’t common on this Earth and you see gryphons everywhere – they seem to have adjusted to our world the easiest – but unless they’re tied to the military or the government, you never see dragons on this world.”

“Can you blame them?” DJ commented. “For most of human history, they’re treated the same way as humans are on Alter-Earth. Sure, books from the past century or so have changed the way we think about them, but think of the dragons in the Bible – pure evil, and that’s from one of mankind’s holiest books, and that’s been the way things have been for most of humanity’s existence.”

“It’s in the Bible? Sorry, I don’t go to church.”

“‘And thus appeared another wonder in the skies, and lo a great dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head.’” DJ recited from memory. “That comes from Revelations 12:3. But though it’s really a hydra – and actually sounds like the Orochi of Japanese mythology, if you want more clarification – it’s called a dragon. That’s the sort of demonization that Spike’s people have to deal with. Granted, I don’t know about others of his kind, but Spike himself is more like Puff the Magic Dragon than, say, Smaug from The Hobbit. He’s only come over to our Earth a handful of times and it’s only when people see how gentle the big guy is that they let their guard down. Truthfully, it always hurts me a little to see that, because he’s family and he’s so harmless.”

“So, you got back from Ponyville,” Nicole asked, restarting the interview.

“Later that night at dinner, everyone listened as Twilight detailed the plan. Court in Equestria turned out to be similar to American courts, in that one side explained their point of view and the opposition spent time poking holes in it. She’d already gathered a lot of evidence on how to proceed, and Spike would help her research the rest. The basic plan was to show how my parents were fit to have raised me; the fact that Sam had come along would point that out nicely. She would also have to show that Rarity and Silversteel were completely unprepared for parenting someone who essentially had become a human. That last part would be the toughest; it required bringing up all her friends’ flaws, and left her open as well – she admitted that like the others, she’d played no small part in Minty’s and Elusive’s lives.

“At night, we all broke apart to do whatever we wanted. Twilight had provided magical disguises to anyone who wanted to wander around Canterlot; the spells would make them appear as normal ponies. Mom, Dad and Erica opted for that one. Sam and Carlos decided to spend the night away challenging each other at Xbox Mobile games, and Mike stayed with me: if there was even the slightest chance we’d never see each other again, we’d cherish every moment together.

“Spike told us he wanted to see me in the main library, and we met him there. When we did, we found a sizable pile of books at his feet, and he was flipping through others at an incredible speed. ‘Sorry, just catching up on some light reading before we talk. One thing I’ve always treasured about being with Twi is that she insisted I get an education. Dragons don’t value learning much and so at the risk of bragging, I’m probably one of the most knowledgeable dragons in the world.’ Setting the book down, he looked at both of us and said, ‘So you’re at the center of this maelstrom.’ The statement was not unkind; rather, it was meant as a statement and nothing more.

“‘I can tell that you two are meant to be together,’ he said in a wistful tone that made me want to reach out and hug the big guy. ‘I had someone, once, but you don’t always get the chances you’d like in life. Cherish every moment you have together, because you never know when that bond will be sorely tested. I don’t doubt you feel it’s being tested now.’ He smiled, and for a mouth filled with sharp teeth, it was a warm and genuine grin. ‘But you won’t be separated from your family. Twi made that promise, and I’ll stand right behind her on that.’

“I smiled. ‘Thank you, Spike,’ I said, before a thought came to me. ‘Can I ask you something?’ He nodded, and I asked, ‘When did you know that you belonged with ponies instead of your own kind?’

“He laughed; it was a booming chuckle that resounded through the room but at the same time, it felt really comforting. ‘I think you know the answer to that already, if you’re asking it for yourself. But I’ll answer the question anyway: the dragon quest I went on was long and arduous, and pushed me to my limits for my young age. I didn’t know it, but Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash had followed closely behind. I met some fellow dragons and attempted to get along with them; unfortunately, I picked the wrong pack and ended up with delinquents. The three came to my rescue and we left the area; as an interesting aside, that’s how I got my pet phoenix, Peewee. But between earlier events with dragons and that incident, I decided I was better off staying with people who cared for me, especially since later that night Twi apologized for any time she made me feel unloved and unneeded. I later found out that there are noble and wise dragons, but they generally tend to be few and far between.’

“‘As for you, I’m suspecting you’re having a hard time wrapping your head around the fact that you’re Rarity’s lost daughter; you don’t believe it, you can’t see yourself being with ponies so radically different from you. Well, let me assure you: you are Sandalwood, and you don’t belong with them – you belong back in your world, with pon…beings you love, especially your young male here. Leaving you here in Equestria, with customs you can’t fathom and a world you don’t know will only bring you pain and sorrow in the long run.’

“The chime on Mike’s watch sounded, and he suggested we call in a night. ‘Thanking him for his wisdom and bidding him a good night, I went to the room I was sharing with Erica; she’d just gotten back from the night out in Canterlot, and she found out quite a lot, which we talked about for the next couple of hours. For starters, Twilight was a lot more important than she’d mentioned: she was the third most powerful magic user in Equestria, outstripped only by its ruling princesses, a pair of alicorns named Celestia and Luna; in fact, she was Celestia’s protégé. But it was the information about the two alicorn princesses that really caught my attention: they were worshipped as both rulers and deities; they generally maintained a distance from the public but Twilight and her friends, including Rarity, often served as the alicorns’ day-to-day interaction with the world. By this time, I was sure that Equestria probably should have been named the Ponies’ Democratic Republic of North Korea, and for yet once more, I wanted to be gone of this world as soon as possible.”

“Have you met them?”

A nervous look crossed the pony’s face. “Well, I’ve met Celestia, but I’ll talk about that later.”

“And Princess Luna?”

“…so, anyway, the next morning, coming down to breakfast was interesting. As the rest of us filtered down to the dining room to have breakfast, I could hear arguing. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good, and since Twilight was going out of her way to protect me, I felt I should at least do the same. As we approached the foyer, it was Spike and Twilight, arguing with Pinkie and Applejack. None of us tried to hide, but the four of them were so engrossed in their argument, they hadn’t noticed us come in.

“‘Twilight, how could ya do this t’ Rarity? She’s been waitin’ fer Sandalwood t’ come back all this time – we all have – an’ Ah think y’ owe us an explanation!’ Applejack’s accent, oddly, made her sound like she was from Texas or a similar state. Obviously that was impossible, but there that accent was, and considering she wore that cowboy hat it made a sort of weird sense.

“‘Yeah, Twilight! We’ve been looking for her forever and ever and ever and ever….’ Pinkie Pie seemed to go on for at least nine or ten more evers before she reached the end of her sentence: ‘…and you have to pull a Meanie McMeanerson! I mean, what’s with that?’ There was a girl at my school, Brenda Everson, who bounced around like her bloodstream was made of espresso; people nicknamed her Caffy. Looking at Pinkie Pie at that moment, I was pretty sure Caffy was lethargic in comparison.

“‘Pinkie, AJ, you two of all ponies should understand how she feels,’ Spike said. ‘AJ, your parents passed away when you were a filly, and Pinkie, you’ve told me how your parents disowned you because you wouldn’t stay on the rock farm.’ Spike, true to his word, was stepping full into the fray and wouldn’t back down. ‘The humans with DJ are the only family she’s ever known and now you want to pull her away from them out of personal pride?’

“‘I know how you feel,’ Twilight continued. ‘When she first told me she wanted to stay with the humans, I didn’t believe it either. But as I listened to her, I realized it was just arrogance on my part. She has a normal life there, pon…er, humans who love her and want the best for her. All you have to do is just listen to her like I did and you’ll see that she’s had the life we all wanted for her, just not the way any of us thought it would be.’

“‘Ah still think she b’longs with Rarity an’ Silversteel,’ Applejack said, unconvinced. ‘It’s gonna take a mite o’ convincin’ fer me that anything less is whut’s best fer Sandalwood.’

“I couldn’t say silent any longer. ‘What about what I think is best for me?’ I practically shouted as I stomped into the room. ‘I’m almost an adult, and my parents treat me like that. But you seem to think I’m still the little baby that disappeared years ago.’

“Applejack responded with hurt and anger. ‘Ya don’ understand. We’ve spent th’ last fifteen years lovin’, worryin’ and hopin’ you’d come back t’ us.’

“‘No,’ I snarled back. ‘You’ve been those years focusing on the image inside your heads and hearts, the perfect representation of Sandalwood. But I’m not her – I may have been for the first two weeks of my life, but not since that time. And even if I wanted to pick up that part of my life – and believe me, I don’t – I wouldn’t know how to be the Sandalwood you expect me to be!’ At that point, neither Applejack or Pinkie Pie spoke; I think I completely broke their hearts at that point, or maybe they realized the little baby they’d spent all that time obsessing over was long since gone.

“Twilight sighed and tried to be conciliatory. ‘Look, let’s all have some breakfast. We can talk then and maybe you three will get to understand each other a little better.’”

As Tsubasa went to get them more coffee, Nicole asked, “Was it really this difficult for you? It sounds like they were desperate to keep you in Equestria.”

“They kept hoping that somehow I’d be all saudade and stuff,” DJ explained. “And before you ask, saudade is a Portuguese word which implies a sort of longing for something you’re afraid you’ll never see again. Personally, I’m hoping they invent a word for the exact opposite, because that’s what I’ll feel towards Equestria.”

“Isn’t that a bit brusque?”

“Well, no, not really. Anyway, breakfast turned out to be another round of the interrogation that Twilight had given me just weeks before, but this was more intense, more definitive. Applejack refused to back down, insisting on believing that the birth parents I didn’t know was what was best for me. Pinkie Pie, however, stayed out of the argument, instead choosing to reload on the unnatural amounts of sugar that kept her going – I have never seen anyone use that much syrup on pancakes in my entire life, and I’m convinced in that one sitting she ingested enough sugar to give everyone back home diabetes. But as Applejack and I talked, she started to realize that what Twilight had said was true, and that I did have the life that they had all wanted for me. It definitely shocked her that I was dating a human; even in a place such as Equestria, where multiple sentient species abounded, inter-species relationships were rare. But she warmed up to the fact that I was growing up in apple country, and from what everyone else’s stories were about me, I think we changed her mind at that point.

“Looking at me, then Twilight and Spike, she sighed before saying, ‘Ah’m sorry, Sandalwood. Ah didn’t take yer feelin’s inta consideration. Ah hope y’ll forgive me fer that.’

“I smiled; whatever the problem was, Applejack had genuinely cared about me and probably still did, even with the changes. ‘I will if you stop calling me Sandalwood – my name’s DJ.’

“‘Ah think Ah c’n do that,’ she told all of us before adding, ‘Twilight, y’ c’n count me an’ Pinkie on yer side, right, Pinkie?’

“Pinkie Pie looked up from her abomination of pancakes, butter, five types of syrup, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, various fruits, sprinkles and a small mountain of whipped cream. ‘Sure! Okay, ready whenever you guys are!’ When everyone stared at her as if she’d missed everything, she gave a small smile and said something to me; I was later told it was the most mature moment anyone had ever seen out of her. ‘DJ, we’ve spent your whole life looking for you, because we love you and wanted you back with us. But you’re never coming back, and that hurts, it hurts a lot. But all we’ve ever wanted for you was the best and for you to be happy, and if you’re happy, I can understand. Just…when you go back, don’t forget about us, okay?’ She practically inhaled that pancake monolith in one bite before she added, ‘That was good! Now, who wants tacos?’”

“From pancakes to tacos?”

“Rule Number One about Equestria: if it’s weird, it’s Pinkie’s fault. I love her dearly, but whether it’s chocolate rainclouds or flying beavers, it’s Pinkie’s fault somehow.” DJ grinned. “You’ll find out more about her later.”

“Flying beavers?” Nicole made a mental note: Do not go to Alter-Earth if at all possible.

“Don’t even ask. But anyway, from that point on, I’d developed a small core of people in Equestria who were willing to stand up for me, and that gave me comfort, if for no other reason than the fact that Twilight wouldn’t be alone on her mission. But in the choices, battle lines were being drawn, and it was going to seriously tear apart long-time friendships. On one hand, there was Twilight, who had been joined by Spike, Applejack and Pinkie; eventually Sweetie Belle joined us. The last comer was even more shocking than any of those before; Sweetie Belle was Rarity’s actual younger sister and thus my biological aunt. But she told me that her long and storied attempts to get her cutie mark had taught her a lot about life and desire, and she couldn’t see my own dreams taken away like that even if she went against her older sister.

“On the other hand, it was Rarity and Silversteel, accompanied by Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom; eventually Fluttershy’s husband Macintosh joined their side as well. The defection of her siblings hurt Applejack greatly, especially when they both told her since they grew up without parents, it was paramount that I know the joy of having mine…as if I’d somehow lived my life as Jungle Jane of the Potomac. But that was tempered when Rainbow Dash claimed that the assault on my family should have been more thorough, that had she been in charge it would have succeeded. When Applejack heard that and considering I told her what happened to my family, she swore she’d tear Dash a new one and it had been Twilight who had held her back from keeping that promise.

“Desperately trying to stay neutral was Fluttershy, Applejack’s husband Noteworthy and Pinkie’s husband Thunderlane. The princesses, close friends of all at hand, stayed completely out of it for both political and personal reasons; from what Twilight told me, watching their circle of friends tear each other apart was like a physical pain to the alicorns, who loved them all and hated to see what was happening. Yet if the court case was to be handled in a fair manner, there would have to be no sign of favoritism whatsoever, and meant that my situation was like absolute political poison to the two ‘goddesses’ – so much for almighty.”

A thought came to Nicole’s mind. “How do the alicorns feel about being viewed as gods?”

“I have no clue, nor do I care, if you want to know the truth. It’s bad enough you have an entire world of alicorn worshippers; I’m betting before long the Hari Krishna folks will be fighting for space with the Holy Church of the Alicorn Trinity at your local airport.”

“But aren’t they a part of your family?”

DJ crossed her arms, impishly saying, “No way no how am I planning to change my name to St. Sandalwood the First.”

Nicole grinned. “Cute.”

“Glad you thought so. But anyway, while we spent all that time in Canterlot, I did nothing to make any of this any better. Feeling really manipulated, I happily did the Ugly American and really embarrassed myself in front of all of Equestria, determined to prove my humanity. From visual displays of walking upright to ordering a steak at one of the few restaurants that catered to carnivores, I was determined to make my point to all who saw me, the more horrifying the better.”

“You ate meat?” Nicole was floored; horses were herbivores and even evolved ones had to still be herbivores, right? Tsubasa, even with her years living amongst humans, looked extremely queasy at the mention of meat eating.

“I know what you’re going to ask: yes, I can eat meat…but mostly ground products: burgers, tacos, and such, and even then not much. And I paid for my stunt with the steak for days afterwards: indigestion and stomach aches galore. After that, my parents told me to quit the displays and Mike wasn’t happy with me, either. It wasn’t one of my better moments.”

“How long did this go on? I can’t see any of this having dragged on forever,” Nicole commented. “Court systems of any kind anywhere are notoriously slow, but considering the particulars in this case, it was probably bumped to the top of the docket, I assume.”

“Absolutely. Considering these were some of the most important people in government, the case was dumped to the top of the workload. The feuding had actually affected local services to some degree, and finally after a couple of weeks the case started, being handled in front of the Crown Court of Equestria, basically their version of the Supreme Court. By this time, there was so much bad blood, Rarity and Silversteel had hired a notorious attorney to represent them: Contempt O’Court. Mr. O’Court was a brutal, vicious lawyer known for pulling just about every underhanded trick in the book against his opponents, while still remaining on the correct side of the line. Moreover, he had a perfect winning streak and took this case on with gusto. It was clear that Rarity and Silversteel were out to win at all costs, but I can’t help but think that part of it was also to hurt my supporters as hard as possible – that definitely didn’t endear Rarity to me in the least.

“The minute the trial started, the gloves came off. The two sides savaged each other worse than two fighters in an MMA match. Twilight directly attacked Rarity’s fitness to raise a human-reared pony; with witnesses, she’d accurately gauged her friend’s nasty comments about humans and turned that into a case of how bigotry could prevent a fair life for me. Contempt, on the other hand, turned it into nothing more than abuse of Twilight’s authority and power, withholding me from my rightfully-deserved parents because she was unmarried and getting towards the end of her foal-bearing years. Again, anyone and everyone who was called to the witness chair was going to get savaged by one side or the other; the war was starting to stretch beyond these friends and into the second layers of friendships, as couples like Lyra and Bon-Bon were torn apart or ponies that had nothing to do with the conflict, such as Blossomforth, leaving the witness stand in shambles and tears.”

“Lyra, I’m guessing, is Ambassador Phillips, isn’t she?” Nicole asked.

DJ sighed. “Do me a favor, Nicole – please leave Lyra out of this. Her husband was in a car accident last week. He’s okay, but she’s more than busy juggling taking care of him, her kids, and her usual workaholic tendencies at the embassy.”

“But she’s the only other pony that—”

DJ leaned forward. “Nicole, I mean it. Leave her be, or I’m ending this interview right now.” When the reporter relented, DJ said, “If you have to ask someone, get a hold of Bon-Bon. Though they haven’t been a couple in ages, they’re still very close friends.”

“Fine. Please, go ahead.”

DJ relaxed, and then continued. “At one point, Applejack pulled me out of the courtroom after a particularly nasty session. ‘This ain’t right,’ she said, feeling completely down in the dumps. ‘We’ve all been a family fer so long, and this is all ‘bout what’s best fer ya, so why are we killin’ each other? Ah can’t get it, an’ it ain’t fair t’ ya, DJ.’ She didn’t say it, but I saw that look in her eyes: she feared that when all was said and done, the years that they’d all been together were about to come to a tragic end.

“At one point, O’Court had unleashed a brutal hit on our side by calling Rarity to the stand and detailing the events regarding my disappearance. There had been a huge magic storm brewing, and it was serious – magic storms weren’t able to be directly controlled, and all that could be done would be to create wind patterns to move it out of the path of Ponyville, and so the Bearers were called into action to evacuate the town, just in case. Rarity and Silversteel had left their newborn daughter, aka me, with a friend who lived outside of town; the storm wasn’t expected to swing anywhere near said friend’s home, so leaving me with her was fine. What they hadn’t counted on was a group of gryphon brigands deciding at that very moment to raid the nearest home, as they expected no one to be present due to the evacuation order. What they found instead was a trio of ponies at home, watching a newborn foal. Gangbangers, even gryphon ones, aren’t exactly known for their better nature, so….

“The storm had been knocked away successfully from Ponyville…but now it was headed towards the Everfree Forest – and the cottage was directly in its path. The Bearers and Silversteel raced to the scene, only to find a horror of a destroyed house and two young mares, cut down in the prime of their lives. A window had been broken, and a bloody trail led to the Everfree, but just as the storm hit. The group was forced to wait out the storm in the damaged cottage while they saw to the remains of those lost. The moment it stopped, however, Rarity led a second group deep into the Everfree, ignoring its danger.

“What they found was a dead pegasus, coated in blood. She looked as though she’d gone down fighting, and her last act in life was to point a hoof in the direction in which the brigands had run. Rarity was frantic, one of her friends had been killed and her at-that-time only foal was out there in the hands of murderous gryphons. All of them rushed into the forest, heedless of the danger, their only thoughts of saving the little filly that three lives had been lost defending.

“Onstage, Rarity was in her element. Twilight had told me that Rarity had taken some acting classes and was probably overacting it, but I knew the truth just from looking in her eyes: it was all true. People…ponies had lost their lives to protect me. I looked at my parents and they realized the same thing; I didn’t have to look at the eyes of any of my supporters; I had the truth already.

“Meanwhile, spurred on my Contempt’s urging, Rarity relived her nightmare. ‘There had been a lightning bolt, it came down and shattered a whole section of the Everfree. I had nearly passed out; that had been the section that the gryphons had run into the area right where the thunderbolt had hit. Everything was on fire…the gryphons had been killed, torn to pieces by the blast.’ She dabbed at her eyes with a silk handkerchief – hoofkerchief? – before continuing. ‘I wanted to die that day. My friends had been murdered and now my baby was dead, vaporized by the storm. I lay in bed for weeks, unable to just focus on anything before my dearest friend Twilight told me there might be a way to save my Sandalwood.’ I saw the look in Twilight’s face when Rarity virtually spat those words at her and at that point I so very much wanted to go over to where she was and just kick her ass, biological mother or no.

“Eventually, she ended her diatribe, and the room was silent. Everyone that had been involved in it was forced to relive that night and there weren’t many dry eyes in that courthouse. Rarity finished up explaining how Twilight had discovered that the magic storm had sent me to another world, one filled with horrible monsters and unnatural beasts, but that somehow, I survived long enough for Twilight and Pinkie to find me. She deliberately left out the attack; either she was embarrassed by it all or it would jeopardize the case, but I was furious.”

“I think I’ll skip the obligatory ‘how did you feel’ question at this point.”

“Thanks. I could show you how pissed I was, but I’d rather not break the table.” DJ leaned forward, templed her hooves together and placed her head on them, giving the reporter a coquettish look.

“You can really do that?”

DJ nodded. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I have considerably increased strength in comparison to other women my age. From what AJ once told me, I’m extremely weak for an earth pony, but ‘extremely weak’ is still more than strong enough to do a kung-fu action grip on a two-by-four and break it in half easily.”

“How are you extremely weak?”

“I didn’t grow up as an earth pony but as a human, so my innate magic is pretty non-existent. Earth ponies are the weakest of the ponies when it comes to magic, but they are nonpareils at agrimancy – plant magic. Explains why I have a green thumb when it comes to plants.”

“Good, maybe you can show me how to stop killing my ferns every time I try to grow one,” Nicole laughed.

“Maybe. In any case, that night was a very silent trip back to Twilight’s mansion. Rarity’s words had hit home, and no one felt good that night, least of all me. When we arrived, I just went straight to bed; I wanted to cry my heart out. But Sweetie Belle wouldn’t let me. She went right in there and apologized for what happened, that she was furious with her older sister and that – and I have to admit, I laughed – the gentle unicorn would have, and I quote: ‘Bucked the horseapples out of her.’ She then told me that no matter what my decision was, she’d always be there for me, and so would the others.

“I then asked her why no one had mentioned the deaths; I felt guilty, as if it had been my fault. But she told me that the deaths had not been my fault in the least, and that had they lived, neither Derpy nor her daughters would have blamed me. But she knew I was going to blame myself, so she dragged me out of the room and rustled up Spike and let my parents know what she was up to, and away we went, back to Ponyville.

“Despite what we’ve always thought about dragons, there’s two different kinds: flying dragons and land dragons – Spike’s the latter. But he’s also a government diplomat and arranged for transportation for the three of us to head to Ponyville unnoticed. Think about it: a giant purple dragon, a senior-ranked unicorn mage and Equestria’s most notorious pony, all getting transported a couple of hundred miles southwest of the capital, all unnoticed. That’s talent. In any case, we crossed the distance between Canterlot and Ponyville in less than an hour, finally finding ourselves at the edge of the Everfree Forest.

“The Forest…ever hear children’s tales about ominous forests, filled with lions, tigers and bears, oh my? There was a film from my parents’ time, The Blair Witch Project, that made the western Maryland forests seem horrifying; well, being from Winchester, we didn’t live far from the shooting location, and the place is anything but horrific. And here in Japan, well, while despite the mythology concerning Aokigahara, it’s just an unusual and tragic forest where too many people commit suicide, nothing really frightening. Well, the Everfree’s worse and quite literally filled with all the monsters from Clash of the Titans VII: Titan Harder. Needless to say, it’s a death sentence for anyone, not just ponies, to step anywhere near it. It’s the kind of place that makes you wonder why anyone would live near such a horrific place, but then again, people live near prisons, nuclear reactors and other potentially bad things, so go fig.

“When we got to the gravesite, it was on the location of the former cottage; it had been torn down to build a final resting place for the three ponies that had saved my life. I don’t know how long I was there looking at the three gravestones that said DERPY HOOVES, DINKY HOOVES and SPARKLER HOOVES, but I just couldn’t leave. I stayed there forever and just prayed and thanked them for doing everything they could to save me, even at the cost of their lives. I remember promising that I’d be a woman they could be proud of, even if I couldn’t be a mare of the same caliber.

“I then heard a voice behind me: ‘The cost to bring you home has already been too high, and it’s growing higher each day.’ I turned around and standing right in front of me was her: Princess Celestia, the alicorn goddess-queen of the country. She was brilliant, radiating in a way that I hadn’t seen before, glowing like the sun she purportedly controlled. Part of me wondered if this was what standing in front of Christ Himself was like, at least for ponies. As for me, well…she seemed nice enough, but the concept of an absolute monarch is kinda outdated in this day and age. She seemed to know what I was doing. ‘Forgive me for interrupting your private moment. I’m sure they appreciate your thoughts,’ she said with a smile that seemed very maternal – and, strangely, genuine.

“I didn’t know what to say; thankfully, Spike had the presence to do so. ‘Celestia, what brings you here?’ he asked, as calmly as asking what the weather would be tomorrow.

“She never took her eyes off me as she said, ‘Spike, Sweetie Belle, I have to intercede; I don’t want to, but this case is virtually tearing the country apart – ponies everywhere are taking sides as if this was a civil war and some…pockets of discontent have broken out in the larger cities. As much as I would prefer for it to be handled in the courts, I can’t let this go on.’

“Sweetie Belle nodded. ‘It has to end, Celestia. We’re at each other’s throats, and it’s bad.’ She turned away before admitting, ‘I hate my sister for what she said to DJ’s parents; and my best friends in the world, I can’t stand to look at them for backing her.’ She turned back to Celestia and said, ‘Please fix this. We’re all hurting, and if it doesn’t end soon, it’ll all end in tears.’

“Whatever my opinions of Celestia, there was no doubting that she cared about her circle of friends. She bent down and nuzzled Sweetie Belle. That kinda freaked me out; I’ve seen horses and other animals do it, but it wasn’t something a person would do; even still, it showed she cared about the younger unicorn more than just a mere subject. ‘Sweetie, please understand that whatever decision I make, it will hurt several of my little ponies, ones I consider family, and it may only make things worse.’ She finished speaking before addressing me. ‘DJ, do you love your parents? The ones that raised you, that is.’

“I was almost stunned that anyone would ask me that stupid of a question. ‘They’re the only family I know. Silversteel never taught me how to ride a bike, my Dad did. Rarity was never there when I was sick, Mom was. From report cards to my first date with Mike, from when I first skinned my knee to when I wrote my first short story. And only humans would fight so fiercely to give a life for their not-human daughter, something that is taken for granted here.’ I remember being extremely angry when I said, ‘Rarity and Silversteel care only about the daughter they lost. My parents care about me. Maybe Rarity and Silversteel would have cared about Sandalwood in the same way, but I’m not that lost little girl anymore and time can’t be turned back.’ Actually, considering what she was supposed to be, maybe it could have been, but I sure didn’t want it to.

“She looked at me for what seemed forever before saying, ‘I see. Thank you for being honest, DJ.’ She looked at the other two and nodded to them before just disappearing. That just blew my mind. There was a flash with Twilight’s teleport, but with Celestia, it was instantaneous. The way she just disappeared, without giving even so much of a clue as to what she was doing? I was going to be adding a few Hail Marys before I went to bed tonight – the lack of an answer from her really unnerved me that night.

“The next morning we filed in to court. Nobody had slept that night, and there was a murderous look in Twilight’s eyes. I knew what she was going to do, and she was beyond the point of caring. Sweetie Belle had been right: the pain was going to be immense and the family was now at war with each other. I remember asking her to tone it down, but then she looked at me with eyes full of rage. ‘You were treated like an object yesterday, DJ, a trifle to be fought over. I’ve known Rarity over the years, but that’s the lowest she’s ever gone, and I won’t stand for it. I’m going to tear her apart.’ When she opened her briefcase, I wasn’t sure whether she was fighting for me or her own bruised pride at that point.

“But Celestia intervened, just as she said she would. As the judge walked in, the princess teleported in as well, surprising everyone. She somehow managed to look regal, angry and sad at the same time. She spoke and said she was invoking jus regium, and that she was deciding on the case immediately. She ordered the jury and Rarity’s legal team out of the courtroom, keeping only the judge, bailiff and court recorder simply for the record and royal edict she was about to decree.

“She then looked at them, and she looked extremely heartbroken. She told them she loved them all and she was very disappointed in the way everyone…sorry, again, everypony…was acting. She was extremely disappointed in Rarity, whose bigotry and lack of gratitude for my parents, who had endured so much for me, and that it was very unbecoming of a Bearer of the Elements; she also had venom for Rainbow Dash, who had ordered the attack on my family. But she looked at Twilight as well, and she was equally unhappy with her for not finding a peaceful solution, instead falling into the trap of fighting. She looked at all of them and her sorrow and distress and shamed them all. Heck, even I felt a little guilty after that.

“She then looked at my parents, and personally thanked them for raising such a wonderful daughter. Somehow, she’d read up on everything that my parents and I dealt with, and briefly explained it all to everyone else; none of the locals had ever heard of what happened to me as a child. Needless to say, it opened some eyes: Rarity and Silversteel both looked surprised, as the rug got pulled out from underneath them; neither of them could ever believe that any human could care for me, but when Celestia told them of our legal struggle against our government, they looked like their princess was babbling madness – that humans truly could love, and two in particular very much loved their daughter, regardless of where she was born or what she looked like.

“She then looked at me, and I remember those words. ‘DJ, the way you left us was tragic and painful. And now you have returned, and it is causing yet more pain and suffering. As a mare who is watching the ones closest to her tear themselves apart, I can’t help but blame you for that a little, even though it’s truly no fault of your own; for that, I apologize. But as the ruler of Equestria, I cannot let anything harm my realm, even if it is the daughter of one of my closest friends.’ She closed her eyes before opening them and saying, ‘My thought had been initially to “exile” you, quote unquote, but I don’t want to send the wrong message. Therefore my choice is to return you to your family – your human family – in the hopes that your adoptive parents and your birth parents will do the right thing.’

“I blinked. We won? I just kept repeating in my head over and over, ‘Dafuq?’ I wanted to cheer, hug my parents and Twilight; just shout for joy. But I couldn’t. Part of me realized that Rarity and Silversteel had now lost their daughter for good, and even they could not defy their deity-princess. They briefly stared at us with rage, but a quick glance from Celestia put a stop to that. Eventually, they departed, and we waited until well after before leaving the courtroom. There were tons of paparazzi there, wanting to know about the resolution of the ‘War of the Elements’, as the press was calling it, but we all just went back to Twilight’s place.”

Nicole pulled a tablet out and brought up some notes. “I had to a chance to speak to Derek Angelo. He works for the BBC and was one of the few human reporters in Canterlot for the whole thing. He told me that on an individual level, the ponies were kind and friendly, but as a group, they had a mob mentality. Is that about accurate?”

“No more so than we do here on this Earth. But I’m guessing you’re asking about how I feel about being a catalyst for a near civil war. What do you want me to say? That’s horrifying – ponies were going to go to war over me, and there was a riot in Manehattan – their version of New York – and that it was the first riot in centuries. That means that a peaceful society was about to fall apart just over me. What do you want me to say?”

Nicole sat there in silence. What could you say if you were the potential catalyst for the death of thousands? She thought about it for a moment, then asked, “I’m sorry, but I have to ask this: how much were you aware of what was going on?”

DJ was quiet for an inordinately long amount of time. Finally, she said, “Twilight and Sweetie Belle did everything they could to ensure I wouldn’t find out. Apparently Twilight had an issue when she was younger regarding time travel – I’m hoping she’s kidding – and for a while she was afraid she was the cause of ultimate pony war. Turned out that wasn’t the case, but she never forgot that moment. But despite their best efforts, I found out regardless. And it horrified me: some wanted me to go because of my parents, some wanted me to stay with Rarity because I was ‘special’ – whatever that meant – and some wanted me gone…and the gateways between our two realities sealed again permanently.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. Very ouch indeed. But as I was saying, dinner that night was a stately and somber affair. Pinkie was apparently a professional party caterer, but even she knew that it wasn’t the night to celebrate, so instead of using ‘the full power of the Party Cannon’, whatever that means, she just redecorated Twilight’s dining room for a more formal deal. There was also the sadness the ponies had as this was the official end of my life in Equestria, not that I’d ever had much of one to begin with. As for me, I promised I’d keep in touch with my new family members; they’d gone through so much for me that they proved their love when they didn’t have to. My parents, in particular, struck up friendships with Twilight and Applejack, and Sam got Spike addicted to video games. Things were going great…right up until Rarity, Silversteel and Minty showed up.”

Nicole had a quizzical look on her face. “Was this part of what Princess Celestia suggested as part of the reconciliation process?”

“Maybe,” DJ replied. “Maybe it was even sincerely meant. My parents were certainly willing to forgive and forget, even though they’d been wronged. And maybe, though even to this day, I’m not sure, Silversteel was willing to mend the gap. But Rarity looked as though she’d been forced to be there, and Minty was there as well. Elusive was not; maybe he was still considered too young to be exposed to human ‘monsters.’

“Well, all I can say is that it started innocuously enough. Rarity came up to me and apologized for her earlier statements, as did Silversteel. Minty, however, didn’t – that should have been a warning sign. Things seemed to get along fine, and for a moment, I honestly believed that everything was going to turn out a-okay. And then Rarity said the words that sent everything back down the tubes again: ‘Sandalwood, dear, now that you’re soon to be an adult, perhaps I can introduce you to some potential suitors? I suppose they’ll have to, ahem, live with your idiosyncrasies, but I suppose nopony is perfect.’

“‘Uh, why?’ I asked, giving her a look. At the time, I was wondering what she was thinking about, but a part of my skin started to crawl at that point.

“‘Well,’ she said, looking at me with a pained smile, ‘because even with your oddities, you are an alluring young mare – you do have my genes, after all – and it’s only natural that you’ll want a stallion or mare to call your own. And while admittedly, I’m not sure how much any particular suitor may want to live amongst…well, human herds…but perhaps it will be a good opportunity for you to return to your proper home once married, correct?’

“I looked at her, suddenly realizing what she was getting at. ‘One,’ I told her, ‘I’m not up for arranged marriages; sorry, not happening. And secondly, I already have a boyfriend.’ I went and grabbed Mike from his chat with Applejack and brought him back over. ‘This is my boyfriend, Mike. We’ve been going together for the better part of a year now, and we’re absolutely happy.’ Even as I leaned into him, I curled my tail around his leg, a gesture that I’ve always considered as just a sign of affection. I mean, I’ve done it with my parents and my brother, and no big deal, right?

“Well, turns out it doesn’t mean that to the average Equestriani, and this was one of the first times that I probably would have benefited from knowing something about my birth culture,” DJ said with some embarrassment.

Nicole already had some idea of what the pony was about to say, but for the sake of journalistic integrity, she asked anyway. “What does it mean?”

“Well, it’s a sign of, uh, couples getting involved in sexual activity,” DJ answered, a sheepish grin forming on her face. “It’s not something for polite company. Basically, it’s, uh…well…foreplay. I didn’t find out until I read a book on pony etiquette a few years later, but at the time, all I was doing was showing affection for my stallion – what could be wrong about that?

“Needless to say, Rarity, who did know what it meant in pony culture, was less than a bit appalled. ‘You mean to say you’re already….’ Her words ended as she suddenly gasped, then turned to Mike in anger. ‘How dare you, you ruffian! Taking advantage of an innocent filly for your debase lecheries, you…you…cretin!’

“Mike was understandably confused, as was I. And Rarity’s tirade had stopped the party, catching the attention of everyone in the room. Thankfully some people didn’t react as brainlessly as she did; Sweetie came to my side immediately, looking at her older sister and saying, ‘Rarity, I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for this.’ My aunt then turned to me and gave me a look that the gesture wasn’t probably the best to do at the moment. Unfortunately, I was already in a pigheaded mood, and Rarity’s ranting suddenly ensured I wasn’t moving my tail from Mike’s leg.

“Of course, this only served to make things worse. From my left side, a voice dripping with venom suddenly said, ‘And this is the pony you wanted so badly to return, Mother? A tail-lifter who has no problem getting into heat with her…stud…in public?’ Minty had started to make her move, and though I didn’t know it at the time, a lot of this was pre-meditated. ‘Mother, I know…I know you’ve wanted Sandalwood to return to us all this time, but she’s nothing worth your time – yours or Father’s. She’s nothing but a tail-lifting harridelle who would rather live with monsters than to live with civilized creatures, such as us.’”

“Of course, I have been through enough scuffles to know when I’m being insulted. And though Minty was supposed to be my little sister, I knew what a sibling was – Sam was my brother and he’d never say anything like that. I looked at Minty and said in my sweetest voice, ‘You don’t know me at all, so if you’re accusing me of being a skank, you better be able to back those words up or I’ll shove them back down your throat.’

“And of course, my stallion has always had an intuitive grasp of when I’m in over my head. Looking at me, he commented, ‘Uh, hon, this probably isn’t the best time to—’ He didn’t finish as Minty, without warning, suddenly turned and bucked me – hard. Now, remember when I said that for humans I’m extremely strong, but as far as earth ponies go, I’m incredibly weak? Well, I had just found out the hard way how very strong earth ponies can be, because Minty, like me, is one. One that had spent all that time in Equestria, and so had the full magic and power of a teenage mare.

“It was the first time I’ve ever had my ass kicked, to be honest. I’ve been in a few fights, to be honest, and because of my strength, I learned how to pull my punches. Needless to say, when you’re fighting someone just a bit stronger than you, you don’t do that. But my brain wasn’t connecting and I didn’t take into account that I wasn’t fighting a human opponent. But Minty had no compunctions, and despite being younger than me by a year or so, she was easily stomping my face into the ground. Within the first few minutes she’d already given me a black eye and a few sore ribs, while my punches, tailored to knock a human off their feet, did nothing more than get her angrier.

“Fortunately for me, a few seconds later it was over as both of us were grabbed, yanked in opposite directions by Spike. Spike looked at both of us with a disappointed glare and said, ‘You’re sisters – you’re not supposed to be fighting!’

“‘Yeah, well tell that to “Little Miss Will-Lift-Tail-for-Anypony!’ Minty snarled at me. As for me, I didn’t say anything, simply because I was processing the concept that I’d just lost my first fight. Minty took that as an admission of guilt and continued. ‘You know what? I was hoping to meet the older sister Mother told me about and so glowingly loved! But you’re not that pony, you’re a…human-loving tail-lifter who has no respect for our parents and anything that they ever gave you! So I hope when you go back to the human world, you never come back, Sandalwood! I hate you, do you hear me? I. HATE. YOU!’

“Sweetie moved to my side immediately, chiding Minty. ‘Minty, I saw. You bucked first, and you should know better!’

“Rarity obviously moved to her daughter’s defense. ‘Sweetie, Minty was in the right! What Sandalwood did was inexcusable and—’

“‘What I did?’ I snarled, pushing my way out of Spike’s grasp to walk over to Rarity. ‘I didn’t do anything! You’re the one who’s trying to get me to get into some sort of shotgun wedding like I’m breeding stock to be farmed out to some thoroughbre—’ I never got to finish my sentence as Rarity slapped me, striking me right across an already hurting face. Shocked – my own parents never raised a hand against me – and already pushed beyond the point of caring, I returned the blow, this time remembering to put a little more muscle into it. I get the feeling Rarity’s never been hit before in her life, and even part of me today wishes someone had a camera out for when I shoryukened her ass.

“Finally Twilight stepped in. ‘Rarity, I think it’s for the best that you leave,’ she said softly, the heartbreak in her heart clear. Not only was she hoping that Rarity and I would somehow overcome our differences, but that the wound that had grown between her and Rarity would also be healed. They’d fought a few times, but always made up shortly thereafter – but not this time.

“‘Fine, Twilight. I’ll just take my daughter, and we’ll leave,’ Rarity responded, nursing her bruised jaw.’

“‘No, DJ’s staying here,’ Sweetie interjected. ‘Celestia said so and even you can’t disregard that.’

“‘I said “my daughter”, singular,’ Rarity responded angrily, then pointing right at me, she made her decision. ‘That…human…isn’t my daughter. Sandalwood…died years ago and whatever that is, it’s not mine.’ And with that, she and Minty departed, followed in short step by a somewhat perturbed Silversteel, who hadn’t said much. But in the end, the decision was made: I was my parents’ child, permanently and utterly. I had nothing to return here in Equestria and I had no desire to, anyway.

“The next morning, we said our goodbyes and hoped we’d see them again soon; nothing else was broached that morning, since the night before had still left everyone with bruised feelings. After that, we used the portal and returned to human Earth; the Equestriani embassy arranged for limos to get us from DC back out to Winchester.”

“That’s just incredible,” Nicole said as she leaned back in her chair. “You made it home only because of the princess’ intervention, and then Rarity’s rejection of you as you are. Did you ever think you’d lose the case and be stuck in Equestria?”

“I thought about it constantly. I think Sweetie Belle did as well; she tried at one point to teach me their culture, but gave up after realizing that after a life of walking on my feet, going Four Wheel Drive on a regular basis was going to be very hard – that, and no way was I getting naked in public, even if it was the norm. Twilight admitted that it was touch-and-go, and that Rarity’s testimony had done our side a lot of damage, enough so that Twilight was going to have to completely tear into her friend to bring us back on even footing. Thankfully, the princess made it all moot.”

“So you came back home. What happened after that?”

“It sounds funny, but everything got easy after that. I kept going to high school, and on my 16th birthday, I got my first car. I was touched when I found out that my parents and my aunts all chipped in and got me a 2027 Ford Mustang – yeah, I know, pony car for the pony. After dealing with the constant raw hatred that Minty showed me, dealing with Valerie was a cinch, and when she realized she meant nothing to me, she never bothered me again. In came 2030, and I graduated from high school, school valedictorian. Graduation meant a lot to me, because my parents and grandparents were there, but so were my Equestriani aunts – Twilight and Sweetie Belle came on behalf of the rest of them. Sweetie Belle told me that it took weeks for most of them to make up with each other, but it took nearly a year before Twilight and Rarity were on speaking terms again. There was something else as well, but she didn’t want to tell me; she did, however, mention that Princess Celestia invited me to come visit Equestria whenever I wanted.

“The next four years were different. We all went to different colleges: due to his legal status Carlos didn’t have the advantages the rest of us had, so he decided to stay local and went to Shenandoah U. Erica, however, remembered the years of pain I went through and went off to Tulane to study medicine; she decided to be a doctor of equiniatric medicine so I’d always have a doctor if needed. Mike got accepted to the Naval Academy, which put a strain on our relationship because of all the regulations placed on cadets; it also didn’t help that I went to my Dad’s family college, USC in LA, on the other side of the country. I lived with my grandparents for the first two years, then managed to get a place of my own.

“Those four years as an English major went by fast; probably because despite my looks I was never known as the Alien Girl; instead, because of my grades, I was known as the smart girl, and that made me a very popular gal with struggling students. As for my social life, I dated a few guys because I wanted to be sure that Mike was the one; he told me he went out with a couple of his fellow midshipmen as well. Well, dating other men was an eye opener for me: most weren’t my type; and the ones who were really interested creeped me out because they weren’t interested in me for my mind, if you get what I mean. But in the end, it always came down to keeping in touch with Mike, and knowing he was the one.

“In 2034 I graduated, and my family was there – oh, were they there. My parents, grandparents and all said how proud they were of me, but I think it was the others who came that mattered as much: Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo had come to apologize to both me and my parents. She told me that as punishment for what she did, both she and Scootaloo had been fired from the Wonderbolts, which is supposed to be some kind of Blue Angels elite flying squadron; both their dreams had been ended because of Rainbow’s actions. It made her think for a few years, and ultimately both pegasi stood there, just begging for forgiveness. By then, I’d had enough of the infighting, so I did the right thing and forgave. And I needed it, too: Mike had graduated from the Academy but he was going to be stationed in the Middle East, so he didn’t want to get married until he came back Stateside.

“Those were the longest four years of my life. It was worth it, though, because by this time Carl and Lila had long since accepted me and were even pushing for grandkids. Mom and Dad, however, were content to wait; they knew that it had been a long time for their children to come into their lives, and it would probably be the same for me and Mike. Meanwhile, Erica was now an intern at Johns Hopkins, and Carlos was studying law at Georgetown; he’d become legal thanks to the DREAM Act of 2029 and he was working to become a family attorney. I kinda felt guilty; both of my best friends were picking lives based on my experiences and I wanted them to be happy for their own sakes; they cheered me up when they both told me that my experiences had inspired them both to ensure no one would ever have to deal with the problems again.

“And then the following year, Mike came home from Bahrain on leave for a couple of weeks. We decided to go on a small vacation up to Boston just so we could have some ‘us time’ before he headed back. It was there, right on the USS Constitution, go figure, that he asked me to marry him, complete with an engagement ring.” She held up her left foreleg, revealing a golden bracelet with a diamond in the center, laughing softly as she added, “Okay, so the rings I wear don’t quite match up with what other girls get, but that’s not exactly a first for me. When we got back to Winchester, we told everyone and there were smiles from ear to ear. I also wrote my family back in Equestria; the next day I got a huge congratulations bouquet from everyone there. Sadly, things didn’t last forever, and Mike had to go back to Bahrain.

“But it gave me plenty of time to plan for the wedding, much to Mike’s chagrin. Mom, Lila and Erica had some ideas, and then they got the bright idea to get Pinkie involved – yup, yet another stupid mistake. Mom wanted a nice little affair at the church, Lila was looking at something at a winery in Purcellville, and Pinkie was planning this intergalactic extravaganza – there’s no other way to really put it – that probably would have broken both Canterlot’s and Washington’s budgets combined five times over. Somehow, they managed to combine their plans – I suspect Erica had something to do with that – and we eventually settled on getting married at the winery. Turned out it was a good thing, too, because we got far more visitors that I’d ever expected.

“The day of the wedding, I was doubly nervous: not only was this the biggest day of my life, but both sides of my family was coming, the humans from California and locally, and the ponies from Equestria. The night before the wedding, I had time to make up with Apple Bloom and the rest; Apple Bloom, in particular, seemed very wistful and sad, because in her own stubbornness to back up Rarity, she’d missed out on my entire life, something she said she deeply regretted. I just hugged them all and told them they were part of my life now and we could all make up for lost time eventually.”

Nicole, ever the journalist, caught the omission immediately. “I notice you left out Rarity and Silversteel and their children.”

DJ nodded. “Fluttershy told me about that. After Rarity’s comment, their family agreed to just completely write me out of their lives, as if I’d never existed. That was part of the reason why Twilight and Rarity didn’t speak to each other for a year; Twilight felt that was monstrous and inhumane – it was also the point when everyone else started coming around. As for me, it didn’t matter, just water under the bridge – they didn’t want to be in my life, and I had others who did. The only biological link I had was Sweetie Belle, and since she was a part of my life, that was all I needed.

“In any case, the wedding went off with a hitch. The reception? Even better. I got to find out what a Party Cannon is – it’s a magical cannon that fires a fully-catered party. Pinkie got things going, with both music and catering – even though she has a cutie mark, Pinkie seems to be an exception to the cutie mark rule, and no one can really explain that. But anyways, I got to spend time with everyone, and it was fun watching some of the humans dancing with ponies, a kind of symbol of my own life. Then when it was time to go on the honeymoon – we had a couple of weeks to spend in Jamaica before Mike had to report to his new station in San Diego. But in the meantime, it was two weeks of absolute heaven, complete with being stared at by the locals, and very much enjoying the gift Twilight had given us for our wedding.”

Nicole’s brows furrowed. “Do I even want to ask?” DJ’s words hinted that the gift was very intimate. Tsubasa, getting the hint, took that moment to grab the empty plates and step away from the table before she became mortified by whatever it was DJ was going to discuss with Nicole.

DJ giggled. “No, it’s not what you’re picturing…well, how my husband and I are intimate normally isn’t anyone’s business, really. And yes, we are, and that’s all I’m saying about that. But I’m willing to talk about Twilight’s gift to us. She had a predecessor thousands of years before, a unicorn named Star Swirl the Bearded, who created something called an ‘amniomorphic spell.’ It’s supposed to temporarily change one thing into another. But Twilight vastly improved the spell, so that it goes down to the genetic level, and then she ensorcelled a stone so that I could use my latent magic whenever I needed to activate it.” When Nicole looked confused again, DJ clarified. “Basically, I focus on the genderstone, and for six hours it turns me into a real human being.”

“Really?”

DJ nodded. “Yup. How do you think I got my kids?”

At that point, Nicole’s brain seemed to be broken. “Wait – they’re not adopted? They’re your kids…as in, you were pregnant for nine months?”

“Eleven months, actually – that’s one of the areas where I come closer to equine standards. But despite what everyone thinks, Stuart and Tyler aren’t adopted; when I became pregnant, the spell adapted my genes to human equivalents or some magic variant. That’s why Stuart has grayish-blue hair and Tyler has my purple eyes. Neither are unheard of in humans, but it’s proof they’re really my kids. The doctors even did a DNA test to see how it works; the kids have normal human chromosomes, but some of their genes match Mike’s and some match mine. Technically, they’re chimeras, but seeing as how that’s a little insulting, they’re regarded as human.”

“Giving birth must have been interesting.”

DJ gave a wistful smile. “Like you wouldn’t believe. Erica was present for both births and told me during my time in labor with Stuart, the doctor passed out from the sheer weirdness and a standby had to finish up the delivery. But I have my kids, and they don’t care that their mom looks a little different than the other mothers. Some kids, if the teachers are serious, tell me that other kids think I’m actually cool. Plus, I get along with many of the other parents, especially the ones that can understand my predicament. My next door neighbor, Karen, is in a wheelchair, so she understands what it’s like to be different.”

“One last question, if you don’t mind. You said the charm Twilight gave you turns you into a human for six hours at a time. Considering your life, and your preference to live amongst humans instead of ponies, if the spell was permanent, would you take it?” Tsubasa, having just returned at this moment, listened intently.

“Do you mean would I want to be human permanently?” Nicole nodded, and DJ sighed. “I…I can’t answer that. Yes, I identify with humans more than ponies, and there’s no doubt that my life would have been so much easier if I had fingers and toes and no tail. Even nowadays, I still get the occasional look, and I have to tell my kids to ignore it, that some people don’t understand and probably never will until enough people from the other Earth move here – and that may not happen until the day of my grandkids’ grandkids. So life would be easier as a human.” She paused before adding, “But if I was human, I wouldn’t be me. My parents wouldn’t have needed to fight for my education and maybe I wouldn’t have valued it as much. Maybe I would have grown stuck up and thus pushed away the man I’ve had there for my whole life. A lot more gates would have been open if I was just the average girl, but I never would have learned how to open them then.”

“I see.” Nicole shut off the camera drone and stood. “Well, I think we’re done now, DJ. Thanks for everything.” The two embraced, and Tsubasa bowed. “I’ll send you a copy of the segment once it’s edited, before we broadcast it.”

DJ nodded. “Thanks, Nicole. And it was nice meeting you too, Tsubasa-chan,” she added, bowing slightly to the pegasus. “Well, I’ve got to pick up the kids from Karen’s, so I’ll see you all later.” DJ picked up her purse and departed, briefly waving goodbye to everyone again as she headed to the JR station, headed for home and just another day in the life of an American wife living overseas.

Author's Note

And here we go. The first chapter rewrite has been something I've been wanting to do for the longest time, and here we are. Now up next: a new second chapter from a different perspective, and then the rewrites of the rest of the chapters.

Thanks again all for sticking around.

Chapter Two: The Killing Moon

The weather was going to be iron gray and cloudy this week. It was originally scheduled to be as clear as far as a pony could see, but with the events of last week, Celestia herself ordered the sky to be dressed in the mourning colors of overcast skies. The day alicorn at one point had considered having it rain to hide the copious tears that would flow during the next couple of days, but instead decided to not do so. Enough water would fall once the two funerals were complete.

Standing over the grave – technically a cenotaph, since there was no body to bury – Silversteel watched as Rarity was led away by her sisters royal, her fellow Knights Elemental and the three princesses. He smiled weakly at that; Rarity’s family, though one of bonds rather than blood, was stronger than many families he’d seen in his lifetime. The girls would be there for his wife when she needed them, and for that he was grateful.

Fortunately, he had someone to turn to as well.

“How’re you holding up, Silver?” Shining Armor asked, standing there in his princely robes rather than his station as captain of the guard. Sandalwood was given a funeral befitting a noble and a member of the Royal Family, and thus the unicorn stallion served his due as the Prince Consort to the Alicorn of Love.

“I am well, my prince,” Silver said, dully.

“Okay, when you start getting formal with me, that’s a sign something’s wrong,” Shining replied. “Care to be a little more honest?”

“What am I supposed to say, Shining?” Silver barked as he wheeled away from his daughter’s grave to face his friend. “That my heart was torn out today as I buried my daughter? That tomorrow I get to have it ripped out all over again as I bury my ex-fiancée and our daughters? I loved Derpy – I still do – and Sparkler and Dinky were my daughters! And now I get to bury four females that have been lights in my life! How the buck am I supposed to feel?”

“At least you’re feeling,” Shining said. “If it were anything else, you’d have me worried, Silver. And I miss Derpy as well. She was one of my closest friends, and her loss is a wound I’m going to carry for the rest of my days.”

Watching from a distance, Rarity barely made out Silver’s form as Shining stood next to him, both friends consoling the other even as her beloved sisters royal cared for her, embracing her in tear-stained hugs and assurances of love. Rarity knew the hell her husband was going through right now. Tomorrow, he’d represent both of them at his former fiancée’s funeral, and she knew he still was fond of her; she never held that against him, as the unicorn considered the pegasus a friend as well.

And yet, the deaths of Derpy and her daughters paled against the emptiness she felt in her heart right now. Her Sandalwood was gone. Dead. Murdered by the evil of gryphon bandits and by the very sky itself. Part of her wanted to turn and rail against Celestia and Luna for letting it happen – they were both responsible, albeit indirectly, for the wild magic that contaminated the Everfree, over which the magic storm had formed. She wanted so much. But above all else, she wanted two things:

She wanted her Sandalwood back.

And if not that, Rarity, Duchess Lipizzan and Knight Elemental, Generosity, wanted to die.

“Your grace?” a voice asked behind Rarity. “Are you okay?”

Rarity awoke from her reverie. The memory burned in her mind, even after three-plus decades. Three decades since I lost her, Rarity said to herself, and she’ll never be back. Not so long as she’s brainwashed by those thieves. Rarity smiled slightly to herself as she saw the reflection in the window; she’d persevered all these years and it showed: she was a successful mare, her main duties now as the Minister of the Arts and Sciences, and while she no longer toiled daily as the seamstress she’d once been, the fashion house she owned did quite a tidy business to the point she was thought of in such fashion circles as Hoity Toity and Savoir Faire, at last.

So instead, she glanced at her reflection in the window again; the gray of age had finally started to set in and not even she could stop that. Fortunately, it added a touch of allure and beauty to her face, taking her from the mere coquettish beauty of youth to the alluring enchant of middle-age. She’d also kept up her figure, something her husband was happy about. Lastly, she had two wonderful foals, both nonpareils in their particular careers. She was a mare that had it all.

And yet just when I think all is perfect, I keep coming back to that memory, she mused silently. It’s as if I’ll always be pining for what I lost and will never have back.

“Your grace?” the voice pled again.

Rarity turned around suddenly, looking at the individual who addressed her just a second ago. “Ah, my apologies, my dear Cerise. I was just lost in thought. It happens when you start getting up there in age.” The unicorn looked at her secretary and smiled sweetly at the blonde standing across from her. She’d hired Cerise a few years back when the woman had been one of the first human students to attend Royal Canterlot University, and such an achievement impressed Rarity to the point that the unicorn insisted on hiring her on the spot as her personal administrative assistant. Since then, they’d gotten along fabulously.

“Well, your grace, it’s about your schedule for the remainder of the day,” Cerise started.

“I’m still hoping to keep this afternoon free. It’s my daughter’s birthday today, you see, and I’d like to spend time with her while she’s still visiting in town.”

Cerise nodded. “Yes, ma’am. There’s something else, as well. The other thing is a letter that we received, a complaint from the local Human Chamber of Commerce.” A flitter of a look crossed the young girl’s face, just a hair’s breadth of concern.

Rarity sighed. And now the other thing that has haunted me all these years. It was “well-known” that Rarity was specist, a known flaw despite her Element. Well, the truth was a lot more complex. Yes, there had been a time where she’d thought ill of humans, and to her admission, it was something she deeply regretted: she pinned her entire experience with a small bunch of human thieves on the entire species and for two years, she’d completely made a mule out of herself. But since then, she felt she’d acquitted herself of that flaw. Indeed, Derpy’s illegitimate daughter Hazy and her human husband Daniel had done much to help her adjust her attitude. And after all these years of being the host of the opening ceremonies of FiMPro, she’d seen humans at their best and brightest. And in the end, she’d long decided her main problem with humanity was twofold: first, that as individuals they were lovely even if specieswise they had much growing to do; and two, ultimately her problems with humanity all boiled down to the monsters that had come into her life and torn out a part of her heart…especially the pony-shaped human who had done so quite horrifically.

So Rarity went over to Cerise and asked her to sit. “I take it you’ve heard the rumors, then, is it that, dear?”

“I’ve worked for you for three years now, your grac—”

“Please, just Rarity is fine, Cerise. We’ve known each other long enough.”

“Yes, yo…Rarity. But when I heard the rumors, I was shocked. I’ve never known you to be like that. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve been one of the most generous ponies I know, and not just because of your Element.”

“Well,” Rarity said, a conciliatory look coming onto her face, “I am ashamed to admit that it was true at one point.” The unicorn then went into a short and abbreviated explanation of everything she’d suffered since the day Sandalwood was lost to her. Cerise looked nervous at first, then calmed down, then was horrified to hear about the two people that had kidnapped and brainwashed Rarity’s oldest child, and had outmaneuvered her legally to the point that Rarity had no choice but to let go.

“That’s horrible!” Cerise gasped.

Rarity nodded slightly and sadly. “To this day, I always hurt when I think about my lost foal. It hurts me to know that she’s effectively dead now, her corpse taken over by a brainwashed human who hates me despite my attempts to reach out to her. And I’ve learned to forgive Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie and the others – they’re my family, after all, and one cannot stay angry with family for long. But I hope you understand my position.”

“I do,” Cerise said, reaching forward to embrace her employer. “And I hope that someday you’ll be able to gain back what is yours.”

“Hope springs eternal,” Rarity said in a slight smile. “Well, my daughter should be here any moment, so I think I’m going to call it a day. And…it’s a nice day out, so why don’t you call it a day as well? Those reports can easily wait until tomorrow.”

Cerise smiled. “Thanks!”

Rarity grinned; as expected, the human was courteous, though the jury was still out on humanity itself. “You’re quite welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” as Rarity went to the closet she had in her office to find a suitable attire for lunch with Minty.

Minty uttered a happy squeal. “Mother, you shouldn’t have!” Ushquim was the newest and hottest restaurant in Canterlot, a place specializing in exotic cooking from Saddle Arabia. It was a hard restaurant to get a table at, and many a noble had tried. Fortunately, Rarity had a few cards she could play, and a while those of lesser credentials couldn’t get in, the restaurant always seemed to have room for the higher-ranked nobles, as well as celebrities. And when it came to a Knight? Well, Rarity had found out before that a table was always available for a Bearer.

Rarity gave Minty a smile. “Nothing’s too good for my precious daughter,” she said with a smile. “It’s just a shame that Toffee and little Gumdrop couldn’t make it.”

The mint earth pony gave a shake of her two-toned mane and nodded. “Well, Toffee’s keeping up the store while I’m here to talk with our suppliers, and Gumdrop was busy practicing for next week’s school play. Both you and Father are still coming for that, right?” Minty’s mouth scrunched into an s shape as she then muttered, “I tried to get Elusive to agree, but he’s worried about Butter travelling since she’s due next month.”

Rarity laughed affably. “Darling, as I recall you were just as nervous when you were close to term, so give your brother a break. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to attend if the circumstances were different. Just be happy for him and be there when he needs you, okay?” A thought crossed her mind and she asked, “Have you inquired with any of your aunts and uncles? I’m sure they would be thrilled to attend.”

Minty nickered. “I doubt it. After all, they’re still in her camp, aren’t they?” Though the name wasn’t mentioned, it was clear who Minty was talking about. After all, even after all this time it was the one thing the younger pony held a grudge about.

“Minty, I thought we discussed this. Let it go, dearest. It’s not healthy for you to keep being angry after so long and it hurts the rest of our family to see you so.” That was, in fact, the truth: Silver and Rarity had discussed the issue of suggesting counseling for Minty, and even Elusive had offered unsolicited advice about it. Prior to the whole (stupidly-named) “War of the Elements” years ago, Minty had loved her aunts and uncles very much. Now, nearly two decades later, she was cordial at best with most of them and refused to speak at all to either Twilight or Sweetie. Thankfully, this same anger didn’t extend to her cousins, as since she was the oldest she tried to be there for all of them in a big sister way that she’d never had for herself…a fact she never grew tired of mentioning whenever she had the chance.

“But Mother, Aunt Twilight and Aunt Sweetie betrayed you! I suppose I could understand Aunt Twilight, since she’s not really your sister by blood, but Aunt Sweetie? And for what, a two-bit nag tail-lifter who probably lets herself get mounted by anything male?” Minty was about to launch into another one of her tirades before she saw the hurt look on her mother’s face. “I’m…I’m sorry, Mother. I know how much it wounds you,” she said, reaching out to the older mare.

Rarity said nothing, save to grab her daughter’s hoof and hold it firmly. “Dearest, you should know that in the end, your father and I have moved beyond that and—” Rarity stopped as somepony tapped her on the shoulder; she turned around to see a member of her staff standing right behind her. “Is there something the matter, Swift Wind?” she asked.

Swift Wind passed a scroll over to Rarity with his wings. “Your grace, we just received this five minutes ago from the Mage Guild.”

Rarity looked at the scroll, and just from the wax seal on it knew what it was: Knight business, the first time in years. Using her magic, she undid the scroll and read. A few seconds later, she closed the scroll and looked back at her messenger. “Have the staff send a message to the Archmagus that I will be there tonight.” As he departed, Rarity turned to Minty and put on her best smile. “Dearest daughter, I’m sorry to say you’ll have to go out to dinner with your father without me,” she explained. “Important meeting tonight – Knight business, I’m afraid.”

“Can’t it wait?” Minty asked.

“I’ll talk to your aunts and see if they’ll join us for dinner, but I’m afraid that likely won’t be the case; you know how Twilight can be,” Rarity reminded her daughter. “But I’m here with you now, and we have all the afternoon to spend together and I cleared my busy schedule just to spend time with you, dearest one,” the mare said, reaching over to kiss her daughter on the cheek just before the waiter arrived to take their orders.

It was a clear night, as Rarity teleported onto the palace grounds. As she arrived, in the distance she could see Celestia standing on one of the balconies, enjoying the beautiful evening sky. Rarity waved briefly before she found herself teleported to the side of her liegelady and sister royal.

“Hello, Rarity,” Celestia said, nuzzling the smaller mare. “How are you tonight?”

“Rather cross with you all, to be honest,” Rarity told Celestia. The days when they were merely princess and subject were long gone, and Celestia had long ago treated the others as near-equals, separated only by the things even love could not bridge. “Today’s Minty’s birthday, or had you forgotten?”

“I hadn’t,” Celestia assured her. “I promise you none of us did. In fact, when she returns home, there’s a huge gift I sent her along with a profuse apology for missing dinner tonight – Silversteel’s actual plan was to bring her blindfolded to the castle so we could all have dinner with her. As it is, because of this sudden emergency, the stallions were left to entertain the charming young lady.” The alicorn princess grinned. “You know if it weren’t for the fact that she’s married, a single stallion could get jealous with her having so many males around her.”

Rarity giggled. “I suppose – but then again, those are her uncles we’re talking about. They’re all much older than her, and in Spike’s case, not even a pony. I fear that non-existent suitor will just have to keep waiting,” Rarity drolled, “unless you were planning to make a play.”

Celestia shook her head. “Rarity, you know I don’t date. I don’t have the time…and truth be told, I don’t have the inclination. I leave that to Luna or Cadance, should she ever decide to seek love again.”

Rarity paused, the urgency of the situation forgotten. Looking at the princess, she said, “Celestia, despite everything and all the years, all we’ve ever wanted for you is the best. And I don’t know who or what was in your past, but…everypony needs someone to love. I’ve told that to Twilight, and I’ve said the same to Luna as well. And immortal or not, you’re due for the same advice.”

Celestia smiled. “Well, aren’t we getting a bit cheeky in our old age, my little pony?”

Rarity returned the grin. “Only if I was talking to the princess, or my liegelady. But instead I’m merely talking to the eldest of my sisters, who I love dearly and want to see happy.”

“Maybe someday, Rarity,” Celestia continued as they walked down the hall. “Maybe someday.” The pair fell silent for a few as they walked around the perimeter of the castle, towards the southern tower. Once, the great white spire had been Twilight’s apartments when she was just Celestia’s student. But now, as an Archmagus with a sizable mansion not too far from the castle, the old tower had been turned into a de facto headquarters for the Knights Elemental, with separate living spaces for the six and various compartments necessary for their duties as Bearers. As they reached the door leading to the elevator, a sky-blue and olive-green blur suddenly came to a stop next to them, the rainbow-hued contrail dissipating in an instant.

“Oh, man, it feels great to be flying again!” Rainbow Dash crowed, standing upright in her flightsuit. Then turning to Celestia, “Sorry, would have been here sooner, but I had some cocky punk bet that they could outfly me. I laughed – I am the greatest flyer in Equestria, after all – but just to make it fair we decided on a mock dogfight in the 23s. Oh, I swear, if I wasn’t taped to a desk all the time, I’d be in the air all the time.”

Rarity rolled her eyes; she’d long gotten used to Rainbow’s boasting over the years. “Rainbow, dear, aren’t you going to change out of that dreadful uniform? It really doesn’t bring out your colors.”

“Sorry, Rares, but rules are rules, and since I’m the gal who signs them even I’ve got to follow them – or else my boss might just think her Minister of Defense is slacking off,” the pegasus said with a wink to Celestia as the trio entered the elevator. “But anyway, I won, hands down.”

“Oh? What was the bet?” Celestia asked.

“Well, I really shouldn’t tell. Gambling in uniform and all – unbecoming of a flag officer,” Rainbow said, a grin on her face. When the other two mares just stared at her, she laughed and said, “Well, okay: it was a non-monetary bet, so okay under regulations, I promise.” When that didn’t get them to stop, she grinned and said, “I’m going to have another foal.”

Both mares instantly hugged Rainbow. “Congratulations!”

Rainbow waved it off. “Hold on, hold on, not just yet. The bet was to get Soarin’ to agree that we should have another foal. He said Blitz was more than enough, and he was willing to outrace me to prove it. Well, one thing led to another and….” She blushed. “The duel in the 23s was strictly formal. He, uh, wanted to make sure that just in case I’m with foal, I don’t get hurt.”

“Wise move,” Celestia said, looking intently at Rainbow. She then bent over and whispered something to Rainbow, whose eyes went wide. The sun alicorn nodded slightly and said, “Nearly a month now, if my guess is right. Congratulations, Rainbow.”

“Wow…a filly,” the pegasus said, a sloppy grin on her face. “Wait ‘til Soarin’ hears about it.”

Rarity was going to say something further, but then the elevator reached its destination. The trio stepped out to find Luna standing there, waiting for them. “The rest are already in the conference room.”

Celestia smiled. “Rainbow has some big news for us all.”

But the look on Luna’s face was sober. “Not as much as I have for you all, I’m afraid.”

A few seconds later, the four entered the conference room, taking quick seats. The rest were there, and the first couple of minutes were spent on pleasantries, from discussions of how the girls were going to make it up to Minty for missing her birthday dinner, to Fluttershy’s perpetual crusade on trying to improve the adoption situation in Equestria. Then Rainbow gave her news and the other seven immediately enveloped the Element of Loyalty in hugs and congratulations.

“Thanks, all,” she said, laughing right after Twilight had transformed the pegasus’ chair into a giant bean bag so it wouldn’t be so hard on her body. “But seriously, Twi, it’s early in the term. I’m not an invalid yet.”

“And it’s a good thing you’re not,” Luna said, finally getting the meeting to a start, since she’d been the one who called it. “Ladies, we have a considerable problem on our hands: Nightmare Moon is back.”

The room suddenly went silent before a voice cried out, “WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?” That came from Pinkie Pie, who was intently staring at her phone before setting it down and saying, “I’m having a hard time beating the boss on this level.” Turning off her phone, she then looked at Luna and said, “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” the night alicorn said, her voice wavering. “I…I’ll never truly be free of her, so I know when she’s up to something. I can feel it. Always,” she said, turning away from her loved ones and walking away from the desk. “When you saved me so long ago, I’d hoped that it was the end of her. But it wasn’t. And just as I agreed to the pact that imprisoned me so long ago, so too now has somepony else damned herself by agreeing to be her host.”

A curious look crossed Applejack’s face. “Luna, Ah dun get it. Surely nopony’s gunna be that dumb, right? Ah mean, she’s th’ ‘mbodimn’t of evil an’ all.”

“But she’s a seductress, AJ. She says what she needs to in order to get onto your side. And by the time you realize what’s going on, she’s already in control. And if an immortal like me was powerless against her,” Luna said, her eyes starting to tear at the horrific memories of the past, “just imagine the full power of the Black Terror.”

“Don’t worry, Luna,” Rainbow promised. “We’ll get her and we’ll purify the pony, save the day and we can all get back to normal in a jiff.”

Seated at the far end of the table, Twilight finally spoke. “I don’t think it’s that easy, Rainbow,” the archmagus replied. “As it was, we beat her and only so because Luna was willing to fight against her from within. I don’t think we’ve really seen the true capabilities of the Nightmare.”

“You haven’t,” Luna said. “That day you freed me I fought her just as much as you did, and it was only through the division of her attention that you all saved me. But understand this: the Nightmare is powered by despair and suffering – in that way, she’s worse than any of Chrysalis’ changelings ever were.” The dusky princess went over to her bright as day sister and leaned against her for strength. “The Nightmare…she did horrible, terrible things to me while I was in her thrall, things I literally cannot say. I know her secrets, her innermost thoughts, and I am bound by a geas that not even Tia can break. And I live with that nightmare, unwillingly, every day.

“And this is worse – a thousand times worse. The pony that gave herself to the Nightmare did so freely and of her own accord – which means she willingly endures everything I ever railed against. She willingly allows every cruel and malicious thing the Nightmare does, just so that pony can get her dark desires. And that willing offer gives the Nightmare, horrifically enough, possibly more power than she had from when she was ra…stealing it from me.”

The others caught Luna’s near slip of the tongue and began to realize just how much they’d never been told about the younger princess’ ordeal. Twilight went over to the dusky alicorn and said, “I promise you, Luna, she won’t ever touch you again. You have my word.”

“I’m not sure you can,” Luna said, crying even as she gratefully nuzzled Twilight, “but I love you for that, Twi – I love you all. But you don’t understand what’s at stake. You defeated her once—”

“And we’ll do it again!” Rainbow said, slapping a hoof down on the table.

“—but you six did it as single mares over four decades ago,” Luna reminded them. “You have spouses and foals now – and grandfoals, in Rarity’s case. The game has changed.”

The room went deathly quiet as the information sank in. And just as quietly as it became, it was suddenly pierced by the ominous comment of, “Then we kill her.” All faces turned to the source of that voice: astonishingly, Fluttershy. And the look on her face was one of threat.

“Fluttershy!” Celestia said, shocked.

“Yes, I mean it,” she said, her voice taking on a sad cast. “If she’s as big a threat as you say she is, Luna, then we don’t have much choice. I realize that coming from me, it sounds, well, awful—”

“Awful is right!” Twilight retorted. “Honestly, it’s almost as bad as the time you suggested that Discord could be redeemed.”

“I still think he could,” Fluttershy insisted, “but this isn’t about him. And, please, hear me out. In all these years, we’ve all become more than friends – we’re sisters now, and I love you all more than I can say. And that love extends to our growing circle: our husbands and our foals as well. And I don’t want to see a single one of you hurt.” But her eyes grew hard again as she said, “But I won’t let anypony hurt my family – I refuse to let it happen. And if the unthinkable has to happen, then let it happen.” She looked completely broken as she added, “We…we’ve lost too much in our family already, lost too many friends. I will not ever let it happen again.”

“But Fluttershy – you’re the Element of Kindness!” Celestia gasped, completely aghast at her decision. “Surely—”

“She’s right,” Rainbow replied, looking down at her stomach. “I’m with foal now, going to be a mother again – I’m carrying your niece, all of you. She deserves a life – I just found out, Soarin’ doesn’t even know yet, and we haven’t even thought of names. But my foal deserves a life! And if you’re right, Luna, every single one of us is in the crosshairs. Including my foal.” She then looked at Rarity and added, “And your grandfoals too, Rares – both Gumdrop and Elusive’s unborn ones.”

“That’s ‘nough fer me,” Applejack said. “Ah’ve herd ‘enough, an’ Ah agree with Flutt’rshy an’ Rainbow. Mah li’l Apple Bushel’s just a youngin’. He’s jus’ six, an’ he d’serves t’ grow up an’ find his own filly t’ love. An’ he can’t do that if’n he’s threatened. An Ah won’ let that happen. Not to him, or any o’ y’all’s.”

“I can’t agree to this,” Twilight said. “We’re defenders, not soldiers. It’s our job to be guardians and protect, not to go out and avenge wrongs. What if we’d killed Nightmare Moon the first time? Then what? Basil? Discord? Chrysalis? Sombra? There’s a saying in the human world that I think applies: ‘be careful when hunting monsters that you don’t become one yourself.’” She shook her head. “As the leader, I vote no.”

“Twilight’s right,” Rarity agreed. “I wouldn’t want any of us to be harmed by that dreadful Nightmare Moon. But becoming as bad as her isn’t the solution, girls. Rainbow, you’re the only soldier out of the six of us, but as a Knight, you’re a protector. And as a protector, I for one would give my life to protect any one of you – or any one of ours. But I can’t see the value of taking a life for that reason.”

“I agree with Twilight and Rarity,” Celestia answered. “Long ago I was just as much a warrior as I was a leader. And I’ve taken countless lives, many of which have even been ponies.” The others, save for Luna, looked at her in shock. “It was a different age, and back then it was often the only solution…but I grieved whenever I did so, because I knew each time I took a life, it was something that my mother would have done without resorting to bloodshed. And after Moonfall, I swore I would never take a life ever again. And as my personal hoofmaidens of battle and as your princess I cannot condone it – but as a member of this family, I won’t gainsay the final decision. We’ve lost as much as we’ve gained and I never want to see tears in your eyes again, any of you.”

“You already know my decision,” Luna replied. “If we don’t stop her, she could be a threat to us all.”

“Pinkie,” Twilight asked, “we haven’t heard your opinion.”

Pinkie had her tongue partially stuck out of her mouth as she muttered, “I’m going to get you yet, you Meanie Mr. Greenie!” Her eyes then suddenly widened and she moaned, “Oh no, my battery’s running out! Quick, does anyone have a chargepad I can borrow?” The other seven mares looked at Pinkie in astonishment; had the pink party pony ignored the entire conversation the whole time? Meanwhile, Pinkie continued to focus on her game as she muttered, “Y’know, if I had to hazard a guess, the only way to beat this bad guy is to kill him – that is, if I can figure out what spell to use on him. I mean, he’s darkness and light should be the opposite and just use Holy Level III to do the job, right, right? But…what if it isn’t working? And what if I make a mistake and screw up because I should have killed him using Blessed Heal Level IV?”

“Uh, Pinks, yer kinda not makin’ any sense,” Applejack said.

“Oh, but what if he’s really just pretending to be Dark and his power is Light? Then using Holy Level III wouldn’t hurt him at all and I’d have to switch to Arcana Fire Level V to do the job. Oh, I don’t know…wait – maybe if I look it up on that one website that has all the cheats? Quick, what’s the name of that GameFAQs page again?”

Rainbow groaned. “Great, just great – she hasn’t heard a word we’ve said!”

“Or maybe she did,” Celestia replied, “and this is her way of saying she doesn’t want to make that sort of decision.” Celestia was rewarded with the briefest of smiles from the pink party pony before she returned back to her iPhone challenge. Understanding that, the vote had come in favor of doing the unthinkable. And with that act, the sun princess feared, something critical had changed amongst her six Knights, a change that could shift the balance of harmony away.

As the eight adjourned the meeting to catch up with the rest of Minty’s party, Celestia asked Twilight to stand by for a second. While the others left, the sun princess said, “I have a grave feeling about this, Twilight. I’m afraid I can’t understand their motives – especially Fluttershy. I know what she’s saying but…for the first time, I just cannot comprehend.”

“Maybe it’s because we lost so much. It’s only been a few years since Apple Bloom’s miscarriage and that easily brings to mind Fluttershy’s own. Plus, my brother’s death, several of our parents, and, of course, DJ’s choice to remain in the human world instead of with Rarity probably also factor into the decision.”

“Sometimes I wonder how my mother would have handled all of this,” Celestia ruminated. “She abdicated and left so long ago; I was barely a teen by pony standards, having to raise Luna up from foalhood. To this day I’ll never know why she left – I suspect Discord knows, but if we set him loose again I doubt he’d be so forthcoming.”

“You’re being cryptic,” Twilight softly accused her mentor.

“Sorry, Twilight,” Celestia said with a smile. “I guess I just have a bad feeling about this one. There’s something about Luna’s warning that sounds more ominous than what we’ve faced before – but I’m confident you’ll come out on top. In truth, I hope Luna’s fears are just that – fears, and that when tomorrow comes, things will be that much brighter.” Nuzzling her protégé, the sun princess and the archmagus walked towards the elevator, intending to at least catch the tail end of the party.

In the deepest part of the western Equestriani desert known as the Badlands, in a mostly-forgotten cave system that had last seen use back during the Moonfall War, a sleek black, chitinous figure stood, its surface marked with pocks and holes. A threadbare mane in hues of teal and jungle-green, impossibly pocked with as many holes as the body, cascaded down the owner’s back; ragged wings and a strangely intact carapace akin in appearance to a saddle also held those verdant shades. Strangely-reptilian eyes in the same color looked out at the surroundings, and the fanged mouth below it twitched into a smile. For years now, Chrysalis, Queen-Mother of her hive, had been forced to live a wretched existence out where life was harsh and species were few. Her numbers had been drastically culled since her brutal defeat in Canterlot so long ago, and those remaining numbers culled even more by Celestia’s forces repeatedly hitting Chrysalis’ hive when she rose to face her foe once more. But in the end, the queen-mother of the changelings persevered and slowly grew her forces.

There had, however, been some…unacceptable losses. It had been fifteen years ago that the stallion she seduced, Shining Armor, had fallen from inhaling nutrient fluids for changeling nymphs – fluids which, to ponies, were pure poison. At his loss, Chrysalis found herself grieving; she’d spent only a few weeks with the stallion, but the time had been as close to love as a changeling could ever get. Had she conquered Canterlot, she’d have definitely made him her consort. Perhaps they would have even been happy enough together that she wouldn’t have needed to control him. But now he was gone and the one thing in her life that had any meaning to her outside of the hive went with him…

…save for their offspring. One of the interesting things about being a queen was the capability to store certain essences for later, and after mating with him, something in the hivemind told her that was one of those times. It had proved to be provident, as now she’d laid the last of the eggs that had created a new type of changeling, one filled with the power and advantages of ponies while retaining the strengths and abilities of changelings. She’d named them “pepsis warriors”, in honor of Empress Pepsis, the ancient changeling monarch who had conquered the whole world at the time before she was slain by the treachery of the ancient alicorn Faust. In this way, Chrysalis’ pepsis would bring ruin and death back to ponydom and serve as metaphorical revenge for the fallen changeling empress.

But in the past fifteen years, there had been many changes. A whole new world had been opened to them and an entirely new race had been discovered in this new reality: humans, mythological monsters from pony legends. She’d managed to send scouts into the new world to find potential allies with other species on that other Earth. To her surprise, two things occurred: one, these humans were the only sapient race on their world; and two, some of them expressed interest in working with various species. A little more digging found like-minded humans…well, like-minded in that they were willing to work with her and didn’t care what she was so long as the pay was good.

The oldest of her pepsis, a stallion she’d named Blood Armor, peered into the egg at his youngest sibling. “This will not do,” he muttered. “He looks like another failure, just as much as the several of the others.”

“Then do something about it, my son,” she told him. “You are my general and I have given you the authority to separate your siblings from mere subjects; I know you have already done so to some degree. The lesser ones can be dispersed amongst the regular brood.”

“Good. I suggest we get rid of that one, first.” He pointed towards the back corner, where a dark purple pepsis sat. Unlike the hardened and stern looks of most of the pepsis, hers was one of a far different cast. Blood Armor wasn’t sure what it was; only that it repulsed him on an elemental level.

“Save her, for now. We may have use for her. One of the demands from our principal human ally was, in addition to flight of our regular changelings, an advisor to assist him with our forces. I have no problem getting rid of her in this matter.”

“Then it shall be so.” He signaled to two other pepsis he’d already accepted as siblings and the two went to deal with the weakling. They’d then pick a group of marginally functional changeling drones and then send them on their way to human Earth. Once that was done, he turned back to Chrysalis and intoned, “We are ready for our next course of action, Mother.”

Chrysalis gave her son a nod, before unfurling her wings and stretching the tattered appendages slightly. “Signal the brood that we are soon to move out. We merely wait for a sign from our other ally.”

“Then I have come to give you that sign.” A burning flare of indigo and ebon flame appeared before the queen-mother of the changelings. The flame warped and wavered until it took the shape of a large quadruped, larger than Chrysalis herself, before turning into a black alicorn, mane and tail seemly made of pure darkfire. Here stood Nightmare Moon, larger and stronger than she’d ever been before. Chrysalis herself was roughly the same size as Celestia, and yet the changeling queen was dwarfed by the demonic alicorn. “Are your troops ready?”

“They are, if you can deal with Celestia’s little band of annoying fillies,” Chrysalis replied. “Taking Fillydelphia will be nymph’s play. Keeping both the Knights Elemental and the Equestriani military off our carapaces? Not so much.”

Nightmare Moon laughed, a cold, bitter sound. “And you’re seriously worried about that? My host isn’t some simpering little princess with a jealousy problem this time; oh, no. My new host burns with anger, well-nursed for quite some time. Did you know she willingly gave herself to me? She’s willing to endure anything – anything – so long as she has her revenge. And it is that burning hate that makes me more powerful than Faust herself. I will enjoy breaking both Celestia and Luna once more. Of course, as promised, I will leave Cadance for your designs as a gesture of our…partnership.”

“And what of our human allies?” Chrysalis inquired.

“I will attend to the go-between; you needn’t worry. Several groups are willing to work with us, not the least of which being a small fanatical group with the curious name of La Republica dei Pirati – their leader is a flashy individual by the name of Ghino di Tacco. Ruthless yet suave. My sort of individual – a shame he’s not a stallion. Nevertheless, he will be our main contact between our forces and the human side.”

“And you’re sure these groups will work with us?”

“Absolutely. They’re willing to work for as many gemstones as they can get their hands on. You see, while here on our Earth gems are but ten bits a dozen, over there they’re extremely rare and extremely valuable. A mere 50-karat gem, something we use as nothing more than a doorstop, is worth a realm over there. We could simply buy the whole planet with what you could find here in this cave, but that would be far, far too easy.”

“I suppose,” Chrysalis replied. She wasn’t concerned about things such as gems – the opportunity for a new world, and the fact that human emotions were far stronger than anything on this Earth completely enraptured her. That was the true prize – enough emotional food to give her the power she so richly deserved. And if there was the human world, surely there just might be others….

“We’ll attack in two days,” Chrysalis said. “I hope you’ll hold up your end of the bargain.”

Nightmare Moon smiled, though there were no positive emotions in that rictus. “You needn’t worry. By the end of the week, the Knights Elemental will be dead and the Equestriani military destroyed. Canterlot will burn soon and once Faust’s dear, sweet daughters are personally slaughtered under my hooves, my vengeance will only have just started.”

“Dash!” An angry pegasus stormed through the offices of the Ministry of Defense. “Dash, get your plot out here, you harridelle!” Anypony approaching her was suddenly stared down and went away. “Dash, get your Celestia-damn plot out here now or I swear I’m gonna—”

“You’re already pushing being relieved of duty, General,” Rainbow Dash said as she entered the anteroom leading to her office. “Now, I expect one of my senior Air Force officers to compunct herself with proper decorum.”

The other pony laughed. “Compunct? Proper decorum? How many years did it take for you to learn how to pronounce those, much less use them in a sentence?”

Rainbow pointed to her office. “In there. Now. Direct order.” The other pony skulked in, followed shortly by Rainbow before she closed the door and activated the soundproofing spell. “Now, you want to give me a good reason why I shouldn’t just cashier your butt out of my military, Dust?”

BGEN Lightning Dust, REAF, ignored the statement, instead choosing to glare at her rival and frenemy with anger. “Why did you ground my wing? I’ve been getting my squadrons ready for peak combat performance and you just ground them? What the buck is your problem?”

“For one, Lightning, I’m going to let that comment slide, but that’s the only one you get. Secondly, it was Spitfire that grounded your squadron – she’s the Air Force Chief of Staff and I back her decision, especially when I read the reports. You did read all the reports that the legal squadron in your wing provided me, right?” Rainbow slapped a hoof on the table. “You’re always taking dangerous shortcuts – always! I’m reading these reports – the ponies under your command are overworked, have too high an accident record and their morale is subterranean! As the Wing Commander, that’s your fault!”

“And since when do we coddle our troops, Dash? They need to be ready for war!”

“Against who? Against what? Yeah, sure, we do some peacekeeping missions as part of our NATO commitments and our UN obligations, but really? War? Are you out of your mind? Other than the occasional skirmish against changeling hives, there’s nothing for our troops to do save to train for future possibilities – not get geared up for one now!”

“And what happens if we get caught with our tails hanging, huh? Is the big bad Knight Elemental going to come and solve our problems? Mark my word – one of these days there’s going to be a problem you Knights can’t solve. And it’s going to be up to the military to deal with it and we’re going to have our plots handed to us because none of our troops are ready!”

“They’re ready,” Rainbow snarled, “but not at this price.” Rainbow picked up one of the folders on her desk and began to read. “Tech Sergeant Magic Mint. He’s a senior aircraft technician for one of your squadrons. Well, he was – his squadron leader busted him down in rank. And why, you may wonder – after all, you probably are wondering since it was your deputy who signed off on the punishment review and not you directly. Well, I’ll tell you why. It’s because the stallion was so overworked, he had a CMFIS, went home and beat his wife to the point that a month later, she’s still hospitalized. And you know who I blame for that? You. Because none of these punishment reports – not a single Celestia-blessed one – has your signature on it. Which means you aren’t watching out for morale problems in your command – and you don’t give a damn about the mares and stallions under your leadership.

“To me that’s a huge failure in trust and loyalty – and in case you weren’t aware, loyalty just happens to be a personal interest of mine.” Rainbow leaned forward and said in low, dangerous tones, “But because I give a damn about loyalty, I let Spitfire just ground your wing so you can straighten things out instead of relieving you of command, which is the thing I should do! So you get back to your office, straighten this featherball up or we will talk again – and you’ll be filling out retirement paperwork faster than you can fly, understood?”

“Rainbow, you’re making a huge mista—”

“Do I make myself clear, General?”

Lightning Dust snarled, “Crystal, ma’am.” Nothing further to say, she walked out of the office, making sure to slam the door as she left.

As Dust departed, Rainbow shook her head. She actually thinks we’re going to be at war? Rainbow then remembered Luna’s warnings about Nighhtmare Moon. Well, we beat her once, we can do it again. Let her come at us – we’ll wipe the wall with her. She then sat back down and decided to get back to work; all the stress wasn’t going to do the newly-expectant mother any bit of good.

Six in the morning. Yawning and half-awake, Minty stumbled downstairs to the kitchen. She had to get breakfast started so she could see her little filly off to school this morning, then wake up Toffee so they could start on getting ready for the day. With Hearts and Hooves Day just around the corner and Gumdrop’s school play tonight, they’d have to make up for lost time. But it was worth it: just time spent with her family was a precious moment, and she couldn’t imagine any other life – especially not one letting humans mate in every hole a mare had, like her so-called sister.

Just as quickly as the anger set in, Minty let it go. She had a charmed life, a thriving business, the best stallion in the world as her husband and the most wonderful daughter a mare could ever ask for. Life was perfect and focusing on that was the key for happiness in life, not anything else. Satisfied that such was the case, she decided to open the front door to the domicile part of the building; the milk delivery cows should have already dropped off today’s supply, and good thing, too – she was going to be using a lot of it in the milk chocolate batches she’d need to whip up today.

Opening the door, Minty looked at the dark clouds above. The weather was supposed to be sunny today; the local weather factory was closed for maintenance so clear skies were supposed to be the norm for the next couple of weeks, unless the central facility at Cloudsdale had shipped in some rainclouds or….

The clouds then broke apart, and somepony screamed as hundreds of thousands of changelings descended on Fillydelphia.

Shortly after the attack began in Fillydelphia, alarms rang in Canterlot. Twilight rose from her bed in a flash, rushing downstairs, bed head and all. Following proper protocol, she raced towards the portal room she had in her home, then jumped through it…

…ending up in the top of the Knights tower, several hundred yards away. A sizable room in the seventh floor of the tower, the Mage Guild Emergency Center, was staffed 24/7 by a specialized team of Twilight’s mages, just as the military did with EQMILCOM, Equestria Military Command. While the introduction of human methods of detection, surveillance and crisis management made it far easier to keep an eye out for trouble than had been in the past – before First Contact, it had taken at least a day to hear about what Discord did to their hometown of Ponyville, for example – but it also came with disquieting costs: during a tour of the U.S. Third Fleet Command Center a few years back, the admiral giving her the tour admitted that constant surveillance was a disquieting cost, and that, sadly, some countries on human-Earth used the same tech to spy on their own people.

Fortunately, when both the MGEC and EQMILCOM were created, Twilight insisted no such surveillance would take place on their own citizens, and to her knowledge nothing of the sort had ever occurred. That didn’t mean, of course, that there weren’t tripwires out there, and as proven now, those tripwires came in handy.

As she arrived on station, one of her senior officers turned to her. “Archmagus, we’ve just received word that there’s been a changeling invasion of Fillydelphia.”

“Fillydelphia?” Twilight asked. The moment he’d said that, a pit sank in her stomach: Minty and her family lived there and while there was some concern obviously for the innocent populace, family was paramount in the unicorn’s mind. “What measures have been taken?”

“We cannot get a hold of either the sheriff’s office or the local mage office. It’s safe to say that this may have already escalated from our control to that of the military’s,” the watch officer replied.

“It has,” Luna’s voice replied behind her; Twilight turned around and knew while the middle alicorn was usually up at this time of night, she was on edge moreso than usual. “Is the military monitoring? And where are the other Knights?”

Another watchstander looked up from her position. “We have a preliminary report from the MOD. The naval base was attacked and while several ships have gotten away, three destroyers have been sunk in the harbor. Fighters from the nearest airbases are scrambling and the local Army garrison is readying for a strike.” She looked at the screen again, and then was taken aback as she then turned and said, “Preliminary reports are sketchy, but scouts already on the scene have reported upwards of….” She looked at the screen once more to make sure she was reading it right before saying, “350,000 changeling drones.”

“350,000? That’s outright war!” Luna gasped.

“Yes, last time they only hit Canterlot with 50,000, and we were overwhelmed.” Celestia walked in, her eyes glinting with anger. “Chrysalis chose a bad time to do this, assuming it’s her.” Turning to the watch officer, she barked, “What’s the status of helping those fleeing the city?”

“It’s disorganized, ma’am. Ponies are running in every direction possible, and with the military assault in the works, we won’t be able to get relief supplies there fast enough.”

“Then have the military stand down and inform EQMILCOM this is a Knight matter,” Celestia replied. Turning to Luna, she said, “Find Cadance. We have to get there and calm the citizens immediately.” Luna nodded just long enough before teleporting away to her niece’s home. Turning to Twilight, she said, “I leave it in your capable hooves, Twilight,” before teleporting away towards Fillydelphia.

Twilight ordered, “What’s the status of the other Knights?”

“Lady Knights Rarity and Applejack have just entered the tower,” the watchpony responded, “and Lady Knight Rainbow Dash is at EQMILCOM monitoring the situation. Ponyville Army Airfield is prepping a helicopter so that Lady Knights Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie can be brought here immediately.”

“We’ve got an incoming video feed from EQMILCOM,” another tech replied. “Putting it on screen six.” In bottom right corner of the display setup was an image of the Equestria Military Command Control Center, and seated in a central chair was Rainbow Dash, the look on her face one of restrained anger. Just above that was a camera feed from Ponyville AAF, with the helicopter cycled up and two ponies climbing onboard.

“Twilight, I’m going to have a bird prepped for us just as soon as the others touch down,” Rainbow spoke over the intercom; as the others arrived, watching her in her element, it was sobering how much she’d changed: the brash young mare Twilight had once known so long ago was now an effective military leader, having studied so under both Twilight’s now-deceased brother Shining Armor as well as various military commanders on human-Earth. But they had all changed in the four decades they’d known each other now.

“Can we have them catch up with us in mid-flight?” Applejack asked as she came in. She looked as though she needed a cup of coffee bad, but in the subsequent years since she was no longer in charge of the farm and instead a government official, she’d adjusted to the normal hours most ponies had.

“We can do that,” Rainbow responded, issuing the order. “Meet by the castle helipad in ten minutes and we’ll see you there. EQMILCOM out.” The visual connection remained on, however, while Rainbow leapt out of the chair and raced towards the room exit. Both mares took the cue and headed for the elevator taking them down to the main floor of the tower.

At the bottom floor, Rarity was standing there, her face a mask of barely concealed rage. “Twilight, promise me this won’t happen again,” she said, her deep blue eyes radiating worry and hatred. “Promise me I won’t ever lose another daughter again.”

Applejack went over and nuzzled the soft gray mare. “Y’know Twi an’ Ah’ll do ev’rythin’ t’ save Minty an’ her family. Y’know that.”

“Just like twenty years ago?” Rarity hissed.

“Rarity, please,” Twilight said, throwing up her forelegs in a sign of placation. “This isn’t the time for this. You know I won’t let anything happen to her. But we need to be united.”

Rarity turned away. “I’m…sorry, Twilight. Old scars never truly heal.” Nothing else to say that wouldn’t cause further argument, the trio raced through the castle, headed towards the helipad.

“I’m here, Rainbow,” Spitfire said as she arrived at the Ministry of Defense, ready to take Rainbow’s place in the command center. “What’s your orders?”

“We should be able to handle it; Twilight learned the shield spell from her brother,” Rainbow said. “But if something does go down, send in every available force on the eastern seaboard. The 17th Fighter Wing and Naval Strike Fighter Group One will need to do the heavy lifting. Then have Silversteel go in with the 86th Infantry Division and take the city back.”

“Roger that. What about Situation Firestarter?”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that,” Rainbow replied, “but if it does, inform the Royal Household.”

“That’d be you, right?” Spitfire teased.

“No, I’m part of the Royal Family – slight difference. But you know what I mean.” Rainbow was about to head out of the building. Just before she took to the air to head to the castle helipad, she said, “Oh, and swap out the 17th for the 23rd.”

“But we grounded Lightning!” Spitfire said.

“Yeah, we did. And Celestiadammit, she was right,” Rainbow admitted; after all these years, admitting mistakes was never easy for her. “Looks like her callsign of Cassandra is turning out to be spot on.”

Spitfire became even more confused. “Uh, Rainbow? What’s a ‘Cassandra’?”

“Ooooh! When do we get to ride that, Mom?” Surprise bounced up and down, an excitable white pegasus. Behind her, her twin brother Bubble Berry was watching the rotors of the helicopter, trying to count the rotations.

“Hey, that’s a great idea!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Then we can have a ‘Family Helicopter Ride’ party!”

That was enough to tear Bub’s attention away from the rotors. Grabbing his sister, he said, “Let’s go get the stuff right now!” She nodded in agreement, and before anything else can be said, the duo rocketed back towards downtown Ponyville to see if the party shop was open and if not, to get the owner to open it.

“Well,” Thunderlane chuckled, watching his foals simultaneously somehow race and skip down the street at the same time, “that should keep them busy until you two are in the air.”

The smile fell from Pinkie’s face. “Take care of them, love,” she said, kissing her husband. She looked serious all of a sudden, and when Pinkie was serious, things were never good.

“Ah’ll watch ‘em,” Big Mac promised, clapping Thunderlane on the back. “Don’ worry, either o’ you. Jus’ y’all come home safely, y’ hear?”

“I will,” Fluttershy promised, wrapping her forelegs around her husband. “Maybe this isn’t as serious as it seems,” the yellow pegasus said, though the unspoken realization that a helicopter was ordered to take them to Canterlot was a pretty good sign of how things were proceeding.

“We’re ready to take off whenever you are, ladies,” a member of the flight crew shouted out. Looking at their spouses, both mares gave them comforting grins before hopping into the helicopter, an AS365 Dauphin, bearing REA markings. A few seconds later, the helicopter tore into the sky, lights blinking as it cut its way through the nighttime air, headed towards Canterlot.

“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Thunderlane asked his friend.

“Y’ worry too much,” Big Mac assured him. “They’ll be alright. Th’ girls’ve bin thru worse spells, an’ Ah reckon they’ll git thru this’n.”

Scootaloo’s eyes blinked as she tried to down a cup of coffee to wake herself up. She was needed in the air in the next hour, with her fighter squadron serving point. She sighed; so much for tonight’s plans. “Sorry, hon,” she said, looking at her husband.

“It’s okay, Scoots,” Featherweight said, though he didn’t look it. “If Rainbow needs you on point, it’s gotta be a good reason. Just…tell her that she’s going to have to wait that much longer for us to have a kid now.”

Scoots laughed as she downed the rest of her cup and went to throw on her flightsuit. This would be the last time she’d lead her squadron in the air; she was to transfer next month to a new unit so that she and Featherweight could have more time to work on that family. She’d begged Rainbow to do it and Scoot’s pseudo-older sister willing to oblige. But as she slipped on the flight suit, Scootaloo had to wonder if that was a good idea or not. She was one of the best F-23 pilots the REAF had, and Scoot’s own commander, Lightning Dust, always begrudged her that.

But it’s almost time for the next generation to take over, Scootaloo thought. It was time for someone to be the Scootaloo to her own Rainbow Dash, and her usual pain-in-the-plot nephew Rainbow Blitz was too old for that role now. In truth, maybe it was time for her to have a foal so that Blitz could have the same headaches that his mother once did in dealing with her biggest fan.

Kissing her husband, Scootaloo left the house and took to the skies, heading towards the base. Whatever this crisis was, it’d be over by tomorrow and then everything could get back to normal – or as normal as what passed for normal in their busy lives.

Standing on what was the tallest building in Fillydelphia, Chrysalis directed the utter destruction of the town square to lay down plans for a massive birthing chamber. I have a mere third of a million drones at my command, she said, but when I am done, I will own this world and prepare to take the next.

The queen of the changelings felt a presence behind her as a Nightmare Moon’s voice announced, “We have guests at hand.” She pointed towards the distance and the glowing lights of gold, cyan and cobalt visible even from this far. Miles away, caring for the refugees, the auras of the three princesses tended to the former residents of Fillydelphia as they sought refuge, but in using their auras this strongly, the triumvirate was sending a signal: we’re coming for you and this is your only warning.

“Such a foolish display of power,” Nightmare Moon chuckled. “They should have struck when they had the chance. But in their strutting peacock of a display, they waste valuable time in coming to kill us, my ally.”

“You desire them to kill us?” Chrysalis asked. She knew that wasn’t the case, but she wanted to know what was on the demonic alicorn’s mind.

“I desire them to try,” she said, off-hoofedly. “I enjoy playing with my prey before I finish them off. I know that seems strange to you, but I assure you, these are mere trifles to be sacrificed. The true challenge will be when we destroy the princesses themselves.”

“And we aren’t doing that now?” Blood Armor said, walking towards them. “If I were either of you, I’d go and tear and rend their flesh from their bones rather than sit here as if you’re having a tea party while weaving a cocoon, serving no purpose in life.”

“And that is why you’re just a whelp,” Nightmare Moon said, “and Blood Armor, should you choose to address me in that manner again, prince or not, foal of your mother or not, I will polish my armor with your ichor, understood?” The prince of the pepsis realized he’d gone too far and nodded; pacified, Nightmare Moon continued. “As I was saying, before we deal with the princesses, we’ll have to deal with her hoofmaidens, first. But this time I’m prepared for the Bearers, and they don’t have the luxury of wimpy little Luna to save them.”

“Are you sure this plan will work?” Chrysalis said. “I’m taking a huge chance on this.”

“Fear not. Now, you command an army. But when this is done, the very multitudes of this world will be under your hoof, begging for your mercy. And knowing you, you shall never deliver it.” Saying nothing more, Nightmare Moon spread her great black wings and rocketed away into the distance, heading out to battle to meet her foes.

“The stars shall aid in her escape,” Nightmare Moon snarled to herself. Not this time, Luna. This time I will crush your stars and you will never escape.

The six alit from their helicopters, the helos hovering just low enough for the Knights to clear before they returned to base. Should the Knights win, the trip to the refugee camp being set up wasn’t too far. If not, the distance was enough that the military retaliation would be far enough from the refugee camp to ensure the civilians’ safety.

“Oh, girls, look!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Aren’t the lights pretty?” A second later, the pink party pony regretted her statement. A split second after that, the others looked on in shock, too: in the distance, the skyline of Fillydelphia was already ablaze. The flames reached above the buildings of the cities, and the roar of the flames masked the screams of those who hadn’t escaped and were dying. A building, weakened by flame, suddenly fell, crashing into a second building before crumbling out of sight.

“Girls,” Twilight said, a steely look coming over the Archmagus’ face. There was a flash of magenta, and her Elemental tiara appeared on her head. Flashes of red, orange, blue, purple and green flickered at the edge of her vision as the others’ necklaces appeared, their Elements ready for battle. “Show yourself!” Twilight thundered. “We know you’re out there, Chrysalis!”

“So little you know,” an all-too familiar voice said sinuously. The voice carried around in the night as a curtain of black fire wove its way around the six. “You can’t even begin to comprehend the situation you’re in.”

“Big deal, so we face you first, Nightmare Moon,” Rainbow snarled. “We beat you once, we can beat you again! And when we’re done, your buddy Chrysalis will be begging us not to kick her flank to the moon!”

“Big words for such a small pony. Mighty words for such a weak, fat and old mare,” the invisible demon said from beside Rainbow. Rainbow turned and snarled in the direction the voice was coming from. “My, how weak you’ve grown, Rainbow Dash. Has trading your wings for a metal coffin enfeebled you so? Has the scourge of the skies fallen and given her title to her son?”

“Leave her be, Nightmare!” Applejack snorted, pawing the ground. “We’ll git you, an’ when we do, yer gonna be in fer a lickin’!”

“Oh, you tease,” Nightmare Moon said as her voice suddenly shifted to where Applejack was standing, though she still couldn’t be seen. “Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.” The statement was crude and Applejack shuddered inwardly; there was something different about Nightmare Moon this time, though she couldn’t pin it down.

“That’s enough, Nightmare! Show yourself!” Twilight roared.

“And Twilight Sparkle. Pretty little pet of Celestia. Pretty little would-be sister to three princesses. Pretty little surrogate daughter to one. Tell me, Twilight, what do you wish for in that heart of yours? Celestia’s trust, or her lips on yours? Or perhaps her between your thighs?”

Twilight blanched. “I never—! I…she….” Twilight felt ill inside. Despite the occasional sordid rumor about mentor and protégé, theirs was a familial relationship and nothing else. Besides, as Celestia once joked, Twilight would have to be considerably more male to even get a glance from the princess like that and Twilight was completely uninterested in romantic entanglements to begin with.

This isn’t the Nightmare Moon we faced before, Twilight realized. There was something far more dangerous about her. Last time, Nightmare Moon was powered by Luna’s insecurities and pain. This time, her host fueled her with something else. Twilight wasn’t sure, but she definitely didn’t want to know what sick mind was at the center of the host fueling Nightmare Moon.

“Shall I tell you what I see?” The flames rose higher, the black flames scorching the ground around them, leaving sickly gray embers. “Once, you defeated me by Harmony. For that, I respected you – you were almost my equals, and I was fueled by a…how shall we say, weakened core. But what do I see now?”

The voice popped over by Pinkie Pie. “I see a mare who resents her friends – her so called sisters royal – for not trusting her with government authority, and not realizing, even after all this time, that she has more talents than known. After all, she turned a single bakery into a national catering company. And yet all her sisters see her as is a one-trick pony whose laughter is no more than one of self-loathing.”

The voice went over next to Applejack. “I see a mare who feels that she has become useless. After all, her brother now runs the family farm and she’s in charge of a government ministry she barely comprehends. That, if she had the chance, she’d quit and just go back to the farm, but she’s too enslaved by the needs of her sisters to be honest with herself.”

Next, it was Rainbow Dash’s turn. “And here, this mare? For all her bluff and bravado, she’s weak. She fears her son no longer respects her for being the best flyer. She fears that her friends know she’s not the equal of her mentors or as talented as her friends. And that after having a foal to save her marriage the first time around, now she is pregnant again, while her husband has that new secretary of his, the one with the kind of looks he goes wild after, just as when he chased her some forty years ago. She feels that for all her loyalty, nopony has any for her.”

“And here we have Fluttershy. Precious little mama bear Fluttershy, who coddles her daughter in a velvet embrace of iron to protect her from everything. Little Fluttershy, who would murder and savage every obstacle that came towards her family. And why shouldn’t she? After all, she knows the truth: her worst enemy is herself. When it came to giving her husband a foal he so wished for, all she could do was miscarry. Poor little Fluttershy, whose own body shows her no kindness, just as the world does not.”

Rarity was next. “And it goes without saying for you, Rarity. You, whose generosity was stepped and trod upon by your very flesh and blood, a daughter who spurns and spites you. And when you needed them most, on this very anniversary when your daughter should have been returned to you? Saving Fillydelphia is a higher priority than finding if your precious other daughter remains alive – or her family, for that matter. Your granddaughter? To your sisters, duty is paramount and you find that your hatred for them grows within you no matter how much you say you love them all.”

“And last of all is you, Twilight Sparkle. Bearer of Magic, Knight of Friendship. Your hatred for your sisters knows no bounds. You have thrown your life into duty and honor and sacrificed a life you should have had as a pony of worth. And all the nieces and nephews, all the sisters and brothers, all the love supposedly yours in the end will never replace the aching in your heart and quivering in your thighs for somepony to call your own. Have you told your sisters, little Twilight, that at one time or another you lusted after each of their husbands? That you drunkenly hit on Fluttershy’s husband at the last Hearth Warming Eve party? Or that you made out with Applejack’s husband once while you were both inebriated at a barbecue she couldn’t attend? Or that you hoped that you could manipulate the feelings Rarity’s husband had for his first fiancée and somehow turn them your way? Poor little Twilight Sparkle. So many ponies love her…but no one will give her love.”

“SHUT UP!” Twilight roared. “We’re going to finish you right here and now, Nightmare Moon!” Her tiara lit up with magenta power…

…only to die off as the sextet looked at each other in a way they hadn’t since they’d been affected by Discord’s spell decades back. The six looked at each other and while none of them had grayed out, they were looking at each other with gazes of shock, hurt and mistrust.

“I…I’m not the silly pony you always think of me as,” Pinkie said, her eyes watering with tears. “I’m a businessmare, made the Sugarcube Corner into a national bakery company. How could you never trust me?”

“Sugarcube, Ah’m sorry,” Applejack said dully. “Shoulda trust’d you on that. Now, Twi, on th’ other hoof,” she said in an accusatory tone.

“Applejack, it was an accident! I was flirting with Blue Bayou. You know how much he looks like Notes, except that he’s a pegasus. And…Fluttershy, I didn’t hit on Big Mac back then! That’s a lie the Canterlot Times-Herald printed!”

“Yeah, so you’re blaming Featherweight for that?” Rainbow snarled. “Twilight, how could you?”

“But I’m not!”

Fluttershy started crying. “Mac…I thought he wanted us to have another foal, but…maybe he doesn’t think I can anymore. Maybe he wants a pony who probably can,” she moaned, looking at Twilight with tear-soaked, pained eyes.

“Well, maybe I can have another foal,” Rarity snarled, “since you all seem to think mine are all disposable!”

“Rarity, why would we ever think that?” Rainbow asked.

“Because saving your niece…I mean my daughter isn’t as big a military priority as saving Fillydelphia?” the fashionista snarled. “But maybe I’ll die and then Twilight can get busy trying to seduce my husband!”

Twilight gasped. “Look, I’m not trying to sleep with any of your husbands!” she cried.

“What,” Pinkie asked, “Isn’t mine good enough?” A second later she added, “Never mind – and don’t start thinking about him, you…you…meanie!”

“Y’know whut?” Applejack said, “Fine, y’ c’n have mah job, Pinkie! ‘Cuz Ah quit! Ah’ll just go back t’ the farm an’ just enjoy life! An’ mah husband too, so Twi doesn’ git her hooves on him!”

As Twilight looked at her sisters, pleading for calm, a voice at her side said, “Once, you were six young mares, all in tune with each other, because all you had was each other. And what has forty years of life done to you all? What it does to everypony, Twilight Sparkle – it changes them, twists them. It puts you at odds with those you love most. Tell me, does Rainbow know about the affair?” Twilight turned in the direction of the voice to see Nightmare Moon looking at her, malicious glee in her eyes.

“Don’t you call it that,” Twilight seethed. “Don’t you dare twist those words!”

“What affair?” Rainbow asked.

“Why, the one she had with Soarin’ of course,” Nightmare Moon commented smoothly. “Did you know he took her virginity?”

Rainbow looked at the unicorn as if she turned into a scorpion. “What?”

“Rainbow, it wasn’t like that!” Twilight gasped, looking at the blue pegasus. “We dated before you and he became an item and it just didn’t work out.”

“Really? Why should I believe you?” Rainbow snarled. “Soarin’ and I have been together since Cadance’s wedding!”

“Except for the part where you were dating Roughwind,” Twilight snarked and as the words left her mouth she realized it was the exact wrong thing to say. She didn’t have any time to apologize, though as Rainbow rocketed forward, delivering a slap right across Twilight’s face. Twilight reacted just the same and with a glow of her horn slammed Dash hard on the floor before she remembered that Rainbow was pregnant.

“Twilight, stop! Don’t kill Rainbow’s foal!” Fluttershy screeched, terror-stricken by Twilight’s ferocity.

Twilight looked at the way she’d slammed Rainbow Dash to the ground, straight on her barrel. She gasped, shaking, horrified at her own actions before she tearily grabbed the unconscious pegasus and started crying madly.

Laughing hysterically, Nightmare Moon sat and watched as the six sisters tore each other apart. “And in the end, the Elements of Harmony are defeated by the disharmony of life itself. I would sit here and watch you lot kill yourselves, but I have other things to do and the princesses to kill. So let me offer a rare kindness and just kill you six now.” Her horn began to glow, an ebon star burning with black hate. And a second later, a blast of dark energy rocketed towards the six, with no chance for them to move.

It was then that two miracles occurred. The first was Pinkie. Least affected by Nightmare Moon’s attack, she suddenly noted that they were being turned against each other, a classic villainous ploy. With no time to save them all, Pinkie did what she could, grabbing Fluttershy by the forelegs and whispering, “I’m sorry, girls,” before doing what was natural to her – and unnatural for earth ponies – and teleporting away from the blast.

The second thing was that just as the curse spell was about to hit, Twilight powered up her horn to counter, magenta power to blaze against black hatred. “I won’t let you hurt them!” Twilight gasped, holding onto Rainbow even as she cast her counterspell. “I won’t let you touch them!” And with that, she erected Shining Armor’s Final Barrier spell.

Nightmare Moon’s plague of hatred burned hard against Twilight’s barrier, but, weakened by Rainbow’s punch and crippled by guilt from the accusations against her, Twilight’s power gave out far sooner than normal. The four were enveloped in the dark flames of Nightmare’s curse, four heroes fallen.

Satisfied that her foes were finished, Nightmare took to wing, headed back to the remains of Fillydelphia, which started to glow with an eerie green hue, a sign the changelings were in control. Off she departed, leaving four stricken ponies, their coats burning with sores of black magic, their cutie marks blackened by the curse.

“Celestia! Luna!” Cadance cried as she saw the blast of pink energy collapse just in front of them as Pinkie’s incomplete teleport threw her and Fluttershy to the ground painfully just by the refugee camp where the princesses were tendering aid.

Celestia needed no urging and rushed to the two ponies’ sides. “What happened?”

“We failed….” Pinkie said, looking up at her ruler and sister royale as her poof frizzled out into straight bangs of sorrow. “We were tricked and we fell for it. We weren’t there for each other,” she said, holding an unconscious Fluttershy close to her, tears falling from her eyes. “We weren’t there for each other when we needed to be most of all.”

“What happened to Twilight and the others?” Luna asked, her eyes widening with worry.

“I got away just in time,” Pinkie stammered. “I’m sorry. I don’t deserve to…I guess I am a failure….”

The three alicorns looked at each other, then out to the distance and the sick green glow on the horizon.

The sudden scream of horror from Celestia as she realized what happened would be something the history books would remember for time immemorial.

Back at the Ministry of Defense, Spitfire went over to a magic box labeled IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. Opening it, she took the blue scroll out, read it, then threw it back in the box, a look of resolve coming onto her face.

“General?” one of the techs asked.

“Rainbow, you stupid idiot,” she seethed to herself. “You should know better than to leave me in charge.” Turning back to the staff, she snarled, “Okay, socks are off – I want every changeling in Fillydelphia pounded into the floor, do you understand me?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the staffers cried.

“ATTENTION ALL UNITS!” the general barked. “BLOW EVERY ONE OF THOSE CELESTIA-DAMNED CHANGELINGS OUT OF THE SKY!”

Thousands of Army troops raced towards Fillydelphia, the look in their eyes murderous. In the center of them, carrying a gun and rallying his troops, was none other than Gen. Silversteel, REA, the most respected officer in the Army. Known for always having his troops’ back, he wasn’t afraid of getting down and dirty if the situation called for it.

“Sir, we have a message!” a comm tech said to him, handing him a radio. The radio was large and designed to accommodate pony hooves, and he answered.

“This is Graystone Six,” he said, holding the radio to his ear.

“Silver, this is Spitfire. I want you out of there now. No arguments and I’ll make it an order if I have to. I’ve given orders to Emerald Ray; he’ll take over command.”

“Spitfire, no. My daughter’s in that mess and I’m going to get her out. Rarity’s already risking her life to save Minty and her family and I can’t stand by and not do the same!”

“Silver…Rarity….” There was hesitancy on the line before Spitfire admitted, “We just got word: the girls were defeated. Pinkie and Fluttershy made it out, but we don’t know if the others are still alive.”

With that, Silversteel placed the radio on the ground and crunched it with all his strength, breaking it easily. “Okay, here’s your orders,” he told the comm tech. “Any changeling we come across, kill them. None survives, even if they beg.”

“Sir, isn’t that a war cr….” The comm tech shut up when he saw the murderous look in Silversteel’s eyes. “I’ll give the order, sir,” he said, turning back to his gear.

Silversteel turned and looked at Fillydelphia, burning in the distance. You killed my family, Chrysalis. I’ll put bullets into you until you beg for me to stop. And then I’ll keep shooting until I’ve used every bullet in the arsenal against you and there’s not enough left of you to shoot anymore.

“Watch out!” somepony screamed as someone else pointed a hoof upwards. Silversteel looked into the sky, as hundreds of incoming objects came rushing at him, ready for battle.

At last. He bellowed, “All troops, ready to fire!” Dozens of XM-29E rifles pointed towards the sky, ready for Silversteel’s order to fire. The volley would obliterate the changelings coming at him. A smile slid onto his face.

The smile fell a second later as he realized the incoming objects weren’t changelings…

…they were meteors.

“Shoot those meteors down!” Scootaloo ordered as hundreds of fighters, both REAF and REN, raced to the scene. “Protect the ground troops!” Dozens of missiles rocketed away from the F-23As and F-35D and Fs, slamming into the falling rocks.

“EasyWing 1, this is FeatherDancer 1,” Scoots said into her audio pickups. “Take your squadron and engage the forces at—” She felt a bone-shattering crunch and every alarm in her cockpit went off. “Mayday, mayday, I’m hit!” she called out.

“Clear out, Bonnie!” a voice screamed over the commline. “We’ve go—” The line went dead as someone else waxed out. Knowing she needed to get out of there, she pulled her ejection handle…

…only to have it not work. Meanwhile, her fighter began its descent, headed right towards the center of the ground forces, who were getting pulverized – and now her damaged craft was going to add to the injuries.

Can’t let that happen! she snarled, pulling back on the stick with all of her might. Her fighter was now in a dead spin and as she looked out the side of her canopy she noticed why: her wing had been sheared off, as if by a knife. She also noticed in the distance, why it was happening: Nightmare Moon, a monster she hadn’t seen in ages, had risen and was systematically destroying the air assets thrown against the changelings. Somehown, the demonic alicorn was allied with the parasitic monsters, and that meant serious trouble for Equestria.

As Scootaloo focused back on the HOTAS, she was glad to know that she’d put enough muscle into it that she’d cleared the soldiers and was no longer in danger of hitting them. Some of the boulders that had fallen from the sky however…. Thinking quickly, she pulled out her sidearm and fired at the canopy. If she could break the glass, she had a chance to escape before the crash could kill her.

A second later, it was all rendered moot.

“Order our troops to pull back! They’re getting slaughtered out there! Order them back!” Spitfire shouted, looking in horror as she saw the intense blow the Equestriani Armed Forces had just taken. Just minutes ago an infantry division of 20,000 heavily-armed soldiers, backed up by hundreds of REN and REAF fighters were ready to take the sky. Now, less than 700 soldiers and twenty fighters from both services were limping away from Equestria’s greatest defeat, one that had come not against a foreign army, but a monster.

“Retreat order sent, General,” a solitary tech replied.

“Stand down forces and get a hold of EQSOCOM – I want General Blackdust to get a team of Destriers ready and going out there. Or Coursers or Seaponies – I don’t give a buck which service coughs up the assets, but I want some operators ready to trot, got that?”

“Yes, ma’am,” a major handling comms with other senior officers said.

“Contact the other heads of the services and tell them I want to see them in the conference room in the hour. Contact General Soarin’ and tell him he’s now acting Chief of Staff for the Air Force until further notice. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find Princess Celestia and tell her why we just got our plots handed to us on a silver platter.”

“Can you do anything for them?” a tear-struck Celestia asked the doctor nearly a day later. It had been a miracle, despite the horrific loss, that they found that Twilight and the others were still alive. But they were now infected with something nopony had ever seen before, something that Celestia was at a loss to discern what is was…because the doctors were taking every precaution to keep the three princesses away from the infected patients.

“Your majesty, I could say we’ve inspected them, but…the disease is killing anypony that goes in to check on them within seconds. Even anypony wearing a hazmat suit is being infected. As it is, we’re going to ask for doctors from other non-equine species to see if there’s anything they can do. Thankfully, she’s being a big help.”

“I’m glad,” Celestia said, wiping the tears from her eyes. As always, Twilight proved herself. It had been Twilight who had recommended the multi-barrier safety system, but also that the three princesses stay away from the quarantine area. Celestia had sent a note to be hoof-carried to Twilight, as in at least one case, magic had transmitted the disease to the unicorn casting it. The end result was that magic was being kept to a minimum, and only the most secure and encrypted of spells were being used.

Fortunately, the magical channel system of telepathy was one such spell set. Celestia opened a magical channel to Twilight, reaching out to her protégé. “Twilight, can you hear me?”

“Yes. We’re okay,” the unicorn replied back. “Rarity is okay, and both Applejack and Rainbow are unconscious. We’re keeping Rainbow under wraps until we’re sure her foal is safe.” A pause. “I’m sorry. We let her divide us…no, we let each other divide us. We didn’t talk through our problems and just let them fester over the years.”

“You’ll all make this right, Twilight. You love them and they love you, so all you need to do is trust each other once again.” Celestia nodded; though only those present could see it, Twilight, through the channel, could sense the expression. “And I know you can do it – I have faith in you…in you all.”

“Rarity made the suggestion: she wants to see DJ.”

“Really?” Celestia looked like she was disconcerted by that. “I don’t think she’ll come, Twilight. There’s too much bad blood between Rarity and DJ – and you’ve said it yourself, DJ considers this place to be a gulag.”

The response came not from Twilight, but Rarity. “Celestia, please – we’re dying here. I know it. I can feel it. If we’re going to pass on…I want to see her again. Even if she hates me…I want to see my foal again. Please.”

“I’ll see what we can do, Rarity. She may not listen. Twilight, can you keep them safe?”

“With every bit of magic I have to do so, Celestia. I won’t let you down again.”

“You never have, Twilight,” the sun alicorn said. “You never have.”

“Are they okay?” Luna approached, and there was concern in her face. “Cadance is leaving in an hour for a meeting with the Japanese Foreign Ministry and I think you may want to—”

“Rarity wants to see DJ,” was all that Celestia said to her sister.

“—stay here and mind the shop while I make the trip to Tokyo,” Luna finished.

“Please do, Luna. If Rarity’s asking, then we can’t fail.”

“Tell her I’ll do everything in my power. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go get a quick briefing from Cadance.” With that, the night alicorn teleported away.

Sitting in a room while her sisters slept, Twilight Sparkle smiled. They’d been beaten and were now fighting against a curse, quite literally, for their lives. But it didn’t matter at the moment. The thing that made her smile was Rarity’s request.

Rarity, after nearly two decades, wished to see the daughter she had spurned. And DJ would finally return to the land of her birth, and mother and daughter would finally reunite.

After all, what could go wrong?

Chapter Three: Cinnamon

“Are these foals well-cared for?” Fluttershy asked, looking around. Today was her first day inspecting the National Orphanage System, and truth be told, she’d rather be anywhere else at the moment. The first stop had been the Comfy Clouds Foals’ Home, just south of Cloudsdale. While originally in the cloud city itself, relatively recent admissions such as earth ponies and unicorns necessitated a new ground-based facility in the town of South Cloudsdale.

“Of course, your grace,” the caregiver, a sweet earth pony mare known as Dreamy Heart, nodded. “We do everything we can to ensure that the foals are well-cared for and live in a manner that allows them to be as normal as they can throughout their lives.”

“‘Throughout their lives’?” the yellow pegasus asked, her attention now suddenly caught.

The earth pony nodded. “I’m afraid so, your grace. You see, adoptions are all too rare in Equestria. With the birthrate being what it is, there are too few families to adopt, and even amongst same-gender couples, where the stigma is that adoption is only for them, not too many are interested in the responsibilities of having a foal. As a result, many orphans grow up knowing nothing but the system, and enter life unprepared. That’s why the National Orphanage System is mostly run by adult orphans who have been through the process, such as myself.”

Fluttershy turned her head away in shame. She hadn’t wanted to do this; it was three years ago today that she’d given birth to a son who’d been stillborn. Every day she cried over that pain, though she’d forced herself to move on. But now, here in the adoption center, she saw something worse: foals without parents, without knowing the love that they deserved to have. And this had been going on since before she was born, and unless she used her office to fix things, it would continue long after she was gone.

I wonder if humans have the same problem with their foals, she mused to herself. She knew that in other species on Alter-Earth, orphans were rare, as an adult always stepped in to care for the orphan. DJ had been lucky: a foundling in a world that didn’t know of her species, and she’d found two parents that loved her. Humans could love ponies, care for them and raise them as their own.

As the Minister for Health and Family Services, she couldn’t do anything less. She’d always taken in strays when it was just her in the cottage outside of Ponyville so long ago. Now she had more power to do more, she needed to do more…and not just for animals.

“Can you do anything to help these foals, your grace?” Dreamy Heart asked.

It was at that point a tiny foal barely still in diapers crawled up to her. A pegasus filly with cinnamon-brown coat and saffron-yellow mane and tail went up to the yellow pegasus and hugged Fluttershy’s leg, nuzzling it and cooing before falling asleep on said leg, comfy as could be. The heart of the yellow pegasus melted as she watched the tiny filly choose her.

“Can you help some poor filly like her?” Dreamy Heart asked. “Can you help them all?”

Fluttershy looked down tenderly at the sleeping filly, then turned to look at her caretaker.

“Yes,” Fluttershy insisted. “Starting with her.”

Elusive slumped down on a chair in Princess Luna’s office; he looked as though he hadn’t had much sleep in a couple of days. “How much longer will they be quarantined?” he asked. “I’m wearing myself to the bone trying to run my businesses and mother’s fashion house. I guess my investments are similar to running the corporate side of her label, but…other than personal taste, I don’t have my hoof on the pulse of fashion, and though Mother and I share the same cutie marks, they mean different things. I don’t have her talent, and I never really will.”

“An’ Ah can’t rightly help ‘im on that. Ah’m jest a country gal, not some high-falootin’ fashion mod’l,” Butter, laying down on the couch replied as well. Like Elusive, she too looked exhausted, but for different reasons. She was very close to the delivery window and that in itself was a significant concern.

“The doctors haven’t been able to tell me much about their condition,” Luna told Elusive, “but I know evasiveness when I see it. The fact is, this curse, or disease, or whatever it is, is slowly eating them alive. Twilight’s been using her magic to see what she can do to ward it off, but….” The night princess sighed; even as the crown princess of the most important nation on Alter-Earth, there was little she could do other than to sit and wait. “I just fear the doctor telling us to let their last days be ones of peace.” A thought then crossed her cyan eyes as she added, “And speaking of which, what do you think about your mother’s request?”

“Truthfully, I don’t know what to think. They have spent the last twenty years either denying that we have an older sister or ranting about the ‘two-bit tail-lifter’ who isn’t supposed to exist. Small wonder that Father’s pretty much ignored both their histrionics.” A thought crossed the stallion’s mind. “Is there a possibility that she could be under mind control of some kind, a possible side effect of the attack?”

“We’d considered that and Cadance cast a spell to check for it – as the Avatar of Love, she has a natural gift for manipulation, not that she’d ever misuse it – but we found nothing amiss. We’d have run more spells, but just about any magic user of any species we send in there is being stomped by the curse. They’re being killed within minutes.”

Elusive nodded; he’d heard the bad news about the curse. “But I have to wonder why now? It’s been two decades now, and from what I’ve been told, she has a life there, a family of her own, and no interest in Equestria. Plus, she was less than kind with you, Aunt Luna.”

“It wasn’t all her fault; I deserve some of the blame. I’m not the most hospitable of ponies, I have to admit, and I may have caught her at a bad time – and cornering her like that may have made it seem like an ambush,” the night alicorn murmured. “Perhaps we should have let Cadance handle that meeting instead. But now, legally, it’s your choice, Elusive. Do you want us to continue to make the effort to bring her back to Equestria?”

His mind wandered, thinking of the quarantine room, in a basement underneath the Royal Infirmary. There, barricaded in by seven barriers the colors of the rainbow were four ponies, lying in beds, three of them unconscious and hooked to machines monitoring their slowly flagging health. As for the fourth, her horn glowed like a star, her eyes closed in meditation but a strain on her face as if the lives of the others depended on her focus. And the reason was clear: lesions appeared on all four ponies, and weren’t going away. The quartet were being kept alive by Twilight, but even she couldn’t hold out forever, and if she gave out, it was all over.

His mind then wandered to two different but non-quarantined beds in the infirmary. In each, a middle-aged earth pony stallion and an adult pegasus mare lay, both comatose and hooked up to similar machines as the four. Unlike the previous quartet, they were in no immediate sign of death, but also no immediate sign of coming back to consciousness anytime soon, either.

This had all been the result of the incident the media was calling the Return of Nightmare Moon. For the truth was now out: the demonic alicorn now possessed a new host and having returned for revenge, had allied with the changelings to conquer the city of Fillydelphia and lay waste to military forces attempting to take it back. Questions about why the Bearers had not been sent out to deal with the crisis was on the lips of every pony in Equestria, and rumors abounded that the Knights had been the first to fall. The Office of the Princess Regnal of course could not confirm such nasty rumors, but the longer that Twilight and the others remained out of public view, the more it was becoming obvious as to what had happened, and what doom could be next for Equestria and possibly all of Alter-Earth.

And then there was Minty. Despite all her anger and resentment towards their older sister, the mint earth pony had always been there for Elusive when he needed it. And now, at best she was trapped in Fillydelphia, buried under the rubble of a collapsed city – if she was still alive. And what of her husband and filly? Toffee was softspoken, but Elusive got along well with his brother-in-law, and little Gumdrop was nothing but an exuberant ball of joyful fur. If their older sister’s repudiation of her pony ancestry had hurt his mother, the loss of Minty and her family would outright destroy the pale gray unicorn.

Lastly, he turned to look at his wife, Apple Butter, dozing on the couch, exhausted from her near-term pregnancy. One of the Apples from Applebama, she’d grown up in a small country town, though her cutie mark made her a talented baker rather than an apple farmer like so many of her family. They’d met when she’d been apprenticed to Elusive’s Aunt Pinkie alongside Minty; the mint mare thought the two would get along great and the romance that had blossomed kept them happy. Butter, up until recently, was one of Pinkie’s executive bakers for the business, but the pregnancy had sidelined that.

If Nightmare Moon won, there would be no end to the suffering and hate. And that, worst of all, brought the conversation around to Sandalwood, his estranged older sister. Something at the back of his mind said that the older earth pony was somehow responsible for all this, though how that was possible he couldn’t even begin to comprehend. She wanted nothing to do with Equestria, preferring to live the life of a human, the only one she’d known for the majority of her life. Plus, just a couple of weeks ago, he’d met a friend of hers, and found that Sandalwood – or DJ, as she called herself – was happy, content and at peace with her life in a way that she might not have been as an Equestriani pony.

But it all, in the end came down to the fact that his mother – their mother – had cut Sandalwood out of their lives. It left a bad taste in his mouth, but even still, he’d made a Pinkie Promise that day, and if there was one thing that the extended family took seriously, it was Pinkie Promises. But there were Pinkie Promises…and there were things more important than Pinkie Promises. Even his frizzy-maned aunt would tell him as such, and thus wouldn’t be too angry with him for breaking a Pinkie Promise.

But there were Pinkie Promises, and then there was this. Clearing his throat, he finally spoke. “Please. Please bring her. I’d like to see her again, if for no other reason than to let her know that someone in our family has nothing against her. And as for Mother, whether my sister likes it or not, she owes our mother another visit. If Mother doesn’t make it, she should go at least having seen her oldest foal once more. So please, Aunt Luna. Please go get Sandalwood.”

She nodded. “But I think someone better suited than me, perhaps. I think I’ve worn my welcome out with her, and Nightmare Moon needs to be stopped; as much as I hate to admit it, I’m better suited for that than another round of arguing with your sister.”

At this point Luna’s secretary poked her head in and informed the princess she had another visitor. A second later, another pony walked in, just having caught the tail end of the discussion. “Aunt Luna? Elusive? Maybe I can do it,” the pony suggested. “She doesn’t know me, so it’s a good way to start, right?”

Elusive and Luna looked at the newcomer, then at each other before breaking into a pair of knowing smiles.

“Actually, if anyone should have done it, it’s you,” Elusive said with a smile.

Now a month after her interview had shown up on stateside television, AFRTS picked it up and showed it locally, so for a few days DJ was even more of a minor celebrity than usual on the base. But eventually as the memory of that interview faded into the past, it let her sink back into her semi-normal life. And now as the days folded into normal and life at the Hengst household was back the way it was, it let DJ get back to her career as a novelist, ostensibly working on her latest one – ostensibly, because after three days she was still trying to draft the outline for the novel she was co-writing with her father.

Dad, not really sure why you want to write a fantasy, the pony thought to herself. Just about everything mythical really isn’t anymore. Since the confirmation of parallel realities two decades ago and the entrance of Alter-Earth species into Human-Earth life, both humankind and the other sapient species were finding out exactly how little myth was and contrarywise, how truly real reality was. One casualty of the whole blending of the two worlds was that a lot of fantasy, which for years had relied on fantastic depictions of unicorns, pegasi, dragons and minotaurs now had to contend with not-so-fantastic images of unicorn doctors, pegasi police officers, dragon CEOs and minotaur self-help coaches. It made things far different than she’d expected when she was a teen finding out that she wasn’t so much an extraterrestrial as an extradimensional, originally from that formerly mythical world herself. Needless to say, it made creating fantasy in modern contexts that much harder.

So here she was, for the third hour now, sitting and staring at the blank screen that was Microsoft Word 2046. She tapped something generic on her keyboard – “It was a dark and stormy night” – glad that physical keyboards still worked with modern computers. Yes, holographic keyboards were the latest rage and far better on human hands than physical ones were, but they did absolutely not work on hoofspace whatsoever. But as DJ knew well, even the best of keyboards couldn’t help a writer get past the creation of an idea starting sentence.

Finally about to wash her hands of the whole deal, she was about to log on and play a few rounds of the Street Fighter Universe MMO when the dashboard popped a notification of a new email:

TO: “D.J. Martinez”
FROM: “Lyra Phillips” lyra.phillips@us-embassy.gov.eq
CC: “Blossomforth” blossomforth@jp-embassy.gov.eq

“Apple Cobbler”apple.cobbler@un-mission.gov.eq

“US Government Affairs Desk” n5631@7thflt.navy.mil

“Hengst, Michael LCDR” mhengst@konetzni.navy.mil

SUBJ: Your Assistance is Requested

Ms. Martinez,

We are contacting you regarding an urgent issue within Equestria. Please contact the Tokyo embassy at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for your time,
Lyra Phillips
Ambassador
Equestria Embassy in the United States
1821 J St NW
Washington DC 20241
(202) 555-7669 Ext. 5872

PS: DJ, please? - Lyra

Lyra, what are you up to? DJ wondered about that for a couple of minutes before she realized that her friend and sometimes mentor had contacted her via her official email, which meant this was Equestria business. So then, why is the Equestriani government contacting me? was the humanized pony’s next question. Maybe she was serious.

DJ sat in her chair for a couple of minutes, her novel and random surfing on the web long forgotten. After a few minutes, she decided to respond to Lyra.

TO: “Lyra Heartstrings” lyra.heartstrings@us-embassy.gov.eq
FROM: “DJ Martinez” < yes_THAT_daisyjo@mailinator.com>
CC: “Hengst, Michael LCDR” mhengst@konetzni.navy.mil

SUBJ: RE: Your Assistance is Requested

Lyra,
NO. FFS, NO!

Sincerely,
- DJ

Once the SEND button had been pressed, DJ suddenly felt more than a bit guilty; if there was one person on the planet who could understand how she felt, it was Lyra. The unicorn spent a lifetime being labeled as a freak and a crockpot, the only pony in Equestria pre-Contact who believed that humans were not only real, but that they were far from the monstrosities that the legends made them out to be. When First Contact was finally made, the celeste unicorn was finally vindicated, and for her valiant efforts she was appointed as the first ambassador to humanity. But Lyra meant more than just that to the humanized pony.

When it came to the custody battle, Lyra had been one of the ones who had seen DJ’s plight and joined forces with Twilight. During the trial, the celeste mare had stood in DJ’s corner, even as it had put the first of the nails in the coffin with Lyra’s then-longtime spouse, Bon-Bon. In the years since, Lyra and Bon-Bon had rekindled their friendship even as they were now married to other individuals, but it was something that DJ had always blamed Rarity for…and Lyra’s sacrifice was something that had always meant everything to DJ. To her, Lyra was a mentor, someone as special to her as her aunts.

And she deserves better than my smartass comments, DJ mused as she queued up another email:

TO: “Lyra” humare@binkmail.com
FROM: “DJ Martinez” < yes_THAT_daisyjo@mailinator.com>
BCC: “Hengst, M. LCDR” mhengst@konetzni.navy.mil

SUBJ: Sorry

Lyra,
Sorry about that; you deserve better than my snarkiness. But you know I don’t want anything to do with her again. I know she’s a close friend of Bonnie’s, and I can never repay you for sacrificing everything for my happiness. Words fail me – yes, it does happen on occasion – about I appreciate your friendship and your counsel over the years. But what you’re asking, I can’t do – I just can’t. I’m sorry.

I wish I could help you there, but I consider it to be a part of my life that’s in the past, and no desire to resurrect it, end of story.

Give my regards to Paul, and if you’re ever in Japan, swing by!

Love always,
- DJ

After sending that email, she felt cathartic, spent; she needed to get out of the house if she was going to do any work. Fortunately for her, both her children were in school, so that wasn’t necessarily a problem. Grabbing her laptop bag, she left her house, headed next door to her neighbor, Karen. Karen was another one of those people who could understand a life of being different: as a kid, she’d been abused by her father to the point that she ended up in a wheelchair for life; though modern medicine had changed much, her lower extremities had atrophied too much to help. Fortunately, she’d moved beyond that and was now a much sought-after webdesigner; in fact, DJ had commissioned her to build the newest version of her website. Mike and Karen’s husband Henri were both officers on the same ship, so it was another thing to bond over.

After a few seconds of knocking, Karen came to the door. “Heya, DJ. What’s up?”

“Sorry to bother you, Karen, but I’ve got some research to do for my novel, so I’m headed to Yokohama. Can you do me a solid and pick up the kids for me?”

“Absolutely. You swinging by Chinatown by any chance?”

The humanized pony grinned. “When do I not?”

“Mind picking me up a dozen of those massively oversized bao they sell there?”

“No problem at all. I’ll grab you some shumai as well, if they’ve got it. See you when I get back!” Waving as she departed, DJ headed off to the taxi stand down the street. If she managed to flag a taxi in the next five minutes, she could get to Shiori station in time to catch the 10:27.

“So, care for a drink, Ms. Moon?” a man said, sitting at a table overlooking a field of wine grapes just outside the city of Vicenza, Italy. The man poured himself a glass, then poured one for his counterpart. He looked to be in his early forties, though his completely gray hair and neatly-trimmed beard gave him a distinguished look. Well-built for someone of his years, he was in better shape than those half his age or younger. Depending on who you asked, he was either of Italian, Spanish or Arabic descent, but no one was completely sure; it probably didn’t help that he spoke English with an Italian accent, Spanish with a German accent, Italian with a British accent, and Arabic with a southern American accent to obscure things further. Nobody who worked for him knew his name; they merely called him by his nom du guerre, Ghino di Tacco; or rather, Commandant Di Tacco, the leader of the organization known as La Republica dei Pirati.

Nightmare Moon reached over and took a drink from the glass, bringing it to her lips. She’d assumed a human form while here, forcibly twisting the form of her host to fit the outward appearance of a human. It was excruciatingly painful, and a lesser pony would have tried to rebel, tried being the operative word. But her host accepted it, burned through the pain and continued on. It gave new dimensions of power to the demonic alicorn and new avenues to explore. “Aren’t you worried about being caught here in the open?”

Di Tacco laughed. “The vineyard is owned by a sympathizer, an immigrant from Mogadishu who agreed to help fund our operations in return for exclusive contracts in the rebuilt Somalia once my group takes over.” He leaned back, finishing the glass. “A decent chianti. With some time, he’ll see some excellent vintages.”

“I came to discuss troops, not sit here and taste grape cider,” the Nightmare said, taking a drink. It was a fruity yet acidic experience on her tongue, different than from what she expected. “So tell me why I should sit here and bandy the idea of support troops from a man stupid enough to name his organization the Republic of Pirates?”

“You would think that,” di Tacco said, pouring himself another glass, then looking at the vineyards and the city just beyond it. “You would also think why a man who seems to be from everywhere and nowhere would bother in perpetual petty wars and skirmishes that make up Africa. Well, the simple answer is: I don’t care. There was a phrase from an American movie from when I was younger: ‘some men just want to watch the world burn.’ Whether you wonder if I’m there to watch is your opinion, but regardless, I should be the one holding the matches.

“I named my group such because no one will take us seriously. And as we’ve killed off opposition, or bribed government officials in other countries for materiel, people will continue to not take us seriously. And by the time we’re in charge, we will then shock the world. Why? Because no one will have taken us seriously. It is in the nature of humans to ignore or shun what they cannot take seriously. And who will the CIA, Interpol, MI6 and others take as an imminent threat: the organization named Islamic Jihad, the latter word of which means struggle or war, or an organization with a name that sounds something like out of a Disney film?”

The demonic alicorn looked at him with surprise. “I do not know what ‘Disney’ means, but from your tone, I take it to mean something foolish.”

“No less foolish than names like The Shining Path. The Weathermen. The Base. The World Youth Gathering. All of which were fanciful, frivolous names that none took seriously – until they carved a bloody path for themselves and brought fear to the faces of mankind. So it has always been and so it shall continue to be. The path of humanity is to hide from the obvious monsters, never noticing the little girl behind you with the mad gleam in her eyes and the butcher’s knife in her hand.”

Nightmare Moon contemplated this. The man was possibly mad or madly brilliant. Either way, he was a chaosbringer and exactly the kind of person who they wanted as allies on this world. At the very least, even if they lost spectacularly, his group would keep the military and intelligence forces of the world focused on minor, pointless threats, never seeing the true one until it was too late. “I am willing to supply 50,000 troops and enough gems to fund you quite well. The troops, for obvious reasons, you will need to keep on a tight leash. Likewise, unless your aim is to destabilize the global economy, I recommend you ration out the gems as well.”

“I would much rather that you gave us rare earth elements. Gems are too obvious and can be traced – and if they’re carrying a small ambient charge of magic, as all gems from Alter-Earth do, we will be caught in a moment. But rare earth elements aren’t easily as traced, and are so desired on this world that anyone will pay a fortune for them and won’t even bother to consider the source.”

“You do know that such minerals are scarcer on our world than yours, do you not?” Nightmare Moon inquired.

“I do. I also know that if you want us to succeed, sacrifices must be made or all will be lost.” As if to punctuate his statement, di Tacco dropped his glass, letting it fall onto the granite-and-wood table below. The delicate crystal shattered in an instant, sending blood-red spatters of wine everywhere.

The point was not lost on Nightmare Moon. “Then we have a bargain,” she said, nodding at him. “And now,” she said, rising from her seat, “I must go. My allies in Fillydelphia expect a second attack to come soon, and if our plan is to succeed, then we must perform as per the plan.”

Di Tacco nodded. “A shame. A lady of your…considerable beauty…would be welcome company for dinner. And the morning after, as well.”

“You do know I’m not human, correct?”

“No human I know has dark blue hair or cyan eyes with cat’s irises. The question you should be asking is: does that matter to me?”

She laughed, an oddly warm sound. “Stepping into danger for no reason other than to test the waters. I like that in a male. In any case, in addition to the troops I promised, I think I may have a present for you in the near future.”

A few minutes later, DJ was on the train, headed off on the Keikyū line towards Yokohama. The train was busy, much busier than the last time she’d rode the trains and that brought up uncomfortable thoughts; the last time, she’d been ambushed by Princess Luna. She took a particular glee in pushing the alicorn’s buttons; the very fact that she was pissing off the Crown Princess of another land definitely counted as a feather in her cap. DJ considered mentioning it to Mike, but she figured she’d wait until he returned from his deployment – all it would take was for someone aboard ship to misunderstand or worse, for someone at Seventh Fleet to misunderstand, and he’d be in deep shit for her actions. So for the moment, she wisely zipped her fuzzy lips.

At the moment, she sat in her seat, ignoring the very young kid pointing at her and chirping, “Umajin desu!” He was young, after all, and probably hadn’t seen many of her kind in his life; trying to explain that she counted herself more amongst his kind than hers would probably be too much for his age. So instead she just waved at the kid and went back to looking at her tablet, catching up on her email, and looking at Deviant Art for potential new artists – if her publisher chose one more craptacular picture for her next book, she was going to have to get Marcus to administer a beatdown and then hire someone with braincells.

“Excuse me, miss?” She looked up and, to her surprise, found herself looking right into the eyes of a gryphon. “Excuse me…I don’t mean to pry, but…are you DJ Martinez?” He was dressed in human-style clothing, in his case a business suit; he had a briefcase with him and a nervous look on his face that set the back of the hairs on DJ’s neck reaching for the sky.

Great. Another Equestriani government official. Well, at least he didn’t call me “Sandalwood.” Yet. “Yes, that’s me,” she responded, somewhat wary.

At the confirmation of her identity, he seemed to get even more flustered. “I…uh…well….” Finally, he reached into his briefcase and pulled out a book. “I’m a huge fan of yours! Can you sign this? Please?”

Oh. She let herself relax at the sudden pleasant surprise; while she wasn’t as famous as Steve Umstead, Mat Nastos, Monty Fowler or many other top fantasy authors, it was still nice to meet a fan on occasion. Taking the book – a hardcover version; he was really a fan! – she smiled as she noticed which one he had: her first book, The Rimefrost Sword. She’d written it when she was a teen just to see if she had the talent; her father read the story and recommended she expand it into a full novel. While she wasn’t anywhere as famous as either of her parents, the books did well enough to give her more meaning in her life than just the first pony to live amongst humans. Besides, the royalties paid for the family vacation to Hong Kong for Christmas last year, so she could hardly complain.

“It’s one of my favorite books, Ms. Martinez,” the gryphon said, gushing. The earnest look on his face was clearly one of a fanboy.

She grinned, moving over and patting the seat next to her. “Call me DJ. So who should I make this out to?”

“Oh! Sorry, I’m probably acting like a complete fool,” he said, blushing. “Name’s Gilchrist Glidewing, but I just go by Gil.”

She reached into her bag, pulling out a gold-ink marker she used for signatures. Opening the book to the title page, she wrote, TO GIL, JUST HAVING FUN ON THE KEIKYŪ! ~DJ. Finishing off her signature with a flourish, she put away her marker and handed the book to him. “Here you go. So what brings you here from Equestria?”

He shook his head. “Actually, I’m from Canada. My parents immigrated to Vancouver back in ’34; I was about ten or so at the time. As for what I’m doing here in Japan, I’m an investment banker for Nomura Securities. I specialized in the Alter-Earth currencies – you know: Equestria bits, Gryphonica ovas, Draconia lanxes, Zebrababwe rand, that sort of thing. Probably not anywhere near as glamorous a lifestyle as yours but it pays the bills. So what are you doing here in Japan?”

“Oh, my husband’s in the Navy – USN, not JMSDF. But in the immediate sense, I’m headed to Yokohama. Do some shopping in Chinatown, sit at Yamashita Park and do some work on my next novel, then maybe waste some time at the Joypolis before I head back to Yokosuka. In other words, the usual.”

“Wow, already? But doesn’t your new book come out in August?”

She nodded. “The completed one, sure. But as a writer, I always have to think one book ahead or else that evil villain known as my publisher will start knocking on my door expecting another one or else.”

Gil grinned. “Well, I promise I’ll be the first in line to buy it! After the one coming out, that is.”

“Actually….” She rooted around in her bag for a bit, quickly producing a book with a dull-gray cover. “Here, have a copy of The Stars Shine Brighter. It’s just an advance proof copy, but it’s the whole novel.”

Gil looked as if he’d been presented with a gift from the bookstore gods. “Oooh…I’m going to just dive into this soonest. Thanks!” At this point, the train began to slow down as an electronic voice announced their arrival at Kanazawa-Bunko Station. “Well, my stop’s here; meeting with a client. Thanks again for everything and if I see you again, DJ, lunch is on me!” Grabbing his briefcase and books, he barely made it out before the train doors slid shut on his tail. Outside, he waved again, and she waved back, happy to have pleased one of her fans.

Soon, the train started up again, headed towards the next stop. Gil stood on the platform for a few before departing the station. As he reached the entrance, he found a pony sitting on a bench outside, reading from a tablet. “Well, got what you wanted: she’s going to Chinatown and Yamashita.”

“Thanks, Gil. I hope you didn’t get yourself in trouble for that.”

“Naah,” he said, with a smile. “I got her autograph, which was worth it – I really like her stuff, reminds me of David Eddings’ work. And it’s not like I work for the Equestriani government, so I didn’t lie to her.”

“Good. I’d rather you not get in trouble because you stuck your neck out for me,” the pony said. “Thanks for the info.”

“Any friend of Rainbow Dash is a friend of mine,” he said, departing the station before turning around and adding, “Oh, and don’t forget what I told you! My mother would appreciate hearing from her old friend when she gets a chance.”

“Yeah, I know: have Aunt Rainbow call your mom…Gilda, right? Yup, I’ll pass the message on. Thanks again!”

“I’m sorry, your majesty, but for your safety, I cannot let you enter the Quarantine Zone.”

“Move out of the way!” Celestia thundered. “I order you!”

“I am sorry, but I’ve been told to disregard those orders for your safety – yours and our other two princesses. I fully apologize for such a breach, but our duties are to protect you three above all, and the—”

“Nevermind, soldier, I’ll take it from here.” Soarin’ walked out of the Quarantine barrier, heading straight towards the princess. “And ensure her majesty and I are due some privacy.” The soldier saluted and walked back, giving the two time to talk. “Celestia,” Soarin’ said, “You shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe for you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Soarin’, I have been hearing that for the past few weeks now and it’s not going to get any worse. I need to see them.”

“And I’m here to tell you that you don’t.” He sighed. “Look, if you think this is hard for you...my wife is in there. With an unborn foal that I don’t know if she’ll survive or what will happen if she does. Big Mac’s a wreck worrying about his sister. Noteworthy’s cancelled a concert tour in Europe to spend time here. And Elusive…at this rate, all that’s left of his family is his wife and unborn foals. So no, this isn’t easy for you. But it’s hell for the rest of us.”

The day alicorn nodded. “I see. I’m sorry for not considering your position, Soarin’.”

“And I’m sorry I have to be the one to tell you, Celestia. I know how close you and Twi are. She often told me about it.” He grinned. “And I also heard about what Nightmare Moon said. Honestly, the reason Twi and I didn’t really work out is that our lifestyles were too different. And we never got beyond a few kisses and such – and even if so, I would never cheat on Rainbow. We’ve had some rough spots, but…she’s my wife. Loyalty means everything to her, and not just because of her Element. She’s been there for me through thick and thin, and I’ll always be at her wings in life.”

Celestia smile slightly. “I’m glad to hear that. But perhaps you can skip the pleasantries and tell me how they’re doing?”

“If I could, I’d swap places with Rainbow and sacrifice my life in a heartbeat – I’d do it for any of them,” he said, his eyes hard. “But I don’t get to be that lucky. And so instead I get to see my wife and those closest to her rot in that room. And then I get to go over to Silversteel’s room, where he’s been in a coma with no chance of coming out. And then over to Scootaloo’s, and see her in a coma and traction. And that hurts most of all. Scoots…she’s like Rainbow’s kid sister, and walking that mare down the aisle when she married Featherweight was one of the greatest things of my life. And to see….” He turned away, blinking aside tears.

“I get the message. I will head back to the castle, then. But, if you would, ple—”

“They already know, Celestia. It’s one of the only reasons why they’re still alive: because for their duty, they’d go through Tartarus and back. For their princess, they’d do it a second time. But for you, they’d break it down to ashes if you asked.”

Getting off the train, DJ walked through the Paifang Gate that marked the northern entrance into the Chinatown district. Nestled in the shadow of Yokohama Stadium (a guilty pleasure, Mike loved baseball and when in port, he and several guys from his ship occasionally went on to cheer the Yokohama BayStars), the traditional Chinese enclave was a thing of beauty, from the four ancient paifangs that stood in the cardinal entrances to the area, to the panoply of shops and restaurants. But time rolled on, having changed the culture of the place: when her father had been stationed in Yoko back in the mid- to late-90s, Chinatown already boasted a Jamaican clothing store, a Russian bar and an Ethiopian restaurant. Now while still predominantly Chinese, there was a clear global influence at work here, an international feel that made her feel very much at ease here, very…hunky dory.

She smiled inwardly at that; her father had once told her the origin of the phrase, the memory coming to mind even as she walked down the phrase’s namesake. Honcho Street, or dori in Japanese, was infamous for its Girlie Bars during the 1950s and ‘60s. Inexplicably tied together with the old Dutch world hunky, meaning something good, the phrase became Sailor’s slang for a land of forbidden delights and green doors aplenty for the lonely on liberty; eventually it evolved into the harmless term it was today. As for Honcho-dori itself, her father had told her that by the time he’d walked down the street in the late ‘90s, it was nothing more than clothing stores and traditional Chinese medicine shops. Now, fifty years past that time, it had changed even further: most of the façade on the west side of the street was now part of the Chinatown Historical Museum, while the other side was a giftshop that sold trinkets and bric-a-brac from Chinatowns all over the world; the local office of the China-Japan Appreciation society; a traditional medicine shop that somehow survived all the changes; and a Zhongguosity, that bizarre Chinese-restaurant-meets-Hard Rock Café hybrid that seemed to be all the rage lately. It was popular with the tourists for the cute girls working in the Suzie Wongs, but she preferred the traditional places.

As always, she spent some time running around the shops. There had been this beautiful tang she’d picked up a few weeks ago just in her size; the tailor, happy to take DJ’s measurements for more was all-too-willing to work with the humanized pony, but there was something decidedly disturbing about her obsession with fashion, something that reminded her all too much of a domineering unicorn with measuring tape and a penchant for bigotry. She went over to the music store and got some of the latest free downloads bumped over to her phone; while the store mostly dealt in antique CDs and specialty music formats like vinyl, getting her hands on some of the J-pop indie artists on FLAC was pretty cool. Lastly, as she turned the corner, she swore she saw Tsubasa walking down the street – if she’s playing hooky from school, I’m going to tear her a new one! – but by the time DJ got there, the pony (if it was her) was gone. Nothing else to be done, DJ decided to just let it lie and go get food.

Finally she got to her destination, a non-descript shop on the corner of Nihon-dori and some tiny road DJ had never quite gotten the name of. The store had a stand outside and sold lots of dim sum, including their signature monster nikuman – pork buns, commonly known around the world by their Chinese name, bao. Roughly 4 ¾ inches in diameter and two inches in height, the buns were utter behemoths in comparison to the traditional size. As promised, DJ got a dozen for Karen plus a bunch of shumai, stuffing the box in her backpack, followed by a single one for herself, since it was lunchtime. With it all wrapped up and placed in her bag, she then went down the street, looking for a particul…ah, there it is.

One of the more unique sea stories that she’d heard from her father was about a vending machine in Chinatown just across the street from Yamashita Park that carried a particular variety of bubblegum-flavored soda. It was the only one in the country as far as he knew; he’d never seen it anywhere else and no one had ever heard of the company. When her family arrived in Japan, she’d asked him about it and he gave the general location. Sure enough, although a newer vending machine, there the soda was, still in the same white cans with the colorful smiling bubblegum balls (she’d confirmed this with him via an emailed photo) after fifty years. Again, no one could confirm the company, and it seemed as if the sodas came out of nowhere, just…magical. Of course, this was human-Earth, where magic was nearly non-existent, so there was probably a mundane reason but DJ never bothered to investigate, lest it ruin the specialness of the whole thing. Instead, the first time she’d seen the machine, she and Mike, with others staring at the strange foreigners, emptied the machine so she could mail several dozen cans to her parents’ place. This time, though, she merely bought one for herself to go with lunch.

At last, she arrived in the park, where she plopped herself down on the first stone table she could find, one with a gorgeous view of Yokohama Harbor. Unearthing the treasure troves of soda, laptop and pork burn, she waited for the bun to cool while enjoying the clear skies and for her laptop to kick in – even in the mid-21st century no one had ever been able to create an “instant on” computer. After a few more seconds, an idea formed in her head and, firing up the browser, she went over to Wikipedia to look up some of the research done on human-Earth’s “thaumaturgic drought”, as it was termed. What a team of researchers from Royal Canterlot University had concluded back in 2043 was that there was still magic on human-Earth, the leylines were now so weak only those with innate magic could access it. Of course it meant that the stories of Atlantis, Camelot and the like may have been more than just myth, but for all intents and purposes the team had concluded that human-Earth had become magic-barren circa the seventh century.

Maybe I can do something with that, she mused. Let’s see…winter rime, an Earth losing magic, if I take some elements from my Rimefrost series and Dad’s Covenworld universe, I bet I could spin a whole new story out of this. Actually, that doesn’t seem like a bad idea at all! Cracking open Word, she was certain this time she could move on beyond the dreaded starting sentence. Placing her hands on the keyboard, she began typing, the keys underneath her hooves clacking away. To anyone looking casually, it seemed like nothing more than a pony casually gliding her forehooves over a laptop keyboard; only upon closer inspection would anyone see the vibrating, undulating motion of the bottom of her hooves as the musculature making up hoofspace did its job. She wasn’t the fastest typer in the world; the average person did about 57 words per minute, while she could only muster a paltry 33 wpm in comparison, and she was utterly jealous of her father’s typing speed of 82 wpm – especially since it declined from his prime speed of 127 wpm when he was her age. But then again, she was using human keyboards; there had been some tests with a new type of keyboard for ponies based on DVORAK and it supposedly let them match the average speed of humans. In any case, she had no interest in those; they looked goofy, when installed on a laptop it brought the price of the unit up 30%, and she was a die-hard QWERTY-or-Die type.

She managed to knock out a few pages before someone sat down at the table. “Do you mind if I join you?” She looked up and found a pegasus mare, sitting there, trying not to look nervous. Her coat was cinnamon brown, with brilliant green eyes and a mane the color of a yellow crayon done up in a very familiar style DJ had seen before but couldn’t quite put her mind on. Strangely enough, she was dressed very casually, almost humanly: she wore a black T-shirt with the word HUFSTOMPR on it and what looked to be a jeans skirt. She looked very young, maybe 20 or so.

DJ sighed. “Okay, what the fuck do you guys want now.”

The pegasus looked at her, somewhat surprised. “Excuse me?”

“Listen – don’t give me that shit, okay? I’m tired of it, and unless I can find a way to sue your government for harassment without running into the diplomatic immunity wall, I just want to be left in peace!” She angrily shoved her laptop into her bag, and rising from the stone stool, she pointed at the mare. “You can tell Princess Luna this for me: if I hear from anyone who uses the word ‘official’ again, I swear I will steal the launch codes from my husband, get some CMXRs and go on a fucking rampage in downtown Ponyville. Do I make myself clear?” Not waiting for an answer, she turned to leave, pausing only to grab her lunch. Unfortunately, in the commotion she’d accidentally knocked it off the table, and now the spilled soda and bun lay on the grass. She was in just enough control of herself to pick them up and toss them in the nearby trashcan before she stomped off.

As she left, the pegasus shouted out. “Please, DJ! I’m not a government employee – I’m just a college student! Please, you have to listen to me!”

“NO. I. DON’T!” DJ screamed, catching the attention of several people walking by. She threw her arms up in the air in frustration, looking at the sky as if saying, Why the fuck me? As she turned to give the pony another piece of her mind, she suddenly saw the pegasus crying.

“Mom said you were the one pony who could understand me, the one I could always turn to if I needed to,” she sobbed. “I guess she was wrong. I guess you’re really just another human who doesn’t care, aren’t you?”

“Mom”? “Who are you?”

“No. Don’t bother.” That last word was filled with a heart-wrenching sorrow. “I’ll leave you be, then. It was nice meeting you. I hoped we could be friends, but….” The pegasus seemed as though she was going to say something, but left it off; whether out of courtesy or hurt, it wasn’t clear.

If she was trying to make DJ feel guilty…it worked. “Look, I, uh…who are you?” the humanized pony asked, her tone softer now.

The pegasus wiped the tears from her eyes. “My name’s Cinnamon Star. I’m a college student, poli-sci major at Stanford. I’m just 19.”

“Okay, first off, you’re not making any sense – if you’re just a college student, why did you come looking for me? Second, who the fu…who are you? You don’t look like anyone I know, not that I keep track of whichever ponies live on Earth – this Earth.”

She looked down at the ground. “You promise not to be mad at me?”

“Should I be?”

She sighed. “I’m the daughter of Fluttershy and Macintosh. I’m your younger cousin. I was born a little bit after your…um….”

“My problems in Equestria,” DJ finished, still not sure what to make of the girl’s confession. She’s Fluttershy’s daughter? Fluttershy was pregnant? She looked again at Cinnamon and it suddenly clicked: the mane, though shorter, was a near-copy of the yellow mare’s style. It would also explain a lot why Fluttershy was desperate to stay out of the conflict.

Cinnamon had a small bag with her and dug something out. “You probably don’t believe me, so here’s a picture of Mom, Dad and I.” Sure enough, it was a family picture, the trio smiling and one of Fluttershy’s wings wrapped lovingly around the small, cheerful little filly.

She handed the picture back. “So you’re one of the Apples, then. You don’t sound like one.”

“It’s a long story,” she admitted, a slight catch in her throat.

“Look, I’m sorry I yelled at you, but if you’re Fluttershy’s daughter, then you know I don’t exactly get along well with your government.”

“Mom’s told me,” Cinnamon responded, still looking nervous. “I’m not here for that.”

“Well, there just went my lunch, you seem a bit rotated and radiated, and…you hungry?” The pegasus nodded. “There’s a place around here where we can go and talk.”

Cinnamon favored DJ with a smile that definitely reminded the older pony of Fluttershy. “I’d like that,” the pegasus said.

An hour later, they were in the local Hard Rock Café. The pair sat at the table, lunch having been demolished; the remains of a Caesar salad sat before Cinnamon, and what was left of a cheeseburger and fries in front of DJ. As she drank the rest of her Hurricane, she hoped the alcohol would kick in soon; she figured she was going to need it.

“So, tell me about yourself.”

“Well, like I mentioned earlier, I was born after you left. Unlike our other cousins, I was taught by Aunt Twilight, maybe because I drive teachers in normal Equestriani schools up the wall.”

“Rambunctious?”

“Uh, no, not really. My first day in school, Miss Cheerilee called my parents and said that I was a lot smarter than my peers. Mom called Aunt Twilight and she found out that I’m….” The conversation slipped into mumbling.

“What was that again?”

“Uh…I’ve been described as, uh, a genius,” she said, blushing furiously. “I’ve had membership in MENSA since I was twelve, and Aunt Twilight ended up being my personal teacher. Anyway, once my normal schooling was over, she recommended to my parents that I go to school at a human university rather than RCU. I applied to a few schools and got accepted at Stanford.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re supposed to come looking for me, though – that I’d understand you like no one else.”

“I thought I explained that already. I guess I didn’t then. Sorry – sometimes I get ahead of myself. You see, I’m like you: I was adopted, and I love my adoptive parents very much. But unlike you, I’ll never get a chance to see my birth parents ever again.”

“You make that sound as if that’s a blessing in my case – and I assure you, it’s not. But we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you. So go on – what happened to your birth parents?” Just in case, DJ waved over a waiter and ordered a second Hurricane.

“When I was three, my birth parents were murdered by humans outside of Dodge Junction – they claimed to be big-game hunters going after the ultimate prey: ponies. From what little I know about them, my father was a bank manager and my mother was the local mailmare – ‘ultimate prey’, my flank. Uncle Soarin’ says they were just too cowardly to go after something that could actually hurt them, like dragons; and Aunt Rainbow was even nastier about it, but I won’t repeat what she said. But anyway, since I didn’t have any other family members, I went to the orphanage in Cloudsdale. Fortunately, I arrived on the day that a certain kind-hearted pegasus was touring the nation’s orphanages on behalf of the Crown, she said she took one look at me, and that was all it took. The following week, she was back with her husband and after several more visits, they filled out the paperwork to adopt me.

“As for the killers, I found out about them later – they were convicted, and because Equestria doesn’t have the death penalty, as Aunt AJ says, ‘they got exiled and then thrown into a dungeon in the place they were exiled to.’ As for my birth parents, I just remember vague memories, faint impressions. Most of what I know about them I got from the newspapers.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your parents.”

Cinnamon nodded. “Thank you, I appreciate that. But I got something out of it: Mom, Dad and the rest. I was constantly doted upon, the youngest of the bunch, at least until the twins were born and then Apple Bushel after that. But that’s stuff you already know about, I’m sure.”

DJ smiled pleasantly before taking a drink of her new glass. She wondered why no one had told her about any of the new generation being born (or adopted, in Cinnamon’s case). Did they think she didn’t care? But a second later the truth hit her: she loved them all, but she’d made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with Equestria, so as a result, they exchanged brief hellos and the like. Now that I think about it, when Sweetie Belle came to visit us in San Diego a few years back, she didn’t say much about her home, DJ remembered. Maybe she thought I’d react to Cinnamon the same way I did to Rarity’s family.

“But in any case, hearing about what those humans did and why made me wonder. Then that horror film came out: The Converters. Aunt Twilight and Aunt Sweetie were so angry they nearly sued the filmmakers, but the producers issued an apology when they found out. Mom said it was disgusting that they used you to make a point about ‘evil humans’ and just stir up all the bad feelings and that it was unfair to you since you were one of the nicest humans ever, though you’re not really one.”

“Oh really.” She was going to have to call Carlos and see if he could recommend a good attorney specializing in libel. “Why didn’t I hear about that before?”

“I wouldn’t worry about it – the movie didn’t make many bits and after the controversy and low earnings, they skipped making a sequel,” Cinnamon explained, “though I think having two highly-placed government officials keeping an eye on them probably dissuaded them as well. In any case, after that, I just kept studying and to be honest, Aunt Twilight said it was a shame that I wasn’t born a unicorn, because I would have made a great magic user. But she said that I was unusual, that I had a lot of minor talents but nothing major – and I didn’t have my cutie mark.”

“Do you have one now?”

She nodded. “Two stars in a cinnamon swirl – please don’t ask me what it’s supposed to stand for, because other than my name, I’m really not sure.” She didn’t offer to show the mark, as dropping skirt in public would obviously be rude.

“Sorry I interrupted. Please, go on.”

“So in any case, Aunt Twilight suggested that maybe I should attend a human school, since it was about time I got a college level education and she didn’t have the time to cover that deep of one. Mom and Dad agreed, and after some applications with some schools, Stanford accepted me. I was hoping to go to USC like you, but they said that Equestriani Home Schooling wasn’t yet accredited by the US Department of Education, so they couldn’t accept me. Stanford, however, was willing to take a chance and so I went.

“And you know what? I like it – humans really are amazing. Yeah, I’ve met some bad ones, and ugh – I swear, there was this one creep who I think asked me out for my wings, if you catch my drift. But I’ve met some amazing people, like my roommate, Imani. Her parents are from this one country called Somalia, and oh, I thought some of Aunt Rarity’s stories about the Diamond Dog badlands were bad….”

“Well, that’s nice that you adjusted and it’s nice that you came looking for me, but why did you come looking for me?”

“You promise not to get mad?”

“You say that a lot, you know – you really need to work on your self-confidence.”

“I know, my Mom says I’m just as bad as she was when she was my age. But anyway, the reason I’m here is because Mom thought it would be best if you heard it from family instead of just some form letter from the embassy. Aunt Luna tried to tell you last month, but it seems she really must have pissed you off, because she says you almost made her lose her temper in public.”

“Ms. Personality she’s not.” Another drink from the Hurricane; this time, much slower. She still had to get home, and it really wouldn’t do to show up back on base completely bombed out of her skull. “Well, apparently it’s important, so spill the beans.”

“First, please realize that Mom would never ask you to do this unless it was urgent.”

So now the gloves were off. DJ took yet another sip from her glass; this was obviously where the fun – and by fun she meant anything but – would begin. “Go on.”

“Do you know about the attack on Fillydelphia?”

“There was something about it in the news, if I recall. Unfortunately other than the angle of ‘look, something bad happened on a world we still don’t give much of two shits about’ it was gone from the news by the end of the week.”

“I know. But about six weeks ago, something happened in Fillydelphia. I’m not sure of the details other than our aunts went out to solve the problem, and something bad happened. Now several of our aunts are dying of some kind of curse. Aunt Twilight’s trying to fix it, but the curse is killing her as well, and we don’t know how much time they have left. Plus, Uncle Silversteel and Aunt Scootaloo went in with a military attack afterwards, and they were hit as well.”

There was a shatter of glass on the floor, and a part of DJ suddenly just went blank. Twilight? AJ? The rest? Dying? The fact that she’d suddenly dropped her drink barely registered in her mind. The pegasus broke down crying, and DJ did the only thing she could do, the human thing to do: she went and embraced the younger pony, enveloping her in a comforting hug even as the tears flowed. DJ felt disconsolate at the moment herself, but clearly Cinnamon needed the comforting more than she did.

“Mom wants you to come back to Equestria – she says she and Aunt Pinkie, Aunt Sweetie and the rest need you. Will you come?”

DJ went back to her chair, avoiding the waiter who came to clean up the spilled drink. Her mind, fueled by the alcohol, just became a blurry mess of thoughts. Equestria was a faraway land in another reality, roughly concurrent on its world with North America on hers (and part of the reason why it was a NATO member, as well as other things) but to DJ, it may as well have been Narnia or Gondor or any of the lands in her novels. It was a place of dreams…and not altogether pleasant ones, either. She had family there, but they knew she was reluctant to return, and while she was more than welcome there, there were so many things left unsaid and undone, she was better off avoiding it altogether.

And yet, here was this young pegasus, a cousin she’d never known before, carrying a message from Fluttershy that everyone was dying. They were her true family in Equestria. For them, she’d do anything. But travel to Equestria? I don’t know if I can.

“They’d be the only reason I’d ever go back” DJ answered, with some hesitation.

“So you’ll go?”

“I can’t say I will, because I have to talk to my husband about it – I’d like to know what he thinks as well – that ‘being married’ part and all that. Plus, if what you’re telling me is true, Equestria’s starting to sound more and more like a war zone, so I’m sure I’d want to go.” DJ’s sarcasm was thick enough to be used as armor plating. After a few seconds, she realized her cousin was sarcasm impaired, and muttered under her breath, “But I will consider it.”

“Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to my Mom,” Cinnamon said, a soft smile coming to her face.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here,” she said, leaving several thousand yen on the table – tipping was taboo in the Land of the Rising Sun, so she made sure to leave just enough. The pair left the restaurant, and then the Hotel Pacifica, where it was located. It was a nice afternoon, and in the distance, you could hear the sounds of the stadium as a baseball game got underway.

“Well, I guess I should get going back to the Farm,” she said.

“The Farm?”

“Yeah. It’s a nickname for Stanford.”

DJ looked at her oddly. “You’re going to fly back?” Granted, she didn’t know a single thing about pegasus biology, but there should be no way to be able to fly across the entire Pacific.

“No, of course not. I’ve got a portal authorization from my mother. I just go to the embassy, use the portal to go to Washington, then use another one to get to the consulate in San Francisco. I can fly south from there or get someone to give me a ride to my dorm.”

“I see. As for me, I’ve got to get back to my kids, and—”

“You have kids? I know you’re married to a human, but...wow,” she said. “Mom didn’t say anything about that.”

“Would you like to meet them? We’re cousins, we probably should get to know each other a little better,” DJ admitted. For some reason, she was feeling comfortable now with Cinnamon, and she had to wonder if she’d have responded more favorably if Cinnamon had been sent to deliver the message last month instead of Luna. Then she realized that she should have listened to Luna, regardless. “God, I’m such a retard,” she said as both headed towards the train.

“Hm?”

“I should have listened to Luna, but – I felt like I was stalked. Plus, she got the Japanese government to lend her NP and Metro Police as bodyguards, which meant she was hiding.” Since Cinnamon had no yen on her, DJ bought the pegasus a ticket for the train, then used the e-pass on her phone for herself.

“Actually, knowing Aunt Luna, she was trying to do it for your sake; she probably figured that a full complement of guards would just cause an unnecessary crowd. She tries to be considerate, but it doesn’t always work out that way. But once you actually get to know her, she’s just one big cuddly Smarty Pants doll. She really does love us all. You too, even if she’s a little peeved with you.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” DJ replied, not really knowing what to say at that, so instead she just said nothing more.

The two chatted on the train about a bunch of things not really germane to their family, and about an hour later, DJ and Cinnamon arrived at the base. After picking up the kids and dropping off the box of buns to a very happy Karen, DJ introduced the pegasus to her children. Cinnamon just adored the two and fell in love with them on the spot. Much later on, after a quick dinner of DJ’s spinach lasagna (a recipe she picked up from her mother), they spent the rest of the night playing videogames until the kids got tired and fell asleep on the couch, having victoriously defeated both adults at several rounds of their favorite game.

As they both carried the boys up to their bed, DJ said, “Thanks. I’d have to carry the boys individually, and usually one of them wakes up in the process.”

“Glad to be of help. You have a pair of wonderful colts…I mean, boys. Even if they play pretty mercilessly at Pokémon Rainbow Battle Stadium.”

“Mea culpa,” DJ said sheepishly. “Mike and I are gamers, and the boys seemed to have picked that up. Personally, I prefer MMOs – my hands just aren’t built for smaller control pads – but Stuart and Tyler like the motion-sensing games a lot, so I try to indulge them on that. Plus, it wears them out at night, which makes it easier for them to go to bed so I can get some writing done.” As soon as the boys were tucked safely in their bed, the two went downstairs and talked again.

DJ started with her usual panache. “So let me see if I get this: Fluttershy had you contact me because my husband is the weapons officer on the USS Konetzni? Sorry, it doesn’t quite work that way.”

“No, that’s being taken care of through the proper channels. This is a personal issue. Mom’s request has nothing to do with that.” Cinnamon Star’s eyes started to water and DJ reached over for the box of tissues, handing them to the teary pegasus. She wiped her eyes and continued. “When the Bearers first went in to stop the problem, they were ambushed by Nightmare Moon.”

“Who?”

“Nightmare Moon – she’s an immortal demon, a monster. She once possessed Aunt Luna and the Bearers were just barely able to rescue her that time, from what I understand. In any case, they went in to stop the Nightmare, but she somehow managed to hit them all with something stronger than they’d ever dealt with before. Aunt Twilight tried to block the magic and then tried to absorb it, but it was too much. And now our aunts are dying of some kind of curse, and Aunt Twilight is practically killing herself trying to ward off the curse and solve the problem.”

Tears flowed on Cinnamon’s face, the fur near her eyes soaked. For a moment, DJ wondered if for a moment if Cinnamon’s cutie mark talent was crying, since she’d been doing it for roughly half the day. “It gets worse. Part of the military force that got decimated included Uncle Silversteel and Aunt Scootaloo – they’re on life support right now and they may go at any minute. Add to that the fact that Minty and her family have been missing since this all began and the city they live in, Fillydelphia, has been under military isolation since, so we can’t go find them!”

After a few moments, Cinnamon was able to recompose herself. “I know…I know you and Aunt Rarity and Uncle Silversteel aren’t close. I know Minty hates you – Elusive told me everything. But he said he’d like to see you again and that it would be good for your…his mother if you came. And even if that wasn’t the case, you should go if for no other reason than that Aunt Twilight and the others really need you right now.”

With this extra info at hand, DJ sat there for a while, thinking. While it was probably very much a sin on her part, she didn’t care if her biological parents or sister died; a part of her own conscience admonished her for thinking it even if it was true. But Elusive? She didn’t know him, not at all; and as for Twilight and the rest? She couldn’t let them down.

“I’ll be honest: I couldn’t care less about Rarity and Silversteel, I don’t give a damn about Minty, and I really don’t know Elusive. But the rest of them? They’re my family.”

“Aunt Twilight and Aunt Sweetie talk about you all the time. Both of them think of you as the daughter neither of them ever had. They’re both so proud of you,” Cinnamon said. “Mom and the others are as well.”

DJ nodded, Cinnamon’s words a spear in her heart. For them being my loved ones, I haven’t paid really much attention. She knew all of her cousins, aunts and uncles on her human side; she even shared an apartment with her cousin Lily during the last two years both attended college. But she’d just met a cousin she never knew she had, and there were others. I haven’t treated them very well, she thought glumly.

“Look, get some sleep,” she said. “You’re still running on Pacific Time and that’s gotta be playing hell with your body.”

“I am a bit sleepy,” Cinnamon admitted.

“I’ll get you some sheets and a pillow. Tomorrow I’ll drive you to the embassy. That okay for you?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” she yawned.

That night, after a couple of hours of tossing and turning, she finally gave up on sleep. Switching on the lamp by her bed, she blinked away the sudden stabbing feeling caused by the light before looking at the clock. As Mike would say, it’s O-Fucking-Get-To-Bed-Hundred-Hours. Knowing it was going to be one of those sleepless nights, she got up, yawned, and decided to make a few calls; hopefully with that she’d be able to clear up a few things. Besides, what was a ridiculous hour for her was prime time on the other side of the world.

The first call had been to her parents. She explained everything that had gone on in the past month, as well as Fluttershy’s request via her daughter; that to them, DJ was in some ways obligated to return to Equestria. She admitted that while it bothered her, she did care about her family there and wanted to help if she could. She also wondered what she would do with the children, as they were still in school and should she decide to go she had no idea how long she’d be gone. Her parents in turn reminded her that while they supported whatever decision she made, they’d back her as always. But then they made a suggestion DJ was less than happy to hear: that her children should see the place she truly came from, to see their Equestriani heritage.

“Dad, you do remember this is the place that I only escaped from because Princess Celestia decided to be magnanimous and told me to leave,” she said. “While they can’t do anything to me now, I’d rather not expose Stuart and Tyler to that sort of prejudice.”

“DJ, if you’re that worried, your mother and I can come with you,” her father said. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen Twilight anyway, and I’m sure she could use the support.”

“I agree,” her mother said, listening in on another phone. “It sounds like she could really use some friends right now, and I’d never let a friend down if I can help it. So we’ll go with you.”

She suddenly felt a massive weight float off her shoulders. “That’d be really great. I’ll ask Cinnamon to get word to Fluttershy and see if they can have someone at the embassy take you through the portal,” she said, adding, “And you’re right, I think Twilight could use all the moral support she can get – I’m getting the feeling I’m gonna need it, and I know Cinnamon will.”

“You’ll be fine, furball,” her mother said lovingly. “We’ll see you in Canterlot then.”

“Absolutely.”

“Give the kids our love.”

“What, and spoil them further?” she laughed. “Love you both. Bye.” Clicking the end button on the phone, she then dialed the second number, one in the 338 area code, which was assigned to Canterlot – amongst other things, Equestria had joined the North American Numbering Plan, so it had the familiar interconnectable three-digit starting codes she was familiar with. The phone rang and rang on the other end, and she hoped someone would pick it up. She hoped one pony in particular would be answering the phone.

“Sparkle residence, Spike speaking.”

“Spike!” DJ adored the dragon. One of the members of her Equestriani family closest to herself in age, he often related to all her issues as he had many of them himself. Her younger brother was also his lifeline for new videogames, so they kept in touch often. “Is everything okay?”

“DJ, good to hear from you – thanks for the Street Fighter Anthology gift for my birthday. Now I just have to get the Playstation 9 so I can use the download codes,” he said with a slight chuckle. But that humor disappeared when he said, “I’m not going to lie to you. It’s bad. Only reason I’m here right now is because Celestia insisted I get some sleep, and it’s easier than flying to my cave.” A pause. “Did Cinnamon get a hold of you?”

“She’s asleep on my couch right now. Cute kid, but she seems more easily flustered than Fluttershy.”

“No kidding; Fluttershy was hoping Cinnamon wouldn’t pick up those habits, but it’s kinda ironic that motherhood caused her to drop them even as her daughter picked them up.” Another pause. “Are you coming?”

“I’m seriously considering it” she said. “If…if it gets bad, how else am I—”

“Don’t finish that thought. They’ll get better. She’ll get better. She always does,” the dragon on the other end said, sounding as though he was forcing himself to remain calm. “But I hope you’ll come. When will you arrive if you do?”

“I’m going to see if I can get word to Mike’s ship so he can go on Emergency Leave. Either way, you should see us in a few days.”

“Us?”

“Yup – bringing my kids. You’ll love them. My parents will also be arriving as well.”

“That’s good to hear, and I’m looking forward to seeing everypony…sorry, everyone. Listen, I hate to break this short, but I’m falling asleep here. I’ll see you in a couple of days, okay?”

“Sure thing, Spike. See you then.” She disconnected the line, then put the phone back in the charging cradle. Looking at the time, she threw herself back in bed. She had to get some sleep somehow, since it would be a long, long day ahead. Making a stop at the FFSC would be her first order of business, followed by a quick trip to the NEX to get some new luggage.

“Mike, what do you….” She turned as always to ask the love of her life, her soulmate and the father of her children, the only person who had ever seen beneath the fur to the heart that beat beneath. But he wasn’t there. He was somewhere out there in the Indian Ocean, maybe, “doing boxes”.

But he’s not here. He’s not where I need him. And she knew that wasn’t his fault; she’d never hold that against him, and as the old saying went, those who stayed behind and waited also served – the unofficial motto of the Navy wife. But a bed made for two made it that much lonelier when only one lay there.

Suddenly, the phone rang. She didn’t even have to wonder who would call at this time of night; only one person would. “Mike?”

“Heya, hon! I know it’s late as hell over there, but I…well, I finally got a chance to get the POTS and give you a call. Can’t stay long, though: we’ll be going to GQ at any minute, though.”

Despite the tiredness, she broke into a big grin as she heard his voice. A second later, what he said finally registered through the cobwebs of her mind. “GQ? Something wrong?”

“Routine training, nothing major. We’re doing some wargames with the HMS Prince of Wales since her refit and just having a fun time. It’s interesting being slotted into a British battlegroup, but training and all that. She’s supposed to relieve the Ford battlegroup, after which we’ll be detached back to independent steaming before we head back home.” He sighed and she wished at that moment she could just be in his arms. “I wish I could be there, love. I missed your birthday. Again.”

“I know. I knew what I was getting into when I married you.”

“Saw the interview, by the way, and everyone in the wardroom agrees – I look like shit on camera. You, however, are totally mediagenic, hon. Frank – he’s the new CHENG, took over for Max when he PCS’ed to the Falluja – was even asking if you had a sister. I told him it’s kinda complicated.”

“You’re such a flatterer, you know that?” she laughed. “But I could really use you here right now.” She then went into an abbreviated explanation of what was going on, meeting Cinnamon, and Fluttershy’s request.

“Are you thinking about going?”

“I don’t know, honestly. Mom and Dad think I should, and if something happens to Twilight or AJ and I never see them again, I’m going to hate myself – they’ve done so much for me, for us. But I know if I go, someone’s going to try to pester me into making nice with Rarity.”

“And I’m guessing you want to know what I think. Well, if you want the truth, and as much as you’re not going to want to hear this, I think you should make up with Rarity.”

“Yeah, thanks for being on my side. I mean, after all, I’m just your wife and the mother of your children,” she seethed.

“DJ, knock it off. Yes, you’re never going to recognize them as family, and they probably know that by now – you made that pretty clear to an international audience on this Earth and whoever watches that show on the other one. But what about our kids? They deserve to know. And don’t give me the ‘tell them when they’re older’ crap. If you don’t let them see her, if you don’t let her know she has grandchildren, it might be something you’ll regret for the rest of your days.”

“I think I can live with that. Unfortunately for me, Mom and Dad think I should bring the kids.”

“Well, I can’t live with it, and your parents are right. I bet if you called my parents, they’d agree as well.” There was a bit of muffled speech on the other end as he quickly spoke to someone in the background, followed by him saying, “Thanks, Senior Chief. Listen, love, I’ve got to wrap this call up. For what it’s worth, I think you’re worrying a little too much. Our kids should know about their heritage; and if you’re worried about something happening to our kids, you know everyone there would never let them come to harm – Spike would take on whole armies himself before that ever happened, and that’s just him alone.”

“I know,” she said quietly. “But I’d feel a lot better if you were coming with us.”

“I can’t promise that, DJ. Unless it’s emergency leave – and usually they don’t grant it for the reasons you’re saying – it’s hard to take leave during a deployment.” There was some whispering in the background, and he then said, “I’ll ask the skipper, though, and explain everything I can. If she can spare me, then…we’ll see. But you’ll probably need to go to the FFSC and have them send an AMCROSS.”

“Already planned to do that. I hope she lets you go. The bed’s cold when you’re not here.”

He laughed. “DJ, sweetie, you know the rules: no going into heat while I’m not there.” It was an old joke; in terms of cycle DJ’s reproductive biology was closer to humans than equines, but the first doctor they saw when she was first pregnant kept insisting on using horse terminology, even going so far to refer to her estrous cycle as going into heat, nevermind the fact that technically human women went into heat as well.

“Wow. Not even back yet and you’ve already earned your first couchable offense.”

“Anything for you, love.” Klaxons suddenly sounded in the background, and he said, “I love you, DJ, you and the kids. Never forget that. I’ll talk to you later.” He then quickly hung up, as he had to get to his battle station.

She set the phone back in the cradle once more, feeling the isolation again. And with that, she crawled into the sheets, a furry ship alone on a sea of 400-threadcount satin.

After getting the kids fed and off to school, she came back to find Cinnamon just waking up. “Oh, I feel like a wreck,” she mumbled.

“Sorry. I’ve been trying to get Mike to replace it with a sleeper sofa. Up for huevos con chorizo?”

“What’s that?”

“Wait – you live in California and you don’t eat Mexican food? You sure you’re not messing with me?”

“Sorry, just not a fan. I like Thai food, though.”

“Sorry, don’t even know what they have for breakfast in Bangkok.” She shrugged. “Well, pancakes it is, then.”

The pair ate in silence, DJ figuring she could put off the preferred dish for the morning; it would also help to prevent having to explain why she as a pony was actually eating meat. As Cinnamon ate the last bite, she smiled. “Thanks for everything, DJ. When I first met you, I was afraid you wouldn’t like me because I reminded you too much of Equestria.”

“Well, you’re Fluttershy’s daughter, so you get a pass,” she said with a grin. “Plus, to be honest, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were from localworld, like me. You kinda remind me of me when I was your age, though I really never looked good in jean skirts. You pull them off somehow.”

“No, I mean it. Mom said it was fine, but as you can see, I’m…well, I don’t really have her courage, and I’m certainly not as outgoing as she is. So I worry a lot.”

“Okay, I really can’t wrap my mind around the words ‘Fluttershy’ and ‘outgoing’.”

“Uncle Spike says that a lot too. Was she really that bad?”

“Well, I really didn’t meet her until I was 15, so I don’t have any memories of my baby days,” DJ commented. “But from the few times I’ve run into her, she’s been softspoken and rather quiet.”

Cinnamon laughed. “Oh, that’s so not my mother! She’s constantly lecturing me about one thing or another; about taking care of Diablo, my pet bunny; reminding me to do my homework; help Dad on the farm whenever I’m home; etc. etc. etc.”

“Well, if you’re ready, we can get going.”

“If you want, you can just drop me off at the train station. I don’t want to be a bother. That is, um, if it’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, you are Fluttershy’s kid. Look, you don’t have any yen on you and I’m betting you didn’t get your passport stamped when you entered the country via the portal, right?” She looked suddenly horrified, as if she’d committed a grievous error. “Japan’s got some of the strictest travel and immigration laws in the world – and you just inadvertently entered the country illegally.”

Cinnamon had that horrified look on her face. “Oh, Cadance is going to kill me, and then Mom’s going to….”

DJ laughed. “Your secret is safe with me. So let’s get going, and you’ll be safer if I drive you.” The pegasus did not argue, looking as though she was going to be in serious trouble if anyone found out…and by that she didn’t mean the Japanese government.

“Ugh.” After a long drive from Yokosuka to Tokyo, getting into the embassy, using the portal to Washington and then the local network to San Francisco, Cinnamon was sick to her stomach. She never really enjoyed portal travel, and repeated exposures didn’t help at all; it was odd, since more beings reported motion sickness from teleportation than portals, but she was the rare exception. In any case, by the time she’d arrived at the San Francisco consulate, she was feeling so bleh that she asked the consul general to have a driver take her back to Palo Alto.

As she got in, she saw her dorm mate. “Heya, Imani.”

“Hi. So how was Japan?”

“Really nice. And DJ’s totally awesome. Wish I had a big sister like her, but then again, I think Mom and Dad had enough headaches with me, which is why I’m an only child. Besides, Elusive and Blitz try to fill the older sibling role for me.”

“That’s nice. Oh, Jason came by looking for you yesterday – that guy’s a real creep, so stay away from him. Also, your mother came by ten minutes ago.”

“Yeah, I know, I keep telling him I’m not interested, but he just k—WHAT?”

On cue, there was a knock on the door. Imani went and answered it, and there, standing there in a sundress, was Fluttershy. “Welcome back, Mrs. Apple. Please, come in.”

Fluttershy walked in, nodding pleasantly to her daughter’s dormmate. “Thank you, Imani.” Then she looked at her daughter. “Hello, Cinnamon.”

“Um, hi, Mom.” Cinnamon was nervous. “Wh-what brings you here?”

Fluttershy gave her daughter a sweet smile. “I came to see you, dear heart.” She looked at Imani. “I hate to impose, but would you mind giving us a moment of privacy?”

The Arabic girl nodded. “No problem; I was going to be leaving for the store anyway. I’ll be back in a couple of hours, Cinnamon. See you two later.” The young woman grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

“Mom, I think I blew it,” Cinnamon said as her friend left. “You and everyone were counting on me to bring her, but I couldn’t. I promised Elusive I would, and I screwed up.”

The yellow pegasus gently ran a hoof over her daughter’s cheek. “You did fine, sweetheart. DJ’s a grown mare and she has her own life; I think she has kids as well, if I remember.”

Cinnamon nodded. “They’re so adorable. They remind me of the twins back when…well, back when they were still cute and adorable instead of annoying.”

“Sweetie, that’s no way to talk about your cousins.”

“Sorry, mom, but they are. I know they’re just teenagers – I’m still just a teenager, technically – but they’re two of the most obnoxious ponies ever! And I know they’re just rambunctious just like Aunt Pinkie, and I know they’re not trying to be intentionally irritating, but….”

Fluttershy grinned. “Unfortunately for Thunderlane, both of them clearly take after their mother. And speaking of their mother, I needed to talk to you, which is why I’m here.”

Cinnamon gasped. “Did something happen to Aunt Pinkie?”

“No, she’s fine. But she, Luna and I are going out into the quarantine zone tomorrow to look for survivors. Especially Minty and her family.”

If Cinnamon’s gasp earlier was a note of concern, the look on her face now was really worried. “Mom, no – don’t, please don’t.”

“I have to, sweetie. It’s part of my duty to the Crown.”

“What did Dad say?”

“He was against it, to be honest,” she replied. “But he knows this must be done; after all, his sister is a Bearer like me. And I’d rather not go, if you want me to admit it, but Pinkie, Luna and I are the only ones who have any chance to stop Nightmare Moon, and we have to check Fillydelphia for survivors. We’ll be fine. We’re taking some mages with us for protection and the United Kingdom is sending some soldiers to assist us – for some reason, the disease isn’t affecting anyone from this Earth.”

“You mean humans,” Cinnamon said. “Does anypony think humans are behind this?”

“There’s a concern that they might. Twenty years of contact between our two worlds won’t just erase the thousands of years of legends about humans on our world – the myths are even older than Celestia and Luna. But what I’m going to say next is probably not going to make things easier for you, dear heart.”

She steeled herself. “Go ahead.”

“There’s only a hoofful of ponies of Equestriani citizenship and not affiliated with our government that live on this Earth: you, Trixie, Harper, Lovestruck, Guiding Light, and perhaps a few others. We’re getting word to them to help us counter any negative news that may come out of our world. But I need you to tell DJ when she comes to Canterlot, because she’s hesitant to trust anyone.”

“I kinda got that vibe from her,” Cinnamon said. “What happened between her and Aunt Rarity?”

“It’s a long story, and it’s such a mess, no one knows the full story, not even DJ and Rarity themselves. Twilight might know everything, but….” Fluttershy blinked away tears of concern for her old friend; now was not the time to give in to weakness. “When Twilight’s better, I think we’re all going to all have to sit down and work this out. Rarity needs to respect DJ’s wishes, and DJ needs to at least acknowledge her birth mother.”

“I hope she does. I wish I could have known my birth parents better. Um, no offense.”

“I know. I’m sure they were wonderful ponies, and everything we did find out about them says just that. But I need you to be strong, Cinnamon. There will be a lot of hard things going on, and Cadance and the rest will need your support while the three of us are gone.”

“I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask. Now, let’s spend some time together, okay? I don’t get to see you as much as I’d like, and you’re growing up so fast.”

“Mooooom,” she moaned, embarrassed by the sudden shift in topic, but relented.

The next few days were a blur. The Navy Exchange didn’t have what DJ needed in the way of luggage, so she had to make a trip out to Yokota Air Base to raid the AAFES. She then had to tell the kids’ teachers as to what was going on; thanks to her mother being an accredited substitute teacher, she got enough material for three weeks of missed school lessons. She also told her editor that she’d be out of pocket for a few weeks; when she told him where she was going, it nearly gave him an aneurysm.

“DJ, if you said that you wanted to spend the next three weeks in downtown Mogadishu, I’d have believed that. But Canterlot? I thought you hated the place!”

“Marc, if I ignored everything I hated, I’d have a very boring life,” she giggled.

“Yeah, no kidding. Anyway, you take care, DJ – I remember you telling me about all the shit you went through and you don’t need to go through that crap again. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me or Alexis, ‘kay?”

“Will do. Anyways, I’ll let you go, since it’s getting late on this side of the mudball. Talk to you later.” After hanging up, she then dialed another number, waiting for it to be answered.

“Hiya, DJ! So…you ready?”

“Yeah, I guess. Just thought I’d let you know. I’m going to call the embassy tomorrow and ask for a lift.”

“Actually…don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it. Mom asked me to go with you when you traveled, so you’d have someone you trust.”

“I appreciate that. And it’s not that I don’t trust anyone, it’s just that—”

“—you don’t trust anypony,” Cinnamon interjected with a laugh. “It’s late. You should get some sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

“Sure. So I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

“Absolutely. Tomorrow it is. Seeya!”

The following day, she tried to relax and finish up some emails while she waited. After that, she gave up and switched on a different program, to take her mind off the nervousness. Roughly about noon, she was still sitting at the keyboard when there was a knock at the door.

“Mom! Someone’s at the door!”

DJ took a breath to try to relax before calling back, “Stuart, can you answer it?”

“Sure thing, Mom!” A minute or so passed before young Stuart popped into the room his mother used as an office. “Mom, there’s a pegasus at the door!”

“Stuart…are you sure?”

The smiling seven-year-old nodded. “She’s like you, but with wings. That’s a pegasus, right? Anyway, she’s at the door and wants to speak to you.” A pause. “Oh, it’s Cinnamon!”

“Okay. Go up to your room and get your jacket and Tyler’s.” While Stuart scrambled upstairs, DJ shut down the program on her computer; clearly she was not going to become a level 37 Jedi Knight this day. Trying to calm down, she went straight to the door. Opening it, she found a pegasus mare standing there in a business suit, unsteadily wobbling on her hindlegs and using her wings for balance.

“Um…hello,” she said before nearly falling over; a quick flap of her wings saved her from an untimely fate. “Did I mention how much I hate wearing business suits? The skirts are always so restrictive on my tail.”

DJ huffed, a very equine sound that was a part of her biology. “You make me soooooo jelly, you know that?”

“Huh? How so?”

“You manage to look incredible in anything, don’t you? How do you do it?”

Cinnamon blushed. “Mom was a model at one point in her life, and I guess that part rubbed off on me, even if we’re not related by blood. Besides, you’ve seen her – she just has this way about her. Personally, I’m a little envious that she’s so naturally easygoing.”

“I still can’t believe we’re talking about the same Fluttershy.”

“Cinnamon!” The two kids nearly tackled the younger pegasus as she scooped them into a hug.

“Hiya, guys! Ready to go to Equestria?” They both nodded eagerly; they had no idea what Equestria was, but they were getting to go so yay!

“Well, I’d better go get the luggage. It’s gonna be a long trip.”

A couple of hours later, she was in the portal room of the Equestriani embassy in Tokyo, nestled in Meguro. The building was nice, done in the early 1920s period style, and had previously been the embassy of another country before they moved to the Akasaka district. It was across the street from a park, and oftentimes in Tokyo it was the spot where most ponies in Japan were seen, often due to the regular public displays and events the embassy held there.

A limousine had been dispatched to the base by the Equestriani government, and when it arrived at her home, DJ had to explain to several of her friends what was going on, and that she was going back to her birthworld via the embassy portal, hence the limo. Having heard all her stories about the last time she was in Equestria, her friends had been worried initially, but she explained all was well and that she hoped to be back in a week or three. As for the chauffeur himself, he was a pleasant elderly Japanese man who left his job as a taxi driver when he found out the embassy needed chauffeurs; he’d said it was the chance of a lifetime and he was more than honored to do so. The two breezily chatted along in Japanese, much to the driver’s relief; for reasons that were never really clear, English was the most widely spoken language on Alter-Earth and the driver wasn’t comfortable with speaking it.

Once they arrived on the premises, they saw a compliment of guardsponies, dressed in their barding. The presence of submachine guns instead of spears or swords was the only admission that this world was not the one they were familiar with, and standing next to them, a pegasus dressed in a uniform styled after human militaries was giving a lecture on Equestria; a human translator next to him translated from English to Japanese. As the limousine arrived, a human employee and a unicorn attaché met them. “My name is Pokey Pierce,” the deep blue stallion said. “I’m the Director of the Personal Affairs section. Ambassador Blossomforth would have met you personally, but she’s in a meeting with some officials from the Japanese Ministry of Tourism.”

“I’ll take it from here,” a voice behind the stallion said. At the top of the steps was a regal alicorn, standing there as if calmly waiting for them. She was a light pink, with a mane in magenta, gold and purple. She had a beatific smile on her face and wore a business suit that was clearly tailored to accent her form. However, unlike Celestia or Luna, she seemed more relaxed and informal, more…human?

“Your highness,” the unicorn said, bowing; just about every other person – human and pony alike – bowed as well, leaving only DJ, Cinnamon and her children standing.

“Please, everyone, on your feet. I’m not really one for ceremony,” she said, looking somewhat embarrassed. Turning to DJ, she said, “And I haven’t seen you since you were a foal, DJ. You probably don’t remember me. My name’s Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, though people just call me Cadance.” Cadance extended a hoof. “It’s nice seeing you again, though you’re a bit bigger.”

“Yay, another relative, I’m guessing. This keeps up, I’m going to end up needing a private server over at MyFamilyTree.com.”

The alicorn smiled. “You’re just popular that way.”

“I think I can do without that, since I’d like to avoid paparazzi,” she drawled, gathering up her kids. She also went for the luggage, but a group of embassy employees made that moot. “Well, you’ll have to forgive me for not reacting, Princess. Not used to being treated as a dignitary.”

“You can drop the title. I don’t usually use it,” Cadance said. “As for the reaction, well, Spike warned me about it, said that you’re not as starry-eyed about the royal treatment as other ponies, but then again, you don’t really consider yourself one of us, do you? I know Twilight mentioned something about that, but….” The alicorn shrugged her shoulders. “I should probably take my kid sister more seriously, you know?”

A confused look crossed a tan face. “You’re her older sister? But you look so young!”

“Flattery will get you anywhere with me,” the alicorn said, flashing another smile. “But I’m probably the same age as your parents.”

“But my parents are in their mid-seventies!”

“I hit 74 back in February,” Cadance admitted. “Comes with the territory of being an alicorn; you know, immortal and eternal and all that jazz.” There was an undercurrent of something in that statement, but DJ wasn’t sure what it was. “Twilight’s really just my sister-in-law, but I’ve known her since she was four and I have no siblings, so she’s like one to me.”

“You don’t act like a princess,” DJ observed.

“Well, let’s just say I’ve spent my free time learning about human culture and such. You’d be surprised how little difference there is between your culture and ours. Since I’m in charge of the diplomatic corps, I needed to learn anyway.”

“You’re in charge of the diplomatic corps?”

“Yes. Officially, I’m Equestria’s Foreign Minister, but only because Celestia won’t let me use Professional Meddler as an official title,” she joked. As they entered the building, they ran into Cinnamon Star. “So, all ready?”

The pegasus nodded. “Of course. I’ll get them safely to Canterlot, I promise.” Turning to DJ, she said, “I’ll take care of them as if they were my own.”

DJ looked at her cousin, then back at Cadance. “Um…would somebody care to explain?”

“Your parents are already at the mansion,” Cadance answered. “Cinnamon will be escorting your children there. I need to talk to you privately about what’s occurred, and I think it’s best if it’s not mentioned around the children.” There was a look in the alicorn’s eyes, one she’d seen a lifetime of: worrying about something else. DJ met it with a nod, and Cadance relaxed somewhat.

Bending down to her haunches, she looked at her kids. “Stuart, Tyler, Cinnamon’s going to take you to Canterlot to meet up with your Grandma and Grandpa, so you two be on your best behavior, okay?”

Stuart looked up at Cinnamon. “Do we get to fly?”

“Well, no, the portal leads to the mansion,” she answered, “but I’m sure if you ask politely, Uncle Spike will be more than happy to take you. That is, if your mother allows it.”

“Mom, can we?”

“Yah, Mom, canwe?” Tyler asked, not really sure of what was going on but definitely interested in it if his brother was.

She sighed playfully. “Well…only if Spike says okay, and if your grandparents are fine with it, because they’ll be watching you while you’re there.”

“You’re not coming?” For such a young child, Stuart was far more astute than most adults realized.

“We have to go to Singapore for something,” Cadance replied breezily, as if she’d been expecting that. “But we’ll be in Canterlot soon enough.”

Singapore? “Yup. So you two stay with Cinnamon until you get there, okay?” She then looked at the pegasus. “I’m trusting you with the most important treasures in my life.”

“They’re family. I’ll take care of them, I promise,” Cinnamon said. DJ quickly hugged her children, and then with another group of ponies carrying their bags, the larger group walked off towards the portal room.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Cadance commented, “You have lovely children, DJ. I’m envious.” Her voice suddenly sounded sad and wistful as if a memory were brought up that she’d spent forever suppressing.

“Are you okay?” DJ asked. Considering the only news that she had that Twilight was in trouble, Cadance’s sudden sorrow might make sense.

“Do you love your husband?” the princess suddenly asked, certainly an unusual question. Before DJ could say anything, however, Cadance added, “Love him with every iota of your being. Love him from the tips of your ears to the end of your tail. Hold him tight and never let go. You and your husband share a magical, special moment that will last your lives if you let it.” She wiped a tear from her eye, and continued. “Sorry if I seem maudlin. Today’s fifteen years ago to the day that my Shiny passed away – Twilight’s older brother, Shining Armor, my husband. I really haven’t quite gotten over it.” She sighed. “In fact, for the first couple of years, I let myself waste away and just wanted to die; at one point, I was even looking to see if I could commit suicide, to see if an immortal can actually die. But Twilight wouldn’t let me. She moved me into her home and rebuilt the mansion so that Spike could come often as well. She spent years doing everything she could to make sure I didn’t sink into despair. She did just about everything she could to bring a smile to my face. At one point, she even forced me to go on vacation with her to Las Vegas, where we got to see a special performance from one of her friends – a celebrity stage magician, The Great and Powerful Trixie. Twilight said she couldn’t give up, that she refused to let me go like that.” The alicorn dropped any façade at this point. “If I lose Twily as well, I don’t know what I’ll do,” she whispered.

DJ walked with Cadance in silence for a bit, gaining a new appreciation for her aunt – she already knew that Twilight Sparkle was one of the most important ponies in Equestria, but she truly was a hero. “So, will you tell me what Cinnamon won’t? I already get she wasn’t telling me the whole truth.”

“That’s because she doesn’t know the whole truth,” Cadance said, her voice barely audible. “We’ve been hiding it from the younger ones. Cinnamon is somewhat fragile, as you already know; and the twins take things very personally – Surprise especially. Apple Bushel’s too young to understand, and Blitz is rather volatile when he’s worried – and he’s got good reason to be.”

“Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this?” DJ asked as they walked towards another portal.

“You won’t…but I’d rather not talk about that now. We’ve got Singapore to deal with first,” she said, as she reached the portal. Without ceremony, the alicorn strode through, and, a second later, so did DJ.

“Di Tacco, I have my first assignment for you.” The two opted to meet in Venezia, at a café just outside the Piazza di San Marco. Ghino was already there to meet with some potential recruits for the cause, and the place made for a lovely scene to discuss business.

“I am always available for you, dearest Selina.” He’d chosen that nickname for her in order to have her blend in more conspicuously. She didn’t like it one bit and took pains to tell him so; he didn’t care and gave her a pair of sunglasses to cover her eyes; now that they were officially linked in a partnership, the chances of being caught were that much more dangerous. “How can I be of service?”

“A little bird told me that the government of Equestria will be having a dinner plan sometime in the next couple of days in Singapore to celebrate their political alliance. My source ensured me that all three princesses will be there for the dinner. Now, if someone were to…interrupt the celebration, it would be much appreciated. But if someone—”

“—were to interrupt the princesses’ lives, that’d be a different matter?” di Tacco asked. “But my understanding is that they’re immortal.”

“Hardly. They’re ageless, but that’s not the same thing. I nearly took Celestia’s life during our last battle and the history books said it took her nearly three years to recover from her wounds. And I know that human weapons are far more deadly than, say, arrows and swords?”

“Indeed they are. Fortunately, I have a team in the area who can…perform…as per your specifications. Three of them are from the contingent of troops you sent the other day and they’re working well with my men.” He leaned forward and asked, “So what do you plan to offer me for the work? I would say…perhaps several tons of rare earth elements, but for you,” he said, reaching out to caress her face, “I’m sure we could come to a more…personal…arrangement?”

“We could,” she said, “if I weren’t needed elsewhere. But as agreed, I’ll have the minerals sent to the previously agreed location. And as for your…other concern, Chrysalis has sent a gift.” The demonic alicorn snapped her finger and the toy poodle standing next to her flashed and became a pony of a kind di Tacco had never seen before. “Chrysalis’ words were, and I quote, ‘she is here for protection, counsel on changeling drone control…or warming your flank at night.’”

“I see,” di Tacco said as he gazed at the pepsis. She looked like a unicorn, save for the dark magenta wings and saddle carapace vice Chrysalis’ teal ones; the pepsis also had a purple mane and tail with pink and orange highlights. “And you are?”

“I am Twilight,” she answered him, looking at the human with an unreadable glance in her alien eyes.

“Twilight what?” he asked. “That’s a fairly common name on your world, is it not?” Nightmare Moon looked at the man and wondered if his earlier show of surprise was as false as his modesty. How much did he know about Chrysalis’ prized hybrid warrior children? That question also included if he knew the identities of Twilight’s likely namesake biological aunt and grandmother as well.

“Twilight Sunburn, if you would prefer the full,” she responded.

“What do you prefer to be called?”

“I usually do not need such terms, as my people talk through the hivemind. But if you prefer to call me something, Twilight will suffice.”

“Human form, if you please – and fully dressed, as well. I prefer my advisers to be human for disguise purposes, as we are in public even a perfect human girl will cause questions.”

“As you wish, my lord.” There was a flash of light, and suddenly a woman dressed similarly to “Selina” appeared. She looked of European descent now, though she retained the unusual hair and eye colors. “Will this suffice?”

“I’ll leave you and your girl Friday to sort things out,” Nightmare Moon said, walking off. “Until the success of your operation, di Tacco. We shall meet again.”

For a few minutes di Tacco looked at his newest charge. “So,” he asked her, “at what point are you supposed to betray and kill me in Chrysalis’ name?”

“My orders are to do no such thing,” she replied, though she admitted, “However I am to notify one of the four assassins you have in your ranks to do so. My orders are to obey you to my utmost, save for what I mentioned before.”

“Utmost?”

“Yes. That includes mating, since I’m told humans do it for pleasure and reproduction. But I am not a changeling princess; I cannot use genetic drift if you wish to father a child on me.”

“That’s quite alright, Twilight,” di Tacco assured her. “We’ve other things to do now,” he said, finishing his coffee and rising from his seat, “and plans to make. But we’ll get to the mating part sure enough, I promise.”

“Understood, sir,” the pepsis said, nodding slightly and falling into position behind them as the departed the square.

Chapter Four: Singapore Sling

In a house in the northern part of Wooster, Ohio, a woman sat at her kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee. She’d already seen the children off to school, and her husband, a graphic designer, had just left for work an hour ago. That left her, the quintessential soccer mom, off to her own devices. After all, she chose not to work, since she was independently wealthy enough to support the whole family; in truth, her husband had a job simply to keep himself from being bored during the days.

She didn’t have that sort of problem. Her “work”, such as it was, usually involved killing threats to her adopted home – this world – and continually declining membership in the Covenant, the organization determined to keep magic out of the hands of humanity for reasons she didn’t find satisfactory. Then she’d come home, spend time with Sarah and Jon on their homework and wait until Greg came home from his job. Then they’d chat over dinner, watch a movie suitable for the kids, then after the kids’ bedtime, would talk about their days. Hers, more often than not, managed to elicit a look of wonder or horror from her husband’s face. But she’d told him her past long ago, and he accepted it – the first in a long, long time to do so, and she loved him for that.

This was her day, in and out, with the occasional something different, like the two-week vacation to Honolulu last summer; or last Christmas, when they went to Minnesota to see his parents. They never saw hers, of course: she’d had to lie to her children – something she didn’t care to do, but Greg understood with the agreement that the truth would come when they were of age – that she was an orphan, and considering her very unusual name, it was certainly believed. Once in a while an old friend of hers would come by, like her best friend (and unbeknownst to her family, former enemy), a Japanese woman named Kuzunoha; or “her old college roommate”, a French woman named Emeraude, and they’d talk about a wondrous and magical past. For the most part, her days were pretty much uniform.

But today was going to be different.

Sitting in her house and drinking a cup of coffee, Faust A’Licorne, known to the history of another world as Queen Faust of Equestria, looked at the sky out her window and noticed that something elemental had shifted. And she knew what it was: after all, the last time it happened, it had caused her to abandon her beloved daughters and to watch the hell they went through – especially little Luna – from afar. She watched as they built a family of their own and finally prospered.

And now all of it was going to hell.

Finishing her coffee, Faust stood up, put the coffee mug in the sink, then went to get her leather jacket, a US Army Air Forces bomber she’d gotten from an old friend back in 1943. Slipping it on and zipping it up, she grinned and then instantly teleported.

There was work to do.

The pair found themselves in a wood-paneled room, with plush carpet and various trophies and plaques on the wall. Behind them, a mirror-like structure strobed with energy then became still as the portal went to standby. “Here we are!” Cadance said, gesturing with her forelegs. “Welcome to Singapore City.”

“Where’s here?” The place had a very distinctly British feel to it, which she liked; in truth, she often pestered Mike to get an assignment in Europe just so they could visit London someday.

“It’s the British High Commission to Singapore,” Cadance explained. “We don’t have an embassy here yet, so we run an interests section through the British. We would have done so through the Americans, but I constantly get reports that we’re supposedly too cozy with Washington, and that the superpowers of two different Earths being chummy with each other could destabilize the geopolitical climate.” She looked at DJ curiously and added, “And I thought politics on my Earth was bad. I’m still playing catch-up: are human politics always this inane?”

DJ grinned. “Well, there was once a comedian who said that politics comes from the Latin word poli, for many; and tics, from bloodsucking creatures.”

A sudden burst of musical laughter sounded. “I’ll have to remember that for the next time I talk to my aunts. Celestia, in particular, will love that.” As they left the room, they came to a guard desk in the hallway just before the room; Cadance signed her name to signify entering the building, an aura of blue magic wrapped around the pen as it danced on the paper. When it came to DJ, however, she chose to write the normal way, taking pen to hoof and jotting her name down. Watching, the alicorn was impressed; not only was the pony doing something that none of her kind did, but she was also left-handed.

As they were given their guest badges and continued down the hall, Cadance looked at DJ, a slightly awed look on her face. “You really do go about life the human way, don’t you? I don’t know anypony who would go through the trouble to learn how to write with their hooves. Mouthwriting is much easier.”

“No thank you. Do you know where that pen’s been? I don’t, and it’s unhygienic.”

“Well, to each her own, I guess, but I can understand that.”

“So, what are we doing here?”

“Well, I’m here because I need to finish up this meeting with the Singaporean Foreign Ministry as to where we can start building our embassy,” she replied. “As for you, well….” Her muzzle broke into a sly grin.

DJ felt a sudden pair of arms snake around her waist. She froze for just a hairsbreadth of a second, but then she felt the familiar pull of muscles, her nose picking up an all-too familiar scent, felt herself pressed close to the muscled torso of another. Instinctively she leaned in, feeling the memorable warmth and whinnied softly in content. In his arms again. At last.

She felt his lips kiss the top of her head as he murmured, “Hi, hon.”

She turned around, careful to ensure his arms did not once leave her side. She then looked up at him, gazing into his soft hazel eyes, taking in every inch of the face of the man she loved, seeing that familiar dusting of freckles, the same sandy blond hair and sloppy grin.

“How? I…?”

He grinned. “Captain couldn’t put me on leave since it didn’t qualify for emergency leave. However, she sympathized with us, so she pulled some strings. I’m going to be TAD to the military attaché office at the embassy in Canterlot for six months or until ‘they don’t need me’ quote unquote, whichever comes first. XO used to be WEPS on his old ship, so he was happy to step in. By the way, you owe them both autographed copies of your next book.”

“For getting you back? They can have autographed copies of all of them,” she said with a smile as she leaned into his chest. “But how’d you get here?”

“Helo onboard ship transited me to D-Gar, then from there caught a lift from an RAF cargo flight. I’ve just spent the last few days shootin’ the scuttlebutt with some guys from the Royal Navy for a few days while I waited for you.”

“Wait…you knew I was coming?”

“You didn’t know you were coming?”

“I don’t believe this sh—” she started, her voice rising along with her temper.

Mike immediately did damage control, via clamping down on her mouth with his. She didn’t exactly complain about the kiss, and it got her to calm down. After a few seconds, he pulled away. “Hon, you might want to keep in mind that we’re in an embassy. Decorum, remember?”

“Says the guy who just started tongue-wrestling with his non-human wife in the middle of a hallway,” she teased.

“The sacrifices a Navy officer must make to ensure his country is not embarrassed in the public eye,” he said with an equally mocking tone. “Besides, wasn’t much of a sacrifice since I like to do it so often.”

“Then can we do it again?” she pouted.

“Easy, tiger,” he grinned. “As soon as I got here, I was contacted by Cadance’s personal secretary. We’re here for tonight because the princesses have to talk to you.”

“All three princesses need to talk to me?” she asked. “Well, great, don’t I just look like a Mary Sue in a crappy novel?”

“Huh?”

“You have your special jargon, Sailor Boy, and so do us authors. A Mary Sue is an overblown little miss perfect that seems to have too much going right for her in her life, and by a little too much, I’m talking Biblical proportions.”

“Well, that settles that: you’ve had so much crap thrown your way, you definitely don’t qualify as a Mary Sue-whatever-thingy.”

“I have three princesses who are apparently also my aunts – oh, and they’re immortal alicorns, too. Tell me that ain’t Grade-A Mary Sue bullshit.”

“You have three aunts who are princesses, only one of which you seem to be getting along with, the other one you’ve been cordial to only once and the third one you pissed off in public during a slow day in the Ginza.” When she just looked at him with utter surprise, he looked at her with a knowing glance and said, “What, you didn’t think I wasn’t going to find out about that one?”

“H…how…?”

“I have my sources.”

“Did Cadance…?”

He recited from memory: “From: Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet, To: Lt. Commander Michael D. Hengst, USN, 833-00-4161 Copy: Commanding Officer, USS KONETZNI DDG-1321, Subject: Letter of Reprimand in case of Subject Named Member’s Dependent Name: Daisy Jo H. Hengst aka DJ Martinez. 1. This letter is to—”

Her eyes went wide with fright. “Oh my God, Mike, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to—”

“I’m bullshitting, love,” he said gently. “Honestly, the only reason I remember the format is because I just had to write that kind of letter early last month for one of my seamen who decided he wanted to steal from his fellow Sailors; it was easier than dealing with the paperwork for Captain’s Mast. But please don’t let me see one with my name on it because you decided you wanted to flip off leaders of a foreign government. She may be your not-so-pleasant aunt, but she’s also the number two in the Equestriani government.”

Whatever last vestiges of satisfaction DJ had from telling Luna off went right out the window. “Then how’d you find out?”

“Sweetie Belle sent me a private email the week after. Said Luna was extremely pissed at you and that you really hurt her feelings. Sweetie’s kinda disappointed in you as well for that, but I told her I’d talk to you about it.”

“But I didn’t say anything harsh! Well, not really.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “Hon, have you ever really listened to yourself when it comes to someone…er, somepony other than the relatives you accept? You’re pretty much pretty dismissive if not outright brutal towards others of your own kind.”

“That’s not true – I have several friends who are ponies and aren’t related!” She looked at him angrily. “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?”

“DJ, it’s not a matter of ‘sides’.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “At least five of your aunts are on the verge of death right now – that Cadance told me. Two more are risking their lives right now to work towards solving the current problem in Equestria before it turns into a full-scale war that rivals anything humanity has ever had. Is starting another argument with Luna worth the chance she might ban you from going to Equestria? And what happens then if they die?”

“She wouldn’t do that! They’re my family!”

“Are you so sure?”

DJ opened her mouth to say something, but the look on her face was one of sudden worry; no, she wasn’t sure. One of the other two princesses might intercede if that happened…but then again, they might not.

Mike knew he got through to her and smiled gently. “Please, for me, just try to fake getting along with the relatives you don’t like on your pony side, okay? I’ve seen you diplomatically handle the ones on your human side – you absolutely cannot tolerate your cousin Kate’s husband, for example.”

“Well, Phil hits on everyone in a skirt and he’s blatant about it; I overheard him telling one of his friends once that he’d like ‘a piece of that tail with a tail.’ Personally, I wish Kate would be a little less clueless in that department, but that’s not for me to say.”

“See? So why can’t you treat, say, Luna that way?”

She sat and stewed in her own anger for a second before she huffed and said, “I’ll try. No promises.”

“That’s all I ask, love,” he said. “Now, let’s get your passport stamped and let’s get going – we’ve got a day ahead of us, and we have to get you to Orchard Road.”

“Huh?” she asked.

“Shopping District – we need to get a dress tailored for you tonight, since we’re meeting them at the Raffles Hotel – which, I might add, is an extremely expensive hotel and that the Equestriani government is paying for our room there while we’re here in Singapore overnight, so you might want to thank Celestia?”

“I swear, you play me like a fiddle,” she said good-naturedly. “That’s okay, though. You said shopping¸ so I can live with that.”

“And there goes my deployment bonus,” he muttered.

A beat-up Holden Barina crossed the Johor-Singapore causeway, moving over from Johor in Malaysia to the border town of Woodlands, in Singapore. Once there, the car drove through the streets of the town before parking in a nearby car park. From there, the five men got out of the car, walking a slight distance to a ratty outdoor café called the Rasa-Rasa Food Fiesta. The quintet sat down, ordered beers, and waited for their contact.

They didn’t have to wait long. A man dressed in breezy, light clothes arrived, a girl on his arm. On a leash held by the woman was a St. Bernard with a wary, anxious look in his eyes. At the entrance of the café, the owner briefly informed the man that dogs were not allowed in his establishment, but the man pulled out a thick wad of cash, placing it in the owner’s hand and quickly changing the latter’s mind. Finally, as he approached, Ghino di Tacco smiled. “Sorry about that. Had to grease a wheel to bring our beloved ‘pet’ into the restaurant – my wife can simply just not abide without him. You understand, I’m sure.”

The first man, a blonde, weathered Australian who looked more akin to the type of murderous settlers that had inhabited that grand island than the affable people of modern times, barked a guttural, joyless laugh. “You and terms like beloved are as far apart as they can be, di Tacco. But enough of that. I am here as promised, and I’ve spent the last couple of days training your new assistants. They don’t talk much; in fact they don’t do much of anything outside of what I order them to do,” he said, pointing to the three men sitting here. “They’re like fucking robots.”

“I wouldn’t worry your head over that, Mr. Ricard,” the woman said, affectionately petting the dog. “Those men will do what you ask. After all, that is what we are trained for,” she said.

“‘What you are trained fo’…Ghino, why do I get the feeling these guys aren’t what I think they are?”

“Does it matter? Get the job done and you can keep them. They’re very effective and Twilight here,” he said, motioning to the lady, “can show you how to handle them later.”

“In fact,” she said, “Take this one with you as well. He’ll be of help, won’t you, boy?” she said. Instinctively the dog leaned closer to its master, looking at her intently in a manner that Ricard suddenly found unnatural and disturbing.

“Twilight,” Ghino said firmly, “this isn’t the time for affection. Give him the dog.”

“But he—”

“Give him the drone,” di Tacco snarled in a dangerous tone. “You have no business being royalty, pepsis. Your place is at my heels and in my bed, understood?”

Twilight suddenly looked as if she’d been wounded. “Yes sir,” she whispered, as if slapped.

Ricard ignored it; whatever di Tacco did with his latest plaything was none of his business. “I’ll take the dog,” he said, not sure if he should, but accepting it anyway.

“Give the dog the same orders as you would the others, and you’ll see,” di Tacco replied. He then turned to the other man. “Did you get the resources you needed, DeVille?”

The other man leaned forward. “I don’t know what you’re planning, but yes, the extra muscle will come in handy. I lied to them, said I was hired by a wealthy Malaysian businessman who wants to reclaim Singapore for the Malaysian crown. You won’t believe how much some idealists will be swayed by pretty words.”

“And you’re sure these gunmen of yours will perform as planned?”

“Heh, what have they got to lose? They’re Karens who are tired of being ignored by both Thailand and Burma. The Malaysian government has been making legitimate overtures to them as of late, so if I were to step up and say that Malaysia were offer them something in return for a little hush-hush job, they’ll listen. After all, it’s that or a life of crime – and far easier to do one illegal job and be legit after than to try to continue keeping under the law.”

“And they’re trained?”

“The majority of them are former Karen Liberation Front rebels. The remainders are simple street thugs, but they can shoot a gun just as well as anyone else – that last group gets to be the cannon fodder.”

“Good!” Ghino said, smiling. “Then we have a deal. Once the job is done, the pay will be in the usual accounts in the usual banks in the Caymans. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to deal with dissent in my own ranks.”

“Yeah, deal with her until she can’t walk anymore,” Ricard said raucously. The three silent men and the dog looked at each other with an unspoken word, but then did nothing further. DeVille merely raised his glass of watery beer as Ghino and his playtoy went off.

They walked a few feet away before Ghino looked around, then slapped her hard enough across the face to drop her to the floor. “That was a stupid thing you did, Twilight, and I will not tolerate further dissent, do you understand?”

Laying on the ground, her eyes watering from the sting, she gasped, “But he was hungry! All I did wa—”

“—was possibly give away our position and get us arrested by the police,” he snarled. “Let’s get something straight, here and now: your only duties are to accompany me, follow my orders and perform in bed. Should you deviate from that, I will make it painful for you, understand?”

“Yes, my lord,” she said, softly, rubbing her cheek. It didn’t really hurt, but it was the cruelty and rejection that did. She was a pepsis, so she didn’t feed on emotions, but instead felt them in a very personal, empathic manner. His anger was a thousand red-hot knives jabbed into her and far more painful than the blow he’d thrown.

“Get up,” he said, changing his demeanor back to the affable playboy he was a second ago. “People might start asking questions if you continue to sit there on the ground.”

“Yes, sir,” she said. “Where to now?”

“Back to the safe house,” he replied. “You have to be punished, and I’m feeling a bit…well, I’ll let you discover that for yourself.”

On the outskirts of Fillydelphia, the sky looked an angry black and green, completely unnatural. It was the first thing Fluttershy noticed when she arrived, and it was the first thing she mentioned to Pinkie when the latter’s group arrived.

“Oh, but look at the awesome ropy clouds can we get the weather ponies to do something like that over Ponyville or Canterlot? Ooooh, what if we took some red food coloring and then had the pegasusususususususes color the clouds – then we’d have candy cane clouds! And then maybe if we can get some of those discord cotton candy and chocolate rain clouds, we can make a candy store in the sky! We can get Bon-Bon and Waterfire to help run it! Wouldn’t that be so utterly totally awesomely cool or something?”

“Those clouds worry me,” Fluttershy said to her old friend. “It’s like they’re acting like some sort of…control nexus around Fillydelphia.” She turned to the unicorn nearest her. “Shimmering Star, do your ponies have the proper spells set?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the mage team leader said, looking at his team members to make sure. “As soon as the British and our troops arrive, we should be fine.”

“Well, we’re here,” a new voice said as a group of ponies walked into the area. Unlike normal ponies, they walked upright like humans, the better to utilize their weapons if need be. Wearing camouflage, body armor, helmets, and boots to assist in the upright mobility, the squad walked into view, looking around as if ready for an attack at any moment. Their leader, in particular, had eyes of steel, the muscular body of a behemoth and a take-no-shit attitude. “What’s the sit, Lady Knight Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy looked at the mountain of a pony before her and smiled. “I have two questions, Colonel. First, are the British en route? Second,” she said with a smile, “when are you and Sweetie Belle going to settle on a date? You two have been engaged for five years now and that certainly took long enough.”

“Well, the first, you should hear the rotors of their helicopters as they arrive.” True enough, in the distance the whup-whup-whup of Royal Army aircraft as it approached the landing zone could be heard. “Secondly, well…don’t blame me if she can’t decide on a date,” Pip said with a laugh and a shrug. Turning back to his ponies, he ordered, “Okay, give ‘em a space to land. Pop some smoke, go pink.” One of the soldiers did as bid, throwing a pink-colored smoke grenade to signal the landing zone. The ponies ducked slightly as the helicopters, three Royal Army Lynxes, lit on the ground, as troops began boiling out of them.

A huge man, nearly as large as Pip, approached them. As he approached, he saluted. “Major Terrence Codrington, 5th Army Air Regiment.”

Pip returned the salute, as did both Bearers, who both went upright as well. “Colonel Pipsqueak, 1st Destriers,” he said, offering a hoof. “Behind me are Lady Knights Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They’re not quite a part of the military establishment, but their ranks are equivalent to NATO OF-8.”

“Bloody hell – two generals?” Codrington exclaimed. “And your special forces unit? What the hell is exactly going on, Colonel?”

“That’s what we’d like to know,” Pip responded. “Your men ready for us to come on board?” When the Major nodded, Pip turned to Shimmering Star. “Keep the shields up, maximum strength. I realize that’ll tire your people out earlier, but I’m hoping you can keep it up for at least a couple of hours.”

“We can keep them up for about six hours max, Colonel,” was the response. “Also, as per the Vice Archmagus’ orders, we’ve also added an antigen spell to prevent any potential hazards at the bacterial level from getting in.”

“Works for me. Okay, let’s get everyone aboard, ponies!” he shouted, waving his troops to the aircraft. “Uh, mares, you two plan on armoring up? It’s going to be dangerous out there. We’ve got some extra body armor if you need it.”

A sweet smile appeared on Fluttershy’s face. “Pip, it’s very sweet of you to be concerned, but we should be fine. Our Elements protect us.”

“Humor me, please. If something happens to you, I’m never going to hear the end of it from Sweetie.”

“Okie Dokie Loki!” Pinkie said. Both mares closed their eyes and the insignia gems on their necklaces began to glow, the glow beginning to cover them. Liquid metal poured down their bodies as the necklaces began to transfigure, and when the transfiguration was done, they were both dressed in black variations of what Pip wore, save for the insignia gems, which embedded themselves in positions over the mares’ hearts.

“When did the—?” Pip began to ask before Fluttershy grinned.

“Twilight found a book that helped us to expand our capabilities with the Elements,” Fluttershy explained. “While they were never meant to be used in an offensive capacity, we can at least form protective armor as needed.”

“Well, as much as I’d love to continue this magic show,” the Major said, “we’ve got a date with the town square.”

A few minutes later, the aircraft were buzzing over the tops of the buildings. One of the humans onboard commented how eerily Fillydelphia matched the similar city of Philadelphia on human-Earth; the maps of the two realities were so very close that one could be used in lieu of the other without much trouble.

“I’ll bet your Fillydelphia doesn’t have that nasty green smoke,” one of the mages said, peering out the door of the helicopter and to the ground below. The city was covered in a noxious, sickly green smoke that stained the very buildings it touched.

“We can easily remedy that,” Codrington replied over the communications line; he was in one of the other units. “Sabre 4, Sabre 7, take us down. Sabre 9, remain in the air until…Holy Mother of God….”

Fluttershy wondered what brought on the change in town and looked down, “Oh, sweet stars,” she said, a worried look crossing her face. Her thoughts immediately went to her husband and her daughter, and how much potential danger they were in. That instantly caught the attention of Pip who immediately looked over the side as well.

As the lower two units hovered above where the town square was, the smoke had cleared, revealing that it had not been smoke, but instead a nutrient mist. The thing that it covered was the hundreds upon hundreds of changeling cocoons below, as well as the massive one in the center. Pip knew from the research regarding changelings that they had two types of cocoons: the hanging ones, which were used to drain the emotional energy that the creatures used for food; and the stabilized, ground-based ones that were the eggs of new drones. The massive one in the center was the great birthing chamber, where new eggs were secreted and helper drones placed into newly created sacs.

Below, Chrysalis was giving birth to a new, massive army of changelings – and she’d decimated one of Equestria’s largest cities for a cradle.

Pip wasted no time. “EQMILCOM, Emergency Channel! This is Obsidian Six, repeat, Obsidian Six! I need some birds scrambled stat, fully armed for heavy bombing. Fillydelphia is scratched, we have Hotel Charlies; repeat, scratch Fillydelphia!”

“What the—” the voice over the commline said, as if he couldn’t believe it. “This is EQMILCOM. Start authorization code confirm: sequence Echo-Yankee-Lima-Seven-Nine—”

Fluttershy ripped the comm unit out of Pip’s hooves. “Priority override: Foxtrot-Sierra-Echo-Kilo-Three! I want those aircraft scrambled immediately!”

A pause on the other end, soon followed by, “Holy trot! We’re on it, ma’am! Priority Override code Element Kindness confirmed!”

As she handed the radio back to Pip, there was an apologetic look on her face. “We didn’t have time to bounce codes back and forth.”

“You okay, Fluttershy?”

“No, I’m not.” The look on her face was intense. “If Chrysalis gets that army moving, it’ll make the wedding invasion look like a walk in the park. My family will be directly in their path and I will not allow my husband or daughter to be endangered. Ever.”

“FOOOOOOOOOOOREEEEEEEEEVVEEEEEEERRRRRRR!” a familiar voice canted and as Pip and Fluttershy looked at Pinkie, she shrugged. “Well, it seemed like the thing to say….”

The world suddenly jerked 45 degrees to the right, and Fluttershy had to leap in order to save a unicorn from falling from the helicopter to an untimely death. The helicopter shuddered and then buckled again as something hit it again. Alarms sounded in the helicopter and Codrington’s voice screamed over the line, “We’ve been hit! Sabre 4 and Sabre 9, get out of here no—” The line died off as an explosion sounded just below the helicopter; Pip looked down and the Major’s helicopter was now a burning, charred wreck crashing towards the street.

“Look!” one of the mages shouted, pointing towards the sky. A large black blur rocketed towards them, and this time, hit the skin of the of the copter hard. As the blur came around once more, it shifted just slightly and the figure became clear.
Nightmare Moon.

Pip wasted no time. “OPEN FIRE ON THAT NAG!” he thundered; his troops, already expecting it, started tracing the sky with bullets. Meanwhile, he got back on the comm line. “Mayday, mayday, this is Obsidian Six, we are going down, repeat, going down. Sabre 7 destroyed, Sabre 4 departing area.”

“Roger that, Oscar Six! Aborting attack run by fighters.”

Fluttershy looked him straight in the eyes, and he got the message. “EQMILCOM, continue attack run, earlier priority override applies.”

“You won’t make it out of there!”

“Don’t worry!” Pinkie shouted from where she sat; enough so that she could be heard by the folks on the other line. “We got it covered!”

“This is Oscar Six,” Pip said. “Appraise…Appraise Acting MINDEF regarding situation. We’ll do what we can to get out of here. Oscar Six out.” He cut the line and watched as the surviving helicopter started to move away from the scene—

—only to feel the jarring sensation as the tail section was torn clear from their helicopter. Nightmare Moon rocketed away from the debris of the damage she’d just done, arcing lazily for another pass at them.

“Quick everypony, everyone get off the helicopter!” Fluttershy shouted in a panic, but didn’t get much response as the demonic alicorn slammed into their helicopter, breaking it into pieces.

“ABORT RUN!” GEN Spitfire, REAF roared from the Equestria Military Command as she shouted into the microphone.

“We’re under Priority Orders, General,” the voice replied in shaky tones.

“Cloudbuster 13, so help me if you don’t turn your birds around, I’ll have your flank court-martialed, do I make myself clear?”

“Do you think I want to do this?” the voice asked. “Do you really think I want to start an attack run with them down there?”

Spitfire remembered who she was talking to. “No, I know you don’t and you’re just following orders. Catch up to that British helo and escort them to base. They just lost two of their own, and we owe them some backup.”

“Look,” the pilot protested, “We just lost my—”

“I’ve known them longer than you, Captain,” Spitfire interjected. “They’ve made their way out of worse things. They’ll be fine, I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” the voice promised. “Cloudbuster Flight Bravo, moving to escort Sabre 4 for RTB. Cloudbuster 13, out.”

Spitfire plopped down in her chair. “Remind me why I’m the acting Defense Minister instead of just my regular job as Air Force Chief of Staff?”

“Don’t even ask me, Spits,” Soarin’ said as he stood behind her. “We’re all just doin’ our duty.”

“I’d rather Rainbow do her job,” she said with a grin, but quickly wiped it off her face. “Look, I’m sorry that she’s….”

“It’s not your fault. And if anything, I appreciate you always being there for us – I’m sure she does, too.”

“Hey, what’s family for if you can’t abuse the rules?” she said to her best friend and cousin’s husband with a smile. “Now, if I can get that son of yours under control, he might just make a decent officer someday. I don’t know which is worse, that he takes after his mother too much or you too little.” Turning to look at one of the other officers to her side, she said, “Get General Goldengrape on the line. I want a full battalion ready to march into the Quarantine Zone within the hour. We cannot afford to lose the last two standing Bearers.”

“But didn’t you get that last report, ma’am?” the tactical officer cried. “The place is a chang—”

“I don’t recall this being up for a discussion, Major. Get that order out, now.”

“No no no no no!” a voice screamed and Cinnamon flew towards the sound as fast as she could. She only knew one filly with that voice. She rushed into the room, seeing a white pegasus with deflated blonde hair, bawling her eyes out. The pegasus turned to Cinnamon and tackled her in a sobbing hug.

“My fault! My fault! I told Mom not to go, that she shouldn’t,” the teary pegasus told the other, “but…but…”

“Shhh, Surprise,” Cinnamon said, trying to calm her own fears, able to only because the younger filly was so distraught. While they oftentimes said Cinnamon took after how her mother used to be, Surprise had inherited Pinkie’s emotional extremes, both in joy and sorrow. “They’ll be okay…Mom and Aunt Pinkie will be fine. And none of this is your fault,” she said, holding the pegasus tight, “so stop that, okay? Why not help Bubble with getting a party ready for them?”

That did the trick, as Surprise’s blonde mane poofed up just like her mother’s. “Cinny! That’s the most wonderfully awesomely incredibly fantastically stupendously supercalifragilisticexpialidociously idea ever! I gotta go find Bub and get him to help me plan the ‘Welcome Home Mom and Aunt Fluttershy’ party of the century!” And so the white pegasus became a rocket off to find her twin brother and raid the nearest party store.

“Thanks, Cinnamon,” Elusive said as he approached the pegasus. “I’ve been so emotionally drained the past few days I don’t know what I could have done to cheer Surprise up.”

“You’re welcome,” the pegasus said, getting back to her hindlegs. Elusive noted Cinnamon, now that she lived on human-Earth, more often than not was upright than normal, dressed like a human and was picking up their customs. Like DJ, Lyra, and many others, the young mare in front of him was getting used to the standards of living a human lifestyle, yet another sign of how much Equestria – and the rest of Alter-Earth as well – were changing because of the newest sapient species in their midst.

“How are you holding up?”

“Honestly? I want to go crawl into a corner and cry my eyes out. But I promised DJ that I’d watch her kids and those foals don’t need to see me break down right now.”

“That’s very brave of you, Cinnamon. I mean that.”

“Thanks.” She looked down into his face. “Have you met them yet?”

“Not yet. I’m not sure that’s a good idea until I meet DJ first. I’d like to clear the air between us before I do anything else,” Elusive responded. “I just hope I have the chance to.”

“How do I look?” DJ said, after spending forever with a tailor trying to find the perfect dress for the night. Mike, who remembered what DJ’s biological mother did for a living, wisely decided to keep his mouth shut about it, lest he find himself float tested in the seas around the small island nation.

“You look absolutely gorgeous, love,” he said, double-checking everything on his dress uniform. He decided to go that route rather than have a suit made; besides, he liked the way it looked and it would probably make any RSN boys at the scene jealous – a little fun tweaking between allies.

“Thanks,” she said, looking into the full-body mirror. The satiny evening gown accented her figure and made her look very attractive…mainly to her own kind, but thankfully DJ, not having the same body as her human peers, never had to deal with the “battle of beauty” issues on a large scale. Instead, the satiny sheen of the slate-blue dress shimmered and complimented her light coat, fitting her the way she wanted rather than going for, as she said, “the typical tits ‘n’ ass look” that evening gowns tended to enhance. Along with a matching clutch and pair of slippers the tailor had made to match the dress it had set Mike back over $700 in Singaporean Dollars – racking up about $470 US Dollars on his AMEX.

She slipped back out of it, putting it on the hangar, then back into a t-shirt and shorts so she could continue getting ready for tonight. “I’m debating if I should style my hair and tail tonight,” she said aloud.

“Why?” he asked. “You’ll want to look your best for tonight – not that I ever think otherwise – but…what, are you afraid you’re going to be outclassed by the princesses?”

“Well, no, not really, but…nevermind.”

“I know that nevermind, hon,” he said as he ran a lint brush over the coat then started inspecting it for “Irish pennants.” That’s your ‘if you’re not paying attention to me, I’m going to kill you later’ nevermind.”

She grinned and he could see its reflection in the mirror. “Am I that shallow?”

“As your husband I am hereby invoking the 5th Amendment so that I may not incriminate myself.”

“Love you too, dear,” she said sarcastically. “But seriously. They’re princesses. And supposedly goddesses, though I really don’t buy into that. But what I am worried about is Celestia and Luna. I haven’t seen Celestia since Lyra’s wedding, and Luna…well….”

“If you’re asking me what I think you should do, gravitate a bit more towards Cadance. You two seem to be getting along.”
“I suppose, but we just met and I don’t know how much of the family issues she’s involved with.” She huffed again, adding, “Why the hell does anything having to do with my pony family involve more chess moves than Garry Kasparov on speed?”

“Better than my family. You remember the year Mom and Dad wanted to have the whole family over for Christmas, right?”

“Yup, that I do, and I swear I will murder your Aunt Debbie and not hide the body if she ever calls me ‘that little alien thing’ again,” the pony said, looking through some clip-on earrings she bought; due to her ears being the way they were, she never had them pierced. “I mean, I know she’s a specist bigot, but really, the whole ‘I hope your kids don’t turn out to be deformed freaks’ was a whole new level of insensitive.”

“Dad lit into her for that one,” he commented. “But hey, Joe got his novel published because of you, so there is that.”

“Yeah, I’m happy for him,” she replied. “Besides, it always helps to have another person in my corner when dealing with your aunt.”

There was a knock at the door of their hotel room, and Mike went to answer it. “Yes, can I help you?”

“Ah, yes, I’m looking for a Miss Martinez,” the man said. “Is she present?”

“I’m her husband,” Mike said. “How can I help you?”

“Ah,” the man said. “Hotel services. I’ve been requested to bring this up to your room.” The man produced a small carrying case and a custody form. “Please, sign here.”

He took the case, signed for it, and the man departed, just as quickly as he arrived.

“Mike, who was that?”

“Hotel services. Apparently you had a de—holy fucking shit!”

“Okay, that did not sound good,” she said, stepping away from the mirror and heading towards where her husband was. “What exa—Jesus H. Gundam Christ!”

“Language,” he said and she quickly murmured an apologetic prayer in response. Once that was done, she scratched her head. “What the fuck was going through her mind when she sent this?” She looked at him. “There’s no way I’m wearing that.”

“It was a gift, hon; it’d be rude not to,” he said, “though, yeah, I’d be hard pressed to put that on if I were in your shoes.”

The item in question was a necklace of diamonds and sapphires that, like DJ’s gown, matched her coat. It also looked like it would easily be priced somewhere in the high-five-digit range, possibly in the low six. They were accompanied by a pair of sapphire earrings, also prohibitively expensive. This wasn’t a simple gift, but a piece of treasure. And then, the small note that came with it:

DJ,
I thought this went well with your coat, so I’m sending it along.

Looking forward to seeing you tonight; it’s been far too long and I hope you’ve been well.

- Celestia

She looked at the necklace again. This thing cost more than her car, Mike’s car, and her parents’ cars and his parents’ cars combined…with change left over. And that was a guess on the low end of the potential cost.

“Fuck, I am so doomed,” she said. “I…I couldn’t wear this!”

Mike said with mock-seriousness, “Maybe they’re trying to make you one of them – Invasion of the Princess Snatchers. They’ll replace you with a pod person, like a Disney Princess or something.”

“Mike,” she said sweetly, “fuck you.”

“Well….” he said, as his eyes playfully darted from her to the bed and back.

“Don’t tempt me.” She looked at him and the gates were down. “I’ve already been trying my best to keep my hands off you as is.”

Luna laughed. “That was a cruel, cruel thing you did, Celestia.”

“How so? She is family, and if we’re going to be having a fancy dinner here at the most exclusive hotel in Singapore, I’d like to make her look her best. It was a genuine gift, Luna, not a prank.” Like DJ, Celestia was getting ready for dinner. She could have just used her magic to fix that in seconds, but there was something about the simple pleasures of doing it the old-fashioned way.

“You do realize, she will, as the humans so colorfully say, ‘shit bricks.’” The night alicorn tried to stop laughing, but couldn’t quite succeed. “You know, for someone who takes an annual vacation running around the human world for the past twenty years, you really don’t get them, do you?”

“I try, but it’s…you’re right, I don’t entirely understand them, which bothers me because that’s been my intent all along. Maybe because I didn’t have one as a lover.” Luna stared at her sister hard, and Celestia threw up her forehooves in surrender. “You know what I mean, Luna. For someone who’s supposed to be the more conservative of us two, you actually went somewhere I didn’t. Just out of curiosity, have you heard from him?”

“Robin?” She sighed. “I…I try to stay away and then I beat myself up for it. Then I go see him from afar and my heart breaks all over again. He turned 43 last week, and he spent that week in divorce court – leaving number two. And you know what? It’s my fault. It’s because he’s still in love with me after all this time…just as much as I am with him.”

“I’m sorry,” Celestia said. “I know it’s hard. I had a lover once, a stallion I saw in secret during the period you were…gone. Argent Lance and I were happy together, but not being able to reveal him to the public was hard, so very hard. I eventually had to let him go, and to get away from me, he moved to what’s now Zebrababwe but at the time was a land of minor kings.”

“Why?” Luna was surprised; in all the years since her return Celestia had never mentioned this; from her tone, there was a hint that even Twilight might not know this story.

“He wanted to get away from me in order to spare me further pain, because he knew that I’d do what you’re doing now with Robin. At the time, Equestria was going under a lot of political upheaval since I was dismantling the feudal system at the time and he knew I wouldn’t be able to get away to see him so I could break my heart all over again. He married again, but from what I understand, it was a marriage of convenience, not love.” She gave a distant smile. “Did you know Zecora’s one of his descendants? She probably doesn’t know since it was so long ago, but….”

“I wish Cadance was stronger, because I would so very much love to abdicate and let her take my position,” Luna admitted. “But she’s never really had any interest in governance until you started restructuring the government two decades ago, and now Twilight has surpassed her in power. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that, but…it would be scandalous if I left Twilight my position.”

Celestia sighed. “I know. I have Blueblood’s family complaining enough that we’ve given too much authority to a commoner, that I’m only doing it because I consider Twilight like a daughter, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And if Blueblood was a problem, his children Silver Platter and Gilded Lily are worse.”

Luna huffed. “I told you we shouldn’t have created the fiction that the old Royal Unicorn Line is distantly related to us. I told you back then, it would be more trouble than it was worth.”

“We needed King Jasper to hand power over to us before he sacrificed all his subjects in a vain attempt to stop Discord – it was the only way he would abdicate in favor of us.”

“We could have forced him.”

“You mean I could have beguiled him, ensorcelled him. And you would have been ignored and probably surrendered to Nightmare Moon a thousand years earlier than you did.”

Luna collapsed on Celestia’s bed; then looked out the nearby window at the skyline of Central Singapore. The sun was going down and instinctively, Luna felt out for the moon, but felt…nothing. The moon of this Earth had no avenue for her, as it moved on its own. That fact was both exciting and nerve-wracking for her; if Celestia felt the same about this Earth’s sun, she had never mentioned it. As for their world, they’d planned a lunar eclipse for the night and had let the populace know well in advance; the event would allow them to leave their native reality for the day and cause no undue panic to the populace.

As she continued to look out the window, she asked, “Do you know what scares me, Celestia?”

“German pop music from the 1980s? I know you lied to Robin that you liked it.”

“But he finds it interesting, so it was easy for me to humor him,” she said with a nostalgic smile. “But seriously. The rumors that Nightmare Moon has returned. I know I have hunted her, and I still intend to when we return, but…I’m afraid. I’m honestly afraid.”

Celestia left doing her mane and tail manually; her sister needed her more. Going over, she nuzzled the younger alicorn, whispering, “You know I would never let you come to harm again. I regret what happened to you and if there had been any way to save you I would have. I spent decades crying over what I did to you, Luna.”

“I know.” Luna’s voice was threadbare, nearly inaudible. “I…I don’t want to be taken by her again. I would rather die before that happens. If she is truly back, what hells must she be visiting on her new host? What could that host have agreed to in order to give her the path for possession?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” Celestia said, kissing her sister on the forehead, “But I will tell you this: I will protect you. Everypony will protect you. We are far stronger than last time – we have Twilight and the others to help now. In fact, I think it was Rainbow who said it best: ‘we’re family and we don’t let each other down.’ So true it is between us, dear sister.”

“I know, and I love them for it,” Luna said, putting her head down on the bed, “but I wish Robin was here as well.”

There was a knock on the door and Cadance stood there, looking at her aunts. “Well, dinner’s in thirty minutes, and if we’re going to be there before DJ and Mike, we’d best get a move-on, mares.”

“How’s DJ? You saw her earlier today and I’d like to know how she’s faring,” Luna asked.

“Well, I can’t really say. I just thought about how happy she was with her children and then I just lost it again.” The look on Cadance’s face was sad, and though she didn’t cry, the look in her eyes did enough. “It never goes away, does it?”

“No. It never does,” Celestia said. “Does it, Luna?”

She was silent for a bit, as if considering what she’d say, then spoke. “If it did, Cadance, we’d be the poorer for it. Well, I’ve got to go back to my room and get ready; I’ll have to conjure up something. Meet you two by the elevator in ten minutes?”

“Of course,” Celestia said.

“As Pinkie says, ‘Okie Dokie Loki!’” Cadance replied.

The two giggled a bit while Luna walked out; the night alicorn didn’t mind being teased if it meant Cadance would be in better spirits. But it also reminded her that there was another pony that would be joining them tonight, one that wasn’t in the greatest of moods the last time the dusky alicorn saw her. Luna rolled her eyes and sighed. It was going to be a long night.

“You should not be here,” a person told Faust as she walked towards the vault. At the moment, the duo was in the special books section of the Beinecke Rare Manuscripts library at Yale University, in its heavily sealed basement underneath. The vault area featured military-level security, all to protect some of the most valuable books on Earth.

“I’m going to look at my book,” Faust said, matter-of-factly, as she punched in a code sequence into the keylock by the door. The door accepted the command, and inside the vault, a robot designed to gently handle the manuscripts within went searching for the coded document.

“It’s not yours anymore,” the other voice said, softly. Faust felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see her old friend. Kuzunoha hugged her one-time enemy and said, “It ceased to be yours when you left it at that monastery in Bavaria so long ago.”

Faust smiled. “Hey, I give history its due and leave it here for posterity – it’s safer here anyway. But it’s still my diary.” As the two spoke, the robot opened the door and handed over a plexiglass case containing the legendary book officially known as MS 408, but known to the world as the Voynich Manuscript.

The fox looked over Faust’s shoulder and grinned. “All the world’s best cryptographers trying for centuries to decipher the book and all it is, is just your bored ramblings on observing this world since you first got here. I wonder what would happen if they were to find out that it’s written in the private magic argot of alicorns, worsened by your horrid penmanship.”

“A girl’s gotta have hobbies,” Faust said, a fond smile crossing her face.

“Couldn’t you have downloaded a copy? It is publicly available.”

“Downloaded on my phone for when I just want to read over old entries,” the alicorn assured her friend. “But it’s more than just that. I’ve recorded ancient mysteries and dreams here, all encrypted by magic that requires direct viewing of the book. And right now, I need to look up something I may have written down when I first arrived here. I fear that my children are in trouble.”

“Faust, Sarah and Jon are fine. Besides, when it comes to them, all you need to do is call the cops, right?”

“No,” the alicorn of imagination said. “I mean my daughters.” Faust never referred to her older offspring as anything other than her daughters, and at that point, Kuzunoha knew something was wrong.

“There’s not much I can do to help,” Kuzunoha said. “I would, but…my sister may somehow have found a way to cause trouble again, and I must do something to amend that. But if there’s anything else I can do, Faust….”

“I’ll know who to turn to, Kuzu.” The two former Alter-Earth queens looked at one another in silent friendship before the alicorn turned back to her studies and the kitsune teleported back to Japan.

CPT Rainbow Blitz, REAF walked towards the ready room, helmet in hoof and an angry – some would say typical – look on his face. Things hadn’t gone well and though he escorted the SAS helicopter back to base, he was in no mood to deal with the pilots, so he let his wingmates have that honor. Right now, all he wanted was a shower, a cider and to get back to the hospital.

“Great flying as always, Doug,” a sergeant told Blitz as he walked by and Blitz waved a hoof, cordially acknowledging the use of his call sign. While human pilots had call signs like “Fatso”, “Gray Fox” or “Sugar Mama”, somepony in the REAF had decided to use human names for their call signs and it stuck, with all pilots in Equestriani military service adopting the tradition. His was “Doug”, and the wingmates in his flight today had been “Allison”, “Mark”, and “Paolo”. His father’s was “Jack”, and his mother…she’d taken “Diane”, in honor of one of her closest friends.

“BUCK THIS!” he screamed, throwing his helmet in a random direction, the only way he could really release his pent-up anger at the moment. That Diane, a pony he’d loved and cared about as much as his own mother, he failed today. He couldn’t save either of his aunts, and then he was ordered to bomb the place they’d crash landed, and then ordered to protect some bucking humans who’d gotten them in trouble in the first place!

“You’re lucky I can catch,” a voice said, and Blitz looked up from where he was leaning against the wall in frustration. “Captain, need I remind you that you’re an officer and you need to compose yourself like one?”

Blitz straightened up, saluting. “Yes sir.” After a second, he said, “Permission to speak, General.”

“Son,” Soarin’ spoke, already knowing what his son would say, “it’s not your fault. You went out there and did your job. You followed the orders even after Spits tried to countermand them. You followed through.” Soarin’ looked at his son and saw both his younger self and his wife at the same time. Not really hard; though Blitz had his father’s features, he had his mother’s coloring and her untamed nature – some even said it was worse.

“Pops, you have no idea what I feel like right now,” Blitz told his father. “I was just talking with Luse yesterday, and he’s a wreck. Between us and Minty, we’re the oldest, and the ones the younger ones look up to – Cinnamon, Surprise, Bubble, and Apple Bushel all count on us. And if we can’t keep up on our promises, then what’s the point?”

“Well, hopefully DJ should be able to take up some of the load while she’s here.”

“Oh great – if things weren’t bad enough, now that freakstick is coming. Fuck this, Pops. We don’t need that weirdo monkey-lover here.”

“Son, first, I see you’ve been learning human profanity,” Soarin’ said, crossing his forelegs. “Second, I don’t appreciate you talking about your cousin like that – and I definitely don’t care for the specist remark, got that? Several of your aunts specifically requested that she come, including Rarity and Twilight. If that doesn’t mean much to you, at least pretend that it does.”

“Yeah, but she gave Minty and Aunt Rarity and Uncle Silver serious bucketloads of horseapples – and they’re her family! Why the hell should I turn off the IFF transponder just because I think someone might be friendly?”

“Maybe because she’s from the same side as you. And maybe because we’re talking about family, not fighter-to-fighter engagements.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he said. “I’m going to toss myself in the shower and then head to the O-Club for a cider. You planning to join me?”

“No,” Soarin’ said as he handed Blitz back his flight helmet. “I’ve got to get back to the hospital.”

“I know. I’m worried ‘bout Mom too,” Blitz said in a rare quiet voice.

The grand dining room of the Raffles Hotel had actually once been a building across the street, but when the legendary hotel had been expanded in the mid ‘20s, the street had been closed to accommodate the greatly expanded complex. The Raffles Centre mostly included shops, a cinema and various other stores, but the piece d’ resistance was Sir Thomas’, the formal dining restaurant in the annex that drew the poshest of the posh in the community. Singapore’s well-to-do and celebrities came here, and anyone from lands abroad who was anyone came here.

So it wasn’t truly shocking when a US Navy Lieutenant Commander, resplendent in his dress whites, showed up with a date on his arm. What his date was, however, was the shocker. Just about every eye was on the pony as she walked with her husband towards the restaurant, and it was as though the pair were celebrities, star-spotters all around.

“See? I knew you were good for arm candy,” Mike said to his wife as the approached the restaurant.

“Speak for yourself, Mr. El Cedar,” she said as she looked back at him, a wide smile on her face. She felt like – as corny as it seemed – a princess. She was headed to a nice dinner in a faraway country (as if they weren’t living in one already) with the man of her dreams. She’d spent all that time getting ready, making the moment perfect. She’d styled her hair in some light waves, then acceded to Mike’s suggestion and wore the hyper-expensive jewels anyway. She was pretty sure she was getting noticed for that nearly as much as what she was – and truth be told, she wished they would notice the jewels more than her – but being the center of attention on occasion did have its benefits.

As they approached, the maître d’ was already prepared for their arrival. “Commander and Mrs. Hengst, I presume?”

“You presume correctly, sir. I’m guessing our party has already arrived?”

The maître d’ leaned forward, whispering. “All three have arrived. There are various security personnel throughout the restaurant and surrounding area, both SPF and Equestriani Royal Guard, so they’ll be well protected for your meeting, Commander.” He gestured to the young woman standing there in a waiter’s attire. “She will show you to the private room.”

“Private room?” DJ said with a worried face as the woman escorted them towards the private rooms at the back of the hall.

“Yes. ERG insisted on it, as the princesses would make for more obvious targets, though I’m not sure why the concern. Our Gurkhas are already in position and ERG ponies are on standby as well.”

“You seem to know a lot about the police for a waitress, miss.”

“Oh, sorry – just got a little too much into character, Commander,” she said with a slight blush. “Special Constable Sarah Kwok, SPF Intelligence.” She flashed her badge. “And now that I’ve shown my credentials, if you’d be so kind?”

“Certainly,” he said, reaching for his wallet and thus ID; DJ pulled the same from her purse. The police officer pulled a scanner out from her own pocket and ran them over the QR codes on the back of both cards. When both cards beeped, she handed them over. “Your Seventh Fleet sent over the code validators. SPF and ERG requested them because of the concerns regarding all three alicorns being present.” Kwok said as she opened a door, motioning for both to go in. “Enjoy your dinner, Commander Hengst, Lady Sandalwood.”

“Sandalwood?” DJ snarled as soon as the door was closed.

“Please give it a rest, hon?” he asked, speaking out of the corner of his mouth. DJ in turn gave him a look that capitulated, though she’d say nothing else. They walked down a short corridor that was meant to act as a soundbreak between the main part of the restaurant and the private dining room, and as they did, DJ got considerably more anxious, grasping his arm a little tighter for support.

“It’ll be okay, love. I promise. Look, I have to go up in front of the XO’s board at the end of the year to see if I’ll qualify to be the XO of a ship. If I can do that, certainly you can meet with three of your aunts.”

“Who are princesses,” DJ reminded him. “At least you won’t have to face a board composed of the CNO, SECNAV, SECDEF and POTUS, right?”

He thought about that for a second. “You have a point.” In any case, they arrived at the door and Mike, ever the gentleman, opened it for his wife.

The three alicorns sat at the table, Celestia at the center with Luna to her right and Cadance to her left. All three dressed in pure white evening gowns that were off one-shoulder and reminiscent of Greek chitons. Each alicorn seemed to have been color-coded in their accents, with Celestia wearing the gold, Luna the silver and Cadance copper. The three had their hair arranged in braids, and all three wore their formal crowns, the shape of the headgear looking as if they had metal halos. All three seemed to glow with unearthly auras, and each one looked impossibly beautiful.

DJ looked at the unnaturally gorgeous creatures before her, and then at her reflection in the highly-polished wood paneling of the room. Hello, my name is Ugliest Woman in the Room by a Landslide, she said to herself.

“You are not the Ugliest Mare in the Room by a Landslide, DJ,” Celestia said as she rose from her seat, headed over to embrace her niece. “It’s been so long since we last saw each other. You should come to the palace sometime.”

“H-how….” DJ began.

Celestia smiled. “I’ve been alive long enough to know that look. Call it Mare’s Intuition.” She then turned to Mike. “And I’ve wanted to meet you a long time. Sadly, I had to rush back to Equestria after the wedding, so I didn’t get the chance to meet you then. But you looked so dashing in your uniform then and the years have only made it better.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Mike said with a smile. Years of military duty had made him better acclimated to meeting foreign military personnel and dignitaries than his wife, so he was in a better position than she.

“No need for formality; we are family, after all. Celestia is fine.”

“Then please call me Mike.”

Meanwhile, DJ had moved on to Cadance. As the two embraced, DJ asked, “So how’d the negotiations go?”

“Great! We start working on the Embassy building next month. We just bought the parcel of land across the street from the British and Australian High Commissions and the US Embassy, so that should make things easier overall. So, enjoying Singapore?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe! I could go shopping for hours, but…well, Mike has this thing about needing money to pay bills and for other vital things than just letting me go spend happy,” she said with a laugh.

Mike overheard that. “Because, y’know, taking care of the kids is generally considered a good idea,” he said, the mirth showing on his face.

“Well, we could let them loose in that small grove of trees just outside of Taura station,” DJ replied. “Could solve that raven problem that part of Yoko’s been having this year.”

Done with Cadance, DJ then looked at Luna, who had not left from the chair. The two ponies looked at each other, and neither one bothered to speak for a few minutes. Finally, they turned away from each other, both clearly uncomfortable and opting to sit at the table.

“Yeah, this is going to go real well tonight,” she whispered as she sat down.

“DJ….” he whispered back.

“So,” Celestia said as she returned to her seat, “Mike, my apologies, but dinner will be on the vegetarian side. I’m sure you can understand.”

He nodded. “I’ve already been mostly used to it, pretty much since I’ve been with DJ, but we do have burgers and what not on occasion.”

“You eat meat?” Luna said, a stunned look on her face, even as the other two alicorns had equally shocked looks. The trio looked at each other briefly as if they hadn’t expected that comment, and then back at DJ.

A bemused look fell on DJ’s face. “Excuse me ladies, but have any of you cracked open a biology book in the past century or twelve? Our stomachs are closer to humans that that of horses, though not entirely. I can – and do – eat meat, just not to the degree that Mike can and it generally has to be ground products or derivatives.” An embarrassed look then crossed her face as she then said, “Uh, didn’t you hear about the stunt I pulled last time I was in Equestria?”

Celestia looked concerned. “I thought it was just another rumor the Equestria Daily came up with. You’re telling me it was true?” Cadance’s look was one of shock, while Luna looked fit to be tied.

The look on Mike’s face was sympathetic. “I’ll admit, neither her parents nor I were happy with her for that. Plus, she suffered for it – stomach aches for days.”

“I will never eat a steak again,” she vowed, raising a forehoof in pledge. “Though I wish I could have introduced them to cheeseburgers. Cheeseburgers are nice. Bacon cheeseburgers are better, though. Ooh! You know, I….” She suddenly realized they were looking at her with a mixture of surprise and horror, and she immediately shut up. “I…maybe this would be better discussed later.” The humanized pony fell silent, and the room stayed that way as the waiters brought in the wine and salads.

After the waitstaff departed, Celestia closed her eyes and spoke. “DJ, do you know why we wanted to meet with you beforehand?”

DJ munched on the salad at the moment, deciding she really wanted a bacon double quarter-pounder at the moment. “That you’re not bringing the sixteen-inch guns to bear regarding my relationship with Rarity, I’m hoping.”

“No, not that. While I would very much wish you would make up with your birth mother, I cannot force you to. And, for the record, I would very much appreciate it if you did. No, the issues that we will be discussing tonight are two-fold: first, your formal return to the Royal Family, and secondly, the…the other issues,” the sun princess said, her tone growing sad.

“Is something wrong?” DJ asked.

“I’ll get to that shortly,” she said. “But since you’re a grown mare – or woman, as you prefer – it’s time you accepted your birthright, something you probably weren’t aware of: being a member of this family, you do realize you are nobility, didn’t you?”

“Celestia…please, don’t get me wrong, but Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Oscar?” the earth pony blurted out.

Everypony looked at Mike for a clarification. “You…really don’t want me to translate that, but it’s not anything bad,” he said evasively.

In turn, the sun alicorn just looked at DJ with a glance of disappointment. “You…just surprised me, that’s all,” DJ said somewhat apologetically.

Celestia gave a soft nicker of appreciation, and took a quick bite of her salad. “I just wanted to know if you were aware you held a title. Your m…I mean, Rarity is Duchess Lipizzan an—”

“Duchess Lipizzan? As in, Lipizzaner stallions?” When Celestia looked at her, she explained. “It’s a breed of horses here on this Earth. They’re famous for precision performance.”

“I…see.” A thought suddenly came to mind. “Shetland, Jennet, Mustang, Andalusia and Vanner?”

“More horse breeds. I take it those are the others’ titles?”

“Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, in that order,” Celestia replied. “We actually named the entitlements after ancient regions of Equestria. But…horse breeds? That’s just fascinating. Truly fascinating. But to continue, once you reached the age of maturity in our country – 20, just like most of the nations here on human-Earth – you became eligible for a title of your own. Though we’ll have to make it formal later, you are Countess Faroe, with your husband as Count Faroe. I’m guessing that’s another horse breed?”

DJ nodded. “One thing about being from Winchester: there’s nothing out there but apples and horse ranches, so nearly everyone at school had some background in one or the other. In fact, I think one of Applejack’s relatives bought some land out by Strasburg; Apple Chip, I believe.”

“You don’t seem too affected by the fact that I just made you a Countess. That’s unusual. Most ponies I know would jump for joy.”

“Don’t get me wrong: I am appreciative, and thanks for it,” DJ began. “It’s just…well, truth be told, I’ll probably never use it. The US, being a democracy, really doesn’t have any such system; as a military officer, it could really impact my husband’s clearance and thus his job.”

“Oh, no worries there, DJ,” Cadance spoke up. “I asked Lyra to look into it in the event that it might be; I looked into the history of your nation and couldn’t find any examples, but I wanted confirmation just in case. According to the State Department, since it’s you who actually holds the title and not your husband, it should be fine.”

The married couple sighed in relief. “You don’t know how much that puts me at ease,” Mike was the first to say. “That could’ve been a problem for me if OPNAV decided to give me a headache over it.”

“I promise you, it won’t be a problem,” Celestia assured him. “I wouldn’t want to put either of you at risk.”

“Unlike Twilight,” DJ muttered. At the sudden look of guilt on Celestia’s face and anger on Luna’s, she realized she’d picked the exact wrong thing to voice. “I didn’t mean it that way! What I meant was—”

“No, you’re right,” the Princess of the Day said, her voice breaking. “I…I did it to Twilight. From the very beginning, everything was my fault. I should have protected her like a mother does, but…I’m so proud that she…she….” Celestia couldn’t take it anymore; her forehooves went to her eyes and she started crying, releasing weeks of pent-up parental worry over beloved protégé.

Luna nuzzled and soothed her sister’s worries. “It’s okay, sister. Twilight would not want to see you like this. You did what you had to, and she understands that.” Luna turned to angrily address DJ for the first time: “Unlike somepony, I’m worried about Twilight as well, sister.”

DJ felt like she was slapped. “Excuse me? You think I’m not worried about Twilight? Are you fucking crazy? Between her and Sweetie Belle, they’re the ones I’m closest to!” She leaned forward. “How the hell can you even say that?”

“Because you don’t act like you are a part of this family!” Luna thundered; she’d had enough with this overgrown foal, and it was time to put her in her place. “If you did, you would have visited! Do you know how long it’s been since your mother has wanted to see you?”

“I do care! And she’s not my mother!” DJ rose to her feet, her easily-ignited temper already aflame.

“Don’t raise your voice to me, young lady! I am your aunt and your princess!”

“In case you hadn’t checked into Hotel Reality, Luna, you don’t act like a relative – you’re like a Goddamn antagonist! Second, I’m an American, which means I owe you nothing in terms of loyalty. And third, I’m an American, which in case you weren’t aware, gives me the Constitutional right to be as fucking rude as I want to be, especially to fucking stuck-up cunts married to their crowns!”

“HOW DARE YOU, YOU PATHETIC FOOL OF A FOAL!” Luna roared in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH OF AN INGRATE YOU ARE TOWARDS THE MARE AND STALLION WHO GAVE YOU LIFE?”

“HOW DARE YOU!” DJ countered in what could only be called the classic American tantrum. “THEY DID NOTHING IN MY LIFE! MY REAL PARENTS RISKED EVERYTHING TO GIVE ME A LIFE, A HOME AND EVERYTHING TO BE GRATEFUL FOR. AND YOUR OH-SO-SAINTLY PONY BUDDIES? THEY DISMISSED MY PARENTS! SO HOW’S THAT FOR GRATITUDE, HUH, BITCH?” DJ looked at her husband and there were tears forming in her eyes even as there was a scowl on her face. “When you’re ready to leave, I’ll be at the bar. Maybe I can order a bacon double-cheeseburger.” Nothing more to say, she stormed out of the room.

Several minutes went by before anyone spoke. When the words occurred, it was Cadance, a look on her face somewhere between embarrassment and irritation. “Well, that went smoothly.”

“Yeah,” Mike said, his own countenance nearly a mirror for hers. “Yeah, no kidding.”

“And then Cinny said we should make the most epicest awesomest ultraest party for Mom and Aunt Fluttershy ever!” the teen pegasus filly said, bouncing around with glee.

“But did we get enough party supplies? I think we still need to cover the rest of the hospital just so Mom and Aunt Fluttershy know it’s for them and not that it’s for anyone else!” her younger (by one minute!) brother insisted. Bubble Berry looked closer to an exact duplicate of his mother than his sister did, though Surprise was nearer to her mother in terms of personality…not that Bubble was far behind her.

“Hrm…then what should we do, Bubs?”

The pink teen colt thought about it hard for a whole millisecond. “I got it!” he announced, moving a forehoof in a way that caused a snapping sound. “Let’s go decorate the palace! That’ll be sure to get their attention, and I’m totally completely 100% sure Aunt Celestia or Aunt Luna won’t mind.”

“That’s a great idea, Bubs!” his sister congratulated him.

“Because great minds think alike, Spry!” he complimented his sister.

“Then – to the party store!” Both teens blasted out of the hospital approaching ludicrous speed, headed towards the party warehouse store on the other end of Canterlot.

From a distance, three adults and one on the verge of it watched as the pink-and-white party tidal wave prepared to wreak city-wide havoc on the town.

“I wonder who gave them that idea?” Thunderlane said, looking to his left. He knew that his foals were special, and he loved Pinkie very much, but one Pinkie was enough to deal with. He essentially had three of them in his household, and for that alone, the princesses would have knighted him had he already not been married to one.

“Yeah, Ah wund’r.” Big Macintosh sighed and looked glanced to his right. He was worried about his wife and terrified for his sister, and under different circumstances, a party would take his mind off of things. But there was a difference between a party and letting slip the party-ponies of war.

“Yeah, stallion, I hear ya.” Noteworthy looked at the other two stallions and sighed, then looked at the same direction his friends did. Despite the good intentions, letting his rather exuberant niece and nephew loose on an innocent, unsuspecting city was, in some respect, tantamount to declaring war on one’s own kind. With his wife on the verge of death, he didn’t need any other surprises.

In the center of the glares, Cinnamon shrugged her shoulders and gave them an embarrassed and mortified smile, hoping that there was something just big enough – like a pencil – that she could hide behind safely. Additionally, Cinnamon’s pet bunny Diablo hid behind her owner’s leg; bunny and owner were an inseparable pair even if Diablo didn’t have the combative streak of her father, Angel. “Uh, divine inspiration?” Cinnamon said, hoping that somehow it would save her from utter destruction.

“Ah think y’d best keep an eye on the twins,” her father suggested. “Who knows whut’ll happen if’n they get the bright idea t’ paint th’ whole town in neon colors.”

“Or put up giant neon signs, for that matter,” Noteworthy said, snickering.

“Notes, please don’t say anything that might give them any ideas!” Thunderlane pled. “I don’t think Equestria could take the strain!”

Cinnamon sighed, Why me? Scooping up Diablo in her forelegs, Cinnamon took to the skies in the hopes of finding the twins before they raided every town in Equestria in their quest to create the mother of all celebrations.

Twilight Sunburn struggled to stand, practically crawling in the dark. She was in her normal body, having switched back and forth between several forms and after having…no, she didn’t want to think of it, as she turned to look at the sleeping form still in the bed. She hurt, both physically and psychically, having experienced both his tender mercies on her body and the starvation of the drones under his care. She’d tried to feed them as much as she could – as the lone female in the group, they naturally turned to her for succor – but Ghino forbade it, telling her should she even consider acting as a changeling princess, much less a changeling queen, he would put a bullet in her head.

And all the while, Twilight wondered what was going on. Something told her…this was wrong. Maybe her older brother Blood Armor didn’t know and would come to protect her as soon as he found out. Maybe her mother Chrysalis would come and tell Ghino it was a mistake, that it was time for Twilight to return to the hive and be with her family. Maybe even a miracle would come and her father, bits and pieces of whose recollections resided in her genetic memory, would come to help. She often imagined in her dreams that he would sing her lullabies and tell her how much she was a treasure to him.

But until that day, she had to do as was told and serve her current master. Even if she knew that what he was, was the last thing she’d ever want to touch. No love would ever come from him, nothing to nourish the changelings. She was all the drones had, and even if it was wrong, she had to protect them – they didn’t know any better, after all.

Making sure he was asleep, Twilight shifted into human form and left the room, heading towards the dog kennels. It was time to play with the dogs, or so it would seem. But to her, it was the right thing to do.

“Hey, bartender! What’s the special?” DJ said as she sat down at the bar.

“You’re at the Raffles and you need to ask that?” the bartender asked before turning around and seeing who the speaker was. “Oh, sorry – this hotel is famous for the Singapore Sling, a famous drink on this Earth. It’s a gin-based drink with a lot of other flavors. It’s world-famous. Would you care to try one?”

“Sure, thanks. Menu safe to order from here?”

“Sure. Special’s the salmon flambé, but for vegetarians like yourself, I recommend the eggplant parmesan.”

Perfect. “Cheeseburger and a side of fries.”

The bartender looked at her odd while he mixed the drink; he was surprised enough that he nearly lost control of his drink-making technique. “You sure? I thought your species didn’t eat meat.”

She grinned. “You’d be surprised how much non-ponies seem to think that.”

He paused briefly to punch in the order for her. “Okay, so charging it on the ERG tab. Probably shouldn’t be giving you the Singapore Sling, since it’s drinking on the job, but you just had to try one of them and besides, it’s probably a headache watching out for the princesses.”

DJ gave him a smile even as she tried not to betray her surprise. He thinks I’m with the Royal Guard. “Well, dealing with the princesses…sometimes some of them can be a chore,” she said quietly. It was, to her, both the truth and just enough to sound convincing.

“I can imagine. Anyway, bottoms up,” he said as he set the red drink in front of her.

DJ immediately took a sip; the flavor exploded on her tongue. Gin, cherry, pineapple; that much I’m sure of. What’s that last flavor? Angostura? Whatever it was, it was good, and she was going to probably want another – a lot more if Mike made her go deal with Luna again. “Oh, this is delicious! I’m going to have to get the recipe sometime.”

“We sell a drink recipe book in the gift store and it’s got the recipe. But can you get the stuff for it in your country?”

“I’m pretty sure I could,” she said, not admitting the country in question was on the other side of the planet and not in a different reality.

“Cool. Enjoy,” he said. “You need anything else, just ask.”

She was about to take another sip of the drink when a burly man in a suit sidled up next to her. “You sure they let you drink on duty?” he said, waving over the bartender. But before she could say anything else, he grinned. “Eh, just messin’ with you. Your boss already let us know that as long as you keep it to a minimum, earth ponies like you can metabolize anything in minutes. Wish I had that kind of metabolism.”

“It happens,” she said as she took that other sip.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t introduce myself. Staff Sergeant Jason Lim, SPF Intelligence. And you?”

“Uh, Sandalwood.” She tried to not let the disgust of using her birth name show on her face, but her real name was too human. “Trying to blend in like just about everyone else here, but I can’t quite do it.”

“Yeah, but ponies usually aren’t seen in Singapore, so you guys get to be the obvious security, and that just lets our intelligence folks and Gurkhas blend in better.”

The food arrived and the bartender set it in front of her. She forced herself not to cross herself after saying Grace silently; it was automatic for her normally, but regular ponies weren’t Christians. She picked up the burger and took a bite; the food was better than she’d had in other places, but clearly the Raffles was known for its drinks, not the food.

“And a burger as well, huh? My, you are interesting, Ms. Sandalwood,” Lim commented. “You free afterwards? I figure we could—”

There was a massive burst of light and an ear-shattering roar, followed by a blast wave slamming her to the ground. Flames roared around her, scorching her gown and parts of her fur, hair and tail. She looked to her side, and noticed the cop talking to her had taken the blast full-force, caught completely in the flames. Dazed, DJ wasn’t sure for a second what hit her before the animalistic side of her brain crashed the realization into her dizzied mind:

A bomb just went off. The explosion’s happening now, and you’re caught in the middle of it – you’re going to die!

The part of her mind that was still tied to her equine ancestry got her to move, running forward, forcing her to drop to all fours and ambulate out of there as fast as her hooves could carry her. Because of the sudden shift in her movement and posture, the dress tore, her necklace snapped off and her mind became desperate to get out of there.

Unfortunately for her, part of the ceiling was ripped apart, dislodged by the blast, and fell towards the earth – and the earth pony. The ceiling – and part of the floor above it – crashed down on DJ with a ground-crushing crunch.

Closing the Voynich, Faust returned it to the vault and departed the library in search of a coffee shop. She had a lot to think about and it was taking her all her will not to break out in panicked tears in public.

My foals, she thought to herself, her mind muddled. My foals are in danger and there’s not a damn thing I can do to help! She was bound by The Rules, and that meant she could never return to Equestria or contact her daughters directly. But said rules didn’t affect the Nightmare. That harridelle had already once abused Luna; now there was nothing to stop her from hurting Celestia as well.

But there was one being she could turn to, one who had a stake in all this…and wasn’t bound by The Rules in the same way as she was; indeed, he was the needle in the haystack when it came to them. Her old friend, and inexplicably, her daughters’ enemy – Discord. She hadn’t spoken to him in the ages since his imprisonment; what had he done to earn their ire?

But I need his help, and he could never refuse me, she said, smiling inwardly and wiping a tear from her eye. Even if there’s bad blood between them, he’d do it, if only for me.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone, calling her husband. “Greg?”

“Oh, hey, honey, what’s up?”

“I need you to pick up the kids. I won’t be home for a couple of days. Wings and horn business.”

There was a bit of silence over the line, followed by, “Take care of yourself, Faust. You’re not immortal.”

“I know. I’ll be home as soon as I can, love. Bye.” She hung up the phone, and after taking a look to make sure no one would see her next action, she changed to her true form, the red-headed woman becoming a huge red-maned alicorn mare. Closing her eyes, her horn lit with ancient power, and she disappeared into the dreamlands.

Considering what he did for a living, Mike recognized the sound instantly. As he was still calming down the princesses, it suddenly came as a shock to them as he tackled all three with enough force to drive even Celestia to the floor. “Stay down!” he ordered as he got back to his feet, heading towards the door.

“What was that?” Celestia said, realizing she’d been shoved to the floor by a human half her size.

“That was an explosion,” he said as he headed to the door. Sure enough, the moment he reached the door, a man came into the room, carrying a submachine gun and wearing a SPF badge on a neck strap.

“Stay in here,” he barked. “There’s something going on out there, and we’re dealing with it.” The man looked around the room, suddenly realizing that there was no emergency exit; the discrepancy made him hiss out an expletive. He finally set his eyes on Mike and said, “That costume for show?”

Mike immediately slipped into officer mode. In a commanding voice, he said, “Lt. Commander Hengst, US Navy, Weapons Officer on the USS Konetzni. And you are, soldier?”

The officer nodded tersely. “Thaman Rai, Inspector, SPF Gurkhas. I’d salute, but now’s not the best time.” Rai reached underneath his coat, producing a Browning HP and two clips. “You’ll have to hold the fort, Commander. I’m going back out to deal with the issue.”

“What’s the SITREP?”

“We’re under attack – someone just blew the side of the bar out.”

Mike fought to keep the composure on his face. The bar? DJ! “Casualties?”

“Don’t know. But whoever’s doing it? They’re pros – the bomb hit the least defended place and they’re carrying HEAP rounds – kena sai. Nasty bastards. Don’t worry; we’ll carve them up, though. I’m closing the door, and our side will signal Morse code Foxtrot-seven beforehand. Anyone who doesn’t? Pump ‘em up.”

“Roger that. Good luck out there, Inspector.”

Rai flashed a brief grin. “I believe the appropriate answer to you is, ‘Aye aye, sir.’” With that, he slipped out and got into the firefight.

As he did that, Mike turned to the princesses. “I want you three to stay down. We’ve got terrorists out there. They’ve got high-powered rounds and those will kill in a heartbeat.” His voice caught as he said, “The fuckers bombed the bar.”

“The bar?” Celestia gasped. “Isn’t that where…?” She could see the tension in the human’s face, the whitening of the knuckles in his hands and realized what it meant. “Go! We’ll be fine. Go find her!”

“I can’t, Celestia.” His face fought for control, even as his voice broke. “Orders are orders. The minute the attack began, my duties require me to protect you, even at the cost of others.” The three alicorns gasped and Mike moved an ornamental table from against the wall to use as cover. It wouldn’t protect him from bullets, but the cover might give him enough protection from visibility to let him get the drop on the enemy first.

Cadance watched the stew of emotions on the human’s face even as he stayed to protect them. Shining Armor once told her that his duties to protect the three princesses (and, unfortunately, Prince Blueblood) were so paramount that he would have to follow them, even if it meant sacrificing his family to do so – even Twilight. But hearing something like that was one thing. Seeing it in action was horrifically something else and her heart suddenly bled for him.

“Mike, go – find DJ,” Celestia said, her tone firm. “I have magic at my disposal to protect us. She’s your wife – go.”

“That’s a negative, your majesty. You are the head of state of an allied nation, and I am under orders to protect fellow allies in conflict situations. I don’t like my orders either, but I am duty-bound.”

“Go,” she ordered. “I can protect us three, but your wife – my niece – is out there, defenseless, Commander! I am ordering you to rescue her!”

“Celestia,” Luna said, “I don’t think you understand what’s going on here.”

“Luna’s right, Celestia,” Cadance added. “I don—”

Someone suddenly burst through the door, carrying a machine gun, and quickly drew a bead on Cadance. Mike didn’t waste a moment and opened fire, doubletapping and putting two rounds straight into the chest of the attacker. The man, now dead, collapsed, but not before his death spasms pulled the trigger on the machine gun. The shots went wild, two of them embedding themselves in the wall behind the princesses – and the third directly in Celestia’s crown, knocking it off her head with a metallic ping before it too lodged itself in the wood paneling. Shortly after, the explosive part of the bullets went off, the popping sound tearing large chunks out of the wall as each round exploded.

Celestia picked up her crown, now with a hole in it, then looked at the hole in the wall behind her, the ruined crater that would have been her head had not Mike stayed behind to fire – a shot, she now realized that could have gotten through before she could cast a shield. Faced with that realization, the ruler of Equestria did what would come naturally to any intelligent being: she fainted.

“How’s she doing?” Mike asked, as he raided the body for the machine gun and clips.

“She’s out like a light, but otherwise unharmed,” Luna answered. “Mike – thank you. I don’t think she realized how dangerous it really was.”

“Yeah,” he said, the anger still in his voice; Luna’s outburst had been the thing that sent his wife out and now with the chance she was no longer alive, he was feeling less than hospitable to her…even if DJ had started it first. Several more tense minutes passed by as gunfire could be heard on the other side of the door. “If we needed to, could you teleport us out of here?”

“It’s possible,” Luna called back. “Celestia could have teleported us out of here together, but with her out, it makes it harder. I could probably do it, but I’m out of practice,” she admitted. “Cadance, can you?” The alicorn of love shook her head sadly; as the weakest of the three, her skills weren’t up to the task.

“Okay then – blast a hole through that wall. If there’s no emergency exit, we’ll just have to make one.”

“That I can do.” Luna’s horn began to glow with silver energy as she prepared to decimate the barrier between them and freedom, and—

Taptap-taap-tap taap-taap-taptaptap. Taptap-taap-tap taap-taap-taptaptap.

Mike drew a bead with the gun. “Come in slowly so I can see you,” he ordered.

A pony carrying a Beretta M12 came in slowly, forehooves off his weapon, which was slung around his shoulder. “Everything fine in here?” The pony suddenly saw the body and Mike lowering the rifle. “Yeah, I’m guessing they are. Major Steelhoof, ERG. Are the princesses okay?”

“We’re fine, Major,” Luna called out from where she was. “It was close, but Commander Hengst protected us.”

“Is it all clear?” Mike asked, his mind off the battle now and on a very frightening thing.

“Yeah, it’s a—” Steelhoof didn’t get to finish his sentence as the human rushed past him, Princess Luna immediately following. Steelhoof immediately saw Princess Celestia on the ground, just coming to, her damaged crown and the place where he assumed her head was in the path of just an instant before. Looking at the two remaining princesses, he said, “Yeah, apparently very bucking close.”

Mike ran through the corridor and into the restaurant proper. What he saw, through the smoke and the mist, was nothing less than a battlefield. Tables were overturned and bullet-ridden, as were, tragically, several bodies of people on the floor and the occasional pony. The bodies of the attackers were being dragged into the center, and a bunch of surrendering attackers were lined up against the wall, hands on their heads and guarded by several ERG and SPF members, all of them looking as though they would kill at a moment’s notice and held only in check by their professionalism. In another corner, a few SPF and ERG folks were separating their troops from the killed civilians, making sure to treat each body with care.

“We’ve got to find her, every second cou—” Luna said before she heard a choking sound and a cry at her side. She followed the direction of the sound and saw Mike racing to a pile of rubble, including some very large chunks of ceiling. Twisted metal and concrete covered the area and there were splashes of blood here and there.

And underneath all that, just sticking out from underneath the bottom of the rubble, a leg. A leg coated in tan fur.

“DJ!” Mike shouted, tossing the rifle and dropping to his knees to start digging her out of the rubble.

“Mike, stand back!” Luna commanded, and as he did, she used a spell, teleporting all the rubble away. Had anyone asked, she would have told them that there was now some rebar in orbit around this Earth’s moon. But that didn’t matter right now, and as Luna looked down, for the second time in her life she felt as though she’d betrayed family.

There, unconscious and lying in a pool of blood, was DJ. Her fur was scorched in several places and her right foreleg – her “arm” – was bent at an unnatural angle. A jag of metal pierced through her side and was slowly oozing blood. She looked frail, as if she could shatter into a thousand pieces at any moment.

Mike, his eyes growing red, wanted to reach out for his wife, stopped only by years of training in the knowledge that doing so could make things worse. He forced himself to get to his feet.

“Commander,” someone said behind him, and he turned and wheeled hard on that individual.

“I want a corpsman here in five seconds or I swear I will literally keelhaul someone,” he said in a harsh whisper that indicated he was only in control because of his training.

Celestia and Cadance soon arrived and gasped. Celestia’s heart broke seeing the dying pony but they had to stabilize her before anything could be done. So instead, she’d do the next best thing. “Mike, let’s get you out of here. You don’t need to see this.”

“I’m not leaving,” he said, sniffling and forcing back the tears, even as he balled his fists until his hands started turning white as sheets.

Celestia went over and nuzzled Mike; she knew it wasn’t a human gesture, but it was meant all the same. “You disregarded me when I told you to do this and you saved my life in the process. Please, let me make it up to you – you don’t need to see this. Luna, go with DJ to the hospital. Cadance, start banging on doors immediately – I want every intelligence officer on the island, regardless of country, giving me an answer as to why we were attacked.”

“Okay,” he said, head down and unable to take his eyes off his dying wife. In the distance, ambulances could be heard as paramedics rushed in, running against the clock.

Author's Note

Yup, some characters are growing and some extras are getting added into the mix. Best thing I can say? If you've read everything in the past, don't be surprised if there's some changes. :pinkiesmile:

Chapter Five: You've Got Some Splainin' to Do

“Pip, are you here?”

“Yes, sir, General,” Pip said, uncomfortable with the term. It was difficult, not referring to him as “Captain”; after all, for years his mentor, Shining Armor, had been the captain of the guard. But now, all that had changed since they’d found Rarity’s daughter and formed alliances with the new species known as humans, Equestria had found just how unadvanced they were in comparison to the bipedal extradimensionals. Even the most advanced of pony technology was still decades behind human standards, and the average? Pitiful. And not just technology: with the lone exception of magic – and a justified one, since humans had no magic whatsoever – Equestria was pitiful backwater in comparison to even the least advanced of human nations.

Upon learning that, Celestia began a five-year change to the government. Ministries – sections of the government that ran stuff on behalf of the crown – were created, and one of those was the Ministry of Defense. Formed out of the remains of both the Royal Guard and the Royal Fleet, the two services were ripped apart into four organizations. One of those would carry on the name of the Equestriani Royal Guard and its mission of protecting the princesses, though it would no longer be a military organization, but a law enforcement one. The other three would make up new types of forces, based on human military standards.

Which was why four months ago, Pip had been a promising sergeant in the Royal Guard, and part of the elite First Line cohort. Now? He was a “major” in the “Royal Equestriani Army”, training with weapons that were horrifying and tactics that were nigh-barbaric. From what he could tell, if there was one thing that humans could do beyond anything else, it was fight wars, and their level of expertise put even the mighty dragons to shame.

But at the same time…. He’d gotten to know many humans while going through a modified version of the US Army Special Forces training with the intent of creating a special elite unit. It had been a human that had suggested the name to him: Destriers, after a special type of brave and fearless warrior who strode into battle. He later found out that destriers were actually the horse and not the warrior, but the theme remained and since that time, Pip was forming what would the first of many Destrier Groups, to hold the front line for the REA. And none of that would have been possible had it not been for those same humans. And Sweetie had told him of her experiences with them and the incredible things they did for a non-magical species. In the end, he concluded that humans were really no different than ponies; it was the individual that mattered, not the herd – or whatever a group of humans was called.

But he still had a hard time calling Shining Armor “General.”

“Are you there?” the older stallion asked.

“I’m here,” Pip said, falling into place alongside his mentor. It hurt seeing Shining Armor like this, the once strong and proud warrior prince now blinded and lamed by the disease killing him. Something had happened to him ten years ago when he finally cornered Chrysalis’ forces and destroyed them utterly. But there had been a price, and that cost was now killing him. But no matter what, Pip would always remember the rock-strong unicorn stallion that he’d idolized since he was a colt.

“Pip, I need you to do something for me,” Shining said, as they walked in a location Pip was familiar with: Ghastly Gorge. It had been made off-limits ten years ago for some reason and until this day he didn’t know why. Was there a special military program going on here? Some training facility that was being built here and had to be kept secret?

“Anything, my prince,” Pip said, deciding on formality.

“You’ve never had to call me that, Pip. Don’t start getting formal now just because I’m dying,” Shining said. Before Pip could protest the older stallion added, “And yes, don’t argue – I’m dying. I know it. Whatever trap Chrysalis laid for me a decade past is killing me now and I’m lucky I survived this long. But I can’t go until I know that our most special project is in good hooves, and so I’m entrusting it to you.”

“What about Golden Grape, or Emerald Ray, or Silver? Surely one of them—”

“—doesn’t have the right temperament for those sort of things,” Shining interrupted, then was interrupted himself as he started hacking and coughing up blood. “But you do, Pip. You remember when you were just a small colt, always picked on, right?”

Pip nodded; no one had ever expected him to suddenly have one monster of a growth spurt in his teens, making him eventually taller and bulkier than his mentor. But he never forgot where he came from, so to speak. “Yes, I do – Sweetie still teases me about how she was taller than me at that time even though we were the same age. But I don’t….”

“No time to argue, Pip,” Shining said, his rheumy eyes already glazing. “Just promise me that you’ll protect this most important thing I am about to show you. Celestia entrusted me with it, and now I’m entrusting you,” the elder stallion said, walking towards a small cottage at the edge of the trail down into the gorge. He walked as if the path was long memorized and with a purpose of stride Pip hadn’t seen Shining do in a while. It both broke his heart and brought a smile to his face.

“I promise,” Pip said, as the pair arrived at the cottage. Shining knocked on the door and a pegasus mare let him in; she looked familiar for some reason, but he couldn’t quite place it. “But what is this thing that you want me to protect?”

A smile came to Shining’s face and for a second he looked every bit the regal stallion he deserved to be. “Hope,” he said. “Hope for a better tomorrow.”

Pip wondered what he meant, but then saw the mare’s husband, a unicorn, approaching with a foal at his side, a filly. And then he got a better look at her and in that moment, Pip knew exactly what Shining meant.

“It’s not the safest location,” Pip said as they hid in the remnants of what had once been a clothing store, “but we’ll manage.” Out of the fifteen individuals that had been on the helicopter, only a hoofful remained: himself, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, a very junior mage named Honeydew Spice, and the gunners on the aircraft, Corporal Hawthorne and Lance Corporal McMillian. They’d been in this position for two days now, in the center of town. They couldn’t teleport out because Honeydew didn’t have the ability to teleport and even if she could, she said, she wasn’t strong enough to teleport multiple individuals – and going back and forth would be too much for her. So they were stuck. Fortunately, they had enough MREs (even if they were unpalatable) to last them for a few days.

At the moment, Pip was watching as two drones and a princess were inspecting some of the unhatched eggs. The drones weren’t the problem; they were stupid, and reliably so – as a colt, he’d heard tales from the Bearers about their battle against dozens of drones and how they’d only been defeated once the princesses came into the battle. And that was the problem: unlike the male drones, the female princesses were smart, cunning and deadly, having a full array of magic at their disposal equivalent to a well-trained unicorn. Worse, princesses eventually succeeded their mothers as queens – and if a princess somehow became separated from the swarm, she then automatically became a queen of a new hive, following her biological impulses and began giving birth parthenogenetically, the normal way of their species. He knew this, because he’d once had a princess just like the one out there explain it all to him.

“Corporals,” he called out, “what’s the story on your end?”

Hawthorne laughed. “Heh, easy, sah. I’m from Birmingham, born during the riots in ‘23 – this can’t be worse than that, let me tell you.”

His partner, McMillian, grinned. “I got into some nasty scuffles with some Pakis and darkies when I was younger, growing up in Tottingham.” When Hawthorne, who was black, looked at him with a nasty stare, McMillian grinned. “Lovely chaps, them. One of them wised up like me an’ became a Royal Marine, so maybe it’s what we needed at the time.”

Pip looked at the two humans and figured they’d work it out: he’d already heard about racism between types of humans and knew that once there had been racism in his own species between the three tribes; sadly, it seemed to be a natural flaw in an intelligent species with more than one variation within its ranks but a flaw that could be eventually overcome.

“Pip, how much longer do you think we’ll be here before somepony will rescue us?” Fluttershy approached him, rifle slung around her shoulder. She didn’t know how to use it in the least, but he’d begged her and Pinkie to carry them once they crashed, if for no other reason than it’d make him feel more comfortable about their safety. The Elements couldn’t solve every problem, after all. He looked over his shoulder, and Pinkie Pie was still asleep in the corner, carbine slung against the wall and looking somehow completely at ease with her surroundings.

“I’m hoping soon. We’ve got enough MREs to last us a few days, but after that things will get dicey. And that’s assuming they think we’re all dead and haven’t started building-by-building searches of us. If they have, it’s only a matter of time before we’re caught.” He thought about a sudden thing. “I wonder if the legends are true – the ones that they catch ponies and throw them in conversion cocoons and turn innocents into creatures of their own kind.”

“Oh bloody hell, Colonel? Did I just hear you right, sah?”

Pip nodded. “Like I said, I don’t know if it’s true – I never thought to ask.”

“Ask who, Pip?” Fluttershy inquired, a curious look etching itself on her face.

“I…uh…nevermind,” he said, shutting up immediately.

A series of rumblings started in the distance, and that was the clue that something had started; indeed, several drones and princesses in the area took to wing, starting to head towards the direction of the sound. At the same time, a crackling sound started over the commline in Pip’s helmet. “Any units surviving in Fillydelphia, this is Bravo Nine. Repeat, this is Bravo Nine. Can anyone hear me, over?”

“Bravo Nine, this is Oscar Six. We can hear you, over.”

“Please confirm authentication code: Delta-Mike-Uniform-Two-One-Niner-Fife-Whiskey, over.”

“Confirmation validator: Hotel-Four-Sierra-Bravo-Romeo-Zero, over.”

A pause. “Validation confirmed. Good to hear from you, Colonel. This is Colonel Highflyer, 9th Armor. We’re on the other end of town, providing some distraction right now.”

“We’re in the center of town at the moment, by the main birthing area. We don’t have a way to get out of here. Only six of us left: both Bearers, two British troops, one mage and myself. Fluttershy, Pinkie and I could probably make it out if we galloped as fast as possible – or flew in Fluttershy’s case, but Honeydew is too weak and the humans don’t have our running speed; they’d be caught in an instant.”

“Understood. Fortunately, we have some assistance on the way. We have a senior mage coming in for you. The flutters have also said they are sending assistance as well. As soon as we send the all-clear, then you all can flash out. The REAF is also arranging for a chopper to be on standby, just in case. We’ll keep the line on standby until we’ve confirmed your extraction.”

“A-a flutter?” Pip said, growing nervous, plus, if that senior mage was who he thought it was…. “Who authorized the flutters to get involved, Colonel? That’s priority Charlie-Sierra-Zero-One-Delta!”

“Princess Cadance, Colonel. She said, and I quote, ‘it’s time to take the tarp off our friends.’”

“Horsefeathers. Fine. We’ll wait for the signal. Oscar Six, out.”

Fluttershy caught the look on the younger pony’s face immediately. “Is there something wrong, Pip?”

“I…I, uh…” Pip was uncharacteristically frazzled. “I…well, the Flutter Project is something I worked on when younger, and I….”

Fluttershy looked at him hard; not with her infamous stare, but the look of somepony who knew something had just gone terribly wrong. “I think there’s something you need to explain, isn’t there?”

It was that point that there were two flashes of light, emblematic of pony teleportation spells. No sooner than the ponies materialized, than the first one, a marshmallow-white pony with pink and lavender tail and mane tackled Pip, hugging him as deeply as she could. “Don’t ever do that to me again!” she breathed, worry in her eyes.

The answer Sweetie Belle got was not one she was expecting. “Uh, hi, Sweetie…um, nice seeing you here in Filly?” He started shaking quite a bit, and she was wondering why.

She looked at him with sudden concern. Was he sick? Had he inhaled some changeling venom? It had been what had killed Shining Armor so long ago and the thought of it being in Pip frightened her. “Pip, dearest, you’re not looking v— what the…?” The unicorn mage was caught off-guard as somepony pushed past her, jostled her aside and kissed her fiancé for all he was worth. It took a second before she realized the pony that kissed him…was a changeling.

“My love!” she told him in a sultry voice, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t arrive in time, but we didn’t find out until just a few moments ago. I’m missed you so, and so sorry that you had to be trapped here i—”

“‘My love?’” If Sweetie Belle wasn’t already white, she would have turned that just now. Looking at Pip, she asked, “Pip, what’s going on?”

“I, uh, well….”

The changeling stood there, a smile on her face…but she looked so strange. She looked as tall as Chrysalis and had a similar face, but that’s where the changes ended. Her body was a soft tan, with hints of a vibrant red on her saddle-like carapace. Her wings were the same translucent color and had no holes in them, nor did her legs. Her eyes were a soft, warm gold, and her fangs were much smaller than a normal changeling’s, almost non-existent. Her mane and tail were the same color as her carapace and also held no holes. Last but not least was her horn, not like the pocked appendage of the changeling queen, but a wavy horn, not unlike the ancient sword known as a flamberge. She looked at him and Sweetie could see, both to her shock and horror, those were eyes of love. “I have missed you, dear husband,” she said, her voice as tender as it could be.

“‘Dear husband?’” Sweetie Belle said. Fluttershy gasped behind her, and the noise was enough to wake Pinkie up from her slumber.

“Excuse me,” Fluttershy said to the changeling, “who are you, if I may?”

“Ah, you must be Lady Knight Fluttershy, Duchess Andalusia. Celestia has talked quite about you and your friends,” the changeling said with a smile. “My name is Imago, and I am queen of my changeling hive – or mother, I suppose it’s all the same, really. But please, don’t let the term changeling fool you – I was raised by two loving ponies, and I am more pony than changeling. In truth, I prefer my followers be called flutters, as it disambiguates us from those repulsive monsters. I wish we could have met under better circumstances, but things are as they may. I am, however, very heartened that Celestia has sent a rescue team in for my dearest love.” She bent down and nuzzled Pip. “Oh, it’s been too long, my Pip! I’ve missed you so!”

“Uh, hi, Maggie,” he said, nervously, eyes darting at Sweetie, who was shocked; Fluttershy, whose eyes looked at Pip as if she’d started to put together what was going on; and Pinkie, whose sleepy-eyed expression showed she was still waking up. The British Army troopers and the mage continued the vigil after the unicorn told the humans bizarre things like this were perfectly normal when it came to the Bearers.

Meanwhile, the changeling queen called Imago continued to dote on a shuddering Pip. “You’re shivering, dear – did you inhale some of the nutrient mist? It’s only for larvae; it’ll poison you otherwise.” Her horn began to glow with a soft peach hue. “Hold still while I remove it from your bod—” A peach blur suddenly blasted past Imago, squeeing as it rushed past.

“DADDY!” a small voice cried.

“DADDY?” every voice save for Pip and Imago said. All eyes looked down at Pip and a small creature that was hugging him excitedly and nuzzling him for all he was worth. She looked much like a filly, save she had a turquoise saddle carapace and wings. Her mane and tail were the same red as Imago’s, and her eyes were a beautiful shade of orange. But was most telling was her white-and-peach pinto coat. Pinto coats were a very rare atavism in ponies, and in fact there were only a hoofful of ponies that were pintos – and to date, and even fewer who were capable of being a father.

“Oh, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” the young pony/changeling chimera squealed happily. “I’ve missed you so much! I didn’t think I’d ever get to see you, but Mommy said we had to come save you and I wanted to come help and I’ve missed you and now you’re here and now we’re here and can we go home and be a family again?” The filly looked up at Imago. “We’re back together again!”

“Yes, Rosedust,” Imago said with the love of a mother, “your father and I are back together again.”

The room fell silent for a moment, save for a stallion who was suddenly very afraid of what was about to happen next.

He had good reason to be. “Oh, Pip….” Sweetie said in the sweetest voice she could muster.

“Uh, yes?” he said, knowing what was going to come next.

Her horn lit up with a viole(n)t aura, and in one swoop, Sweetie Belle picked up her fiancée with telekinesis and slammed him against the wall with a bone-jarring thud. He slumped against the wall, out like a light.

“Oh, he’s gonna feel that in the mornin’,” McMillian said. “Remind me to buy my girl a dozen roses when I get back.”

In a rented hotel room in New Haven, Faust sat on the bed and closed her eyes. Though a casual passer-by might think her to be asleep, it was far from the case. In truth, the former Queen of the Ponies meditated.

Or rather, journeyed.

It had been the first time in ages that she had travelled through the Dreamlands, though truthfully the first time in ages that she needed to as well. The Dreamlands was part of the connection she shared with her middle daughter. In this land, this strange netherrealm that all sapient beings seemed to somehow be connected to, she wandered through its strange geography in search of her goal. The stars and moon above were a spray of jewels, the iridescent colors of nebulae and deep space just behind the starfield. The long grasses stirred with a wind that could not be felt or discerned and appeared, if anything, for looks only. Such was the nature of the Dreamlands.

In her natural form, Faust walked on, passing the occasional pony whose mental meanderings had carried them here. Most of them were artists, poets and musicians, all of which found themselves here but would return to the waking world with different interpretations that fueled their creativity. She also noticed those whose dreams had carried them to this place, to be ministered by Luna’s duties; most of those were foals, pure of heart and untainted by daily cares; all she could do was to silently wish them a wonderful sleep and a refreshing wake, as it would be up to the night princess to attend to their dreams.

A fleeting thought caught her mind: as she wandered through the Dreamlands – so long as her younger children were unaware of their heritage, she would never see them here. Their minds were as human as their bodies appeared to be, unaware of their unique heritage and thus for all intents and purposes as completely human as their father. It made her wonder about the Lost Foal: she’d lived her entire life amongst humans and probably in her mindset was more human in her mindset than some born as Homo sapiens sapiens. While the Dreamlands were all one realm, the human parts were as far as far could be, the various species somehow being separated in their domains within the greater realm.

But she walked on, never once taking her eyes off her goal. And eventually, she reached a place in the realm where a miserable being sat, held fast by chains etched with magical script and glowing with a prismatic aura. He looked bored rather than despondent, as if tired of this latest amusement and merely waiting for the next. She smiled inwardly; as always, that was his way. But that was how things were for Discord, Avatar of Chaos.

“My, I seem to have a visitor,” the draconequus said, trying to find a comfortable position in his current state. Once he looked up, a wide, genuine smile crossed his snout. “Before my eyes, who I should see! It has been too long, my dearest old friend. I apologize for not attending your wedding, and I would have sent a gift if I could. But,” he said, lifting his bindings, “I’m a bit…strung up, as it were.”

“I’m sorry. I wish I could have done something to prevent this,” Faust said, sincerely. “What did you do to end up this way?”

“The first time, or the second?” he asked, simply. Seeing the sudden look of horror on her face, he smiled softly and said, “This is my burden to bear. This is part of what it means to be Immune from the Rules. I am chaos unbridled, confusion in the flesh, and yet...sometimes when you gaze into the abyss, it gazes right back at you.” He nodded sadly as he added, “I know why you’re here. I always knew this would come. Even when you were cast out of your home and title, and I sent along this unhappy fate, I knew this would come. I knew it would come because she knew it would and feared it.”

Faust caught the reference. “Has she come to taunt you?”

“More than just that. She offered me everything, any and everything if I would only gift my powers to her. She desired that I use my craft to create a body for her so that she would not need to depend on hosts. She wishes to act, because The Rules are changing and It begins again.”

“‘It begins again?’ What begins again?”

“I cannot tell you. I would if I could, you know, but…this time, I am but the Messenger. My role this time is only to pass my message on to one who can solve them and to find the players in this new passion play. She knows this and is trying to circumvent things, just as she has before. But this time she is playing with things that will end everything if she is not stopped.”

“Then I will stop her, no matter the cost,” Faust growled.

“That is not your job. This is not our Game to play, not our Contest to win or lose. All we can do is thwart her, but we cannot defeat her. And we must not, because that is the duty of another. No, yours is to quell the fire that she wishes to touch, lest it burn both our world and that of the humans. Because whether she knows it or no, the Nightmare is about to unleash cataclysm upon both worlds.”

Faust looked in the dragonequus’ red eyes and saw in them True Tellings. He would never play her false to begin with; they’d known each other too long for that. But there was truth…and there was Truth.

“The Vagabond knows,” Discord intoned, “and if their plans are not thwarted, we will all – every single being in both realities, maybe more –suffer unlike anything either world has ever seen.”

Insight came to the queen of thoughts. “Luna. Luna is the key to revealing the Truths,” Faust said, the words tumbling from her mouth.

“Faust, I know what you are about to say, and this I promise: out of our dear friendship, I will help your daughters—”

She nodded, relieved. “Thank you.”

“—in my own way, of course,” he finished, a wolfish grin coming to his face. “Granted, I will not stymy her, as that is not my wish or wont, but I am more than a bit…peeved, shall we say, at how they have treated me. But it is in our best interest to stop the Nightmare, and even I would not wish that hell on your foal again.” He looked at her with genuine sorrow. “I would have helped her, despite our enmity, if I could have,” he said sadly. “But those Elements you created…my congratulations to you; as someone that has suffered their effect, they are truly potent weapons.”

“It gives me no joy to hear you say that,” she admitted.

“I know, and I appreciate it. Now go home and hold your second family tight in your wings and tell them how much you love them. Soon I will send you agents to assist you.”

“You have followers?” As long as she’d known him, he preferred to be a solitary actor. He never cared for followers or assistants, as it cramped his style, he’d told her often in the past.

But the grin on Discord’s face was wide and grand as he crowed, “Isn’t it grand to be loved?”

“So they’re not talking?” Mike said, angrily looking at the police officer standing before him.

“No, Commander, they are not,” the officer replied, straight-laced and somber. “We have attempted every avenue to get through to them, but they are as silent as stones.”

It was two days after the incident and Singapore was in a state of alert, having suffered its first attack since World War II, over a century past. All but martial law had been declared, and the tiny nation was in lockdown, with no one getting in or out of the country. RSAF F-35Bs filled the skies, and in a show of support Malaysia had put some of their own ATD-F1s in the air. The whole of the RSN fleet was now out at sea, doing border inspections of every nearby vessel in the straits, and any ship within a mile of Singapore’s territorial waters were ordered to stay within or be fired upon. Meanwhile, hundreds of Singapore Army troops were on the ground in the urban centers of the tiny island nation.

Because of his involvement in the whole incident, Mike had been given special consideration for his own protection: at the moment, he was the only foreign military member walking the streets of Singapore fully armed. He was now back in his NWUs, carrying a sidearm and a carbine slung on his shoulder. The carbine, a Colt SMG, was on loan from a RSAF colonel impressed with the way Mike handled himself during the battle; the pistol was the one loaned to him two days ago by the Gurkha police officer. In the latter case, Mike could not return the weapon as Rai had fallen in the line of duty; Rai’s wife insisted the Sailor carry the gun as she felt Rai would have wanted it that way.

At the moment, he and Celestia were at the Changi prison complex, the maximum security prison on the eastern side of the island. The prisoners were kept in total seclusion, and several members of the Singaporean intelligence community were present, trying to wheedle details out of them. So far, the six captives were as silent as possible, a good indicator of Special Forces training. Their faces had been sent out to intelligence agencies and units around the world in the hopes that the Raffles Six, as the news was referring to them, would divulge news of further terrorist operations or that this would reveal a direct threat against Equestria itself.

If that was the case, DJ had been a victim in a potential attack against the princesses. He glanced briefly at the sober look in Celestia’s eyes. She had ordered her ERG detachment to work with the Singaporean authorities to ferret out what had occurred and she would rely on Mike for protection at the moment. Quite a few proceeded to protest for fear for their liegelady’s life, but the sun alicorn reminded them that if not for the human’s quick reaction, she would be dead. Chastened, they finally agreed to the temporary change of duties.

And now both were here, trying to get answers to that first big question, and so far nothing was forthcoming. Until something did, they were all just hanging in the wind, and the only ones with the answers were those six. And he was going to do whatever it took to get something out of them.

“Listen, Superintendent – my wife was caught in the blast. She is a member of the Equestriani Royal Family and she could die at any moment,” he said, somewhat distraught. “Now, you can either let me see those idiots or I can make a call and in hours you can deal with SEAL Team TWO.”

Pissed at levels his wife usually inhabited, Mike turned to the white alicorn standing next to him. “Your majesty, if you were to contact the US State Department and request some assistance into the untimely death of your niece, how quickly do you think we could have DEVGRU here?”

Equally angry herself, Celestia pondered aloud. “If I talked to the Secretary of Defense herself and teleported over to San Diego to meet them? We could have them here in an hour.”

The superintendent gasped – Gurkhas were good, but the US Navy Special Warfare Development Group, abbreviated as DEVGRU and commonly referred to by the public by their old unit name – SEAL Team SIX – was a whole different level of headache completely. And they had Gurkhas, too. “You wouldn’t dare!”

The sun princess addressed Mike even as she kept her hard eyes from the officer. “Commander, I’ll be right back. Is there anything you’d care for from Arlington aside from the entire US Naval Special Warfare Command?”

The officer looked fit to be tied when someone else walked into the room. “Superintendent Lenard, you’re too serious – Commander Hengst here was just playing a bit of a joke with you. Your majesty, it’s a pleasure to meet you. And Commander, shame on you for teasing someone who wouldn’t get the humor of a right good keelhauling.”

Mike nodded, trying his best to look chastened by the man who walked in, yet not quite able to remove the smile from his face. “Aye, sir.”

The man in question was Admiral Raja Singh, head of the Republic of Singapore Navy himself. “My condolences on your wife. Has there been any news?”

Mike shook his head, and the sorrow around him was a virtual aura. “No sir. The doctors won’t tell me anything, but…I can see it in their eyes. It’s too touch-and-go to answer either way.”

“I understand how that is: my father is in the hospital battling cancer himself, and the doctors draw a fine line between being honest and being considerate. Still, I would take hope: she’s in the hands of the Singaporean Health Service, the finest doctors in all of Asia and I daresay beyond,” Singh said with a grin, wiggling his bushy eyebrows. Turning to Lenard, he said, “The armed forces will be taking custody temporarily, Superintendent. As soon as we are done, we will return them to police custody.”

“I protest!” Lenard said angrily.

“Protest all you like, Superintendent,” Singh replied. “I have a letter here from the prime minister authorizing the transfer of the prisoners to military custody. While I am recommending temporary custody, it does allow me to take permanent custody if I feel it is necessary.”

Lenard practically snatched the letter from the admiral’s hand and red. His face turned red with anger as he snarled, “We will not turn over the prisoners. This is a vi—”

The admiral got directly in the man’s face. “I am personal friends with Admiral Lambson, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. If I wanted to borrow every member of the US Special Warfare Command and turn them loose on the island to tear apart every brick to find any other co-conspirators, I could do so. And believe me, Superintendent, unlike the Commander, I am not joking. Now, would you like to hand over custody temporarily, or would you like to deal with the 50,000-plus SEALs, Green Berets, AFSOCs, Marine Raiders and others that I can have demolishing the island within 48 hours? Oh, and lest I forget to mention: the President, the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Defense have already pre-authorized me to do so, as it is paramount regarding the safety of the populace.” The admiral leaned back and smiled. “Your choice, Superintendent Lenard.”

“But I—” Lenard began, and in response, Singh pulled out a phone and began making a call. “Yes. Operations Center? Get me a line with the Pentagon, Admiral Lambson direct, please. Tell him that I’m calling and that it’s regarding Operation CRATERMAKER.”

“They’re yours! Fine!” Lenard said, rushing out the door.

Singh chuckled. “Clearly he’s a paper pusher – a real military man would have known we just don’t turn over our problems to the Americans all the time. That’s what we have the British for. So now that we can get to the real crux of the issue, Commander, I will ensure that you get to see the bastards – though I’d much prefer that you don’t shoot them just yet. I’ve requested that the local 15 Office be allowed to sit in as well. We’ve word they’ll be here shortly.”

“The 15 Office, sir?” Mike asked.

“What’s a ’15 Office’?” Celestia inquired.

“UN Combined Task Force 15,” Singh answered. “It’s a UN-sponsored military group that handles anti-piracy issues and the like.” Turning back to Mike, he added, “Our local office is…rather unique. Since the Straits of Malacca has to deal with both piracy and a bunch of crackpot separatist groups, the 15 Office tends to get involved in those as well.”

“I see,” the sun alicorn said, wondering about that – what good would a separatist group do through violence that couldn’t be accomplished through discussion? In Equestria, the respective Diamond Dog and Bison tribes were given some level of autonomy because they accomplished their aims through politics, not violence. But as she’d found out once again, not every human shared her views.

A couple of minutes later, a quartet of military personnel came in. The first man, dressed in the uniform of the Russian Air Force, rendered a salute, then offered his hand. “Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Rodenkov, Russian Air Force, Chief of the local CTF-15 station. With me is Lt. Amy Mitchell, Royal Canadian Navy—”

“A pleasure, your majesty, Admiral, Commander,” she said to all three.

“—Major Gideon Gespenstflügel, Royal Griffonica Air Force—”

“It is my honor, gentleman and your majesty,” the gryphon said, gently offering his foreclaw.

“—and 1st Lieutenant Kyle Sung, US Army.”

“An honor, sirs and your majesty. And Lt. Commander Hengst, my condolences on your wife.”

“Have you been briefed in full?” Singh asked Rodenkov.

“We reviewed as much as we could on the plane trip over, and from what we know, this was a professional job, not some backwater idiots arguing that their sandspit deserves to be its own country,” Rodenkov answered. “HEAP rounds, latest body armor, shaped-charge residueless explosives. Guns that were custom-smithed and thus don’t have serial numbers or RFIDs we can use to track. No indicator as to how they arrived in the area. And, worst of all – no plans to escape; they were ready to die and men ready to die will do no manner of small and stupid things to get to their objective.” He looked the notes over again on his tablet. “As for the men themselves, non-descript. Average. Two Europeans, one African, one Native American, one Indian and one Asian. All six unnaturally quiet.”

Mitchell spoke up. “I watched a lot of American TV as a kid – that being said, anyone else getting a Twilight Zone vibe?”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Sung said. When Mike looked at him, he smiled shyly. “I’m an old TV show buff – I Love Lucy’s my favorite.”

“Well, that’s well and good, folks, but we’re not getting anything done standing outside here,” Rodenkov said. “Before we go in, let’s get something straight, Commander, and your majesty. I sympathize with the plight you both are going through, but this is business and that means I don’t want either of you here. You two are far too close to what happened, and I don’t like loose triggers. The only reason I agreed to have you here, Commander, is because since you were on-scene, you may catch something we might not. But as for you, your majesty, you cannot be here at all. There’s too much of risk of a hidden shank.”

“Shank?” she asked.

“An assassin’s spike, your majesty,” Gespenstflügel replied. “On this Earth it is known as a shank. All it will take is you getting close to the wrong person and him getting out of his bonds for just the right moment and they will have succeeded.”

A thought suddenly came to the sun princess’ mind. “What if they didn’t know it was me?”

“That would be very interesting, your majesty,” Rodenkov countered, “but unless my memory is faulty, our Earth has a dearth of alicorns.”

Mike figured it out instantly. “Can you hold it long enough?”

She smiled. “I’ve held the spell up for months at a time, Mike. I think I can handle a few hours.” She looked at his uniform for a couple of minutes then closed her eyes. There was a spray of light and magic, and a second later, LCDR Tia Einhorn, USN, stood in the place where Princess Celestia had been just a second ago.

“Bóže moj! Now I think I’ve seen just about everything in life,” Rodenkov said, surprised. The others just looked at her, completely flabbergasted.

“Uh, close, Celestia, but…your human form’s a bit too young for this rank. Lt. Sung, can you come over here for a sec?” He walked over and Mike pointed out his rank pins. “Make ones like these, but the same color as my rank pins; they’re a bit more appropriate. Also, since you’ll be the junior officer, no one will pay attention to you and you can keep an eye out for what we humans don’t see, understood, Ensign?”

Celestia smiled. “Got it.” The tabs on her uniform blinked quickly and the gold oak leaves were replaced with gold bars.

“So, Colonel Rodenkov, do you still have a problem if Ensign Einhorn and I sit in on your interrogation?” Mike asked, crossing his arms as a smug grin crossed his face.

“Only if you keep upstaging me,” Rodenkov said with a soft chuckle.

All was dark.

And then she woke up.

Princess Champagne Dreams was not happy as she stormed through the halls of Canterlot Castle. Ignoring every ceremonial guard as she wandered through the throne room, she finally arrived just as her husband was about to hold court for the day in his position as regent until one of the senior princesses returned from overseas.

“I want everypony out of this room,” she snarled, looking at everyone in turn. Within seconds, petitioners, guards, assistants and pages departed the room. As the last one left, Champagne’s horn shone with a soft pink hue and a similar glow surrounded the handles to the doors, creating a magic lock. She then wheeled on her husband. “Who was she?” the princess said in low, measured tones.

Blueblood shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“It does when it is our private chambers, Blueblood.” She sighed. “I thought we had an agreement: you married me for my magic expertise and I married you for the stature and freedom to continue my studies. We had royal issue – twice, in fact. I only asked that you be willing to keep your, ahem, ‘pecuniary dealings’ out of our chambers. I would like to at least have our foals believe our marriage is not under the threat of collapse.” She looked at him. “You did agree to that, or did I mistake the carefully worded vows that you insisted we take at our wedding?”

Blueblood laughed. “For one, dearest wife,” he said sarcastically, “our foals are grown. Silver Platter already seeks a bride and, for all your maternal concerns, our dearest daughter Gilded Lily is already delving into the sort of relationships any unicorn of sterling breed should not – or did you not notice the blue pinfeather she keeps as a love token?” He then descended from the throne down to the floor, adding, “And as to the other issue: I do apologize for that, sincerely. Our…‘associates’ sent us a message.” His magic produced a scroll, passing it to her. “And the messenger was a mare trained in the old ways of the Unicorn Dynasty. She sincerely hoped for a position as…well, I’m sure you understand. I admit, I should have had the courtesy to go to another room, but then the housekeeping staff might have suspected something amiss.” He sighed theatrically. “A shame, that: Silk Pillow could have served you well as a hoofmaiden.”

Champagne ignored that last statement; she was busy reading the scroll. “Well, too late for that, I’m afraid,” she informed him. “For one, you made sure she no longer fits the description of maiden; and plus, thanks to your confirmation, my guess wasn’t too far off. At this moment the young lady has been given the honor of representing me for the next decade at the Royal Science Outpost on the Great Southern Continent.”

Blueblood bristled. “She’s not even a scientist. She’s a luxury upholsterer, not even a mage.”

“Then all the better to ensure that we have no roustabouts in our home.” She got close to him and nuzzled him softly, deliberately, teasingly. “Blueblood, we may not love each other, but I am fond of you, just as much as I am impressed with your plans to someday retake the throne. But you cannot do that if you do not have the backing of the populace, and part of that is having a devoted marriage to the wife you love so very much – or at least appear so that you don’t have ‘relations’ with a flighty young mare proud to say she spent an enchanted evening with Equestria’s senior prince.”

“I…see. Who, praytell, did she mention this to?”

“Does it matter?” Champagne said with a smile that hid her viciousness. “They won’t be heard from because they won’t be seen ever again. Oh, and I didn’t have them meet an end, if that’s what you’re concerned about, and that is all I will say about that.” She patted him on the face and said, “I look out for your interests and mine, my prince – that’s the devotion of a loving wife after all, is it not?” Before he could answer, she turned and walked out of the throne room, leaving Blueblood to ponder whether he should fume at her audacity or be pleased at her ruthlessness.

“I see,” Imago said, as she sat down next to Sweetie Belle. “Believe me, Margravine, I never expected this. When he and I talked of you, there was a fondness in his voice, the fondness of an old friend. But I thought you were male, not a…another mare.”

“How could you not know that I was female with a name like Sweetie Belle, your majesty?” Sweetie asked.

“Please, just call me either Imago or Maggie. I do not wish to be rivals or enemies. And I thought he said ‘Sweepy Bell.’ He was never really clear on it.”

“No, that would be my cousin in Maneiapolis,” the unicorn replied. “He’s a pro hoofball player and….” Sweetie Belle suddenly trailed off as a hard realization hit her. Her cousin with the similar name did have the same coloring and a similar cutie mark. In fact, when they were younger, both were often confused for one another at family reunions. “I…uh, I can see where the confusion would be, your ma…Imago. And please, just call me Sweetie.”

As the two talked, Sweetie’s world continued to crumble. The only stallion she ever loved had a very different life during the seven years that they hadn’t been a couple – and that it was her fault. Despite the fact that she loved him, she’d wanted to continue her studies, and so she was going to spend those years traveling around both their world and the human one. It wouldn’t have been fair to him to make him wait for her, so she called it off. It had been luck that he’d still loved her when she returned, but now she knew his life had been far different than imagined. “Imago, do you love him?”

The flutter queen was diplomatically quiet for a few seconds before answering, “Yes. Since the day I first saw him. I was just a foal back then, mooning over the dashing young officer visiting my home alongside my uncle – I was raised thinking of Shining Armor as my father’s older brother, you see – and from the first moment I saw him, and forgive me if this sounds strange to you, but I imprinted onto him. He was my husband from the moment I saw him.”

The white unicorn found a glimmer of hope in that statement. “But you said you were raised by ponies. If so, you know we don’t marry that way.”

“Which is why I hoped we’d have a pony ceremony someday,” Imago answered. “My parents, Mom especially, would be very happy to see me married.” The flutter queen smiled happily until she remembered who was in front of her and immediately stopped, somewhat self-chastened.

Sweetie felt crushed at Imago’s announcement. “I…I don’t understand. I mean, how…how was….” She sighed. “Imago, I’m a senior mage and the protégé of the assistant to the Guild archmagus. As a result, I have access to a lot of classified projects and I would have heard of something like this. Not that I doubt you, but I haven’t heard of anything like your hive before.”

“I don’t know the answer to that myself. Aside from Princess Celestia, Uncle Shining and a few select other ponies, until my first clutch all I have ever known were my parents. I’m not sure Uncle Shining even told his wife or his sister – I always felt some hesitancy when he was around me. I know he loved me, but…maybe I reminded him of something. I don’t know.”

Meanwhile, Rosedust sat by her unconscious father, just thrilled as anything to be by his side. She hummed happily, a warm buzzing sound that was musical in tone.

“You must be happy to see your father again,” Fluttershy said delicately. She wasn’t sure how to react to the mess Pip was in. It had happened outside of his relationship with Sweetie Belle, and from his reaction, it seemed he didn’t even know he had a child. But at the same time, being in that kind of situation – it was a fool’s game. She was disappointed in her young friend and worried about how these changes might affect Sweetie Belle.

“Uh huh!” Rosedust chirped. “Mommy said that I’m special because I have a Daddy! Miss Fluttershy, did you know drones don’t have daddies? But I do, because I’m a princess! I mean, all the drones think of Daddy as their Daddy but Mommy says that it’s different for me. I don’t get it.” She lifted one of Pip’s limp legs and then hugged it, an adorable action regardless of the situation.

Fluttershy looked over at Pinkie. The always-unpredictable earth pony was infuriated, obviously so. Being a mother herself, Pinkie had turned around to spare the filly from seeing her rage, but it was rather obvious to those who knew her: Pinkie’s mane was beginning to flatten.

“Pinkie, I don’t think he knew,” Fluttershy said.

“No excuse,” the pink mare replied in a deadly serious tone. “Pinkie Promises are important, and he broke his promise!”

“I think relationships are a bit more important than Pinkie Promises, Pinkie.”

“See! That makes it even worse,” she hissed back. “Vows of love are a million-billion-jillion-kazillion-overkillion times more important! How would you react if you found out Big Mac had a kid from the time he dated Cheerliee before you?”

“I think I’d react better than this,” she said, looking down at the abused stallion. “Plus it would have been before my time with him, so it would have been between them to get me involved – it would be rude of me to butt in.” Pip was still knocked out, though thankfully he likely wouldn’t be worse for wear despite Sweetie Belle having gone a bit overboard in her reaction to the revelation of his other relationship.

Fluttershy turned to Corporal Hawthorne. “Any word on our reinforcements?”

“No, ma’am,” the human replied. “We’re keeping an ear out, but so far, Bob’s your uncle.”

She didn’t know what that last part meant but assumed it wasn’t good. “I see. Please, keep me informed.” Turning back to Pinkie, she said, “Watch over them, Pinkie. I’m going to talk to our new friend and see if we can get some answers.”

“Roger Dodger!” the pink party pony sang as she walked over to Rosedust, a smile on her face. “Hey, would you like to learn a little game?”

There as suddenly a look on the filly’s face as if Pinkie had just promised her the world. “Really? I mean…the drones…they don’t know many games, and….” A downcast look came over her face.

“Oh turn that frown around!” Pinkie chirped. “Now, let Aunt Pinkie teach you something fun! Watch and repeat after me! Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake….”

Fluttershy walked up to the two. “Your majesty, would you be willing to tell us a bit more about yourself?” The yellow pegasus smiled softly and said, “It’s always good to learn something about a friend.” Her real reason, however, was a bit more complex: with her and Pinkie now the only two Bearers left standing and their fellow four now dying from a curse, Fluttershy was determined to get some answers that would help her sisters before tragedy occurred – and if oblivion thought it was going to get its way, it never ran into the determined pegasus mare before.

Imago nodded. “About twenty-five years ago, Uncle Shining found me. I didn’t know at the time that I was abandoned from Chrysalis’ last hive, a princess that somehow survived the destruction. All Princess Celestia could tell me was that I represented a path to peace between changelings and ponies. My parents, Gladstone and Willow, were considering resigning from their duties at the castle to return to their hometown, a small place called Sunhillow, just outside what was then known as the Ghastly Gorge. Her majesty gave them a new assignment: to return to their hometown and raise me as their foal, and when I became old enough to have my first brood of drones, then Celestia would decide what to do with me.

“Mom and Dad were afraid at first, but after agreeing and taking me home, they realized I was just a different kind of foal in need of parents. So they raised me as their foal, their only foal, and as such I received all their love, more than a changeling could possibly ever consume. And that true love, I think changed me: I molted every five years up to my twentieth birthday and each time I looked less like a changeling until you have what you see now. I stopped actively subsisting on my parents’ love after the first molting, instead somehow gaining an empathic ability that I share with my brood.”

“So how does my fianc…I mean, Pip – how does he fit into this?” The look on Sweetie Belle’s face was one of pure pain. Pip fathered a foal with a changeling – no, she’s a pony in the same way DJ’s a human; they’re both foals of two worlds – and that meant that Imago had a hold on Pip in a way the unicorn mare never could. Furthermore, Pip hadn’t quite expressed anything about his feelings for Imago; Sweetie Belle knew that the stallion loved her as utterly and completely as she did him – but how did he feel about Imago? He called her “Maggie.” Not Imago, but Maggie. A more familiar, more intimate name.

“Just before he died Uncle Shining brought Pip with him. I still remember that day: he was big, strong and had gentle eyes, the kind that melt your heart the moment you see them.” Imago sighed like a heartstruck filly; the sigh had a happy buzzing sound. Sweetie Belle knew that sound; she’d made it so many times over the years while thinking about her love. Another crack in the fabric of her heart suddenly appeared the moment that sound was uttered.

Unaware of her pain – or, considering that she was an empath, likely refraining from commenting – Imago moved onto the rest of her explanation. “In that moment, I imprinted. Admittedly, I was just ten at the time, but even a flutter like me can’t overcome all my biology. I wanted to tell him how I felt, but Mom told me it was best if I didn’t say anything at the time and that I needed to understand more about love and grow up a bit more.

“Then three years after that, he came to live in the area full-time to help set up a base nearby; to me that didn’t matter, because I got to be with the stallion I loved. I spent every moment I could with him; Mom wanted me to be careful around Pip, not because she didn’t trust him, but because there were others out there who would know what I supposedly was and she feared that I’d be attacked or worse by others who didn’t understand what I’d become.”

Fluttershy nodded. “It never occurred to you to transform?”

Imago shook her head. “Mom told me the same thing, but I was somewhat headstrong. I didn’t want to hide from other ponies, because I have always considered myself a pony.” She smiled shyly as she added, “Besides, I wanted Pip to see me as I truly was. I didn’t want to earn his heart by pretending to be someone as beautiful as Fleur du Lis or Sapphire Shores. I wanted him to see me, so he could love me, and not just an image.” She suddenly paused.

“Go ahead,” Sweetie Belle replied.

“Sweetie…I dare not. I do not wish to hurt your feelings,” Imago said, her eyes filled with sympathy. “You love him just as much as I, and you have longer, though I have more intensely. I would not hurt you with what I would say, though it would never be meant in harm.”

Fluttershy looked at her younger friend. “Sweetie, see if Corporal Hawthorne has heard anything from 9th Armor, if you please.” Sweetie nodded in silent thanks for Fluttershy’s understanding. As she walked over towards the humans, Fluttershy told the flutter queen, “Thank you. I appreciate your concern for her; not many ponies would be so kind as to spare a rival.”

Imago bit her lip softly in the way of a mare not wanting to admit something. “I bear her no ill-will, and I hope she doesn’t for me, either but….”

“But?”

“I…I love Pip. I have loved him since the first moment I laid eyes on him. I spent years working to make him mine, to have him have me instead of just pretending to be someone else.” Her body shimmered and shifted, turning briefly into a copy of Sweetie Belle, long enough for Fluttershy to see but not long enough for the real unicorn’s retreating form to turn around and misunderstand. “I love him and he me, but then the call of duty reassigned him away from me.” Imago turned her head, and it looked as if there were tears welling. “Forgive me, Duchess Andalusia. Forgive a foolish young mare in love.”

“Please call me Fluttershy. We are all friends here, Imago.”

“Thank you,” Imago said, somewhat relieved. “If it were just me, I would let him go – seeing him happy would be worth the heartache. But I cannot give him up, as selfish as it seems.”

“Rosedust,” Fluttershy said, briefly turning her head to watch Pinkie playing with the young filly. “You’d fight Sweetie because of Rosedust, wouldn’t you?”

“Rosie is special. I’m sure other parents say that about their foals, but she is a union of pony and changeling, the physical manifestation of what I’ve always been within.” Fluttershy nodded, and the flutter continued. “Usually there is one princess per 50 drones, to act as a cohort leader. I have 150 drones to my name, far smaller than changeling queens before me and certainly smaller than the monstrosity that’s occurred out there,” she said. “Furthermore, I only have one princess, my daughter, instead of an easily-disposable rival.”

“Because you aren’t building an army,” Fluttershy deduced. “You’re building a family.”

“The drones consider Pip their father, and Rosedust their baby sister despite the fact from the changeling standpoint she’s meant to command them. Pip is a father with a family, and now we need him. I never meant for anypony to be hurt, but my foals – our foals – need him.”

“Which is why I’m about to make the hardest decision of my life,” a sudden answer sounded. Fluttershy and Imago looked up, and found Sweetie Belle standing there. “I heard everything, Imago.”

“I’m sorry, Sweetie,” Imago dropped to her haunches, as if begging forgiveness. “I know you love him. I know you’ve waited your whole life to be engaged to him. Nothing I can ever say will take away your pain or make my foals’ needs any less.” The white unicorn tilted her head down and sobbed, unable to lift her head. After a few minutes, Imago leaned over and nuzzled her would-be rival. “You cannot know how sorry I am for this, Sweetie. Were it not for our children, I would let him go.”

“I know,” Sweetie said with a sob. She then raised her head and her eyes reflected the future lost forever to her. “And were I in your position, I wouldn’t envy you my pain.” Fluttershy went to go embrace the younger pony but was waved off. “I have to do this alone, Fluttershy, but thank you.” She turned her head and called out to Pinkie, “Would you bring Rosedust over here? I don’t want her to see this and be confused.”

Pinkie fought back both tears and anger. Sweetie Belle, a member of her family, was crying as though she just lost the most important thing in the world, and Imago cried for the pain she’d unintentionally caused. And in the center of it was Pip, who’d caused all this and broken his vows to both Sweetie and Imago. Pinkie instinctively wanted to join them in sorrow, but she needed to be strong for the little filly next to her. So Pinkie said, “Rosie, let’s play another game, okay?”

Rosedust smiled. “Okay!”

“Okay, I want you to close your eyes, and pretend that you’re walking through a forest, okay? When I tell you to turn, you have to turn right then, or else you run into the tree of tickles!” Pinkie’s tail rushed out and brushed across the side of the little filly, eliciting a stream of giggles. “Okay, ready?” Rosedust nodded and started walking forward. Pinkie looked at Fluttershy and gave a curt nod.

And as always, we underestimate her at our detriment, Fluttershy thought, a hint of a smile coming to her lips. As the filly walked forward, following Pinkie’s instructions, the yellow pegasus nodded to Sweetie, who walked slowly and forward, each step an agonizing movement yet so much easier than the next one she took. Step by step, leg by leg the mare moved forward, the clopping of her hooves against the broken floor tiles a threnody for her relationship with Pip. At last, she reached the place where it all began, her chest heaving and her heart on the verge of rupture.

She looked down at his still form and felt crushing guilt. Her anger had laid him low, and he looked so still and at peace, as if asleep. The time they embraced together, her watching his still form sleeping at night. She’d found him so handsome then and she did so now.

She leaned down, sending spellfire through her horn to wake him up.

It was time to say goodbye.

“So, here’s the deal: you talk to us, and we’ll get you a fair trial in a court of law,” Rodenkov told the six men. “If not, well, tovarishchi, things can get very…Soviet, shall we say, for you all.” He turned his head and called out, “Major, would you be so kind as to give these gentlemen a demonstration?”

“Absolutely, Colonel.” Gespenstflügel went over to the table, which had shown extensive wear and tear. As easily as a human wiggled one’s fingers, the gryphon flexed his right forearm then slammed it down hard on the table and pulled. His claws punched through the six-inch thick steel table and began shredding it as he dragged his claws across its length, leaving sharp metallic jags as he proved his point. He tore through several inches of the table before he retracted his claw, leaning forward with the eyes of a born raptor, saying, “You don’t tell us what we want? The next ones go through you all.”

The six men sat there in silence. They sat in two group: one of the Europeans and the one of African ancestry sat together in one area, while the other four sat away from them. The first group were silent in the way of well-trained mercenaries who knew that giving up information made someone as good as dead – usually their loved ones; the four, however, sat as still as corpses.

“Hey, isn’t what the Major did illegal?” Mike whispered. “We’re not allowed to threaten them as per the Genevas.”

It was Mitchell who answered. “Loophole. The Colonel didn’t threaten them; Major Gespenstflügel, however, just did. Because the Geneva Conventions don’t apply to non-human sapients, if the Major wanted to gut one in the hopes that it’d get them to talk, it’s perfectly legal. Granted, Gideon’s a nice guy, so he’d never do that, but he plays a mean hand of poker.”

“That’s pure sophistry, Lieutenant Mitchell,” Celestia said, a scowl appearing on her currently-human features. “I don’t think I like this one bit.”

“Ensign, I don’t think you realize the situation,” Sung replied, keeping in ‘character’ as needed. “These idiots just tried to bump off members of the Equestriani Royal Family. We do what we have to in order to get business done.”

“Are you so sure? Perhaps Princess Celestia takes a dim view of torture as a deterrent against enemies.”

“Who said anything about actual torture? Besides, her majesty might change her mind if some third-world nutjob got his hands on a nuke and set it off in downtown Canterlot,” Sung replied, voice dripping with irritation. When she looked at him, his eyes were blazing with anger. “I’m in the military because back in ’27, my parents were on their tenth honeymoon on a cruise liner, the Ocean Majesty. You know what happened? The latest flavor of Somali pirates at the time killed all hands aboard. Why? ‘Because they needed the target practice.’ That was their official answer, and why NATO nearly wiped Somalia off the fucking map, stopping only because Mendoza was a fucking coward hiding behind the excuse of the whole little alien girl custody battle.”

“You mind repeating that?” Mike hissed under his breath, a scowl on his face. Disagreeing with Celestia was one thing; so was slamming Mendoza for being easy on piracy because her administration didn’t want to play the clean-up game and frankly, Mike agreed with Sung on that. But, insulting DJ, especially now? Juggling primed high-yield grenades was safer. “You refer to my wife as a ‘little alien girl’ again and you’ll be breathing out of a straw, and that’s if I’m feeling reasonable. If I’m not feeling reasonable, I’ll just turn you over to her aunt – you know, the Princess?” After a pregnant pause, he finally snarled, “Do I make myself clear, Lieutenant?”

Sung suddenly realized what he’d said; his eyes grew wide, not at the threat but who he’d just inadvertently insulted. “Hey, sorry, Commander; you too, Ensign. I let my anger get the best of me on that one. But my point is if these folks are willing to kill the heads of state of the Alter-Earth superpower, they’re serious bad ju-ju.”

“That doesn’t make it right,” Celestia replied. “I’ll be recommending to the Equestriani government that they request the UN reconvene a new Geneva Convention so the non-human nations can sign the accords.”

“Hey, ease the tempers,” Mitchell said. “If they notice you guys are arguing, that’ll just get them to clamp down more, and frankly, Commander, I’m very sure you’ll want us to catch the guys behind these ass clowns.” Reminded of the real reason they were there, the three called a truce and let Rodenkov and Gespenstflügel work their “magic.”

After twenty minutes more of threats and scratching up the tables, they’d come no closer to getting any answers out of the six…or a reaction, for that matter. As they stepped out for a second to give an update to Admiral Singh, who had been waiting patiently, a thought suddenly came to Celestia’s mind. “Those four sitting by themselves: don’t they seem a little wooden?”

“You mean the robot squad there?” Mike drolled. “Yeah. They definitely looked like they were supplied by Mannequins R Us.”

“You noticed that too, I see,” Rodenkov said. “In all my years I’ve never dealt with such upryamyi durakov – stubborn idiots – and believe me, I’ve dealt with plenty.”

“Well, you know the creepy part about them? When you two were arguing with Kyle, they seemed to lean in forward as if they were interested in it.”

“Now that you mention it,” Gideon added, “I did see them lean in slightly after you three started your not-so-quiet little soiree.”

Sung shrugged. “Hey, I already said I was sorry, and I meant it, okay? I really don’t want to be the bad guy on this one.”

“I think I have a feeling on your theory, Major, that I’d like to explore,” Celestia commented. “Colonel, are you absolutely sure about the Genevas not applying to non-humans?”

“As it stands, yes; the UN Security Council reviewed that shortly after first contact,” he replied. “Your ambassador to the UN, Apple Cobbler, has asked for a new convention to be drawn up, but that’s not going to happen for at least a couple of years due to typical UN intransigence. You’ll all have to rely on us humans not doing a Hitler on Alter-Earth for a couple of years.”

“I see. Mike, how much do you trust me?”

He looked at her oddly. “I’m getting the feeling I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“That depends.”

“I know that look, your majesty – well, at least on humans,” Singh chuckled. “You’ve got a plan, don’t you?”

“Well, I’m not entirely proud of it, but since contact with human-Earth, several of my palace staff noticed my penchant for practical jokes and have started calling me ‘Trollestia’ behind my back,” she said with feigned sincerity. “I think I can put some of that into use now.” She then explained the plan, with everyone staring and Mike completely stunned.

“So, thoughts?” she asked.

“It…certainly is interesting,” Mitchell commented.

Sung looked at the princess with new-found respect, as he noted, “If this succeeds, this is probably going to be the weirdest footnote yet in human history.”

The grin on the ensorcelled princess was wide and wicked as she softly sang, “Trololololololololo….”

Both Mike and Rodenkov merely groaned, facepalming.

Stepping through the portal, Cadance looked exhausted. For the past two days she’d made a nuisance of herself at the various embassies in Singapore, bullying just about every ambassador there was. By the end of the second day she’d had three promises of intelligence assistance, four offers of material aid, two offers for military resources and one marriage proposal from an ambassador who probably had too much to drink the previous night. She’d thanked her fellow diplomats for the aid, politely declined the marriage proposal and, after quickly giving Celestia a rundown of events, returned to Equestria to assume the regency. After all, who knew what kind of political shenanigans her cousin Blueblood would get into if left to his own devices?

As she arrived, she was met on-site by her aid, Sundance, an older earth pony with a white coat and mane and hair the color of a blazing sunrise. Sundance was the head of the Foreign Ministry’s Crown Intelligence Service. Unlike the military and law enforcement intelligence handled by the Mage Guild’s Intelligence Division, the CIS specialized in diplomatic and cultural intelligence. As a result of the lack of overlap, the two Equestriani intelligence forces enjoyed a better relationship than their counterparts in other countries. “Welcome back, your highness,” Sundance said.

“Thank you. Please brief me on the latest information.” A second later, she regretted that. “He did what?”

She nodded. “Yes, your highness. Since the Prince assumed the regency in her majesty’s and your hignesses’ absence, his highness has ordered every Guild mage and military personnel that can be spared back to Equestria. He’s terri…ahem, ‘concerned’ that the changelings might be ready to mount another attack on Canterlot. Unfortunately this has caused some issues with our diplomatic staff. Ambassador Blossomforth has sent in a protest – she claims she needs a high-ranking mage immediately for a problem arising in Tokyo.”

“And I take it that he bullied the deputy minister?” Cadance winced; her deputy, Viscountess Kindheart was a capable diplomat, but not exactly one for standing up against those of more argumentative natures.

“He tried firing her but realized he didn’t have the authority. In any case, I’ve talked to Vicemagus Raspberry Blast and she recommends keeping the mages here for at least a week so that she can try to pass it off as a quick-reaction training session before she has widespread dissent in her ranks, seeing as they’re already worried about the Archmagus’ condition. Has news been disseminated about that yet?”

“No. Her majesty considers it a family matter and I agree,” Cadance answered. “Besides, the girls deserve their privacy in this trying time.”

“If I may speak freely, your highness?” Sundance asked.

“Always.”

The earth pony sighed. “Cadance…this has to be announced. Keeping it under wraps is not going to do anypony any good. Now I know those four have done more for Equestria than any other pony, and Celestia knows they deserve peace. But they are more than just high-ranking government officials, more than just high-ranking nobles…and if I dare say, more than just your sisters royal. They are living symbols of Equestria and whether directly or indirectly, the fate of the nation hinges on the fate of those four. The longer they are out of view, the sooner the public will find out and it will not be pretty.”

“I…see. Thank you for the counsel, Sundance. I will inform her majesty accordingly.”

“I just hope she knows what she’s doing, Cadance. Those girls are special…and if this disease ends them, Celestia forbid, I fear of what will become of the nation.” Sundance suddenly saw the pained wince on Cadance’s face and knew that whatever the nation felt, for the alicorns, it was a far more personal matter. “My apologies. I may have overstepped my bounds, but I felt someone had to say it.”

“No,” Cadance said, “I appreciate your counsel as always. Please contact Kindheart and ask her to gather up the staff for an update meeting in the throne room in a couple of hours. I would like an update on the diplomatic situation.” Nothing more to say, she headed off toward the throne room.

She didn’t make it very far before a golden pegasus in a flightsuit landed next to her, quickly rendering a salute. “Your highness….”

Cadance turned. “Hello, General. I know why you’re here. Spitfire, are we sure this is the best option?”

“With all due respect, Princess, my cousin – your sister royal – is being killed by a curse laid on her at the scene of the crime. Our most dire enemies have taken Equestria’s third largest city and turned it into a hive, and did it ever occur to you that the attack on you three the other night might be related?”

Cadance froze in her tracks. Could the changelings have figured out how to mimic humans and stage something like this? All the magical and scientific research done so far had indicated that it was impossible; for all their mimickry, fully imitating the mind of a sapient such as a pony or anything else was difficult. But the attack took extensive planning and the like even for humans, and was thus way beyond the schemes of someone like Chrysalis – and Cadance was no stranger to the meticulous planning the changeling queen could formulate and execute.

“Situation Firestarter was….” Spitfire began.

“I know. Let me think on it, General. You’re asking me to attack the city when we still might have ponies alive there.” Like possibly Rarity’s daughter and her family. With DJ now on the verge of death, for Minty and her family to be lost as well would be an emotional blow the Royal Family couldn’t take easily.

“I don’t like even suggesting it. But Rainbow knew that once we put on a uniform, we became ponies of a different stripe. Being a guardspony and being on the front lines was far easier than being a general and sending good mares and stallions to die in my place. But the situation remains as so and we can’t wait much longer.”

“I’ll make my decision by tonight. For the meanwhile, ensure all assets are in place, just in case.”

“Already did. The surviving ships from the Filly Naval Station and the Commander Pansy battlegroup are already lining up along the coast just in case.”

“Thank you, Spitfire. That will be all. Dismissed.” Not waiting for an answer, Cadance walked off towards the throne room. Nodding slightly to the ceremonial guards stationed at the door, she then walked in as one of the guards announced her presence and the room came to a halt.

“Please be patient, my little ponies,” she asked the petitioners as the court came to a stop. “Let me assume the regency and we shall be more than pleased to continue the court for the day. Please, take a five-minute recess and we shall continue.” As the petitioners filed out for a quick break, Blueblood descended the dais.

“Thanks for watching the house while we were gone, Blue,” she told him. She was friendly with her younger cousin, but knew he was always up to something. She felt that was a shame as well; when he wanted to be, Blue was more than capable of being the noblest of them all.

He walked forward, kissing Cadance on the cheek. “I am ever watchful for my kingdom, Cadance.” An awkward pause ensued before he added, “For my kingdom is as my princess rules it – it is all ours, is it not?”

Blue, why do you do this? she mused silently before adding, “I’m sure our aunt appreciates that. Now, is there anything I should be made aware of before I assume the regency?”

“You’re up!” the nurse said with a smile. “You almost didn’t make it, and quite frankly, everyone was worried.”

“I know,” the reply came. “But that’s what I get for being impetuous I suppose.”

“Should I get your husband?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Purple eyes locked onto the nurse’s. “Please go get him before I get out of bed and injure myself in the process.”

“Can’t have that, can we?” The nurse laughed. “I’ll get word to him.”

Pip opened his eyes to find the one thing he’d never wanted to see in his life: Sweetie Belle, eyes filled with tears – eyes that knew. “Sweetie,” he said, unable to utter anything else.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Her voice was no longer angry, but rather…distant, unsettled, on the verge of shattering.

“I didn’t know,” he answered honestly as he sat up, still feeling sore. “I’m…I’m very fond of Maggie, but I’m not sure it’s love. I am sure I shouldn’t have slept with her. But you? You I’ve loved since the first day we met at that Nightmare Night.”

“You were rather smitten on Luna, as I recall,” she said with a smile, in an attempt to take her mind away from her detonating heart. That, of course, did not happen.

“Maybe, but Luna’s not my type. You are, Sweetie. I love you.”

“I know, and I love you. Which is why it’s so hard for me to do this,” she said as she reached down to her left foreleg and the engagement band she wore.

“Please don’t, Sweetie,” he said softly. “I need you.”

“Your daughter needs you more. Your…foals need you,” she said, the tears becoming torrents. “And Equestria needs them to remain as the wonderful beings they are instead of a pestilence on this world. But they need a guiding hoof to do so. They need their father.” She took off the band and placed it before his hoof. Her foreleg felt to her, quite appropriately, barren, hollow – empty, just like her heart. The glistening band of gold on the floor seemed to flicker with an accusation against her: you’re abandoning him, running away. You’re not fighting for what is yours, Sweetie.

“I can’t change your mind?” he asked. His eyes were starting to sting now as he realized the end of a huge part of his life. The love he felt for Sweetie was all he’d known and he’d thrown it away.

She saw the look of pain in his eyes and knew the love he’d felt for her was true and full; she never doubted it once and would always love him for that. One final time she kissed him with all the love she’d ever felt for him. In her mind’s eye she saw the life they’d never have: the wedding, foals, growing old together and the grandfoals piled around them, listening to the adventures of a bygone age. In that dream, Sweetie Belle and her husband kissed with the love born of a lifetime together – a life that would never be.

“Goodbye, my love.” And as she pulled away, her horn grew brighter, and she favored him with a silent I’ll always love you before she completely disappeared.

“Sweetie….” he said, reaching out to her and only touching the empty space where she’d been a fraction of a second before.

Watching from a respectful distance, the two Bearers and the flutter queen cried. All three knew true love when they saw it and now they’d just seen the ultimate in tragedies, two true and starcrossed lovers, never meant to be.

“I’m so sorry, Sweetie Belle,” Imago whispered. “I had no right. But for my children, I had no choice.”

Rosedust looked up at the crying mares. “Mommy? What’s wrong? You and Miss Fluttershy and Miss Pinkie and….” The filly looked incredibly confused. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, little flower,” Fluttershy said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “It’s just that…sometimes you see something so beautiful that you can’t help but cry. It’s just a part of being pony.”

From their location, the two soldiers and Honeydew Spice looked away.

“Bloody hell,” was all McMillian could say.

“I agree,” the unicorn said.

Hawthorne was about to add to it when a voice came over the line. “Oscar Six, this is Scimitar Seven, do you read?”

Hawthorne spoke up. “Oscar Six…is a little tied up at the moment. This is Sabre Echo Nine Bravo.”

“Confirm code. Tango-Victor-Xray-Kilo-Nine.”

“Oscar-Six-Two-Niner-Echo-Golf,” he said.

“Confirmed. Corporal Hawthorne, this is Colour Sergeant Dixson, Royal Marine Embassy Detachment. REAF grabbed every one of us from the Embassy to roust you Tommys out. We’re inbound in a helicopter and will be landing in the park just five blocks south of you. It’s empty and satellite maps show no signs of the enemy. As to the enemy – giant bleedin’ bugs? Really?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe, sarjant,” Hawthorne commented.

“We don’t have much time to move. EQMILCOM’s got a battlegroup off the coast of Fillydelphia with orders to level the city the moment we’re clear. Saturate the place with Tomahawks. That’ll end the buggers.”

“All units, this is 9th Armor. We’ve got as many of them ‘entertained’ as we can; you’ll have to deal with stragglers. Best of luck. 9th, out.”

“Roger that. See you in five. Sabre Echo Nine Bravo, out.” He hopped to his feet, looking at the ponies on the other side of the room. “Okay, just got word we’ve got birds in the air, Colonel. Best get moving!”

Pip forced himself back into military mode. “Honeydew, shields up. Fluttershy, Pinkie, armor up and grab your guns. Maggie, I want you and Rosedust to teleport out of here.”

“No.” The flutter queen’s voice was firm. “I’ll not leave your side again, my love.”

“Maggie, this is not the time. Look, I have no idea where Sweetie Belle went to.”

“It was an emergency teleport spell,” Honeydew answered. “It’s designed to send the caster to the nearest safepoint.”

Imago looked at the stallion that she loved, as if saying that would brook no further argument.

He sighed. “If not for me…then do it for our daughter. Please.”

“I’ll expect you to come home soon, love. We’ve much to discuss, not the least of which is how you will resolve your problem with your former fiancée.” Her tone was nonchalant, but the look in her eyes indicated that she expected him to do so. Nothing else to say, she hoisted Rosedust on her back, then teleported out.

“Okay, let’s get out of here,” he said, heading for the doors. Looking at the humans, he said, “Can you guys keep up?”

McMillian cracked a grin on his face. “Just make sure ya ponies can keep up with us, Colonel!”

As they stepped outside, they were met by the eerie looks of what had once been the proud city of Fillydelphia. The wrecks of carriages were all over the place, covered in the ichor of hatched eggs or other goo. A couple of cars imported from human-Earth sat, their passenger areas caved in under the weight of still-unhatched eggs. Everything was stained in an ugly coat of green, regardless of what the original colors had been. The streets were cracked and broken also under the heft of the eggs. They served as a reminder that even if the live creatures had gone off to fight the distraction caused by the 9th Armor’s attack, the unhatched ones could still prove a problem.

“Okay, let’s get going, folks. Helo should be touching down any moment, and we’ve got a walk to go.” No sooner than Pip had said that, than he heard a baby’s cry.

“What was that?”

“There’s still someone alive!” Fluttershy said. “That’s a foal!”

“Okay. Hawthorne, McMillian, Pinkie, you three get to the helo and let them know we’ll be there shortly. Fluttershy and I will investigate this baby cry.”

“You sure, sir?” Hawthorne asked.

“If it’s a trap, I’m going to gallop as fast as I bucking can, and I’m sure Fluttershy’ll rocket out of there as well. Sorry, gents, but humans weren’t built for speed.” With that said, the two other ponies headed off towards the source of the sound, while the other four sped off.

“You ready, Fluttershy?” he asked as they walked forward, both on hind legs, both with weapons at the ready. He knew she didn’t know a thing about how to use it, but the fact that she was willing to shoulder the burden spoke to her strength as a Bearer.

With that, both ponies headed towards the sound of the cry.

It took Twilight Sunburn every bit of her strength not to cry as she lifted the dead drone in her (currently human) arms. He’d starved to death. The others were close to it as well, looking to her as a princess to give them temporary sustenance. But there was nothing she could do for this one.

She’d informed Ghino that she was worried about it, and his answer had been a succinct “So what?” It was clear that to him these innocent drones were throwaways. And, truth be told, he was probably right: drones were born by the hundreds, and no changeling queen would cry for the loss of a single drone – or even a single brood – when there were hundreds of thousands of drones to ministrate to.

But to her, they were innocents, who only wanted to feed and live, just like any other life out there. And yet she was forbidden to do so. Sitting in their kennels, looking at her with eyes pleading to be fed, they sat, looking up to a princess for guidance and succor.

Using a spell, she teleported the dead drone’s body into a furnace that had been created for just such a purpose. There would be no remains and no trace of it. But she hated to do that and would have to do so again in a few days unless these drones got help.

Then do what’s right, her conscience said. These drones need you. And somehow, she knew if her father had been in her position, he would do everything he could to help them. Because it was the right thing.

Looking around to make sure she wouldn’t be seen, she opened the cages and let them loose. As planned, the drones morphed into small dogs, easy enough for her to cuddle and hold. She slipped her joy and love into them, willing to let it flow, and they drank it in, licking her face in gratitude.

Watching from a hidden camera, Ghino was livid. She’d disobeyed him again. It didn’t matter about those drones – those drones were meant to be a test and the others were being well-cared for; he was probably employing just about every prostitute in southeastern Asia to keep them “fed.” But these were sacrificial lambs to be used as a bellwether for Twilight’s obedience. And now she was defying him in secret – how long until it became open rebellion?

Turning to his desk, he pulled out strange leathery paper and scratched out a quick message before pulling out a lighter and setting it on fire. The letter disappeared in a blaze of deep blue magic, leaving no trace.

He knew that his request for a replacement for Twilight would be answered. It was in his allies’ best interests, after all, to keep him happy.

“I failed her,” Pip said as they moved towards the cry. “I never meant to hurt her. But I never meant to care about Maggie, either.”

“Do you love her?”

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told Sweetie: I’m very fond of her, but I don’t know if it’s love.”

“It’s love, just a different one,” Fluttershy told him. “Imago’s an empath. She would know if you were being anything less than honest with her or yourself. Your love for her is different, but it’s there.”

“I love Sweetie Belle. I never meant to betray her.”

“Pip, just because we grow beyond the old foal’s stories about knights and love and romance, doesn’t mean that we still don’t want that in our hearts. But sometimes, we don’t get what we want, despite our best intentions. Do you know Lyra and Bon-Bon?”

“I remember them when I was younger, but I really didn’t know them well. They were adults, after all, and I was just a colt.”

“They loved each other very much. Then Bon-Bon betrayed Lyra, ran away when Lyra needed her the most. Lyra, in turn, started having a purely sexual relationship with a human male. Meanwhile, Bon-Bon had divorced Lyra and started to go insane, driven so by that point, especially since in the span of ten years, Lyra’s tryst turned into genuine love and she married that man. Bon-Bon tried to kill herself and we had her hospitalized. Lyra went to see her and begged Bon-Bon to come back to normal. I think at that point, she forgave herself and restarted her life; she’s got a new spouse and they live in Manehattan.”

“And you want me to prevent her from killing herself? I’d never let her do that.”

“You misunderstand, Pip. I want you to choose who you really love and stay with that mare. They both love you and you have a foal…foals…with Imago. But you have to choose for yourself as well – a marriage with no one happy is as empty as no marriage at all,” Fluttershy said.

“That’s incredibly wise, Fluttershy.”

“No,” she said, as they approached the sound of the cry, “it’s just kindness. And I think after all this time I know a thing or two about that.”

They approached the sound, and Pip held his rifle at ready, hoof ready to depress the trigger. Fluttershy gently clambered over the obstacles, a collection of hatched eggs and slime-encrusted detritus, to find a small foal lying there on the top of the pile, crying away as if it had been abandoned. As she got closer, she realized it wasn’t a changeling…it was a changeling/pony chimera, like Rosedust.

“Pip! Come here!” she called back and he raced up the makeshift hill. As he arrived, she picked up the foal and said, “Look!”

“Another chimera?”

“No…not just that. Look.”

The chimera was purple in coat, with the short mane of all newborn foals; the mane was a plum shade with a magenta stripe in the center; the tail repeated the motif. The foal, like Rosedust, had a saddle carapace and translucent insectile wings; both had a deep blue color to them. The foal briefly opened its eyes, revealing beautiful blue purple orbs. In every way the newborn was a younger version of Rosedust, save sex – the foal was actually a colt – but who the foal also resembled…there could be no doubt of its paternity. There would have to be tests done, just to make sure, but Fluttershy knew the answer would ring true.

She closed her eyes, reaching out to the air. Her element responded, creating swaddling clothes which she used to bundle the foal. Who knew how and why he’d been left out here, but if he’d been left out here to die, he had to have been born fairly recently; furthermore, given his mixed ancestry, this solidified the colt’s ancestry….

“We have to get out of here, Pip,” she told him.

“No kidding, Fluttershy,” he drawled as he looked at the newborn colt, wondering what had happened and how he’d been left here to die.

She pointed down the street; around the block and another street away was the giant egg farm. “Whatever’s laying those eggs? That’s not Chrysalis.”

“How do you know?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s a feeling I have. But I’m positive that’s not her in the birthing hive. Let’s get going!” With that, foal in forelegs, she immediately took to the air. Pip slung his rifle, then detached the bottom part of his boots, allowing his hindhooves clear access. With that done, both immediately raced to the helicopter a few blocks away.

“‘Bout time you got here, Colonel,” an REAF pony said as the helicopter, a CH-148 Cyclone, had its rotors ready to go. “We al…what’s that?” he said, pointing to the foal in Fluttershy’s forelegs.

“That’s need to know, Sergeant,” Fluttershy told the pony, a baleful look in her eyes that wasn’t quite her infamous Stare but was an indicator not to pry further. The sergeant got the hint and helped the two onboard.

Pinkie knew what was going on the moment she saw. “It happened, didn’t it?”

Fluttershy nodded. “We all feared this, though he never talked about it. Cadance always knew.” The foal started crying again, and Pinkie conjured up a bottle of milk to feed the hungry foal. Fluttershy took it and applied, the foal instantly taking to it. “There, there, little one,” she cooed, “you’re safe now. You’re with family.”

“Family?” Pip asked, then immediately shut up. He knew the history. Instead, he ordered to everyone, “This goes dark. Not a word out of any of you, got that?” All troops on the helicopter, both pony and human, nodded; if they were curious – and they certainly were – a colonel and two Bearers were not the kind of individuals to cross.

The helicopter reached into the sky, rushing away from the once great city of Fillydelphia, now lost to time.

“You know, Ensign,” Rodenkov said in a snarling voice, “I think I’ve had it with your bullshit examples of peace. These…things are nothing but murderous pigs that deserve a bullet in the head.”

“That might be so, Colonel,” Einhorn countered, “but they’re human and we are bound by the Genevas. I won’t let you touch them.”

“Then maybe I should deal with you first, trus!” And with that, he dived at her, managing to slam her into a wall. The young blonde yelped in pain and surprise, now worried for her safety. Instinctively, she slid to the floor, putting her hands to her face as if the motion would be a ward of protection.

“You’re not getting anywhere near her!” Mike roared, and with a fierce uppercut, decked Rodenkov across the face. The colonel, taking the blow full-force, fell, unable to counter the attack. He collapsed to a heap on the floor, dazed and spent. Mike then bent down by the dazed ensign and said to her, “Hey, you okay?”

He got his answer: the woman suddenly and completely kissed him full on the mouth, sending all of her passion into the kiss.

From where they sat, the two mercs continued to look on; impassive. Had one read their minds, the two would have revealed that they’d seen things like this before and that this was the corniest attempt to catch them off-guard they had ever seen. They’d been offered money, girls, the works before, and those ploys hadn’t worked then; they sure as hell wouldn’t work now.

Unfortunately for them, their counterparts didn’t think the same way. The four leaned forward, as if compelled by the kiss, taking in the full of its playful, sensuous touch.

The moment that happened, Celestia broke off, and with a wicked look in her eyes, grinned. “Gotcha.” She then snapped her fingers, and the room exploded with the very essence of the sun. The light became blinding and the heat intense, but the sensation came as quick as it went and Mike knew the Princess of the Sun was shielding them and the other humans, and room had become the inside of the sun itself.

The first two men reacted in shock. One screamed “Holy fuckin’ shit!” while the other looked in horror at the woman with glowing eyes, a burning golden aura around her and a scowl on her face. “What the fuck are you?” he asked.

Meanwhile, the other four men screamed in unearthly, unnatural sounds no human could ever make. As Celestia stood up and helped Mike up to his feet, she commented, “Just as I thought.”

“Just as you thought what?” he said, still feeling the tingle of her lips on his. He was very glad that she agreed to keep this a secret; even if it had been just an act this was hardly something DJ needed to know about.

“They’re not human. And they’re not using the amniomorphic, which means they’re natural shapeshifters. And since they kept leaning forward during positive emotional intensity, it only means one thing.” She looked at them, and roared, “Here’s my ultimatum: change back to normal or I dial up the spell from yellow dwarf to blue supergiant!”

The four “humans” did as bid and their bodies melted; a second later four changelings sat, tied up where the four men had been. Once they completed the spell, so did Celestia, and the room returned to its normal appearance, with no indicator that it had been a simulation for the nuclear furnace of a star just a second prior.

Mike offered a hand up to Rodenkov. “Nice acting.”

“It’s a hobby. Nice punch.”

“Yeah, it’s a hobby,” he grinned. “I owe you a drink, Colonel.”

“Damn right you do; this black eye’s going to last a week.”

“No it won’t, Colonel,” Celestia said as she waved her hand. Rodenkov felt a brief flare in his face and as it left, so did the bruising. After cracking his neck and feeling perfectly normal, he joined the three at the table.

“So, what are these…suschestv?”

“Changelings. A very dangerous species on Alter-Earth and if they’re here now on this one, humanity has a serious problem on its hands.”

“Well then,” Rodenkov commented, “if that’s the case, well, the Genevas don’t apply to non-humans, so let’s make a point, shall we?” He reached under his suit coat and pulled out a pistol. Walking over to the two still human in appearance, he said, “These two haven’t changed, so we have no way of knowing if they’re changelings or not. I suggest we find out if their corpses will transform instead.”

“Changelings can’t keep the spell up after death, so they do revert,” Celestia helpfully supplied.

“Well, please forgive me for testing this theory out myself. All in the name of science,” he said, putting the gun against the head of the nearest of the two unchanged mercs.

The message was clear. The merc with the gun to his head squealed like a pig. “Okay, we’re human! We’re human! Don’t shoot!”

“Prove it!”

“Changelings have some degree of mindreading,” Mike lied.

“No! I’m human, dammit! I can prove it! I’ll give you everything I know, everything!” he cried. His nodded vehemently, as they would be dead otherwise. “We’ll give you people, weapons, positions – the whole enchilada! Just don’t kill us!”

“What, with this old thing?” Rodenkov pointed the gun in the air and pulled the trigger; a red beam of light came out. “It’s a laser pointer I had converted from an old pistol; great for parties and other uses.” To add insult to injury, Rodenkov pointed the lasergun at the merc, then pulled the trigger. The red line danced in circles on the man’s face, harmless save for the intended humiliation. Finally, the colonel put away the gun, adding, “Personally, I hate guns. Okay, I think we have our people.”

Sung, Mitchell and Singh waltzed into the room, ready to start hearing confessions. Sung caught a look at the four changelings and inadvertently blurted, “Uh, Princess? These friends of yours?”

“Princess?” one of the men asked.

The ruse gone, Celestia returned to her native form. “Why yes I am, thanks for asking,” she replied. “As for these four, Lt. Sung, our newest captives will explain the whole deal. And I have no doubt they have plenty of things to explain. As for the others, lock them up in solitary and let no one near them – they’re emotional vampires and will take advantage first chance they get.”

Singh grinned. “Good job – we might have done things a little differently, but we wouldn’t have known about the changelings or anything of that sort. But don’t worry, now that we know they exist, we can always plan for emergencies involving them. They might know magic and can shapeshift, but every being has a specific heat signature, and heat-seeking and sensing weapons are always good for that sort of thing.”

Meanwhile, Mitchell, who was looking at her tablet, flagged over Mike and Celestia. “Commander, your majesty, you’re going to want to see this.” The pair went over and the moment they were looking at what the Canadian had reported, they looked at each other wordlessly. Celestia didn’t waste any time; the two immediately teleported out of there, urgency hot on their minds. They no longer had to race against the clock, but what Mitchell had just revealed to them threatened to change the world as they knew it forever.

Rodenkov went over and looked at what Mitchell pointed out; the moment he did, his face went ashen. “Hell of a day,” was all that he said.

He ran into the room. “Oh, you don’t know how much I’ve longed that you’d be alright!”

She smiled. “Doctor says it’s still touch and go, so I’ll still be out of sorts for the next few weeks.” She reached over and touched her approaching husband; to her, he was the brightest thing in her life.

Featherweight breathed a sigh of relief. “I almost lost you, Scootaloo.”

The orange pegasus mare waved it off. “Aw, c’mon. I’m not that easy to get rid of.” She paused, however and commented, “But it was close.” She ensnared the pegasus stallion in an embrace. “So very, very close.” The two held each other as she shivered, letting all the anguish of her near-brush with death come out.

“Listen, hon, I’ve talked to the doctors. You’re not going to be cleared for flight status anytime soon.”

“I don’t care about that right now,” Scootaloo replied. “It wouldn’t be the first time in my life that I haven’t been able to fly – literally or in an aircraft. But how’s Rainbow and the rest?”

“Still down – you’re the first one who’s back, and your injuries weren’t as harsh as the rest…that should tell you something.”

“You know what it tells me?” she said, looking into his eyes. “It tells me I’m scared.”

“I think we all are, Aunt Scootaloo,” Elusive said as he came to the door. He was making his usual rounds of checking on the family and just happened to see his Uncle Featherweight head on in, a smile on his face.

“And there’s my favorite nephew with a unicorn for a mother,” Scootaloo said, impishly; whatever hell she’d been through, her sense of humor had made it through. “How are you holding up?”

“Me? You just came out of a coma you barely survived and you’re asking me how I’m doing?” he said, stunned. “Are you sure you don’t need your head checked?”

“Be nice,” she scolded him playfully. “Are the rest of them out there? I’d like to get an update on what I—”

“Luse!” Surprise rushed into the room, grabbing him. “Quick! Something happened to Cinny!”

“What?” He immediately rushed out of the room, Featherweight following close behind. Scootaloo, knowing that the doctor would give her a lecture like no tomorrow if she even considered moving, stayed put.

The unicorn stallion rushed down the hall, following his cousin as she blasted forward as fast as she could, making hairpin turns around corners and nearly losing him at one point. Finally, he caught up to her, panting heavily as he had to break into a full gallop in order to arrive. They’d arrived in the hospital waiting room and from the quiet, you could swear someone set a bomb off there, silencing its occupants to full effect.

The older adults: Macintosh, Thunderlane, Noteworthy and Soarin’, all looked in the same direction, their faces stoic masks of sorrow and anger, the look of males who couldn’t break down, not right now when there were others that needed them. Apple Butter sat in her chair, watching over her nephew Apple Bushel, focused on him instead, knowing that the news would hurt her beloved husband immensely. In the center of it, Bubble Berry was trying to comfort Cinnamon, who had completely broken down crying; even her faithful pet bunny Diablo tried to lend a paw.

Elusive walked over the heartbroken pony. “Cinnamon? What’s wrong?” She simply turned to him and started crying hysterically, as if someone had died.

And then that’s when he heard the television. Looking up, the screen showed CNN’s Equestria broadcast, the stern anchorpony delivering the grim news:

“And we return now to our top story: the incident in Singapore on human-Earth has claimed its first major victim, American author Daisy Jo Martinez. Ms. Martinez, better known to Equestria as the Lost Foal Sandalwood, died today after succumbing to injuries. At this time further details are not known, but a spokesman for the Singapore Police Force insists they have the perpetrators in custody and will be prosecuting them to the maximum under Singaporean law. At this time, neither the Martinez family or Ms. Martinez’ birth family, House Lipizzan, has been reached for comment.”

Chapter Six: Aftermath and Regret

She stood on Luna’s balcony, watching the eclipse. While it was a normal phenomenon on Earth, it was usually a sign that a regency was in charge of Equestria at the moment, with the Solar and Lunar princesses offworld. Of course, from what she heard, there was a weird atmospheric effect going on in the skies over Tokyo at the moment, but Luna was too busy with her current situation to deal with that and Celestia insisted on taking a direct hoof in the matter regarding the attack, which left Cadance to return to Equestria in order to deal with matters of statescraft.

And right now, as she read the mission plan for what was obscurely known as “Situation Firestarter”, she wished she could just go back to the days when she and Shiny were just teens in love, where she watched over a young Twilight and they were all unaware of the monsters that went bump in the night. In the decades since they’d all become all-too aware that they existed, and in the end Cadance had her heart torn out because of it, a stallion-sized wound that after fifteen years had yet to heal.

If I do this, it could be seen as revenge. Plus, we don’t know if there are innocents still caught in that deathtrap. Of this she was certain: Fillydelphia was lost. She’d been there when the refugee camps were being set up, saw the foals without parents crying for help, the parents who had no idea if their foals were still alive, and so many of her ponies, just suffering and in need of succor. Vibrant Fillydelphia was always meant to counter this, to give ponies a home and a place to be. But that city was gone now.

Cadance took a sip of a honey wine that she’d picked up the last time she was Germany, tasting the flavor on her tongue. It had been a favorite of hers, a sweet explosion on her taste buds. But today it was as bitter as the mantle of responsibility she now wore.

She turned and looked at the pegasus standing there, a guard she’d called while she pondered her choice. And then she spoke.

“Messenger, inform General Spitfire that I am authorizing Situation Firestarter.”

There was nothing but the soft beeps of the life support machines for fanfare as DJ slowly opened her eyes. She felt like shit – and that was an understatement. She was sore all over, aching in muscles she didn’t know she had, in parts of her body she wasn’t even aware existed; it was like someone poured gallons of tired sauce all throughout her insides.

“Ah, good to see you’re awake, DJ.” She knew that voice. The humanized pony looked up, seeing a familiar face, soft mirth on the smile. “You know, I usually don’t chase after married girls like this, but the Air Force insisted, so….”

Despite the pain, she grinned weakly. “Good to see you too, Evan.” Her doctor, Cpt. Evan Pierson, MD, EqD, USAF. Unfortunately, with DJ not being human, there were a limited amount of places Mike and his family could be stationed. While the Navy didn’t have any equiniatric doctors at the Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, Evan had learned the trade as a doctor prior to joining the Air Force; when he was stationed at nearby Yokota Air Base, it gave Mike the chance for them to be stationed in Japan. Needless to say, DJ and Evan became friends.

“Don’t tell me you came all the way here for me,” she said, feeling touched. Yes, it was his job, but still….

“I’m the only EqD in East Asia, DJ,” he pointed out. “Of course I had to come.” He then looked at her somewhat soberly as he added, “How do I say this gently?”

She struggled to turn her neck to look at him; the soreness and the strain began to scare her. Finally, after a few more seconds of struggling, she said in a calm voice, “Give it to me straight. I’m a grown woman, I can take it.”

“Not in the least,” he said as he shook his head. “As much as you act and think like one, you’re not a woman – you’re a mare. And that’s the only reason you’re still alive. Had you been a human woman, or even a unicorn or pegasus mare, you’d be dead right now. The only thing that saved you is the fact that you’re an earth pony and your particular subspecies has a higher injury tolerance. Even still, since your time here on human-Earth has made you weaker than the average earth pony, your body bears that out: most of the major bones in your body were crushed, including your skull. Multiple lacerations and punctures; you had an artery sliced and lost a good amount of your blood – and your blood type, EG-positive, is not a common pony type to begin with.” He leaned closer and added, “You even lost an eye.”

“Um, how so?” she asked, confused. “I’m looking at you with both of them, and if I recall correctly, pony eyes can’t be cloned and artificial ones are still on the drawing board.”

“You really want to know?” DJ nodded, and in turn, he pointed to the other side of the room. With a great amount of strain, she turned to look. There, seated in a chair next to the bed, sitting human style with her eyes closed and her horn blazing like a star, was Luna. She looked the very picture of exhaustion and fatigue, as if she’d just run across the length of the galaxy and back – several times. Her mane was starting to change from the “galactic” look it had normally to the cornflower blue of when she was depowered, and she was still in the gown she wore to the dinner several days earlier. Her face was etched in concentration and deep meditation and when her eyelids flickered, light seemed to pour out of them briefly.

“She’s been like that for the three days you’ve been under. She refused to move from your side, even when the doctor tried to kick her out – she even went into the operating room and freaked the hell out of us! Once we had you stabilized and informed everyone of how bad things were, apparently she doesn’t take bad news very well. You’ve been under a ton of magic healing – freakin’ magic! – and all I’ve been doing is standing here and stupidly watching as she’s made me completely fucking redundant. Again, she refused to leave your side; they even tried to get the President of Singapore himself in here to try to get her to leave.” He shook his head. “Who the hell is she?”

DJ looked at the still form with crushing guilt. “Someone I’ve badly misjudged,” she admitted, unable to take her eyes off the haggard alicorn princess. Straining to turn her head to face Evan again, she felt queasy. “Ugh, sore all over.”

“Yeah, there’s a reason for that: when she was awake an hour ago and after basically telling the President’s aide to go pack sand, she explained to me that the soreness is a side-effect of her healing you at the friggin’ cellular level. The cellular level! DJ, we’ve been friends long enough that I hope you realize how absolutely useless I feel right now?”

“You’re here; I appreciate that.” A thought came to her and she asked, “Where’s Mike?”

Evan laughed. “Terrorizing the entire island, of course. Apparently people are figuring out that it’s rather bad to piss off the guy who’s responsible for his ship’s nuclear weapons. Of course, I recall someone saying the Konetzni doesn’t carry nukes, but hey, let’s not play our cards early, he said. In any case, he’s down at the prison on the eastern side of the island having a nice chat with the guys who decided to shoot up the whole island.” A thought crossed his mind. “You hungry?”

“A little.”

“Okay, let me go get lunch for you then and something for her, too – you know she hasn’t eaten anything since you got here either? Said it’d distract her from focusing on you.” DJ’s eyes went wide at that and Evan nodded. “Nope, not kidding. In any case, I’ll be right back.” With that, Evan left the room and DJ was left alone with Luna.

She lay there for a few minutes, looking at the sleeping alicorn, not really sure of what to do or say. Finally, DJ forced herself to sit up, ignoring the pain, all to get a better look at the moon avatar. DJ had done enough overnighters to know how rough it felt, and here was Luna, having done far, far more than that with no rest whatsoever.

Why? Clearly she hates me and probably only saved me because Celestia or Cadance told her to.

But then Cinnamon’s words suddenly came to her mind, unbidden: “She tries to be considerate, but it doesn’t always work out that way. But once you actually get to know her, she’s just one big cuddly Smarty Pants doll. She really does love us all. You too, even if she’s a little peeved with you.”

Realization kicked in. Luna could have just let the doctors handle it. But Evan said she’s been at it for the past few days. Seeing the chronometer on the wall, DJ suddenly noticed it was four days past the last day she remembered, and the only reason she was alive to remember it now was because of Luna.

Because I’m family, DJ realized. Because Luna wasn’t just some alicorn royal that DJ had pissed off one day; the moon princess was DJ’s aunt, with all the love and care that went with it. And while there was no doubt that Luna had been cross with DJ – dinner that night had proved it – Luna would not be here if hatred ruled her dealings with her wayward niece.

DJ wasn’t sure why, but suddenly she leaned over, ignoring the pain, to brush Luna’s face with her hoof, whispering a soft, “Thank you…Aunt Luna.”

Luna’s lips moved into a soft smile. “You’re welcome.” DJ hadn’t been expecting that and fell back in surprise, only to be caught by Luna’s magic field. “Please don’t injure yourself again – I just spent a considerable amount of energy putting you back together.” Floating the recalcitrant earth pony back into a prone position on the bed, Luna herself just yawned and stretched slightly. “I am sooo exhausted. I think I’ll be asleep for the next few days at this rate.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve been trying to keep you alive the past few days, of course. That takes a lot out of a pony, even me.”

“No, that’s not what I m—”

“I know what you meant,” Luna said, smiling fondly. “It’s because you’re my niece, and at the end of the day, you’re still family. I couldn’t let you go. Obviously, there were all the other considerations like your husband, your foals and such, but in the end, I did it for you.”

DJ sighed. “Look, I owe you an apology.”

“No, you don’t. I’m not exactly Miss Congeniality, and I probably caught you on a bad day.”

“Yes, you did, but I should have reacted much better. Cinnamon told me the small, ostensibly unobtrusive guards were to prevent making a bigger scene and it never occurred to me.”

“Tell you what: let’s just forget about it and move on, shall we? I’d like things to go back to the way they used to be.”

A nonplussed look came over DJ’s face. “Um…I just met you a few weeks back. We never even met during the custody trial.”

She shook her head, nostalgia filling her eyes. “You were too young to remember, of course. Shall I show you?” Before DJ could even respond, Luna brought her horn to her niece’s forehead and shared the memory:

He looked at her, as she gazed back at him with sad eyes. “I hope you feel I’m not using you.”

He gave her a smile, one that was meant only for her. “Do you think I’m using you?”

“Of course not. But….” She couldn’t finish her words, instead just pulling him back to the bed and holding him. “I wish I could be normal,” she said softly.

“You are normal,” he replied. “You just wish that you didn’t have your cage, just like me. And you know what? While we’re here, we don’t.”

“You’re right, we don’t,” she said with a sudden smile. “So, for the rest of our time here, we’re just Robin and Cyndi?”

“That’s the way I think it should be,” he said, kissing her tenderly.

Luna’s cheeks burned bright red. “Um…that was the wrong memory. I must be really tired.”

“What was that?”

“Uh, don’t worry about it.” Luna caught a flicker of a smug look crossing DJ’s face, but instead focused on sending the correct memory this time.

Luna walked into the hospital room where a still-exhausted Rarity was holding her daughter. Due to complications in post-natal, the Knight Elemental of Generosity would need to remain in the Infirmary for a couple more days. Fortunately, the whole of the family made the effort to come see her, and so Rarity’s room was a bustle of activity as everypony she knew came by to visit, not the least of which was her current visitor – the Princess of the Night.

“Hello, Luna, she just fell asleep,” Rarity said with a soft smile. “She’s rather boisterous when she’s awake.”

“May I?” the night alicorn asked and Rarity handed her over. “She’s so beautiful,” Luna said, peering at the small bundle of joy in swaddling. “What’s her name?”

“Sandalwood. We named her after Silver’s mother.”

“That’s beautiful,” the alicorn agreed. Reaching down to gently caress the baby’s face, she cooed, “Do you know who I am, little one? I’m your Aunt Luna, and I’ll always be here to give you sweet dreams and beautiful stars.” In response, the foal awoke and reached out with her forelegs to touch Luna’s muzzle.

“See? She knows who her favorite aunt is,” Rarity commented. “Just watch, you’ve got a tag-along niece for life. You’ll have years to teach her the stars.”

“Of course, it didn’t work out that way,” Luna sighed, retracting herself to her previous position. “Two weeks later, you were gone and things haven’t been the same since.”

“I’m hoping this isn’t going to turn into one of those ‘blame my parents’ speeches.”

“Of course not – you have every right to be protective of them and love them; I’m not here to insult them at all. But what I am saying is that you’re a grown mare now and you should be mature enough to realize that your mother – your biological mother, Rarity – still aches for your loss. It’s long past time that you make up with her.”

DJ crossed her arms. “Sorry, that’s not in the cards.”

“I’m not going to excuse what she’s done or would still be doing if the situation weren’t so dire. Nor am I going to excuse you for not being, in a manner of speaking, the better woman in this. Part of being human is being humane, so I was told.”

“That’d be the guy in the memory, right?” Being an author, she quickly put two and two together. “Wait – you’ve got a human boyfriend, don’t you? Heh, small wonder you don’t have a problem with my parents.”

“DJ….” Luna warned before continuing. “Just…look at it this way: I’ve wanted to keep my promise to you about the stars, and part of the reason I haven’t is because of your desire to stay as clear of Equestria as possible. Did you know your younger brother has wanted to meet you for years now?”

“Cinnamon told me about it.”

“Both Sweetie and Twilight have had a lot of influence in his life, a counterbalance to Rarity, if you will. He’s a smart, eloquent stallion, one you should get to know, and he’s going to be a father soon himself – he could probably use your sage advice.”

“My kids aren’t exactly like foals. I’m not even sure if they’re like full humans, for that matter. Lyra and I have been comparing notes on a regular basis and both my kids and hers will probably be complete headaches when they reach puberty. I’ve also got another friend who’s got a half-pony kid, and he’s got his hands full on that one as well.”

“Well, foals are no different, especially when they start reaching maturity. Teens are seriously problematic, both your sister and Blitz especially. Cinnamon, not too surprisingly, was very timid, and the twins, well…the twins are the twins; that’s all anypony can really say to explain them.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me about them?”

“Because you didn’t care.” DJ suddenly looked as though she’d been slapped and Luna merely looked at her with sad eyes. “You did this to yourself, gave everypony the impression that unless they were coming to visit you, you really didn’t care. You probably didn’t mean it, but that’s the result – what you can get away with when you’re younger you can’t when you’re an adult. After trying to involve you in the family’s affairs, eventually everypony just gave up save for the occasions when they were on human-Earth.

“You have a chance to make things right.” Luna reached up and took DJ’s forehooves into her own; DJ herself noticed it, a very human gesture. “If you truly care about all of us, if you truly care about your husband, children and parents, if you care about yourself – fix this. Otherwise, you’ll give into hate. And you’re too special a mare…woman…person to let that rule your life. That wasn’t what I saw in your future that day I held you, and that’s not what I want to see now.”

DJ was speechless. This was the mare that gave her grief earlier, that pretty much drove her out of the dining room and to a near deat—no, that was me. That was my doing. I could have sat there and taken it; God knows how many times my parents have lectured me for misbehavior. Or when Mike has gotten on my case for something I screwed up. So why can’t…?

Luna was right. So was Mike. And her parents. And Twilight. And Sweetie Belle. And Lyra. And AJ. And, and, and, and, and.

DJ just looked at Luna for the longest time and said, “I don’t know if I can. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m somewhat of a basket case.”

“Don’t ever think that; it’s almost always an excuse. If you want to see cases of ponies with actual problems you should see Screwball or Screw Loose; both of them were permanently damaged by Discord and have yet to recover. Some ponies even believe Screwball was created by Discord, but we can’t prove that. But we have hope that they can recover; Dr. Redheart has been working with both for years. Or for a better case, Bon-Bon when she was dealing with her mental breakdown. And if there’s hope for all of them, there’s hope for you. You have a family that is there for you and has always been there for you. Just because you have an affinity for your human family doesn’t mean we don't matter or vice versa. Whether you’re DJ or Sandalwood, it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing.”

“I’ll think about it.” She would have said more, but she suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion come over her.

“Don’t just ‘think about it’, DJ – really think about it. Now get some sleep, and let me keep working on healing you.”

“If you insist.” DJ was too tired to argue, so she crawled back into the sheets and was out like a light seconds later.

Evan walked in, carrying a couple of trays in his hands. “Okay, DJ, they didn’t have much, but…” Evan noticed that DJ had fallen asleep again, but that Luna was now awake, back to her healing spells but with a better look on her face than she’d had since he first saw her. “Healing going okay?” he asked.

Despite her exhaustion, the Princess of the Moon gave him a tired but wide smile. “The physical part, yes. The emotional one? For the first time in a while, I have hope.”

Several miles off the coast of Fillydelphia, a dozen Royal Equestriani Navy ships sailed, ready to pull the trigger. The collection was composed of several Twilight Velvet-class AEGIS destroyers, Dodge Junction-class AEGIS cruisers and Harmony-class ballistic subs, as well as the acting flagship for the mission, the aircraft carrier RENS Commander Pansy. The ships sailed in a great circle off the coast of the ruined city, as if awaiting a silent signal for what was about to occur.

Suddenly, as one, the ships and boats opened up their missile tubes and fired on what had once been their own city. Blasts of fire erupted from the decks of the ships and geysers of flame blasted from the water as the missiles were committed to action. A forest of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles tore into the sky, leaving contrails of smoke as dirges for the tens of thousands of ponies that had once lived in the fourth largest city in Equestria. The missiles seemed to lazily hang in the air for a few seconds before they arced and then lanced down towards the city.

Once in several carefully selected locations, they detonated just above the ground, the airbursts turning the very air into fireballs. The walls of flame immediately rushed throughout the city, incinerating everything they touched as the blast waves and explosive power turned buildings into dust and rubble. The inferno of flames rose into the air as the ships continued their onslaught, firing wave after wave of missile until their respective arsenals were spent. The ships awaited orders to see if their railguns would then be turned against the city, but as the skyline of what was now being called Quarantine Zone Alpha was naught but hellfire, the ships were ordered to stand down and return to base.

On four particular ships, the destroyers RENS Cinnamon Spice and RENS Upper Reaches, the cruiser RENS Cloudsdale and the submarine RENS Valor, the crews stood on the weatherdecks, watching as the city burned. Just what seemed like weeks ago the crews of the four vessels called the city home, via the Naval Station across from the civilian port. But that was a time now since gone. Those whose families escaped went in all directions, hoping to be reunited with their loved ones; others had not been so lucky and the fire-blackened remains would be a tragic memorial. Twenty years on from the first contact, ponykind had seen miracles from their human allies, medical wonders, electronic delights and so much more. But now, standing on the decks of human-built military vessels and having fired human-built weapons into their own cities, they were seeing the flipside of the wonder that was humanity. Mankind could create, mankind could destroy. But, had they never run into humanity, would they have done the same with magic? Nightmare Moon had not been repulsed by the Elements this time, and Chrysalis had performed an atrocity that had to be met in kind.

Nopony wanted to answer the question; the truth was too damning. Let the humans, fairly or otherwise, shoulder the brief burden of guilt; let the changelings, with nothing but their destructive ways, suffer the demonization. For now, ponykind would be a martyr, a victim, able to dress its wounds and wait for tomorrow when they would be mighty coursers, bringing the fugue of battle back to their enemies.

“That’s a damn shame to do that to people – both you and the actual victim,” Rodenkov said, shaking his head in sympathy. “They really didn’t follow up?”

“No,” Mike said to the members of the 15 Office as they stood outside the interrogation room at the prison. It was the first time in a couple of days he’d seen them, after having spent more time at the hospital than at the interrogation due to needing to be with DJ. “I pretty much keelhauled the guy from Reuters repeatedly asking how he could mix up my wife – Daisy Jo Martinez – with someone who just happened to have the same first initials and last name. While I do feel sorry for whomever in the Philippines is mourning Diana Jane Martinez, you’ll have to excuse me for being elated that it wasn’t my wife. But still, that lack of professionalism? Completely unsat.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear about your wife, Commander,” Sung said. “But in the meanwhile, we have info for both you and her majesty.”

“We’re all ears, Lieutenant.” Celestia was back in her human guise again; by now the cover was blown but she felt that given the circumstances she’d probably be much safer running around as a human with a lower profile, at least until they returned to Equestria.

“I think I’d best explain it, as I was the one who talked to both of them, Princess,” Gespenstflügel commented. “The gent the Colonel put his ‘gun’ against broke like a twig. His name’s Rocky Rickard, and he claims to be former Australian SAS; we’re trying to confirm that right now. He claims that he was hired by a man who represents the Ploan National Liberation Front. We looked into it and it’s completely bogus, so we’re discounting anything he’s saying in regards to that. But it does mean he’s hiding someone.

“And that’s where the other man comes in. Cecil DeVille, former US Navy SEAL. We were able to confirm his identity, and he’s actually wanted for desertion, so we got quite a bit of information on him. DeVille told us a different story, one we’re willing to go with. He claims that he and Rickard were hired by a man named Ghino di Tacco—”

“Ghino di Tacco? Really?” Mike asked.

“You sound familiar with the name,” Mitchell commented.

“Yup, because DJ has a character with that name in her Rimefrost novels, based on the historical figure of the same name. But the historical Ghino di Tacco was a Robin Hood, a gentleman thief type.”

“Not this Ghino di Tacco,” Mitchell explained. “He apparently gave Rickard and DeVille a group of those changelings to them to train like human soldiers, and set things up to attack your party. The man was painfully familiar with your plans, which means you have someone on the inside.”

“Changelings, most likely; I’ll inform Cadance to have our forces start an investigation immediately.”

“While that may be for the best, your majesty,” Rodenkov spoke, “it might not help your current situation.”

Celestia picked up on it immediately. “Okay, Colonel, what are you not saying?”

“Very astute, your majesty, very astute. DeVille informed us that, strangely enough, the three of you were collateral targets; nice to get if they could, but not the main thrust of the attack. No, the target of the attack was your wife, Commander.” The sudden silence was palpable and thundering. “Part of me thinks he just feeding us a line, but there’s something about the reasoning that has a very bizarre truth to it.”

“Which is?”

“According to DeVille’s statement, your wife, for better or for worse, is a symbol of the United States; the ‘anyone can make it in America, rags-to-riches crap your media feeds the world, whether it’s true or not.’ And now that even an alien has made it, per se, it probably pisses off nationalists, extremists and all those other fun and pleasant individuals with axes to grind. All it takes is a wealthy man in Indonesia who has a grudge against the American beach bunny that turned him down twenty years ago; or the man in Kabul who thinks Allah just gave him a license to kill as many people as possible and you’re dealing with someone with too much time to kill and not enough brain cells.”

Mike shrugged. “Sorry, but as much as it worries me that he claimed to have targeted DJ, I just can’t buy that. She’s never been about ‘being a symbol of America’, quote unquote – all my wife has ever wanted is to just be treated like any other person here on Earth. Sorry, Colonel, but I don’t think that theory washes.”

“Then let me throw one more out there,” Celestia said. “Mike, this is what we were going to discuss the other night, but things…somewhat got in the way. It is entirely possible that those men were hired by undesirable elements of our world, because…there’s the potential that DJ might be a Bearer.”

“What’s a Bearer?” Mitchell asked.

“It’s…you know, I don’t ever really think I got an answer on that myself,” Mike said.

Gespenstflügel, on the other hand, was floored. “A new Bearer?”

“It is possible, Major. For the rest of you, the Bearers are holders of the ultimate weapons in Equestria, the Elements of Harmony, though I hate to call them weapons, per se; they’re more like purifiers of a sort. The Bearers are the virtual avatars of the six most important values in Equestriani life: Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, Kindness and Magic. The six are very much loved by the people, but the Elements are magically imbued and choose their users; the current six are the first to be chosen in a millennium,” she explained. “There’s a theory that once the current Bearers pass on, the Elements themselves may choose successors from within the families of the current Bearers, making them hereditary. Needless to say, that’s a significant change from the status quo, and enough of one to turn an individual against Canterlot.”

“So let me see if I’ve got this,” Mitchell said. “We have someone claiming that Commander Hengst’s wife is in the crosshairs, but we have no idea why, assuming of this is true and not just misdirection by a mercenary who’s far smarter than he seems.”

“Honestly, I’m going to go with that,” Mike replied. “I think he’s playing for time and is willing to put my wife in targeting brackets to keep us off his back. And I don’t know about you, but only the fact that I am a military officer is preventing me from going in there and just beating the….” Mike trailed off, not wanting to say anything he’d regret.

Rodenkov nodded sadly. “And that is why I didn’t want either of you involved in this. It’s too painful to be objective.”

“I can see that now. I’m already having a hard time keeping it together as is, and I can’t imagine how her pare—“ A bone-chilling thought suddenly rolled through him. “Celestia, DJ’s parents are staying at Twilight’s right now – has anyone informed them about what happened?”

The look he received was equally horrified. “I…there’s been so much going on, I have no idea.”

“I think I’d best take care of that,” Mike replied, “as well as letting my parents know. They’re all probably going out of their minds right now.”

Dozens of miles north, at the edge of the Great Northern Forest, two figures watched the distant trail of smoke slither into the sky like a vicious gray snake on its way to consume the joined sun and moon. The first was a great alicorn, far larger than Princess Celestia. Her coat was black and her mane and tail billowed with indigo motes of dark energy and the dim lights of dying stars. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of cyan even as the slitted pupils within made her seem all the more unnatural. The armor she wore was darker and etched with ancient runes whose meaning would horrify anypony who dared to read the inscription. Her very presence wilted the earth below, the grass beneath her hooves dying at the touch. This was Nightmare Moon, more powerful than she’d ever been, and she gazed on the site of her latest victory. “They’ve bought the ruse.”

“I hope this was worth it; the expense of all those drones will be costly.” Beside her was the changeling queen, Chrysalis. She gazed at the fiery remains of Fillydelphia, a funeral pyre for so many of her kind. “Even still, my latest changeling princess was a fool. Any self-respecting princess should have known that once I birthed my new soldiers and abandoned the hive to her, she should have run as far away as possible before she attempted to assume my throne and become queen; once that happened, her biological instincts kicked in and she started laying an army that would never see the light of day.”

“I assure you, it will be worth it. You may now march south at your leisure to the Southern Continent, where the changeling tribes there will assume you dead and be no match for your pepsis. Additionally, our human ally is offering to assist in the effort, as a token of appreciation for the gifts we have sent.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Forgive me if I scoff at his generosity. He wants another of my pepsis and says the one we sent him is ‘defective.’ Admittedly, that much is true; it seemed like a way to get rid of her, but she seems to be growing a spine in my absence. I will have to rectify that.” She turned her head and called out, “Blood Armor?”

The leader of the pepsis approached. “Yes, mother,” he said, showing deference to both females whether he wished to or not.

“Our human ally will be joining us for our southern jaunt,” Chrysalis said lightly, “but he desires a replacement for the piece of trash you sent him. This time, I would prefer someone who truly represents our kind.”

Before Blood Armor could say anything further, a pepsis princess walked up behind him. She was a deep blue, and her mane and tail were purple and black. Her carapace and wings were of a soft gray and the color of her eyes was that of a deep gray. Swishing her tail seductively, she said, “Mother, I would like this assignment, if it pleases you.”

Chrysalis looked at the female pepsis; while there was no sense of challenge coming from her, it was clear that she wanted something. “And may I ask why?”

“Because my brothers and sisters bore me,” she said. “None of them have any stamina save for Blood here,” she said, nuzzling the pepsis prince in a disturbingly intimate manner, “and I think a human might just be enough of a difference to keep me occupied.”

“I see. And what say you, my son?”

“Get her out of here,” Blood Armor snarled. “If she continues to rut with our troops, they’ll be too exhausted to do anything.”

“That’s because they don’t have your strength, older brother,” the princess said.

“Then let it be so. When our allies meet us in the southern continent, we will make the switch. And then, I fully expect you to attend to Twilight Sunburn’s missteps, Blood Armor. She is growing too bold and must be…dealt with.”

“Yes, Mother,” he said. “Come, Blue Velvet,” he said to his sister. “We have much still to do.” A flicker of a look crossed the pepsis’ face, and she followed her brother. But Chrysalis couldn’t help but notice that as Blue Velvet departed, her tail began to rise.

“Your troops’ personalities are somewhat…interesting,” Nightmare Moon said to Chryalis.

“They should be. I spent years ensuring their personalities were of more suitable facets for my needs. They are filled with the genetic memory of Shining Armor and, by extent, his immediate family. Thus every one of them serves a particular facet. Blood Armor engenders his father’s ruthlessness in battle, while Blue Velvet, I presume, engenders a part of Twilight Velvet that was unknown to my….” Chrysalis hung on the word for a second, before committing to it. “…mate,” she said finally.

“You consider the stallion you seduced and tricked as your mate?” Nightmare Moon said, a touch of laughter in her tones.

Chrysalis nodded. “Credit goes where credit is due, even for me: my pepsis warriors are smarter, stronger, more loyal and far more capable than any mere changeling, because they have their father’s heritage to fall back on. Personally, I would almost like to thank him for that, but he has been dead for years now. He’ll be spared what will happen to his beloved homeland, so perhaps I’ve already done the father of my foals a favor.”

“Perhaps,” Nightmare Moon said, with a barely perceptible smile. “But for now, we plan. Let us make haste.”

Nothing more to be said, the two great mares melted into the forest, followed by the hundreds of pepsis warriors under Chrysalis’ command.

Ghino held the gun to the next drone’s head. “You will do as you are told, Twilight, or they will die.” To the side of the weakened, terrified drone, two more lay dead, the telltale holes in their head – that weren’t there originally – a sign of what would happen to this next one. The drone looked both in fear at the weapon being held to his head and in the hope that the princess would save him. But he was too weak and malnourished to use his natural shapeshifting and untrained in the ways of changeling magic.

Feeling the dirge of sorrow within her, tears streaming from her eyes, she lay prone on the ground, supplicant to the human. For a change, she was in her true form, the result of playing with the drones and giving them as much love as she could. She now knew she’d gotten them killed, and it was entirely her fault; all she could do now was to try to save the lives of the rest of them. “Please, I beg you – don’t hurt them, they’re just innocent drones! I am their pri—” Her words were cut off by the tinny sound of the gun going off.

He looked at her, rage in his eyes. “What did I tell you, pepsis? These are not your changelings. They serve at my whim, as do you. Now you will do as you are told or the rest of these will suffer the same fate.” He slid the armament back into a hidden holster underneath his jacket, looking at the pepsis with contempt. “Now clean up this mess and then I expect you to do as you were ordered. And when you return? You are to sleep in the guest quarters from now on.”

“But don’t I—”

“Not anymore,” he snarled. “You were never that much of a diversion to begin with.” And with that, he departed, leaving a torn Twilight Sunburn to ponder what she’d done wrong. All she was doing was what her father would have wanted her to do, was that so wrong?

One of the few surviving drones, already near death, looked at her, and with the last of his strength, shifted his form to almost look like hers; due to his lack of strength, it was an incomplete change and he looked more like a changeling version of her than an actual copy. The changeling whispered something to her, smiled, then fell to the floor, changing back to his native form as death claimed him.

Twilight Sunburn heard the drone’s last words and cried. He’d meant it as an honor, but his words were just a reminder of how she was failing these innocents. Setting a spell to teleport the bodies away, she shifted to her human form, ready to do what her lord had bid her, as the drone’s final words rang in her mind: “Thank you, my princess.”

In the center of the city of Ponyville was a building fashioned out of a living tree. It had once been the local library, but with the growth of the small town into a large one and then into its current status as a small city, the library was now housed in the former town hall, which itself was replaced by the larger city hall across the street. The Boughs and Books building, as it was still called after all these years, was now the local office for the Mage Guild, where any mage could spend time discussing various issues with their colleagues or await assignments for various missions. In fact, the one full-time mage assigned to the office usually handled the magical needs of both Ponyville and the surrounding towns, from Woodside in the south to Berryville, northeast of the town, a suitable fit for Equestria’s seventeenth largest city.

As for the mages that came in and out of the office on a regular basis, they were a nebulous fit in modern post-Contact Equestriani life. Once they had been fully integrated into both the Guard and the Fleet, but with the ERG now solely assigned to royal protection and the rest of the Guard reformed into the Royal Equestriani Armed Forces, it left hundreds of unicorns of considerable magical skill without a real place in life. Fortunately, their leader, Twilight Sparkle, solved that problem; the Mage Guild now served as Equestria’s national police force, handling issues that the ERG, the Armed Forces nor town sheriffs could not deal with for one reason or another. The biggest case to date was the Bucker killings, but mages served in a range of roles from research to rescue to embassy duty and everything in between. Though Twilight was officially the head of the Guild, due to her range of duties the day-to-day issues fell to her Vicemagus, Raspberry Blast, who welcomed the change in the scope of the Guild’s operations. Underneath the Vicemagus were twenty or so Senior Mages, all of which were considerable talents in the arts and formidable for their magecraft, their knowledge and their leadership.

And currently, one such mage was in town, though she was hardly expected. Sweetie Belle knocked on the door of the Guild office, trying to get the attention of the full-time mage that lived there. Her attitude was frantic and impatient, and had she been in a better mood she would have taken a step back to look at the old house, remembering the times she’d trained here before Twilight was asked to head the Guild and Sweetie, loyal apprentice that she was, joined the purple mare in Canterlot. In a manner of speaking, this was always a part of her life, would always be a part of her world.

But right now she didn’t want to be alone. Granted, she could have stayed at the other end of town in a carousel-shaped clothing store that had a private home in the upstairs, but it cut too close to the bone right now. Likewise, the cottage on the outskirts of town that was available to members of the Royal Family, but she knew she’d be spotted in a heartbeat and she didn’t want to deal with anypony at the moment. That last decision also made the sizable apple orchard to the west of town off-limits for the same reason; she had family there as well, but to be there would be even more obvious than to be at the Carousel Boutique or Fluttershy’s old cottage. So the only choice left to her was the Guild office and its current residents.

Finally, a high-pitched voice wafted from behind the door. “Okay, okay, I’m coming! Just hold on, okay?” After a few seconds, the door opened and a small baby dragon opened the door. Her scales were mostly lilac in color and her soft spikes were the green of newly-sprouted leaves. She wore a big red bow tied to one of them, a gift from Apple Bloom, and though she looked like another baby dragon she once knew, she could hardly be confused with the graceful drake that other dragon now was.

“Oh! Sweetie Belle! Wow, haven’t seen you in a while. What are you doing here?” A pause. “Uh, is it office inspection today? I thought that was next week.”

“I don’t know; I’m not on the inspection committee,” she said to the younger female. “I’m actually here on personal biz. Is Beardy here?”

“She’s in the shower right now. Did you want to come in and wait?” A sudden thought crossed the young draconess’ mind, and she looked past Sweetie, hoping for something. Finally, turning back to the unicorn, she asked in a dreamy tone, “Is that dreamboat of a drake here?”

Sweetie chuckled; ever since the draconess found out about Spike, she’d become absolutely convinced that it was her destiny to marry the older dragon. Spike had always found that odd and never encouraged her, though somehow that made Spines all the more determined to get her beau. “Sorry, Spines,” Sweetie replied. “With everything that’s going on right now, I’m sure Cadance has him very busy.”

“Then tell the Archmagus that he has to come here so we can plan our wedding!” Spines demanded. “She’ll listen to you – she’s your older sister, isn’t she?”

Sure, stab to the heart, why don’t you? “Look, I’d rather not talk about it right now. Could you please go get Beardy?”

“Sweetie, you know I hate being called that,” a voice said as a figure descended the stairs.

“I only call you that ‘cause I’m your friend,” Sweetie said as she approached the other unicorn, embracing her. The 35th direct descendant of Star Swirl the Bearded (and thus how she picked up her odd nickname), Star Swirl was twenty years Sweetie’s junior, but was wise and powerful for her years. The periwinkle unicorn had been Sweetie’s apprentice when the former had first completed the Mage Academy; due to Star’s considerable power the apprenticeship hadn’t lasted long but had instead formed a close bond between the two. Also, due to their family pedigrees (Star’s from her namesake ancestor; Twilight was a descendant of the first Star Swirl’s protégé, Clover the Clever), generally similar personalities, and respective guardianships of Spike and Spines, Twilight and Star got along as well.

“So what brings you to Ponyville? Let me guess: Shimmering Pearl didn’t want to do the inspection and you volunteered to do it to spend time with me?” In response, Sweetie just broke down and started crying into Star’s shoulder. The younger unicorn had no idea what was going on, but it was clear that something was wrong with her friend and mentor. “Spines, make some tea for us, okay?”

“Uh, sure, Star! Right after I—”

“—finish your homework?”

Spines suddenly started shuffling her feet. “I, uh….”

“You can finish that love letter to Spike later,” she said in a firm but kind tone. “Now, go get some tea and then go finish your homework; I don’t want to have another parent-teacher conference with Miss Cheerilee, okay?” She then said to the other unicorn, “Sweetie, come with me and let’s get you to relax – you look like you’ve been through an ordeal. Now, you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

Relaxing went out the window twenty minutes later.

“Sweetie!” Star said firmly, banging a hoof on the table, “that was stupid of you! You just abandoned them there?” Sweetie made to open her mouth, but a stark stare from Star made her shut it immediately. “Sweetie, you’re like an older sister to me, but as the Archmagus’ protégé, you can’t just shirk your duties just because of your problems with your fiancé!”

“But I—” Sweetie was lost for words. She tried to explain what happened back in Filly, but it came out as though she’d had a minor spat with Pip and bailed in the middle of an important mission instead of what really occurred.

“—left the two remaining Bearers, two allied soldiers and one of our own mages behind! And if I heard you right, a little filly, too!” Star chugged her cup of tea, then poured herself another cup. “That poor filly probably lost her parents in the attack and needed you – and you ran because you started arguing with Pip?”

“That’s not what happened,” Sweetie said, suddenly going on the defensive. “Look, I came here because—”

However, Star was having none of it. “I don’t care why you argued with him, it was a stupid reason and you’re supposed to be better than that. Who always told me that our responsibilities as mages came first? But you shirked that duty! You’re one of the most senior mages in the Guild and the protégé of our archmagus! But what kind of standards and image are you setting if we can’t expect the archmagus’ own apprentice to follow them?”

Sweetie just wanted to run away. In addition to all her other hurts, she’d now cracked Star’s faith in her and embarrassed Twilight’s good name. She turned to leave and—

“Wait.” She found herself tackled in a hug. “I’m sure the argument was minor, and by tomorrow you and he will be back to normal – after all, you and he have been together forever, and I’ve rarely seen a love truer than the one you and he share. Besides, weren’t you the one who told me if you really love someone they’ll always be there for you?”

Sweetie suddenly thought that maybe it would be better to explain what really happened once she calmed down. Cycling up wasn’t going to do her any good, and that sort of thing opened the door to CMFIS incidents. “Yeah, I did,” she said, deflating.

“Then just let it lie. You and he are a permanent thing,” Star continued, blissfully unaware of the end of the relationship her mentor and Pip had the day before – and unintentionally driving the knife in Sweetie’s heart further in. “Besides, from what I’m told, making up is the best part, isn’t it?” Star said, an impish grin coming to her face.

“Star….” Sweetie groaned, a sign she didn’t want to deal with her friend’s wordplay at the moment.

“I was just teasing,” the younger mare replied. “Look, I won’t tell anyone about what happened, but if somepony else says something I can’t cover for you. And as to Pip, your argument will be done and forgotten by the next time you see him. After all, he’s your special somepony – and I’m still waiting for mine.”

Sweetie Belle nuzzled her younger friend. “I wish you’d find someone, Star. Don’t wait until you’re my age to get married and start a family. You’re already in your thirties – don’t let Mr. Goodhooves pass you by.”

“Don’t worry about me. When it happens, it happens,” Star answered. “And speaking of happening, I’m guessing you didn’t get the broadcast that came over the emergency magic channels, did you?”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “I’ve been using the network to bounce through the nodes until I got here. Is something wrong?”

Star nodded sadly. “Princess Cadance ordered the military to commit to Situation Firestarter.” There was a sudden gasp from Sweetie; she had a high enough security clearance to know about the secret plan. “She’s supposed to have a press conference in the morning to explain everything, but the press is going to eat her alive over this one – I mean, our own Navy destroyed Fillydelphia? It’s going to make her look bad, as well as Princess Celestia, too.”

“But she—! The city had become a changeling hive!” Sweetie gasped. “I was there, remember?”

“Um, considering your goof-up, you’re probably best laying low for that one. In any case, we’re talking the majority of two million ponies dead or missing, and tens of thousands of refugees swamping the nearby cities and tow—”

“MY NIECE IS DEAD!” Sweetie roared, slamming a hoof on the table, making Star flinch. “This whole thing…it was to go find Minty. We knew…we knew something was wrong, and according to initial reports, the moment they uncovered the superhive, they knew Filly was lost.” The older unicorn looked at the younger, and the look in her eyes was wild. “I’m losing all my family: Twilight. Rarity. Minty. The others. Pip. Everyone I’ve loved and cared for is slipping out of my hooves and there’s not a single thing I can do to stop it.” Sweetie buried her face in her hooves, sobbing, “Why is this happening to us? What did we do to deserve it?”

It broke Star’s heart to see her friend and mentor in such a state. “Sweetie?” she asked.

The white mare looked up briefly. “Yes?”

Star’s horn suddenly flared with her magic, a shaped aura composed of white mini-galaxies encircling her horn. Sweetie’s eyes suddenly glazed over and she slipped into a deep sleep, slumping over the table.

Spines noticed immediately. “What did you do?”

“She was going into hysterics, Spines. I hate seeing her like that.” The look on Star’s face was one of heartbreak. “I can’t ever bear to see somepony I care about hurt like that.”

Spines sighed. “I guess I’m carrying her up to your bed?”

Star gave her younger sister a wan smile. “I’d appreciate it, Spines. In fact, if you do, I’ll insist that Sweetie deliver the letter to Spike directly, okay?”

The young draconess looked as if she’d just received a boon from the courier gods. “You got it!” She then went over, picking up the larger mare and effortlessly carried her up the stairs. As she did, Star sighed, looking at the sleeping unicorn as she was carried upstairs to Star’s bed. Sweetie had been right: the younger unicorn shouldn’t wait forever for somepony to come into her life. But so long as the one she wanted as her special somepony had the ups and downs of another in her life, there’d be no chance to try to win her heart. And as Star turned off everything downstairs to shut down for the evening, she reminded herself once again that so long as she remained ever silently in love with her mentor and best friend yet watched from afar as that cad Pip continued to rule Sweetie’s heart unfairly, a pit of anger and jealousy would remain, a festering wound in the heart of Star Swirl.

Finally, coming up to bed, Star bent down and kissed the sleeping mare she loved softly on the lips. “Pleasant dreams, Sweetie,” she said, meaning the white unicorn’s name as a double-entendre. She then went to the empty side of the bed, readying herself for another night in solitude even as her heart’s desire lay mere inches from her.

Luna removed the earbuds. “Beautiful song…but it’s about boxing?”

“The Boxer Rebellion,” DJ corrected. “Then again, Daedelus has always done theme albums, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he did one on actual boxing eventually. Oh – speaking of which, his new album comes out next month. Definitely have to download that.”

The pair, having been left to their own devices for the past few hours, found they had a lot more in common than expected. DJ shared her love of music with Luna, both having agreed that there very little music, post-2020, that was worth listening to. Luna, in particular, had been introduced to Nick Drake, Bonnie Pink, Daedelus and Adventure Time. Out of the music DJ had on her phone, there was a brand-new album by Nick Drake; the Night Princess was actually surprised to discover that the singer in question was Lyra’s brother Harper, who was such a dead ringer for the English singer that the long-retired Drake nearly sued the unicorn for copyright theft until the two worked it out.

In turn, Luna introduced her to some Equestriani artists, such as HUFSTOMPR (apparently Cinnamon was a huge fan), Sapphire Shores, the Polypony Spree, and Midnight Moondust. Midnight was actually a friend of Luna’s, having met her at a Royal Command Performance that the moon alicorn had been reluctant to attend; they particularly bonded when the pegasus was filming the Arddun Lleuad film trilogy, as the character of Princess Selene was a pastiche of the dusky alicorn herself. Luna then told DJ about the time she and Midnight pranked the entire Night Court for several days by placing a disguise spell on the statuesque pegasus and letting Midnight ramble on about whatever the hell she felt like talking about; the ruse was finally revealed four days later when Midnight’s human husband (who was in on the joke) suddenly walked into the court and started passionately kissing “Princess Luna.”

“Oh, you should have seen the look on Princess Champagne Dreams’ face – she looked as though I’d just set Equestriani culture back to the stone age, while she never figured out the human woman standing right next to her was me,” Luna giggled. “I swear if she’d had her way Champagne would have started a coup against Celestia and I right then and there!”

“Um…I don’t have to meet this person, do I?” DJ asked. Hair-trigger people were not on her list of people she wanted to deal with, as she never cared much for those types…being one herself.

“You don’t have to worry about that; they’re quote unquote ‘part of the Royal Family’ due to a little fabrication Celestia made a thousand years back, but we have little to do with them if possible. They’ve always been a pain to deal with, and their current patriarch, Prince Blueblood, is a complete boor and Champagne Dreams, his wife, is worse. The only one I can really stand is Blueblood’s daughter, Gilded Lily, but she’s rather timid and meek due to Blueblood’s constant haranguing of her that she consorts with those beneath her station, which is a nice way of saying he’d rather she be elitist.”

“Would it help if I said I’d really not want to bother with it at all?”

Luna gave her niece a lidded glance. “You, giving up? The same mare who threatened to buck my flank repeatedly?”

DJ sighed. “Look, how many times do I have to apologize for that?”

“Infinitely. You know, you’re very cute when you’re contrite?”

DJ gave her a wicked smile. “Of course – how else do you think I can get Mike to let me get away with as much as I do?”

It was at this point that Mike and Celestia walked into the room, instantly noticing the two ponies getting along fabulously. Once they noticed, the two looked at each other, then back to the pair, and then back at each other, completely perplexed looks on both their faces.

“Changelings?” Mike asked.

Celestia mock-sighed. “Probably.”

Not having heard their banter, DJ and Luna looked at the two, before giving each other conspiratorial smiles. “We’ve worked out our differences and, at least between us, I can show her the stars I promised,” the alicorn said as she draped a wing around her niece.

DJ smiled, leaning into the embrace. “Yup, bestest buddies and all that.”

Mike and Celestia looked at the display, then back at each other, then back at the display, then back at each other before both saying at the same time, “Yup – definitely changelings.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed. “Changelings?”

“Yes. Four of them were amongst those who were captured in the attack. Which, we have a lot to discuss regarding that.” Celestia and Mike then went into a very unnerving explanation of what had occurred over the past few days, and the fact that DJ had been the target and not the princesses. The look on the earth pony’s face was one, surprisingly enough, not of fear but anger. Celestia noted that and saw the slight look of pride on Mike’s face at DJ’s reaction to being targeted.

“DJ,” the sun alicorn said, “Now please be aware it’s just a theory and likely one to put us off-guard while the suspect’s accomplices cover their tracks further.”

“No offense, Celestia, but see this stuff in my hand?” DJ raised one of her hands, the hoofspace flat and holding nothing as it was held out to the sun alicorn. “This is my collection of fucks I don’t give. Someone is trying something on me, so I have only one question for you and Luna: CCP, or can I go open?”

Celestia shook her head; as usual, her niece’s vulgarities were complex and that last part completely confused her. “I’m sorry; I didn’t quite get that.”

Mike explained: “Can she get a concealed carry permit or is open carry allowed. For a handgun, that is.”

“A handgun?” Celestia said. “As in, a human handgun?”

DJ looked at her aunt as if she was completely naïve. “Well, my parents were both military, and my mom has a small armory she keeps around the house for weapons reference for her artwork, so yeah, I know how to shoot. Learned on Dad’s Seburo M5 9mm. I’m not the greatest shot in the world…I mean, I can hit the freakin’ target, and unusual movement of muscles in my hoofspace tends to go numb around twenty rounds, but I can shoot – just don’t expect me to be the resident gunbunny.”

“No, you misunderstand what I’m saying. Why would you want one of those?”

“Celestia, at the risk of being blunt, the only reason you’re alive is because I had one,” Mike pointed out. “That’s what DJ’s getting at; if she really is the target and it’s not just lies, she’s gotta have a way of protecting herself. As her husband, I’m more than comfortable with her being armed.”

“I’m afraid we can’t, Mike. I drafted a law outlawing all personal use of weapons in Equestria centuries ago and I have no interest in repealing it. There’s no need for the general populace to have anything of the sort. I’m sure we can make an exception for you, Mike, given your military status, but for DJ, I’m afraid it’s out of the question.”

Luna spoke up. “Celestia, I think DJ might have a point.”

The sun alicorn looked at her younger sister as if she’d grown a third eye and second horn – Luna was defending DJ? “Luna, are you sure you’re not a changeling?”

Luna rolled her eyes. “Positive.”

“Okay, what city were we in when you and Robin became an item?”

DJ looked at Celestia, a mischievous grin on her face. “So, when do I get to hear the blackmail-worthy bits?”

“DJ, please, not now.”

“Please?”

Now it was Luna’s turn to be impish. “Okay, 'Rarity'.”

A sudden disgusted look crossed the earth pony’s face. “That was a low blow, Luna.”

“What happened to ‘Aunt Luna’?”

“You lost that plus when you started throwing insults at me.”

Luna moved like a shark smelling blood in the water. “An insult? No, little filly – you want to talk about insults, how about the self-inflicted one when you dressed up that night with your mother’s usual manestyle. Or didn’t you notice that you looked like the spitting image of Rarity that night?” DJ reacted as if she’d been slapped, and everyone bristled, especially Luna; after she’d just went to hell and back finally making up with DJ, now was not the time to reset things back into the negative.

Fortunately, that wasn’t necessary; DJ instead looked at her husband and drolled, “Next time? Hair stylist.”

Mike shrugged; a fight avoided was a fight avoided. “Sure thing, hon. Do we know how long you’re going to be here in the hospital still?”

“Spoke to Evan about ten minutes ago; they want to keep me a couple more nights just to doublecheck everything, but I should be able to check out first thing Friday.”

“Good. The first thing we’re doing afterwards is getting to Canterlot. I have no idea how much wild misinformation your parents have right now, but if they got the part about you being dead and not the part about that being a mistake, things are going to get big time Charlie Foxtrot. As it is, I’ve got to get word to my parents. Speaking of which: ladies, do you mind if I talk to my wife in private for a moment?”

“Not at all. In fact, I think we should probably consider getting some lunch. What about you, Luna?”

“No, thanks. I’m going back to the hotel to get some sleep. Wake me for dinner. Tomorrow.” With further ado, Luna teleported herself out of the room.

“Mike, I’ll wait for you outside,” Celestia said before departing.

The minute she was gone, Mike leaned over and kissed DJ. “Are you okay?”

DJ just broke down at the point, embracing her husband. “Mike, I was so scared! I—”

“You’re not the only one.” He cut her off sharply, gripping her arms and pulling her away from him. There was anger on his face and his eyes were starting to water. “Don’t you ever do that to me again, Daisy Jo, got that?”

Huh? This was not the response she was expecting. “Mike, what’s wron—”

“Do you even realize what kind of hell you put me through? Do you?”

“Mike! I was the one dying!” What was wrong? She hadn’t seen him this mad in years. As a couple, they almost never bickered about anything, certainly never fought. One was always able to defuse the other somehow…which is why seeing him like this made her both worried and afraid at the same time. “I thought I was never going to see you or the kids again!”

“DJ, I killed a man trying to shoot at Celestia. And after that little bucket of fun, then I get to see the only woman I’ve ever loved crushed to a Goddamn bloody pulp and dying before my very eyes! And why? Because you threw a tantrum!”

“But Lu—”

“No buts, DJ!” He was trying to keep his voice low, but with the tears streaming down his face and his whole body tense from anger, it wasn’t easy. “You promised me that you’d try to keep civil with Luna but you turned around and blew a shit fit and took off! If you had stayed and just put up with it, I could have kept you safe.”

“She started it!” The moment she said it, she regretted it. The look in his eyes was…for the first time in years, she couldn’t read him, couldn’t comprehend. A pit of worry started growing in her heart.

“That’s a bullshit excuse and you know it. Last time I checked, I was married to a grown woman, not a child. It didn’t matter if she started it, you should have had the maturity to ignore her!” That shut DJ up right there, but Mike wasn’t done yet. “DJ, I’ve been tiptoeing around this long enough, but I think we’ve reached the breaking point. We’ve been together for over twenty years of our lives—”

“No, no, don’t say it!” She’d heard other wives talk about this speech so often; unfortunately divorce was a reality in the military and the divorce rate for the military was roughly double that of the civilian population – and the Navy’s divorce rate well outstripped all the other services combined. “Please don’t leave me,” she moaned, using her strength to break free of his hold and embrace him.

“Is…is that what you thought I was going to say? No, never – I mean it, DJ. You are the only one I love, could ever love. You. Are. It.” He wiped the tears away from his face briefly, but then continued. “No, love, what I’m afraid of is your temper – it’s hair trigger and it’s getting out of control, bordering on abusive.”

Abusive? “But I would never touch the kids! You know that!”

“I’m not talking about abusing them; I’m talking about you abusing yourself. You’ve become a physical reminder of everything you loathe and hate. You say you have no interest in becoming human, but you have a fine line between ponies you care about and whatever – and I think you’re including yourself in that list of ponies you dislike. And I’m honestly afraid that you’re going to lose it and something bad’s gonna happen. This last time was a fluke, but what happens if you do something stupid while I’m out at sea and you die in front of the kids? Or, God forbid, if you lose it while in the car with the kids….”

She looked at him in shock and horror, because she couldn’t believe the love of her life was telling her all this. And that he was right. “Mike, please! I need you!”

“DJ, we’re at a breaking point here. You need to let go of your anger and hate, and the only way you’re going to do that is to make good with Rarity. You don’t even have to have a relationship with her; just acknowledge that she’s your biological mother. We’re all worried about you: me, your parents, my parents, Twilight, AJ, Sweetie – everybody.” His eyes were both hard and breaking as he said, “Please, it’s time to put away the hate. It’s unnecessary, unchristian and it’s not the kind of person you are. It’s eating you alive. Don’t let it.”

“And I’m working on it! I made up with Luna!”

“That’s a start, grasshopper, not the final goal.” He felt her tears soaking his blouse, but he didn’t care; he was pretty sure his were soaking the top of her head. He bent down and kissed her head and ears; sure enough, he was right. “DJ, you need to let go. You owe it to our kids, to me and most of all to yourself.”

“It’s not easy. My life’s never been easy.”

“I know. Look who you’re talking to – it wasn’t easy being the first guy to date a non-human, either. Did you know that after the wedding Paul thanked me for making it easier to have a relationship with Lyra? Guy’s ten years older than me, and he’s thanking me for putting up with all the shit beforehand. So you’re not alone in this, and I’m kind of insulted that you even mentioned that.”

“Mike, you knew what I meant.”

“I know. But I hope you’re getting what I’m saying, DJ. We can’t live like this anymore. I need you to really make peace with yourself, because if you keep going off the rails, I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I will promise you this: if I feel the kids are in danger, as much as I love you, I will take them and I will leave. I feel like a scumball for even saying that, but it’s the truth. You’ve been through so much hell, I know you have. But don’t let it tear you apart, DJ. I want to grow old with you, spoil the grandkids and then hand the over-sugared tykes back to our kids as revenge. But I can’t do that unless you’re willing to do it with me.”

The pair sat there for minutes at a time, just holding each other and taking in each other’s reality. “I’m sorry, Mike. I’m so, so, sorry,” was all DJ could whisper after a few minutes, her head buried in his chest. “You are the one person I never want to hurt.” She looked up and ran a hoof against his face. The look in those eyes; she’d only seen them a handful of times in her life and she regretted it every time she did, because she was almost always the cause of it.

He took her hooves in his hands and kissed them gently. “I know.” They looked at each other once more and then went to kiss….

“Hey, kids, don’t you two have a hotel room for that?” Evan said, leaning against the wall with a grin on his face.

“You won’t let my wife go, so I’m forced to go hang with a princess until then,” Mike said with a smile.

“Well, hospital rules are hospital rules, Mike. Even I can’t break those; Colonel will have my ass if I do. As it is, you probably should let her get some rest. She’ll be out of the hospital soon enough so you two can spend the next few days in your hotel room doing what married couples usually do.”

She looked at Mike and smiled. “I’ll be fine, hon. We can talk about this tomorrow. We’ve…we’ve got a lot to talk about.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.” He kissed her quickly, then left the room.

Evan watched him head out. “You need to get some sleep, DJ. That’s the kind of rest you need most right now, and I’m getting the feeling that you’re not going to be getting any anytime soon.”

“Yeah, yeah, I getcha,” she said, crawling back into the sheets.

“Tell you what: I probably shouldn’t do this, but knockout for a few hours, and I’ll see if I can sneak up a cheeseburger and fries from the staff cafeteria.”

“Evan, you know me entirely too well.”

“All the part of being your doctor. Now get some sleep and I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Evan?”

“You’re welcome – you don’t even have to say it.”

The sun alicorn, as promised, waited on a seat in the waiting area down the hall. Reading a copy of Singapore Life, she watched DJ’s husband as paced the length of the hallway, radiating frustration but not saying a single thing, as if digesting something.

“You look like something’s bothering you, Mike.” The look on Celestia’s face was one of concern; the human male had shouldered far more of the burden than she’d ever expected him to and didn’t complain, but instead just picked up more and more of it.

“No biggie. I’m used to juggling a lot of things,” he said, plopping down on the chair right next to her. “I’ve dealt with a lot worse.”

“You don’t need to let it sit in. I’ve seen what that does to a pony and it’s not much different for humans.” Before he could object, she stretched a wing out, embracing him with it. “I just want you to know that you’re not the only one with a vested interest in DJ.” Celestia felt odd, trying to do a wing embrace with a human, but it was worth it; he needed it. “We are all family – and that includes you too. You’re not left out just because you’re a different species.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that.” He was silent for a long while before continuing. “Did you ever feel like you needed to get someone you love help, but you weren’t sure how?”

“I understand what you mean. I…had a family member go quite…wrongsided out of jealousy. I couldn’t help her and as a result….” Even after Luna’s return over nearly a half-century now, to Celestia the wounds were still quite fresh.

“You two wouldn’t be the first ones who’ve gone through that shit,” a new voice said. Both looked up and saw Evan standing there. “Listen: my father went apeshit because my sister is a lesbian – she got caught in bed with her ‘best friend’ – and my dad’s hardcore ‘Do Not Want.’ Mom took it well, and I obviously had no problem with it, but Dad…he just exploded at my sister, kicked her out of the house at 16, no less. As a result, because we couldn’t help her after Dad chased her away, she killed herself since she had no one to turn to when her relationship went south. Keep in mind that I’m by no means saying that’s what would happen to DJ, but I am trying to make a point that neither of you need to go through this shit alone.

“Mike, I just copied you on an email to NAVHOSP. There’s a psychologist I know there, a Lt. Bonnie Zacherle. She might be able to help DJ through everything she’s been through. I’m guessing her parents never got her counseling before?”

“I’m sure Matt and Anna thought about it, but knowing them, they’ve tried so hard to instill that DJ’s a normal person that even sending her to counseling probably would indicate that she’s anything but. But as to if they actually did? I don’t recall it happening since I’ve been with her, and we’ve been together since we were both 14.”

“Shit, seriously? I thought the whole ‘twenty years together’ thing was exaggerating. Hell, I can’t even remember the name of the first girl I slept with at that age and you’ve been with just one girl…pony…whatever since you were both teens? No wonder she freaked when you threatened her with divorce.”

“You what?” Celestia looked at Mike in shock; everything that she’d heard about their relationship indicated that Mike and DJ’s relationship was stronger than most marriages she’d seen with ponies. And yet Mike had just threatened to end their relationship, even as it was clear he still loved her?

“Your majesty, he only did it because he wanted to get across to her how serious he was about her needing help; he also admitted that he felt like a jackass for even saying it. I’ve seen these two for about a year now and I can tell you their marriage is better than any I’ve ever seen. In my professional opinion, when someone makes a statement like that, it’s because it’s underscoring the severity of the situation, not because it’s imminent, am I right, Mike?”

Mike nodded and then turned to Celestia. “Celestia, I’ve been in love with only one woman my entire life; that woman just happens to not be human. Furthermore, I was the first one anywhere to have done it. I’ve taken a world’s worth of slings and arrows for her, and I would do so again because I love her and I want to see her happy. And I’ve seen her smile and laugh and cheer and other things, but there’s always been that thing inside her, gnawing at her, and I want to see it go away. I was almost made a widower this past week. I really don’t want to be one. That’s the only reason I said what I did – I’m sure you’ve heard of tough love before, right?”

“Yes, and I wished many a time that I’d practiced it with others in my life. But you know her better than I.”

“That I do.”

“Well, I’ve got her sleeping off the rest of whatever whatshername—”

“My sister, Princess Luna,” Celestia amended.

“—that her highness did to DJ,” Evan finished without skipping a beat. “Um…DJ herself doesn’t have a title, does she? I’m not going that far.”

“She’s a countess, but considering she’s your friend, I think we can let that bit of protocol slide.”

“Good. Mike, you think about what I said, seriously; I’m not just her doctor, I’m her friend, too. I’d like to see her get happy.”

“Thanks, Evan. I owe you one.”

“You want to thank me? DJ got a sister? I know she’s had an unusual upbringing by pony standards, but man, your wife is cute.”

Celestia and Mike looked at each other, and then back at Evan. “It’s…somewhat complicated,” Mike replied diplomatically.

Normally the city of Manehattan, the most populous of Equestria’s cities, was the city that never slept. But that was usually for a much different reason than what occurred tonight. The citizenry was stunned to see elements of the military rolling in, starting to set up positions in and around the town, and soon the skyscrapers of the Big Apple Fritter were bristling with weapons emplacements as fighter squadrons rocketed above the sky.

It was more than enough to risk ruining Bon-Bon’s dinner with a business partner. Looking back at her wife Waterfire, who was chatting breezily with her business associate’s husband, Bon-Bon smiled appreciatively. “And I think we can meet your needs, Orange. Besides, it’d be a great cross-marketing effort for both our companies. MildBon brand chocolate now baked into every Orange Bakeries’ chocolate croissants, donuts and the like? I think it’d be perfect.”

“Then I’m sold, Bon-Bon,” Orange Box said with a smile. “Let me get a pen and I—” She was suddenly drowned out by the rumble of tanks rolling down the street. “What’s going on?”

Before she could ask, Waterfire looked at Bon-Bon and said, “I’ll find out, Bonnie.” Waterfire excused herself from the table and got up, walking outside. As she did, she noticed that the surrounding area was getting turned into a warfare zone. Summoning her ID via magic, she got the attention of the nearest soldier and said, “I need to speak to your commander.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, recognizing the tone of the senior mage and motioning for her to hop in their tactical vehicle. The pair drove a slight distance away, finally arriving at a series of military tents being set up in Cedar Park in the middle of town. As they arrived, a stallion stepped out of one of the tents, bearing the rank of a three-star general and glittering like an emerald. Waterfire kept her surprise down as she saw him: a crystal pony, one of the earth ponies that had been slightly changed by their life in the Crystal Empire region of Equestria, rarely ventured outside of the territory.

Waterfire wasted no time. “General? I’m Command Mage Waterfire, head of the Regional Mage Facility.”

“Good, saves me the trouble of tracking you down. I’m Emerald Ray, the general in charge of this little soiree. We’ll need some help throwing up some high level shields, though they’re going to need to screen for changelings.”

“Changelings?”

“Yes. I realize that Manehattan seems to think it exists in its own reality, but the truth is that Filly is now nothing but ash and cinders, and we’re here to make sure that the same doesn’t happen to Manehattan. We think we may have gotten them all, but so long as one changeling princess lives, we are all at risk.”

“But isn’t this a bit of overkill, General?”

He looked at her as if she were mad. “Tell that to the innocents that were murdered by the changeling attack. Now my job is to make sure this city doesn’t end up the same way and your job is to give me support, understood, or do I need to start barking up the Guild chain?”

“No sir,” she replied. “I’ll have my on-duty staff liaise with yours in a few minutes. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to dinner.” And with that, she teleported back to the restaurant.

Waterfire arrived back at the restaurant just in time to see Orange and her husband depart. “Sorry I couldn’t get back sooner,” the unicorn apologized. “The general in charge seems to be a real ‘kill ‘em all and let Luna sort ‘em out’ type.”

“What happened?” Bon-Bon asked.

“Something about the changeling invasion of Filly. I don’t know how classified it is, love, so I can’t say anything,” Waterfire explained, “but looks like my ponies are going to be busy for a few days constructing shields and the like.”

“Well, maybe we can just use those damn human weapons to kill them all – human weapons should be good for something,” the earth pony replied.

“Bonnie, I thought we talked about this,” Waterfire said. “Please, just let it go, love.”

“Why should I? Humans ruin everything – I’d still be happily married to Lyra if it wasn’t for them!”

“And our marriage counts for nothing?” Bonnie realized she said the wrong thing and looked down at the ground, chastened. Understanding the mistake, Waterfire nuzzled her spouse, kissing her gently. “You’ve already strained your friendship with Lyra – don’t do this to yourself.”

There was a flicker of rage in Bon-Bon’s eyes, but only for a second before it disappeared, replaced by sorrow. “I’m…sorry. Can we just go home?”

“Sure,” the unicorn replied. “Let’s walk home. It’s a nice enough evening.”

“There,” Champagne Dreams said as she walked into her bedchambers. Blueblood was already there, reading a book. “I’ve made the necessary arrangements and our strategically placed journalists will do their job to their utmost and uncover the truth as to what happened to the poor souls in Fillydelphia. It is a shame that there’s a coverup, but sometimes light must fall on the dark for the truth to be outed.”

“I do feel sorry for my cousin,” Blueblood said delicately. “On one hand, I cannot blame her for her birth as a usurper, but at the same time, she should have supported the rightful rule of the Unicorn Dynasty. And I almost feel sorry for what she will be going through tomorrow at the press conference. Those jackals in the press corps will tear her to shreds.”

Champagne nodded. “All in a days’ work, my prin—” She was interrupted as Blueblood went over and kissed her tenderly. “What makes you so attentive to me today, dearest husband?”

He grinned. “Only that I am clearly not paying enough attention to my loving wife.”

She looked at him. “Turned down again? Who by this time? The chambermaid or one of our daughter’s friends?” He suddenly looked irritated and she knew she’d hit her mark. “Oh, my dearest Blueblood, it vexes me to see you so.” She then nuzzled him carefully, whispering, “I don’t love you.”

“Nor I you,” he said, kissing her neck slightly. “But as somepony said once, I am fond of you.”

“I will be your queen,” she insisted, wrapping her tail around one of his hindlegs. There was enough of the tail remaining for her to poke it underneath his stifle. He reacted immediately, kissing her passionately for several minutes.

“And I your king,” he responded.

“And I will be your everything?” she asked, batting her eyes coquettishly.

“Is that what you desire?”

“Dear sweet Celestia, no!” she laughed. “I’d never get any of my research done otherwise. But,” she said, whispering in his ear, “I can be accommodating for the stallion that married me.”

“As I would be for the mother of my foals,” he breathed, hormones in overdrive.

“Then I believe we have an agreement, dearest husband,” she said, gently grabbing his mane in her teeth, leading him towards their bed.

Sitting in his prison cell, DeVille groaned. Goddamn asshole di Tacco was already a day late with the extraction team, and while he didn’t know about Rickard’s situation, for DeVille, he knew if Ghino didn’t get him out of here soon, the Singaporean military would turn him over to the fucking Canoe Club as soon as they were done, and then it would be Game-fuckin’-Over. Desertion, murder of his superior officer, and all that on top of the weapons theft he was originally going to court-martial for. His ass would rot in Leavenworth forever and a century and that’s if he was lucky. They still did execute military prisoners, after all.

I swear, as soon as Ghino cuts me loose, I’m heading back to Depansar and laying low for a couple of years. Get me a couple of girls, some fine party favors and just play rich foreigner. Girls like that shit.

There was some banging in the distance and a few shouts. DeVille grinned and murmured, “About fucking time.” The banging got louder and at one point there was a blood curdling scream that even affected the usually-inured mercenary. After a few more seconds, the door to the cell started to open and a voice called out, “Mr. DeVille?”

DeVille stood up and looked in the direction of the voice. Standing there, in the moonlight, was Ghino’s girl, Sunset or whatever the fuck her name was. She was covered in blood and from the looks of it, was effective at whatever she did for Ghino aside from being his pecker polisher.

Gotta hand it to him – he knows how to pick the good ones. “Took you long enough. What’s the plan for extraction?”

She looked at him, and there was sorrow in her eyes. “Mr. DeVille…I’m sorry.” And suddenly she turned into what could best be called a Lovecraftian horror, an unnatural creature composed of razorsharp teeth and little else.

The last scream DeVille ever heard was his own as the monster leapt at him.

Author's Note

Yes, this is half of the original version of "The Stars We Are"; in the rewrite, I had so much new material that I figured it was best to split the chapter rather than having you guys read a 35000-word chapter. The next revised chapter (still entitled "The Stars We Are") should be out in a week or two (a week if I'm not busy, two if I am.)

Chapter Seven: The Stars We Are

“Aunt Luna? Is something wrong?” Minty asked as she looked at the sad face of the night princess. At the moment, the moon alicorn was seated on the balcony of Rarity’s home in Canterlot, foalsitting her niece and nephew; two-month-old Elusive was currently asleep in his bassinet at the princess’ side. Both Rarity and Silversteel were at the Royal Infirmary for Rainbow’s delivery, as were the others; seeing that it was time for the night court, Luna cancelled the evening’s proceedings and offered to care for the foals.

“No, not at all, Minty. I was just thinking about your sister,” Luna said, gazing at the stars in the sky. It had been just a week ago that Pinkie had returned from a fruitless search of the latest reality to be breached; nopony knew how many others there were out there and how many they’d have to search before they found Sandalwood – if she was even in one of them or, for that matter, still alive.

Turning to see the confusion on the filly’s face, Luna reached over and picked her up, kissing her gently on the forehead. “She deserves to be here with her family. We all miss her very much and I think if you’d had a chance to meet her, you’d love her just as much as the rest of us do.”

“Will she ever come back?” Minty asked, a weighty question for a seven-year-old filly.

“I hope so,” Luna answered. “Your aunts Twilight and Pinkie are working as hard as they can to find her, and I have every hope that they shall.” Because it was too complex, Luna neglected to mention that she had done extensive searches in the Dreamlands for Sandalwood; now that she was about nine and should have formed her identity as a pony it would be foal’s play to find the young filly and from there work out her physical location. But to date, no such luck had occurred.

“Will she like me?”

Luna hugged the smaller pony closer to her, eliciting a giggle from the younger one. “Of course she will – you two are sisters and like your Aunt Celestia and I, sisters always get along in the end. Sure, it won’t always be easy, but as long as you love each other, sisters always help one another. And besides, both of you need to be big sisters to Elusive. He’s young and going to need someone to look out for him.”

There was a golden flash of light, which turned into a scroll. Luna caught it in her magic and unfurled. “Well, looks like your Aunt Rainbow and Uncle Soarin’ had a colt. They’re naming him Rainbow Blitz.” Luna gave the mint-hued filly a smile. “So until your sister returns, you’re going to have to be like a big sister to Blitz as well, okay?”

“Uh-huh!” Minty promised and was rewarded by a nuzzle from the night princess.

Luna opened her eyes, stretching in the bed. It’s rare when I dream, she mused; as the alicorn that watched over everypony else’s dreams, she rarely had time for her own. I wonder what brought that one o—

Her mind paused as she noted the writing on the wall, a smeared mess of chocolate crème, bubblegum and fingerpaints, all spelling out, YOU ARE HEREBY REQUESTED TO SOUJOURN TO MY DEMESNES. After a few seconds, the whole thing turned into firecrackers and popped, leaving the scent of sweet vanilla and limburger cheese in the air.

A pair of cyan eyes narrowed in anger. “Discord….” Luna seethed.

Cadance stood at the podium, her face looking frazzled and as though it was going to fracture. The press conference was to explain her decision to order Situation Firestarter. While she wasn’t expecting it to be easy, she was at least expecting the press corps to let her get a word in edgewise.

More the fool I, she thought as the jackals continued to savage her.

“Princess, is it true that you ordered the assault in revenge for your husband’s death?”
“Did her majesty authorize this attack, your highness, or did you take it upon yourself to act independently as regent?”
“Your highness, what of the rumors that four of the six Bearers have fallen to the changeling attack? In fact, Knight Commander and Archmagus Twilight Sparkle has not been seen in her office in weeks, nor have the other Knights. Would you care to comment on that?”

Over and over it felt like Cadance was saying the same thing: “No comment.” “I cannot comment on that at this time.” “Those are merely rumors and have no basis in reality.” When it came to the comments about Twilight, however, Cadance’s anger flickered for a second – just long enough to be caught on camera, a further embarrassment for her. This was turning bad, and no doubt she was going to need rescuing soon.

From nowhere, Champagne Dreams stepped in, whispering in Cadance’s ear, “I’ll take it from here.” To the press, she said, “Her highness must now attend day court, and so I’ll take any further questions from this point.”

Cadance whispered a “thanks, Champagne – you’re a lifesaver”, and beat a quick departure. Had Cadance not been in such a hurry, she would have wondered why the princess usually uninterested in governmental affairs was present to assist in such a matter.

“All in a day’s work,” Champagne responded back before turning to continue to the conference. While the look on her face was stately, the smug smile inside was a mile wide. Cadance, you stupid foal. If only you knew….

“I can sense it,” Celestia said, her horn glowing, her body enveloped in a stasis field. She was in her true form at the moment, now comfortable enough to revert to her native form as Singapore began standing down from its emergency status. “Changeling magic was involved, I think.”

“You think?” Rodenkov asked, finding the comment odd.

“This…it’s unusual,” she explained. “Each being has a particular type of magical signature, similar to its DNA. But…I’ve never seen anything like this. It looks like changeling magic, but there’s something else, as if….” She paused, not saying it aloud. This looks like a fusion of changeling and pony magic. Could Chrysalis…?

“Celestia?” Mike asked, turning back to her. As the moment, he was bent down over one corner of the room, latex gloves on his hands looking over anything that the forensics teams might have missed.

“No, it’s nothing,” she replied. If the stories about Chrysalis transforming ponies into changelings are true, I’ll have to get a better answer from Imago. She might not know, but she should have enough genetic memory to explain if it’s feasible.

The group was in the Changi prison complex’s high-security area, where Rickard, DeVille and the changelings had disappeared. But it wasn’t just them: the fifteen SPF Gurkhas and soldiers from the Singapore Army guarding them were now all gone as well. There had been no trace of forced entry or departure, and no one in the less-secure portions of the facility had seen or heard anything. The only sign that anything had occurred was a single fingerprint that they were running through INTERPOL and a wing scale from one of the changelings; Celestia agreed to provide information she had a second scan run on the wing scale by one of her mages.

“Think it could have been an inside job?” Sung asked as both Admiral Singh and Superintendent Lenard arrived on location.

“Preposterous – the SPF is the finest agency in the world! My men are above reproach.”

“Don’t be so daft,” Singh told him. “One of the captured men was a former American SEAL – and I hardly think that the American Navy would consider their people ‘above reproach,’ Superintendent. You’re a police officer – no one is above reproach.” He turned to Celestia, adding, “Am I correct, your majesty?”

Celestia nodded sadly, remembering Luna’s turn as Nightmare Moon’s host and the thousand years of anguish that followed. “Not a single soul, Admiral,” she said softly.

Gespenstflügel fluttered his wings, a sign of irritation. “So the trail goes cold and they get away scot-free, is that it?”

Rodenkov shook his head. “No, no they do not, my friend. We will catch them and we will bring them to justice.” He turned to Mike. “You have my word on that, Commander.”

Mike nodded. “My thanks, Colonel.”

Rodenkov turned to Mitchell. “Talk to the SPF and get all their case files, so we can start a more detailed analysis back in the office. But for now,” he said, taking one last cursory look at the room, “we wait for their next move.” The members of the 15 Office all said their goodbyes to those remaining and then they departed back to prepare for last minute duties before returning back to their home base. Admiral Singh had a meeting to attend and excused himself shortly thereafter, and finally Superintendent Lenard had to return to Central to attend to other duties.

Mike stood in the empty cell with Celestia for what seemed like forever. Finally, she said, “Mike…it won’t end this way. I’ll protect DJ. When she checks out tomorrow, we’ll leave for Equestria soonest.”

The Sailor stood there for the longest time, looking tense and angry. At last, he asked, “You up for lunch? I know this great little Arabic place, found it the last time my ship was passing through here.”

She smiled, glad to see that he was feeling better. “That sounds wonderful,” she replied as the pair walked out of the cell.

The helicopter landed directly on the palace helipad. Once the northern gardens, the whole area had been retooled to accommodate the modern transport systems. Evergreen conifers and bluegrass replaced the seemingly endless rows of various flowers to prevent engine damage from “FOD hazards”, whatever that meant. The gazebo overlooking everything was now supplanted by a gray square of concrete, regularly cleaned and tended to for the princesses’ travel needs. The “Royal Chariot”, an AS365 Dauphin, sat in a nearby hangar, being maintained by a squad of REAF mechanics. ERG guards, both in the ceremonial barding of the Palace Guard division and regular guards in police fatigues and body armor, patrolled the grounds, but easily gave way to the military helicopter coming in.

As guards went up to find out who made an unauthorized landing at this late hour, Pinkie leapt out of the helo, waving to both of them. “Sorry, we would’ve called ahead and let you know we were coming, but we weren’t sure what kind of pizza to bring. Speaking of which, let the chef on duty know we’ll need some dinner – I haven’t had anything to eat but MREs and I’ve got a very intense need for a burrito. Or maybe fudge. Or granol—wait, nopony eats granola; nevermind that. On second thought, just have somepony run down to Pony Joe’s and get us two dozen of his best, stat!”

The guards, now convinced it was Pinkie, backed off immediately, while someone went to fetch the donuts. Fluttershy hopped off the helo, and as Pip handed her the foal, she said, “Remember what I said, Pip. Only you can make that choice.”

“Thanks, Fluttershy,” he said. “I promise that whatever the choice is, I’ll have thought about it extensively.” Fluttershy and Pinkie then moved clear of the helo and as soon as they put several dozen feet worth of space between them and it, the helicopter roared into the skies, headed off into the night sky, bound towards its destination, the REAF base built into the mountainside just south of Canterlot City.

Both Bearers made it no farther than entering the palace proper before Fluttershy was nearly tackled by Cinnamon and Macintosh. Both glomped their loved one and only a flicker of motion by Pinkie saved the quiet foal from being crushed by hugs.

“Thank the stars y’r okay, hun!” Macintosh said, rearing just long enough to hold his wife close. While he wasn’t the emotional type, his eyes seemed a bit misty.

“Mom! You’re okay!” Cinnamon embraced both her parents, tears of relief streaming unabashedly down her face. “I was worried when you didn’t come back after a day!”

“I’m fine,” she promised, kissing her husband and then her daughter in turn. “I’ve got to talk to Cadance. Is she here?”

“Uh, yeah she is, just got savaged by a bunch of reporters, too. She’s in the Throne Room and Elusive’s with her at the moment.”

“Good; I need to talk to him as well. Pinkie, go ahead and see if everyone’s okay then explain what happened; I’ll handle the rest. Mac, go with her – things are about to get even rougher for us now. Cinnamon, come with me.” Fluttershy deftly scooped the foal out of Pinkie’s forelegs.

Pinkie mock-saluted her friend. “You can count on me! C’mon, Mac, I’ll tell you about my big war injury on the way – I got a splinter in my hoof and Fluttershy had to pull it out.” As the pair raced down a different corridor towards the Eastern entrance and the city gate, the two pegasi flew towards the western wing of the castle, where the Throne Room was. Fluttershy took care to fly gently and slowly, and Cinnamon noticed it immediately. Others offered congratulations to Fluttershy on her safe return or said hello, but immediately thought better of it the moment they saw the determined look on her face.

“Uh, Mom? Can I ask what that is? If, um, that’s okay with you,” Cinnamon finally asked, broaching the subject.

Fluttershy had both a slight smile and a sad look on her face as she heard former signature phrase, now uttered from her daughter’s lips on a regular basis. “It’s a foal, sweetie,” she answered.

“You found a survivor?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.” As they approached, the guards deftly opened the doors. In turn, Fluttershy and Cinnamon alit on the ground; by tradition no one was allowed to fly in the Throne Room and it was something that Celestia insisted on, even with her family members, citing her mother’s edict for decorum in the space.

The pair arrived just to see Princess Gilded Lily and Prince Blueblood arguing with a very exhausted and impatient Cadance. For a rare change, Lily was on the side of the current royal family instead of the previous dynasty.

“Father, Cadance was doing the best she could. You saw that pack of hooligans masquerading as journalists – they had no respect for her whatsoever.”

“That’s immaterial, daughter,” Blueblood commented before he turned to Cadance. “The populace is panicking and there are reports of stampedes breaking out in several cities! Plus, the refugee camp outside the remains of Fillydelphia should have been dispersed by now and the residents sent to new locations. What do you intend to do about this, Cadance?”

Already raw from her savaging at the hands of the press, the Avatar of Love gave her distant cousin a baleful stare. “Blue, let’s be upfront: since when have you cared about the common pony?”

“Both restoring order and ministering to the needs of the refugees will bleed the treasury dry, and as Minister of Finance, I’m—”

“As Minister of Finance, you know the funds are there for the future of Equestria and its subjects, regardless of whether they’re ponies, gryphons, buffalo, humans, or whomever! Furthermore, our budget is running at a surplus and at times like these, we must look out for our fellow beings!”

Blueblood couldn’t think of anything to say, so he instead changed tactics. “And that’s what you should have said at the conference! A leader leads, Cadance – when will you see that?”

“With Celestia and Luna remaining in Singapore due to the emergency right now, I’ve had to come back and run everything and I assure you, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have our dear aunts’ thousands of years of experience. Plus, I’m not planning to try to stage a coup the first chance I get into power, unlike you.”

“You dare to accuse me of plotting against her majesty?” the unicorn said in a dangerous tone.

“Blue, I know you are part of the previous dynasty, but you are still family,” Cadance said in measured tones as she descended from the dais, her patience now exhausted. “Our aunt might not say it, but I will: whatever parlor trick you might want to dr—”

Frantic, Lily stepped between them. “Please, Father, Cadance, I think this is gone on quite enough. Arguing like this does not look well for us either as royals or as family.”

“I agree,” Elusive said, now speaking up in defense of his aunt. “Blueblood, Lily, it’s probably best that we end court for the day. Cadance has had a trying time today and I hardly think she needs another round of headaches.”

Blueblood flashed the younger stallion a look of disgust. “Your ad-hoc ‘family’ may let you be overfamiliar with your betters, but as for me, you shall address me as ‘your highness’, whelp. You’ve only the coattails of my deluded aunt’s pity to ride on, while I proudly stand on the shoulders of my forebears, such worthies as Queen Platinum or King Jasper.” Blueblood decided to ruffle the upstart’s feathers a bit. “Did you know that when we first met, your oh-so-sanctified mother lifted her tail for me? We’d just been introduced the moment before and she suddenly started to want to get to know me better in the, how shall we say, more intimate sense. I’ve no doubt your mother is truly Generosity in its avatar, but really, I wonder how generous she is with her marely ch—” The unicorn would have finished his sentence had not a lemon-yellow wing spread out in front of his muzzle, silencing him.

“My apologies, but the foal is sleeping,” Fluttershy said to him, a smile on her tired face. Then turning to her loved ones, she said, “Cadance, Elusive, I understand you’ve both had a bad day, but do you mind if we talk for just a moment?” Fluttershy turned and handed the foal to her daughter. “It’s very important and I thi—”

“HOW DARE YOU! I SHOULD HAVE YOU ARRESTED THIS VERY MOMENT, YOU HARRIDELLE!” Blueblood roared. In turn, the foal awoke and started to cry, its peals nearly as loud as the buffoon of a royal. “Shut that stupid brat u—”

Fluttershy turned and opened her Stare right at the uncouth Prince. Her already-blistering gaze, now supercharged by the extra strength of motherhood, made an already vicious action a hundred times that more potent. Blueblood, unfamiliar with Fluttershy’s special skill, took the full brunt of the glower and did the only sensible thing: he passed out. Her job complete, she turned to Blueblood’s daughter and said, “Lily, would you be so kind as to get some guards to assist your father? I believe he may need it.” She then took the foal back from Cinnamon and patiently waited until guards, reacting to Blueblood’s shouts, saw his prone form, quickly figured out what happened and dragged him out of the room, the unicorn princess following shortly behind, the ghost of a smile almost appearing on her lips as she departed.

Once that was done, Fluttershy spoke in gentle tones to the foal, “There, there – ignore big Mr. Meany Blueblood. You’re with family now, little one. You’ll be safe, I promise.” Instinctively, the foal somehow understood that, and gurgling softly, immediately stopped crying.

“Family?” the three other ponies gasped, not expecting those words.

Elusive, caught off-guard, looked at the small, covered bundle in Fluttershy’s arms. “But that foal’s way too young to be Gumdrop! And where are Minty and Toffee?”

“We didn’t find any of them, Elusive. I’m sorry,” she told her nephew, her tone modulated so the young foal wouldn’t pick up on sad emotions. “The town was in ruins by the time we arrived, and if she’s not amongst the evacuees, then….” The mare trailed off; to voice that her niece and her family were gone would be too much to bear for all present. “But we did find this…newborn, Cadance.”

The moment Fluttershy addressed her, Cadance’s heart seized as clarity sank in like a dragon on black wings. A look of sorrow, shock and horror came over her face as she whispered, “Shiny confessed to me shortly before he died, and said that he knew this was going to happen someday. But he made me promise that should I be in a situation where I could rescue one of…his foals, that it would be not just his, not his and Chrysalis’, but that it would be his and mine.”

Fluttershy nodded, approaching her sister royal with the swaddled foal.

From where she stood, Cinnamon looked at the bundle, remembering her late uncle and his stories about the monstrous changeling queen. He’d…had a child with that? He cheated on his wife? With that monster? The brown pegasus seemed to shrink away from her mother, as if she were carrying an unstable magic explosive.

Elusive looked at the foal in his aunt’s forelegs, then moved to his cousin’s side. “It wasn’t by his doing, Cinnamon,” he whispered to her. “Chrysalis once impersonated as our dear aunt and placed him in thrall. Do you ever think Uncle Shining, as much as he loved Cadance, would ever cheat on her willingly? And even if by some reason he did, you can’t hold that against that poor foal. The only wrongdoer in this instance was Chrysalis.”

She shook her head at the silliness. “You’re right, Elusive. Sorry.”

Fluttershy, overhearing the conversation, was proud of both the younger ponies. Both had proven to be more mature than either of their parents at that age. She then came to a stop in front of the pink alicorn, asking, “Are you ready to be a mother?”

“That foal is the only thing left of the husband I loved so very much.” Despite her exhaustion of the day, she rose to royal dignity and said gently as she descended the dais, “I would see my foal, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy favored her friend with a gentle smile. “Once you see him, you’ll see he takes after his father’s side of the family.”

“A colt?” Cadance asked, and Fluttershy nodded. “Shiny always wanted a son first,” Cadance murmured, a beatific smile rising to her face. As she reached out, Fluttershy gently unbundled the young foal, so Cadance could see him for herself. The moment she saw the small bundle of joy, any hesitation melted away in the sight of the innocent newborn. Tears coming to her eyes, she says, “You’re right – he looks just like his aunt. Does he have a name?”

Fluttershy’s smile was angelic. “It’s tradition for the mother to name her foal, you know that, silly.”

“You’re right; I’d forgotten that.” She gently nuzzled the newborn and in response, his forelegs stretched out to reach her muzzle. “Your name is Dusk Shine, my son,” she whispered, with a tear of joy running down her cheek, “and I am your mother.” Turn to face her family, Cadance said, “Velvet once told me that had Twilight been born a colt, she would have given this name. Considering the resemblance, I think it’s fair.” Turning to the younger ones, she said, “Would you two like to see your cousin?”

Elusive grinned. “Looks like you and I will be sharing parenting notes,” he commented as he approached the new mother and foal.

Fluttershy looked to her daughter. “Still nervous about Dusk, Cinnamon?”

“He’s part changeling – aren’t you?”

The pegasus’ mind suddenly went to a very different changeling and her similar chimera daughter. “No, not when there’s love and harmony,” she told her daughter softly. The three adults then gathered around Cadance and her new son, just as Pinkie marched in with the rest of the family, several guards following behind with trays of donuts and milk for everypony – and bottles of formula for Equestria’s newest prince.

Closing her eyes, Luna entered the Dreamlands.

The first thing she noticed was that a familiar presence had been here as of recent. She wasn’t sure who, but somehow it seemed both familiar and comforting. Perhaps it had been Celestia; though it was not something she did commonly, the day princess was hardly barred from this extranormal realm. The second thing she noticed is that it was day here in the Dreamlands, something that she hadn’t seen often, but then again, she wasn’t used to operating during the day hours.

With purpose, Luna strode on, wishing any pony she came across a peaceful sleep and a restful wake. There were others here as well, those ponies whose imaginations and flights of fancy carried them here, even if only temporarily. They were not hers to tend to, and she wasn’t sure whose dominion it was to do so. Perhaps Celestia’s? That would explain the familiar presence, if so. In any case, there was nothing she could do for them and moved on.

It was times like this, lost in the Dreamlands, that she felt free of her burdens and cares. She wished she could find the pathways to the human portions of the realm, if only to gaze into Robin’s dreams, or to finally see if DJ’s mind sat amongst the other humans within the slumberlands. It was in these moments where she acted with one of the most important of her duties that she paradoxically felt the most free here. It had been from the first moment she’d approached Scootaloo regarding nightmares that Luna realized it: in the dream realms, they came to Luna as Luna, not as their princess, goddess, Avatar, whatever. She was just another soul to reach out to and discuss their dreams with, just another pony. She liked that; it made her far more approachable than ponies treated her in real life, even the same ones who willingly reached out to her in their dreams.

Eventually, she reached Discord’s spot in the centermost part of the Dreamlands, the space reserved for those whose bodies were comatose or frozen, yet still alive. At the moment, he was holding a hot dog, drawing on his bonds with it. The results of his “penmanship”, strange-looking butterflies, flew off the chains for a short bit before popping with a flatulent sound. He looked like he’d given up attempting to break through the shackles and was merely waiting through the irritating time until these chains would weaken and break and allow him to be free once more, though he knew not when. To Luna, however, he seemed a sorry, pitiable wretch who could never be forgiven his crimes, even if he could be excused from them. Such was the pathetic state of Discord, Avatar of Chaos.

“My, I seem to have a visitor,” the draconequus said, trying to find a comfortable position in his bindings. “Ah, dear Luna: such a pleasant surprise to see you here, visiting poor little me.”

“You called me here,” she said archly.

“Indeed, indeed I did, but yet you came and you are here. Please understand that I am poor in fellow travelers on the road of immortality, so to see one of my favorites here pleases me.”

“Favorites?”

“Of course,” he said, templing his forepaw and talon together. “Celestia, despite her well-known mischievous streak, is too prim and proper to be a true friend. You, however, are not afraid to let down your mane when it counts.”

“I wasn’t quite myself then,” Luna replied, bristling at the backhooved compliment. “I was a spoiled foal that acted out against my sister and I paid for it, quite dearly, and it wasn’t until a thousand years later that six brave mares stood up to save me from the evil that had possessed me,” she answered, her tone firm.

“Such a shame: I’d-a thunk Celestia’s dourness is starting to rub off on you, but-a now-a I-a sure,” he said, flipping through two pointless accents during the course of his words, even as he produced an eraser, erasing his left arm until it completely vanished. He then tapped his left horn and a brown ink poured from it until it solidified in a puddle in the air, recreating his arm. “Or rub off on me; it’s all the same, really. Be that as it may, it is still good to see a fellow immortal. I even forgive you for imprisoning me, as I suspect that was more Celestia’s call than yours.”

Luna sat down before him, rolling her eyes. This was clearly going to be a long, long, long talk. Willing a cup of coffee into existence, she took a sip. “Care for one? I’m not as much of a tea drinker as my sister is.”

“Straight black, if you please,” Discord said, and a second later, a cup of java appeared before him. He drank the cup and let the liquid remain, leaving it floating in the space before him in case he required a “refill”. Looking at the night princess with large eyes, he furrowed his bushy eyebrows as he said, “I have some news for you, Luna. I have watched the world spin and time run and the celestial poles dance…or is that Celestia pole dancing?” he said, putting a paw out and lifting a digit. The digit changed to a pole and a human danced sultrily on it; Luna recognized it as one of the human forms her sister used when in disguise on human-Earth.

“Get to your point – I’m no mood for games,” the mistress of the moon answered.

“You must work on that sense of humor of yours, Luna.” In near-synchronicity, the mini-human Celestia stuck her tongue at Luna before vanishing and the pole returning to the natural form of Discord’s claw as he tapped the coffee to summon another cup. “In any case, I still have some attachment to the real world, you realize; you cannot remove chaos from the world, not completely. And I assure you I will be of more use to you and your sister than I was, say, the last time we three were together.”

“I doubt it.”

He laughed, a cacophony of sounds that were reminiscent of mirth in several languages and species. “I’ve been watching everything, you know. Seeing your old friend Nightmare Moon and her new bestest buddy Chrysalis cause all sorts of problems around Equestria. I thought it was rather cute in its own way, but….” He shrugged softly and she suddenly realized something was amiss.

No jibe to tie that into some nonsense phrase? It’s almost as if he deplored the loss of life there, she mused. But that didn’t make sense; plenty of ponies had lost their lives during his monstrous reign before she and Celestia ended that terror. No, this is Discord. Sooner or later he’ll come around to that and tie it into his grand scale of turmoil – it’s just his way.

Meanwhile, the Avatar of Chaos continued with his words. “And this new realm you’ve tied yourselves to, the humans?” The smile on his face was wide as he crowed, “They are living, breathing anarchy in a way even I cannot begin to comprehend. Saints and sinners, angels and demons, all wrapped up in a single soul, and there are quite literally billions of them out there. They kill their own kind and save complete strangers; they destroy their own world in the name of saving it and then strive to heal it at the cost of the bedlam they caused in the first place.” He sighed dramatically, theatrically swooning as he pronounced, “I am watching artists at work, true prodigies and savants. I must admit, I almost feel obsolete.”

Luna became livid; this was a waste of her time. “You summoned me in order to tell me that?” She rose to her hooves, snarling, “If all you plan to do is state the obvious, then I am leaving. I have more important things to do than to sit here and listen to what passes for your sense of merriment.”

As she turned to leave, he asked, “Do you remember your mother?”

Luna turned back, her horn blazing like a star as she seethed, “Don’t you dare say one word about my mother, you beast!” Of all the buttons of Luna’s that could be pressed, that was one of the most severe ones. She’d never known her mother, had no memory of the gentle creature that had given her life. In fact, for the first century of her life she grew up thinking that Celestia had been her mother and it had only been after Luna asked that Celestia had explained about Faust’s existence and sudden disappearance.

“I remember your mother.” The look in his eyes was sad. “She was a friend of mine. I care not if you believe me, but it is true all the same, she was a dear, dear friend.”

“Was?” Luna’s heart stopped.

“I cannot tell you more – nor, from what I can see, have you any interest to listen to what I have to say about Faust. Truthfully, I feel she would be disturbed to know that her daughter has grown up to become a mare of boorish demeanor.”

Humbled, Luna turned away in shame for a moment before replying with, “Then…I apologize for my outburst.”

Discord nodded. “It is because of that friendship that I cherished that I tell you this, again, whether you believe it or no: as to your tormentor and her ally? I have no truck with them. I had the opportunity not so long ago to invest myself back in the world, but I chose not to, I truly did. And do you know why? It was the sheer pleasure of watching the very ponies Celestia used to imprison me bring Equestria to its knees in pure, unbridled chaos by fighting against each other – do you comprehend how much joy and revelry that brought me?” He grinned and bowed as much as he could while in his bonds. “For that little ‘War of the Elements’ you have all earned my respect and I am taking a well-deserved break from my duties.” He stretched and the dream chains clinked in harmony like an ersatz xylophone.

She nickered in frustration. “I don’t have time for this, Discord.”

He waggled a talon in negation. “You must, because even though I am chaos, I am not evil, and you know that – even Celestia, though she’d be hard pressed to admit it. But both the changeling queen and the Nightmare are playing with fire in a way neither of them comprehend and it could be disastrous for everything in creation. The times are changing and the Rules are in play once more.”

“The Rules?”

“Don’t bother to ask me to clarify; even after all this time I have yet to discern what they really are. But I know what they do, and one of those things they do is this time to remove me from the great game that is about to commence. And all I may do is stand here on the sidelines, watching as the chess pieces commence their war. And you, Princess Luna, are one of those meant to pick up your standard and make your entry in the next cycle.”

“The next cycle?” Luna asked, somewhat caught off-guard by his words; they sounded genuine, not faked. Discord is being sincere? Something has changed, and if it is enough to make him stern and serious, then perhaps he is telling the truth.

“Indeed, yes, though in this cycle I am merely but a messenger, tasked to leave the words to someone…or somepony, in your case. These are three ancient riddles passed unto me, three enigmas at the heart of a great conflict that was before my time and may end in yours.”

“End in mine?”

“I am not sure. That is now your fate to decipher. These are ciphers you must solve, lest their peril doom everything that has ever been and ever will be.”

“No riddles, Discord!” Luna leapt to her feet. “I am in no mood for games.”

A displeased look crossed the draconequus’ face. “My station is done now. I was once Chaos; now I am merely Discord. And for my friendship with your mother, I will be the paper on which the news was delivered by some other being to pass to you. Even I have superiors that I must answer to, in the end,” he replied. “The riddles are these. Maestro, please!” A lute suddenly appeared in the air before him and strummed itself as he canted:

“These riddles are older than time itself,
In some place they sat upon a shelf –
Perhaps in a vault guarded by an elf.”

“That’s the riddle?” Luna asked. “That makes no sense!”

“No, that’s not a riddle, that’s me warming up to the performance,” Discord said, placing a gentle paw on his chest. “And if that riddle perplexes you, then perhaps these other ones will completely stump you – and I hope for the worlds’ sakes, they do not.” The lute began to play once more and he continued:

“Two out of three, contest near goal
Advantage to design and sol
And now the third she wants unwhole
The choice for her’s to end the game
Or else fortunes will end the same.

“The first game started by hubris humbled
The results caused a realm that stumbled
All sides lost, bright vic’try crumbled
That game is done, the next set come
Entropy wants this last undone

“This was ordained ere ‘fore your birth
Two tulpars have proven their worth
Anarchy’s key is of the earth
And if it lets success be sworn
Reason shall have a wing and horn.”

“What does any of that mean?”

The draconequus looked as if straining to come up with some discombobulated answer, but instead shook his head and replied with, “I don’t know. If I had the answer, I would serve a different place in this game. But The Rules made me what I was, what I am and what I will be.”

“And that is?”

“Discord. Yesterday, the Avatar of Chaos; today, a prisoner in body and a soothsayer in mind; tomorrow, who knows?”

When Discord finished his statement, Luna took it as true. He had no reason to lie; if anything, it seemed as if he was going against his very nature to be open and forthright with her. However, there was something else Luna could see, something he didn’t and would never admit, but she saw it regardless. “I see. Thank you, Discord. I appreciate the honesty. In any case, I must be going now.”

“Luna, I do have a request, if you please.” To her surprise, the request was not to be released, likely because he knew Celestia would never allow it. “The birds that come by the garden…they’ve been quite messy, thinking me to be nothing more than a statue. As much as I value the…randomness of it all, it is still insulting to be used as a bidet. Would you move me? Somewhere preferably where birds aren’t as likely to be a problem.”

“I’ll ensure it and have your form cleaned as well,” she replied, genuinely appreciative of all he’d told her. “I shall be back.”

“I know you will, Nightbringer. I know you will.”

When Star Swirl woke up, she was left with a note from Sweetie Belle:

Star,

Sorry about last night. I wasn’t thinking clearly and…you were right. I should have stuck to my responsibilities and I didn’t. Consider me chastened and lucky that I have a friend like you.

No, I don’t want to go into details about what happened with me and Pip. Maybe I’ll tell you later; I still have to deal with it myself. But it doesn’t change how I feel about him. That’s a part of me that will never change. Maybe it should, but that’s just not me, sorry.

I saw Spines’ note on the table so let her know I’ll make sure Spike gets it. Probably won’t change his mind, but he does appreciate them.

Your friend,
- Sweetie

We’re like two birds of a feather, aren’t we? Star mused sadly, looking at the baby dragon still asleep in her bed. Neither of us will ever get the one we love, though at least you’ve got a better shot. I can’t do that until Pip is out of the way.

A few minutes later, Spines woke up to the scent of pancakes cooking. Peering over the edge of the overhang, she saw Star hovering over the stove, cooking. “Morning, Spines!” the unicorn said without looking up. “C’mon down. Making you some sapphire pancakes and me some chocolate ones.”

Spines suddenly perked up. “You’re making breakfast for me?”

Star nodded. “Sometimes I get to do nice things for my little sister, don’t I?”

Spines, however, was wiser than her years. “So, Sweetie Belle wouldn’t say what was wrong, did she?”

Star looked at the baby dragon. “You are entirely too perceptive for your own good, you know that?”

“Look who’s raising me – I don’t have a choice,” the younger female replied.

Star chuckled and said, “I’ll deal with it in my own time…and I will deal with it. In the meanwhile, what’s on the agenda?”

“Well,” Spines said, “You’ve got a 10 o’clock with Mayor Wind Whistler, followed by a noon with Sheriff Caramel.”

“Yay, wife and husband both want something from the Guild. I can see this is going to be a great day,” Star drolled. “What else?” she asked, as both sisters sat down to eat breakfast and chat before she sent Spines off to school.

Life buzzed in a way it had never been expected to in Dream Valley. Once known as Ghastly Gorge, the place had become a barren hole after the quarry eels had moved on to different hunting grounds, likely never to return. Instead, once Imago had her first brood, she moved down into the valley to claim it for her swarm. That had been five years ago, and things were changed much for the better.

At the moment, flutters filled the sky, their terracotta-hued bodies flying to and fro imparting life into the gorge, which they’d since named Dream Valley. They requested an official name change from the Equestriani government and hopefully it would soon be forthcoming. Soon the flutters would be able to join pony society, to put forth the better hoof that changelings could be.

In the center of it all, Imago walked through the town, a wide smile on her face. Beside her strode a pegasus mare and a unicorn stallion, both in middle-age. The mare, Willow, spoke. “Now, honey, I want you to be careful. Pip is much older than you and he might have very different opinions about marriage.”

“But Mom,” Imago gushed, “Pip loves me! He chose me and our family!” The flutterqueen seemed to pirouette in her steps, turning to finally face her parents. “I’m hoping for a big wedding as soon as we have a chance. A royal wedding – won’t it be grand?”

Gladstone nodded but added, “Remember that you’re a queen in name only, sweetie. It won’t be a royal wedding unless Princess Celestia agrees to it.” When Imago suddenly looked downcast, her father said, “But you’ll always be my little princess, Maggie.”

She instantly perked up. “Thanks, Dad,” she gushed. “I just want to make him happy.”

Despite the size difference, Willow reached up and hugged her daughter. “As long as you’re happy, Maggie, then we’re happy. That’s all we’ve ever wanted for you. Of course, more grandfoals would probably help.”

A lidded look crossed Maggie’s face. “Mom, you have 151 grandfoals.”

The smile on Willow’s face was wide. “A mare can dream, can’t she?”

The letter appeared suddenly in the air with a burst of magic. Patrons of the Café La Caire, just a few blocks away from the hospital, already skittish from the attack and the subsequent lockdown of the country and further spooked by the arrival of two heavily-armed foreigners in military fatigues, dived under the table at this latest shock to their collective psyches. At no point did anyone attempt to run, lest something worse and weirder happen within the next five minutes.

Celestia winced; she could practically feel the panic and paranoia of the room. Initially, she thought that it would be better to be inconspicuous if she was in her human form but now that she was just another person in the mess, she wasn’t so sure. “Sorry!” she called out. “It’s just a letter to me. Perfectly safe, nothing wrong.” Turning back to Mike, she asked, “I wonder if I should revert to my true form.”

Mike shook his head. “Because after seeing that the last thing they need is having the ruler of another nation – who, if I recall, some ponies consider a goddess – arrive in the midst of them. It’d probably be easier just to show up as a skeleton in a black robe,” he drolled.

“I’m sorry, I don’t get that reference.”

“The Grim Reaper – it’s a personification for death.” He took a bite of his gyro; he’d been here the last time he was in Singapore and loved the place though they’d changed the menu a bit since then. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be as easygoing as the last time; he certainly wasn’t armed nor did he have a very unique (or equine) dining partner that time. “Sorry,” he said a second later. “Going all gallows humor on you and you probably don’t need that right now.”

“I’ve dealt with much worse over the years, I can assure you,” she said, taking a bite of a vegetarian muttabal dish the waiter had recommended. “Still thinking about DJ’s situation?”

He nodded. “I can’t state enough about how much I love her. She has ever been and only will be the only woman in my life and it’s never meant a single thing to me that she’s not human. But this self-loathing that she refuses to admit…it’s eating her alive. Maybe Matt and Anna should’ve gotten her some help for that, or maybe I should have. But at the same time, I don’t think any of you are helping either.”

“How so?”

“You want DJ and Rarity to make up. Did it ever occur to any of you that might not be the best thing? Granted, I do agree that she should, if only because our children deserve to know they have a non-human heritage that extends beyond their mother. But not every human would agree that reuniting them is the best thing. Sometimes just letting them go their own ways is the best solution.”

“I can’t agree with that,” Celestia said. “Rarity…it destroyed her losing DJ for so long and then to see her, Minty and DJ fight? That hurt the rest of us. Friendship and love are very important things in pony culture, possibly more than they are in human culture, as far as I can tell. Perhaps it is a cultural blindspot for us, but DJ is a member of our family and I couldn’t face my family, much less my subjects, without knowing that I did everything as a princess – and an aunt – to restore harmony within my own household.”

“I understand. But at the same time, I hope you see my point: at the end of the day, I just want DJ to be whole again. I want to see the girl with the easy-going attitude and not the one with a cynical streak that could make her MCPON just on that qualification. I want her to be at peace, even if it means she embraces her pony side, goes back to being Sandalwood and rejects her humanity. If she’s happy, then I could live with that.”

“You sincerely could? Even if it meant potentially losing your wife?”

Mike was sincere as he said, “Because I’m her husband, yes. Because I’m the father of her children and the only man she’s ever loved, yes. And because I can’t be happy, deep down in my heart, unless I know for a fact that she is.”

Celestia sat there for a few minutes, watching the human eat. She’d heard those words before, but it had been ages since anyone had ever said them so sincerely: Argent Lance, the only stallion that had ever found a place in her heart. She even remembered the day he’d said that, the day he’d proposed to her and she’d said yes. Those words, spoken three hundred years in the past, echoed in her mind even now: “Celestia, I know I’m just a mortal guard, and I know I don’t deserve the love you’ve given me. But your happiness, to see you smile: that’s ever been the only thing I live for now. Because I cannot be happy, deep down in my heart, unless I know for a fact that you are.”

A brief flare of envy burned in Celestia’s heart, but she tamped it down; certainly DJ was a lucky mare for having a husband such as he. Instead, she chose to focus on the scroll, unfurling it and beginning to read.

“So what’s with the scroll?” he asked her.

She gave him a weak smile. “I’ve been trying to get my staff away from sending magic documentation in favor of modern communications. Unfortunately, they can be somewhat hidebound at times.”

“I know the feeling,” Mike commented. “NCTAMS PAC has been trying to get ships onto the new military tweeting protocol for faster message transmission, but the Captain prefers the old fashioned way, by radio and keeping the ITs busy. I know it’s been driving Jennifer – that’s Lt. Nguyen, our COMMS officer – right up the wall, but the Old Man does things her way, I guess.”

Celestia gave her order and then turned back to her dinner partner. “Old Man? Her way? Isn’t your ship’s captain a woman?” Celestia asked as she magically unfurled the scroll.

“Yeah. ‘The Old Man’ is a term for the captain regardless of gender; it comes from a book titled The Old Man and the Sea, if I recall correctly. Besides, Captain Alberghetti gets a kick out of it. Well, that and her penchant for playing that damn song for reveille – I swear, if I hear ‘Wild Fire’ by…I don’t remember, some country singer from the 70’s – again I’ll…. But anyways, after all this time, I’m sick as hell of that song.” He took another bite of food, then asked, “What’s the message say?”

She unfurled it further, briefly looking at the top of the message before a sad expression etched itself on her face. “We’ll have to leave for Equestria as soon as possible. Things have proceeded from bad to worse.”

“How bad?”

She read on, then stopped, completely aghast as she blurted, “Cadance activated Situation Firestarter.” Her mind numbed at the thought of the destruction of one of her greatest cities; her ponies needed her and she was so far away she never could have helped. “There’s no chance anyone could have survived that….” The ancient alicorn’s mind reeled from the blow, especially remembering one particular pony and the last time she’d seen that smiling face. Minty…. She started to shudder, wrapping her arms around herself in chills.

Mike had seen shock before. Flagging down the waitress and paying the bill, he said, “Let’s get you out of here.” Dully, she complied as she allowed herself to be led by the hand out of the café; Mike was glad she wasn’t in her normal form, as the situation was surreal enough – trying to look like some sort of modern knight leading a fantasy steed out by the halter would be one step too weird for his tastes. Once outside, he said, “Talk to me: you okay?”

“No, no I’m not,” she shook her head. “I feel like I’ve taken as many bucks to my psyche as possible in just a few short days and now this….” She leaned into him, tears falling. In response, he embraced her, letting her cry for the pain and guilt she felt from failing her subjects, ponies that looked up to her. The pair made a scene in an already weird week for Singapore, but Mike was well beyond the point of caring. He started the week off with his ship being shot at, then a few days later being shot at directly, then nearly losing DJ and was now trying to prevent the ruler of a foreign nation – one who was his wife’s aunt – from completely melting down…after he’d saved her life just a few days before. They didn’t prep officers for stuff like this at the Academy but he remembered his drill instructors telling his group of midshipmen, “You want to lead blueshirts and leathernecks? Then you’d damn well better expect the Goddamn unexpected!” Mike wished he could thank both of them; he certainly was taking that advice to heart.

Meanwhile, she kept crying on his shoulder, feeling like an utter failure. “So many of them look up to me as a goddess, but when they need divine protection, all I can do is fail them!” she said, looking up at him with blue eyes stained with tears.

“DJ never looked at you as a goddess. Sure, you’re powerful – Luna just proved that – but trust me, you’re just a more accomplished magic user than my wife is.”

“Well of course I am – she’s just an earth pony.”

“No,” he said, a fond smile breaking on his face, “she’s the love of my life. And for me, that’s magic enough.”

“To me you are my truest love, and for me, that is magic enough.” Those words – she hadn’t heard them in so long. It was something that Argent had always told her after a particularly vexing day and with no one to turn to; she’d loved him for that and now hearing them all over again, even if it wasn’t addressed to her, well…her heart skipped a beat. Two.

He noticed a strange look in her eyes. “Celestia, you okay?”

“Not really, no,” she told him, “I don’t think I can be after this. But thank you for caring.”

“You’re welcome. After all, how’d you put it? ‘We are all family – and that includes you too. You’re not left out just because you’re a different species.’”

She laughed, suddenly feeling better. “You’re the best, you know that?” She looked into his eyes and there was care and concern, but not pity. That was what she’d loved Argent for most. Too many of the subjects in her inner circle had looked on Celestia with pity when they knew the full measure of her life, but he never did, and it wasn’t for hundreds of years until a particular unicorn filly was born that she could ever really trust anyone that deeply ever again.

Why are you so much like him? she wondered, and before she could control herself, instinct, desire and loneliness took control of the Princess of Equestria’s actions.

“Hey, that’s what I—mmph!” His words were suddenly cut off as the transformed alicorn suddenly kissed him. He immediately broke off, shouting, “Celestia? What the fuck?”

She looked just as shocked as he did. “I…Oh, Mike, I’m sorry! I…I just….”

He sighed. Yup, Master Chief Fett’s advice was coming well in hand. “I forgive you. Just…don’t do that again. Honestly, I’m just gonna chalk that one up to emotional overload; Lord knows I’ve seen enough of that shit as of late. Just…don’t, okay?”

She looked down. “It was an accident. I…I guess you already know about how the human emotional range is more intense than that of ponies?” she explained, trying to find a reason for her scandalous action.

“Not until you just told me.” Great, now I’m arguing with an alicorn. I’m really betting this was not what Dad had in mind for me when he told me not to date DJ way back when. “You’re going to have a weird life dating that alien!” Dad, you have no idea. “Whatever. Well, I don’t know about you, but we walked out after only two bites of lunch and I’m still hungry, so…there’s a McDonald’s down the street. Better than nothing.” He started walking, an apologetic Celestia following close behind, headed for the red livery on the building two blocks away.

“I’m hesitant to approve this leave, Colonel,” Goldengrape told Pip. “We’ve all but declared war against the changelings and I need my best mares and stallions at their positions – especially my special operators.”

“General, I have to check on Project Brightwing. Prince Shining Armor entrusted me with that and—”

“Yes, I know. I have a small security base at the edge of the Ghastly Gorge to keep track of the quarry eels in case they start migrating into inhabited nearby areas. But I’ve received no reports of that, so I’m hesitant to continue funding the base. What I do receive instead is the occasional bizarre statement from the major currently in command of that facility demanding I blow it to smithereens. Care to explain that?”

“Princess Celes—”

“Yes, I’m quite aware of your relationship to the princess via your fillyfriend, you don’t have to wave it in front of my face.” He shook his head. “Pip, Shining Armor was a friend of mine – a good friend of mine – and he never told me or Silversteel or Emerald Ray what is going on down there. Yet he entrusted you and probably did so in a royal edict so I can’t countermand it. But is it really that important down there?”

Pip nodded. “Yes, sir. That’s why I’m asking for this, so it remains off the books. If Project Brightwing succeeds, Equestria will have something on its side for the future.” Something bright and shining already, he thought to himself, thinking of the fluttermare that called him husband.

“Common sense would tell me I’m mad to do this, but…” He reached into his desk, pulled out a pen and took it in his hoof – all Army personnel were required to learn hoofwriting and dexterity – signed the papers. “You’re on leave for thirty days, Colonel. See you back then, and if you can find an unofficial way of explaining to me what’s down there, I’d genuinely like to know. You’re not the only one who cares about Equestria’s security. Dismissed.”

“So, Evan says the doctors are fine with me leaving first thing in the morning; he’ll be here a couple more days to wind up paperwork and then it’s back to Yokota for him.” DJ smiled happily; Evan had done as promised and the remains of a bacon double cheeseburger and fries sat on the table, right next to a large empty glass that started off earlier as a full chocolate shake.

“That’s great, love.” Mike leaned forward and kissed her, while Celestia sat in the chair, still in human form and not saying a thing.

“I’ve missed you,” she said, embracing her husband. “Hopefully you haven’t been getting kisses from anyone else while I’ve been here, have you?” Her giggle was one of happiness, but it didn’t last long as she saw the strange looks on both Mike’s and Celestia’s faces. The sun princess quickly turned to avoid embarrassment as a bright red flush came to her cheeks, but fortunately Mike had picked that exact moment to shift and so neither DJ nor Mike saw the princess’ blush.

“Well…I must confess….” Mike began, delicately. DJ looked at him funny and the sun alicorn’s heart suddenly stopped. “I’ve been practicing on pillows in my sleep, apparently. I think I soaked one with drool.”

DJ laughed, even as a maudlin look crossed her face. “And to think, I was stupid enough that I let my anger almost cost me hearing you say that. No, wait, let me finish, Mike. I had a lot to think about while you were gone, and…maybe you’re right. Maybe I do need to work things out between me and Rarity and Silversteel, maybe let go of a lot of things I’ve been holding inside. I owe it to the kids and to you.”

Celestia smiled. “I’m very proud of you, DJ,” she said with sincerity.

DJ turned and looked at her aunt. “And I owe you an apology, too. I acted like a child and it endangered both me and you. I hope you can forgive me for that.”

“Already forgiven and forgotten,” Celestia insisted. “The fact that you’re safe now well outweighs any displeasure I had from your outburst.”

“Wow, acting sensibly. I knew there was a reason I married you,” he said, kissing DJ again.

The nurse poked her head in. “Visiting hours are up in five minutes. Have a pleasant evening.”

“And that’s our cue to leave,” Mike said. “I’ve got to go to security, recover my guns, then head to the Changi West to return the carbine. Mind giving me a lift there?” he asked the alicorn.

“Sure.” She transformed back into her natural state and as both of them waved to DJ, they departed the room. Heading down the hall, the sun alicorn then said, “Thanks for covering for me, Mike. I made a mistake and I don’t want her to suffer for it.”

He shook his head. “Seriously, I don’t blame you. It’s an overemotional reaction, just something human. Sometimes people just reach their snapping points and do something stupid. On my first ship, the USS Sarajevo, we were doing INSURV, which can best be described as ‘put the people onboard through hell times twelve in the name of making sure the ship’s ready to fight.’ I was just the First Lieutenant on the ship, a JG. Well, we were just off the coast of Catalina Island, when there’s this guy who just freaks the hell out and jumps off the ship, swimming towards the island. We send out the whale boat to go get him; turns out it was our CHENG – Chief Engineer. He snapped after five days straight of no sleep – of which he later admitted he imposed on himself – and finally lost it. Well, just because of that alone, we failed INSURV and the rest of my time on the ‘Sarah J.’ we spent trying to ready the ship to pass INSURV. Needless to say, the rest of my hitch on the ship wasn’t exactly fun. But my point is, people do things they wouldn’t do normally when they’re under stress. So, don’t sweat it.”

She smiled inwardly. So much like Argent, she thought as she said, “You’re a good man, Mike.”

“Um…let’s not go there. You remember what happened last time,” he teased.

“Yeah…right. Sorry.”

There was a knock at the door. Sarah MacChraig called out, “Mom, someone’s at the door!”

Up in the attic, Faust put away an ancient set of armor – barding from her days as the warrior queen of Equus. It had never lost its luster or shine over the millennia, still gear fit for a queen; one time, she’d even shown it off to Greg, parading around in it as a sort of lingerie – and nine months later, Sarah had been born as a result of that misbehavior. But Faust knew that when the children got older, they’d likely start spelunking in the attic. Maybe Greg’s right and it’s time to make an anonymous loan to a museum or something – I wonder if I can pass this off as the barding of an English king’s prize steed. Or maybe I can get Bon-Bon to donate it to the Royal Museum of Canterlot in her name…no, too many questions there.

In any case, she closed the steamer trunk, adding the magical lock, and teleported to a spot just outside of her daughter’s vision. “Yes?”

“Wow, that was fast, Mom. Thought you were in the attic.”

“I was. Maybe I just teleported down here?”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Anyway, someone’s at the door. I could have answered it, you know.”

“I want you and Jon to focus on your homework, sweetie; there’s no reason why that doesn’t come first.” In truth, however, after Greg had been attacked in their private getaway, he’d insisted that once they had children that either he or Faust answer the door in case of potential problems. She’d not only agreed to that, but also started to train him in human magic. Emmé, needless to say, was pissed, but she was willing to help if it meant the kids would be safe, especially with the devastating news that had come – there had been a freak explosion in Tokyo from bombs left over from World War II. Faust, however, felt the magic blast all the way over here as well as the death of one of her closest friends. It had taken nearly all her willpower not to grieve in front of the children; only when they had gone to school, Greg to work and Emmé arrived did the two women grieve together for their lost friend. Someday, Faust knew she’d have to tell her family about what happened to Kuzu; she was close to the kids, after all.

I wonder if this is what the Rules are supposed to do to me? Strip me bare and leave me be until I have nothing left, not even my pride? she wondered as she reached for the door.

She found standing there two women. The first one could be charitably called a purple-and-white-haired punk rock reject who got lost on her way back to the 1980s, while the other, an older, gray-haired woman, was reminiscent of Angela Lansbury, a picture of motherly instinct…if the mother in question was that of Norman Bates. Both of them stood there (though lurking was probably the more accurate term) and gave her wide, friendly, completely insane smiles.

She gave them a soft smile. Well, he did say he was sending me some help, she mused. Faust looked them both and was about to ask who they were, when the younger girl yawned. A word balloon floated out of her mouth that said, HI MY NAME IS SCREWBALL AND THAT’S SCREW LOOSE. The word balloon floated in the air for a second before turning into a neon-colored sparrow and flying off into the distance.

“Andyoumustbefaustitsverynicetomeetyou,” the one named Screw Loose said. “O u r m a s t e r s a i d w e a r e a t y o u r c o m m a n d.”

“That’s…nice,” Faust said. “Could you hold for just a second?” She waved her hand and her phone suddenly popped in. Dialing in a quick number, she asked, “Emmé, can you babysit for a couple until Greg gets home?”

“Uh, I’m in Nepal looking for the yeti. Some hunters got a bug up their ass and want to hunt the poor thing down, so I have to rescue it,” the answer came.

“I need someone to watch Sarah and Jon. Greg’s going to be working late tonight and…I just got some wings and horn business coming up.”

“Figures, horseface,” the voice said on the other side, teasing. “Sure, I can be there in five minutes. Just tell Sarah that I’ll be there soon.”

“Thanks, Emmé,” Faust replied.

“Faust…be careful,” her fellow ancient said. “After Kuzu…I don’t…please, be careful. There’s too few of us and I don’t want to attend another funeral.”

“Will do. See ya.” She looked at both newcomers. “I have to let my kids know I’m going. You two wait here, okay?” Both ladies nodded and in a second a palm tree and a large plastic day-glo blue dinosaur statue were in their place.

Yup, definitely his hired help. If nothing else, this was going to be one for the ages, she decided as she went back in the house to tell the kids that there was a change in plans.

“And you’re sure that our families will be well compensated?” the man asked as he sat at the table in a café in downtown Tehran. A hot wind blew down the street, blowing more detritus into what had been the United States embassy seventy years ago and since had become the Museum of the Islamic Revolution. Behind the counter, the barista making the thick black Turkish-style coffee the two were drinking seemed to lazily look up from his reading material, but otherwise went back to what he was doing without a care in the world.

“Yes. A million in British pounds for each pilot who agrees to this, plus an additional million for your ‘finder’s fee’,” a second man said. Seated next to him, a quiet and moderately dressed woman sat, respectfully looking down and not saying a word as her partner spoke. “Upon successful mission completion, a million in euros and a million in Draconian lanxes, and the same amount to the families of any pilot lost during the operation, should there be any.”

“So, quite literally millions to betray our country,” the first man said, lighting a cigar. “Seems fair enough. However enticing the offer will be, there is the simple fact that without an air crew, we cannot operate outside of our standard parameters. Unless you can—”

“ALLAHU AKBAR! Die, traitor!” The barista shouted as he produced a gun, a PC-9 ZOAF, and fired. At the same time, a couple of guards burst through the door, both hefting KH-2002s. All three fired, all with deadly accuracy at their targets…

…only to have the bullets stop mere inches from their targets, the bullets still softly sizzling as they burned a path through the air. Suddenly they were enveloped in a puce-hued aura and crushed into tiny balls before falling to the ground, scorching it as they spent their remaining energy. The woman lowered her glowing hand, then waved it softly.

To their horror, the heads of the three shooters were suddenly wrapped in bubbles of the same energy, and they had just enough time to scream silently, their eyes going wide as they realized they were about to die at the hands of a monster.

But Ghino looked at her and shook his head. She lowered her hand, letting them fall to the ground, the trio gasping for breath. That was just enough time for him to reach into his coat, pull out a pistol with a silencer. With a lazy ease he pulled the trigger and the crack of a tin can resounded as .45 slugs embedded themselves in the heads of the now-dead group of Iranian agents.

“I don’t trust you to do your job correctly,” he told her harshly. Turning back to the man, he said, “As you can see, I have certain resources at my disposal.”

“What is she?” he asked, more out of curiosity than fear.

“More trouble than she’s worth,” Ghino assured the first man. “So do we have a deal, Colonel?”

Colonel Ibrahim Khalid, IRIAF smiled. “My squadron will be at your service, Mr. Di Tacco.”

Ghino grinned. “Excellent! I will have an associate meet with you tomorrow morning. Until then.” With that, both Ghino and his partner rose from their chairs.

“What about…?” Khalid asked.

“Oh, that.” Turning to face the woman, he said, “Do something useful for a change.” She did, placing her hand out, palm up. Three balls of energy appeared, and the three shot to their locations. In a second, the three bodies burned until there was nothing left but ashes. Ghino turned back to Khalid and said, “There. No evidence.” Ghino waved his hand and departed, his female counterpart following a respectful three steps behind him.

Inside, Twilight wanted to scream. Those three were the last of the changelings she’d tended to, and now…now she’d been the one who had to kill them. She was a princess, she was supposed to protect them! And yet…. There was nothing right about this, at all. When they arrived yesterday to set this up, he’d assured that none of the drones would be harmed. And since they were near death, starving for any kind of attention at all, she agreed – they’d seemed so happy to be of use. And now? Gone.

Now, more than ever she wished for someone from her family to come save her. This man, who she’d been promised to, wanted nothing to do with her now other than to be his weapon. She now slept alone in a solitary room, instead of at his side. And she still didn’t understand what was going on. Was she doing the right thing? Had she angered or failed him somehow? Why hadn’t her family come to save her yet? Maybe Blood Armor or one of the others would come to save her from this. Maybe even the queen herself. They would take her home, tend to her fears and make everything better, wouldn’t they?

She had no answers for that. And as Twilight Sunburn had no solutions to that quandary, the fear in her heart began to climb: that maybe she was abandoned and this was her fate – to be nothing more than a killer of the very drones she was meant to save.

It’s been an exhausting day, Cadance mused, but it was worth it. She looked at the tiny life asleep in his cradle. Dusk Shine was peaceful and quiet, reminiscent of the many times Twilight had fallen asleep at Cadance’s side. You’d be so proud, Shiny, she thought to herself, thinking of her beloved husband. He’s going to grow up to be as great as you. I know it.

Gently scooping him up in her TK, she placed him in a pram, ready to go to the Infirmary. She’d set a number of appointments for him, and aside from that, the doctor who’d studied Rosedust would be interested to know that there was a male of her kind now, a flutter/pony hybrid – what would we call them? “Flutterpony” somehow doesn’t seem to fit and “Changelingpony” is too much of a stigma. Well, it would be something that she would worry about later; there was plenty of time for her son to discover his place in life. Besides, while the doctors did a physical on the young prince, Cadance could pass word to Twilight about Duskie’s existence. No doubt she’d have plenty of interest in that, both for scientific and personal reasons.

Either way, our family’s getting bigger. And as the saying goes, the bigger the better, the romance alicorn mused as she bent down to give her son a kiss before covering him with a blanket and heading out the door.

“So, ready to go?”

“I’m kinda nervous about this. It’s…well, I haven’t done this in a while.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re in good hooves, I promise.”

There was a flash and dizziness, and as soon as it stopped, DJ opened her eyes. She found herself in a lush garden. Small lights illuminated a variety of flowers and plants, all around a meticulously-tended lawn. A cobblestone pathway wound its way through, both directions leading towards lights some ways away. A slight walk from where she stood was a bench, and just beyond that, a telescope pointing its way towards the heavens. And in the sky, a deep blue carpet of velvet and diamonds glittered, the equatorial canopy filled with stars.

“This is beautiful,” the humanized pony said. “Where are we?”

At her side, a dusky blue alicorn smiled. “Imbiah Lookout on Sentosa Island. I asked around; it’s supposedly the best spot in Singapore for sightseeing and from what I can tell, they weren’t wrong.”

“I guess not,” DJ said as both walked towards Luna’s setup. “Kinda weird that there’s no one out here at this time of night.”

Luna sat down on the bench, waving a wing for DJ to join her. “Being a princess has some advantages. The lookout was actually closed this week for repairs, but after some discreet inquiries, they allowed me to use it. We should have all the time in the world to stargaze.”

“I haven’t done this since I was a kid,” DJ responded as she began to look through the telescope. “When I was younger, Mom and Dad used to drive us to this one place down by Lebanon, this observatory that a farmer had built in the middle of his apple orchard. This was back before anyone knew what I was, so whenever I’d look into the sky, I’d always wonder which star was the planet I came from, kinda like Superman or ET. Obviously I know now, but I think that was part of what pushed me into a career as an author, always searching for where I came from even as I knew that I belonged with my family.”

“And how do you feel now?”

“I’ve always had a big family,” DJ said as she leaned against the alicorn in a sign of affection. “It just got a little bigger when I got here.” Though the humanized pony wasn’t aware of it, the night princess’ heart skipped a beat of joy at that moment.

Meanwhile, Luna conjured up a second telescope, then peered through it into the canopy above. “It looks very different from our night sky. I might have to take some cues from here and apply them to ours.”

DJ’s eyes went wide in surprise. “You make stars?”

Luna laughed. “Hardly; the stars, like the ones here, are far too far away, and if you wish to know the truth, neither Celestia or I know how or why we control the sun and moon; we just do. For all we know, there may be billions upon billions of alicorns in our reality for the other stars, but there’s no way to really know and to date, aside from my sister, I only know of two other alicorns, three if you count….” She trailed off, but then quickly added, “But no, I have nothing to do with the stars save for pointing out the constellations of old, something that pony astronomers conferred upon me as creator of stars merely because I saw the quote unquote, ‘lines’ between them.”

“So then, what did you mean?”

“What I meant was I might have to create some new constellations based on the ones I see here – the ones here are so different the astronomers of my Earth might just enjoy the novelty.”

“I see.” DJ was quiet for a long time, occasionally looking through the telescope and admiring various things, from the original International Space Station and FutureStar – the new station put in space by private companies – to satellites, the moon, and of course, the stars.

Both ponies were silent for a few more minutes until Luna spoke a soft “DJ? Thank you.”

“For what?”

Luna spoke without hesitation. “Letting me keep my promise to you. I swore I’d show you the stars someday, and while these weren’t the ones I had in mind, it still means a lot to me. Even when I was my angriest at you, I still wanted to keep that promise I made to my favorite niece.”

“Really?” DJ laughed. “I’d think by now, I’d have been supplanted as the favorite, Luna. Heck, Cinnamon’s more personable than I am and there’s one of the twins, right? Probably less of a drag than me.”

“Cinnamon’s a sweetheart, and Surprise? Well, she’s just like her mother, take that as you will. But both of them are special to me, but in different ways, and so are the rest of your cousins – I love you all. But…you were the first. That’s always something special.”

“I see.” DJ fell into a silence once more, taking a drink from a bottle of Coke, sourced via the bunch of snacks that Luna brought with them. She noticed that Luna had judiciously left out both her siblings, and she wondered if that was by coincidence or design.

From a gazebo not too far away, another pair watched them, an alicorn and a human. “I wonder what they’re thinking about,” Celestia spoke.

Mike laughed softly, taking a sip from his beer. “Knowing DJ, she’s reminiscing about when her parents took her stargazing at that observatory just outside of Strausburg. She apparently went there a lot when she was younger, and when we were first dating we went occasionally as well. She stopped shortly after First Encounter – by that point she knew where she was from and she didn’t have to look at the stars for ‘home’ any longer, though I’m guessing she would have preferred that – because then she’d be extraterrestrial instead of just extradimensional. Because then she wouldn’t have as painful a past to look at.” He took another swig from the beer, then looked at DJ’s aunt. “Celestia, promise me that she’ll be okay.”

“Of course,” the sun alicorn replied, drinking from a pineapple cider that Mike had recommended. “As princess, I—”

The human shook his head and arms, cutting her off. “I want your promise, not the Crown’s. Not as a princess, but as her aunt. You have to understand: Equestria was a very negative experience for her, and knowing her like I do, she’s on the verge of terrified. To you and just about everyone that lives there, it’s a paradise, a bright, magical, and sunny world. But to her, it may as well be that prison we saw. She’s never really recovered from the whole incident.”

“None of us did,” Celestia said, sadly. “Rarity lost her daughter. DJ lost her innocence. A part of my family was shattered that day, and for all my power, there was nothing I could have done to stop it. But to answer what you’re saying, I would. Even if I completely powerless I would protect her from everything. I’ve always wanted the best for her – it’s why I returned her to her human parents, even though I had my reservations.”

“I’m glad you did,” he said. “I don’t think I’d ever want to know what my life would have been like without her.” And in unspoken agreement, the two fell silent, watching the other two.

Both DJ and Luna sat there for several more minutes, enjoying the silence before the latter broached the question the former knew was coming. The night princess merely peered through her telescope as she casually inquired, “So, are you ready to return to Equestria tomorrow?”

“No.” The word was firm, but there was no malice behind it. “No, actually I’m afraid as hell.”

“I’d never let anything happen to you, DJ. None of us would ever let it happen,” Luna vowed.

“It’s not that,” DJ began. “It’s….” She laughed. “I’m sure you got some sort of princess refinement training for awkward social situations, I gather? Well, I know nothing about ponies. I’m human – I was raised as one, and that’s all I know. I don’t know the first thing about pony etiquette or social manners, and frankly I don’t care to know. But I don’t want to be seen as some kind of freak.”

A smile came to midnight-blue lips. “Did you know I was once so shy and socially awkward that I turned to Twilight and Fluttershy for assistance?” DJ looked at her as though she’d gone mad and Luna knew she’d hit her mark. “Truthfully. It was my first time back in Equestria after…some difficulties I’d had…and I’d felt that I’d been supplanted in everypony’s hearts by Cadance and, to a lesser degree, Twilight. I approached Twilight since Cadance was in Saddle Arabia visiting her parents. It turned out to be a blessing, since I eventually made friends with all of my future sisters royal that night. But what I remember most is the same thing I’m going to tell you know: be yourself.”

“People don’t want me to be myself, Luna. They want me to be Sandalwood.”

“I never have. Nor has Celestia, or Cadance or any of the others. And you know that.” She paused to let that sink in before saying, “May I offer a suggestion?”

“I’m all ears.”

“Meet with Elusive first. He’s a very shrewd stallion and he’ll be able to guide you through everything. He tries to stay out of politics, but he’s better at it than he’ll ever admit – he should have had a political cutie mark, if you ask me.”

“I wouldn’t know how to approach him,” DJ replied.

“He’s your younger brother and he’s always wanted to meet you, so approach him as yourself, not as you think he’d expect you to be. I promise you he won’t judge. If you’d like, I can arrange for you and Mike to have dinner with him and his wife Butter.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

“You’ll do fine, DJ, I promise.” Luna nuzzled her niece.

DJ, however, was having none of it. “Uh…could you not do that? I know you mean well, but…it’s kinda creepy.”

“Oh. Sorry. Would a hug be okay, then?”

DJ pondered in thought, then looked at Luna with a smile. “I think I can live with that.”

The two ponies embraced, reunited finally after years of separation and loss. Above them, the night played its own opera of lights and bedazzlement, gifting illumination and merriment to the pair below, as if congratulating them for overcoming an obstacle.

Chapter Eight: Ēka Bāra Phira

“‘Blessed eventide, my princess, and may I see your sunlit face upon the morn.’ Those were the last words she said to me that night,” Celestia said as she looked at the collection of bones in front of her. She turned away; the memory was too painful. “I was the last one to see her that night as she headed home in the rain, back to her husband and foals. Nopony ever saw her again after that.” The sun alicorn looked at the rusted barding next to the skeleton, the symbol of a guardspony.

“Your majesty, I need you to confirm this,” Harmony Grass said in a quiet, understanding tone.

“Harmony, I can take care of this,” Twilight said, aware of her mentor and sister royal’s pain. “Her majesty does not need to be reminde—”

“Thank you, Twilight, but I need to do this,” Celestia cut in. “Star Song was more than just my personal guardsmare; she was a friend. I had hoped that one day she would have become captain of the guard, but….” The princess laid her horn on the weathered bones, searching for something familiar, and a second later found it; her eyes began to water with tears as she felt the last iota of her friend’s natural magic within the bones. “Welcome back, Star,” Celestia whispered sadly. “You’ve been missed. You’d have been proud of your son, Feathershine. He grew up to become captain of the guard in his day, just as I’d hoped you would have been.”

Twilight gave Harmony a look and the stallion departed the room. Twilight said, “I’m going to find Shiny and have him make the funeral arrangements. He’ll want to do so for a fallen senior guardspony.”

Celestia choked up as she voiced, “Make it for a captain of the guard. I’m giving her the post posthumously. She deserved it. She deserved so much better than this.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Celestia,” Twilight said, nuzzling the alicorn. “You would have protected her if you could have, just as you would have protected Sandalwood.”

“Which means I’ve failed my friend and I’ve failed my family,” the sun princess said in a bitter tone. “I should have been there for her. For both of them.”

“You are. We’re out searching for Sandalwood still – Pinkie’s team is in a reality we discovered last week. And as for Star Song,” Twilight said, looking at the remains, “We brought her back home.” Twilight nuzzled Celestia again and then departed the room, leaving the princess to her grief.

Celestia wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but she remembered something that Star Song had once told her: “You’re not meant to cry, Princess. The sun never rains, and the princess is ever one to smile. And I will always do whatever I can to ensure that.” At the memory, a ghost of a rictus flickered over her face; even in death Star Song still maintained her duty to her princess.

After hundreds of years, Star Song had finally returned to Equestria.

The mirror shimmered as four figures stepped clear of the event horizon, the blue shimmering pool of energy waving and burbling as the portal admitted the travelers into the room at Canterlot Castle. Once complete, the spell deactivated and the roiling surface returned to its normal state as if nothing had ever occurred, and the soft hiss of the mirror’s warping stilled, fading into silence.

“Well, here we are – the portal room. Welcome back to Equestria,” Celestia said, using a wing to point out the room. “We’ve done some redecorating since the last time you were here.”

DJ brushed her hair out of her eyes, a nervous look on her face. “Uh, I wasn’t in this room the last time; I’ve never actually been to the castle before. I…uh…did all my traveling via the portal at Twilight’s home.”

“I’d forgotten about that.” A wan look crossed Celestia’s face; under different circumstances the Princess of the Sun would have been on a more even keel, but the events of the past few weeks, especially this past week in Singapore, had undercut some of her previously unflappable nature. But the reminder of Twilight had brought those pains back to the surface. “Unfortunately, she’s been conserving strength, so…we had to shut down the portal at her home. But since we’re in Equestria, I can teleport you there.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Luna volunteered. “DJ and I need to talk anyway about making plans with Elusive, and truth be told I wanted to meet her children.”

“I wish I could as well,” Celestia replied with a nod, “but that will have to wait for later. I’ve got to check in with Cadance and see what I’ve missed in the past couple of days. I know the fallout from Fillydelphia has likely been immense.”

Mike looked at DJ. “Unfortunately, I’ve got to check in with the Embassy. I’m running several days late from when I was supposed to report in. Granted, Admiral Singh said he’d send a message giving them my status, and I’m sure our folks did as well, but better to be safe than sorry.”

The humanized pony got on her tip-toes and kissed her husband on the cheek. “You’re just afraid Dad will kick your ass for letting me get hurt.”

“Uh, I outrank him.”

“He was a Yeoman and a Chief – when have you ever known either of those to care about that?”

Mike considered that for a second. “Then, yes, I am afraid your dad will kick my ass for letting you get hurt. Probably moreso of your mom. Fortunately, I can say it wasn’t my fault.”

“They won’t listen,” she said in a sing-song tone. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they take down whatever gallows they’re building.”

“You’re not helping, hon,” he said with a bemused smile.

“I know,” she said with a gleam in her eye. “But hurry back soon, okay? I think we should spend some time with the boys before this all goes down, and I’d like to prep them, for starters, as to why they have three sets of grandparents instead of just two.”

He embraced her. “I promise I’ll be there soon.”

“Ready to go, DJ?” Luna asked. As the earth pony nodded, Luna’s horn flickered with mystic power and the pair was gone in a flash, leaving only motes of energy behind as the sign of their transit.

That left Mike standing in the room with Celestia. “Would you care for a lift to the Embassy?” she asked.

“Well, since I have no idea where I’m going, sure, if you can spare the time.”

“For you? All the time in the world,” she replied with a soft smile. By the time the last word left her lips, she realized that was a very stupid thing to say; it could easily be misconstrued. She then remembered that it had been something that she’d always said to Argent Lance so long ago; it had been that very misinterpretation that had led to their relationship.

The two stood there for several seconds, an unspoken tension filling the room. Though Mike had let bygones be bygones, it wasn’t proving as easy for the sun alicorn, as now that she’d recalled that memory, her mind immediately filled with the events of the day before. The kiss burned itself in her mind, playing in her head repeatedly as if a video file set for constant replay. It had clearly been a heat of the moment mistake, but if so….

It felt…nice, she said to herself, a private smile coming onto her lips. She briefly lifted a forehoof off the ground, then caught herself; right now was not the time to do anything to further embarrass herself. So instead, she let the one-sided silence continue to permeate the air, adding more and more to the tension as every second continued to pass.

After a few more seconds, she realized she needed to end this and soon for a number of reasons. But in doing so, a slight twinge of guilt slipped into her soul; she had done this with countless minor dignitaries and politicians before, so why did it feel wrong now? But she forced herself to speak. “On second thought, considering the number of things that have probably piled up in my absence, I might not be the best pony to escort you there, Mike. My apologies.”

He nodded. “Hey, you’re a princess. You’re probably incredibly busy and probably just can’t take a stroll down the street. I understand.”

“I’ll ask one of the guards to escort you. It would probably be a good idea to introduce yourself to some of the ERG staff, since you might need unfettered access to the castle as necessary.”

“I really hadn’t thought of that, but you’re probably right,” Mike nodded; if there had been any tension on his end, he certainly didn’t show it, and for that she was grateful.

“Okay, follow me and we’ll find the shift captain and then send you on your way.”

“I said no,” the changeling queen standing before Chrysalis snarled. “You, more than any other changeling in existence, should be denied and rebuffed. In fact, I’m halfway tempted to kill you where you stand, Chrysalis Princess-slayer.” The other changeling queen looked nearly identical save for her colors, sickly tones of brownish-yellow that marked her swarm as a different tribe from the greenish-blues of Chrysalis’. There were thousands of them, all of them standing there against Chrysalis, and though the infamous queen was powerful, even she could not stand against a whole hive by herself. The more massive numbers had the advantage, and anychangeling could see that even if the older changeling queen used honey to bait the trap instead of a stinger, there would be no way she could win.

“Ah, but my dear Petiole,” Chrysalis cooed, “you don’t have a choice. I’m merely offering this to you out of consideration for a fellow queen, but understand this: the offer is merely a word. I will say this only one more time: you can suborn yourself and your swarm to me as a princess, or you can die. Frankly, I prefer the latter option, since I can just deal with your successor, but I promise you that if you swear allegiance to me, you might just live to a ripe old age.”

Petiole laughed bitterly. “Nochangeling’s older than you, Chryaslis. Not I, not Pupa, not Chalcid, nor any of the others. And do you know why? Because you murder your princesses as soon as they’re of no further use to you.”

“Petiole, I cannot believe that you are such an idiot and yet somehow managed to become queen of your hive,” Chrysalis countered matter-of-factly. “Princesses are usurpers to the throne. Someday one of your princesses will have your head and your throne just as you stole your mother’s. Just watch.”

“I doubt it. My princesses know they have my trust and I have their loyalty – and I got my throne after my mother fell in battle against the jaguars. And in all this, somehow you have managed to forget the Code of the Great Swarm: ‘You cannot command by the stinger, only by honey.’ That is how a true queen behaves, Chrysalis, not a murderous despot such as you.” She assumed a threatening stance, her wings buzzing angrily. “This is my only offer: turn around and leave now, or I’ll do my species – and I suspect several others – a favor and wipe you off the map.”

“Last chance, Petiole.” Chrysalis looked at the great hive behind the other queen as well as the sizable contingent of changelings, ready to strike. If Chrysalis’ guess was correct, the hive had stood for generations, at least a few hundred years. “Yield or I’ll destroy that hive of yours and everychangeling within it. And you won’t even live to see it.”

Petiole’s eyes burned with indignant rage.

In a clearing, not too far away, several pepsis and humans looked at each other with disgust. “So this is Alter-Earth, huh?” one man said, with disgust. “I’ve seen better shitholes in my time.”

“These are the lands of the Southern Continent, and the dominion of the changelings,” one pepsis, a mare, replied. “Have a care to refer to it with respect, human, or I will force you to.”

The man, a greasy looking individual with long, unkempt hair and wild eyes, laughed in the pepsis’ face. “You wouldn’t live long enough to. Now do yourself a favor and keep watching out for the signal.”

“Or, y’ know, y’ could come here ‘an give m’ pipe a l’il cleanin’,” a second man said, his hand going to his crotch. That elicited laughter from several others of the men present.

“And you’d enjoy it just long enough for her to bite it with her fangs, releasing venom into your body – oh, and you’ll eventually die, but not before your pecker falls off,” a new voice replied. Ghino, dressed in fatigues, walked into the clearing followed by several members of his own group. Turning to the first man, he said, “Honestly, where do you get these brain-dead rejects from, Eugenio?”

“These men have worked with me for years. We’re the best. That is why you hired us to do this job instead of those assholes Rickard and DeVille, right?” Eugenio Garcia, despite his name, was likely the best sniper Ireland ever had. Unfortunately for him, the Irish military didn’t care for his attitude, and the Troubles were a long-forgotten thing up in what was once Northern Ireland. So, after meeting a few like-minded misfits around the world, they went into business for themselves as hitmen for hire. They usually found themselves on the opposite side from their rivals, Rickard and DeVille, but knew the other two men and their own group well enough to know that di Tacco likely contacted them first for the job – DeVille was a cultured-fuck just like Ghino was.

“Couldn’t get a hold of them,” Ghino admitted. “Rickard’s probably off doing what he does after a job, and DeVille always lays low after he’s done something.”

“You mean like that bombing in Singapore at the beginning of the week?” Eugenio had heard some rumor about Rickard and DeVille being hired to handle something like that, but…assassinating the heads of state of a foreign country? That took some balls, enough even to impress Eugenio and his crew. “You know anything about that?”

Ghino rolled his eyes. “I take my victories where I can get them, my friend, which is why my group stays low and so does yours – and attempting to kill three alicorn rulers of a magical nation in another dimension is hardly low-profile. Wouldn’t surprise me if both of them bit off more than they can chew and are sitting in some high-security prison.”

The second man laughed again. “An’ that’s why they can’ stand a chance ‘ginst us.”

Eugenio shook his head. “They were acting the maggots, Cato. That shit don’t happen to us.” Eugenio’s right hand man, a disgraced Mountie from Alberta who only identified himself as “Catoblepas” was good because he still had enough connections and knowledge of law enforcement procedures to keep them all one step ahead of the collars. But if Cato had one weakness, it was pride, something all too easily exploitable – and something Eugenio knew to watch out for.

Ghino was about to make a statement, when Blood Armor walked into the clearing. Looking at Ghino, he asked, “Are your people ready to go?” Unlike his dealings with his mother and Nightmare Moon, there was something about the human that Blood found admirable. He couldn’t quite pin it, but it was enough to warrant the man a certain measure of respect where the pepsis prince wouldn’t bother otherwise.

“Both mine and my associates,” Ghino assured him.

“Then follow me,” he said, turning and heading back into the brush. Ghino signaled for both his and Eugenio’s contingent of men to get their gear and head down the same path.

“This had better be worth it, Ghino,” Eugenio said as he fell into place. “This place is supposed to be like Brazil, but I’ve been there and this place is way creepier.”

“Just think of them as very eccentric employers,” Ghino answered, as they walked towards Chrysalis and the army facing her.

Meanwhile, Chrysalis continued to goad Petiole. “Petiole, you’re such a stupid larvae. Perhaps I shouldn’t bother t—”

“My changelings!” Petiole snarled, “Ki—”

“That’s a cue if I ever heard one,” Eugenio said to himself, raising his rifle. In one clean sweep, he aimed and fired just as his men did the same.

Petiole never had the chance to finish her statement. There was a vibration in the air, and suddenly the changeling queen fell, dead. A second later there was a report, a crack in the air, and Blood Armor walked forward, a sinister look in his eyes. He walked in front of her, and briefly raising a hoof, he brought it down on the dead queen’s head with a sickening crunch even as a malicious grin came on his muzzle. He then raised his right foreleg and called out in a booming voice, “Execute!”

Further shots rang out, burning trails through the sky. Each sniper shot was perfect and for each shot, one of Petiole’s princesses dropped in front of the drones they led, much to the absolute terror of the drones they commanded. It was elegant and merciless; each princess watching their sisters fall just long enough to realize they would need to assume the throne, only to be killed the next second later. Down, one by one they fell, victims of practiced fire and timely intelligence.

A soft grin came on Chrysalis’ face, knowing the thousands of changelings here would now be hers to command. Turning to Ghino, she asked, “What was the term you mentioned once? Oh, ‘shock and awe’, I believe it was?”

He nodded. “Indeed, Chrysalis. But we’re not done yet. In any case, we’ve left one alive, as per your request. Furthermore, we’re targeting approximately forty drones who might want to play heroics. For those we brought something a little more effective. I’d tell you,” he said, brushing his fingers off on his fatigues, “but I want you to enjoy the surprise.”

As Blood Armor turned to approach her, she ordered, “Bring me the surviving princess.” Blood looked at four of his fellow pepsis and the group immediately took off towards their quarry.

Immediately, the forty changelings being targeted reacted, launching into the air and transforming into a collection of gryphons, dragons, pegasi and other creatures, all capable of doing more damage than the natural changeling form. Without skipping a beat, Ghino raised his hand into the air and just as quickly brought it down in a silent motion.

Plumes of smoke tore across the sky, headed towards the menagerie of winged creatures. The modified surface-to-air missiles detonated just as the transformed changelings began to their attack. Even though the 9K338 Ingla-S missiles were outdated, they were still more than a match for mere carapace and innards. The thunderous boom of the explosions almost masked the dying screams of the attackers, but the mental screeches that reverberated through the changeling hivemind were enough to cow the remaining members of the swarm; though Chrysalis and her brood weren’t quite yet attuned to them, it was reminiscent of what they’d heard after their own kind were exterminated in Fillydelphia, so they could imagine what the normal drones were experiencing.

“Interesting,” Chrysalis said, having watched the whole thing. “A very effective way of dealing with them. A bit more crude than just using magic or cutting them off from food, but effective nonetheless.”

“Always glad to please,” he said, a curious, unreadable look on his face.

Chrysalis was about to inquire, when her pepsis returned, carrying the sorry princess. She looked weak, runtlike, clearly unfit to lead and only in command of her group of drones due to her birth as a female. The changeling queen looked down at the quivering princess, enjoying the fear she engendered in this slip of a creature. “Your name,” Chryalis commanded.

“I-it’s Gaster, y-y-your majesty,” she stammered.

“I’ll explain this simply: you can yield to me and become a princess under me, or I will end you and this hive.”

“No!” Gaster begged. “Please! Spare the drones!”

“You will yield or you will die!” When no answer came instantly, Chrysalis told Ghino, “Prepare to execute every single drone here and burn down the hive!”

Ghino, in turn, looked at Eugenio. “Well, we didn’t bring enough ammo,” the second man casually admitted, “but we can get creative.”

“I yield!” a voice cried out. They all looked down at the shaking, horrified princess. “I…yield.”

“Formally,” Chryaslis cooed, enjoying the moment.

“I, Gaster, r…r-renounce my throne as sovereign of this hive and swarm and swear fealty and allegiance to you, Queen Chrysalis.”

Chrysalis accepted, placing a hoof on Gaster’s head. “I accept. Go and tell your drones that I am in charge now, and should you dare to even try to ferment dissent within the ranks, I will have your pretty little head, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, my queen,” Gaster squealed, then turned, tail between her legs, to walk back to her drones in shame, to let them know their regime had changed and a new dynasty reigned.

“Mother,” Blood Armor whispered to Chrysalis, “I presume we’re off to attack the next hive?”

“You know me well, my son,” she responded. “Who shall we leave in charge here?”

The pepsis pondered for a second, and for the briefest span of a moment, he reminded Chrysalis of his father. “Leave Black Velvet,” he suggested. “Her temperament is somewhat…maternal and she will woo this pathetic whelp Gaster and bring this swarm under her control. And once Gaster looks up to Velvet as a foster mother….” He drew a hoof across his neck.

She looked at him with a demented sense of motherly pride. “Perfect. I’ll leave it to you to handle the details.” She turned back to Ghino. “And now there is this matter of payment that I believe I owe you.” Looking at Ghino, she said, “Pick as many changelings here as you like. They shall be yours. And as for the other matter…I will provide you with a replacement for the ‘defective one’ I gave you.”

“You are quite generous,” he said with a bow.

She smiled. “I try.” Turning to Eugenio, she said, “And for you?”

“I care not for your things. You know my price,” he said.

“Yes, that I do.” She raised a hoof, pointing at a few cases that had been brought. On cue, two pepsis opened them, revealing tons of gems. “Just as you requested, though I find this to be a paltry request.”

“Because people will pay my price for them,” he said soberly. “They don’t have to know where they came from, or even that they destabilize the market. My clients will want them for other reasons.”

“I see. Now then, we will head to the next hive, several dozen miles off. Are your men ready?”

Ghino nodded. “I’m more than sure Eugenio and his men here are up to the job.”

“If the pay’s right, we’re always willing,” the Irishman answered.

Luna and DJ appeared in the alcove of Twilight’s home, by the front door. The first thing that DJ noted was the additions that Twilight had made to her home since the last time DJ was here…which was, by the humanized pony’s admission, quite some time ago. A lot of it involved the unicorn’s travels to human-Earth: Africa, Spain, Russia, Hong Kong…Las Vegas? That was certainly unusual, as was the picture of Twi, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Lyra in front of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. With that in mind, DJ vaguely remembered Lyra mentioning something about Ponyville, Missouri and how most of the former exiled ponies still remained there after their pardons; why they chose to remain there was beyond DJ, but maybe they just preferred the location, likely reminding them of rural Equestria.

“Twilight hasn’t been the only one who’s been traveling around human-Earth,” Luna said as DJ continued to look at the pictures. “I usually take a couple of weeks off a year and just go somewhere. It’s nice to be in a place where I can be somepony average instead of a VIP.”

“Just spending time with you and your boyfriend?” DJ asked. “He’s gotta be special if he won the heart of a princess.”

The look on Luna’s face became wistful as she turned away. “He and I…are no longer together,” she admitted with a catch in her throat.

“Why? From the memory you showed me, you two were perfect. Why did you give that up?” DJ asked.

“Perhaps we’ll talk about that late—”

A gasp cut across the room. Both ponies looked up at a shell-shocked eldery yet vital human couple, both looking as though they’d seen a ghost. The woman reached out in the direction of the ponies, not daring to breathe lest this all be revealed as nothing but a dream. “Furball?” Anna whispered, hoping for a miracle.

“MOM! DAD!” DJ rushed as fast as she could on her two legs before deciding she could live with the temporary embarrassment and raced over to them in four-wheel drive, galloping across the room. Just as she reached them, she went back upright and into their arms. “I’m okay!” she cried, hugging both teary humans. “I’m fine.”

“We thought we lost you!” Matt said, glasses fogging from the tears. Holding both wife and daughter, everything was going to be okay now, he knew. Everything would be fine.

“You don’t know how much we prayed that it wasn’t you when we’d heard the news about the attack. And then when they announced the wrong name….” Anna held her daughter tight, refusing to let go. DJ would always be her little girl, no matter what.

As for DJ, tears rolled down her face as well, knowing that her stupidity would have cost her so much – not that she was going to admit it. “It almost was me. I got cut off from Mike and the others and got caught right in the blast. I would have died if it wasn’t for Luna,” she said, nodding at the alicorn.

Both of DJ’s parents looked up at the princess and thanked her profusely in as many different ways as they could express, starting with a united “Thank you for saving our little girl, your highness.”

Luna waved it off. “Please, just Luna. And it was worth it,” the night alicorn said, her own eyes getting misty from watching the joyful reunion. Looking at the trio, there was no doubt whatsoever that the Lost Foal had thrived on human-Earth. Regardless of how DJ reacted to her natural family, these two humans were most definitely DJ’s parents and the earth pony had truly had a fortunate and blessed life. Not one that the dusky alicorn or others would have expected, but maybe that didn’t make it so wrong.

“Sis?” Another human, a muscular, dark-haired man in his late twenties or early thirties walked out of the bathroom. “But the news said you’d been killed!”

DJ turned from her parents to look at the other human, smiling as tears of love continued to pour. “You know me, Sam – when have I ever done what anybody said?” She would have said more, but her younger brother bounded over to her and in one fell swoop picked the smaller being off her feet and swung her around in his embrace; she hugged him just as much to protect herself from flying off in some random direction as much as because she loved him. “What’re you doing here?” she asked as he finally set her down.

“Hey, Spike’s a bud and I hadn’t seen him in a while, and since I had vacation time coming, I was actually planning to visit him anyway. But then I heard what happened in Singapore and there was no way in hell that I wasn’t coming, especially since Mom and Dad were going to need me. Thank God that wasn’t the case.”

“No kidding,” she said, equally relieved. “How’s Honolulu?”

“Mixed bag so far, to be honest. Good in that they’re looking for experienced cops, so they were more than willing to give me that promotion and pay raise that the Winchester PD never did. But bad that I stand out like a sore thumb even with everything that Mom and Dad told me about living in Hawaii, but you know how that is.” He brought her into another hug again. “You do realize that I’m going to kick Mike’s ass now for not making sure that you were safe, don’t you?”

“Wasn’t his fault, Sam, it was mine. I did something stupid and it put me in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Well,” Sam pondered, “maybe I’ll just kick it a little bit – for general principles’ sake.”

As she let go of her brother, she asked, “Where’s Stuart and Tyler?”

“Spike has them at his cave right now, playing videogames. Uh, Mom, Dad and I, we were going to…well, we were going to have to think of how to explain your death to the boys. You have no idea how glad we are that we don’t have to do that now.”

“So am I,” she said, waving for Luna to come join them so she could introduce both sides of her family. “So am I.”

Celestia moved through the palace halls towards the Solar Throne Room, where Cadance was overseeing the day court. It would be simple: the sun princess would pop in briefly to let the romance princess know that she’d returned, then allow Cadance to finish out the court’s activities for the day as it would be unfair to the petitioners to switch in the middle of the session. While that happened, Celestia could go back to her office and get some work done to improve the lives and happiness of her subjects and possibly find a way to export that to human-Earth as well; there had been a lot of grumbling as of late that the nations of Alter-Earth were constantly taking without little to any reciprocation except for pop culture,a and while Celestia knew that wasn’t the whole story, there had to be some improvement on the issue.

It was times like this that she felt slightly envious of human monarchies, as their royals rarely if ever held court. Most of their ministries handled situations that required the everyday petitions she received, leaving the pomp and circumstance only for formal occasions and let them get to the business of running their nations in a smoother manner. But those were also constitutional monarchies, where they had a prime minister that acted as a viceroy of sorts and in some cases relegating their respective royals to mere figureheads; if she even tried to institute something like that, there would be outright rebellion amongst her ponies and they would rebel in the strangest way possible: by handing over even more authority and autonomy to their princess. No, like it or not, so long as she lived she would be a reluctant but absolute monarch, a goddess-empress in all but name and actual divinity.

As she approached the door to the Throne Room, she noticed only one ceremonial guard standing on duty, which was unusual; normally the only time a single guardspony was assigned duty was when court was not in session. Considering the time of day, it most certainly should have been, and that set off alarm bells in Celestia’s mind – had something gone wrong?

“Ah, good day, your majesty,” the guard bowed as she approached. “It’s good to see you having returned from the human world. We feared the worst when we heard the news.”

“I had the most capable of guards, never fear,” she replied. “I take it that there were no petitioners today?”

The guard briefly looked at the door. “Ah, no, your majesty – quite the contrary, to be honest, but Princess Cadance cancelled the remaining ones for the day. She had to see to his highness the Prince.”

She arched a brow; there were only two princes in the family and both of them were, pun very much intended, royal pains. “And what did said prince have to say?”

“Oh, nothing at all, your majesty,” the guard replied, a sudden look of mirth on his face. “I don’t think his highness is capable of saying much at the moment.”

Did I just hear him correctly? “Would you care to repeat that?”

The guard, suddenly realizing that wasn’t the best of answers, tried to come up with something more suitable. “My princess…I don’t think his highness will be speaking anytime soon,” he added, apparently not noticing this was just as cryptic.

Celestia blinked twice, trying to digest the strange news she’d just heard. Did something happen while she was gone? Did either of those two idiots push Cadance to the point of violence – sweet, loving Cadance, who was more placid than either of her fellow alicorns? Certainly it was out of the norm for the youngest of the trio, but Blueblood was known to push things far beyond the point of no return and his son Silver Platter had no respect for anypony save for himself. Under those circumstances, Cadance was not above justifiably losing her own temper. Plus, she’d been married to Shining Armor, so who knew what he’d taught her for her own protection – or what she’d learned on her own?

“I suppose you should see for yourself, Princess,” the guard answered, trying to keep his composure but not doing a very good job of it as he realized he was digging himself deeper and deeper. “They should be in her highness’ office right now.”

Celestia shook her head in utter confusion. I leave for a week and the whole place falls apart. Forcing a constitutional monarchy was sounding better and better each time she thought about it. Thanking the guard for his ersatz information, the sun alicorn headed off towards the palace’s northern wing, which housed the Foreign Ministry. As she departed, her exit theme was the cacophonic laughter of the guard as he finally lost it, all pretense of formality lost in the joke apparently only he knew.

A couple of minutes later, Celestia approached Cadance’s office. Already from a distance, thumps, the sounds of furniture breaking and tumultuous shouts could be heard. Strangely enough, none of the guards in the hallway seemed to even so much as lift a hoof and a couple of them were even smirking or outright chuckling. What was going on? Certainly her guards had more decorum than this, especially since these were the ceremonial guards, hoof-picked for their attention to detail and protocol. Had things become so fragile in her absence that it had all gone completely to Tartarus?

Approaching the nearest guard, she demanded, “Princess Cadance sounds as if she’s having issues and you and your fellow guardsponies are just standing here and laughing?”

The guard looked at her, trying very hard to regain her composure, but not entirely succeeding. “I’m sorry, your majesty,” the pegasus said, clamping her lips down every other sentence in a fruitless attempt to tamp down the laughter, “but her highness insisted we not interfere so she and the maids can, uh, ‘fix’ the prince’s issue.”

“Fix the issue? Fix what iss—”

WHAM! The sound of somepony slamming full-speed into the wall briefly jolted every guard present, but they shrugged it off nearly as one and immediately went back to their attempts at impassivity.

Celestia had enough of this. “Sergeant, I want that door open immediately.”

The pegasus turned to the unicorn on the other side of the door. “Type Four unlocking spell – that tends to be her highness’ preferred spell.”

“I’ll give it a shot, but I’d rather not get any, uh, stuff flung my way, if you know what I mean,” the unicorn said, lighting up his horn as he tried to remember the spell in question.

Deciding enough was enough, Celestia’s own horn blazed with the golden aura of her magic and she simply walked through the wall as if it were nothing.

“Oh, I feel sorry for the Princess,” the unicorn said, looking at the spot where she’d been a second ago.

“Yeah. You and me both.”

Once inside, the Princess of the Sun went completely slack-jawed as her niece’s office had become an effective warzone. Cadance, followed in short order by her secretary and two pegasus mares from the palace staff, were flying around the room at near-full speed, trying to catch a buzzing blur of purple as it rocketed around the room. Once in a while it would carom off a wall or knock something over and one of the maids would swerve wildly in an attempt to rescue the falling item, not always with success:

“No – nononononono, not the crystal vase!”
“No, turn left, my prince, turn left!”
“Somepony catch the reliquary before it…oh, dear….”
“He’s fast and agile, just like his father….”

Celestia’s eyes traced the path of the purple ball, but soon had the shock of four ponies on wing, bearing straight down on her at a high speed. Fortunately, with Cadance in the lead, the alicorn hit the brakes, going so far as to tear up chunks of carpet as she skidded along in her attempt to stop. The pegasi behind her did the same, the three slamming hard into the Princess of Love, sending all four spinning but not so hard the impact carried them into their liege lady.

“Um…hi, Celestia!” Cadance gasped from the bottom of the ponypile, panting and looking somewhat flustered. “I’m glad you’re back. It’s been a trying few days.”

“I can see that,” her aunt replied, looking around the disaster zone that had been the office of the Foreign Minister. “I’m guessing this didn’t have anything to do with the press conference, did it?” In response, with a beatific smile on her face, Cadance gestured towards her aunt’s back; a sudden weight had deposited itself there. Celestia turned around but couldn’t quite see; a second later and a summoned mirror at her side, she noticed the new weight and what she saw brought a sudden and broad smile to her face.

There, curled on her back and sleeping like the foal he was, a tiny pony foal dozed, completely worn out from his high-speed antics. Celestia took a good look at the foal, noting his resemblance as well as his unusual form; there was no doubting who the foal was related to and what had happened both in manner of birth and how he ended up at the castle. She turned to look at Cadance and the ancient alicorn felt a fierce pride for her niece. In spite of what it had meant for her husband, Cadance had kept her vow and claimed the foal as the son of her and Shining Armor, making him her own.

In fact, now that she’d seen the sleeping foal on her back, Celestia now understood the hurricane of a mess: although uncommon, some ponies at birth briefly had their adult strength levels and instinctively used them before they faded away a few weeks later. Considering the raw magic power in his father’s lineage and the full wingpower of a changeling from…the other side, this young foal must have clearly given the guards, palace staff and his newfound mother quite a show during the past few days.

“I see you kept your promise to Shining Armor, Cadance,” Celestia said softly, reaching over to nuzzle the younger alicorn. “He’s absolutely beautiful.”

“He’s got his aunt’s colors and his father’s features,” Cadance whispered back, the love in her voice clear and unmistakable. “Your majesty, I present to you my son, Prince Dusk Shine.”

“Dusk Shine…it fits,” Celestia said, recalling a conversation she once had with Twilight Velvet. “I know he’ll turn out as good natured as the prince his father was and not like the other two in Canterlot.”

“Blueblood already knows about him,” Cadance said, a worried tone creeping into her voice. “If he chooses to make an issue of Duskie’s parentage, we’ll have another scandal on our hooves.”

“Let him try. As you’ve said, Dusk is your son now and Shining Armor could not be faulted for what happened to him – and his foal is most definitely blameless for his birth. Should Blueblood or his family decide to make an issue of it, I promise you it will be dealt with swiftly.”

Cadance smiled; her aunt was, as always, kind and understanding. “Thank you,” she said, nuzzling the older alicorn. In seeming agreement with his mother and great-to-the-nth-power aunt, Dusk opened his mouth briefly to yawn before shifting on Celestia’s back and settling back to sleep once more.

“Well, I think I’d best give you a report.” Turning to the pegasi, she said, “Strawberry Swirl, Sparkledance, Ribbonswift, I apologize for the difficulties in assisting me with my son. If you could please locate three others to clean my office while I tender my report to her majesty, it would be greatly appreciated. After that, take the rest of the week off with my thanks.” The three maids exhaustedly tried to protest, but Cadance insisted and the trio wearily complied; they’d definitely need the sleep anyway.

“Well, now that that’s done, shall we head to your office for the report?”

Celestia grinned. “My private chambers; something tells me you need some time to unwind and I think I’m due for a nap with my young nephew here,” she said with a wink. With that, the two alicorns walked off towards Celestia’s residential wing of the palace, walking slowly and carefully so as to not disturb the sun princess’ precious cargo.

Despite the curse sapping her strength and power, Twilight was still a pony of considerable magical force. And in the quarantine portion of the hospital, while her sisters slept, a wide smile crept onto her face. Despite her concentration to keep the curse at bay, despite her exhaustion from holding up the spells blocking the curse from spreading outwards like a plague, she’d felt something in the fabric of reality change subtly but inexorably, and that simple fact brought a loving smile to her lips.

“Rarity,” the archmagus unicorn spoke, her voice hoarse from speaking for the first time in weeks. “She’s here. She’s back. I know she is. I can feel it.” Getting off her bed in the quarantine area and looking at the window a distance away, she could just make out the top of her own home from here. That domicile now contained a new, temporary resident, one Twilight wished to wrap her arms around and hold out of love. Unaware of Twilight’s emotions, Rarity never stirred or even so much as moved a muscle, but Twilight knew it was only a matter of time. The lavender unicorn smiled to herself; even though she and her sisters were down, they were not out – not so long as Twilight Sparkle still drew breath.

It was a shame, Twilight knew, that Rarity couldn’t see the look on her face. It was infectious, wonderful – magical. It was a smile born of love, adoration, devotion and care, a mare’s love for her eldest niece, the human-raised pony reaching out to Twilight first of all. In Twilight’s mind it marked her as special, loved. In some ways, it made the unicorn mage feel as though she were a mother and DJ her foal.

“If the Lonely Spire won’t go to the dragon,” she said, her voice just above a whisper, even as she held that bright grin on her face. She knew humans had a similar phrase: if the mountain won’t come to Mohammed…. When she was younger, despite her passion for reading, she never really quite understood the subtle nuances of the phrase. It was illogical; how could anypony get a mountain to move to them? Only Celestia had that kind of power and it was so inconvenient even for her that the sun alicorn just found it simpler to either be whisked off in a chariot or fly under her own wingpower to the Lonely Spire.

But now, she understood the true meaning of the phrase. Funny that it took years, decades even, to truly comprehend what so many others discerned within minutes. Oh, the words themselves, the simple concept made sense. But it was the metaphor, the sense of the immovable object drawn inexorably towards the irresistible force, that eluded her.

Until today.

Twilight, for the first time since the attack, felt hope. The daughter of her heart, the young filly she’d literally ripped realities apart to find, had finally started to face her destiny.

DJ had returned to Equestria.

“DJ? I…is that…is that really you?” Cinnamon gasped as she saw the earth pony standing there. DJ had less than a picosecond to attempt a response before she was glomped by a cinnamon-brown feathery blur. “Oh, my, I thought – I mean, I heard – they said that you – I really can’t believe that you’re…. Is it really you?”

Lying on the floor as a result of the glomping pegasus, a bemused smile came over the older mare’s face. “What, Cinnamon, can’t tell it’s me?” DJ would have said more, save she suddenly felt hot tears splashing her face.

“Don’t do that again!” Cinnamon sobbed, peals of worry and joy pouring free. “Do you know how much I worried? How much we all worried?”

The pegasus was gently lifted off her cousin by a silver aurora of augury from the moon alicorn. “I wouldn’t worry much, Cinnamon,” Luna said as she floated the pony back to her feet. “Your cousin is much stronger than that, though I think she’d appreciate some space right now.”

“Oh! I’m…I’m sorry, DJ! I…kinda got ahead of myself.”

“No problem,” she grumbled good-naturedly as she picked herself off the floor. “So what brings you here?”

“Um…” she started, blushing and turning to and fro like a bashful little girl being approached for the first time, “I…uh…I offered to hlptchyrkds.”

“Sorry?”

From his place on the couch, Matt supplied, “Cinnamon’s been helping to teach the children since we’ve been…somewhat otherwise occupied.” DJ’s father didn’t have to clarify as to what he meant. “But she’s been invaluable, helping us with the kids.”

Anna nodded. “Lord knows, if we didn’t have your cousin here to help, furball, I don’t know what we’d have done.”

Cinnamon turned a brighter shade of red than normal. “It…was nothing, really. I was glad to help.”

Luna put a comforting wing around her niece. “You should consider going into teaching, Cinnamon. It sounds like you have the aptitude for it and might be what your cutie mark’s for.”

“You really think so, Aunt Luna?”

Luna nodded. “But regardless, I’m glad you’re here. I could use a little help on a slight problem I’m having; namely, how I can set up dinner between DJ and Elusive.”

“Oh, that shouldn’t be a problem at all,” Cinnamon commented. “We went out to dinner last time I was home and he and Butter were wonderful to talk to.”

“That’s the problem: should we have her join them? She’s an absolute delight to have around, but with her being near-term, I wouldn’t want to have dinner fall through because Butter needed to head to the hospital for delivery. Yet at the same time, DJ might feel extremely uncomfortable having dinner at Elusive’s place in Ponyville, for obvious reasons.” She turned to DJ to explain. “Your brother lives in your mother’s old home – the Carousel Boutique – back in Ponyville, though Rarity’s actual boutique has been moved to a storefront closer to downtown.”

“Well, what about Cloudsdale?” Cinnmon suggested. “There’s a nice restaurant that I know there, it’s close to a hospital in case something happens to Butter and it’s not Canterlot or Ponyville, so DJ won’t have concerns about running into any unexpected relatives. Plus, I don’t think Elusive has ever been to Cloudsdale, so it should be neutral ground for both of them.”

“Plus, I can create the spells necessary for her and Mike and transport them there. That’s a wonderful idea, Cinnamon!”

She nodded. “I’ll take care of the reservations then, if that’s all right with you.”

Meanwhile, DJ looked at them both. “Cloudsdale. What’s that?”

Luna looked at her oddly. “Didn’t anypony tell you about Cloudsdale when you were last here?”

The humanized pony shrugged. “If someone did, I don’t recall. I had other things on my mind at the time.”

“Quite understandable,” the dusky alicorn replied. “Cloudsdale is Equestria’s third largest city, about fifty or so miles south of Ponyville. It’s mainly a pegasus city, and it’s a mile up from sea level.”

“Okay, so it’s like Denver, then. That’s gonna be a bit difficult, since people have to adjust to that kind of elevation and Denver’s significantly higher than most places, not to mention the fact that Mike and I have been living at about sea level for about the last decade or so.”

“Well, it’s not exactly like Denver,” Cinnamon pointed out. “Remember, it’s a pegasus city, so…it’s made of clouds.”

A pin could have been heard dropping in the uncomfortable moment of silence the followed. “Clouds.” DJ was clearly nonplussed. “As in condensation given physical form? Atmospheric screens of water vapor? That crap that Rickie Lee Jones was droning on in that drug-tripped haze in that song by the Orb? What planet are we on again, Bespin?” For her outburst she was rewarded with a bunch of blank stares; she chose to ignore that and continued. “So you’re telling me that there’s a city made of clouds?”

“It’s pegasus magic,” Cinnamon explained. “Pegasi can control clouds as if they’re concrete objects – it’s how pegasi make the weather in Equestria.”

“But don’t worry, I can place a spell on you and Mike so you can travel around Cloudsdale safely,” Luna supplied. “Plus, Cloudsdale is beautiful at night and it’s an experience like no other.”

“Um…how do you deal with aircraft and the like?” DJ wondered. “Aircraft fly through clouds.”

“Oh, that’s easy: there’s a five-mile perimeter around cloud cities like Cloudsdale, Cirrusburg, Windham and the like. Plus, there aren’t many airports and airfields in Equestria right now and while that is changing, the flight perimeters will remain in place for safety reasons. In any case, you’ll be completely safe with the spell on.”

“You sure?” Luna merely gave DJ a lidded glance. “Look, Luna, it’s not that I don’t trust you or anything….”

“That’s a first.”

“Oh, ha, ha, ha, Luna – seriously. It’s just…well, we humans aren’t exactly built for that kind of stuff,” DJ pointed out. “Or earth ponies if you’re going to beleaguer that point.”

“I knew what you meant. The spell will help you to walk on clouds, but not fly, so you’ll have to be careful not to step off the edges. Plus, since no aircraft are allowed near, you’ll have to take a non-mechanical flight there. There’s an aerodrome at the east end of Cloudsdale, and that’s close enough to downtown. I can see if we still have one of the old chariots and have a pair of guards escort you up there.”

“Well, your sons should be back soon, so I’d better go get prepared for the afternoon lessons,” Cinnamon said. “I’ll be in the library if anypony needs me.”

“In that case, I’d best be headed to Elusive’s place to inform him of the news.”

DJ, however, was still disconcerted by the idea of walking on water vapor. “Um, don’t I get to make any suggestions and/or opinions?”

“Sure,” Luna replied, grinning evilly. “You get to be the one to tell your husband. Ta-taa!” With that there was a huge burst of light and the moon alicorn vanished.

“Oh, is this going to be fun,” DJ said, sarcastically. She looked at her parents, but since they were otherwise occupied with something else, she thought about rustling up Spike, but he was with the boys at the moment. It looked like she was going to have to explain this on her own. Yeah, no problem, DJ. You can explain this to Mike, easily: after all, he is married to an alien and has alien hybrid children, how much weirder could this get?

She sighed. Life was never easy when it came to her.

As the last of Khalid’s fighters took to the air, Nightmare Moon, resplendent in her human form, snapped the neck of the last guard in her hands. “That should do it.”

At her side, in the shape of a wolf, Twilight Sunburn growled, threatening the guard she had underneath her. She suddenly stopped in fear as a blast of red energy vaporized his head in a shower of blood. The wolf turned to look at Nightmare Moon, the look in her eyes horrorstruck. “Why did you do that? I had him ready to run!”

“Ghino was right: you are weak,” Nightmare Moon said. “I’d kill you now, but I think that pleasure should be saved for Chrysalis. But that doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you, little one.” Nightmare Moon shifted to her natural form and then forced Twilight to do the same as the former cooed, “And unless you do exactly as I demand, I can assure you I will hurt you.” Flapping her ebon wings, she lifted off into the air, the pepsis soon joining her.

“Destroy that oil tank,” Nightmare commanded. “That should set off a large enough fire.”

“But that’ll….” Twilight shut up, fearing for her safety even as she was torn inside. She’d told those she’d let escape to run away to the safety of the building there. At the time, she thought it was far enough away from Nightmare Moon to prevent her predations and would let them get to safety. But she was wrong.

Nightmare Moon looked at her, eyes blazing with ruby fire.

Sadly, Twilight turned and charged her horn with orange fire. A blast of energy ripped from it, tearing into the oil tank. The resulting explosion as the oil cooked off shook the immediate surroundings as flames burned against the nighttime sky. Reinforcements arriving to counterattack the invading forces immediately turned their attention to the burning fuel facilities, to put them out before it was too late.

“Oh, and one last thing to add to the whole parade.” Nightmare Moon’s horn glowed a sickly color of yellow, and suddenly at the end of the tarmac were the flags of the United States and Equestria. A reasonable man would see them and realize it was nothing more than a plant, but the forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran were anything but. With that, Nightmare Moon turned and rushed off into the sky, the smaller pepsis fluttering her wings at high speed in order to keep up.

A distance away from the base, however, someone – or rather somepony – had seen part of it. “Alhambra, this is Sierra Bravo Six. Can you read me, over?”

“This is Alhambra. Go ahead.”

“We’re gonna have to pull out of this one. Looks like someone beat us to it. Sierra Alpha, what’s your sit, over?”

“We were just about to ask you the same thing, Bravo,” a voice responded. “Think someone else is playing in the sandbox?”

“Cut the chatter. RTB. Alhambra, out.”

Holding the radio in his forehooves, an earth pony looked at his commanding officer. “Skipper, they’re telling us to return to base.”

“About damn time.” A slate-blue pegasus in desert camo leaned against the berm, continuing to watch the conflagration in the distance. “But someone hit them.”

“Mossad, maybe?”

“I dunno. Not too familiar with how the Israelis play things, Tailwind.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a map. “In the meanwhile, gather up the troops and have them head south via the backup route. We’ll meet up with the SEALs at the rendezvous point and the ship’ll send out boats to come get our flanks.”

“Roger that,” Tailwind said. “I’ll be right back with the guys.” Ignoring his subordinate’s comment, CAPT Rumble, REN, continued to watch the supposed top-secret activities of Omidiyeh Air Base and the soon-to-be-classified fire that was engulfing it. A month ago the Iranian military, which under the current regime was more unstable than usual, claimed to have built a new type of ICBM that was not only capable of hitting anywhere in the US but also bursting through the Indian Ocean Air Portal to hit cities in Equestria as well. While at first the threat was completely dismissed as laughable, when the CIA could not confirm any goings-on at the base due to a potential block, the block was believed to have been a magic protective barrier. With that, CENTCOM had decided to send in a secret mission of SEALs and due to the magic, asked the REN if they would contribute members of their own naval special forces unit, the Seaponies. Between the two teams, it was decided, they were certain to find out what was going on there.

Well, they confirmed three things, alright: the first was that there had been a magic barrier present, but it was gone now and there was no indicator as to who or what had placed it. The second was that the base was a sham, and there was nothing there but an “elite” – to use the word in all possible sarcasm – squadron of Quahar-313 stealth fighters, the state-of-the-art Iranian fighter that was said to be more than a match for the average unarmored pegasus carrying a potato gun. The last thing was that the airbase was on fire and that a squadron of Q-313s had scrambled from the location. Was this the first salvo in a potential civil war for the country or something else?

Picking up the radio Tailwind had left, he contacted the ship. “Alhambra, this is Sierra Bravo Six Actual. Need you to trace some bogies. Q-313s outbound from the base about five minutes ago, headed due west, over.”

“This is Alhambra. We’ve got nothing on radar or quantum, but we’ll keep looking. In the meanwhile, you guys better get out of there stat. Just picked up signals that the locals are peeking around the base – they found both American and Equestriani flags at the end of the runway and there’s some fingerpointing going on.”

“Roger that,” Rumble said, confused. “Have the SEALs meet us at recon point two and we’ll get going.”

“Best of luck. Alhambra out. Maintain river city from this point on.” In the distance, Rumble heard the sound of an all-terrain vehicle start heading in their direction. They needed to get out of there, and now. Fortunately, he noted his troops heading toward them and with the precision borne from hours of training, the group of ponies started to take off, headed towards the rendezvous location twelve miles southeast by the shore.

“He’s an adorable little foal. You should be very proud of him,” Celestia told Cadance, “though raising him won’t be easy.” The newborn foal was currently asleep on a pillow next to his mother, while the sun alicorn poured cups of tea for herself and her counterpart.

“I thought so,” Cadance said with a nod. “I was hoping to visit Dream Valley within the next few days to see if Imago would be able to give me any advice.”

“Dream Valley?” Celestia asked.

“Yes. The day after we left the flutters petitioned to have the Lands Ministry rename Ghastly Gorge as Dream Valley. I approved it as soon as I got back, but I haven’t had time to issue an official proclamation yet.”

“Then we should plan to make the public announcement about the flutters very soon; I believe you already had that in mind, didn’t you?”

“I did, admittedly, but after what happened in Fillydelphia, I’ve had some cause to rethink it. The loss is still very raw, and based on the lambasting I got from both the press and Prince Birdbrain, I stepped in it hard in regards to the way the whole situation was botched. And that’s just the press; the public is understandably more aghast, especially both the surviving refugees and in particular those who’ve lost loved ones.” Cadance didn’t have to add that Minty and her family were now considered amongst those lost.

“I know. How’s…how’s everypony taking the news?”

“I don’t know if the flutters are aware of it.” Cadance sighed. “Maybe it would be better to have Maggie travel here and we can make the pronouncement with her at your side? That should defuse some of the fears.”

“Actually, I was referring to our family.”

“I know; I was hoping you’d indulge me the sidetrack. Truthfully? I don’t think it’s had time to really sink in yet aside from maybe Fluttershy, Pinkie and Sweetie, since they were in Filly just before we turned it into a firepit. And then we got swamped with the info regarding the attack on us and what happened to DJ – she’s okay, right?”

“She’s fine; the news made a huge mistake,” Celestia explained. “But the loss of Fillydelphia makes it all the more important that we notify the public about the flutters, especially while they’re still a protectorate under the Crown. They may someday want to formally establish their own nation in the badlands, and it’s better to publicly show that Imago and company are on our side instead of being the typical changeling brood.”

“Then there’s something else I think we need to discuss: the need for an envoy between the flutters and the Crown. And if we catch him soon enough, it should make things a lot easier.”

Celestia arched a brow. “I take it there’s something that I need to be made aware of?”

Cadance nodded. “Let’s just say that nearly losing all her biological family isn’t the only wound to the heart that Sweetie’s taken in the past week.”

Leaving the small town of Shetland Valley, nestled at the edge of Ghastly Gorge, a pony walked towards a checkpoint, heading towards what might be his future. His mind was a stew of emotions at the moment: here he was, in love with a mare he’d spent his life with and he was now walking towards another mare, not only one young enough to be his own daughter, but one he’d fathered a daughter on…and one who wasn’t even a pony to begin with.

I love Sweetie, he thought to himself, walking along through the trees that lined the edge of the small base on its way to the checkpoint. I’m not sure how I feel about Maggie, but…I have a daughter now. No matter what, I can’t deny that. And it wasn’t as though I was cheating on Sweetie; we weren’t together during that period, but…. The image in his mind of her giving him her engagement bracelet and vanishing, her last kiss, telling him she’d always love him forever, and her eyes, filled with love and the pain of betrayal….

What do I do?

He pushed the thoughts aside as he finally reached the small checkpoint that separated the main portion of the valley from the Gorge proper. As he arrived, there was a small contingent of soldiers standing by the checkpoint, all heavily armed as if they were expecting war to break out at any moment. Considering what the flutters were and what had happened in Fillydelphia, the hairs on the back of Pip’s head stood on end. Finally, as he arrived, the guards put their guns at the ready as one called out, “Halt – this is a restricted area by authorization of the Crown.”

Pip pulled his ID from his saddlepacks, showing it to the sergeant. “Easy, troops. I’m here on informal business. Mind telling me what the party favors are for? This is supposed to be a protectorate checkpoint, not a firebase,” he pointed out.

The sergeant who issued the challenge returned Pip’s ID and saluted. “Sorry, Colonel. Sgt. Haymaker, 117th Infantry, Able Company. Orders from Major Fleetfoot; there’s been a change in plans and we’re to contain the changelings and make sure they don’t attack us, though after Filly I’d rather kill every single one of those bucking bugs.”

Pip looked at the soldier with a curious glance. “What changelings, Sergeant?”

Haymaker was adamant. “The rust-colored ones down there, sir! Dunno why nopony ever did anything about them before, but they’ve got to be more dangerous than the ones that attacked Canterlot decades ago. I’ll bet they were even responsible for the attack on Filly itself!”

The older stallion rolled his eyes. “Three things, Sergeant: one, were you even alive yet when the attack on Canterlot occurred? I’m going to take an educated guess and say no. Two, I was there at Fillydelphia and trust me, what I faced was run-of-the-mill typical parasite changelings, nothing else. And three, do you know the difference between a changeling and a flutter?”

“A flutter, sir? What’s that?”

“Let me ask you this, then: do you think zebras and mules are threats to the safety of the realm just because they’ve got the same common equine ancestors as we do?”

“Well, obviously not, sir, bu—”

Pip cut him off with a, “Then why are you going to blame the flutters for being descended from the same stock as changelings? May as well blame butterflies.” He then turned to the others. “Who’s been stationed here longest?”

“That’d be me, sir,” a female corporal, a unicorn, spoke up. “Corporal Sweetpine, sir. Over three years now, almost time to rotate to another unit.”

“Okay, Corporal,” Pip asked, “in your expert opinion, in any of those three years, have you ever been attacked by any of the flutters?”

“Um, no, but….” Sweetpine nervously tapped her forehooves together as if clapping.

“But?”

“Well, this is going to sound strange, sir, but…one of them brought me lunch, once. Was rather nice about it, too. Didn’t stick around long enough to see my reaction and I didn’t eat it afterwards, but…it was as if it was being nice.” Sweetpine recalled the memory. “It was a daisy salad sandwich. Actually, kinda my favorite, but I didn’t think it was safe to eat.”

“Why not?” Pip asked.

She looked at him oddly. “Well, what if it was poisoned or drugged? Or ensorcelled with some sort of nasty magic?”

Pip looked at her sadly. “And you’re a unicorn, right? Correct me if I’m wrong, but unicorns in the military are supposed to be trained in at least level six spells, which include magic and poison detection spells, right?” When she looked at him with a glance that indicated she’d never thought of that, he knew he’d hit home. “So you rebuffed kindness when offered, and instead of checking to see if the flutter in question might be friendly, decided to keep treating them as an enemy?”

“But sir, those things destroyed Filly!” Haymaker interjected before Sweetpine could say anything further.

Pip shook his head. “Everypony, let me explain something to you all, and I want it to be expressly clear: those flutters aren’t a threat to anypony. In fact, the reason this base is here and what you’re all supposed to be doing is protecting them from misunderstandings like the ones you made! The flutters are a protectorate under the Crown and this is supposed to be a protective point for their sanctuary, not a watchtower for a prison!” He scowled as he looked at them all. “Here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to head down to the bottom of the gorge and within an hour, I want Major Fleetfoot to report to me down there, got it?”

“The major’s not here, sir,” the sergeant replied. “He’s enroute to Canterlot to have EQMILCOM order an airstrike on the canyon.”

Thankfully, Goldengrape’s going to laugh at that one, Pip groaned inwardly. “I want you to get on the radio and order him back immediately. Then I want you to call General Goldengrape’s office and issue a hold on any such orders, override priority Foxtrot-Sierra-Echo-Kilo-Three.”

Haymaker’s eyes went wide. “Colonel, that’s a Knight code! You don’t have that authority!”

“No, but I know the mare who does,” Pip snarled. “Lady Knight Fluttershy is a friend of mine and I don’t think she’ll object to me abusing her authority in order to prevent murder. Now get those orders done now sergeant and I expect to see Fleetfoot down in the canyon floor in an hour, do I make myself clear?”

In response, the sergeant drew his sidearm and pointed it at Pip’s head. “Sir, as the senior enlisted present, I must refuse – you’re off-duty, out of line and abusing your authority. You don’t have command, and frankly, I agree with the major – whatever’s down there is a bug and it’s time we did some bug squashing! You will stand down now, Colonel, or I will have you placed under arrest.”

Pip turned to face the sergeant, gun in his face. “Sergeant, I don’t think you seem to understand what you’re doing. I am a Destrier and in case you forgot what that means, it means I’m REA Special Forces. And in case you forgot what that means, it means that if you don’t point that gun somewhere else, I will rip off your damn hoof then break your spine a second later…and I don’t have to break a sweat doing it. Then I’ll have what’s left of your plot court-martialed.”

“Private Briarpatch, Private Sagebrush, take the colonel into custody – something must be wrong with him. We can’t let the Major’s sacred duty be stopped!”

“Sacred duty, Sergeant? Do you even hear yourself?” Pip warned. “Now take that gun away or you’ll be shitting bullets once I shove it down your throat.”

“I gave you an order, privates!” Haymaker snarled.

The response was the click of another sidearm. Haymaker looked out of the corner of his eye to see Corporal Sweetpine holding her gun to Haymaker’s head. “Hay, this is wrong – sacred duty? What’s so sacred about bombing from afar? We’re the Army, not the button-pushin’ Air Force! Furthermore, look at the Colonel! He’s not panicked, he’s pissed – does that look the response of someone out of their mind to you?”

“Privates, arrest Corp—”

“Privates, I am countermanding that authority under section 113 of the EMCDJ and Army Regulation 1126.D36.” In a softer tone, she said, “We’ve no idea what’s down there, ponies – do we really want to kill somepony who might be innocent just because Haymaker’s from Filly?” To Haymaker, she said, “Hay, we don’t know if your family’s alive or not, but…this ain’t right. This just ain’t right.”

“If my family dies because you went soft, Pine, I’ll kill you myself!” he snarled.

“This is your last warning, Sergeant Haymaker,” Pip said in an ominous tone.

“You asked for it, traitor!” Haymaker screeched as he pulled the trigger. The bullet went off with a bang, and at that range, it had no chance of missing…

…had Pip been in that space to be hit. Instead, he stepped back and went upright, the bullet carving a harmless path through air. As he did, Pip slammed his left forehoof, like a fist, straight into the barrel of the sergeant, then across the face with his right, stunning him. He slapped the sergeant’s gunhoof right at the fetlock, causing him to drop it, then reached out and grabbed the gun before it hit the ground. As the sergeant hit the ground, he heard the telltale click of a hammer being cocked and ready for action.

“Let that be a lesson to you, Sergeant – I don’t need to be faster than the bullet; I just need to be faster than your trigger hoofspace muscle.” Turning briefly to Sweetpine, he said, “Thanks for the assist.”

“Haymaker’s been weirding several of us out lately, to be honest. I suspect the Major left him in charge simply because he has the same sympathies as Haymaker, you know, the ‘Kill ‘Em All and Let Luna Sort ‘Em Out’ type. I feel for the stallion; his family hasn’t been heard of since contact with Filly was lost – but too far is too far. He probably needs some psychological attention, not to be given a gun and a place where he could do harm.”

“Then let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. Privates, take him into custo—”

Sweetpine cut him off. “With all due respect, sir, you’re off-duty and thus don’t have that authority.” Flashing him a knowing grin, she said, “Privates, take the sergeant into custody and then one of you get on the horn and issue that priority order, stat. Then contact the next squad and tell them the situation, and that I want Corporal Trenchdigger’s unit to report early.”

“Good work, Corporal,” Pip said, smiling and giving Haymaker’s sidearm to her.

“Just another day in green, sir,” she grinned, accepting the weapon.

“I love the idea!” Elusive exclaimed as he sat at the table, drinking a cup of mocha. Across from him, Luna was already burning the metaphorical midnight oil and she was probably going to need a nap soon. But she had to admit, her nephew’s enthusiasm was infectious.

“So you’ll do it?”

“Aunt Luna, even if I didn’t want to do it – which I can certainly assure you that I do – it’s such a brilliant idea that it would be absolutely discourteous of me to turn this down. I truly owe both you and Cinnamon for this.”

“No thanks necessary,” Luna said with a smile, punctuating it with a sip of her own coffee. “But will Butter want to do it?” she asked. “She’s very close to term now, isn’t she?”

“I think she will. She’s been very supportive of me and I wouldn’t want anything less than to have my love alongside me during this triumphal moment. She also expressed a desire to meet DJ as well, and I think now would be as good a time as any. I presume Cinnamon has found a restaurant near a hospital should the need arise?”

“Cloudsdale West Hospital is about two blocks northeast of the restaurant. Cinnamon’s very familiar with the location and says that should something arise, we can have Butter there within moments. Plus, I’ll be having dinner nearby as well, so if necessary I can teleport her to the Royal Infirmary. I won’t let anything happen to her, I promise.”

“I know you won’t,” he said solemnly. “Though, if I may confess, as we’re getting closer to this I’m quite nervous. My memories of my sister are vague, but I remember her being exceedingly angry and hurt. Will she take it out on me because of her trials with our mother? Will she supplant her brutal feud with our sister on me? Will she hate me? Will she love me? Will she even accept me? I have to confess, I had the opportunity to talk to a friend of hers in Japan a few weeks ago and she described DJ as a wonderful but very quote, unquote ‘human’ individual.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you’re underestimating her. We patched up our own relationship in Singapore and bear in mind that just before she was caught in the attack, both of us were screaming at each other – though I wonder where she picked up the ability to shout in the Royal Canterlot Voice. But now she considers everything with me water under the bridge now and I was, in her mind, an antagonist, yet now she’s showing an affectionate side I didn’t think existed. But as for you, Elusive? You’re a blank slate to her, so you should have no problems with her. And I can assure you she’s just as nervous.”

He suddenly grew quiet. After a few seconds, he admitted, “Call me a foal, but even though I didn’t grow up with her, I think I need her right now. Our parents are on the verge of death and our sister and her family are missing and likely dead. And though I have a wonderful life, a beautiful and loving wife and the most supportive extended family a stallion could ever ask for, I find myself needing the embrace of a mare…no, a woman…that I’ve never really known.”

Luna nodded in understanding. “When I was exiled for a thousand years, I cried out for love and the only thing that claimed to love me back was that monster,” the dusky alicorn replied, her voice a whisper of guilt and shame. “I was….terrible things happened to me, Elusive, things that should not happen to any being, things I wasn’t able to tell Celestia until years later. And through all that time, I needed the love of a sister whose last vision I saw was grievously wounded and in tears. When I saw her again, I thought she would hate me, spurn me and exile me again – for a time, I was even jealous of Twilight and Cadance, as I assumed both of them were meant to take my place in her heart. But it was a stupid thought, a foal’s thought.

“You two need each other right now, more than you realize. You two may very well see something terrible come to pass, and if it comes to that, it will be more important than ever that you bridge the gap between you both – and I’m sure you will. But should it come to that point – and even if it never does – know that you have a family that loves you both and will always be there for you.” She grinned as she added, “No matter how sneaky you get or how much of a harridelle your sister can be.”

Elusive nodded, returning the smile. “If that’s the case, I learned it from some of the best. What time are we all scheduled to meet?”

“I would like you and Butter to be there at 8:15 for the reservation; it’s under your name. That way you’ll have a chance to ensure Butter is comfortable and that there are any last-second issues that you’ll need to attend to. I’ll have both DJ and her husband show up at 8:30. I trust there won’t be any issues that she’s married to a human?”

“I know plenty of mares who are married to men; I also know a couple of stallion/women couples and one or two same-sex relationships. My business couldn’t do as well as it has if I let prejudices get in the way, not that I have any. I promise I won’t have any problem with DJ or her husband; from what I’ve been told by Aunt Twilight and Aunt Sweetie, he seems to be quite the soldier and gentleman much as Uncle Shining or Father.”

She nodded. “I should get going so you have a chance to talk to Butter without me being in the way. Besides, I probably could do with some sleep after all the running around I’ve done.”

“You’re welcome to use the guestroom, if you’d like. As it is, you’ll have to cast the spell on the both of us so we’ll be able to attend, as well as showing us the location of the restaurant.”

She sighed. I knew I’d forget something; I can’t be in two places at once and Cinnamon can’t cast spells. Fortunately, she knew somepony who was also familiar with Cloudsdale and could take care of the necessary spells. She willed her phone into existence, then tapped out an email to send off to the pony in question. She would happily accommodate her niece and nephew in this hour of need, Luna figured. The mare in question was just that generous a soul.

The moment she heard the familiar ringtone assigned to Luna, Sweetie Belle turned over and wanted to remain alone in her bed. The room still had his scent from the days he’d stayed over, from those nights together, a life now carved out of her heart. Though Twilight, like Celestia, was comfortable in her celibacy, it wasn’t really something that Sweetie ever wanted for herself, but now she found that the fate of the apprentice was doomed to be a repeat of the master, just as the master mirrored that of her own.

Picking up her phone, she noticed it was an email and quickly read it; what she saw brought the briefest of smiles to her face. DJ was finally back in Equestria, at Twilight’s home, and was planning to meet Elusive tonight, but needed her help. The plan was apparently for the two to meet in Cloudsdale and Luna and Cinnamon needed Sweetie to transport DJ and Mike to the cloud city since they’d be taking care of Elusive and Butter’s transportation. Luna understood that Sweetie was under a lot of heartbreak at the moment and probably wanted to be alone – Fluttershy had told Cinnamon who in turn had informed Luna – but the family needed her.

Crawling out of bed, Sweetie sighed. She knew it wouldn’t do a bit of good to ignore the edict of her princess…which she knew it wasn’t one. But from her sister royal, a request from family it was, and considering it was for the surviving members of Rarity’s foals, well, Rarity was her older sister…at least from a biological standpoint. Besides, with the sudden change in her relationship status, the chances of having foals of her own were now remote and having a reunion between DJ and Elusive was an aunt’s dreams come true.

She went to the closet to pick out something suitable for the dinner; while clothing in Equestria was still a rather formal thing, dinner tonight at least would allow that much, as well as setting DJ’s all-too-human taboos at ease.

His tent set up, Ghino zipped it shut as he entered. It was a rather spacious yurt, conjured up by Chrysalis’ magic; admittedly, he could have roughed it outside with his troops, but as the leader of his men he was entitled to a few extras. He knew that outside, Eugenio was scoffing at that – the man couldn’t understand the meaning of culture even if you threw yogurt in his face – but Ghino needed his creature comforts. He certainly felt he’d earned it.

At the moment, he’d finished going over tomorrow’s attack plans with Eugenio, Blood Armor and Chrysalis. They’d assault the hives of Queens Spiracle, Coxa and Trochanter. They could probably hit the first two hives the same way they hit all the others, but Trochanter’s, Chrysalis assured him, would be the hardest target yet: for one, they lived in strange hives along the seaside cliffs that reminded Ghino of paper wasps’ nests. Second, they were considered to be a heretical swarm even for changelings, since they subsisted on hope and paradoxically they lived a hermetic life in order to continue giving hope to the penguin tribes that were their nearest neighboring species, causing a symbiotic situation.

It was decided they’d get some rest now then move during the evening, so they could be in position at dawn’s first light in order to add that extra oomph to their threat of Spiracle’s hives. Chrysalis had agreed and her forces had bedded down for the day; Eugenio, his forces and the rest of Ghino’s own had also done so, but with armed guards – employer or not, the Irishman had a huge distrust for the emotional parasites that the changelings were.

He was just about to crawl into bed, when the tent unzipped and a pepsis mare let herself in. Her deep blue coloring was alluring and her purple and black mane and tail blended well and had some sort of scallop-like cuts at the end vice the usual changeling holes. Her gray wings, unlike those of her siblings, weren’t shredded but were well-kept and almost intact save for the same scallops at the end. Her graphite-hued eyes reflected desire and her tail swished seductively. “I thought we’d take this time to get to know each other,” she said.

“Do I know you?” Ghino asked.

“Not yet, but you will. You see, you are my new master, as Mother decreed. And I am…well, let’s just say I’m whatever you want me to be –whatever you desire me to be,” she said, lifting her tail and placing it on her back. She walked up to him and instinctively began to remove his clothing with her teeth. “And I’m sure you desire me to be whatever suits you most, master.” With an effort, she pushed him gently on the bed and kissed him.

“What is your name?” he asked.

“Whatever you want it to be,” she breathed. “But we’ll discuss that later. For now? I think we should…familiarize ourselves with each other. We can introduce ourselves once we’re completely spent.”

Comforted that the situation with Haymaker and the checkpoint was now dealt with, Pip started down the Cliffside path, headed into the gorge below. As he passed the two giant boulders that had been moved into the pathway to obscure vision as to what could be seen down the road into the defile, what he saw was nothing short of amazing. The last time he’d been here was when he was first time she’d set up camp down here. Ghastly Gorge had been a dangerous place filled with hazards, from quarry eels to thick brambles of briar and packs of vicious shadowhaunts. But that seemed to be all in the past now, replaced by a very bright and changed future.

What he now saw, as he descended towards the valley floor, was nothing less than a pristine farming community. He hadn’t expected to see fields of vegetables or orchards – those were almost trees, if he recognized them correctly. The giant bores where the quarry eels once resided were now dripping with a golden, glistening fluid that had a familiar, cloying scent; the flutters had turned the holes into honey factories. The drones, already physical adults though he remembered them being just nymphs when he left – flittered to and fro, tending to various needs, acting like a true society of intelligent creatures, not the ravenous monsters that they shared a common genetic heritage with.

Then he saw the houses, and it made him laugh. The intel reports he’d seen regarding changeling domiciles were all the same: the swarms lived together in giant sickly green hives, a titanic condominium complex through which the queen would completely dominate her brood. But for flutters, it was far different. At first glance, they looked like hives, dozens of them. But that was where the comparisons ended. Where changeling hives were that acidic green color, flutter bungalows – because that was what they looked like – were warm earth tones. And as he got closer, it was only the roofs of said bungalows that looked like hives; the bottom portions actually looked like normal homes.

And lastly were the flutters themselves. While it was clear they weren’t ponies, they certainly didn’t look much like changelings, either. Wings and bodies were whole, unmarked by the pocks, pits and holes of their corrupted kin. Manes, tails, saddle carapaces and gossamer wings were all a variety of colors, truly marking each one as an individual. And though they seemed to move with a single purpose as befitting an arthopodesque species, they also had enough individualism that one drone performing the same task as another wasn’t doing it in a copy-and-paste, rote action.

“It’s a beautiful place, isn’t it, our Dream Valley,” a voice suddenly said from behind Pip. “A place where our own swarm can live in peace, away from ponies’ accusations of being evil changelings and from changelings who are actually evil.”

“Yup, sure is a beautiful place,” Pip responded, relaxing. Normally, being a Destrier, his instincts instantly put him on the alert, but he was in friendly territory now – best to act it.

“Unfortunately, mister, you’re not allowed to be down here in the Valley – what ponykind calls Ghastly Gorge, though as you can see, it doesn’t fit that name any longer.” There was an eager cheer in the speaker’s voice, a boyish charm of a stallion just recently having left colthood. That made sense; in order to protect their queen, the first brood always grew from newly-hatched to full-size adults in about five years, which made for a very abbreviated foalhood – or nymphhood, in this case. Any successive broods Maggie would have would grow up normally. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave, though I don’t mean you any harm. Just the rules of the Equestriani Crown, and since we’re a protectorate, even we’ve gotta follow those rules.”

“Well,” Pip chuckled, “fortunately, I’m a special case. And by the way, who are you?”

The speaker said in a note of pride, “Name’s Peppercorn. I’m the town sheriff – not that there’s any kind of trouble amongst our kind – and Queen Imago’s right-hoof drone.”

“Isn’t that usually the job of a princess?”

“Well, yeah, admittedly, but we only have one, and her highness Princess Rosedust’s a bit on the young side, so it’s a real honor for her majesty to have me do the job, even if only until the princess grows up.” A sudden thought came on the speaker’s mind. “You know, you’re a little too knowledgeable about flutter and changeling procedures. I think I’d better take a look at you.”

The flutter walked around, and when Pip saw him, he was mildly surprised. Not by the look; being a drone, he was essentially a male clone of the queen, and this bore in Peppercorn’s appearance as well: aside from gender, the main differences in Peppercorn’s appearance were a shorter mane in his individual accent color of dark gray instead of his mother’s red, his clear cyan eyes, and the rusty red of his exoskeleton vice his mother’s tan. But it was the most important detail that caught Pip’s attention: Peppercorn was wearing a neckerchief, just as Pip was doing right now, and there was only one way the young drone could have known about that.

But it was the drone whose eyes went wide in surprise. “Pop?” he asked, as if not believing what he was seeing.

The word wormed its way into Pip’s heart, beat off all oncomers and immediately set up a fortress. A wide, lazy smile broke onto the stallion’s face, and his eyes went a little misty. No words came to his mind, so instead he stood there, grinning like a fool, as if it would say everything that needed to be said.

It did. Peppercorn launched himself into a hug, nuzzling his “father” at the same time and buzzing a cheerful tone. “Pop! We thought we’d never see you again! Why haven’t you come back before?”

Pip instinctively reached up and mussed his “son’s” mane. No, not “son”, son, sans quotation marks, Pip realized. Regardless of genes, he was raised to be mine – they all were. “Well, I’m here now.”

“You back for good this time?” Unbridled hope shone in the drone’s eyes. Another difference between the flutters and changelings; the formers’ eyes were closer to mammals and therefore easier to read.

Pip sighed; was he? Was this home now? He had so much to work through with Maggie; now that he had a daughter – scratch that, foals – it made things that much more challenging. Plus, the end of his relationship with Sweetie Belle…he wasn’t sure if there was an end to it, or of how to proceed from this point. “We’ll see. Duty calls, you know.”

“Yeah, Mom said you’re a really important pony up there.”

“I guess,” he said; he was a Destrier and they didn’t have to prove anything, so it was common for them not to need to brag. “Anyway, where’s your Mom?”

“She’s at the castle right now. It’s early in the morning, so she’s probably spending time with Rosie,” Peppercorn said. “C’mon, I’ll show you around while we get everypony ready.” Peppercorn waved to two of his fellow drones, bidding them to come over. “Hey, Cardamom! Oregano! Get your flanks over here!”

“Yeah, yeah, keep your horn on, Peppercorn, we’re coming, we’r…hey, is that Pop?” At the sudden notice of the stallion the lazy flight of the two drones became a pair of rockets as they immediately moved in front of the head drone. “Oh, wow! It is Pop! You’re back!” Cardamom chirped, as his fellow drone buzzed happily.

“Yeah. I’m taking him to see Mom and Rosie now. What I need you to do is to round up every drone and have them meet in the central hall in an hour, okay? That should be enough time for me to show Pop around a bit and then take him down to see Mom.”

“You got it!” Oregano shouted, as both drones raced in opposite directions to get the attention of their brethren. Meanwhile, Peppercorn’s enthusiasm was becoming infectious, as heads suddenly popped up, noticing the very distinctive stallion walking alongside the seniormost male flutter.

As they walked through the valley towards Dream Castle, dozens of flutters were staring at Peppercorn and Pip, as if celebrities were in their midst. There was a buzz, both metaphorical and literal, about the pair as they passed through town. By the time they reached the gates of the small palace, half the town was walking behind them.

“Looks like everypony’s here to welcome you back, my love,” Imago said as she approached the doorway to the palace, looking at Pip with love in her eyes. The moment he crossed the doorway into the palace proper, the flutter queen rushed to him, collapsing into his forelegs as she delivered a series of romantic kisses and nuzzled him tenderly. As she kissed him once more, the assembled flutters began to cheer, as Imago looked at her husband, a blush coming to her cheeks. “I’ve missed you so, my Pip.”

“I’m…glad to be back,” he said, the hesitancy clear in his voice.

“Not yet you’re not,” she told him, “because I can see you’re still conflicted about your issues with Sweetie Belle. Well, allow me to free your mind from that and heal your heart, and then I’ll help you with mending hers, as she will sorely need it.” She kissed him again, and then turned to face her children. “Now, I understand Peppercorn said that you all planned to meet in an hour in the meeting hall regarding your father, but you all still have chores to finish.”

“Awwwwww….” A few dozen grumbles voiced in the background as the flutter drones finally caught the message their mother had given. They thinned out to go back to their duties briefly, and as Peppercorn promised that they’d get to talk to him later, he gave a farewell wave to his parents, leaving them at the entrance to the palace.

“Things have changed here,” he said, looking around. “It’s beautiful, Maggie.”

“If it is, it’s only because my heart has let them be so,” she said with a soft smile. “I wanted you and a family, not conquest and an army. And now I’ve got exactly what I want and I’m never letting go.” This time it was Pip who offered the kiss, which she took greedily, and after a few more seconds’ worth of displays of affection, Pip smiled, looking at her with all his heart.

“So, where’s Rosie?” Pip asked, wondering where the perpetually hyper filly was.

“The palace staff is watching over her at the moment, but you’ll get to see her later, I promise,” she said, swatting him playfully with one of her gossamer wings. “I can guarantee she’ll be more than happy to see you, my love.” She started steering him towards the upstairs areas of the castle, the pair walking up the spiral stairs.

As he walked beside her, he had two feelings hit him simultaneously: one, none of the flutters had objected to his return; in fact, they all seemed to accept it with nothing less than absolute jubilation, as if something precious lost to them had been found. The second was that of pure, unbridled love: he felt loved and wanted, and for the first time in a while, Pip almost felt as if he was right where he needed to be.

Almost.

Mike arrived from reporting in with the Embassy; the military attaché, an Army brigadier general, understood Mike’s situation and pretty much informed him that the only time he would actually be “needed” was if there were any questions the REN had that might require someone with naval expertise. Other than to check in once a day as per regulations, he was free to enjoy his six months of unofficial leave. DJ was grateful for that, as she knew she was going to need him more than ever…

…starting off with when the boys were done with their classes with Cinnamon. The moment they saw her they raced over and buried her in hugs, followed closely by their father. In the corner of her eye she could see Spike and Sam talking; the ponified dragon had done so much for her and she’d have to thank him for everything as soon as she had the chance. Finally, Cinnamon walked out of the library, a scholarly smile on her face as she looked at the kids’ schoolwork; maybe Luna was right that the pegasus was a natural teacher. After all, she had no idea what her cutie mark meant, and not all cutie marks were clear-cut indicators as to what their owner’s special talent was.

DJ embraced both her kids and her husband, holding them as close as she could, cherishing the moment and chastising herself for nearly losing it. Her anger had nearly done her in and if that had happened, she would have missed out on simple moments such as these. “God, I love you guys, you know that?” Her eyes threatened to start tearing again and she felt both overjoyed by that and a bit embarrassed; it seemed as of late there were far too many tears, whether good, bad or other.

“Mom, something wrong?” Stuart asked as he looked at her. As always, she was proud of him; even at such a young age he was smart and perceptive – far more so than she’d been his age, that was for sure.

“I’m okay, sweetie,” she said, wiping her eyes. “You remember that I’m not human, right? Well, we came to Equestria because I have to meet my original family.”

“You’re meeting your real parents?” he asked.

Mike then bent down and looked at his older son. “Stuart, I want you to understand something: your grandparents are your mother’s real parents. Just because she started life a little different than you or me doesn’t mean that they love her any less than we love you. It just means that your mother had different parents before she ended up with her real ones.”

“Where’d you hear about those words?” DJ asked. She wasn’t the least bit offended by her son’s innocent statement, but something like adoption seemed a bit too weighty to discuss for a kid his age.

“Well, our teacher was talking about adoption the other day in class and she told us she was adopted and that her real parents were from Haiti and her adopted parents were from Montana.”

“Well, that just means her real parents are in Montana and her old ones are from Haiti,” DJ explained, never having thought she’d have to clarify the complexities of her birth and adoption to her kids so soon. Thankfully, both of them knew she wasn’t like “normal” mothers, though Mike and DJ had both never used that term around the boys, and Tyler was too young to understand any of this so she could explain it better when he was older. “Sometimes people say it differently but they mean the same things I do, I’m sure.”

A sudden look crossed his face as if something was bothering him. A second later he asked, “Mom…are you leaving us?” At Stuart’s words, Tyler noticed something was amiss and looked at his parents as well.

DJ instinctively hugged them both. “Of course not, not in a million years, kiddo. Why would you even think that?”

“Well, we had a girl in my class, Lindsey Davis, who had to leave because she had to go live with her other Mom and Dad and never came back.” He looked at her with worry in his eyes. “I don’t want you to leave!”

The look on her own face was one of gentle love. She caressed his cheek, looking into his eyes. “That’s never going to happen, I promise. Just like your grandparents were always there for me, your dad and I will always be there for you, got that?” DJ and Mike briefly looked at each other and both had the same thoughts: the events of two decades ago might not have allowed this moment to ever occur.

She then remembered she needed to talk to Mike. “Kids, why don’t you go watch a movie with your grandparents, okay? Your dad and I have to talk about something for a couple of minutes.” They nodded eagerly and shuffled off to their parents, who were talking to Cinnamon and Spike at the moment. After a couple of seconds, Spike had the idea for them to all head off to the local movie theatre instead of just watching a video in the den. After quickly telling DJ and Mike their plans, everyone said a quick goodbye and decided to head off to the movie theater. Cinnamon said she’d meet them up in Cloudsdale and then departed with the others.

As Spike transported the bunch via a teleportation spell, DJ watched the motes of magic left behind as the spell completed. Knowing his wife was being pensive, Mike opted to lighten the mood by cracking, “You know, that’s not half bad for a guy who lives in a cave.”

“Oh, be nice,” DJ chuckled. “Sam’s actually staying at Spike’s place and said the ‘cave’ is actually pretty nice, a kinda sorta all hobbited up McMansion. Spike just calls it a cave because it used to actually be one before he spiffed it up. There’s apparently even a pathway from the northwestern end of Canterlot that ponies can use for deliveries and visits when they have to.”

“Guess we’ll have to have a BBQ at his place while we’re here,” he commented. “And now that the small talk is done, you want to tell me what’s bothering you this time? I’m sure Stuart didn’t mean to—”

“No, it’s not that,” she said, getting on her tiptoes and kissing him quickly. “I know he didn’t mean any harm and I’m sure the way other adoptees refer to their birth parents can be confusing; there’s certainly no real set standard. But to me Mom and Dad have always been just Mom and Dad, you know that. I’ve never thought of them as my quote unquote ‘real’ parents, because for the first fifteen years of my life, they were my only parents.”

Mike nodded. “I can’t count the number of times you’ve said that, hon. I certainly understand.”

“I know, I’m preaching to the choir.” He moved to embrace her, but she pushed him aside gently, not out of anything negative but as an indicator that she had something on her mind that she wanted to deal with herself. “Up until the day when…the…when those guards t-tried to kidnap and r…no, they….” She trailed off, giving him a forlorn look; Mike knew this time she wanted the embrace and happily complied.

“Go ahead, hon,” he said, leading her to the couch. “I’m listening.”

“It’s just…how to I explain all this? I’m still coming to grips with it after twenty years. Yeah, maybe I should have dealt with it ages ago, but I didn’t think that it would ever come to this. For most of my life, it’s just been Sam. Now, I’ve got a younger brother I’m about to meet and a younger sister that I’m going to have to deal with sooner or later and that’s if Minty has gotten over her hatred of me – I sure as hell haven’t. And I wouldn’t even know how to explain Rarity and Silversteel to the boys, and considering Rarity’s attitude and bigotry, I’m not sure I’d even want them to see you much less them. I mean, I can just picture it now: ‘Oh, my daughter’s been fucking a monkey for the past two decades, and oh, how charming – she spawned some halfbreeds. How sweet.’”

“Well, she’d be wrong,” Mike pointed out. “We did agree to abstain until marriage, so that’s what, just nine years?” At that, DJ laughed and Mike smiled inwardly, things weren’t as bad as it first seemed. “But in all seriousness, though, love,” he continued, “I think you should at least try. Be the woman I know you are and show our kids what’s right. Yes, you’re never going to call Rarity or Silversteel your parents, but Rarity apparently does want to see you again, so maybe things have changed.”

“Well, since we’re on the topic of seeing someone again, we’re going to be meeting with Elusive tonight.”

“That was quick.”

DJ nodded. “Luna thought it’d be a good idea and I think so as well.” She looked nervous as she added, “She and Cinnamon are arranging the whole thing. From what I understand, Twilight and Sweetie have had a lot of influence in his life, so he’s somewhat more of a positive person and that he really, genuinely wants to meet me.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, right?”

She gave her husband a weak smile. “Just keep thinking that, Sailor Boy. By the way, we’re having dinner tonight in Cloudsdale.”

“Cloudsdale. That’s an interesting name,” he mused. “I think I’ve heard of it before, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

“Pegasus city. About a mile above the ground. Made of clouds,” she recited off-handedly.

“Oh, that’s right – I recall Tw…oh.” A sudden realization dawned on him. “Can they actually do that?”

“Apparently it’s perfectly normal for them to do so. Personally I don’t get it either, but then again I’m supposed to be some sort of super-strong master of agrimancy and geomancy and I don’t get that either. Besides, I wasn’t about to ask for a demonstration lest I see it and have my brain short-circuit as a result.” She stretched, then let her head fall into his lap. “So Luna will be back later to cast a spell on us to let us walk on the clouds.”

“Well, I always knew being with you made me feel sky high,” he joked, “but now I guess we’re getting literal.” He reached into his back pocket, pulling out his cellphone. “I probably should send an email to Ron, and ask him to find out if walking on clouds qualifies me for flight pay or something.”

In turn, DJ grabbed his phone and set it down on the coffee table. She looked up at him and said, “I love you.”

“What brought that on? Not that I mind hearing you say that, hon, but that kinda came out of left field.”

She reached up to caress his face. “You go through so much trouble and almost all of it is my fault in some way or other. You’re probably sick of me by now.”

“No, but I am sick of you beating yourself up at times – it does get old after a while,” he said, running his hands through her hair. “Besides, marriage is a two-way street, and you’ve put up with enough of my crap over the years. How many birthdays, Christmases, and anniversaries have I missed because I’ve been on deployment or TAD?”

“Yes, but we both agreed to this life together. You love being in the Navy and I couldn’t hold you back if I tried.”

“Yes you could have, hon, but you don’t,” he said, “and I love you for being able to put up with that. You handle the kids by yourself, you deal with the bills, the various commands’ spouses associations and your writing career all while I’m away. How many speaking engagements, book tours and so forth and so on have you missed or cut short because I had to take off on another six-month deployment? You’ve given up just as much for me as I have for you, so this marriage is hardly one-sided.”

“Mike, you don’t have to lie to me. I know I’m a bitch and can be catty, that I have so many issues that I should probably just get subscriptions instead, that I need you more than you need me. You’ve been dragged to whole other realities because or me, not just once, but twice – hell, we’re here now. You’ve had to fight for me, more than any other man has had to deal with for his true love and that’s not hyperbole. And yet you did it all for me.”

He smiled, and traced a line down her muzzle. “Yes I did, and I would do it again if I had to – and that should say everything there is about our lives together, DJ. I can’t say that in my life that I’ve ever come across such as beautiful soul as yours, never in my life. You know I’ve never cared about who you are or how you look or what you are. You remember the day I first told you that, right?”

“Yeah, and I’m more than sure the kids got a Halloween surprise that time.”

“Well, I meant it that day, strained arms and all and I mean it now: I love you for your heart, your soul. You’re the most generous person I know.”

She nickered, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, right.”

“Okay, who wrote that short story to raise charity funds for that earthquake in Nagasaki last year? And then drove the spouses’ club up the wall to start a second fundraiser. And then insisted we donate our tax refund to the relief fund? And that’s just one example. I could go as far back as to when you were taking Erica’s schoolwork to the hospital everyday she was there so she could keep up. Or the day we first met – you had to go volunteer at a blood drive where you couldn’t even donate because no one knew what you were. Or more recently when my parents were both sick just after Chaz and Hope’s wedding. I was in Bahrain and Shelby had to fly to Milan for her job – we weren’t even married yet and you proved to my parents the person you were, even though they both knew you by then.”

“But I—”

“—was just doing what you thought was right. Yes, I know and I love you for that, DJ. You do things instinctively that others can’t even comprehend,” he said, gently rubbing her cheek. The two looked at each other for the longest time, drinking in each other’s presence as if it were the greatest intoxicant in the world.

Walking into the house and seeing the two kiss ripped a new wound into Sweetie Belle’s heart. She knew it wasn’t their fault and on any other day she’d be glad her oldest niece had found a special somepony that she could call her own for two decades now. But Sweetie had been with Pip for much longer even if on and off and now everything had just gone to pieces so painfully. The unicorn’s heart ached and she turned away just as much to give them privacy as to balm the holes bored right into her heart.

She waited until they stopped kissing before coughing slightly to get their attention. “Hi, Sweetie!” DJ called out, waving from her position. “Don’t mind us, we’re just making out on my aunt’s couch like two teenagers. Fun times.”

The white unicorn gave her niece a bemused smile. “Obviously,” she drolled. “Now I believe you owe me a hug. I heard that something happened to you in Singapore. You care to explain that?” she asked as DJ got up from the couch to hug her aunt.

“Yeah, I nearly died, not that it’s a big deal or anything,” she cracked, which stopped as soon as she saw the heartbroken look on the older mare’s face. “Look, I’m okay. I promise.”

“Don’t mind her, she’s just being DJ as usual,” Mike joked as he gave the unicorn mage a hug as well. “Good to see you, Sweetie.”

“Good to see you as well, Mike. Glad to see you could make it.” Turning back to DJ, she continued. “But Luna told me about it. Honestly, I’m rather disappointed in you, but….”

“But?”

“Well, the first part is that I’m glad you’re okay. But the second part is that you’re willing to meet with Elusive, and that makes me very proud of you. Almost proud enough to forget that you humiliated one of your other aunts in public not too long ago.”

“Look, I apologized and we made up,” DJ replied. She shook her head in the way that indicated that if it had been anyone who had said that other than someone she deeply loved and respected, the humanized pony would have blown up right then and there.

“I know. Luna told me about that, too, and I’m glad you did that. Now if I can get you to agree to making up with Rarity and Silver, things should be perfect.”

DJ wisely kept her mouth shut about that. “So what are you doing here?” the earth pony asked. “That is, not that I mind; after all, you’re as precious to me as the lily fields of Caltera in the azure grace of a midsummer’s day.”

When Sweetie looked at DJ curiously, Mike replied, “DJ tries out lines from her works every once in a while. I’ll bet that’s a line that Orphea probably said to Arreone, right?”

The authoress grinned softly. “Well, actually, it was Chervon was going to say to his little sister before h—” DJ suddenly found herself unable to speak.

Sweetie gave her a slightly embarrassed look and released the spell. “I didn’t want you to spoil it for me. I….well, I…okay, I’ve been reading your works and got hooked,” she said as slight embarrassment became full-force blushing.

“If you’d like, I can make you a PDF of The Stars Shine Brighter from my master file. And if I knew you read them, I would’ve added you to the Beta Buzzards list. And if you have to ask what that is, you really don’t want to know.” A second later, she blurted, “Okay, it’s my pre-readers list, but it’s filled with beta buzzards, people who pre-read the whole thing but never offer suggestions or the like.”

“You should know better than that. Put me and Twilight on there and….” Sweetie Belle trailed off, feeling guilty; she hadn’t gone to see Twilight since her return from Fillydelphia. Granted, a lot of it was just trying to avoid everyone asking her about what happened between her and Pip, but Twilight would never do that to her. Plus, whether she liked it or not, there was also Rarity’s position to consider.

DJ managed to catch that much. “She’ll pull through,” the earth pony said, hugging her aunt again. “This is Twilight we’re talking about. I can’t imagine that she wouldn’t.”

“I wish I could say I was as confident,” Sweetie answered. “None of the mages have been able to figure out what it is and even Celestia and Luna are stumped. Whatever Nightmare Moon hit them with was something we’ve never seen before and while Twilight’s been able to keep it at bay, it’s only a matter of time.” The look in Sweetie’s eyes was one of heartbreak and DJ reached out to embrace Sweetie once more.

“Well, I don’t know if you’re aware, but Mike and I were waiting for Luna to get back,” DJ replied. “We’re meeting Elusive for dinner in Cloudsdale tonight.”

She nodded happily. “I know: who do you think will be taking care of the spell and the transportation? Even Luna can’t be in two places at once, and the other alicorns have their hooves full catching up with statecraft, so you’ll just have to rely on my gentle ministrations.”

“The best kind,” Mike said with a smile. “I’m guessing that’s why you brought clothing for the trip?”

“Even I like to look my best,” she responded, “as Luna, Cinnamon and I will be having dinner nearby, just in case. As for you two, nothing too fancy: something like date night.”

“I think I can arrange that,” DJ responded. Mike merely nodded assent.

“Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get the Cloudwalking spell ready. Granted, we’ve still got several hours left to go before we depart, but I want to make sure that I get it right.”

“Why, is there a problem with the spell?”

“No, actually it’s more stable and safer than the Gossamer Wings spell, but it takes a bit more preparation. You might not know this, but the first time Twilight and Rarity went to Cloudsdale, Rarity insisted on the Gossamer Wings spell instead of just Cloudwalking. Unfortunately for her, she let her vanity get the best of her and plunged off the side of Cloudsdale. Had it not been for Rainbow’s intervention, you probably never would have been born.” She paused for a second before continuing with, “And don’t let that color your opinions about Rarity, DJ. It happened when she was in her early twenties and we all do stupid things at that age.”

“Anything we can help you with?” DJ offered.

“No, I just need to read over everything to make sure that I’ve got it down pat. You two go cause trouble like teenage foals do – after all, like the saying says, ‘Equestria is for lovers.’”

Chapter Nine: At the Twilight's Last Gleaming

Both teams met in the Shagedan Wildlife Refuge, ten miles south of Ahvaz. LCDR Perry Olson, the OIC of the SEAL unit sent to work with the Seaponies, caught right up to Rumble as the two units met. “Just got ahold of our ride – we’ve got some serious problems, sir.”

Rumble tried to keep an even keel. So far things were going to Tartarus in a hoofbasket – they’d all been played by someone and whoever it was, they were willing to litter human and pony corpses across the southern coast of Iran to embarrass both nations. “Talk to me, Olson.”

“Whoever set us up knew exactly what they were doing. My scouts have been looking through the area and any- and everything with a gun is on high alert. Our ride home is sitting just outside the territorial waterline, unable to do anything else or else it’ll be an act of war.”

“Great,” the pegasus snarled. “Okay, what options have we got?”

“Trying to raise Alhambra now,” one of the American Sailors responded, “though I’ve been on enough of these junkets to know that at this point we’re on our own. It’s too risky for any of our forces to get within range of us.”

“I concur,” LT Rainydays, one of the earth ponies assigned to Rumble’s unit, said. “If the Americans aren’t going to get us out of here, our own forces are going to follow suit. We still don’t get the geopolitics here, and I don’t think our forces would risk war at this point.”

“There is another option,” one of the human petty officers suggested. “It’s stupid and risky – but then again we didn’t get into this job for the safety.”

“Let’s hear it, SO2,” Olson replied.

The petty officer reached into his pocket, pulling out a small tablet and queuing the map function. “We make it down to Nahr-e Abu Fulus, twenty-five klicks south by south east. We then hit the drink and swim across the Avand River into Iraq.”

“Iraqis aren’t involved in this. If they don’t know, they’re just as likely to shoot at us as the Iranians,” Rainydays pointed out.

Unfazed, the petty officer continued. “From there, it’s two klicks south to Abdullah Bay. We can swim from there to Bubiyan Island in Kuwait. That should give enough time for NAVCENT to get clearance to get us out of there. The Kuwaitis have the Iraqis as a buffer between them and Iran, so they’re not likely to shoot at us.”

“Ponies aren’t exactly welcome in the Middle East,” a pegasus petty officer pointed out. “Most of them think we’re extradimensional demons out to conquer human-Earth.”

“You aren’t?” one of the humans joked.

“You guys got us beat on that,” the pegasus laughed. “Hell, your people sleep with more of our mares than we get action with your ladies.” The comment was enough to break the tension and everyone there laughed briefly before quieting down, remembering the situation.

The petty officer looked at both senior officers. “It’s the only thing I can think of, sirs, but it beats the alternative.”

Olson looked at Rumble. “You’re the senior officer here, sir. Your call.”

Rumble looked at the collection of humans and ponies before him. All of them had went in to deal with a duty, and all of them would now have to fight their way back out if they were going to survive. Like it or not, they would all live or die by his hooves.

“We’ll go with your plan, SO2,” Rumble answered. “Gather the troops and let’s get this plan started.” Rumble would have said more had not a sudden staccato burst sounded in the distance as a voice shouted, “We’ve been spotted!”

“So, at what point are we supposed to fall out of the sky and die?” DJ snapped.

Sweetie Belle looked at her niece, giving her an expression of bemusement. “This is Twilight’s personal balloon, DJ, and I’ve flown it enough times to know what I’m doing. Have some faith in me, okay?”

DJ, realizing her mouth was getting her in trouble again, leaned back against her husband for support. “Sorry, Sweetie. Just a little nervous.”

Mike reached an arm around his wife. “Hon, Sweetie’s doing everything she can to make this easier for everyone, okay? Cut her a little slack,” the man said, giving the mage an appreciative glance. “By the way, Sweetie, you look good in that.”

She looked down at the black top and gray skirt. “These old things? Bought the ensemble a couple of years ago when I went to London for a seminar on thaumaturgy. A few of the European occultists paid me a lot to go up on stage and basically tell them that everything they knew about magic was wrong. Needless to say, I haven’t been invited back for a return engagement,” she said with a laugh.

DJ, however, caught something very different from the conversation. “Think you could apply for London as your next duty station, Mike? NAVEUR’s there, isn’t it?”

“Um, no, it’s been based in Naples for as long as I know.”

“Hrm. Well, Dad said….” DJ suddenly paused, as if realization kicked in. “Maybe it was at one time,” she mused, “but not anymore, I guess. Oh well.” Still held in the comfort of her husband’s arm, she snuggled closer, enjoying the relative calm and solitude of the skies. The blue of the late spring sky was beautifully azure, and while she had no idea if Celestia had anything to do with it, she knew that it was a thing of beauty regardless, something to be admired and appreciated more than she could voice.

A few minutes later, Sweetie spoke up. “We’re getting within visual range, if you two want to see this,” the unicorn mage said.

The two moved over to the far side of the balloon, and what they saw completely caught their attention. A metropolis sitting on top of what appeared to be a massive development of clouds, the city seemed to be a mixture of classical Greek architecture combined with both the royal splendor of Canterlot, as well as recent structures that showed the influence that humans had on the pony world. Though it was a soft, muted blue as the sun began to set, there were clear indicators that it was a thing of beauty during the day, Cloudsdale’s ivory spires racing from the sky into the infinite above.

“That’s….” Mike murmured, briefly lost for words before he found his tongue again. “Wow, now I know what heaven’ll look like.”

“That’d be two of us,” DJ said, kissing him tenderly, “though I think I knew what it was the day I met you.” The two looked at each other again, then kissed once more.

A look of heartbreak flitted over Sweetie’s face, and though it was brief, it was just long enough for DJ to catch. “Sweetie, something’s been bothering you all night. What did I do this time?”

The unicorn gave her niece a wan smile. “Nothing you did,” she clarified. “It’s just been a tough past few days for me and I could probably stand to take a vacation.”

“I know just the place for you and Pip,” DJ said with a smile. “Last summer Mike and I took a trip to Kagoshima. Beautiful little seaside village in Japan where you can just unwind an—”

The knife-stab of kindness was too much for Sweetie; she couldn’t take it anymore. She began sobbing uncontrollably and both Mike and DJ looked at each other, confused. The earth pony moved immediately to support her aunt. “Sweetie?” she began.

“No,” the unicorn sobbed. “It’s not you. Pip…he and I aren’t together anymore. I-I…left him.”

A look of puzzlement appeared on DJ’s face. “Um, why? You two have been together longer than I’ve been alive! Every time I’ve seen you two, you were happy together. What gives?” The older pony began crying into her niece’s shoulder as the younger mare stood there, being a bedrock, embracing the older one.

“I’d rather not talk about it right now, save that it was my choice and I know he still loves me. And that’s part of the problem.”

“Sweetie, look, I know as the niece, normally I’m supposed to come to you for advice, but as a married woman, I think I’m a bit studied in these things. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Instead, Sweetie looked away from her niece and noted that they weren’t that far off from the point where port workers would come to escort the balloon the remainder of the way in. “We’ll talk about it later,” she promised. “Tonight’s not about my problems – it’s about a long overdue reunion.”

Flying over the Atlantic Ocean, the squadron of Q-313s raced, their black hulls burning red from the setting sun. They’d been transported – teleported! – hundreds of miles to the west and now the former IRIAF stealth fighters were headed on a course that would take them directly to the US. They’d never make it that far, of course; their fuel would run out long before then. But Khalid’s men had decided on a path, and they would take it.

There were suddenly more flashes around his squadron, and as they went away, he noticed more fighters: a squadron of TC-1s, also bearing IRIAF markings. A flash of insight suddenly came to him: that his new employers had ludicrous amounts of money if they could essentially buy their own squadrons whole, and that if the multirole TC-1s were being brought in to shore up the effectiveness of the Q-313s, whatever their target was, it was expected to be defended in some manner or other.

As soon as he was able to identify the lead fighter, he opened a channel. “Allied squadron, this is Shamshir One, Colonel Khalid commanding. And you are?”

“This is Partow One, Colonel Bakhtiar commanding. Well met. I assume you’re here for the same reasons as we are?”

Before Khalid could respond, a voice filled his mind. Gentlemen, before you continue with whatever formalities you feel you need to, this is your leader speaking. You will deal with me and me only. You may refer to me as “Nightmare”, though “your worship” or “your majesty” will also suffice.

The response from Bakhtiar was swift. “I do not speak to witches. Go away, woman, and do not bother me until you have brought back Mr. di Tacc—” The line was immediately cut off as the cockpit of Bakhtiar’s fighter was suddenly crumpled. Without warning, the rest of the fighter crumpled into a small metal ball, the shrieks of metal tearing as it was folded, origami-style, into itself. Finally, as the craft fell from the sky, the fuel and other things within cooked off, exploding as the wreckage that was now Bakhtiar’s coffin fell into the waters of the Atlantic.

Colonel Khalid, eyes forward, please. The senior officer did as bid and saw a sight that would burned forever into his mind until his last breath: a great rip of red in the sky, with a bloody, lightning-filled maelstrom behind it. Standing in front of this tear in the fabric of the universe was a great black winged horse, with a jet-black spear atop its forehead and a mane and tail made from a glowing blue gas. There no denying the power of this elephant-sized creature floating in the air before him; indeed, standing in front of the hole gave the creature a demonic cast.

“What is that crea—” another pilot began, but Khalid barked an admonishment over the comm channel before saying, “My apologies, Lady Nightmare. They are somewhat taken aback by your…display. I take full responsibility for any insult you may have felt.”

Commendable – certainly smarter than your now-dead counterpart, the Nightmare’s voice echoed in his mind. I believe we can work together. This is the plan and none of your men will deviate from it. You are to head through the gate, and come out the other side, where you will be in Equestria. We will then proceed to your mission area, where I will give you further instructions. Is this clear?

“Of course, your majesty,” the colonel responded before turning his attention to his fellow pilots. “Who is second in command of Partow?”

“That would be me, sir,” a shaken voice responded. “Lt. Colonel Diba.”

“You are now in command of Partow, Colonel. You will follow instructions, or in His name I will shoot you down myself, understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Will that be acceptable, Lady Nightmare?”

Instead of a response from her, a shadow passed over the fighters. Almost as one, the pilots looked up and saw a great black dragon flying above them, menacing and there in a way that their dreams – or nightmares – could never picture. This is my…assistant, the black alicorn replied, and my insurance that you will not attempt any further histrionics while on this side of the dimensional border.

“We understand,” Khalid said, looking at the massive flying reptile now coming to a hover above the tear. The look in its eyes was murderous, but for just a second, the man thought he saw a moment’s flash of sympathy. “Entering now, and we await your orders on the other side.”

As the demonic alicorn moved to a suitable distance, black aircraft rocketed away towards the tear, course-correcting as they banked left to approach it. One by one the aircraft entered the gate, turning into black and gray swirls as they passed from one world into the next, each one no longer a part of this one, and after a few minutes, the last one entered and there was nothing but the gate, Nightmare Moon and the great black dragon beside her.

Once the gate closed, Nightmare Moon grinned to herself. “Breathe your last, Cloudsdale, for you will bleed tonight.” She then turned to look at the dragon next to her and said, “you may cease your illusion.”

There was an explosion of green flame and the dragon disappeared, replaced with a very exhausted Twilight Sunburn. She’d transformed herself as much as she could into a dragon, but to get the kind of size that the Nightmare wanted, she had to lay an additional illusion spell to magnify her dragon form. That burned a lot of magic and left her almost completely spent. “What next?” she gasped.

“Well, for me, I must return to lead my troops into battle,” Nightmare Moon said with a grin. “As for you….” There was a sudden flash of red and Twilight Sunburn disappeared, not by choice.

“…I don’t envy what you’ll have to deal with next,” the black alicorn said as she reopened the gate and transited realities, leaving the human realm behind.

As the balloon came close enough to Cloudsdale to see individual figures, an official-looking pegasus approached them in a lazy arc, as if this was just another routine job. “Welcome to Cloudsdale Port Services, everypony! My name is Afternoon Breeze. Allow me to tow you towards the balloon landing area.”

Sweetie used her magic to float a towing line to the Pegasus, who took it in his mouth and flew off towards the nearest bank of clouds. Assured that he now had control of the craft, she turned to DJ and Mike and said, “Now keep this in mind: the spell only allows you to walk on clouds. It won’t let you fly, float or anything of the sort. Also, while the spell will allow you to interact with clouds to some degree, you won’t have the same level of precision that pegasi do. Plus, there are certain other physical laws that will still apply to you – for example, a lighting strike is a minor annoyance to a pegasus, but deadly to other kinds of ponies and, I assume, humans as well.”

“That’s just wonderful,” DJ muttered. “We’re walking onto a Jacob’s Ladder.”

“No, you should be fine, since thunderheads are kept in an isolated area for safety reasons,” Sweetie explained. “And don’t let anything I said get in the way of your evening, DJ. I know it’s going to be very uncomfortable for you – for all four of you – but if you remember that you and Elusive are family, everything should go by easily.”

Once the balloon was finally pulled to a stop on a particular patch of clouds, both DJ and Mike noticed a sort of permanence to the field of white beneath the gondola, as if someone – somepony? – had laid a concrete sidewalk on top of the fluffy water vapor. As the pegasus tied the line up to a cloud acting as a restraining bitt, he announced, “And you’re all tied up in your berth. I presume all the necess…wow! A human! You’re probably the first one I know of that’s ever come to Cloudsdale. Welcome!”

“Thanks.” Mike, being the adventurous type, stepped out of the balloon and onto the walkway, his first step as the first human to visit the City of Clouds. He reached over, hoisting Sweetie Belle out of the gondola, noting how light she was, then as he set her down, reached out to his wife. “It’s kinda like walking on rubber,” he told her.

She offered a forehoof, and as he took it, she jumped down onto the walkway. “Kinda feels like I’m walking on a waterbed,” she said, gingerly stepping in place to make sure she wasn’t imagining things.

Now that Afternoon Breeze saw Mike, DJ and Sweetie Belle together, the pegasus put two and two together. “Um, forgive me for asking,” he addressed DJ, “but…you’re the Lost Foal, aren’t you?”

DJ fought to keep her face even; between a lifetime of being the Alien Girl and the last two decades as the Lost Foal as well, they were both appellations she could easily do without. Instead, she said, with a forced smile, “Well, as you can see, I’m not exactly lost anymore. And to be honest, I’ve never really thought of myself as lost, just growing up where ponies hadn’t had the opportunity before.”

“Well, I hope you’ll get to enjoy some of that pony culture you’ve been missing; we Cloudsdalers put on quite a show. In any case, I won’t keep you three waiting on whatever it is you’re here for. I’ll have this placed on the Guild’s master account.” Sweetie Belle paused to sign a quick couple of documents authorizing the charge, and with that, the three were off, walking towards the nearest taxi stand.

DJ looked around, an astonished look on her face. “This place is incredible! It’s like something out of a Disney film.”

“Fluttershy, Rainbow, Soarin’ and Cinnamon were originally from this city,” Sweetie answered as they approached the taxi station, flagging one down. “Scoots and Featherweight are from Ponyville, like the majority of us.” The trio got into the taxi and the unicorn mage told the cabbie, “14th and Cloudwall, please.”

“Ah, here for Restaurant Row. Wonderful place, my wife and I go all the time,” the draft pegasus answered, as they started their trip. Since the tone of their conversation indicated they were in no rush, he decided to run them past a few of the more famous buildings in Cloudsdale, from the cloud fabrication center and wind generator plant, to the lightning seed repository and the precipitation holding tanks.

DJ looked at everything with a gaze of nothing short of sheer amazement. “This…this completely overturns everything I’ve ever learned about nature. Heck, if my science teachers were here now, they’d probably blow their collective mental fuses at how different this place is. Nothing here is natural.”

“What’s so unnatural about it?” the pegasus, not aware of who was in the cab, spoke. “This is the way things have always been: the pegasi have always been in charge of the weather, just like earth ponies are on the ground and unicorns with magic. For the longest time people thought that the alicorns were just mutations, though I know scholars at UCD found info dating back to the reign of Queen Faust and how she managed the world before the schism. Now that I can’t see as natural – how even a group of unicorns could do what our princesses do.”

“Sorry, it’s just unusual to me,” DJ apologized. “Not used to any of this.”

“How so?” The pony used one of his wings to lift a mirror out of a side pouch, one that he regularly used as a “rear view mirror”. When he saw who was seated in the cab of his taxi, he suddenly realized. “Wow, transporting a bit of history here, am I? Never thought I’d see a human up here in Cloudsdale. And because he’s here, and what you said, I’m guessing you’re the Lost Foal.”

“Maybe, but I prefer to be called by name.” DJ introduced herself, then her husband and aunt, before adding, “So, I hope you can understand why this seems all unnatural to me. Just not used to this kind of, well…atmosphere, in a manner of speaking.”

The cabbie nodded. “Yeah, I get what you mean. My family and I took a couple of weeks’ vacation to human-Earth last year. Very creepy, seeing nothing in the air but birds and planes and being told that pegasi are only allowed to fly under 5000 feet due to aircraft restrictions. And then the weather – seeing all of that run by itself? Man, I’d believe somepony if they told me your weather was created by Discord, ‘cept that we know ours actually is due to that freak. But a whole planet with a weather system like the Everfree or the Granite Spires? Just creepy, if you ask me.”

As they continued on, now with the cabbie pointing out various landmarks, Mike noticed one particular building that reminded him of the Parthenon, in Greece. It glowed with the hues of a dozen auroras and there was, oddly, the taste of spice in the air, enough to settle awkwardly on the tongue. “What’s that building there?”

“Oh, that? That’s the world-famous rainbow factory. It’s where all the rainbows in Equestria are made, before they’re shipped out to the regional weather facilities. It’s closed right now because of a movie they’re filming there, some kind of horror flick, if I recall.”

“Oh?” DJ inquired. “I’d think a place that makes rainbows is the last place you’d shoot a horror film.”

“Well, that’s what my brother says, anyway. Aerospace is a sheriff’s deputy assigned to security duty for the film company. He says it’s about a factory supervisor who murders her little sister because she can’t fly. Apparently rainbows are made of the bodies of foals who fail flight school. Kinda dumb, if you ask me, but somepony out there’s going to watch it, I guess.”

Sweetie nickered. “And I bet I know who the harridelles are who are making that film, too.”

“Well, that’s the film industry, I guess,” he told her. “If it wasn’t pulling somepony’s tail, then they aren’t making money. Well, here we are, folks.” The cabbie pulled up in front of a series of restaurants. As the trio disembarked, Sweetie magicked up her purse, only to be refused by the cabbie. “On the house, for showing around the famous Lost Foal, the first human in Cloudsdale and one of Equestria’s most prestigious mages. Heck, I’m gonna have to get a plaque for my taxi now,” he said with a grin. “Hey, you guys need a lift back, just send me a message. Name’s Autumn Memories. Catch you folks later, and enjoy your time in Cloudsdale!” With a wave of goodbye, the taxipony took off in search of the next fare.

Standing by the front of the restaurant, already waiting for them, were Luna and Cinnamon, flanked by a small contingent of ERG guards. The guards, ever conspicuous in the outfit of a black suit and tie – the result of training with various human protection agencies – stood ramrod straight by the door, eyes protected by sunglasses and always on the lookout for potential danger.

“So, everyone ready for dinner yet?” DJ said as they approached the two winged mares.

“Um…not exactly,” Cinnamon murmured. “Uh, how do I say this…?” The brown pony looked nervous and suddenly grabbed Luna’s wing to hide behind; the night alicorn rolled her eyes in bemusement. “Um…Aunt Luna, Aunt Sweetie and I will be having dinner at the restaurant down the street.” She looked as if she was about to melt in horror as she squealed, “Sorry about this!”

“It’s okay, Cinnamon. I knew we were flying solo,” DJ assured her.

“Um…okay then, if that’s all right with you,” she said meekly before Luna yanked her wing back, catching the sienna-hued pegasus off-guard with a startled “Eep!”

“What Cinnamon is trying to say is that we’ll be close by in the event that you need us, though you should be fine,” Luna pointed out. “But considering that you’re in one of the safest places in Equestria, you needn’t worry about a thing.”

“But what if the spell wears off?” DJ asked. “Sweetie told me all about the last time a spell like this was used.” Hearing his wife’s words, Mike suddenly tensed; up until now he was enjoying the view of the skyline made of literal sky and what DJ said brought him down to earth mentally…and in concern of physically now as well.

“The spell should last for several days,” Sweetie replied, “or unless I run out of magic, which, again, is in several days’ of constant use. Yes, there’s always the chance that something could happen, but if it did, I’m sure plenty of pegasi would come to your aid.”

“Plus,” Luna added, “Elusive asked that same question when he wanted to make sure Apple Butter would be safe. So I thought him how to create a force field spell that would protect him and her, as well as how to expand it to include you two as well. You’ll be fine, DJ. I promise.”

“If you insist….”

“I do,” the Princess of the Moon said with a smile. “Now get going and meet your brother; he’s been waiting for this for years.” With nothing further to say, DJ took Mike’s hand and they went into the restaurant, heading into one of the most nervous moments of DJ’s life.

There was a film Rumble had watched while he was training with human military services, that was rather forgettable. Some movie, an action-comedy about a pair of humans taking on a small army of bad guys – the pegasus couldn’t remember if it was terrorists, drug dealers or some other ill-advised career – and by the end of the film, the heroes won and saved the day, yay go team. To be honest, it wasn’t anything to write home about any more than films made in his home country, except for the climactic scene, where the two heroes were being chased – to a whimsical musical background – by a virtual wall of enemy combatants. Other people in the theater laughed, as it was supposed to be a hilarious scene.

Well, now Rumble was in that situation in real life, and he wasn’t finding it hilarious in the least. Quite the opposite, actually.

At the moment, he’d spun and opened fire with his MN-23E, turning and cutting as he and the troops were dodging fire from what was, at a conservative guess, every member of the Artesh – the Islamic Republic of Iran Army – on their tails. They were easily another two kilometers to the Avand River, and already three members of their combined unit were down. One of them was Rumble’s fault and he had to tamp down the guilt on that one – he’d ordered Petty Officer Seabreeze Shells into the air, but a ton of concentrated gunfire was too much for the pegasus to dodge and down he went, a bloodied and torn-up mess.

So now here they were, fighting meter by brutal meter over what was almost flat desert, capable of easily being flanked and counting the minutes until they moved to safety or until they were completely outmaneuvered. Thankfully, the IRIA hadn’t sent in any further airstrikes to cut them down; so far the first and only attempt at it was taken down when Senior Chief Flareblast, a unicorn, had torn a Panha 2091 apart with a well-placed magic blast to its main rotor. It had been a small stroke of luck, but sooner or later their luck was going to run out.

“I’m dry!” a US Navy lieutenant shouted, and one of the Seaponies tossed him another ammo magazine. The SEAL dumped his own, reloaded and began firing again, but there was a cost: three bullets slammed into the earth pony, and he was dead before he hit the ground. Olson and the lieutenant returned fire, killing the attacker, but it was too late. They grabbed the body and pulled it over to the nearest sandbank.

“Fuck!” Rumble snarled, not giving a damn for a second if the enemy soldiers heard him as he leaned over the body of his dead trooper. Meanwhile, both SEALs and Seaponies returned fire once more, while Rainydays and one of the medics came over to him. The medic, one of the humans, looked over the pony before shaking his head. “He’s gone, Captain, though you already knew that.”

“Crap. Chief Binnacle was one of the best of us,” Rainydays said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small blue stone. Placing it in the mouth of the now-dead pony, there was a flash of light and the body disappeared.

“Remind me again why we can’t use those blinkstones to get us out of here?” Olson asked.

Rumble grunted. “Because they only teleport inanimate matter. It’s why we’re not leaving any of our dead behind. Now, if you want to get transported by one, by all means, be my guest,” the pegasus snarled. “Just don’t expect to be able to hoist a beer for our lost ones when we get back.”

“Look, Rumble, we don’t have time for this!” Rainydays shouted, not caring if he was being insubordinate or not. “In case you forgot, those guys are the enemy, not Olson and his crew!” He would have continued more had an ear-splitting noise drowned him out, followed by a huge explosion.

“Tanks are incoming!” someone shouted.

“Everyone hit the drink!” Rumble ordered. “Flareblast, can you hit the tank?”

“Not without getting taken out myself!”

“Then cut us a path down to the river!”

“On it!” the unicorn said, turning to blast a path with his magic. The blast, the talent indicated by his cutie mark, was large and wide, creating a gully the ponies and humans could crawl down to the river in, lessening the chances of getting hit.

“I’m dry!” two more voices called out. At the rate they were going, there wasn’t going to be much chance for them to survive at all. The SEALs and Seaponies raced to the Avand River, diving in without a second thought and began swimming as fast as they could. A few of the earth ponies insisted some of the injured humans ride on their back so they wouldn’t be left behind, and those who still had ammunition turned to fire and try to swim at the same time, trying to manage the river’s current while dodging fire and wondering how long it was going to be until the IRIN was going to deploy fast attack boats to hunt them down.

Determined to survive, the humans and ponies started swimming towards the international border, under the protection of Flareblast’s defensive shield. While they managed to leave no one behind and got some intelligence regarding what had occurred, the price would be too high if anyone – or anypony – else died.

It was too high already, Rumble mused.

DJ and Mike slowly made their way into the restaurant, following the maître d’, who wasn’t as surprised to see a human in Cloudsdale – but only because he’d been warned ahead of time, he admitted. But that didn’t matter much to DJ, whose heart beat as wildly as the bass at one of Vinyl Scratch’s concerts. To say she was nervous was an understatement.

Mike sensed her anxiety. “Hon, everything’s going to be fine.”

“I wish I could believe that. I mean, I know that it is. But knowing and knowing are two different things,” she answered. “I don’t remember Elusive very well. He was just a kid, and what I do remember is that he was very quiet and subdued, probably too young to have been there when the whole thing happened. But I have to wonder: now that he’s an adult, with those memories, will he hate me because I don’t get along with Rarity or Silversteel? Will he hate me because of the fight that Minty, Rarity and I had? Will he like me? Will he accept me?” She shook her head. “I mean, everyone in the family has had nothing to but the best to say about him, but…you always want to make your loved ones look good, I guess.”

“Well, if anything, keep this in mind: apparently he’s been the most eager to meet with you, so that can’t be bad, right?”

“Well, here’s another thought. He might accept me – but will he accept you?”

“That’s a good question,” Mike mused, “but let’s let him answer that.”

The maître d’ rounded the corner and led the pair into what had to be the most incredibly beautiful part of the restaurant. A cloud waterfall against the ball wall let pools of “rainbow concentrate” cascade like a home waterfall structure. Classical music – DJ recognized it as Bach – wafted through the space, setting her somewhat at ease due to its familiarity. The song ended, and then a new one began, a soft jazz tune.

“The Dust Removers?” Mike whispered, trying to remember the band; he’d heard it in DJ’s cavernous collection of music no one but she and her parents listened to.

“Who are the Dust Removers?”

“Isn’t that who this is?”

She shook her head. “Actually, it’s Ashley Beedle’s remix of ‘Mellow’. Very jazzy, nice tou….” DJ came to a sudden stop. Mike, watching her, stopped as well, wondering what had just happened. Then he looked up.

There, at the table just mere feet from them, was a stallion and a mare. The mare was a golden-yellow color with a dark-brown mane that cascaded down her shoulders; she wore a dress that worked well with her pregnant form. The stallion, on the other hand, was dressed similarly to Mike, with an Oxford button-down and slacks. The stallion was also staring across that six-foot gulf from where DJ and Mike were. The look on the stallion’s face was one of disbelief, as if he couldn’t comprehend what was before his very eyes.

“DJ?” His voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes watering as if he was seeing a dream that would vanish if he so much as blinked. His face took on a cast of wonder, as if seeing a moment of perfection that threatened to depart and never return.

DJ, worried about looking like a dork the last time she’d met a member of her immediate biological family, repeated history. She weakly raised a hand, waiving as she said, “Um…hi.”

Elusive left the table, stepping forward and reaching out to her. “DJ?” The look on his face was pensive, not sure if his older sister wanted to fill that role for him. Minty had done so in his life, but she was now gone – and the one who should have been there in the beginning was back. What would it be like if this stranger wanted in his world? Or worse – didn’t?

She, in turn, took a couple of nervous steps. “Hello, Elusive,” she said, the look on her own face nervous and confused, wondering if this would be the first member of her family to want her in their life. All her life, she’d had Sam as her younger brother, a sweet kid who grew up to be a great adult, but how would it be like if she had a new sibling?

“I’ve waited for this moment,” he admitted, taking a step towards her. “I never thought…I mean, I never….” He was worried but inviting, putting down all his personal barriers and opening himself up either to acceptance or the worst blows to the ego he could imagine.

“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered, looking at him as they stood mere inches from each other. Older sibling looked at younger and vice versa. The look on her face was one he’d seen on both his mother’s and Minty’s – funny that despite how DJ was raised, some of the family traits still shone through.

There was an unspoken cue and the two wordlessly embraced, tears coming to the fore for both, brother and sister holding each other for the first time in their lives and accepting one another instantly. For Elusive, it was as if he’d received a treasure unlike any other: an oldest sister that would love him and be there for him, he was sure; though she’d missed out on his years growing up, he was soon to have foals of his own and wanted her there to see it. For DJ, it was a part of her life that she hadn’t even known was missing come to life, a hole in her heart she hadn’t known existed suddenly being filled. This wasn’t just meeting a new friend; this was her younger brother by blood, of the same origin as her, and from what Luna told her, he was to be a father as well soon and it was something she elementally knew she had to be there for.

“I never thought you’d actually come,” he said, looking at her. While he was average height for a stallion standing upright, having more protein in her diet due to her human upbringing ensured she was taller than he. “I thought you hated all of us, never wanted anything to do with any of us.”

“I’ll be honest: I originally came for Twilight and the others, and I was even hesitant about that at first. But the moment Cinnamon said you wanted to meet me, I was nervous about it until Luna insisted I do so. I’m glad I did.” She looked at Elusive and smiled softly, noticing he’d become quite the handsome stallion and different than she’d expected. As Luna had promised, even if he had Rarity’s coloring, he certainly wasn’t her.

The two embraced again, tears of joy produced together in a symphony of familial unity.

Watching from the slight distance of the table, two others smiled. “He looks so happy,” Apple Butter said to Mike, wiping tears of her own from her face. “Ah don’t think Ah’ve ever seen ‘im like this. Ah wish Ah could more oft’n.”

“I haven’t seen her like this since our children were born,” Mike admitted, his eyes no less misty. “It’s times like this, when she’s so open and unguarded, that I see her at her most beautiful and I’m glad I married her.”

The spouses said nothing further, merely watching the siblings, finally united, unable to let go and sharing a moment that was two decades overdue.

Sitting in a private room in a restaurant two stores down, three mares watched the scene via a scrying spell. Between the three, there was not a single dry eye.

“I’ve wanted to see this for the longest time,” Sweetie Belle sniffed, wiping her eyes. “I only wish the others could see this moment.”

“They will,” Luna promised, producing a small crystal ball. “I’m recording this to the crystal so the moment can always be cherished. I’m sure both DJ and Elusive will want copies to show their foals.”

Cinnamon sat there, saying nothing at all. Her older cousins deserved this moment together, finally receiving the silent song of life that had been due them for so long.

Over a quiet dinner, the trio continued to watch, tears unashamedly rolling down their faces as they saw a part of their fractured family begin to heal itself after so many decades of pain.

EQMILCOM, the facility that watched the skies, seas and lands of two worlds was ready for another night of the duty of protecting the homeland. Seated in the command chair, GEN Night Ranger, REA, gazed at the monitors with his watch team of any sign that could be a threat to the realm. As expected, there wasn’t much, save for the occasional reports of changeling activity down in the Southernwestern Continent. There hadn’t been any major issues since the destruction of Fillydelphia, and though that had been regrettable, it had been a necessary evil in order to ensure the safety of all. Intel reports said that the surviving changelings had fled south, and eventually the Royal Equestriani Armed Forces would go down there and teach those monsters a lesson they would never forget – if they lived long enough to ever remember. But until then, the safety of Equestria and her subjects was paramount.

At the moment, the general was sipping from a mint julep when a monitor tech called out, “General, we’re getting a reading on both the radar systems and the magic sensors.”

That was odd. “Are we expecting anypony in our airspace?”

“That’s a negative, sir. The Royal Air Force departed the other day, and we do have some US Air Force assets in-country, but they’re training with our own forces over in Las Pegasus, too far to be this reading, obviously. While we are expecting a Luftwaffe squadron coming in within the next couple of days, it’d be too early to expect them now.”

“Okay, then open up a line.” The general waited a second before speaking, then began. “Unidentified aircraft, this is Equestria Military Command. Identify yourselves, over.”

A voice thick as mud came over the line in clear but accented English. “EQMILCOM, this is Colonel Steinhoff, Falcon Squadron, German Luftwaffe. We’re currently inbound, delivering the AWACS aircraft, over.”

“Colonel, isn’t that scheduled to be delivered tomorrow? Over.” Why had the German Air Force arrived early? It wasn’t that much of a problem, but as Night Ranger knew from years of military service and guard service before that, the military rarely did things on time, much less early.

“It was, but we were given orders by AFALT to deliver the unit sooner than expected so they can install….” A pause, followed shortly by, “Forgive me if I’m misunderstanding, but…changeling detectors? Over.”

Night Ranger nodded; the latest intelligence report indicated that the mages had managed to come up with a method of scientifically detecting changelings, it would make it easier to hunt them down. It would also be a way to prove to humanity that the creatures were more than just a middling threat to both worlds. “That’s correct, Colonel,” he answered.

“Very odd,” the human said, his voice filled with surprise. “Well, we are currently enroute to the Lippizan Plains Airbase to bring her in. A second squadron will arrive tomorrow to escort the delivery of the second unit.”

“Understood, Colonel.” Night Ranger was about to dismiss him when another monitor tech waved him over and pointed out something strange. “Colonel, we seem to have a problem – we’re not picking you up on IFF, over.”

There was a curse that sounded like German – maybe; Night Ranger wasn’t familiar with the language. The voice on the other end finally said, “We just had new IFFs installed on our aircraft. I’m betting you’re seeing something odd, like F-16s, aren’t you?”

“Actually, we are,” he said, remembering that the obsolete fighter was only with a handful of third-world nations on both Earths. “Seeing that and some kind of aircraft we’re not familiar with.”

Colonel Steinhoff laughed. “We’re actually flying Eurofighter IIs and KFX-101s. Let me guess – the strange fighter you’re seeing is a Q-313, am I correct?”

The pony general looked at another radar operator; she in turn looked at a computer for reference, then nodded. “How’d you know that?”

“Easy – your radar systems are American-built. If it doesn’t see something it understands, the reference computer tends to report the aircraft with the closest similar profile. The Eurofighter II has a heat signature similar to the F-16s, and the KFX-101’s radar profile is very much like the Iranian fighter. I’ve worked with enough Americans to know how their engineers think. Perhaps next time your purchasers should buy good German radar systems; we don’t make those mistakes.”

The general laughed. “I see.”

“You’re more than welcome to send someone out to say hi, if you’d like, EQMILCOM. Never hurts to say hello.”

“No, that won’t be necessary, Colonel. That’d be delaying you needlessly and unfairly. I’ll clear you through.” To one of the radar operators, he said, “Tag them as a friendly and call it that.” Turning back to his first conversation, he said, “Have a great day, Colonel, and enjoy Equestria. EQMILCOM, over and out.”

“Our thanks, EQMILCOM. Falcon Squadron, over and out.”

In his cockpit, Khalid grinned, though his mouth hurt. While he had a talent for languages, including German and English, he’d never had to pretend being a German speaking English; that was a tongue-twister if there was one. “We’re clear,” he said, happy to be slipping back into his native tongue.

In return, his mind filled with the Nightmare’s voice once more. Any problems?

“For them, Lady Nightmare,” he replied. “Clearly Equestria is so unconcerned about another incident on their shores that they waved us through without verifying my story or sending out escorts. Obviously an amateurish move, and one that we’ll be ready to exploit. And with that, can you give us the details of our mission?”

Certainly. A few minutes went by as the Nightmare reached out to the minds of all the pilots, briefing them at once of the situation. Khalid was both impressed and concerned; they’d clearly attached themselves to an unusual situation and he could only hope that Allah would forgive him this breach of judgment.

After a few more minutes, the voice finished with, You should be in range within thirty minutes, Colonel. I expect nothing less than complete success. Do not fail me.

“We will not, milady,” he said, and felt her leave his mind. Patching himself into the general channel, he said, “All units, this is Shamshir One. Your orders are clear: you are to destroy everything within the pegasus city. Do not, I repeat, do not leave survivors. Specifically, anyone who is not a pegasus must be killed. I don’t care how you do it, but if it is not a pegasus, it must be killed or you will answer to me.

“Colonel Diba, your squadron will be responsible for keeping REAF fighters off of us. My squadron will do the majority of strikes, but if you have targets of opportunity, feel free to attack if possible. The sooner we complete this mission, the sooner we can return to our Earth and the sooner we will be rich men. Best of luck and may Allah guide you. Colonel Khalid, out.”

The fighters winged their way off towards Cloudsdale. Soon, the city of clouds would be a city of memories.

“Celestia, is something wrong?” Cadance asked. At the moment, the two were going over paperwork in Cadance’s salon at her home. To the younger princess’ right, Dusk Shine slept softly, blissfully dreaming away the minutes.

“Why do you—”

The younger alicorn smiled. “You can’t hide anything from me, my dear aunt. I am the Princess of Love, after all. There’s something different about you in the past couple of days, and I can’t help but wonder.”

“No, there’s nothing at all.” A sudden flush on Celestia’s cheeks betrayed her and she turned away, but not fast enough for Cadance to miss.

Counting it as a minor victory, the romance alicorn smiled wolfishly. “So, who is he? Or she?”

“Nobody,” the sun alicorn blurted.

“Nobody? Don’t you mean nopony?”

Celestia sighed. For a second, she felt as though she were before her mother. It had been centuries since they’d heard from Faust directly, and those rare moments of indirect contact, like the one via Bon-Bon from years ago, were ones they cherished. Luna had barely known their mother, but Celestia had spent a few centuries with the older alicorn and missed her dearly.

“Slip of the tongue,” Celestia finally said. “I’ve been thinking about human issues so much lately that I got used to their species’ pronouns. Maybe we should switch to that use as well. After all, we have stopped calling our language Equestriani and just call it Equestriani English now.”

But Cadance wasn’t buying that. “Celestia, please? Would you trust me? You’d ask the same in reverse.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, dearest one. It’s just that…I’d rather work this out on my own,” the sun alicorn commented glibly. She knew she wasn’t in love; even if it was, it was the absolutely worst person to pick to set her heart on.

And yet I can’t stop feeling the taste of his lips, the back of her mind admitted. I can’t get the scent of him out of my mind….

“Well, you know I’m always here for you,” Cadance offered. “Love is, after all, my specialty.”

Celestia nuzzled her niece. “I know, and I appreciate it more than I can express. But you have much more to be concerned about now,” the older princess reminded the younger, pointing to the pram in which Dusk Shine slept. “You have your son to raise, and I know that will be a handful. Do you wish to take a leave of absence? I know things are busy right now, but I’m sure your deputy minister would be happy to step in for a while, and you should take advantage of maternal leave to bond with him.”

“Are you sure? I mean, with the fallout from Situation Firestarter, won’t it look bad for the crown?” Cadance asked. She already knew she’d suffered a blow to her reputation from that, but the inanity of it all now threatened Celestia’s own polls.

Celestia, instead, offered a small smile. “Cadance, we live forever, and unfortunately, so does our work. Whatever you don’t do now will probably still be there when you get back. But as I’m sure you know from watching Twilight grow up, youth doesn’t last forever.”

“Thanks,” the pink princess gushed in relief. “I’ll contact Globe Trotter right away and let him know I’m taking a couple of weeks off to get used to being a mother. Like you said, I’m sure he won’t mind.” With that, the romance alicorn peeked into the baby buggy, checking her little bundle of joy, leaving one particular white alicorn glad that the spotlight had been taken off her own thoughts.

Now if I could manage my thoughts about Mike as well as I do politics, Celestia mused, things would be easier.

Maybe.

It took several minutes for Twilight to regain her bearings. She was completely exhausted from her earlier transformation and adjoining spell, and she hadn’t had anything to eat since last night. And now the Nightmare had sent her here…to wherever here was. The landing had been neither soft nor gentle, and the bruises from that weren’t likely to vanish anytime soon. But in the location she’d somehow ended up in, one thing was clear: it was dark, dark enough for her not to be able to see easily.

Her horn began to glow with a pale white light, giving her some illumination…and the minute she did, she shuddered violently, then turned, feeling violently ill. She was now in a massive chamber, the edges of which she couldn’t light up without increasing the intensity of her spell. No matter, what she’d seen just a second ago confirmed that she had no interest in doing so. She was in a massive abattoir, where dozens of her own fellow pepsis were. Dozens of them, easily, placed on spikes and spires, impaled and dead.

“What—” Twilight was going to scream when she found herself slammed against the wall.

“Great, another weak one,” a similar voice replied, though dripping with malice. “Don’t scream – save it until he gives you a real reason to.” Twilight turned around and found herself staring at another pepsis with the same features as her, but that’s where the similarity ended. The other one was colored a deep red, almost black, with deep green hair and hair stripes of dark-blue and indigo. She had a pair of dark-orange eyes, and the look on her face was one of disgust. “I’m really getting tired of him sending you idiots down here for me to deal with.”

“Who are you?” Twilight asked, getting a bad feeling from the look-alike pony.

“Not that it’s important enough to tell a larva like you,” the pepsis sneered. “But since you have to know, my name is Twilight Gloaming. I’ve been placed in charge by Blood Armor to make sure you rejects either get the point…or get the point.” With her eyes, Gloaming gestured towards the skewered pepsis still impaled on the metal spikes. “But I’m sure you’ll do better, won’t you?” Twilight’s only response was a helpless squeal, and Gloaming laughed at that. “And now I see why Blood Armor sent you down here.” The more confident of the two Twilights walked up to the other, Gloaming getting into Twilight’s face. “You’re like her, aren’t you?”

“Like who?” Twilight asked, wondering if it was the worst thing to say.

“You must be one of the last ones to be hatched.” Gloaming sighed. “A pity; I had hoped that others of my strain would be just as faithful to our duties and our vows, but no – you had to be like her. You embody the worst parts of him and now I see why Blood Armor hates you so. I cannot say I blame him; I find you no less pathetic.”

“Like who?” There was something in Gloaming’s words that Twilight was sure was important, but she wasn’t sure why. “Who am I li—”

“SHUT UP!” A blast of blistering, acid-green energy hit Twilight Sunburn square in the flank, sending her tumbling into the nearest spire, collapsing against it in a painful manner. A gash on her forehead bleeding into her eyes, Twilight painfully turned to see where the origin of the blast came from. Standing next to Gloaming was the lead pepsis stallion himself.

“Big…big brother,” Twilight gasped, unable to comprehend what had just happened. “Help me.”

“I told you, you should have just killed her,” Gloaming informed Blood Armor. “She thinks she’s worthy to be one of us, but she reeks of the scent of weakness.”

“Perhaps we can tear it out of her,” Blood Armor said coolly. “I’m certainly willing to entertain the idea. And if worst comes to, we could just kill her. But as Mother says, why just destroy something when you can corrupt it and turn it to your side first?” He walked up to Twilight and looked her straight in the eyes, the grin on his face full of malice. “And you will become a true pepsis, or you will go the way of our pathetic father.”

“I….” a metal-shod hoof slammed her across the face.

“You will speak when spoken to, is that understood?” His voice was low and menacing, his eyes burning with disgust.

She nodded.

Blood Armor turned back to Gloaming. “Throw her in with the drones and get her started on her training. We have work to do and Mother’s will shall not be delayed, understood?” Gloaming nodded in agreement and with that, Blood Armor teleported away in a flash; soon after, Gloaming departed as well, headed off to plan out her own designs. This left Twilight looking at the space where the stallion had been just seconds ago, unable to comprehend how the stallion she’d so hoped would save her from her personal hell…

…and now just committed her to a worse one.

“And so I own stock in a few companies on Earth, as well as a couple of firms outright,” Elusive said breezily. “I’m not one to brag, but my investments have been very lucrative, and I’ve made sure that I’m more than just my noble title. I want to make sure that I give every advantage to my foals once they’re born.” The unicorn stallion drained his glass of wine, then continued. “But it isn’t just about them: part of that money also goes, I should add, to charities, especially trusts for Aunt Fluttershy’s adoptions initiative. Though the Crown tries to give orphans the best home they can, it’s never enough, which is why I want to make sure that every colt and filly gets whatever options they deserve – I want them to have the happiness I didn’t growing up.”

“I’m sorry,” DJ murmured. She knew the comments wasn’t any sort of insult directed at her, but at the same time the acknowledgement that her absence had cost him a measure of joy in his life – it hurt somehow, in a way she’d never known or felt before. “I wish….” DJ cut her words short, instead taking a nervous sip of her own glass of wine. She wasn’t much of a wine drinker, to be honest – she’d picked up her mother’s beer snobbery instead – but the situation called for something a little more formal than Stone IPA or Arrogant Bastard Brew.

“No, DJ – I’m the one who should apologize,” the stallion replied, refilling his glass, then hers. “My words were ill-thought and I didn’t intend to make you feel guilty. What I meant was that I want them to have a happier life than I’ve led. Foals should be filled with joy and merriment and have the greatest chance for the future.”

DJ nodded in agreement. “I can’t tell you the number of times Mom and Dad have told me that. It was especially poignant when it came to me, an alien being raised as a human when common sense at the time was very much different.”

Elusive raised a brow. “You can’t mean that humanity treated you as a monster, surely?” he said, somewhat surprised.

“We don’t have the wealth of fellow sapient species on our Earth as you do here,” she reminded him. “Here, you have the zebras, the gryphons, the dragons and so many others. But on my Earth, until the day I showed up humans were it and that was all the proof of sapience in existence – sure there’s some theories about the primates and cetaceans, but they’re just that, theories. And true, humanity picked up things pretty quickly, so we adjusted fast. But for the first fifteen years of my life, it was just me and I was just a huge question mark, the square peg near the round hole.”

“That’s truly said,” the stallion said, a genuine feeling of sorrow readable in his eyes. “I don’t think I’d have the strength to live the life you have.”

The two siblings had only spent a few minutes together, but they were already bonding as though they’d been together their whole lives. Despite growing up on two different worlds with two different families, both Apple Butter and Mike noted that there were some mannerisms the two siblings shared that were clearly genetic, that there was no other way that DJ could have picked up otherwise.

“Y’ see that hair twirl that DJ’s doin’?” Butter whispered conspiratorially to Mike. “Ah’ve seen Rarity do that a doz’n times.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Mike admitted. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Anna play with her hair like that, and DJ couldn’t have picked that up from any of her friends. Maybe DJ did pick that up from her bloodline.”

“‘T’s good ta know she wasn’t alone on yer world,” Butter said, looking at Mike with appreciation. “Ah’m glad she has someone like ya t’ turn ta when things’re gettin’ rough.”

Mike flashed her a grin. “I could say the same – you and Elusive are perfect for each other.”

“Eyup. Mah fourth cuzin three tahms removed Applejack intraduced us. We saw one ‘nother an’ it’s been magic, e’er since,” she said with a soft blush. “‘Bout time she did somethin’ nice fer me, too.”

“How so?”

“Well…when Ah wuz a youngin’ Ah grew up with th’ legends ‘bout humans being monsters. All those stories like Sir Lancutrot an’ th’ Demon Human, or Clov’r the Clev’r an’ th’ Battle o’ th’ Two Leggers, or Darin’ Do Meets th’ Human. Heck, one Nightmare Night, mah older sis an’ AJ played a nasty trick on me – they pertended that AJ wuz doomed t’ be a Human’s Bride if’n Ah didn’t give all mah candy t’ th’ secret hole.”

Mike chuckled. “Let me guess: the secret hole was the place where they were able to steal all your candy?”

“Got it in one, sugarcube,” Butter said with a grin.

“Oh, do I hear that: when I was a kid, my older brother Chaz once told me that there were monsters under the bed and that I wasn’t going to survive unless I gave all my Halloween candy to them. Needless to say, I did, and I never saw the candy again. I finally found out what happened when my sister Shelby tattled on Chaz – but only because he wouldn’t share the candy with her!” At that, both pony and human laughed at their similar memories.

Unaware that they were now being the ones watched, DJ and Elusive both grinned as they noted their respective spouses’ conversation. “It looks like they’re getting along great – Mike’s enjoying himself, I can tell,” DJ replied.

Elusive nodded. “I’m glad. When she was younger, Butter’s sister used to tease her often about stories involving humans – the mythological monsters, not the actual species.”

“I’m pretty sure that a few people’s kids were threatened that the ‘Alien Demon Horse’ – namely, me – would take them away from their Mommies and Daddies if they didn’t behave. Heck, half of them did it at the school I went to when I was a kid – and this was a Catholic school!” The humanized pony took another drink of her wine. “But hey, that’s just what it was like, being the Alien Girl.”

“Well, at the risk of being honest, DJ, you’re a wonderful mare – excuse me, woman – and I can’t see how anypony in their right mind would ever think otherwise.”

She blushed slightly at the stallion’s correction in words; it was a clear sign that though he saw her as his sister, he also saw her as what she was. “You didn’t have to correct yourself. I know I’m technically an earth pony instead of a human.”

He shook his head. “But that’s where you’re incorrect.” He sighed, knowing this was going to be the hardest part to say, because in some ways, the admission would be tantamount to admitting his mother’s failure. “Sandalwood…she’s dead. She died thirty-five years ago, before I was born, when she was hit by a magical lightning bolt that spirited her away. She crossed the dimensional barrier and ended up growing into the person you are, DJ.

“You are my sister. I have hoped that since that day I saw you two decades back that we would someday meet again. And I have seen how much Mother and Father have longed for the return of Sandalwood and that all the expectations of that life were foisted onto Minty. But you said it yourself: you are not Sandalwood. And from what I see, that’s correct: I don’t have a sister named Sandalwood. I have a sister named DJ.” He paused before asking, “Um, that is a nickname, I’m assuming?”

“Yes,” she said, her eyes misting, a precious emotion coming into them: you’re accepting me – me, not the Sandalwood everyone expects me to be. “It’s actually short for Daisy Jo.”

“I’ll have to remember that,” he said. “But I would be honored to have a sister named Daisy Jo just as much as I would have had one named Sandalwood.”

Tears of joy ran from violet eyes. “Look,” she said, her voice quavering as a smile came to her face. “I’m crying again. I guess I’ve been hanging around Cinnamon too much.”

His own eyes grew moist. “She does have that effect on others, doesn’t she? I was told that Aunt Fluttershy was like that once, but I don’t recall. I was too young, I guess.”

“I remember, and yes, Cinnamon is very much like Fluttershy was when she was closer to my age – and I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around that,” DJ admitted.

At this point, the waiters finally came out with menus, complete with a hastily-prepared one for Mike, as he couldn’t digest half of what was on the regular menu. “I hope vegetarian won’t be an issue, Mike,” Elusive inquired. “I know you can’t eat most regular pony food, so I called the restaurant ahead of time and asked them to come up with a menu suitable for humans. While the chef was willing to do so, pony taboos still prevent us from cooking any sort of meat, I’m afraid.” He laughed and added, “Honestly, I’m amazed about everything Uncle Spike told me about his years being raised with ponies. Dragons are omnivores, but even they need protein.”

“No problem. Even though DJ and I do eat meat, I can do vegetarian,” Mike assured his brother-in-law.

Butter, however, looked at her sister-in-law with horror. Elusive saw and tried to intervene, admitting to his wife, “Dear, I’ve eaten meat. Our biology does allow us to do so, and I’ve had some occasions where it was necessary during business travel on human-Earth.” Butter simply said nothing, instead looking at her husband helplessly.

Mike, however, looked at the menu and muttered aloud, “Man, I could really go for a steak right now.” He then realized he’d verbalized his thoughts, and as the butter-hued earth pony looked at him with horror, he offered a weak apology for his words.

Both Elusive and DJ looked at each other, sharing a silent thought along the wavelengths that only siblings could access: it’s going to be a long night.

Luna sighed. Sure enough, Elusive’s country bride had just managed to undo the whole of the past few minutes with her rural reaction to everything.

“Well,” Cinnamon said, sticking up for her fellow Apple, “in fairness if the subject went to meat, I would have probably had the same reaction.”

“You live on human-Earth,” Luna countered. “You haven’t eaten meat, even accidentally?”

The sienna pegasus shook her head. “My roommate’s a vegan, so it makes things incredibly easy to avoid it. I’ve had some meat substitutes, but they taste weird, so I wouldn’t even dare to try the real thing.”

Sweetie Belle facehooved. The last thing she needed to see was another vital relationship in the family go up in smoke. Well, maybe a silent period while they eat dinner will be enough to make them forget. Otherwise, we’re going to need to send them a lot more wine.

Twenty-three aircraft raced towards the massive city of clouds at cruising speed.

“We have it spotted,” Khalid spoke into his mic. “All units, take your positions. Flight A will begin the first attack runs.”

“It’s beautiful! Shame we have to destroy it,” someone said over the channel.

“It’s a den of demons – even Shaitan would crush it beneath his fists,” a second said.

“Reduced communications,” Khalid ordered. “All units move to attack speed and prepare for assault. Best of luck, men.”

The fighters advanced on Cloudsdale, getting ready to turn the city of clouds into a charnel house.

A guttural statement was blurted out, followed shortly after by a click.

“He asked if you have any last words, demon,” a second man said.

“Yeah,” Rumble snarled. “Go to Tartarus.” For that, he earned a kick to the face, and the two more guns were pointed at him. All Rumble could do was to look at the number of dead SEALs and Seaponies around him and the others that had survived, but were now, like him, going to be executed. They’d fallen into a trap – they’d safely made it into Iraqi territory on the shores of Abdullah Bay, but the Iraqi guards that had been there had been killed and replaced by members of the Pasdaran, the Iranian Special Forces better known as the Revolutionary Guards. The moment Rumble and the others thought they’d made it safely to friendly territory, the Revolutionary Guards struck brutally, only a handful of SEALs and Seaponies alive. And now here they were, hands and hooves behind their heads, splayed on the ground, stripped of their weapons and gear and nothing to show for their actions other than their impending deaths.

The officer in charge of the Revolutionary Guards unit walked around them, arrogant in his demeanor. “You, infidels and demons alike – do you think we would allow you to go unpunished for the theft of our property and the invasion of our lands?”

“Well,” Olson said, his nose having been broken from an earlier rifle butt to the face, “yes, we did think you were that stupid – isn’t that obvious?”

The Guard seethed with fury and pulled out a pistol, restraining himself from pulling the trigger at the last second. “But we are not stupid – we did capture you, and once we drag you back to our homeland and show the world that the Great Satan and the Demon Kingdom are in collusion against the Islamic Republic, it will prove that your evil cannot stand up to our righteousness.”

“Hey, towelhead, go fuck yourself,” one of the SEALs replied. The commander looked at one of his men and the American went down, slammed in the back of the head with the rifle butt.

“They’re really into that, aren’t they?” Olson whispered to Rumble.

“Yeah. Must get a lot of practice using those tactics on their own people,” the pegasus whispered back. Unfortunately that meant that they were soon to end up in the same position, and once they were dragged back to Iran, the chances of them making it out again weren’t positive. Rumble could live with that – he was a military stallion after all, but he was the senior officer here. He had a duty to these Sailors, both American and Equestriani, human and pony, to get them back to safety. And now it was looking less and less likely.

It was then he remembered a phrase from the Book of the Alicorns: that even in the darkness, there is a sliver of light. And in that light is hope and redemption. The words, of course, turned out to be part of the prophecy of Princess Luna’s return so long ago, but the words in the time since had taken on a different meaning, one less rooted in history and more in philosophy. So long as there was hope, the thought went, there was still a chance. And Rumble knew that.

Shifting his wings ever so slightly, he moved the small muscles that would cue his wing knives. They were his ace in the hole and with them, he knew he could easily stab a couple of the enemy soldiers. They’d immediately kill him afterwards, but the chaos he could cause would be just enough for the remaining troops to rally and save the day.

Better to die a hero than to live a zero, he thought to himself, remembering an old saying his older brother used to tell him often. And that was a shame – he’d never see Thunderlane or his wife and kids again. Pinkie and the twins were great and the best family his brother could ever wish for, but it was the kind of sacrifices that Rumble made that allowed the older one to live a life of peace, he knew.

So be it. He shifted his wings, bringing the knives to the fore, ready to stab the nearest guard. If he moved fast, he could—

The Guard commander suddenly tensed, then fell. From the way he suddenly plunged to the ground, Rumble knew that action well: he’d been shot. Two more suddenly fell, and with that the first crack of a rifle came as the sound caught up with the supersonic rounds. Within seconds, four more Guards fell before they could react, the report of the sniper rifle ringing out a second later.

“And that’s what youse guys gets for screwin’ wit’ ponies!” a voice shouted out. Rumble and his counterparts turned towards the bay, where a zodiac boat was coming into view as its invisibility spell vanished. Standing on the boat and lowering the rifle was a REN sniper, an earth pony mare that Rumble wasn’t familiar with but soon would be, he was sure.

The sniper slung her rifle and grinned. “Hey, you guys need a lift outta here?” she grinned before turning to the coxswain at the helm of the zodiac. “Get us to shore.” The coxswain did so immediately and a few seconds later, the boat pulled up on the riverbank as the sniper got out, flipping Rumble a quick salute. “Looks like youse guys were almost goners.”

Rumble returned the salute. “We owe you our lives,” he said, ignoring the two medics that rushed past him to tend to the wounded; one of them, a unicorn, had undoubtedly cast the invisibility spell. “Thanks, Commander….”

The mare grinned. “Babs Seed. XO, RENS Derpy Hooves,” she said, her voice cocksure in its tones. And she’d earned it. Not only was she an accomplished sniper, but she was also apparently the second-in-command of the REN’s most decorated ship – any REN Sailor, even those not in the surface warfare community, knew about the reputation of the “Great Gray Mare”, as the ship was nicknamed. “We’re here ta get ya back to da Mare, an’ then you’ll be debriefed by COMSTANAVFOR. They’re flyin’ him in from the Ford.”

The next twenty minutes were excruciating as a second boat arrived from the Derpy Hooves to take over the wounded and dead, while a third was dispatched by the USS Trinidad to provide extra security. Shortly after, a unit from the Iraqi Army had arrived to take over security, immediately locking down the border less than a klick away; the colonel in charge of the relief force congratulated Rumble on surviving the odds, but Rumble really didn’t want the thanks – he’d already lost too many and each death, both human and pony, had been another notch of failure on his belt.

By the time he’d arrived onboard the Derpy Hooves, his mind was a jumble. As he sat in the ship’s wardroom, he tried to make sense of the whole thing by examining the ship’s crest: based on heraldic symbols, it was a pony pegasus rampant, surrounded by the bubbles that apparently made up the namesake’s cutie mark and the typical fancy work and fouled lines that made up the typical ship’s crest, followed at the bottom by the ship’s motto. It was that very motto that the naval officer was taking to heart right now: WE KNOW WHAT WENT WRONG.

He only wish he could say the same for himself.

Two ponies in bed, snoring gently. Given who they were, their relationship wasn’t exactly going to be the most welcome in many places, but they’d found each other without really realizing it and had fallen in love even before they realized what love was, as cliché as that sounded. Most of the time they’d stayed over at his apartment, mainly because if their relationship was to become public, it would probably set off a minor scandal or twelve. Or at least that’s what she insisted on believing.

There was a soft chime ringing, and on cue, the stallion opened his eyes, blinking away the stinging sensation as he reached over to turn on the lamp. Part of him thought about sleeping in, but, no, that wasn’t going to fly, and besides, if the very heavenly body beside him stirred, he might never want to leave. Forcing himself out of the bed, he stretched, falling to all fours before switching to an upright position.

“Leaving so soon?” a soft, tender voice behind him said.

“Yeah,” he responded, his tones still dulled from the last vestiges of sleep. “I have flight standby today. Don’t think I’m going to get any air time, but I can at least get some paperwork done.”

“Paperwork,” she said, her voice sad. “Strangely enough, I was hoping I could try something like that someday.”

“What,” he said with a chuckle, turning to face her, “the soft life a little too hard for you?” He saw her pout and moved forward to kiss her. “You know I’m kidding.”

“I know.” She rose from the bed herself, looking at the clock. “I wish I could stay and wait for you, but I know my…escorts…will be looking for me soon.”

“You mean your jailers.”

“My parents don’t think of it that way, but…. Yes, you’re right.” She sighed, looking at him tenderly. “Maybe we should just—”

“Probably not the best time to bring it up, babe,” he assured her as he slipped into his flight suit. “But someday, I hope. Maybe Aunt Celestia can talk some sense into your parents.”

“Maybe,” she said, a sad smile on her face. “And maybe I can get you to admit you love me.”

“I do,” he insisted.

It wasn’t good enough for the mare, however, as she crossed her forelegs and looked at him with an even gaze. “But to actually say it, Rainbow Blitz?”

The smile from his face fell as he shook his head and chuckled. “Look, even I’m not that brave. But it doesn’t change how I feel.” He leaned over and kissed her again. “I’ll see you later?”

“You’d better,” she mock-threatened as he flashed her a grin and walked out of the bedroom.

“And thank you, Madamoiselle D’Arc,” the real estate salesman said in Wallonian French. “I’m sure you’ll be very happy with this apartment.”

Faust nodded, replying back in standard French, “I’m sure I will, good sir.” The man nodded slightly and excused himself out, leaving Faust with a new apartment and wondering why she decided to get one here. Sure, she wanted a place as far away from her family as possible in order to protect them, and she hadn’t used her Jeanne D’ Arc identity in a while – well, the last time she did, she was Jehanne D’ Arc – so that was safe enough.

But she had to wonder why she’d just bought this new place in Namur when she already had a small chateau she owned just east of Paris, plus all the real estate that Emmé owned; she could have used any one of those places at any time. For that matter, why Belgium at all? It was a moment’s whim, a place she’d been in during the late 1950s, mostly for the beer, but she never really—

She turned and noticed that her companions were already making themselves comfortable. Screwloose was painting the walls of the apartment with chocolate sauce, while Screwball sat on the ground, playing with Lego blocks that, once connected, turned into colorful goldfish that marched military style towards the bathroom.

Yup, now I remember why I chose here, she mused with a soft smile. It would be a good place to get them out of the way. Sure they were Discord’s trusted assistants, but she wasn’t sure they’d play well with humanity yet. This would give them a good chance to interact and learn and if they failed, well…this was the Benelux.

It was a couple of hours later when the commander of the whole combined forces battlegroup came in. By then, Rumble had enough time to get some decent chow and a change into a cleaner uniform. He’d been briefed that while the surviving members of his unit were still badly wounded, they’d survive and were currently down in sick bay, awaiting transfer to the larger medical facilities aboard the RENS Smart Cookie. The Americans were also down in sick bay and would be transferred to the USS Gerald Ford.

At last, the commander came in and Rumble immediately stood at attention, though the admiral waved it off. “Carry on, Captain,” the older human replied. “It’s my understanding that my SEALs and your Seaponies wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for your leadership. Bravo Zulu to you, Captain. You have my highest kudos.”

“I don’t deserve them,” Rumble replied. “I failed those men out there.”

“I won’t lie; that’s a fuck of way to go,” RDML Richard Himura, USN, replied. “Still, while nothing will ever restore the lives of those lost, you still did an incredible job – there’s no other way to put it down, Captain.”

“Thank you, sir,” Rumble said, rubbing his bandaged chin. While thankfully it hadn’t been broken, it was a paltry consolation for those lives lost.

“Well, Captain, you can honestly say you did both your country and mine a great service – many a man I’ve served with couldn’t even say half that,” Himura replied. “Take it from me: as much as you try to keep them alive and make sure your enemies aren’t, sometimes you have to write that letter that says Johnny or Janey ain’t coming back from this. Trust me, whatever leave you’re planning to take, you’ve earned it.”

“Wasn’t planning on taking leave,” Rumble replied. “If anything, I’ll be going right back out to the suck.”

“I see.” The admiral looked at the stallion and then asked, “So, when was the last time you took leave? And before you invent a number, I want a real answer – I know you SPECWAR types; you think standing still for five minutes is 24-hour liberty.”

The pegasus shrugged. “Uh, I don’t know, sir. I’d honestly have to say probably the last time I can remember is about twenty years ago, when I took a week off for my older brother’s wedding.”

“Any Mrs. Rumble?” the senior officer prodded.

Rumble laughed bitterly, shaking his head. “Never had time. I mean, there was a girl I was sweet on when I was in school, but that was when I was young and dumb. I went straight to the Guard first chance I got, and then when we modernized I went from Guard to REN. Haven’t seen her in years, and she was on a high-track career as well, if I remember. She’s probably married to someone else by now.”

“Have you checked?”

“No, but it’s been thirty-five years since I saw her on a regular basis.”

“Her who, Captain?” Himura prodded, a slight look of impishness crawling onto his face.

Rumble moaned inwardly; he wasn’t about to embarrass himself in front of a senior officer. “I don’t see where this is going,” he stated, “but if you insist…. Her name is Sweetie Belle. She’s the younger sister of a major government official. But she was quite the looker, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if she had a coltfriend at the time. Plus, it’s been years now, so….” He shrugged, this time conveying a different message.

“I see,” Himura conjectured aloud. “Never thought I’d see the day a Special Operator gave up.”

“Sir, I’m a Seapony – I don’t ever give up.”

“So then you’re going to chase her?” the human said and Rumble suddenly realized he walked right into a trap. “Look, Rumble, I’m American, so I don’t have the administrative authority to tell you what to do. But from one man to another: take some time off. You just went through an ordeal, and while you shouldn’t forget the men and stallions who lost their lives in your op, don’t let their memories drag you down, either. That kind of toll takes a measure on a soul. You lead troops into clandestine situations that Equestria and her allies need, and you cannot afford to let what happened haunt you…and if you keep going down the path you are, it will.”

“So, Admiral, are you saying I’m in dire need of a fillyfriend?”

“This isn’t the Army, Captain – just because you’re not issued one doesn’t mean you don’t need one,” the aged human grinned. “If I could order you to go get one, I would. There’s nothing like having someone in your life to help you work through your problems and give you a reason to come back. Go find yourself a girl; hell, go find out if that girl of yours is still single – you never know.”

“You speaking from experience?”

Himura chuckled as he sat down in a chair across from Rumble. “Actually, I am. Met a girl in Yokosuka when I was just an ensign assigned to the Sasebo Naval Station. Cute little Japanese girl, got along great with her because I’m Japanese-American. Her father, however, didn’t approve, and so when I transferred, I sadly went without her. I spent fifteen years on other assignments, but never found anyone who made my heart move like Sachiko. Well, I went back to command the USS Bonne Homme Richard once it was stationed in Sas Vegas, and guess who I run into in town?” His eyes glistened slightly as he said, “All that time – she waited for me.”

“I doubt I’m that lucky, sir.”

“Life’s funny like that – you don’t know until you find out.” He reached over and grabbed a tablet that he’d brought with him. “I’m going to send a note to EQHEFLT and recommend to your boss that that you are in dire need of some time off. You’re clearly a stallion who is in need of someone to make you happy, Sailor. So go find yourself one – find out if that girl of yours is still single, even. Take that leave, understood?”

Rumble nodded; better just to agree and get it over and done with. “Aye, sir,” the pegasus replied, feeling less sure than he said.

Elusive and DJ had were going over their respective childhoods when there was suddenly a deep, bassy thrum, followed by a rumble that was enough to shake the ensorcelled clouds as though they were solid objects. “What was that?” DJ asked.
Mike, however, was already on his feet by force of habit; as a weapons officer, he was all too familiar with that sound. “I’ll be right ba—” He was cut off as the main room of the restaurant exploded in flames. “DOWN!” he roared, turning to flip the table over to protect them. Elusive immediately caught on and his horn erupted with amaranth energy and a shield bubbled around them. Heat and flame filled the air along with several solid items that impacted against the shield; wood, porcelain and several other things shattered around them as the fire died down.

“What’s goin’ on?” Butter asked, finally realizing something had just gone terribly wrong.

Mike and DJ looked at each other, then at her brother. “We’ve got to get the girls out of here,” he told the unicorn. “We’re at a tactical disadvantage.”

But as wounded ponies moaned and screamed as the blast died down, they began to panic as they realized what had occurred. “No,” Elusive told Mike. “Those ponies were hurt by whatever just happened, and we have a duty to—”

The wall to their side suddenly vaporized and Mike felt himself reaching for the sidearm that wasn’t there; he suddenly remembered he’d left it at Twilight’s home. It turned out to be a good thing, however, as he would have drawn on Luna. The night alicorn stood there, flanked by Sweetie, who had a shield of her own up and an unconscious Cinnamon in her forehooves; the youngest of the three having passed out from the sudden boom. “We’ve got to get you out of here,” Luna stated. “I’ll stay and tend to things, but I want you all out of here now, especially Butter,” she commanded.

“I’ll stay and help evacuate people,” Elusive volunteered. He then leaned forward and kissed Butter, telling her, “Love, you’ll have to go. Go with Aunt Luna’s guards, they’ll escort you.”

“I’m doing the escort,” Sweetie replied. “We’ve already ordered the guards to assist the populace.”

Mike looked at DJ. “Dee, go with them. I want you to be safe.”

She shook her head. “No,” she said, defiantly. “I’m not leaving you. I remember what happened last time and I’m not making that mistake again!”

“Hon, those were different circumstances,” he replied. “This time you’re safer with the others.”

Elusive intervened, taking his sister’s hooves in his own. “Please – protect her. You’re a strong woman, stronger than others I’ve known, and Butter needs that right now.”

“I could use some help managing Cinnamon once she comes to,” Sweetie added. “Plus, if Butter goes into labor, we’ll need someone familiar with the Lamuzzle method.”

“‘Lamuzzle’? You mean Lamaze?”

The unicorn mage nodded slightly. “I’m guessing that’s the human equivalent.”

DJ rolled her eyes, muttering, “Damn stupid-ass pony puns,” before adding, “Okay, let’s get going.” Turning to Mike, she ordered, “You had better stay safe.”

“What, and get an asschewing from COMNAVHOME if I don’t?” he laughed. “No thanks.” She looked at him with worry, but that didn’t last long as Sweetie expanded the protective bubble to include both earth pony mares and then with a blink, teleported them away.

“She’s teleporting them to the balloon so they can depart as quickly as possible,” Luna said. Her horn glowed with a verdigris hue, and a gun appeared in the glow. “Take it,” Luna insisted. “You might need it.”

Mike took the pistol and tucked it in his belt. “I’m guessing I will,” he said, looking at the smoking ruins. In the distance, a few jets roared by at attack speed. They went by too fast for him to identify them, but they probably weren’t friendly.

“Okay, let’s get out of—” The building behind her exploded and the three of them were thrown hard enough that they went through the cloudwall on the other side, landing in a room adjacent to the private one the four had been in earlier. As they came to, Luna turned and looked at the creature walking towards her in the black smoke, a face she hadn’t seen in ages: that of Nightmare Moon.

“Hello, dearest Luna,” the demonic alicorn purred, looking at her like an abusive spouse’s target of choice. “You and I were once…together, shall we say. You will find that I am less than pleased with your escape from me so many decades ago and I will have my revenge.”

“I’d rather die before you get your hooves on me!” Luna snarled, but from where Mike lay, he saw the look of fear on her face.

“I can arrange that right no—” Nightmare Moon was interrupted by the metallic ring of a bullet burning past her muzzle, a warning shot across the bow.

“Stand down and step away,” Mike ordered, gun at the ready. He was easily in a position where he could put two right in each eyeball; he’d have aimed for the space between the eyes, but with the horn there was a slight chance of deflection.

“Mike!” Luna warned. “Don’t!” But it was too late as Mike crumpled to the ground, choking as a tendril of black energy wrapped around his neck. “Ah, the human,” the Nightmare said in interested tones. “You’re the one fucking her, aren’t you? Your precious little plaything.”

“LET GO OF HIM!” Luna’s horn exploded with white light as her eyes began to flare with the same luminescence, bring her power as the Avatar of the Moon to fullness. “YOU WILL CEASE NOW, MONSTER!”

Instead, the ebon alicorn reared her head back and laughed mirthlessly, pulling Mike towards her with her tentacle of dark magic. “You have no idea what any of this is about, do you? You are nothing but a foal, Luna, a filly handed a precious plaything that has no idea of anything else going on around her. You are less than a fool and it is not worth my time even trying to bother explaining things to you.”

Luna began to glow almost as bright as the moon above. “This is your last warning,” the Moon Princess snarled. “Release him or I will release you from whatever form of life you’ve taken.” Inside, however, she was fighting her own fears. The creature had conquered her completely and totally last time; what would it do to her now? Even still, she knew, she had to protect Mike. He was family, and she couldn’t let DJ down.

“I would be more worried about others, were I you.” Nightmare Moon raised a horn gently, then tapped it on the floor. The clouds shattered into nothingness and lazily, Nightmare Moon took to wing; on instinct, Luna did as well. Elusive, however, had no such ability and instead plunged towards the ground immediately. With a wordless cry Luna dived after him.

“You can only save one, Luna,” Nightmare Moon crowed as she continued to choke the human. “You will fail as alwa—AAAAGH!” The demonic alicorn screamed as Mike took direct aim to the alicorn’s head and emptied his clip into it.

“I…don’t….give up easily,” he gasped in a raspy voice, his breath nearly gone.

Her bloody face warped and woofed before returning back to normal, much to his shock. She gave him a wild, dark grin. “I’m impressed. I wouldn’t have expected a human to dare to defy me,” she told him in a strangely appreciative tone. “For that, I’ll just let you die gently. Ta-taa!” With that, she cancelled the choking spell and let him fall towards the ground, thousands of feet below, and in a different direction than Elusive.

Placed in the room at the abattoir that she was to share with her fellow “rejects”, Twilight Sunburn looked at the collection of others: all of them similar to her, all of them in some way just as “pathetic” as she was. They were all given the same order: none of them were to talk to each other, on pain of death. After all, this was about giving them a chance to try to prove themselves worthy of the life that Chrysalis had given them, not failing as the sad beasts they’d become somehow.

Moving to an empty corner of the room, she saw one of them crying, a white-coated one that shared her looks. She was a frail and fragile thing, and had somehow developed the same colors as Blood Armor, though she looked more a twin of Twilight Sunburn…well, initially; the huge gash in her side that she was bleeding from wasn’t helping her. Twilight had heard the other female’s name brought up at some time – it was Searing Sparkle or something like that – and the young pepsis wanted to help her other, but….

She lowered the hoof she was going to reach out the other pepsis with. This was what was happening to her: Blood Armor wasn’t a gentle, caring big brother trying to give her a place in the world. Did Chrysalis know about this? Any of this? Did she care? Twilight Sunburn didn’t have any answers, no more than she, or any of the other pepsis, failed to comfort Searing Sparkle as she succumbed to blood loss and died.

From her perspective, Luna watched both falling males, the horror growing on her face. She started calculating their trajectories, planning to save both. If she moved as fast as lightning, she could save Elusive, then rocket over to Mike before h—

Her thoughts were dashed as a blast of black fire slammed into her side at blistering speed. The look in Nightmare Moon’s eyes was one of psychopathic glee. “Choose one or the other, Night Princess! You only get to choose one!”

“You’re mad!” Luna railed against the demonic alicorn, blasting away with a bolt of yellow spellfire. It snapped the Nightmare’s head back, but she recovered quickly, that insane grin still on her face. “Choose to save your beloved nephew or the husband of the niece you just made up with! But if you don’t make that call, they’ll both die! Won’t that be grand?”

“Leave them out of this, Dark Shadow! Your war is with me, remember?”

“It was, once. I have a new prey, now. Don’t worry, you’ll get your due in time – but now you’re no longer the main course, but just an after-dinner aperitif. I will make Sandalwood mine in the same way you once were, or she will be dead by my hooves; it’s all the same, really, but she will be my result!”

“NO!” Luna roared.

“Every moment you waste with me, moon alicorn, is one that those two stallions come closer to their deaths. Now, which one is it? I’ll leave you to decide, as my allies and I still need to burn Cloudsdale to cinders. Have an interesting evening!” And with that, the Nightmare teleported away.

Luna watched as the two males continued their deadfalls. Who to save? she wondered, a jag of ice crawling down her spine. She was closer to Mike, but Elusive was falling faster. If she moved to catch the former, the unicorn would drop too quickly for even his shield spell to save him; if she rescued him, she wouldn’t make it in time to save both.

The princess of the moon swore to herself and made her choice, rocketing towards her decision. And she’d never forgive herself or it.

Forgive me, DJ, she silently begged.

Author's Note

In case you're wondering what song is playing when DJ and Elusive meet, you can find it here (free, legal download via Epitonic).

There is one RL racist comment in this chapter; it is meant for dialogue only, and by no means a personal belief.

Chapter Ten: Mit Brennender Sorge

“Mother, what’s that?” Minty asked as she saw the streak against the black sky.

“That, my dearest,” Rarity said, a smile on her face, “is a shooting star.” Rarity sidled closer to her daughter, a loving smile on her face. “Your Aunt Luna places them in the sky so that little colts and fillies have the chance to let their wishes come true.”

Minty’s eyes brightened at that. “What can I wish for?”

“Anything, dearest heart,” Rarity said.

Minty looked at the noise in the background, where her brother Elusive and their cousin Rainbow Blitz were playing guardponies and changelings. “Ugh, colts,” the mint-hued filly said with some distaste, before an idea came to mind.

“No,” Rarity said, firmly, knowing what crossed her foal’s mind. “Besides, you wouldn’t want to hurt your brother or your cousin, right?”

“Then…can I wish for something else?”

“Of course.”

The filly closed her eyes, whispering something inaudible, watching as the shooting star fell towards earth. Finally, as it vanished, Minty said to her mother, “I wished that Sandalwood would come back.”

Tears welled in the older female’s eyes. “I wish she would too, Minty. I miss your sister so much, and she deserves to be happy with her family.”

“Do you think Aunt Luna will grant my wish?” Minty said, hopeful.

“I don’t kn—” Rarity was suddenly cut off by the appearance of a blast of ivory light, the telltale sign of teleportation. A second later, the motes of luminescence formed her younger sister, Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie, this is a surprise,” Rarity said, glad to see her younger sister as always. “You’re usually so busy in your duties as a mage. What brings you here?”

The smile on the younger unicorn was absolutely beatific. “Just got word from Twilight – had to tell you immediately,” she said with a grin that suddenly made the older mare’s heart skip a beat.

“Sandalwood…we finally found her.”

It is amazing the things that one thinks of when one is about to die, Mike mused as he plummeted towards the ground. The first thing he saw was – and he half-wondered if he was imagining things – was the guilty look on Luna’s face as she streaked towards Elusive to rescue the unicorn. While Mike obviously couldn’t read the alicorn’s mind, it was clear that the choice she’d made was causing her no small amount of grief. She didn’t know that all things considered, had he been consulted Mike would have wanted her to save Elusive even as it cost the human his life.

Not that he wanted to die by any means, not at all. But Elusive wasn’t military, and thus wasn’t subject to the standards that warriors lived by, which was to protect lives at the risk of one’s own. In a way, that made Mike smile; being a SWO, he wasn’t subject to the exposure of constant danger, as compared to others in the field. But things had changed since that day in Singapore and now he understood full-well the gravity of such a choice as sacrifice.

Looking around him, he noted the strange attackers – wait…those are Iranian fighters! Why are they…? Sure, he knew first-hand that most of the Middle Eastern nations on his Earth refused to have anything to do with Alter-Earth species, as they considered them all demons, but for one of them to actually attack.... The situation in Tehran must be close to rebellion if the Iranian Supreme Council chose to distract the populace with war. He’d have almost laughed if the situation weren’t so dire – especially with his wife and her family now in the crosshairs.

In the distance a black shape banked away, rocketing off to turn around for another attack run. So that’s what the Q-313 looks like. He recognized the other fighters, TC-1s, the export version of the Chinese J17, a knock-off of the old F-16 multirole. The TC-1s performed similarly to the F-16, and were likely here to provide escort for the Q-313s while the latter tore Cloudsdale apart. Whoever ordered this strike was clearly playing for keeps; Canterlot would have been too obvious a target, but Cloudsdale was clearly less defended and easier to destroy by its very nature – and because of that nature, would also be hard for many a human to believe actually existed, adding to any potential cover-up by the Iranian government.

That, of course, brought up a simple question: what kinds of missiles were effective against clouds? Maybe they were proximity triggered, but if so, they would still have to have some sort of target to home in on. Pegasi? A second later, the realization hit him and chilled his blood more than the surrounding air could. Not just pegasi – ponies. Specifically, a pony that had lived her entire life as something other than a pony.

Oh, God – they’re after DJ! Mike’s mind roiled at the thought. It made no sense…and yet at the same time, it did. They’d been attacked while they were in Singapore, and now were drawing fire here. They couldn’t be after Celestia or Cadance, since neither was here; likewise, they couldn’t be after Luna, because she was making herself a huge and easy target as she dived after Elusive…yet nothing was going after her. Yet the city was still being rained on with hellfire. And a coincidence this extreme was no coincidence at all.

But why DJ? The only crime his wife was guilty of was a horrid taste in music, and even that was understandable since she’d gotten that from her parents. And then a song entered his mind, one DJ had been playing a lot before he’d gone on deployment: “Haldyn Hotel”, an obscure electronic pop song from an equally obscure Japanese musician named Susumu Hirasawa. The song was from 1991, if he remembered correctly, and for a song that was over fifteen years old, it sounded even more bizarre than mere words could describe; the artist had merged circus music form the century prior with disco music from the 1970s and some arcane sort of chanting from God knew where. Even now, in Mike’s mind, he could recall that memory with clarity, with DJ sitting on the bed in their home as she happily sang along in Japanese – another thing he loved about her; while he “only” spoke English and Spanish, she spoke those as well as Japanese she’d learned from her father and had a knack for picking up bits and pieces of other languages easily.

Even now, he could hear her singing along to that weird-ass song:

“Yuku ressha no chiri wa sakyuu ni moji wo kaku,
‘Hyakunen kanata no sora yori mimamoru’ to
Airisu ga saku nagai ame no yoru,
inoru yō ni kimi wo sagasite mati wo kaketa”

“What does any of that mean?” Mike asked as he plopped down on the bed next to her.

“We’ve lived in Japan for how long and you haven’t picked up any of the language yet?” she laughed.

“Hon, I’ve been, you know, busy focusing on my job, and I didn’t have the advantage of a father who spoke it,” he accused.

“Yeah, okay,” she admitted. “But if you want to know, it means:

“Dusts of the passing train write the words on a sand hill,
‘I’ll keep watching you from the sky at a distance of a hundred years.’
At the long rainy night when white irises bloomed
I ran and prayed to find you in the town.”

“Only in Japan would they make a song about romance using circus music and old-timey synthesizers,” he groaned.

“You don’t know the half of it,” she said with a grin. “The song is actually about….”

Okay, I’m going to die soon, he mused, and the last thought rolling through my head is about a song about a hotel in Peru known for being frequented by transvestites. And it’d be DJ, of course, that put that thought there. That, in turn, made him think about his wife and children, and how much they would have to endure without him in the picture now. And now with those final thoughts, he wished that he would live…

…with no chance of that happening at all, as he noted the ground not very far from him as he reached terminal velocity.

As DJ and the others winked back onto the physical plane near the balloon landing, they were witness to a grisly sight. Half of the airships and balloons there were destroyed or burning, and there were several dead pegasi – one of which was Afternoon Breeze, the port services stallion that had helped them earlier. Thankfully, there were only the port workers here amongst the fatalities and nothing else.

The scream of jets sounded from above, and DJ looked up to see a black fighter rush overhead. She didn’t know where it came from or what type of fighter it was, only that it was unfriendly. “Sweetie,” she began, but was silenced by a curt nod from her aunt. Immediately the four ran – or rather, Sweetie galloped, Cinnamon flew, DJ ran as fast as she could without going into four-wheel drive, and Butter floated along uncomfortably in a force bubble carried by the unicorn’s magic. The quartet raced towards their destination, the balloon in which DJ and Sweetie had arrived…only to find it aflame as they arrived.

“Twilight’s not going to be happy about that,” the unicorn commented.

“Can you come up with something else?” DJ asked as another explosion erupted in the distance, the result of another attack run by one of those fighters. Whoever they were, they were obliterating Cloudsdale with impunity, whatever forces were present having absolutely no hope of stopping them.

“It’s going to be very risky, but I think I can,” Sweetie answered absently as she started to concentrate on the papilio alis spell Twilight once cast on Rarity. “I’m going to assume you trust me,” the mare said, knowing her niece’s attitude.

“Even if I didn’t – and I assure you I do,” the humanized pony commented, “I don’t exactly have much choice in the matter, do I?” Violet eyes frantically scanned the skies, noting one of the black shapes arcing its way towards them. “You’d better hurry – one of those bastards is setting up an attack run!”

“Working as fast as I can!” Sweetie called back.

“Can’t you do something about it?” DJ asked.

“I could, but that would leave us open for a follow-up attack by his wingman,” the unicorn mage retorted. “Better option is to shield us and get us out of here!” Sweetie looked out of the corner of her eyes and noted that the fighter was inbound, clearly intending to attack them – and Sweetie knew she wasn’t going to be able to throw up a shield spell in time.

DJ, meanwhile, closed her eyes and prayed, the hoofspace of her hands melding together in a rudimentary attempt at templing. Um, God, this is Daisy Jo. Dunno if you can hear me out in Pony Land – I’m guessing you can – but I could really use a miracle or two right now. Love, DJ. Amen. She was jittery enough that she forgot to cross herself, something she usually did after prayer.

Now in range, the black fighter fired its guns, the high whine of the autocannon strafing a line of bullets through the clouds and towards the frightened mares. However, the shots were off by just a fraction and they passed to the side, the only damage being to their eardrums as the rounds burned past them, followed quickly by the gunfire report.

“That was too close!” DJ shouted, watching as the fighter turned a tight curve, the result of thrust vectoring. Frightened out of her wits, Cinnamon did the only thing that she could: she fainted.

“I’ll take ‘too close’ if it means I’m still alive!” the unicorn shouted back.

“Uh, hate to be the bearer of bad news,” DJ told Sweetie, “but looks like he’s headed around for another try!”

“Charging up a spell,” Sweetie replied, her horn suddenly flaring with blue energy. “If he misses a second time, I can blast him for sure!”

“If he misses!” DJ reminded her.

“There anythin’ we c’n hide behind?” Butter shouted from within the relative safety of her force bubble, her voice reverberating as it connected with the skin of the sphere.

DJ gave her sister-in-law a nonplussed glance. “In a city made of clouds?”

Without warning, the enemy fighter exploded. A second later revealed the answer why: a REN F-35F rocketed through the debris cloud, engines roaring. As if acknowledging the ponies below, the fighter waggled its wings a bit before banking hard to bear down on another attacker. The fighter soon disappeared behind the burning cloud buildings, but the message was clear: help was on the way.

Relieved looks came over the faces of the mares as the impromptu death sentence was pulled off them. DJ looked up to the sky and whispered a quick, “Matthew 7:7 all the way, baby! Woo!”

“Okay, time to get back to that other spell,” Sweetie said, cancelling out her other one. “We need to get out of here soonest.”

“Uh, gals,” Butter moaned in her protective bubble, “Ah hate t’ burst yer bubble, but mah water jest burst.”

Any jubilant looks on their faces immediately went away as what Butter said suddenly hit them. “How long are the contractions?” DJ inquired.

“Ah can’t tell,” Butter whimpered, frantic. “But…Ah’m….Ah’m afraid.”

DJ reached over and touched the bubble. “You’ll be okay, Butter.” Turning to Sweetie Belle, DJ said, “We can’t move her. If we do, we risk losing the babies. She’s going to have to deliver here.”

Sweetie looked at her niece as though she’d just gone insane. “As much as I’d love to agree with you,” Sweetie retorted, “we’re under attack right now and I’m draining my magic faster than expected. I can’t keep all these various spells on indefinite standby and I don’t know how much time we’ve got – assuming whoever that is will let us have any clouds underneath our hooves for much longer!”

DJ looked back at Butter, and the terrified look on the earth pony’s face steeled the humanized pony’s decision all the more. “Elusive asked….” DJ stopped, shaking her head before continuing with, “No, my brother asked that I keep her safe, Sweetie. I can’t – and won’t – go back on my word.”

Despite the danger, Sweetie smiled at DJ’s words. “Are you sure about what you just said?”

“More than I can say,” DJ said softly, her face sober and protective.

Time to start tapping the reserves. Sweetie immediately cast a spell Twilight once taught her that allowed her to start pulling magic from other ambient sources; the increasingly ruined remains of Cloudsdale would make for a sad, but plentiful, reservoir. “Okay, let’s get this done with, quick – we don’t have much time.” Her horn immediately flared violet as a huge shield suddenly enveloped them.

DJ maneuvered under Butter, and Sweetie cancelled the spell, allowing the earth pony to fall into her sister-in-law’s arms. DJ looked at Butter with a determined face, asking, “Not the best of places, but are you ready?”

The goldenrod pony was exhausted but lucid. “Ah dun have much choice, do Ah?” she mumbled.

The day had started out easily enough for Sunny Seabreeze, LT, REN. He’d been en route to a live-fire exercise off the coast of Norflank when the frantic call had come in from EQMILCOM – somehow, unidentified fighters pretending to be a Luftwaffe squadron had entered Equestria and were now pounding the stuffing out of Cloudsdale. Seabreeze had just enough time to land at Norflank Naval Air Station before they fueled him up, slapped on weapons, and sent him back out the door. His job was to identify the enemy and keep them busy until REAF reinforcements arrived. As to when that was going to happen, they couldn’t come fast enough.

Unfortunately for them, they hadn’t expected to face opposition so soon, so he was able to take down one completely unawares. He’d smoked the bandit from a distance with an AMRAAM, and saved the lives of four ponies in the process. Plus, the IFF had tagged the aircraft he’d shot down: a Q-313, a stealth fighter in use by a handful of nations. Based on that there, was a pretty good guess as to who it might be. A second later he buzzed past one and had his proof.

“EQMILCOM, this is Surfhoof 8. Have confirmed identity of enemy, over. Aggressors confirmed as…EQMILCOM, you’re not going to believe this one: it’s Iran?”

“Iran?” The voice on the other side was incredulous. “Please confirm, Surfhoof 8, over.”

A fighter slipped into position behind him and Seabreeze immediately ducked to evade. “Q-313 bearing IRIAF markings just tried to splash me – is that enough confirmation?”

“Can you transmit your guncam data?”

He did so immediately. “That enough proof for you?” Not waiting for an answer, he kicked in the thrust vectoring to engage his attacker. He almost pitied the human pilot who just attacked him; after all, Seabreeze was a pegasus and any pilot, four hooves or otherwise, knew that when a pegasus was behind the HOTAS, they ruled the skies. It was the reason why Equestriani fighter pilots, with few exceptions, were almost entirely pegasi.

Performing a flip in the fighter that would have been impossible for any other kind of flyer, he turned the tables on the attacker, opening up with his guns and turning the stealth fighter into a burning wreck. He then juked the HOTAS, moving his craft at an extreme angle that prevented follow-on attacks from others, because humans weren’t made for the kind of G-force tolerances that came naturally to his kind.

A new voice came over the audio, agitated and ready for a fight. “Surfhoof 8, this is Apple Raider 1, do you read, over?”

Seabreeze cued his line. “This is Surfhoof 8, you’re coming in loud and clear. You might want to get over here soon before I splash all the bandits, over,” he laughed.

“Save some for us; we’re coming in hot and heavy. How you fixed? Over.”

“I’ve got plenty of ordnance, ammo and fuel, and….” Seabreeze paused as he suddenly saw a black form inking through the destruction, moving fluidly in a way no fighter could. “Apple Raider 1, I have sighting confirmed: Nightmare Moon. Repeat, Nightmare Moon is on scene and likely leading these fighters.”

“Do not engage, Surfhoof. Keep the fighters off the populace, but do not engage the Nightmare until we are in position. That is a direct order. Do you copy?”

“Copy that loud and clear – she’s going to splash me hard if she sees me!”

“We’re supercruising and should be on station in a few minutes more. Hang tight; you’re their only hope right now. Apple Raider 1, out.” The voice faded out and with that, LT Seabreeze focused back on his mission. He had ponies to save and he wasn’t going to do that if he didn’t get into the thick of the furball.

It was then that he heard the sinuous, sultry voice of death in his mind: I have you now.

Seated on her private balcony after having finished the paperwork at Cadance’s, Celestia read a book, trying to keep her mind off several issues, all of which deeply affected her. Her failure to protect the ponies of Fillydelphia weighed on her mind, as did the affliction currently working its way through Twilight and the others. The attack, and near death, of DJ; only Luna’s timely and faithful intervention had warded off disaster. And, of course, being saved by Mike, and now her inexplicable infatuation with same.

If I were a free mare, I w.... She didn’t finish that thought. Sure, she’d never married – not for lack of desire – but she was wed to the throne and to her duties just as tightly as any vow of matrimony. To go down that line of thought was ill-advised for a myriad of reasons.

“Your majesty!” an earth pony courier gasped as she raced up to Celestia. “There’s an urgent situation! Cloudsdale is under attack!”

“What?” The sun alicorn leapt to her hooves, aghast.

The courier passed over a letter, sent to her seneschal’s office; Black Rod had immediately ordered to missive to be sent to her. And as she read it, she realized why: Cloudsdale was burning, attacked by Nightmare Moon. But instead of bringing Chrysalis and her changeling armies, the demon alicorn had instead somehow enlisted the assistance of one of the human nations, one particularly vociferous in its hatred of ponies. She knew that firsthoof: during a speech she’d given at the United Nations a decade ago, most of the Middle Eastern nations had walked out, but it had been one lone nation that dared to shout obscenities at her even as their ambassador stormed out of the room.

But even still, why would they ally with Nightmare Moon? Unless…. Could the changelings be on Human-Earth now, meddling in politics? It was the only thing that made sense; while they wouldn’t follow a demonic alicorn, they would follow a changeling transformed into a human male, promising Tehran whatever it took to get them to destroy “the horse demons”.

“I’m leaving at once,” she told the courier. “Inform Princess Luna to meet me there immediately. Then have Black Rod apprise Princess Cadance of the situation if he has not done so already.”

“Your majesty, it is my understanding that her highness Princess Luna is already there,” he informed her. “She was apparently having dinner with several members of your family, including, if I’m not mistaken, the Lost Foal.”

The moment the courier said that, Celestia’s eyes grew wide, and her lips uttered a gasp involuntarily. Panic overtaking her mind briefly, she teleported the courier to safety before rocketing away herself. Her burst of speed was enough to cause a pressure displacement of air, a miniature sonic boom lashing against the balcony as the princess raced towards the City of Clouds.

As she picked up speed, her mind roiled. She wouldn’t – couldn’t – afford to lose any more members of her family. She had to save them. She had to save…. The near-admission was both revelatory and frightening. She was going for her subjects, of course; she was going for her family, certainly. But she knew, in her heart, there was a third reason for going.

The wall between denial and truth was growing thinner each moment, and even still, she couldn’t comprehend why.

Behind the HOTAS of his F-23A, Soarin’ looked at the distance between their location and Cloudsdale. They’d just departed Canterlot Mountainside Airbase, and at normal flight time it would take a little over an hour to cross the distance between the capital and the City of Clouds – and that number was cut in half when pushing the fighters to maximum. Unfortunately, this was a situation where seconds mattered, and seconds were all it took for the situation to already go from bad to nightmarish.

Thanks to Night Ranger’s untimely screw-up – the former Wonderbolt knew full well that he didn’t want to be a fly on the wall when Spitfire tore that idiot a new flank – they’d been caught with their metaphorical pants down. The attack had left everyone off-guard and he’d just happened to be on-base to work on paperwork and get his mind off of worrying about Rainbow. When the flightline officer came in and told him that they couldn’t get anypony other than the duty pilots already on the tarmac – one of which was thankfully his son – Soarin’ immediately started banging on doors and commandeering anyone who’d had flight quals for the 23s. After grabbing a variety of officers, he immediately slipped on his own flight gear and ordered one of the birds to be prepped for him.

And now here he was, strapped in the seat when somepony with more time with flight systems probably should have been there. But with a good number of pilots still out of action from the debacle at Fillydelphia just a couple of months ago, they were down to whomever was left, which meant a lot of pegasi who hadn’t logged as much time in cockpits were now directly responsible for the defense of ponies everywhere.

Opening a channel, he spoke. “Apple Raider 1 to all units: the moment we get there, weapons free, repeat, weapons free. Anything that doesn’t ID as blue, pop a missile up its plot. Apple Raider 6, take your half of the squadron and engage the TC-1s. They’ll be trying to keep us busy; I want you to do the same to them.”

“Roger that, Jack,” a female voice drawled. Soarin’ smiled slightly; Lightning Dust had been a pain in the plot more times than he could say and gave Rainbow no small amount of grief, but when push came to shove the mare chafed at the bit to hunt down the jerks that hurt her friend and promised Soarin’ that she’d do anything to help, and he appreciated that more than he could voice.

“The rest of us will go toe-to-toe with the Q-313s. Remember your training: even though they’re paper tigers, they’re still capable of hitting back and all it takes is one lucky blow, so keep on your hooftips. And lastly, do not, I repeat, do not engage Nightmare Moon under any circumstances. Leave that to Princess Luna – she’s there and should be able to deal with that monster.”

“No fucking way am I not going to leave that thing alone! I’ll kill that monster!” an all-too-familiar voice snarled over the line. Soarin’ sighed inwardly; as always, Rainbow Blitz was being as impetuous as his mother, and that made the older stallion think of his wife and the razor’s edge for survival that she now walked.

But that was for later; for now, he had a battle to manage. “Doug,” he said, addressing Blitz’ callsign, “go private channel.” A second and a switched channel later, he added, “Look, son, no one understands more than I do how much you want that demon dead – I do too. But I won’t have you risk your life in a suicide attack, understood?”

“Pops, I can beat her! All I n—”

“This is something only your aunt can handle, Blitz, trust me on this. And more importantly, your other aunt, as well as your cousins, are somewhere in that mess right now and protecting them comes before notching the Nightmare’s corpse, got that?”

“But I—”

If nothing else, Soarin’ knew how to punch his son’s buttons; they were, after all, the same as his mother’s. “Even your mother would prioritize family over glory,” he reminded the younger pegasus, and got silence for that. Once Soarin’ was sure he’d made his point, he continued. “Blitz, I need you on this. Lightning Dust is going to need an experienced stick mover to help her stop those TC-1s, and you’re it. If your mother were here, she’d do the job, but as good as Dust is, I need someone I can trust to run them into the ground – and I’m not trusting this to anypony but you, son.”

He could practically hear the younger pony’s chest swelling in pride. “Delta Flight, peel off and start hurting the bastards. No mercy, no quarter. General, we’ll take the right.” Not waiting for an answer from Lightning Dust, three fighters pulled away from the main group, banking right to start their hunt. As if an unspoken signal was passed, three others broke off and mirrored the action, rocketing away towards the left.

Switching back to the main channel, Soarin’ said into his mic, “I’m reading twenty-one bandits and one friendly. Let’s change the numbers, ponies. You have your orders – engage!”

Silver Platter stomped down the hallway of their family manor, a sneer on his face. He was going to teach that strumpet a lesson, if it was the last thing he did. How dare she? She was just a commoner! How dare she even think to say no to him? He was Prince Silver Platter of the Unicorn Dynasty, and if he demanded the very clouds in the sky to be brought to him, well, that was what supposed to happen, and happen now.

He heard some laughing from the balcony, and it intrigued him. Wandering over, he saw his father, Prince Blueblood, giddily sitting on a sofa, watching the nighttime sky and pouring himself a glass of some expensive and aged wine. “Hello, my son,” Blueblood said, a smile on his face. “Come join me in a festivity, won’t you?” The older prince conjured up a second glass and poured. “A fine vintage from my private cellars – for beasts with no sense of taste, the minotaurs somehow managed to come up with an excellent stock.”

Silver sniffed the air, knowing his father was drunk. “And where is Mother, in all this?”

“Off with her personal pursuits. You know your mother – dedicated to her craft, whatever it is.” He waved his son over. “And yes, I am drunk,” he added breezily, “Drunk on joy and happiness – quite the celebratory mood. And if you knew what I knew, you would be as well.”

“Oh, then praytell, dear Father, what was her name and how much did you pay her to go away? Or did Mother do so again?”

“Normally, I would slap that insolent tongue of yours back into its mouth, but right now I could care less, as it does little to spoil my joy.” He took another drink before continuing. “For the record, I happen to be celebrating my aunt’s most critical of failures. Did you know, at this moment, Cloudsdale is under attack? As to who did the deed? It really doesn’t matter – the only thing that does is that so soon after the death of Fillydelphia, ponies will be clamoring for leadership…strong leadership, the kind of bedrock firmament that Aunt Celestia is absolutely incapable of.”

“And you think you are?”

“Of course. Why else have we survived for so long? Because we are canny and await our return to the throne.” He got off his couch, wobbling towards his son before putting a foreleg around his withers. “Think of it: when I am king, you will be the crown prince – and you will learn what it means to wield true power.”

“But Aunt Celestia will not be displaced so easily, Father. She is an ancient and powerful mare, not one of your flighty conquests.”

“Which is why we have to strike when the time is right – and that time is soon coming. Did I not teach you that an iron fist must have a velvet glove in order to rule properly? I have my brute strength, and I have your mother for finesse. So too, one day will you have a wife to counter your own…proclivities, shall we say, hmm?” The look in Blueblood’s eyes was questing, curious, as if he expected his son to admit to something. But then moment passed, and it left the younger prince wary of his father.

Fortunately for Silver Platter, relief came at hand. “Your highness,” a guard said to Blueblood, nodding briefly to acknowledge the younger prince, “We have recovered her highness and escorted her back to her chambers as per your request.”

“Is there anypony with her?”

“Her hoofmaiden is with her at present an—”

“THAT HARRIDELLE!” Silver Platter snarled, and turned, storming off in the direction of his sister’s apartments.

“Do be careful,” Blueblood called out to the disappearing shape of his son as he ran down the hallway. “Sometimes they bruise…rather easily.”

As Silver Platter approached the door, he heard sobbing, following by a soothing voice saying, “It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Without any sense of formality, he kicked open the door and snarled to his sister, “Give her to me. Now.”

Gilded Lily looked at her older brother, and there was hatred in her eyes. “Get. Out.” At the moment, the princess stood between Silver and his quarry, a terrified mare, her maid’s uniform half-torn off. She showed the first signs of bruises, and had a cut down the left side of her face.

“She refused my attentions and that is an affront to my royal presence,” Silver said. “I cannot comprehend why you would protect one of t—”

“You tried to force yourself on her,” Lily said, in cool yet angry tones. “Or are you so stupid to think you can beat a rape charge?”

“Oh, please – as if she would. All it would take is a mere throwing of bits her way and suddenly she’ll have what she always wa—” He was suddenly shut up as his sister slapped him across the face.

“Get out, Silver. I won’t tell you a second time,” she warned.

The prince rubbed his face, both shocked and appalled. “You would take her side? You are a princess and a lady and are expected to act like one! It is your duty to rule w—”

“No, it is our duty to be servants of the people,” Lily snarled. “Or have you forgotten the lessons our aunts have given us?”

“No, I just pay attention to the important ones, the ones regarding power and authority,” Silver raged. “I suppose during those times you merely think about how much you lift your tail for that pathetic pegasus of yours.” She gasped and he knew he hit his mark. “Oh, you don’t think I didn’t know about that pegasus you toy with? One of those rejects Aunt Celestia claims as family?” He closed in on his sister and whispered in tones dripping with malice, “They’re commoners given a lucky break, mere pets for Celestia’s amusement. And you are one short step from just sleeping with common street trash.”

“Don’t you dare bring Blitz into this,” Lily huffed.

“What, did you think you’d just marry him and have a happy life? My dearest sister, you are an idiot. Marriages are about power and authority, and not whatever drivel our cousin Cadance spouts. Trust me: when you marry a proper stallion, that is when you lift your tail – so you will have control.”

“You disgust me,” Lily seethed.

“I don’t know if you were aware, but Mother has is just a hair’s breadth away from arranging your betrothal. I’m sure we’ll just have to wait until this year’s Gala to see if there are any suitable stallions this time around. Baron Fuzzybottom’s son Milquetoast is a blithering idiot, but he has money and prestige. Now he would be someone worth allowing the mount.”

Lily’s horn flared with the color of sunlight as she charged a spell. “Get. Out,” she said for the final time.

“When you’re married, don’t worry – I’ll take good care of your hoofmaiden,” he said, leering at the other pony. “Now, I think I’ll go enjoy that drink that Father offered. Good day, dearest sister.” Nothing more to say, he departed.

As he departed, Lily breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re safe, Meadow. I promise he’ll never touch you again.’

Frightened as a lamb, Meadow Glade looked at the princess with fear. “But you cannot protect me forever, your highness,” she said sadly.

“One, yes I can. Two, stop calling me that, Meadow. We’ve been best friends since we were fillies. You, of all ponies, never have to use titles or anything like that when we’re in private.”

“But things are different from when we were just schoolfillies, Lily,” Meadow said, her eyes stained with tears. “Someday you’ll be wed and sent off with your husband, and I will still be here because I am a vassal of this manor. And then he will get me and….” She broke down in sobs. “Your brother is a monster, Lily. He…he hurts others, and he takes pleasure in it. Remember Nightrose?” Lily remembered; she was a country pegasus that had come from a distant town to serve as one of the housemaids. “She didn’t break her legs because she fell down the stairs, she broke them because he….” Meadow began her hysterics again, leaving Lily to comfort her foalhood friend.

“I promise you’ll always have me to protect you,” Lily whispered to the distraught earth pony. “And when Blitz and I marry, you’ll come to live with us and we will find a way to ensure your happiness.” Lily held on to her friend as if she was a precious object, determined to protect her from the monster that prowled the hallways of the manor – a monster that, sadly, shared the same blood as her.

A Q-313 had no sooner began an attack run on Cloudsdale City Hall when a shot came from Surfhoof 8. The stealth fighter broke to evade, the missile barely missing its target but driving it away from innocent ponies below. Not letting it get away, Seabreeze slammed his fighter hard to the left, putting the fighter into a repeated barrel roll that let him get his aim in. Triggering guns, the fighter’s autocannon roared, sending rounds tearing into the fighter and turning it into scrap metal. The black aircraft detonated directly over one of the city parks, raining down wreckage onto the clouds, and in some cases, through them.

“Surfhoof 8, this is Apple Raider 1. We are now approaching the AO. What’s the situation, over?”

“Just took out another bandit, sir,” Seabreeze replied. “Gonna go after another, but there’s still plenty to deal with here an...oh, shi—”

Standing on a building, Nightmare Moon watched as the City of Clouds burned. The fires, little funeral pyres, warmed her demonic heart, and she smiled softly, knowing she was bringing death to the innocents that remained on the streets of the beleaguered town. So far di Tacco’s hired hooves were serving quite nicely and—

Oh, that will not do at all. One lone Equestriani fighter had somehow managed to arrive and was making a mess of things. From the looks of it, he was a talented pilot, and was probably a credit to his unit and his crown. However, that sort of thing would be problematic for the Nightmare’s plans, and so he had to be stopped. Looking at the fighter with dark intent and a malicious grin, she willed a ball of indigo balefire into existence before her. Pushing it forward as if blowing a kiss, the darkfire sliced through the sky, boring through the fighter and starting from the cockpit. The pilot had no time to react and Surfhoof 8 exploded in a shower of flames, the burning wreckage crashing to the city streets below, then through it as it plummeted towards the earth.

“Well, that should attend to that problem,” Nightmare Moon said to herself, before reaching out to speak to her “associate”. Colonel, I’ve reason to believe that reinforcements are inbound. You are to continue your attacks and ensure that the target is neutralized, understood?

“Understood, my lady,” the voice floated in the air. “Do you have any indication of how much opposition we will be facing?”

Nothing that your men cannot handle, the Nightmare replied. Now, I will let you get back to your work while I take care of mine. Remember that your success determines both your riches…and if you live to see tomorrow. Not waiting for an answer from Colonel Khalid, she prepared for the next part of her plan. She noticed a group of REAF fighters streaking overhead, and while the idea of dealing with them herself was tempting, she couldn’t afford to waste the time.

On the street below, she noticed it had begun to fill with various pegasi evacuating the shelter, headed towards the nearest evacuation area. Seeing them, she knew they’d be the perfect target to test her new toy on. Rising into the air, she called forth a storm at her disposal, one wild and uncontrollable by all but the most practiced of pegasi. Clouds nearly as dark as her coat began to float around her in an unusual circular pattern, a great vortex of power that had never been witnessed before on this earth.

“Ponies of Cloudsdale!” she shouted down to the crowd below, instantly commanding the attention of everyone in the area. While the majority of citizens below were worried about the attack, what they saw from above chilled them to the marrow of their bones as Nightmare Moon’s voice carried on the winds. “Carry this message to every species: your days of freedom are numbered – they were never yours to begin with! I rule now and I will decide your very existences!”

“The Bearers’ll get you!” one stallion shouted, shaking a forehoof at her. “The Knights beat you before, and they’ll do it again!” Although the crowd agreed with him, almost as one they began to back away from him, knowing that his fate wouldn’t be long for the world.

“The Bearers?” Nightmare Moon laughed. She landed brutally, smashing the street below, cracks appearing in the magically-created permanence. “The Knights Elemental?” she said, calmly and coolly as she sauntered towards him; as he suddenly realized who he’d just mouthed off to, he began to lose his bravado fast as the demonic alicorn approached. “I believe you said the Knights will defeat me, am I correct?”

“Yes,” he said, looking at her evenly, his boldness now gone. He was not quite cowed, but he knew that he’d bitten off more than he could chew. Even still, someone had to tell her that her days were numbered.

She smiled, but there was no joy in that rictus. “What if I told you that I’ve already killed four of them? What if you were to discover that Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were no longer amongst the living? What if you were informed that the Bond of Harmony has been shattered forever?”

“You’re lying!” A little filly, tiny as could be, ran in the direction of the stallion, anger in her eyes. From the replica choker she wore, it was clear she was a fan of the Knights. “The Knights would never lose to a meanie like you! And get away from my dad!”

The stallion’s eyes opened wide in fright. Heedless of the threat before him, he turned and shouted, “Get out of here! Go find your mother!”

Nightmare Moon gave a close look at the stallion before her, and then with a flicker of her power froze the stallion in his place. Finding he couldn’t move, the act shattered the remaining vestiges of whatever bravery he had left and it was clear that he was doing all he could to prevent himself from panicking in front of his daughter. The black alicorn then turned her attention to the foal, giving the filly the kind of grin reserved for the truly wicked. “Ah, poor foal. You have so much to learn about the world – you see, sometimes the villains win.”

“Please, don’t hurt her,” the stallion pled. The look of courage in his eyes was long gone, terror now having replaced it. “I beg of you, please…don’t hurt my foal.”

“What is your name, child?” the Nightmare asked.

The filly looked at the monster before her, and a sense of worry started to sink in. “Summer Memories,” she murmured.

“Your daughter?” she asked the stallion. “She’s a lovely child. I can see where she gets that misplaced sense of bluster from.”

“Please, if there is any good in you at all,” he begged, “don’t hurt her!”

“Oh, fear not. I have no intention of doing such a thing,” the demonic alicorn cooed. “After all, I’ll need future generations to know the folly of their parents’ attempt to dream of a world without me – a lie that I will crush today,” she said, her voice almost affable. “Do you have a wife?” He nodded and she turned to the filly. “Child, return to your mother.” Needing no further prodding, the foal scampered off towards the crowd, where a random pony grabbed her so she would be safe from the Nightmare’s wrath.

Relieved that his daughter was safe, Autumn Memories watched as the stranger carried her off to safety. It would be the last thing he would ever see as the Nightmare lashed out with her wing. Her appendage connected straight with his head and there was a sickening snap as the stallion fell to the cloudfloor, his head twisted at an unnatural angle.

“I promised you I wouldn’t hurt her,” she said as she heard his death rattle. “I never said anything about you.”

Seeing the murder that had just been committed before them, every pegasus in the vicinity took to wing like bats out of hell, racing in every direction in a frantic attempt to escape. Nightmare raised her wings to the sky, and at her command the swirling winds already blowing turned into a deadly event that slammed into the flock trying to flee; a derecho strong enough to rend and wreck everything in its path, including pegasi too slow to be able to avoid the path of destruction.

With the winds obliterating everything they encountered and her human underlings turning the rest of the city into a slaughterhouse, it was time to focus on the main thrust of her plan. Nightmare Moon shook her head in a disturbingly girlish manner as she sang, “Oh where, oh where is that little bitch now; oh where, oh where can she be?” Knowing that the target in question was one of a mere handful in town, there were just a small number of places she could have gone to – and only one in this part of town. Taking to wing, she headed towards the balloonport, ready for a meeting with destiny.

Dinner, Pip decided, was the best he’d ever had. As flutters, unlike regular changelings, had a need for physical nourishment, the drones appointed as castle staff trained to be the best chefs they could be, as they were preparing food quite literally for a queen. The secret program Shining Armor had put in place hired a range of Equestria’s finest chefs to train the flutters in question, then promised to silence via a quite healthy fee for their services. As a result, Sweet Basil and Dorigo Pepper, the two head chefs, had studied under such masters as entrée expert Main Dish and master pâtissier Gustav Le Grand. If Pip remembered correctly, the most recent one had been master confectioner Mulia Mild, who had spent two weeks training flutters in disguise this December; it had been her third time and she’d been given a large enough paycheck the first time to retire from her business.

The end result of all of this was that tonight’s dinner of sautéed daisies and artichokes, paired with a tulip consommé and braised mushrooms-and-carrots with a maple drizzle, was nothing less than exceptional.

But this dinner’s also been one of the noisiest, he chuckled silently, with his bouncing daughter buzzing happily despite repeated reminders from Maggie that Rosedust’s behavior at dinner was unbecoming of a princess. He grinned slightly, noticing the family moment between the three of them and wondering if this was what his life was meant to be: he, Maggie and Rosie, alongside the dozens of flutters – one happy, if overly large, family.

As he’d spent time discussing the issue with Maggie – yeah, right, “discussing”. A whole lot of communication going on, but not actually talking, per se, he mused with an inward grin – he’d realized that the flutterqueen needed him. Not because he was the father of her foals, or because he was the one she’d decided was her mate, but because she genuinely loved him and could not be without. So he’d settled on his choice, one that pained him, but one he felt honorbound to. He was a stallion with a family, and one that both adored and needed him. Though the drones were grown up, there was no less a need for a father in their lives and they pined for it in a way that only he could fulfill.

“Is this what you want?” she’d asked him as they lay in bed, she nuzzled him, hearing the beat of his heart.

“I don’t know,” he’d told her honestly, “but Peppercorn, Rosie and the others…they need me. They need a father and I’ve let them grow up without one. Yet they still need me. So yes, I’ll be staying.”

In response, she kissed him, tears of joy welling in her eyes. “I will be the best wife I can be, my Pip,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” he’d said, clearly conflicted.

That “conversation” had been a few hours back, followed by an address to all the drones, all of whom were thrilled to have their father back. Afterwards, the drones got back to work while Maggie attended to official duties and Pip spent some time with Rosie, who had gone into a practical high-speed frenzy of bliss at having her father finally present. The young filly had completely monopolized his time until dinner, not that Pip minded in the least. If nothing else, the time spent was a poignant reminder of how much things had changed for him in the past few days.

And yet, he kept admitting to himself, he couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful unicorn mare who he still loved, and whose heart he’d broken. He’d never meant to do it, and he’d throw himself in front of a tank if it meant sparing Sweetie Belle the hell she was likely going through right now. And as he set down his fork and looked across the table at the mare that was now his wife, he once again couldn’t help but notice that she was somepony a fraction of his age.

I’ve been with Sweetie Belle longer than Maggie’s been alive, he thought to himself. How did I let everything become so tail-twisted?

Maggie saw the look of confusion in her beloved’s face and felt his pain nearly as deeply as he did – one of the few times she wished she didn’t have the natural empathy to let her comprehend what happened. “Pip, I know this is hard for you,” she said gently. “We’ll work through this, I promise. We have much to do before we yet formally marry—”

“We’re not married?” he wondered.

“Well, we are in the changeling sense, bonded by our love,” she answered, “and that much of my heritage I can’t escape. But I want to marry in the pony way as well. I want to teach our foals that they are just as normal as their pony counterparts, and that they have every right to love anypony they choose. If I were to marry normally, after all, why couldn’t they?”

A question formed on Pip’s tongue, which was silenced as Peppercorn burst into the room. “Mom! Pop! Come quick – we’ve got a problem at the edge of the valley!” Both queen and soldier rose to their feet, heading to a nearby window, where a fire burned at the mouth of the entry to Dream Valley. Maggie was about to inquire further when an earth-crunching crash occurred outside, rattling the castle. Something had fallen to the ground and it was aflame. At first, the flutters thought it might be a comet of some sort, the remains of one of Luna’s shooting stars, but it only took a second for Pip to recognize it as an aircraft wing – a fighter’s wing, to be exact. This was confirmed a second later as the missiles attached cooked off, causing a huge fireball that miraculously injured none even as it sent a plume of flame into the sky along with a thunderous BOOM in accompaniment.

“Peppercorn,” Maggie said, her voice carrying the authority of a queen instead of a mother, “have everypony gather up a fire brigade in case more of whatever that is falls into the valley. We’ll want to put out the flame as soon as possible.”

“Already did that, Mom – Oregano’s getting his group together,” he told her and her heart swelled with pride at her sons’ preparedness. Somehow, Pip felt that, and not in just a general way – is that the bond she was talking about earlier, or am I feeling it as well? he wondered.

But she wasn’t done yet. “Pip, the three of us will go to the checkpoint and see if there’s anything in trouble and what we can do to help.” Turning back to her servers, she said, “White Cinnamon, please escort your sister back to her room.” When the chef flutter nodded and picked up Rosie, she said, “Gentlestallions, let’s go.”

“Are you sure it’s safe for you?” Pip asked. Granted, he was still trying to figure out how he felt about her and where he fit in, but when push came to shove, it was his duty to ensure her safety for Equestria’s sake. Having a family and fur in the game made it that much more so.

But she shook her head and looked at him evenly. “I could stay behind and wait…but that’s not what a ruler does,” she answered him, her eyes filled with determination. “Celestia wouldn’t sit by idly while her ponies were in danger, and neither can I.”

Luna rocketed towards Elusive’s protective bubble and swung around the bottom, beating her wings furiously in order to slow the speed of the sphere to the point where she could take control and rescue him.

“SAVE HIM!” Elusive shouted to her as she nullified the spell. “Forget about me – save Mike!”

“I can’t,” she said mournfully, her voice breaking. “I won’t let you die. I love you too much to let you die, nephew.”

“And what, he’s not family?” he begged. “What abou….” His words trailed off as he looked up into his aunt’s face and saw the pain and horror of her decision, etched into her face. From the look alone, it was clear that she’d have nightmares about the choice for weeks. “Aunt Luna, why? She needs him,” the stallion pled in a hope she’d let him be sacrificed…and she’d be saved from the direction she was hell-bent on travelling down.

Luna grabbed onto him and teleported both her and him to the ground directly, the pair coming back to normal space in a daisy orchard well north of Cloudsdale, almost near Ponyville. Knowing he was now safe, she slumped to the ground, feeling unable to do anything else. “Because that’s the nature of his duty,” she replied sadly, unable to look at anything but the ground. “To save others and give his life as needed. And your wife and foals will need you,” she added, as if trying to justify her choice.

“But what about DJ and her foals?” he asked, knowing it was selfish to challenge her decision. His aunt had just risked everything to save his life, and every word he spoke was a further stab in the heart.

“She’ll hate me for what I did,” Luna said, her voice devoid of emotion as her eyes filled with tears. “All I ever wanted to do was to show her the stars, Elusive. And now all I’ve shown her is death.”

At her own words, reality kicked in. Death…Nightmare Moon! The monster still prowled and predated on Cloudsdale and so long as she was free, death ruled the skies. Forcing herself back to her feet, the moon alicorn rocketed back into the sky, pushing herself like never before. Her subjects needed her, her family needed her, and she needed to face down the monster.

Knowing the odds were against her, Luna raced into battle, girding for a fight.

The final thought on Mike’s mind was of his wife and children, those three that he’d never see again as he was mere hundreds of feet from the ground. He’d never hold his sons again, never kiss his wife again, never grow old with her as he’d promised. No more birthdays, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, joyous post-deployment reunions. No third child, as DJ was thinking about – she wanted a girl this time. No going to see his sons’ Little League games. No more sharing of tender moments with the love of his life.

The loss gnawed at him, but he could do nothing, save to die as he lived: facing the challenge. He refused to close his eyes, even though every instinct in his body told him to as the ground rushed at him like an unavoidable wall. He would face death bravely, going towards it sans fear. He’d said his last prayer; that DJ’s soon-to-be wounded heart would know peace and that she wouldn’t grieve forever – God, he didn’t want that for her. They’d discussed it once and she’d swore that if he died, she’d never love again, that he was the only man she could ever give her heart to.

Then the ground became all he could see, and he knew death had come.

Angel’s wings carried him towards heaven, all pain enveloped in a golden light.

He saw the beautiful face of an angel, felt its kiss of peace, the purest love imaginable.

And then there was nothing but eternal white.

“Push just a little more, Butter, just a little more!” DJ said, shouting. Tonight was supposed to be simple, DJ thought to herself. Who the hell decided to ramp up the difficulty? A second later, though, she admonished herself: Bullshit – tonight was going to be hard enough. This just puts the icing on the fucking cake.

Butter screamed as she began to give birth, the cry somewhere between a whinny and an outright roar of pain. DJ knew that sound well enough: she’d produced something very similar five years ago when Tyler was born and probably freaked out all the delivery staff in the process.

“How’s it going?” Sweetie asked, her focus on both keeping the shield up and sterilizing everything within range of said shield.

“Let’s see,” DJ snarled. “I was already in for a rough night of meeting my biological brother for basically the first time ever, and now I’ve got my hands practically shoved up the twat of my sister-in-law, who I just met thirty minutes ago. I’m tipsy from the wine, we’re getting shot at, I’ve got Little Miss Useless passed out over there,” she added, nodding her head derisively towards Cinnamon, “and I’ve never exactly delivered a baby! Add to all that the fact that we’re surrounded by dead ponies, I’m here in Equestria because I was afraid of seeing more dead ponies – and that’s all on top of me nearly getting killed last week! How the fuck do you think I feel?!”

“Glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor,” the older mare said sardonically.

DJ ignored her aunt and said, “Conjure me a Ginsu – I’m going to need to cut the umbilical cord. Oh, and some kind of clamp, too. I think I saw this on some YouTube vid or something like that.”

“What’s a Ginsu?” the unicorn mare innocently asked.

DJ’s limit had been reached, and breached at that point. “A GODDAMN KNIFE! JESUS, FUCK, DID YOU JUST TAKE THE EXPRESS TRAIN FROM STUPIDVILLE?” she roared.

“DJ….” Sweetie admonished in a magisterial tone, “Some of us didn’t grow up on Human-Earth, if you recall.”

“Right. Sorry,” DJ said, forcing herself to calm down. “Look, I need a knife, some kind of clamp and swaddling clothing.”

“All you had to do was ask,” the white unicorn said, bemusement in her voice, and what DJ asked for was suddenly at her side. “You sure you can do this?” Sweetie asked.

“Not a clue – I have no idea what I’m doing,” she admitted.

“Then let me do it,” a voice at DJ’s side spoke. To the humanized pony’s surprise, Cinnamon had not only regained consciousness, but was getting back to her feet. Furthermore, there was a determined tone in her voice that DJ had never heard before. “I’ve helped Dad deliver some of the animals around the farm,” she explained. “I can do this.”

“Do Ah look like Ah’m an animal?” Butter shouted, then gasped once more before screaming in pain again.

DJ, however, looked at the pegasus. “You sure about this?”

“Trust me.” The tone was so sure, so confident that DJ nodded and moved aside. There was something so unassailable in her tone that DJ felt the Hand of God was somehow at work. As Cinnamon moved into position, she said with a soft smile, “I’ve got everything under control.”

“Didn’t think otherwise,” DJ lied with a straight face as she patted her cousin on the shoulder. She then stepped away and went to Sweetie. “You sure this is a good idea?” she asked the older pony.

“You’re the one who stepped away, not me,” Sweetie reminded her. “Besides, I know that tone. If you knew Fluttershy a little better, you’d know it too.”

DJ couldn’t answer that. “Look, Sweetie, I….” she began.

“You don’t have to say it,” Sweetie answered. “I know, and I forgive you. It’s a tense situation right now; I’d probably have done the same if our positions were switched,” she lied gently. Luna’s right – she’s growing up, Sweetie thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Cinnamon was focusing on Butter. “Now, just a little more, okay?” the sienna pegasus said, her voice slipping into an approximation of her mother’s clinical but warm tones. “We’ll get this done soon enough.”

DJ moved to the butter-hued mare’s side and looked at her sweaty, pained face. Taking Butter’s right forehoof into her hands, the humanized pony gave her sister-in-law a smile. “I’ve done this twice already, and it’s worth the pain in the end, trust me.”

“It is?” Butter moaned, feeling like her body was being torn apart.

“Well, then again, I gave birth to children, not foals, so the shape’s a little different, but it still felt like hell, though.” She flashed another smile, adding, “You’ll be fine, I promise. We’re all here with you.”

Butter was about to reply when she felt as though she would practically split in two from the agony. She let loose a scream loud enough to be a death cry, but her tones faded as they gave way to the first sounds of a crying foal, soaked from the waters of birth. The newborn was an earth pony with a soft yellow coat not unlike Fluttershy and had a caramel and red mane and tail. The foal’s eyes opened, revealing soft pink eyes. But there was one final, unexpected detail….

“It’s a filly!” Cinnamon said, a smile on her face. “Butter, it’s a filly!”

“A gal? But Ah thou—” Her words gave way to an incomprehensible scream as the second batch of constrictions kicked in. With practiced ease, Cinnamon took the first of the clamps and locked off the umbilical to the filly, cutting away with the knife. She then wrapped the foal in swaddling, passing her to DJ as she then focused on the second birth. Cinnamon’s motions had been so practiced and perfect, that DJ couldn’t be anything less than impressed at her younger cousin’s demeanor.

“How’s she lookin’, DJ?” Butter asked weakly. The newborn had just stopped crying and was now cooing softly, a beautiful sound if there ever was one.

DJ looked at the young life in her arms; other than pictures of herself as a baby, she’d never seen a pony foal before. “She’s absolutely beautiful, Butter,” the humanized pony replied.

“Can Ah see ‘er?” DJ checked with Cinnamon to see if that was okay, and the pegasus gave her a curt nod before returning to her work. DJ held the cooing foal so that Butter could see; the earth pony mare knew she couldn’t hold her daughter until the second delivery was done but she could look. “She’s…beautiful,” Butter gasped. “Hello, li’l sugarcube!”

“Do you have a name for her?” DJ asked as he reached down and stroked her newly-born niece’s cheek, feeling the downy fur on her face and muzzle.

“Ah…uh, well…. We hadn’t thought of one if’n we had a girl,” Butter admitted. “Han’t ‘spected one. You got an idea?” Butter then paused before adding, “But nothin’ human, mind. No ‘fense er nothin’, but that’s none too common ‘round these parts.”

“I understand,” DJ replied, combing through her mind for names. “Apple clan uses Apples in their name, right?”

“Eyup. Well, our Orange kin don’t, but they’re a little weird.”

“Applesauce?”

“Third cousin in Appleachia.”

“Red Gala?”

“Cousin over in Appleton. Funny, they say she looks a li’l like cousin Mac, but Ah don’ see the r’semblance.”

“Bitter Apple?”

“My aunt over in th’ Breton Valley, an’ unfortunately, her name makes ‘er live up t’ it.”

“I see.” DJ was drawing a blank, when a flash of inspiration suddenly came to mind as she blurted, “What about Apple Scruffs?”

“What’s ‘n apple scruffs?”

“It’s…a social gathering of people who love music. And apples, obviously. It’s a human reference, but it’s not exactly a human name,” DJ answered, as she suddenly realized the mistake she’d just made. Inwardly she cringed as she thought, Please don’t like the name, please don’t like the name….

“It’s perfect!” Butter replied. “Hello, li’l Apple Scruffs,” Butter said to her daughter, just before she turned to scream off another birthing pang. Irritated, the newly-monikered Apple Scruffs decided to start crying in unison, the shrill sound biting into DJ’s ears.

I deserved that, DJ thought as she tried not to look too guilty. It was just something off the top of my tongue – Elusive’s going to kill me! Apple Scruffs, depending on context, either referred to an old fan club of the Beatles, a song George Harrison wrote about said club, or a recent nickname for the infamous glitch in the iPhone 17’s iTunes player that quite literally caused the phone to catch fire. In any case, it wasn’t the name for anyone.

Well, anyone except my niece now, DJ ruminated, a guilty feeling shivering through her. Sorry, Scruffy. Wait…maybe I can work with that….

“AAAAAH!” Butter screamed as the second one arrived. Cinnamon followed the same procedure, clamping, cutting and swaddling. “It’s done now,” Cinnamon said aloud. “It’s a colt, Butter.” Sweetie risked the distraction to her focus and turned to look at the exhausted mother and the two newborns. Apple Scruffs and her younger brother, Applestem, were now in their mother’s forehooves as she lay on the cloudfloor, spent but jubilant. The second of the foals was, unlike his sister, a unicorn. He was a bright green in coat, with a dark brown mane and tail and purple eyes.

“He’s so beautiful,” Apple Butter cooed, looking at her sister-in-law. Both Sweetie Belle and Cinnamon Star looked at the colt, then both other adults, and the duo agreed.

“Well, now that it’s over, we need to get out of here,” Sweetie warned. “Cinnamon, you carry Butter; your innate magic should make it easy. Butter, I’ll wrap the foals in a protective bubble. DJ, I’ll need to go over with you about how the glitterwings spell works.”

“Wings?” DJ looked at her aunt with skepticism. “You’re going to turn me into a pegasus?”

“Not exactly. I could probably do it with a quick amniomorphic, but that’d take too much energy and you’d need a focusing stone, which we don’t have on-hoof. I’ve charged up another spell instead – this one will create temporary wings, but they’re very fragile. Very fragile,” the unicorn warned. “You’ll have t—”

“And there you all are.” The voice was eerie, reverberating, unnatural. The ponies looked in the direction of the ruined city, and the foals suddenly grew deathly still as all recognized the black, winged form walking towards them. “Time for your worldview to change, Foal,” Nightmare Moon said as she walked towards the small group…

…only to have someone face her down.

“I’ve got tone, I’ve got track. Fox Two, Fox Two!” The missile roared away from Blitz’ fighter and the engagement was so quick, he didn’t have time to feel sorry about how lopsided the victory was. The fighter’s remains spun away, falling towards the Shetland Valley; the pegasus hoped that the remains would fall in the Ghastly Gorge as it was uninhabited and wouldn’t hit the citizens living in the nearby town.

“Apple Raider 9 to Apple Raider 6 – General, we’ve nearly cleared out their backups,” he informed Lightning Dust. But before he could say anything further, his alert siren chimed, the tone indicating that he’d been bracketed. Immediately, Blitz deployed countermeasures and pulled his fighter into a “coinspin”, a flying technique that, to date, only pegasi pilots had been able to pull off. The missiles fired at him passed by, too close but thankfully having missed. However, his opponent course-corrected and opened fire with guns, tearing holes through Blitz’ wing, but fortunately not hitting anything serious. Blitz moved to dodge, but a second later another shot from a friendly tore the enemy fighter to shreds.

Blitz didn’t have much time to celebrate, however, as the friendly that had saved him detonated, taken out by a lucky shot from one of the opposing fighters. Enraged, Blitz dispatched the enemy as brutally as possible, switching to guns and making sure he fired right into the cockpit of the TC-1.

“Delta Flight, this is Apple Raider 6. Wipe the fuckers from the sky!” he snarled as he bracketed a second enemy and sent an AIM-120 right up its exhaust. The plane, now without the latter half of its structure, fell from the sky as Blitz immelmanned his fighter and fired a second time, blowing up the remnants and sending it to crash, relatively harmlessly, in a lake below.

“Apple Raider 9, this is Apple Raider 6. Come in closer – we’re going to need to capture one of these enemies and we’re going to have to do so intact.”

“Roger that, General,” he responded. Now that the anger was gone, it was replaced by sadness. He’d lost one of his pilots, a pony under his command. Killing the bastards wasn’t even going to start to make up for what he’d have to tell 1st Lt. Daffodil Dreams’ now-widowed husband tomorrow. Daffodil had been a great wingpony and a cool gal – almost as cool as him. But now she was gone and all Blitz had at the moment were memories and survivor’s guilt.

The third crash was not missed as it impacted onto one of the almond groves in the Valley. The moment they saw it, Imago grabbed Pip and the group raced towards the entrance to the Valley where the checkpoint was. Upon arrival, they ran into the major that had been given orders to report to Pip earlier, but instead was gathering troops in preparation for an all-out assault on the flutters. “What the hell is going on here?” Pip demanded.

“Changelings are attacking Cloudsdale!” Major Fleetfoot shrieked as the trio arrived. “And we’re going to put a stop to those damn changelings down there, once and for all!” He pointed at the newcomers, ordering, “Guards! Arrest that traitor and kill the changelings!” At his words, the soldiers present drew beads on them all, carbines at the ready.

“We’re not changelings!” Imago shouted as Peppercorn instinctively moved to protect his mother. She nuzzled her son briefly before nudging him out of the way. Looking directly at Fleetfoot she said in the unassailable voice of a queen, “My name is Imago. I was born a changeling, admittedly. But I have a mother and father, two ponies who loved me more than anything and raised me to be the best mare I could be. As a result, I transformed into this – I am no longer a changeling, but what changelings should be! I might superficially look like one, but on the inside I bleed pony, just like you! I am a flutter, an ally to ponykind, and I beseech you to stop what you are doing!”

“You’re a monster and monsters should be slain,” Fleetfoot shrieked. He withdrew his pistol, pointing it straight at the flutter queen.

Now it was Pip’s turn to move in front of her. “Don’t do this,” he whispered back to her, “our foals need you.” Then he looked at the major and brought himself up to full military might. “You will stand down now, Major, or I swear on Celestia’s mane I’m going to make you eat that gun!”

“I’ll stand down when our world is protected from traitors like you,” Fleetfoot replied, “and threats like changelings and humans are forever removed from it!”

Great, a specist, Pip realized, so small wonder he’s the way he is. “Major, last chance. Stand down or I will make you stand down – and you won’t like the way I do things.”

“You couldn’t force me if you tried, Colonel. After all, I believe in a True, Pure Equestria, not bowing down to the whims of humans or the needs of changelings or anypony. We are ruled by goddesses; why should Holy Celestia or Sacred Luna ever bow to the needs of someone as flawed as President Cantwell, King William or any human ruler – or any of the ones in this world? Why should another pony soul be ripped apart by changeling desires or corrupted by human fobiles, as was the Lost Foal? Were I Duchess Lippizan herself, I would run a sword through the barrel of that creature wearing the skin of her dead foal. Equestria is for ponies, not for lessers!”

“You’re a fool,” Pip snarled. “What about somepony like Spike? What has he to prove to you? He’s a friend of mine, I know him – he would turn against all of dragonkind before ever harming a pony…because as far as he’s concerned – and as far as I’m concerned – he’s one of us. More than you’ll ever be!”

“A base reptile like him should never be trusted. And if somepony such as the Archmagus considers him so, she’s frightfully deluded,” Fleetfoot crowed.

“Then you have no business being in command, Major,” a new voice barked. Fleetfoot turned around and found the area suddenly swarming with Destriers, all of them fully armed and ready to fire if somepony wrong so much as blinked. Out of the darkness of the night, an unarmed REA pony walked into the room, striding with the confidence of authority. “Sorry we’re a little late, Colonel,” Goldengrape replied. “There’s a war going on upstairs and we had to make sure we landed outside of the battle zone so we didn’t get caught in it. We let the chopper go do CSAR, so we had to hump a bit. Rescuing civvies, you understand.”

“Roger that, sir,” Pip replied, somewhat surprised that his boss was present. “But what are you doing here, sir?”

“We’ll talk about that in a minute.” Turning to his escorts, he ordered, “Take the major into custody. Disarm the guards and place them under arrest as well.” Goldengrape walked up to Fleetfoot, a grim smile on his muzzle. “Major, you’re relieved for cause, and under arrest for various charges that I’ll let the JAG sort out.” Turning to his seniormost escort, he said, “Head over to the garrison and get me the unit XO.”

Pip then added, “Also have Corporal Sweetpine report along with the XO.”

“A corporal?” One of Goldengrape’s brows lifted in curiosity. “You mind explaining that one for me, Pip?”

“You first, sir,” Pip replied with a grin.

Goldengrape laughed sadly, shaking his head. “First I’ve got my own troops slipping the leash and threatening each other, and now I’ve got my seniormost Destier playing rank-flip with me as though he’s going to win. Hell of a day.” He then turned to Imago. “So you’re what this is all about, your majesty?” he asked.

“I suppose. I take it you’ve been briefed, General?” she asked delicately.

“Lightning round of debriefing by both her highness Princess Cadance and General Spitfire as well. My head’s still spinning from the whole explanation,” the grizzled stallion admitted. “But, in any case, your majesty, you have my sincerest apologies for the malfeasance of the troops here at the garrison. Had I been aware of the situation, I would have dealt with it sooner, I assure you.”

Imago seemed a bit off-put by his initial response, but she recovered quickly. “No, you needn’t blame yourself, General. Each pony is required to behave of his or her own accord, and you cannot take responsibility for others’ equine natures.”

“That may be so, but I expect my troops to be responsible regardless of the situation.” He turned to Pip. “As to what I’m doing here, I’m here to give this document directly, an issued order from Princess Cadance. From now on, your Destrier unit is assigned to this garrison, with you taking command. In addition, you will be assigned as the Crown’s direct liaison to the Flutter Protectorate.”

“Isn’t there a bit of equinal confli…” he began, but as Maggie was shaking her head, he chose not to explain further.

But Goldengrape wasn’t done yet. Turning to the disgraced officer, he spat, “Fleetfoot, you disgust me. Our job is to protect innocents, both pony and ally – not to wage a war of superiority.” He barked to the sergeants to remove the major before he turned back to Pip. “And now I want to hear your bit, Colonel. What’s with this Corporal Sweetpine?”

“I’d like that answer myself,” Imago said to Pip. While there was no tone of jealousy or suspicion – a good thing too, as Pip had just proven himself to her – she did look interested.

Fortunately, one of the garrison’s HMMVs pulled up, with both an Army captain – the XO of the unit, Pip guessed – followed by Sweetpine. Both saluted, and the captain introduced himself. “Captain Placid Days, reporting as ordered, sir.”

“Corporal Sweetpine reporting as well,” the mare answered before turning to Pip. “You asked to see me, Colonel?”

“Yes I did.” Turning to Goldengrape, Pip said, “General, I don’t know about Captain Placid Days, but as far as I can tell, Sweetpine has been doing more than her fair share and meager rank from this whole situation turning into a powderkeg. If it wasn’t for her, the flutters would be dead now.” And as he saw the sudden look of surprise come onto the faces of Imago and Peppercorn, he realized that Sweetpine had done more than just stopped an atrocity – she saved my family. “We owe her a serious debt, sir,” the stallion answered, his voice catching slightly as emotion briefly overcame him.

“Is that so, Corporal?” Goldengrape asked. “Don’t be afraid to answer; you’re not in any trouble.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, happy to finally clear the air. “For the past few months, under the direction of Captain Placid Days, I’ve been investigating the Major. We’ve discovered that he’s a member of the Purehooves, and he’s been recruiting several members of the garrison. Up until recently, we haven’t been able to definitively find a way to get a report out to you, General, but thanks to the Colonel’s timely arrival, all that changed.”

“Purehoof?” Peppercorn asked, looking at Sweetpine with a flush coming to his cheeks. Pip immediately caught that and wondered if the oldest drone had been the one to bring Sweetpine lunch that day.

“It’s a pony surpremacist group. They believe it’s the mission of the Divine Alicorns to purify the world for ponies only and to lock the other species on human-Earth, then throw away the key,” Pip informed his son. “The Crown considers them a potential terrorist group, but they haven’t taken arms up against the government – yet.”

Goldengrape didn’t seem too surprised, but there was a difference between surprised and expecting. “And you’re sure of this, Corporal?”

In response, Sweetpine reached into a pocket on her uniform blouse, pulling out a small sheaf of paper. “I was assigned cleaning duty one day for the Colonel’s office. He left a roster of the soldiers he turned and I used my magic to create a copy. I pretended not to notice it, but he came in rather quickly, telling me that I didn’t need to clean and that he dismissed me. He kept a close eye on me until he was sure I didn’t know.” She looked at Pip and said, “I would have reported it sooner, but shortly after that they started keeping an eye on both Captain Days and I.”

“I see,” Goldengrape said, taking the list. Looking at it briefly, he passed it over to another sergeant and said, “Get a copy to the JAG and to Sgt. Silent Shot. Have the Sergeant arrest everypony on the list and have JAG start prepping for courts-martial.”

“General,” Pip interjected, “Corporal Sweetpine is due for a transfer to a new duty station. I think it would be a mistake to transfer her.”

“You think she should be promoted and reassigned here so we can have a sergeant you trust in position?” At that question, Sweetpine’s jaw dropped. A promotion?

“Not exactly, General.” Pip shook his head and Sweetpine’s smile collapsed. “What I think we should do is take as valuable a soldier as Sweetpine and send her where she needs to go: Officer Candidate School. Since she’s shown incredible leadership and duty, well, I could always use a support officer like that – she’d do wonders as a second lieutenant.” The squee Sweetpine uttered could be heard for miles around. “As for Captain Placid Days, I hear there’s going to be a spot open for a major soon.”

Watching the red spark in the distant sky, Spines didn’t understand what was going on. There had been a sudden alert – complete with a message via the Vomit Express – and suddenly Star had to go. She didn’t say where, only that she hoped to be home for dinner. But now, as the baby draconess held a new note saying that the unicorn had no idea when she’d be home, something inside Spines knew something was wrong.

And then the rumors came. Somepony said that Cloudsdale was under attack and that, horrifically, it was being attacked not by changelings or even historical enemies like gryphons or diamond dogs, but…humans. Humans were up there and slaughtering innocent ponies. But it didn’t make sense! She knew humans – their next-door neighbors were humans – and from a time she and Star had gone on vacation to Cloudsdale, she knew it was hard for the average non-winged creature to get up there, let alone humans. Yes, they had magical equipment that let them do things that even the alicorns had a hard time accomplishing, but that didn’t make them evil!

“HUMANS!” somepony shouted and she suddenly noticed a crowd of ponies standing in front of Mr. and Mrs. Walker’s house. They were some of the nicest beings she’d ever known, even if they weren’t ponies. And yet, what the crowd was accusing them of scared her. Saddest of all, she saw some of her friends’ parents there, and they were carrying pitchforks and torches. Both of the humans looked scared.

“Spines!” The purple draconess turned around and saw her two best friends, her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders, racing towards her. “C’mon, let’s get out of here,” Buttercup said. “Mom said you can stay at our place while your sister’s out of town.” At the pegasus’ side, Sugar Sprinkle nodded.

“But they’re going to hurt Mr. and Mrs. Walker!” Spines cried. “They didn’t do anything!”

“But we’re worried about you,” Sugar said. “They might just decide anypony who isn’t a pony is dangerous, and you’re our friend! We’re the CMC, and we always stick together!”

“We have to call Sheriff Caramel!” Spines pled. Things were getting dangerous, and one of the more roughhouse ponies had knocked over the sign by the Walkers’ house.

“Mom says that the Sheriff and his deputies – Mom included – are trying to protect all the humans living in town, but there aren’t enough ponies. Plus…Mom said that another group attacked Mr. and Mrs. Duke’s family.” The Dukes were diamond dogs who lived in town and were, like most diamond dog refugees, outcasts from their society because they were far smarter than the average of their kind. But they were of a species that was once a pony enemy and so now they were being targeted.

Just like Mr. and Mrs. Walker had just been. Just as Spines’ friends were afraid she was about to.

“Hey, look! It’s that damn dragon!” somepony shouted. “I bet she’s responsible!” Spines’ eyes widened and she turned to run as her friends shouted, “Let’s get out of here!”

Star! Spines’ mind roiled. Save me!

The answer to that was a ground-shaking thump. Spines was knocked to the ground by the quake, but when she turned she saw the ponies of the town suddenly standing there, looks of fear in their eyes. And a second later, as she saw the great muscled mass of amethyst standing there, borne on magical wings of angry green fire, likely courtesy of his version of the Glitterwings spell.

“Picking on fillies?” Spike snarled. “Do any of you want to tussle with me, instead?” Not a single soul moved; the dragon was much taller and bulkier than they – and if that wasn’t enough, they knew his adopted lineage. “What has gotten into you all? This is Ponyville!” he retorted. “This is my hometown – and to see all of you treating someone different-looking like they don’t belong is disgusting! You should all know better!”

“But the humans—!” one shouted.

“—are being dealt with by our military,” Spike answered. “And for those of you who don’t know, there are many human nations on Human-Earth, and not all of them like us. Most of them do, but not all. And you can’t blame all humans for this any more than I can blame you for hurting humans. Or am I wrong?” Almost as if a spell was broken, the crowd began to look at each other with shock and shame. “Go home and back to your families,” Spike answered. “The town is protected. From any threat.” Looking at the former resident, they turned tail and walked away, looking embarrassed.

“Are you guys okay?” Spike asked the Walkers.

“Thanks to you,” Mr. Walker said, relieved.

“SPIKE!” For once, Spines saw the drake of her dreams before her…and she wanted to cry instead of just convincing him why they should get married immediately. Spike wordlessly responded, picking her up and holding her close to him as she began to cry, the adrenaline and fear washing out of her.

“Hey, Spike, glad to see you got my message.” Caramel came up, flanked by a few of his deputies. “As usual, the strangeness that’s Ponyville almost got out of control again.”

Spike gave a nod to his old friend as he held the sobbing baby draconess close to him. “Yes. Too close this time.”

“Good, an extra flier,” DJ said, relieved as the newcomer approached. “Hey, we could rea—” DJ did a double-take as Cinnamon immediately dashed behind Sweetie, while the unicorn’s eyes narrowed in hatred. Her horn’s glow intensified and the shield suddenly seemed to grow slightly darker in color – had Sweetie just strengthened the shield? Butter was no less behind Cinnamon, and looking just as frightened.

“Um, something I should be aware of, ladies?” the humanized pony inquired.

“D-d-d-don’t y-y-you know who she is?” Cinnamon stuttered from her position behind her aunt.

“No. Should I?”

Seeing the non-plussed look on DJ’s face, the black alicorn laughed, walking through Sweetie’s shield as if it wasn’t there. “Oh, this is beautiful! You mean to actually tell me the fool here has no idea as to who I am?”

DJ crossed her arms. “Okay, now granted, I’m not the most acquainted with Equestria and whatever, but you didn’t just call me a fool, did you?”

“I’m being kind. Refraining from what I actually should say,” the Nightmare cooed, though there was no humor or happiness in the accompanying smile. “So we finally meet, Lost Foal.”

“DJ! GET AWAY FROM HER!” Sweetie shouted. In response, Nightmare Moon waved a wing and a gust of wind came from nowhere, tossing the unicorn mage into the air, with Cinnamon thrown completely off the cityscape. Fortunately, the gust had just missed Butter and the foals, and Cinnamon was able to recover fast enough to save Sweetie before she tumbled off the cloudscape.

DJ saw all that – and reacted. “Hey, I don’t kno—mmph!” The humanized pony found herself, to her absolute shock, being kissed as by the black alicorn as she got frisky. DJ tried to break out of the grasp of the alicorn, but she found herself held firm – was that tongue? What the fuck, over? Finally, DJ used the only avenue available to her: she bit down on the alicorn’s tongue hard.

In response, the Nightmare seemed to vaporize into nothingness for a second before darting back and rematerializing. “Sorry, I don’t get caught twice. But you’re a very clever filly, I can tell – you’re fast on your hooves, just like that monkey you call a husband. I like that in a plaything.”

“Plaything my ass, you cunt,” DJ seethed. She’d just been humiliated in front of her family – the looks that the others were giving her seemed to indicate that. And in an even bigger insult, the moron before her had just taken a pot-shot at M…wait, how does she know about Mike?

“Oooh, and you fi—” Nightmare Moon started, but was immediately silenced as her head snapped back courtesy of a punch to the face. The demonic alicorn stood there for just a second, amazed that a mere mortal would dare to take a punch at a god. “You just made a horrible mistake, foal.”

“As if I give a fuck, you bitch,” DJ said, her anger rising. “You and I are going to dance, and you’re not going to like the results.”

“DJ! Get away!” Sweetie begged, charging up her horn to use some spell – any kind of spell – to save her niece. “She’ll kill you!” Cinnamon passed out again, and Butter looked on in horror at the act her sister-in-law had just committed; punching Nightmare Moon was tantamount to suicide. Possibly worse.

“You pathetic little harridelle!” the black alicorn spoke. “I am a goddess and you are less than an ant. I am the shadow of death itself and I could kill you in less time than it takes for your pathetic heart to beat again.”

Undeterred, DJ stepped forward. “You just threatened and hurt my aunt and cousin,” she snarled, “and then tried shit with me. You call yourself the shadow of death? Well, there’s a phrase where I come from: ‘Yea though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil because I’m not giving two shits about anything named the Valley of the Shadow of Death.’”

“So you’re not afraid of me, are you?”

“No – but I promise you, you will learn to be afraid of me.” The humanized pony went up close and personal with her foe. “You fuck with a Sailor’s daughter, you get schooled in lubberly ways, asshat.”

Nightmare Moon laughed. “Oh, this is rich! A fly thinks to kill a lion! You will be so much more than I hoped you could be when I break you!” The demonic alicorn then summoned her full power and the sky, already filled with the deep blue of night, went pure black, the stars winking out and the moon vanishing. Her voice in a reverb, she snarled, “I came just to get to know you, and I know your measure now. I am the Nightmare, the killer of ponies, the scourge of the ages, and when I am done, you will beg to be my playtoy. And mark my words. You will be mine, little Sandalwood. You will be.” And with that, just as simply, she reached out with her forelegs and as easy as a foal could break a toothpick, Nightmare Moon snapped DJ’s left arm in three spots, the earth pony screaming out in pain before slumping to the ground.

As DJ fell to the ground, the black alicorn cooed, “And that is just a gentle reminder for you to learn your place. For we have only begun to break you, little foal. I will break you piece by piece,” she added, giving a swift kick to DJ that broke a rib instantly. The pony screamed, spitting up blood. “I will break you into countless shreds and then when I am done you will beg me to take you, to make you mine. You will beg for me to violate you and think it’s love.”

“No.” DJ looked at her, hate in her eyes. “Not one fucking iota.” Her head spinning, barely hearing Sweetie’s cries. “I don’t know what your fucking game is, you lesbo cunt, but the only person I’ll ever call my lover is my husband, get that?”

“Then all you will know is eternal pain, Sandalwood. I threw your husband off the side of Cloudsdale a short while ago. He should be a smear somewhere on the earth below by now,” the demon alicorn said in dramatic tones, casually looking off the side of the cloud to underscore her point. “Well, that or your baby brother, but I’m guessing that traitoress Luna probably saved the unicorn instead. Oh, and humans have no way to protect themselves against a fall like this, do they?”

DJ went into shock, as Mike’s words from only a few days ago flooded her mind. “And after that little bucket of fun, then I get to see the only woman I’ve ever loved crushed to a Goddamn bloody pulp and dying before my very eyes!” And now those words were taunting her, because they were in reverse. “You’re lying! You couldn’t touch someone like Mike!”

“I can, little pony and I assure you, I did. Your husband is dead and this is just the first step in what will end in my successful claim of you and the end of everything you know and hold dear.”

“NO!” DJ screamed, even as Sweetie took her into her arms. Despite the pain of her injuries, the humanized pony was beyond caring. “I will rip your fucking head off and shit down your neck, you bitch, do you hear me?”

“I don’t know what your game is, Nightmare, but you’re not getting DJ!” the unicorn mage snarled. “I’ll die before that happens!”

“I’d see that those words are etched on your grave, Sweetie Belle, but when I’m done with you there won’t be enough of you to put into one. You might believe yourself to be an accomplished magic-user, but compared to me you’re less than a neophyte.”

In response, Sweetie fired the higher-level offensive spell she’d been saving; they weren’t commonly used by mages due to their destructive power, but considering her opponent, it was worth it. Fireballs began to orbit her horn, as the very object itself began to glow with pulsating violet energy. A second later the mage lowered her head and discharged a great beam of energy straight towards the Nightmare, the fireballs merging with the beam, adding to its destructive power.

The beam drove forward…and did nothing else. In fact, it sputtered and died as it approached the demonic alicorn, and she laughed. “If you’re fast enough and strong enough, you can unravel a spell even before it reaches you. Granted, it wouldn’t have harmed me if it hit,” she said as she approached, “but I guarantee you would have died. So let’s get something straight before I kill you, Margravine Welara. I unraveled your spell so I could save Sandalwood – I could have cared less if you and the rest died.” And with that, she began to charge the same spell right in front of Sweetie Belle, much to the latter’s horror. At that range, it wouldn’t miss and there’d be no way for the mare to block the attack – as if blocking an alicorn’s attack was even possible for her.

“Prepare to meet your end, unicorn!” Nightmare Moon hissed, triumphant.

Without warning, the blast suddenly veered away safely from Sweetie Belle. A split-second later, the Nightmare was hit full-force by the impact of a raging midnight-blue alicorn. “YOU WILL LEAVE MY FAMILY BE, MONSTER!” Luna roared as she lanced a blast of orange spellfire at her stunned opponent, sending the Nightmare skidding back. The Princess of the Moon didn’t waste a moment to check on the others, knowing that she had only one chance to repulse the enemy, and that was to push her advantage against the Nightmare. She hurled herself against the larger black alicorn again, ramming her through an ensorcelled building that was made of physical materials instead of clouds. As the structure collapsed around them, Luna turned and bucked the creature as hard as she could with her hindlegs. The kick was strong enough to launch the Nightmare several blocks away.

Undeterred, Luna continued her pursuit, rage and righteous fury in her eyes. “I won’t let you do to her what you did to me, Nightmare, do you hear me?” she snarled as she approached. “I WILL KILL YOU BEFORE YOU DO!” From her distant location, Nightmare Moon blasted a ray of lethal force at Luna, but the younger mare pushed through it, determination burning in her eyes. “You’ll never touch anypony again!” She came to a stop before the black alicorn, slashing at the larger one with her horn.

“You care about her, don’t you?” Nightmare Moon said to Luna. “Or is it that you just want to fuck her little brains out, isn’t that the truth, Princess of the Night?”

“Watch your tongue before I remove it,” Luna said angrily. “Not everyone thinks as basely as you, monster. And I’ll have you know, she’s my niece. Some of us have loved ones.”

“Planning to show her all those forbidden things I showed you? The truths I revealed to you?” Nightmare cooed. “Why don’t you tell everypony the truth, Luna? Who knows? Celestia? Your mother? I’ll bet Faust knows, that bitch.”

“Don’t you dare—” the moon alicorn began.

“I’ll do as I wish, and you can’t stop me,” was the retort, sinuous and taunting.

“We did it before, we’ll do it again,” Luna said, dangerously. “Whether it’s by the Elements or your death, we will stop you.”

“Then you’re welcome to try,” Nightmare said, breezily. “But that is for another time. For now, I leave you the wreckage of Cloudsdale, the wreckage of your family, and the wreckage of your own reopened wounds.” She then launched forward, giving Luna the same erotic kiss as she had DJ and then a second later, vanished into nothingness. The voice carried the taunting laughter as she disappeared to where she came from.

The alicorn princess stood in the center of Cloudsdale, finally seeing the full destruction. Whole ruins of square blocks could be seen in every direction and when the sun rose tomorrow, it would ultimately reveal that a good third of the City of Clouds had fallen to the ruin of combat and strife tonight. But the night princess forced herself to ignore the corpses of her subjects strewn around her – not for the moment, anyway. Instead, she shivered, her body shuddering for a thousand different reasons. She jittered for fear, for anger and worry. But it was the part that frightened and disgusted her most that truly unnerved her: part of her body felt excitement, raw lust and eroticism, craving for the touch of the Nightmare again. Her mind recoiled from it even as her body became aroused from it and that frightened her more than anything else; worse, it told her that she would never truly be free of the monster’s touch so long as the Nightmare existed.

But it also girded her for battle: somehow, DJ had come to the interest of the demon, and Luna would not stand for that, not one bit. Luna had to endure a millennium of tortures and violations, things she would never wish on another soul, before she’d been freed by the mares that would become her sisters. DJ would never be so lucky – nor, for that matter, would the pony that currently served as the host for the Nightmare.

Luna wanted to do a million things right now, none of them positive or comforting. But she had duties to perform and ponies to protect…and to deliver horrific news to the one pony whose heart she was about to break.

It was absolutely amazing, Blitz thought, how little humanity studied their own tactics, especially ones relating to air combat. In a classic display of cluelessness that any professional pilot worth his weight in jet fuel would have noticed in a heartbeat, the last two fighters chased down one of Blitz’ pilots, unaware they’d just been maneuvered into a Thatch weave. While the fighters, both Q-313s, managed to damage Apple Raider 4’s fighter, causing him to have to RTB, it left the bandits as easy pickings from two well-placed AIM-120s.

As the fighters turned into blossoms of flame and scrap metal, he noticed that the enemy had failed and was falling hard, but it had come at a brutal price: though it was dark down below in Cloudsdale, he didn’t have to see to know that it had become a smoking wreck, and the beautiful city of his parents’ foalhoods had been reduced to virtual cinders. Part of him was glad his mother was still down and unable to see this, as he knew this would break her heart.

Had he known his son’s thoughts at the moment, Soarin’ would have wholeheartedly agreed. Switching to open channel, he said, “Enemy units, this is General Soarin’, REAF. There are, by my count, nine of us left and eleven of you. You might have the numbers, but at this moment the REN is scrambling more birds, and you’re going to get swamped real fast. I don’t think I need to explain the math to you, but you guys are running out of time. So here’s the deal: you can dump ammo and empty your guns by coming about to 37° north, 75° west. Think fast, over.” That done, he switched back to missiles, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Up here, he could see the damage done to his hometown and the lives that had been ruined; even for a pegasus town made mostly of clouds, Cloudsdale had a large number of ensorcelled physical structures within it. Many had collapsed or were burning or obliterated, and by his estimate, maybe a third of the city, including the central entertainment district, was a graveyard.

Lightning Dust’s voice came over the line. “They’re not saying anything, Jack,” she noted. “Think they’re calling our bluff?”

He didn’t answer; instead, he waited for their next move, his hoof ready on the trigger. Surrender, he wanted to shout over the general line. Surrender. Don’t make me fire, don’t throw away your lives. Despite his military command, all his years in the Guard and then the REAF, he was still a pegasus that believed in peace – he hadn’t become hardened to the horrors of war. And that, he reasoned, was the only reason his people were better than theirs.

“Apple Raider 1, this is Rooster Tail 1 online, Captain Tailrotor in command. I’ve got six squadrons coming in hot and heavy and we’re ready for your orders, sir.” As expected, the REN would come in and avenge their lost pilot, and they were going to play hardball.

“Stand by, Rooster Tail, and wait for instructions.” He then opened the public channel once more. “REN is inbound. This is your last chance. Make your move, or surrender.”

After a few more seconds, a voice came over the line. “This is Col. Khalid, IRIAF, commanding. We surrender.”

Thank Celestia you came to your senses, he exhaled in relief. “Okay, as ordered, head to the assigned coordinates; once there, empty all your ammo and ordnance. Once that’s done, you will stand by for further instructions, understood?”

“We understand and comply. Shamshir One, out.”

Able to relax, Soarin’ hit some switches, putting the safeties on his weapons. “All units, good job – damn good job. RTB. Rooster Tail, have your wing meet at the following coordinates and make sure they comply, then escort them back to Canterlot Mountainside – we’ll have a welcoming party standing by for them. Thanks for your assist, REN.” With that, Soarin’ went quiet, looking again down on his hometown and seeing the rebuilding that would have to occur. Nothing could replace the loss of lives or innocence that was removed from the scoreboard today.

Then he saw it, and he swore. Oh, Dear Celestia on her throne…. In the biggest pile of flames was the Central Weather Facility, the factory that controlled the weather for the general Canterlot and Everfree provinces. But worse, it was the main training center for weather service personnel and a backup facility for regional weather facilities like Pransing or Las Pegasas. The Cloudsdale CWF had the ability to support four different RWFs if they went down, but the opposite wasn’t true. Unless it could be repaired quickly, weather around the world – possibly even the world’s very climate – would be catastrophically harmed.

This was the mark of war, and humanity – even if only the most irrational, most hated part of it – had just brought it to Equestria.

Tomorrow, Equestria would have to respond in kind.

DJ fought back tears as Sweetie Belle set her arm in a magical cast and accompanied with a wrap for her broken ribs. “I swear, when I get my hands on that bitch,” the humanized pony began.

Sweetie looked at her niece straight in the eyes; her green eyes flickered with worry and fear. “Don’t, please. Just…don’t. You could have gotten yourself killed, DJ, don’t you understand that?”

“What was I supposed to do?” the humanized pony asked. “Let her push you off the edge? Kill Butter and Cinnamon? And what….” She paused, the look in her eyes finally switching to worry. “What if she was telling the truth about Mike and Elusive? We haven’t seen them since we split up.” The injured pony looked down at both Butter and Cinnamon, who were out due to one timely sleep spell in order to prevent both from going into hysterics; the foals were also asleep next to their mother, snug in their protective bubble.

“What if Elusive is dead?” DJ continued. “Or—”

“Don’t believe her. Nightmare Moon is a trickster and a liar,” the unicorn mage assured DJ, though in truth she was hardly assured herself. “She’s a demon and a destroyer. She lives for this sort of thing.”

“She’s right, you know.” Luna arrived, walking slowly and carefully, much to the relief of the other two. As she arrived, she noted DJ’s arm in a cast, Sweetie with cuts and bruises, and the unconscious other two, plus their newest arrivals. “So she gave birth,” the moon alicorn said, a wan smile coming onto her face. “Elusive will be glad to know.”

“He’s alive? That’s great!” DJ chirped, before wincing. Luna nuzzled the humanized pony, then placed her horn on DJ’s arm to accelerate the healing process.

“What happened?” the moon princess asked.

“Nightmare Moon threw Sweetie off the side of the city, though Cinnamon caught her,” DJ explained. “I then punched that bitch, but she clocked me hard. Also got a rib busted.”

Luna looked at her niece with surprise and pride. “Small wonder she hurt you so – it was to teach you a lesson.” A few more seconds later, and DJ’s arm was as good as new; Luna then started working on the second injury.

“Eh, I never really listened to my teachers,” DJ said with a grin as she flexed her healed appendage. But the grin disappeared as she asked, “What happened to Mike and Elusive?”

The Princess of the Moon sighed; this wasn’t going to be easy. “DJ, I…managed to save Elusive, like I said. He’s fine. But Mike…DJ….” Her eyes began to water and Luna turned away, feeling as guilty as the day Nightmare Moon had possessed her. “I’m sorry,” she finally whispered. “I’m so, so sorry….”

“No….” DJ said, her voice suddenly devoid of emotion, her eyes showing that she was going into shock. “No, please, no…. It...it can’t be. Please, not him. Not him!”

If a miracle was needed, one appeared. A flamefax scroll winked into existence, and seeing what it was, Luna immediately tore it open, reading and then laughing in relief. “DJ…he’s safe!” She floated the note over to DJ as the pony reached out for it like a lifeline, reading it the moment she got her hooves on it:

Lulu,

Mike’s safe – when I heard what happened, I flew to Cloudsdale as fast as I could and managed to save him a mere four feet before impact. He’s got some bruises and scrapes; I’ve healed those and he’s currently asleep.

Tell DJ I’ll make sure he’s taken care of.

- Tia

Luna, seeing the look of joy and utter relief on DJ’s face, decided now was not the time to inform her niece of the ordeal she was about to endure. Only later, when everypony was safe, and Elusive had a chance to see his newborn foals, when everypony’s wounds were attended to and DJ and Mike were reunited could Luna gird DJ for the perils she was about to face. Right now, there were other things and concerns more paramount to the situation.

Luna just hoped that she could face her greatest fears once more and that Twilight and the others would rise to the occasion and defeat what was killing them, so they could stop Nightmare Moon for once and for all…because the alternative was having somepony very precious and special to her suffer and there would be no way to right the wrong this time.

Standing in a field, Elusive waited for his aunt to return and retrieve him. The fires of Cloudsdale could be seen from this distance, and it wouldn’t surprise him if everypony on the ground for miles around noticed the attack on the City of Clouds. The world had changed for ponykind, and not in a pleasant way, either. They were about to enter their first human-style war and all its brutality – and from what he knew, humanity’s ability for war was very much like the otherwise-erroneous legends.
He stood there for a few more minutes before a note suddenly appeared before him, which he took. He opened, read and gave a cheer – something beautiful to top off a night filled with ups and downs. He’d lost his innocence in hoping to never see a war, but he’d gained a sister tonight – as well as foals:

Elusive,

Butter gave birth to two foals, one colt and one filly (the older one.) The girl’s name is Apple Scruffs, courtesy of DJ’s quick thinking of a name. The boy will keep his name, Applestem. I’m going to get them to the nearest hospital to have them checked out and I’ll be back for you shortly. Congratulations!

On a note just as beneficent, Celestia managed to save Mike, though it was close – he’s safe at the castle, she reports.

- Luna

Congrats on the kids, bro!

- DJ

Elusive, Count Lusitano and only son of Rarity and Silversteel, smiled. Tonight, there would be peace in his heart.

The group ended up spending the night in Ponyville instead of heading back to Canterlot directly. Once she was sure they were okay, Luna returned back to Cloudsdale to assist with the rescue efforts, taking with her both Sweetie and a very reluctant Cinnamon. DJ and Elusive remained at Ponyville General, where Butter would be kept overnight for observation and the foals given a full exam to ensure that nothing happened to them, considering their unusual births.

Seated in the waiting room, Elusive leaned back in the chair, spent even though he really hadn’t been involved in much. “Thank you, DJ,” he finally said after the spending the longest time in silence searching for the right words. “I would have lost everything tonight if it wasn’t for you, sister.”

Laying down on the sofa, completely spent, was the earth pony. Waving an arm up, she commented, “Don’t mention it.”

“DJ, I’m serious.”

“So am I.” She leaned up, saying, “Look, Luse, I don’t know what your relationship is with Minty, and it’s really none of my business, but I did for you tonight the same thing as if my brother Sam needed me. Family is family, after all.”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked.

She knew what he meant. “Look, it’s not going to be easy for me. I can’t promise that I will…. I know you want more than anything for me to rekindle with Rarity and Silversteel, even if you haven’t said so.”

“I wasn’t going to press you on it,” he replied. “It wouldn’t be fair to you.”

She gave him a small smile. “I appreciate that. But I came here because Twilight needed me. I love her very much and there have been times I’ve wished that she or Sweetie had been my birth mother – it would have made things easier. But we don’t get easy in life, we get what God gives us, or so they told me at Sunday School.”

“Well, I won’t pressure you, I promise you that,” Elusive commented. “But think about it. Mother deserves to know the person you are now, and while she may never accept it, she needs to accept you as you are.” He sighed before adding, “And if I may be so bold, I think you owe her and Father the recognition that they are your birth parents. I know you have a relationship with your adoptive parents and I don’t think anypony’s asking you to give them up, not that you would in any case. But you need to acknowledge that you were once Sandalwood just as much as our parents need to accept that you’re now and always will be DJ.”

“I get the point, Luse, you don’t have to keep beating me over the head with it,” she groaned. “But…I’ll do what I can. I’m only expecting to be here for a few weeks; hopefully that should be plenty of time to think things over. Besides, it’s not like things can get any worse, can they?”

“Swenson! Get over here with some carbines! Found another hole!” The sun rose on another day at Quarantine Zone Alpha, formerly known as Fillydelphia. Due to the necessary cleanup that would be needed before they razed over, and to doublecheck for survivors, military personnel were asked to do the cleanup. But since the virus was deadly to Alter-Earth species, Canada had offered Equestria assistance in the matter. Thus, the Canadian Army’s 5th Combat Engineer Regiment was taking care of the cleanup. Using a mixture of human technology and magic crystals – the latter part of which caused no small amount of amusement to the soldiers – they were making good time, both in ensuring that any survivors were found, and any surviving changelings were dealt with. So far, thirty-seven changelings, including one princess, had been dealt with, much to the horror and creepiness of the troops’ morale. Making it worse were the number of survivors: zero, to date.

Then the news came, delivered by their contact from the REA: somehow, forces from Iran had entered Alter-Earth and destroyed one of their cities. There was no sense as to why it happened; even with the irrational hatred many Middle Eastern nations had for Alter-Earth, there had to be some reason why the IRIAF would lash out deep into Equestriani territory. But it had cost the Equestriani government hard, and as a result, many of the ponies they were assisting in the nearby refugee camp were giving the humans the evil eye. While their counterparts in the REA understood, the civilians’ thought patterns were an entirely different story.

So here it was, a massive pile of dried goo and destroyed buildings at the intersection of, according to the map, what had been the corner of Celestia’s Way and Trotsbury Avenue. At the moment, the master corporal was holding his “Harry Potter” – a blue crystal placed inside the flash-hider of a spare rifle muzzle, creating a strange sort of magic wand, and that wand was strobing with power, indicating there was a lifesign down in the rubble. The rescue dog had confirmed this, and so the first hope that there’d be a survivor arose. Unfortunately, due to the depth of the hole and some interference from other magic in the area, there wasn’t anything clear, and a variety of scents were messing with the dog’s sense of smell, making it even less clear whether a pony or something else was down there.

No choice; they were going to have to go in. Taking a rifle handed to him by Swenson, and with a couple more armed troops and a medic on site, the small group descended into the hole. Stepping into what was probably a wine cellar or a basement storage room, the five troops began their search, fingers on their triggers and ready to fire if needed. “Okay, you know the drill – if anything like those Alien wannabes even so much looks at you, rock n’ roll, got it?”

“Anyone down here?” the master corporal called out. “Canadian Army on behalf of the Equestriani Crown! We’re here to rescue you.” Silence reigned in the room; unnatural, eerie quiet, just enough for the humans to hear themselves breathe.

One heartbeat.

Two heartbeats.

Three.

The silence almost caused the soldiers to turn around when a weakened voice called out, “Don’t leave me!” At that, the four rushed in, breaking out flashlights to see what was in there. What they saw made their collective hearts break. The various stenches in the room were nauseating, a mix of rotted food, body waste and the stench of someone who hadn’t washed in as many days. Though it wasn’t too clear, there were signs of rotting corpses that lay in the unlit corners of the space.

In the center of the light was a pony, a mare, heavily scratched up and emaciated, as if she’d been trapped within the room for weeks on end. Her coat was covered in so much dust it wasn’t clear as to what her colors were – in fact, the only thing clear was that she was an earth pony. Her eyes were glazed, barely alive and holding on by pure willpower.

The medic took the lead, pulling out a pony-shaped oxygen mask and an IV drip. “Steady, ma’am. We’re here to help you. You’re safe now.” The soldiers caught the barest nod of her head, as though she couldn’t rasp any further words out. The master corporal ordered, “Someone flag EQMILCOM – we’ve finally found a survivor,” he said with a grin. About time, too; the number of dead ponies they’d found was nothing less than utterly demoralizing to the rescuers. Bending down to the pony as the medic called for a stretcher, the master corporal whispered, “We’ll get you to a hospital and safety, miss. You’ve got my word.”

“Thank you,” she rasped, clearly straining to speak. She looked like she’d been through hell, and not just via the physical signs alone. “Just…please, don’t leave me.”

“I won’t, Miss…?”

“Minty,” the pony said, struggling to speak. “My name is Minty.”

Chapter Eleven: Reminding Me of So Many Other Nights

“Mommy?” Anna heard her daughter’s voice and walked into the room. It was a stormy night, and storms meant lightning. Lightning, of course, meant thunder and that was something that Daisy Jo was frightened of. In a sense, it was understandable: she was just six and still not used to the ways of the world. Maybe somewhere in the mind of the child, she knew that she’d arrived into their lives at the same time as a storm and was afraid she’d leave the same way.

Anna sat down by the side of the bed, reaching over to stroke her daughter’s head and ears. “Yes, honey?”

“I’m scared,” Daisy Jo said.

“Your father and I are here, sweetheart,” the human replied. “And we wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

“You promise?” she asked.

Anna gave her little girl a soft smile. Daisy Jo was still too young to realize what was happening to her, about the political, ethical, philosophical and just about every other sphere of influence that she was disrupting. And why should she? She was just a little girl – slightly different than others, but still just a little girl. She had no idea of what was to come; neither Anna nor her husband did either, admittedly, but it would be easier for them to imagine the gauntlet than it would be for their eldest child.

Anna stayed there, singing a lullaby until Daisy Jo fell asleep. And though the rain continued to fall hard, there would never be another thunderstorm like the one-in-a-million one that brought her into their lives – and if both Anna and Matt had anything to say about that, the possibility of losing her to something else would be just as remote.

“Oh God, it's raining
But I'm not complaining
It's filling me up
With new life

“The stars in the sky
Bring tears to my eyes
They're lighting my way
Tonight

“And I haven't felt so alive
In years….”

A furred arm reached a hoof – or a hand, if the owner was to be believed – over and tapped the snooze function on the cellphone. Depeche Mode might not complain about rain, but DJ Martinez was sure as hell going to complain about being woken up at three in the morning. Bleary, exhausted eyes opened, as her body felt the aches and pains of her ordeal just a few hours ago. Stretching, she yawned, chastising herself for not making sure that her phone’s apps completely moved over to AE-Eastern Standard Time from HE-Singaporean Standard Time.

At least I’m glad Elusive suggested this hotel, she thought, noting her room at the Ponyville Westin. And I’m glad they had a few human-standard rooms; pony rooms are a little too low to the floor for my tastes. Stretching again, she decided that the best way to work the kinks out would be a nice hot bath.

Sure enough, fifteen minutes of bubble bath bliss later – if bubble bath foam came standard in Equestriani hotels, maybe pony life wasn’t so bad after all – the heat and steam had worked out all the knots and she was ready to head back to bed. She had just toweled herself off when she passed a mirror and an odd thought popped into her mind.

For the first time in her life, she dropped to all fours in front of a mirror and looked at herself, surrounded by the natural environment of ponies. For the first time in her life, DJ saw herself not as who she was, but as Sandalwood, the pony she was supposed to be. And as she stared at the very large pony in front of the mirror – thanks in no small part to a human diet, even in four-wheel drive she was only slightly smaller than the average stallion, certainly larger than the average mare – it was a disorienting experience. Who was Sandalwood – or rather, who would Sandalwood have been? Considering that names tied into many ponies’ cutie marks, what would she have been? A perfumer? An aromachologist? Maybe an incense maker or a beautician? She knew that sandalwood was used in all of those, as it wasn’t a lumber wood. Or maybe, considering her biological pedigree, the daughter of a duchess, member of the Royal Family and – as much as DJ didn’t know what to do with it, a countess in her own right – would she have grown up to be a vainglorious, spoiled brat, the kind that she hated so much in high school?

Would she have been any of those? Or something else entirely?

DJ found herself shaken by those thoughts – genuinely unnerved. Standing back in her normal posture, she still felt the slight shift in her muscles as two legs took the place of four, a reminder of her personal choice in her humanity as she told herself she wasn’t Sandalwood – she would never be Sandalwood. She wasn’t a pony, not really; she was a human being – in mind, if not in actual body. She was Daisy Jo Hikaru Martinez-Hengst, and the person that DJ was, was an individual that was more than just what could be defined by a mere cutie mark. She wasn’t limited by one; no, she was free of that slave’s mark, because she was human and no human had one.

Just keep telling yourself that, Sandalwood, a sinuous voice wafted from behind her. You know this is all just a lie, anyway. You’ll wake up soon and find that “DJ” is nothing more than a dream, a somnolescent bit of fiction from an imagination gone astray. DJ could suddenly feel hot breath on the back of her neck. You do know the truth about yourself, right? Why won’t you just admit it, Sandalwood?

“My name is DJ,” the humanized pony said aloud, though with the way she was standing – didn’t she just go back to her normal posture a second ago? – wasn’t the norm for humans, but the standard quadruped stance of a pony.

“My, how you’ve forgotten, haven’t you?” Nightmare Moon strode from behind her, a bedroom look in her eyes. The black alicorn seemed to then walk in circles around DJ, though how that was possible in the confines of a small bathroom was beyond the latter’s guess. And each circuit she made somehow seemed to make her look less imposing and more…well, normal: her inky black coat suddenly appeared a mere sable; her storm-born mane seemed to be nothing more the same billowy blue strands as Luna’s. Even her alien, reptilian eyes had seemed to appear as nothing more than cyan-hued jewels filled with concern.

“You really don’t remember me, my love?” Nightmare Moon spoke to DJ, her voice normal and filled with worry on the verge of serious concern.

“Excuse me?” DJ said, half-wondering if she was imagining all this. “I don’t know where you came from, but you can just go take the middle-finger monorail back to Psychobitchyland!”

But Nightmare paid her no heed, instead looking more and more like a darker version of Luna. “I think I’d best call the doctor again – you’re having a relapse, love.” She strode slightly away, as if lost in thought. “Or maybe Twilight could help, since she did say to send her a message if needed.”

“What is your major malfunction?”

“It’s okay, Sandi, just – calm down,” the black alicorn pled. “We’ll get through this.”

DJ turned, the look in her eyes angry. “I don’t know what your problem is, bitch, but get. The fuck. Out!”

The look of concern suddenly became one of pain and sorrow. “Sandi…you…you really don’t remember who I am?” Nightmare Moon gasped as she said, “It’s me! It’s Nightie! It’s your wife, Night Moon!”

DJ arched a brow, looking at the other mare as if she’d lost her mind. “Uh, yeah.”

“Look…you’re…um…you’re having another episode.” Now Nightmare Moon seemed far less a threat and more like an alicorn version of Cinnamon. “Okay, do you remember what today is? No? Okay, I’ll let that one go, then – I was hoping we could have a nice night out together for our fifteenth wedding anniversary but….” The black alicorn sighed in a very agitated way. “I’m going to teleport you to the hospital and then call your parents. I’m sure we don’t want to worry our foals unnecessarily.”

“Foals?”

“Oh, this is a bad episode, I can already tell.” Nightmare reached out and placed gentle forelegs on DJ’s withers, rubbing gently. “Look: you’re Sandalwood, oldest foal of Rarity and Silversteel. You’re a perfumer and chandler and we’re here in your mother’s old hometown of Ponyville so we can buy a house here, since I can do my job as Alicorn of the Stars just as easily from here as I can from Canterlot.” The sable mare gave a fond smile as she added, “We met when your parents first moved to Canterlot and we fell in love almost instantly, though we had to wait for you to grow to adulthood before we could marry. We have two adopted foals, fillies who love both of their mothers very much, though you wanted to see if we could adopt a colt once we settle in town.” Gently, Nightmare Moon leaned in and kissed DJ, who twitched; this had to be a nightmare, both the metaphorical kind as well as the literal.

“Listen, bitch,” DJ snarled, “my name is DJ!” But as she said it, she felt as though she was slipping underwater, gasping for air, swimming through syrup. Something felt wrong, and she couldn’t even bring it to mind.

“Dr. Sanemind said that this happened now and then since you were hit by that lightning bolt as a newborn – I wish I could have been there to stop it, but there was no way to know,” Nightmare said, sitting down and a worried look still on her face. “He said that you’re mostly well, but that you have…what was the term he used? Oh yes…‘dissociative identity disorder’, a split personality, if you will. Sometimes you think that you’re a…well, I know this sounds odd, but…well, you think you’re a human named Daisy Jo.”

“I am!” DJ retorted, though she felt as though she was swimming against the tide.

“No, love, you’re not. Humans are a myth – they don’t exist. There’s no way you could be,” Nightmare Moon reminded her.

That was more than enough for the humanized pony. “Look, I don’t know what your fucking game is, Nightmare Moon, but I am not playing it!” She pushed the alicorn back, snarling, “My name is Daisy Jo Martinez. I am married to Lt. Commander Michael Hengst, US Navy. I have two sons, Stuart and Tyler. I have parents, Matthew and Anna. And despite how I look, I. Am. HUMAN!”

“Please stop this, beloved, you’re just hurting yourself,” the sable alicorn murmured. “Humans don’t exist – and even if they were real, they certainly wouldn’t look as marvelous as you,” she added, gesturing towards the mirror. There, in the reflection of the looking glass, was a soft, gentle, Lunaesque alicorn, with eyes that looked at DJ with both love and desire.

But it was the reflection of herself in the mirror that gave DJ pause. Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw herself in four-wheel drive mode, but smaller, tinier, about the size of the average mare. And most of all, on her flank was a perfume bottle superimposed over a sprig of wood. She knew that sprig, because she hated what it represented: Santalum ellipticum, Hawaiian Coastal sandalwood, the rarest of the sandalwood varieties and what she presumed was the origin of her birth name.

But humans didn’t have cutie marks – certainly, at the very least, she never had one.

But now she did.

“NO!” she screamed, turning and bucking the mirror as hard as she could. And as the mirror shattered into a million pieces, it suddenly dawned on DJ that she’d never bucked a single thing in her life before.

DJ woke up in the dark, screaming. Her fur and hair were soaked with sweat, and now that she was awake, she checked everything. She was still in the hotel room, and a quick check of the glowing clock on the nightstand said it was 2:59 am. Hopping out of bed, she raced to the bathroom, still in her undergarments since she didn’t have anything to sleep in otherwise, and thankfully they were still on. Now in the smaller room, she looked at the towels, at the bathtub, and any sign of what had just happened, but fortunately found nothing.

But it was as she turned to step back out that she found the shattered mirror, its remnants lying on the floor in a thousand sharp shards of silver and glass. Quickly she turned, looking in a panic for a piece of the mirror that had hopefully remained intact. Finding it, she turned to check her hip for something that shouldn’t have been there. Much to her relief, however, her hip was as blank as the day she was born – something she intended to keep that way.

Sighing in relief, she looked at the glass on the floor. Seven years of bad luck, so the saying goes. I think I’ve more than made up for that in as many days, she mused. Realizing that she was going to have to pay for the mirror, she groaned and turned to head out of the bathroom, flicking off the bathroom light—

—only to run into a dark alicorn.

“Are you okay?” Luna asked, having just arrived and immediately having sensed the danger. Not sure if she was safe, DJ’s immediate response was to rush back into the bathroom, locking the door. “DJ, it’s me, it’s your aunt Luna,” the dusky alicorn replied, more worried about DJ than ever. The Nightmare had been here, having used the moment to strike hard at DJ and make her afraid of Luna, just as she said she would. It was beyond abominable, and Luna added it to her mental list of things she would never forgive.

“How do I know it’s you?” came the muffled response through the door. “And don’t try to break it down: I have nine millimeters of painkillers ready for your head if you do!”

“DJ, for one, you don’t have anything like that because my sister wouldn’t let you bring one. Secondly, Nightmare Moon departed the moment you broke free of her bewitchment. I got here as fast as I could.”

“How do I know it’s really you?” DJ asked from her place behind the door. She wanted to trust, but she had almost no experience with magic, so it could be that freak trying to imitate Luna.

“We traded a bunch of music while you were in the hospital in Singapore. You even downloaded a Yes album from Amazon.com for me.”

“Gonna have to be better than that,” DJ retorted. “Everyone knows my taste in music!”

“Fine,” Luna spat before sighing. “His…his name was…is…Robin. We were only together for three months, but by the time we separated, he loved me like no man ever a woman and I him like no mare a stallion. He wanted to marry me, and if it weren’t for our respective duties…I would have been content to spend the rest of my life in human form as his wife.”

The door opened and DJ peeked through the crack. “Really?”

“He’s married twice since; neither marriage lasted. But his only child – a daughter – has my name: Luna,” the alicorn said, the look on her face sad and wistful. “And I…every year, I take a couple of weeks of vacation to watch him from afar. He and I can never be together, Celestia insists, but I know she’s doing it to spare me the heartbreak. And yet through all these years, his feelings for me have never changed, nor have mine for him.” The moon princess closed her eyes and in a flash she changed into her “Cyndi Hanover” form. “I’d give up everything for him, and to be honest, I’m a little jealous of how you and Mike have lasted through everything. I know that sounds melodramatic, but it’s true nonetheless.”

A second later, DJ opened the door and came out, wearing a bath sheet around her waist. She reached over and embraced her transformed aunt, seeing the lonely look on the transformed alicorn’s face. “What are you doing here? Not that I’m complaining,” DJ asked.

“The Nightmare has targeted you for some reason, DJ. I know she was here, I know what she tried to do to you. She did the same thing to me – with success, sadly – over a millennium ago.”

DJ gave Luna a lidded look. “A millennium?”

Luna smiled sadly as she reverted back to her normal form. “I think you forget that alicorns are ageless. I assure you, I wish I could forget that as well.”

“I’d always thought that was an exaggeration.”

“It isn’t.” Luna then changed the subject slightly. “A thousand years ago I fell under the thrall of the Nightmare, and she did…things…to me, things that nearly destroyed me, almost broke my mind and spirit and brought me to the point of madness. Things that should happen to no being, no matter who or what they are.” Luna turned to prevent DJ from seeing the tears forming in her eyes, but instead thought better of it; far better for the humanized pony to get a fuller picture of what happened. “When Twi and the others freed me, I swore that I would never let any being suffer the same fate I had, and that if the Nightmare chose to take a new host I would fight her with every fiber of my being.

“But I failed whomever the current host is,” Luna admitted, “And now she’s made this personal by going after you. And I can’t abide that, DJ. I can’t. I won’t.” Luna leaned forward and nuzzled the humanized pony; the fact that DJ did not react negatively was either a growing moment for or sympathy from the latter. “I’ll sacrifice my life before I let her get her hooves on you – or any of our family.”

“I’ll be fine, Luna, really.” DJ didn’t care for the nuzzling, but she knew her aunt needed the comforting more than she did. “Takes a lot to scare me.”

Luna then looked DJ right in the eyes, and the sorrow was replaced with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance. “No, you don’t understand. I know what it’s like to be taken by her, to lose yourself to her.” Luna began shivering and took DJ a few seconds to realize that the shuddering wasn’t a reaction for her sake – it was for Luna’s. “You do not understand what it’s like to be turned against everypony you love and care about and to do it screaming in horror from within your own body as she laughs!” Luna embraced the younger pony harder, almost frantic in her promise to protect her. And in those words DJ understood something was seriously amiss – if something was horrific enough to reduce the powerful alicorn to tears, what chance did a regular person like DJ have against her? It was like a boxing match between the average person and Cthulu.

But now wasn’t the time to think about that stuff. Instead, DJ yawned out, “I think I need some sleep.”

“I’ll stay with you,” Luna insisted. “Local Army garrisons and the Guild have already responded and are taking over the search-and-rescue in Cloudsdale, so all I’d be doing is getting in the way if I went back.”

“Uh, in case you didn’t notice, the bed’s a bit too small for an alicorn,” DJ stated, but Luna quickly fixed that by shifting back to her human form. She was now wearing a pair of deep-blue cotton pajamas, festooned with little stars, moons and chibi versions of her.

“I, um, didn’t exactly need these for sleeping before,” Luna said with a slight blush, “but I’m sure you won’t mind.”

“I’d insist,” DJ drawled before adding, “Conjure me a pair, wouldja?” A second later, there was an additional pair in her size.

“I’m going to freshen up,” Luna added as she headed towards the bathroom while DJ climbed into bed.

“There’s a mirror there that I—” DJ began

“I’ll fix it,” Luna promised before she closed the door. The moment she was in, she immediately started casting wards. She didn’t want DJ to be freaked out by the additional protection, but safety was paramount and Luna would take no chances.

You can’t stop me, the Nightmare’s voice said from behind Luna. I’m sure she tastes far sweeter than you.

You won’t harm her, monster, Luna seethed within her mind. I’ll never let you harm anypony again!

Big words for a small princess, Nightmare cooed softly. But you can’t prevent me from taking her, no more than you could stop me from taking you. Luna turned and burned the air with blue fire as flames hit nothing there. Instead, the Nightmare’s laughter spiked through the air as she departed with a final Why don’t you start on her for me? I’m not one to complain about picking up the pieces….

Luna finished the remainder of the seals, then headed towards the bed, knowing what the Nightmare wanted and how much she would rend and kill to get it. Luna had no idea why, and she was sure DJ, who was already asleep, didn’t have an answer either.

Remember the riddles, Luna, Discord’s voice suddenly rang in her mind. Solve the riddles and save every soul and everything.

There was no other avenue left to her, she realized. So as the moon princess climbed into bed, instead of going to sleep, she instead entered the Dreamlands.

Frantic, Bon Voyage flew into Manehattan, beelining towards a particular address, her flight more agitated than normal. She hadn’t seen her lookalike cousin Bon-Bon in few weeks, but they were very close, so it was absolutely strange that she couldn’t get a hold of her. Then again, most methods of communication might be down at the moment, considering what had just occurred in Cloudsdale – rumors ranged from a changeling invasion to an attack by humans, but it was confirmed as an attack. While BV didn’t live anywhere near this part of the country she and her husband thought it prudent to evacuate from their home in Cirrusburg, just in case. That said, she knew she could stay at Bon-Bon’s; they were more like sisters than cousins, as they looked alike with BV’s wings being the only thing physically differentiating them.

Finally, she landed at the house Bon-Bon shared with her spouse – one of their few other differences; BV was married to a stallion – and started knocking on the door. A few minutes later, BV gave up. Where was Bon-Bon at this hour? Soft Breeze would be along soon with the foals, and this was no time to be outdoors!

“BV?” The pegasus turned and faced her almost-twin, walking down the street looking worse for wear. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you almost the same thing, BB,” BV said with a grin, causing Bon-Bon to smile; her cousin was the only one who called her “BB”, much preferred over the human nickname she somehow acquired. “I’m surprised you and Wai aren’t home.”

“Well, Wai got called in for some sort of emergency – apparently it was big,” Bonnie explained. “And I was working really late tonight anyway, since I’m developing a new sort of candy for dragon clients. Unfortunately, I got a bit scorched in the cooking process,” she said, gesturing towards her tattered look. “After getting singed one too many times, I just decided to come home. And not that I mind, but what are you doing here at this hour?”

“You don’t know?” When Bon-Bon shook her head, BV launched into a quick explanation as the pair went into the house. A few minutes later, the pegasus finished up with, “And Softy should be here in a few minutes with Tulip Bloom and Pepperlime.”

“Well, let me go set up the guest bedrooms for you all; you’re welcome to stay as long as you need to.”

“You sure we won’t be a problem?”

“You’re family,” the earth pony replied. “Of course you’re not going to be a problem.”

“Thanks.” She was able to relax now that she was safe. “So, what do you think about all this? Just before they left for Las Pegasas, my neighbors said that it was changelings.”

The look on Bon-Bon’s face was one of barely-controlled rage. “It has to be humans.”

“You positive? What about Fillyd—”

“No doubt,” Bon-Bon retorted, cutting her cousin off. “All they do is destroy and ruin – all they are, are monsters.” As BV watched the angry look on her cousin’s face present itself, she opted not to say anything further. It was clear that something had happened to her in the recent years after her medical issues and subsequent reunion with Lyra, but BV thought she should just let the sleeping diamond dogs lie. It was probably safer that way.

With a sudden start, Rarity came to. The first thing she felt was pain, all-encompassing; she forced down a scream as it ripped through her body, and thankfully the searing jag of agony departed as quickly as it had arrived. Feeling weary, her eyes happened to catch her reflection via an ill-placed mirror on the other side of the spell-warded part of the room. Even in the dim lights of the quarantine facility, she knew she’d seen better days.

My beautiful visage, she moaned inwardly as she inspected her reflection. Her mane had been cut woefully short and her coat was ragged and unkempt, covered here and there via bandages, many of which were stained with the faded brown of dried blood. Her once-luxurious tail had been cut almost down to the base, with more gray hairs showing than her normal violet. All in all…, her thought began.

“—you’re not looking your best,” a familiar voice croaked. The white unicorn turned to see Twilight sitting there, in a meditative posture, her horn blazing like a star, enough to have been the dim light with which Rarity had seen her reflection. The lavender unicorn looked even worse than Rarity, if that was possible. The scars and wounds on her were far more pronounced and she burned with magic.

“Twilight,” Rarity whispered, reaching out towards her dearest friend and sister royal.

“I’m…okay….” Twilight gasped, her lie obvious. “I’m…just a little…exhausted from trying to keep the curse at bay while I figure it out. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s kind of like a puzzle, a conundrum wrapped in an enigma placed in a riddle and shot to the moon and then….”

“Twilight dear, you’ll wear yourself out before you even finish that sentence,” Rarity interjected mildly.

“True,” the unicorn mage said with a smile. “But needless to say, it’s well above even my skills. Truthfully, Celestia or Luna should be working on this, but to do so might expose them to it and we can’t afford that.”

As Twilight’s horn flared from magic, Rarity noticed something curious: magic burned off energy just like any other action; perhaps moreso than heavy physical exertion. Yet Twilight had no IV, no clear sign of nutrients going in, and she looked very much like a shell of herself. While Rarity wasn’t a mage herself, she knew enough Guild members to know how Twilight was accomplishing all this. “Twilight, I may not know much about advanced magic practices, but I know a pra…prae….”

“A praecantavitus spell, is what you’re asking about?” Twilight replied. “Yes, I’m using one on myself.”

“Are you insane? You’ll kill yourself!” Praecantavitus spells were designed to create an emergency resource for magic if no other one was available; by drawing on the mage’s own soul, it allowed them to fuel incredibly strong spells. However, there was a very dangerous side-effect: extended use of such spells were almost always fatal for the user, and it was theorized that only the alicorns had a large enough natural magic reservoir to be able to use said spells safely. It certainly wasn’t the case for Star Swirl the Large, the seventh one to bear the name, who had sacrificed his life to use such a spell in order to single-hoofedly defeat a massive gryphon invasion centuries in the past. The only reason they weren’t outright banned was due to their usefulness, but even still there were numerous restrictions on their casting.

“I’m the most expendable, Rarity.” The tone in Twilight’s voice indicated that she’d put some thought into what she was going to say – and if it was like anything Twilight did under stress, common sense likely wasn’t a factor. “I’m not married, and probably never will be. I don’t have any foals of my own. And the Guild and Knights can survive without me. And since I’m honor-bo—”

“How is sacrificing yourself for us any sort of honor?” Rarity retorted. “How do you think that killing yourself will make any of us happy, Twilight? What will that accomplish?”

Twilight looked as though she was about to say something, then stopped just short. Instead, she took a breath before replying with, “I didn’t say I was out to kill myself, Rarity. I’m only underscoring who should be the pony to draw the short straw should it come to that.”

“And who gave you that right?” Rarity snarled before she winced as a stitch of pain raced up her side. Ignoring it, she gnashed her teeth and grunted, “Who said that any of us would be happier without you? We are all sisters – family. It is not your decision to make for us.” Rarity moved over to the other unicorn’s cot and wrapped her forelegs around Twilight. “If someone has to go,” Rarity said, “It should be me. I’ve lived a happy life. Sweetie will be married to Pip any day now and Elusive’s foals will be born. And if my daughter and her family are gone, I….”

“And that is not your choice to make,” Twilight replied, a soft smile clambering onto her face. “She’s back.”

“But Minty wa—”

“No, Rarity. She’s back.”

Rarity suddenly froze. After a few seconds, she said, “I…I don’t know who you’re referring to, Twilight. All I have are Minty and Elusive, though,” she added as her ears flopped, “I haven’t been the best mother I could for them.”

“And you’re proving that by spurning DJ,” Twilight stated. “She’s your eldest – doesn’t it matter to you what’s happened to her in all these years? You’d be so proud of her – I know I am.” Twilight paused, drawing from memory. “She’s married, happily so for a decade now to one of the humans that was here with her. They have two children together, both boys. She’s a successful author and very well-traveled and cultured. She’s led a wonderful life and she’s the absolute pride of her adopted parents. But she wouldn’t be any of that if it wasn’t for the life you and Silversteel gave her.”

“She…she had foals?” Rarity said with confusion, the first acknowledgement of DJ’s existence she’d made in nearly two decades. But then common sense set in and she shrugged it off. “Oh, you mean adopted, of course. I….” When the fashionista saw the look on the face of the mage, she became even more confused. “Wait – she actually foaled? Who was the sire?”

“Her husband, of course,” Twilight said with a slight grin.

“But you said she married a human!”

“And I see you forgot all that work I did a decade back, didn’t you? I created an improved version of the old amniomorphic spell that lets species with compatible DNA have offspring. Stuart and Tyler – those are their names – are as much DJ’s children as they are Mike’s. In fact, you can see their pony heritage just by looking at them, even though they look human for the most part. For example, Stuart’s got purple eyes, just like his mother and Silver’s sister, if I recall. Purple eyes are extremely rare for humans, so they likely didn’t come from Mike’s side of the family. Plus, Tyler has his grandfather’s bluish-gray hair—”

“‘His grandfather?’ How could you insult my Silver like that?!”

That hit a nerve with the unicorn mage. “How could you deny your grandson like that?” Twilight snapped. “Rarity, you’re a sister to me, but you’ve gone on with your blind denial for far too long. It’s disgusting. Whether you like it or not, those two boys are your grandchildren – how long are you going to deny them because of DJ?”

“We named her Sandalwood,” Rarity responded with equal bile, “and she abandoned her name as though it meant nothing to her! If you want to talk about grandparents, she was named after Silver’s mother!” Rarity huffed for a few minutes before nickering and saying, “Both my parents and his…you don’t understand, Twilight. When we thought she’d died after that storm…. It wasn’t just my tragedy, Twilight. When my parents and Silver’s both heard about the loss of their precious grandfoal, they took it hard and never recovered. They were gone by year’s end, and my parents not much beyond that. Neither my parents nor his lived to see the births of Minty or Elusive – my foals have never known their grandparents.”

“I know,” the lavender unicorn said, wondering if she’d unintentionally broached a position she hadn’t meant to.

“But it’s more than just that. I’ve never been particularly close to my parents, Twilight, you know that. But Silver adored his, and when Sterling Silver and Sandalwood passed, I have never seen my husband so reduced to tears. As long as I’ve known him, he’s only been driven to tears three times in his life: when we first lost Sandalwood, when his parents passed away, and then when….” Rarity paused as if gathering some measure of courage to speak the next words. “And when Sandalwood betrayed us.”

“But DJ never betrayed you, can’t you see that? Why can’t you accept that after being raised for fifteen years by two humans who loved her more than anything, that she’d be loyal and love them just as much? Both Matt and Anna have told me a million times that they never cared about where she came from or what she looked like, only that she needed somepony. They reached out to her and she reached back, because the only other option she had was oblivion – and they wouldn’t accept that. To them she is their daughter just as much as she is yours, and if anything, you betrayed her by spurning her family. She came to you with open arms that day—”

“She doesn’t have arms!” Rarity nearly shouted. “She’s not a human! She’s a pony and she needs to behave like one!”

“So this is about her behavior? About how she was raised? And what would you have done if you’d found a human baby that you didn’t know was named Daisy Jo? Would you have turned her over to the authorities and let them decide her possibly less-than-kind fate? Or would you have taken her in and raised her as your own?”

Rarity nickered again. “You know quite well what I would have done, Twilight.”

“Even if you’d never seen a human before and wouldn’t know how to raise one at all?”

“Well, naturally I would raise such a foal in a manner befitting gentility and finesse – as a pony, quite obviously.” When Twilight looked at the fashionista weirdly, Rarity added, “What, did you assume that because Sandalwood was raised human that I should excuse that? She’s no more human than your hypothetical human foal would be a pony. But you must agree that our way of raising young is nigh perfect – after all, your younger brother is a testament to that, is he not?”

Twilight bristled at Spike being thrown in her face as an example. “But if Spike had been raised by humans, what then? He’d be the same way, and you would still spurn him. In fact, all I see right now is somepony acting no better than Garble did back then. At least he grew out of it!”

The two looked at each other angrily for countless minutes before Twilight sighed. “Rarity, just promise me that when she comes to visit, you’ll give her a chance. I’m sure the others in our family have been asking her to do the same. Please, end this farce and just accept her for who and what she is. Accept that she’s now and always DJ, but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost Sandalwood; she’s just a little different now.”

“Twilight, I—”

“If our long friendship and bonds as sisters means anything to you, promise me you will.”

“I’ll…try,” Rarity said in a voice that indicated she was hardly convinced.

It was close to 3:30 in the morning when Star Swirl finally made it home. She was exhausted after that ordeal, and…well, that was for later. But for now, it was time for sleep. She managed to get no farther when she saw a large dragon sitting in the living room – and to her surprise, it was somepony she hadn’t expected. “Spike?” she asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Caramel had a problem with the usual Ponyville panic mode,” the drake explained. “Since I was easiest to get a hold of with all the mages tied up, I came as fast as I could. Ended up saving your next door neighbors and Spines from an unruly mob led by Salad Toss – you might want to have a talk with that stallion next chance you get.”

“I will, thanks. Look, I’m sorry if Spines was giving you any particular amount of….” She stopped when she noticed Spike’s pointing. Looking at the couch, Star saw Spines fast asleep, nestled in between her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders Buttercup and Sugar Sprinkle. A soft, motherly look etched itself on the unicorn’s face, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“She cried herself to sleep, she was so scared,” the dragon explained. “The girls decided to spend the night. Sugar Sprinkle in particular wanted to make lots of hot chocolate – to sleep better, she said. I guess she’s just like her mother that way, though I haven’t really met Twist’s husband.”

“Mocha Mix is a pretty nice stallion and he and Twist are great for each other,” Star said, though the tone in her voice carried the slightest hint of jealousy.

Spike looked at the clock and said, “Well, since you’re back home I guess that’s my cue to leave.”

“It’s pretty late. You’re welcome to stay, and you know where the guest room is. And I know Spines would be thrilled to see you under better circumstances.”

“You mean she’d be happy to propose to me at breakfast like she does whenever she sees me,” Spike chuckled.

“I suppose. But I thought dragons didn’t really worry about age in relationships?”

“Maybe, but you of all ponies should know that both she and I were raised as ponies – and there is that age of majority thing,” he pointed out.

“Maybe. And maybe someday she’ll win your heart. Then maybe I can start focusing on my own life.”

Spike caught that undertone. “You make it sound as though she’s a drag on you, Star.”

“No, I didn’t mean it that way, I just….” Star groaned. “Look, I’m tired from having gone through the whole Cloudsdale issue right now and…. Just, please don’t ever doubt that I love Spines. She’s just as much family to me as Twilight is to you, and…well, I’m sure you get the idea.”

He had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry if I misunderstood.”

“Probably my fault for being too tired to explain what I mean. We can talk about it in the morning.” Flaring her horn once more, she picked up the two foals and the baby draconess, ready to cart them off to Spines’ bedroom. “Good night, Spike.”

“You rang?” Luna stated the moment she appeared before the draconequus, still trapped in his bonds in the Dreamlands.

Seated amongst his prismatic chains, he gave the moon alicorn a wry grin. “I would have called, but I don’t have one of those wonderful little communication devices that the humans are so fond of.” From out of nowhere, he pulled out a plastic-and-metal slab with a blinking eyeball, which focused and stared at Luna. Discord drolled, “I believe they call them EyePhones, do they not?” He then threw it over his shoulder, where it sprouted wings and flew off into the distance before exploding in a shower of sparks and confetti.

“Cute,” Luna said tritely, “but unless this is urgent, I have other things on my mind that are of greater import.”

“Yes, I’m quite aware of that. You might not believe me when I tell you this, but I understand your predicament,” he said as he produced a small snack, a devil’s food cupcake seated on a pristine white plate. “Would you care for a cupcake? Never cared for them myself – too bloody.” When she shook her head, he unzipped a hole in space, placed the cupcake inside, then zipped the rift shut as if it never existed. “In any case, you are barring her from what she desires and covets most, and knowing quite well what she wants, you intend to ensure she never gets it, no matter what the cost.”

“But to do that, I need to prevent the Nightmare from taking the dream paths,” Luna replied. “She has too easy an access to them.”

“I wouldn’t know, as that’s not my specialty,” he said, leaning forward with a Cheshire Cat’s grin. “Isn’t the realm of dreams your balliwick, Night Alicorn? Just merely shield the way with your divine power and thus and so.”

“I’m no deity, Discord, any more than you are—”

“I would normally beg to differ, but I will admit that – sigh – factually, you are correct,” he said, leaning back into the chains as if they were a recliner. “We are but avatars, embodiments, parts of what we represent, but not what comes above them. Oh, how I am loathe to admit that I am but a player on the stage and not the stage owner, as it were.”

Luna rolled her eyes and said, “I don’t have time for this, Discord. Tell me why you called me here.”

The avatar of chaos looked at the avatar of the moon and absently scratched his chin. “You know, you’re really taking the wind out of my sails here. I’m supposed to be a chaosbringer, pure disorder. I’m not supposed to help you protect your darling little niece.”

“H-how did you—”

“—know that it was she you were protecting? Or that I know at all?” he asked, grinning widely. But the grin was not in his usual beguiling manner, but instead something that she was long unaccustomed to seeing on his face: true, genuine emotion. “Things are changing, Nightbringer,” he said. “The sides are shifting and the end of everything you have ever known is coming. I presume you’ve been delving into the riddles?”

“I don’t have time for your rid—”

He practically jumped forward to get her attention. “You must, even if you must make time for them. The fate of everyone – excuse me, everypony – and everything depends on it. My duty was to pass the riddles onto a mind capable of comprehending their worth. And the only clue I can give you – and perhaps even this may be too much – is that you want those riddles solved just as much, if not more, than the Nightmare wants them thwarted.”

“Why?”

“When you solve them, everything will become clear. And I daresay that the riddles are more important than even saving your wayward niece.” The look on his face was suddenly studious, as if he’d suddenly turned into a scholar passing through a college town and being surprised to find somepony who hadn’t finished anything beyond the most basic of education.

“Then to hell with your riddles, Discord!” Luna snapped, but the anger passed just as quickly as it arrived. “Of course, I should know better: you’ve no concept of family or love – how could you, when they are alien concepts to you?”

Discord sighed. “I am…not unsympathetic to your plight. This is me, the mask removed, me speaking as myself, not as my station. You are frightened about what the Nightmare did to you – quite justifiably, of course – and you fear it happening to her, do you not?” He waved a lionpaw before his face, adding, “I…may be able to assist you in the near future. But I want a bargain, tit for tat – I want to be released from my prison.”

Luna shook her head. “I can’t do that. Celestia would—”

But Discord wagged a finger in disagreement. “If the Nightmare wins, it won’t matter a bit what Celestia thinks. And all the chaos in the world I could think of won’t matter in the slightest if it goes completely smashed to bits a second later. I am an artist of chaos and disarray is my canvas…but I cannot do that if somepony else has the chance to break it well before I even start. That is why your geas is to solve the riddles, Moonwarden.”

“The riddles are that important?”

“Think about all the hell you went through while under the not-so-tender mercies of the Nightmare. Now imagine her doing it to all of ponykind, humanity and all the other species out there. And in the center of that damned spider web is your beloved little DJ, the absolute plaything of that creature.” Though Discord’s words weren’t meant to provoke an emotional response, Luna’s sudden gnashing of teeth and flattened ears indicated a sudden surge of anger. “I see I got my point across,” he said in a wary and delicate tone.

“I’ll work on your freaking riddles, but I will also discuss the situation with Celestia,” Luna promised. “I cannot ensure she will listen – I cannot even guarantee she will even try – but I will do what I can.”

“I know you will,” he said with a bow, “and for that you have my gratitude, Princess.”

It was nearly time for sunrise when Champagne Dreams headed towards her personal bedchambers. She’d been working a little private project of hers lately and…wait, is that laughter? Coming onto the balcony, she found the site of the two men in her life, her husband and her son, both completely drunk out of their minds.

“Ah, my beloved!” Blueblood slurred as he barely held onto a glass of wine in his telekinesis. “We’ve much to celebrate!”

“Yesssh, Moth’r,” Silver Platter slurred from his place on the floor. With him were two mares from the housekeeping staff and for a rare moment their attentions were focused on him and not her husband. Seeing that, Champagne Dreams knew her son had likely used a little magical “persuasion” on the two. “We’re shelebratin’a victery.”

Champagne sniffed the air; she knew that her husband had been drinking for longer than her son; also, for many things that Silver Platter was, able to hold his drink was not one of them. “Explain yourself,” she said to him. “But before you do that,” she turned to her son and added, “take them to your chambers and do so quietly. I don’t care what you do with or to them, but I expect you to be quiet, understood?”

He didn’t answer his mother, instead, saying, “C’mon, ladiessssh!” and with a blast of lime-green energy, teleported away.

As the trio – soon to be a threesome – disappeared, a look of irritation crossed Blueblood’s face. “And here I was hoping one would bide her time with me.”

Champagne ignored the statement, pouring herself a glass of wine. “You can either have experienced joy, my dearest husband, or you could have the fumbling and stumbling of a drunken maid who will be mindwiped in the morning. Take your pick.” She took a sip from the glass, then smiled slightly. “Ah, one of your better vintages – this truly was a moment. So, need I guess as to what this sobriquet involved?”

He grinned. “I take you’ve heard about the attack on Cloudsdale?”

“I have.” The merest hint of a smile flitted across her face as she brought the glass to her lips once more. She gave him a sideways glance as she added, “And I’ve made a few…other…arrangements that will be beneficial for our side in the near future.” She set down the glass and then gave her husband a knowing look, the kind that said much yet revealed nothing; he found that look to be very enticing. “I will explain later, but for now, I think we need to celebrate.”

“Indeed, my dear, we do,” he said as he sidled closer to his wife. In turn, she wrapped a foreleg around his and teleported them back to their own personal chambers. There would be more drinking yet to go on there, accompanied by a few other things.

Laying on the bed of the yurt in her human form, Blue Velvet gave a soft grin. While she knew there was something special about her newest assignment, it hadn’t been until she’d spent time with him – the kind of time she preferred – that she learned exactly how special. Funny, that so many of her siblings, and possibly even her mother, thought she typified lust incarnate; but what they didn’t understand was that sometimes those desires were merely gateways to other goals and plans. Velvet used them often to further her own plans, or assist Blood Armor in removing the undesirable members of Mother’s forces, and if she had fun while doing it, what was the harm in that?

But this new assignment was like nothing she’d ever experienced before – and she knew she was going to enjoy every moment of it. As she stretched again, she heard Ghino’s voice say, “Sleep well?”

“Like a princess,” she cooed. Looking up, she found him, already dressed and at a table, poring over documents. “What’s that?” she asked.

“Reading a report that your mother had prepared regarding our use of proxies against Cloudsdale. It seems that things went far better than expected.”

Rising from the bed, she materialized a set of clothing similar to his around her body. While she didn’t understand the human need for them, it was clear that the humans placed certain cultural value around their use; she’d have to look into it and see how she could potentially exploit it for her needs. “Do tell,” she said, leaning against him.

“It seems that they were able to make Khalid and a few of the other pilots surrender and they’ll be interrogating him soon enough. If he’s willing to abide by our agreement, we can use that to our advantage and have him make it appear that his former government will have declared war on Equestria with the intent of complete xenocide. After all, he and his men were willing to accept our pay, so they have no great love for the Revolutionary Council.”

“And if he isn’t?” Velvet wondered. Granted, she understood none of this; human politics were not her specialty. But manipulation was, and so this much intrigued her.

“Considering that our part of the bargain involves letting their families live only if they succeed in their mission, I think changing the parameters and getting a little more of the deal would be beneficent,” di Tacco answered. “Of course, I’ll need someone of sufficient skill to go in there and apprise our friends of the plan….”

“Kindly or otherwise?” she asked, batting her eyes coquettishly.

He flashed her a grin. “I like how you think, Velvet. A simple suggestion spell should do it, though nothing too obvious or else it could come back to haunt us.”

“I’ll talk to my brother Overcast Night about it. He’s good at mental spells, so we can sneak in and deal with it. I take it you’ve cleared this with Mother and Nightmare Moon?”

“Let’s call this…forward thinking,” he said, “and see where it goes from there.”

“We could also call it insubordination and grounds for them to kill us all.”

“The bold move faster than the weak,” he countered, and gave her a look that was very different from the suave, carefree visage he normally wore. There was something deep in that simple glance, frightening and worrisome. And yet in that glance, there was something that Velvet found intriguing. Enough so to go against her instincts.

“Mother said to serve you, and that is my duty,” she said, “and my desire.”

“Then let us go over the plan with Overcast Night first thing in the morning,” he said. “The sooner our plans are in motion, the sooner we have and retain the advantage.”

There were times, Paul Phillips noted, that being married to a diplomat had huge disadvantages. This was one of them – this, meaning being up at four in the morning, with the three TVs in the kitchen all set to the news channels for a change instead of the soccer channels. And him making a huge batch of coffee, in a portable thermos mug, knowing full well that it wasn’t going to be enough. And having to explain why the house was ruckus and ramble at a time of morning when nobody was ever awake.

Footfalls sounded in a descent down the stairs and a mare who looked barely awake walked into the kitchen. She’d thrown on a sports coat, button-up shirt and slacks, but didn’t go for the full nine yards. “Dear Celestia on Her Throne,” Lyra said, rasping, “I swear I feel every bit of my age right now.”

“You’re still just as beautiful as the day we met,” Paul replied, handing her the mug. “Here. I hear this stuff turns piles of mush back into coherent ponies again.”

She took a sip and a wide, lazy smile came onto her face, even as she could barely open her eyes. “Ah, coffee – proof that any species that knows how to make it is clearly sapient,” she mumbled as she reached for some Pop Tarts Paul had just pulled out of the toaster.

“Lyra,” he said, “you’re barely awake and I don’t feel confident about you driving to DC right now. Hell, Terry must be barely conscious and he’s gotta drive from Reston to come get you, right?”

“Don’t worry,” she answered, waving an arm in front of him. “There’s an emergency protocol for these things. Leesburg PD’s going to pick me up and drive me to Leesburg Exec, then State will fly me to the embassy in a helo. I won’t be behind the wheel at any given time, I promise. I’ll be too busy….” she said, her voice suddenly absent.

“I know,” he said, reaching over and giving her arm a comforting squeeze. “I mean…wow. As an American, I’m used to reading about wars in our history. But for someone to bomb Cloudsdale?”

“I don’t know, and I won’t get into that conjecture,” Lyra responded, slipping into neutral voice. But Paul had known his wife long enough to know when something deeply bothered her, and if there was anything, this had to be it.

“Family in Cloudsdale?” he asked.

She nodded. “My aunt Skylyre. My parents said that me and Harper look a lot like her and, yeah, same coat and mane colors and all. And we were never really close – as you could tell, she didn’t come to our wedding. But Serenade’s family’s also from Cloudsdale and….”

“I’ll call Harper as soon as the sun rises. I’m sure he and Serenade are in a panic right now.”

“I appreciate that,” she said, looking up to her husband. In the front window of their home, though no sound came, the blinking of red and blue cherry lights could be seen. “That’s my cue, hon. Take care of the kids and tell them I’ll be home soon.”

“Tonight?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I might need to fly to New York to assist AC, or worse, head to Canterlot, and….” She shook her head, just as much to dispel the gnawing worry in her heart as to reassure him. “I’ll call as soon as I have an update.” And before he could say anything else, she walked out of their house, headed for the biggest crisis she’d ever seen as Equestria’s Ambassador to the United States.

If there had been any downsides in his life of being married to a member of the Orange branch of the Apple clan, Antiquity had never found them. Despite her accent, Apple Cobbler had been a city mare, born and bred, and only a peripheral part of her family. So when those skills came time for her to be called up as a member of Equestria’s diplomatic corps on Human-Earth, in AC’s case, as the Equestriani Ambassador to the United Nations, he knew that she’d fit in easily on Human-Earth. But he had no idea for himself when they moved into their current residence.

He needn’t have worried. New York, it turned out, was the pony equivalent of Manehattan, a town they were already living in when Twilight asked AC to join the search for Rarity’s then-missing daughter. And as AC slid effortlessly into her current position here, Antiquity also found himself faring just as well: New York was, as expected, one of humanity’s cultural capitals; and as a pony whose cutie mark indicated the skillsets of working with museum pieces and priceless artifacts, he’d been a very in-demand individual. In fact, he’d enjoyed a very comfortable last five years in his position of assistant director at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His dream had always been to work Manehattan’s Royal Museum of Classical Art, and to land a prestigious position at the human equivalent, well….

But now he was finding that life wasn’t all about his dreams. Sometimes it was also about his nightmares. Or worse…his wife’s.

“Look, I’ll call Jean-Claude and let him know I’ll have to cancel my business trip to Paris,” he said, as he brewed her up some coffee and threw a couple of bagels in the toaster for her. “I’m sure our contacts at the Louvre will understand.”

“Ah know y’ wanted t’ go, sugarcube,” she said blearily as she slipped on a sportscoat over her turtleneck. She’d somehow managed to make herself presentable without being completely awake. “An’ Ah promise when w’ git th’ chance, we’ll go.”

“It’s not that, love,” he said, smiling. “It’s…we’re at war—”

“Not yet,” she countered. “Ah dun see no paperwork says we’re a’fightin’ just yet.”

“AC, you know that doesn’t work with me. It’s just…war is something we’ve only read about in the history books. Yeah, sure life in Equestria isn’t the idyll paradise that the Tourism Bureau spins it out to be, but it’s not far from the mark, either.”

“Hun, not every human likes us. Some are still ‘fraid of us, an’ Ah’ll never understand why,” she said, sadly, as she reached over to take a bagel. “Some even hate us. Thankfully, most people accept us f’r what we are, and treat ponies no differently than themselves.”

“But you think something’s different this time, don’t you?” Antiquity inquired. Apple Cobbler said nothing at that point and he knew his wife’s silence well enough to discern she was saying something while voicing nothing. “I see,” he said.

The doorbell buzzed; a sign that her ride was here. Rising from her chair, she said, “Maybe Lyra’s got some brilliant idea o’ how t’ fix this. Or maybe Curry Spice does – he’s our ambassador to Iraq an’ oversees the countries we don’ have relations with in th’ Middle East.”

“Or maybe Cadance has some way to fix this?” Antiquity asked, an edge of frustration to his voice. If the situation developed into war, it wouldn’t just be a tragedy for humanity, but instead for both their shared futures on both worlds. But as AC kissed him goodbye on the cheek and promised to call him as soon as she had some free time, the bole-hued earth stallion knew something was going to be different this time. He just wasn’t sure what.

The group of ponies sat in the waiting room at the flight terminal of US Naval Air Station Sigonella. The REN had a small support facility on the US base, mostly to ferret Equestriani military personnel in and out of this portion of Europe. Due to the geopolitical commitments that Equestria had agreed to over the years, it had become one of their most significant facilities in this portion of Human-Earth, and there had been talk about the REN outright taking over the former USN facility at Souda Bay in neighboring Greece in order to expand their NATO commitments.

Seated in one of the plastic chairs right now, staring at the flightline, Rumble wondered if anything he was doing now was making his country safer. He now knew where those fighters he’d spied on had gone and it tore a wound in his heart. Not only had he, his fellow Seaponies and their SEAL allies failed to correctly track the aircraft, but to find out they’d been used on Cloudsdale! It made his heart sink. Sure, he was from Ponyville and had only visited family in Cloudsdale a handful of times, but the hundreds of civvies that were now casualties of the whole thing didn’t ask for what they’d received. They didn’t ask to be bombed, they didn’t intentionally put themselves in harm’s way as Rumble and his troops had so often done.

And yet in the final calculus, it was Rumble that was going home on leave for thirty days, and there were innocent ponies who would see nothing ever again.

“Rumble, it wasn’t your fault. I don’t know why you’re blaming yourself,” a voice responded. The pegasus stallion looked up and saw CAPT LaChance Goode, CO of SEAL Team NINE, and a close friend of the pony.

“Chancey, I got your guys and mine shot up and for what – so the fuckin’ Iranians could bomb one of my country’s major cities,” he told the human. “I dunno about you but I count that as a loss in my book.”

“And I already heard the debriefing Admiral Himura gave you,” Goode replied. “And he’s right. Rumble, you are wound up hard. Maybe that’s just the difference between the REN and the USN, or cultural differences between people and ponies, but…remember Alex? Back in Little Creek?”

Rumble nodded. CDR Alexi Mikoyan was the XO of SEAL Team EIGHT and a part of their circle of friends. SEALs in general had small, tight groups, and as closely as the Seaponies operated with their American counterparts, it was only natural that they’d fall in those same circles.

“He just put in his paperwork to retire,” Goode said. “He’d wound himself up so deep that he’d lost it while investigating this lead the CIA had on this small group of terrorists they call the Republic of Pirates. Don’t know how that turned out, but someone maneuvered them into getting into a firefight with Ukranian organized crime. The Ukranian government covered up everything, claiming it was just attempted criminal activity by Chechen rebels or some bullshit, but the long and the short of it turned out that it was entirely blamed on Alex. They said he’d been so wound up and focused on his job, he wandered into a trap without paying attention. And you know as well as I do that’s fatal in our occupation.”

“Look, Chancey, that shit’s not going to happen to me,” Rumble insisted. “My ponies rely on me to be the leader and that’s what I have to do. I can’t afford t—”

But Goode tapped his friend on the shoulder. “And that’s where you’re making the same mistake Alex did. You’re forgetting that you’re only human…er, pony, whatever. You’re a living, breathing, individual and living, breathing individuals make mistakes. But if you think you’re beyond that, you’re not going to make a mistake – you’re going to cause a catastrophe. You need to unwind, go find yourself for a bit, then come back and continue doing what you’re doing.”

“You think so?”

The human turned his left hand, revealing a weathered wedding band. “How do you think I met Stacy? It was because I got the same lecture years ago when I was just a young turk of an El Cedar, in charge of my platoon and could do no wrong. Thankfully my skipper straightened me out at the time, because if he didn’t, I don’t know what kind of person I’d be right now.”

Rumble nodded. “Well, hearing you say that makes a hell of a lot more sense than what Himura was trying to tell me.”

“It’s all about the right frequencies for the message,” Goode laughed. “Now, c’mon, the O-Club is open and that’s plenty of time to go bullshit and down a few beers amongst friends. Unless you actually planned to sit here and stew in your own juices for the next six hours, waiting for your flight?”

“How’d you…?”

“Rainydays saw you get here an hour ago. He ran into me and told me that the REAF flight isn’t due until the afternoon. Man, if there’s a pony who’s due for a promotion, it’s him. Maybe you should think about that.”

“Well, nothing I can do,” Rumble replied, “but I can hint in the right direction.”

The warmth of soothing sunlight rested gently on his face, and Mike involuntarily stretched, yawning as he came to. He felt sore as hell all over, though that was to be expected considering the ordeal of last night, an—

Wait…where am I?

Blinking his eyes to dispel the last vestiges of sleepiness, he looked around the room. It was, quite honestly, the most ornate and beautiful thing he’d ever seen, clearly a room fit for a king. The chamber – because it really couldn’t be called a mere room – had walls of marble, the room filled with metalwork of the finest gold. A beautiful spectrum of pastels brocaded the chamber, including the bed that he was asleep on, which felt as light as a cloud, certainly better than the bed he and DJ had purchased from the NEX last year. In truth, he could barely feel the sheets against his skin, and….

Wait, he thought again, the repetition in his mind almost comical had the situation not been so weird. Why am I naked? He looked down into the sheets to confirm and…. Oh, shit….

He had a sudden, sinking feeling of where he was now, and his mind fought down panic. But his fears were confirmed a second later as he turned to find a woman not much younger than he asleep next to him. His mind put two and two together, coming up with a sum he’d rather not have: he was naked, next to a woman who he knew he wasn’t married to, and a quick peek under the sheets indicated she wa….

Oh, fuck. Or rather, I sure as hell hope not! He was so focused on his own situation that he hadn’t noticed that his bedmate had stirred, entering consciousness alongside him.

“Morning,” she said, stretching in what seemed like unfamiliar directions. He focused on the face and recognition came to mind: it was Celestia, the only difference being that she’d let her natural haircolors come through this time than the strawberry-blonde she’d used prior.

“I…um….” Mike was, without saying, lost for words. In his mind, he easily envisioned his marriage imploding at that very moment; a grand irony considering that he’d told DJ just days ago that if she didn’t straighten up and fly right, their marriage would be in trouble and now….

“Mike, are you feeling well?” the Princess of the Sun asked, worry clear in her eyes. She decided to get up and move over to his side of the bed to check on him. Standing up, she stretched again, giving him a centerfold-perfect image of her form, and needless to say, she had the kind of body a Brazilian bikini model would kill for. None of this, of course, gave Mike any sort of ease whatsoever.

“I…uh….” He was probably jabbering like an idiot at the moment, but what could be said? Finally, summoning the strength of will only a married and faithful man could, he pointed at her, hoping the motion would explain everything.

“Oh.” Suddenly realizing she was out of sorts as well, she shifted back to normal. Tossing her mane back, she allowed herself a complete blush as she said, “Mike, I’m sorry about that. I…well, my normal form is a bit too big to share the bed with, so I had to shift to one of my human forms and I….” She laughed slightly and nervously. “I guess I’m just babbling, aren’t I?”

Still covered by the sheets, he looked at her as his marriage had just gone into terminal meltdown and that it was no big deal to her. “Celestia, please – let’s take this from the top. Why am I here, and why am I naked?”

“Oh, that. Well, if you want the truth….” she began, her eyes showing embarrassment.

“Celestia, please.”

“Mike, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you – it’s just that it one of those ‘truth is weirder than fiction’ issues.” The alicorn sighed, then continued. “I got notification that Cloudsdale was under attack and left here at supersonic speeds. By the time I got to Cloudsdale, though, you were moments from death and I had to react. Both you and I were moving so fast that your clothing was pretty much friction-burned off you by the time I got there; I had just enough time to wrap a protective spell around you and start healing what damage had already been done to you. When we got here I asked my private physicians to look at your condition and it was safer not to have to constantly dress and undress you.” The look in her eyes was the embarrassment of someone – or somepony, in this case – who meant well, but had compounded action upon mistake upon action in a huge jenga tower. “As for me, it was like I mentioned earlier: there wasn’t enough room on the bed for both of us while I was in my normal form, so I shifted to my human form to sleep. But it had been a long day for me and DJ notwithstanding, ponies usually don’t sleep in nightwear of any kind, so I’m honestly sorry about that.”

The gears in Mike’s mind turned; as far-fetched as it seemed, it did make sense. But one thing still stuck in his mind. “Um…just before I passed out while falling, I had the image in my head of an angel catching me, then kissing me before everything blanked out. Was that you?”

Now it was Celestia’s turn to give him a weird glance. “Mike, I caught you less than four feet from the ground. Given the speed involved, do you think I really had time to change into something else before catching you? I was lucky to have saved you at all!” Finally on his side of the bed, she sat down next to him. “Plus, based on what I know about my wings and the human form? It wouldn’t be easy to do, unless you were used to flying like that, and let me assure you, I’ve never done so.”

“So you didn’t….”

“Remember what I told you in Singapore? That kiss was heat of the moment, and I can’t apologize enough for that. I would never endanger your marriage with DJ, ever, I promise you that. You two are perfect for each other and even if I wanted to – and again, that’s not the case – she’s my niece and I couldn’t live with myself if I did.”

“Thanks,” he said, unsure of what else to add. He was sure that he was leaving something unspoken, but he wasn’t about to press her for details. She was, after all, the leader of another country and his wife’s aunt. But he did add a, “So we’re even then, right?’

That made her laugh before she added, “If you insist, though you’ll have to forgive me if I still think you took the bigger risk than I did.” Her horn glowed with an aqua hue and a small stack of clothes landed by the table. “I hope they’ll fit; they’re a rough approximation of your size, and obviously a closer measurement would be awkward.”

He grabbed the first one, a t-shirt from the Royal Canterlot Athletic Club. “Thanks again.”

“No problem. I’ve got to go attend some meetings now, but stay and rest as long as you need to. I’ll inform my housekeeping staff to ignore my room for the day. Just head back to Twilight’s place when you have the chance; I’m sure DJ’s very worried about you right now.”

“Celestia, about last night…thank you,” he said to her. “I would have died last night if it wasn’t for you.”

He could practically hear her smile in her response. “You’re family, Mike. You’re not left out—”

“—because I’m a different species,” he answered, laughing. With that, the sun alicorn stepped away and departed her bedroom, leaving the human behind.

As she stepped out of the room, she noticed two of her maids arriving, right on schedule. They bowed to her as one, and she returned it. “Good morning, Sugar White and Bahia Bliss. Aren’t you two supposed to be taking care of other duties?”

“Yes, your majesty,” Bahia Bliss began, “but we decided to cover Sparkling Ice and Heatherglen. They were worried, since their families are from Cloudsdale, and….”

“But don’t worry about it, Princess, we have everything under control!” Sugar White chirped, her voice as sweet as her name. “All ready for your room to be cleaned?”

Celestia shook her head. “Actually, I would prefer that my chambers be left alone today. I have….” The two ponies leaned in closer, as if expecting some scandalous secret to be shared. The sun alicorn sighed; this was going to be hard enough as is and no use hiding it. “I have a…guest…asleep in my chambers right now.”

Bahia Bliss arched a brow in curiosity, but then quickly recovered as the sand-hued earth mare replied, “We’ll keep this a secret, your majesty, but congratulations! I can’t speak for the rest of the fillies, but I know I’ve always hoped you’d find your special somepony someday.”

“But he…no, you misunderstand,” Celestia said, feeling a headache coming on. “It’s my niece’s husband. He was one of the non-pegasi under attack at Cloudsdale, and had to be rescued immediately.” The two mares became overcome with embarrassment as their ruler mentioned the attack. “He’s still somewhat dazed by the ordeal, which is why I insisted he continue to sleep before meeting with his wife at Twilight’s home. Trust me, ladies, there’s nothing exotic going on in the least.”

“Poor stallion,” Sugar White pouted. “I hope he’ll be okay.”

“So do I,” Bahia nodded in agreement. “But as you wish, we won’t touch your room for the day, your majesty.”

“Thank you,” Celestia sighed in relief, standing there as the two mares walked off, giggling in a foolish manner. Wouldn’t it be interesting, they said aloud when they thought she was out of earshot, if she was actually up to something? Sure, there was a chance Celestia’s outlandish story was true, Bahia pointed out, but considering how well-concocted it was, her majesty was entitled to keep her trysts in secret, the pair decided.

Sure that issue was now solved, Celestia moved on, her own mind an actual stew. She now had in her mind of what Mike looked like as she removed his ruined clothing from him and slipped him into her bed. His body, not surprising, was in peak condition for the human form, as befitting a military man, and there was something about the elegance of his body’s lines and his general nature reminded her more and more each moment of the stallion she’d loved and lost so long ago.

She was now ashamed to admit it, but she could have conjured up a second, smaller bed for him and placed him there if she truly cared about his well-being. But instead, she’d slept in her human form – the more attractive one – for a reason. But as expected, he only had eyes for his wife and would never look at her the same way he did DJ – and for the first time in her what felt like forever, rejection cut Celestia deeper than any knife drawn across her heart.

“I would be his mare, if he’d let me,” she said, the words tumbling out unbidden.

“You’d be whose mare?” a new voice asked. The Princess of the Day looked to her left and found Cadance standing there, her son asleep on her back.

“I…um….”

“We were going to meet for breakfast, if I recall correctly,” Cadance began.

Celestia blushed furiously. “Well….”

The Princess of Love sighed. “I think we need to have a talk,” was all she said.

DJ yawned as she awoke to the morning, feeling refreshed. She knew – felt it on an instinctive level – that it had only been because of Luna that she’d been saved.

“Feeling better?” Luna asked. The Alicorn of the Moon had already risen, changed back into her normal form and lowered the moon, most likely.

DJ nodded. “Thanks, Luna,” she said.

“We’re family, DJ. You know I—”

“I bit off more than I can chew this time, I know that now,” DJ said, a rare admission for her. “I have this thing that looks like you but isn’t you gunning for me and I have to ask myself why I shouldn’t just head back home right now and forget the portals to here exist.”

“Because you’re a braver woman than that,” Luna answered with a smile. “And because Twilight needs you right now. Will you let her down?”

The humanized pony wordlessly shook her head. “Never,” she finally answered. “Not a chance in hell.”

“Then let’s get going,” Luna said, offering a foreleg to help her niece out of bed. DJ smiled and reached out with her arm to take her aunt’s, and start the day anew.

Author's Note

Okay, so I lied when I said I wasn't going to have updates this week. But being bedridden for a week - what was I going to do?

Chapter Twelve: Before the Storm

“What do we want?” a slender stallion hefting a sign reading RETURN THE LOST FOAL! shouted.

“For humans to go away and leave the filly they took!” the crowd behind him, a mixture of stallions, mares, colts and fillies from the three branches of ponydom cried. They were all there for the same reason: to get the point across that humanity wasn’t welcome in Equestria, and that the sooner they departed and left behind the Lost Foal, the better.

Watching from a window, a look of disgust flitted onto the face of Lyra Heartstrings. “And they call themselves ponies!” Lyra spat. “Whatever happened to Love and Tolerance?”

“I wish we had more of it,” Twilight Sparkle said, as she watched the crowd below begin to be dispersed by Canterlot’s town sheriff. “Maybe if we did, they’d accept that DJ grew up with a family just as loving as the one we wish she did.”

“Listen, Twilight,” Lyra began. Twilight knew what Lyra was going to say; after all, she’d been hearing it from just about everypony she knew since she announced last week that she was taking Sandalwood’s – that is, DJ’s – side in the legal matter.

“You won’t change my mind,” the unicorn mage told her old friend. “DJ…she’s happy. She’s made a life for herself there and just like the life that Spike has here amongst us, so has she with the humans – she even has a coltfriend, which is one better than my brother’s done, admittedly. Listen, I just want the best for her. Is that so wrong?”

“No, and I agree with you,” Lyra said. When a shocked look came over Twilight’s face, Lyra laughed. “You know me, the human lover, the crackpot who believed they existed when nopony else did. Well, I see how she’s with them…she’s one of them now, in a way that makes me kind of jealous. And while Rarity may be your friend and sister, I can’t in good conscience break apart the family that DJ has. And…Bonnie and I have talked and we’re willing to stand by you no matter what the cost.”

“No matter what?”

Lyra smiled. “When a couple as long as Bonnie and I have been together tell you that, Twi, it’s a promise you can take to the bank.”

As the senior member of the Crown’s diplomatic corps on Human-Earth, one of Lyra’s duties was a weekly global teleconference with the other Equestriani ambassadors on Human-Earth. Almost all of the time, they were mere formalities due to Cadance having chosen very wisely for the senior members of the corps; as a result, most conversations tended towards the banal like Blossomforth’s repeated attempts at trying to learn Japanese or Raggedy Doctor’s annual challenging of the New Zealand Foreign Minister at some charity drive or other. The most fun had been when Nightsong had announced her engagement to her Spaniard fiancé; everyone cheered the couple on and made arrangements to attend the wedding.

Once in a while, though, it turned to actual business. More often than not it involved the other nations of Alter-Earth and their respective nations’ diplomatic corps looking for assistance from Equestria. Draconia needed an easy go-between their offended ambassador and the British Foreign Ministry. Zebrababwe’s ambassador to China consulted Equestria’s in order to prevent being railroaded from tons of cheap crap from Shenzen. And when a minor prince of Inari caused a scandal in Kenya that nearly had the kitsune thrown in prison, title or no, it had been concentrated diplomatic efforts between Zebrababwe and the Equestriani ambassador to Kenya that had sorted things out. All in all, the Equestriani diplomatic corps was seen as helpful and neutral as such other nations as Sweden or Switzerland, and that played very well for Canterlot on the international stage.

Either of those moments, Lyra decided, would have been much preferred to what was going on now: the Islamic Republic of Iran accused both the United States of America and the Principality of Equestria of the complete invasion, and subsequent destruction of, their top-secret military base at Bandar Imam Khomeini. Furthermore, Equestria’s counterclaim that Cloudsdale had been attacked by IRIAF fighters, Iran claimed their fighters had been stolen by the Americans and Equestria allowing their largest pegasus city to be fired upon as a pretense of declaring war. Lastly, due to their status as “murderous demons”, the Iranians refused to communicate directly with either nation and insisted on using the Republic of Syria as a go between…except that while Syria was willing to talk to the Americans, they also refused to have truck with the Equestriani.

“I’ve talked to their ambassadors here at the UN and by the end of the week we should have offers from the Netherlands and New Zealand to represent us at the table,” AC said, the look on her face haggard. The fact that she was using her “diplomatic voice” rather than her natural Apple clan accent was a huge indicator she felt this was nowhere near complete.

“As much as I’m tempted to let Foggy Bottom handle all of this, we can’t afford to just leave the Americans hanging,” Lyra said, looking at the cup of coffee she’d just drained a few minutes ago. It had been her seventh today and it was just six in the morning; she’d had to take a break to use the “little filly’s room” once already. “Nor can we allow the Iranians to just grandstand and assume we’ll allow them to attack our nation.”

“Assuming they did,” Curry Spice noted. He looked a lot more alert; likely because he was already awake on the other side of the world when this all started. “Hear me out, everypony. From where I sit in my offices in Baghdad, I’m in one of the more modern and accepting Arabic nations when it comes to AE species, and all we hear is about the troglodytes across the border. But in truth, the Iranian people aren’t that. Their government is, sure, but not the people. And government aside, I’m having a hard time trying to picture that they would get behind an attack on us.”

“That sounds just great, Curry,” Lemon Sorbet, the ambassador to the Netherlands, answered, “but I think you’re forgetting that this time our nation is the one being accused. We can’t just make nice and happy statements about X and Y, because this time we are either X or Y! And I don’t know about a lot of you, but this, combined with the attempt on the princesses’ lives last week and what happened in Fillydelphia just a few short weeks back – all eyes are on us now. Every being alive is going to wonder if we are genuinely under attack – or are manufacturing a crisis just to cover our plots.”
“Why would we manufacture a crisis?” Snowdrift White, ambassador to Russia asked. “That’s utter deception!”

Lyra was about to answer, but was instead beaten to the punch by Blossomforth. “Because human geopolitics – and we have to admit, a lot of politics on our world as well – are about perception and theatre. Ponies may be late to the game, but it’s a game we’re going to have to play now, because we can’t just turn our flanks on everything and look away this time. To do so would be catastrophic.”

Voices began milling once again, a sign for Lyra to take control of the meeting once more. “Raggedy, talk to New Zealand and confirm if they’ll represent us at the summit. Lemon, you do the same with the Dutch Crown. We are in a serious crisis here, and until I get further instructions from Princess Cadance, I’ll make sure that we are covered and that we stand with our American allies. The Iranians want to play hardball, ponies. Let’s show them we can do the same. Everypony dismissed and we’ll discuss more later. And take care of yourself, folks. It’s going to be long hours for all of us until this is all over.”

Sunrise came over the still-smoldering ashes of Cloudsdale. And amongst those were some of the heroes who had helped to defend the city that night. Spitfire thought it would be best to have them there to calm the populace and restore some of the good graces that the government had lost in last night’s attack, which had completely caught Equestria’s military forces off-guard.

But at least one of those heroic pilots had no interest in being…well, heroic.

“Aunt Scoots, I’m telling ya – I’m not cut out for this kind of work!” Blitz argued.

“That’s nice, Blitz, not that I care,” the orange mare replied. “These ponies weren’t cut out for what they were exposed to last night, mainly because they’re civilians! And now we’ve got casualties in the thousands, hundreds more wounded and property damage up the wazoo – that’s actual physical property, not cloud-property – that’s running well into the billions of bits.”

“Look, somepony has to be on the prowl for more of those bastards – that’s my job!”

“Uh, no, your job is what I determine it is. Or did you forget I’m your commanding officer?”

“No, Colonel,” he snarled, “but—”

“But I just got out of the hospital the other day, kiddo,” Scootaloo responded, “and I understand the helplessness they’re all feeling right now. And I dunno, about you, but that scares me. So, please, just for me, Blitz, if nothing else, let it go?”

“Fine,” he sighed; he knew he wasn’t going to win this one. Flying over to meet up with his section of troops, they then went off to assist in the rescue in the rubble of Cloudsdale. Daylight had revealed the amount of damage that had been done to the City of Clouds, and none of it was minor. The entire entertainment district had been flattened. Several residential areas were also in tatters, as both enemy and allied craft had strewn their debris across the area. One particularly painful bit of damage, however, had been Cloudsdale Central Hospital, which had been hit by the wreckage of one of the early-response fighters and Nightmare Moon’s subsequent attack. The hospital did not fare well and had crumbled to the ground – literally, through the clouds and to the earth below – due to the heavy amount of medical technology and machinery within. It was believed that three hundred deaths alone were attributed to the hospital’s destruction.

But the worst of the damage had been the fact that the Central Weather Facility had been completely destroyed. That, more than anything, put not only Equestria, but the whole of Alter-Earth in danger. In a regular situation, the CWF could stand in the place of three regional weather facilities at the same time in addition to its normal duties. Unfortunately the same could not be said in reverse. But it was more than just that: it was the training centers, the lifeblood of the pegasus ponies for centuries – whole millennia. And now, with all of that gone in seconds, soon the whole of Equestria’s weather ran the risk of facing climate change on a level that humanity’s complaints of their own world couldn’t even comprehend. Humanity’s concerns of dangerous, uncontrolled weather in a world that had never had weather control paled in comparison to no weather control at all in a place where it was done – with some significant exceptions – entirely due to ponies.

Now pushed by what was now being called the Massacre at Cloudsdale and the destruction of Fillydelphia, ponies were calling for war – a significant change of public standing, considering that ponies were a peaceful species born from a prey animal. But the problem was, they didn’t know who the declare war against. The changelings and Nightmare Moon had been responsible for Fillydelphia, and a human nation for Cloudsdale. There was no way they were tied together, surely, and preparing for combat against one would leave the other in a position to gut their flanks. Even Equestria’s NATO allies could do only so much to protect them against these dual threats.

Standing at the table and looking over rescue plans, Scootaloo sighed. She was no stranger to conflict, having seen the adventures Rainbow and the others had been on and even participated in a few herself once she was of age, but now things were different. War was different – just judging by the technology they’d received from their human allies and what she faced now, the way humans waged war was on an entirely different level than anything ponydom, or for that matter, just about any other species on Alter-Earth could comprehend.

“You think we’ll go to war over this?” a pony asked her.

“With who? Against what? And can we fight two wars at once?” a new voice said. Scootaloo looked up and saw Soarin’ addressing the other officer, a sober look on his face. “I hope not, I truly do. But if we do, I’ll need my top officers to be in the best of shape.” He then turned to address his pseudo-sister-in-law. “Which means you should have stayed in bed, Colonel.”

She smiled. “Permission to speak freely, sir.”

He laughed. “Look, I get enough of that from my son. I don’t need it from you as well.”

“Well, I was going to phrase it more politely….”

“Look, Scootaloo. Rainbow’s in the hospital and you barely survived your trip there. I don’t want to see any more of my family end up there, or worse, from where I can’t bring them back, okay?”

“I’m fine, Soarin’. You know, I’d give you a hug of encouragement right now, but PDA in uniform and all that.”

The stallion grinned. “Well, there is that, isn’t there. Admittedly, it does make it hard for me and Rainbow at times.” His face then clouded with sorrow as he continued in a softer voice, “I don’t know what I’d do without her, Scoots. You really never know what you’re missing until it’s gone. Our marriage has been rocky at times, sure, but we’ve been through ups and downs together and I don’t want to see it end.”

Scootaloo knew the stallion well enough to know that he was rarely this open with others, the cavalier attitude a remnant from his days as a pre-modernization Wonderbolt; the very fact that he’d been so open told her how much he cherished and valued his wife – and by extension, the mare that was the closest thing Rainbow Dash had to a little sister.

“She’ll make it through this, big guy,” she said, tapping him on the shoulder. “And when it’s all done, we’ll get the motherbuckers who did this and the changelings that did Filly. We’ll probably have to call in a few favors from our allies, but hey, isn’t that what friendship is all about?”

Not too far away from them, at a makeshift triage center, Cinnamon helped with First Aid. Every instinct in her body told her to run far away, to head back across the portal and hide in her dorm at Stanford, but she couldn’t. Ponies needed help, and she was the daughter of Fluttershy. There were responsibilities to attend to, and, more importantly, ponies who needed her assistance. She couldn’t leave them behind.

At the moment, she was attending to one of those ponies at that very moment. “There you go,” she told a frightened young pegasus filly whose left wing she bandaged. Instinctively, the little filly wrapped her arms around the older pegasus in fright, and Cinnamon gently nuzzled the sobbing foal. “There, there, you’ll be safe now,” the mare cooed. “We’re here to protect you.”

“Are y-y-you sure?” the filly asked. She was a gentle lilac in color, with a yellow-and-blue mane. Too young to have a cutie mark yet, she looked scared nearly out of her fur.

“What’s your name?” Cinnamon asked.

“Summer Memories,” the filly replied, nervous though automatically. “What’s yours?”

“Cinnamon Star,” the older one replied. “But you don’t have to worry now, I’ll make sure nothing happens to you, I promise.”

“Really?”

Cinnamon nodded. She thought about it a second, then did something she used to do often when she was younger, but not much now, since she hated throwing around her weight. “As the daughter of Fluttershy, Knight Elemental of Kindness, I promise I will keep you safe. I mean, if that’s what you want.”

The filly’s mouth formed an o of surprise as she then asked, “Your mommy’s Fluttershy? The Fluttershy?” When Cinnamon nodded, the filly started to jump up and down in excitement, the wound to her wing momentarily forgotten. “That’s so cool! I wish I could be as brave as her!”

“So do I,” Cinnamon agreed, as a flush of embarrassment crept across her face.

“You already are,” a comforting voice said as Cinnamon felt a soft hoof on her shoulder. Summer Memories’ eyes went wide in surprise as she saw who the voice belonged to. “You’re here helping others when they need it most,” Fluttershy said, standing confidently as a pillar of strength, “and to me that’s very brave of you, sweetie.”

Cinnamon’s chest swelled in pride at her mother’s compliment. “Thanks, Mom,” she said, softly.

“OhmiCelestia it’s Fluttershy!” Summer Memories squealed, bouncing even more so as she realized the older filly standing next to her really was the daughter of the Bearer of Kindness.

“However,” the yellow pegasus continued, “I would have preferred that you went back to college to finish your classes.” She then went over and in a gentle move of her wings, scooped up the tiny filly in a hug.

“I’ve sent emails to my professors, letting them know about my family emergency and that I had to come home for it,” Cinnamon replied. “Plus the news about Cloudsdale has already gotten onto Human-Earth by now, so I’m sure they’ll be more than understanding. Besides, I have a feeling that DJ’s going to need someone to be there for her.”

“Your cousin is a grown mare, dear, but I understand your concerns,” Fluttershy nodded, giving her daughter a sunny smile. She then turned to look at the foal in her forelegs. “Shall we go find your parents?” she asked.

“You really mean that?” Summer Memories asked, bouncy as a filly could be – out of all the ponies who offered to help her, it was none other than the legendary Fluttershy who had come to her day. The young filly’s heart began to soar, feeling hope.

Fluttershy smiled comfortingly. “We Bearers always keep our promises,” she assured the lilac filly. Turning back to give Cinnamon a look saying she’d be back soon, the yellow mare placed the filly on her back and took to wing effortlessly, heading towards the residential areas of Cloudsdale.

Cinnamon watched as her faded into a dot in the distance, a second sun shining confidence as she knifed her way through the sky. The teen mare knew that her mother was the perfect pony for this job, and not just because of her duties to the Crown. Summer Memories wasn’t much older than Cinnamon had been when she was adopted, and if the filly had lost her parents…it would be a tragic parody of life for a young filly to have to witness the end of her life as she knew it.

“Why didn’t you go with them?” Cinnamon turned and found Sweetie standing next to her. The unicorn was leading her own group of mages in assisting the rescue efforts and so was also here, yet another member of the Royal Family devoting their services to the ponies that needed them.

“I’d only be in Mom’s way,” the pegasus told her aunt. “Besides, I’d rather not be reminded of what happened to me so long ago. I’m over it now, but it would probably rip open old wounds if the same thing happened to her as it did me.”

“I think that’s why you should go,” Sweetie told her niece. “If that filly’s lost her parents, then who better to tell her tomorrow will be a brighter day? You were too young to remember when you lost your birth parents, but she’s not.”

Realization crossed Cinnamon’s face as Sweetie’s words sank in. “I…didn’t think about that. I guess I’m so used to having Mom and Dad there for me that I never thought about anything like that.”

“Then let me add something else to think about,” the unicorn mage added. “What if Summer Memories had siblings that didn’t survive? I know that you’re aware that Fluttershy miscarried well before you were born, but think about what all that will do to your mother if she is put in that situation.” Sweetie’s voice then added sadly, “Especially since we’re all still feeling Apple Bloom’s own miscarriage as well.”

A steely look etched itself onto Cinnamon’s face. “You’re absolutely right, Aunt Sweetie,” she said, nuzzling the older mare. “You’re best pony, you know that?” Before Sweetie could answer, the sienna-hued pegasus shot into the air, racing as fast as she could to catch up to her mother.

“We are here to examine the prisoners,” a stern-looking pegasus mare dressed in the attire of the REAF’s medical corps said. Standing next to her was another physician, though according to his badge, he was from the Mage Guild.

“Ah, Dr. Brainwell, Dr. Happy Thoughts,” the guard standing at the door said as he read their ID badges, “do you have your authorization? Sorry, it’s just that after what these bastards did, my unit’s got orders to not let anyone through unless they have authorization. That even goes for medical staff, I’m afraid.”

“Quite understandable,” Happy Thoughts replied as the pegasus stallion magically lifted documents from his saddlebags. “I don’t envy you, Sergeant. You probably have the most thankless job in all of Equestria.”

“No kidding.” The guard looked over the documents before passing them back to Happy Thoughts. “Well, looks like everything’s in order.” Turning to Dr. Brainwell, he said, “Sorry about that, Major. Just doing my duty.”

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Brainwell replied. “If these humans get free, I shudder to think of what will happen to Equestria. So keep at your job, Sergeant – you are the pride of the nation right now.”

“Thank you, ma’am!” he said, rendering a salute as he moved aside to let them through. Brainwell and Happy Thoughts returned the salute as both of them walked into the cell block containing the human prisoners.

“We should just kill them and be done with it,” Happy Thoughts said as green magic enveloped him, revealing the pepsis Overcast Night, with a disgusted look on his face.

“And that’s why you’re not in charge, dearest brother,” “Brainwell” said as she changed back into Blue Velvet’s normal form. “Ghino’s right, you know – by continuing the subterfuge and allowing Equestria to waste more ammunition on a war with a human nation, it leaves them open for an attack by Mother’s forces and her ally’s. “Doing it the hard way will just cost needless lives – including yours and possibly mine. Trust me, Ghino’s way works better.”

“You’re awfully taken by that human,” Overcast snarled.

In turn, Velvet turned and patted her brother on the face. “He knows how to treat a lady like a lady, shall we say. And if you say anything further about him that I can remotely construe as bad? I’ll kill you where you stand.” She turned back, looking at the prison door numbers for the right one.

“Someday your lust will be your downfall,” Overcast warned.

“Someday your stupidity will be yours,” she answered back. “Now do your job, Overcast. You wouldn’t want me to let our older brother know about your poor performance, am I right?” The moment Overcast Night blanched, Velvet knew she’d made her mark.

Finally, the pair reached the cell containing the prisoner they were looking for: Col. Ibrahim Khalid, formerly of the IRIAF. As the two pepsis approached, he looked up. “So, you’ve come to change the bargain I take it?” he asked.

“Sir, if you do exactly what we say, we will not only make it very lucrative for you but have you freed within forty-eight hours,” Velvet began.

“They’re beautiful,” Elusive said, his voice choked up. At the moment, he was at the hospital’s maternity wing, looking at his newborn foals as they rested. He looked like he’d gotten very little sleep last night – none of them did, but for different reasons – and right now he was leaning against the window, staring at the beautiful lives his beloved wife had brought into the world just hours ago. Turning back to DJ, he said, “Words can’t describe how grateful I am for what you did.”

She went over and embraced him, saying, “LICD, bro, LICD.”

“LICD?” Luna, who was also standing there, asked.

“‘Least I Could Do,’” Elusive translated. “Internet slang. My broker in New York has an intern who seems to speak nothing but ‘chatspeak’, as they call it, which is how I found out. I got quite an education from him on all that.”

“Oh-kay, and I thought some of the tellers at my Navy Fed branch were a little weird,” DJ muttered. “So how long will Butter and the kids need to be here?”

“The foals can come home immediately,” he replied. “Unfortunately, the doctor told me that due to the amount of dust and debris from the attack, Butter picked up a minor infection while foaling. Nothing to worry about, they insisted, but they want to keep her a couple more days to add a few more antiseptic spells just in case. She seemed okay with that.”

“Of course she is,” Luna chuckled. “She gets to rest a few extra days while you get to feed the crying foals at three in the morning.” A sudden thought came to mind and Luna asked, “If the twins are coming home with you, Elusive, how are they going to be fed?”

“Good question. With Butter here for the next few days, I suppose I’ll have to find a mare willing to put up with a lactating spell,” he mused.

Luna shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t help you there. Not only do I need my mobility, there would also be a lot of awkward questions as to why a single princess is suddenly nursing.”

“I wasn’t about to ask you, Aunt Luna, no offense. DJ?” he asked. “And that’s a request for advice, nothing else,” he quickly added.

“I know, but as much as I adore you, little brother, I was not going to sign up for round three. But to be honest, folks,” the humanized pony answered, “that’s what formula’s for. When they were babies, I had to put Stuart and Tyler on formula at one time or another due to their feeding schedules – pumps aren’t always useful for ponies, I found out.” While both of the other two ponies looked at DJ oddly, she continued. “I’m sure we can dig up some formula that will work for the twins, at least long enough to hold out to get Butter a pump or something like that.”

“What’s a pump?” Elusive asked.

“I’m assuming this has to do with human feeding?” Luna inquired as well.

DJ was just about to respond when the head of the hospital walked in, making a beeline for Luna. “Your highness, it’s an honor to have you here in my facility,” he began. “I sincerely apologize if I’d forgotten any prior inspection you’d had planned.”

“No inspection, Doctor; I’m here on family business,” she replied, in order to set him at ease. “My nephew Elusive’s wife just foaled, and my niece accompanied her younger brother.” It was an abbreviated explanation, admittedly, but the official one would take too long and Luna’s desire for formality was out the window at this point.

“That’s wonderful. Congratulations to you, your grace,” the administrator said, putting a name to the face almost instantly. Turning back to the alicorn, he added, “I wanted to inform you about some wonderful news: we just received word that they found a survivor in the remains of Fillydelphia. Human military helicopter just brought her in a few minutes ago and the human medic that took care of her is filling out the custody paperwork, if you care to speak with him.”

Luna felt as though a weight had just been lifted off her withers. “That’s wonderful news, Doctor. And the survivor?”

“As for our new patient, she’s under heavy sedation right now.” He willed a clipboard in front of him, then read from it. “Severe dehydration and malnutrition – she looks like she hasn’t eaten in weeks,” he said. “She also has some sort of infection that we’re working on, as well as poisoning from changeling nutrient fluid. But I would appreciate if somepony could start looking into her family history, your highness. Her next-of-kin would, I’m sure, very much appreciate knowing that she’s still alive.”

“I’ll see to it at once,” Luna promised. “What is her name?”

“According to Corporal Brellisford, it’s ‘Minty’.” When the look of the princess and the other two ponies became one of utter shock, the doctor added, “I’m guessing you know her, then.”

“There’s something here,” Faust told Emmé, “and I can’t define what it is, but I know it’s important.”

“Look, you know I’ve always been there for you, Faust, but even this one is a little far-fetched. You suddenly pack up shop, ask me to watch over your husband and kids, and here you are shacking up in Belgium with….” The human sorceress watched the other two women in the room, doing what would best be described as “absolutely impossible” had Emmé actually not been familiar with said impossibilities.

“You know, those two remind me of a couple of West German hippies I used to know in the 1960s,” the French sorceress said. “One of them became a nun, the other a prostitute in Bonn. I’m glad that Frieda chose to change her life. Michele, on the other hand….” Emmé shrugged sadly.

“Well, I can promise you they’re not them. Hell, they’re not even human,” Faust said. “Both of them are followers, or devotees or acolytes of a friend of mine – he’s never really clear on that – and they have extensive magic at their hooves. Oh, and both are earth ponies.”

A blonde brow shot up. “Wait – earth ponies are incapable of magic manipulation, if I recall what you told me once.”

Faust nodded. “So now you see why I’m keeping them here instead of at home?”

“Almost.” Emmé watched as the gray-haired one built a replica of the Coliseum using nothing but mustard, while the purple-and-white haired teen sat on the ceiling, playing xylophone with bubbles that immediately turned into to chocolate bon-bons that fell to the ground before transforming into mice that hulaed their way out the window. “Promise me something, Faust.”

“You bet.”

“If you decide to head to one of my safehouses, don’t let them near my liquor cabinet, okay?”

Breakfast had, in the past, been a very beautiful affair: Celestia and Luna always ate together since it dovetailed with their schedules; often, they were joined by Cadance and, when he was still alive, Shining Armor as well. More often than not, Twilight or one of the other Bearers who lived in town, or their family members, joined the princesses; it was, after all, part of what tied them all together as members of the Royal Family. On rare occasions, Blueblood and his brood joined as well; those were the mornings none of the servers wanted to be around for and usually ended up being the days were there was, understandably, subpar service by the staff.

Today was none of those kinds of days. Certainly not because Blueblood and his family were present; in fact, he and his family announced their intent to vacation in the Hoofalulu Islands, seemingly oblivious to the fact that their nation had been attacked just scant hours prior. No, this had more to do with Celestia’s slip of the tongue and her niece, the Princess of Love, standing within earshot.

“It was…okay, I admit it – I was thinking out loud, reciting a line from a romance novel I was just reading.” The Princess of the sun took a bit of her crepes, enjoying the sweet breakfast delicacy.

The younger alicorn looked at Celestia questioningly, a cup of tea floating just in front of her. “Romance novel. Riiiiiiiiiight.”

“Cadance, I do believe I’m allowed to have some hobbies, you know. All work and no play makes Celestia a dull filly,” she said with a guilty smile.

“Yes, and if my Hearths Warming Eve gifts to you have been wrong all these years, you enjoy mysteries, not tack-ripping romance novels.” At the sudden mention of that, Celestia’s smile fell and Cadance flashed a gotcha smile that was usually found on the elder princess’ face. “The offer to meddle…I mean, assist, is open at any time, Celestia.”

“Cadance, I’m not supposed to be in any kind of relationship,” Celestia allowed in the slightest statement of defeat. “The populace sees me as a mother figure, and—”

“That doesn’t make it right,” the younger princess interjected, a sad look in her eyes. “You, of all ponies, deserve to be happy, to have someone there at night to hold and love you forever. I nearly had that with Shining, and I would have been with him for all of eternity. I want you and Luna to have that same kind of chance at love – I wish Twi would find someone.” She set the cup down, nodding to a servant to refill. She waited until he was out of earshot to continue with, “Okay, so who is it? One of the guards? I know Dazzling Regalia and Sure Protector have always had their eye on you….”

Thankfully, Celestia had a way out of this. “Actually since you’re here, I need to talk to you about the attack on Cloudsdale.”

“I wish you wouldn’t change the subject like that. Besides, didn’t you just put me on maternity leave yesterday?”

“I did, but I can’t just ignore the latest reports on the casualties from the attack.”

Cadance let her aunt out of the metaphorical chokehold. “I know – that’s actually why I’m here, not because I’m trying to interfere with your love life, though for the record, I support that wholeheartedly. Anyway, I got a report from Lyra just a few minutes ago. Just before the attack, our troops were ambushed on Iranian grounds, hunting for those fighters. And the Iranians supposedly have enough confirmation of ours and American troops on their soil to have us dead by rights, as the saying goes. We safely recovered our forces, but in the process we killed Iranian soldiers – in Iraq, no less – and have that problem to deal with now as well.” The pink princess teleported a copy of the report over to her senior.

“What’s the American opinion?” Celestia asked as she began to read Lyra’s report.

“Lyra was already contacted by the White House. President Cantwell thinks we should go to the negotiating table first, though he’s more than willing to back us up militarily if we need to go to war. Also, it was pointed out that due to the attack on Cloudsdale, we can invoke NATO Article Five, which means we have the whole of the alliance backing us up as well.” Cadance looked at a tablet she brought, then added, “Also, I know you’ve pushed it off a bit, but the American ambassador wanted to meet with you this morning regarding their updates on the whole thing. I asked her to hold off until tomorrow so I could pre-brief you first.”

“Look, I’m sure Ambassador Williams is a wonderful person,” Celestia began, cutting another piece of the concoction of crepe and strawberries, before adding, “it’s just that….”

“You think she’s a little too tied to the Cantwell administration because she’s the older sister of Vice President Williams,” Cadance replied, before she took a quick bite of her yogurt.

“Honestly, I’d have preferred James Ellison had stayed in position. Unfortunately, democracies aren’t like ours and don’t seem to make their diplomatic posts lifetime positions,” the day alicorn said, matter-of-factly. “I just want to know if you trust Megan Williams.”

The romance alicorn nodded. “I do. She seems to be very sensitive towards the needs of our nation; she’s joked that’s because she grew up on a horse ranch in Wyoming, as well as being a child actress on some kids’ show also involving horses. Anyway, just because President Cantwell isn’t on your favorites list and Vice President Williams is worse doesn’t mean his sister is bad. She’s told me that she and Dan – that’s Vice President Williams, for the record – used to argue a lot when they were kids and it didn’t improve much after they became adults. But getting back to my point: she can be considered a friend of Equestria, and in fact has made a close friend in Sundance, one of my senior aides. I suggest having Sundance sit in with us during that meeting.”

“So noted,” was all Celestia said.

The two fell quiet as they continued to eat their breakfasts, finally punctuated by Cadance asking plainly, “So what do you plan to do?”

The Princess Regnant of Equestria fell very quiet at that question. Equestria hadn’t seen war in hundreds of years, and while everything wasn’t perfect, it was fair to say that the Royal Guards of old weren’t nearly as prepared for conflict as the modern Royal Equestriani Armed Forces. Celestia herself had actually been personally involved in the last few wars, especially the last one, when she and Nightmare Moon clashed. She’d felt the effects of that for decades, careening between guilt over Luna’s loss and the hope that her sister would someday be freed of the demon’s influence. But, even to this day, what never really came up were the millions that fought in the war beside her, and those who had taken Luna’s side. Though no official tally was ever taken, Celestia’s best guess was that over two million fought under her banner and half that under her sister’s, and at the end of the conflict the count of those lost were in the millions – sadly, most of them civilians caught in the conflict. Even then, it had ended with the death of two of the Bearers of the Elements at the time, and to this day Celestia still mourned her fallen friends Twilight Ivory and Firefly.

“Celestia?” Cadance’s voice again brought the elder princess back to the present.

“Changelings to the left of me, Iranians to the right and here I am, stuck in the middle with you,” the sun alicorn said to her counterpart with a wry grin.

“That’s a…rather odd phrasing.”

“It was one of Robin’s favorite songs,” Celestia said, wistfully.

“Robin…that’s a human name, isn’t it? So you’re after a human?”

Celestia sighed, inwardly rebuking herself. Too close to the bone, Tia, too close to the bone. “No, Robin was a member of FiMPro in its first year, back when Luna and I joined the group in secret to make sure the plan worked. He was a musician that Luna fell in love with while they were here and if I’d let her, she’d have married him and lived on Human-Earth. Even now, all I have to do is say the word.”

“But that was two decades ago!” Cadance gasped. “Does Luna still think he loves her?”

Celestia, teacup in her telekinesis, recounted what had happened since. “He married twice, divorced both times. He has a daughter from the first marriage named Luna – two bits as to where the name comes from. Little Luna is twelve years old, and though I don’t know much about her, she’s a wonderful child, so I’m told. But she also believes that her birth mother isn’t her real mother, and apparently Robin’s first wife not only disavowed her own daughter, Robin himself hasn’t done much to discredit the thought.”

“So, you’re tell me that Luna has an illegitimate dau—” Cadance began, before shutting right up. That was the kind of scandal the palace did not need at all. So instead she changed tacks. “You ruled for a thousand years by youself,” the pink alicorn pointed out, using her magic to stir some sugar into her tea. “From the day I was born, until Luna’s return, I was the Crown Princess. I’m not jealous of being downgraded at all, but I’d be happier if she were to be happy.”

“I’d rather not talk about this,” Celestia said.

“Fine. You’re dodging the main subject of our conversation, in any case. So let’s get back to that. “What do you intend to do?”

The sun alicorn sighed, drooped her head and when she looked up again, her face looked ancient for just a second. “As much as my ponies are screaming otherwise, war isn’t the best course of action. We run the risk of fighting two wars at once, and focusing on either angle leaves us vulnerable on the other. Our best course of action is to take the American advice and meet the Iranians at the negotiating table, and fortify against another changeling attack. All eyes are on us right now, Cadance, and I have to put Equestria’s best hoof forward.”

“Even if it gets cut off in the process?”

“It doesn’t mean I’ll be standing still.” Her breakfast done, Celestia rose from the table and told Cadance, “Get your staff ready and ask Ambassador Williams to meet us tomorrow morning at her earliest convenience. Then contact Lyra and AC and inform them to continue their current path; they’ve already started what I intend to continue. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to Spitfire and Blueblood – we’ll need to budget for the next aircraft carrier I intend to build, just in case we needed it.” The ruler of Equestria walked over to her niece and gave her a kiss on the forehead, saying, “How partial are you to an aircraft carrier named Shining Armor?”

Cadance nuzzled her aunt. “It would mean more to me and Twilight than you could ever imagine,” the romance alicorn said, tears of joy and love in her eyes, never taking her eyes off her aunt as the older mare regally walked out of the dining room. A second later, Cadance swore – she still didn’t know the name of the pony who had her aunt’s heart.

Assuming it’s a pony, she thought as she thought about Luna’s once-paramour. What was it about humans that ponies – the mares, in particular – found so compelling?

Exhausted, Twilight Sunburn fell to the ground, panting. She’d been fighting non-stop for the past seven hours, and this wasn’t even real fighting, she was told – this was only training for the “real action” that was yet to come.

Standing above her, an enraged minotaur cow carrying a massive mace showered her with contempt. “And here I thought you had some skills, Sunburn!” The minotaur disappeared in a blast of emerald fire, revealing Twilight Gloaming to be standing before her. “You don’t learn to toughen up, you’re going to die – and I’m going to enjoy every moment of that!”

Sunburn could barely focus, and certainly couldn’t form an answer to her sister’s epithet.

“Gah, you’re just weak – I don’t see why Blood Armor insists you can be saved, but…” She motioned for three other pepsis. “Make sure she gets back to her cot. Do not help her, just make sure she doesn’t die on the way. And if she does…your lives are forfeit as well.” The looks of surprise and fear on the other pepsis made it clear that their lives were on the line, entirely based on as arbitrary as Sunburn’s own survival.

She knew she was in hell.

Never stop, child, a voice said in her mind, comforting and mellow. Your day is coming.

“Mother?” she whispered sotto voce, wondering if Chrysalis was coming to rescue her after all. But that was impossible, wasn’t it?

Forcing herself back to her feet, the pepsis dazedly wandered back to her cot, her escorts in tow, hoping for the return of that miracle.

Mike had just enough time to get to Twilight’s house before he ran into Sam. “Hey, Mike, what the hell happened? You guys okay? Where’s DJ?”

“We got separated during the attack, but Celestia, who saved me, got a note from Luna, who has DJ safe and sound,” the Sailor responded.

“You have no idea how much we were worried about you two. Mom and Dad aren’t getting any younger, so would you two please stop with these death-defying histrionics before you and sis put them in an early grave?” The younger man flashed a grin to show his humor, then continued. “In any case, the Embassy’s looking for you. They said you didn’t check in this morning, and when I told them you were in Cloudsdale, well….”

“Yeah, a lot too much of that going around lately,” Mike replied. “Now I know how DJ feels when I go out on deployment. Anyway, I gotta go shower, get changed and report in – I’m sure Gen. Bryson’s going to want an on-site report.” He took two more steps before something hit him. “Where is everyone?”

“Well, Mom and Dad went to go visit Twilight in the hospital. As for the boys, Spike just got in an hour ago and he’s tutoring them today. Big guy’s got a theory that because they’re half-pony, they might have pony abilities of some kind.”

Mike’s face was a picture-perfect look of dismay. “Oh, God, I hope he’s wrong. Last thing your sister and I need are kids with earth pony strength, or can fly or use magic.”

“Yeah, I feel you there. Anyway, I gotta get going. I agreed to meet this afternoon with some folks from the Canterlot Sheriff’s Department and the Mage Guild Law Enforcement Division – they wanted to have a discussion about the differences in pony and human law enforcement styles, and hey, I’ve got plenty of free-time on my hands, so I figured what the hay, you know?” Sam laughed. “‘Sides, might meet some hottie of a pony or something, since my parents are constantly telling me I need to settle down.”

“All you, bro,” Mike said, patting his brother-in-law on the shoulder. “If someone from the Embassy shows up while I’m in the shower, let them know my phone was destroyed in the incident, but that Princess Celestia’s Office can confirm everything I’ve said.”

“Will do.”

Despite the size of the city – and definitely due to its reputation as the hometown of the current Bearers – Ponyville General Medical Center had the best trauma care center in all of Equestria; only the hospitals of major cities and military bases even came close. Most of the seriously wounded from the Cloudsdale attack had been brought here and to other hospitals; fortunately, PGMC had more than enough capacity to handle the cases that were swarming in. Though the staff was heroically focused on the victims of the attack, the news that a survivor had been found in what was left of Fillydelphia brought new resolve to the tired medical workers.

Placed in a secure room protected by a small retinue of ERG guards, a mint-green earth pony lay on the bed. She was unconscious and looked frail, delicate enough to break in two. She was breathing through a snout mask, the transparent plastic occasionally fogging up in time with her breath. She was hooked up to a plethora of diagnostic, dialysis, and transfusion equipment, the medical monitor’s heartbeat indicator beeping a steady rhythm with her heart. Most of her body was covered in bandages and the parts that weren’t were few and far between – and likely coveed by the medical smock or the blankets she slept under.

The pony’s loved ones – well, her brother and aunt, in any case; DJ didn’t count herself as part of Minty’s “loved ones” by any stretch of the imagination – were also in the room. DJ noted Luna’s horn flaring with magic, likely bringing to bear the same healing spells the alicorn had used on her not too long ago.

The glow around Luna’s horn died and she grunted in anger. “That damn changeling fluid in her system is blocking my magic,” she seethed.

Elusive put a comforting foreleg around his aunt. He knew Luna’s failure weighed heavily on her and how much family meant to the dusky mare. He also knew what she hadn’t said: that it had been that very same fluid, a so-called “nymph nutrient fluid” that acted as a poison when in a pony body; it had been that same toxin that had killed his uncle Shining Armor fifteen years ago. “So there’s nothing that can be done?” he asked.

“Human medical technology is supposed to be able to extract it from her body with a 99.99% efficiency rate,” Luna said by way of apology; the administrator had told her much the same. “Until it’s completely extracted, there’s not much anypony can do. Thankfully it’s only enough to just debilitate her healing, not enough to kill. Even still, it’s going to take at least a day for them to completely purge it from her system.” She coughed to clear her throat and said, “I’ve taken the time to talk to the Canadian medic who was there when he found her. Had he not known about the nutrient poisoning, she might be in worse shape. When I get back to the palace, I’ll write a letter of commendation for him.”

“Thank you, Aunt Luna. That means a lot to me,” Elusive said, his welling eyes feeling the sting of tears.

“What happened to her?” DJ asked, feeling as though she were intruding on a family moment where she didn’t belong. “Didn’t she live in a major city?”

“Fillydelphia was destroyed by changelings a few weeks ago,” Luna intoned, her own eyes growing wet as she looked at the infirm pony on the bed and tried to reconcile it with the memories of her bossy, headstrong niece. “We don’t know the full details as to why, but we believe it was a joint effort of both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis to take the Bearers out of commission – but now, given the former’s change in focus, I’m not so sure,” she said delicately, not choosing to bring up the attack DJ had suffered just a few hours ago. “In any case, we didn’t think anypony survived. Elusive, this is going to be hard for you, but…they found no sign of Toffee Crunch or Gumdrop. Given the circumstances Minty was found in, I fear the worst.”

“Toffee was a devoted husband and father, he would have been with them to the end,” Elusive said, the look on his face growing bleak. “And little Gumdrop….” The tears finally fell: he was now a father, but the loss of his niece and sister ripped out his heart. “She was just a little filly with so much to live for!” He turned to embrace DJ, unashamed to be crying at the moment. “DJ, you’ll never get to meet your niece. Gumdrop was so full of life and love, a beautiful little filly with a heart of gold and so much to look forward to – and now she never will.”

Holding her younger brother, DJ felt numb. A brother-in-law and niece she’d never known were dead, and the sister who hated her was close to it herself. Were it not for her newfound link with Elusive, she wasn’t sure she could feel anything at all. “I wish I’d have met them,” she said, her face impassive. She couldn’t cry, though she felt sorrow – for her aunt and her brother, not for ponies she’d never known. And a part of herself chided her for that. Had she become such a numbed adult that the world drew away her feelings? She wasn’t the only person to deal with that; it was often said to be a tragic stage of adulthood that all humans went through, and by extension of her own life, her as well.

One of the guards approached. “My apologies, your highness and your graces, but we’ve just received a communique from the palace. They’re expecting you back soonest, Princess.”

“I see,” Luna said, wiping her eyes. “Please inform my office that we’ll be enroute within the hour. We should return anyway, since Minty’s other family members must be informed of this.” Seeing the impassive look on his face, she then asked, “Is there anything else?”

“Yes, your highness. Her majesty would like you to accompany her tonight on a public speech she intends to give regarding the recent crises.” He floated a tablet over to her, and the night alicorn quickly read its contents. Turning it off, the guard willed it out of existence. “One of the Royal Chariots is on standby whenever you are ready to depart, your majesty. We will, of course, leave a detachment here to watch over both Countess Lusitano and Countess Calabrese.”

“Thank you, that will be all,” Luna replied. The guard gave her a perfunctory nod before turning and went to issue the next set of orders to his troops.

“Faust?” The redhead sat up in bed, looking in the direction of the voice. Standing sideways in the air, looking very vulnerable, was Screwball. She kept shifting between her human and pony forms like something out of a body horror film, but the alicorn had seen enough real horrors that this was nothing.

“Yes, Screwball?” she asked patiently. The teenage mare (assuming that’s really what she was) rarely spoke, and while Discord had never told her anything about that, Faust was quickly picking up that something was very inexplicable about her, something not even the pony’s “daddy” could explain.

“The Daughter comes,” Screwball said, kneading her fingers together. Her hands suddenly became hooves, and her fingers fell off, landing on the ground before turning into flowers that stretched towards the being’s half-nose before crawling back in. “The Daughter comes and she must be saved or all will be lost.” Screwball then exploded into thousands of cards; only a few of them had hit the ground before Faust had leapt out of bed and snatched the closest one with her hands.

She looked at the card, a tarot card – Number XIII: Death. This was an unusual set she hadn’t seen before, certainly not the standard Rider-Waite. Bending down, she picked up more cards. All of them were from different tarot styles, but it was that same Death card.

Her body suddenly felt numb and she crashed to the ground. She quickly got back up, but was surprised to find herself in her true form instead of her normal one. Changing back to her human appearance, she picked up the last Death card, which strangely depicted a changeling queen riding a white unicorn with a two-toned blue mane as her steed. While the picture depicted traditional mounting – i.e., how a human would ride a horse – the former queen wasn’t so far gone from her origins that she also knew the other term for mounting.

“I know what I’m looking for,” she whispered to herself.

“Is she still asleep?” Fluttershy asked Cinnamon as the older pegasus approached the command tent.

The younger mare nodded. “Yes. Poor filly cried herself to sleep,” Cinnamon said, looking at the lilac pegasus lying on a nearby bench, covered with a blanket.

“I shouldn’t have taken her,” Fluttershy said with regret. “I should have found out where she lived first and asked the sheriff’s office to find out if they had anything on her family.” The yellow pegasus looked as though she was ready to cry herself. “Her entire family – wiped out. Her father was killed in a public display by Nightmare Moon.”

“Mom, there was no way to know. Summer’s not going to blame you for that, and I certainly don’t. You did the best you could, and you would have done the same for anypony in need.”

“Not good enough,” the Knight Elemental of Kindness told her daughter. The events of a few hours were clearly still hitting her hard. As they flew over the remains of Fluttershy’s hometown, the untouched residential areas of Cloudsdale turned out to be anything but. Several homes were in flames or destroyed. The home that Summer shared with her family turned out to be right in the center of everything that had been utterly destroyed – with the majority of her family having been inside, rescuers had told Fluttershy. The traumatized filly tried to go into the ruined home to find her mother and siblings, but it had been no use. And with reports having come in on the public murder of Autumn Memories, Summer Memories now had become a heart-wrenching footnote in Equestria’s history: the first possible war orphan in centuries.

“What’s going to happen to her?”

Fluttershy looked at the young filly with sorrow. “Under normal circumstances, dear, I’d give her your room, because I’m expecting you to return to college,” the yellow pegasus told her daughter. “But I suspect I’ll have my hooves full soon and neither your father nor aunt have any time to watch a young foal while they manage the farm.”

“But you said both Dad and Aunt AJ practically raised Aunt Bloomie!”

“Yes, but that was when things were simpler,” Fluttershy explained, “and they had their grandmother to fall back on. Cinnamon, things are going to be getting complex soon, and we might even be at war in the near future.” Once, Fluttershy would have had a meltdown before admitting that, but she had to admit she was far from those days of being a shy, timid twenty-something. “I’ll be tied up with the search as well, so I won’t have time to look after her either. It wouldn’t be fair to her to just dump her somewhere.”

“So you’re going to put her in an orphanage?” Cinnamon said, practically wheeling on her mother.

“I have to. I don’t want to, sweetie, I don’t. But I have to.”

“Mom, no – please. You said it yourself: orphanages in Equestria are lonely places for foals to grow up in and you’ve spent decades trying to change the system. But nothing changes it like family. I’m grateful more than I can say that you and Dad adopted me. And now Summer needs somepony to show her there’s a better tomorrow, now more than ever.”

“Cinnamon, I understand how you feel, but this is for the be—”

“No, Mom, it’s not!” Cinnamon interjected. “It’s not for the best, not for her!” The look in the younger mare’s eyes was one of pleading. “Mom, I know you’re bound by your duties and family and that you wouldn’t let down your sisters, but you grew up in an age of innocence, one I know you’re afraid I’m never going to see for my foals. But,” the younger pony added, “if you send her to an orphanage where she’ll never have the chance to discover that there will be a better tomorrow for her, how will she enjoy that tomorrow you’re set on making for me and fillies like her?”

Fluttershy blinked for a few seconds as Cinnamon’s words sank in. Then a wide, loving smile came over her face as she said, “Do you know how proud you make me, Cinnamon?” She nuzzled her daughter, then said, “Talk to your Aunt Bloomie. If there’s anypony who can figure out how to make it work, it’s her. Let her know that I’d appreciate the help.”

Cinnamon’s eyes became misty. “Thank you, Mom.”

“No, sweetheart, thank you. I’ve been so busy preparing for darker days lately that I almost forgot what I’m really preparing for. Thankfully, I’ve got a daughter who’s a smart and caring young mare.”

Watching from a distance, Sweetie Belle stood next to Scootaloo and Soarin’. As the senior official on-site, the three had intended to give Fluttershy a report. Sweetie said, “I don’t know what happened, but I’m glad it did,” she told the other two.
“So do I,” Scootaloo told the others, a wide smile on her face.

“Enjoy that smile, mares,” Soarin’ said, a sad catch in his voice. “I get the feeling that’s the last time we’re going to be seeing that on anypony’s face for quite some time.”

“It’s your call, but I support you in this,” Luna told her sister. The press room in the palace was now set up for the hardest press conference Celestia had ever given. The usual media outlets were there – Equestria Daily, the Ponyville Press, Radio Everfree, the Equestria National Press, and the like – but now had others in the audience from the other AE nations as well as all the human nations. All in all, the room had reached standing room only.

“For the first time in a long, long while, I feel nervous about addressing the press,” the sun alicorn admitted.

“It’s okay,” Cadance assured her. “Featherweight’s in the crowd and if anyone knows how to keep a rogue member of the press in line, it’s him. Yeah, they’ll probably accuse the palace of using a member of the Royal Family as one of the members of the press pool, but hey, not our fault that he married Scootaloo, right?” she laughed.

“I suppose not,” Celestia said with a weak smile, as her press secretary indicated that it was time for her to start. Giving her loved ones a quick look, the ruler of Equestria then started walking down the hall, towards the press room.

Luna was about to follow her sister, when Cadance stopped her. “Luna, do you have a couple of moments?”

“Sure, though I think we should be there for her,” the moon alicorn pointed out.

“We will; this won’t take long. I wanted to ask you about how much you know about Celestia’s paramour. It’s clear that it’s becom—”

“Celestia has a what?”

“Okay, I’m guessing you don’t know about it, then.”

“No, I didn’t.” The Princess of the Night brought a forehoof to her head; it was clearly turning out to be that sort of day. “Let’s talk about this tomorrow, over lunch. I’ll have my office set something up with a local restaurant and we can talk in private about this. I don’t like it when she’s hiding stuff, because it has a bad tendency to go south on her when she doesn’t expect it. And knowing Celestia, she’s probably not paying attention to the part that’s about to go south.”

“Look, I just want her to be happy, Luna. I’m sorry she broke up you and Robin so long ago.”

“No, I’m just glad that she didn’t try to separate you and Shining during the time when you were Crown Princess. But yes, I do think we should talk. Now, let’s get in there and see Celestia through this time.” With that the two alicorns walked into the press room, where Celestia was waiting to start her speech.

Bound in his chains, Discord relaxed. He knew something was about to happen, and that a Great Truth would soon be revealed.

“May I be forgiven all,” he said to himself, “and even the parts they don’t remember.” He looked at an object he held in his paws, an apple. The apple merely disappeared instead of being transmogrified or flying away or any of a myriad of things Discord could have done with it. Apples, he found, were strangely immune to his power. Not apple trees, or anything made from apples, but the fruit in whole itself.

“The times are coming when clench and palm will war,” he said to no one in particular, “and everything will end and everything will begin.”

“…an’ as long as y’ do yer chores an’ go t’ school, y’ should be fine,” the yellow earth pony said to the young filly, an understanding smile on her face.

“Yes, ma’am,” Summer Memories said, nervously. She looked lost and frightened, having lost everything. She turned to look at Cinnmon, hoping for succor.

“You’ll be fine, Summer, I promise,” Cinnamon said, lowering herself to her haunches to hug and nuzzle the smaller filly. “My aunt Apple Bloom is one of the best ponies around, and my Uncle Snails is very smart. You’ll be in good hooves on my family’s farm, I promise.”

“Will I ever see my family again?” Summer asked, hoping against hope.

“If Mom can find a member of your family, then we’ll take you there in an instant,” the sienna-coated mare replied, not wanting to lie, but knowing that the chances of that luck would be remote. “But until then, promise me that you’ll do your best, okay?”

“I will,” the filly sobbed, heartbroken.

“Y’ know what? Ah think it’s time fer some good ol’ fashioned Apple hospitality,” Apple Bloom said, adjusting her gray Stetson. “Snails, think y’ c’n rustle up some apple pie fer th’ little youngin’?”

“Just my thought exactly, dear,” the unicorn replied. Snails floated the child upon his back, nodding to his wife and niece before saying in the warmest tones possible, “Now, let’s show you to your room, okay? You’ve got a big day tomorrow and we want to make sure you’re ready for school tomorrow, okay?” He grinned and said, “Would you like to teleport?”

Her eyes grew wide. “Really?”

He nodded. “Close your eyes!” As she did, his horn lit up and the pair disappeared, headed towards the family home.

As the pair departed, Cinnamon looked at Apple Bloom. “Thank you, Aunt Bloomie. You don’t realize how much this means to me and Mom.”

Apple Bloom blushed. “Aw, shucks. Me an’ Snails’d do anythin’ fer family, y’ know that.”

Cinnamon nodded. “I know, but to be watching a foal so soon after—”

The mare cut her off. “Ah know whutcher gonna say, Cinnam’n, and Ah hafta ‘dmit, it still hurts, hurts a lot. But Ah know that li’l youngin’ needs us as much as we prolly need her. Ah’ll take care o’ her. Y’ know we Apples always keep our promises.”

Cinnamon Star grinned. “That we do.”

Flanked by the other two alicorns, Celestia began. “Thank you all for coming. I realize this was on short notice, but I feel there things that must be said and actions that must be taken.” With that, the room fell silent, save for the soft click of a camera snapping a picture or the light murmur of some of the journalists comparing notes.

“In the past few weeks, Equestria has undergone two horrific attacks, strikes against us that should not go ignored. Just a few weeks ago, the proud city of Fillydelphia was invaded by changelings. Residents fled from their homes and livelihoods, taking refuge in other cities and towns in Equestria. Many more did not make it and eventually, in order to stem the changeling problem, I authorized an attack on the changeling hive to destroy it. Yes, the city was completely obliterated in the attack, and as your princess, I take full responsibility for this. We could not afford for the hive to grow beyond the city limits, and if it meant some sacrifices needed to be made, Princess Cadance made that choice with a heavy heart, one I fully support.” Celestia looked briefly at the love alicorn and noted both the impassive look on her face and the guilt in her eyes; it was something that Cadance would have to work through. Fortunately, Celestia swore she’d do everything she could to help her niece through this. It was the right thing to do, after all.

“Now, we’ve recently received word that there was a survivor found in what the military is now calling Quarantine Zone Alpha. They’ve transported her to Ponyville General, and there are signs she will make a full recovery. At this time, due to the sensitivity of the situation, we are not releasing her identity to the general public.” That part was the hardest for Celestia to mention. The news Luna had brought her that Minty had survived nearly reduced Celestia to tears, but were she to mention it to the general public, it could cause some panic. So even if it was the daughter of Rarity and a member of the Royal Family, the news had to be kept under wraps for the moment. “My thanks to the Canadian Army for assisting us in our time of need.” Celestia paused for a moment to watch the assembly before her. As expected, the faces of the journalists before her were sober, quiet. But she could feel the tension in the room, the rising anger from the ponies assembled. They, too, were Equestriani and to be reminded of so many brave REA, REAF and REN troops dead was something that she knew they could not abide.

But she wasn’t done yet. Looking at them all, she continued. “But last night, fighters from the Islamic Republic of Iran transited from Human-Earth to our own, where, assisted by Nightmare Moon, attacked the city of Cloudsdale, causing horrendous casualties. While our Navy and Air Force was able to repel the attack and successfully force some of the attacking fighters to land, it came at a terrible cost. Too many lives have been lost, and Nightmare Moon was successful in escaping from our authority. And as you may have heard already, the Central Weather Facilitiy has been completely destroyed. The damage to Cloudsdale is immense, but the fallout will be incalculable.

“Now, in all of this, a statement has come from the Revolutionary Council, the government of Iran, flatly denying that their forces were involved in an attack on Cloudsdale. Furthermore, they claim that they have proof that American and Equestriani Special Operations Forces were involved in stealing the fighters and then firing on our own city.” The crowd gasped, completely in shock at such an outrageous claim. “Well, allow me to clarify. In concert with the United States government, my government sent in a team of Seaponies and together with the US Navy SEALs we did investigate a base believed to be a potential threat to our peacekeeping operations in the area. During that time, fighters did depart the IRIAF airbase at Bandar Imam Khomeini. Those same fighters have been identified as the ones that attacked us, courtesy of the Iranian pilots we have in custody, who have so far cooperated with our investigation. Furthermore, the Iranian government’s disdain for both the Equestriani and American governments is well-documented.

“As the ruler of this realm, I cannot let my ponies be attacked by these enemies without retribution. But at the same time, I have taken the advice of US President Thomas Cantwell and will meet our supposed attackers – the human ones, at any rate – at the negotiation treaty. Nevertheless, I will still protect us from other threats.” Her voice began to rise, sound with authority; while it didn’t have the loudness or timbre of the Royal Canterlot Voice, all assembled knew the voice of a goddess when they heard one. “At this time, I, Caelum de Aurae, invoke Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, hereby formally requesting the aid of all NATO nations to assist us in protecting Equestria while we determine our next course of action.” The room went silent as their divine ruler, the Princess of the Day, put two worlds on notice that Equestria was prepared for war if need be. “I will now take questions from the audience.” She pointed at a pony in the back row. “Yes, you please.”

The pegasus sat up. “Featherweight; Canterlot Times. Your majesty, how do you plan to go forward with this war? It has been ages since our realm has been in open conflict, and I daresay despite all the training of our forces, our enemies are much better at it.” Due to his marriage to Scootaloo and thus his status in the Royal Family, Featherweight and the princesses had long agreed that in order to be considered a neutral party, he was going to have to separate his job and his familial duties. It was times like this that the bond was tested.

“We have been training steadily for the past fifteen years, modernizing our forces and adapting where we cannot outright use human tactics. Our NATO allies have provided us with state of the art technology and tactics, and we have offered our own mystic assistance where possible. That is the benefit of being in an alliance – we all pull together for the safety of both worlds. Next.”

“In Depth, CNN Equestria. Princess, will you be personally involved in this war as you were with the Moonfall War?” Though Celestia never took her eyes off the reporter, she could virtually feel Luna wince inwardly at that question – it was a below-the-stifle question and the reporter knew it.

“Ms. In Depth, I caution you that we are not at war, though that remains to be seen.” The rebuke was silent and subtle, and the reporter immediately got the message. Having given that message, Celestia finished her answer. “Unfortunately, times have changed and my duties now require me to lead, like my modern counterparts, from the rear instead of within the ranks. But I can assure you, the members of the Royal Family who are in the military – including the Knights Elemental – will do their utmost should such an unthinkable event occur.”

The questions continued, and Celestia answered or dodged them as needed. No, she could not give further details on the interrogations of the Iranian pilots, as the ponies involved with that needed to do their jobs free from pressure. Yes, there was an error made by a senior officer at EQMILCOM, and that general had already tendered his resignation from the service as a result. Yes, by authorizing NATO Article Five, she had authorized human military forces to operate within Equestria and no, she didn’t see a problem with that, especially since Equestria’s own armed forces were operating in HE spaces.
And then came the hardest question of all.

“Muckraker, This Week in Equestria. Princess Celestia, I’ll make this short and to the point? Where are the four missing Bearers? Since the reappearance of Nightmare Moon, The Knights Elementals of Magic, Generosity, Honestly and Loyalty have not been seen in public at all. While Laughter and Kindness – especially the latter as recent as this morning in Cloudsdale – have been seen, the others have not. What has happened to them? Most of all, her grace, Duchess Shetland, the Archmagus Twilight Sparkle, who is known to be your personal protégé and – forgive me if this seems too personal – some have said, your surrogate daughter. Rumor even has it that they’re in critical condition and quarantine within the Royal Infirmary with a high possibility that they will not live much longer, casualties of a direct strike on them by Nightmare Moon. Please, we would like to hear this scandalous rumor refuted, because if, your majesty forbids, it were true, we would lose our most powerful weapon against the enemy.” With that, the pony sat down and waited for the answer, knowing full well the question had been a personal attack right at the heart of the Princess Regnal herself.

The room lost all sound. Celestia was deathly quiet, fighting her emotions, both that of extreme anger at the pony who was determined to live up to his name, and the uncontrollable pain that came with the serious condition of her family members, most of all Twilight. Then the dam broke, Celestia unable to hold the pain any longer. A single tear escaped watery eyes as she sobbed out an anguished, “No comment,” before turning to cry, knowing the cameras of two worlds were on her now, each capturing an image as her heart betrayed her demeanor.

Luna moved to the lectern immediately. “This concludes the press conference; please refer to the handout that will detail the related press conferences being given by the Foreign and Defense ministries, as well as any others we’ve missed. Thank you, and have a wonderful evening. Luna’s horn flared as she teleported Celestia out of there, but the damage had been done, leaving Cadance to be bombarded with questions as the whole of Alter-Earth now knew Equestria’s greatest weapon, the Elements of Harmony, was out of commission, possibly permanently.

“And so I have a meeting with General Bryson tomorrow. He’s going to want a follow-up report, and that means that he’ll want me to spend some time talking to some of the bigwigs over at the REN as well,” Mike said to DJ as the two snuggled in bed. The two, as usual, slept in thin sheets without a comforter, as human males generated more body heat than females, and DJ, completely furry, absorbed and also radiated heat, so there was rarely a need to bundle up.

When DJ returned from Ponyville, she and Mike held each other, shortly followed by their sons and then her family. Dinner was a quiet affair, Spike having provided dinner for everyone. Afterwards, Spike and Sam went out on the town while Matt and Anna decided to head out and do some research for their respective works, using Canterlot’s architecture as a background; they took their grandsons with them intentionally, leaving the younger married couple to their own devices.

They made the most of that time.

Now, in a room smelling of familiar musk and chocolate, the two cuddled against each other, comfortable in the love each had for the other. DJ traced a pattern on Mike’s bare chest, cuddling against him as she said, “Do you really think that Celestia will declare war?”

“I can’t answer that; I know as little about pony politics as you do. But if she does, I’ll be called back to the Konetzni. It’ll be months before we see each other again, love. This isn’t just running around on the sea anymore and stopping in the occasional port to buy you and the boys crappy tourist souvenirs from various countries. If Equestria goes to war, I don’t doubt that the US will join in as well.”

“Don’t you dare die on me, you got that?” she said, leaning up to kiss him. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Mike.”

“I couldn’t live without you either, hon. Fortunately, these are all theoreticals for the moment, but I don’t think they will be for much longer. But if for some reason this all turns to war, promise me you’ll try to make up with Rarity and your family. You already made up with Elusive, now make up with your birth parents as well.”

“I’ll try.” She hadn’t told him about Minty’s condition, as she was still trying to sort that out for herself.

“I know that ‘I’ll try.’ I mean it, hon.”

“I will, I will. I just….” She shook her head. “Nevermind. Let’s just get some sleep, okay? I want to make sure I spend every moment with you as possible: just me, you and the boys.”

He looked at her, love in his eyes. “I love you, DJ. And nothing will ever change that.”

She leaned up and kissed him. “And I love you, Mike. I always have, I always will.” She snuggled up against him, sighing in contentment. For now, for just this one moment, the calm before the storm, her life was content.

A few minutes later, she kissed him on the chest. “Oh, Mike,” she sang in a sultry tone.

“Hon, it’s three in the morning! I have to report to the embassy at seven!”

“I know, but….” She pouted, knowing he could never resist that face.

“You’re trying to wear me out, aren’t you?” Though he could see her face in the moonlight, he didn’t have to in order to realize she was nodding vehemently. “The things I do for you, hon, I swear.”

“Let’s just cover the things you can do with me and we’ll call it that,” she said, as she kissed her husband passionately.

Chapter Thirteen: Pivot

The crowd stood, silent, watching this most solemn of occasions. For their years of service and defense of the principality against incredible odds, the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony were to be given titles both noble and martial. Dressed in pristine white, the six mares approached the trinity of princesses as they stood upon the dais in the center of the Royal Parade Grounds, as the whole world watched what was to come.

In turn, the six kneeled before their lieges, and in formal tones, Celestia, using her mother’s formal sword, a blade that had not seen the light of day in millennia, blessed the six bearers of the elements as Knights Elemental, Bearers of the Elements and Defenders of the Crown. Furthermore, the princess added, they would be named duchesses – given titles and land, and no small matter, either: as duchesses, should something befall the royalty of the nation, the six would be the next in line to the throne. Celestia was sure that would give the nobility no small amount of headache, but, she thought with a smile, it would be worth it.

As she placed the final consecration on Twilight Sparkle, naming her Knight Elemental Commander of Magic and Grand Duchess Shetland, the oldest princess looked at the jubilant crowd in the background, then inwards, towards the parents and family of the Bearers, who would all be given lesser titles; then to Cadance and Shining Armor, the latter of which almost hid his tears of pride well; then finally to her own sister, Luna, who had agreed on this last surprise course of action that Celestia felt compelled to do.

“Dearest subjects,” Celestia said, her voice booming not quite at Royal Canterlot Voice levels but loud enough to be heard without a voice amplification spell, “I give to you our Knights Elemental and it is our dearest hope that you will honor them as both your defenders and servants of the Crown, so that they may continue to protect the land we love so dearly.” At this, the crowd started to cheer wildly, making all six mares blush as they went through the most joyful moment of their lives.

“But we ar…excuse me, I am not done,” Celestia said, dropping the majestic plural. “For the past few years, I have seen these mares – my faithful protégé and her closest friends – defend our land from threats we cannot even comprehend, threats that have even at times overwhelmed my own power. They have earned the honor of Equestria, and that is what I have given them today, on behalf of everypony in this land. But my sister and I have made a decision, one we did not make lightly, but one we both made with our most joyous heart.

“As of now, the Knights Elemental and their families shall now be considered members of the Royal Family. I now consider those six mares as my sisters, and for now and ever our families will be bound under the accord of Sisters Royal.” At the sudden pronouncement, the crowd fell silent for a second, but not for long, as the gentry suddenly erupted in a roar of congratulations, the silence now coming from the stunned nobility, as they had just been thrown further down the rank system, metaphorically deposed by the six.

“Princess!” Twilight said, shocked, “why?”

“Because you are, and always have been dear to me, Twilight,” Celestia said, warmly.

“But Pri—”

“Just ‘Celestia’ now, Twilight. Your studies are at an end, my pupil. But your life still continues, my stalwart knight and dearest little sister.”

Twilight stood there, not knowing to what to say. But finally, a wide, loving grin erupted on her face as she said, “If you insist…Celestia.” The unicorn reached forward to embrace her mentor and now sister as the world shouted in bouts of love and harmony.

The car pulled up in front of the house in Leesburg, Virginia. A flagpole in the yard flew the flag of the Principality of Equestria, and the as the car stopped in the driveway, the driver, a human, got out of the car and opened the back door. “Ambassador, we’re here.”

Lyra blearily opened her eyes. “Huh…wha?” She looked – but they just left the embassy just a few seconds ago! She was going to do some paperwork on the way and…Oh, who am I kidding? The last couple of days had been so busy that it almost felt like certain parts of her life were just on copy-and-paste over and over again.

She grabbed her briefcase, fished keys out of her pocket and got out of the car. “Thanks for the ride, Terry. Got plans for the weekend?”

He smiled. “Gotta take my eldest to check out UNC this weekend. Thanks for the letter of endorsement, by the by – Mary certainly appreciates it.”

“She earned it,” the unicorn replied. “She was a real help to Scent, and a real success story for the internship program. She’s gonna go places someday, I know it.”

“I certainly hope so.” As Lyra made her way to the door and Terry went back to the car, he stopped. “Ambassador?”

She looked up. “Hrm?”

“You take care of yourself – I know how much you overwork yourself when something comes up.”

Lyra gave her chauffeur a weak smile. “I’m not that bad, am I?”

As if on cue, the front door opened and Paul came out. “I keep telling her the same thing, but she never listens to me!”

“Have your kids tell her then, Mr. Phillips!” Terry joked as he waved to Paul.

“I try, but…well, I think your kids might have a better chance of getting through to her,” he replied in jest.

The chauffeur grinned. “Maybe, just maybe. Well, you two have a great weekend, and I’ll see you Monday morning!” Getting back into the car, he took off, headed for his own home, leaving one disheveled pony standing on the driveway.

Lyra looked at her husband, drawing in the strength of just seeing him standing there, looking far more relaxed than she was. “You’re home early today.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ve been home for the past two days, unlike someone who slept in their office the last two nights. Somebody has to watch our kids.”

The look on her face was nothing less than defeated. No words issued from her muzzle, as she had no idea what to say. What could she say? Her job was obviously important, but to be so busy as to forget about her very family?

Seeing her agitated state, he went over and embraced her. “I know. I knew what I was getting into when I married you,” he said softly he held her close. “Just…go take a nap for the moment. I’m cooking up a mushroom risotto tonight, and the kids are playing with their friends. At least it’s Friday, though – we can take the weekend and relax.”

But Lyra shook her head. “I’m afraid not, hon. I’ve gotta head back to Equestria first thing in the morning. Strategy meeting with my boss and such. I should be there a couple of days.” She looked at him, and her eyes reflected the anguish of her unintended neglect. “I’m sorry I have to devote so much time elsewhere right now. Maybe it’s time for me to retire,” she said.

“C’mon in the house, and put your feet up,” he said. “We can talk some more after you’ve rested – after you’ve rested,” he repeated, placing a finger on her muzzle as she tried to protest. A thought came over him and he bent down, picking her up and starting to carry her in.

“I don’t need this, hon, I can walk,” she protested.

“I know. That’s why I’m carrying you,” he replied, and as soon as she got the hint, she leaned into him, appreciating the strength of their marriage as the pair entered the house.

Sitting in his office, General Concord Bryson, US Army sat, looking at the junior naval officer next to him as the duo went over some classified files. “Now, I think you can wind up for the day, Mike,” the older man said as shuffled some of the files into a portfolio that would be soon placed in the nearby safe. “You’re probably doing more strategic review than I’ve had even some of my field officers perform – and in a variety of situations.”

“Well, sir,” Mike said, “your staff is small, and most of those assigned to you are Air Force, so they mostly know just air battle. I just happened to be lucky enough to have had Fifth Fleet HQ as my first hitch, so I got quite the purple education.”

“I can tell,” the flag officer replied appreciatively.

“And it comes quite in handy, Commander,” a senior officer from the REA who was also present stated, “though, if my understanding is correct, you seem to know more about ground combat than many of my own troops.”

“That’s just how it works, sometimes, Colonel Lightfighter,” Mike replied. “Without meaning to brag, there are other personnel in the other services just like me, and the more we know how our own side works, the better it makes us work, much to the detriment of our foes. Your forces are still getting used to modernization and not fighting in older styles of combat, so it will take a little longer to get around, but it’ll happen.”

“Thank you, Commander,” Lightfighter responded.

“Mike, get going. I don’t want to have to answer to that firebrand you call a wife if I keep you late again,” he said with a laugh. Ushering the junior officer out the door, Bryson then turned to look at Lightfigther. “Thoughts, Colonel?”

“Same as Col. Airstrike and Capt. Plankowner had, sir. And once I’ve turned in my report to Gen. Goldengrape, I doubt he’d disagree. But are you sure about this? Isn’t it standard for the host nation to be the one in, as they call it, ‘the driver’s seat’?”

“Perhaps,” Bryson replied, “but I’ve been here long enough to see that this changeling problem of yours is serious. And call me a pessimist, but I think this whole thing with Iran is going to go far south, and the way Congress has been lately, they’ll give the usual ‘support but hide’ where we’ll give you the support to wage a war but not participate in it ourselves. That leaves Equestria badly unprepared if you have to fight two conflicts at once.”

“And you agree with Princess Celestia’s earlier plan, General?”

“Hell, I wholeheartedly endorse it,” he said with a grin. “Might have been a few years since she’s been a fighter, but she knows her strats dead-on. Besides, maybe she sees something in that boy that I don’t – maybe because I’m just a grunt with no skills in magic.”

“Rarity, will you please try to talk to them?” Twilight asked. “I know you’re not prejudiced against humans like so many claim bu—”

“No, no I won’t, Twilight,” Rarity retorted. “Not them. Anypony but them. They’re the whole reason I lost my foal!”

Twilight rolled her eyes and huffed. “You’re being overdramatic again. Matt and Anna had nothing to do with you losing your foal. That was Celestia’s call to let DJ live with her human parents.”

“Twilight, dear, if you’re going to lambaste me with fripperies, at least state something of substance,” the fashionista said dismissively, before she looked at her fellow unicorn and added, “Besides, somepony has to tend our sisters – or did you forget about Applejack and Rainbow Dash? Maybe you have while you’re gallivanting with those…thieves, but I have not!”

Twilight bit down her anger, knowing full well that Rarity was intentionally pushing her, but losing her calm right now was not going to do anypony any bit of good. “Rarity, that’s not fair. You make me sound as if I don’t care what’s happening.”

“You don’t. After all, why should The High and Mighty Twilight Sparkle care about what’s happening to us mere everyday ponies when she’s oh-so gallantly sacrificing herself for the rest of us?”

Twilight shook her head. “Rarity, you don’t understand. If I don’t do this, we will all die. It’s better for one of us to—”

“To what, Twilight? To die? And what about the rest? Those of us left behind who have to live with the guilt of not being there to help you, to watch you waste away to nothingness? Do you think any of us would want that? Do you think that Applejack or Rainbow could live with themselves knowing that the only reason they survived is because you didn’t?”

“But Rainbow’s foal—”

“—is Rainbow’s decision, not yours,” the fashionista countered. “And don’t you start up with that ‘straw you drew’ nonsense again! We drew no straws, and nopony gave you the right to decide who lives and who doesn’t, including yourself! Do you think the rest of us would appreciate living without you? Without having had the chance to see you meet somepony special and have a life of your own?”

“I’m sixty-three, Rarity – I think I’m a bit beyond meeting somepony,” Twilight drawled.

“Spare me that; you’re just in your middle age. And if you want to talk about meeting someone in their later years, didn’t Lyra marry someone two decades younger than herself? Or Bon-Bon – Waterfire turns thirty this year, if I recall correctly. Face it: we ponies hold our age well; unicorns, especially.” Rarity left Applejack’s unconscious form and went over to Twilight. “Please don’t do this to yourself – to us. We want to see you happy, Twilight, dear; we want you to grow old with your special somepony and all that comes with it. Have foals that would make their mother proud.”

Despite herself, Twilight chose to verbally stab her old friend right at that point: “You mean a daughter that you could just ignore because she didn’t turn out the way you expected her to?”

Rarity reacted as if slapped. “How I react to Sandalwood is none of your business, Twilight.”

“You’re right,” a newcomer said. “It’s ours.” Both mares turned to see two humans standing there just outside the protective barriers. “We could come back later if you’d like, Twilight,” Anna said to the purple unicorn while Matt stood there, silent and watching.

“No, that’s fine. Come on in and pull up a chair,” Twilight said. She’d already created human-style chairs for them the first time they visited, and as humans were somehow immune from the curse ripping through her, they were safe to traverse the protective barriers without an issue.

“No, don’t,” Rarity snarled, then turned to Twilight. “I don’t want those thieves here with us!”

“Rarity, what is your problem?” Matt asked; the look on his face showed that his temper was being kept under control – but only just. “DJ would have died if we hadn’t taken her in. We raised her as best we could and we love her unconditionally – she is our little girl. I have no idea why you seem to have a problem with this, but the other option would be that she’d be dead.”

“Maybe that would have been for the best,” Rarity replied, “because then she wouldn’t have been turned into…whatever she’s become!”

“Are you crazy? What kind of parent even thinks that about their kids?” the man said, his voice rising.

“I’m not listening!” Rarity said in a foolish, sing-song form as she folded her ears down and covered them. “I certainly don’t have time to listen to two foalnappers who would rather destroy a family for their own nefarious purposes!”

“That didn’t happen and you know it,” Twilight said, knowing that Rarity wouldn’t listen – this was a long, tired argument that never went anywhere.

“Well, either way you’ll have to deal with it,” Anna replied, a wolfish grin on her face. Turning to Twilight, she said, “Doctors just finished up the blood tests on the boys and they’ve got the go-ahead to visit now, so DJ should be here any day now.”

Anna’s announcement made Twilight perk up. “That’s wonderful!” she chirped, before sadly adding, “But I hope the boys know why I’m here.”

“That’s the other reason why they needed some extra time. Both DJ and Mike want to take the time to explain why they’re coming and why they’ll have to stay on this side of the barrier.”

Rarity couldn’t help but make a snide comment at that. “What, is she so afraid that I’ll steal her foals – like you stole her from me?”

“No,” was Anna’s reply. “They look like human children, but they’ve got pony blood as well, and we don’t know what, if any, equinoid diseases they can be affected by – including the one harming you.” Rarity suddenly felt an inward twinge of guilt; she’d never wish harm on innocent foals, and for her to even have suggested it was a mistake, all things considered.

“I wish it wasn’t this way,” Twilight spoke. “I know they’re going to want to give me a hug and all that, but….” She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

“I wish it wasn’t either, Twi,” Matt replied. “And I especially wish you wouldn’t sacrifice yourself in all this.”

“H-how did you?” Twilight began.

“See, Twilight? Even the thieves think that you’re wa—”

Anna rose from her chair. “Call us thieves one more time and I’ll go in there and rip your tonsils out,” the woman snarled. “Just because you continue to spurn your own child for the life she’s lived with us doesn’t give you the Goddamn right to say anything like that towards us, got that?”

“Hon….” Matt began.

“No, I’m not going to keep quiet on this any longer! This fucking cunt has been hurting my baby girl for two Goddamn decades and I’m tired of it!” Anna yelled. “Rarity, I want you to realize something: neither Matt nor I give a flying fuck of what you think of us, and you know why? Because we raised a beautiful little girl to grow up to be the best woman she could be. The fact that she wasn’t raised as a filly growing up to be the best mare she could be is no one’s fault – no one’s at all. But when you tried to take my daughter away from us for no other reason than your damn prejudice—”

“I’m not listening!” Rarity said, repeating her earlier denial, but was shocked to see Anna stride in, walking right up to her so she could not be ignored.

“You will listen to me. I have never met anyone as bigoted as you in my entire life. I have never taught my children to hate anyone in their entire lives, and yet you would have besieged DJ for the person she is! Did you teach that to your other children as well or did by some miracle did they—”

Anna said nothing further as Rarity’s horn flickered with light and a blast of cerulean energy threw the woman back, slamming her into the footboard of an empty bed across the room. Matt was immediately on his feet, but Anna forced herself up, a wolfish grin on her face. “Might be a senior citizen, but I’m not done yet,” she crowed.

“Senior citizen?” Rarity thought aloud.

“Yes,” Twilight said, bile building in her voice. “Congratulations on slamming Granny Smith’s counterpart to the other side of the room. Humans age faster than we do; they have a shorter middle-age period than us but a longer elderly period. We just started getting gray hairs in our sixties? They get them as early as their thirties.” Twilight turned to look at Anna, concern on her face. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Anna said. If there was any indicator otherwise, she sure as hell wasn’t going to show it in front of Rarity.

Matt maneuvered himself in a position to shield his wife from another attack. “Personally? I’m glad DJ wants nothing to do with you – you certainly aren’t worth it. You’re supposedly the Avatar of Generosity or something like that – so if that’s true, how could someone like you be so ugly towards her biological child?”

“I’m ugly? You tried to turn her against me!”

“No, you did that yourself. Her arrival on our world wasn’t anyone’s fault, Twilight told me; if anything, it was a tragedy. And for all those years, while you searched for her, we raised DJ – or Sandalwood, if you insist – to be the kind of daughter that any parent could be proud of. The fact that she was raised as a human is immaterial – but the fact that she’s kind, loyal, devout and confident should be. The fact that she waited for years to marry her intended shows a vast loyalty that’s mostly unheard of even for humans – or ponies either, from what I know. She’s smart, bright, and has rarely been a disappointment to us – and when she was, it was for stuff that was unacceptable for any intelligent species, not because ‘she wasn’t acting human.’

“She chose to be one of us. She chose to learn how to walk upright, to heavily develop her hoofspace, to ignore the pain that I know she felt. She chose to keep pushing through the hard times because it was her cross to bear. She’s been nothing but pride and joy to us, and if you’d have given her a chance to be who she is instead of what you expect her to be, you would have seen that!”

Rarity forced herself to her hindlegs to look at the humans as close to eye-to-eye as she could. “I didn’t raise Lyra Heartstrings,” Rarity countered. “I didn’t raise some human-loving freak who would turn against her own ki—” Rarity felt a sharp slap against her face, then turned to find Twilight standing there, infuriated past the point of caring.

“How dare you. Lyra devoted years of time towards looking into alien cultures, suffering every insult for her being a ‘weirdo nut’ because she knew the life of an innocent foal depended on all her esoteric knowledge, and this is how you treat her? She stuck up for DJ because she understood DJ needed somepony who understood where she was coming from – and it destroyed her marriage! And you’re sitting here, insulting her for that?”

“But I….” Rarity began.

“Don’t. Just you…don’t.” Twilight was livid. “You denied your daughter. You just hurt one of my friends and insulted another – one who sacrificed so much to help you and DJ. Don’t dare to try to come up with an excuse, because you just can’t.”

“She’s raight.” Several heads whipped around to see Applejack struggling to sit up, fate somehow picking this moment to have her return to consciousness in order to add to Twilight’s chorus. “Rarity, we all luv ya like a sister, but don’ think Ah’m not less than a mite disgusted with ya o’er how yer treatin’ DJ.”

“But Applejack, dear, I….”

“Y’ pushed aside yer foal,” the earth pony said with a wince. “We’ve lost two foals t’ miscarriage in our family, and d’ ya know how much that hurts Fluttershy or Apple Bloom to hear that y’ just don’ care about DJ?” Rarity said nothing, though it was more out of concern about AJ’s weakness rather than the issue.

The two humans and three ponies stood there, at an awkward standoff of words.

Why am I doing this? Luna asked herself for the millionth time as she pored over a search engine tailored for the royal archives. It was incomplete, and only a fraction of the archives were there, but between the state-of-the-art computers and dozens of assistants at the ready, it was her only choice at the moment. She couldn’t ask for assistance from her staff, because she’d foisted most of her work on them while she started this research. Besides, she was pretty sure this sort of thing was beyond them.

She took a look at her written notes, which contained the riddles:

Two out of three, contest near goal

Advantage to design and sol

And now the third she wants unwhole

The choice for her’s to end the game

Or else fortunes will end the same.

The first game started by hubris humbled

The results caused a realm that stumbled

All sides lost, bright vic’try crumbled

That game is done, the next set come

Entropy wants this last undone

This was ordained ere ‘fore your birth

Two tulpars have proven their worth

Anarchy’s key is of the earth

And if it lets success be sworn

Reason shall have a wing and horn.

Hrm…the only one I’ve really figured out so far is “goal”, and I’m not even sure on that one, the Princess of the Moon thought. A goal’s either a point, like in hoofball, or the end, like in a race. Sometimes it can be both, but I don’t think that’s the case here. The riddle implies that it’s the end, but with Discord’s logic, you can’t be too sure. Then again, he said that he was just the messenger, not the one who created the riddles. But if he didn’t…who did?

She felt a headache start to sink in and it was just as quickly banished via magic. But in that spell came a moment’s clarity: magic, once believed to be the provenance of the gods. That last thought unnerved Luna; though ponies and so many others considered the alicorns deities, she knew she wasn’t one and had even gone out of her way to protest that, not that anypony ever seemed to listen. There were likely real ones, she guessed – DJ, Robin and several others she knew apparently believed in one called Christ, and other humans worshipped others, and obviously even the other Alter-Earth species had their own divine references in some form or another; the nine-tailed foxes of the Imperial Family of Inari were insufferable in this manner. The closest she’d ever come to true divinity was the Naon, where the secret behind that was closely guarded and heavily protected, both of the sake of the zebras and the ancient structure itself.

But maybe it takes somepony else’s way of looking at things, Luna considered. Maybe I’m tackling this at the wrong angle. Maybe I’m looking at this like a pony, instead of say, like a gryphon or minotaur would. Maybe even a human – their outlook is much different than anyone from this world. That of course, meant that there were a few others she could trust to help her with this; Discord had firmly said that this was something that was given to her for a reason. But unless she knew why, it was moot.

Rising from her seat, Luna decided to call it a day. She had plenty of other things to attend to before she had to raise the moon, and even she couldn’t put off all her duties forever. In the end, she was a princess and an avatar, not a goddess – there were limits to her power.

A goddess wouldn’t have been beaten and broken by a demon, she reminded herself ruefully.

Worn but elated after the past few days of watching his newborns, Elusive turned to look at the bundles of joy resting in their crib. “I really can’t thank you enough for all the assistance you’ve given me, Blitz, Lily. I truly appreciate all the help.”

Rainbow Blitz seemed to melt in the chair across from the crib. “Hey, what are cousins for, dude? Besides, don’t let that get out, okay? I’m going to look seriously uncool if anypony finds out I’ve been helping change foal diapers.”

Gilded Lily giggled softly and added, “What my coltfriend actually means to say is that we’re always glad to help.”

The male unicorn grinned. “Thanks, Lily. For everything and for the recommendation on a governess – although I do think that’s a bit antiquated for this day and age, don’t you think?”

“You’ll be doing me a favor by having Meadow work for you,” Lily replied. “She’s a good worker and my best friend, and…well, I think she needs to expand her horizons beyond being a housemaid, is all. She’s destined for so much better and—”

Blitz knew that tone. “What did he do to her?” When Lily didn’t answer, Blitz got to his hooves. “Lily, that brother of yours needs to be taught a lesson, and I’m just the pony to do it!”

The princess waved her forelegs hurriedly. “No, Blitz – he’s just going to use the law against you, which is what he wants!”

“Something I should know about?” Elusive asked. Lily then went into a quick explanation, and as she did, his eyes grew just as narrow as Blitz’. “I’ll do what I can to protect her. You have my word,” Elusive said once she was done.

“Thanks. He’ll hurt her if this keeps up and unless he can be caught in the act, he’s protected by noblesse oblige.” As she spoke, her eyes caught the clock on the wall. “Isn’t your foalsitter supposed to be here soon?”

Elusive nodded. “I hope so. The sooner she gets here, the sooner we can go see Butter an—”

The door to the home slammed open with a high-pitched bellow of, “Heya, hiya, hoya, Ponysketeers! It’s your friendly neighborhood Surprise, Surprise!” The teen party pegasus practically galloped into the room, her chirpy mood on overdrive. “Don’t worry, cousin! I got everything under control!”

It was at that point that the two foals, having just been put to sleep, were awakened by Surprise’s antics and they did what came naturally to newborns: they cried like there was no tomorrow. Blitz facehoofed while Elusive’s face took on a sadly resigned look to it.

Surprise looked at the inadvertent damage she’d caused. “Um…I’ve got my work cut out for me, don’t I?”

“Doc, how’s she doin’?” Butter asked, concern clear in her voice as the doctors pored over Minty. To say that the younger mare was worried was an understatement: even after her unusual foaling and subsequent infection from the nearby battle, her attention was focused more on the distressed condition of her sister-in-law. Even from what little she could see from the angle of her own bed, it was clear that the mint-green mare was in bad shape.

“We’re doing everything we can for her, your grace,” the doctor informed Butter. When it was clear that Butter was less than enthused by that answer, the doctor looked to his colleagues, then gave her further clarification. “We’ve managed to drain most of the poison from her body, but she’s still very weakened from her ordeal and, needless to say, still comatose.”

“Will she be up an’ around soon?”

The doctor shook his head, his glasses sliding down his muzzle; Butter restrained a giggle as the situation hardly called for it. “I’m afraid I can’t answer that, your grace,” he replied. “It will all come down to whether her ladyship has the strength of will to regain consciousness. Considering what she’s already been through and survived, however, it is a miracle that she still lives, but because the Countess is the Daughter of Generosity, I feel confident that her grace should be back to rights soon enough.”

Butter breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good t’ hear. Ah wuz a mite worried, as y’ c’n reckon.”

The doctor nodded. “Quite understandable. But I promise the Countess is in excellent hooves. We’ll do everything possible within our power to right her, your grace. You have our word.”

“Yeah,” she said, somewhat relieved. “Now, if’n Ah c’n just git t’ t’morrow, when Ah git out, everythin’ll be just grand.”

“Oh, that was great,” Lyra said, seated at her couch and snuggled up against her husband. “Remind me never to get rid of you,” she teased.

“I hope not,” Paul said, rubbing her head. “I’m already used to you and I’m getting a little too long in the tooth to get used to the dating scene.”

“Oh, trust me,” she sighed in contentment. “That’ll never happen.” Stretching out an arm, a golden glow enveloped her hoof as she called the glass of wine to it.

“Been practicing?” he asked.

“Yeah. Been working more on my hoofspace. I mean, I’m probably as good with dexterity as DJ is, but I wanted to make sure I can expand my range of magic, too. I mean, I’m never going to make the Guild, obviously, but Twilight’s theory that a top-level mage should be able to cast from any appendage should in theory apply to any unicorn, not just high-level mages.”

Before he could say anything further, the phone rang. Both of them sighed; the tone indicated that it wasn’t the house line that had gone active, but the line for the ambassador’s residence. Seating the glass, her horn then flickered with magic, and the phone flew to her hoof immediately. “Ambassador’s Residence. Ambassador Phillips, speaking.”

Paul knew it was serious when Lyra suddenly sat up, but he kept quiet; if it was significant, she’d tell him anyway, and if it was classified, it likely would not have come over this line but instead the line in her private office here in the house. “Heya, AC, what’s up?” he heard her say. “Yeah…Really? That’s great!...Look, I gotta be in Canterlot for the next few days, so as the next senior diplomat, I’m going to need you to stay on top of this for me…No, I don’t plan to be in Equestria long; can’t afford to, with the family here and all…Yes, confirm everything with Lemon and our contacts here in Washington; have Cheesepuff contact Scent and they can pass the info along. Well, you take care and I’ll bring you back something when I return. Thanks again, AC. Bye!” The celeste-hued pony set the phone down on the table, a relieved look on her face.

“So….” Paul began delicately.

“That was AC,” Lyra started. “Belgium has offered to host the talks between us, the US and Iran on Saturday – some hotel in Antwerp. Lemon’s got the details and will be on-site, while the government of the Netherlands will be representing us. AC will keep an eye on the situation and update me and Cadance while I’m in Canterlot. Looks like things are going to cool down from that point.”

“You sure?” Paul asked. “I mean, I’m not the politician you are, but refusing to negotiate with someone unless it’s by proxy sounds wrong to me. I mean, if any of what’s going on is that serious, all sides should be willing to meet together, right?”

Lyra nodded. “And that’s what everyone’s taught as a kid. But I’m learning not everyone agrees with that train of thought, and the fact that we’re just getting used to it….” She sighed. “Sometimes I wonder if the traditional pony method of dealing with things by ignoring them turned out to make things worse. It certainly does with humanity.”

“Get up,” a rough voice said to Twilight Sunburn. “You’re leaving.” Twilight blinked her eyes and found herself looking into the eyes of yet another one of her so-called “siblings”, who in truth were her jailers and tormentors. “You’ve got an hour.” Twilight opened her mouth to ask a question, but instead held her tongue; by now, she knew that only pain came from that. “Good, you can be taught,” the voice grunted.

Leaving the room she shared with several other “rejects”, she stepped out into the hallway, finally setting her eyes on her latest oppressor. Thankfully, it wasn’t Gloaming, but instead another one. “It’s better that you don’t learn my name,” he said, his voice slightly softer; Twilight suddenly realized he was like her, a fellow reject who’d been sent to be the hatchetstallion.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

The pepsis looked at her for a second before finally answering with, “We’re being given an operation.” He held two folders in his magic aura. “We can choose either, but we will have to follow through or else….” He suddenly shuddered. “I don’t want this….” he said, looking at her with eyes filled to the brim with fear and pain. “If I fail…Gloaming will….”

Become like her or die, Twilight thought. Why is that right? Why is that fair? She looked at the broken stallion in front of her. To her, he was, despite his earlier bravado, terrified. He knew he was going to fail and that would cost him everything. And yet, he was broken enough that he would have easily let her be thrown to the hydras if it meant his own survival. It was craven, maddening. And maybe he was worse than that. And maybe none of the above at all.

This isn’t right, she thought again. But if there was one thing she could do, it would be to spare him. He was the closest she’d had to anything resembling family so far, and maybe just that hint of kindness would help her escape from this hell.

“Give me the larger package,” she told him. He looked at her nervously, and she was unable to discern the meaning behind the look. But slowly and surely he floated over the larger envelope, then took the remaining one in his telekinesis and scampered away.

Taking the package in her own TK, Twilight opened it and looked at the documents inside. While she didn’t quite follow what their intent was at first, the moment she realized it, a cold shiver raced down her spine.

“Wow, didn’t think you had the hooves to pull that off, weakling.” A voice rang out behind her: Gloaming’s. “And I thought you would’ve went with the smaller one and left that other foal with the tough job. Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”

“I….” Twilight shut her mouth again; now that she was definitely in front of Gloaming, any mistake in verbage would be fatal.

“Tomorrow, you leave for Human-Earth. Follow the directions to the letter. If you vary even so much as by a fraction, big brother will…well, let’s just say he’ll be angry enough to get really creative,” Gloaming said with a sound in her voice almost akin to glee. “And look at it this way: finally, you’ll be of use to mother. Your pathetic, pointless life, whether it lasts beyond the mission or not, will finally have been of use to our mother, and that is how it should be.” Nothing more to say, the pepsis warmare walked off, leaving Twilight to still look at the package.

“This is my fate,” the rejected pepsis spoke, reading the document over and over again, seeing the cruelty in its script. Love was a myth, the document said without specifying. Forget about being loved; no being that deserved love could do what she was about to commence.

With the stereo banging out Tripomatic Fairytales, and the two girls in the backseat looking as though they’d partaken of their favorite incapacitating drugs of choice, the cop waived the somewhat embarrassed young woman through. After all, this was Belgium and things like that were normal. Of course, if the cop had any inkling that the “embarrassed young woman” was, if anything, multiples in age older than he and none of the young women in the car were human at all, he might have suddenly had second thoughts about stopping the Citroen as the car rocketed south on the A12, headed towards Brussels.

Faust spared a glance in the rear view mirror at the police officer, who was no doubt having a laugh or two at her “drunk friends”. Well, time to put them to use. “Screw Loose,” she asked, “teleport us to the location I mentioned.”

“Ja whol, mein guy!” the pony-in-human-form said in faux-German that didn’t even make sense, all things considered. Screw Loose stuck her hands out, and the car teleported to…

…the Gobi Desert…

…the bottom of the Marianas Trench…

…three feet above Kilauea Crater in Hawaii…

…Ularu in the Australian Outback…

…the Russian steppes…

…an enclosed military warehouse of some sort, where a futuristic black fighter of some kind sat, waiting…

…and finally, twelve feet short of their intended goal, where the once-and-future alicorn had to slam on the brakes to prevent the car from hitting a blue whale that was crossing the street. Out of the corner of her eye, Faust could see a soft smile on the face of Screwball as she messed with reality once more.

“Not right now, dear,” Faust admonished gently, and while the teenaged being pouted, the blue whale sprouted wings and flew off into the sky, and soon disappeared over the horizon. “Thank you,” Faust replied as she got out of the car, stepping onto the highway, just northwest of where the A4 and the R0 met.

Going to need all my power for this, she thought, transforming into her true form. Thankfully the road was deserted, lest someone might wonder about the presence of the giant white alicorn – and that might cause some problems for Celestia and Luna, something Faust didn’t wish. The queen of the alicorns placed her horn on the pavement and the road flared reddish-gold for a second as two bursts of energy rippled through the roadway. As the blasts dissipated, Faust transformed back to normal and went back to the car, breaking out a baguette and some wine – this was going to take a bit.

Lunch was uneventful, and most of that time was spent trying to coax Screwball out of her bad mood; apparently she’d wanted to keep the whale for a pet, Screw Loose translated, though who knew where they were going to keep something that size, even in Belgium. Screw Loose, while yammering through fifteen different languages, accents and tones, wondered what more they could do to assist, as it was Discord’s will that they be of service. The alicorn queen assured them that they would still have a role to play, and it would be important.

Now if I only knew what it was, Faust thought to herself, maybe I could actually tell them.

It was late afternoon when the whole road exploded into the same red-gold color, indicating that Faust’s spell had worked: she’d just turned every road in the tiny nation into her very own tripwire radar system, which would hopefully allow her to find exactly who or what she was looking for and deal with it accordingly. As she got back in the car, turning it around to head back to their place, she thought briefly about calling Greg and the kids and “officially” letting them know where she was; by now, she was sure, her husband had come up with some excuse as to why she’d had to fly to the other side of the globe on a moment’s notice.

Besides, she was sure that Sarah was going to ask her mother about the strange news coming out of Belgium where the roads suddenly started to inexplicably glow like burnished gold only to be written off as a national-level hallucination.

“Hey, hon, welcome back,” DJ said as she leapt into her husband’s embrace, kissing him once she had the chance.

“What brought that on?” he asked. “Not that I mind, but…you’re a bit overeager.”

“What, can’t a gal show her husband some affection?” she mock-pouted.

“Well, yeah, sure,” he answered, “but you like to go for overkill whenever possible.”

“Of course!” she laughed. “No kill like overkill!” But once the giggles had ceased, she said in more serious tones, “I know it’s been rough on you, hon, and I can’t thank you enough for sticking with me through this. I know it’s not exactly how you planned to spend your time while on deployment—”

“Stuck on easy TAD with my wife and kids at close access? Somehow I’ll manage,” he shrugged. “Besides, it just gives me more chances to tell you how much I love you, DJ.”

Her eyes grew soft at that. “You always know the perfect words to say, don’t you?”

“Practice.” She gave him that smile that said volumes, told him everything that was just for him. There was an unspoken signal sent, and both leaned in to kiss.

There was a polite cough, and both of them turned around to find Sam standing there, a grin of his own on his face. “You know, both of you really need a hotel room,” he advised.

DJ returned the grin. “What, don’t want another niece or nephew? I think I’d like a girl this time around.”

“Yeah, sis, but last time I checked, this nudist colony of a nation frowns on that kind of PDA,” he pointed out. “If this was Honolulu, I’d have to cite you for…well, I’d invent something.” He shrugged. “But the reason I popped in is to pass you a couple of things. One, Mike, Spike wanted to see if you were interested in a guy’s-night-out thing. Just spend some time with the males in the family, though I’m not sure if he means just us or both sides of whatever. But knowing that it’s Spike, it should be okay.”

“Sure, I’m game,” Mike replied affably.

Sam then turned to DJ. “He also said another one of your friends is coming to town – Lyra, if I remember the name correctly.”

A curious look came onto the humanized pony’s face. “I wonder if she’s coming here for business. Besides, I probably owe her an apology for my email to her.”

Mike facepalmed. “Again?”

DJ had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. “Hey, Lyra means a lot to me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t do stupid things now and then – you know that.”

“Oh, and you also might want to know that Mom and Dad went to go see Twilight again,” Sam added. “You should go see her. She is the reason you’re here, right?”

At those words, DJ’s ears flopped and her smile collapsed. “She is,” the humanized pony admitted, “but now that I’m here…I don’t want to walk in just as she’s dying.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Bullshit,” he said, his voice growing sharp on the last syllable as his eyes reflected disappointment. “DJ, do not bullshit me, okay? I know you – you’re not afraid of that.”

“Really? Have you died recently, Sam?” she asked. “Because I nearly did, in case you forgot that!”

“That’s not what’s frightening you. You’ve already faced death before, when our grandparents died a few years back. No, what you’re afraid of is your biological mother.” DJ didn’t answer, so Sam took that as a sign to continue. “Mom and Dad already told me she’s in the same room as Twilight, and that until yesterday she was unconscious.”

“Then that makes it even harder for me to go, Sam!” DJ replied.

“And you think it makes it easy for our parents?” he snapped. “That’s just going to make it just that much harder for them – they’re visiting Twilight while trying not to agitate Rarity. That’s not going to be easy for them, and I should know – I’ve seen more than enough domestic disputes during my time on the force to know that. This is going to be pure and utter hell for them, and you should be the one backing them up, DJ.

“You need to understand something that I don’t really think has ever set in, sis: we are your family and that won’t ever change. You will always be my older sister and Mom and Dad’s first kid. Nothing is going to change that – nothing. Even if we’d lost the case back then and you had to stay here until you were of age, we would have welcomed you back with open arms. Why? Because you’re family.” Sam’s eyes started to water as he said in a softer voice, “Because you’re my sister and you’re the one who taught me never to run away from things. I’ve watched you live your whole live never running, DJ, even when it made sense to. So why are you doing it now?”

The humanized pony was quiet for the longest time, and all the two men could hear was her breathing. Finally, she said in a neutral tone, “You know, it’s funny when both my brothers seem to have told me the same thing.”

“Both?” Sam asked before realizing. “Oh, you mean that Elusive guy. Guess I’m going to have to have a talk with him; he seems like he’s got a good head on his shoulders. But that’s for later. Anyway, DJ, you need to go see Twilight – if you really love her, you’ll go, okay?”

DJ nodded. “I’ll…I’ll go tomorrow and take the kids. It’ll probably my last chance to.” The look in her eyes was wounded. “I just….”

“I know, hon,” Mike said. “But she’s strong. Give Twilight some credit – she’s been through worse and I don’t doubt she’ll get through this as well.”

Well beneath Canterlot, back from the days when the great city was first being built, there resided a hidden chamber. What purpose the room served was lost to time, as ancient swords and spears dating back to the Moonfall era were housed there; considering the pristine condition of the chamber after hundreds of years, the room must have seen some sort of use, as it was free from the dust and detritus of the ages. But considering that the chamber was about the size of a small warehouse, it was likely a forgotten storeroom or armory, placed in stasis in case a crisis came that required its needs.

In any case, the chamber was currently host to a different sort of army, as hundreds of ponies filed into the chamber to assemble together. All were dressed in black cloaks and white masks covering their faces; the cloaks and masks were to give them succor from fear they would be noticed for attending this meeting, one that was hinted could possibly be less than ethical, possibly even illegal. Ponies from all three subspecies could be seen there; all were stallions and mares from different walks of life and during normal circumstances probably didn’t travel in the same circles.

Standing at the front of the room was a figure, a pony, on the dais. Now was the time to take command of the meeting and give those assembled what they craved so very much: order. Raising a foreleg covered in black steel, the pony coughed slightly, then raised a voice, clear as a bell; the room, with its perfect acoustics, didn’t require any type of voice modulation spell. “Brothers! Sisters! I thank you for coming!” As one, the crowd turned in the direction of the speaker.

“For too long, we have watched as our beloved homeland sinks into the abyss. We have reached the point that not even our beloved Divine Sisters can stem the tide – Holy Celestia and Sacred Luna may be our protectors and benefactors, but we as ponykind must look out for them as well! Is it not written in the Codex Faustis that we are our fellow pony’s keeper? Too long we have let contamination and ruination come into our lands!

“Yes, my brothers and sisters, you know of what I speak of: they are liars and thieves and their number is legion! Call them what you will – zebras, donkeys, gryphons, whatever – and you will see a trail of tears running from one great end of our homeland to the next! We were once a great realm, headed by a queen, and we were feared and respected. Now? Our princesses are being overwhelmed – they were attacked in another land! – and Luna herself was once corrupted!” There was suddenly a sea of murmurs from the crowd, and the speaker continued. “Please: let it not be thought that I blame our beloved Princess of the Night for what befell her. I do not envy her majesty’s heartbreaking decision to exile her beloved sister for the safety of ponykind. And I assure you: I know the heartbreak our dearest princess felt.”

Another sea of babbling broke out and the speaker slammed a steel-shod hoof on the floor; the sharp ringing stopped the conversation immediately. “But let me ask you this?” the speaker began once more. “Who was in the Lunar Army when Nightmare Moon began her assault on Castle Everfree?”

The murmurs began once more, but there was a change this time. Though most of the Lunar Rebellion was composed of ponies joining Nightmare Moon’s side, typical scholarly apologetics tended to play up the number of mercenaries of other species within that army’s ranks. Sure enough, someone made the connection as a voice called out, “Zebra shamans! And gryphon sellswords!”

“And diamond dog sappers!” cried another.

The speaker raised forelegs again to forestall further comment; the point was made. “Those words are true, my brothers and sisters. Yes, we all know that history tells of the few unwise ponies that chose to join the Lunar Rebellion; for their transgressions, they were correctly punished. But what is never discussed is how our beloved Princess of the Moon became corrupt and turned into the abomination we know as the Nightmare.” The murmurs began to briefly start, but stopped once more. “Ask yourself this, o brothers and sisters: her highness is a sweet and loving mare. She is gentle, kind and some would say shy. How could an innocent soul as that be corrupted into a terrible monster determined to destroy what she held most dear?”

“The official word is that she was jealous of her sister and coveted the love that the ponies gave Holy Celestia during the day, thus spurning our poor Princess of the Night. They say she turned because ponies feared and shunned her night. And yet…how true is this?” The speaker’s head shook, an indication that the answer should be plain as day. “When I look into the sky, I see marvels, wonders – the work of an artist. That powerful level of creation couldn’t have come from a monster. No, I believe our dearest princesses have obscured what truly happened in order to protect us from the truth: that we have powerful, corrupting enemies out there, ones who are supposedly our own allies but would see harm done to us in a moment’s notice.”

A member of the audience then spoke up: “But how can you accuse our allies? Didn’t the gryphon king send troops to aid Holy Celestia? And did not the bison come to our aid when they would have preferred to stay out of the conflict?”

The speaker nodded. “Indeed they did. But!” The speaker paused for dramatic effect, before continuing. “Didn’t Griphonica wait until the war was nearly over before sending aid? And the bison – they only aided us materially, not joining in the conflict when our troops were nearly obliterated. Considering the sizable and varied host that was being thrown at us, we ponies were well outmatched, and those ‘so-called’ allies could have turned the tide…but did too little, too late!” The speaker pounded a hoof against the floor for effect once more, the sharp clack of hoof against marble singing out to all ears. “And why didn’t they? Because they had a vested interest in keeping us down! Make no mistake: the gryphons and bisons ‘helped’ us because had we lost, they would have been in place to pick up the spoils, but since that did not happen, their ‘choice’ to aid us resulted in renewed ties with the crown and Preferred Status for being allied with our princess, one wracked with guilt over having slaughtered her former followers and imprisoned her sister on the moon. A princess easy to manipulate.”

“But how?” a pegasus from the crowd asked, her voice incredulous.

“I know it seems impossible to believe; I myself had a hard time fathoming it, I assure you. But…for a thousand years, Holy Celestia wept for her lost sister, something coming on top of the loss of Divine Faust – our princess had nothing. No one to protect her, comfort her, assure her everything would be fine for her even as she watched over us all in a lonely vigil. And then one day…she took a lover. And for years she was content.” Ponies looked at this revelation with shock and awe at this announcement; it certainly wasn’t common knowledge. Waving to a corner, two other ponies approached, carrying a large painting. “This comes from the depths of the royal archives. It is a painting of her majesty and her paramour, Argent Lance.”

The picture was unveiled and several gasped in surprise; from the way the two were posed, there was no doubt as to what was intended. Pictures made during the days of the three realms always showed the stallion standing straight and strong, while the mare lay supplicant at his hooves, leaning against them in succor – it was a typical depiction of a husband and wife during those days. The crowd thus found it disconcerting to see their princess, lying at the feet of a guard dressed in barding, clearly the sign of a couple.

“From the picture, it is clear: our dearest princess loved Argent Lance and took him into her confidence,” the speaker said. “And what did he do with that trust?” The speaker pressed a button on the floor and a soft click of technology kicked in as a projector above threw an image onto a screen next to the speaker. The image was modern, a photograph taken of a gravestone somewhere clearly not in Equestria.

“This is the grave of Argent Lance, who died on Octobris 16th, 761 in the old calendar. His grave is located in the Tall Savannah, a Great House of zebra nobility in the city of Quaggaton.”

The crowd looked at one another in shock, and the speaker knew what roiled through their minds: Zebrababwe? Why there? Why not here, where he’d be with the Princess?

Finally, an earth pony voiced what was on everypony’s minds: “How could this be – Zebrababwe? Why not in Canterlot?”

The speaker’s voice then thundered with the answer: “Because at first chance, he broke the heart of our beloved princess!” The speaker let that sink in before continuing. “At the first chance, he took a vast treasure and countless secrets with him to the Southeastern Continent, where he took one of the daughters of the zebra king for a bride!”

At that revelation, the fact that Celestia had been used sank in. It took less than a second for the crowd to become enraged. “This cannot stand!” somepony in the back of the crowd called out.

“Thankfully for us,” the speaker answered, “that is why fate turned and Holy Celestia was doubly graced. First with the birth of our third princess, her highness the Blessed Mi Amore Cadenza. Shortly after, however, was the birth of one of the most important ponies ever: that of Holy Celestia’s Faithful Student, She Who is Beloved, the Archmagus Twilight Sparkle.” The crowd fell silent at that name; there was not a soul who didn’t hold the Knight Commander Elemental in the highest regard.

The speaker’s voice sounded as though it was swelling with pride as the litany continued. “Twilight Sparkle proved herself by bending to her will the most ferocious of creatures, a dragon—” There were cheers for that, “—and then with her stalwart companions, the Knights Elemental returned our beloved Princess Luna to us—” At this point the speaker’s words were drowned out by the intense applause and cheering in Twilight’s name. “And with the Knights Elemental and Princess Luna returned to us, ponydom has been able to prosper once more.”

The speaker waved forelegs in an attempt to quiet the group down. “But now dark clouds are on the horizon again. Nightmare Moon once more prowls the world, now in possession of a new host. Two of our cities lay waste and we are at the brink of war. And we face conflict against the changelings, who nearly destroyed all once and would have slaughtered us all were it not for Blessed Cadance and her husband, may he rest in peace.

“But the worst news was revealed just last night: four of the Bearers, including the Faithful Student herself, have been poisoned and are dying. Our Trinity of Princesses cannot to stem the tide and darkness and evil falls once more on the land. And do you know why?” The crowd fell silent once more.

“Humans,” the answer came on a hissed voice. “We face the legendary monsters of old, creatures we thought we were safe from because they were myths and legends. But now we know better. Yes, they have brought us many a gift of their modern world and improved our lives much. But was it done in the hoof of friendship, or to fatten the lamb for slaughter?

“Think on this, brothers and sisters: all of our traditional enemies have allied themselves with humanity. Our military has been forced to realign along human technology and tactics, ones with play to their strengths and not traditional pony advantages. They challenged us to war when we first met them twenty years past – who remembers the calls for war in their cities such as New York, London and Moscow? And most horrific of all: they have taken the daughter of our fair Lady Rarity, the Knight Elemental of Generosity and twisted that foal’s mind so much that she is more human than pony now, with a human name and a human stance and a human mate.” The speaker let the words soak in.

“Make no mistake, brothers and sisters: ponydom faces its biggest peril yet and we risk losing all. The humans are clearly siding with our enemies – it was human warplanes that destroyed Cloudsdale, human weapons that obliterated Fillydelphia – while pretending to be our allies. In their hooves they hold a sword, promising to defend us and all we hold dear. But when the first moment comes, I tell you this: that sword will be at our throats!”

“How can we persevere?” a unicorn mare asked.

“I shall tell you how.” With a practiced effort, the speaker removed her cowl, slow enough to be dramatic but not so much that it was obvious. The pony stood there, dressed in armor black as night, regal and powerful in a way that could not be denied. She was a soft orange, with red-and-yellow hair the color of blazing flame and teal eyes the color of cool water. “My brothers and sisters, I am Sunset Shimmer, formerly Princess Celestia’s personal protégé. I stepped aside willingly when Twilight Sparkle came into our lives, because I knew she would be the mare that would save us from what would come. But now…she cannot do it alone, and for my mentor, I will not let them fall!” The mare moved forward, walking off the stage towards the crowd. “To save ponydom, I created the Covenant of the Pure Hoof, the last bastion between anarchy and order. I did so out of love for my fellow pony and my undying vow to our Princess, who I still see as somepony who guides me, even now as I follow a path that might not be as clear. So I ask you, join us – join the Purehooves.” Dozens of magic lights suddenly came into existence, and she was surrounded by several troops standing in modern military armor with modern weapons. Each of the uniforms had an emblem of a polished platinum streak on it, as if signifying a powerful hoof beating down on its enemies. “Together, we will work to protect the Princesses, the Knights and our fellow ponies. We will use the monsters’ weapons to drive them back to their world and to take the rest of their allies with them, and we will save this world that our Divine Queen Faust bequeathed to us so long ago.”

Sunset began to pace up and down on the stage, a soft smile on her face. “Now, I know more than a few out there are wondering what you’ve gotten yourselves into. ‘The Purehooves are criminals!’ they tell you. ‘They’re bigots, they’re liars!’ Brothers and sisters, these are all lies, lies spread by insiders working to destroy the system or through other means, but they are all lies! If you truly believed that any of what I said was less than truthful, you would have never come. But you did, because you know the hoof of love and devotion when you see it. We want a pure world, a true world where our Princesses can rule over us ponies without interference as was meant to be. But we here on the stage cannot do it alone. I need your help, the help of everypony to do so.” She looked at them as one who truly knew she was on a crusade. “For those who wish to join us, take off your mask and your cloak. Those who aren’t ready, please…keep them on – there is no shame in not being ready to protect our beloved Princesses yet.”

There was a pause and silence for several minutes as ponies decided whether or not to join the cause. Finally, someone asked the question. “Why have we never heard of you before?”

Sunset smiled again. “A fair question. As I said, I was once her majesty’s prize student. I stepped aside willingly for young Twilight, because I knew what she was and what she would mean for our future. Her highness rewarded me with a nobility and land in Vanhoover so I could continue my studies in magic. Sadly, that is where the enemy struck.” The mare turned away, the look on her face sad. “I was attacked, spirited away from my home by the enemy, my home burned to the ground. I spent years in slavery under the paw and claw of my tormentors and while I finally managed to escape, by then my mentor and everypony I knew thought me dead. And as I saw the dark clouds circling my homeland, I knew I could use this to my advantage – to aid everypony and everything I have ever loved.”

That was enough for a pegasus mare standing by the exit. Removing her mask and cloak, she shouted, “I’ll stand with you!” A second later, two more joined; a pair of earth stallions. “Sunset wants to protect those who have protected us for so long!” one of the stallions cried. “To protect our Princesses, I’ll stand beside her!” Immediately several others followed, and then the deluge began; by the time they were done, only three had failed to remove their masks, and based on their guilty postures, it was clear they’d probably be back and join the next time.

“Brothers and sisters, we of the Purehooves will make our nation proud once more!” There was a deafening cheer this time as Sunset gave a smile to crowd. The Purehooves would rise and defeat their enemies.

“Thanks for the help in packing all of this stuff,” Orange Box said to Flutterwonder. “And thanks for taking the time to listen to me again, sis.”

The older pegasus looked at the younger one. “I couldn’t stay mad at you forever, Orange. We’re sisters, right?”

Orange cracked a soft grin. “Was it your coltfriend that made you give in, or Hazy?”

Fluttsy laughed. “Well, if I have to be honest, it was Firewire. He didn’t think that we should be fighting at all, and said that it’d hurt Mom’s feelings if we kept it up. Even if you hate her, Orange, she still loves you and it hurts her to….” A stare from the gray pegasus shut the yellow one up.

“Look, I thought we agreed we wouldn’t talk about that anymore,” Orange said plainly.

“But Mom—”

“Give it a rest, Fluttsy. My mind is made up: I want nothing to do with her anymore. I love Dad, and I will always be there for him, just as he was always there for us. But her…I can’t forgive. I can’t ever forgive,” the baker replied. “Maybe it’s wrong and inequine of me, but I just can’t bring myself to forgive, and I just can’t comprehend how any of you can.”

“Because she’s our Mom and we love her, just as she loves us,” Fluttsy replied. “And I’m not going to push you on that – I promised Hazy and Splashie I wouldn’t, but…well, nevermind. Let’s just keep working.”

Orange seemingly perked up at the change of subject. “Besides, we have all these CARE packages we’ve got to get wrapped up before the Red Cross gets here to pick up the first wave.”

“Tell me about it: we need relief supplies sent to Cloudsdale on the double, and I’m getting every pegasus I know to help me carry everything over.”

“I know how you feel, sis,” Orange admitted. “I just…I don’t have time to talk about…well, other things, you know?”

The look on Flutterwonder’s face was inquisitive. “Somepony looks a little guilty….”

“I….” Orange gave her sister an odd look. “Did you ever do something that you regret? Something that you feel can’t be taken back?”

“No, why?”

The younger pegasus shook her head. “Nevermind,” she added. “Let’s just get this package done so we can start cooking the next batch of food they’ll need.”

It was night when Champagne Dreams walked onto the grounds of her home. “Good evening, milady,” one of the guards said, bowing deeply as she walked past. “Pleasant evening?”

“Yes,” Champagne cooed, a smile on her face. “Let’s just said I made quite the impression on a group of individuals today,” she replied, “and if everything goes according to plan, things will be very different.” She approached the guard, an enigmatic grin on her face as she said, “Someday, all will be as clear as the dusk.” She left the guard to puzzle over her thoughts as she moved on into the manor.

Once inside, Blueblood stood there, a smile on his face. “You were marvelous today, my wife.”

She curtsied slightly. “And thank you, dearest husband. What I did today was to lay a foundation for our betterment, and for the day when we can count upon our bright victory. I trust all other preparations have been made?”

“Not yet. We still have some that will not listen, but it’s just a matter of time. I will win them over eventually. They cannot hold out before the truth, and sooner or later they will have to know that.”

As the night wound down, DJ poked her head into the room her sons slept in, the light from the hallway illuminating the sleeping faces of the boys. She then turned to look at Mike, whispering, “They’re as handsome as their father.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he joked. She, in turn, just gave him that look every wife gives her husband when the humor grows old; she then underlined that by flicking him with her tail, though playfully. “Well, I’ve got to report to the embassy first thing in the morning,” Mike replied. “I agreed to PT in the morning with Col. Thomlinson; Brett’s a pretty cool guy, but his wife was injured in the attack.”

“She was?” DJ asked.

“Yeah, he married a pony sometime last year, and guy’s a complete wreck right now. I suspect the General is having me keep tabs on him right now, just to make sure he’s got someone he can talk to. Frankly, I know how he feels.”

DJ whispered, “I’m sorry, Mike. I can’t say that enough.”

“Let’s forget about that,” he replied. “It’s in the past. Hopefully I should be able to meet you at the hospital first thing in the afternoon.”

“I’m still nervous about this,” she admitted.

“Look, I’m sure Elusive or Sweetie can take time out of their schedules to go with you if you want—”

“No,” she said, firmly. “Things might be said that could…no, scratch that – things likely will be said that will hurt feelings. I care about them both and I don’t want to see their feelings hurt.”

“Your parents are going with you, right?”

“As if Mom and Dad would ever let me walk into danger alone,” she said, a tone of pride in her voice.

“Well, if nothing else, I’m proud of you for facing this. And I’ll be there with you as soon as I can,” he said, bending down to kiss her on the forehead. “Now, I’ve got to get some sleep since my ass has to be up at 0530 to get ready.” She nodded and he walked down the hall towards where their room was, while DJ slipped into the boys’ room.

As she entered the room, she saw the glow-in-the-dark stars and moon stickers that Luna had placed around the room for the sake of the boys’ comfort. But while DJ saw the soft green glow of the stickers, she also saw the blue, pulsating energy radiating from them, spell wards designed to protect the boys in the event of an emergency. Given what Nightmare Moon had done, Luna had spent a few minutes reinforcing the spell strong enough that it would take magical strength of two powers on the alicorn’s magical scale to cancel out. It was a measure of safety for the boys, one that DJ was grateful that her aunt had thought to do.

“Mom?” Stuart’s voice came from the shadows.

She went over to his bed and kissed him on the forehead gently. “I’m here,” she said.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Why do you ask that?”

In the way that kids told the blunt truth, he said, “You seem kinda scared. I know you and Dad are trying to be brave about all this meeting your re…I mean, old parents tomorrow.”

“Well, I am, just a little,” DJ admitted. “It’s only natural. People tend to fear things at times, but as long as you have a prayer in your heart and the knowledge that you’re loved, everything will turn out for the best.”

“You promise?”

“Always,” she said, mussing his hair.

“Then why the spell barrier?” he asked.

A sudden chill went down her spine. How…? “How did you know about that?”

“I heard Aunt Luna talking to Uncle Spike about the barrier in the room, and when I looked up at the stickers Aunt Luna put up for us, I could see two kinds of glows. One of them looks like the stickers in our room back home, but the other one looks kinda like magic.”

“But that’s….” She trailed off; the only reason she could see them was because Luna cast a spell on her so she could monitor the spell’s strength. But Stuart shouldn’t have been able to see them at all, unless…. A thought came to her mind, one that Mike had mentioned earlier in the night: Spike’s theory that as children of ponies and humans, there was the chance that Stuart and Tyler could have inherited pony traits aside from the obvious eye and hair colors.

Could that heritage be unicorn magic as well? Or earth pony strength? And if Stuart had it and possibly Tyler, what about Lyra’s three children? Colby, Orchid and Octavia could have the same potential. And, twenty years on from first contact there were dozens of pony-human pairings now…and she knew several of them personally, and several had newborns or were expecting. Note to self: need to let Logan and Lovestruck know that baby Charlotte might just have inherited some of Loves’ magic talent – she’s already got her mother’s eye and hair color.

“Mom?” Stuart asked, wondering why she suddenly fell silent.

“Nothing, sweetie; I was just thinking. But tell you what: if you promise to be there for me, I promise I won’t be afraid, okay?”

He leaned up out of bed and hugged her. “Deal!” She held him, knowing that his smaller size wasn’t going to last much longer; he was a growing boy and that meant that it was only a handful of years before he’d be taller than her. But then again, that’s just the way things were for ponies, even humanized ones like herself or Lyra.

“I love you, kiddo. Your dad and I both. Don’t you forget that, okay?” He nodded, and she kissed him on the cheek. “Now you get some sleep, okay? I want you to spend some time in the morning studying with Cinnamon before we go to the hospital.”

“Okay. Love you, Mom.”

She smiled as she made her way to the door. “Love you too, Stuart. Night.”

Celestia entered her room, head drooping. She was disconsolate and alone, and her heart hurt like it hadn’t in ages. Today, she’d been reminded that she was ever meant to be alone. Today, she was reminded that four of the ponies she loved most were on the verge of death. Today, she’d been reminded that despite all her power, two of her cities had fallen to two different enemies, and she now stood at the crossroads of war, facing both ancient foes and ones bearing technological atrocities – and neither one bode well for the fate of her realm.

Today, I was reminded that for all that I am, I am nothing, she thought, and that in the end, Luna was right, and I’m a hypocrite. For the first time in ages, the sun alicorn felt like a complete and utter failure and wanted to just shrink into nothingness. A thought came to mind: was this how and why her mother suddenly disappeared? To date, the only clue she’d received as to why Faust had left was a note saying that it was better for the realm that way and that she loved them both. And then Queen Faust was gone, and her disappearance started a maelstrom that even centuries later had yet to heal in some ways.

Celestia thought about that for a second and knew she couldn’t do that to her ponies. And maybe, that was the worst part of it all: it made her crown a slave collar, keeping her confined and tied down, even when other ponies had their own freedoms, leaving the princess forever in a gilded cage.

Tired, the Princess of the Sun collapsed on her bed. Letting exhaustion take her, she lay her head down on a pillow, mind headed towards a fitful and sleepless night.

But it wasn’t an alicorn’s head that rested on that pillow that evening.

Chapter Fourteen: Pieces on the Chessboard

“Uh, Mom, I really know you like your retro TV shows – only reason you watch TV at all – but what is that?” DJ pointed at the LCD screen that normally served as her mother’s drawscreen for her comic pursuits and computer monitor. However, today it was set to Netflix, and Anna was watching something that was best described as…weird.

Anna smiled. “Old TV show I used to watch when I was just a little older than Sammy: My Little Pony and Friends.”

Hearing that, DJ seemed to snap still, a flare of ice rolling down her back. “Did Hasbro…?” the teenaged pony huffed. The existence of her species and their home reality had been public knowledge for a year now, and DJ was still recovering from the after-effects of that whole incident. While DJ’s parents had firmly turned down the toy company once her existence had been revealed to the world, things were now different and DJ was now sought after again by the paparazzi, though for different reasons this time – and hopefully that would die just as quickly, she hoped.

“I told them no, remember? I’m watching this on my own, just out of that nostalgia old people get,” Anna said with a grin. “Just watch: when you get to be my age, you’ll be doing the same thing, too.”

“Not likely,” the daughter muttered as she stood behind her mother and watched a few more minutes of the show.

To say it was surreal would be an understatement. From what DJ could tell, it was the adventure of one pre-teen and her younger siblings running around in Ponyland – clearly the show writers were blessed with originality in coming up with that name – and it was all done against a prehistoric green screen background, which must have been state of the art forty-odd years ago. But it was the “ponies” that really freaked her out: giant muppet-like things that must have been built by Jim Henson on an off-day; they looked closer to a dwarf horse – or what they called “ponies” back then – than the extradimensional species that DJ was biologically a part of. Before she knew it, she’d sat down with her mother for that episode and the next, very much in that “can’t-take-eyes-off-the-trainwreck” sort of way.

Finally, the episode ended and Anna reached over to hit the space bar, pausing before it went to the next one. “So, what’d’ja think?”

“I wonder how much damage it did to those kids’ acting careers,” DJ snarked.

“Well, if I can remember correctly, Megan Williams – the kids all used their real-life names for their characters – did a stint on Saved by the Bell before retiring from acting. Danny Williams was in a few movies, mostly John Hughes films; I think he went into politics in his home state. Only Molly Williams stayed in acting; she was the one who played the mother in that movie we saw last week.”

“Um…okay. Whatever. Anyway, I think I’m going to back upstairs, find the brain bleach and overdose,” DJ said, a nonchalant look on her face.

Carrying her bags, Lyra stepped through the portal leading from Human-Earth and into her birthworld. The portal guards, already aware of her impending arrival and knowing who she was, gave a curt nod as the unicorn walked through, dragging her bags along their wheels courtesy of her telekinesis. As she stepped forward, hoof over hoof, part of her realized that she was still walking upright as she did back with her family, instead of here, where she could be just another pony again. But she knew that was a lie: she’d never been “just another pony”. Even today, as she wore a neatly-pressed business suit that looked sharper than she felt right now and drinking coffee from the Starbucks just across the street from the embassy, she knew she could never truly fit in with her own kind – and that’s why she was the mare she was now, walking into the world that was her home from the alien world where she felt like she belonged.

She’d just rounded the corner when she found someone standing before her. “Lyra!” Cadance said, rushing over. “It’s been too long!”

Despite her exhaustion, a wide smile broke onto Lyra’s face. “Cadance! So good to see you!” the unicorn said as she set down bags and drink, embracing the alicorn. “How’ve you been?”

Despite her perkiness, there was an air of exhaustion around the princess’ eyes. “Tired and I could really use some advice.”

“Anything for my old foalsitter,” Lyra replied with a sunny smile.

“I would hope it’s because I’m a friend and not just the old foalsitter,” Cadance quipped.

“Well, there is that part about you signing my paychecks and giving me a large house in Leesburg for me and the family to live in,” Lyra answered before a sudden yawn cut off the rest of the thought. “Sorry; it’s been a very long couple of days for me. Was going over some last minute things with AC regarding tomorrow’s talks over the whole Iranian issue. I wanted to make sure that everything was as set in stone as it could be.”

“Thanks, but that’s not why I came to meet you,” the love alicorn said. “The advice is a…personal thing.” When Lyra suddenly looked oddly at her old friend, Cadance took the bags in TK and led them off towards her office, explaining everything that had happened to her in the past few days.

When the alicorn finished, a soft, precious smile rose onto the unicorn’s face. “That’s fantastic!” Lyra said, embracing the princess once gain. “I’m so happy for you, and I’m sure he’ll be as wonderful a stallion as his father was.”

“Thanks. So do you think you’ll have time to…?”

“For you? Always,” Lyra grinned. “Just don’t expect me to do the whole Darth Vader thing.”

“Darth…Vader?” Cadance looked at her old friend with a clueless expression.

“Star Wars reference – hubby’s a big fan of those old movies.” In a husky voice, Lyra drolled, “‘When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master.’”

The pink alicorn giggled. “Cute.”

“I thought so. Plus, Paul and I talked and since the kids haven’t been to Equestria before, we thought it’d be a great idea to have them come tomorrow. And also, I wanted to check up on Twilight and see how she’s doing.” The younger mare was silent for a second before asking, “Is it true? That she’s decided to try to sacrifice herself?”

At that question, Cadance stiffened like a board. “Where…did you hear that?” she asked.

The look in Lyra’s eyes was sad. “I have connections too, you know. Plus, just because Twi and I weren’t close when we weren’t younger doesn’t mean we aren’t now. And if it’s true, I’m very worried.” Seeing the shattered look on the elder pony’s face, the unicorn added, “Twi and the others’ll pull through – they always do. We just have to have faith in them.”

Cadance said nothing about that lest it fracture her fragile heart even further. Instead, she said, “While you’re here, you should know that DJ is here as well. She returned because of Twilight, but her family has been pushing her to at least try to reconcile with Rarity.”

Lyra nodded, a knowing look on her face. “About damn time. As long as I’ve known that girl, there’s been a hole in her heart, one that she really doesn’t know exists and tends to mistake for something else. What about Elusive and Minty? Are they okay with this?”

“Elusive and DJ have met and they’ve reconciled happily. As for Minty…she’s in critical condition in Ponyville General; she was caught in the attack at Fillydelphia and she was lucky to survive – her husband and daughter didn’t.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lyra said, unsure of what else she could say. She nearly lost her husband over five years ago in a plane crash, and it had been a miracle that he’d survived unscathed. But some people – human or pony – didn’t get the luck of having their loved ones make it through the gauntlet safely.

The next few minutes were ones of complete and utter awkwardness before Cadance asked, “So, while you’re here, where are you staying?”

“I was hoping I could get your secretary to set me up with a room at a nearby hotel. I know I should have had Scent take care of it, bu—”

“Oh no you don’t!” Cadance insisted. “You’re coming to stay at my place, Lyra – I insist. It wouldn’t be right, having you stay in some vaguely sanitized room.”

“I don’t want to be a bother. Besides, my family will be here tomorrow, remember?”

“You wouldn’t be – and I have more than enough room for you all. Besides, I’ll still need a hand with Duskie, and having you there were would be perfect.”

Lyra sighed in good-natured defeat. “Fine, but on one condition.” Cadance patiently waited before Lyra burst out in an excited voice, “It’s the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League tonight and United is squaring off against Brujas. If they take it, they face off against the winners of the Galaxy-Cruz Azul game. Please tell me you have ESPN Soccernet!”

“This is about that sport that you suggested to the Ministry of Health, isn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, but….”

“Don’t ever change, Lyra.” Cadance’s smile was wide. “You can explain the game to me tonight – I may as well get some use out of that big screen TV Spike bought me for my birthday last year.”

“And you swear that everything you have told us today in your testament is true, in our Divine Majesty’s name?” the interrogator asked.

A scowl briefly appeared on the features of Khalid. “I do not believe in your ruler as a goddess, but I will swear in the Prophet’s name that all that I have said is true, Peace Be Upon Him,” the colonel replied. Inwardly, however, he was smiling: the strange, demon-like creatures identifying themselves as “pepsis” had been correct that the ponies had bought everything he’d told them, hook, line and sinker. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, however; the ponies apparently knew nothing of interrogation methods and to them, merely isolating him and his men from each other was sufficient torture and anything along the lines of methods that human countries would have used would be beyond the pale of these weaklings.

These are not demons, they’re lambs ready for the slaughter, Khalid thought to himself. And that’s why my new employer will make short work of them. I don’t know what his plans are for them, but it is clear that it will not be anything that they would consider merciful.

“Are you mad?” Chrysalis gasped as Ghino revealed the full of his plan to her and Nightmare Moon. “Putting the Equestrianis on a war footing will make it harder for me to succeed at my goals, you fool!”

Standing there, calm as a breeze and his arms folded, Ghino merely smiled at the queen of the changelings. “You think small, Chrysalis. We are engineering a war with a nation very much interested in throwing everything at them, and they have allies and fellow nations just as uneasy with the existence of the Alter-Earth species’ presence on Earth. At one point nearly a century ago, these nations decided to band together to try to destroy one that was slightly different from them – only slightly different. For a place as different as Equestria and backed up by the United States, of which few of these nations have any respect for, either? It’s all but guaranteed that there will be a shooting war.”

Interested in the human’s words, the black alicorn chose to back him. “Think about it: the Equestriani will be so focused on fighting this new human threat that they will be unable to devote resources while we tear at their flanks. They’ll be ripe for the taking, and by the time they realize what’s happened, they’ll be too busy trying to fight us while leaving themselves open to hits by the opposing human army.”

“But what about their allies – or did you forget about those? They do have species on this world and humans on the other that will jump in to assist in a heartbeat,” the changeling queen pointed out.

“Won’t happen,” Ghino replied with a shake of his head. “Most of the human nations are bluster and bravado. They claim that they’ll staunchly defend their allies as they would themselves, but when push comes to shove? Never happens. There’s always a ‘financial problem’ or some legal loophole that prevents it. Sometimes even the fickle support of their own people prevents it. So not a single human nation will lift a finger and Equestria will suddenly find itself alone as it fights two wars at once.”

“If you insist.”

“I do,” the human nodded, moving forward. “I most certainly do.”

“Mother,” Blue Velvet spoke up, “I can vouch for Ghino’s words.”

“I don’t recall asking for your opinion,” Chrysalis snarled at the pepsis and surprisingly, she shrank back.

Nightmare Moon decided that the bickering was enough. “Chrysalis, we’ll do it this way. By letting the Iranians savage the pony front lines, it will give you clear pass to their flanks, and before Celestia knows it, we will own half her lands and lord over half her ponies.”

A meeting commenced in the private office of the Foreign Minister of Equestria; the mood of all present was nothing less than sober and serious.

“Your majesty, based on intelligence reports coming out of the Pentagon, any war that may come up will have two major focal points: here, and obviously Iran. Now, granted, my days in the military are long since over, but General Bryson has informed me that the immediate saturation of Iran, combined with sustained defense of the sea and air gates, would be enough to end the war quickly and decisively.” The speaker was an older woman, with blonde hair that had mostly gone gray, but blue eyes that were still as lively as the bygone days of her youth. “Frankly, if I may, I’m not as confident.”

Celestia arched a brow. “So you think your general is incorrect, Ambassador?”

Megan Williams, United States Ambassador to Equestria, shook her head. “Quite the opposite: I think Bryson’s being as straightforward with me as possible. But I think that the official line coming from the National Intelligence Apparatus isn’t quite what it used to be. Because the general is still active duty, he has a delicate balancing act to deal with – but I retired as an Air Force colonel quite some time ago, so I don’t have to worry about playing games when I say that unless the info is coming from a trusted source, meaning the Pentagon and not Langley, so it should be seen as the, ahem, polished piece of shit that it is.”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” Cadance said.

Sundance nodded. “In my duties, I’ve come across similar tales from my counterpart there. Sooner or later, you learn to ‘massage the message’, quote unquote, in order to do your job, for good or ill.” Sundance, as the head of the Foreign Ministry’s Crown Intelligence Service, dealt primarily in cultural and diplomatic intelligence, as opposed to the Mage Guild’s Intelligence Division, which handled military intelligence issues. As a result of the lack of overlap, the two Equestriani intelligence agencies enjoyed a better relationship than their counterparts in other countries. “Megan’s right: I’d rather work with the folks at the Pentagon or at Foggy Bottom than those at Langley, nevermind the NSA.”

“Then you suspect that things will be a lot worse?” the sun princess asked those present. “I needn’t remind everyone that incoherent intelligence will have a negative impact on the overall situation, and might in the end make things worse.”

“Princess, with all due respect,” Lyra spoke, “allies are there for a reason. We’re all going to need each other and I think I can say that we’ll be okay once we’re dealing with trusted friends. There might be some in-fighting on their end, but in the end they’ll get us what we need. After all, it was an American statesman who once said that ‘we must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately.’”

“Reading up on American history, Ambassador Phillips?” Megan asked.

“My kids recently did a book report on Benjamin Franklin; I helped them a little on it,” Lyra answered with a grin. The celeste unicorn took a sip of her coffee and then looked at Cadance. “But to continue, Ambassador Williams is correct. Our own military attaches have made some progress in talks with the Pentagon, and the story’s the same there. There seems to be some sort of disconnect between the military assessment and the intelligence assessment.”

Megan laughed. “Oh, please, Ambassador – the CIA needs the Pentagon more than vice versa,” the woman told her counterpart. “Ross Arbuckle desperately needs to look good to the President, as the Company hasn’t been of use since the 1990s. They botched Al Qaeda’s attempted attack on New York in 2001, the dissolution of the Syrian Republic in 2013, the 2019 Paris riots, and the current military situation. The Office of the Vice President has honestly been looking into the disestablishment of the CIA into a new agency, so Arbuckle’s trying to get a grand slam in any way he can. He’s not being dirty, just a typical politician. Last I heard, he was trying to prove that some small European terrorist outfit – they call themselves the ‘Republic of Pirates’ – is responsible for funding a lot of the recent terrorist actions around the world.

“But that’s not the point. Your majesty, the last time we spoke, you inquired as to how far my country would go to protect yours? To answer that, I should point out that at one time or another, just about every country that we’re currently allied to we’ve been at war with in the past. Granted, there are a few exceptions to the rule, such as Australia, but we just didn’t have the time to squeeze a quick war in before the current global status occurred,” Megan added with a slight grin. “I can honestly say that the U.S. will stand with any ally we march into war with.”

At that point, the door to the office opened, and Spike poked his head in, dressed in a suit and tie. “Ladies, I have some news,” he said, bowing with a flourish.

“Thank you, Spike,” Celestia said. “What is it?”

But Williams looked at the dragon, and something clicked. “So, is this the esteemed gentlemen that made such a ruckus in Honolulu last year?”

Celestia covered her mouth to prevent a giggle. Nodding, she added, “He’s also somepony that’s a part of my family. He’s a stallion amongst stallions and such a wise and gentle soul for his age.”

Spike tried not to blush from Celestia’s compliment, instead focusing on the human’s words. “Ambassador, I can’t apologize enough for what happened at the Pali Lookout, but that young woman’s life was at stake – I couldn’t in good conscience just stand there.”

“And the fact that you didn’t was impressive enough to begin with, good sir; not many would have moved with the courage that you showed.” Megan stood up and looked at the dragon closer. “Spike, is it? The Dolby family asked me to pass on their utmost thanks to you should I see you again. They are, by coincidence, friends of the President, and your actions that day were highly commendable.”

“Well, my sister raised me to be the best pony, er, dragon I could be,” Spike answered with a note of pride in his voice. “But I wasn’t expecting anything out of it; all the same, though, please give them my thanks in return and the hope that Emily will be okay.” Turning back to Celestia and Cadance, he said, “We’ve got conference room two ready for the teleconference with the White House.”

“Thanks,” Celestia responded, and the group filed out of the room. As they all walked towards the conference room, Celestia slowed down until she met up with Spike. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard your story about your vacation. What happened?”

He couldn’t help but grin. “Let’s just say that it’s not that often on human-Earth that a dragon gets to save a maiden from a knight.”

“So you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I know it’s inconvenient just as you were planning to see her, but trust me, it’s for the best.” Matt looked at his daughter, and he could see the lack of disappointment in her eyes. “Look, DJ….”

“Dad, I know; you don’t have to tell me anything I don’t already know,” the humanized pony replied. “It’s just that…. Well, the fact is that Rarity and I will not be best of buddies there. I’m not going to deny that in the least. But I’ll try to keep my tongue civil; that much I can at least do.”

“Well, it might interest you to know that AJ is up and around as well. Rainbow is still out, but….” The man just looked at the pony and the look in his eyes was sad. “I’m not going to lie to you, kiddo. It’s not good. Twilight’s using every magic spell in her arsenal to keep them alive, but it’s all entirely dependent on her. She’s insistent on sacrificing herself to save the others, but the doctors aren’t really sure that’s going to work. As it is, a new medical team sent over from Johns Hopkins is here to see what they can do to assist.”

DJ flopped back on the couch. “I’m guessing Erica’s not part of the team?”

“No,” Anna replied, “but they were probably trained by her, so you know they’re good.”

“I’d prefer if Erica were here,” DJ replied. “I’d rather my aunts have the best treatment available.”

“Even if it meant Rarity gets that same treatment?” Matt asked. When DJ just suddenly glared at her father, he shook his head sadly. “Don’t. You’re not like that. Don’t be like her.”

“I…you’re right, Dad. Sorry.” She deflated, accepting the gentle admonishment. “It’s just…well, things have gotten a lot more complicated in the birth family department.” DJ then went on and explained everything that had occurred with her over the past couple of days, from her meeting with Elusive in Cloudsdale to her finding out that she’d lost a niece and brother-in-law that she’d never known and that Minty was pretty much on her deathbed. She glossed over the details on last night’s attack; likely they’d already seen the news regarding that and she didn’t want them to worry further about her. Likewise, she left out the personal strike on her by Nightmare Moon; that was something she instinctively knew she was going to have to deal with on her own. She did, however, give the details on Butter’s foaling and how she’d managed to patch things up with Elusive.

“Well, your father and I are proud of you for doing what you did,” Anna said in regards to the midwifing incident.

“Well, honestly, Mom, Cinnamon did the majority of it. I just tried to give Butter support like I promised Elusive I would,” DJ stated.

“Yes, but under those very dangerous conditions and what was a stressful situation to begin with. It shows that you’re a strong woman, DJ,” her mother said. “There are millions of individuals, whether humans, ponies or whatever, and yet you stepped up and proved that you’re the better person. That’s the kind of person we raised.”

“DJ, your mother and I know this whole thing has been hard on you,” Matt said, “and when you go to visit tomorrow, it’s probably going to be one of the hardest days of your life. But we’re going to be there for you: both physically and emotionally. When push comes to shove, in the end, you are our daughter and your own woman. Rarity has no say in your life, and the most she can do is ask to be a part of it. I hope that you’ll have the strength to let her do so if she asks, but again, it’s only if she asks, okay?” He reached down and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“Thanks, Dad,” she said, feeling a little better. “Trust me, I can’t wait to get back to Yoko when this is all over. I get the feeling I’m going to need a vacation.”

“Well, why not take one here? I hear Equestria’s kinda magical,” he cracked. DJ, in turn, merely rolled her eyes. It was a stupid thing to say, but…hey, that was her dad.

The raven-haired beauty stepped out of the concourse, a light smile on her face, just another individual there to enjoy the pleasures to be found in Antwerp. Carrying a light duffel bag, she went up to the customs agent, ready to check her in; Ms. Shena Garfield of Burr Oak, Michigan – the typical American girl off to meet and get dumped by some local heartthrob who was already likely sleeping with another woman. She seemed just on the slightly more intelligent side of vapid and, given a few more years, would probably be a sensible adult. Scanning her passport into the database, she was waved forward and allowed into the general area.

Of course, it was all just a lie; someday, the body of the real Shena Garfield would be found at the bottom of a peat bog in the UK, assuming anyone who knew her was still around in that future time. In the meanwhile, Twilight Sunburn was now acting as the murdered woman, playing a role assigned to her by Twilight Gloaming. Whoever had planned this operation was already playing two steps ahead of the pepsis, which meant she was being watched and her life definitely depended on the successful execution of her assignment.

She’d no sooner started her walk down towards the baggage claim when she bumped into a slightly older woman who hadn’t been paying attention to where she was going. “Oh! I’m sorry,” “Shena” said, slipping into the act of a flustered girl, though not all of it was acting. “I-I should have paid better attention as to where I was going. Please excuse my carelessness.”

The other woman, a redhead visibly in her late twenties, had a slight smile on her face as she bent down to get the item she’d dropped in the process. “No, it’s my fault,” she said. “I’m the one who mis-stepped.” The woman sounded as though she was from North America as well, though Twilight didn’t know much about that. A thought came to her mind: was this the individual watching her? If so, she was human; there was no sign about her that she was changeling or pepsis. Perhaps one of Ghino’s soldiers? That thought sent a chill down her back.

“Thanks,” Twilight replied. “Well, Antwerp waits for no one, so I’m off. Be safe out there.” With a shake of her head and hopefully vapid enough smile, the pepsis decided to head off.

The older woman nodded. “You as well,” she intoned. “Remember: your mother loves you.”

The words suddenly stopped the pepsis dead in her tracks. “What did yo—” she started to ask, but as she turned around Twilight noticed that the woman was already gone. Not “gone” as in “suddenly vanished”, but apparently a very quick walker, as she’d moved well down the hallway. The pepsis stood there as she watched the woman melt into the crowd of airport travelers, even as the woman’s words sank in.

“You’re lucky we’re in public; I would have killed her for running into you and you for screwing up,” a voice growled at her side. She turned and found a man standing there in casual attire typical of the locals; he was clean-cut, with dark hair that seemed to gleam with a slight blue sheen depending on how the light hit it. She’d never seen this face before, but she knew who he was just as much as he knew her: Blood Armor, the oldest of the pepsis and Chrysalis’ trusted child – perhaps the only one she truly trusted.

She didn’t say anything, so he gave her a kiss on the cheek, close enough to her lips to seem slightly romantically cute but nothing overt. “Well, shall we go then?” he said in Dutch-tinged English, a grand grin on his face.

“Yes, let’s,” she replied, before adding, “And don’t worry; it was just an accident.”

Slipping an arm around her waist, he leaned forward and whispered “sweet nothings” into her ear, those “nothings” being, “If you dare to give me another order like that, I’ll enjoy tearing you apart bit by bit, do I make myself clear? I am the treasured son of her majesty. You are a tool who was lucky enough to be given life, and that life is whatever I choose to do with it, do you understand?”

Twilight looked into the eyes of Blood Armor and shivered at what she saw there. She now understood just exactly what she meant to him: a tool, an opened-ended object that was only to be used when needed. But he also knew what he was: Chrysalis’ son, her trusted lieutenant and her attack dog. They came from the same genetic heritage, but that by no means made them the same.

“In any case,” he said, breaking off eye contact, “we do not need the extra attention right now, not on the eve of the great conference about to take place.” Instead, in order to look like a gentleman – all the more to keep the disguise up – he took her bag and said, “Follow me.”

“Where are we going?”

“None of your business; your duties are to follow, not inquire. And keep in mind that while I must keep you alive and in functioning capacity, I do have other methods to keep you in line, so mind your place and I won’t need to use them,” he said, his voice as affable as if he had just breezily discussed the local weather.

Remember, your mother loves you, the woman’s voice rang in Twilight’s mind. And for the first time in her life, the pepsis came to a realization: no, Chrysalis didn’t love her; in fact, she was nothing but a tool to her. She, Blood Armor, Twilight Gloaming and the others were all technically siblings, but there was a hierarchy within the pepsis; the latter two being the changeling queen’s “official” children, while the others such as herself were nothing more than useful tools and lackies. So, her mother didn’t love her, not at all.

And then another thought came to her, just as quickly and brightly as the first.

Does that mean Chrysalis isn’t my mother?

The redhead came to a stop in another gate on the far end of the airport. She looked at two peculiar people sitting by the ending, looking at the aircraft on the tarmac. Well, sitting was a charitable word; the younger one, a girl with hair seemingly dyed purple-and-white with pigtails, sat upside down in the chair, playing with an XBox Mobile. The other, a woman who looked to be roughly the same age as the redhead, save for the gray hair and the disturbing stare that looked as though she was contemplating axe murder; she was singing a nonsensical song to herself, “la la la”-ing in various warbles and tones, sounding like a human beatbox whose pitch control adjustment was broken.

Faust couldn’t help but grin. “Okay, girls, we have a job to do,” she said, and at once, both “girls” paid sudden attention to the alicorn-in-human-form’s words. For a second – perhaps even less than – Faust thought she saw the flicker of 18th century military uniforms on the pair of them as they saluted.

“Vhat is your orders, my master?” Screw Loose said in a nasal, whiny voice that sounded as though she was channeling the Igor from old horror films.

“Screw Loose, I want you to follow that woman from earlier. Be careful, because they mean business and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Screw Loose practically leapt from her seat, calling forth the lines of the Soldier from the Team Fortress game series: “‘If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight!’ Sun Tzu said that, and I'd say he knows a little more about fighting than you do, pal, because he invented it! And then he perfected it, so that no living man could best him in the ring of honor!”

Faust handed the semi-insane transformed pony a phone. “If you run into trouble, use this. I’ll get you out of there as soon as I can.”

Screw Loose flashed the transformed alicorn a toothy grin and a thumbs-up. “That’s a Big 10-4, good buddy. Droppin’ the hammer down and getting’ to the 99.” With that, she scampered out, headed towards the airport exit.

That being settled, Faust turned her attention back on the stranger of the two. Currently, for a rare moment, she was focused enough on the videogame that she could have passed for just another human girl. However, with a snap of the alicorn’s fingers, the game was set aside and the transformed creature looked at Faust with her perpetually swirling eyes.

“Okay, now, Screwball, I need you to focus and pay attention, okay?” She dropped down to her knees, giving the chaos elemental her undivided attention.

Screwball closed her eyes, then focused. She opened them again – and there was pain. “This. Hurts,” she said, each word bitten and tinged with pain. Her eyes started watering.

“I’m sorry, little one.” As a mother four times over, Faust couldn’t help but sympathize, but even still, what needed to be done outweighed other concerns. There would be time to help her later. “I know it hurts, sweetie, but this is important, okay?”

“Important. Yes.” Screwball said, tears starting to roll down her cheeks.

“Screwball, you know your father loves you, right?” Despite the pain, Screwball actually giggled slightly, and it warmed Faust’s heart. “Well, I love my daughters as well. I love both my younger children John and Sarah, and my older ones, Celestia and Luna.”

At those words, Screwball shuddered, and a look of fear came over her eyes. She knew that Celestia hated Daddy, had locked him in stone not once but twice and that Luna…Luna was even scarier than her older sister.

Faust caught the look of fear and understood. “Screwy, I need to know: is that girl I ran into the one we’re looking for?” Screwball nodded, rivers of tears now running down her eyes as the pain of focusing became too much. Faust leaned forward and embraced the younger entity, giving a comforting hug. “You can stop focusing now.” The teen immediately passed out from the pain, and Faust quickly reacted, teleporting them back to the car.

A voice rang in her mind immediately. What did you do, Faust? Discord was less than pleased; did he truly care for Screwball?

I’m sorry, but I had to know. I’ll take care of her and see that she’s okay. I promise.

I know, the response came singing into her mind. It’s just that….

She really does mean the world to you, doesn’t she?

She could almost feel his laughter. If it were anyone else, I’d be denying any- and everything until the sky is plaid, he answered. But, between us…I cannot deny that any more than I could play an accordion using cheese.

Which you can, she said, a smile playing on her lips, don’t tell me you can’t. In any case, I’ll tend to her wounds – Screwball may have just opened the gate to the next step. She then felt him retreat from her mind, and she reached over with a hand, caressing the young girl’s head as she slept.

Faust cast a healing spell on the girl as she pulled out of her parking space and departed towards their apartment. The drive, of course, was a nice and placid one, but the alicorn queen could scarcely enjoy it: something big was coming, and this time it would be far worse than her pyrrhic victory. Last time, she’d merely disgraced herself to the point that she abdicated before Celestia was ready to assume the throne; the result of that had been Equestria’s Dark Age, three thousand years of ponies waging civil war against each other before Discord stepped in to stop it. His own attempts to correct the damage had earned him a reputation as Equestria’s trickster demon, an undue treatment for such a gallant creature attempting to stop the bloodshed. And now here they were again, back at the same point on the wheel of time, ready to spin the black circle once more as all careened into chaos. And this time, the future of everything depended on a lot of ponies who didn’t have a clue as to what was going on…and if they actually did, chances were they’d be horrified by what was coming.

Another afternoon in the main wing of the main building of the Royal Canterlot Library. Another afternoon of Luna nearly tearing her mane out from the headache.

“Hello, your highness. How are you doing this afternoon?” Luna craned her head around and found Lyra walking towards her. She’d changed clothes from when the moon alicorn had briefly seen her earlier in the day; she was now wearing an untucked button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, jeans, and those human-styled pony shoes that helped ponies walk upright, not that Lyra ever needed any assistance with that.

“Sitting here just doing research, Lyra. And I thought I mentioned you need never address me as so in private,” the dusky alicorn said.

Lyra nodded. “Sorry, Luna,” she said. “Being an ambassador means that I have to play the diplomatic game 24/7, and after a while it gets too comfortable, if you know what I mean. Heck, look at me: I’ve lived in DC for nearly twenty years now and I’m so used to it that sometimes I forget what being a pony is.”

“How so?”

“Well, I went to the gym two days ago and got on a treadmill, jogging on all fours because, well, that’s what I should be doing, right? Well, while Paul assured me that no one batted an eye at that, I felt self-conscious, like all eyes in the gym were on me. So then I went and hit the pool and I felt like I should be pony-paddling, even though I know how to free-form swim like most humans.” She sighed, saying, “When you get so used to one way of life, it makes you wonder how cut out you were for the previous one – even if it’s genetic.”

“You sound as though you wish you were human,” Luna wondered.

“I know most ponies think I do, but the truth is, I’m happy with who and I what I am. Just because I’ve always had an affinity towards humanity, it doesn’t mean I long to be one,” Lyra answered. “I mean, I’ve actually done time as a human thanks to the genetic amniomorphic, and believe me – their emotional levels? Wow – the highs are great, but the lows…ouch, just pure ouch.”

“You don’t say,” Luna said cryptically before following up with, “So you spent an extended time as a human?”

The unicorn nodded. “Just to humor my mother-in-law, I decided to spend a couple of days fully in human form. Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying attention and picked the worst week possible to do so – that time,” she said in tones that only another mare would understand. “As a result, the spell went haywire and I got stuck that way for a full week. My emotions went on the rollercoaster and I was a total wreck; Joan told me that if I’d been born human I would have been one of those unfortunate souls that gets it really bad. So I’m thankful – really thankful – that as a pony, it’s nowhere near as bad.”

“Sounds like you had a rough time,” Luna said sympathetically.

“Let’s just say that our Netflix account got a serious workout and that Ben & Jerry’s owes me a Customer of the Month award,” Lyra said with a grin.

“So what are you doing here?”

“Thought I’d look for some basic books on history and such,” Lyra explained. “My family will be here tomorrow and I thought having a few books available for the twins would get them interested in their non-human heritage. They’ve certainly been devouring human history, Orchid especially.”

Her words suddenly brought a thought to Luna’s mind. “Lyra…how familiar are you with human culture since contact with them?”

“Well, I’m still somewhat only a hobbyist anthropologist and cultural expert,” the celeste mare said in a voice that intoned pride, “but I know enough now to know that a lot of the stuff I’d told other ponies was embarrassingly wrong. I don’t know if you were aware of all the Human Culture 101 lectures I used to give in the Ponyville Community Center; I used to get so angry when other ponies laughed at me for all the hard work and research I put into everything I used to lecture on. But now? After I found out just how very wrong I was – sometimes horrifically so – I’m glad nopony remembered so I could bury it in the backyard and let it stay there. But as my husband is fond of saying, I know enough now to be dangerous. Why’d you ask?”

The dusky alicorn floated a paper over to her subject and friend. “I need somepony with an entirely different mindset to look this over,” she explained. “I’ve been spending a huge amount of time tearing my mane out trying to solve this.”

Lyra took the document in her hooves – a very human action, Luna noted – and started poring over it. “This is a series of riddles – the mysterious kind, not the foals’ jokes kind.” When the moon alicorn nodded, Lyra plopped down on the adjacent bench and willed up her tablet. “Let me see what I can do,” she said matter-of-factly.

That boisterous tone was gone an hour later as she looked at Luna, admitting, “I can’t make suns or moons of this. Whoever wrote it…they’ve gotta be daffier than Discord. Where did you get this?”

Luna said nothing, instead asking, “So there’s nothing you can do?”

“Look, if you want a human perspective – a solid one – you’re going to need a human...and I’ll even go so far as to say one that’s familiar with human writing.” A thought suddenly came to mind and she added, “What about DJ? She’s here, she’s probably good with this kind of stuff and Cadance said she and you made up, so….”

“I can’t. She’s got a dozen other things going on at the moment, probably too much for anypony.” And that was true, Luna thought; the humanized pony didn’t need to be dragged into this as she had her family – both sides – to consider at the moment. “I’ll see if Rarity’s secretary can assist me with this. But thanks, however – I know this is a little above and beyond the call of duty for you.”

“Actually…let me keep taking a crack at it,” Lyra said, as her eyes suddenly gleamed from the formation of an idea. “Wing’s been begging to deal with more political issues, and if I let her do that, it’ll give me some time to work on this as a special project. Besides, if this is as important as you’re hinting, you probably don’t want it to get out into the wild.”

Luna nodded. “Absolutely not. Well, if it’s not too much trouble then, have your deputy act in your stead while I assign this to you.”

Lyra positively beamed. “That’s fine by me; I kinda like this cryptic stuff anyway. Plus, when I head back to DC, I know a few trusted contacts over the years that may be able to point me in some directions. Plus, there’s also the Library of Congress; granted it’s nowhere near as large as this,” she said, waving her arms to encompass the library she was currently in, “but it’ll do.”

Unceremoniously, Twilight found herself thrown into a large room. Within the room she could hear the cacophony of dozens of changelings, followed by several pepsis. All of them were frightened, and for a moment confusion entered Twilight’s mind. Why weren’t these pepsis doing anything to calm the fears of the changelings? That’s what their job was for – to reassure the troops and let them know someone ca…

But nochangeling cares, she suddenly realized. If they did, they wouldn’t let them taste the bitter tang of fear. And she meant that quite literally; the taste filled her mouth just as surely as physical sustenance did, a sour, bromide taste that threatened to make her gag. The other pepsis could have done much to dispel or at least lessen it, but they’d become just as toxic, just as fearful as the rest. It was too much for her, feeling the disgust, nausea and fear, and she turned, looking for a corner to expunge her last meal.

“And I almost had hopes for you.” Blood Armor’s voice carried from behind her, and, gasping for air, she turned around, looking as he stood there, glaring at her. If he was affected by the noxious emotional stew in the room, he didn’t show it. “You were brought here to get them in line. We have something critical planned for tomorrow and if even so much as one of them screws up, all your lives will be forfeit.”

“What are we supposed to be doi—” Twilight started but found herself painfully slammed against a nearby wall courtesy of Blood Armor’s magic.

“What did I tell you?” he hissed, getting within inches of her face. “You don’t get to ask those questions, just follow orders.” Lifting his head, he shouted, “NONE OF YOU DO! YOU LIVE BY MY WHIM AND IF YOU FAIL ME TOMORROW, YOU’LL DIE BY MY WRATH!” Looking around, he pointed to a cowering magenta pony that looked like one of Twilight’s doppelgangers. “You – come with me.” The mare nervously moved before Blood Armor barked, “NOW!” When she moved too slowly for his tastes, he burned a ring of magic around her neck and dragged her to his spot by that ring; her cries and choking gasps could be heard as she did so.

“Now then,” he hissed, “you will be my entertainment tonight.” The statement was so matter-of-fact, it was almost as if he mentioned that tomorrow would be another day.

However, the mare skittered back, instinctively running behind Twilight. “No…please…you’re supposed to be our big brother, an—” Her words were cut off as he used his magic to pull her back in, and with a singular motion stabbed forward with his head. His horn pierced her left eye, punching all the way through until Blood Armor’s horn could no longer be seen; the other Twilight’s body convulsed as she died, impaled on the pepsis stallion’s horn.

As she stopped moving, he withdrew it. His horn was a stained mess of red and green as the fluids spattered onto the floor. “Since you did not keep her in line,” Blood Armor said to Twilight coolly, “you’ll be taking her place tonight as my entertainment instead.”

“Entertainment?” Twilight asked before clarity kicked in: Blue Velvet had called her…activities…“entertainment” as well. But to run would spell her death. Instead, she nodded, fearful of what would happen.

Turning to the nearest changeling drone, he said, “Dispose of the body in the usual manner.” And with that, he departed the room, and with all changeling and pepsis eyes on her, Twilight followed the monster that should have been her older brother, but was becoming more and more an unending nightmare on a scale that not even the eponymous alicorn could be.

By the time he was on his third lap of the parade grounds, Mike was starting to feel the burn. While he wasn’t a SEAL, EOD or anything that required him to be a PT god, he prided himself on keeping himself in better shape than the average SWO; plus, he liked looking good and he wasn’t going to use his marriage as an excuse to let himself go as so many other men his age did. So while he was used to hitting the max on the push-ups and sit-ups and running six to twelve miles a day, a parade ground meant for quadruped mammals was something entirely different.

Stopping after the tenth lap, he looked at the ERG ponies continuing to do their sprints and other exercises. With the exception of a couple of human diplomats who looked as though they’d used the parade grounds as a shortcut from their embassy, Mike was the lone exception working out here.

“Well, it’s not often that somepony a little different’s working out on the grounds,” a voice commented. He turned around to find Scootaloo standing there, dressed in REAF pony-style PT gear, which from the looks of it was based on RAF workout attire and tailored more for ponies.

“Yeah,” he said, opting to do some stretches so he wouldn’t cramp up. “What’re you doing here?”

“Well, when I have to do my ground workout regimen I like coming here,” she said. “And frankly, I have a lot of workout to do still. Soarin’s not going to let me get back on the roster until I can pass the basic physical and after having just got out of the hospital, I still have some ways to go. Sure, I can do all the aerobatic ones – I’d have to hang up my wings if I didn’t – but being an REAF pilot means more than just working out the old pinion feathers.”

“I see,” Mike said, noncommittally. While he had nothing against Scootaloo, he knew DJ had a very frosty relationship with both her and Rainbow. They had been the ones who were the least supportive of DJ’s life, and more than once his wife had wondered if they were responsible for the whole Foalnapping Incident to begin with. Whether that was true or not neither Mike nor DJ knew, but from their apology at the wedding, the best that had come out of it all these years was that DJ was slightly more cordial with them than she’d hypothetically be with Rarity. “Well, I was just about to finish up my own workout, so I’ll let y—”

“Mike….” she looked at him sadly. “Look…I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have the greatest relationship with Sandalwood…er, DJ. Rainbow and I…we screwed up, and I can’t apologize enough. But she needs to go see Rarity.”

“No, she doesn’t need to see anyone, unless she chooses to. That’s part of being an adult,” Mike said, trying to keep the harshness from his voice. He didn’t need to argue in public with a ranking officer right now, especially one that was his wife’s estranged aunt. “If she chooses to see Rarity, that’s her choice – her choice. The fact that she’s here at all is something that you should appreciate, considering that it’s partially your fault that she had no interest in coming.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Scootaloo replied, biting off was clearly anger at the end. “Don’t you think I’m aware of that? I have spent the last couple of decades living that guilt trip, Mike, and I’m tired of it. All I want is for this whole détente to be over and done with and for DJ to acknowledge, at the very least, where she came from and that she’s still a part of this world, like it or not.”

“I’m not the one you should be telling this to, if you ask me. She’s your niece, after all.”

“She’s your wife, and unlike me and Rainbow, she’ll listen to you.” The orange pegasus mare shook her head mournfully and added, “Maybe she’ll never respect me or Rainbow, and Celestia knows we certainly deserve that. But…ponies she supposedly loves, the ones she really considers family, are dying in the hospital right now and she has yet to go by to see them. Maybe it’s because of Rarity, maybe it’s because she hasn’t had the chance. But Twilight wants to see her and I know Applejack would like to as well.”

“Applejack’s conscious now?” Mike asked. That was news he wasn’t aware of; he wondered if DJ knew.

Scootaloo nodded. “I just…I thought you should know. No matter what DJ thinks of me, I’m still family and I still care,” she said turning away. “And I will do what I need to, right or wrong, to try to bring happiness to my family. Now, if you’ll excuse me, this old mare’s got some sprints to do, so unless you can keep up, Commander, I’ll see you later.”

He let her walk a few feet before he said, “Thanks, Scootaloo.”

She turned her head slightly, flashing him a grin. “Hey, just being awesome that way. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to work on making myself at least twenty percent cooler by the end of the workout.”

“Are you sure about this?” Star Swirl asked Spines.

The baby draconess nodded. “We’re going to have a campout in the CMC headquarters, and Ms. Apple Bloom promised to stay the night with us and sing songs and tell us stories about what she had to do to get her cutie mark.” The unicorn mage grinned; sooner or later Spines was going to figure out that dragons didn’t get cutie marks, but why ruin that part of foalhood for her?

“Well, promise me you won’t do anything dumb….” she insisted.

“No, Ms. Apple Bloom won’t let us. She apparently is foalsitting some new filly, so Sugar Sprinkle, Buttercup and I have to be on our best behavior,” the draconess insisted.

“Well, okay then, but please be careful, okay?” Star Swirl bent down to nuzzle her charge, and got a hug for it. With that, Spines picked up her overnight bag, then walked over to the cookie jar to steal a couple tourmaline chip cookies before heading out the door. Star Swirl counted to ten before making sure Spines was gone, then poked her head out the door. With the sun going down for the evening and no mages expected in the area since most of them were still involved in assisting with the rescue efforts at Cloudsdale, she’d earned herself a bit of a rest and relaxation. Most mares would take this time to go down to the spa twins’ salon and use the appointment time to the utmost; Lotus Blossom and Aloe were in semi-retirement and the management had now fallen to their daughters, Henna Blossom and Jojoba Seed.

But Star wasn’t the average mare, and she had a very different way of relaxing.

Walking over to the shelf by the front door, she placed her hoof on a small, recessed magic sigil she’d placed there after moving in. The spell would prevent all but the strongest of mages from coming by the office. Once she was sure the spell was in place, she then went to her desk, opening a hidden compartment that had been built into it when this had been Twilight Sparkle’s desk so long ago. From what Twilight had once told her, the then-librarian had used the hidden compartment to hide the most exquisite of gems in the house so she could give them to Spike as special treats. But Star kept something much more precious in there, something that could cause her serious problems if anypony ever found out.

Inside the compartment was a vial filled with red liquid – blood, from the looks of it. But it wasn’t just blood. The fact was, it was a liquid spell, a very illegal one. The blood was that from an earlier blood sample from Sweetie Belle, before Pip had stolen her away; it was thus virginal blood and when combined with an aphrodisiac potion that had been made by a now-former member of the Guild – Twilight’s former secretary Lovestruck, before she left the Guild and moved to Human-Earth – it created something very potent and powerful.

And damning. The ownership of a familiar was considered black magic and thus highly illegal in Equestria; furthermore, from an international perspective, it was considered slavery and thus also illegal from that method, too. The vial Star had contained her “release”, her own getaway and vacation.

Pulling the stopper off the bottle, she poured the liquid onto the ground. The red blob of blood and magic grew, warped and stretched, growing larger, gaining form, growing bones, muscles, organs. Skin, fur and hooves followed, then a mane and tail and eyes, and within seconds, Sweetie Belle stood before Star, looking at the younger unicorn with eyes of love and lust. Only the lack of a cutie mark on the familiar was any sort of indicator that it wasn’t truly her mentor and would-be lover.

“I have missed you, my love,” the Sweetie Belle spoke, her voice soft and filled with tenderness. Artificial tenderness, built-in by the perpetual aphrodisiac that was permanently in her blood; otherwise, she would start to develop her own personality, possibly similar to the real unicorn mage.

“No you haven’t,” Star said. “You only say that you do.”

In response, the Sweetie Belle went up to Star and started kissing her neck, planting them mere inches rising up its length. “I know you want and need me, my love. That’s all I need to know. That’s all I have to know.”

“But you’re not her,” Star said, her will failing. The last few times like this had been the same: Star knew the familiar wasn’t the real thing, but by the end, didn’t really care.

“But I am her,” the familiar insisted. “I’m her blood, her lips, her sex. And my only purpose is to make you happy, my love. Doesn’t she want the same for you?” A kiss full on the mouth this time, the two mares liplocking for a couple of minutes.

“But you’re not her,” Star panted, starting to not care again.

“But for you, I’d be,” the familiar insisted. “And for you, I will be whatever you want me to be.” Which was true; familiars made from the blood of the creature they imitated were functionally twins of the original being. In fact, she’d gotten the idea about the familiar from a history book she’d read about an earlier mage who’d fallen in love with Queen Platinum despite the historical figure having lived centuries earlier. Somehow the mage had gotten a hold of one of the bones from the unicorn queen and laced it with an aphrodisiac – they weren’t illegal back then, apparently – and married his new bride and had a family with her before anypony found out. In fact, the familiars were so complete that had Star been born a stallion, she could have fathered a foal on the familiar.

But maybe if I’d been a stallion, she’d have loved me the way I wanted, Star moaned.

“My love?” the familiar said, and Star ignored her. Somewhat pouting at being ignored, the familiar lifted Star’s face to her as the pseudo-older unicorn kissed the younger. With bedroom eyes, she said, “Show me that you love me,” as a pink-and-lavender tail curled around one of Star’s back legs. “Show me that you want me to be yours and only yours.”

“You couldn’t leave me even if I let you,” Star said, both as insult and fact. The aphrodisiac would forever tie the familiar to Star, and should the potion ever be used after she passed on, the familiar would be nothing more than just another pony, mindless and obsessed with something she could never have.

Just like me, Star said to herself as she led her perpetual conquest up towards the bedroom.

Seated on the sofa in her home, Cadance magically raised a wad of popcorn from the tub in front of her to her mouth as she watched the soccer game. While she had very little understanding of what was going on, she was completely captivated by the unfolding of the beautiful game on the screen. “And you say this is the most popular game on Human-Earth? It does seem very exciting,” the romance alicorn admitted. “I wonder if we can adapt it to our own country.”

Floating the tub over to her, Luna agreed. “I think so. It’d be a great idea and a wonderful way for foals to get their exercise at school.” The two alicorns watched as the striker drove the ball forward and into the net. Overcome by the moment, Luna threw her forelegs into the air and shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice, “GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!” The walls rattled from the unexpected sonic blast, but Cadance had expected something like to happen sooner or later and reinforced the walls via magic, so nothing in the home was damaged.

“Lyra, this is great!” the moon princess said to her friend. “I think I’ll recommend to the Ministry of Health’s National Sports Agency that they start looking into some sort of program for school-age foals. I just wish I’d known about this sooner; I would have implemented it then.” However, no answer came from the celeste unicorn, and after a second attempt to get her attention, both alicorns turned to look at the loveseat where the younger mare sat.

To the surprise of both, she was fast asleep, completely knocked out in her chair. A laptop sat on her legs, while a tablet was in easy reach. Various scribbled notes were on a legal pad next to her, as well a few wadded-up pages from attempts she’d scrubbed. From the looks of it, she’d never paid any attention to the game at all, having single-mindedly devoted herself to Luna’s request, and had exhausted herself in the process; not anything difficult, since she’d admitted this morning that she was already running on fumes.

A sisterly look came over Cadance as she conjured a blanket to place over her charge. “Rest a beautiful night, little harp,” the Princess of Passion said softly, as she had so many times in the past.

“I knew you and Lyra were friends, but I didn’t know you were that close,” Luna observed.

“Twilight wasn’t the only one I foalsat for, just the one that needed the most TLC,” Cadance answered. “I also watched Lyra, Vinyl and Octavia, but they were a lot more independent at that age than Twilight was. But I love all four of them dearly, and I would do anything for them.”

“Must have been tough, maintaining your duties while doing all that.”

“Celestia said that it was a way to connect with my fellow ponies and understand where they came from – she’d already noticed that Blueblood was starting to become less than ideal and she didn’t want me to follow the same path, not that I think I would have. And while it was hard, it was worth it. I have siblings, but Celestia raised me, not my parents, and so I’m closer to those four. Plus, it helped me understand how parents and older siblings want the best for the younger ones, and now that I have Duskie, I can rely on those memories.”

“Sometimes I wonder about that.” A dark emotion crossed Luna’s face as she remembered how Celestia had separated her and Robin. Was it for the best? The dusky alicorn couldn’t answer that, but it was her opinion that it wasn’t. She raised a forehoof for a moment, imagining it as a human hand with a wedding ring on it, and that made her slightly jealous of her nieces and nephews – they’d all found, or were finding, ponies that they could marry for love, that duty would never be so asphyxiating for them that they’d have to consider otherwise.

Cadance saw the action. “Luna, Celestia never meant to hurt you, I’m sure of it. She’s probably felt guilty about it all this time, especially now that she’s found somepony of her own,” the younger alicorn said.

“I think it’s time my sister and I had a little chat,” the older alicorn answered in a tone that would not brook argument.

Sitting at her laptop, she was so absorbed in her writing that she almost didn’t hear Mike. “Writing?”

“Working on my blog, actually. I promised to give a small website an interview, so I’m filling out the questionnaire they’ve provided. Plus, I like interacting with my fans. I was thinking about doing an Ask Me Anything before all this got in the way; definitely doing one when we get back.” What sounded like jazz funk was playing quietly from her laptop’s speakers, and Mike smiled; as always, DJ was being DJ.

“Jamiroquai?” he asked.

The humanized pony grinned, glad her husband recognized the music. “He can be taught!” she teased.

“Well, you were on a jazz funk kick just before I deployed, so I do remember things on occasion,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. She leaned into them, taking her hands off her keyboard, and the two were like that for a few minutes, enjoying the presence of one another. Finally, it was interrupted as he said, “Do you remember when your old genderstone backfired that one weekend?”

“Yeah – wonder what happened to that general,” DJ said, letting that ugly memory come to the fore. It had been a one in a million accident, and it had almost cost Mike his career had it not been for the timeliness of an already-underway investigation by NCIS.

“Well, I was thinking about that and remembering that no matter how much I have been in your corner, I couldn’t really understand until I walked in your hooves, so to speak. So, instead of going through all that again, I’m just going to say that if you decide to back out of this…I’ll back you. I still think you should do it, if only for our kids, but I won’t pretend that I understand what you’re going through right now, love.”

She turned and gave him a loving smile. “Only you would say that.”

“Maybe. If only because I’m blessed enough to be married to you, hon,” he said, bending down to kiss her on the forehead.

“I’m going tomorrow,” she said after some thought. “I owe it to the kids, as you said. I may not forgive – I sure as hell don’t plan to – but I’ll at least go.”

“Thanks, DJ,” he said, kissing her again. “Well, I’m going to bed,” he yawned. “Apparently General Bryson is doing the monthly uniform inspection tomorrow and he’s asked me to handle the Sailors and Marines since I’m the senior naval officer present. So I gotta hope that my dress whites are good to go.”

“Sweetie genned up a set for you,” DJ ensured him. “Let me finish this email up and I’ll be up to bed,” she told him as he headed down the hallway towards their bedroom.

Standing on the roof of the hotel, Twilight Sunburn stood in her native form, looking at the moon. She was sore all over and her cheeks were stained with tears, and all she could do was look at the cold satellite, so close and yet so far away.

It looks so lonely, she thought to herself. Just like me. Today, her worth as a tool had been proven. She was no true child of Chrysalis, Blood Armor had told her repeatedly in the past few hours as he used her, dealt with her “as a tool should be used,” he’d said, his voice cold and mocking.

A tool exists to be used, until it breaks or is replaced, Gloaming had told her. Today she’d been the replacement for a tool that Blood Armor had broken in front of her. And that other Twilight was probably the replacement for some other pepsis. How deep did that line run? Who would replace her once he broke her in two – as it was obvious to her; she’d been sent her to die in one fashion or another.

“I thought I told you to keep a low profile,” Blood Armor snarled as he walked up there in his human form. “The moment any human sees one of us, they will kill you without hesitation – and if they don’t, I will, if for no other reason than your stupidity. But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised; apparently your idiocy seems to know no bounds.”

“Why won’t you just leave me alone?” she said, her mouth not entirely under her control at the moment. She should have been happy – he was supposed to be her protective older brother.

But older brothers don’t do what he did, her inner voice responded just as quickly. You may both come from the same brood, but you’re not siblings. You are not Queen Chrysalis’ child, he says. You are just a tool.

But if I’m just a tool and not a true sibling…

“…who am I?” she whispered to herself, genuinely wondering.

Unaware of her inner conflict, he went up to her and backhanded her; the blow sent her crumpling to the ground. “Order me again and I will hurt you in ways you have never felt pain.” He looked at her with eyes filled with pure loathing. “You are nothing, less than nothing. Just because her majesty chose to give you the breath of life doesn’t mean that you fill the true role of one of her foals.

“You are a pepsis drone. Stronger than a regular changeling, and closer to a changeling princess in authority. But we pepsis are more than mere changelings will ever be, and I intend to be the forerunner for that change. You should be grateful that I chose you to keep me company tonight – you get one moment of additional use before you die tomorrow.”

“But….”

He laughed harshly. “What, you don’t think I know about your weakness? That you inherited our father’s weakness for caring? That you have some sort of parental, loving instinct towards the regular drones? Well, let me tell you a little secret: you are like that because you were genetically bred to be so. Your only value is for sex and assassination. A toy to keep somechangeling entertained until we order you to die on the field of battle. And if I were to murder you in mid-coitus, it’d still be the same to you – because that’s the only reason you exist.”

With a hand motion no more difficult as if he were waving at a girl, Blood Armor backhanded Twilight. The actual impact, however, sent her flying back several dozen feet even as she tasted blood in her mouth. She bounced off the ground several times before coming to a painful stop in front of an air conditioning unit. Her head spun as she tried to regain consciousness as she struggled to get up, but that was soon solved as he pulled her up with the effortless strength of a pepsis prince.

“That was your last warning. I will cease to be as gentle from this moment forth, understood?” he said in tones that made it clear that he would brook no more insolence. “Now, either change to a human form or a fully pony one, I don’t care which. But if we’re discovered because of you, the police will be picking up your body parts all over the city, got that? Now, I expect you downstairs in ten minutes, because it will be time to really teach you a lesson.” Not waiting for an answer, he went back downstairs.

Wiping a rivulet of blood from her lip, Twilight Sunburn looked at the moon, morose as ever. The satellite was still there, and still as beautiful and lonely as ever. But now she realized there was a difference between her and it: at least it couldn’t be hurt.

Chapter Fifteen: Where the Foe's Haughty Host in Dread Silence Reposes

“Are you sure about this, Twilight?” Sweetie Belle said, shuffling her forelegs nervously. Twilight laughed at that; the way Sweetie Belle was acting, it was almost a flashback to the days when she was a preteen searching for her future and her cutie mark. A far cry from the thirty-one year old mare standing in front of the Archmagus of the Mage Guild.

“Sweetie, you’re an accomplished mage in your own right,” Twilight assured her. “You graduated from apprenticeship ages ago and went above and beyond mine, or anypony else’s expectations,” the lavender mare assured the white one. “You should have had an apprentice of your own years ago, but you’ve been so busy helping me with Project SANDALWOOD that you haven’t had time for your own, and that’s not fair to you.”

“Really, Twi, I don’t mind,” Sweetie told her mentor. “It’s just that….”

“You’re afraid to screw up, aren’t you?” Twilight said and Sweetie looked at her oddly, wondering how the older unicorn had read her mind. “It was the same way when I took you under my metaphorical wing, Sweetie – doubly so, because you were the younger sister of one of my best friends, and if I screwed up that, well….” Twilight chuckled softly at the memory, then continued. “It’s only natural to feel that way. I’m sure if you asked Celestia, she’d even admit to some nervousness about training me.”

“Well, if you’re sure about it,” Sweetie said.

Twilight nodded and then whispered in her protégé’s ear, “One word of advice, though: since your apprentice will be living with you, don’t pick someone who wets the bed.” When Sweetie looked at Twilight with a look of pure horror, Twilight grinned and said, “Harmony Grass will never admit it, but from what Hickory Smoke said once, Harmony’s first night living at Hickory’s did not go over well.” Sweetie could see that; unusual for a unicorn, Hickory was overly large, as big as Apple Bloom’s brother Big Mac, but didn’t have the easygoing temperament of the russet farmstallion.

“Well, I’m heading into the room now,” Sweetie said, still looking somewhat nervous. “Wish me luck.”

Twilight grinned. “You don’t need it.”

The ivory-coated mare entered the room and saw this year’s crop of Guild students, ready for their apprenticeship: bright, eager nine- and ten-year-old fillies and colts. The first thing that went to Sweetie’s mind was: Was I ever that young? She then laughed; of course she’d been. She had the two best friends in the world who had all the blackmail-worthy details of how the trio searched for their cutie marks. Sure enough, a few of the foals present didn’t have them.

“Going to be interesting this year,” a mage who had just walked into the room himself said to Sweetie.

“Why’s that?”

“Some of this year’s class are from legacy bloodlines: Star Swirl, Clover, Wisteria, Kimono, Lulamoon, just to name a few,” he stated. “Personally, I’m hoping I end up with the one from Clover – seeing how powerful the Archmagus is and she’s a Clover, it’d be interesting to shape that sort of young mind, you know?”

Though the stallion was trying to be nonchalant about it, the thought filled Sweetie’s mind with ice water. The Clover bloodline was one of the most powerful out there, suborned in power only by the Star Swirl line and, of course, the alicorns. A distant relative of Twilight’s could turn out to be as limited in power as Twilight’s own mother Twilight Velvet…or as powerful as Twilight herself. She would have to choose and choose wisely.

Throughout the day the unicorn walked through the hall, talking to a few fillies and colts, interviewing a few but accepting none. The majority of them already had their eyes on other potential mentors; the ones that were smart enough to recognize who she was had some ulterior motive – probably coming from families who hoped to be as big as the legacy bloodlines someday – and Sweetie steered away from those. The more she thought about it, maybe having gotten Twilight’s relative wouldn’t have been as bad, but Strawberry Fields had already met and apprenticed Holy Bell an hour ago. In fact, most of the potential apprentices were already gone, having been chosen. There were only a few prospective mentors left, and for a moment, Sweetie sympathized with the foals who hadn’t been chosen – those who weren’t would have to repeat the same year of pre-apprenticeship classes, and anypony who failed a second time would be dropped from the Academy, a crushing blow to any pony’s dreams of becoming a mage.

It was then that she saw the foal, a filly sitting in the corner of the room, looking very lost. Her coat was similar to Twilight’s, though a bit lighter, and her mane was shades of magenta and pink. Her facial features made her look a little like Rarity did when she was younger. There was something about her that made the mare head over to her.

“Hi,” the filly said, somewhat dejected.

“Is there something wrong?” Sweetie asked. “You don’t look like you’re trying too hard to get a mentor.”

“I don’t think anypony wants me,” she said, looking at the others who were still present and appearing to accept their mentors. “I’m not confident, and I….” She looked lost – was she a repeat that would be kicked out of the Academy if she didn’t get a mentor?

“Are you….?” Sweetie began, but stopped. She then flashed a comforting smile – the purpose of any apprenticeship would be to help the next generation grow. Sweetie had been mentored by Twilight due to her relationship with Rarity, but would it have been the same if she’d gotten somepony, say, like Raspberry Blast? “Nevermind – don’t worry about that now. I’ll be your mentor, if you want.”

The filly looked at her with wide, grateful eyes. “Really?”

Sweetie nodded. “Do you know who I am?” When the filly shook her head, Sweetie sighed inwardly in relief; she’d made the right choice. Offering a hoof to bump, she said, “I am Commanding Mage Sweetie Bell.”

The filly’s mouth suddenly opened in an o of surprise. “The Archmagus’ protégé?”

Sweetie blushed. “Yes, though I won’t lean on my mentor’s accolades. And your name, learner?” Sweetie said, formalizing the relationship.

“My name, learned one,” the filly said eagerly, “is Star Swirl.”

In her office in New York, Apple Cobbler looked exhausted. On the other side of the planet, a very important meeting between the US, Syria (on behalf of Iran) and the Netherlands (on behalf of Equestria) was about to take place. It riled her that ponies weren’t invited to the table directly, though she understood that was hardly the fault of their American allies.

Across from her, a reedy, balding man sat, drinking tea. “AC, I understand how you feel,” he said in sympathetic tones, “but you’ll have to let my country handle this. We will not steer your people wrong, I assure you.”

“Thanks, Anders,” she said, relaxing. Anders Brejik was the Netherlands’ ambassador to the UN and a friend she could count on. Both had opted to watch the proceedings, via closed-circuit television, in her office. It was as close to the action as the Syrians would allow the ponies to come, and as the senior pony diplomat on Human-Earth until Lyra returned from Equestria, it was AC’s job to keep a close eye on things.

There was a sudden phone call and AC reached for it. “This is AC,” was all she said.

“AC, this is Lemon,” was the voice on the other end; Lemon Sorbet, the Equestriani ambassador to the Netherlands and one of the two ambassadors that would be on site. “We had an idea how we could participate. I’ve been in talks the past day with the Dutch Foreign Ministry, and they’re willing to sneak in one of our people, using the amniomorphic, as a human.”

That caught the earth mare’s interest. “Who’s the one going in? Oh, also, I’ve got Dr. Brejik, the Dutch Ambassador to the UN here, so I’m going to put this on speaker phone.”

“Sure, go ahead.” AC set the phone to speakerphone mode and after a quick exchange of pleasantries between Anders and Lemon, the latter continued. “Clockwork Cog, our ambassador to Belgium will be going in, since he’s a unicorn and can use the amniomorphic with little problem. I’m somewhat notable, so I can’t do it, and I’m not a unicorn besides. With Clock’s expertise and his low profile, the Dutch diplomatic team will be relying on their expert in charge of Equestriani knowledge, ‘Dr. Klok Radertje’.”

“Lemon, that’s a brilliant idea!” AC said, smiling; from the look in his eyes, Anders agreed as well. “But is there a contingency plan in case something goes wrong?”

“Yeah, we have that covered. In the event something starts to go wrong, Clock will step out and be replaced by the Dutch government’s actual expert, who will also be on hand just in case.”

“Well, best of luck with that, ambassador,” Anders said. “I know it won’t be easy.”

“Thanks,” she replied. “Well, meeting starts in thirty minutes, AC, so I’ll talk to you as soon as it’s over.”

“Best of luck, Lemon,” AC said as Anders’ phone suddenly went off. He fished it out quickly, looking at it before putting it back in his pocket.

“AC, apologies, but I have to head back to my own office. There’s something that came up unrelated to today’s meeting that I must attend to, but I assure you once that’s done I’ll be watching the proceedings with rapt attention.”

“Thanks for all your help, Anders. Yours and your government’s.”

“We both come from royal nations, AC. As my king would probably say to your princess, ‘we gotta stick together,’” the man said with a laugh.

“How did the uniform inspection go, Mike?” Bryson asked as the naval officer arrived to give his report.

“I’d recommend you get someone at least chief petty officer or above on your staff, sir,” Mike pointed out. “There were a few uniform discrepancies. They’re clearly keeping up their military bearing, but they also know what they can get away with and so they are. Comparing this to the last inspection that Maj. Hartsman did with them, well…at least he looked through the Uniform Regs, but didn’t catch anything.”

“We actually do have one, a master chief, but he’s on leave until tomorrow. But it also doesn’t help when one of my own senior officers is out of uniform.” Mike looked at the general oddly, but the flag officer merely gestured to a chair. “Have a seat, Mike.” As Mike sat, Bryson began. “Commander, are you aware that this country, the Principality of Eque….” The general laughed and shook his head. “Of course you’re aware – you’re married into the Goddamn Royal Family. Under normal circumstances that would make you nigh untouchable as the Royal Family here, unlike, say, their British counterparts are given a fuckton of leeway. Someone like Prince Harry or Princess Louise sneezes, press is all over it. Someone in the Equestriani Royal Family does something that would get a normal man arrested? ‘They’re just having a bad day,’ quote unquote.” Bryson leaned back in his chair. “Unfortunately for you, you’re still an American officer, which means you play by the UCMJ’s rules.”

“Am I in trouble for something, General?” Mike asked.

“Only if by being in trouble you mean constantly being in the center of it. You know, when I was an Army liaison officer back in the late 2020s, I had the chance to serve for a couple of years on the USS Blue Ridge. Was the command ship for Seventh Fleet back then before it got replaced by the USS Sommerset. Anyway, the Blue Ridge picked up tons of nicknames during its time in the fleet, one of which was ‘Typhoon Magnet,’ because wherever she went, there was always a typhoon within twenty miles of her – hell, I even heard that when they sailed her to Hawaii for decommissioning, she ran into the first hurricane near the islands in a decade.” The Army officer’s eyes took on a nostalgic cast as he remembered the ship. “Yeah, I can see why you Navy guys get all misty-eyed about your gray buckets. One of the best posts I ever served at.”

“Not sure how this ties into anything, sir,” Mike started.

“You, Mike, you’re a typhoon magnet. If even half of what you’ve told me about what your past three weeks have been like, you’ve been in more engagements – and a wider array of engagements – than just about anyone outside of a SPECWAR environment and possibly even more than a couple of those. You’ve seen shit that some of my own roughboots haven’t. You’re bright, calm, you’ve got connections and experience up the Goddamned wazoo and as far as I can see, it’s a damn shame you’re not wearing ACUs.”

Mike grinned at that. “Lost me generations back, sir. My family’s been fleet as long as there’s been an ocean.”

“Hell, we’re just the Army, we’ll make do,” Bryson chuckled. “But speaking as someone who did time in boots on the ground back in the Gulf War way back in the 90s, I can tell you that this country is going to be in hell soon. They might be meeting with the Iranians today, but the current government isn’t the same as when I was your age. Back then they were full of bluster and taunting – true believers, but not stupid. The ones of today? That’s the scary part. They know they’re stupid and they don’t care. They’ll happily start a war to kill ponies and they won’t care a whit.”

“Well, the fact that they hit Cloudsdale made that pretty clear, sir,” Mike answered. “Plus, it wouldn’t surprise me if we find out that they were somehow behind the Singaporean incident.”

“CIA says that a Kayin independence group claimed responsibility for that and that they thought they were hitting Burmese officials who had planned to dine there that night.”

Mike shook his head. “Sir, I’m not an N2 kind of guy, but I’m going wave the bullshit pennant on that one. Those were mercenaries and changelings. And while I’m figuring that the changelings were against Celestia somehow, that still leaves where the mercs came from. The Kayin don’t have that kind of cash – but Tehran does.”

“That’s classified information, Commander,” Bryson said coolly. “How did you come by that?”

“Because I put a few bullets in one of those assholes while he was trying to kill me – and he and his buddies nearly killed my wife and the princesses. Furthermore, I was with Rodenkov and the guys with the Malaysia 15 office.” Mike looked evenly at the senior officer, a look of annoyance on his face. “And between you and me, if I didn’t have my job to do, I would have personally executed every single of those sons of bitches. But my personal feelings fall behind the mission first.”

“Well, I guess Admiral Singh was right: you are one cool player, Mike.” Bryson opened a drawer on the desk, pulling out a manila folder and putting it right in front of Mike. “This, by the way, is a letter of commendation from Colonel Rodenkov and a recommendation for an MSM via the Admiral.” He pulled out another folder, this time a blue one embossed with the Department of the Navy emblem on it. “I should mention that BUPERS approved that medal – and the Combat Action Ribbon for you as well, so this is only part of the reason you’re out of uniform, Commander.”

“Part of the reason?” Mike said, surprised – he wasn’t looking for a medal when the fighting started; all he wanted to do was save DJ. But it was the way the general had made his last statement that really caught Mike’s curiosity.

“That’s correct, Commander,” Bryson said. “There’s this as well.” Another folder came out, this one a hardbound one and embossed with the Royal Seal of Equestria. “You were strongly commended by the three princesses as well; Princess Celestia, especially. According to this, you will be knighted by Princess Celestia at a convenient time.” He sighed. “Now, realizing the marital tie between you and the Royal Family, I understand SECNAV was quick to discount the recommendations, but apparently another friend of yours – does the name Lyra Phillips ring a bell? – spoke to SECDEF and informed them the Crown would not take it well that your heroism was disregarded. Furthermore, two members of the Royal Guard and one member of the Singapore Police confirmed the report independently of any official action taken by the Equestriani government.

“So based on all the overwhelming evidence, the Secretary of Defense made a decision and well….” Bryson stood up, fished for something in a pocket and pulled out a small box. “Congratulations, Commander – that’s full commander now, O-5. Now, I know sea service silver oak leaves look slightly different from the military ones, but unless you can have one of your wife’s relatives gen you up a copy, you’ll just have to deal with it for the time being, Commander. As it is, you can just let her pin the new ones on you and then go see the liaison office so they can issue you a new ID card.”

Mike sat there, slack-jawed, unable to say anything. Finally, after a few minutes, he said, “What’s the catch?” It had been a feeble attempt at humor, but somehow it felt right. Besides, there was the off-hand chance that there really was something going on.

Bryson sat there, a wide grin on his face. “And I see you already caught on. Yes, there’s a catch. Because you’ll be too senior for your present posting, as of now you are detached from the USS Konetzni. Fortunately, I’ve spoken to a few senior officers at BUPERS and if all goes well, we’re folding you into a little special project that we’ve been cooking up here in Equestria – a little something NATO’s been planning just in case things ever went south.”

Mike looked bemused at that comment; he’d rather have been at sea for the fight like any Sailor would, but at the same time by being at a deskjob he had a better chance of ensuring that his family was safe. And though DJ might not like the fact that they were about to be stationed in the place she least wanted to be, Canterlot was much better defended than anything short of back home in Winchester – and certainly moreso than Yokosuka.

“So I’m getting a desk job as your naval attaché?” he asked, readying himself for his fate.

“No, Mike.” Bryson leaned forward, the grin of the Cheshire Cat on his lips. “I’m offering you a command.”

Meanwhile, in a different yet somehow similar military meeting, a mid-grade naval officer was having an interesting conversation with a flag officer from another service. The fact that they were ponies instead of humans made it all the more fascinating.

“Rumble, good to see you back,” Soarin’ said to the naval officer as he entered the EQMILCOM watch room, where Soarin’ was the day’s senior officer present. “I just read the report from the Americans regarding the whole situation. You did a lot of good there, Captain.”

“Thank you, sir,” Rumble said, standing at attention.

“Have a seat,” the REAF general said, gesturing to a chair that the REN officer quickly filled. “Now, here’s the interesting part of the whole thing: I have a strong recommendation from Rear Admiral Himura that you need to take some leave?”

The younger pegasus looked at the older. “He said it, Genera—”

“You can go off the record, Rumble.”

“Thanks. Look, Soarin’, he’s the one who insisted on it, and at first I agreed, but during the flight I had some time to think about it and honestly? Now I really don’t think I need any at all.”

“I see,” Soarin’ stated. “Unfortunately for you, we generals – or admirals, in his case – tend to take the longball view and so we generally listen to each other when one is saying something. So if I’ve got an admiral from another country saying that you look like crap and are in dire need of leave before you self-destruct, it wouldn’t be very good for either me or Admiral Seamist if we didn’t take the advice, understood?”

A resigned look crossed Rumble’s face. He’d thought about taking some leave after all, but now that he was here, he realized all he had was his older brother and his family, and while he thought the world of Thunderlane and Pinkie and their two foals, he wasn’t exactly the family stallion type. He just wasn’t a white-picket-fence kind of pony, never would be. “Soarin’,” he said, beginning his carefully-prepared statement.

“Can it, Rumble. From just the sound of that alone, that tells me you haven’t been home in ages, so Himura’s probably right.” Soarin’ produced a piece of paper. “Do you know what this is? This is a pre-filled leave chit, listing you as being on leave for the next thirty days. Seamist has already signed it; now all I need is for you to scribble your name and then for me to countersign to put you on an obviously much-needed vacation.” He passed the paper to the other side of the desk, where Soarin’ was. “Now sign and let me get back to work.”

“Soarin’….”

“Sign, Captain. This isn’t up for discussion.” With a grumble and some muttered curses that Soarin’ obviously was ignoring, Rumble signed the paper. As the older pegasus took it back, he said, “Look, it’s clear that you’d rather be out there doing your job, and I appreciate that. But we also want to make sure that there’s a you to get back to the job, got that?” Soarin’ then picked up a pen and countersigned, adding, “Now, I don’t want to see you anywhere near a base for the next thirty days, unless it’s at the Royal Exchange Service, understood?”

“Aye, sir,” Rumble spat.

“Dismissed, Captain. And on a personal note, I already called Thunderlane. He says they’ll be waiting for you at his place.” There was a flicker of anger in the younger officer’s eyes, but Soarin’ ignored it; taking care of the troops was more important than popularity contests. “And to be honest, they need you now – you’ve had a rough time in the Middle East, but it’s been hell for Pinkie. And me,” he said, without clarifying.

Rumble looked as if he was going to ask, but instead saluted and departed the room. As the younger pony left, Soarin’ remembered when Rumble had been just a small colt decades ago. Now, he was a battle-hardened warrior, but the light of joy and adventure that the colt had once had was all but gone now, replaced by the cold, calculating stare of a military stallion who’d seen far too much. Rumble had clearly changed, and not just in age, Soarin’ noted. Now, it was a matter of how deep that change had gone.

You screw this up and I will visit every horror upon you that has ever existed, Blood Armor had said to Twilight Sunburn that morning before kicking her out of the bedroom. Those words continued to echo in her mind hours later as she now stood, in human form and business attire, looking no different than the other security personnel from various nations that had been brought in to protect the VIPs: Americans, Dutch, Syrians and the Belgians. Thanks to her magic, she’d been able to look like someone different to any human that approached her; just a few minutes ago one of the senior security officers from the Belgian side had done a round of inspections and when he looked at her he found a member of the Dutch AIVD, standing ready to protect her own people.

It was all that Twilight could do to keep herself sane right now. Last night had been the final straw. There was no belief in her body anymore that she had any value other than a tool. A true foal of Chrysalis wouldn’t have been treated as she was. A true foal of Chrysalis, it seemed, was more like Blood Armor, who could do anything with impunity and feared no repercussions whatsoever. A true foal of Chrysalis, as he’d pointed out to her, wouldn’t be just a compliant tool waiting to be broken.

Maybe I am broken, she said to herself, remembering the previous night. Blood Armor could not by any stretch of the imagination be considered a gentle individual. She’d been slammed against walls and floors, bound and held down while he…. She blocked that thought from her mind. She knew what he’d done and there was no sense of romance or intimacy in it at all. Furthermore, since they were partly mammal…well, there were certain taboos that changeling culture didn’t have that abounded in pony ones, she knew, and last night he’d violated a major one, making her feel like trash the whole time. Trash. Broken.

“Remember, your mother loves you.” The words came bidden in Twilight’s mind, and she tasted the bitterness of that lie. Her majesty, the queen, laid her egg, hatched it and then had used magic to accelerate her growth over the past five weeks to what she would have been in another fifteen years. She’d been briefly tied to a monster of a human, only to be reassigned to an even bigger monster, and now here she was in human lands once more, pretending to be one but clearly not a part of their world – nor of the pony or changeling ones either.

A tool doesn’t have to worry about a home, she thought glumly. A tool has a place until it is used up, and then its final place will be where it’s discarded. I wonder where my grave will be?

She watched as people walked by in the distance or stopped and gawked as limousines came repeatedly during the course of the next few minutes, a variety of diplomatic personnel from the four nations involved got out of their cars and went into the building. She saw humans, snapping photos for their news outlets. She saw so many things. All of them, even if they were human, had something that she lacked: a life. None of them were tools. They were all free stallions and mares, with lives and loves…and families, no doubt.

A tool can be replaced, she said to herself. But…I don’t want to be a tool. I want….

Not caring if anyone or anypony was looking, tears began to race down Twilight’s cheeks as she began truly crying for the first time in her life. She no longer cared about anything. She wanted to die, because if that happened, as least it would prove that she’d had a life, that she’d been a living being, and not just a tool.

Inspecting the rank before him, Pip walked up and down the line, offering advice when necessary, praise when appropriate, and a critical eye at all times. “I understand you are all used to magic and fighting in methods very different from what I am going to teach you,” he told the assembly, “but those are outdated tactics and outmoded strategy, and it is my insistence that you learn modern warfare in order to protect yourself from the outside world, understood?”

At his side, Peppercorn looked at the selected group of flutters that stood in formation, something that would never have occurred mere days ago. “Look, Pop, you sure about this? I mean, yeah, you’re a military stallion and all that, but isn’t your unit supposed to be stationed by the gateway at the top of the valley?”

Pip nodded. “That’s true, but what I’m going to be teaching you – and it won’t be just me – is police tactics. You’re the constable of the town, Peppercorn, but there might come a time when my forces will be tied up with other things. What happens if an enemy breaks past us and gets down here with guns? Or fires a missile straight at Dream Castle? Yes, magic protects a lot, and I’m not denying that. But you have to have reaction times built into the mix, or else it’s moot. A hoof on the trigger will always be faster than the pony casting the spell, and modern human-based weapons allow precious little time to come up with a magical counter.” He also added, “Plus, if flutters are supposed to be part of the modern Equestriani society, that means you’ll have to perform police duties as well.”

“But…guns?” the flutterdrone asked. “They feel weird, and….well, they’re so alien,” he said, shaking his head.

“Maybe, but they’ll kill you just as fast as a powerful magic blast or a boulder bucked your way,” Pip pointed out. “I’d rather not have any of my colts injured. Besides, as a human told me once, it’s because they’re so dangerous that you want to find a way to avoid them. By learning about them, you understand their threat and makes it clear that you should only use them when all other options have failed.”

“Okay, I can see that,” Peppercorn said, appreciating his father’s words.

“I see you’re with our sons,” Imago said as she approached the assembly. The flutterdrones stopped, but a quick glance from Pip got them back to focusing on the dummy rifles he’d provided for familiarity. The flutterqueen went over to nuzzle her mate, saying, “You’ve fit in so well with the foals. Our family is finally together.”

He was about to respond in kind when an all-too-familiar blur attached himself to his foreleg. “Daddy daddy daddy when do we get to Canterlot is it really fun there are there princes and princesses there like me are there going to be parades and candy and other colts and fillies to play with when are you and Mommy getting married and I wanna be the flower filly an—”

Pip picked up Rosedust, chuckling as he nuzzled her. “One thing at a time, little bliss, one thing at a time.” Then turning to Imago, he smiled. “Are you ready to go?”

Maggie seemed a bit nervous. “This will be my first time being there, undisguised and representing the Flutter Nation. I hope that ponies will understand the difference between us and changelings.”

“You’ll be fine – I’ll be there and Princess Cadance is looking forward to your visit. Plus, you’ll have time to meet with Princess Celestia and you two should be able to come up with some way to fully integrate flutters into Equestriani society. Plus,” he said, leaning forward to kiss her, “I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”

She flashed him a fond smile, but her next words carried an unintentional pain: “Do you plan to talk to Sweetie Belle while you’re there?” The sudden downturn on his face indicated he hadn’t. “You can’t hide from her forever, love. You two need to work this out and you promised me you would.”

“That’s assuming she’ll speak to me,” he pointed out.

“She will. She loves you just as much as I do. It will hurt, but she’ll listen.”

One of Pip’s Destriers came down the hill; he’d already been briefed on the difference between flutters and changelings, and followed protocol accordingly; if there was anything to be said about the change in Pip’s relationship status, he kept it to himself. “Colonel, your majesty, helo will be landing in five minutes. You may want to make your way to the landing pad.”

Pip nodded. “Thank you, Major. I want you to work here with the Constable and ensure that the flutters are as trained as we can make them in case things go south. And with the latest reports of the changelings solidifying their base in the Southern Continent, I expect problems to be imminent.”

“Ah, Dr. Brainwell, Dr. Happy Thoughts,” the guard said with a pleasant smile; over the past few days the two REAF medical officers had come by repeatedly to check on the health of the human prisoners. “And I see you’ve brought a third doctor, uh….”

“Dr. Feelgood,” the unicorn mare replied in a scratchy voice. “Unlike the other two, I’m a specialist.”

“I see,” the guard said, looking over her documentation since she was a new arrival; both Brainwell and Happy Thoughts were already on the whitelist. “And what’s your specialty, doct—” The guard never finished his question as a small black bore went right between his eyes, killing him instantly. The guard crumpled to the ground, gone, as blood from the small hole in his head started to ebb out slowly.

“Okay, we have seconds,” Blue Velvet barked in her true voice to “Feelgood” as the latter transformed into a nearly black Twilight Sparkle doppelganger. “Extinguished Sparkle, I want you to get rid of the body – cleanly,” the mare in charge said. Then turning to Overcast Night, she said, “You’re going to replace the guard until his shift is over in a few hours, got it?”

Overcast Night’s body shifted from his Happy Thoughts disguise until he was a copy of the familiar guard, a malicious sneer on his face. “I hope I don’t have to spend forever looking like this dolt,” he answered.

“You’ll do it until I say otherwise,” Blue Velvet commanded. Meanwhile, Extinguished Sparkle had already teleported away with the corpse of the guard, off likely to “dispose” of the body. In truth, part of that disposal involved something that BV found repulsive, but ExSpark’s particular talents with murder likely allowed Chrysalis to give her some bit of freedom, even if on a tight leash.

“Now let me go talk to our allies,” she said, switching back into her disguise as Brainwell, “and extract them as quick as can be.”

Brainwell entered the highly secure prison space, where most of those present were the humans that had been captured. A few other high-level REAF prisoners were here as well, the result of bad decisions that had gotten them in trouble with their commands.

“Hey, baby,” one of the stallions said to her as she walked past, “you got time for a stallion like me? I bet I cou—” he didn’t finish his statement as she suddenly reached up and with a perfectly calculated blow, brought her hoof down on his horn, enhancing the buck with magic. The damage was done, and the prisoner’s horn snapped off at the base, a fatal strike. His eyes rolled up into their sockets while he tongue lolled out, his body jangling from convulsions until he flopped on the ground, dead. The prisoner across the way saw everything that happened, but could not react as a blast of gray magic tore from “Brainwell’s” horn and wrapped around the victim’s head. All it took was for BV to imagine the gray ball of magic shrinking into non-existence, and a sickening crunch later indicated that there would be a second body the investigative team would have to clean up. Fortunately, they’d all be gone by then.

Changing into her true form, she approached Col. Khalid, who was apparently praying or some other ritualized thing humans did. “Colonel, I am here, as promised, to free you,” she said, blasting through the lock on the cell.

“Thank the Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him,” the man said, getting up off the floor. “I had every faith that you would.”

Willing into existence a hooded robe, she said, “Cover yourself with this. It will make you temporarily invisible so we may get you out of here safely.” She also gave him a pistol, just in case. She then went and extracted the rest of his men, handing them each the same thing and leading them all to the main hallway, where there was enough room for them to meet.

As the group came together, Khalid asked, “And where is Mr. di Tacco in all this?”

“He’s planning the next stage of where we can get you all, as he promised,” BV answered, as she bade them to follow her. They all slid on the hooded robes and the magic embued within them took effect; they could all see one another and her, but no one would be able to see them. “However, if you are interested, he does have another proposition for you.”

Khalid nodded; so far the man had been one for his word. “I will hear him out once we are free,” he decided.

Sitting in the uncomfortable human position, very unused to the amniomorphic spell, Clockwork was feeling a bit testy, moreso than he should be. The amniomorphic spell was taking out a lot of his magic reserves, far beyond the recommended for the average mage, and though his Guild days were long since behind him, the fact that he was using nearly all of his power to keep the spell up and add the illusion of extra mass – while Clockwork was very fit for a stallion, he’d decided that he’d make Dr. Radertje look a bit on the chunky side – meant that other than telekinesis, he didn’t have much magic to spare should he need to perform another spell.

Furthermore, these “negotiations”, as they were being called, were a complete and utter joke, a total insult to the memories of the ponies that had died in the attack on Cloudsdale. While the Dutch and the Americans deferred to his positions and recommendations, they couldn’t do it too much lest they let something slip, and so nohuman present could just ask the outright question: why did Iran attack Cloudsdale? But the Syrians, representing the Iranians, either did not have the answer or they weren’t going to be forthcoming with it; in fact, they seemed to be perversely entertained by spouting agitprop nonsense and running out the clock, as one American had put it.

“The Islamic Republic’s statement is clear,” the lead Syrian diplomat said, waving his hands in what could possibly be a threatening manner – Clockwork never quite got the handle on human body language. “The Global Arrogance and its Cosmic Lackey will both publicly apologize for their invasions of Iranian lands and will admit that they falsified the attack on the Cosmic Lackey’s city.” The Syrian diplomat crossed his arms in disgust. “I hate those demons, but firing on your own to perpetuate a lie? Shameful.”

“Wait jest one cotton pickin’ minnit!” an American diplomat said, his tone belligerent. “Fer starters, y’ attacked our people – Americans an’ Equestriani – while our troops were trainin’ in Iraq. Y’ brought th’ fight t’ us!”

“Furthermore,” a Dutch diplomat said, far less harshly, “the Equestriani Crown has pilots who have signed confessions stating that they are members of the Iranian Air Force and were given orders to fire upon the pony city.” The diplomat turned to Clockwork, asking, “Dr. Radertje, what’s your take on this?”

Clockwork thought about it a second. “I think that the Iranian government needs to apologize to the Equestriani Crown. Thousands of innocent ponies died in the assault and their response is to assume that w…the ponies faked it? I find that extremely abhorrent and sickening that it would be suggested!” Shortly after, the conversation broke down into several minutes of arguments as the two sides verbally jousted over whose fault it truly was.

Finally, a Belgian diplomat who had been there to “referee” the discussions essentially rang a bell and said, “Gentlemen, now is time for the regularly scheduled break. Since I understand you are all busy and do not wish to leave during such an important point in the discussions, we felt it prudent to bring everything to you.” With that, the man opened the door, letting a group of waiters from the hotel come in, all with trays carrying dishes covered by silver cooking domes.

Clockwork hoped there was something vegetarian he could eat. While he understood that eating meat was part of human culture and something he’d had to partake in more often than he’d liked – especially during the annual Oktoberfest celebrations that seemed to have migrated from Germany – if there was any way to avoid it, he would.

A second later, the contents beneath the domes were revealed, and as the waiters suddenly turned into changelings unveiling explosives, Clockwork’s last thoughts were that he would have preferred a currywurst sandwich at the moment as the first bomb blew.

Standing from the top of the building not so far away, Blood Armor saw the hotel’s top floor turn into a huge fireball. The detonation shook a lot of nearby buildings, and it was a signal that his forces succeeded. Furthermore, if all went well, it would get rid of the majority of the failures – especially her.

“You think she’s dead?” a voice said behind him; he didn’t have to turn around to know who it was.

“I hope so – she was weak and she deserved to die,” he said, turning around to face Gloaming, who stood there in a human form, just like him.

“A shame,” Gloaming said, noncommittally. “I had hoped to run her through with my horn myself. But there are more than enough in Mother’s forces that must be dealt with – and we will, won’t we?” she said, flashing him a smile that could have been read by a casual onlooker as a girl flirting with her boyfriend, when the answer was far more hideous.

When the explosions above occurred, Twilight knew that part of her forces had succeeded, and that the battle was underway. At her command, the changelings around her transformed into trained approximations of members of the Iranian Republican Guard, and immediately started a firefight with the security services for the other nations, with orders to kill or be killed.

Moving to her planned location, she found the assault carbine that had been hidden earlier, and hefted it just as Ghino had taught her, not too long ago. Her mind swam through that memory for several seconds, mainly because she heard the screams of her fellow pepsis and their changeling drones as they started to die and kill. The grounds of the hotel started to stink with blood and carbon scoring, and in the distance sirens could be heard as emergency services started to react to the horrific attack.

She wanted to order the other pepsis, who seemed to somehow gravitate around her for leadership, to shed their disguises and fight with the full advantages of pepsis and changelings. But to do so would cue the magic spells engraved onto the collars each of them wore around their necks. The spells were designed to destroy them should they die, but were also meant to quell potential rebellion by doing the same thing if the wearer used their own magic. Fortunately that hadn’t been necessary; the explosion, combined by their sudden appearance as Pasdaran soldiers, tilted the advantage in their favor as American, Dutch and Belgian security services all fell to their guns (the Syrian guards had already been murdered the day before and replaced by several pepsis that Blood Armor had hoof-selected). But the Belgian military would soon be involved, and that was a whole different level of conflict.

Shortly enough, Twilight’s fears had proven correct just a few minutes later as the SPG – Belgium’s Special Forces Group, their military elite – got into the fray and started thinning the pepsis/changeling forces. Explosions started to dot the area as each pepsis or changeling’s life was taken, and each explosion in turn turned the hotel grounds into a hellpit. Nevertheless, the changelings and pepsis, who had long been trained in tactics to terrorize their opponents, were now receiving a stark lesson of their own in the difference between tactics meant to wage terror and tactics meant to wage war.

Diving behind the bullet-pocked remains of a retaining wall, Twilight glanced as another one of the pepsis looked at her. The pepsis had, strangely enough, chosen a form that was almost exactly like Twilight’s, and she wondered if that was a side-effect of being one of her “subsisters”, another one of the Twilight type of pepsis. The look in the mare’s eyes was gut-wrenching as she breathed in shallow gulps of air, knowing that the end was almost near.

“Don’t die on me,” Twilight said, lifting up just enough to put a bullet into one of the SPG attackers. “I’ll get you out of here, I promise.”

The other Twilight smiled. “You’re just like him, aren’t you?” she whispered in a barely audible voice.

“No! I’m not like Blood Armor!” she insisted.

But with her flagging strength, the other Twilight said, “Find your fate, sister. Be like him. Protect u….” The voice vanished into a death rattle as the pepsis breathed her last. On death, her true form appeared, and Twilight was horrified to see that, with the exception of her orange stripe being replaced by a bright green, the other Twilight looked exactly like her.

And then the collar went off and the body exploded.

Thrown by the blast, she slammed against a wall, the wind knocked out of her. Her head spinning, she had just enough time to fire again, taking out another soldier drawing a bead on her. As her gun fired its last round, she felt herself slammed back into the wall once more, as her side suddenly exploded into mind-searing pain. She knew she’d been shot and she slumped to the ground, gasping for life just as her counterpart did. In her mind, Twilight could see the face of that sister, having died with a demand for her.

Her body started to go numb and Twilight’s mind started to wander. Was she dying? Would anychangeling care? Would they even notice?

“Remember, your mother loves you,” the memory flashed, unbidden, in her mind.

No, because I don’t have one, the pepsis thought to herself as her vision grew cloudy. But it would have been nice to have one, were her last words as darkness claimed her.

The moment Mike arrived home, the first person he sought out was DJ. He found her in the company of her parents, and wasted no time in telling her everything.

“Oh, sweetie, that’s wonderful!” DJ chirped as she leapt into her husband’s embrace, kissing him with all her love. “I’m so proud of you!”

“Easy, hon – bear in mind that accepting this position means that we’ll have to move here,” he pointed out. Part of him felt like slime for mentioning that part, but a quick look at DJ’s parents revealed their sympathy for his situation as well as their pride in him – he was, after all, part of this family as well.

That realization stopped the humanized pony dead in her tracks and poured ice water into her veins. Of course she was more than proud of her husband’s accomplishment – he was now offered a command of his own even before he’d done a stint as an executive officer – but…his sobriquet was now going to be her cage. She’d be trapped here, having to spend every day in this technicolor gulag. So far, she’d been able to deal with it because this was just a trip to visit a very sick relative, one that she had yet to see since she’d arrived in Equestria. But now, with the realization that a couple of weeks would now turn into a couple of years, that made things go from merely inconvenient to her worst nightmare.

Mike knew that and reacted. “Would you mind if she and I spoke in private?” he asked her parents.

“Was just about to suggest that,” Matt said, better at taking a hint than his wife was. Suggesting that they should make lunch for everyone, they sidled off to the kitchen to leave them in peace.

With that, Mike led her to the nearest seat. No doubt both Matt and Anna would speak to him later; since both were prior military they’d offer their advice on difficult assignments such as this one. But for now, he had to focus on his wife. “DJ….” he began.

But to his surprise, she cut him off with a gentle shake of her head, waving her hands animatedly. “No, Mike – I’ll deal somehow. Yes, I don’t have to tell you how uncomfortable I am with this place. Even here in Twilight’s home, where I know it’s ‘safe’, and surrounded by family and loved ones, I still very discomfited and the dark memories always seem to be foremost on my mind. If we’d lost so long ago, you could have escaped this place, one way or another, but I’d have been trapped here, forced into a life that wasn’t mine.”

Mike caressed her cheek, seeing the fear in her eyes. Once again, he read her like a book, always knew what was at the core of her heart. “DJ, things are different now. You’re an adult woman and can leave here at any time. There’s nothing legally tying you here. Plus, Luna would never stand for you being forced here against your will. You know that.”

DJ smiled slightly even as the corner of her eyes started to moisten; Luna’s position in her personal pantheon of aunts was now very much near the top of the list with Twilight and Sweetie. “Yeah,” she said, reaching up to keep his hand by her cheek and feeling his warm strength, “you’re right.”

“Look, if you’re that worried about it, love, I can do the geo bachelor thing again. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

She shook her head immediately. “No – you did that once and I don’t ever want to be separated from you again, Mike. We’re a family: you, me and the boys. You deserve to have your family with you.” She took his hand in hers and brought it to her lips, kissing it tenderly. “You’ve sacrificed so much for me already. It’s my turn to do so for you, love.”

He smiled softly. “I knew there was a reason I married you.”

She grinned, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Besides, how would it look if the Old Man didn’t have his wife around? You’d never hear the end of it at the O Club.”

A thoughtful look etched itself onto his face. “You know, I have no idea if Equestriani bases have military clubs. I know there’s the Royal Exchange Service, but….”

“You know what I mean,” she giggled, feeling in better spirits. “But seriously, I did take a vow: in better or worse, in sickness or in health – and you had to be pretty sick to marry me,” she teased. “But my parents knew the risk when they got married, and so did your mother when she married your dad. Every military spouse ever has to go through this at some point or another – I’m not walking in blind. Sure, none of it’s going to be sunshine and French vanilla, but I said it before and I’ll say it again: I will be with you until the end of time, Mike. You are my one true love and soulmate and I will never let you go.”

“I know,” he said warmly. She gave him that smile that said volumes and told him everything that was ever meant for him. There was an unspoken signal sent, and they kissed, once again sharing their love for each other.

Watching from a distance, Anna carried a plate with a couple of sandwiches meant for them. “How much time do you think we should give them?” she asked Matt.

“As much time as they need. Besides,” he said, leaning towards her lips, “young folks aren’t the only ones who get to practice kissing.”

Stunned, Apple Cobbler had departed her office, needing to clear her mind. She’d just witnessed, via closed-circuit camera, the deaths of dozens of innocent humans, ones that had attempted to solve the problem between Equestria and Iran before things got worse. And instead, somehow magically, they did. She didn’t have to turn her TV to CNN to know what the headline story was right now; all news channels around the world would be reporting on the grisly events that had occurred in Belgium. She could even guess at the headline: Dutch and American Diplomatic Team Murdered by Iranian Terrorists. Doubtless, however the papers in Tehran and Syria would be pretty much saying the opposite and the attempt to avoid war would now plunge the nations into it.

But it was worse than just what the story had told. The Syrians would now believe that it had been the Equestrianis that had committed the dastardly deed and would shore up their ally’s defenses, bringing an extra nation into the already spiraling conflict. And if she recalled her geopolitics correctly, that would also potentially bring Russia and China into the background for Syria and thus also Iran. NATO would, of course, follow through its commitments, but it would be a grave tragedy if ponydom, trying to bring peace to their fellow sapients on this Earth, ended up starting a new, bloody war as a result of their presence.

And yet that wasn’t the worst. The worst was that Clockwork was dead in that attack. He didn’t even have to be there; Lemon Sorbet had been assigned to take the lead on this issue. But Belgium was his responsibility, he’d once said, and as a Guild member and ambassador, he would serve the Crown’s interests no matter what. But now “no matter what” had meant until his dying breath and he would be buried with a hero’s funeral in Canterlot. AC knew Clockwork’s brother Time Turner and knew that the earth pony would be torn apart by the death of his unicorn older brother. But worst of all was that someone was going to have to tell Clockwork’s fiancée, Pristine Dream. She was part of the Equestriani political mission to NATO, which was where they met. The two had planned for a wedding next fall in Vanhoover, a wedding that would now never occur.

She told her staff she was going to take a walk to clear her mind. No, she wasn’t going to need a driver or anything; she just wanted to get away from the carnage she just witnessed. In truth, she wanted to get down to her husband’s workplace and just hold him tight while she bawled in the comforting safety of his forelegs. Antiquity always knew the right things to say and how to make things better – it was one of the things she’d loved most about her husband.

A few minutes later, she found herself outside, in the shadows of the Twin Towers. The two buildings stood as symbols of financial might and strength, and based on that, it wasn’t hard to believe that once madmen had wanted to destroy them. But that was forty years ago, and humanity’s world had changed since then. Humans had other priorities now, and now humans had the other species of Alter-Earth to share the ups and downs with. And currently things were very down, and the only positive thing that could be said was that humans weren’t shooting at other humans, yet.

Stopping in the Starbucks in the bottom floor, she ordered a large hay-and-chocolate chai. The barista, a gryphoness, obliged and whipped one up for AC almost instantly. The earth pony at first wondered why a gryphon was working the counter, but then remembered that Griphonica’s Mission to the UN was in the other building. Someday she was going to have to take up her counterpart Glengary Grayfeather up for lunch to discuss what they could do together to improve their two nations’ goals in the UN.

She was so lost in her thoughts, staring out the glass pane window, that she hadn’t heard the voice next to her. Finally she turned and found a pony standing there, looking incredibly staid. “Can I help you, sir?” she asked.

He nodded, adjusting his glasses. He looked very much like a sad-sack stallion, the kind who was henpecked by his wife and a virtual embodiment of all the metaphorical meaning of the insult gelding. “Are you Apple Cobbler, ma’am?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes, for all the good it does me.”

“I have something for you,” he said, reaching into a coat pocket for something. Apple Cobbler’s mind at that moment wondered who the earth pony was. He wasn’t attached to the mission, and most of the ponies that lived in New York were attached to the UN, her husband and some others being notable exceptions. He didn’t look like he’d be one of the exceptions; his suit was too rumpled for a banker, and he didn’t have that artist or celebrity vibe that so many of that stripe did.

But the answer became clear as he faced her with a sad look in his eye as he said, “I’m sorry.”

And then he drew a pistol, pointed it at her face, and pulled the trigger.

The pony teleported away after he’d committed his assassination, to a nearby alley a half-mile away, where he dropped his disguise and looked in a broken mirror lying in the alleyway, it was cracked and spiderwebbed, revealing the ugly look of a pepsis that just murdered an innocent mare. In the end, he’d succeed in the mission assigned to him by Gloaming, and he knew he could not live with that success.

Emptying the clip as he’d been shown how, he placed the second one in. This one was for him to use to get away, she’d told him. But he’d committed an atrocity, one he couldn’t live with, and one he didn’t deserve to. He would get away, all right – but not in the way he intended.

Forgive me, Ms. Cobbler, he mused, putting the gun in his mouth. I wish I didn— He pulled the trigger before he could finish his thought.

The resulting explosion and fire completely destroyed both buildings framing the alleyway.

With great difficulty, Twilight opened her eyes, seeing everything as blurry. From the change in perspective, she could tell she was somehow in her normal form, with bandages around her waist. Her wings had been torn off, but thankfully like those of changelings, pepsis wings grew back in a matter of days. Gingerly, she reached down and touched the bandages; pain roared through her mind with sudden clarity and a voice screamed out in agony – it took a few seconds before she realized it was her own. She suddenly blacked out again.

Several more minutes passed before she came back to consciousness, and this time, instead of courting disaster, she focused past the soreness and looked around her environs. She was on a very comfortable bed in what definitely did not look like a hotel; it didn’t look like the apartment that Blood Armor had procured for their base. If anything, it looked like what she imagined a regular home would look like. Wherever she was, it wasn’t the battleground that had been a hotel just earlier in the day. She might not even be in Antwerp.

After a few minutes, she reached towards the bandages again, wondering if it was safe to do so.

“Don’t touch your wounds; they’ll get infected,” a voice said. The pepsis blinked her eyes and found herself staring at someone she’d never expected to see again: the redhead she’d met in the airport the other day, the one that had told her that her mother loved her – a lie if there ever was one. Chrysalis was the complete antithesis of love, and thought of her foals as nothing more than tools to be used to further her own power.

But that couldn’t describe this woman before her. There was something calming and placid about her, a feeling she had that she couldn’t describe. It was, if she forced herself to do so, kind of like the genetic memories she carried of her father: warm and kind.

“What I said was true,” the woman voiced, a beatific smile on her face. “Your mother does love you.”

At that, Twilight was shocked. How did the woman know what she was thinking? “H-hhow did you…?”

The redhead flashed a smile. “That’s not important right now,” she assured her. “The important thing is that what I said is true: your mother does love you, and she will with all her heart.”

At those words, bitter tears stung in Twilight’s eyes. “It’s not true,” she countered, “it’s not. Chrysalis doesn’t love me – to her, I’m just a tool.”

“That’s because she’s not your mother, Twilight.” The redhead pulled up a chair and said, “You are Twilight Sunburn, a pepsis. Half-changeling, half-pony. For all your life, you’ve been shown nothing but your changeling heritage. But what if I told you there was another way?”

“How do you know who I am?” Twilight asked. Instinct should have said that a being with this much knowledge on her would be dangerous beyond comparison, and yet…Twilight wasn’t afraid; she didn’t feel afraid at all, as if there was no reason to. Somehow, she knew this woman, this human – if she really was one and not merely inhabiting the shape – was more powerful in magic than Blood Armor, possibly even more so than Chrysalis. But, looking at those deep blue eyes, Twilight knew that the force this being could wield was used for nothing more than nurture and protection. She might have been a primal force, but it was a guarding one.

“Because it’s my job to know,” the woman said with a simple smile.

“How did you save me? Why did you save me?”

“As to how, I had a friend retrieve you. Had she been a little later, it would have been too late,” the woman admitted, “but thankfully that didn’t happen. But as to why, it’s because you deserve to be loved, Twilight. I won’t lie: you have done some terrible things, nightmarish acts. And yet…the humans have a word for what you are – ‘child soldier.’ Innocents drafted into an army, forced to do the unspeakable, but not really aware of what is happening to them. You’ve been forced into atrocities under duress that no one your age – your true age – should even be able to comprehend, much less experience.” The woman reached down and stroked Twilight’s mane; it was a tender, warm touch the pepsis had never known before, and she found herself craving it. It was so strange, so alien, that the emotion could only be one thing – love.

“You look as though you are a filly of sixteen, Twilight Sunburn,” the woman continued, “and yet you are only weeks old. You’ve been made into a monster, and while you have yet to really experience life, you already carry scars. It hurts me just to know that, just to see what they have done to you.”

“Why do you care?” Twilight asked. The fact that anychangeling would care about her was as foreign to her as her pony ancestry.

“Because I am a mother who loves her daughters and can do nothing to help them while they face a challenge of an order of magnitude they have never seen before, and like a mother who truly loves her foals, I would do anything to help them. So too would I help a wayward foal to her mother,” the woman said, and Twilight somehow knew that last foal in question was her.

“But Chrysa—”

“Did you know changelings have a complex structure of family hierarchy that designates who is family and who is not?” the woman asked.

While Twilight shook her head no, the answer came ringing into her mind with crystal clarity: it was the reason why Twilight Gloaming, Blue Velvet and Blood Armor never considered her “part of the family” – because she wasn’t. “Is that true?” she asked.

The woman nodded. “Think about it: though changelings are pony-sized, they aren’t mammals, they’re arthropods – a very special type of one, but one all the same. As such, they don’t have families, they have broods, because it is within them to have the hive survive at all costs. And yet there must be leadership, which is why some must be rulers and some must be the ruled.” The woman looked at a mirror on the dresser across from the bed; the reflection was of both her and Twilight. “You are a chimera, half of each, born just as much of magic as genetics. You have Chrysalis’ blood in your veins, yes; you’ll never be able to avoid that. But you also have the blood of the gallant stallion she tricked, a nonpareil who engendered the best in what ponies could be.”

Twilight looked at the woman, hope in her violet eyes. She was just as much pony as she was changeling. Was there truly a way to escape the trap of being a pepsis? Of being a tool? She opened her mouth to ask, but she felt pain stitch through her side and that came foremost to her mind; besides, she dare not ask the question that would give an answer that could betray her.

The woman held out her palm and a ball of golden light appeared in it, as warm and bright as the sun. Gently pushing the ball towards the mirror, it melted into the surface, lending to the looking glass that heliotropic tone. “Twilight, look in the mirror and tell me what you see,” the woman instructed.

The pepsis gazed into the mirror as it briefly showed both hers and the woman’s reflections. But then the glass shimmered like water and revealed Twilight’s face, except…it wasn’t hers. The face was older, for starts, with slips of gray appearing and slight wrinkles on the visage. The locks of hair in the mane had two different colors, like hers, but these were pink and magenta to her own hot-pink and orange. The other mare’s coat was also lighter than hers, a soft shade of purple that contrasted with her deep eggplant hue.

But it was the look on the face that was most striking of all. The face showed bravery, wisdom, joy, and most importantly, love. She could feel the warmth and kindness radiating from the smile as if she were a flower reaching out to the life-giving warmth of the sun. For the first time in Twilight Sunburn’s short life, she ached to see such beauty and joy, knowing that it should have been her birthright. This was love, freely given and offered, the love of something more than just a tool. The love offered to a being like her, not as a changeling, not as a pepsis.

But as a pony.

“Who…who….” Twilight Sunburn could not complete the sentence. She felt a longing, a powerful emptiness in her that ached to be filled with love. To be loved. That’s what she wanted more than anything else – to be loved. She understood that now, and felt every iota of its absence. She needed to be loved, and she needed somechangeling to do so. She looked at the image again. “Who is she?” Twilight finally spoke.

The woman smiled as she looked at Twilight Sunburn. “Her name is Twilight Sparkle. She is the Archmagus of Equestria, Duchess Shetland, the Knight Commander Elemental of Magic, the most powerful unicorn in history, and the protégé of my oldest daughter. She is also your father’s younger sister. Which means she is your family.”

Family. The word thundered in Twilight’s mind as she comprehended the fact that she didn’t have to live her life as a tool – she had someone! She had somepony! Would she be loved? Would that Twilight love her, accept her?

And then Twilight Sunburn uttered the word for God inscribed on the lips of babes since time immortal:

“Mother.”

“Are you sure?” the woman asked.

Twilight Sunburn was never surer of anything in her life. She had never met this other Twilight and yet…she was family; even if it was a tenuous, threadbare connection, it was more than Chrysalis had ever offered her. “She’ll love me. Even if I’m nothing more than a tool, I’ll at least be a tool that will be loved.”

“Then you must stay and heal,” the woman told her. “You need your strength to be ready to fight.”

The look on Twilight’s face was briefly filled with horror, which then immediately changed to determination. “No. I won’t fight her. Even if she’ll want to kill me, I…I want to be loved!” She lowered her head, ears drooping, and she sobbed, “I just want to be loved.”

But Faust’s smile was gentle and kind. “You misunderstand, Twilight. You need to be ready to fight for her. Because very soon, she will be in terrible danger, and though she is powerful, she will be unable to withstand this attack.”

“Then I’ll rest and then I’ll fight,” Twilight said, her voice suddenly filling with an anger that surprised even her. But, she now realized, it was different from the dispassionate violence Ghino made her commit. This was…indignation? Yes, indignation for someone daring to raise a hoof against the only chance Twilight Sunburn had for happiness. “I will fight and I will protect her.”

“Then rest, young one.” The redhead placed a gentle spell on Twilight, pushing her in the direction of drowsiness. As the former pepsis fell asleep, Faust looked at the young filly and smiled sweetly, remembering the times her daughters had been so young and passionate. She then sang a lullaby to comfort the dozing youth. That pepsis would be different now when she reawakened. Twilight Sunburn’s legacy had changed.

In her own room, Screwball looked into the mirror there, seeing the serene face of an aged unicorn mare, mane far whiter than the misty-gray and plum it had once been.

“Safe. She is safe now,” Screwball told the image in the mirror as her body warped from a cubist view into living blobs of paint. “Your granddaughter is safe.”

“Twilight will care for her,” the image said back, smiling gently. “My son was used and his foal even more so, but my daughter will mend this foal’s wounds. Though I could say nothing to any of them, I saw it in my dreams when I lived.”

“Faust will protect her.”

“I know. And I am forever grateful to my queen. Please relay that for me.” The ghost of Twilight Velvet bowed in the mirror and vanished. Screwball smiled, and her body exploded into thousands of tarot cards once more, this time all of them bearing the image of The Star.

Author's Note

For those of you wondering about the title, it's a reference to last year's release of "At the Twilight's Last Gleaming", itself a reference to the Star Spangled Banner for Fourth of July. This one comes from the rarely sung second stanza to the song:

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And now you know. And knowing is half the battle. The other half is red lasers and blue lasers. :trollestia:

Chapter Sixteen: Living Inside the Shell

It had been, thankfully, a miracle that Lyra had stayed over, Cadance thought in hindsight. Between Duskie crying at three in the morning and the news they’d received earlier that evening…it had taken a lot out of her. She’d informed both Luna and Celestia via private message of the horrific news, but it hadn’t really processed in her mind. No, that took shortly after Lyra had heroically managed to get Duskie to go back to sleep and the two exhausted mares could look at each other and just let the tears flow.

Now, the two sat in Cadance’s kitchen. The alicorn had given the housekeeping staff the day off; she couldn’t stand the crowding of the maids and butlers at the moment. Across from her, Lyra poured another cup of coffee, the look in her eyes empty. Like the celeste unicorn, Apple Cobbler had not originally been a diplomat, but had become one due to their respective outstanding skills and respect by the human community; it was only natural that Lyra and AC had become friends.

“She’s gone,” Lyra said, dully, unsure of what else to say. “All those times she and Antiquity invited us up to New York to visit, but I never had the time, and now….”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Cadance said, her voice nearly cadaverous. She felt the guilt and emptiness as well. But there was too much now that had to be done, too much to prepare for as Equestria began to shift towards a war footing. The proof and been indelible: elite Iranian combat forces had succeeded in destroying the hotel where the summit was taking place, then murdered the joint security forces before getting into a pitched gun battle with Belgian commandos. But by that point, the damage had been done: diplomats from several countries had been lost, and in that loss was one of their own: Clockwork Cog, in disguise as a Dutch diplomat.

Conflict was now inevitable.

“Are you nervous about this?” DJ asked. At the moment, she’d put on a nice dress and had the boys wear long sleeve oxfords and slacks. She had to look good today, probably better than she normally carried herself. Normally, she really didn’t worry much about her looks – she was happily married and was a down-to-earth kinda gal – but today was special, and so she’d do it for him.

As for Mike, he currently stood there in his dress blues, nervous about everything. He’d been very lucky that Sweetie Belle had joined them for breakfast that morning; not only was she able to magic up the sea service version of the O-5 oak leaves, but thanks to the sewing skills she’d learned from Rarity when she was younger – and something she’d teased DJ about briefly – she’d made him a full set of Commander’s uniforms. Now if he could only calm the butterflies in his stomach.

So the family went, headed towards the US embassy and specifically General Bryson’s office. While Mike had made an aside comment that he’d wished his parents were here to see it, both Matt and Anna assured him that they’d get everything on video for Carl and Lila. In Mike’s opinion, that sealed his fate; after this, he’d have to accept Bryson’s offer for a command and then probably start that soon after. He hoped the post-ceremony briefing would be short, because today of all days, she was going to him, more than ever.

This morning, she was here for him, to watch him reach command level. This afternoon, he’d return the favor – not that favors were being counted – and back her up for what she probably considered the challenge of her life.

“Bro, relax,” Sam, carrying the videocam, said with a grin. “You’ve done this kinda stuff before, right?”

“Something like that,” Mike explained. “But nothing like this.”

Turning to look at her brother, DJ said, “Ignore the contradiction. He’s just a little nervous.” Tapping her husband on the shoulder, she then added, “You’ll be fine, hon. Besides, you can’t embarrass yourself too much….” She added a mischievous grin to punctuate that, and Mike couldn’t help but smile – DJ was, if nothing else, her usual impish self.

He checked his ribbons and uniform for the last time and she gave him a faux-irritated look. “Mike, I swear, if you die of a heart attack because you’re in panic mode, I’m going to kill you.”

“Uh, won’t I be dead?”

“Fine – I’ll find someone here who can bring you back to life just so I can kill you,” she nickered. He chuckled at that and she leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek, her goal met. “Now go in there and show them how it’s done.”

Onto the grounds of the embassy he walked, taking the time to return the salutes of the Marine guards and various other military personnel attached to the military liaison division. As he walked onto the fourth floor, where the division had its offices, Bryson’s secretary – an Army sergeant – saw him and said, “Good morning, Commander. The General has been expecting you, so please go ahead on in.” Nodding slightly, Mike then entered the office with the rest.

“Commander – good of you to join us,” Bryson said, rising from his seat. “And you must be DJ,” he said with a smile. “I’ve heard a lot of things about you, all exotic and beauteous,” causing her to blush. “And well, since your family’s here, Mike, shall we get this going?” the senior officer asked.

The ceremony was quick yet solemn, with Mike rereading his oath of allegiance, followed by DJ pinning on his oak-leaf clusters, and some family pictures of the newly-minted command officer. Sam made sure he got everything on camera for Mike’s parents and offered to email them the link to the upload as soon as he got a chance to do so. Finally, when the dust settled down, Sam had to depart for the next part of his lecture with the Canterlot Sheriff’s Office and things wound down, the others left, and Mike was alone with Bryson.

“So, give any thought to the offer, Mike?” the general asked.

Before Mike could answer, however, Bryson’s secretary poked her head in. “General Spitfire is here to see you, sir,” she said.

“Please have her come in,” he answered. Less than a minute later, two ponies walked in, as per what seemed to be a modern military tradition for the Equestriani armed forces, upright on the hind legs. The first one wore the uniform of an REA major, and from what little Mike knew about Equestriani Army soldiers, the mud-brown earth pony stallion with the moss green mane had the look of infantry on him. But it was the mare that he was surprised to see here. She was attired in the REAF dress uniform, which was based on the USAF’s one. The goldenrod and orange pegasus mare’s uniform also had a golden fourragere, signifying that she was someone significant.

“Folks, this is Commander Michael Hengst, the prospective CO for CSAU.” The general said a word that sounded similar to see-saw, which piqued the naval officer’s interest. Continuing, Bryson said, “Mike, this is General Spitfire, the acting Minister of Defense. And you are, Major?” the general asked.

“Major Sable Loam, 146th Special Infantry Battalion,” the stallion said with a smile. “I’ve been selected to be CSAU’s executive officer, so the unit can have somepony with local expertise.”

“CSAU?” Mike asked. It was the first time the unit had been brought up by name, though the details had yet to be explained. That, however, he was sure was about to change.

“Combined Special Augmentation Unit, or CSAU,” Spitfire explained. “It’s an operational unit that will be under the command of NATO’s Joint Force Command, Canterlot.”

Bryson almost looked giddy as he said, “When you were a kid, Mike, did you ever play with GI JOEs? I did, way back in the ‘80s. And then in 2010, some idiot took the idea and made a shitty film featuring soldiers from around the world. So, think of it this way: you’re now in charge of GI JOE, only without the cool name, the bad plot and the really hot-looking redhead in the film.”

Spitfire ignored the aside and continued. “This has been something that has been in the works for some time, and while we’d still planned to have it cook a little longer, the current situation doesn’t give us the luxury of waiting. CSAU will be a specialized NATO unit that’s tasked with helping us against traditionally non-human threats.”

“You mean our job is to fight changelings,” Mike stated.

“Not just changelings,” Sable commented. “There are other threats that a human perspective could change the balance in, some of which could eventually pose a threat to Human-Earth if not stopped here.”

“Like what?”

“Werewolves,” the major said coolly. Both Bryson and Mike looked oddly at the stallion before the latter broke out into a grin. “Sorry, couldn’t help that – made a joke based on my unit’s nickname. But in all seriousness, just because changelings are the largest independent threat to sapient beings here doesn’t mean they’re the only ones. Just the sealed records in Empire City alone are the stuff of nightmares.”

“Now that you’ve gotten the general idea,” Spitfire added, “it underscores the situation we’re in, Commander. In some possible cases, CSAU may be the only line of defense for both Alter-Earth and Human-Earth.”

“Then what it sounds like is that you need someone who is SPECWAR qualified to lead this team,” Mike said honestly. “Sorry, but I’m not wearing the Trident, and it sounds like you need someone of that caliber to lead this unit.”

“Truthfully?” Bryson commented. “We did have someone ready to lead – Col. Thomlinson; if you weren’t aware, he’s AFSOC. But you saw what happened to him after Floral Fantasy was injured. He’s in no condition to assume command. Fortunately, with you arriving on the scene and how you’ve acquitted yourself in the past few weeks, I’d say you’re more than capable for the position, Mike.”

Spitfire nodded in agreement. “When Princess Celestia heard that the CSAU CO position was opened, she all but demanded you be given command. She said that you were the only one the three princesses could put their trust in, and based on your record, that’s certainly true.” The pegasus looked right at Mike and said, “I’m not asking you as a general or the acting minister of defense, or as a soldier.” Her eyes softened as she continued. “I’m asking you as a wife and mother. I have a husband; he owns a toy store in Northside Canterlot. We have two foals, colts. If I could do anything – anything – to know that Klik-Klak, High Hopes and Lofty Dreams would be okay, I would. Part of me just wants to take them and run as far away as I can just to keep them safe. But I can’t do that. I have to toe the line and keep fighting. But I can’t do this alone, Commander. I need your help.”

The look in her eyes was bleak. “You have a wife and sons; your wife is Rarity’s daughter, and Rarity’s a friend of mine – I know the history. I understand this is the last place Sandalwood wants to be. But I need you in the fight, Commander. Because if the bad guys win, they won’t care about whether or not Sandalwood is speaking to Rarity or not; the fact is that she’s the Daughter of Generosity and that will make her a target. They will come after your world eventually, and if that happens…your sons, your wife…they won’t be safe. Ever.”

She turned away, seemed to have wiped tears from her eyes. “Heh, must have something in my eyes. Getting too soft in my old age.” With her back to him, she said, “Thank you for listening, Commander. I hope you’ll do right by us.” And with that, she walked out.

Bryson looked at the naval officer. “Thoughts?”

Mike turned to look at Sable Loam. “What’s your take on all this?”

“With all due respect, sir? As much as I hate to admit it, as ponies we’re in over our head. We’re still really just organizing our military forces, and prior to that Equestria hasn’t really had much of a standing military since Moonfall – the old Guard and Fleet were more for police duties than real military stuff. And even the countries that have had regular militaries, like Griphonica, still don’t quite have a grasp for what seems to be – and no offense meant, mind – the natural violent streak that humans have.”

“None taken, Major,” Mike answered.

“Just an observation, sir. Heck, most ponies think I’m a little weird because I was the XO of a unit that specialized in field sniping. Heck, somepony once accused us werewolves of thinking we really were wolves. Where they would even get an idea like that, I’ve no clue.” He cracked a grin. “Okay, maybe my wife might joke about the ‘wolf in bed’ part, but Fair Vista’s cutie mark should’ve made her a comedienne instead of a grocer.”

Mike was quiet for a moment before turning to Sable. “XO?”

The major cracked a grin. “Yes, sir?”

“Start rounding up the forces that are assigned to the unit. I want to meet the senior cadre first thing tomorrow morning.”

“I guess the correct answer is, ‘Aye, sir.’”

“How are you feeling this morning?” Faust poked her head in to check on Twilight. The pepsis had spent most of the night scared out of her wits, and the former alicorn queen wondered what kind of hells the young mare had been through to react like that. Fortunately, unpredictable as always, Screwball had crawled into bed with Twilight, turned back into her normal pony form, and then turned herself into a giant plushie in an attempt to keep Twilight company. That only served to terrify the pepsis further and the end result of that was a sleepless night for everyone in the home.

The pepsis still looked a bit shaky. “I’m…I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“It’s okay,” Faust answered. “I don’t think Screwball’s offended, and she was trying to help. Most fillies usually like plushies.”

“I’m not used to….” Twilight trailed off before adding, “I’m not used to other things being in my bed and being nice.” The look on Faust’s face was one of sudden sadness, and Twilight instinctively curled into a fetal position, all the better to take the inevitable physical blows. “I’m sorry! Don’t hurt me!”

“I promise you, Twilight, no one…nopony…will ever hurt you again,” the redhead whispered softly, reaching down to stroke the terrified mare’s side. “I don’t know what happened to you, but I do know that so much of it was against your will, and it’s left you hurt and ruined. But we need to make you hearty and hale in order to protect Twilight Sparkle.”

“What’s she like?” The look in the pepsis’ eyes suddenly lit up; Faust wondered if this was the first time that it had ever occurred.

“I don’t know,” the redhead admitted, “but I’m told by a friend that she’s wise, courageous and loving. And that she would be happy to have a daughter like you.”

“Would she?” Twilight chirped at first, but then something settled in her mind and her ears drooped away as she said, “But I’m just a tool. How could she love me?”

“Could you love her?”

“I…I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. “I’m not even sure what it really is.”

Faust smiled softly. “Then how can you be sure she wouldn’t love you? That’s the thing about it: it takes time, trust and faithfulness to do so. When I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, I wondered if I could love her, or if she could love me. It wasn’t anything I was used to, either. But then I saw that sweet face, looking at me with adoring eyes, and I knew that I would forever love her. I’m sure that when she sees you, she will feel the same…and you’ll feel the same about her.” Reaching towards the mare’s gauze, Faust said, “Now let me check your injuries and make sure they don’t leave scars.”

“But I’ve seen Chrysalis’ and Gloaming’s hides, and they’re pretty scarred,” Twilight replied.

Faust filed that latter information away as she undid the dressing, saying, “Yes, but you’re going to be a pony now, Twilight. Scars don’t look good on mares. Mares have to look good, you know.”

It was a day later than she’d intended to be here, DJ ruminated, and it had already thrown her off her groove. She’d intended to be here the day before, but because of an attack on Equestriani assets back home on human-Earth, government buildings in Canterlot had been locked down for the day, something that Sweetie Belle had later told DJ was a first. So she’d spent the day making sure that the kids were ready to go, and in the process undid her own confidence in being ready to face this moment.

And now here she stood in the elevator as they headed down to the quarantine area, frustrated and nervous. “Where is he?” she muttered. “He promised me he’d be here!”

“He’s probably getting his first briefings as a Commanding Officer, DJ,” Matt replied. “But you know Mike. He said he’d be here and he will. Just have faith.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” the humanized pony admitted to her father as her temper deflated. “I’m just nervous. Worried about Twilight and the others.”

“The others?” he repeated.

“Okay, there’s one I couldn’t care less about,” DJ huffed. “Sorry if it’s unchristian of me, but that’s just how I feel, Dad.”

The elevator arrived at the floor, and the group stepped out. Waiting there was Spike; as he was going to visit Twilight and the others today, he’d agreed to meet them there. “Heya, all,” he said, as the group walked up to him. “Ready to see Twi, Rarity, AJ and Rainbow?” Spike asked, then immediately realized what he said.

“I just hope I’m not wasting my time, Spike. I mean, yeah, maybe she called me here and all, but I’m not convinced.”

“You should have more faith,” Spike told his niece. “Trust me: if they said Rarity called for you, then she called for you.”

“Really? Is it really true, or is everyone just trying to make me ‘have some sort of inner peace’ by reconciling with her? She doesn’t mean anything to me – I have nothing to reconcile,” DJ said.

“Does what’s his name…Elusive…mean nothing to you?” DJ looked at her father as he mentioned her biological brother’s name, and Matt shook his head. “If he means anything to you, and from what I understand, he does, then Rarity should mean something as well. You and Elusive come from the same starting point, after all. Without Rarity, he wouldn’t have been born – and I wouldn’t have a wonderful daughter who usually doesn’t disappoint me.”

“I know, I know….” she said, getting the hint. Deciding the subject needed changing, she asked, “Wow, where did Mom take the boys? The other side of the world?”

Spike shrugged, drawling, “Well, the gift shop is on the far side of the Infirmary. Plus, this is a government-owned facility and the top military hospital. Considering what happened yesterday, there’s probably checkpoints and extra patrols getting in the way.”

“True.” A few more seconds went by before DJ spoke up again. “Dad? Did you and Rarity…talk about me?”

“Not much,” he admitted. “We told her how proud you’ve made us over the years and the kind of woman you’ve become, but she didn’t want to hear it. She’s convinced that we ruined her life, and that you’re now a continuation of that ruination.” His words had a slight tone of evasiveness to her, but she didn’t prod; it was something likely meant as an insult to her parents and something he knew she would likely also hold against Rarity.

“Probably because you said woman and not mare,” DJ sighed. “I just…look, even if I wanted her in my life – and so far I’m more likely to adopt a scorpion – why can’t she just accept me for who I am?”

“I can’t answer that, furball,” Matt replied, adjusting his glasses. “Only she can.”

The elevator doors opened again, and out stepped Anna and the boys; both Stuart and Tyler were carrying oversized ice cream cones. “Sorry, DJ,” Anna explained with a bemused look on her face, “but I figured it might be rough on the kids so I thought I’d spoil them just a bit.”

DJ smiled. “Thanks, Mom.” She then looked at her sons. “You guys ready for this?” There was no answer, as both boys were completely engrossed in their treats. DJ then looked up at her mother. “Still kinda nervous about this,” she admitted to her mother.

“You’ll be fine,” Anna assured her daughter. “You’re not a little girl she can threaten or push around anymore. And this will be good for you no matter what – you need this. Oh and speaking of needs, Elusive is in the building; ran into him in the lobby.”

“I know why.” Had she not her own issue at the moment, she would have gone to give her younger brother comfort. He was expecting both Butter and Minty to be transported over to the Royal Infirmary today – Butter was expected to be released tomorrow – and he was probably here to visit his father as well.

My biological father as well, the humanized pony thought to herself. Over the years, he’d rarely come up in conversation; it was always about Rarity. What does he think of me? Does he think of me? I know what Rarity thinks and how much Minty hates me, and I’m back on good terms with Elusive, but Silversteel has never really come into the picture.

“Are you planning to see him later?”

“I might, if he comes down here to the restricted ward, but otherwise later. He could probably use some advice on how to deal with handling two newborns.”

“I’m sure he’d appreciate that.” At that point, an uncomfortable silence ensued, broken only by the occasional happy comments coming from the two boys. DJ knew that within the next few minutes, whatever was to be said would have a profound impact on the rest of her life and those of her descendants.

In another part of the hospital, a stallion was about to make the first of his visits. Most of his immediate family was here, save for his newly-born children, and it was a miracle that they’d been spared the same fate that their mother, their grandparents and their younger maternal aunt had suffered. As for their older maternal aunt…she was probably going to face a personal hell of her own in a few.

But right now he had to face his.

“Father, I’m here,” Elusive said as he walked into the private room. Just days ago, the room had been occupied by both his father and his aunt, but thankfully Scootaloo was released and was on the mend. If only he could say the same about his father, however. Silversteel lay alone in the room now, and with Rarity still afflicted, Minty in critical condition and DJ still coming to grips with everything, that only left him and Butter – but even she was down now, bunked in the same hospital room as Minty.

Grabbing a chair next to his father’s bed, he said softly, “Father, I don’t know if you can hear me, but...she’s back. Sandalwood…that is, DJ…is back. I ran into her adopted mother downstairs. She’s getting ready to meet Mother. I wish you could see her; she’s grown up to be a very capable and beautiful mare. She’s the pride of her adoptive parents, and I think if you met her you’d give her a chance. I hope Mother will…but I’m not very confident.”

Silversteel continued to lay there, breathing into his mask, human science and pony magic both combining to heal his wounds and keep him stable; even still he did not stir or react to his son’s words. Expecting that, Elusive continued. “Did you know you’re a grandfather now? Butter…she had her foals the other night. Two beautiful foals: a filly, Apple Scruffs – DJ thought of the name – and a colt, Applestem. They’re so wonderful and I want you to be able to hold them and nuzzle them, spoil them rotten – but you can’t do that if you don’t wake up.”

Feeling a powerful emotion wash through him, Elusive kept talking. “I’m…I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m not feeling very confident in the way things are going right now. DJ’s here, but I’m the only member of the family she’s speaking to. Minty needs you and Mother; she lost her husband and foal and she came close to death. I can’t stop feeling guilty about my own foals being born not too long after Toffee and Gumdrop’s deaths, and I would have given my life for theirs – anypony would have.

“You need to come back to us. I can’t stress that enough. I don’t know what I can say that will bring you back except…I need you. Mother needs you. Minty needs you. And though I don’t think she realizes it…DJ needs you, too.” Feeling out of sorts and not sure of what else to say, the young stallion got back up and left the room silently, but just as he was at the door, he said, “Father, I need you to be strong for us, because I feel as though my own strength is weakening.”

Closing the door to the room, Elusive made his way to the elevator that led to the isolation wing. He didn’t know what was going to go on; only that both DJ and Rarity would need him.

Had he stayed for just a second more, he would have seen Silversteel’s form stir slightly as his voice rasped out, “Sandalwood….”

Walking through the palace, Luna practically vibrated with excitement, and, admittedly, a touch of anger. I hope she knows how much of an apology she owes me, both from holding the news of her new paramour from me and then denying my relationship with Robin. The moon alicorn signed inwardly, thinking about her true love and how much he’d suffered over the years, trying so many times to move on and find love without her, even as he knew their relationship was doomed.

And yet he never could, Luna knew. He could no more deny his love for her than she could for him.

But now we have a chance, my love, she said to herself. Once Celestia realizes what she’s done, there will be a chance for us – we’ll be together at last. Plus, it should be easier now: things have changed here and he could just as easily run his company from Canterlot as he could from Seattle. Or maybe…. She shook her head at the silliness of her momentary thought; there’d be no way that Celestia would allow her to abdicate. Despite her flightiness and penchant for practical jokes, Celestia was, in the end, very much about duty; truth be told, Cadance wasn’t anywhere near ready for such heavy duties and obviously Twilight, despite all her power, could not take the position. And there was no way in Tartarus that Luna would ever abdicate in favor of Blueblood.

Well, as Cadance says, love will find a way. All you have to do is just believe, Luna reminded herself. And with that, she walked into Celestia’s office, ready to wage war.

As always, Celestia’s secretary, Golden Insignia, was at her desk in the anteroom. “Ah, good morning, your highness,” the butter-hued unicorn said, a pleasant smile on the mare’s face. “I’m glad you arrived. I was just about to send your office a note that her maj—”

“Cut the flattery and just get me Celestia,” Luna said, more brusquely than she intended. “She and I have something to discuss.”

“Your highness, her ma—”

I don’t have time for this. Luna pointed towards a pair of beautifully-carved solid oak doors with well-polished handles made of red gold. “Insignia, get up, go through those doors and let her know I’m here or else those doors won’t be here much longer.” Luna felt slightly guilty for treating the aged mare like this, but it was clear that Celestia was stonewalling for some reason and Luna had a mission to accomplish.

There was a call from the other side of the doors: “Siggy, go ahead and let Luna in.” Without waiting for further ado, Luna just barged right in to find her sister, looking over dozens of official documents. She looked like she’d been up all night. “Morning,” she said in a cheerful tone that she didn’t seem to have in her eyes. “Care for some coffee? Just made a batch for myself and you’re welcome to it.”

Luna looked at her older sister oddly; Celestia pretty much abhorred coffee and only drank it when she needed the extra caffeine – which was almost never, since alicorns didn’t often require pick-me-ups like caffeine. “You look like a mess.”

“That’s why I asked you to come in first thing this morning,” Celestia said. “Though I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bully my staff.”

“I…uh….” This wasn’t exactly how she’d intended things to go. “Nevermind,” the moon alicorn said. “We need to talk.”

“Yes. I’m working on trying to formulate how we’re going to respond to these latest incidents, and I need your opinion. Where should we start?”

“Well, you can start by telling me when you had exactly planned to tell me – or was it never?”

Celestia looked at her sister for the longest time, an uneasy stare that made Luna suddenly wonder if she’d picked a very bad time to bring this up. Finally, the Princess of the Day said, “I think we’re talking about two different things. I know you took off yesterday for some personal reasons, but I need you back into the middle of things now, Luna.” The white alicorn sighed, then said, “Yesterday, we were attacked again by Iran. Our negotiation team in Belgium, as well as that of the Americans and the Dutch, were killed when the hotel was bombed and attacked by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, their elite combat force. Worse, our Belgian ambassador, Clockwork Cog, was killed in the attack.”

Luna gasped. This definitely was a bad time to bring it up. “What…what happened?”

“I’m not done yet,” the sun alicorn said. “In New York, our ambassador to the UN, Apple Cobbler, was assassinated in broad daylight. Witnesses claim that it was another pony that did it, but they can’t find any trace of such, and a couple of minutes after the murder there was an explosion at some nearby buildings. We’ve got mages on-scene working with the FBI and we have reason to believe that it was a changeling that did it, though why they would kill AC is beyond me.”

Luna was now completely aghast. “I…I didn’t know,” she said. “You should have told me, Tia!”

“Lu-lu, we rarely have time to ourselves, so I can certainly sympathize. You wanted the day off, you got it, and I wasn’t about to complain. But now I need you here and focused. I had a meeting an hour ago with Cadance and Lyra, and they recommend that in the short term, Clockwork’s deputy can take over. But we need somepony experienced in New York and I’m afraid that AC’s deputy doesn’t have that experience. Cadance recommends that we send Spike there until we can permanently appoint somepony to take over, but I want your opinion on this.”

Luna plopped down in a chair across from her sister. This was…well, there was no real word the Princess of the Night could come up with to qualify what she was feeling. “Okay, then let’s focus on that,” Luna said, slipping into all-business mode. “We can discuss our little issue later.”

“Actually,” Celestia said, using her TK to pour herself a cup of coffee and float it over to her, “I could genuinely use a break from all this, so I guess we can just talk about what you need right now, Lu-lu.”

“I don’t think that’s germane to the situation right now, Tia,” Luna said. “You can tell me later, I assure you.”

Celestia floated the mug of coffee to her lips. “Tell you what?”

Luna rolled her eyes. “We’ve got bigger haybales to fry right now, sister.”

“No, because I need a break and something is clearly bothering you, Lu-lu. So, out with it. What did I forget or neglect to tell you?”

Luna sighed. Okay, you asked for it, sis, she muttered inwardly. “Stallion or mare?” Luna finally asked, “which one are you dating?” To Luna’s surprise Celestia lost control of the mug; it fell to the desk, splashing onto the computer’s hoofboard, shorting it out. Both mares looked at the fried computer peripheral before Luna said, “Maybe you should just tell me after all, Tia.”

“Tell you what?”

“I don’t know whether I should congratulate you or be really angry at you. You broke me and Robin up, and now you’ve got somepony to call your own. But I want to be happy for you, sister, I really do. So tell me who he – or she – is.”

“I…can’t,” Celestia said, suddenly, a winsome look coming onto her face. Or is that…guilt? Luna wondered.

“Is the pony in question a commoner? You’ve told me yourself, there’s no shame in that – Cadance married Shining with no issues, and despite their common blood our sisters were far nobler than the gentry, even before we elevated all of them.” Now Luna let her anger go; whomever her sister’s special somepony was, it was giving her quite a bit of pain. “Let me guess: Blueblood found out and he’s giving you grief as well? Honestly, I’ve just about had it with him and I’m tempted to fly out to Hoofalulu an—”

“No, it’s not that – well, he is a commoner, I think. But he’s not a pony.”

Luna raised a delicate eyebrow. “What species?” She gasped. “No – don’t tell me it’s Spike!” That suddenly made sense; to have Spike suddenly head to New York for the next few months while Celestia nursed a heart for him would be the source of her pain.

And yet…. Luna shook her head; Spike was family – such a relationship would be devastating for so many reasons, and any liaison between the two would be bordering on the incestuous. “I’ll be rather disappointed in you if it is,” Luna said, firmly.

Despite her consternation, Celestia giggled. “Of course it’s not Spike! I certainly don’t think of him that way – I never would! And for some strange reason I ever did, Twilight would never stand for it in any case. But…the individual question is human, and…it would be best if I didn’t get involved.”

“Do you love him?”

Celestia’s eyes radiated both passion and pain. “I wish I didn’t, but I do. I don’t know how it happened; I tried to avoid it, and yet….” She sighed. “He reminds me so much of Argent Lance that it’s like Argent never left, and yet…he’s so different. He’s not Argent, and I’m not swooning over my old memories. I do love him, I realize now, very much. I would very much wish to be his mare.” The look in Celestia’s lilac eyes were one of anguish, and Luna reached over to embrace her older sister.

“You shouldn’t bottle it up, Tia. You’re in love. Despite all our differences and all the problems we’ve had, I’ve always wanted you to find somepony…er, somebody special.” The moon alicorn continued to hold Celestia, who seemed to melt into that embrace. “All I’ve wanted is for you to be happy.”

“I…I don’t know what to say,” Celestia replied, her voice shaken – was the relationship that problematic? Luna asked herself.

“Tell me, sis. Trust me – you helped me with my relationship with Robin, after all.” You also destroyed it afterwards, but we won’t get into that, Luna silently added.

Celestia sighed. “All right. Only because I need to get this off my barrel.” She took a pause for breath, broke from the embrace and looked her younger sister in the eyes. “It’s Mike.”

Mike practically flew out of the elevator the moment the doors opened. “Sorry I took so long, hon. Got tied up talking to my new XO. Very interesting guy – never met a pony that liked hunting and fishing before.”

Spike gave Mike a nod. “You know, I could have given you a lift here, if you asked.”

“Maybe, but I needed to go home and change, and let Cinnamon know what was going on,” he said. “Besides, I needed the exercise.” He looked at DJ, who looked pensive. “You can relax, love. I’m here now.”

DJ quickly embraced him. “No, I’m nervous for a ton of different reasons, not that.” But after seeing both her parents roll their eyes, she laughed and admitted, “Okay, okay, okay – I was a bit impatient.”

“You know I’ll always have your back,” he said with a smile.

“I know,” she said, feeling his love as though it was a physical force.

“Well, now that we’re all here, it’s time to go in,” Anna said, pointing towards the first door; in truth, it was just a force field that strobed with a radiant red aura. “Now I want you boys to listen very carefully,” the woman said, bending down to look at her grandchildren. “Your grandpa, your dad and I have to go through quickly, but you two and your mom have to go slowly, okay?”

Stuart looked up at his mother. “Is it because you’re a pony, Mom?”

DJ nodded. “Kinda. It’s also because you two are part pony as well. Just think of it this way,” she said with a soft smile. “You and your brother can keep me company, okay?” When both kids nodded their understanding, DJ looked at her mother to continue.

“You’re going to pass through six different colored magical barriers, each one a color of the rainbow,” Anna continued. “Do not pass through the purple one, understood? I know you’re going to want to, but it’s dangerous right now.” The elder human’s voice sounded carried tones of both firmness and worry, and as one, her daughter and grandsons nodded.

“I’ll let Twilight know we’re here,” Matt said. With that, the older man walked through the red field, disappearing as though diving into an opaque, ruby-toned lake. Spike was next, his large form moving through the barrier with a graceful gait that belied his bulky frame.

“Well, shall we, Mike?” Anna asked.

Mike offered his mother-in-law his arm. “Age before beauty, Anna – and I have neither.” The woman laughed and then both humans passed through the first barrier.

DJ stood there for who knew how many seconds, staring at the barrier that had swallowed up her loved ones. She wasn’t sure what was more frightening: coming face-to-face with the unicorn she hadn’t seen in two decades, or taking her children through five biohazard barriers, any one of which could potentially fail and possibly expose them to the same disease killing Twilight and the others. She wasn’t afraid to die – she’d already come close to that once, and while she could easily delude herself on that little lie, when it came to her sons the issue suddenly took on a much starker tone. But in any case, this was the only way in and time was whiling away.

She brought both boys close to her, bending down as she embraced them both. “You guys ready?” she asked. When both nodded, she gave them a broad smile. “I love you both so much,” she said, her eyes watering. “You two make me so proud.”

She was about to take the boys in when she heard a familiar voice calling out, “DJ, wait!” The humanized pony turned around to see Elusive, having cleared the elevators, coming to a stop before her. “I’m glad I got here in time,” he told her.

“Luse, you didn’t have to come here for me,” she said, though a smile built on her face. “Though I’m glad you did – I could use someone else in my corner.”

But the ivory stallion shook his head. “I’m not in anypony’s corner, DJ. I’d like to see you and Mother make peace, but I’ll be there to support both of you. I hope you understand.”

She nodded. “You wouldn’t be you otherwise.” Turning her attention to her sons, she said, “Stuart, Tyler, I’d like you to meet your uncle, Elusive. He’s my younger brother.”

Stuart looked up at her, confused. “But I thought Uncle Sam was your brother, Mom?”

“He is,” Elusive answered. “I’m just her other brother, via our birth mother – your mother didn’t really meet me until a couple of days ago.” To his surprise, the boy picked up on that in a heartbeat; Elusive was impressed at the logical leap the child made. “Your sons are adorable, DJ,” he voiced. “And I see they have some of the family coloring as well.”

“They’re my precious little guys,” she said in motherly tones. “Well, if you’re ready, we were just about to go in.”

Elusive dropped to his haunches. “Tell you what: both of you hop on, and I’ll give you a ride, okay?” The boys needed no prodding and both hopped on in a heartbeat, their cherubic faces full of excited grins at this latest addition to the adventure of their young lives.

DJ, however, was perplexed. “Can you do that? I thought that was considered rude in Equestriani culture.”

“Actually, no, it’s common for very young foals to do so,” Elusive explained. “When he was younger, Uncle Spike used to ride on Aunt Twilight’s back all the time, she told me. In fact, she said she knew he was growing up when he couldn’t do it anymore.”

“I see,” she said as both boys stabilized, with Tyler in front and holding onto Elusive’s mane and Stuart behind, ensuring he’d protect his younger brother as always. Elusive’s horn glowed with a warm, orange light and stabilizing magic wrapped softly around the boys, holding them fast in place as he stood back up.

“Well, if you’re ready, DJ,” he said to her.

“Not in the least, but….” She shrugged; what more could she say? And with that, the four traversed through the red barrier.

Lyra tried to relax as she waited for her family to come through the portal. Standing at her side was Birchwood, a ministry staffer who looked as though she’d rather be anywhere else. “Kinda nervous about this,” Lyra said to no one in particular.

“Why so, Ambassador?” Birchwood asked. “Your family has been through the portal before, right?”

“Well, my husband has,” the celeste unicorn said. “But this is the first time the kids have been. And even though I know this is safe – even safer than the commercial gates they use to fly and sail from HE to here – this is my family that we’re talking about here. Of course I’m going to worry.”

“Certainly understandable,” Birchwood chuckled. “So, what’s your stallion like?”

Lyra shook her head as the portal started to activate. “Oh, I’m not married to a stallion – I’m married to a human,” she said. “And we have two girls and a boy.”

“I…see. I’m sorry my information was incorrect,” the mare said.

“Naaah, don’t worry about it. I used to be married to an earth pony mare, but that relationship fell through,” Lyra answered, though she didn’t give further details. “Paul and I have been together for almost fifteen years now, and I have three wonderful children. If you ask me, that’s probably my greatest accomplishment as an ambassador – paving a way for happiness.”

Birchwood nodded, saying nothing. She then turned to look at the clock and said, “Oh, dear – I’m running late for a meeting myself. Will you require any further assistance, Ambassador?”

“Nope; as my old friend Vinyl says, ‘Naaaah, I got this.’ Thanks, though. Take care,” Lyra said, as the tan pegasus departed for her destination. Lyra turned back around just in time to see her two kids pop through the portal with grins on their faces, and then Paul, holding Ovie in one hand and carrying a bag in the other.

“Mom!” the twins said as one, racing towards Lyra. Colby and Orchid were a week younger than DJ’s son Stuart and the three of them got along; Bon-Bon, back when she’d been sane, had pointed out that sometimes it seemed that Orchid, at a young age, already had designs on Stuart. Lyra didn’t see it, but maybe it was just Orchid’s human heritage shining through.

“Hi guys,” she said, embracing her twins. “You’re going to have fun here this week, I promise. Besides, Stuart and Tyler are here, so you can play with them.” She then got up and went over to hug and kiss her youngest daughter, Octavia Vinyl, or “Ovie”, for short. “Hey, little music,” she said to the dark-haired girl. “You’re so cute!” And last, she got on her tiphooves and kissed her husband. “And I’ve missed you,” she said to Paul.

“Well, miss me no more,” he said, smiling. “You got us a decent hotel?”

“Best of all – the Châteaux de Mi Amore Cadenza,” she said with a grin.

“Hrm…I didn’t see that on Yelp.”

“Oh, trust me – you’ll like it,” Lyra said, cryptically.

Watching from a distance, the bile built in Birchwood’s throat. The ambassador was a disgrace – not only had she slept with the true enemy, humans, but she’d enslaved herself to one by having little monsters with it. Or maybe the ambassador didn’t consider herself a pony any longer and wanted to speed up mankind’s eventual conquering of this world. Well, Birchwood was not going to stand for that.

The first chance she’d get, she’d inform her fellow Purehooves. The sooner they got this disease called humans off their world, the better.

For what seemed like a plethora of uncomfortable seconds, there was naught but silence. Then there was a grinding sound – that sound was Luna’s teeth, as she went from zero to completely livid, wrenching herself away from the embrace. “You hypocritical harri—”

“Luna, I’m your sister – and your Princess,” Celestia said, hoping for reason. “I think I deserve som—”

“Buck. You.” Luna slammed a hoof down on the ground; the marble tiling below cracked with that hooffall. “How could you do this to DJ? Our niece, if you recall? How could you?”

“It’s not like I wanted this!” the older alicorn said.

“Now it makes sense!” Luna accused. “You rushing out to rescue him in a second, volunteering to go interrogate the enemy with Mike, offering to show him around Canterlot while he was still getting the hang of being here. Tell me, how quickly did you lift your tail?”

“That’s uncalled for,” Celestia said, as her own patience was starting to slip away.

“Really? I wonder if I walk into your room if I’ll find his scent?” Luna snarled. “How long did it take for you to seduc—” Luna never finished her sentence as Celestia reached out and slapped her. It was the first violent contact the pair had since Luna’s possession. She reached up, shocked.

“Are you quite finished?” Celestia said, now angry herself. “I’ll have you know I didn’t sleep with him!”

“Oh really – then explain what your chambermaids said about somepony sleeping in your room?”

“I….” She paused, then grew angry again, tears of rage and pain forming in her violet eyes. “And what if I did? I’m the bucking princess regnant, got that? The ruler of this whole bucking nation, and if I want to have a relationship, then I THINK I’M ENTITLED TO ONE! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE ME? STERILE, UNTOUCHABLE, ICE QUEEN CELESTIA? WHY DO I HAVE TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING! WHY DID I HAVE TO GIVE UP THE ONLY STALLION I LOVED HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS SO ALONE? WHY DO I HAVE TO GIVE UP SOMEPONY I LOVE NOW? ANSWER ME THAT, LUNA – WHY? WHAT MAKES YOU SO SPECIAL TO BE ABLE TO WANT TO RETURN TO YOUR TRUE LOVE WHILE I GET TO ROT ALONE?”

Luna looked as if she was struck to the core, then stood, regal and angry. “DON’T YOU DARE DRAG ROBIN INTO THIS – HE’S SUFFERED SO MUCH BECAUSE OF YOU! BOTH OF US DID! AND ALL THIS TIME, WHEN HE AND I COULD HAVE BEEN TOGETHER, YOU’VE BEEN PLOTTING TO STEAL DJ’S HUSBAND!”

Both sisters looked at each other with an anger that hadn’t been seen in centuries.

Suddenly, the doors to Celestia’s office were thrown wide open. “I see somepony needs to talk sense into both of you,” Cadance said as she entered the fray. Behind her, several of the staff were in the anteroom, looking frightened as the two royal sisters fought for the first time since Moonfall.

“Get out,” both elder alicorns ordered their niece.

“No. Make me.” With a proud defiance of a princess, she walked forward, righteous rage in her eyes. “You know, I’m very glad that the privacy spells in the room mask all but just the most basic of words so no one can hear what the buck you’ve both been screaming? Do you know how much you both spelled disaster for yourselves – because neither of you could keep your tails down? I mean, I’m just the avatar of passion, after all – I should be the one running through the pasture! But no, I got married before I started getting intimate and have stayed loyal to my husband even fifteen years after his death! What’s your excuses, mares?

“Plus, in case either of you have forgotten, we have a diplomatic crisis on our hands!” Floating a paper in front of her, she repeatedly tapped a hoof against it. “We have several of our staffers and allied personnel dead due to a terrorist attack on us in Belgium, and our ambassador there is dead! Furthermore, our ambassador to the United Nations was assassinated! And this morning, the Iranian government issued a fatwa, or however you pronounce it, declaring that we’d framed them, they would no longer stand for ‘our’ quote, unquote, ‘lies’ and that they are on the verge of declaring war against us! And yet you two just want to sit here and scream at each other about how neither of you has gotten laid in years! Do you even see the problem with this?”

Both princesses looked at the third alicorn, then quieted down. Cadance folded her forelegs in front of her, grinning smugly. “I thought so.” With that, she then turned back to those assembled in the anteroom and said, “Show’s over, ponies. Let them discuss these very personal issues in peace – you’d want the same if you were in their hooves. Golden Insignia, please make sure that other staffmembers take the rest of the princess’ petitions – including mine – for the day and that the Day and Night courts are cancelled for the evening. Thank you.” Without waiting for an answer from the unicorn, Cadance closed the doors and then wheeled back towards her counterparts. “We’re going to sit here until this gets solved. We’re on the brink of war right now and the last thing this nation needs right now is its heart and soul at conflict with itself.”

The three sat there for countless minutes before a chastened Celestia spoke. “Where did you get so brave, Cadance?”

“Everything you ever taught me,” she said with a smile. “Being married to your former Captain of the Guard and Defense Minister also helps. But we’re not talking about me. What did you do?”

“Nothing. I had the chance. And…I wanted to, very much. I would have given myself to him freely, but…he only has eyes for her.” The last word was spoken with torture, the kind that spoke of a desire to be jealous and yet knowing she couldn’t be. “Even if I wanted to…even though I wanted to…he would never do it. And that alone makes me love him all the more.”

Cadance looked at Luna next and saw the flickering of confusion in the dusky alicorn’s face. Luna had said many a time that she’d wanted nothing but the best for her older sister, for her to have her own relationship, but not at this cost. Just the mere choice of who had won Celestia’s heart – had it been anypony else, or if Mike had not been involved with DJ, Luna would have supported her sister wholeheartedly. But her loyalty to her sister was at war with a dozen other conflicting emotions, not the least of which were the bitter memories Luna had.

“Why?” was all the dusky alicorn asked.

“Because when he rescued me…when he comforted me…I haven’t felt like that in ages. He made me feel like a mare, Luna. Nopony sees me as anything other than a distant, untouchable star – I may as well be the sun itself. But with Mike…he makes me feel alive. And as I said before, he reminds me so much of Argent Lance, but I know he isn’t. And yet…I can never be with him.”

“This isn’t just some crush, some infatuation for the first guy who caught your attention?” Cadance asked.

Celestia paused, then said something clearly from her heart, though hardly what the other two princesses expected to hear: “If he asked me to…I would lift my tail in an instant. Maybe that makes me a tail-lifter, but I don’t care.”

Both Luna and Cadance looked at each other, then back at Celestia, then back at each other before Cadance was the one to speak. “Well…at least you’re being honest about it,” she said with some embarrassment.

“I know. But I can’t change how I feel – I won’t change,” she replied.

“You’re acting rather foalishly, sister,” Luna said. “For one, he’s a married man. Secondly, you are a princess.”

Celestia’s rebuttal to that was rather succinct: she merely teleported out of the room. The two remaining alicorns looked at each other, and a few seconds more went by before Cadance sighed and said, “Well, that went well.”

Luna looked at her niece, rolling her eyes. “Swimmingly,” she said, returning the sarcasm. “Either way, we still have some duties to attend to, which is why I’m assuming you’re here. Let’s head back to my office and we can discuss what we’re going to do about Iran’s reaction. I get the feeling that Tia is going to be indisposed for a while.”

As one, the four travelled down a long hallway, passing through the other magic barriers that shimmered with their assigned colors of the rainbow. Somehow the first barrier had sent them into a specially-isolated area that seemed to be interminably long, longer than the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, if DJ’s guess was correct. As they passed through each barrier, each one had the texture, strangely enough, as though they were pushing through jello – at least that’s what the scents reminded her of.

As if guessing his sister’s thoughts, Elusive said, “Is it just me or did that last one remind you of lime gelatin?”

Her eyes went wide. “You guys have jello here? Uh...gelatin’s the generic name,” she quickly explained.

He nodded. “It’s a magically-created dish. There’s a confectioner in Vanhoover, Jiggle Wiggle, whose grandfather invented the dish; as for Jiggle Wiggle himself, he’s supposedly the best gelatin confectioner in the world – well, this one, at any rate.” He paused in thought before asking, “So how’d humans come up with the dish?”

“It’s…uh, made from seaweed or some fruit, I think.” Inwardly, DJ shuddered; while that was the case now, when she was still just a toddler it had been common practice to make it from the collagen taken from horse by-products. For her, it was as unnerving as eating monkey meat would probably be for regular people. She’d stayed clear of jello for years as a result, and it hadn’t really been until she had the boys that she’d started having it around the house again.

“I see. What about ‘jello shots’, then? I was in New York mid-last year and my broker’s intern mentioned something about those.”

“Oh – those are alcoholic desserts based on regular jello. Had a few once when I was in college. Really strong; well, for normal humans, anyway. There was this one guy who kept trying to feed them to me to get me drunk and—” She noted her sons were getting interested in the story and thought that was a good time to change the subject. “Well, he didn’t get what he wanted, in any case. But anyway, here’s the last barrier.”

The barrier wavered and warped a shimmering hue of azure, a veritical pool of light laying before the group as they approached. Standing by the barrier was a quartet of REA soldiers, all heavily armed – were they here to make sure bad guys kept out, or that Twilight and the others stayed in? “Hello, Count Lusitano,” the sergeant in charge said, adding, “And you must be Countess Faroe and your sons.” Behind the sergeant, the three other soldiers snapped to attention, their weapons at the ready.

“Good afternoon, Sgt. Buckwell,” Elusive said with a nod. “Did that advice I gave you work?”

Buckwell nodded. “Yes, sir, thanks – made a small windfall off that stock tip.” He then added, “Since you’ve been here before, sir, you already know the drill, but I hope you don’t mind while I give it to the newcomers.”

“Not at all; I’d insist, actually.”

“Thank you, sir.” Turning to DJ and the boys, the sergeant said, “Under no circumstances are you to touch the purple-hued barrier. Should that happen, any pony past thirty feet of the contact point will be immediately teleported to a quarantine room where they will be isolated for twenty-four hours for safety purposes. Anypony who is within that danger zone will be transported within the barrier and will then be permanently part of the quarantine group. Countess, while your foals appear human, we’ve been informed of their pony ancestry and I have to inform you that should it come to, they will be treated as if they’re fully pony – including isolating them if need be. Whatever is affecting the Bearers, we cannot afford to let out.”

DJ looked at her children, then back at the sergeant, worry etched in her eyes. Understanding, he added, “Ma’am, we took precautions and had the strength of the purple barrier doubled. Plus, your husband insisted that we take all possible precautions before you came in. He was…uh…somewhat persuasive, I noticed. Military, I’m guessing?”

“He’s a US Navy Commander,” she said, feeling a lot more at ease. “He tends to be a bull in a china shop when it comes to me and the boys.”

“Yup, that’ll do it,” Buckwell cracked. “But lastly, you’ll have to walk through the barrier individually, which means the foals…er, children will have to walk themselves,” the soldier added to Elusive.

“I see,” the unicorn replied, gently grabbing the boys with his telekinesis and placing them right by DJ’s side. In turn, she put out her hands and the kids took them. Nodding briefly to the soldiers, DJ stepped in, children in hand, feeling the sensation of walking through blue bubblegum-scented jello, and—

Sandalwood? Luna’s voice sang in her mind.

The humanized pony smiled to herself. The spell was being powered by Luna’s magic, apparently, and the moon alicorn had slipped a message into it for DJ to hear. Somehow, the dusky mare knew that DJ would eventually pass through and had offered words of support, being there as she said she would.

I’m hoping you’ll receive these words; I’m making this recording now after not having seen you since you were a filly – you may not remember me. But I remember you very much, Sandalwood, and I’m hoping we’ll have the chance to meet again. I hope that whatever choices and chances you’ve had in life with the humans, that they’ve been one of love, and that you remember that we have always loved you. But remember that we love Rarity just as much, and we want the best for you.

I hope you and I get the chance to meet face-to-face. I’d once promised to show you the stars, and I very much intend to keep that promise someday.

DJ felt the sting of tears welling in her eyes. You did, Luna, she answered silently. You did – and I’m thankful.

The humanized pony took another step and found herself on the other side of the barrier, standing in an overly large room that stank of antiseptic chemicals. A row of chairs for humans and cushions for ponies had been placed in front of the purple barrier, which unlike the previous ones was translucent. Seated on cushions as close to the barrier as they could get were Applejack and Twilight. The humanized pony’s heart skipped a beat when she saw her aunts, then shattered just as quickly as she saw what was happening to them.

“I know I’ve looked better,” Twilight said to the new arrivals. “Hello, Elusive, DJ, Stuart, Tyler.” AJ simply nodded, saying nothing, but the look on her face was one of relief, glad to see DJ finally here.

“Hello, Aunt Twilight, Aunt Applejack,” Elusive said, his voice catching. “Is Mother…?”

“Pertendin’ t’ be asleep,” Applejack replied with a grin. “She, uh, didn’t want t’ deal with Matt an’ Anna bein’ here. ‘Specially since sh’ found out DJ wuz comin’.” She looked at the humanized pony and grinned. “DJ, darlin’ y’re lookin’ great. An’ th’ boys – oh, y’ two are gettin’ t’ be sproutin’ like weeds, y’ are! Ah’d hug y’all right now, but…well, y’know.”

DJ’s eyes filled with tears. Two of the people who were important to her and she was looking at them, sore-covered and emaciated, looking as though they were going to die – which was the truth. She felt her grip on her kids’ hands come off, felt her ears lower. She then felt Mike’s arms around her, comforting her as always. But it wasn’t going to help this time.

“DJ…I know it’s hard to see us like this,” Twilight said, looking at her niece. “And I won’t lie: it’s painful – it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt.” There was a momentary stare from AJ, but it tapered off immediately; now was not the time to get into that. “But what also hurts me – hurts all of us in here – is not being able to go over there and hug you and comfort y—”

“Stop that, stop that, okay?” DJ said. “Twilight, you and AJ – you’re my aunts, you’re supposed to be there for me when I need you. I don’t know a single thing about Equestriani customs, but what I do know is that family is family. You two have always been there for me, always. I don’t want to lose you, either of you – especially you, Twilight.”

The unicorn sighed. “So you know.”

DJ crossed her arms, as if that was enough of an answer.

Twilight looked at her niece; had she been a unicorn and remained in Equestria, Sandalwood would have been far more knowledgeable than the average pony. Or was that all due to her human upbringing? “You know I’m not changing my mind, right?” she said, wanting to underscore her choice, at the same time turning away from Spike because she didn’t want to hurt him.

DJ sighed. “I have two wonderful children I wouldn’t have right now if it wasn’t for you. I have my life as it is because of you. You’ve given me so much, and now you want me to forget all of it?”

“I never as—”

“Yes you are, Twilight.” DJ’s eyes were tearing up. “If you sacrifice yourself, so much will be lost and not because of your positions and your influence. I will always have my children and my life, but I won’t have an aunt who will be there to see them grow up and get married, to be there when I need advice, to be someone I’ve always wanted there. You can’t throw your life away like that. You found a way to keep me with my family, and I know that’s just scratching the surface of everything you’ve accomplished in your life. You can beat this, I know you can.”

“She’s right, Aunt Twilight,” Elusive spoke. “Were it not for you and Aunt Sweetie, I wouldn’t have a stronger-than-normal telekinetic ability. I admit, while I have some of Mother’s skills, it was you who taught me so many more. And Cinnamon wouldn’t be half the mare she’s growing up to be if it weren’t for you. I hope that someday you’ll be able to teach my foals, to love and cherish them as much as you have my sister’s children.”

Anna grinned. “Twilight, I don’t think there’s enough I can say that hasn’t been said already. But this much I can say: no one wants you to give up. No one wants you to give in. And this isn’t…in all the years I’ve known you, this isn’t you. You’re not the type to give up. And it makes no sense as to why you would. You’re a dear friend and at the age my husband and I are at, more and more of those are starting to pass on. That’s hard enough; I don’t want to see someone throw their life away, no matter how noble the cause. You’re one of the strongest magic users ever, Twilight – you should be able to beat this.”

Wordlessly, Matt and Mike looked at Twilight, not saying a word; everything having already been said. Applejack nodded and said, “Twi, nopony here’s sayin’ anythin’ ain’t already been heard, but it don’t make it any less true. We’re family, Twi – don’t do this t’ us.”

Spike’s voice was filled with urgency. “Twilight, all I have left is you, my big sister. If I lose you, what do I have left?”

Twilight felt the stings of tears in her eyes, feeling the love. She’d pushed just about everypony and everyone away with her determination; none of the three alicorns could come to see her to talk her out of this decision, so they were helpless to stop it. Even Spike, Sweetie Belle, Fluttershy and Pinkie, working to try to pull her away from her catastrophic decision, couldn’t do so. But even still, she had friends and loved ones to be there for her, her family.

And then the tearjerker came. Tyler, still not understanding what was going on, said, “Aunt Twilight, don’t cry, ‘kay? If you cry, it’ll make Mommy and Grandma cry and then everyone will cry and I’ll hafta cry too. An’ I don’t wanna cry, so don’t cry, ‘kay?”

Twilight smiled. “I promise I won’t, Tyler.”

AJ grinned. “Y’ can bet Ah’ll make shure she won’t, k?”

He grinned. “Thanks, Aunt Appuljak!”

The cavalcade of voices grated on Rarity as she attempted to get some sleep. She didn’t want to deal with this, would have immediately run away if she could. And it stung that she could hear her son’s voice in concert with the others. She thought she could rely on Elusive to be sensible in all this, but even he was just a stallion and probably fell prey to whatever charms Sandalwood was using.

Then she heard the voices of young colts – from what Twilight had said earlier, those were Sandalwood’s foals, ones she’d had with her human husband. While she had a granddaughter from Minty, and Elusive’s foals were due to be born at any moment…half-human foals? What did they look like? Were they grotesque monsters, proof that Sandalwood had been so scarred by her brainwashing by those thieves that she thought of them as beautiful? Or were they genuinely something else? The possibilities frightened the fashion unicorn, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answers to those questions.

Plus, she’s not Sandalwood anymore – hasn’t been in years, Rarity mused darkly. The earth pony had long given up that name; in truth, had never used it at all. Her name now was simply a pair of letters, as if she enjoyed life as nothing more than some code designation: DJ. Sure, it quite possibly stood for something else – Applejack’s own diminutive of “AJ” was a testament to that – but with the rollicking former farmpony, it was different. The Apples were a simple bunch, a – no pun intended – very earthy clan, and Rarity knew that. But her daughter came from better stock, and frankly, the fashionista expected more from her offspring. And instead of embracing who she was, “DJ” instead threw that in Rarity’s face and continued to live a lie, having abandoned her heritage and birthright.

But why? Why would she do that? How could she not have realized how many tears, how many sleepless nights Rarity had endured? The endless days where Rarity sat by the window, looking at the stars, wondering if Sandalwood was amongst them, or in a place so far beyond that the stars couldn’t even map it. Did Sandalwood not care about each year when Rarity went and gratefully brought roses to the gravesides of Derpy and her daughters, who had paid the ultimate sacrifice in their attempt to save the foal?

But in the end, none of that meant anything to Sandalwood, nothing at all. She’d grown up without the purity and harmony engendered in each and every pony that lived, and instead grew up as a human. And truthfully, even that would have been preferred – but instead, she grew up with humanity’s worst examples, humans who enjoyed watching Rarity suffer each blow and would gladly deliver even more.

On the other side of the barrier, somepony made a comment, which was shortly followed by laughter; it rang in Rarity’s ears with the tinniness of a broken bell, its damaged peals angering her. She felt betrayed by both Applejack and Twilight, by Fluttershy, Pinkie and Sweetie, by everypony who claimed that they loved and cared about her. And now here she was, dying, and who were they gathering around? The betrayer, the traitress – the one who’d taken Rarity’s lifetime of love and stomped on it as far as her shoe-covered hooves would allow, who had demanded and chosen to stay brainwashed with her captors and even submitted herself to one, who had nearly torn apart Equestria with her dividing Rarity from her loved ones and even now still was doing so.

Rarity could stand it no longer.

“Enough!” she snarled as she rose from the bed, stomping over toward where Twilight and Applejack were sitting. “Can’t you leave well enough alone? Can’t you spend a day in your life without trying to stab me further?”

The room went deathly still as Rarity looked straight at the pony that she’d sacrificed so much for and had thrown it all back in her face, dressed and standing, as always like one of them, denying until the end her pony heritage – what she was.

And then she saw the foals.

“Sergeant Martinez, thanks for the briefing on human police procedures,” the deputy in charge of the station said. “I know I found it fascinating, and while I can’t speak for the sheriff, I think he was just as amazed.”

“Hey, not a problem at all,” Sam replied, tugging slightly at the collar of his dress shirt and slightly loosening the tie. When Sam had mentioned that he’d offered to give some lectures to the Canterlot Sheriff’s Office while he was in town, Spike had magicked up a few suits, ties and dress shirts for Sam. Unfortunately, Spike seemed to think of clothing as a literal second skin, so all his stuff was too tight. For a brief moment, Sam was jealous that Mike had Sweetie Belle making his extra clothing; as the younger sister of a fashion designer, she had a natural eye for clothing as well.

Then again, that’s part of how all this started in the first place, he remembered. But even that had a bright side: as much as he joked about it, he wouldn’t trade the experiences he had growing up with DJ ever.

“You need a lift back to where you’re staying?” the deputy asked. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

Sam politely declined. “Naaah, nice enough day for a walk. Besides, it’s been a while since I got a good look at the capital, and it’ll be good for me to stretch my legs anyway.” Inwardly, though, Sam was laughing. The Sheriff’s Office had just received their order of brand-new Carbon Motors E7s and TX7s and the ponies were treating them like kids in a candy shop.

The deputy had a brief moment of disappointment before he said, “Well, then have a good day and we’ll see you tomorrow!” before heading back into the building. As for Sam, he started off on the four-mile walk back to Spike’s place. What he hadn’t told the deputy was that since the walk back to Spike’s took him well into the wealthy and almost exclusively unicorn – Spike being a rare exception – western district of town, he was sure to get a lot of stares from the upper-crust, hoity-toity ponies, but he was okay with that – after all the hell his sister went through over the years because of her own species, it was his little slice of payback.

After a couple of miles walking down well-manicured (hooficured?) streets and along a sidewalk where dozens of elite and nobleponies stared at him as though he was sullying up their space just by walking through and merely existing, he wasn’t surprised by their reactions. Spike had told him that even with him being raised by ponies and being related to two of the most important ponies ever, it still took the local residents at least a decade to start relaxing about him living there – and he had yet to receive an invitation to any events held by his neighbors, unless it was family.

Recalling Spike’s words made him remember that if Mike took that command offer, he and DJ would soon be residents of Canterlot as well. I wonder if DJ and Mike will end up living in Central or Northside – or if there’s base housing at one of the facilities around here, he mused to himself. Probably with DJ’s status as a member of the Royal Family, chances were that they’d be in a house here on this side of town, and that would be no small amount of grief for DJ and her family. While Twilight’s residence in Central was merely for convenience to be as close to the Guild facilities as she could, from what he knew Applejack, Rarity and the others who lived in Canterlot lived in the Western District.

Either way, with the way that some of these ponies act, I wouldn’t want to be around any of them myself, he mused.

Sam’s train of thought then stopped as he looked at a large brick-and-marble tower that was starting to reach for the sky – Spike had told him it was an old watchtower that was being renovated for use by the currently-under-construction Canterlot International Airport in the mountain range just ten miles northwest of town. As a result, the residents completely ignored it, especially the dozens of magically-adept unicorns who were already holding their noses up in the air as he walked past them…

…which was a shame because of the young woman standing on the edge of the parapet, the look on her face of one contemplating suicide. Sam did what came naturally and rocketed towards the tower, shouting for any of the unicorns in the area to call the police, at which they all looked at him as if he were mad.

“What if she jumps?” Sam said, looking for an entrance into the tower and not finding one; likely it was accessed via an underground passageway originally and a conventional doorway would be built into the renovations.

“That’s not my problem,” a haughty stallion with a sweater tied around his neck crowed, his voice sounding as if it carried some sort of ersatz New England accent. Standing next to him, his wife agreed, looking somewhat nonplussed that her husband had to even answer the stupid human’s question.

“Wouldja call the cops already? Someone’s going to die and I can see your cellphone holder!”

“I don’t have to, and if she falls, it’s her own fault for getting up there,” the stallion said, his wife nodding in agreement once more.

“Listen, either you can call them or I’ll have you arrested,” he snarled. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his badge. “Get it? I’m a cop.”

“Then do it yourself; I don’t have time,” the stallion nickered. “Humans – give them a little bit of authority and they think they’re something special. Let’s go, pumpkin; we’re already late for our lunch at Asparago’s.” And with that, the two ponies walked off, leaving Sam where he stood. Other unicorns, watching the brief verbal tussle, got the hint and also walked off, offering no help to the human standing there.

Sam looked up, saw the girl in a precarious position, and had to move immediately. “Sorry, Spike,” he said aloud as he removed his jack and ripped off his tie, reaching for the vines that clambered up the side of the tower. When he found one that was anchored in enough to let him climb, he started to do so, heedless of his own safety. A few ponies turned to watch, but otherwise gave no assistance to either of the humans – after all, this was the West End, and they were just humans; anything they did was their own fault and certainly couldn’t be blamed on ponies.

Rarity looked at the two young humans standing on the other side of the barrier. She saw then for what they were: innocents, youth that had yet to go through the rigors of life. And in an instant, she knew who they were: Sandalwood’s foals – her own grandfoals.

The truth was shown in their coloring: the older one had eyes the same color as his mother, who in turn inherited it from Silver’s mother; the younger one’s hair was the same color as her husband’s mane. And in that, there was another stab to Rarity’s heart: fate had given them the coloring of their grandfather’s blood; nothing in Rarity’s line showed in either Sandalwood or her foals. And for the first time since she’d given birth to the earth pony, there was an underscore of how very much Rarity had been separated from Sandalwood, even before that fateful day.

“The older one is named Stuart, and the younger one is Tyler,” Twilight whispered softly to Rarity, a proud smile on her face. “They’re wonderful boys, Rarity, and you should get to know them.”

Applejack nodded in agreement. “If’n y’ don’t, Ah reckon y’ll regret ‘t fer th’ rest o’ yer life. Dontcha dare do that t’ yerself, Rares.”

“They’re….” Rarity was suddenly overcome by emotion. They were young, innocent; regardless of the relationship that Rarity had with their mother, they could never be to blame. “They’re so…human,” she whispered. She hadn’t meant it as an insult; rather, it was her trying to grasp at what to say next. “They’re…so pony, as well,” she finally added. “I can see my Silversteel in them, and I…they are my grandfoals, aren’t they?”

On the other side of the barrier, everyone save for DJ relaxed. Perhaps this was finally the turning point between mother and daughter, where acceptance would finally come.

And then Rarity picked the wrong thing to say:

“Even if their mother is a selfish, ungrateful brat.”

Rumble knocked on the door, impatient. Time to get this over and done with. He tried to keep the best smile he could on his face; there was no need for putting his problems onto that of his brother and his family. After a few seconds of no answer, Rumble started knocking again. Still no answer.

Well, it’s possible they might not be home, he thought. I guess I’ll just go find a bar for a couple an—

He suddenly heard a loud gasp on the other side.

Oh, shi—

With no warning the door was slammed off its hinges, careening into him and knocking the stallion flat onto his back as three voices broke out in boisterous song:

“Welcome, welcome, welcome,
A fine welcome to you,
Welcome, welcome, welcome,
I say how do you do?
Welcome, welcome, welcome,
I say hip-hip-hurray,
Welcome, welcome, welcome,
To Ponyville today!”

Rumble suddenly felt himself picked up by a pair of impossibly strong forelegs – or maybe believably strong, she was an earth pony, after all – and was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug as a voice called out, “Rumble! We’ve missed you!” At the same time, two other voices, just a bouncy cried out in unison, “Welcome home, Uncle Rumble!”

He was suddenly set down, and gasping for air, he saw the massive grins on the face of his sister-in-law, niece and nephew. He should have known that Pinkie, Bubble and Surprise would have welcomed him into their home – Pinkie-Style.

“Thanks,” Rumble said, a grin breaking onto his face. It didn’t last long, however, as Pinkie grabbed him by the arm and shouted, “Let’s get you comfy!” while the kids shouted “Yay!” and moving at their naturally unnatural mach speed, dragged him back into the house to ensure that Rumble would get his thirty days of rest and relaxation.

He could only hope he’d live to see the end of it.

“What?” DJ said softly, as if she wasn’t sure what she’d just heard Rarity utter. A second later, however, the humanized pony decided that she did. Turning to Elusive, she said sweetly, “Dearest little brother, please do me a favor and take my boys out of the room.”

Something about the way DJ said those words set alarm bells off in the stallion’s mind. “DJ, I—”

“I don’t want the boys to be around in the next few seconds,” she said, her voice going from sickly-sweet to caustically acidic in less than a second. “And I don’t want you around to hear what I’m going to say, either.”

“DJ, I think I shou—”

“NO.” The tone came, as if rising from a volcano, the last tremor of warning before the great mountain spewed angry lava and raging ash all over the land, turning everything before it into a wasteland of devastation. And right now, Mt. Daisy Jo was on the verge of exploding, the smoke virtually rising from the caldera that was her mouth. “Get them out now, Elusive. Because. I. Have finally. Had. Enough.”

“Mom, what’s wrong?” Stuart asked. Something had just gone very bad, and he knew that it wasn’t his fault. He hoped. He looked at Tyler, and the younger boy’s face was utter confusion, knowing that Mom was angry but not why.

Acting immediately, Elusive grabbed the boys in his TK and said to her in a pleading voice, “Please don’t do this, DJ. She is still my mother – and even if you’re loath to admit it, yours as well.”

DJ looked at him and there was a rage in her eyes that he’d never thought he’d see on a pony face. Though ponies, like any sapient creature, were capable of anger, hate, rage and spite, they were still at their core beings bound by their ancestral, pastoral past as herd animals and always chose the softer path. But DJ had grown up amongst humans, who showed aggression even when they didn’t intend to and whose mental frameworks were always set to fight as opposed to fleeing. And what he saw in that face was not an angered mare, but a human woman in pony form, filled with pain, rage and a fury that had finally reached its nadir.

“I hope you will do the right thing,” he said sadly, and despite the boys’ protests, he gently but firmly ushered his nephews out as the trio walked through the threshold, departing the room.

DJ looked dully at the spot where Elusive had been just a second before, and it broke her heart. Would he forgive her when he found out what she was going to say? I’ll lose him as well, she thought to herself, just as I’d gained him. But a red-hot spike of rage entered her heart and she mentally snarled, But if I do, I’ll know exactly who to blame. And eyes blazing with fury, she wheeled on her feet to face her foe, commencing the eternal clash once more.

“Let’s get something straight right here and now, you Goddamn cunt: if you ever insult my children again, I swear to God I will rip off your head and shit down your neck, got that? How dare you call my children ungrateful selfish brats?”

Rarity didn’t understand half of what Sandalwood had said, but she knew an insult when she heard one – and she knew when she had an opening she could use. “Obviously you didn’t hear a single thing I said, did you? You’re the selfish, ungrateful brat, not them! But I shouldn’t be surprised you don’t understand how insults work, because the biggest insult I see here is you and your constant betrayal of your own species! If you had ever thought to act like the pony you are, you could have actually been somepony! Married somepony of import! Had a cutie mark that would have given you advantages you could never dream of! But I’m willing to bet you’re still a pointless blank flank, aren’t you?”

“Are you fucking stupid? I was already a fucking celebrity back home, even before I became a novelist! I don’t want to be famous! I just want to have a normal life! But nooooooooo – you keep insisting I have to have a pony life! Well guess fucking what? Never going to happen, too fucking late! I like who I am, I like what I am and I am nothing without that! And you can keep your damn cutie marks – I want nothing to do with those little slave brandings!”

“I’d say you’re nothing now, you…you…harridelle!” Rarity fumed, completely shocked and, truth be told, hurt: her own flesh and blood, her oldest foal, now and forever denying her heritage right to the fashionista’s face.

“Harridelle, nothing! I’m a bitch, and proud of it – certainly not this fucking harridelle shit you keep bringing up! If you’re going to toss epithets, get it straight, you cunt!”

“Get what straight? You have zero sense of what is straight and what is not!” Rarity countered. “Had you been raised properly, you would have some sense of decorum – and I see you didn’t learn even the basics of that!”

“Let me make this clear: you don’t have the right to tell me how to live my life!” DJ seethed. “Even if I’d spent my life under your jackboot, you still wouldn’t have the right to tell me how to live my life!”

“You’re just as ungrateful as I expected you to be, Sandalwood,” the white unicorn said, equally angry.

“My name isn’t Sandalwood – get that through your thick head!”

“Like it or not that is your name, you ungrateful little filly! You were named after your grandmother, not that you seem to care at all about your real family! I hope you’re pleased with yourself; you drove mine and Silversteel’s parents to early graves because of your disappearance. You have no respect for the life that Silversteel and I gave you and you have no respect for your heritage whatsoever! If I were in your hooves, I’d be ashamed of myself for the way I’ve acted!”

“Why, because I didn’t provide you the chance to arrange an advantageous marriage or something? Because I didn’t have some choice stallion of yours fuck me from behind and me spit out kids a year later?” DJ walked right to the barrier, and everyone not directly involved in the argument gasped; the humanized pony was letting her anger get the better of her and was about to directly risk her life; fortunately, Mike pulled her back before she took another step.

“Daisy Jo, I think that’s quite enough,” Anna said, trouble building in her voice. She looked at Matt, and though he hadn’t said anything either, she could see the anger in her husband’s face as well. And just from watching Mike’s body language, he could see that he wasn’t any happier about this, either.

“Rarity, I think you’ve pushed things as well,” Twilight said at nearly the same time, wrapping a magic spell around her friend in order to pull her back if need be. The unicorn mage turned to look at Applejack for assistance in case she needed help corralling the fashionista. They would have relied on Rainbow Dash as well, but unfortunately – or thankfully, depending on the thoughts – she was still down for the count.

“No, I think something needs to be said,” an indignant Rarity said to her sister before turning to face DJ.

“I HATE YOU,” the woman said to the mare, and the mare to the woman, at the same time. If either had really taken the time to notice, either pony could have noticed the streaming tears of rage and pain in their eyes.

Rarity was faster to react. “What…did you say?”

“I hate you. I’ve never hated anyone or anything before in my life…until now. You tell me I have no respect for my name or heritage? You have never given any respect for my mother and father, who I completely and totally—! You might have given birth to me, but it was they who gave me life! I AM DAISY JO MARTINEZ, AND I AM THEIR DAUGHTER!” she roared, motioning angrily in the direction of her parents before she gestured furiously towards the pony. “And you hate me? You called me here! And if the only reason you called me here was to tell me that, guess what? I don’t give a flying fuck, got that? I have no fucks to give! The store is completely sold out of fucks!

“And if you want to know the truth about biological parenthood? Fine, I’ll tell you!” She looked at Twilight and Applejack, and DJ’s eyes calmed down immediately, taking on a sad cast. “The truth is…Twilight, I’ve always wished it was you that was my biological mother. Or you, AJ. Or Sweetie. Someone I know that actually loves me and actually wants the best for me, not just trying to put a spin on their own designs.”

Twilight felt both joy and sorrow at the same time; she didn’t need to have the Elements with her to know AJ felt the same or Sweetie would have, if she’d heard it. She also knew that the humanized pony’s words were meant to hit Rarity hard under the stifle. Twilight looked at the three humans; the looks on their faces indicated that while they knew DJ had felt like this, they weren’t happy about her decision to fight as dirty as possible.

But regardless, it was something that Twilight had to address, and take care of immediately. “I…I don’t know what to say, DJ. Certainly, you’ve been like a daughter to me at times, but…I’m not the one you should be saying this to,” the unicorn said, a touch of sorrow in her voice.

“It doesn’t make it any less true, Twilight,” the humanized pony responded. “You’ve been there for me through thick and thin and that’s what it means to be a parent.”

Rarity fought back the tears. Those words. They hurt. Why? Sandalwood had all but given up on her for those human thieves, and she knew she wasn’t going to win over them, not over a lifetime of brainwashing. So why did she turn to a pony for a mother figure…and that it was the pony Rarity least expected?

The white unicorn didn’t know what to say. Yes, she and Twilight had numerous problems over the years, but when push came to shove, she very much did love Twilight like a sister, even after all was said and done. But now this final insult – and yet, seeing the look on Twilight’s face, hearing the surprise in her voice, she hadn’t expected it either.

Which meant in the end…Rarity’s oldest daughter was finally and totally dead. And faced with that knowledge, Rarity broke down and cried for the loss of what she’d wanted more than anything else in the world: her daughter to return to her.

It was a hell of a climb, and even with all the rock climbing Sam had done in his spare time – hell, the week before he arrived in Equestria, he’d done the Haiku Stairs, just to prove to his sergeant who was ‘No Ka Oi’ in the station. But that was just a near-vertical climb up 2800 feet of sheer mountainside. This, this was all that, without a net – without unicorns who gave a damn off to rescue some girl who decided to pick the most inconvenient place possible to commit suicide.

Finally feeling as though his arms were about to give out, he pushed himself onto the top ledge of the tower, gasping, “Don’t do it! Hell, if you jump, don’t make me chase you down, okay?”

She looked at him, and suddenly he found himself looking at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She looked younger than him by a few years, strawberry blonde hair, deep blue eyes and dressed very casually in that neo-hippie phase DJ went through in her later high school years. Sam would have been rendered breathless had he not already been in that state; even still, it was amazing to see someone like her here in Equestria. Even still, there was a deep wrenching sorrow in those eyes, the kind that tore the most fragile of people apart.

She looked at him, then down at the ground and then realized what he was saying. “You mean that…you thought I was…?”

He nodded, collapsing on the ledge while gathering his breath. “Look,” he gasped, “whatever the problem is, it’s not worth it, okay? There’s always an answer, but death ain’t it, lady, not here in this place.”

She pursed her lips. “Well, I wasn’t about to kill myself, if that’s what you mean, though it’s very kind of you to worry about me.” She looked down and said sadly, “And any one of them could have done something to help me and yet…it was you, just a human, who came up to help me.”

“Just a human?” he asked, not getting it.

“Sorry…I….” She laughed and covered her hand to hide her embarrassment; it was cute, he noticed. She shook her head and said, “Sorry, work gets to me, sometimes. I…work in the palace, so I come up here to take breaks.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” he said, having gathered enough of his breath to move to a seated position. He looked at his shirt, seeing the white dress shirt now stained from the ivy he used to climb up. “Crap, this shirt’s ruined.”

She smiled sweetly. “Well, for what it’s worth, it’s nice to have a knight in shining armor, or at least an ivy-stained shirt, come to my rescue. So I’m in your debt.”

He grinned. “Hey, part of the job. I’m a cop.” He shrugged, adding, “Well, I’m a cop back home. I’m on vacation at the moment.”

“Still, I appreciate it. None of them below would have lifted a hoof for me,” she said, sadly.

“I wonder what her majesty would say if she knew that?”

“She knows – the subject’s been brought up numerous times. The Equestriani nobility, for the most part, are incredibly specist and elitist. She hoped that things would change with the ties to Human-Earth, but…maybe ponies and humans aren’t meant to be together.”

“That’s a lie,” he said, a little too sharply. “Look…that’s just not true. My sister…my sister is DJ Martinez. She’s the Alien Girl – or Lost Foal, if you want to use the pony term, though she’s never liked that, and it’s taken her a long time to get used to being called a ‘pony.’ But even though she was raised human and is for all intents and purposes one, at the end of the day she’s still got a tail, hooves and fur. But she’s bridged the gap between ponies and humans. She’s married to a human, he’s a great guy, and they have the most adorable boys. So I take it personally when anyone says ponies and humans aren’t meant to be together, because I know from personal experience that all it takes is just understanding and love.”

“I…see. Well, I apologize for insulting you, officer.”

Sam waved it off. “No, that’s okay. DJ’s my older sister and looked out for me my whole life; least I can do is the same in return.”

“If only they could understand,” she said, looking down at the ponies below. “But I think they won’t, and I think it’s going to take the horrors of what may soon come for them to even get that.”

“If that happens, then that happens. Sometimes you have to go through a lot to truly appreciate what you have.”

“That’s certainly true,” she said enigmatically as she continued to look in the direction of the mid-day sun, and the intricate elitist workings of the western neighborhoods of Canterlot. As for Sam, he just sat there and enjoyed the view, not sure what to do next – but definitely not going down the same way he came up.

“You know, when you said that you got us into some fancy digs,” Paul said, the look on his face one of wonder, “I hadn’t thought that you meant we were staying as guests of one of the princesses! I don’t think I’m ready for this.”

Lyra laughed. “Cadance is a very old friend of mine – she used to be my foalsitter when I was Ovie’s age, and she’s always been there for me. Besides, she recently adopted a foal, and she’s going to need some help, so it’s the least I can do.”

“And here I thought you almost as old a—” he started to joke, but a glare from his wife made him quiet down. “Lyra, you know I’m kidding.”

“I know,” she said with a smile. “And I love you despite your lousy sense of humor.” Changing the subject, she said, “Cadance had the rooms the kids are going to use swept clean of anything that could easily break an—” She, in turn, was suddenly interrupted as a magical letter appeared in the air. The scroll never landed for Lyra to read, nor did it leave the shimmering magenta pouch of magic that ensorcelled it. Instead, it turned into ash that floated into the air before forming words:

LYRA, HELP DJ – TWI

The ashes then scattered into nothingness, before the field of magic disappeared with a pop as it literally obliterated the space that it had been in, the air rushing to fill the vacuum. Considering the destruction of the note without leaving the safety of the barrier, there was only once place it could have come from – and one place the humanized pony could be.

“Paul, I’ve gotta go,” she said suddenly. “Watch the kids.”

“DJ? She’s here?” he asked.

“Yeah. And if Twi’s asking for my help, it means that DJ just went hoof-to-hoof with Rarity…and the results weren’t pretty.” With that, she focused a teleportation spell and jumped towards the Royal Infirmary. She didn’t have the teleportation distance a Guild-trained mage could come up with, but it was faster than walking and it was clear her friends needed her, something that Lyra understood all too well.

Silence reigned for an uncomfortable moment between DJ and Rarity and one moment became two. Then three. Four.

Finally, the humanized pony spoke. “I’m done. I…I just can’t do this,” DJ said, feeling spent and drained. She looked to Mike, then her parents, and she knew she’d disappointed them all. “I’m…I can’t do this. I’m leaving.” Turning back to Twilight and Applejack, she said, “I’ll call, or I’ll email you everday, or…something, I promise. But…I tried. I….” She turned, waving goodbye without looking at them, walking back towards the blue barrier and the trip back to the normal part of the Infirmary.

Mike, Matt and Anna looked at each other helplessly; none of them were pleased that DJ nearly lost complete control of herself, but it was clear that she tried to make up with Rarity, and that the gap was too wide. The three didn’t know what to say.

It was Spike who finally put words to voice: “I wish this had turned out better, I really hoped it would. But maybe…maybe there’s just too wide a gulf to cross now.”

“Rares, if’n y’ don’t try t’ make up with DJ, then y’re nuthin’ but a two-bit nag.” The tone of Applejack’s voice was low and angry, hurt and disappointed. “We watched Fluttershy an’ Apple Bloom lose their foals – is that whut y’ really want?”

“Rarity, if you don’t say something now, she won’t ever come back and you’ll regret this for the rest of your life.” The lavender unicorn sighed, adding, “I saw how you reacted to the boys. You saw something there, didn’t you?”

“Don’t go.” The words were released from Rarity’s mouth before she even realized it.

“Excuse me?” DJ turned around.

“I said, don’t go, Sandalwood. Please.”

DJ made a downward slashing motion with her left arm. “And that’s Strike Three, folks! Batter’s out!” She continued to walk towards the barrier.

“Please, don’t go. Please,” Rarity said. Something was building in her. She wasn’t sure what it was. She didn’t love what Sandalwood had become, and it was clear that Sandalwood would never return to the way she was. But her grandfoals…maybe there was still time to get to know them, to erase the brainwashing those thieves had done and to save them, turn them into proper humans who understood what ponydom was all about.

DJ turned, impassivity etched in her face. Twilight knew that was the sign of when a relationship was finally severed: not because somepony was angry enough to leave, but when they just no longer cared. “Why?”

“Because…because it shouldn’t end this way. Because even if you hate me, even if you refuse to admit who you are, you are still my foal. You may have been raised by somepony else in a way I’ll never accept, but you are still my daughter – you cannot change blood.”

“Are you familiar with the term ‘blood is thicker than water’?” DJ said, turning. “In modern times, it means that the blood of family is thicker than mere water. But did you know that when the Romans coined it, it meant that the blood of alliances – spilled blood of brothers in arms – was thicker than the water of the womb, of birth? That means that all the blood my adopted parents have spilled for me would be more than however long you spent in pregnancy and birth. So guess which version I’m thinking applies to me?”

“Sandalwood, you should care about your birth family!” Rarity cried.

“I do – I have a younger brother that I love, and Elusive loves me. That’s all I need to know,” DJ snarled. “But as for you, give me one good reason why I should bother.”

“I’ll give you a good reason,” Twilight piped in. DJ looked at her, and there was earnestness in the unicorn’s face. “Because I want you to prove that you’re a better mare…no, woman than she gives you credit for.”

“Twilight, how could you?” Rarity whispered under her breath, but considering how quiet the room was, it was fairly audible. In response, Twilight’s horn lit briefly and Rarity’s eyes grew sleepy seconds before she collapsed to the floor.

“Take her back to her bed,” she instructed Applejack, who grinned at Twilight’s solution. As she did that, Twilight looked at DJ. “DJ, as much as I’m disappointed in you and furious at her, Rarity’s right – it shouldn’t end this way. And that’s why I honestly hope you’ll take this chance to try to mend fences. You might not be able to forgive and I know you certainly won’t forget, but…you came here, despite your fears. And you didn’t just come here for me, no matter what you want to say. I know that.”

DJ wanted to be angry. She wanted to rage, to scream, to snarl – to be human in the most negative and violent senses of the word. But not to Twilight. Never Twilight. So instead she commented, “What do you want me to do?”

“I’d like you to try to work things out with Rarity; to give her another chance. But don’t do it for me, or yourself. Do it for your sons. You haven’t known the Rarity we have, and though it’s impossible to believe right now, she is the Bearer of Generosity for a reason. They deserve to know her at her best. So do you, but you’re an adult and you have to decide that much for yourself.”

DJ was silent for the longest time. She looked at no one else save Twilight. “I was serious about what I said earlier, Twilight.”

“I know, and that means a lot to me, but the fundamental structure of reality can’t be changed so easily. I am not a mother, and Rarity gave birth to you, not me. I may have been a maternal figure to you, and that means a lot to me, but I was just as much one to you as Celestia was to me.”

DJ sighed; she could never be angry when it came to Twilight. “For them,” she said, a pained smile coming onto her face. “And for you. Because I don’t expect you to give up and sacrifice yourself, got that?”

Twilight grinned. “How could I? I have a family that seems to fall apart every time I get tied up with something.” DJ grinned eagerly this time, the situation defused for the moment and Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “So, will we see you again before you go home?”

She shook her head, a tiny bit of a smile creeping onto her face. “I have some news for you.” She then explained Mike’s promotion and new assignment and the fact that they’d have to be looking for a new home in Canterlot.

“I think I have just the place,” Twilight said, a smile cracking onto her own face. “It was my parents’ old home in Northside, long before it became the so-called ‘human district.’ It needs a little, uh, updating to modern standards, but I’ve never been able to part with it since they passed on and I’d rather give it to somepony in the family than sell it.” She turned to Spike. “You remember where I keep the keys, right, my number one assistant?”

Spike’s eyes started to water at Twilight’s utterance of the nickname she’d given him so very long ago. His sister was alive again, not wanting to give up. Twilight had something to live for, and even if it was just a Sisyphean attempt to make DJ and Rarity reconcile, it was reason enough. “Always,” he said, wiping his eyes.

“Then call some plumbers, electricians and the usual and have them put it on House Shetland’s bill.” She turned back to DJ, saying, “Call it a homewarming gift.”

DJ smiled warmly. “Only if you’re coming by for dinner first chance you get.”

“Count on it.”

Sam and the woman walked down the long spiral staircase towards the underground passage. As they reached the point concurrent with the actual groundline, Sam noted some work on installing an actual floor, the first workings of an elevator platform and the door that should have been there to begin with. “So, modifications are already in progress?” he asked.

She nodded slightly. “They are. The Ministries of Transportation and Commerce are heavily involved in this. From what I know, Margravine Brumby herself has been directly involved in the architectural planning and construction.”

“Margravine Brumby? Not familiar with the name, obviously.”

“Oh, that’s Lady Apple Bloom, Vice Minister of Transportation and the Head of the Civil Works Directorate. Even though she comes from a farming family, she’s got quite the eye for civil engineering, so I’m told, and spends most of her time overseeing that.”

“I see,” he said. “I think I may have met her once at DJ’s wedding, but that’s about it, really. Only one of DJ’s birth family that I’m really familiar with is Spike, and that’s because he’s a friend of mine.”

The two continued down the stairs for three more stories underground before they arrived at the underground passage. The pathway, well lit from what appeared to be magically-embued lights, forked about ten feet off. “Well…to get to the surface, you need to take the left corridor,” the woman explained. “The right leads back to the main portion of the castle. But, thanks again for saving me, Mr. Police Officer. I very much appreciate it.”

“A pleasure to save a pretty girl,” he said with a grin and a half-bow. “Name’s Sam, by the way. Sam Martinez.”

She flashed him a smile back. “I know who you are; we’ve met before, though I look a little different currently. I’m…well, you might not believe this, but…I’m Celestia.”

He did a double-take at her words. “As in Princess Celestia?”

She nodded; as proof, she touched his shirt and after a flash of light, it was clean again – and fit better as well; a snap of her fingers, and his coat and tie were back, and those, as well as his pants, fit better. “There – all cleaned up.”

He bowed much more formally this time. “I’m sorry, your majesty, I had no ide—”

She gave him a smile. “Please don’t; I’m not one for formality. And as for the human disguise, well, I just need to get away sometimes from my personal problems from time to time and…let’s just say that while I’m not pleased that my nobleponies wouldn’t lift a hoof to save a human in danger, it does afford me some time to be by myself.”

“Well, what could be so troublesome to the princess herself that it you need to get away from it all?” he asked.

“It’s a long story.” Inwardly, she started cringing; she couldn’t exactly say, Well, I’m in love with your brother-in-law, and your sister, who is my niece and who I also care about, is potentially a rival. And yet she’d admitted to a problem that etiquette would require her to say something.

Fortunately, he misunderstood and said, “Shakespeare once wrote that ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown’ or something like that, so it’s probably well beyond my paygrade to fix. But if you’ll forgive me for prying, your majesty, the look in your eyes earlier wasn’t one of just mere frustration.”

“Please, just call me Celestia,” she said, and suddenly she realized he’d unintentionally brought up an issue she could mention. “The problem I’m having is with the nobility. You saw them for yourself, and their attitudes. The majority of unicorns have always had a streak of arrogance and conceit because they could do what the other pony tribes – and in many cases, even the other species of this world – could only dream of. But since the interlinking of our two worlds, they’ve felt threatened by human advances and technology, which can do things they couldn’t even imagine.

“Furthermore, the unicorn nobility has never been happy with the economic and social rise of the other two tribes; they’ve been very less than thrilled with me as I’ve created new noble houses that have nothing to do with the unicorn tribe. The Bearers aside, they’ve never looked well at dedicated and loyal but non-unicorn nobles like Apple Bloom or Spitfire or Spike. More than once I’ve been tempted to dismantle the aristocracy, but there are other ponies who truly engender the best qualities and should be rewarded as such.

“But we’ve had reports lately about a pony supremacist organization called the Purehooves and their plans to rid Equestria of non-ponies. I shudder to think of what they would do to someone in my family like Spike, or any of those who have been loyal to the Crown, simply because they’re not ponies. And this will all be exacerbated should we actually go to war with Iran.”

Sam nodded. “Sounds like you need someone who can be present in the noble areas to show the best of humanity. Sure, I know about the FiMPro project, but that’s an over-the-summer thing that makes everyone think cheery thoughts about human performers so long as they can stay where they belong when FiMPro isn’t going on,” he said. “What you really need is a year-round approach to how they think about humans. Someone who can, as the saying goes, ‘rescue kittens out of trees and check on kids’ skinned knees.’”

“So then a year-round human organization in Equestria?”

“Well, more than just that. You mentioned that Equestria has a lot of non-pony species living here, but they’re not too well thought of either. Maybe if they had a more prominent role in Equestriani life, like part of a police force or something. All your sheriffs here are ponies, and while I don’t know if you have a national police force like the FBI….”

“We do,” Celestia said. “The Mage Guild has an investigative division that acts as one. But you’re right, they’re all ponies as well. So you think the answer is to have a human police force in Equestria?”

“No, I would have a mixed one, give role models to others who are growing up in Equestria but not pony,” he said. “Besides, too often, people think of blues as just a way to deter crime. But that’s not our only function – we’re also there to help foster community as well, and there might just be that one gryphon or something living in a small town in Equestria who sees a gryphon police officer and leans towards that instead of just wasting his life away.”

“I see.” There was a thoughtful look on her face. “I have to admit, that is a blind spot for everypony, including myself. I’d never thought of it that way, but you’re right, it could be a problem.”

“It’s a problem for humans as well, let me tell you. The US has only been working for the past century to really get over those issues, even though they were supposedly ‘solved’ the century before that. And there are still countries back on my world where that’s still a massive problem. Maybe if the AE nations started improving it, those countries might just do so as well.”

“That’s a good point,” she said with a smile. “So…how much would it cost me to lure you from your present duties?”

“You’re kidding, right?” he said, looking at her with confusion. “I, uh, hadn’t intended to turn this into a job interview.”

“But you’re correct. We could use a more non-pony presence, here in Equestria, and specifically a more non-unicorn presence in Canterlot. And as much as it pains me to admit it, we have other problems that are missed because of natural pony blind spots, things that other species will pick up in an instant. I think I need someone I can trust, and I’m sure you’re more than trustworthy, Sam. Plus, with your brother-in-law accepting an assignment here, I’m sure your sister will probably need others she trusts as well, since I know she has some issues about returning to Equestria on a more permanent basis.”

Sam shook his head. “She’s worried that someone in the government will force her and the boys to stay here against their will,” he blurted before he remembered who he was talking to. He immediately added a, “No offense.”

“None taken,” she replied. “And I would never let that happen, I told her as much around the time of the trial. But obviously she has those concerns, and they won’t go away easily, so perhaps if her younger brother lived here as well, maybe he could help calm her fears. Plus, on a more selfish note, everypony in my family, myself included, wants DJ and Rarity to reconcile. It would mean everything to me if they did, and I’ll use every trick in my arsenal to do so – including nepotism by hiring her little brother to be the Princess’ Hoof.”

“Princess’ Hoof?”

“I guess the human equivalent would be ‘King’s Hand’? It’s a position I’ve never really used, but I know the King of Griphonica has a group of his King’s Claws who deal with justice at the highest levels.”

“Well, I would love to accept, but I just bought a house in Mililani, so it’d be pretty hard to break my mortgage,” he said.

“Then I’ll give you a signing bonus to buy the house so you can use it as a vacation home or whatever,” she said smoothly. “Sam, I’m serious about this. You’re right about what you said, and I really do want what’s best for both DJ and Rarity. This dovetails things and it’s for the best, if you ask me.”

He was about to say something when his stomach growled. “What do you say we talk about this over lunch?”

“Sure, let’s head to the palace,” she said, transforming back into her normal self, “and—”

He shook his head. “You want this done right, we start from the beginning. Let’s head to lunch out in town. You and me, two humans. There’s gotta be a café around here that’ll accept us.”

She changed back and he thought she was lovelier than ever. “Well, if you insist….”

He grinned, winking. “I’m an expensive date.”

“I’ve got more money than the King of Britain, who’s supposedly the richest person on Human-Earth,” she said, laughing. “Well, there is this nice Zebrababwean place just off the corner of Royal Rise Boulevard and Suntravel Road.”

In the afternoon, Fluttershy came over to Pinkie’s place to have tea. It was a rare day off for both, and since they were both spending time in Ponyville, the two sisters decided to sit and spend time together talking. The twins had offered to help Mac with the farm, so they were currently there, making a mess of Sweet Apple Acres, and Rumble and Thunderlane were in the backyard having their own conversation.

“Do you think they made up?” Fluttershy asked; there was no need to clarify as to who she meant. Both had thought about going to the Infirmary today to lend support, but Twilight sent them notes at the last moment to keep clear, as she was concerned that DJ might feel undue pressure.

Setting down her glass of bubblegum soda, Pinkie flashed her old friend a grin. “Silly – of course they made up! Love always wins the day and Rarity really loves DJ even if she doesn’t want to admit it. A mother always loves her foals, no matter what.”

Fluttershy returned the smile, lifting her own teacup to her lips. “I think so, too. I want them both to be happy,” the yellow pegasus responded. “I just hope that DJ will be just as willing.”

“She will – she wants to be loved just as much as anypony,” Pinkie replied.

The two settled into the comfortable silence of two old friends chatting along, when Fluttershy’s attention suddenly focused out the window, seeing two stallions sitting on the porch, drinking and chatting. “So, you mentioned Rumble’s in town for a few weeks?”

Pinkie nodded. “Yup! Now I get to see which eligible mare I can fix him up with! Maybe Dolphin Dreams?”

“Dating.”

“Leafy Afternoon?”

“Married, pregnant with two foals.”

“Uh, Peach Blossom?”

“Moved to Norflank four months ago – and is in a relationship with another mare.”

“Silver Hammer?”

“In the middle of a bad divorce – I don’t think it’s safe to put any stallion in that situation right now.”

“Cappucino Spice?”

“Also married.”

“What about Zecora’s granddaughter? She’s still single, right?”

“Zadi? She’s lived on human-Earth for years now – and we haven’t seen her since she was twelve, so I think you’re reaching at this point.”

“Ugh.” Pinkie looked a bit deflated after that. “Well, a mare can try, can’t she?”

Meanwhile, sitting out on the patio and chatting over ciders, Thunderlane looked at his younger brother. “So Soarin’ made you take the month off, huh, little brother?”

Rumble looked fit to be tied. “Look, don’t rub it in, okay? I should be out there fighting the good fight, especially since we’re on the brink of war. Too many good stallions and mares might be in danger because the Iranians pulled shit and the sooner I bring the fight to them, they’re not bringing it to us, like they did with Cloudsdale.”

Thunderlane said nothing; most of his time as head of the local weather facility was spent lately handling his own duties while helping with the reconstruction of the Central facility – there’d been a report of a tornado outside of Oatmaha yesterday, the first time in recorded history that happened, and it was a miracle that it was in an unpopulated part of the region. It was only going to get worse if they didn’t get the central facility back up to speed, and this was going to be the first break in a while that he was going to have.

Unaware of his brother’s thoughts, Rumble continued. “There was this one point where I had one of the bastards bracketed, and just before I took him down—”

Thunderlane nearly choked on his drink. “You killed somepony?”

“Yeah,” the younger pegasus said glumly, “but not before he waxed Petty Officer Eckerland. I keep blaming myself that I should have pulled that trigger faster, but if I did, I know I would have missed the shot and then there’d be that dead human and me, and that tango would’ve lived to take out more of us. Thing is, I waxed the tango, and I hope that Eckerland’s resting in peace in the Great Pasture or whatever the humans believe in. But that’s not the point – the point is that I’m stuck here for a month and I need to be out on the field instead of here. Don’t get me wrong, bro: I love you, Pinkie and the twins to death, but I need to be there risking my neck so the bad guys don’t come on and stomp on us. I’m not so old that I don’t remember what happened to Canterlot during the changeling invasion.”

Thunderlane looked at his younger brother, than sighed. “You really, really need a fillyfriend. Look, you’re here for thirty days, you may as well take the time to relax and spend time with family, and go out and meet some mares. You might just find somepony special.”

“Only thing special I need is my MN-23E.”

“Okay, that’s kinda creepy, little bro. I’m just asking you how will you know what you’re fighting for if you don’t know about it personally? Sure, you’ve got your family, and me, Pinkie and the foals will always be here for you, but I want you to find that special somepony of your own and settle down. You remember when you used to tease me all the time when I was dating Blossomforth way back when, right? You need to learn what it’s like to have that kind of special mare at your side to be teased right along with you.”

Rumble shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. There was a filly once that I was interested in. Maybe I should look her up and see if she’s still available.”

“There’s the spirit, Rumble! Trust me, when this vacation’s over, you’ll have a mare at your side and eager to go back out there and….”

“Look, I don’t kill all the time, bro.”

“I hope not, Rumble. I sincerely hope not.”

Lyra had just completed her last teleport, popping into existence in front of the initial red barrier when DJ walked out of it, looking like five miles of bad road.

“Lyra?” she said, her eyes completely watering. The celeste mare simply went over and embraced the younger one as DJ slipped into Lyra’s embrace, crying.

“It’s okay, DJ, I’m here for you,” the unicorn said. She then saw Mike and the others come out of the quarantine zone, and she asked Mike, “I’m guessing things didn’t go that well, did they?”

“No, they didn’t,” Mike admitted. “But I’m glad to see you. DJ and Rarity…truthfully, they were at each other’s throats and it took Twilight to get them to see some sort of reason. There’s a truce right now, but that’s the best way I can describe it, if that makes sense.”

“I see,” Lyra answered as she continued to hold DJ. Pulling back from the embrace, Lyra looked at DJ and said, “You might not want to hear this, but that was incredibly brave of you, DJ, and I mean that. When I was younger, I stopped speaking to my father because he didn’t want to accept my relationship with Bon-Bon. He felt that as a pony in a nowhere town, all it was going to do was destroy my chances for a future. He wanted me to marry some noblestallion he’d arranged a marriage with, but he didn’t know that I was already on the outs with Canterlot society because of my research. Needless to say, I wasn’t going to let anyone ruin my happiness with Bonnie and we married…and then my Pops never spoke to me again; actually, my whole family, save for Harper disowned me. I didn’t see him again until his funeral, about a decade after Bonnie and I were married.

“I’ve never really forgiven myself for that; maybe if we spoke, he could have lived long enough to see me marry Paul and have my kids,” she said sadly. “But I’m glad you’ll never have to go through that.”

“Then why do I feel like I’ve done something terrible?” DJ sobbed into her friend’s shoulder. “Why does it hurt?”

“Because that’s what mending hearts do, DJ. It’s why I felt the way I did for a long time after my divorce, and why Paul felt so numb for a long time after his fiancée had been killed. Of course it’s going to hurt, or else how would you know that you ever felt anything? You remember how you felt when you found out you couldn’t marry Mike after college because he had to be stationed in the Middle East, right?” She nodded, and Lyra smiled, running a hoof over DJ’s hair. “When you love and you love truly, it always hurts when things go south. Somehow, I think you wanted to be accepted by Rarity, even if you didn’t think so.”

“But how? She never raised me – she’s not my mother.”

“You know that’s not true: she is your mother. She’s always been your mother. All you know are these past twenty years of rejection and silence, but that’s not the whole story. You didn’t see those years she cried to have you back; you weren’t there to know the endless nights Rarity hoped you would come back, all the nights she cried herself to sleep because of your absence, all the sacrifices she made to try to get you back before we found Human-Earth.”

The celeste unicorn let go of the humanized pony and smiled. “Wipe your eyes, DJ, and be proud of your accomplishment today. You’re a special woman: you’ve always been loved, no matter what. And you will always have me, just as you have the others.”

“Thanks, Lyra. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Lyra smiled. “Hey, I’m just like you; I just came late to the party – I’m more human than pony now it seems, and we girls gotta stick together, right?”

“Yeah.” DJ wiped her eyes. “You’re right.”

“I know I’m right. Now, why don’t you go back to Twi’s, go hug your sons and tell them how much their mother loves them and how everything will be okay.” She then looked up at Mike and grinned. “And you need to do the same. She loves you and needs you now. Things are going to be harder for her than ever.”

“Don’t worry, Lyra, I will,” Mike promised.

“Good,” she said, patting him on the arm as Spike, Matt and Anna came out of the red barrier. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go schmooze a little with Spike and DJ’s parents, then go visit some old friends – I have to give Twilight some grief about giving up prematurely. But afterwards, Paul and the kids are in town, so maybe we can do something, okay?”

“Count on it,” he told her. “Thanks again.” Mike waved her off as she walked off to great the others, glad to have her as a friend. He then looked down at his wife and how miserable she appeared. By all rights, he should’ve been pissed at her again for her reckless near-risking of her and their sons’ lives, and yet he couldn’t do so – he knew she’d been absolutely through hell. So instead he put her arms around her and said, “You know, did I ever tell you about this girl I dated when I was in high school? Headstrong as hell, but also could be brave at times when the situation came for it.”

As always, she leaned into him, feeling his frame against hers and she whinnied softly as she always did when she was in his arms. “I’ll bet she was a total bitch,” DJ said with a grin.

“Maybe, but I loved her then and all these years later, I love her still.”

“Well, a girl would be lucky like that to have a guy who loved her all these years,” she said as she looked up at him, love in her eyes.

“Maybe.” The smile on his face was golden and he bent down to kiss her.

“How long did y’ say that spell wuz fer?” Applejack asked.

“I was a bit stressed, AJ,” Twilight said, shrugging with a blush of embarrassment dusting her face. “Don’t worry, she’ll be back to normal in the morning, I promise.”

AJ shook her head. “Y don’ understand, Twi.”

“No, I do understand,” the unicorn said to the earth pony, nuzzling her. “And I hope this is just the start.”

The pair looked at Rarity, fast asleep due to Twilight’s impromptu spell. Since the day they’d all been infected the disease, it hit the four hardest when they were asleep probably due to its tie to Nightmare Moon, leaving their faces showing the contortions of pain they felt when the disease ravaged them. But not tonight. For the first time since their trials began and their failed and nearly fatal battle against Nightmare Moon, a wide smile was on the sleeping face of Rarity.

The white unicorn’s sisters watched with tears of joy as the fashionista slept the first peaceful night in perhaps a long, long time.

Four in the morning. The room was dark, and Twilight Sunburn shivered. She knew she was going to wake up at any moment and find that this was all a dream, that she’d be back in Gloaming’s hooves and they’d kill her for being herself. For daring to ever be something beyond a tool. And every night somehow, it hadn’t happened? Was any of this real? Did her life really change?

The door suddenly came open with a creak and the pepsis’ eyes tore open with fright. This was the moment where her life would go back to hell, she knew. This was the moment where Blood Armor would impale her vitals and laugh for her chance at being a normal pony with a normal life, and Gloaming would bathe in her blood, relishing every bit of the tragic humor. And all Twi—

“Twilight, sweetie, get some sleep,” Faust said as she crawled into the bed to embrace the frightened mare. “No one will ever hurt you again, and you can’t be strong for Twilight Sparkle if you can’t be strong for yourself. So you need to rest, okay?” The woman reached over and kissed the mare on the forehead. “I’ll stay with you tonight, if you want.”

Twilight nodded softly, and with that, both females went back to sleep, the soft moonlight of a Belgian evening streaming into the room.

It was the first restful night of sleep Twilight Sunburn had ever had in her life.

Chapter Seventeen: What Does Your Soul Look Like?

In the middle of a forest clearing, Twilight Sparkle cried. These weren’t tears of pain or sorrow but instead tears of unbridled joy – the first time in what felt like years that she’d ever felt such shameless and outright happiness.

Fifteen yottahertz, she told herself. In the end, all it came down to was fifteen yottahertz.

Fifteen yottahertz, the PORTAL device’s setting a completely random-seeming calculation all thanks to Pinkie’s ever-unexplained “Pinkie Sense”, and it had come to this. Fifteen yottaherz, all because Pinkie tried to get the Stereolab computer Derpy had built so long ago to divide by zero; the result of that had fried the system so that it focused on a random reality, certainly not one Twilight would have thought of but still another dimension separated from their natural one by a paries quartum vibrational frequency of fifteen yottahertz.

Thus set with a location nopony had expected, Twilight and her group set out for their final trip. It had been just the week before, Celestia had told Twilight in private that if this last search wasn’t fruitful, for the sake of their family’s overall sanity the sun alicorn was going to end the search and issue a jus regium of legal death. It wasn’t anything Celestia wanted to do, she’d told an equally heartbroken Twilight, but after all these years, all the tragedy and loss, and the incalculable cost for the continued search, the toll had now been too great to bear.

And then Pinkie divided by zero and came up with fifteen yottahertz. And everything changed.

The crystal in Twilight’s hoof glowed with a brilliant, strobing red light. Embedded within the glass was a single strand of brown hair, cut from a newborn’s mane so very long ago and one of the few items left that said she’d ever existed. The fact that the normally-clear shard recolored itself a ruby hue filled her with trepidation, but it was the occulting of the magic within that stilled the unicorn’s breath. The flashes beat in a familiar pattern, that of a heartbeat.

Standing next to her in Guard barding instead of his lighter Wonderbolts livery, Soarin’ wiped tears of his own from his eyes. Twilight had briefed him on the function of the crystal years ago, but he’d never thought he’d ever see it in action.

Sandalwood was here, in this reality. More important, their niece…was still alive.

“Soarin’,” Twilight said, reaching out to embrace and nuzzle her old friend, as the tears of joy rained unabashedly from their eyes. “We found her, Soarin’! We found her!” Unexpectedly, he took her in his forelegs and twirled her around, both dancing for joy and not caring who watched their burst of foalish glee. As for the rest of the search team, the cheer was deafening, the applause thunderous as hooves repeatedly hit the ground. This was, without a doubt, a moment of great triumph for the members of Project SANDALWOOD, not just those present but all those who had participated over the years…and those who had lost their lives.

Seated on a nearby log, heavily bandaged but smiling nonetheless, was the heroine of the day, Blossomforth. It had been her crystal that had located Sandalwood’s heartbeat, and it had almost come at the cost of the weather pegasus’ life; she had been attacked by what she described as a “roc” – a mythical giant bird that easily dwarfed fully-grown winged dragons – and she’d somehow managed to escape its magical grabbing spell despite having broken her left foreleg, two ribs and having sprained her left wing. For weeks, dozens of pegasi had flown around this world with similar crystals, but it had been Blossomforth that had come through in the end.

However, the intelligence gathered by other pegasi was just as important, as it revealed that this world was hardly as peaceful as their own homeworld of Earth. This world, whose name was unknown assuming it had one, was filled with nightmare creatures, beings of pure malice and the very stuff that had scared foals since the dawn of time.

Humans.

And yet…somehow, these humans were different than the monsters they’d encountered on several worlds. The first one had been filled with savage, uncultured beasts that had likely been responsible for the pony foal that Rarity had so heartbreakingly named Toola-Roola and buried with care just outside her old home. The second world they’d run into was a world with nearly no land whatsoever, and the humans there were thinner, reedier and had pointed ears, but were just as vicious and brutal; the end result of that fracas had been the death of all but one member of Team Gamma. Though the bipedal monkey-monsters had been exceedingly rare, they were still cunning yet diabolical entities.

But these humans…there was no way to explain it: they weren’t the same as the others. These ones had built societies, culture and technologies. They had music and language – and to everypony’s shock, the language was modern Equestriani. So if that was the case, how did these humans build all of this? Strange, unproven theories and pseudoscience rifled through Twilight’s mind, amongst them ideas like electronics and other ideas from fantasy. But as much of a temptation as it was to consider it, the unicorn mage knew it was merely that – fantasy. Science without magic was impossible – you needed magic to perform studies, tests and research, and even so-called “non-magical” sciences like chemistry and geology still required a thorough knowledge of alchemy, geomancy, lapidimancy and related disciplines. It was simply impossible.

But despite all this…Sandalwood had lived in this strange, unknown world for nearly a decade and a half. Was she safe? Or would Twilight find her niece raised by animals and thus no different than the feral title character in Daring Do and the Jungle Pony of Zebrababwe? Or worse?

Either way, Twilight decided, it was time to take care of business. Turning to the nearest guard, a pegasus, she floated two scrolls over to him and ordered, “The first scroll is to go to Princess Celestia only, no subordinates save for Princess Luna.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the guard nodded with a sharp salute before grabbing the scrolls. “And the second?”

“The second should go to Ponyville,” Twilight commented. “137 Bluebell Lane, to a mare named Lyra Heartstrings.”

The pegasus snorted derisively. “Yeah, I’ve heard of that madmare,” he said, a tone of disgust in his voice. “Got herself kicked off the Royal Orchestra due to her crazy obsession with humans. I swear, my wife was second violinist in the Orchestra and watched that freak make su—”

Twilight narrowed her eyes, getting right into the guardstallion’s face. “That ‘madmare’ is a foalhood friend of mine, Corporal. And more importantly, as of now she is the foremost authority in our world when it comes to this one. She deserves respect, and I expect you to give it to her, do I make myself clear?”

The guard suddenly blanched, managing to squeak out an anemic “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. You have your orders,” she grunted. Not wanting to piss off the Archmagus and Knight Elemental Commander, the guard beat a hasty retreat for the nearby camouflaged tent where the portal back to Equestria lay.

“You were a little harsh on Jolly Jetstream, Twi,” Soarin’ noted.

“This is our only chance to save our niece, Soarin’,” she reminded him. “Our family has waited nearly fifteen years for this moment and if I need to be harridelle supreme to save her, I’ll do it to anypony who tries to stop me.”

“Gotcha,” he said. “I’m going to organize a flight south. Blossomforth’s patrol carried her about fifty to two hundred miles south. That’s probably a good place to start, and that way we can get a second confirmed reading.”

“Good idea,” she said, flashing him a grin as he and a dozen other pegasi took to the skies.

Hang on, Sandalwood, she thought to herself as if she could broadcast her thoughts to the Lost Foal. We’re coming.

“Breakfast!” Faust shouted. She’d taken the time to make a traditional Belgian breakfast, and on the table were assorted cheeses and baguettes, Nutella and fruits, coffee and orange juice. The moment they’d made it to the kitchen, both Screw Loose and Screwball immediately dived at the table like a pair of hungry jackals having not eaten in decades. The pair alternated between no concept of having table manners whatsoever and having them to a point that would make Emily Post blush; one moment they were licking their plates clean with tongues longer than should be humanly possible, then the next they were sipping tea, complete with pinkies outspread.

Faust was about to chastise the pair for being so chaotic – even they could control that much – when she suddenly heard soft giggles coming from behind her. She turned around to see the gigglefest turn outright into girlish laughter as Twilight fell on the floor, somehow finding the whole tour de farce beyond comedic.

“Finding this funny, are you?” Faust said in resigned tones.

The answer she got was a “Yes!” somewhere in Twilight’s laughter, and with that, the former queen decided to just let things be. It was the first time she’d seen the pepsis filly smile, much less laugh, and that was an outstanding sign that her healing – both physical and other – was going along much faster than anyone hoped.

Soon she’d be ready for the challenge of her life, and Faust had to make sure she was ready – it was their best chance to push the entropy away for another day.

Elusive had brought the boys to Twilight’s home when the others arrived. Spike immediately went upstairs to Twilight’s bedroom to get the keys to their parents’ old home while Matt and Anna decided to have a late lunch out in town and to take the kids with them. “They’re watching a video,” Elusive explained, “but I’m sure they’d be happy to get out of the house. How did everything go?”

Mike sighed. “Look, Luse, I have to be honest: I’m wondering if she gets her anger from her pony heritage as opposed to her adoptive parents. I’ve never seen Matt nor Anna as I did DJ today, and both of them would have been tearing the other’s throat out had it not been for the barrier – and even not that, really.” Mike then explained Rarity’s goading of DJ and DJ’s resulting almost-fatal faux pas.

A pensive emotion suddenly washed over Elusive. “I…see,” he responded. “Well, mother isn’t very quick to anger, but when she gets riled, she does get hotblooded at times, I admit. I trust it’s too much to hope that they made up?”

The human shook his head. “Not even close. After both of them stated how much they hate each other, it took Twilight to get DJ to agree to try to continue to work things out, for the kids’ sake, not her own; as for your mother, well, Twilight had to use some sort of magic spell to put her to sleep before it got any worse. And if you want to know the truth, that’s fine with me. My concern is seeing that my wife lets go of this thing that’s eating her alive before it broadsides her. I’ve tried to help her get over this over the years, but there’s only so much I can do due to my career. In the end, she has to make the call.”

Elusive was very quiet for several moments before clearing his throat and adding, “Ironically, before all this started, Mother had suggested that we get some help for Minty. Her husband had much the same concerns about her as you have about DJ, and though I’m not one to lose my temper I can’t help but wonder if there’s something else involved.”

“It’s possible.” Mike plopped onto the couch, leaning back and stared at the vaulted ceiling. “I love DJ totally. I have loved her and only her almost from the first day I met her. And bear in mind that at the time, she was an unknown quantity – an alien – on Human-Earth. And yet, I fell in love with her.”

Elusive gave his brother-in-law an appreciative smile. “That’s saying quite a bit about how special a stall…er, guy you are.”

“Maybe,” Mike replied. “But then again, your sister has been special to me in a way no woman ever has. While she went to college at USC and I went to the Naval Academy, we agreed to see other people to make sure what we had was real. DJ told me she’d dated a couple of guys, but nothing ever came of it. But as for me? I didn’t even do that much. Sure there were plenty of opportunities and a few I found attractive, but at the end of the day all I could see in my mind’s eye were those soulful purple eyes, just waiting there for me. And it was the day after Lyra’s wedding that I told DJ that I wasn’t going to change my mind. She was my girl and she’d always be that to me.”

“What did she say?”

He chuckled. “She actually asked me what took me so long. After our second date way back when, she decided that she was going to be mine if I’d have her, and though she knew I felt the same way, I’d never voiced it. Even still, it took a year after I went to my first assignment to officially propose to her.” He shrugged in a what-can-I-say? manner, and Elusive chuckled; as a stallion, he certainly could understand that.

“But I’m getting off-track here,” Mike continued. “Because I love your sister so much, I worry constantly that all that hatred and anger is going to tear her apart. She could do any number of things and I’m afraid someday that I’d come home from a deployment to find myself a widower.” He ran his hands though his hair, adding, “That, more than anything else is why I took this assignment – so I could be there for her when she needs me most. Things aren’t going to get much easier now regardless of what Earth we live on, but I know this much: Lyra’s right when she says she thinks a part of DJ is crying out to be accepted by Rarity. But I think she also wants Rarity to acknowledge both of us, and I’m guessing somewhere deep down my wife is willing to forgive if she can get that much.”

Elusive’s ears turned down. “I don’t know if that’s possible, as much as my extended family wants it. Mother doesn’t want DJ. She wants Sandalwood. Everypony else accepts you, and perhaps once my father sees the life you and DJ have, he might as well. But Mother has obsessed over finding her lost daughter and now what has come before her in the past twenty years is nothing more than a human in a pony shell, as if her adopted parents scooped out her soul and put a human’s in. I know that’s not the case – I met Anna briefly and she seems normal for a human and I suspect DJ’s father is the same – but DJ, even by her own words, isn’t Sandalwood; will never be Sandalwood. But that’s who Mother wants to see.”

“And DJ couldn’t be Sandalwood if she tried,” Mike stated. “She’s a stranger in her birthworld, and to her Human-Earth will always be her true home.”

The pair was deathly quiet for a few minutes before Elusive spoke again. “Do you mind if I speak to her? I’d like her to visit Father and see him. It might even bring him out of his coma. At the very least, it would be good for Father to hear her voice, I think.”

“Well, she went to take a walk right now,” Mike said. “She just wanted to be left alone for a while and I couldn’t argue with that. She’ll be back later and you can suggest it to her.”

There was one church in Northside, St. Eligius, ostensibly a Catholic Church, but used more often by all Christians of various denominations for their services as well. The rector, a Catholic monsignor, named the building St. Eligius, after the patron saint of horses – and by genetic extension, ponies. Officially, as it was currently the only Catholic presence in Alter-Earth, it was directly under the administration of the Vatican, though if there were more Catholics eventually it would become its own ecclesiastical province with a cathedral, dioceses and the like.

That was the plan, anyway; the reality had been much different. For one, whether it was due to a shared name with a famous fictional hospital or a coincidental yet derisive comment from ponies offended at what they felt was a false religion in their midst (after all, it was clear that the gods walked amongst them; who else could be earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus at once?) and so St. Eligius was known to the general public as “St. Elsewhere.”

And as a depressed DJ found herself walking through the human district, she noticed the church sitting alone, the lots on either side of it now empty since the buildings that had once been there had been torn down to make room for newer structures. According to the sign, the one on the left was scheduled to be a humanist center; the humanized pony found that mildly interesting since ponies here seemed to be shocked that other species didn’t worship the alicorns, a thought that to them was completely blasphemous. They’d probably completely lose it when it came to people who believed in no gods at all. Briefly, she wondered what the other lot would be, but figured on it eventually being a mosque, if only to balance out any atheist crazies.

Well, she admitted to herself, not all of them are bad; a few of them are even nicer than some of my fellow Christians. It’s just the hardcore anti-theists that bother the hell out of me.

And so as she found herself walking towards the church, a sad thought came to her mind: for someone who was so religious, prayed on a regular basis and read the Bible…she really hadn’t been to the base church all that much as of late. Well, if the Catholic chaplain wasn’t so boring, maybe I’d go a little more, but…I really should set a better example for the boys. And as she walked onto the grounds of St. Eligius, she made a promise to herself that she would do so as soon as they got back to Yoko, she’d do so, take the boys to the first possible mass…even if it meant sitting through another monotone sermon delivered by Father Dionos.

As she entered the building, she found that surprisingly, the architecture was similar to Our Lady of the Angels, the cathedral for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; she’d been there on a regular basis when she lived in LA, even going once or twice with Logan when they had the chance. The adobe-colored walls felt warm and inviting, and at the same time, just a tad bit chiding to the humanized pony for not having attended mass – or is that my Catholic guilt kicking in?

She noticed a man coming out of a confessional booth and decided that she was due for that as well. Stepping in to sit down, she brushed her tail off her seating area as she intoned, “Bless me Father, for I have sinned.”

“We have all sinned at one point or another, child,” the response came from a voice, bassy and deep, yet warm. “What troubles you?”

“I…there’s a woman…excuse me, mare…who I haven’t spoken to in years. Decades, actually.”

“Decades?”

She chuckled softly. “I’m not human, Father. At least, not on the outside.”

“I think we should do this outside of the confessional,” the priest said, suddenly and surprisingly. “I think you and I should talk.” DJ found that very weird, but she did so and as she did, she found herself surprised: the priest coming out of the booth was an old man, aged but well-built like her father, as if he worked out regularly. As he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, she noted the numerous tattoos on his body and the close cropped Van Dyke beard and shaved head. Her first thought was that he looked like a biker. Her second thought was that he was probably a—

“Reformed biker,” the priest chuckled, smiling with a serene grin that would look truly fitting on that of a saint.

The look on DJ’s face was priceless. “How did you…?”

“Because you wouldn’t be the first person who thought that. As for the answer, however, you, like they, came close. I used to be a skinhead, a neo-Nazi, but now I am a devoted servant to God. And I am here in Equestria, strangely enough, because of you.”

“Because of me?” DJ asked. “Oh, you must mean ponies in general. Well, as you can see, I’m not exactly a normal pony.”

The priest, however, shook his head. “No, Ms. Martinez, I mean you in specific.” He then paused, adding, “It is still Ms. Martinez, right? Apologies if I got your name incorrect. I’ve enjoyed reading your books over the years, but I assume you’re unmarried.”

“Well, I am married, but I use my maiden name for professional reasons,” she explained as he gestured to a nearby pew. “But I’m wondering what you meant by me having something to do with you being here.”

“Well, since you came to confession,” the priest said with a grin, “I believe you’re supposed to tell me something. However, I will tell you my story afterwards. Would that be fair?”

She nodded, then began. “This is the first time I’ve been to Equestria since the trial. I never wanted to return. Dear Lord, if I never had to return to Equestria again I would have been a happy woman. But…a couple of my aunts are dying because of an incident here, and I care enough for them that I had no alternative but to return in case…well, you know.”

“It is in God’s hands,” the priest said solemnly. “I presume there’s a reason you’ve chosen not to come here before?”

She nodded. “My….” She hesitated before spitting it out; there was no other way to really clarify it. “My biological mother. Rarity.”

“Would that be Duchess Lippizan, the Bearer of Generosity?” he asked. “I’m still not entirely versed in pony politics and culture, sorry.”

DJ nodded. “But I…I’m not her daughter, no matter how much she wants me to be. And she doesn’t want me, she wants the person – pony – she thought I should have been. But I’m not that, will never be that.” The look of anger and anguish, so familiar to DJ, alit on her face once more. “She can’t – won’t – respect that my parents, my Mom and Dad, raised me to be who I am because that’s all they knew.”

“I understand,” the priest answered in a restrained tone. “I remember when you first appeared to the public: an alien, a – please forgive me, but these were my thoughts at the time – a freak who didn’t belong on our world. I could barely stand a person like your father because he refused to mind his place, and your mother was worse because she married him. I was, sadly, racist to the core. And then came you, some sort of horse…thing,” the priest said, spitting out that last word in emphasis. “You were an abomination, a creature infecting the world.” He leaned forward, as if punctuating the sentence with his very body language before retreating back to his previous position. “But Christ’s salvation came to me, and I am not the man I was then.”

DJ nodded; she’d felt that raw hatred directed towards her many a time in her life, and the turnarounds such as his or Valerie’s, she knew, were rarer than precious jewels. “But to continue: my aunt, Twilight Sparkle, wants me to make up with Rarity. My other aunts do as well. I’ve already done so in some respect: I met my younger brother Elusive, and he accepts me for who I am, and I cannot say how much I appreciate that. But Rarity…she thinks of me as a madwoman and my children as abominations, my parents as kidnappers and I cannot imagine the horrors she thinks my husband has inflicted on me.”

“And what do you want from her?”

“Nothing – she means nothing to me. I suppose you could say I owe her my life, because she gave birth to me, but the truth of that is that she gave birth to Sandalwood, her daughter. But that child disappeared to another world and was raised by two humans and that child became me. I am not Sandalwood. I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that yes, I was her once, and that gave me openings to a life that few have ever had – but I didn’t have that life, just the only one I’ve ever known. Rarity has never been a part of my life since I arrived on our Earth, and she wishes no part of the life I’ve lived, only the one that was stillborn and never started.”

“Perhaps it’s not my place to say this, but have you really taken the time to consider what she wants? I realize you may find this odd, but please, hear me out. Part of the reason I’m asking is because this is what I’ve learned from you, albeit indirectly.”

DJ looked nonplussed. “I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“As I said before, I was a biker and a skinhead, not the kind of person you wanted living next door. And from the day you were revealed to the world, many of my then-friends would have been your worst nightmare. But then First Contact occurred, followed by the trial. While I’m sure it was a horror for you, for many of us, we believed it to be so much worse than it actually was. We’d already had enough of you – meaning just you and you alone – and we weren’t going to stand for any further – again, apologies – ‘kickstands’ infesting our world. So we took it upon ourselves to deal with it before it became a bridge too far to be stopped. So when the Equestriani government set up shop at their consulate in Houston, that’s when we struck. I took it as striking a blow against yet more ‘undesirables’. But it was the good people of Texas who let me know I was the undesirable when I was arrested for the murder of two ponies, killed when we firebombed the place.” The last words came out raspy and pained.

DJ sat there, quiet, unsure of what to say. This priest had admitted to killing people in the past, and yet was here, in the land where those two had come from. How did that come about?

He knew she would ask, so he continued unbidden. “I spent fifteen years for manslaughter in prison. I would have received life, but it was, by a small miracle, the kindness of the younger brother of one of the victims that spared me. Me and my gang had killed his sister and brother-in-law, robbed him of his only family. But that pegasus didn’t want further blood. He said he saw the rage of the humans at the invasion of their world and the rage of the ponies against the perceived original theft of one of their own. He’d seen too much pain in the clashing of the two worlds and he could not be a party to more. So while he understood I needed to pay for my crimes, he would not compound it.

“So I spent fifteen years in prison, thanks to that pegasus. For months, I didn’t understand why he visited. Was it because he was gloating over his victory? Because he was looking for revenge after all? Did he want to burn me to a cinder the same way I did to his loved ones? I dreaded every time he came, just to look at me, calmly, eagerly, as though I was the prey for a hungry lion.”

“He looked at me and one day told me that I was his last link to sanity, that he wouldn’t just let me slip into a morass of hatred and bigotry. Because to do that would be to deny everything his sister and brother-in-law stood for. If he did that, as far as he was concerned, he would lose them for good. So he made it his life’s mission to save me from myself.” The priest’s face took on an earnest cast as he added, “That day, seeing White Cocoa’s genuine concern for my own soul made me seek refuge in the prison chapel. Needless to say, I didn’t make it out of there quite the same. Once I was released from prison, I went straight to the seminary, and I begged my superiors to make my first posting here in Equestria. I have much to make up for, not only for my own soul, but for those I took as well.

“Safe to say, none of this would have come about had you not come to our world. I would still be the shame of a human being that I was, and while Cocoa’s loved ones would still be alive, we would not have our friendship and I would still hate as powerfully as I now love. And that is my point, after a fashion: until I listened to what my friend – then my self-supposed tormentor – actually had to say, all I could do was suffer in pain and torment. Christ did not suffer on the cross for that.”

“I know what you’re trying to say, Father,” DJ prevaricated, “but there’s been too much damage done to fix things.”

He smiled wryly. “And yet you said yourself that your brother accepted you for who you are, as have your aunts. What about a sister? Father? Other brothers?”

“Well,” DJ admitted, “Minty is in the hospital right now, on the verge of dying – and the one time we met…it wasn’t pleasant. My biological father is in the hospital as well, and while our first meeting wasn’t as bad I wouldn’t characterize it as a success, either. Other than that, my only other sibling was adopted, like me, and Sam’s human, so….” She shrugged.

“Then for your confession, child, I give you this penance: ten Hail Marys…and work with your brother – your biological one – to mend the gap. I have lived my life wallowing in hate and misdirected rage, and it only burns the soul. I would hate to see the same happen to you. You are too special an individual, whether human or pony, woman or mare, to let yourself be self-destroyed by hate.” He chuckled. “I remember a quote from a movie from my youth: ‘all that hate’s gonna burn you up, kid.’ Don’t let it, just as I didn’t let it happen to me. We are too loved by Christ to suffer so.”

She smiled. She wasn’t sure of what to make of his words; only that it was clear that something had affected a change in his life, and it was, unsurprisingly, related to ponies. Wonder what God’s trying to teach me here – or maybe I’m just too much of an idiot to figure it out the easy way. Unsure of what to reply, she merely nodded slightly.

The priest nodded in return, before smiling and adding, “That is all I can ask. The Holy Spirit will guide you from that point, as it did me. And I hope that you will find the peace you crave.”

“But I am at peace, Father.”

He shook his head. “I believe the saying is: ‘you can’t kid a kidder.’”

As they walked through the palace, Pip could see the tension in each of the Ceremonial Guards’ stances. A changeling queen – or at least what appeared to be one – walking freely and unfettered through the castle would definitely unnerve the most battle-hardy of soldiers…of which the modern ERG were no longer. Even though nearly half a century had passed since Chrysalis’ attack on Canterlot, many of the senior guardsponies had passed the events – maybe even a few recollections that weren’t heavily embellished – down to the younger ones, and the horrors, unreal and imagined, showed in their faces.

He noticed one particular guard looking at Imago as if ready to attack. Pip decided it was time to put a stop to it now before he had to hurt somepony. Striding forward, making sure his dress uniform was picture-perfect, he stopped right in front of the guard. The movement was enoughto block the guardspony’s view of Imago just before he would have drawn his true weapon by dropping the ceremonial pike he carried for the pistol in a hidden pocket on his barding. “Is there a problem, Guardspony?” the soldier asked.

“Colonel,” the guard hissed in a needlessly loud attempt at a whisper, “that’s a changeling – a queen, no less! With all due respect, sir, what are you doing bringing her into the palace? We have a prison for her kind, not here in the halls!”

“Guardspony, let’s get a few things clear: one, what I do is none of your concern; your duties are to protect the Royal Family. However, your exuberance today is unwarranted, as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza has specifically requested Queen Imago’s presence. Secondly, are you aware of the difference between changelings and flutters?” The guard shook his head and Pip continued. “Obviously not, because if you did then you’d know that flutters are vassals of Princess Celestia and are staunchly anti-changeling even if they have the same genetics. And lastly,” he said, leaning uncomfortably close to the guard, Pip whispered in a tone only the guard could hear, “regardless of whatever she is or may be, she is one more thing to me, Guardspony: my wife. And if you ever threaten her again, I will make sure you’re standing duty at the Royal Science Facility in Antrotica, understood?” The guard nodded slowly, terror crawling on his face, and with that, Pip went and joined Imago.

“Smoothly handled,” she whispered to him as the duo continued to walk, “though I feel horrible that you had to do that for me.”

“What, isn’t a mare supposed to swoon when her stallion steps in for her?” he said wryly, eliciting a laugh from her. The pair took a few more steps before approaching the door in question, with no further interference from the staff. At the door to the Throne Room, the guard present had apparently already been apprised of the situation and allowed them in, where Luna and Cadance were seated on their respective thrones. At the younger princess’ side was a bassinet, where a soft, playful gurgle emanated from.

As per military decorum, Pip snapped to attention, while Imago curtsied. “We are Imago, Queen of the Flutters of Dream Valley, presenting ourselves before the court of High Queen Caelum de Aurae. It is our fon—” The flutter queen looked up, horrified to find Princess Luna laughing uncontrollably.

“I’m…sorry,” she said, after a few minutes of completely helpless laughter. “I…used to be so formal and stiff, speaking in archaic Equestriani and piling on the ‘thee’s and ‘thou’s like a game of Tetris. I’ve had plenty of years to relax since, enough to tell you the same thing my sister told me: you’re among friends, Imago. You don’t have to be so formal.” The dusky alicorn descended the dais, went over to embrace the nervous younger royal. “Just call me Luna and we’ll be fine.” She then looked at Pip, saying, “You could have told her, you know.”

Pip shrugged, though there was a ghost of a smile on his face. “Luna, I’m a military stallion. Means I have to at least try to show proper military bearing.”

She nodded. “I know things have been rough for you the past couple of days, but you will always be family, Pip.” She went and hugged him. “Things have been hard on all of us lately. Just…work things out with her, okay?” The night alicorn didn’t need to specify who she was referring to.

Pip’s smile faded. “I’ll try. If she’ll speak to me again, I’ll try.”

“That’s all one can ever do. And thank you.”

Meanwhile, Imago and Cadance had already introduced themselves and were chatting along breezily. At the moment, Maggie was holding Dusk Shine in her arms. “He’s a wonderful colt, Cadance. You should be proud.”

Cadance smiled. “What about your daughter?”

Maggie gave a wan smile. “Rosie’s taking a nap in our room; the helicopter ride wore her out. I don’t blame her for that, as I was pretty astonished about it myself. Things have clearly changed a lot since the day Shining Armor found me. He…I owe him a lot, Cadance. I want you to know that. If it wasn’t for him, I’d have either died or become one of Chrysalis’ short-lived lieutenants. If there is anything I can do, please, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you, Maggie,” Cadance said, wiping a tear from her eye. “It means the world to me that he meant so much to you.”

The four continued to talk until Duskie awoke, the young colt pleasantly surprised to find himself the center of attention. Looking at the others surrounding him, he reached his little hooves out, a quartet of loving smiles aimed his way.

“He’s so much like his father and aunt,” Luna told her niece. “Another member of the Twilight family spreading light and love.”

“They do that, don’t they?” Cadance said, the laughter of love filling her voice.

Well, Sam thought to himself, if nothing else Zebrabwean cuisine is something I’ll have to try more often. He then looked at the cute blonde across the way from him and thought, and it doesn’t hurt that the view’s nice either. He then admonished himself; his “date” was actually the very individual trying to get him to take a new job here in Equestria. Furthermore, despite her human appearance, she was anything but; she was, not only metaphorically but possibly literally a goddess – in this case, Princess Celestia, the ruler of the country.

“Well, from your leaning back and sated sigh I can guess that you enjoyed lunch,” she said with a soft smile on her face. At the moment, she was lifting a teacup to her lips, a blend from Quaggaton that to Sam’s lack of tea expertise tasted like lemon tea with a quart of raspberry juice poured in.

“Well, I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever had carrots prepared like that before, Yo—”

“Tia,” she interjected. “Please, just call me Tia when I’m like this, okay?”

“As long as you call me Sam, then.”

“Count on it,” she said with a grin.

“In that case, Tia, tell me why you’re so bent on having me in the position we discussed?”

“Well, as I mentioned, DJ’s—”

“Look,” he sighed. “I wasn’t born yesterday. I’m a cop, so it’s my job to think things out to their conclusion, even if Occam’s razor tells me otherwise. And something doesn’t entirely connect the dots. There’s more than a ton of qualified officers that could do this – I’m a sergeant, not a detective or commander or anything that high. Likewise, the job Mike just took – from what he told me, that’s a SPECOPS job, of which Mike isn’t. He’s just a line weapons officer, even though he’s seen a lot of stuff. And yet those strings got pulled and we’ve got two positions that are high-profile and could bring a lot of grief to…uh, Princess Celestia if ponies figured it out.”

“I’m sure the Princess knows what she’s doing,” Tia said enigmatically.

“Yes, but I’d like to know what she’s doing,” Sam told her. “Let’s just say that I’m not comfortable taking the job from someone who deserves it far more than I do, and knowing Mike like I do, he’d say the exact same thing. Plus, I’d like to know that my prospective boss isn’t just treating me like another piece on the chessboard.”

“Sam,” Celestia said softly, “what can I do to convince you that the job offer was meant in earnest?”

“What I want,” he said, leaning forward, “is the truth.”

“Fine,” she said, a little too brusquely. “I’m playing nepotism to stack the deck. Is that what you want to hear? But before you give me the fairness and civics speech, let me tell you that I’ve probably heard it more times in my life than you have minutes in yours. Plus, once I’m done, you’ll understand why I’m doing what I’m doing.”

He leaned back in the chair. “Okay,” he said, “I’m game.”

“There is a popular group on the rise called the Purehooves that could pose a true threat to Equestria, far larger than the so-called ones that we’re facing right now. We know about what Tehran wants, and we know what Chrysalis wants – but for the Purehooves, what they want is pure, unadulterated madness: they want to turn back the clock, to deport every non-pony in Equestria, citizen or not, and seal the gates and portals between your world and mine. Their plan is to create a supposed ‘pony paradise’, but in the end all we will see is the return of the Great Schism era. I was too young to do anything to stop it then, and I do not want to see a return to that insanity.

“So, while the Purehooves are infiltrating as many major government positions as they can, I’m doing what I can to ensure that I have individuals I can trust in positions to be able to do something about it in case of worst case scenario. I did stay here for several hundred years due to meticulous planning, you know.”

“And so you really think these Purehooves pose that much of a threat?”

“Sam, read up on your own nation’s history – an event that occurred in 1973 known as Operation Snow White.” She set down her teacup and, reaching for the kettle, refilled. “Now, I know you’re thinking that’s probably even before your parents’ time, but to me, time like that was practically yesterday. And those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to fail in the present, and I cannot fail, for the sake of my ponies.”

“I…see.” he said. He was quiet for the longest time before saying, “I’ll have to think on this, honestly.”

“Fine. We can discuss it at dinner tonight.”

He raised a brow. “Dinner?”

“Don’t worry – I was meeting with Senior Mage Potato Chip from the Guild Investigations Division, and I’d like to have you there. Regardless of your decision, I think what you might have to say will be invaluable.”

“Well, in that case, sure, count me in for that.”

“Twilight, as long as I’ve known you, you don’t do things halfway ever,” Lyra said in an appreciative yet teasing tone.

The lavender unicorn sighed; the sleep spell she placed on Rarity took more out of her than she expected, weakening her already precious reserves. “I did the best I could,” she told her old friend. “It’s going to take some time to sort out things between them, but I’m confident that it can be done.” Behind her, sitting in silence, Applejack merely nodded.

“But are you sure it’s the right thing to do?” Lyra inquired. “Don’t get me wrong: as a mother myself, I sympathize with Rarity’s situation, and if I ever lost any of my children know I’d go off the reservation as much as she did back then. But at the same time, you have to remember that I associate with DJ on a regular basis, and she and I are very close. Don’t think you guys are the only ones who care about her and consider her family.”

“No, I know you care,” Twilight replied, recalling the argument she’d had with Rarity the other day on that subject.

Unaware of her friend’s thoughts, Lyra continued. “And because I see her regularly, I saw all the damage the Foalnapping Incident and the subsequent trial did to her, and how long she’s had to force her way out of the bottomless pit she was dropped in. And I also see the constant support she’s always gotten from her family, and from Mike. I’ve seen both the good and the bad.”

“So, yer sayin’ we should just let ‘em go their own ways? Ah don’ think that’s right, Lyra,” Applejack protested. “Whut good duz that do fer DJ or Rares?”

“What good does it do to push them together when they want nothing to do with each other, AJ?” the celeste unicorn challenged. “Look, we all know the needs are there. DJ, deep down, wants to be accepted by Rarity, but not as Sandalwood. On the other hoof, we have Rarity, who wants her daughter back in her life, but she wants Sandalwood, not DJ.” The unicorn had her forelegs out, her hooves serving as palms for her example, as she separated them from each other. “They both need time to realize that the other isn’t going to change, and that in the end, they will have to accept what is there, not what never will be. But the only way they’ll do that is if they’re talked into it – separately. Forcing them together is no different than what happened to me and my father when we argued about my future way back when.”

“Ah’m sorry, but yer outta line on this’n,” Applejack said. “No ‘ffense, Ah respect ‘cha an’ all, Lyra, but t’ me, this is a family matter, an’ mah thoughts is that we gotta put ‘em t’gether, even if’n it means lockin’ ‘em up inna room an’ throwin’ away th’ key.”

An irritated look came over the diplomat’s face. “Look, there’s a saying back on human-Earth that I think applies very much, AJ: ‘Go fuck yourself.’” AJ understood what that meant immediately, but Lyra continued before the mortified earth pony could say anything further. “No offense, but ultimately this is between DJ and Rarity; if you force it, neither of them will appreciate it, and you’ll only be making things worse.” Leaning forward, a haughty look on her face, she asked, “During the time you helped raise Apple Bloom, did you solve a problem by thrusting a solution on your headstrong sister? Or was it by sitting down and listening?”

“Yeah, Ah git yer point,” the orange pony sighed.

“Plus, if I recall correctly didn’t Rarity have this problem once before – with Sweetie Belle, back when we all lived in Ponyville?”

“Believe me, it’s been brought up time and time again,” Twilight told her. “Sweetie’s even brought the subject up a few times herself. But Rarity continues to insist that the circumstances were different back then, that she and Sweetie just had differences of opinion that had to be worked out, as opposed to the ‘brainwashing that was inflicted’, quote unquote, on DJ.” The archmagus sighed. “At this point, that avenue of discussion is very much a dead end.”

“Well, thankfully you already made a salient point,” Lyra advised. “You asked DJ to be the better woman in this and work towards the goal. But that, like anything worthwhile, takes time. I know that sometimes here in Equestria it seems like any problem can be solved in thirty minutes, but humans aren’t like that, and for better or worse, DJ is human in that regard. She’s going to need time – real time, not on ‘your clock’ time – to deal with this.

“For that matter, Rarity will as well, though I would still work with her to make her understand that DJ is still her daughter, just a little different than she’d expected. And it won’t go by fast, either – you two well know it took a thousand years for Celestia and Luna to resolve their differences, and while this isn’t as epic, between DJ and Rarity, it’s not going to happen by the end of the episode.”

“‘End of the episode?’” Twilight asked, curious.

Lyra smirked. “My secretary watches way too many American TV shows, and I think she’s starting to infect me with the lingo. Then again, I have to admit I’ve cribbed a few lines for speeches from I Love Lucy.”

“Oh.”

The room briefly fell silent while Lyra changed subjects. “So with that done, care to explain to me why you’re all still behind the barrier and Rainbow’s still in a coma? I swear, Twi, you’re starting to slip in your old age.”

“I’m no yearling,” she said with a smile.

“Spare me that line – we’re the same age.”

“Maybe I just needed time to think about things,” Twilight said wryly, “and have a very worried niece do one of the things she likes least in order to come convince me.”

“What, friends and family not enough?”

“Maybe I just needed the words of someone who’s like a daughter to me,” Twilight admitted. “I have to admit, DJ’s confession – while it hurt Rarity very much, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t warm my heart.”

“It’s because you care about her, Twilight. You’ve been there for her in a way that family is supposed to be.” Lyra looked intently at her foalhood friend, and then came to a conclusion. “You’ll be a good mother someday, Twilight. I know it.”

Applejack snickered. “Lyra, hate t’ say it, but th’ chances, of Twi bein’ a mother are less than her givin’ up readin’.” The lilac unicorn blushed furiously at the words, but knew it was true: she was probably even past the upper allowance for adoption at this point.

Lyra shrugged. “Stranger things, AJ. Stranger things.”

Eventually, after a lot of idle wandering, DJ found herself at Campolina Overlook Park in the southwest end of town, just outside the gates of the palace. Considering its position, she’d walked a lot longer around the city than she’d intended…and really hadn’t noticed the roughly thirty-mile walk she’d done today. Was it the natural magic of this world working its way into her body finally, giving her the full strength of the earth pony she should have lived as? That thought unnerved her; she was already excessively strong for a human even if not for a normal earth pony; to reach the standard strength profile would have catastrophic effects in her life, especially since she was much larger than the typical mare and came close to the average stallion in size.

Which was another thing: magic didn’t play a role in her life, well, not much – she knew her natural green thumb was a result of earth pony agrimancy abilities, and there was that aforementioned strength and stamina, which was apparently now significantly increased. What was the magic going to do to her sons? Or Lyra’s children, since they were currently here as well? And were there any human/pony hybrids already living in Equestria? It was something of import, and while she trusted that Twilight and Sweetie would probably have some sort of way to deal with it, it was still a matter of concern.

As she entered the park, she saw it as the typical ornately decorated and well-tended facility, not unlike Mikasa Park just outside the base boundaries back in Japan. There were obviously differences, such as the giant marble muffin in the center of the park – that definitely fit the weird end of architecture in a city built into the side of a mountain. But it was the edge of the park, overlooking the cliffside and the open hills and dales below, that was a breathtaking vista; apparently some individual had agreed, and there were a row of ornate telescopes, some of which were being used.

“Hi! Want a muffin? I like muffins. They’re kinda special to me. Really! Especially the blueberry ones. Would you like a blueberry muffin?” DJ looked in the direction of the voice and found a pegasus mare her around age – maybe; it was kinda hard to tell – with a huge tray of muffins. She was gray, with hair and eyes a very delicate shade of pink; she was also wearing eyeglasses that seemed to help correct a vision issue. She was also clearly familiar with humans, because she was upright and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt from The Electric Postman’s 2040 “Worlds Tour”. DJ really didn’t care for the Aussie band, but she knew who they were and apparently so did the pegasus.

“I’ll pass, thanks,” DJ waved it off. “Just looking around at the park. The view is nice.”

The pegasus nodded. “Uh-huh! It’s a beautiful view of the Everfree and the towns and cities down there. You can even see as far as the start of the Badlands on a clear day. Though to be honest, I really prefer looking at Ponyville. That place is really important to me.” There was a slight catch in the mare’s voice, the sound of something lost long ago and an emotional scar imperfectly healed over.

“It is?” Something made the hairs on the back of DJ’s neck suddenly bristle, but she reached up with her tail to slap it down. Even still, her wariness had kicked into overdrive because of the mention of Ponyville. Almost nothing good ever comes from Ponyville, at least when it comes to me, DJ thought.

“My aunt – the first Baroness Campolina – and my cousins all died there. Princess Celestia said they were heroes, but I would have rather they not died.”

A lump formed in DJ’s throat. She knew immediately who those ponies were. Derpy Hooves and her daughters had died trying to save Sandalwood from being caught in an attack by someone trying to break into their house as they were babysitting the newborn filly. The filly, however, had been hit by magical lightning and sent far away. It had been fifteen years later when Sweetie Belle, Spike and Celestia had told DJ about how she’d arrived in the world she considered her home. And the guilt of having innocent ponies lose their lives in the attempt to save her was something that DJ hadn’t ever come to grips with.

“But I guess you know that already, don’t you, Miss Sandalwood?” DJ caught the name as the pegasus waved another pegasus over and she passed the muffins to that one. Still looking at DJ, the pegasus said, “I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Hazy Jane Gartside, Baroness Campolina.” She offered a hoof as a human would offer a handshake; DJ took it. “You know, I always thought that the day I met you, the first thing I wanted to do was to buck you – really hard.”

“Me?”

Hazy nodded. “Duchess Lipizzan – Rarity – was a friend of my mother’s. And she’s a friend of mine. And she’s a nice mare who has always looked out for me, she said, because she owed my aunt a favor she couldn’t repay. And I’ve heard all the fighting you’ve put her through. And that really makes me mad. Really mad. But my husband…well, he says I shouldn’t be judgmental about it and should listen to your side first. Plus, Fluttsy over there—” she pointed to the yellow pegasus she’d given the muffins to “—made me promise I wouldn’t or else she’d tell him.”

“No tasers, either!” the other pegasus shouted in their direction.

The gray pegasus sighed, then turned back to the one named Fluttsy and said, “I left it at home, okay?”

“Wait – you were serious about that?” DJ quickly squelched an urge to go on the offensive. Now was not the time, especially not in public…at least, not without some justification….

Hazy nodded. “Well, technically it’s an improved fuse design I’ve been working on in my spare time, but it has a very strong discharge capability.” The pegasus could see she was starting to go over the head of the humanized pony, so she said, “So why are you hurting Rarity? All she wants is her daughter back, Sandalwood.” DJ would have exploded at the pegasus had she not said the next sentence: “But I guess you’re not really Sandalwood, are you?”

That deflated the humanized pony’s anger. “Maybe I was once, when who you are is decided by your parents and not by you. But I grew up in the human world amongst humans and as far as I’m concerned, I am human. I married a human—”

“So did I,” Hazy said, pointing at her shirt. “But keep it a secret, okay? Danny and I live in Equestria because he likes it here, but we spend nearly as much time in Sydney, so I know what human life is like.”

“So then you understand, at least a little bit. But you and other ponies I know adjusted to the human lifestyle. I lived it, just as you lived this. I can’t just switch it on and off like the ignition button on my car. And Rarity wants that of me. She doesn’t want me to be DJ, she wants Sandalwood. But that filly is long gone and I am more than tired of constantly repeating that.”

“Are you sure that’s the case?”

DJ folded her arms in an aggressive posture. “Positive.”

Hazy mimicked the slightly taller mare, but without the attitude. “Maybe she just wants her daughter back, even though she knows it’ll never be the same. I should know. I found out about a few years ago that my father had an affair with my aunt and that Derpy Hooves was my real mother even though I was raised as the daughter of her sister, Ditzy Doo. I usually don’t mention that, but the reason I’m telling you is because Aunt Derpy, who had a significant influence in my life, watched me from both afar and up close and could never tell me the truth during her life. I don’t doubt there were days she wanted to tell me and be the mother she should have been instead of the mother-like aunt she was. But to quote one of my husband’s song lyrics, ‘While it would be so very grand, life rarely works out as per the plan’.”

“Look, Hazy, right? Pithy song lyrics aren’t going to save the day here. There’s nothing to save.”

But the pegasus continued to bull forward with her beliefs. “Rarity loves you. I’ve been there when she cried that she’d never see you again. I’ve seen her through her worst. And the years since haven’t been kind to her either. I won’t lie: she’s denied that you’ve existed several times, and she’s blamed humanity for that, so much so that she’s had to apologize to me because it seemed like she was blaming Danny personally. And I think how while she doesn’t hate humanity, she only hates your adopted parents.”

“Gee, that’s a real load off my mind, thanks,” DJ said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“But mothers always love their foals; it’s just how things are,” Hazy said. “I know you have foals…er, children with your husband, right? You love them, I presume.”

“Of course – and before you go into that, if the situation was reversed, I think I’d feel nothing but gratitude to someone for making sure my child survived in a strange world all this time. And that’s the thing that pisses me off the most: I love my Mom and Dad. I’m not brainwashed, I don’t have Stockholm Syndrome or whatever. They are, and always will be, my parents. I would have died, much less had the life I do now if it wasn’t for them, and for Rarity to just dismiss them as brainwashing thieves? That’s nothing less than obscenely insulting, and if anyone thinks I’m supposed to just accept that, well, they’re completely out of their minds.”

“No, I can understand how you feel, and if I were in your shoes I’d feel the same. But she wanted…wants… you back so much, Sandalwood—”

“My name is DJ,” the humanized pony seethed.

“I know. My husband has hardcopy and digital forms of all your books and I’m sure you hear that all the time. But I have a reason I’m calling you by your birth name. Because no matter who you are or what you’ve become, in the very beginning you were a helpless newborn foal held in white forelegs, and loved by so many.”

“Well, that’s the past. This is the present. And thanks to Rarity’s attitude, there’s no future – for us, that is.”

“Wait, I think you’re forgetting something, Sandalwood,” Hazy pointed out. Adjusting her glasses, Hazy then went face to face with the other pony. “My aunt and cousins gave their lives to protect you. And I think you owe them the chance to try to work things out. You might just find that it will.”

“You sound like you’re so sure.”

“My mother hated my aunt until the day she died, for a number of reasons, not the least of which was me. By the time she realized what a fool she’d been, Aunt Derpy was gone. You never understand what you’ve lost until it’s gone forever. Don’t be like that – and, for the record, I’ve told your mother – that is, Rarity – the same thing as well. Rarity has done so much for me; it’s the least I can do if I can be of help.” Hazy reached out with her forehooves and took DJ’s own in them. “Promise me you will. If Derpy Hooves were here, she’d say the same thing; I know she would.”

“I can’t. At the very, very least, not until she can accept my parents and my family. I will not have them demeaned like that.” She would have said more, but at that moment, her phone went off.

Hazy figured that was the best time to break off. “Well, I’ll let you get to your call. It was nice meeting you, DJ. And I hope we can be friends someday. Next time you’re by, have a blueberry muffin! We Campolinas make the best and I know you’ll just love them!” And with that, the pony walked over towards her sister and off to what she’d been doing earlier.

Meanwhile, DJ answered her phone, deciding to write off the other pony as some sort of bizarre hallucination. “Heya, hon.”

“Hey, love. Just checking on how you’re doing.”

“I thought you lost your phone,” she teased.

“Well, apparently Luna heard about that and she sent someone over with a new one, the latest model, too. I’ve really got to thank her next time I see her. Anyway…you’ve been gone for a few hours and I wanted to how you’re holding up. I know you’ve had a hard day, and…. Well, I love you and you know I’m here for you.”

“I know.” She smiled. “I’ve had a lot to think about today. As to where I am…I think I’m in the southwest portion of town. I walked up to the church in Northside, then around town, and now I’m just outside the palace.”

There was a brief silence as Mike mentally ballparked the trip. “That’s gotta be about thirty miles, hon. That’s a lot of walking. Especially for you.”

“I know. I think…I think I’m starting to absorb some of the magic of Equestria, becoming more of an earth pony, gaining the stamina of a normal, healthy one. But don’t worry, I’m not going to start walking around buck naked or anything like that…well, maybe around you, but you get the idea,” she laughed. “But it’s made me think a lot about what everyone’s said. And….” She stopped; this wasn’t going to be easy to say.

“I’m listening.” She knew if he were present, he’d have his arms around her, and she loved him for that.

She sighed, and then opened the floodgates. “Why is it so hard for Rarity to just accept that I’m not Sandalwood, and that my parents are who they are to me? I can deal with the fact that she’s my biological mother, but that doesn’t make her my Mom. And it never will.”

“Then think about the converse, hon – why is it so hard for you to accept that Rarity has wanted you in her life all those years you were gone, and now seeing that you’ll never be there, and that all that love that she had for you is spurned and you’re giving it to two people who didn’t give birth to you. At least, that’s how I’m sure she’s seeing it.

“But what I’m also seeing is that we’re all going in circles waiting for you to make a choice. And I don’t care what that choice is. You want her in your life? Fine. You never want her in your life? Fine. You want to be Daisy Jo, or you want to be Sandalwood? I don’t care. But what I care about is you. And I know we’ve been over this a million times, but I will always be by your side.”

She blushed like a schoolgirl. “You know just the right things to say to a woman, you know that?”

“Not really; if I did, I’d be married to one. Fortunately, I’ve something better in my life.”

“I don’t know if should kiss you or punch you for that statement.”

“As long as it’s you, I can deal with either.” A pause, followed by, “Well, since I have you on the phone, Luse is looking for you.”

“You don’t have to say it; I know what he wants. Which one?”

Another pause. “Silversteel – I guess that’s his…your…father. Maybe Minty afterwards. Do you want me to tell him?”

“I’ll be there in five minutes,” she said, waving for a nearby taxi, “and we can talk about it.” The cab – actually an old-fashioned Equestriani pony-drawn carriage vice a car – pulled up to the sidewalk and DJ hopped in. As soon as the humanized pony gave the address, the taxi driver headed off towards the direction of Twilight’s home.

As the taxi took off, the two pegasi stood and watched it leave. “So what did you tell her?” Flutterwonder asked her sister.

Hazy Jane smiled. “Only that she’s not as alone as she thinks. I get that she’s pretty much human, but just as much as her human mother loves her, so does her real one. Sometimes it doesn’t show, but.... On Hearth's Warming Day last year, there were a bunch of the usual tourists from out of town. The guys in the band were here helping pass out muffins and Rarity came, too. And then this little filly walked past, unicorn, couldn’t’ve been older than four. But she had the exact same coloring as Sandalwood, down to a T. And Rarity just broke down and cried; thankfully Peter was there to catch her. But she was miserable watching that little filly, seeing that foal as the daughter she lost so long ago.”

Flutterwonder shook her head. “Glad I don’t have to deal with that. Then again, I’m glad my marriage worked out much better than our parents’ has.”

“Hey, Mom and Dad are still together, and Mom is trying. I’ll take my miracles where I can,” Hazy replied, though as she watched the cab turn a corner and disappear, she quickly added, “Though it’d be nice to see Rarity smile again. Maybe I should go see her in the hospital when I get a chance.”

Luna was all but standing at the front gates to the palace when Celestia came in, dressed her softer ‘Skye’ human form, and just looking as though she’d swallowed the cat that ate the canary.

“I will not stand for this,” Luna hissed the moment her older sister came into earshot. “This is scandalous and unfair to DJ!”

“Stand for what, Lulu?” Celestia said as she reverted back to her natural form. “Are you still angry about that joke I made earlier?”

“Joke. Right,” the dusky alicorn drawled.

“I….” Celestia was contemplatively quiet for a couple of seconds, as if she was confessing via her silence. But the moment passed as she spoke. “I know how much DJ means to you, Luna, and it’s not as though she doesn’t mean anything to me. And yes, I owe Mike my life and that can have an effect on a mare’s heart. But I promise you, I would never endanger their relationship. Everypony relies on me to be their standard-bearer for morality, their lodestone for life. I cannot be that shining example if I were to do that.”

“You’ve never cared about that,” Luna half-accused. “Or has trying to get into Mike’s pants changed your outlook?”

“Lulu….” Celestia began.

“Don’t…just….don’t. It wasn’t enough for you to destroy me and Robin, was it? Now you have to rub it in my face by going after a human yourself and he’s the worst one to go after!” the Princess of the Night said, her voice cracking.

“I never wanted you to be hurt,” the day alicorn said in response. “And I only wanted the best for you and Robin. But you and he led different lives, and he said it himself – both of you were in your gilded cages, only able to escape for the moment.” The older sister approached the younger, reaching out to nuzzle her. “And if things were different, I would let you go, little sister. I know how much he meant – means – to you. But Equestria needs us, and until the day we are as distant a memory as our mother is, we are bound to our roles.”

“Tia, please don’t,” Luna said. “Don’t do this to her.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a dinner meeting tonight with Senior Mage Potato Chip. He’s going to give me an updated report on the Purehooves issue. I’ll also have Sam there as well.”

“Sam? DJ’s brother?”

Celestia nodded. “Regardless of how you think I may or may not feel, sister, my duties to you and our ponies will always come first. Always.” With that, the pastel-maned alicorn walked towards the main building of the palace grounds, leaving the younger alicorn to stand there and watch her sister’s retreating form as warring emotions filled her heart and mind.

It was just a quarter past five when DJ returned to Twilight’s home. She saw nearly everyone standing there – apparently Sam was out on personal business – and she felt that now was as good a time as any to speak. Maybe they had just happened to be congregating at once, maybe they had been there waiting for her intentionally. Maybe this was meant to happen – if so, God had a funny way of getting things across to her.

Yup, Catholic guilt kicking in like William Shatner at a grammar school, she mused to herself.

She looked at her family as they looked at her. All of them human, save for her sons, who were half; Spike, who despite being a dragon was more of a pony than she was, practically; and Elusive, who went without saying. Three parts of her family, all of which loved her, and yet at that brief moment she felt farther apart from them than anything else, an unbridgeable gap that she couldn’t get past. Each second that went past, each moment that went by the chasm between her and them got metaphorically larger and larger, and somehow she felt agoraphobic from it all.

“Is there something the matter, furball?” Anna asked, knowing her daughter well enough to recognize the slight flicker of fear in her eyes but not fully clear as to why it was there.

In response, DJ plopped down on the nearest couch, almost as if sinking into herself. For a moment, Spike saw a sort of symmetry between DJ’s morose sitting and Rarity’s infamous – and thankfully retired – “fainting couch”, but he didn’t voice it. Instead, he said to Mike, “I’ve got the keys, whenever you guys are ready to go see the place.”

Mike looked at him, asking, “Can we hold off on that until later?” He then went over to his wife and kissed her on the head, murmuring, “I know what you’re thinking, Dee.”

“You do?” she asked, somewhat perplexed.

“Well, what was it you once told me? ‘It’s the job of the spouse to do all the thinking so the other doesn’t look like a babbling idiot,’” he recited from memory.

“I said that once?” Seeing his slight nod, she blushed in shame. “I musta really been in a really bitchy mood that day,” she admitted. Rising back to her feet, she then looked at them all, making sure she had their attention. “Guys, I’ve been…well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking today. And I want to say before anything else: Mom and Dad, I love you both. I wouldn’t be anything without you and that won’t ever change. I will always be your daughter and I will always be proud to be your child.” Her eyes couldn’t help but start watering as she then intoned, “But I can’t deny that I came from somewhere else before that – here, Equestria. And….” Her voice trailed off, unsure if she should continue.

Matt put an arm around his wife, drawing her near. “Go ahead, furball,” he said. “We’re with you, always.” He gave her a comforting smile; now, as always, he was proud of her for having faced this.

“That’s both of us,” Anna added, leaning into her husband’s embrace.

“Three,” Mike said, putting his arms around her, and as she looked up to him for comfort, he kissed her gently, wordlessly lending her his strength.

Elusive sat there in an odd position; he felt as though he belonged in this moment but at the same time did not. He looked to Spike who said to him in gentle tones, “She’s going to need you to be there for her, Elusive.”

“Me? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” he said wryly, but nodded and said, “I just got her back in my life. I wouldn’t let her go for the world.”

Meanwhile, DJ continued. “Thanks, all. But being here has made me realize that I was a foal named Sandalwood before I was a girl named Daisy Jo. And the past few days, combined with the fact that I’ll be staying in Equestria soon makes me think I need to learn who Sandalwood was and should have been.” Her voice began to choke on the last few words and in turn, Mike held her closer, feeling her shudder.

“Mom, is everything okay?” Stuart asked, opting to stand next to his brother for protection. That brought a smile to the humanized pony’s face; it reminded her of so many times when she’d been there for Sam when they were younger and he needed her help. To see her older son continue down that path brought a ray of warmth into her heart.

“Everything’s fine, Stuart,” she said softly, the tears flowing free. “In fact, it’s for you and your brother that I’m doing this, dear heart. Someday you’ll want to know about who I was, and while I’ve never cared, you may want to know and that’s reason enough.”

“DJ….” Elusive began, but then suddenly couldn’t find the words. And what could he say? This was rough for her – rough and brave. There had been many times in his life when he’d faced direct challenges and faced up to them, committed errors and owned up to them, and the various things in life that were never easy on anypony…or anyone. But as he watched DJ do it now, he had to wonder if he could do the same thing. She’d already faced those kinds of things during her life amongst the humans. And now, watching her do it all over again….

She has more of Mother in her than she knows, he thought to himself.

Unaware of his thoughts, DJ looked at her brother. “I appreciate whatever words of comfort you were going to say, Elusive, I really do. But I have to do this. For my little guys, and for any other children Mike and I may have someday, and for whatever children my own have. And maybe there is a part of me that wants to do it for myself; I’ve never really felt like I have, but maybe there is. And maybe I owe it to you, and Spike, and Twilight and Sweetie and Luna and the rest of my pony family.”

She took a few minutes to recompose herself, leaning into her husband’s embrace. “But I want to make something clear: at the end of the day, I am still and always will be human, as far as I’m concerned. I will always be Daisy Jo Hikaru Martinez-Hengst. I have never known any other way of life, and to even try to be Sandalwood now…all I would be doing is just lying to myself. And no offense, Elusive, but I don’t want to be Sandalwood.”

“None taken,” he said solemnly. “I wouldn’t want you any other way, DJ.”

“But a pony I love very dearly told me that I owe it to my children, my husband and my family – both sides – to be the better woman. And I owe my aunt Twilight for that, as well as my other aunts – Luna, Sweetie, Celestia and the rest.” She felt Mike bristle slightly at Celestia’s name, and she wondered why – had they argued about something regarding her? “And while I don’t think it will change who I am, it will probably explain who I am and maybe why I am as well.

“So, Elusive…when you are ready, I’ll go with you. To meet Silversteel, or Minty…or, maybe Rarity again – not sure on that last one, though I’d like to see the others. And maybe understand a little more about where I came from, learn something about my heritage – if you’re willing to have me with you, that is.”

Elusive nodded, feeling his eyes sting with what his uncle Shining Armor used to call “liquid pride”. DJ said she would be a fixture in his life now, and she clearly meant it. “I need to brush up on the family history myself if I’m going to pass it along to my foals. This will be a good opportunity to have somepony to go over it with. But as for Father, I was hoping to see him tonight. Are you sure you’re up for this?”

She gave him a smile, one that was uncertain and trusting, looking for a lifeline. “I’d like to see the house Twilight’s giving me first, and then we can backtrack and go after, if that’s okay with you.”

Elusive nodded, knowing this was a promising sign. “That would be grand,” he replied with a wide smile.

Faust poked the door open to the room Twilight was using. She smiled as she saw the pepsis teen fast asleep, looking very peaceful and with no indicator of the past she’d been through. That was a good thing, she knew, because soon – very soon – she would have to leave and face her destiny. Faust knew that fate all too well; her own destiny had dragged her through the mud more times in her life than she could count until she’d met Greg, and even with the life they shared together she was still ever separated from her two oldest daughters, waiting for the unknown day when The Rules would subside and she could hold them in her arms, or forelegs, or whatever, again.

She suddenly heard a plastic flutter behind her, and the alicorn queen immediately turned around, just in time to see the cards fall towards the ground. Screwball had another one of her premonitions, and Faust had learned not to ignore them. Reaching out, she snatched one out of the air, just in time to look at the face of The Magician.

The woman immediately turned to look back at the dozing pepsis lying in the bed. Her wings were healing well, but would still need time to grow back in naturally; that was time she might not have, if the premonition was right. Walking quietly into the room, Faust sat down beside the young mare and sang a soft lullaby as she started to warm up a few healing spells. She was going to have to accelerate the healing and bring the filly back to fighting shape, but at the same time, she wished she didn’t have to.

“Hurts,” a soft voice said from behind Faust. “Hurts to watch.”

“Yes, Screwy,” the former queen of the alicorns said, looking at Twilight and wondering when in the near future she would be leaving them. “It does hurt to see her like this. But she’ll be brave, I know it. You did say so.”

In a hospital bed, something began to stir. It climbed out of bed, moving unnaturally, ignoring the pony dozing away on the other side of the room. Instead, it moved forward, lurching towards the door. As it cracked open the door slightly, whispering out a waterlogged, “Nurse….” before collapsing to the ground in a heap.

“That’s great, Vanilla! Congratulations!” the earth pony nurse appreciatively cooed. “You’re going to be missed.”

Vanilla Orchid, unicorn, blushed furiously. Tonight was her last night on evening watch. Tomorrow, she’d be leaving this job so she and her fiancée could get married and then move to his old hometown of Maneapolis. Sure, it wasn’t as big as Canterlot, but the regional hospital had offered her the head nurse position, which would easily make up for the fact that it was a small town. It was a chance of a lifetime and Vanilla couldn’t turn it down.

“Thanks, Honeymint,” she said. “Tell you what: I’m going to do my rounds real quick, and then when I get back I’ll tell you all about the wedding plans Diamond Frost and I came up with.”

“Sure, you do that,” Honeymint moaned, “while I just sit here and mope why my love life sucks. Why can’t I find a stallion of my own?”

“You will, Honeymint, he’s just out there waiting for you.” With that, she left her friend alone, headed on her rounds; Honeymint was a good co-worker, but she was a little too obsessed with her love life – or lack of it – as of late.

Well, if she was into mares, I could have introduced her to my cousin Misty Meadow, the unicorn thought. And while I don’t know any single stallions off-hand, maybe Diamond has a friend that I can—

She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost missed the pony lying on the ground. However, the moment she saw him, her professionalism kicked in. “Sir, just hold on!” she said, rushing to his side. She checked his pulse; it was ragged, unstable. He was going to need a doctor and he was going to need once fast. Using her telekinesis to place him onto an empty gurney, she said, “I’ll go get a doctor right now, sir!” as she looked around for the nearest Code Blue button.

But it was suddenly to her horror that the pony turned into something out of her nightmares. She screamed, but it was a futile effort, as the halls were empty and the creature dragged her towards a nearby broom closet. Within seconds, both were inside and the door slammed shut, followed by a few more instances of muffled screams, and finally what sounded like something wet slamming against the floor and a bone-snapping crack.

A few minutes later, a unicorn nurse stepped out of the broom closet, moving with purpose towards the Isolation Ward. There was much to do before the plan would be executed.

And execute, it would.

Chapter Eighteen: Chega de Saudade

DJ Martinez sat at a table in the Village Café, taking a sip from a French Press Roast that the teenaged alien had ordered just a few minutes earlier. She knew that all eyes were on the table currently, and that for a rare change, all eyes were on the table not because of her. No, the reason for that was the other alien across the table from her, sipping from a chamomile tea that she’d ordered, cup held in place via a soft magenta glow that even DJ was having a hard time coming to grips with.

Magic – she’s using magic, DJ mused silently. Magic actually exists, and it’s a part of her – a part of me, if she’s actually telling the truth.

The other alien, suddenly realizing they were the center of attention, set the cup down softly, then reached up and brushed a lock of graying purple hair out of her eyes. “So, Sandalwood….” Twilight Sparkle began.

“Look: for the last time, my name isn’t Sandalwood, it’s DJ,” the younger female said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. It had only been a few weeks since the existence of the rest of her species had been revealed via a very horrific First Contact that DJ was still trying to make sense of, and out of all those monsters, only Twilight had been kind enough to change the tone. Was it a case of Good Cop Bad Cop, or did Twilight genuinely care about her?

“I’m sorry,” the middle-aged mare replied, ignoring the itchiness of the clothing she was wearing – for her, clothes were a formal thing, and yet humans seemed to wear them all the time. “It’s just that’s who you were born as, and who I’ve always known you as. I’m still trying to get used to you as a teenager.”

”Yeah, supposedly you’re my aunt or something like that. I’m really hoping that you don’t think this is some sort of Goddamn Hallmark Channel Original Movie. I’m not going to weep tears over seeing a blood relative, especially since I still have nightmares over your Goddamn goon squad!”

“Sanda…I mean, DJ…you have to understand: I don’t know who ordered that attack on you and your humans—”

“My parents! My best friend! My boyfriend! Not ‘my humans’, as if they’re just some freakin’ pets!” the teenaged pony hissed.

“I’m sorry – I didn’t mean it that way; there’s obviously some linguistic differences between your variant of Equestriani and my native one. What I meant is that I don’t know who ordered the assault on your family; I’m still looking into it.”

“Look faster,” DJ snarled. “Do you understand how much I was humiliated? I was nearly raped in front of my family!” Instinctively DJ shut down, cuddling herself and shivering as the memories of the past few weeks came back to the forefront of her mind.

Twilight watched the younger pony, so at ease with her surroundings…or at least she had been until the events of last month had been brought back up. The unicorn mage pushed that thought away, focused past the sheer amount of attention on her – on her, not on Sandalwood, a sign that they were used to her being around – and focused on her wayward niece. It was clear that though the younger mare was an enigma to them, she was one that they’d long accepted amongst them, to the point that they didn’t blink twice when she’d revealed herself as using what Twilight assumed was a human name for identification rather than the one she’d been born with.

Which brought up another thought: the apparently-comfortable movement of Sandalwood’s body language indicated that she was at ease here. She wasn’t acting like a teenaged earth pony mare, but like a teenaged human mare, or whatever post-pubescent humans referred to their females as – Lyra’s research did contain quite a few errors, and was still largely on-the-fly. That was to be expected to an extent; she’d been raised here since her arrival and from what data the State Department had given her since, humans were the only sapient species on this Earth – there was no other species that could have taken Sandalwood in and produced the intelligent, normal mare that she was.

Well, normal for humans, I guess, Twilight thought. If she was like that back in Ponyville, she’d be as ostracized as Lyra often is.

It also made Twilight think of her younger brother, Spike. Spike, despite his draconic origin, had been raised amongst ponies. He thought of himself as a pony, to the point that when he’d finally met some dragons, they snubbed him for his pony mannerisms and body language. His first crush had been a pony – namely Rarity, Sandalwood’s mother. His first date had been with a pony; he’d gone out with Cotton Candy for a few dates, but nothing had ever come of it. He’d participated in the Colt Scouts, attended father-son events with their father, Night Light, and had shed tears of joy during Twilight’s knighting and bonding as a sister royal. Spike was, through and through, a stallion, a drake only in name and physiology.

And if that was the case…what was Sandalwood?

She’s happy here, Twilight realized. She can’t miss what she’s never known. And she’s never grown up knowing about other ponies, Hearths Warming, Cuteceañeras, any of that. Just as Spike frequently declined invitations to ceremonies and events in Draconia – the bacchanalias and such of Saturnalia, their most festive day, completely freaked him out – Sandalwood might find holidays like Hooves and Hearts day or the Day of Solar Celebration to be just weird by human standards. Because that’s how she grew up – like a human, not a pony.

I can’t just drag her back to Equestria if she’s truly happy here, Twilight mused to herself. She belongs here, not in Equestria. It wouldn’t be an easy decision to explain to the others and it would very much put her on the outs with her family, real and bonded. And they’d spent the last fifteen years in hell trying to find her. But there were other considerations to be made, other considerations that had never been taken into account. They had no way of knowing that Sandalwood would have found somepony – somehuman? – to love her and give her a life, and that life would take her as far away from ponydom as Spike’s own had taken him from dragonkind.

Twilight took a hasty sip from her chamomile tea again, feeling the dozens of humans looking at her…and not at Sandalwood. Because she’s one of them now, because I’m the stranger here.

“DJ, despite what you may think, I’m not here to take you away from your family. They clearly love you and from what I see, you love them just as much. To take you from all this—” the unicorn said, waving her forelegs around to symbolically encompass all of the human world, “—would be to commit an error as big as the one that took you from us in the first place.”

A guarded look of curiosity – and maybe hope? – came onto the humanized pony’s face. “So, what are you trying to tell me, Twilight?”

In for a cent, in for a bit, Twilight mused to herself as she said, “You’ll need somepony to argue your case for you – to ensure you can stay here with the humans you belong with.”

A dozing pepsis mare felt a tap on her shoulder. Looking around the room, it was still dark, save for the glowing clock on the wall that read 01:03. Twilight Sunburn felt a tap on her withers again and this time she got up, looking straight at the face of Screwball.

“Time to go,” the strange teen said. “Time to travel. Time to flee, time to fly.”

The pepsis filly yawned. “Time to go? I don’t understand?”

In response, Screwball placed her hands on the pepsis’ back. There was a searing sensation that Twilight felt for just a second, but only that, as wings suddenly sliced through her bandages, her wounds suddenly fading away. Queasiness suddenly moved aside for a warm strength, and suddenly the young mare felt as though she never had before in her life – stronger, enervated.

“You are strong now. Break your bonds. Shatter the illusion!” The strange teenaged human waved her arm in a grand manner and the fabric of space time suddenly tore open. Revealed on the other side was a beautiful city that didn’t look too different from this one; medieval in its structure yet interleaved on occasion by the odd modern building jutting out here and there from the skyline as it glistened in the afternoon sunlight. Canterlot – capital of the Principality of Equestria.

“Go,” Screwball hissed. “It’s time. She needs you.”

“Who needs me?” Twilight asked. “I’m afraid I don’t—” She never finished the sentence as she suddenly heard a screaming in her mind, a terror-stricken voice calling out for help. Blue eyes opened wide in sudden realization.

“Go,” Screwball said softly, her smile soft and genuine. “It is time.”

Twilight needed no further prompting. She got to her hooves, sloughing off the torn bandages and looking at the portal with determination. Flexing her newly-healed wings, Twilight Sunburn rocketed forth with new determination, rushing through the dimensional rift as fast as she dared. The moment she cleared it, the portal closed on itself with a satisfying pop! as the motes of light faded into nothingness.

“What did you do?” Screwball turned to see Faust standing there, the look in the alicorn queen’s eyes one of worry and anger. “She wasn’t ready!”

“It is time,” Screwball simply said, looking at the queen. At first, there was a look of fear in the being’s eyes, but suddenly it went away, supplanted by what, Faust didn’t know.

“And how do you know that?” Faust thundered at the teen. She was both irritated at Screwball’s little stunt, as well as worried about the pepsis’ fate. Twilight was already baptized in battle, but she had no control over her magic. Sure, her natural changeling ability, but that was different from the potential she had as a pony. And Faust hadn’t had time to help her learn that to protect herself…and now there was no time.

“Because that is not for you to know, Fallen Queen of Equus,” Screwball said in a tone that wasn’t hers…or Discord’s, or anything she’d ever heard in her life. “Everything is fated and you fell for your folly. Dare you err once more?” the thing in Screwball’s body intoned.

“But Twil—”

“—is no longer your concern, Avatar of Imagination,” the voice said, cutting her off sharply before adding in warmer tones, “Go home to your family. You will know the next step when it is time.” And with that, Screwball exploded once more, the cards falling towards the ground. Reaching out, Faust snatched one out of the air and looked at it, horrified to see that it was card VX, The Devil. The image of Satan, flanked by two demons, looked at her from the card, the image’s eyes burning with a particular intensity.

And then suddenly Faust realized the way she’d caught the card.

And then she smiled.

For the second time that day, DJ stood before the entrance of the Royal Infirmary. However, this visit was a little different from the earlier one. For starters, the number was different: her parents had opted to watch the boys back at Twilight’s place, Spike had some business to attend to at his office, and Cinnamon had offered to join Mike, DJ and Elusive at the hospital. DJ was glad to have the younger mare as company, if only so she could have a fellow female perspective on what was occurring.

But now, looking at the hospital in the late afternoon sun, she had to wonder if she was making the right decision. The initial plan was to go check out the new home that Twilight had given her and Mike then come to the Infirmary, but then Elusive pointed out that the hospital was actually closer, so it’d be easier to just reverse the route instead. DJ suspected that he wanted her to go first before she would chicken out of anything…and he was probably right, she admitted to herself. “I’m a little nervous about this,” DJ said for what had to have been the thousandth time as they stood before the doors.

“DJ…I understand this is going to be hard for you,” Cinnamon began.

“Hard, nothing – I just went through hell earlier today, Cinnamon,” the humanized pony drawled, “and already I’m here again. Elusive, I want you to know that I wouldn’t be doing this for anyone other than you, you know that?” A look of mild worry crossed the sienna-hued pony’s face and DJ flashed her a disarming grin. “Thanks, Cinnamon. It’s just that…I don’t know what he thinks of me.” She caught Elusive just about to say something and she shook her head at him. “Look, Elusive, I know what you’re going to say, but the truth is, you don’t really know, do you? You think you do, and I appreciate that, but at the end of the day…he never talked about me, I’m guessing.”

Elusive looked at the ground while pawing it a bit with his hoof, a nervous shuffle of a foot that DJ found no different than if she’d been shuffling her own feet. He finally looked up at her and admitted, “No, you’re right. He never spoke about you at all. But to be honest…nopony did. When mother decided you were out of our lives, it was pretty much the only way to continue. I can’t answer how Father felt about that, and you already know Minty and I felt about it. But Father hasn’t been very open about his feelings on the matter.

“But I want you to understand something, DJ: our father is a big-hearted stallion, as earnest and caring as any of our uncles. I realize you’re only really familiar with Uncle Spike, but the others care about you just as much – they were always there for Minty and I when we needed them. And Father’s that way as well. I’m going to go on my instinct when I say that he regrets what’s happened and wishes that things would be different. Because I know my father and I can’t see him not saying anything like that.”

Cinnamon moved to his side and nodded. “Uncle Silversteel is a great stallion, DJ. I can’t remember the number of times he’s been there for me when I needed advice or comfort. I think he’ll love you as you are – as you – and I can only hope you’ll love him as much as I do.”

DJ brushed the hair out of her eyes, then put her hands in her hoodie pocket, swaying back and forth. She looked at Mike, who looked down at her with an even glance. “I’m not going to say anything, hon,” he told her. “This is your move and your call, and ultimately you’re the one who has to make that choice.”

“I see….” she said, quietly. She shifted back and forth on her feet, swaying like a blade of grass in a gentle breeze, bending just enough to shift her balance, then reversing as she did so. Her mind, ego and soul had taken numerous hits today, and despite what she’d said earlier, she was still nervous about everything. The person she was railed against everything she was doing now, but at the same time, if she was going to be honest with herself, she had to see this through. She owed it to her sons, in the end.

Looking at everyone, she finally said, “Uh, think we can grab something to eat in the café first? I kinda skipped lunch and I’m jonesing for a bacon double cheeseburger right now.”

“I really doubt they have anything like that,” Mike pointed out.

“We can always check, right?” DJ said with a nervous smile as the four decided to make their way into the building.

The portal threw Twilight out of the other reality and into this one somewhat fast, and the pepsis mare had just enough time to get a feel for her surroundings before she quickly changed into a disguise. As the jade spellfire of changeling magic washed over her, she quickly looked in the reflection of a mirror to get the feel of her current identity: a pegasus mare, butter-yellow with lilac and plum mane and tail, accompanied by soft pink eyes. She smiled softly; the disguise made her look somewhat cute.

“Excuse me, nurse?” there was a voice behind her and Twilight turned around to see a white unicorn mare standing there, a trio of bouquets of flowers held in her magic field as she looked at Twilight. There was something regal about the mare that left an impression on the pepsis filly; the mare had curls of pink and lilac in her mane that framed her beautiful green eyes. “I seem to have gotten lost. I was looking for the Infirmary’s main building, but I got turned around while stopping off at the flower shop. Could you point the way?”

“Um…actually….” Think fast, Twilight, think fast! she admonished herself before saying, “I’m headed that way as well. First day on the job, so…uh, I’m a little lost myself.”

The other mare smiled. “I can understand that. I remember my first day at the Mage Academy, and I was so excited to be studying magic that I repeatedly got lost and had to be helped by the other students. It didn’t help that I was a bit on the clueless side back then,” the mare laughed.

“R-re-ally….” Twilight said, trying to tamp down the nervousness she felt. Of all the ponies she had to encounter and it was a Guild mage, one of the ponies sworn to take down and tear apart changelings – and probably pepsis like her as well. Gotta keep on my hooftips – I can’t let her stop me from what I have to do!

“You seem a little nervous,” the older mare said.

“First day on the job,” the nurse reminded the older mare.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll do fine,” the mage said as they rounded a corner, facing the main building of the Infirmary. “Well, there it is. Oh, and sorry, I’ve been so focused on my thoughts I hadn’t introduced myself.” The mare raised her right forehoof, offering it for the hoofbump. “My name’s Sweetie Belle. And you are?”

“I’m…um...” She looked around frantically; she couldn’t give her real name and unfortunately she’d never had any dealings with ponies before, so she had no idea how the standards were for pony nomenclature. Finally, her eyes drifted onto a nearby billboard and she took the words for all they were worth, hoping that they would sound even remotely like a pony name. “…Tender Care,” the pegasus said, completing the hoofbump. “Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Belle.”

The two walked through the hospital front door, coming instantly against the checkpoint where a group of soldiers stood. “Good afternoon, ladies,” the sergeant in charge of the station said. “Now, if you’ll please walk through the metal detector, we’ll be able to check you for the usual, and then Corporal Notability here will quickly run the changeling scan spell on you.”

“Changeling scan spell?” “Tender Care” asked. Twilight had no idea if the spell would work on her magic, or if they would detect her via her changeling heritage.

Fortunately, the sergeant misunderstood her hesitancy. “Yes, ma’am. Considering that we’ve got all government facilities at high alert right now due to the recent attack, MINDEF ordered the standard battery of tests. Frankly, considering that what happened in Fillydelphia is still fresh on everypony’s minds, I’d have done the same if I were that high up. Don’t want any of those bugs crawlin’ around here, do we?”

The pepsis in disguise bristled inwardly at the insult of bugs, but then had to remind herself, If today works out, I won’t be part of changeling society anymore – if I ever really was. Looking at the metal arch that ponies walked under on the way to the main part of the hospital foyer, all Twilight could do was to hope that her magic held up somehow.

“Nurse!” someone called from the other side. “Nurse! We need some assistance over here, stat!” She looked up to find a doctor waving towards her impatiently. “I need some help to get this stallion to surgery, pronto!”

Twilight immediately lifted off on her wings. At the moment, nopony knew her as anything other than a nurse, so to suddenly turn down the doctor would be a breach of protocol and something that would give her away in a heartbeat. It wasn’t anything she could afford to do, and besides, the pony looked as though he was in severe pain, and that radiated into Twilight’s own mind. She had to do something.

“Uh, nurse,” the sergeant said, “sorry, but you can’t do that. Gotta go through the scanners, first.” Turning to the doctor, he said, “Rules are rules, and I have to do what I have to do, Doc.”

“Well, maybe you can let her slide by this one time?” Sweetie Belle suddenly spoke up, producing her ID. “I’ll vouch for her.”

The sergeant looked at her ID and decided it wasn’t worth it trying to argue with someone as senior as the mage standing before him. “Yes, ma’am.” Turning to the nurse, he said, “Okay, you’re cleared, ma’am, Senior Mage Sweetie Belle has pre-authorized you.”

“Thanks,” Twilight said to Sweetie Belle as she headed towards the doctor.

“No problem; I hope we’ll meet again,” the unicorn mage said in reply as she got in line herself to walk through the security checkpoint herself. After having excused a nurse, Sweetie Belle was going to have to make up for it somehow; she wasn’t the kind of mare to break the rules just for personal gain.

The dead pony hit the floor with a lifeless thud that matched its current condition…which to a casual observer would be odd, as the same pony stood, alive and healthy, right next to the corpse. Of course, any casual observer wouldn’t be alive much longer, but that’s how things rolled, the “pony” thought to himself.

“Hey, Livewire? You down there?” a voice asked.

The creature who had just taken the form of Livewire closed his eyes for a second, as a glow emanated around his horn – the pony he’d just killed had been a unicorn stallion – as he placed it on the now-dead Livewire’s body. A second later, the creature opened his eyes and shouted out, “That you, Toolbox?”

“Yeah, stallion – got a report about some flickering lights on the seventh floor and the boss sent me down here to check it out. Guess she sent you as well?”

“Yeah,” the creature answered in Livewire’s voice. “You know how Squeaky Wheel is – if stuff ain’t running exactly to spec, she blows her top like she was a minotaur or something.”

“No kidding there. So, need any help or anything?”

“Naah, I got this. Go kick back or something – there was that one filly you were hitting on over in OBGYN, right. Whatsername…Gentle Touch?”

“Yeah, she’s a cutie. Well, if you’ve got everything under control, think I’ll go talk to her. Got tickets for the Brass Note Jazz Quintet’s concert tomorrow at the Royal Concert Hall and she gets all lovey-dovey about that sorta thing. Wish me luck, pal.”

“What luck? Stallion like you? You don’t need luck,” the voice laughed, and was rewarded later by the sound of retreating hoofsteps as Toolbox left the electrical room.

Nope, you won’t need luck at all, the creature said as it continued to plant the small explosive charges it brought for this occasion. But I think the town won’t be in much of a mood to celebrate after the news is released that the Elements of Harmony have been killed for once and for all. When his plans came to fruition, all would be torn asunder and death would change this place of life into a charnel house. There would be no one to question any other medical personnel going around to ensure that the patients were safe, the creature decided as it changed into a pegasus nurse with a gray body and deep red mane. This had been the form of the first nurse he’d killed to get into the hospital and to his knowledge no one had reported Lifedrop missing yet. He’d specifically targeted her because she was a supervisory nurse, and so it would be normal for her to go around the hospital to check on its various patients.

The assassin smiled. By this time tomorrow, Equestria’s defenses would be down and he would be back home with his brothers and sisters, ready to destroy this land in their mother’s name. Mere days from now Celestia would find herself crushed underneath Chrysalis’ hoof and he would watch as his mother destroyed the weak ponies and proved the strength of changelings.

Maybe then he could learn to live with the weak parts of himself – the accursed pony part of his heritage, even if it came of use at the moment.

The first thing that came to Sam’s mind as he stepped into the formal dining room was that, even in a different suit and tie, he felt very much out of place in the halls of the palace. It was opulent, beautiful, in a way he couldn’t describe. He remembered on one of his days off when he decided to check out the former Hawaiian Royal Palace, but in comparison to the pony castle, ‘Iolani Palace was a dump. He looked around, stunned by the marbles and golds, silvers and stained glass compositions, the grand building really leaving an impression in his mind.

Seeing the look on the human’s face, his escort chuckled. “We get that all the time,” the pony, a member of Celestia’s private staff, said. “But between you and me, I’m really not sure her majesty cares much for it. Sure, she understands that looks have to be kept up, but from what I’m told by my fillyfriend – she’s one of the housekeeping staff here – the Princess would be more than happy if they could just strip the residential part of the castle down to no more than what the average pony’s house looks like. Of course,” he added, tilting his head in a way that seemed to acknowledge the shifting of an idea, “this started a practical riot amongst the nobility, who were afraid that if she did it they’d have to follow suit. From what I understand, the only one who ever agreed with her on that is old Prince Campion, but then he passed away and his son Blueblood inherited Campion’s position.”

“I see,” Sam said, not having a clue of what the secretary had said beyond his first words. The pair walked on in silence for a few more, until they reached a room. “This is dining hall four,” the pony said simply. “We have six in the palace, and I believe at least three of them are in use right now, including this one.”

“Three?”

“Affairs of state sometimes require multiple events to occur at once,” the secretary replied, “so we’re quite lucky we have three ruling princesses and assorted ones in pretense who are more than happy to assist with certain issues. For example, Princess Luna and Princess Cadance are hosting delegates from the Flutter Nation in dining hall five. And Princess Mayrose is overseeing the meeting with the Royal Geographic League. She usually doesn’t bother in government duties but is always willing to assist when we ask an—” The stallion chuckled to himself, cutting his own words off. “I apologize, sir. I tend to ramble on and on. Please, her majesty is waiting for you.” The stallion reached over and opened the door, and with a quick nod of thanks, Sam walked into the dining hall.

He walked into the room and was suddenly announced in by a pagecolt standing at the door. The colt nodded to him in an awkward-yet-professional manner, and then scampered out to tell his friends all about the big human – Sam guessed the kid hadn’t seen many humans, despite their relatively increasing number in Canterlot. As the guards at the posted at the door closed it behind him, he found himself in a cavernous dining hall, the majority of it taken up by a massive table with a setting for at least forty or so beings. And at the end, as lovely as an image straight out of fantasy, was Celestia herself in her true form.

Sam did the only thing he could – he bowed formally, remembering the bit of protocol that Spike trained him on in the event he had to end up here in the palace. Damn good thing too, Sam thought to himself, otherwise I’d look like a complete idiot right now. Then again, I’d probably have to salute or something.

Crossing the room with a grace he wouldn’t have expected for a creature the size of a horse – then again, she is an alicorn, he remembered – she came up to him and smiled. “I’m glad you showed up,” she said with a soft smile. “I was beginning to worry that I’d have to have dinner by myself tonight.” He gave her a curious look and she grinned before adding, “Well, there seems to be a bit of a…complication.”

“Complication, your majesty?”

“Celestia, Sam. I’d prefer if you just stuck with that.” He was about to open his mouth when she said, “Just because my ponies treat me with deference and respect doesn’t mean that friends need to. At the end of the day I’m still the same mare I was when I woke up this morning.”

“I would presume that’s the same mare that gets called ‘your majesty’ by everyone?” he said with a grin.

She favored him with a smile back. “Touche.” She gestured towards a seat. “Well, have a seat and we can begin.”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. My parents raised me to be a gentleman and I’d be amiss if I didn’t hold your seat for you while you sat. Besides, isn’t it protocol for the monarch to sit first and then on down the line?”

She gave him an even, but kind look. “Sam, I’m much larger than you, so wouldn’t that be a problem? Besides, it’s just the two of us, so I promise I wouldn’t be offended if we just sat down at the same time.”

“I can buy that,” he said, walking over to the nearest chair that looked useable by a bipedal species. Unfortunately, it was seventeen chairs away from where she sat. Slipping into his chair, he saw her do the same and shook his head at the weirdness of it all. “So you said we’re going to be the only ones here tonight?”

She nodded once, an elegant dip of her head. “Potato Chip’s a single father and his son just caught a case of hoofinitis. He should be okay, but Mage Chip sends his apologies for not being able to attend.”

“I…see.”

The two looked at each other from almost entirely different sides of a table close to seventy feet in length. The settings were done in a tasteful affair, the other seats done up for various other species, with various chairs leaning from the backless ones used by ponies to the hulking monsters of seats used by dragons or larger creatures. And all the places were set accordingly; in particular, Sam noticed, was the dragon-sized butter knife, which he could easily use as a surfboard if he wanted. He knew that Spike used spells to keep himself smaller than he needed to be, but if actual dragons leaned closer to that size, well….

The two stared at each other for a few minutes before Celestia said, “Well, have we had enough decorum yet?”

Sam had no idea what she meant by that, so he answered, “I…guess?”

She smiled, rising from her seat. “Good – let’s head back to my private dining area. Maybe if we’re lucky we can stop the chef from whatever he was planning to make for dinner and come up with something a little more our lines, okay?”

Sam chuckled slightly. “Her majesty doesn’t care much for braised hay bourguignon?”

“Not really, no. Between you and me? I could really go for pizza right now.”

Sam stood up, removing his coat and tie, then rolling up his sleeves. “Sounds great to me.”

“Good,” Twilight said, as she moved away from Rainbow. “She’s still under the spell, and from what I can tell none of what’s afflicting us has affected the foal so far. She’s safe.”

Applejack sighed in relief. “That’s great t’ hear, Twi. Ah was plum worried there fer a spell an’….” Applejack’s words slurred off as she suddenly staggered for a bit before sitting down, her forelegs going right to her head. “Ah’ll be fine,” she said to her sister before Twilight could say anything further.

“Applejack, go lie down,” Twilight said, turning her full attention back to the former farm pony.

“No dice, sugarcube. Somepony has t’ watchcha and make sure y’re doin’ okay yerself.”

“You don’t have to. I already promised I wouldn’t use that spell,” the lavender mage said, consciously leaving the name out as to not agitate things further, “and I’m a mare of my word.”

“Yeah, but Ah know a mare who’d keep t’ her word an’ end up doin’ worse. By complete accident, o’ course,” Applejack said with a soft chuckle.

“I can’t afford to,” Twilight said, nodding in agreement. “You were all right and I was in the wrong. I thought I was doing what was best for us, especially since I was the cause of the whole problem, an—”

The orange pony gave the unicorn a curious glance. “Whut d’ ya mean?”

“You know. You all thought I was trying to take away your husbands and loved ones. But I would never do that,” she said, insisting. “You’re family…I would never….”

“We know, Twi,” Applejack said in a quiet voice. “We all knew, we…we jist let Nightmare Moon get us riled up fer nothin’, and hurt you in the process. We weren’t thinkin’ clearly an’ it showed.” The earth pony forced herself back to her feet and approached Twilight, a look of contrition in her eyes. “An’ Ah didn’t believe you when y’ told me the truth. An’ that’s mah fault.” Applejack turned away, whispering, “Ah’m sorry, Twi. Fer whut Ah said back then.”

“No,” Twilight said. “It’s just as much my fault, Applejack. I struck Rainbow in anger and jeopardized her unborn foal. I put myself in a situation where I hurt you all, even unintentionally and then I tried to make up for it by deciding to sacrifice myself needlessly. You’re not the only one who made mistakes, Applejack. I certainly did.”

Applejack gave Twilight a wry smile. “Ah guess we’re jist a couple of old, foolish mares, ain’t we?”

“Without a doubt,” Sweetie said as she walked into the room, adding, “and you all continue to make me worry about you since.” The younger unicorn approached, and the moment she arrived, she teleported the bouquet of flowers she’d brought with her into Twilight’s area. “I brought you mares something.”

“Thanks, Sweetie!” Applejack chirped. “Y’ always know how t’ brighten a day.”

But instead of offering her thanks, Twilight looked at her with concern, and asked, “How are you holding up?”

Sweetie’s smile fell. “I…figured you’d hear about that somehow.”

Twilight gave the younger unicorn a comforting smile. “I’m always watching out for my former student,” she said softly.

The white unicorn was silent for the longest time. Her eyes darted from Applejack to Twilight, and then to the sleeping forms of Rarity and Rainbow Dash. This is my family, she told herself. I should be able to tell them anything – especially Twilight. And yet, she couldn’t get the words out of her mouth, unable to say what needed to be voiced. Finally, she sighed, and admitted, “No, I’m not okay. I feel as though my heart has been ripped out, even though he’d never intended to, and….” The look on Sweetie’s face was of a wound barely just recovered from, not enough to sting with the fresh pain of despair, but enough that the ache was still strong.

“Sweetie, I’m sure he didn’t—” Twilight began.

“Don’t you think I know that, Twilight?” Sweetie gasped. “It’s the only thing keeping me from hating him right now. It happened while we were separated, and I can’t hold that against him. And yet…I still love him, Twilight. I still want him and feel like I’ve made a terrible mistake in letting go.”

“Sweetie, I wish I could comfort you now,” Twilight answered, knowing that her protégé was in need. Part of her considered waking up Rarity to help – she deserved a part in what was going on as well. The older unicorn turned to look at Applejack, who seemed to understand what was exactly on Twilight’s mind. Wordlessly she nodded in agreement, thinking that if anypony who should be there to lend a hoof to Sweetie Belle, it should be her older sister…well, her older biological sister, at any rate.

Twilight had just charged her spell when the lights suddenly flickered and died…only to suddenly come back on as if nothing had happened. “Hrm, wonder what that was,” the lavender unicorn muttered to herself.

“Maybe I should go check that,” Sweetie offered.

“No, you’re not getting out of this that easily,” Twilight replied as she completed the spell to awaken Rarity. She was sure the three had plenty to talk about and something as small as a brief power fluctuation wasn’t going to stop that.

Twilight Sunburn looked around in the location where she was in the Infirmary. After having helped get the patient to ICU, she was then summoned to pediatric to assist with a bunch of appointments because one of the nurses, Vanilla Orchid, was currently missing. After she assisted there, she was then sent off to help with the Orthopedic area, and then from there the Alaeatric area to assist with resetting pegasi wing bones, and then to Administration to drop off paperwork. By the time she’d had a chance to take a breather, she’d been completely worn out and was no nearer her goal.

After taking the time to shift into the disguise of an REAF earth pony – the Infirmary was, after all, a military hospital – she continued looking around for some sign of where her mother was, or what would put her in danger. Faust hadn’t been clear on that either, and, in retrospect, Twilight had been all too eager to charge into battle to save her mother without really thinking of the potential ramifications of it all. Did she knew how her enemy was? Was there an enemy, or did something else threaten Twilight Sparkle? Twilight Sunburn couldn’t answer any of that an—

The lights suddenly flickered and she looked around, curious. She wasn’t an electrician, but she knew what an electrical failure was; she’d seen a couple during the period she’d been in Antwerp. Something told her that the electrical room was probably the first place to start looking, and that she’d find the answer to what she was looking for there. Maybe she could stop the assassin before he moved into position—

With that last thought, it was all that Twilight Sunburn could do to prevent herself from breaking into a full gallop as she rushed towards the hospital’s engineering spaces. She didn’t have much time to act, and if she didn’t act fast, something horrible – and irreversible – would happen, an event she was sure that she was going to regret for the rest of her life.

She wasn’t the only one thinking along those lines. After wolfing down a very tasteless double veggieburger with cheese and hay fries – DJ took one bite of the grayish-brown pressed-hay “fries” and tried not to gag – she’d written off dinner as a bad nightmare and tried to steel herself for what was going to happen next. She could deal with it, no sweat; after all, she was a grown woman and grown women didn’t worry about these sorts of things as they had a billion other issues to handle. And the humanized pony was definitely in that grown woman crowd.

But as she stood before the door to Room 471, a different thought pattern entered her mind. A pattern filled with two decades of worries and insecurity, twenty years of a hidden fear that the door to her life would slam shut on her and she’d find herself like a character written out of her own story, left to inhabit the skin of being Sandalwood for now and ever while her life as DJ moved on without her.

It had almost been that way almost twenty years ago, she said to herself. My life would have been over before I even had the chance to start it and everything I’ve worked for in live would have never existed. She shuddered slightly at the thought. I know what Sam and my parents said, but…I could have lost everything. She then turned to look at her husband, one of the cornerstones of her life. If Rarity had won…. She shuddered again, her tail involuntarily jagging back and forth.

Mike bent over and whispered into her ear, “Hey, hon – no Krautrocking allowed.”

She turned to look at him, her face a mask of love, anxiety a dozen other expressions. Finally, she sighed, then leaned into him. “Fine, no Krautrock,” she said, her voice carrying an undertone of vulnerability that he knew all too well.

“Krautrock?” both Elusive and Cinnamon asked as one.

“Long story,” DJ and Mike deadpanned back in unison. The two Equestrianis looked at the couple before Mike and DJ looked at each other and gave one another enigmatic, knowing grins.

“Why do I get the feeling I just missed out on something important?” Elusive said.

DJ waved it off. “Well, it’s one of those things that I can laugh about now, but back then it wasn’t as easy to face up to,” she admitted. “Remind me later and I’ll tell you about it – and play the song.” With that the immediate conversation ceased and the awkward silence started up again. After a few more interminable moments, DJ finally asked, “No one’s gonna laugh at me if I admit I’m a little nervous right now?”

“Considering this morning, I don’t blame you,” Mike replied, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“I promise no yelling this time.” Out of the corner of her eye she could see Elusive subtly wince at her words. He’d reacted in much the way she expected him to, and she could hardly blame him – he’d had a far different life growing up than she did, so Rarity was obviously a more significant figure in his life than she’d ever be in DJ’s. So for her to berate his mother – or theirs, since he’d probably insist – was still a sore spot for him. Fortunately, as they’d already discussed, Silversteel was the question mark in the whole equation of DJ’s past.

Without further ado, the humanized pony reached for the door knob with her hand. As she did, she recalled reading somewhere that even though their hooves were flexible enough to do so, up until fairly recently ponies used to turn door knobs with their mouths…or at least earth ponies did; pegasi and unicorns were a tad bit luckier in that department. The same article said that it left earth ponies 80% more likely to catch an infectious disease as a result, and it had only been through the introduction of bar-style door knobs, antimicrobial materials and other human objects that the numbers were made statistically insignificant, though the problem still existed in the more rural areas of Equestria.

She removed her hand from the doorknob, before turning it, looking at it, its shape reminding her that once again, it wasn’t really a hand, but a hoof; she wasn’t really human but instead one of those formerly-at-risk earth ponies. Only her fortunate life and upbringing had spared her all of those issues and placed her in a location where she’d grown up with little trouble, at least from the immunological standpoint. As it was, she was probably going to need some vaccines for being here, since she’d never been exposed to any AE maladies prior.

But that wasn’t the point, and she knew she was prevaricating even just by thinking about it. Summoning up a small well of courage, she reached for the door again, turned the knob, and then drew a deep breath. With that, she then opened the door and stepped into the room, casting fate’s die.

The room was spacious and could accommodate two ponies – in fact, it had done so just recently as Scootaloo had vacated the other bed a mere day or two before. The room filled with a deep orange glow as the sun began headed towards its set position, filling the room with a fiery light, adding growing shadows to the flowers and get well cards sitting on a small table by the window. But the majority of the burning radiance settled gently upon the pony lying in the bed, serenaded to by a series of life support machines.

As the light settled, DJ cast her eyes on the earth pony stallion that was her biological sire. Her memories of him were stern, severe, a mask of military professionalism in public and anger and hatred in those few private moments she’d seen. He’d cut a strong and sharp jib in that Romanesque armor back then, and it gave him a fierce, predatory look, one that was supposedly at odds with what others knew of him. That’s ultimately what she recalled from her last time here, a stallion of fire and brimstone whose first address to her was a demand back then to “explain herself” and when that didn’t occur, acted with violent intent towards her family. In the end, that’s what she remembered of him.

She didn’t see that individual now. The stallion lying in the bed looked frail and gaunt, as though everything about him had been melted away. He lay in the bed, breathing mask over his muzzle, almost completely still save for the rhythmic undulations of his respiration. At a casual glance, a person could confuse the comatose stallion with one just gently sleeping – DJ was suddenly reminded of an old children’s book that her father used to read to her as a bedtime story when she was a toddler. It was only when one took account of the myriad wires, tubes and apparatuses attached to him that the truth became apparent to her. This stallion was no aggressor, no scourge in any way, shape or form able to make demands of her; somewhere in the time that had passed since had taken him from that lofty perch down to a frail and fragile soul, a shadow of the pony he’d been when she’d last seen him.

Something welled inside the humanized pony and she turned away to lean into her husband’s embrace, unable to look anymore. Mike, wordlessly sensing her anguish, merely pulled her closer to him. Both Cinnamon and Elusive observed the brief change in the situation and the younger stallion looked to his cousin to briefly speak to his father while he addressed DJ.

“How are you feeling?” he asked her.

“I...don’t know,” she said, unable to turn away from Mike’s chest. Her voice sounded odd to him, Elusive noted. She wasn’t sad, nor did she sound angered or riled. If anything, she seemed empty, hollow.

Maybe “haunted” is the best word, he thought to himself. As Cinnamon finished what she had to say to her uncle and returned to the space by the door, Elusive looked at DJ once more, but this time said, “I’m going to speak to Father for a bit, let him know you’re here. I know this isn’t going to be easy for you, DJ, but you’re a strong woman and I know you can do this.” Not waiting for an answer from her, he went up to his father’s bed, sitting down besides the stricken stallion.

“Hello, Father,” he said, reaching out with his forelegs to take Silversteel’s left forehoof in his own, “I know you weren’t expecting me to be back so soon, but as you can see, I brought along some guests. I know that Cinnamon just spoke to you, but the next pony…she’s a little afraid. Give her the courage to speak to you just as you did me all those years, Father. Be there for her, because though she won’t admit it, I think she really needs you right now.” Turning slightly, he waved her over, bidding her to come.

DJ looked at Mike, and the two shared a slight look that communicated more than could be expressed with words. Breaking away from that glance, DJ then silently moved over, her footfalls a soft clatter against the tiles of the hospital room’s floor. Yet even as she made the steps, each one seemed to be harder and harder to make. Was it because she didn’t have the same situation as she’d faced this morning? Sure, Rarity had been a complete pain and deserved to be curbstomped, but Silversteel had made no such impact on her life. Yes, he’d done wrongs to her, of that she was sure – but Rarity had seemed to move on beyond it and was only interested in making amends to get her sisters off her back. Looking at Silversteel…she couldn’t see those same motives. She couldn’t see much of anything other than the broken, insensate earth pony lying on the bed, the ones whose genes she’d likely most inherited from.

This is my sire, the thought suddenly dawned upon her, the biological term not lost on her. This was the stallion from which she drew part of her genes, and if Twilight and the others had been truthful, most of her looks. Without him, she wouldn’t have drawn breath, met the man of her dreams, had two wonderful children and a life that was nothing short of blessed. But then again, had he had his way, she wouldn’t have had much of that beyond drawing breath.

It was so easy to hate Rarity for what she did. Unrepentant, uncaring, bigoted Rarity. But seeing Silversteel, as he was, frail and down and possibly kept alive only via machinery and magic – whatever he did, whatever he was…it was hard to hate. It was hard to keep that anger and animosity up.

And my parents never raised me to do so, she said to herself, the look in her eyes unreadable. Mom and Dad always said that as the ultimate minority on our world, I didn’t have the luxury of hating anyone, because no one had the right to hate me. And no matter what, I am my parents’ child.

She drew a breath, held it for one beat. Two. Three. Then exhaled and spoke.

“I forgive you.” The words tumbled out of her mouth, almost as if she’d had to force them out. Around her, though she couldn’t see the faces of her loved ones, they were all masks of surprise; they hadn’t expected that. Nevertheless, she continued, reaching out to grab his forehoof. “The last time I saw you, your eyes were full of hatred for me, or my parents, or the man who would become my husband…I don’t really know. Maybe it was just the situation you hated, or maybe you were angry with Twilight or Sweetie. But I remember that look of rage in your eyes, and that’s all I saw when you came to mind.

“I don’t…I can’t…see that anymore. Not in this shape that you’re in. All I can see is a stallion who raised a son – my brother – to be as fair and honest as he can be. Maybe you went wrong with Minty. Maybe I would’ve ended up the same way. I don’t know. All I can do is look at you in the state you’re in and just…forgive. Because my family would want me to. Because it’s the Christian thing to do. Maybe somewhere within me, maybe I even want it.”

She wiped tears from her eyes, wetness that she didn’t even know was there. “All I can say is that in the end, I forgive you, Silversteel. I don’t know you. I probably never will. But I can’t be the woman everyone expects me to be unless I’m true to myself. And I can’t live with the hatred.” Letting go of his hoof, she added, “I guess that’s all I really can say,” she said, turning to walk away.

It was then that she heard the faint whisper, so soft and subtle that had she been farther, or fully human, she would never have heard it.

“Don’t go.”

The assassin snapped the neck of the final soldier in the way. The corpse slipped to the floor, leaving the blue barrier undefended and with no one to stop him. Immediately, he cast a barrier in front of the original green one, cutting off entry into the alcove to the quarantine room; he knew it wouldn’t hold forever, especially with the kind of magic users that were here in Equestria, but it would hold long enough for him to do his deed.

He felt a titter of joy run up his spine. In the next few minutes he was going to kill the last barrier standing against the changeling domination of the world. His mother and his siblings would tear Canterlot brick by brick to pieces and it would be a joy to behold. The alicorns would probably try to put up a defense against them, but what power had they in comparison to the might that was the average pepsis? The changelings had been defeated last time because…well, they were merely changeling drones. But pepsis, the fusion of pony power and changeling superiority…that would be enough to turn the tide.

The assassin reached down to grab the rifle from one of the dead soldiers…then decided against it. He would kill Twilight Sparkle and the others in the most brutal and bloody way possible. To shoot them would be a mercy compared to what he had in store. After all, it had been his sister Blue Velvet that had suggested some…methods…to deal with the four mares. After all, they were mares, and he was a stallion….

Changing into his true form, he walked through the blue barrier, ready for mayhem on a scale that would be talked about for centuries…assuming ponykind lived long enough to ever record it in history.

Luna winced suddenly. Something felt…off. She couldn’t pinpoint it, but something felt wrong.

Pip caught that look immediately. “Something the matter?”

She shook her head. “Slight headache, nothing to worry about,” the alicorn replied. “But thank you for your concern, Pip.” He nodded and instead turned his attention back to Rosie, who had woken up a few minutes prior and was dancing around just like the filly she was, a bundle of energy and life. At the moment, she was trying to entertain Duskie, who looked as though he’d prefer just sleeping.

This was how life was supposed to be, Luna thought. Dear friends, enjoying each other’s company, forgetting all about titles and rank, able to just enjoy the magic of friendship without a care in the world. And yet at the end of this, Pip would go back to being an REA colonel, and the rest of them would resume their royal mantles.

I hate this, the blue alicorn thought to herself. This is the cage that keeps me from being with Robin. And that was all it would take: if either of them could escape their cages, they would return together. She wouldn’t care if she had a human husband, she knew he wouldn’t care if he was married to a non-human. They’d dealt with it, and if they could, so could the world – both worlds.

Maybe that’s just what’s wrong, the night princess finally decided, though she wasn’t completely sure. Maybe it’s just that I’m missing the love of my life right now just from seeing this. At least Cadance was able to have some closure, through her son. Will I ever have the same?

The room paused as if time stopped. The soft beeping of the medical machines was heard, as well as the sound of birds outside as they serenaded the setting sun. Both Elusive and DJ reacted as if they’d been shot, stunned into silence by what they weren’t sure they heard.

“…no right….” Silversteel spoke again, his voice raspy and louder. Both pony and humanized pony at the bedside looked at each other in surprise, while Cinnamon heard it this time and gasped, “Uncle Silver?”

“I think you’d better go get a doctor,” Mike advised the pegasus.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” she agreed and immediately headed out the door, moving as fast as she dared to in a hospital. For his part, Mike tried to move out of view of the stallion; the least thing a comatose patient needed was to be awoken by the sight of the human that had been a part of the “issue” that had happened two decades prior. Finally, he decided the best place to be was in the chair by the other bed. As he moved, he and DJ shared a slight nod of agreement and love.

Meanwhile, eyes welling with tears of joy and surprise, Elusive moved closer to his father’s face. “Father? Are you…?” the young stallion asked, unable to finish his sentence as a miracle appeared before him.

“We…we had no right,” Silversteel said, his voice faint and reedy, addressing no one – or nopony – in particular, but instead had to pontificate a truth that had been buried for far too long. “We had…no right to hurt you. All we…all I wanted was my little filly back safe and sound. I…forgive an old fool of a stallion,” he murmured, almost as if in delirium.

“DJ?” Elusive looked at the woman standing next to him, wondering what her next action would be. She was confused, unsure. She said she forgave him, but did she really, or were those just words?

As if fate’s wheel chose that moment to turn, Silversteel, unbidden and with great difficulty, lifted a shaky, unsteady hoof towards DJ’s face. After what seemed to be a small eternity, silvery-gray keratin met tan fur, and with effort, gently stroked the tear-stained face. It was by normal accounts, just a minor token of affection, no different than nuzzling or any other display of tenderness that ponies did amongst their loved ones. But for the effort put in by a stallion rising from his coma, it was nothing less than a miracle.

DJ felt the warm hoof gently caressing her face, the action of a stallion reaching out to a loved one. She knew that gesture; her parents had done that with her many a time, as did Mike; she’d done the same with them and her sons. It was a universal gesture of love, of caring and affection…

…of a father desperately missing his oldest daughter, DJ realized as the words sank into her mind. God, what I fool I’ve been.

With a soft flutter, soft red eyes opened, unfocused and hazy. Turning his head with great effort, he whispered to Elusive, “Hey, son, good to see you, kiddo.”

“Father!” Elusive said, embracing Silversteel. It was embarrassing, foalish, but the unicorn didn’t care, tears streaming down his eyes. “You’re back!”

“Not if you keep squeezing me so hard, Luse!” the stallion gasped out. As Elusive loosened his grip, the gray earth pony grinned slightly and said, “C’mon, son, you should know better – if Nightmare Moon can’t take me outta commission, what’s a hug for your old stallion gonna do, eh?” he said, reaching over and mussing his son’s hair. “What’re you doing here, anyway? Thought you’d be with that gorgeous wife of yours – you got foals on the way.”

Elusive grinned. “They were born two days ago, Father.” Nodding his head in the direction of DJ, he added, “And Butter would have been in serious trouble if it hadn’t been for DJ here. I’m indebted very much to my sister, Father.”

Silversteel then focused his eyes in the direction that Elusive had pointed to. There, standing in her normal manner, dressed normally for her and looking at him with a curious glance was his estranged daughter, the one gone so long ago and raised amongst another species. Her mouth was drawn in a tight line, and her eyes looked as though they’d just been through a teary session. But even still, the overall look on her face was unreadable, and Silver prided himself on being able to read a pony’s body and facial language. It had helped him through many a year in the guard and was just as important now as an REA general.

And yet, I can’t read her, he thought to himself. She truly is human at the core, more than we ever thought, Rarity. He thought about his wife, wondering where she was – she wasn’t here; was she okay? Did she survive the attack? For that matter, what had been the aftermath of that battle? He hated to admit it, but at last glance, things weren’t looking good – and by the fact that he was here in the Infirmary, tied up to a ton of medical equipment, chances are he didn’t fare so well in that assault.

But those were questions and concerns for another time. Red eyes fixed onto purple eyes as he said, “I never thought I would see you again, Sandalwood.”

“Father, her name is D—” Elusive began, but to his surprise was silenced by DJ placing one of her hooves on his.

“I never thought I’d be here,” she admitted. “And my name is DJ. I know you know me by another name, knew me by another name, but that isn’t me.” Her voice was tight, restrained, yet firm. This wasn’t the voice of a pony suffering years of being exiled from her own kind, but that of a pony confident in who she was – a human confident in who she was. “But Elusive asked me to come, and I did.”

Silver opened his mouth to speak when the door to the room opened, and Cinnamon, immediately followed by a doctor and two nurses, rushed right in. “Okay, everyone,” the doctor said, “I’m going to have to end the visiting hours with the general here. He just came out of a coma, and I’m sure he—”

“—has something to say to the daughter he hasn’t seen in twenty years,” Silversteel said, drawing strength from within himself; within seconds, the frail pony at the bed was temporarily gone, replaced by the unassailable authority of the military stallion he was. “And I will have my time with her, is that understood, doctor?” he said to the flustered unicorn.

“But Gener—” the physician began.

“Do I make myself clear, Major?”

“I can override you medically, sir,” the doctor said, though his voice was shaky enough to indicate that he didn’t feel the power behind the bluff he was playing.

“Doctor? You might have the authority, but he’s a father that hasn’t seen his daughter in twenty years.” Everyone looked in Mike’s direction; it had been he who spoke. “You do know about the Lost Foal, right?”

The doctor looked at DJ and it suddenly clicked as a shock, embarrassment and realization suddenly declared war against each other for domination of his outward emotions. “Oh my Celestia…I had no idea. My apologies, ma’am,” he said to DJ, before turning back to Silversteel. “We’ll be back in thirty minutes, General, though don’t hesitate to call us if there’s an emergency.” With that, the trio departed.

“Was that a good idea?” Cinnamon asked Mike as she watched the medical team depart.

“We’ll find out; ball’s in their court,” he replied to his wife’s cousin.

With the main distraction gone, injured earth pony and humanized earth pony looked back at each other again. “As I was saying….” The room grew still again as Silversteel let himself relax, becoming the frail and injured pony once more. “I…was wrong. Your mother – that is, Rarity – and I…we were wrong. I’ve had a long time to think about this; years, to be honest.

“You were – are, I still assume – happy with your human family and not just ensorcelled or brainwashed or the like. I think I saw it back then, but…you have to understand….” he began, but before she could object, he shook his head. “No…you’re right: you don’t have to understand. We should have helped you to understand you had – have – a family here. We should have realized that you truly did love the one you had on the human world. We should have realized a lot of things.

“I…I don’t know if I have the right to call you my daughter. I have missed you, missed you so much…and yet all we gave you was pain. We Equestriani believe that friendship and love will always win the day, but in this case it didn’t, did it? Or rather, the friendship and love you have for the humans you count as your friends and family did.” The aged stallion seemed to shudder as if broken by his own admission; though no tears came from his eyes, it was likely tied more to his medical condition rather than any lack of sorrow. “We did wrong by you, and I hope someday that you can forgive us for that. I hope you won’t hold it against Elusive – he was so young back then; he had nothing to do with what happened.”

“I don’t,” she said, her voice harsher than she’d intended to speak. “He’s been nothing short of wonderful, and I’m proud to call him my brother.”

“I see.” The two were quiet for a few more seconds before Silversteel looked in Mike’s direction. “I remember you,” he said plainly. “You’ve stayed with her all these years?”

Mike nodded. “Yes. She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, and we’ve had a happy life together – home, kids, that kind of thing.”

“Foals?” The look on Silver’s face was curious.

“Two boys,” DJ answered. “And before you ask, they’re our biological kids; we didn’t adopt. Twilight came through for us and I can’t thank her enough for that.”

“I owe her an apology as well, one long overdue. She tried to help and all I rewarded her with was enmity and anger. She’s forgiven me, I know that, but…it doesn’t make what happened right.” Silversteel leaned back into his bed, looking at the ceiling for what appeared to be an uncomfortably long time. In turn, DJ just looked straight at the stallion, a silent impasse that could be seen as a test of wills between the two, though such wasn’t the case.

Finally, he returned his gaze to her. “I don’t deserve it, but I want the chance to begin again, Sandalwood. I want to make it up to you, to be a family again – to have the chance we never had. All I ask is that you give me that chance.”

“I don’t know if I can,” she said softly, after a few minutes. “Can you accept that my Mom and Dad are that – my parents? That I love them as much as they love me? That I love my husband and children as much as they love me? That my brother – my human one – loves me just as much as I do him?” Though she hadn’t intended it, her voice rose higher, harder and angrier, a crescendo of pain and anguish, but to those who had been witness to the events of earlier in the morning, there was a marked difference. There was no abrasive challenge, no aggressive need to demand an all or nothing position.

Silversteel looked at her, saying nothing.

That wasn’t good enough for DJ. “Can you accept that I’m not, and never will be, Sandalwood?”

“I don’t know.” The words were plainspoken, heartfelt, the sound of a stallion realizing that X would never be Y. “All I know is that I have loved the little filly that I lost so long ago…and that you are my connection to her – you are her, whether you want to be or not.”

DJ just shook her head, then turned and walked away. Wordlessly, she went to the door, opened it, and left, slipping out as a thief making her getaway.

“Should I go ge—” Cinnamon began, but Mike shook his head and immediately followed his wife.

Cinnamon then turned to look at her uncle. He gave her a fond smile. “Heya, sunshine,” he said softly. “How are you doing?”

“Better,” she said with a weak smile. “But I’d be even better if you and DJ made up.”

Elusive looked at his cousin. “It…went a lot better than I expected, to be honest.”

Silversteel looked at his son. “It did?”

“Yes. From what I hear, she and Mother didn’t exa—” The unicorn’s explanation was suddenly cut off by the flickering of the lights and medical equipment as the power suddenly went out. The power, bolstered by backups, immediately came back on, as if nothing had been the matter. “What was that?” he wondered as the power resumed its normal condition.

“Probably nothing to worry about,” Silversteel commented. And as he saw the doctor and nurses return through the door, ready to do their duty, he looked about his son and his niece. “Elusive, tell your sister that no matter what, I have always loved her and that if there’s any room for us in her heart, we…I…want to start over.”

Elusive nodded; there were still plenty of things left to be unsaid, not the least of which was the condition of his mother and his aunts, the brutal fight DJ and Rarity had earlier in the morning, or the fact that Minty was on the other side of the hospital near dying – and her foal and husband already dead. There were a million things that he felt he needed to tell his father, to prepare the aging earth pony for what lay ahead. But he saw his father in turmoil and torment after having just faced the potential loss of his oldest foal a second time, and it was all Elusive could do to say, “I’ll do what I can, Father. DJ…she’s hurting right now, but she’s a kindhearted soul, and a woman to be admired.”

“A woman to be admired? Not mare?” Silver pondered, wondering about the human appellation. He chuckled to himself and said to nopony in particular, “I suppose so, after all this time.” Elusive was going to inquire as to what his father meant when the doctor looked straight at him, insistent that visiting hours were over and that it was time for the medical staff to do their work.

As he and Cinnamon stepped out of the room, the brown pegasus gave her cousin a wan smile. “I’m sure DJ will come around. I’m very sure of it.”

“I hope so. This morning, I was sure. This afternoon, I was convinced. Now?” He sighed and spoke the words that had once been the motto of the mare that had been at the beginning of it all: “I just don’t know what went wrong.”

Sitting in his office, idly munching from a bowl of raspberry beryl gems, Spike read over the necessary documents that he would need before he was to depart tomorrow. He was to assume the duty of temporary Ambassador to Equestria to the UN, taking over Apple Cobbler’s job. He also had the unenviable task of being the Crown’s official representative to help her husband – her widower – through the hell that stallion was probably going through right now.

Add to the fact that I’m going when we’re just on the verge of potential war with a human nation, we still have the changelings to deal with and all the turmoil in our family, and this is the worst possible time for all of this to happen, he mused. He popped a few more gems into his mouth while he read through the rest of the document before he’d heard the knock on the door.

“Uh, boss? You have a moment?” It was his secretary, Marginalia. “I’ve got your travel arrangements set. Set you up at the Waldorf-Astoria. Penthouse, just like you asked.”

The dragon didn’t look up from the paperwork, instead muttering, “Thanks, Margin. You know, it’s getting late – why don’t you go home to your family? I can lock up.”

“Well….” the unicorn said, a thoughtful look coming into her rose-hued eyes, “you look like you need somepony to talk to, and I don’t live too far away, so…if you need to get something off your barrel, Spike, I’m your mare.”

The dragon looked up from his reading, looking at the relatively young mare. She’d been hoof-picked from the secretarial pool because she wasn’t afraid of him being a dragon; plus, she had a simple honesty about her that Spike appreciated, as most ponies who didn’t know him tended to be intimidated by his size. There was also the fact that with her soft off-white coat, light blue mane and rose eyes, Twilight had commented that Margin looked like a sheaf of loose leaf paper, though Spike hadn’t hired her based on that reason.

The ponified dragon looked at her and asked, “Have you been following what’s been going on the human world? I mean, apart from what you’re seeing in the reports.”

She shook her head, the docktail of her mane swaying gently by the action, accented by the white bow she wore in it. “Sorry – I’m more of the bookish type. My husband says I’m always lost in a book in my free time and if I’m not careful, I’ll forget that he and our foals exist.”

“I doubt that; you’re not that bad,” he said with a chuckle. “But…what happened to Apple Cobbler…it made me wonder if we’re doing the right thing about trying to influence humanity to pick up our habits of peace and understanding. If anything, I think as we’ve picked up more of their technology and culture, we’re becoming more aggressive and less likely to look for the right solution – becoming more like them. I have to wonder, and no offense to AC in the least, Celestia Bless Her Soul, but…did she do any good in the end? Was she able to stop a war, or will we now have to watch our flanks for that issue?”

“I can’t say; most of the stuff we deal with is with Alter-Earth, not Human-Earth,” Margin pointed out. “So I have no real basis of comparison. But I do remember when she was here once and you two were talking in your office. She seemed proud to be out there, trying to make a difference, because it showed that ponydom was reaching towards humanity as equals. Too many ponies fear that after having been the most important race on our world, we’re becoming second fiddle to the United States, and third fiddle to humanity in general. But when you two were talking, I didn’t see that in her speech. What I saw was a mare proud to do her job, because Celestia depended on her to do it just as she does you.”

He nodded, letting her words sink in. “Sorry for the doubts, Margin. It’s just…I don’t know what I’m going to tell Antiquity. He’s hurting right now and for having been raised in the family I have and having grown up in a library, I just don’t have the words to tell him what he wants to hear.”

“Then tell him what he needs to hear,” the unicorn told her boss. “Tell him that she was doing what was right for Equestria and ponydom, and that she was a source of pride to the Crown. If nothing else, it’s the truth.”

“Thanks, Margin. Sounds like I needed to hear that just as much as Antiquity does.”

She flashed her boss a sunny smile. “Just keep that in mind when it comes time for my next raise,” she said with a grin.

Those in the room watched as the blue protective barrier started to warp and woof. “What’s going on?” Applejack asked, worried that if the second to last barrier was suddenly malfunctioning, there was a chance that the purple one – the last one keeping their curse from harming anypony else, including Sweetie Belle, who was just outside it – could go as well.

“That’s Luna’s protective barrier,” Twilight said, flatly. What was unspoken was that it wouldn’t be affected unless it was under direct attack – or that its creator was. Turning to her protégé, the lavender mage said, “I’m beginning to think that you need to go investigate that power flux after all. Might be nothing important, but….”

Protégé and mentor looked at each other. “That might not be a bad idea.” Unspoken between the two was Twilight’s worry that if Luna’s barrier was suddenly malfunctioning, then there was the chance that her barrier might go the same way, endangering Sweetie’s life.

“Be careful, Sweetie,” Twilight said, the look on her face sober. “Again, it might just be nothing important, but—”

“You take care too,” the younger unicorn said as she teleported out. Normally the barrier would have prevented it, but the spell had been tailored to whitelist a few particular ponies and the accomplished mage had been one of them.

Meanwhile, not watching as her former apprentice had disappeared, Twilight went over to the bed where Rarity was sleeping. “Help me get her up,” she asked Applejack.

“Sure thing, sugarcube,” the earth pony said as she moved to help Twilight lift Rarity off her bed. “What ‘bout Rainbow?”

The archmagus shook her head. “I might need Rarity’s help with magic, something Rainbow can’t assist on. Plus, I don’t want to endanger her unborn foal. And lastly,” she said, looking at the barrier as it started to pulse wildly, “if I can’t stop what’s about to happen, it won’t matter anyway.”

“What’s gonna happen?” Applejack asked as the blue barrier pulsed hard enough to cast off a spray of magic that shattered into tiny motes of light. The barrier would start cracking, and at any moment, it was clear that it was going to go down. Something was happening and Luna had to be aware.

As they moved her, Twilight’s earlier spell cancelled and Rarity came to. “Twilight?” she asked as she yawned. “Is there a reason for waking me up?” A second later there was a sharp crack as the spell began to lose coherency. “I suppose you’ll need my assistance then,” she said, righting herself as she watched the barrier splinter.

Luna felt the crack in her mind the moment it started. One of my barriers is failing. She knew that immediately; she’d created a number of them around the realm for different needs – and even a couple on Human-Earth – and as they were tied to her, she always knew when one of them was about to fail. Furthermore, this was one of the ones that had been warded, which mea—

One of her guards came up to her, a look of concern on her face. “My apologies, ladies and gentlestallion,” she said to the other dinner guests, before addressing the night alicorn directly. “Your highness, a moment of your time, if you please.”

“Certainly, guardspony,” she said to the mare, looking at the other with a slight glance of apology. “How may I be of assistance?”

“We just received a call from the observatory on Poll Mountain. The protective barrier is on the verge of failing, and while they’re evacuating the facility, the local Guild Office isn’t going to be able to support your barrier or stop the rockslide in time. The Guild is sending reinforcements in, but…well, I thought you’d be interested in being appraised of the situation, your highness.”

She nodded. “Thank you for your time, guardspony.” As the guard departed, Luna sighed. I knew I should have updated the spell on that barrier months ago. Poll Mountain was known for two things: being in a part of the realm where it was clear enough to see almost the whole expanse of space, and for being a very unstable mountain. When the Royal Astronomy Service requested her assistance in order to build an observatory on the highly-precarious summit, Luna had agreed on the condition that there be enough Guild mages on-hoof in order to prevent disaster; the town of Mountain Stream sat at the foot of the mountain and a sufficient landslide would be brutal. While the events of the last few weeks had pretty much tied up the Guild, the office in Mountain Stream should have had enough mages present to….

I’ll find out later, she said to herself as she rose from her seat. Looking at the others, she said, “There’s been an emergency near Poll Mountain and I have to head out to assist. I apologize that I must depart.”

“Need any help?” Cadance asked. As the weakest of the three alicorns, there wasn’t much she could do but the fact alone that she offered warmed Luna’s heart. The Avatar of Love was, if nothing else, selfless in her concern.

“No, I can take care of this solo,” the dusky alicorn commented, “and then I’m going to have a talk with Raspberry Blast as to why the Guild Office was understaffed. The facility is priority, and….”

Imago stood up from her own seat. “Then I think we should leave at once, Luna,” the flutterqueen said. When the night princess began to decline, Imago gave her fellow royal a sincere look. “This is an excellent opportunity for flutters to integrate themselves into Equestriani society and prove we’re not like changelings. Will you deny me that chance?”

“I guess I’m holding down the fort then,” Cadance said, smiling. “Don’t worry, you two can tell us all about your misadventures when you get back.”

“Besides,” Pip said, “I think Cadance and I can have a decent discussion about foal-rearing while you two are gone. Neither of us are used to being parents, so it should be an interesting conversation.”

Luna nodded, and with a quick glance to Imago, her horn flared with turquoise power, teleporting both outside, leaving the juniormost princess and the colonel to their conversation.

By the time Sweetie arrived at the electrical room, there was already a group of maintenance workers, as well as a couple of soldiers. “What’s going on?” she said to the sergeant on-scene.

“We found the body of a nurse up on the eighth floor,” the lieutenant in charge of security said in the crisp accent of a Trottingham native, “shortly just before the power fluctuation. That was when we came across the body of one of the engineers.”

“Have you started searching for potential threats?” she asked.

“Already done, ma’am,” he replied. “I’ve got some of my best ponies on the case. Though, with a mage of your rank, I’m not too proud to ask for assistance.”

“Consider it done, then,” she said, looking at the door to the electrical room and noting that the door had been ripped off its hinges, the frame carbon-scored. That wasn’t exactly a good sign, she thought to herself. “Anything I should be aware of?”

“We found a device that looks as though it might be a bomb. We haven’t moved it yet, but we’re calling in some EOD to remove it. If you’re going in, I’ll get an escort for you.”

“I’ll be fine, Lieutenant,” Sweetie answered. “I’m a grown mare – I can take care of myself,” she said with a disarming smile.

“I’m sure you can, ma’am,” he said in reply, “but I recognize who you are and if I let you get hurt, I may as well move to the southernmost continent on the planet…on Human-Earth, no less.”

Realizing that he was going to insist on a military escort for her for no other reason than protocol – she did equate to that of a NATO OF-6, she acquiesced to the escort, a young-but cute unicorn private who looked as though he’d just joined the REA and was nervous to be in the presence of a VIP. Assuring him that she wasn’t going to bite his head off, she headed off towards her goal.

Entering the room proper, she noted the telltale signs of electrical discharge, as well as the remaining “hoofprint” of a lightning magic spell. Strangely enough, from what she could tell, the magic seemed very much as though it was like a changeling’s, but at the same time, also like a pony. It was as if….

Wait…Imago’s foal is half-flutter, half-pony, the unicorn thought to herself, ignoring the personal anguish regarding that still-unsolved situation. She was going to have to do something about that eventually, but now wasn’t the time. If there’s one possible one in existence, then there’s the chance that…. The white mare rifled through her memories of Shining and all the times he’d hunted down the changelings with a vengeance that went beyond merely protecting Equestria. Chrysalis had already made it personal when she’d attack Canterlot and foalnapped Cadance, but…what if something else had happened, something that the long-deceased stallion had shared only with his wife and a few trusted others? It was one of the few things in Twilight’s life that she’d kept secret from Sweetie, a matter of family – blood family in this case, not just the greater family that they’d become.

“Do you sense that, ma’am?” the private at her side spoke. He wasn’t a Guildie like she was, but he was trained in military spells, including magic detection – there was no way he could miss anything of that sort. “It’s magic, but I can’t quite pin it down.”

“If it’s what I think it is,” Sweetie said in somber tones, “then we could be in rea—”

A quick flare of light cut her train of thought off immediately. The floor started to glow as lines of citrine power began to snake and snarl in intricate, knotted patterns, at a fast pace. Within seconds, four sigils had been created and what was coming into existence on the ground was clear.

The bomb’s nothing but a decoy! Sweetie suddenly realized. The spell was triggered by a pony of sufficient magic level – such as an EOD expert…or a high-ranking mage, she now knew – and that the result was going to be very painful.

Turning around immediately, she screamed to the senior officer, “Get this wing of the Infirmary evacuated immediately! We’ve got seconds at most!” Wheeling around to face the nearly-completed sigil, she didn’t bother to try to figure out the best way to counteract the growing magic. She merely just let loose with Shining Armor’s Final Barrier Spell, hoping she was strong enough to keep it in place once the spell we—

The world turned into a blinding, roaring blare of fuschine-rose and black, swallowing everything that Sweetie could see. And as she too was enveloped in the blast, her last thoughts were of her own mind betraying her…of her desire to remain with the stallion that had left her, the stallion she loved more than anything.

Gooey cheese splattered onto Celestia’s face, the pizza slice sliding off her royal muzzle to impact against the ground with a liquid slapping tone. Something had just shaken the palace like an earthquake, catching her completely off-guard. The sun princess ignored the heat of the food topping on her face as she banished it into nonexistence with a flicker of her horn. “What happened?”

“Felt like an earthquake.” Crashed on the ground, Sam had salvaged his slice of pizza, but at the expense of his Coke spilling all over his shirt. “I’ve been through enough of those to know what they feel like.”

“Are you okay?” In the background, a movie that she’d chosen, one of those weird slapstick comedies starring famous pony comedian Sharpwit and a human actor she wasn’t familiar with was suddenly ignored. She’d been on the verge of getting him to agree that a Crown-level police agency comprised of all of Equestria’s subjects and not just ponies would be the way to go, but that there would probably be some pushback from the Mage Guild Investigation Directorate, as well as the fact of a non-pony being in charge of the top law enforcement agency in the land. She was just about to push him again to accepting it when there was a knock on the door.

“Your majesty!” he called out. “There’s been an attack at the Infirmary!”

Celestia didn’t think twice. Wrapping Sam up in her magic, she immediately teleported to the hospital site. There was only one reason why the Infirmary would be attacked, and though heading there would be a danger to her, the risk to Equestria was that much greater. Twilight and the others were in terrible danger, and the ruler of Equestria would not sit idle while threats to her family rose to terrible greatness. She would end them with the power of the sun and then woe be to whomever was foalish enough to ill-cross the path of an Avatar.

It took a few minutes for the dust and detritus to settle down. Three ponies coughed in the dirt obscured darkness until a light-blue light, emanating from Rarity’s horn, illuminated the ruined chamber. The light then guttered as a searing pain tore through Rarity, her magic once again quelled by the curse lain upon them. But it gave Twilight enough time to cast a spell bringing up a spare globe of energy to serve as a light in the darkness-choked room.

“What-cough-happened?” Rarity just asked.

“Dunno, sugarcube,” Applejack drawled, never taking her eyes off the settling dust on the other side of the purple barrier, “but Ah reckon ‘taint nothin’ good.”

“Girls, keep an eye on Rainbow,” Twilight ordered. “I have a funny feeling that we’re about to meet the pony responsible for all of this.”

“A pony,” a familiar voice laughed. “As if I would consider myself such a weak individual.” The remaining smoke and dust cleared away, and standing before them was Shining Armor…if he’d been possessed by changelings. The coat of the stallion was a light gray, nearly the same hue as Rarity’s own coat. The mane and tail were smoky gray and slate blue, both inexplicably pocked with holes. The wings were also of the same slate gray, likewise pitted. The stallion’s horn was a misshapen, bulbous mass that looked more like a stalagmite growing out of his head than a true licorne. Lastly, his eyes were filled with unnatural hatred in their blood-red coloring, two orbs filled with nothing less than contempt and disgust for what he held before him.

And yet, all Twilight could see were the twisted features of her older brother, of the stallion that had married and loved Cadance, the dearest older brother that had taught Twilight her first spells, the beloved older brother that had always taken Spike to the park, the one that had always been there for them all. And now here was a grotesque parody sneering at them, the result of what Chrysalis had done to her brother – of that there was no doubt.

Twilight’s anger grew, despite herself. Something inside her told her that to allow herself to get angry would be to allow herself to succumb to the curse, but she couldn’t help herself. The changeling queen had abused Shiny, humiliated him and now come up with abominations to stain his good name. In no way would Twilight ever stand for that.

Meanwhile, the abomination before her laughed. “I see I’ve made my mark without even so much as lifting a hoof. The contest hasn’t even started yet and I have already won.”

“You’ve won nothing,” Twilight said in low, dangerous tones. “I don’t care what Chrysalis’ game is, but you won’t win.”

“Mother’s game is simple,” the stallion said, brushing a hoof on his coat as if the situation was of no concern. “We are at war, you and I, and there will be a winner and there will be a loser. All I have to do, Twilight Sparkle, is to break your barrier and tear you and your companions apart with my power. You, however, must keep those barriers up at all costs, lest your curse start to plague this damaged hospital. The advantage is mine, and I, Broken Armor, will win.”

“Ah don’ think so,” Applejack snarled. “An’ Ah don’ understand why yer fightin’ us, but Ah do know you won’t win.” Applejack moved next to her sister-in-bond, standing wither to wither with the lavender unicorn. “Just bring it on, bucko – we’re ready.”

“Indeed!” Rarity moved to support Twilight as well. Despite their disagreement over the years, they were sisters and they would always be so. “You do not realize what you are doing, Mr. Broken Armor. If you were wise, you would turn tail now and return to Chrysalis while you still have the chance!”

Broken Armor laughed. “Oh, this is rich! You, Twilight Sparkle, will make a fine rug in my domain when I am done with you – I’ll skin you alive!” he snarled. “As for your friends, I will break them and make you watch as I do so.”

“Last chance,” Twilight said calmly. A corner of her mane started to frizz up a bit, and out of the corner of her eye Rarity couldn’t help but notice. Her friend was infuriated, extremely so, and when Twilight lost control…well, Ponyville had yet to forget that last time.

Broken Armor grinned. “And to think that my father was of your blood! I’m glad that Mother killed him before he could ever infect me with the same drivel that leaks from your collective brains!” His horn began to bubble with a shaped charge, dozens of fuschine-rose hued spheres encircling it and popping, as if the immediate air around his twisted licorne was made of soda water. “It will be an honor to break you in two, Twilight Sparkle, and to dance on your grave!” With that, he bent his horn, and fired his spell.

The magenta blast tore forward, slamming into the purple barrier with enough force to make the magical wall vibrate like a bell. Twilight immediately countered, her own horn flickering with purple energy as she started to pump magic right into the spell to rejuvenate the damage done, while looking for ways to send spells out to attack Broken Armor while not letting the curse escape the confines of the quarantine room, a task much harder now that it was in ruins. He pushed more and more, and she countered, bringing more and more of the power to mind.

The two went at it for several minutes, the two beams colliding against the barrier at cross-purposes, Broken Armor’s negating blast while Twilight loosed hers as protector to counter the danger. But as those minutes slipped by the advantage became clear. Broken Armor had been specifically trained for this moment and he continued to lay on power, while Twilight, already weakened by the constant need to keep her sisters’ curses at bay, plus the powering of the barrier and continual research into how to nullify the spell, had taxed her already dangerously-depleted reserves. Finally, as both stopped their first volley, the state was clear: Broken Armor was somewhat winded but more than ready to continue with a second volley, while Twilight was panting heavily, drawing on everything to continue the fight.

“Twi, don’ do this,” Applejack whispered. “Don’ hurt yourself.”

Rarity looked at the former farmpony. “I don’t think he’s going to give us much of an option!”

But it was Twilight who drew within herself. Forcing herself back to a ready state, she snarled, “You won’t win!” as she brought up her aura to full. Violet power erupted around her as her eyes glazed over with the same energy. Drawing from within herself, she fired once more at the shield, the blast stronger and more vibrant as she poured more power into it.

“GOOD!” the pepsis taunted as he rose to the occasion, starting his second attack. “I’ll kill you that much faster!” The two assaulted the barrier again, but the noticeable difference was that Broken Armor’s advantage was clear this time. The corruption crept up more and more around Twilight’s body as her magic was focused away from healing herself, and as the second volley ended a few minutes later, Twilight crashed to the ground, her rearmost body looking as though it had been run through a crisper, scorched and blackened. She gasped heavily, unable to stand.

“Have…have to stop…have to stop you,” she gasped, trying to scramble to her feet. “Can’t lose.”

“Twi, no!” Applejack shouted, her eyes filled with worry. “Don’t!”

Rarity for her part, moved in front of Twilight, facing against Broken Armor. “While I might not have her power,” the former fashionista snarled, “I’ll be damned if I let you harm her!”

“I’ll take you first,” was the stallion’s response as he charged his horn for a third time. Twilight continued to force herself to her feet, ready and willing to sacrifice herself now, of that she was sure. She knew she wasn’t going to live through this next attack, but if she could save Applejack and Rarity, it would be worth it.

“Rarity, get out of the way,” Twilight said, her voice wavering.

“NO!” The white unicorn turned to face her counterpart. “I won’t let you die, Twilight! Somepony has to be there for Sweetie! For my husband and foals! For….” She trailed off, unable to find the right words to say before finally taking a breath and letting them spill out: “For Sandalwood.” Not waiting for an answer from Twilight, Rarity turned back to face their tormentor and seethed, “Do. Your. Worst!”

“Oh, I will, I will. Any dying words?”

The answer came from the sky in the form of a blast of orange energy, as bright as the sun. The fireball slammed into the already-cracked tiles, creating a small crater in between the damaged purple barrier and the triumphant Broken Armor. Then the fireball dissipated, and standing up from it, drawing herself up, was a pepsis mare, her face a mask of righteous rage.

“You want dying words?” the newly-arrived pepsis said to Broken Armor, who looked surprised at the appearance of the newcomer. “Then hear these: GET THE BUCK AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!”

And sense shattered into a million pieces as the new arrival rocketed forward, burning with the power of a comet, slamming into the larger stallion, beginning a new fight.

Author's Note

And here we are at long last! Thanks for reading!

Chapter Nineteen: …Is Only a Motion Away

Mike didn’t really have to walk far to find his wife; by the time he’d caught up with her, she was by the elevators, waiting for the next one to take her down to the lobby. She also had a pair of sunglasses on despite the fact that it was sunset, which meant that she’d had an emotional outburst that she didn’t want anyone to see. Unfortunately for her, the custom Oakleys that she owned didn’t quite cover her eyes like the sunglasses that most ponies wore and as a result it wasn’t hard to see the pain on her face.

“Heya, hon,” he said softly to her, reaching out to her, but instead found her suddenly turning around to face him, her eyes now hidden behind smoke-black UV plutonite lenses.

“All he wanted to see was the daughter he’d lost so long ago. Twice.” Her voice was barely a whisper, just a hair’s-breadth above sotto voce. “And that’s all he wanted…and instead, he was rewarded with pain.”

“Dee, hon, it’s not your fault,” he said, reaching out to caress her face, his hand coming to a gentle rest on her tiny muzzle.

She reached up and removed the shades, revealing violet eyes stained with tears. “Mike…who am I?”

“You know who you are, DJ,” he said to her.

But she shook her head. “Who am I? Am I Daisy Jo Martinez, or am I Sandalwood? Am I lying to myself about being human, or…?”

“I said you know who you are,” he insisted, wrapping his arms around her. “You’re the woman I’ve loved for over twenty years, DJ. And I don’t care what you call yourself, or who your parents are – adopted or birth. You’re my wife and the mother of my children. You’re a brave woman who’s put up with more in your life than you should have, you’ve survived things that would probably break a lesser person – and you just keep steaming on.”

“Mike, seriously.”

“I am serious, hon,” he said, holding her. “You have a way of affecting things – you always have. And do you know what that makes you, DJ?” He caressed her face again, saying, “That makes you important. You are important, to a lot of people – both human and not. You’re important to me, to our kids, to your family both on our world and here. And last but not least,” he said, bending down to kiss her, “you’re always important to me.”

As always, that brought a smile to her lips. “I love you,” she said to him, as they leaned into a kiss…

…and the lights flickered out on the building, only to come back on with an uneasy spasm.

“Wonder what that was?” she said, regretfully pulling away from him.

“I’m guessing it’s nothing bad,” he said, though his voice indicated he didn’t believe it.

“With my luck?” the humanized pony asked her husband.

“Yeah, you’re right – let’s go get the others before something stupid happens.”

They had barely made it back to Silversteel’s room when the whole building shook.

“Twilight!” Rarity screamed, moving to the side of her sister. The lavender unicorn was more blackened now than her original hue, and it was clear that she’d expended so much magic that what little she was using to keep them all alive was now coursing through her veins, tearing her apart.

“Rarity….” she gasped. “Let it go….”

“NO!” the white mare shouted, her horn coming alive with cerulean force. “We are your family, Twilight! Don’t you dare give up!” Rarity immediately began to cast a healing spell, the same one that Twilight had been using on them. As the darkness began to fade from the archmagus’ coat, the pearl gray of Rarity’s own began to darken and splotch with black in places as the curse began to take a hold on her.

“What are you doing?” Twilight wheezed.

“Dear, I might not have your prodigious talents at magic but you have taught me a thing or two over the years, mind,” Rarity said, wincing as she felt a jag where the curse began to dig in a particularly painful manner. “You have nopony to blame but yourself if the rest of us have learned to keep up with the High and Mighty Twilight Sparkle,” she said with a smile that she didn’t quite feel. “Applejack, dear, please give me your hoof,” she said, reaching out with her own.

“Ah, sure, Rares,” the one-time farmpony said, complying with her sister’s request. “But why?”

“Because I’m not as strong as Twilight, and what I’m about to do could kill me. Since I’m quite sure you don’t want that to happen, I’ll need to share, the, ah, ‘injurious effects’ with you.”

“No,” Twilight said. “Don’t, please!”

Applejack looked at one stricken unicorn, then to the other one, her face a mask of pain and determination. They were both her sisters, two ponies she’d loved just as much as her own flesh-and-blood siblings. To Applejack, there was no difference.

“Let’s git ‘er done, Rares,” the earth pony said, steeling herself for the damage she was about to receive. “Dunno when that maniac might be back an’ try t’ start somethin’ again.”

“Well, let’s hope that newcomer keeps him busy,” Rarity replied. “But one thing that makes me curious: did she say ‘get away from my mother’?”

Broken Armor prided himself on several things. While he wasn’t the tactician that his eldest brother Blood Armor was, or had the joie du travail that Overcast Night did or the…well, the orgiastic pleasure in her job that Blue Velvet did, Broken Armor took a particular pleasure in being his mother’s hoof-chosen assassin. None of the jobs she’d ever tasked him with failed, and as such, he was rewarded with his mother’s favor, the honor of being one of the more important pepsis of Chrysalis’ brood. And each accolade spurred him on towards greater heights.

But not today. And for the first time in his life, Broken Armor learned that not only was failure a very real possibility, but that there was now the potential that he could lose. And as he was pushed back, slammed against a wall hard enough to rattle his fangs, he was getting quite the education. With a painful crash, he fell back to the floor, attempting to ignore the blood – his blood, for a change – spilling out on the ground.

He looked up at his attacker and saw only madness. She was, like he, a pepsis, though she clearly came from the “Twilight” clutch of siblings. For the most part, with one or two exceptions, the Twilights were the workhorses, the unremarkable ones who served more as front-line troops alongside the normal changelings. Once in a while one would earn his mother’s favor, such as Twilight Gloaming or Ember Sparkle, but for the most part they were disposable carcasses who didn’t have the intelligence to know they were dead yet.

And yet here was one of their number, facing off against him. Somehow insanely gone rogue – and was, if anything, inexplicably strong despite her genetics.

“Stand down now and I just might not tell our revered brother of your treachery,” Broken Armor hissed. He could already feel one of his canines coming loose; he’d have to repair that with magic the first chance he got after finishing this mission. He already knew it’d be a stain on his perfect record; he would end his marks, but it also was an unfitting end to his “one-engagement, one-kill” standard.

“No,” the pepsis before him said. As he looked at her, he realized she looked a bit different than her fellow clutchmates: Her fur wasn’t as spiky as the pepsis norm and her wings didn’t have the usual holes. In fact…upon closer inspection, she didn’t have the bulbous, misshapen horn that was normal for pepsis; hers looked almost like the unicorn standard. Her mane and tail didn’t carry the pockmarks and pits of a changeling heritage; in fact, the only thing that indicated that she was a pepsis at all was her saddle carapace – which also wasn’t scarred, unlike that of his siblings’ – and wings. If anything, she looked like….

….she looks like Twilight Sparkle, he realized, as if she’s trying to be some sort of imitation.

“Did Mother change the plan?” he asked suddenly, wondering if that’s why she opposed him. That had to be it – Chrysalis suddenly decided having a pepsis infiltrate the ponies was probably for the best. Of course, Broken Armor would be confused as to the reason; it wasn’t his duty to question his mother’s reasons – so the only real way to stop him would be through violence.

So it was a complete shock to him when the Twilight came closer to him and said in threatening tones, “You go back to wherever the changelings are and tell them that we ponies will beat them. Even if I have to spend the rest of my life fighting every last one of you, I will protect my mother!”

“I’m impressed. You sound nearly authentic as if you’r….” His words suddenly trailed off as he looked at her – truly looked at her. Her position hadn’t wavered, her stance remained aggressive and angry. The look in her blue eyes was something he hadn’t seen before and something he couldn’t quite explain – but he knew he didn’t like it. Lastly, her wings were flared out in the natural way changeling and pepsis wings spread when they signaled a challenge.

Wait…she’s still challenging me? he wondered, confused.

“Leave now and I’ll let you stay intact,” she warned. “You can be the one to carry the warning to Chrysalis: we ponies de—”

“You dare to refer to Mother so casually?” Broken Armor said, aghast. How could she even conceive of such an action – even Blood Armor himself trod carefully when speaking to their dam and he was by far and away her favored offspring. But to think that this mere slip of a Twilight would even consider such an action? It was madness; it had to be…

…unless she was tainted. He knew that happened from time to time. While it usually happened with the Velvets, it wasn’t exactly unheard of in the other clutches; in hindsight, he should’ve noticed the signs earlier. Displaced from the hivemind, this fool of a Twilight lost her loyalty to her family and in doing so, went through the princely phase, the phase their mother had warned them would have fatal consequences if they weren’t absolutely loyal to her. Now “independent”, the pepsis standing before him no doubt now fancied herself a queen, an equal to their mother – the audacity of such an action was stunning, to say the least.

Broken Armor suddenly eyed the false queen in a new light. He now had an extra mission to perform, one that would truly bring him honor and accolades. Getting back up to his hooves, he started to formulate a plan on how to defeat the pretender before him.

Leaning back slightly, Twilight Sunburn tried to recall all the magic tricks that Faust had taught her in their short time together; most of it had been more educational than practical, since for most of that time Twilight had been in no condition to exercise those skills. But she was capable of learning; fairly quickly, in fact, the former alicorn queen had noted. In truth, Faust had told her, being mentally agile counted in a battle even more than physical or martial prowess; you might not be able to outrun or outfight your opponent, but if you could outthink them, there was nothing they could do to touch you. Plus, from everything Faust could dig up on Twilight Sparkle, she was very mentally adroit, and would very much appreciate a quick-thinking daughter.

Twilight Sunburn had beamed back then at the alicorn queen’s compliment and did so inwardly as she recalled it now. But she brushed it aside just as quickly; to dwell on that could get her killed and she hadn’t come so far to finally see her mother for the first time only to die now.

With a massive column of jade flame before her, her brother-in-genes-only transformed into a gruesome hydra, all spikes, teeth and alien looks that didn’t remotely resemble the wild predators of Froggy Bottom Swamp so much as the nightmarish ones that she’d seen on Wikipedia. She knew he’d changed into that form in order to attack and contain her; with his heads he could try to pin her down and finish her off with bite from one or more of those venomous heads that hydras had…

…Just as she’d suspected. She shook her head inwardly. Idiot.

She called up a spell, as rings of fire began to burn around her, held in place by the mystic gravity of the runes burning through the air. This wasn’t pony magic, but instead the power of dragon sorcery; Faust had surmised that due to Twilight Sparkle’s talents, she’d probably memorized something like this with ease; Faust had told her that she’d counted on the combination of Twilight’s brain and any military talents she’d inherited from her father to save the day; she’d certainly need them now.

“DIE, PRETENDER!” the twelve heads of the hydra screamed in unison as Broken Armor lunged towards his foe, ready to deliver the killing blow—

—only to have the golden rings of Sunburn’s spell ensnare him as she looked at him with fierce determination. Twisting her head, she threw him like a ragdoll, where he skidded across broken tiles and into a heavily-cracked wall. He didn’t have much time to recover as the pepsis mare launched herself at him, charging forth into a battle that would determine the fate of those nearby – and perhaps even all of Equestria.

The room was nothing but dust, debris and smoke. Twisted bits of metal and glass peppered the area, the remains of the equipment inside that had been a mixture of human technology and pony magic, both now nothing more than useless scrap. In the center of the room was a sizable pile of rubble and rebar, the remains of the floors above as they had come crashing down, a result of an explosion. Everything within sight was blackened and charred, the flames having died down.

A second later, the space filled with soft blue light as the rubble was flung in every direction, away from the center of the room, revealing a smoky blue bubble, and the ponies within, one of which powered the spell with her own magic. As the smoke and dust faded away, Sweetie Belle finally released the spell, much to the relief of the ponies she’d saved.

Ignoring the cheers and lauds, she quickly hoofed out of the room, making a beeline for the quarantine ward. This had been an attack, a brutally punishing one, but one easily repelled nonetheless. That meant it was a distraction and there was only one group of targets in the building worth the effort of an expensive timewaster such as what she’d just put herself through.

Racing for the stairs, she knew both teleporting and the elevator were out – the former because she’d be entering a room blind and the latter because human equipment, as had just been proven, was easily sabotaged. Either could potentially take her out of the picture quickly, and with Sweetie now the only hope still standing, she had to make sure that she wasn’t removed from the scene while trying to dash in and save the day. But between her and the stairs was countless rubble and debris; she couldn’t just teleport it away, as some of it probably held the remaining structure in place. She was going to have to find a unique way to get herself and the others out, and then from there, get to her sisters to save them.

She only hoped she could get there in time.

Sam steeled himself for the teleport. While he’d done it before, he’d never done it on a full stomach, and he didn’t want his reappearance onto the physical plane to be accompanied by a…release… of whatever was in his stomach. As he felt his feet hit the floor, he also noticed that both he and Celestia were behind a barricade – and that the local sheriff’s office was already arguing over jurisdiction with the army. The situation was riled enough that when the two appeared, nopony seemed to take notice of their ruler and the human appearing out of thin air.

“Should we intervene?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “I’d rather that you observed this. If you are going to take the position – and I understand your hesitancy at the moment – you need to see what you’re dealing with.” He nodded in agreement and as Celestia quickly cast an invisibility spell on them, he watched the sheriff and the major in charge of the army contingent verbally spar over whose forces were going to go into the hospital to evacuate civilians and relieve the likely-beleaguered army troops already on-site. The major pointed out that the Royal Infirmary was, technically, a military facility and as such the military had jurisdiction. The sheriff then pointed out that as the hospital was in the center of town, any escaped attackers could pose a threat to the citizenry and thus the sheriff’s forces had to act fast. The major then pointed out that meant that it was urgent that the military act immediately to vanquish the enemy to which the sheriff stated that the point was to catch the criminals, not just start a war in the middle of the capital. To which the sheriff then told the major just to shut up and in turn the major stated something unkind about the sheriff’s mother, involving her tail. Things devolved shortly after that.

“And that’s our cue to step in,” Sam sighed. Unfortunately, having been in a few situations like this, Sam knew that turf battles were common between jurisdictions and even more so when over-inflated egos were involved. It was both sad and unsurprising to see that developing here in Equestria; he’d seen enough of it on his native world.

“Allow me,” she said, cancelling her earlier spell and flaring her power to its brightest. The power of her magic turned the twilight hour into dazzling noon as the major, the sheriff and their respective parties suddenly noticed the Princess of the Day amongst them. As they all fell to their knees, they noticed the stern look on their ruler’s face.

“It would seem to me,” Celestia said, her tones carrying the sorrow of disappointment, “that in this hour of need we are all Equestriani and we all have a stake in taking care of our land. Major Barracks, while it is the duty of the Army to protect the realm, it is the responsibility of the sheriff to protect the townsponies. Sheriff Blueline, while it’s commendable of you to be concerned with my ponies, the fact is that this is a military installation.”

“Then that means my people have jurisdiction!” Major Barracks spoke up, giving a look of triumph to his now-sullen counterpart.

“However, Major,” Celestia continued, “since the revisions to the law require posse comitatus to remain intact, I would prefer that a law enforcement agency take over, preferably one at the Crown level as to sidestep any potential problems. Do we have anypony from the Mage Guild on-scene?”

“Not to my knowledge, ma’am,” Major Barracks said, suitably chastened.

She nodded, then turned to the human next to her. “Sam, take whatever ponies you need from either group, then go ahead.” That was met with both the major and the sheriff simultaneously asking “WHAT?” while Sam merely looked at Celestia with surprise. Ignoring the two ponies, she said, “I need someone neutrally-minded to go in there and take care of the issue. That would be you.”

“But I….” he began, only to have her look at him directly. Her eyes said it all: I cannot beg this of you while in public, but please, Sam, I need your help. Seeing that, he nodded and said, “Yup, I guess I can do. Sheriff, give me your two best ponies. Major, same with you. Can someone find me a handgun with a human grip?”

“What, you know how to use a gun?” Barracks asked, eyeing the newcomer with suspicion.

Blueline looked at the human appreciatively. “He’s a human cop – he’s been giving lectures on human law enforcement methods over at HQ the past few days.” The sheriff looked at Sam and said, “I don’t know what her majesty is up to, but I’ll back your play for now.”

“If that’s the case, then here, take mine.” The major handed over a M9A2 with the trigger guard removed. “I just like the feel,” he asked when Sam inquired.

Celestia cast a quick spell on the human and four ponies. “This is a marker spell; anypony trained in magic will be able to recognize it and it’s not easily duplicated by the changelings, so you should be safe in case you run into others within.”

“Roger that,” he said. “Okay, you guys on me. Soldiers, take point. Deputies, stay close behind but give enough room that we’re not going to get boxed in. Let’s get going; there are people in there that need us.”

“C’mon, we gotta get out of here,” DJ shouted as they reentered Silversteel’s room.

Mike looked around the room, quickly assessing the situation. “Hon,” he told DJ, “go find a wheelchair for him. Elusive, can you get Cinnamon out of here?”

“I could, but what’s going on?” Elusive asked.

“Not a clue,” DJ responded as she headed back out the door again, “but I don’t think it’s a good idea to stick around and let Babylon fall down around our collective ears!”

As DJ departed the room, Elusive murmured, “What’s Babylon?”

“Figure of speech, Luse,” Mike said, heading over to help Cinnamon back to her feet; the shaking had unnerved her to the point that she tried to crawl under the bed. “C’mon, Cinnamon, we’re gonna get you out of here.”

“C-can’t move. Afraid,” she moaned from her place by the bed.

“We do this the hard way, then. Can you teleport us out of here?” Mike asked.

“I’m not that strong. I can teleport one other besides myself,” Elusive said, the note in his voice rising as he realized that whatever going on wasn’t just some casual earthquake. “I’m thinking I should teleport myself and my father, Mike.”

“No.” With some effort, Silversteel sat up in the bed and looked at his son. “Get your cousin out of here, son; she’s terrified right now. I’ll take my chances with your sister and her husband.” Looking at Mike, he asked, “I’m presuming you don’t mind.”

Mike moved to the bed to help Silversteel get out of it. “Wouldn’t have come back if we did,” he answered.

“I…I never thought I’d see her again,” the stallion admitted to Mike. “It’s a Celestia-given second chance I’ve got, and I don’t want to waste it.” Mike said nothing, instead merely helping the stallion move his hindlegs to hang off the side of the bed, sitting briefly in a human manner.

A second later, DJ was back, pushing a wheelchair. “Looks like we’re the only ones left on the floor; either they evacuated everyone else quickly or you were the only one bunked on this floor,” DJ said to Silversteel.

“Well, it was meant to be somewhat private, but I didn’t think they’d go this far,” he admitted, as both DJ and Mike helped him into the wheelchair.

“Strap him in,” DJ advised. “We’re gonna have to go down the steps, since the elevator’s probably too unsafe at the momen—”

KRAK

“What was tha—” the humanized pony had barely enough time to get the first few words out before the floor gave way. The trio fell, with nothing beneath them but the ground below, a very painful four stories and two sublevels down towards a brutal death…

…or it would have been had it not been for Silversteel, holding on to a broken edge of rebar with one foreleg, and grabbing one of DJ’s forelegs with the other, even as DJ had her tail wrapped around Mike’s arm, grasping on for dear life.

“Hold on – I’ve got you!” Silversteel shouted.

“Got me? Dude, you just got out of that hospital bed after being in a coma and you’ve got me?” DJ yelped.

“Hey hon, I don’t know about you, but this is not the best place to be for me!” Mike shouted.

“Mike, don’t…move!” she gritted through her teeth. “I can barely hold onto you!” The pain in her tail was excruciating. She remembered the time it had been smashed by Mike’s aunt well over a decade ago; this was worse. She was probably going to need medical attention after this.

“Hold on!” Silversteel shouted from his precarious position. Normally all this weight wouldn’t be a problem, he knew, but he just got out of a coma less than half an hour ago and his strength was at a huge ebb. Even still…it was his daughter’s life at risk, that and her husband’s. He’d lost enough already in his life…he wasn’t going to let go.

“That’s my general plan!” she shouted back. “You have a better idea than being a windchime?”

“I do,” he gasped, “but you’re going to have to trust me.”

“Not like we got a lot of choice!”

Silversteel could already start to feel his grip on the rebar weakening. “Okay, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to let you g—”

“NO!” DJ shouted, the look in her eyes worried.

Silversteel looked down into those purple eyes, seeing the fear in them and the younger face they’d once been a part of. And he saw two other images as well, eyes of gold, eyes of orange and eyes of violet, reminding him of what he’d lost already. And he still didn’t know if two other pairs of eyes yet remained still on this plane. All he could see in his mind’s eye were six sets of eyes, all belonging to females in his life, and he resolved, even it cost him his last breath, he would lose no more.

“I’m going to let you go, but I need you to grab my hindleg or my tail,” he said, moving his left hindleg as close to her as he could; they still felt stiff and weak, as if they were made of wood with sinews of string. “I need both my forelegs if I’m going to pull us up.” Seeing the worried look in her eyes, he said, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Sandalwood. I…I won’t lose you again – I lost your sisters and I won’t lose you again!”

DJ blinked. Sisters? She figured he was spacing at the moment, and realized now was probably a good time to shut her mouth about that. Instead, she said, “Okay, what do you want me to do?”

“On the count of three, I’m going to let you go and you need to grab on and hold on,” he told her. “I can use my forelegs to pull us up, then!”

“Are you kidding? I’m not that strong!” she shouted. “And Mike’s barely hanging on!”

He gave her a comforting smile. “You’re an earth pony – you’ve got more strength than you know, especially in this family. And you’re a mare – you have better tensile strength in your tail than stallions, so he should be fine.”

DJ had no idea what to say to that, so she merely nodded. Like it or not, she was going to have to put her faith in him – hers and Mike’s lives depended on it. She had to believe he wouldn’t let her down – he’d wanted this chance at forgiveness, and apparently life had decided this was going to be the way he got it.

I have to have faith, she said, closing her eyes to mumble a quick prayer. She figured there were worse things to do while she waited to see if there would be a tomorrow for her. If nothing else, she thought glumly, she wouldn’t be alone this time.

Involuntarily shifting back to his original form, Broken Armor felt nothing but pain as the Twilight repeatedly slammed him against the wall. This Twilight was not only well into the princely phase, but she was completely out of control and presented a clear threat to the hive. Trying to escape wasn’t an option, as she’d either hunt him down or expose him to the ponies and any further attempts at subterfuge would end up being thwarted. No, as much as he wasn’t ready for it, the only thing to do would be to put down this pretender and hope he wasn’t killed in the process.

The blast of her magic smashed him against the wall once more, leaving a stain of green blood against the wall. He felt his carapace crack and a new tear in one of his wings – it wouldn’t prevent him from flying, but it meant he’d have to put more energy into transforming, something he didn’t have at the moment. Deciding that deception was the best course of action, he slumped to the ground and pretended to be unconscious – something that wasn’t altogether difficult, considering that his vision was swimming slightly from that last blow.

As she departed, he focused his magic in preparation for one final strike. All he would need was just one chance, and he could end the threat. His mother already had enough problems building her empire within a den of vipers interspersed amongst the food – she didn’t need competitors to the throne of empress.

Slowly, but surely, he made his way back towards where he’d met the other three. His final strike would cost him his life, he knew…but the damage he would do to Equestria would be nothing short of glorious.

“Hey, that wall over looks like it’s heating up,” one of the soldiers pointed out.

“Okay, find some cover,” Sam ordered. Quickly the human and four ponies pushed over some gurneys that had been abandoned in the hallway; they were absolutely useless for defensive cover, but it would at least give them enough visual protection that they’d be able to get the drop in case of worst-case scenario. All five had their guns at the ready, poised for attack should that be the case.

Meanwhile, across from them, the wall heated up, slagged away, and then immediately was followed by an extensive ice spell designed to supercool everything as quickly as possible. A haggard-looking unicorn mare stepped free, the look on her face worn but determined.

“Sweetie Belle?” Sam stood up, holstering his gun while gesturing for the ponies with him to do the same. “What are you doing here?” She looked as though she was about to collapse, so he moved over to help his friend.

“Thanks,” she said, leaning into him for support. “Anyway, we’ve got some injured and harried ponies down there that could use some support.” Moving back to her own four hooves, she brushed the matted hair out of her eyes and said, “Let’s get them out of there and then afterwards we’ll get going.”

“Look, Sweetie – you’re in no condition t—”

“Sam, my family is trapped down in the basement, and I need your help to get them!” she cried. “I’m good at what I do, but I can’t do this alone,” she said. “I just can’t lose anypony anymore.”

“Hey, hey, nobody’s losing anybody – or anypony or whatever,” he assured her. “Let’s get those folks out of the hole first,” he said, signaling to his own numbers as the first of Sweetie’s contingent began crawling out of the hole, “and then we’ll figure out what to do next, okay?”

“Fine,” she said, her voice somewhere between exhaustion and exasperation.

Throughout his life, Mike had never been afraid of heights. Even as a young teen, whenever he and his family had travelled to Gibraltar back when his father had been stationed in Spain, he loved climbing as far up on the rock as they were allowed to go. At one point during his Academy years, he’d considered going to the Naval Aviation track. And during one of his weekend getaways while he was stationed at Fifth Fleet, he’d gone to the top of the Burj Khalifa, which at one time had been the tallest building in the world.

But, now dangling over a deep pit, held in place only by his wife’s tail, he could see why Applejack had once told him that, with a few exceptions here and there, earth ponies were by and large acrophobic. “You mind hurrying?” he shouted up. “Kinda losing feeling in my fingers here….”

“This isn’t any easier for me!” DJ shouted back. She hadn’t meant to snap at her husband, but she was trying to ignore the pain, as her tail was starting to go numb. Whatever Silversteel had said about mares might be true, but that likely applied to mares embued with the full natural magic of Equestria, something she definitely didn’t have – and even though being on Alter-Earth the past couple of days had made some changes in her body, the agony she felt was pretty much an indicator that this wasn’t one of them.

It also hadn’t helped that she’d panicked for a second when Silversteel had made his suggestion, but in the end, had no choice but to trust in him. So, with no alternative, she let go of his hoof and fell for a split-second, descending far enough in that instant to grab his shin – no, wait, he walks in four-wheel drive, so that’d be a “cannon,” she reminded herself – rather than higher up, which could be potentially embarrassing for a species normally sans thread.

But now she was in a precarious position: her grip was a little better, but it wasn’t going to hold out forever, and even aside from that, holding onto Mike was an extra weight that made things harder that way – and letting go there wasn’t an option either. “Whatever you’ve got planned, I suggest you do it!” she yelled at the stallion above her.

“I’m working on it, trust me,” Silversteel said, closing his eyes and beginning to pull the three of them up. Straining forelegs that he usually didn’t use in that manner, gripping in ways he wasn’t very accustomed to – and probably would’ve been better with human fingers – he pulled up on his purchase for all he was worth, clawing forward with every bit of strength to get back onto stable ground. But as the floor began to crumble around him, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

He didn’t care; easy was for donkeys.

Letting the beaten pepsis stallion fall to the floor, Twilight Sunburn immediately changed her focus; he’d been a needless distraction, and time was wasting. She had to get back to her mother before it was too late. Turning and transforming into a small dog, she began weaving her way through the maze of shattered walls and collapsed ceilings that had been part of the antechamber leading to the main room; most of that had been destroyed in the battle between the two and that space had very little maneuvering room left.

As she got closer, Twilight heard frantic screams in the distance:

“She’s going into shock! Do something, Applejack!”
“D’ Ah look like Ah’m a doctor? B’sides, we can’t leave er else we’ll infect everypony else!”

As she approached the pair, the pepsis returned to her normal form, startling both ponies in the process. In any case, Twilight ignored them; her mind wasn’t on their situation right now as there was a pony of a higher priority at the moment. But she did note that both ponies were heavily infected by the consumption spell and….

She gasped: There, on the ground, was her mother, almost completely taken over by the spell. Having seen the spell’s final results, Twilight moved like lightning; instinct had taken over and she had to do something.

But as she approached, the orange earth pony got in the way. “Yer not touchin’ her! Ah ain’t gunna let y’ harm Twi!” she snarled.

“I’m here to help,” Twilight told the strange pony. Something was familiar about her, but she didn’t know why; she chalked it up to the genetic memory she inherited from her father. “Please, let me see my mother.”

“Why are you calling her that?” the other pony, a bedraggled unicorn, looked at her oddly. She was heavily infected as well and also oddly familiar. Whoever these two were, they had been somewhat important or at least memorable to her father, based on the engrams.

“Because she is,” she told the two mares. “It’s…hard to explain right now, but I will later. But for right now, I want to help. Please let me help.”

Both Applejack and Rarity looked at the newcomer. There was no doubt about it: she was one of those hybrid changeling ponies that had been brought up in the past couple of weeks. Cadance had even adopted a foal like the one before them, according to Fluttershy’s last visit. But they never thought they’d see an adult version, and here were two: the one that had attacked them and looked like Shining Armor, and who saved them…and looked like Twilight herself. And here that changeling stood, claiming Twilight as her mother and asking – begging! – to help.

“What’d ya think, Rares?” Applejack whispered. “Twi’s in bad shape, an’ we aren’t doin’ better neither.”

Rarity looked right at the changeling in front of her. There was an oddly timid and fragile look to her despite the fact that she’d taken on that other one of her kind with little effort. She knew that combination of strength and frailty, remembered it as clear as day on a very similar face from decades past. That similar face so long ago had always been so full of confidence when it came to magical prowess and yet so very afraid of the normal travails of life otherwise.

Like mother, like daughter? If only I…. She shut the thought out. Now was not the time to go over that; she’d said her piece and an uneasy truce rested between Rarity and her wayward daughter.

“Can I trust you to help her?” Rarity said, looking firmly at the changeling. “Can I trust that you’ll help my sister?”

Before she could answer, Twilight started convulsing violently. The changeling pushed both ponies out of the way as her horn became bathed in warm pink hues. Gently picking up the shaking, blackened pony in her forelegs, she brought her horn close to the other, Twilight to Twilight. In a broken, saddened voice, she murmured, “It can’t end this way. Please, don’t leave me after I finally found you! You’re the only one I could ever want as my mother. Please!”

Twilight Sparkle lay as still as death in the forelegs of Twilight Sunburn, and both Rarity and Applejack held their breaths, their eyes welling with tears. The heartbroken speech of the changeling sounded heartwrenching, and it cut Rarity to the core: a daughter, or somepony wanting to fulfill that role, begging a still, unyielding (though for different reasons) pony to open her life up to her. The parallels were not lost on the fashionista.

Of course, there was the other fact that whatever Twilight was suffering through, they were clearly going to be next: the magical curse was clearly in final effects on the archmagus, and through their efforts, Rarity and Applejack had only exposed themselves to much worse. When the time came for Rainbow to awaken from her coma, she’d find the blackened corpses of her three sisters as the welcoming sight – not exactly a morale booster.

Through all this, however, Twilight Sunburn continued to ignore the other two, instead holding the still body of her mother in her forelegs. Her heart hurt like never before, like it was going to be wrenched out of her. Everything that she’d suffered at the hooves of Chrysalis and her subordinates, every injury and wound felt like nothing compared to this. “Please wake up,” she whispered to the still pony in her embrace. “I need you.”

Tears welled in her eyes. Why was she destined to suffer like this? What would happen to her next? Was there all that this was, just pain and emptiness? Could she return to Faust if there was nothing else for her? Would Faust even want her back? She knew that she couldn’t return to the hive; that way would be the end of her. But what did she have left?

“Don’t leave me,” Twilight Sunburn begged of the unicorn that would be her parent. And on instinct, something she never knew why, she reached forward, nuzzling the still unicorn and then giving her a kiss on the cheek as her tears fell onto the still, possibly dead, body of Twilight Sparkle.

And then Twilight Sparkle, body still as death, suddenly convulsed and coughed, a sign she was not done yet.

“Twily?”

In a technicolor soup of sensoria, Twilight felt her head spinning. Everything was a fugue of senses that assaulted her and made her shrink away from it all. But it was the single call of her name, by a voice ever so familiar, which caught her attention. Despite the blitzkrieg the riot of colors and lights staged on her eyes, she forced herself to turn in the direction of the sound, to see a beloved stallion standing behind her.

“Shiny?” Twilight suddenly felt all of ten years old again – in a good way. Without any hesitation, she raced up to embrace her fellow unicorn. “How...?”

“Heya, little sis. I’ve missed you too,” Shining Armor said, the warm smile on his face a balm against the sturm und drang surrounding them. “But you shouldn’t be here.”

“Where’s here?”

“I don’t know,” he said, looking around as if he was seeing something entirely different from her, “but I know you shouldn’t be here, wherever this place is. You should be out there with her.”

“Her? But Cadance isn’t in the quarantine I was in,” she explained.

“Not talking about Cady,” he said, shaking his head. “You know who I’m talking about: our daughter.”

It was a testament to Twilight Sparkle’s growth and maturity over decades that prevented her from completely exploding into a frenzied shout of “WHAT?!?!?!” at that moment. Instead, she raised a single, solitary eyebrow, Vulcanlike in its nature, to look at her older brother in somewhat of a state of confusion.

“She’s my daughter,” Shining explained, “because she’s the result of what Chrysalis did to me. You know what happened there: There’s hundreds of them, and only one safely made it to Cady. If I…if I were still here, I would do everything I could to make sure that Cady and I took them all from Chrysalis. But I can’t. That’s beyond me.”

“And that’s where I come in?”

He nodded. “This one chose you. I don’t know how or why, but she knew you were going to be there for her, not Cady, though I would have been happy if she did. But she chose you, little sister, and she needs you.” He paused for a second, then added, “And frankly, you need her, too.”

“I know.” Twilight shut her eyes, even though she kept her attention on – her brother? The ghost of her brother, or a figment of her imagination, or some delusion in her mind, maybe even just her conscience, filtered through his image? – him. “I’ve never been good at socializing, and I know that I tend to use my family as a wall against it. Even with the girls and their families as part of mine, all I’ve done is just made those walls bigger.”

Shining placed his forehooves on his sister’s withers. “And that’s why you need her. Years ago, you created miracles just by learning the powers of magic and friendship. But you’ve forgotten something about those lessons, and those around you can’t teach it to you anymore; if anything, they’ve probably picked up some of your habits. But with her, it’s a new start. A fresh start.”

She shook her head. “I can’t do it. I don’t know the first thing about being a parent.”

“And yet you’ve been one to the girls’ foals at times,” Shining reminded her. “And even they didn’t really know how to be parents when they started – nopony really does. But that filly’s crying for you right now and you need to be there for her. Because she’s family, Twily: Not just family in the larger sense that we’ve created, or family in the sense of our bloodline, but…family because she wants you to be a part of her life, and that’s something incredibly special.” He looked deep into his sister’s eyes. “Promise me you’ll do it, LSBFF.”

She looked at him, and smiled. “Anything for you, BBBFF.”

“Well then you’d better wake up,” he told her. “You’re still not in the clear, and there’s others that could use your help, too.”

“Will do,” she agreed. A second later, another thought came to mind: “Wait – which others?”

Feeling every muscle in his body scream in pain as they quivered, Silversteel continued to pull upwards as the weight of two individuals on his leg and the inexorable pull of gravity threatened to undo them all. Normally, this would have been easy as pie for him, both as a well-built earth pony and his insistence on keeping himself in shape due to his career. Unfortunately, he was still recovering from having just left a coma that would have ensured the end of anypony else; he couldn’t deny that the doctor’s suggestion to rest up was the correct one. But things didn’t work out that way and he had to pull his flank out of the metaphorical fire for two very important reasons.

The first was that his family needed him. From what little time he’d spent conscious, nopony had mentioned either Rarity or Minty, and that did not bode well. He needed to know if his wife and youngest daughter had survive the hell that befallen Fillydelphia, and if not, somehow, someway, he was going to take the war personally to the changelings and make them pay in a way that Shining Armor couldn’t have. If rage and anger were to be his only avenue of retaliation, well, it’d make for a nice start.

But the second and more present reason was the life hanging onto his leg, that life in turn holding onto one dear to herself. After so long, some miracle had occurred and she was back in his life again. Fate, Celestia or whatever had given him the chance to prove himself worthy of the daughter he’d lost once, to absolve himself of the errors he’d committed and to make up for the promises he’d broken. Even if more than a bit in overkill, he had this single chance to prove that he could do it – and even if not, the human with her didn’t deserve to be in this situation any more than the rest of them.

There were so many reasons to fail – and only two that mattered for success.

You have your marching orders, Silver, he told himself. Now pull! Reaching for every bit of the earth pony magic within him, Silversteel continued to claw his way forward, both for his own life, and the sake of his family’s.

“Uh guys? Better hurry up!” Mike shouted from below. “I can see something down there and…hey, Dee? Remember that movie we saw last month where the laser cannon was glowing in the dark befor—”

“Hon, I really don’t think this is the best time to bring that up right now,” she called down to him, then turned and shouted up to Silversteel, “Uh, hate to rush you or anything, but….”

“I’m working on it!” he shouted back as he continued to pull up more on the bars. His hooves were starting to sweat and purchase was becoming harder and harder. His muscles, somewhat out of practice for the longest time, burned like fire as they virtually begged him to stop whatever ersatz exercise he was committing. And yet still he continued to go. Because the option was unacceptable – there was no other option.

Several more excruciating seconds passed before the stallion successfully clambered onto a part of the floor that had not caved in. He immediately turned around and, with gasps of breath, pulled DJ up and then lifted Mike as well before collapsing onto the floor, spent.

DJ immediately moved to her feet. “C’mon, hon,” she said to Mike. “We gotta get outta here, and carrying him isn’t going to be easy.”

“No,” Silver gasped. “Leave me. From what I’m guessing, you’re not as strong as the average earth pony, and you’re not going t—”

“Spare me the histrionics,” DJ said, moving to her husband’s side to help him up while she continued to address Silversteel. “We’re getting out of here, one way or another. You owe me some answers, and….” She paused, as if trying to figure out what to say.

He said it for her. “You’ve changed your mind, haven’t you?”

She was still unable to respond, so as Mike got to his own feet, he said, “What she’s trying to say in her usual lack of tact is that….” He stopped as DJ cut him off with a pleading look.

She then looked at the earth pony that had been responsible for her life – and had just saved it. “I…I guess…. Look, I’m a woman of many words – probably too many,” she began, “but this isn’t easy for me to say. So I probably shouldn’t say anything at all.” Instead, she went over and helped him to his hooves, before throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace, one he was all too willing to join in.

“I’ve missed you so much, muffin,” he murmured, his own eyes watering.

“Muffin?” she asked, wiping tears away as she released the hug.

“It’s a long story,” he said to her as he reluctantly let go, “but it’s one that you’ll want to know.”

“Twilight! Rarity!” Sweetie’s shouts sounded through the shattered location as she approached. The room was mostly darkened, and they’d resorted to the illumination of Sweetie’s horn and a quick creation of a flashlight that Sam attached to the pistol. The whole area seemed like creepy and decrepit, as the dark, combined with the damage of the explosion, created an atmosphere of danger that set both would-be rescuers on edge.

“You’re sure they’re here?” Sam asked her, sweeping his light to and fro to look for the safest path through.

“I hope so,” she replied. “And I’m hoping alive!” With a flare of her magic she threw away some parts of the building that had been previous floors; moving it caused part of a nearby wall to collapse and thankfully, it hadn’t been a load-bearing one. Above them, she heard the sounds of voices ringing down from above. “Your ponies are helping with that, right?” she asked the human.

“Yeah. I told Deputy Holster and Private Grassy Glen to meet up with us back at the same location once they’re done sweeping the upper areas,” he told her. “Besides, I wasn’t going to let you come down here alone; DJ would kill me if she found out I let you do that.”

“Thanks, Sam,” she replied as the two continued to move forward. As they entered the final quarantine zone, she called out again, “Somepony answer me! Twi? Rarity? AJ? Rainbow? Are you still here?”

“Hey, we’re here to help,” Sam called out.

To her relief, a voice called back from the dark. “Sweetie, don’t come closer! We’re not shielded!” Rarity shouted back, worried for her younger sister. She could just make out the ivory form of the younger unicorn in the distance, illuminated by the magic of her horn.

“I’m here to help!” was the younger unicorn’s response. “We need to get you out of there somehow before the whole hospital falls down on our heads!”

“Go find Celestia or somepony who can help! Twilight’s down, and we need a heavy barrier caster!” was the response.

Sweetie’s veins suddenly felt like ice. Twi’s down? She knew that Twilight had been the one holding everything together, and if Twilight succumbed to the whole thing, it would be all over. Sweetie fought the tears that suddenly threatened to bury her in despair as terror over the survival of her sisters and mentor and instead said, “No, I’m coming in!”

“No yer not!” Applejack shouted back. “Sweetie, we know yer worried plum sick ‘bout us, but comin’ in’ll only make things worse! Like it er not, yer gonna hafta find Celestia t’ help us get outta this predicamint! Plus, think o’ all th’ ponies in th’ hospital whut still need help! They needja more than we do!”

“But I can’t abandon you!” Sweetie shouted back. “You told me we don’t abandon family!”

“I know, Sweetie,” Rarity said softly. “And I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve made a mistake about that on more than one occasion.”

“Sweetie, let me go in and check on them,” Sam offered. “Spike told me the disease doesn’t affect humans.”

The unicorn looked at him, surprised, though a split-second later she realized she shouldn’t have been. “Are you sure?”

“Look, this is my sister’s family, so…well, I don’t want to let DJ down when I know I could have done something to help. And besides, her majesty tapped me to give a helping hand on this one, so I’m going to do this regardless.”

She smiled. “You know, Sam, you’re one of a kind – you’re going to make some girl very lucky…regardless of what species she is.”

“Right,” he said, moving forward. Not waiting for any further answer, he moved forward, swinging the flashlight to and fro as he moved over to the other side. As he walked forward, he took note of the condition the room was in: no load-bearing walls or pillars had been destroyed, so collapse wasn’t imminent, but with everything above heavily damaged by the blast, it was only a matter of time before everything tumbled down. He was by no means an EOD expert of any kind, but he figured they had maybe a few hours more before things started to get critical.

As he met up with the group, things got strange: There, in the arms of a very unusual looking pony, was Twilight. She was almost entirely covered in what looked like some sort of black fungus or something similar, save for her cutie mark, which was glowing. Behind them, looking equally worse for wear, was Applejack, and the pony that he figured to be Rarity – save for her horn, she had the same facial shape as DJ. Lying on a gurney behind them and sleeping softly, he assumed, was Rainbow Dash.

“Heya, Sam,” Applejack said, coughing briefly. “Wish Ah could say that ‘t’s a better time t’ see ya, but…well, y’know.”

“Yeah, I know. How is she?” When Applejack looked at him bleakly, his heart froze. “No….” he whispered, refusing to believe she was dead.

“She’s not dead!” the strange pony insisted, determination fixed in her teary eyes. “I won’t let it end this way! She’s not going to die!” The pony’s horn lit up once more, a bright hue of yellow, as she tried to feed a sort of energy into Twilight’s body. “Please, Mother….” the pony whispered.

Seeing the look on the human’s face, Applejack added, “Long story, Sam.”

Sam, acting on his training and instincts, bent down beside his fallen friend. “May I see her?” he asked the still-unidentified pony. When she looked at the gun nervously, he immediately nodded, detached the flashlight from the pistol and tucked the gun behind his back. “I just need to check her vitals, is that okay?” When the stranger timidly nodded, he moved forward, checking Twilight’s vitals. As he released her, he let out a sigh of relief. “Good – she’s still with us. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up, gently, okay?” Instinctively he patted the pony – was she some kind of fairy pony of a type he wasn’t aware of before? – on the head and she smiled appreciatively in return.

“Who is he?” Rarity asked Applejack in the interim. “I don’t recall him.”

“You wouldn’t,” the former farmer responded. “That’s DJ’s little brother. He’s a cop, from what I remember.”

Rarity couldn’t help herself. “Is every human she keeps company with a gun-toting lunatic?” Rarity saw her sister’s eyes narrow at that and asked, “What did I say?”

“Rares, y’ just don’ know when t’ quit, do ya?” Applejack said, shaking her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sam stiffening briefly; there was no way he could have failed to hear that. But he continued to do what he was doing with Twilight, and inwardly Applejack smiled. Whatever the case, Matt and Anna had raised themselves a pair of good kids.

“Okay, from what I saw, while the room’s not in imminent danger of collapsing, you probably don’t want to be hanging around here forever,” Sam said, turning his attention back to Applejack. “We’ve probably got a few hours to get you all out of here, but we don’t want to push it longer than we have to.”

“Only thin’ Ah kin think of is usin’ th’ bubble idea that Sweetie mentioned,” Applejack explained. “But we’re gunna need bubbles fer each o’ us – includin’ Rainbow.”

A thought suddenly came to Sam. “Sweetie, can you cast multiple bubbles?”

A scream was the response that came back.

“Sweetie!” Sam immediately turned the flashlight in the direction of the cry while he reached behind him for his pistol.

“Thanks, Elusive,” Cinnamon said as she started to recover from her panic. “I’m not very good at this sort of thing, not like Mom.”

Elusive laughed. “I recall Aunt Fluttershy saying that she used to not be very good with this sort of stuff either.”

“She wasn’t,” Celestia said to them as she approached. “But she got better, as I’m certain you will as well, Cinnamon.”

“Aunt Celestia? What are you doing here?” both ponies said at once.

The alicorn smiled softly, the reactions of the pair reminding her of how their parents had once been at that age. “Royal duties,” she responded. “The Infirmary is technically part of the palace complex, so I needed to be here. Besides….” While the Princess of the Day did not finish her words, her tone carried all the weight she needed them to.

“Are you sure?” Elusive asked, new concern rising into his mind. Through most of this time he’d been thinking about the immediate sense, his father and his sister, but they weren’t the only ones he had in the Infirmary. Deep below, in the quarantine area, was his mother and his aunts and that was a concern of a whole new level.

“I’ve sent in some troops to look into it,” she said uneasily. She wouldn’t say anything further, for fear of anypony passing by and misunderstanding, but what little she said was enough to get the message across to her niece and nephew. Fortunately, as a trio started to step out of the front entrance of the Infirmary, there was something that could take their minds off their immediate concern.

“You two go ahead. I’ll be along shortly, after I speak to my senior officers on-site,” she told them, as they departed to assist DJ and Mike.

What stepped into the light could best be described as a hellbeast. Vaguely in the shape of a diamond dog, it looked like no diamond dog that ever lived, with a mouth that was mostly razor sharp teeth. The thing jutted forward and roared, and as it did, it swung a rag doll by the head in one of its paws. The “rag doll”, frighteningly enough, was a bloody Sweetie.

“SWEETIE!” Rarity roared in terror.

With a careless shrug, the creature threw Sweetie’s unconscious body towards them. Both Rarity and Applejack acted out of instinct, but knew that the moment they touched her, it would be too late. Applejack took the blow, catching the younger mare, though it knocked her for a loop. As she looked down in horror, she noticed that on the spots where Sweetie’s skin had connected with hers, black marks had appeared, the first stages of the disease. “You rotten varmint!” the earth pony snarled.

“I wouldn’t worry,” the creature said, and the group suddenly recognized his voice. “You won’t live long enough to consider any other thoug—”

Sam’s instincts were to shout out that he was a cop and for the perp to freeze. But as he saw the wounded body of one of his friends and the creature that had hurt her laughing in cruel glee, he ignored the training and opened fire. Thanks to frequent weapons practice for his job as well as a lifetime spent around guns, the shots found their mark, two groups hitting in both the heart and the stomach.

Unfortunately, however, the bullets had no effect as they seemed to melt into the creature’s skin as it absorbed the damage.

“The hell?” the human snarled.

“That was a pathetic attempt to stop me, human,” the monster rumbled, “but at least you tried. I’ll give you a clean death.”

“Everyone behind me now!” Sam thundered, loading another clip in seconds. This next batch had been given to him in an emergency by the REA major; they were military-grade HEAP rounds, with enough of a kick that should make an impact. But they were nothing like he’d ever handled before, he knew, and it was going to be messy if he missed.

And then that’s when things got strange, as a voice shouted out, “You’re an idiot!” Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw as the fairy pony set Twilight down gently, as she looked at him and said, “Please, take care of her – I’ll deal with this.” Not waiting for a response from the human, she strode forward, eyeing the creature with a glance that was nothing short of unadulterated fury. “I gave you the chance to escape, and yet you still haven’t learned!”

“Learned from what, False Princess?” Broken Armor spat. “Learned that you are a threat to Mother and that you need to be dispatched immediately? Learned that once I end you, I can break the Bearers and crush Canterlot’s defenses for once and for all?”

Twilight Sunburn was undeterred. Stepping forward, she snarled, “This is your final warning: tell Chrysalis that we ponies defend our own. If you don’t leave now, you’re not getting another chance!”

The pepsis assassin roared, “I will wear your skin as a cloak to give to Mother! It will be a better end than you des….” He began to trail off as her horn began to glow, the glow suddenly encompassing her body as she took on the mantle of a star. “What a-are you doing?”

“You want to simper to your mother, but I’m going to protect mine!” Twilight Sunburn hissed, as she grew brighter.

“And turning into a flashlight is going to stop me?”

Twilight Sunburn grinned wolfishly. “No, but introducing you to the other side of our genes will!” she announced as she triggered the spell in full, a penumbra of power expanding outwards from the pepsis mare.

The world became insensate with a blinding, searing white, at first. But that was short-lived as the light settled into a soft, warm white, accompanied by something else. Both Rarity and Applejack felt the warmth and comfort of the magic surrounding them, recognizing it immediately: they’d been at ground zero as well the last time a spell like this had been used. The playful motes of magic caressed and touched them, bringing to the fore precious memories that had been buried for so long.

Both mares turned to face the pepsis, knowing what they’d see – and they weren’t disappointed. The face the pepsis wore was undeniably that of Twilight Sparkle, but the determined, self-confident look in those blue eyes…

…that was entirely Shining Armor.

“C’mon, we’re almost there!” DJ grunted as they reached the entrance of the hospital. “You know, you’re Goddamn heavy!” she told Silver. The stallion wasn’t sure how to respond to that, and a quick glance into Mike’s eyes suggested that he should just leave it be.

Fortunately, a split-second later, medical staff joined them and took Silver in-hoof. “Thanks for the assist with the general,” an REA medic told them. “Can’t tell you how much of a blow that would’ve been to morale if something happened to him.”

“I know how that is,” Mike responded sympathetically.

As for DJ, her answer was less succinct: “Um…yeah.” As she let Silversteel go, she felt uneasy and awkward. She knew she’d done the right thing, and that regardless of who or what he was, saving a life was the right thing to do – the Christian thing to do. But having him there, leaning on her shoulder and her arm around him for support, having embraced him in a moment of pure instinct…she couldn’t explain any of it to herself, much less her husband, parents or sons.

Could she forgive him for all the pain and injury of the past couple of decades? Did she really want to? And if that was the case, did she owe that same courtesy to Rarity? She knew that she didn’t want that unicorn bitch in her life, but she knew she wanted Elusive there; they’d only been together a couple of days and yet having him there felt as natural to her as having Sam there. This was especially important to her since she’d helped bring her niece and nephew into the world and she felt an obligation to them.

And then there was Minty – and that in and of itself had its own dimensions. Minty had been married, with a husband and a daughter of her own. If by some miracle they were alive, was it fair to treat them cruelly for Minty’s sins? Elusive said that Minty’s daughter Gumdrop had been a wonderful little filly…and it wasn’t that much of a stretch to think that, at least for the first couple weeks of her own life, DJ had been considered “a wonderful little filly” before fate made her a little girl.

She suddenly felt delicate fingers settle under her muzzle, gently raising her face. “No frowning, okay?” her husband said softly. “No matter what, hon, you did something damn good today. Regardless of the facts, you saved a life – two, if you want to count mine in the mix.”

“You’re not going to let me sulk in peace, are you?” she asked him, the ghost of a smile coming onto her face.

“And why should I?” Mike asked, putting his arms around her.

She sighed. “And you just ruined another potential temper tantrum,” she teased. But she didn’t have much time to relax as she realized two newcomers were approaching. “Hey, you two missed the fun,” she told Cinnamon and Elusive. “As usual, it was involving nearly getting killed, because having a normal life is apparently off-limits for me now.”

“Um…DJ? Is it bad that I can’t tell whether you’re joking or not anymore?” Cinnamon asked squeamishly.

Elusive looked at her affably. “Of course she’s joking,” he replied. A second later, he amended that with, “I hope. In any case, I should let you both know that we overheard the medics and…” He trailed off, not sure what to say, but a second later, he forced the words from his mouth. “Thank you, DJ. I know Father doesn’t mean anything to you, but….”

“Luse, not now, please. Just…just not now, okay? I’m not sure how much more of a beating I can take today,” she said, turning away from her brother. In turn, he looked at her back, wanting to help, to do something to cheer her up or give her succor, but the look in Mike’s said he would take care of it. The stallion nodded somberly and turned away.

Mike said to his wife, “C’mon. Let’s get your tail looked at, okay?” Wordlessly, she nodded; she’d almost blocked out the pain until he’d reminded her and it took a lot of willpower for her not to scream as he scooped her up in his arms to head towards the nearest medic.

As he watched the two head off, Cinnamon joined him and asked, “Are you sure that’s the best thing to do right now? I mean, didn’t you promise to be there with her when she needed you?”

“Cinnamon, you’ve had us all your life, right?” When she nodded, he continued. “Well, what if out of the blue, you had a brother you never knew existed before and tried to make you understand everything about your old family? Sure, you might be interested, but wouldn’t you be a little overwhelmed if it all happened at once?”

“I suppose so,” the pegasus admitted. “But I can’t understand why you’re letting her do this alone. You two are brother and sister. Siblings are supposed to look out for each other, just like Uncle Shining and Aunt Twilight, or Dad did with Aunt AJ and Aunt Bloomie.”

“I know,” the unicorn admitted, “but at the same time, I have to give her the space. She’s probably reliving everything she went through decades ago, and now that I have her on my side…I don’t want to push her away. I don’t doubt Father’s thinking the same thing, and I can only pray that Mother’s had an epiphany on that as well. But I can’t do anything about them. All I can do is my own part.”

The light felt warm and comforting to Sam, as if he was – as corny as it sounded – being in the middle of a bunch of newly-fluffed towels bleached to a perfect white and pulled from the dryer. A few days back, Mike had told him about a particular magical attack that he’d seen Celestia perform on changelings and how it felt like it was being in the inside of the sun. If this was the same attack, Sam guessed it was a very different situation.

Finally, after a few seconds, the everpresent blankness faded away into the deep colors of everyday life. Meanwhile, the pepsis wiped her forehead and horn, exhaling as she said, “Wow – that was intense. Everypony okay?”

“What was that?” Sam asked. “It was like being in the middle of a nuclear blast, except—” Applejack suddenly looked at him and nodded her head back towards Twilight’s direction.

To the surprise of everyone present, Twilight Sparkle, albeit with some strain, was looking up at the strange pony, the look in the unicorn eyes pained but pleasant. “So…so you are real,” she whispered in a strained, gravelly voice, giving the younger mare a weak smile. “For a moment, I thought I…I thought I imagined it all.”

The look on the younger mare’s face was one of surprise as the moment she hoped for was finally coming to fruition. “Mother?” the pepsis asked, the tone in her voice as if she was in a dream she didn’t want to wake up from.

The elder Twilight looked at the younger, peering intently at her semi-lookalike. Finally, another smile crept onto the archmagus’ face as she said, “You have his eyes.” Ignoring the pain, she reached out with her withered hoof as she touched the younger pony’s muzzle. “And you clearly have my looks as well,” Twilight added. “You truly are the child of both me and my brother.”

Needless to say, Twilight’s somewhat confusing statement did not come out as well as it could have. Rarity reacted to the statement with a gasp of shock, while Applejack asked, “Uh, Twi? Wanna explain that one agin?”

“I’ll explain later,” Twilight insisted to her sisters, then turned her focus back to the pepsis before her. “How did you find me? The fact that we’re here is supposed to be a highly-classified secret.”

“Faust sent me,” the pepsis answered specifically. “She told me that you’d need me just like I need you, and that I was going to have to fight to protect you.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide at the response. “You saw Faust?” When the teen nodded, Twilight tried to digest the realization that the pepsis had been directly sent by nopony less than Celestia and Luna’s mother; that fact alone was amazing in and of itself, but the very fact that the ancient alicorn knew what was to come?

That’s a message, Twilight knew. But who’s the message for? Me, or Celestia and Luna? Or somepony else?

Unaware of Twilight’s internal monologue, Twilight Sunburn continued. “She saved me,” the pepsis said with fondness and awe. “She knew I wanted to be loved and that the only way to do that was to become a pony with a family.”

Twilight grinned. “Well, if you needed proof, you just got it.” The archmagus pointed towards the pepsis’ flank, and Twilight Sunburn turned around to see something new: on her hindquarters was a new coloration, blending into her coat. It was both simple and complex – a white, abstract stellar explosion overlaid by the all-too-familiar magenta star of the Clover lineage – but it was undeniable: a cutie mark.

The sign of a pony.

“Is that…?” the pepsis wondered. All the previous times in disguise as a pony she had to imitate one, but never had one of her own, but now….

“The sign of a Clover,” Twilight said, a note of pride creeping into her voice. “Both your father and I have them. It’s a sign that you’re truly my daughter, little one.”

“You really mean that?” the pepsis said in surprise, as if unable to believe this was happening.

“If that’s what you wa—” Twilight never finished her sentence as she was suddenly glomped by a crying, overcome-with-joy pepsis. “I’m guessing that’s a yes, my little…you know, if I’m going to be your mother, I probably should learn your name.”

“Twilight Sunburn,” the pepsis said with a bit of nervousness.

“And that should do it,” the unicorn said, the tan glow of his magic dying down as he finished the spell. Gingerly, DJ swished her tail around, checking for damage; it felt good as new. “Well, thankfully the sprain wasn’t too bad, but the strange thing is, you shouldn’t have had a sprain at all. You’re an earth pony a—”

“Who grew up on Human-Earth, doc,” DJ pointed out, “and has had almost no exposure to magic throughout my life. I’m weaker than the average earth pony as a result.”

“My apologies; I’d forgotten about that. In that case, it’s got to be something else. Maybe you should look into your family heritage, I suppose; you are related to a Knight Elemental, after all, your grace. Well, if there’s nothing else, then I’ve got other patients to look at.” Giving a quick nod to Mike, the doctor headed off, leaving the two in the first aid tent.

”Well, that went by pretty fast,” Mike said. “Did I miss something while I stepped out?” He’d left the tent briefly while DJ had her tail examined – husband or not, patient privacy was patient privacy – and he got the feeling he’d missed a bit by the time he was invited back in.

“Apparently copies of my medical records are on file here at the Infirmary,” DJ grumbled. “I’m betting Twilight had something to do with that. Well, her or Celestia.”

“Maybe Luna? She did spend all that time healing you.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right about that,” DJ said, her irritation deflating. As she got off the medical bed, she sighed. “What now?”

“I don’t know, hon. You tell me.”

“Look, right now, I just want to go home, down two liters of Cherry Coke, grab the nearest bucket of chocolate cherry ice cream and abuse our Netflix account. Been meaning to marathon some Audrey Hepburn films and this is my chance.”

“You?” Mike asked.

“Hey, I’m a woman, therefore I hereby hold the right to do stereotypical woman things when I’m depressed. You’re lucky I’m leaving out the Hello Kitty pajamas and long, teary phonecalls to Erica until our phone bill reaches six figures,” she said with a smile. When he just gave her a lidded look, she shook her head. “Okay, okay, I get it.” She sighed, then continued with, “Look, hon, I honestly don’t know what to do right now. I think I need to talk to my parents.”

“I doubt they’re going to feel like you betrayed them just because you had a very emotional moment with your biological father. Trust me: your parents, are, if anything, still somewhat upset over the whole thing with Rarity earlier today.”

“Was it just today? God, it feels like it happened months ago to some other person,” she answered. “Right now, I really don’t feel like I’m in charge of myself. I feel like I’m in the orbit of a black hole, and that Rarity’s going to drag me in one way or another.”

“She won’t. That’s not you,” he told her. “Look, love, I want you to be happy, but I want you to be happy – it doesn’t do a damn bit of good if everyone else is overjoyed with the end result and you’re the one paying the price.” He bent down and looked her in the eyes. “I feel like I’m saying this over and over and over again, but I’ll keep doing it until it sinks in: in the end, you’re just you, not Sandalwood, or Daisy Jo or whatever you want to call yourself – and only you can really accept who you are. But as long as you want me here, I’m going to be here.”

“Well, if that’s the case,” she said, stretching slightly, “then I have something to do. C’mon, we’ve got to find Elusive.”

“Why?”

“Because something that Silversteel said: ‘sisters’. He said it as though there’s something I should know that I don’t. And maybe Luse isn’t telling me something, or maybe he doesn’t know. But I get the feeling it’s something I should know.”

Twilight Sparkle looked at the pepsis that was now her daughter and thought about the momentous change that was coming into her life, not the least of which was the same problem that she and her own mother had shared: all the times that Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Velvet had been confused for one another, thankfully usually solved by Velvet’s preference for her secondary name over her primary one – it had already been a problem that “Twilight” was somewhat of a common gender-neutral name to begin with.

But there was another issue at hand, and thankfully in her own histrionic way, Rarity solved that: “‘Sunburn’, dear?” the fashionista asked the younger mare. “Who in their right mind would give such a name to a foal?”

“It’s the way all of us were named by Chrysalis,” Twilight Sunburn admitted with a bit of hesitance. “She…really didn’t work on giving us original names – individuality wasn’t exactly encouraged by the changeling queen.”

“Well, I think we can change that, if you want,” Twilight Sparkle told the young pepsis.

A pair of blue eyes went as wide as a foal opening her first gift on Hearths Warming Day. “Really?”

A thought came up to the elder Twilight and, ignoring the pain coursing through her body, she reached up to whisper something in the pepsis’ ear. “What do you think?”

“You mean it?”

The unicorn’s smile was pained but sincere. “It’s a new start for you. May as well start fresh.”

The squee the pepsis uttered was both deafening and adorable as the teen bounced up and down with absolute joy, having received what she felt was a priceless gift from the pony she desired to be – and now was – her mother. The ear-to-ear grin on her face was one so bright and sunny that the four conscious adults in the space couldn’t help but return the grin themselves.

For herself, Twilight Sparkle felt a twinkle in her heart that she’d felt often – but never thought she’d ever feel in this way. For so many years, she loved her nieces and nephews as if they were her own – especially wayward DJ, who Twilight had as much of a preference for as she could for any of her sisters’ foals – but she’d never had the experience of parenthood for herself and had always felt it was something that would never come to pass for her. But now, the maternal feeling swelling in her chest wasn’t one by proxy, delivered second-hoof, but directly and totally for her and just her. It was a nourishing, invigorating sensation and the lavender unicorn had to wonder, if just for the briefest breadth of a second, if this was how a changeling felt – her daughter was half-changeling, after all.

As the pepsis bounded around the area, both Rarity and Applejack moved to their sister’s side. “Twilight, dear, a word, if you please, in private?”

The archmagus steeled herself for what she suddenly expected. “I know what you’re going to say, Rarity, and this is my decision.”

“Twilight, dear, please don’t misunderstand me, but it seems as though you’ve given it no thought at all!” Rarity replied. “Parenthood isn’t exactly something that you can just pick up like a book from a shelf. And this…filly…quite literally appeared on the scene just minutes ago, and you’re suddenly deciding that she’s going to be your daughter? Because she’s the result of the atrocity that Chrysalis committed on Shining, no less? That might make her related, but it doesn’t make her family, darling.”

“As much as Ah hate t’ agree with Rarity in this case,” Applejack commented, “Ah’m gonna do so. Twi, we know how y’ feel ‘bout foals o’ yer own, but innt this a bit much?”

Twilight looked at them, firmness in her eyes. “No,” she said softly. “I know what I saw. I know what I feel. And I know what Shiny told me. He told me in a dream that she would be coming, and that I would need to be there for her.” Twilight’s eyes tracked the bounciness of the pepsis as she moved around with the expressions of a foal. “She needs me…and I think I need her, too.”

“No, dear, what you need to do is think this through. Twilight, you’re a mare of logic and reason – you always have been. This is the kind of thing I would expect from Pinkie or Rainbow, but not from you!”

“There’s ‘nother thing you probably haven’t thought of, Twi,” Applejack added. “Don’t Cadance get a say in all this? She was th’ one married t’ Shining, after all.”

“Cady won’t disagree with me on this one,” Twilight said firmly. “I know she won’t,” she repeated, insistent in her belief.

“Ah’m still not sure that this is th’ best fer ya, Twi,” Applejack replied.

“You already know how I feel,” Rarity admitted. “I think this is a horrible idea, and while I cannot fault the young filly here for her parentage, I’m not sure that you’ve thought the solution all the way through.”

“Because somehow you still think that because I haven’t bothered with dating since Paraffin Wax,” Twilight countered, “that I’m not entitled to a family of my own unless I’m fully married. No – that’s not been my way, and it never will be!” She would have said more, but a glow of magenta filled the room.

“Twilight! Look!” Rarity shouted and Twilight looked at herself. Small wonder she was feeling better: as her cutie mark continued to radiate, the inky black marring of the curse began to melt off the lavender unicorn.

“How…?” Applejack asked, wondering.

“I don’t know!” Twilight said, as she felt the strength come back to her, like a lover’s caress. Mental gears that had been dormant during the crisis, stilled out of desperation and exhaustion, started to turn once more. “Oh my…why didn’t I think of that before? Girls, that’s the cure!” Twilight said, laughing as she got back to her feet and hugged the pepsis. Turning to Sam, she said, “Sam, get out there, and find Celestia – tell her I need the other Knight Elementals, the princesses, and Scootaloo and Bloomie here as soon as possible!”

“I’m on it,” he said at first, though as he looked at Sweetie’s unconscious form, he asked, “Are we sure everything’s going to be okay?”

Twilight, feeling invigorated for the first time in weeks, looked at her sisters, then to her daughter. For the first time in a while, hope had returned to the archmagus’ heart, and the Knight Elemental Commander of Magic had learned a valuable lesson, possibly the first in a long time since her formal apprenticeship to Celestia had ended.

“It will be,” she said, sidling closer to her daughter. “I know it will.”

“Twilight, dear, what on Earth are you talking about?”

“You’ll see,” was all the archmagus said.

“You’d best be right,” Rarity pointed out, “because we now have some extra wrinkles in the whole issue.”

Cadance felt the spell a second before the wave of white burned through the environs. It passed as quickly as it arrived, and for a moment, she felt a familiar presence, one she’d missed every day of her life since his passing.

She gave herself a private, enigmatic smile. Though he’d been gone for fifteen years now, even now her husband continued to watch over his family.

Watching from a distance, Celestia saw as DJ rebuffed her brother, with Elusive feeling sympathetic for her and Cinnamon nearby, confused. While the sun alicorn knew she could do something to relieve the pain for all concerned, she didn’t entirely trust herself in that situation right now, and besides, there were others who needed her ministrations more than them. She opted for the family member also nearby and in need of assistance, as she walked into a hastily set-up tent where Silversteel had been placed for the moment.

As she entered the tent, she noted several medics swarming around him, tending to his injuries and reattaching him to various medical equipment. Seeing her approach, however, made Silver grin. “You know, I do feel much better than the last time you ran into me on my near-deathbed,” he laughed.

She shook her head with bemusement. “Silver, you do that a lot. Besides, I thought that we agreed that I would handle the stupid crises?”

“Times change,” he answered. Finally, as a medic briefly obstructed his vision of her as an IV was attached to his foreleg, Silver had enough and said, “Okay, her majesty and I need to talk – and that means I want everypony scarce, immediately.” The medics got the hint and began filing out until all that remained were princess and general.

Celestia immediately went to go sit by her old friend. “What do you think, Silver?” she asked.

“I’m too much of a stallion to cry, you know that,” he admitted. “But…it was like a dream come true, Celestia. She was there. My little filly was there, and she’s all grown up now and….” The troubled emotions on his face were as plain as day. “She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know about her sisters, does she?”

“No, I don’t think she does,” Celestia told him. “She’s been to the gravesite before – the night before the decision I met Spike and Sweetie, who took her there, but I didn’t say anything and I suspect that they didn’t tell her either.”

The eyes of the “stallion who couldn’t cry” suddenly became a bit misty. “It’s not right. She deserves to know. She should know. Sparkler and Dinky loved her. They didn’t just save the life of an innocent foal – though I’d have been proud of them just for that if it had been just that. They died saving their baby sister. Derpy, too – she of all ponies didn’t deserve that. None of them did!”

“Silver,” Celestia began.

“No. She needs to know. Why didn’t anypony tell her?” His tone became angry and he sat up in the bed. Worrying about his health, she gently forced him back down with a push of her magic.

“Silver, she was only a teenager at the time, remember?” Celestia replied. “Teenagers can be volatile, and she has the mind of a human – they are much more emotional than pony teens. And at that point in time, and I know it’s not easy for you to realize this, but she was being pushed to her breaking point.” Silver went silent as he digested that, and Celestia continued. “With that in mind, what were any of us supposed to say? She already knows that three innocent ponies died saving her; to a teen, that would have been read as that their blood was on her hooves – and Sweetie and Twilight have both told me that’s something that’s haunted her for a long time.

“But what if I’d told her that two of the ponies who died saving her were her older sisters? Then what? That we’d expect her to give up everything she knew out of guilt for Sparkler’s and Dinky’s deaths? I suspect they wouldn’t have liked that thought. And while I didn’t know your ex-wife, Silver, based on how your daughters were raised I suspect she wouldn’t have been too happy about that line of thought as well.”

“Maybe it would have helped her decision to remain,” Silver said, though he felt guilty the moment the words left his mouth – that was a line of thought Rarity often considered and he knew he didn’t entirely agree with his wife on that.

“You know I couldn’t influence her decision back then. As it was, my hooves were tied in a legal battle between the law and my family. I didn’t even want to be involved with it, but the six were tearing apart the country – I had to step in for the sake of my ponies, even if it meant crossing a line that took me years to rebuild with them.”

The two looked at each other for a few more painful seconds, before he said, “Celestia…three of my daughters are dead, and the last one I have just gave me the chance to make things right with her.”

She nodded her head. “I can only hope that Rarity will be willing to do t—”

“She’s still alive?”

Celestia looked oddly at that last comment. “Yes, of course she is. She’s been in a medical quarantine for the past few months, but yes, she’s still alive.” Seeing the sudden look of relief on his face that the love of his life and mother to his last three foals was still alive, she smiled inwardly before adding, “As soon as it’s possible I’ll escort you to see her myself, Silver. You have my word.”

Suddenly, there was a massive explosion of white, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in Canterlot for quite some time.

“What was that?” Silver asked.

Celestia smiled. “I might be wrong…but I suspect Twilight’s gotten creative again.”

He was about to say something further, when Major Barracks entered the tent. “Your majesty, your grace, apologies for the interruptions, but that human you sent in? He’s returned and looking for you, Princess.”

Broken Armor now very much fit his name. He lay on the ground, thrown miles from Canterlot by that damnable strike. He had to make it back to his mother and tell her what was going on. Even if he tore himself to bloody shred crawling every inch of the way back to the hive, he had to let her know about the rogue pepsis!

“There you are,” a dark voice uttered behind him. “I figured you landed around here somewhere.” Broken Armor sighed in relief. It was that strange alicorn that had chosen to take up an alliance with his mother. From what he knew, she was a fickle ally and would have to be dealt with later, but one of his fellow Armors, or maybe the Nights could deal with the issue once Canterlot fell. After all, alicorn or not, she was merely a pony and what pony could stand against changelings?

“Please….” he gasped in a gravelly, strained voice. “Take me to Mother.”

“You won’t live long,” Nightmare Moon told the broken pepsis. “It’s a wonder you lived through that blast, but I suppose that was a wrench thrown in the plans.” The demonic alicorn paused, as if sniffing the air before he eyes widened in slight surprise. “I sense her involvement in this. I should’ve known: even now she thinks she can thwart me.”

“I need to get back to the hive,” he pled, hoping she would see reason.

“No, no I don’t think you do,” Nightmare Moon said, as she changed shape and size, becoming a different pony altogether. And as that pony looked at him, Broken Armor’s eyes widened in fear. The face was familiar to him.

“You’re going to ruin our chance at revenge,” the pony said, placing a hoof on his head. “And I can’t allow that.”

Deep in the Everfree Forest, the screams of a dying pepsis could be heard, followed by a sharp crunch, and then nothing at all. A second later, Nightmare Moon took to the skies, headed back towards her ally’s stronghold.

“And when were you going to tell me about Sweetie?” Twilight asked.

“Well…we would have, but you seemed to be more concerned about your new daughter,” Rarity seethed, her venom at full, “instead of my sister! Oh, wait – your sister, since you stole her from me a while ago!”

“Gals, c’mon,” Applejack said. “This ain’t gunna help Sweetie none. Rarity, what’s done is done, an’ that can’t change. Besides, Sweetie still loves ya an’ is still yer sister – th’ bond don’t change that none. But Twi, she’s right: y’ shoulda noticed.”

“I know,” she said, looking at the frail unicorn as they placed her on the medical bed Rarity usually used. To fix her wounds, they’d had to put her in the same induced coma as Rainbow. Her heart bled; to see Sweetie in this situation was horrific, especially given how close the two had become over the decades. Maybe it was her fault that all this happened.

But then she turned to look at her daughter. Twilight knew she could fix this, somehow. It was what she did, her stock in trade. She was the Knight Elemental Commander of Magic, the personal student and protégé of Princess Celestia. She had to believe this was the right course. “I’ll save her,” she promised Rarity. “Once the others join us, we’ll revive Sweetie and Rainbow, and we’ll finally sort this out.”

“You insisted the others – especially the princesses – come down here? Are you mad?” Rarity exclaimed. “You’ll kill them by doing that!”

“Rarity, don’t you get it?” Twilight replied. “That’s exactly how we’re going to beat this curse! We need everypony here, and we need to talk!”

“Twi, Ah ain’t even gonna pretend Ah know whatcher doin’, but as much as Ah think it’s a mistake…Ah’ll trust ya,” Applejack said. The look on her face made it clear that she had little faith in Twilight’s plan, but something was curing Twilight, and not them. There was a sudden shift somehow, and Twilight had that key.

“I know this isn’t easy,” Twilight replied. “But you’ve got to believe in me. I can do this, and I need you to believe!”

“And you’re sure this is going to work, Twilight, dear?” Rarity was even more suspicious of Twilight’s motives right now, and as she briefly eyed the changeling/pony hybrid in the room, she had to wonder if there was something behind that.

Well, if nothing else, Celestia will talk some sense into her, Rarity thought to herself.

“It will. I know it.” Twilight gingerly reached an arm around her daughter, who had been silently casting healing spells all this time. “It’s because she taught me. Sometimes the master needs to relearn the lesson.”

With more certainty than she felt, the fashionista practically forced herself to say, “Well, if that’s the case, then we are utterly indebted to you, Twilight Sunburn.”

But the pepsis shook her head. “Nope, that’s not me anymore. I have a new name now. From now on, you can call me…

“…Shining Dawn.”

Author's Note

Yup, here we go! Expect to see more of Polarity in the next few weeks as that story will get wrapped up in the next few months.

Anything anyone else want to see in the universe?

Chapter Twenty: Since I Was, Since I Began to Be

“That was weird,” DJ said as she came to the kitchen table for breakfast. She was still in her pajamas and while she was awake, didn’t look like she had any plans other than to go back to sleep as soon as she finished eating.

“My, aren’t we getting lazy this morning?” Anna teased her daughter. “Snowed last night; thought you and Sammy would be out there at first light playing.”

“Mom, it’s a Saturday and I’m eleven – I’m getting too old to play in the snow,” the alien girl pointed out. “Besides…I had a weird dream that just won’t….” She looked at her mother. “You ever have a dream that you can absolutely remember even after you wake up and you swear they’re almost like they’re real?”

“Yes, sweetie, it’s called lucid dreaming. Your father, with his overactive imagination, gets them all the time. Although,” Anna said with a smile, “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have them myself occasionally. Why?”

“I had this dream where I was looking at two shapes: a larger purple one and a smaller lilac one. They were giggling, but it was kinda like they were playing with me or having fun or something. Nothing bad, just…weird.”

“Maybe it’s a memory from before?”

“I really, really doubt that, Mom,” DJ replied as she gave her mother a lidded look. “Besides, if I want fond memories of Sound and Vision, I’ll just listen to the Sea and Cake.”

Anna huffed. “Daisy Jo, you know I raised you better than that: David Bowie’s original is far superior to any remake of that song.”

The preteen alien sighed. “Dearest mother of mine,” she said in a theatrical voice, “you fail to realize that Sam Prekop just made a better version, just like Nirvana did a better take on Bowie’s ‘Man Who Stole the World’, okay?”

“I blame your father for all this,” the woman mock-grumbled.

“And that’s exactly the case, your majesty,” the soldier said to Celestia later that evening. It had been hours, and the sun alicorn’s plans to meet with Twilight were temporarily on hold due to the sheer number of things that had come up in the process. One of them was the least savory of all, in her opinion: the pepsis had apparently gotten in by assuming the form of Minty; there were traces of what was presumably pepsis DNA in the room assigned to her. This likely meant that Rarity and Silver’s youngest daughter was dead – and if that was the case, her husband and foal most definitely were as well.

I don’t relish being the one to tell Rarity and Silver, but Silver’s already prepared for it and Rarity’s already assumed that’s the case. Even still, it hurt; while Celestia wasn’t particularly close to Minty, the loss of her niece was a terrible blow to her soul. As her horn lit so she could move the sun beyond the horizon and towards its course around the other side of the world, an emotional wound ached in the soul of the Princess of the Day.

Mother…how did you put up with this? I’ve dealt with ruling in your stead for so long and that almost seems as though it’s simplicity itself, but…family? Did leaving us hurt you like this? Like when I ripped my own heart out to banish Luna to the moon? Or when Argent decided to exile himself for the good of the realm? Or even now, when I’ll never have the chance to let Minty know that I cared? That was probably the worst part of it all, she had to admit to herself: Minty’s hatred for DJ was so much that unless a family member outright stated a preference for her, the earth pony would assume the worst and assume that family member was in DJ’s “orbit”. It had cost Minty relationships with Twilight, Sweetie, AJ and Pinkie, and because of her need to be fair and neutral, herself as well.

Holding her head high, even though she wanted to just hang her head in defeat, the Princess Regnal of Equestria completed her duties and headed back towards the palace, wanting more than ever to be alone this evening.

“You know, maybe it’s just me, but I’m pretty sure I can tell a smile when it’s faked.” Celestia turned around and found Sam standing there, jacket slung over his shoulder, looking intently at her. “Plus, the way your posture is…I’ve seen Twilight like that a few times when she’s been down, and considering how close you two are, I’m presuming she picked that up from you.”

“Guilty as charged, officer,” the alicorn said with the barest hint of a smile – a genuine one.

“Well, seems to me that we never had the chance to finish the pizza,” he told her. “You still free for dinner tonight?”

“Right now? I’d do anything to get my mind off of my duties,” she admitted.

He walked up to her and whispered something in her ear. She flicked her ear for just a second before looking at him with another smile. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure, if you can get us there.”

Sam couldn’t say another thing as both alicorn and human were suddenly teleported away, with the telltale blue flash of a dimensional portal being opened.

A short distance away from the burning Infirmary, a group of ponies watched. Sunset Shimmer looked to the others and said, “See? This is what humanity does! This is why we should believe in a Pure society where ponies can live free of the taint of the lesser species, before they destroy us all.”

“But Lady Shimmer – how are you sure that humans caused this?” an earth pony standing nearby asked. Though he was out of uniform, his stance, demeanor and cutie mark made his occupation clear: law enforcement. “Our reports said that it was a changeling incursion.”

“And you believe that?” the unicorn said as she whipped around and looked at the deputy with a scowl. A violet flicker of her horn produced a sheaf of documents. “This is a report that her highness Princess Champagne Dreams was kind enough to forward to me – at great risk to herself, I might add. She believes in our cause, though she cannot support it outright.” Sunset turned her gaze to focus on each pony for a hard second before continuing. “And I don’t know about anypony else here, but I will not disappoint my princess! She’s doing this all to save Holy Celestia and Sacred Luna, and we cannot let her down!”

“But Ah—” began an earth pony stallion, speaking in the familial accent of the Apple clan; a quick peek at his flank and the golden apple slices mark confirmed that.

“No! We are pony!” Sunset thundered. “These are our lands! This is our home! And if you are truly an Apple, you would be completely, utterly in favor of this!”

“Ah…Ah guess yer right, Miz Shimmer,” he said, taking his lumps.

“Then you all know what to do. We must prepare for that day – it’s coming soon – and together we can save our Divine Princesses!” she sang, and was greeted with a round of cheers.

As they disappeared, Sunset cast a quick invisibility spell, followed by an illusion spell; a false vision of Sunset Shimmer began to walk away without a care in the world and would disappear after walking a mile away from the location. Meanwhile, that distraction gave Sunset enough time to open a nearby door in a convenient alleyway, entering a dimly-lit storage room in the building.

With a fast application of another spell, became her normal self once more, with a quick check of a mirror spell to make sure everything was in place. With that, she strode to another door, the edges glowing orange, and opened that, stepping into the preset teleport gate. A second later, she was back in the Western District of town, at an all-too-familiar spa owned by a loyal (and well-paid) henchmare.

“Mother?” Gilded Lily walked up to her, a concerned look on her face. “Are you okay? You were in the sauna for quite some time.”

Champagne Dreams looked at her daughter fondly, as a thought came over her face. Someday you’ll thank me for this, daughter. You may not appreciate what your father and I am doing now, but when you are the Princess Royal, you will. “Actually, I didn’t go to the sauna,” she said in a carefully-faked and somber tone. “I…I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit it, but I needed some time alone and dear Precious Jewel offered me the use of her office and a much-needed bottle of brandy.”

“Is something the matter?” the younger princess asked.

“I was just thinking about Virgin Dawn, dear – one of the mares here earlier had her coloring and…well, you know how close my cousin and I were.”

“She was the one that raised you like her own daughter, right?”

“Yes.” Well, more like we bucked each other silly when I needed the money or her husband couldn’t satisfy her. But to her family, Virgin Dawn had been the older fourth-cousin once removed that raised a young Champagne when her parents had been killed by a mad hydra near their summer home in Oatlando. Privately, Sunset gave herself both a fond smile of memories and the merest hint of guilt; all in all, Dawn had been good to her aside from their “business relationship”, and she almost wished it hadn’t been necessary to cause the accident that killed Dawn and her husband.

But if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have become a viscountess, and I wouldn’t have met my husband – or had my foals. Well, when making an omelet….

“Mother, I know you don’t like discussing your past, but…well, someday, if you want to, I’m always willing to listen,” Lily offered. “You’ve always shown me a caring heart is what matters most and there are few that I care for as much as I do you.”

Champagne’s eyes genuinely misted at that. Lily, my dearest daughter. How I love you, even if you are a naïve foal. “Someday, I promise,” she said, nuzzling the younger unicorn. “Well, if you are done with your spa time, why don’t we have dinner together? I’m sure your father and your brother are otherwise occupied, and it’s always good to spend time with my favorite daughter.”

It was evening by the time DJ and Mike returned to Twilight’s home. She had tried to get a hold of Elusive, but to no avail; chances were, he was currently overburdened by both taking care of Butter and the foals, and with what she needed to discuss with him, stressing him out further wouldn’t be of any help whatsoever. So after catching a taxi back to Twilight’s place, they opened the door, just needing some time that DJ could use to talk to her parents.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t going to get that. Instead, what she found when she got there were her sons, playing with Lyra and Paul’s kids. Or rather, Stuart, Colby and Orchid, who were the same age, were goofing off with a vintage Neo Geo Renaissance that was currently playing SNK vs. Namco: Conflict of Superstellars; while Tyler was reading a book to Ovie. And sitting by the table, looking up from her tablet, was Lyra. “Heya, you two,” she said, waving.

“Heya, again,” DJ said as she went over to hug her old friend. “How’d you get stuck watching the kids? And how are you still alive?”

Lyra winked as she pointed with her horn. “Unicorn’s secret,” she said, whimsically. “Seriously, though, the kids have been well-behaved. Paul decided to go for a walk and your parents were all too happy to foist the kids on me while they went to dinner.”

“But that doesn’t explain why you’re here.” Lyra’s answer was merely an even glance, making it clear she needed say nothing more; the humanized pony took that as the only answer she was likely to get. “Well, whatever you’re going to say, I really don’t feel like hearing it right now. I’ve had a really bad day and you’ve already seen me break down once today. I don’t think I need to do it again.”

The elder mare smiled gently. “DJ, for being such a smart woman…you can really be an idiot at times. And now that I think of it…Mike, mind if I borrow her for a bit?” Lyra asked. “Ladies’ night out.”

“Don’t get too drunk,” he teased.

“Naah, I leave that to you Navy types,” the celeste unicorn retorted. “C’mon, DJ. Let’s get going.”

“Look, I need to talk to my parents, and then I need to talk to my brother…well, brothers, plural; it’s only fair that I include Sam in the conversation,” DJ said as the celeste unicorn rose from her seat, grabbed her purse and headed towards the door, pausing only to grab DJ, dragging her along. “I’m in no shape to go out tonight,” she pled to Lyra.

“DJ, you trust me, right?”

“You know I do.”

“Then we’re going,” the unicorn said with finality.

With a sigh, DJ relented. “At least let me get my purse.”

“Whut’s wrong, sugarcube?” Butter asked her husband as he sat down on the couch, frownlines practically embedding themselves in his face. Both foals were asleep, and it was a rare chance for both Butter and Elusive to spend some time together since the mare’s foaling. Before he could say anything, she moved behind him and started giving him a backrub, her forehooves running across his slumped withers.

“Aren’t you the one I’m supposed to take care of?” he asked with a wan smile. “And yet here you are, taking care of me. You spoil me, you know that?”

“Well, Ah’m an earth pony,” Butter reminded him, “an’ b’sides, apples don’ go well with spoilin’, hun. So, wanna tell me what’s got ya bothered?”

“My family is falling apart, love,” he told her. “I’ve got a sister I just met who bears a great hatred towards our mother and ambivalence towards our father. And while I know how she feels about me – about us – I know she hates Minty completely and utterly. And if that isn’t enough…Minty is…Min….” He broke down, sobbing, barely feeling as his wife wrapped her forelegs around him. “She’s dead. I…I can’t deny it anymore…my sister’s dead….”

“Oh, honey, Ah’m so sorry,” Butter said, holding her husband close. While Minty had been a mercurial mare, she had always gotten along with Butter, since Minty had always looked out for both Elusive and Blitz. Butter had gotten along much better with Minty’s husband Toffee Crunch, and of course she adored her niece, Gumdrop. But they were now gone as well – all three victims of the Tartarus that Equestria was becoming in the wake of Nightmare Moon’s return.

Must be strong for me and my family, she told herself as she pulled her husband closer to her. Whatever’s happening, I’ve just gotta trust cousin AJ and my mother-in-law. The Knights’ll save us. They always have – they always will.

But neither Applejack nor Rarity had saved Minty, the realization sunk in. And certainly if Minty would have been rescued, they would have done the same for her husband and foal. And if there was a way to save those three, they would have saved Fillydelphia…and Cloudsdale….

Cold fear sank in: maybe this time there was no way to save the day. Maybe this time the Elements of Harmony had met their match. Apple Butter’s body suddenly went cold from the realization; she wanted to break down and cry herself. But she couldn’t; she had to be strong for her Elusive.

The two held each other in broken silence as she felt the hot wetness of his tears as he mourned the loss of his sister and her family. After a while, she let go as well, the two adults crying and thankful their newborns were asleep long enough to let them both get this out of their systems. Both of them needed it to get over their grief at the moment.

Unfortunately, a knock came at the door. Because Elusive was still out of sorts, Butter forced herself to act. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she told him she would get to the door while he composed himself. And it was a good thing she got to the door as well: standing there, looking completely morose, was Rainbow Blitz himself.

“Hey, Butter, good seeing ya,” he told her. “You’re looking good – recovering well?”

“Uh-huh,” she told him. “The usual?” she asked him.

“Yeah,” he muttered glumly, a warning sign if she ever heard one. Blitz was always mercurial, but sad or depressed wasn’t in his usual rollercoaster of an emotional range.

“Blitz?” she asked.

“I know…I know I shouldn’t….” His voice was halting. “It’s…my parents, they never….” He was reaching around the words to say, unsure about crossing a boundary he’d never encountered prior.

“You loved her as well,” Elusive’s voice said as he walked into the living room. The look in his eyes was bleak. “She was just as much your big sis as she was mine. Always looking out for us, because she was the oldest.”

“Always being my big sis, because I didn’t have siblings of my own.” The dams in Blitz’ fragile emotional state busted again. “Why the hell is this happening to our family? First it was your mom and mine and our aunts, then Aunt Scoots and your dad, and now Minty and her family! Is somepony trying to kill us?”

“Blitz, calm down – I don’t think it’s that. Frankly, I don’t know what to think,” Elusive sighed. “But I do know that Minty wouldn’t want us to fall apart like this.”

“Yeah,” the rainbow-maned stallion agreed, as Butter passed him a bottle of cider. “She always looked out for us, didn’t she. Even when she was at her…well, even when I deserved to get my plot beat…she always looked out for us, didn’t she?” Elusive merely nodded, saying nothing else as he sat down in the seat next to his cousin. “And yet she’s gone and here we are,” Blitz continued, “and I get the feeling this is just the start of something. I don’t know why, but I get the feeling our flanks haven’t even been through the worst of it yet.”

Elusive’s eyes showed fear at his words, while Butter gasped at Blitz’ comments.

The pegasus looked at his cousin and best friend, and his cousin’s wife. “Don’t worry – nothing’s going to happen to your kids, you two. So long as Rainbow Blitz is here, I’m going to give it my all to protect them.”

“Just like Aunt Rainbow,” Elusive said with a smile as he brought his cider forward in a toast.

“Just like Aunt Rarity would do,” Blitz answered, clinking his bottle against Elusive’s in response.

“It’s quiet,” Twilight commented. “Too quiet.”

At the moment, the three were waiting in the ruins of the Infirmary. Now that the curse affecting Twilight was in remission, she was beginning to feel a second wind as her magic began to recover. At the moment, she was throwing up a stronger barrier, mainly against the unlikely event that the weakened building could fall down on them. At the moment, there were plans to build an isolation facility on the Infirmary’s grounds, but until it was built, they had to remain in the shattered remnants of the quarantine area. While Twilight was more than strong enough to rebuild the Infirmary with her own power, unfortunately they needed the building in its destroyed state for the upcoming investigation.

“Ah c’n deal with quiet, sugarcube,” Applejack said as she lay down on the cot that Twilight had magically summoned. The former farmer looked as though she’d seen better days, but with the miraculous cure Twilight had gone through in just a few hours past, the agonizing pain Applejack felt was bearable, as she would be able to push it away in the very near future…if Twilight was correct. “What Ah can’t deal with is why y’ve gone an’ decided that strange pony is yer kin!”

At the moment, both were watching as the pony who was named Twilight Sunburn – scratch that, who had been renamed “Shining Dawn” by her “mother” – as she was watching over Sweetie Belle and casting healing spells. Rarity, who didn’t trust the young pepsis at all, stood there like a hawk, her worry for her baby sister overriding her distrust of her caretaker at the moment. Even still, she did not leave Sweetie’s side, taking the younger unicorn’s hoof in her own, holding it as though she could give succor to her biological sister.

“Applejack…I know what I feel. Shiny is my child,” Twilight said with firm insistence. “I am her mother now – that’s all there is to it. Yes, she is the foal of Chrysalis and my brother, but you know as well as I do that giving birth…or hatching an egg or however she was born…doesn’t mean that Chrysalis is Shiny’s mother.”

“Yeah, an’ Ah know our family hasn’t had much a problem with adoptin’,” Applejack replied.

“Then why are you so against me adopting Shiny?”

“Twi, it’s not….” Applejack paused in thought. “Honestly, Twi, Ah’d feel much better ‘bout this if’n y’ had time t’ think things through, an’ Ah know Rarity would as well. Y’ don’t know anythin’ about this gal, ‘cept that she’s the same type o’ critter that earlier varmint was.”

“Yes, and she saved our lives…and if what you said is true, she brought me back from the edge of death.”

“Yeah, Ah guess so…but Ah’d still feel better knowin’ y’ made this call not on th’ spur of the moment.”

The lavender unicorn shook her head. “I’d feel the same way even if I waited years, Applejack.” A sudden thought came to Twilight’s mind. “When did you know, even when we all thought otherwise, that Noteworthy was the stallion for you? After all, none of us, not even Big Mac, thought that he was going to do anything other than treat you as the latest in his conquests.”

“But that wasn’t fair!” Applejack retorted. “When he looked at me at th’….” Her words trailed off as realization sank in. “B’cause Ah just knew it was th’ right thing fer me. Okay, Twi. Ah’ll give ya that. But what about th’ rest o’ our family? An’ ‘specially ‘bout Cadance. She wuz th’ one what made that promise t’ yer brother – are y’ gonna deny her that?”

“It’s not about denying anypony anything,” Twilight countered. “It’s about what’s best for that young filly over there. And I know what’s best for my daughter.”

“Twi, Ah wish y’ could hear yerself. Y’ don’t sound…well, y’ don’t sound like yerself. Y’ sound like something else’s gotta hold o’ ya.”

“Yes, it’s called motherhood, Applejack,” Twilight said biting off the argument. She couldn’t afford to argue with her sisters now; to do so could potentially be fatal to them, and she couldn’t risk that, not when she was so close to a cure.

Watching from a distance away, Shining Dawn smiled softly to herself. She could hear as her mother told her friend that she intended to keep things as they were, and that brought a wide smile to the pepsis’ heart. She giggled softly.

“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Rarity said, watching the widening smile on her face.

“Oh, I’m not laughing,” Shiny said, the wide smile still there. “I’m happy. I have a mother now, a real mother, one that will be there for me and protect me.” She then looked at Rarity, her eyes sad. “I know that you don’t approve of me,” she said, her voice morose.

“Dear, it has nothing to do with you, believe it or not,” Rarity pointed out. “It has everything to do with Twilight. We’re…worried that she might be rus—”

“You’re worried that I’m corrupting her,” Shiny said, matter-of-factly. The way she looked into Rarity’s eyes…for a second, the fashionista swore that she felt a touch of Shining Armor’s disappointment in her.

“Motherhood…it’s not something a mare takes lightly,” Rarity began, trying to choose her words carefully. Incredibly powerful or not, this foal before her was just that – a foal. Whether she was truly the age she appeared or not was immaterial; the fact was that she was a relative babe in the woods and Rarity, as the adult, needed to be careful with her words. “It’s not just an event that anypony can go in willy-nilly without a care for the lives that are at stake.”

“Mom didn’t,” Shiny insisted. “She chose me. I chose her. We need each other – why doesn’t anypony understand that?”

“Because we’ve known Twilight Sparkle for years, and she’s been nothing but methodical,” Rarity explained. “This…these actions aren’t her. These aren’t the actions of a methodical individual. Nopony just jumps in and takes a foal under their wing, literal or metaphorical, just because they need it.”

Except that Fluttershy did with Cinnamon, Rarity’s mind said, betraying her. And so did Cadance – she could have easily turned down what was sent her way. In fact, isn’t that how parenthood works in the first place?

“Hopefully you’ll understand when you’re older,” Rarity finished.

“Maybe. Or maybe Mom’ll have to explain it to me like a lot of pony things – I’m guessing I still have a lot of catching up to do, don’t I?” Before Rarity could say anything else, the pepsis continued. “Do you have any foals? I don’t know if I’m supposed to ask questions like that or not, but you’re old enough, I guess.”

Rarity bristled at that. “Dear, it’s impolite to say or hint at a mare’s age. But I’m guessing you don’t really understand that, do you?”

Shiny shook her head. “No. In the hive, no one really cares, because pretty much everychangeling save for Chrysalis is the same age. And while we’re taught some things here and there for infiltration and the like, it’s just enough to get by. What we can’t glean from the hivemind, we’ll never know outright.”

“I…see,” Rarity replied, unsure of what else to say.

“And here’s a Stone IPA for the first lady,” Moira said, setting down the beer in front of Lyra, “and a Sweet Apple Acres Premium Reserve for the other lady. Will that be anything else for the lot of you?” the Scotswoman said with a smile.

“Nope, that works for me, thanks,” Lyra said as the human woman walked off. “Lucky thing I found out about this place the last time I was back in town. Granted, it’s no Doener Bistro, but you take what you get. Besides, I figured you’d be much more comfortable around a bar in the Northside than if we went clubbing in some of the more ‘pony’ districts, if you catch my drift.”

“Thanks,” DJ replied. “I appreciate that. Besides, I’d probably have to belt the first individual that bothered to ask me a stupid question or two.”

Lyra laughed. “DJ, I know you – you think everypony is out to ask a stupid question or two.”

“Guilty as charged,” she said with a smile, looking at her mentor. “You know, I never really apologized to you about what I wrote in my email a few weeks back.”

“You don’t have to. I’ve known you long enough to know that whatever guilt kicked in five minutes later is more than enough of an apology,” Lyra replied with a wave of her hoof, “so already forgiven and forgotten.”

“Am I that transparent?”

“No, not really. If anything, you’re just as hard to read as Celestia, but in your case it’s because your body language doesn’t skew to what’s the norm for ponies. No, it’s just what I know about you, kiddo – I did watch you grow up, to some degree.”

“Grow old,” DJ commented glibly. “Not sure about the growing up part.”

“Touché.”

As DJ lifted her mug of cider to her lips, she asked, “So what did you bring me here for, other than the obvious? Did Twilight put you up to this? Or Sweetie, or Luna?”

“No, I’m doing it of my own accord this time, DJ, and I’m not doing it for you – I’m doing it for your boys.”

That earned a curious look from DJ. “What have my sons got to do with this? Lyra, if you’re trying to blackmail me regarding my sons….”

“Is that really how you think of me?” the celeste unicorn asked, genuinely hurt. “After all these years, is that really what I am to you in the end?”

“Sorry, just that after today, I’m a little on the defensive side,” DJ admitted. “And I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: Lyra, you’re family to me. You’ve been mentor to me all these years, someone I can rely on. But I also know that it’s in your nature to meddle – like you’re doing right now.”

“Well, you’ve got me there,” Lyra admitted as she gathered her thoughts for the next step. “But I think I should explain: you have two boys that are extremely exceptional in the history of the human race, and that means you owe them a larger debt than just some guy back in Fairfax tracing his family tree for his kids. You need to be the bridge that connects your sons to their heritage, not only so that they can learn from ponydom – but so ponydom can learn from them.”

DJ took another sip from her mug, but said nothing, waiting for the celeste unicorn to continue.

“Your brother, Elusive, just had his kids, so like you, he has to look at something. But his kids aren’t like other ponies – they have an aunt that helped give them birth—”

“You heard about that, didn’t you,” DJ said, looking somewhat flustered.

“Cadance told me about it,” Lyra said, before continuing. “But as I was saying, he just had foals…and those foals now have an aunt that is unlike anything they’ll ever experience in this world. Sure there are humans here now, and there will be more when those foals grow up, but that’s different from having the first of their kind that lived with humanity as a direct family member. And your sons will be cousins to those foals – I am assuming that you’re going to have continued contact with your brother.”

“Why wouldn’t I? Yes, I’m on good terms with Elusive now – I want to be in his life and vice versa. And after what happened today with Silversteel, I’m willing to make an effort there as well. But you can’t possibly expect me to give any iota to Rarity after what she said and did to my parents!”

Lyra shook her head. “Again, DJ, this isn’t about you and Rarity – this is about your children and their pony heritage, and part of that heritage is their biological grandmother. Or are you so firmly against that heritage that you’re willing to be like Rarity?”

“That’s not fair, Lyra. Earlier today I told my boys, right in front of Elusive, that I was willing to do all this because of them.” DJ pointed a hoof back at herself. “I’m not going to go back on my word; I meant every bit of it and I would never willingly lie to my kids. But at the end of the day I’m a pony only physically, only genetically! In my heart and mind I’m human, I always will be.”

“But here’s a problem with that line of thought,” Lyra told her. “You’re far more than any individual – pony or human – has ever been. You’re a countess. You’re the daughter of a high-ranking military officer – two, if you want to count Rarity’s rank. You’re the daughter of a high-ranking member of government. Your aunts, uncles and several of your cousins – and your brother – are all nobility. Your aunts are the supreme rulers of this kingdom. From the pony point of view, you’re not average, DJ – you never were.

“As for your human side, you’re a famous writer on your own, the daughter of two equally-famous creators back on Human-Earth, and your husband is an up-and-coming military officer in his own right. You’ve had Supreme Court cases decided based on your very existence – you literally changed the legal course of the United States and influenced the laws of all of humanity!

“I know things haven’t been easy for you, DJ, but despite everything you’ve been through in your life, DJ, you have led a charmed life. A normal pony wouldn’t have had half the advantages you did. A normal human wouldn’t have either. You are anything but normal, DJ. And that’s the person that your children should know and your niece and nephew. That’s the pony that ponykind should know, so that you’ll be more than just ‘Rarity’s estranged daughter’ or ‘the Lost Foal’ – your parents told me how many years it took for the human press to stop calling you ‘the Alien Girl.’

“You have a whole family out there that knows you only by what Rarity says – or doesn’t even know you at all. And despite what Sweetie and Twilight say, the fact that you haven’t been here in all these years colors their judgment. Elusive may be in your corner, but he grew up with Rainbow’s son Blitz – and Blitz always turned to Minty for guidance. So you can imagine what she put into his mind. And then there’s the younger ones: Cinnamon – you might be on good terms with her now, but I’m betting the first time you met wasn’t that spectacular. And Pinkie’s kids – since they’re Pinkie’s kids, half-cocked is their natural mode. And Applejack’s son – he’s barely old enough to start forming his own identity…you need to be a part of that.”

“This isn’t about me, is it?” DJ said bluntly. “It’s not about my kids either, is it?”

“Of course it is,” Lyra responded.

“No, it’s more than just that,” DJ replied. “Lyra, you’ve known me since I was a teenager – but I’ve also known you just as long. You know all my buttons, but I know all of yours, too. And there’s something that’s bothering you, something you can’t tell Paul, isn’t there?”

“That obvious?”

“Only to those who love you dearly. And I’m sure Paul knows – he’s a lawyer, for Christ’s sake – and is just waiting for you to tell him.”

“Just thinking about how I’m going to tell my son and daughters about their own heritage,” Lyra told her. “They already know about their uncle – Harper and Serenade have been a constant in their lives – and they know about their human grandparents. But telling them about my parents…that won’t be as easy. They hated my relationship with Bon-Bon, not because we were marelovers, but because Bon-Bon came from a poor family. My family comes from old Canterlot wealth and they wouldn’t have cared if I married an abusive stallion, so long as it was a stallion with good breeding and went to the finest schools and all that shit.”

“Old money? But I thought your title was recent.”

“Well, my title was given to me by Cadance, so it’s mine – but technically Harper holds our family title. I mean, c’mon – my foalsitter was a princess – you don’t get that kind of treatment if you’re just a normal commoner. But to get back to what I was saying, I have the fun of having to explain to my children that their late grandparents would have hated them because of how they were born.” She looked at her bottle of beer as she said, “I know Harper and I don’t bring it up, but…my parents were specist, heavily so. There had been a brief point when Harper had been interested in a mare in his class and wanted to date her, but then got a serious ration of shit from my parents because – can’t remember her name, really, went something along the lines of ‘Zaleva’ or something like that – because he was flirting with a non-pony when I – and keep in mind I wasn’t even dating age at the time, mind – would likely not even have the chance to have my own stallion.” The look in Lyra’s eyes was angry. “So even before I was old enough to know the birds and the bees, my parents were already picking out who I’d be fucking for the rest of my life as far as they were concerned.

“And that’s on top of having to explain to them why their ‘Aunt Bonnie’ is sick.” Lyra took another swig of her beer. “So, your uncomfortable task of telling your children about their less-than-savory biological grandmother is much easier than what I went through.”

“So you’re telling me you’re bisexual because of your parents.”

“No, that turned out to be coincidental – I honestly thought I was just a marelover until I met Paul; it was Bon-Bon that had romped with stallions when she was younger. But nice try on changing the point.”

“Lyra, I know where you’re going with this, and I love you to death, but please…just don’t, okay?” The humanized pony took another drink from her mug, the amber cider sliding into her muzzle. “I’ve already got my relationship with Elusive pinned down, and now I have to work on my one with Silversteel. That one’s going to be weird, I can tell you that.”

“How so?”

“He called me ‘muffin’, which I would think is some weird-ass Equestriani slang if it wasn’t for the fact that he said it with warmth…like it’s supposed to mean something.” She shrugged. “It kinda reminded me of when my parents always call me ‘furball’, but at least I understand that reference. Am I missing something here?”

Lyra was quiet once more, as if wrestling with making a comment. Finally, after a minute or so, she replied with, “I think I know…but it’s not my place to say.”

“What?” DJ asked abruptly. “Don’t play coy with me, Ly—”

“I’m not. You need to hear this from someone who is in your family – at the very least, your extended family, like Twilight or Sweetie, maybe AJ or Fluttershy.” She shook her head, adding, “Just trust me on this one: I would tell you, but I really don’t feel that it’s it my place to. To put it another way: do you want to be the ones to break my kids’ hearts by telling them their grandparents would have called them little half-breed monsters?”

“I get your point,” DJ answered. “I don’t like it, but I get your point.” As the waiter swung by to see if they needed another drink, DJ ordered another. Something in Lyra’s eyes told her that that the unicorn was very serious about this, and that she’d force the issue if she had to, something that DJ already figured was going to be the case – when Lyra got a bug up her ass about something, she tended not to let go until it was either done or she couldn’t do anything further about it. Since DJ already had a feeling that Elusive didn’t know what was going on, that meant that she was going to have to take it straight to the source.

Fortunately for the source, it came to her. A unicorn dressed in business attire walked in and made a beeline straight for Lyra and DJ. “Excuse me, Ambassador?”

“I’m not even going to bother to ask how you found me,” she muttered. “What can I do for you?”

“Acually, this is for you, Ms. Martinez,” the pony replied, floating a letter to DJ. “This was delivered to the Foreign Ministry three hours ago to you, in care of the ambassador here.” Turning back to Lyra, he added, “We’ve been trying to reach you via phone, milady, and when we got a hold of your husband, Ambassador, he said you two were out here. I’ve been scouring bars for the past hour.”

Lyra checked her phone; the battery was dead. “Third time this week – well, I was due to get a new phone anyway,” she said in an apologetic tone. “Thank you for your diligence,” she told him. Glad that he’d done his job, he departed immediately back to his duties at the ministry.

Meanwhile, DJ tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter. After a few seconds, she set it down, her face one of disbelief.

Seeing DJ’s expression, Lyra asked, “What’s up?”

“Here, you read.”

Lyra took the letter in hoof and started to peer over it. As soon as she was done, she looked at DJ. “We can be there in twenty minutes if we catch a cab.”

“Are you sure that you read the same letter I did?” DJ asked. “Silversteel wants me to go visit him at ten in the evening tonight – which is in fifteen minutes.”

“Yeah, and somehow he knew that I was with you, because you needed somepony to back you up.” Lyra looked at the letter as if it were a thing. “Okay, I’ll admit that’s a little too well-timed, but…DJ, this is your fath…well, your sire, at the very least. And didn’t you want to try to see if you could reach him the same way you did Elusive?”

“At ten in the evening in a hospital on a military base when he should be recuperating and most definitely after visitor’s hours?” DJ shook her head. “Look, I’m a Navy wife and I know the monumental bullshit that is just on number of broken regs alone…and I’m the member of my family that hasn’t been in the mil.”

“Silver’s a general; he can pull a few strings here and there, I’m presuming,” Lyra answered.

“Yeah, and that’s what worries me.”

“Glad to see your sense of humor’s still intact,” Lyra grinned, as she finished her beer, and set down enough bits for the drinks and the tip. “C’mon, let’s go – you know I’m not letting you waltz into this on your own.”

“Gimme a Bud.” When Rumble realized that the bartender was staring at him strangely, he shrugged inwardly. Yeah, I’ve been on Human-Earth too damn long.

“Let me handle it, Cask,” a soft voice said, followed a second later by, “here ya go: on the house. Yeah, it’s not one of those human beers, but the minotaurs make a pretty mean brew, I tell ya.” Rumble looked up to see a vaguely familiar unicorn mare, whose coloring was vaguely reminiscent of his sister-in-law Pinkie, save for the green eyes and three rose-quartz gems as her cutie mark.

“Pinch? Berry Pinch?” he asked, astonished, trying to match the hot mare standing in front of him with the somewhat frumpy filly he knew when he was just a colt. Wow, she looked good.

She nodded. “It’s been a long time, Rumble. Heck, wouldn’t have even known it was you if it wasn’t for the tag on your jacket there,” she said, pointing. “Gone bipedal, I see?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I actually live in San Diego on Human-Earth – I’m REN, stationed with the American military. I’m just here because my commanders insisted that I take a vacation and doubly-insisted that I do it back in Equestria so ‘I don’t forget where I came from’, quote unquote. How’ve you been? Looking good, by the way.”

She grinned. “Flatterer. Actually, that big lug you confused with the order’s my husband, Oak Cask. Met him while he was apprenticing for my mom.”

“Speaking of which, where is she?” Despite her off-and-on reputation as Ponyville’s town drunk, Berry Punch was actually very sober and in all the years growing up here in Ponyville, Rumble had never remembered the caring and even-tempered earth pony as even being remotely tipsy, much less outright drunk.

“Mom’s attending the Alcoholics Anonymous class tonight,” Pinch replied, but quickly backed it up with, “And no, she’s not an ‘attendee’, per se. She’s there to support Blue Beret, who was ordered to AA for public intoxication. Mom thought it would be a great idea if the town vinter and pubmistress offered support, given her unfair reputation.”

“You don’t have to tell me; I always thought your mother was a straight arrow. And you? I’m guessing you don’t work here normally, given your cutie mark?”

“I work at Beryl’s Baubles down on Market Street – I was my mentor’s last apprentice, and after my masterwork was done, Raspberry brought me on as a partner. I think she’s going to give me the business if she ever retires, but she’s a tough old unicorn. I’m just here helping Oak because it’s been a busy week – lot of ponies drowning their sorrows in the wake of all the crap that’s been happening in the past few days.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said morosely. “Personally, I want to get back into the action, but thirty days are my orders. Besides, I do have to admit, it’d be good to get to see some of the old gang and see how they’re doing. Obviously living as far away as I do I don’t keep up with what’s going on back here, so I guess I should take the chance to see what’s up. And….”

Even though she wasn’t a real bartender, Pinch knew that tone of voice when she heard it. “And what, Rumble? What’s her name? Or his?”

“Hers,” he answered with a self-deprecating grin. “That obvious?”

“No, just that in my time watching the bar I usually see that kind of stuff. So who is it? Maybe I can be of some help. Lemme guess: Sweet Tooth? Blueberry Cake? Fruitbasket? Coronet?”

He shook his head. “Sweetie Belle, actually, if you remember her.”

“Ah, her. Well, she doesn’t come around Ponyville much these days – if I recall correctly, she moved to Canterlot to attend the Mage Academy and has been there since – but she does come around from time to time. But if I remember from the last time that I talked to her, she was single; admittedly, it was a few years ago, but she’s a mage, and you know how busy they get – never have a life of their own.”

“Tell me about it,” he sympathized. His own career didn’t give much free time of his own, but he was now determined to make the most of his enforced leave.

“Well, now that I think about it,” Pinch replied, as a thoughtful look crossed her face, “Star Swirl should know for sure – she’s Sweetie Belle’s former apprentice, and she’s assigned to the Guild Office in town. She comes here occasionally to have a drink or when she’s on a date with somepony, but with all the stuff that’s gone down lately, wouldn’t be surprised if she’s just staying at the office until it all dies down.”

“So where can I find her?” If Sweetie was single, this Star Swirl should know for sure; it was a longshot, but he was used to that sort of thing.

“Oh, that’s easy – head to the old library. It got turned into the Guild Office since the new library went up. She’s usually there, and if not, then when school’s out, that kid of hers – she raised a dragon, just like Twilight Sparkle – should be hanging around there as well. In either case, you should be good to go.”

Rumble brightened up at that. “Thanks! That should be more than enough info to get me started, Pinch.”

“Well, if it doesn’t work out, no worries – I’m sure there’s a gal or two running around Ponyville that would love to get to know you better, Rumble,” the bartender said with a wink. “Now I gotta take care of my other customers before Mom gets back. I’ll talk to you later and it’s good seeing you again.”

“Yeah, thanks again,” he replied, waving to his old friend as she went off. As she started working with other customers, Rumble finished off his beer, then ordered another. He’d just relax the night here, maybe catch up with a couple of other old friends – he’d just seen Grassgrazer come into the place with a mare who also looked familiar from the old school days – and then head back to Thunderlane and Pinkie’s for the night. Then in the morning, he’d head to the Guild Office to talk to this Star Swirl gal.

What did he have to lose?

“It was a ruse,” Luna said bitterly as she had coffee and some croissants at a café in the town of Mountain Stream, just at the base of Poll Mountain. “Somepony knew exactly what they were doing when they sabotaged my barriers, and I will not let them get away with that.”

“Forgive me, Luna, but I didn’t see any signs of sabotage,” Imago said, seated across from her and ignoring the stares from the other ponies in the café. She wasn’t sure if they were directed at her, at the night alicorn, at both, or if the small town wasn’t expecting to suddenly have an influx of particularly powerful ponies enter their domain. “Admittedly, maybe I’m not sure I know exactly what to look for, but I didn’t see any signs of sabotage at all.”

Luna nodded slightly as she brought the coffee up to her lips. “It was very subtle, the work of – and I hate to use this term, but it’s the only one that fits – an expert. They did damage to a barrier that was due for a spell refresh, so I assumed that it was running out. I was lucky that I’m thorough enough in my spellcasting to doublecheck all my previous work, otherwise I wouldn’t have noticed that other magic interfering.”

Imago floated a bite of her croissant up to her face; one small filly in particular looked at her strangely, but Maggie had long since learned that was the way of foals; she was hardly better when she was one herself. She smiled briefly at the filly, then turned back to Luna and continued. “Now that you mention it, I did sense something slightly out of the ordinary. I mean, I discounted it at first, because I thought I was imagining things, but….”

“But?”

“The magic seemed…well, it reminded me of my daughter’s. A weird mix of both pony and changeling magic, like it was hybridized.”

“So you noticed the same thing I did,” Luna asked. “There have been some reports of adult pony/changeling hybrids, but I wasn’t sure whether or not that was true.”

“I can assure you, it’s possible. Given that my daughter was hatched instead of birthed, I could have easily artificially aged her in the egg. It’s possible that if Chrysalis, ahem, ‘mated’ with a stallion, she would have the ability to hatch them as physical adults, or at least teenagers.” She deliberately left out Shining Armor’s name, both out of respect for him and because of her anger in finding out he’d been violated.

Luna nodded at the flutterqueen’s discretion. “Given the existence of both your daughter and Cadance’s son, it’s clear that Chrysalis was behind this. It’s only a matter of finding out how deeply involved she is.”

“I’ll be more than happy to be involved myself,” the flutterqueen said wolfishly. “I have a score to settle with that maggot. Plus, I want to prove to Equestria that my brood and I are more than just the progeny of Chrysalis and changelingdom. We flutters are so much more.”

“You have nothing to prove to me, Imago – or to anypony else,” Luna said, appreciatively. “You are a friend and ally of Equestria and you have our support completely and totally. Furthermore, for the lives you helped me save today? I daresay there are quite a few in the Royal Astronomy Service who would very much beg to differ should anypony have anything ill to say regarding you and yours.”

“Thanks, Luna,” Imago murmured, sincerity completely embedded in her voice.

“You’re more than welcome,” the Princess of the Night responded.

“This wasn’t what I expected when you said you were talking about dinner,” Celestia said as she dug into her chili bowl.

A mildly-embarrassed look came over Sam’s face as he bit into his chili burger sub. “Well, I haven’t had a decent chili burger in ages, and Ben’s Chili Bowl is a DC institution, so when you have a convenient ride, you might as well take it.”

A mock-shocked look came over Celestia’s human guise; at the moment, she was in her “Skye Hanover” disguise, one she was oddly feeling more and more at ease with. “So is that all I am to you? Just a ‘ride’?”

“Well, no, trust me, I think you’re more than that,” he said sincerely. There was a sudden look in his eyes that Celestia couldn’t read, but for some reason, it made her feel flush. After a second more, he asked, “So, when was the last time you got out? Must not be much time off for a…well, you know.”

She nodded. “Other than diplomatic visits, royal duties and the like? Not much. Of course, I’ve had to adjust to having a life without a life, if you catch my meaning – all chances of anything regarding a normal existence went out the door when my mother disappeared. Of course, there was one point, ages ago, when I thought things were going to change…but they didn’t.”

“That’s a shame. You’re a queen in all but name. I would think that you’d be able to have whatever you wanted, including time off.”

“No, for the longest time there was just me,” Celestia admitted. “Luna was…indisposed, and Cadance and Twilight and the others are very recent entries in my life. I’ve gone whole decades without a day off, so getting used to having the capability for recreation time once more is something that’s somewhat of a luxury to me.”

“Well, you were able to sneak out tonight,” he pointed out.

“Yes, and if anypony is looking for me, they’re going to probably start alarms. The head of my guard detail will probably have conniption fits. And I hate to think of how Luna and Cadance will react.” She took another bite of her chili and said, “And to make things worse, I’m not here on a diplomatic visit, so technically I’m in the US illegally at the moment.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell. I promise.”

“I have it on the highest of authorities that an officer of the law trying to commit a crime does not look good on his resume when he’s attempting to apply for another position in a start-up agency,” she teased.

“Well, lucky for me this is a date then and not part of an interview, then.”

The look on Celestia’s face was one of slight confusion. “This is a date?”

He quickly ate a fry before continuing with, “Well, you see…if this was a date, then I would be off-duty and my personal business would be just that, so long as I wasn’t doing anything egregious. But if this was an interview, then as you said….”

“I see.” She quickly took a sip of her Coke; the alcohol selection here didn’t quite agree with her. “Well, I’m not sure why you’d want to go out with me—”

“Well, let’s see: you’re smart, you’re beautiful—”

Despite herself, she flushed; not a single soul had been so straightforward with her in ages. Still, she had to set the record straight. “Sam, I’m not this – you know what I really look like,” she reminded him.

“I said you were beautiful – didn’t say it was in this specific form,” he countered, and the look in his eyes was sincere. When she blushed – enough for him to notice this time – he added, “I grew up around ponies, so I know what is attractive in one. My sister, objectively, is a looker – but you’re gorgeous.”

“I’m older than you – significantly so.”

He took a sip from his beer, just as casually as could be. “I’ve always been into older ladies. I don’t think anyone in my family knew, but my first girlfriend? She was about four years older than me – I was thirteen at the time.”

“I’m your sister’s aunt.”

“Not by blood, if I recall,” he replied, “and no offense, Celestia, but you’re not mine. Twilight, Sweetie and the others – I look at them as great friends and people I can look up to, but there’s a difference between family and family, if you get my drift.”

His words gave her pause: Is he actually flirting with me? Only one way to find out. She smiled, more to cover the awkward pause she felt; she’d come here to interview him for the position she wanted to create – not to find a new lover. And yet there was something compelling about that. “You can’t be serious. Unfortunately – and no offense – but I’m in a whole different world than you.”

He looked at her with an even smile on her face. “Well, do you think I’m serious, is the question – and as to being in a whole different world, you should know that my sister and I were raised by my parents to always punch above our class. We might not win…but we won’t be stuck with the regrets of never having tried when we might have succeeded.”

Oh, stars, he is serious. Part of that worried her; she was already somewhat unsettled by her sudden attraction to DJ’s husband – how much worse would it be if it were her brother? And yet…are you really so damn lonely that you’d sleep with either of them?

Yes, she admitted to herself with less than a breath. Yes, yes I am. And that frightens me. It had been hundreds of years since she had anypony who looked at her in that way that wasn’t looking for an advantage, some way to get something past the ruler of all Equestria. And she couldn’t see any guile or even a trace of something hidden in the eyes of the human before her. Plus, as she looked at her hand in her current human form, he’d told her that he wasn’t looking at her as she was, but just as if she’d just put on a dress he liked.

“Why me?” she found herself suddenly asking. “And I want the truth, not some sugar-coated lie.”

He took a swig of his beer before continuing; she noticed trepidation in that move, as though he was trying to figure out the best way to say something. And in that slight moment, she felt a trill in her chest. He was being considerate of her feelings, something else that separated him from all the ponies that would have loved to be the princess’ paramour just to gain an advantage. “I remember seeing you back when I was just a kid, during the time we were here for DJ’s custody trial. And I thought you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen – I can’t explain it…it’s like I was just meant to look at you as if you were an angel. But that last day of the trial, I saw something in you when you chewed everyone out – there was an indescribable loneliness that I saw in you, as if you keep something separate from your loved ones every day. And even just when I was eleven years old at the time, I wanted nothing more than to just reach over and comfort you. Does that make sense?

“I mean, yeah, it sounds odd: makes me sound as though I’ve been in love with you for close to most of my life, despite only having seen you a handful of times. But…aaargh…I just can’t explain it, Celestia, I just…can’t.” He was no longer looking at her, but instead, just staring into a point in the distance, recollecting his life. “All those girls I’ve gone out with…hell, even my last girlfriend, and she wasn’t a bad wahine at all….” He focused his eyes again on her, and she could read them clearly. “None of them even compared to what I see in you.”

“You can’t…I mean…you shou—” Her words were suddenly cut off as Sam leaned over the table and kissed her. The sensation was electric, wild and like nothing she’d ever felt. When she kissed Mike both times, she’d wanted that, and the feelings had been strong. But this was somepony – someone – wanting her, and the feelings were intensified a thousand times over.

As she pushed him away, she looked at him with a look of shock. By the look on his face, it had been impulsive as well; this wasn’t an intentional move on his part.

She did the only thing that suddenly came to mind: she got up from the table – and ran.

“Is it too late to admit that this isn’t one of my better ideas?” DJ admitted.

“Well, if you’d like, I can say for the record that this whole thing is idiotic,” Lyra admitted.

The pair stood in front of the main gate to Canterlot Mountain Airbase…and the heavily-armed guards, guard dogs, sandbags, crash barriers and other signs that the base was under a high security alert. And small wonder for that: given the earlier attack on the Infirmary, it wouldn’t be a surprise if every base in the realm was in the same situation. But as a result of the full lock-down, the taxi was unable to get onto the base, so as a result, that left DJ and Lyra standing at the main gate, arguing with the lead gate guard as to why they needed to get onto base for their appointment.

“Look, ma’am, the regs are the regs,” the gate guard, a sergeant, apologized, though it was clear he wasn’t going to budge. “You have to stay off the perimeter until I get clearance that you’ll to be allowed through. And to be honest, I’m having a hard time believing what you’re saying – even if the letter looks legit. So until somepony who has the authority to let you on says so, it’s a no-go.”

“Look, Sergeant…Barricade?” Lyra asked, reading the nametag on his uniform. They’d been standing here for twenty minutes now with no improvement to things and so far this was turning out to be a monumental waste of time. “I’m not even going to waste my time asking you if you realize how high my rank is compared to military equivalents. I’m simply going to tell you to let us pass, get me a car and driver so I can get to the base hospital and we’ll call it that.” The celeste unicorn took a step forward, as if daring the sergeant.

“Ma’am, don’t make me arrest you,” he warned.

“Sergeant, if you arrest me, you’ll be explaining to Princess Cadance what you did. If you arrest her,” Lyra said, pointing a hoof in DJ’s direction, “you’d better hope that Princess Luna is in a good mood.”

“Final warning,” he stated. “I’ll be happy to call you a taxi so you can head back to town, but unless I get further instructions, this base is closed.”

“Exactly,” the celeste unicorn agreed. “Which is why you’re going to get me some officer who can get me what I want, got that? I realize you’re just doing your job, kid, but you’re well out of your league right now, which is why I ne—”

“Heartstrings, stop picking on my troops,” a new voice said. The sentry turned and immediately saluted, his face going from its normal ochre color to a very pale hue as yet another senior officer stood before him. The salute was returned, followed by a, “At ease, Sergeant. Go ahead and return to your duties; I’ll deal with things here.” As he turned to Lyra and DJ, he said, “Sorry about the extra headache. About the same time that the Infirmary was attacked, somepony sent in a surgical strike to rescue the human pilots that attacked Cloudsdale. We found the bodies of the ponies they were imitating and…well, it’s…you know.” He didn’t offer any further information, knowing Lyra would understand the reasoning behind his silence.

She nodded quietly, watching briefly as the sentry returned to his post. “Hope I didn’t drag you away from anything interesting, Soarin’,” she replied.

“No, I was only turning in to get a decent night’s sleep after spending the past day or two in Cloudsdale overseeing the first wave of military assistance.” He shook his head. “Spent all that time putting down those bastards and now they got away. And now I’ve got you here, making a mess of things.”

“Well if you know why I’m here, then you know why she’s here,” Lyra said, gesturing to DJ. Turning to the humanized pony, she added, “DJ, you’ve never met him, but this is your uncle, Soarin’. He’s Rainbow’s husband.”

He noticed DJ’s slight bristle and her jaw firm up. A sad look came over his eyes as he said, “You probably won’t believe this, but I’m just as much a victim, too. Got caught up in Rainbow’s and Scootaloo’s actions, and it did some damage to my career at the time. It took me some time to forgive my wife and her sister, but…I love Rainbow, even when she’s done some stupid things – and she excels at doing stupid things, and Scoots is little better. But they’re family, and…I just had to forgive. I don’t expect you to understand or forgive on your own, but…I just thought I’d tell you that.”

“Look, I keep trying to put all this shit behind me, but if people are going to keep bringing it up, that doesn’t help,” she said. “I guess it’s not your fault, but…you’ll have to excuse me if I’m being somewhat rude. We’ve ‘been summoned.’”

“Yeah, I know. I actually spent the past hour briefing him on what’s been going on, because he’s been insistent,” Soarin’ said. “He’s not at the base hospital right now; they actually put him in the VIP quarters in the officers’ barracks, just because he insisted that he was going to see you as soon as possible.” Pointing towards the car, he said, “Let’s drop you off at the barracks, and then I’m going to bed – I’ve had a damn long day and this whole mess just made it longer.”

“Thanks, Soarin’,” Lyra said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever,” he replied. “Get in the damn car, Heartstrings.”

“And that should be that,” Mike said, handing the report to one of his junior personnel. The person in question, an Australian RAAF sergeant, saluted and took the report off, back to their operations facility.

“Well, that’s done,” he sighed. Turning back to his guest, Mike added, “Sorry about that. Apparently Combined Command wanted a response on what happened at the Infirmary immediately. Thankfully the brass was willing to accept a written report if I follow up with in-person tomorrow.”

“I do not envy you, Mike,” Paul said, looking at the younger man across the table from him. At the moment, the two men watched over their children, as the four kids slept on the couch, silently dozing away. As Paul ran a hand through his graying brown hair, he added, “You’re taking command of a unit that is supposed to stop these things and on the very first day of your command – even before you’ve been officially installed – you’re right at the center of the latest attack.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. I’m surprised that you wanted to bring your kids with you on your jaunt to Equestria, all things considered,” Mike told him.

“Hey, my kids are just like yours; they need to know about their pony heritage too.” He drank from a mug of apple juice he had on the table; Twilight’s fridge wasn’t stocked with many alcoholic drinks and both men decided it would be better not to drink right now anyway. “Besides, we’re only here for the weekend. We’ve got to get back by Monday so the twins can go back to school and Lyra and I can get ready for the funeral.” Paul shook his head. “I didn’t know Apple Cobbler well, but she and Lyra were good friends. I know as soon as we get back this is just going to eat her up inside.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Mike sympathized.

“All things considered, I think I’d rather deal with the funeral of one of my wife’s good friends than I would the situation you’re going through. You sure it’s still a good idea to move here? Especially with how DJ views this place?”

“She was the one to suggest that over geographical bachelor status, believe it or not,” Mike replied. “She knew what I went through at my first assignment – what we both went through and we didn’t want that to happen again, especially since we have a family now.”

“Won’t argue with that logic,” Paul said with a hint of a smile. “But you know that as long as she’s here, they’re never going to stop pestering her about where she comes from and what she needs to do to reunite with Rarity.”

“That won’t be a problem whatsoever,” Mike replied, holding a mug of water in his hands. “She’s looking for what’s best for her, and I’ll back her completely in whatever it ends up being. I love her too much to do anything less.”

“Even if it means you’ll lose her?” Paul asked.

“I won’t,” Mike replied with a firm and wide smile. “I know my Daisy Jo.”

After a few minutes, Sweetie Belle stirred. The first thing she heard was, “Don’t move, Sweetie, dear. You’re both still injured – and infected.” The younger unicorn turned her head gingerly to find her older sister, looming over her with worry.

“Rarity?” she asked weakly before realization sank in. “Oh, no….”

“Ssssh,” Rarity said in soothing tones, reaching down to gently muss her sister’s hair; Sweetie Belle might have been in her mid-fifties, but she’d always be Rarity’s kid sister. “Just relax. Moving a lot aggravates the curse further and brings quite a bit of pain, trust me on this.”

Sweetie nodded slightly, then turned slowly to face her sister. “What happened?” she asked.

“You tried to protect us,” Rarity said with a look in her eyes akin to pride. “An assassin…he looked like Shining Armor, only…twisted.”

Sweetie sighed; she knew this wasn’t going to be easy to say. “He may have infiltrated by impersonating Minty.”

“Oh.” The response in Rarity’s voice was empty, hollow.

“Sis….”

“I can’t cry right now,” Rarity insisted. “I have to be strong. We still have to revive Rainbow, and there’s you to take care of. And then there’s this issue with…Twilight…and her supp….” Rarity trailed off, the tears finally coming as she started bawl for the loss of her daughter and what it implied.

Despite feeling the agonizing pain by quick action, Sweetie Belle was there in an instant. “Rarity, it wasn’t meant to happen. But Nightmare Moon did this and we can beat her – you and the others can beat her!”

“My baby filly….my wonderful little filly,” Rarity moaned, the pain of losing Minty far more a spear in her heart than anything the curse did to her before. “And Gumdrop! That precious little treasure. And Toffee…he was such a gentlestallion, a wonderful member of our family. And they’re all gone now! All I have left is Elusive and his family…. Oh, Sweetie, how can I keep them safe?”

The mage chose not to remind her sister of her estranged daughter and her family at the moment; Sweetie herself was overcome by the loss of her somewhat acerbic niece and her family. I’m just as much to blame, Rarity, Sweetie moaned silently. I never did enough to make things better with her, to make sure that we had a better relationship.

Watching from a distance, Twilight and Shiny watched the other two. “Mom, is she okay?” the pepsis asked. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, sweetheart,” Twilight said, gently kissing her daughter on the forehead. “Rarity is crying over the loss of her daughter – your cousin, Minty, and her own family. They were killed in the attack on Fillydelphia weeks ago, and apparently there’s now confirmation that she’s dead.”

At their side, Applejack sighed. “Ah know that Minty could be a mite rough-edged, but…she wuz family, Twi,” the earth pony whispered in a sad tone. “ We hafta stop th’ Nightmare, so she can’t hurt us anymore – so she can’t hurt anypony anymore.”

“Working on it,” Twilight Sparkle said. “And when I get us out of here, I promise that she’s never going to hurt anypony again – not Luna, not you, nopony.” There was a strange flicker in Twilight’s eyes, Applejack noticed, but she chose not to say anything at the moment.

Applejack instead said, “So, whut’s th’ plan fer havin’ us all together? Heard from Celestia an’ th’ others yet?”

“No, but I know they’ll be here soon,” Twilight said, a smile on her face as she reached a foreleg around her daughter to embrace her. “And once they are, just give me time to work my magic and everything will be right as rain.”

The doctor withdrew the needle. “Okay, that should be it, General,” he said, looking at Silversteel. “For the record, I want you to know that I am strongly against this and am halfway tempted to medically override this whole thing.”

Sitting in a chair and wearing his duty uniform, Silversteel almost felt like he was back to his old self again – almost. But the unfamiliar look and feel of the VIP quarters in the base just reminded him of how much of a chance he was about to do. The doctor would have preferred all this happen at the base hospital – preferably during visiting hours – but Silver overrode that. And while Silver himself would have preferred to do this at his home in Canterlot, feeling the emptiness of Rarity’s absence hurt him…and to his upcoming guest, it probably would have felt like being in the manticore’s den.

Practically feeling the doctor assigned to him hover over him, he didn’t look at the pegasus as he stated, “Major, she’ll be here.”

“Sir, with all due respect, that was thirty minutes ago. Now, I know you’re one of the fittest soldiers in the Army, sir – your strength and stamina is legendary – but you’ve been through hell and as the doctor overseeing you here, I have to protest!”

Silver looked at the major. “Do you have foals?”

“Yes, sir,” came the immediate answer. “One filly and a younger colt. Tricolor takes after me, though my wife seems to think otherwise,” he chuckled. “Greenleaf, though, is already looking forward to his first day of school, if only so he can start worrying about his cutie mark, just like every other pony that ever existed.”

“What would you do if you had a situation that took you away from one of them for decades and you had just one chance to salvage that tattered relationship?”

The pegasus doctor looked at him, agape. “I…I have no idea how to even remotely answer that, sir.”

“I know,” Silver said sadly. “Tonight’s my last chance to make up with the one daughter I have left that’s still alive. If I blow this….” The earth pony trailed off, unable to say anything more.

“Sir, I understand that your daughter is the Lost Foal – I was in high school when all of that happened,” the doctor replied. “And I sympathize with your situation. That’s the only reason I’m agreeing to any of this, because general or not, you’ve been through hell and you’re a hero to ponykind.”

“But I’m also a father wondering if I’m on the verge of reliving the same nightmare I did decades ago.”

“I don’t know, sir, but I wish you the best of luck. Phone’s there; give us a call if something comes up – there’s a medic on standby at all times, and I’m the duty officer tonight.” With that, the doctor departed, leaving Silversteel seated in the room, anxiously awaiting a moment that he wasn’t sure he wanted to come.

A few seconds later, the car pulled up, its passengers stepping out of it. Soarin’ looked at Lyra and said, “From here you two are on your own.” He then turned to DJ. “Look, kid, you don’t have to like it or not, but I am your uncle and this is about family. I know what Silver’s trying to do, and I know it’s hard as Tartarus on him right now. So…just…just give your old stallion a chance, okay?”

“Look, he called for me, not the other way around, and so far, save for the goon with the carbine at the gate, all of this is tailored to be one huge fucking set up. And you’re wondering why I’m less than happy?” DJ looked fit to be tied. “Right now the only one I feel I can trust at the moment is Lyra.”

A slight smirk crossed the diplomat’s muzzle as she put her forelegs behind her head, stretching. “Gotta admit, she’s right: this has the classic feel of the other horseshoe waiting to drop.”

“Lyra, you’ve clearly been living with the humans too long if you’ve already forgotten that ponies just have a sense for things,” Soarin’ groaned. “Silver knew Sandalwo—”

“DJ,” the humanized pony interjected, feeling somewhat on the defensive now as well as knowing that her buzz from earlier was wearing off. “Not Sandalwood – never Sandalwood.” It was possible she would have went off on Soarin’ further had Lyra not brushed her hoof against DJ’s in a slight hint.

“Let it go, DJ,” Lyra advised. “You’re usually calmer than this.”

“Sorry, old habits die hard,” was his answer. He gave the two females a sad smile, then looked at DJ directly. “One way or another, this has to happen. And if I were in your shoes, I’d probably feel just as defensive. But…just, please…he’s wanted you in his life all these years and…if there’s anything about you that’s pony, please just make him happy.” He handed a business card to Lyra. “This is the duty number; when you’re done, the driver has orders to pick you up and take you two wherever you need to go.”

“Soarin’….” Lyra voiced, feeling sympathy for her friend.

“Don’t worry about it.” He waved it off “Night, ladies, and tell Silver if he needs to talk to somepony afterwards, he knows how to get a hold of me.” With that, he got back into the car and the sedan took off, down the street, into the distance.

Lyra looked at DJ, not sure what he could say at the moment. So instead, she tapped the younger pony on the shoulder and asked, “Are you ready?”

DJ shook her head. “Hardly, but I don’t want to stand out here all night.” With that, she knocked on the door of the bungalow they’d been dropped off in front of.

A second later, Silver opened the door, looking at her. He was in a military uniform and standing upright, standard protocol for the Equestriani military. “It’s 10:45,” he told them. “I didn’t think you were going to come.”

“We ran into some issues at the gate,” Lyra explained. “Hope me being here isn’t making things too uncomfortable for you, Silver.”

“No. If it puts Sa—I mean, DJ, at ease, all the better.” He moved away from the door, letting them step into the bungalow, which reminded them of a tastefully-decorated but rather spartan room. “Get comfy, ladies,” he told them. “This is going to be a very long explanation. Should I make some coffee?”

“Let me do that,” Lyra insisted. “You two need to talk.” With that, she disappeared into the small kitchen, leaving the pair alone.

For several seconds, the two looked at each other, unable to speak, the wall of pain and age well between them. Finally, Silversteel cleared his throat. “I think there’s something that you should know,” Silversteel began in a voice so soft that it almost wasn’t clear if he was speaking to anypony at all. “Something you need to know about – something you deserve to know about, muffin.”

“Yes, and I damn well want an answer,” DJ said, though her tone had lost its bite when she heard his anguish. “and you can start with that.”

“Rumble?” Rumble saw his sister-in-law sitting there when he got in. It was closer to eleven, and he thought that everypony in the house was asleep by now. They’d all gone to bed by eleven the previous night, so he assumed that was just normal around here. But there was Pinkie, sitting at the coffee table, poring over something on a tablet and sipping from a coffee mug.

“Oh, sorry, Pinkie. I tried to be quiet when coming in.”

“No, you were fine,” she said. “I was up looking over the accounting; going to have to order some extra flour for next month.” The fact that Pinkie sat at the table, serious as could be and not by any means the happy-go-lucky party pony that she was known for being made him wonder. He wasn’t used to seeing her at all like this. “I made some hot chocolate,” she offered. “It’s on the stove if you want some.”

“Thanks,” he said, deciding he would take a drink; Pinkie’s hot chocolate had always been a treat whenever he’d had some during the winters at Sugarcube Corner as a foal, and he was pretty sure that had never changed. Pouring some into a mug, he took a sip and was not disappointed. “Raspberry?”

“Raspberry and white chocolate,” she said, a soft smile on her face. “It was a gift from my niece Cinnamon shortly after she arrived on Human-Earth. After having a couple of mugs, I called the company and bought the rights for distribution for our world. It brings in a pretty neat profit for all my cafes and we’re thinking about offering a package version for markets.”

He sat down and looked at her. “Okay, who are you and what did you do to my sister-in-law?”

She laughed. “I guess this is a side you usually don’t see of me, is it?” He nodded. “Would you believe that for most humans, this is what they think I’m like normally? I had to adopt a business attitude when I inherited the Sugarcube Corner, and Luna’s been helping me on keeping what she calls ‘a business face.’ It’s so easy for me to adjust to now that I tend to do it when I’m working on business.” She flashed him a smile and said, “Just don’t tell your brother – I think after all these years he’s used to me being who I am normally, and it’s no secret that Bubble and Surprise take more after me than him. I don’t think he can handle another shock.”

“Your secret’s safe with me, Pinkie,” he promised.

“Thanks.” She looked over a few more numbers on her tablet, before she asked him a question without looking up: “So, what are your plans for Sweetie Belle?”

He blinked. “How the hell did yo—”

She looked at him and grinned – that looked like the mare he knew. “Pinkie Sense,” she said with a wink. “Well…that and I am married to your brother, and I remember him mentioning how you felt about her ages ago.”

“Oh.”

“Can I make a suggestion?”

He drained his mug, then grabbed hers and walked over to the stove to refill both. “I’m all ears.”

“She’s been through a traumatic time right now,” Pinkie told him. “I can’t tell you the details…it wouldn’t be proper…but she just had a very long-term relationship end on her, and there’s no chance of recovery right now. She’s keeping a lot of it bottled in, but…she won’t even talk to Bloomie or Scoots.”

“That’s surprising,” the stallion said. The trio that once called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders was as tight as sisters, more than just best friends. If Sweetie wasn’t telling her two closest companions in the world…something was very wrong. “That’s not good – just bottling it in wounds you hard and does you far more harm than good.”

Pinkie just looked straight at him with a sober glance and said, “Spoken like somepony who’s been doing a little of that himself as of late?”

“Yeah, okay, I admit that,” the pegasus said, taking another sip of his hot chocolate. “Even still, there’s a lot of what happened to me that I can’t tell you about because, well…you’re not in the military.”

“I’m the Knight Elemental of Laughter,” she reminded him, “and my rank is equivalent to NATO OF-8.”

“Yeah, sorry – forgot that you being a Knight means it comes with some military responsibilities,” he apologized. “But Pinkie…I do stuff that most normal ponies don’t do. I kill. I blow up things. I do the nasty work, so that Mr. and Mrs. Pony and the foals can sleep easy at night knowing that Equestria is safe.”

“But what about you?” she asked, her eyes filled with concern. “Who helps you when you need it?”

“I just roll with the blows and deal,” he told her. The sudden firmness in her jaw told him that was the wrong thing to say to her.

“No, that’s not right,” she told him, getting up from her chair and embracing him. “Sweetie’s hurting; I don’t want you hurting too. Yes, you’ve done a lot of things that the average pony doesn’t do, but…you’re not alone, Rumble. You have a family. You have us.”

“Pinkie, I’m fine,” he insisted, though something had clearly changed. He could feel his eyes tearing up, feel an ache in his heart. “This is something I have to handle alone, and I ca—”

“No!” she insisted, gripping him tighter. “You don’t have to face anything alone, Rumble, not when you have friends and family. And how can you show Sweetie how you feel about her when you’re bottled up and fighting whatever’s bothering you?”

The dam broke. “I failed my ponies,” he told her, letting himself cry in the gentle arms of his sister-in-law when he couldn’t do that before. “The bodies arrive next week, and so many damn good ponies that won’t be returning alive because I failed.”

“You did your best,” she told him, her own eyes filling with tears. “I know you, Rumble – you did your best.” She held him as he let his grief out, the two staying together long after both mugs had gone cold.

Finally, he broke away, feeling somewhat relieved. “Thanks,” he told her. “I don’t know what you did, but…thanks.”

“Just taking care of my family,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “Promise me that if you’re in that situation again, you’ll get help, Rumble. We love you too much to see you hurt so.”

“I will,” he vowed, meaning every word of it. “Pinkie Promise.”

The two sat for several uncomfortable minutes, looking at one another, neither saying a word. Finally, Silversteel said, “I really don’t know how to say what needs to be said.”

Don’t lose your temper here, Dee, she told herself. You’re a grown woman, and you can handle being alone for a couple of minutes with the pony that sired you. Unconsciously, her hand went towards her chest. Underneath her shirt was a chain that she felt for, with two objects on it: the first was a human-style wedding ring, which Mike had gotten for her as a first anniversary gift to always let her know he loved her, during times she couldn’t wear her wedding bracelet. The second was his dogtag, given to her the day he graduated from the Academy. Both were her talismans of love for him and gave her strength at the moment.

“Feeling better?” Silversteel’s voice rang. She opened her eyes and saw him looking right at her with eyes full of concern. “The look on your face right now…I know you don’t want to hear it, but it reminded me of Rarity and something she did a long time ago.” His eyes took on a nostalgic look as he started. “Well before you were born, I nearly lost Rarity – we weren’t married at the time – because she was tricked into an engagement with a power-mad donkey. The only way to save her was to duel him—”

DJ stared at Silversteel as if he’d become a madman. “Dueled?”

“It was legal back then,” he explained, “and it was the only way to save Rarity. I won, obviously, but I earned a few scars from the fight. But getting back to my point: the look on your face now was the same as on hers when she was afraid I was going to die. You are more like her than you might want to realize, but it doesn’t make it any less true.”

With that, he started what he meant. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a flat piece of paper. He then reached over and passed it to her. “This was something I’ve carried around for years. It’s actually yours.”

She recognized it as a photograph. In the image was a younger, happier Rarity, with an equally-young Silver wrapping a forehoof around his wife, both of them cradling their newborn daughter. To Rarity’s right was a golden-colored pegasus mare while on Silver’s left was a bluish-gray stallion with a mare and foals around him. Behind and just above them all, looking proud as a peafowl, was a graying, mustachioed stallion…and an older mare that, save for a couple of darker strands of brown in her mane, was the spitting image of DJ; enough so that she got a good idea of what she’d look like in another couple of decades. At the bottom of the picture were two unicorn teens: The elder one had a light magenta coat with a two-tone purple mane and tail, while the other had a pale violet coat and a gold-and-ecru mane.

“Who is this? I recognize you…and…her….” DJ started. “I’m guessing the foal in the center is me?”

He got up and went over to her side, then sat down, pony-style, to point out the ponies in the picture. “The pegasus by Rarity is my older sister, Golden Sun,” he started, a smile on his face. “That was a few years before she got married; Goldie’s got several foals now. To my left is my older brother Diamondplate, his first wife, Lavender Blue, and their sons, Paperclay and Leafscatter.”

“First wife?”

Silver nodded. “About a couple of decades ago, Lavender came down with rainscald. It devastated her and…thankfully she passed quickly and painlessly, though we all miss her. Dimes’ second wife, Nordic Laurel – she’s nice, but there’s always going to be a part in our hearts for Lavender.”

“I didn’t know,” DJ said. She didn’t feel a connection with the deceased unicorn mare, but she understood what it was like to lose loved ones. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It’s okay. Leafscatter and Paperclay, they grew up to be great stallions in their own right: Paperclay’s a famous sculptor in Manehattan, while Leafscatter runs an arboretum in Whinnypeg. And Dimes and Laurel had a daughter, Quickstep, and she’s scheduled to attend the Royal Military Academy and follow in the family business.

“The ponies behind me and Rarity are my parents: Silver Hammer and Sandalwood. It goes without saying that you were named after her.”

“I didn’t know that ponies had generational names.”

“We usually don’t. In fact, we were going to name you Amaretto, but the likeness changed our plans, muffin.”

“You keep using that word – ‘muffin,’” she noted. “Care to explain?”

“I couldn’t until now,” he answered, gesturing towards the last two in the picture, “but now it’s time. The ones lying down in the picture? They’re Sparkler and Firecracker – they were two of the ponies that saved you the night you were sent to human-Earth.”

“Were they cousins?” DJ asked, genuinely interested. If there was one thing she’d learned from the day she visited the graves of the trio that had given their lives to save her, it was that she felt she owed them a debt.

“San…no, DJ,” the earth pony general said, looking at her with gentle red eyes. “Sparkler and Firecracker were your older sisters.”

DJ blinked. Once. Twice. And finally looked at Silversteel again as though he lost his mind. “The fuck?” she blurted, too surprised by his words to even consider propriety.

“The one who took the picture – and thus isn’t in it, was a mare named Derpelle Jessica Hooves – Derpy, to her friends as well as the stallion she loved for most of her life: me.” His eyes were now sad, reaching back into a pain thought long-over. “Derpy and I were in a long-term relationship, though in the end it didn’t work out and a couple of years after we broke it off, I married Rarity. Even still, we remained friends and if you want to know the truth, probably still very much loved each other – I still do love her. But it was during those years we were together that we adopted two unicorn fillies, Sparkler and Firecracker, though we nicknamed Firecracker ‘Dinky,’” he explained. “As for muffin, it was a term of endearment that Derpy always called our daughters. You were born and we called you that, and later on Minty got called that once she came along as well. Elusive, as he occasionally jokes, was lucky enough to escape that because Rarity never felt it worked with him.

He felt his chest heave. “The day you disappeared…I didn’t just lose you. I lost a mare I still loved very much and I lost two precious daughters – three, by my count of the time. Rarity was also heartbroken; she was Sparkler and Dinky’s stepmother and she loved them as if they were her own.”

At this point, Lyra returned with the coffee, passing one to each and placing the condiments on the small table between them. She plopped onto the sofa next to DJ, and briefly bumped against her in a silent gesture of support. DJ appreciated the move, though she didn’t say so.

“I…I don’t know what to say,” DJ commented, not sure how to proceed next. However, a lump built in her throat as she realized the occasionally weird dreams she had throughout her life weren’t dreams, but memories.

“Don’t say anything, anything, then,” was Silver’s response.

“Don’t say anything?” the humanized pony repeated.

The stallion nodded in sympathy. “I’m sure all of this is overwhelming for you right now. Believe me, after all these years, just thinking I’d worked through it, and then to mention it again is like a buck to the barrel.”

“So, what, am I supposed to just….” She lifted her arms, trying to say in gesture what she couldn’t vocalize. All her talents as a writer, all her skill at prose…and suddenly she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. After a few minutes, she finally found some words: “What do you want from me?”

“Nothing,” he told her.

“Nothing?”

“DJ…this isn’t about giving you a guilt trip or anything of the sort; I’m not that sort of stallion, I suspect you’re a very intelligent mare, er, ‘woman’, and even if I was interested in guile, I know Lyra wouldn’t allow it.” He dumped a few cubes of sugar into his coffee and drank. “I’ve had years to think on the mistakes made when you were here last, and while I love Rarity more than I can say, our opinions don’t always dovetail. Last time I checked husbands are allowed to disagree with their wives, and I have come to a realization over the years that she really hasn’t.”

DJ poured a bunch of cream and sugar into her coffee. “And that is?”

“The fact is, right or wrong, there is no way a newborn foal would have survived in a hostile world without the help of somepony. And that somepony was the humans that took you in – but they did more than that. They accepted you as one of theirs, made you their daughter, and that’s something exceedingly rare and magical for any species – but especially humans. Feel free and correct me, but acceptance isn’t always the strongest of human traits, is it?”

Lyra spoke up after dumping as much cream and sugar into her coffee as DJ had. “Well, I didn’t grow up with them like DJ did, but my experience is that, no, not always. But I’m curious as to how you know that.”

“I’ve worked with enough humans over the years as we reformed the military. Though most of the troops our NATO allies sent over were wonderful men and women to work with, there were some plotholes, and I was assured more than once that they weren’t indicative of all of humanity. But there’s ‘not indicative’ and then there’s just numbers,” he said, shrugging. “Italians, in particular, are serious plotholes, if you ask me. But some traits ring true on a species level and I’m sure that’s likely the case for humans.”

“Mom and Dad shielded me from most of it when I was younger,” DJ admitted. “I really wasn’t aware of any of it until I was old enough to understand, and thankfully most of the people I know have been very accepting of me. My best friends, in particular, have been there for me through thick and thin and I don’t know what I would have done without them.” There was a soft, loving smile on the humanized ponies face, one that brought a smile of his own to Silversteel’s.

“They sound like wonderful people,” Silver replied.

“They are. We people rarely make lifelong friends, but…I can honestly say I’m an exception in this regard. And then there’s my brother. He’s always given me the motivation to keep going, if only so that he’d see that I never gave up – so he wouldn’t, either.”

Sam ran several blocks down U Street, hoping that Celestia hadn’t changed back to her normal form and taken to wing. Then, as the first drops of rain fell, he had just enough time to swing by a closing kiosk vendor and throw him twenty bucks in exchange for one of those cheap I♥DC plastic umbrellas that didn’t last for crap.

Oh, great fucking move, Martinez, he chastised himself. Sure, put the moves on your prospective boss – and your sister’s aunt! What, couldn’t keep it in your pants? Now you’ve got an alicorn who’s not supposed to be here, in the rain and you have no idea how she’s supposed to react!

He kept running until he hit 19th and Vernon, with no sign of where she was. All he knew was that he’d pissed her off, he was getting soaked in the rain thanks to this stupid-ass umbrella, and he was stuck several thousand miles away from his home in Hawaii and a reality away from Equestria, where he was supposed to be.

Shit. And Mom and Dad are still in Canterlot, he grumbled. Well, maybe Uncle Tom or Uncle Jim’s home; one of them hopefully can drive out here to pick me up. Gonna have to explain that one. And then I’ve got to find a way to apologize to Celestia – she’s probably at the embassy by now an—

It was a second later that he saw it out of the corner of his eye. He thought he imagined it at first, but if he did, he was going to chance it: a flash of light, just for the briefest of seconds, enough to turn the evening hour into noon. He knew that had to be impossible, as Celestia said that she had no control over the sun in this dimension. But she was still capable of….

Sam, just shut the fuck up, and….

He sprinted up 19th Street, well from the commercial district into a residential area. And on a triangular-shaped park, on the corner of 19th and Kalorama, he found her. She sat on a bench, still as a human, still in her dress, letting the rain fall on her – she hadn’t summoned an umbrella or a shield. She just sat there, head down, looking…morose?

“Celestia?” he said, moving over to her with the umbrella. It was stupid at this point – she was completely soaked – but he had to be the gentleman an—

“Why?” she asked in a soft voice that seemed to cut right into him. “Why are you able to see what others can’t?” She looked at him and it was clear she was crying. “I’m so tired of being the unapproachable, inviolate princess that is meant to be on a perpetual pedestal! Love, affection, companionship – it’s like it was never meant for me!”

“Look, Celestia, I—” Sam began, but it was no use; the gates were open and the firehose that was the alicorn’s psyche had been unleashed.

“Do you know what it’s like, day after day for hundreds of years, blessing other ponies’ marriages, watching them have family and laughter and life and love – when you can’t have it yourself? Do you even comprehend how I felt when I lost the only stallion I ever loved – because the nobility wanted me to remain pure and distant?” Her eyes became stained with tears. “I cried when I lost him – and I cried again when I forced Luna to have to give up her relationship, knowing that all these years later she still pines for him!”

“Celestia, I have no idea—”

“Is it so wrong that I want someone of my own?” she cried, on the verge of hysterics. “I bleed and cry and all the other things living creatures do, why am I denied happiness? I am supposedly a living goddess…but who do I get to turn to when I need my own blessings? When do I get my own life? When do I get to have a love of my own? When do I—”

Sam finally dropped the umbrella, took her by the shoulders, and shook. “Celestia! Get a hold of yourself!” She finally looked at him, eyes rimmed red from tears, completely soaked, and utterly miserable – and yet to him, she still looked impossibly, ethereally beautiful.

“Did you mean any of it?” she asked in a shaky voice, like a frightened child. “Or was it just teasing?”

“I wasn’t. I meant every word of it,” he blurted as if he was once more a kid with a crush; compared to her, he might as well be one. “I sound like a complete idiot, but, yeah, it’s true.”

She leaned forward and kissed him. He returned the kiss, surprised at first, but soon pulling her closer. The two did not stop as they kissed and held each other in the falling rain, both getting wetter as their passions rose. They kept at it, ignoring everything around them until Sam felt someone tapping his shoulder. He turned around to see an officer from the Washington PD, looking at him askance.

“I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for this,” he drawled. “Most people get a hotel.”

The look on Celestia’s face was apoplectic, but before she could speak, Sam grinned. “Sorry about that – girlfriend and I had an argument, but we patched things up. Didn’t plan to, uh, get carried away,” he apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

“That’s nice – can I see some ID?”

“Sure,” Sam answered, reaching into his pocket for both his ID and badge. He gave it to the cop, who looked it over before speaking into the radio responder on his vest.

“This real?” the cop asked, as he handed the badge and ID back to Sam.

“Yeah. Me and…Celeste…here were out for a bite, and, well, you know what it’s like being a cop,” Sam drawled. “Visiting my family – I’m originally from Winchester,” he added, knowing full well that he was lying through his teeth about the visit.

“And you?” the cop asked Celestia.

She reached into a pocket, handing him a small wallet fold. “It’s…been a bad night for me, officer,” she explained. “Fortunately, I’ve got a very understanding col…boyfriend.”

He looked at it and handed it back, then looked at Sam. “Well, Sergeant, you obviously didn’t mean it, but there was an attempted murder the other day here in the park. Neighborhood’s pretty spooked, so anyone they don’t recognize…you know the drill.”

“Yeah, that I do,” Sam said, grateful that the officer had bought their story while at the same time feeling slightly guilty about inadvertently freaking out the locals.

“Well, let’s get you guys out of here,” the cop said. “Need a lift somewhere?”

“Yeah, we’re parked over by Ben’s Chili Bowl,” Sam said, trying to sound a little sheepish.

The officer looked at him bemusedly. “You followed her for a mile in the rain?” Looking at her, he said, “Lady, take my advice: most cops are hardasses, both in relationships and life. If this guy’s willing to follow you that far, you better put a collar on him and not let go.”

A strange look crossed Celestia’s face as she commented, “Oh, believe me, officer, I’m starting to get that message.” She reached over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Well, shall we go back to our car, dear?”

“Um, yeah,” Sam answered as the trio walked towards the flashing lights of the waiting police cruiser. And as he felt the adrenaline of the past few minutes wash through him, he suddenly heard a voice in his mind, almost purring:

Don’t plan to get any sleep tonight.

Silver nodded and took another sip from his coffee. “Minty was the same way with both Elusive and your cousin Blitz. Actually, she’s been the ‘big sister’ for all of your cousins. She felt that was her responsibility.” He realized that could have sounded accusatory, so he amended it with, “And now, there’s a whole new generation of foals coming about. I had a grandfoal from Minty, and now Elusive’s, and hopefully, if you’ll allow it, yours as well.”

DJ shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She remembered Rarity’s response towards them and to her, it was disturbingly predatory. Silver saw that and winced; DJ, in turn, realized he hadn’t meant anything other than the hope of being a grandparent and that made her feel guilty.

“It’s getting pretty late,” Lyra said, looking at the clock. “You’ve got to get some sleep, Silver, and we’ve got to get back to our families.” She rose from the chair, pulling the card and her phone out of her purse. “I’ll have them pick us up in fifteen minutes, so you two can wrap up your conversation.”

“Thanks, Lyra,” DJ said, as Lyra departed the room again.

Father and daughter stood and looked at each other in silence for a few minutes before he asked, “Do you ever think you’ll find it in your heart to be a part of this family?”

“I love Twilight, Sweetie and the others unconditionally,” DJ said without hesitation. “Some came into my life much later than they should have, like Luna, Cinnamon and Elusive, but they mean the world to me as well.”

“But not Rarity.” It wasn’t a question.

“No. She wants something I can’t give her and don’t want to give her. I was Sandalwood, once, I admit that. But that was a long time ago and that ship has long gone haze gray and underway – I can’t be who I never really was. I can’t be expected to just grow a sla…cutie mark and run around naked when that hasn’t been me my whole life. So I will never be Sandalwood. That pony, however you want to look at it, is gone and she’s never coming back.

“Furthermore, it’s not just about that. It’s about the fact that Rarity has zero respect for my Mom and Dad. I don’t expect her to love them – but I damn well expect her to respect them!” The look in DJ’s eyes suddenly became fierce as she fell onto familiar grounds. “Without them, I would have nothing, be nothing!”

“You would be a pony,” he reminded her. “You would have your family here.”

“I would be a corpse,” she countered, “a pile of ashes and strange bones in a burnt-down shack in the backyard. My father risked his life to give me mine. My mother took a chance to raise me as hers. They will always be my parents, and I will never accept any entertainment of thoughts otherwise!”

“Fair enough. I remember bits and pieces of it all from the trial, but I don’t think I know the full story,” he admitted. “Our attorney at the time wasn’t exactly focused on that aspect.” He looked at her and then asked, “And what of you and I?”

“Can you accept my parents for who they are? Can you accept me for who I am? That I might be a pony in body, but within beats a human heart? That Sandalwood is dead, and for better or worse, I am what is here?”

He shook his head, not in disagreement, but in a self-depreciating gesture. “Applejack warned me this was going to come someday,” he stated, “but I never really believed her. More the foal I, then.”

“If you can accept me as DJ, we can work on finding out if there’s a tomorrow out there with our name on it,” DJ stated. It was a needlessly prosaic term, she knew, but she said it regardless.

He looked at her, then past her. “The truth is…I don’t know where or how to begin. I very much appreciate what your parents did, and I’d be more than happy to tell them in person, if you’d like, though I don’t know if they’d want to see me after all that’s said and done.”

“My parents are saints,” she insisted. “Okay, well, maybe not saints – Dad’s got a mouth that could peel paint off a battleship and I learned that from him, but they’re very quick to forgive.”

“That speaks well for your upbringing, then,” Silver replied. “But you have to understand my position: I lost my three oldest foals. And now my fourth oldest – as well as her family – may have been killed in a senseless battle, and all I have left is my son…and the middle daughter that I thought I lost.

“I don’t know if you can accept me, or if you expect me to have conditions of accepting Rarity, but….” He closed his eyes as he said, “Your sisters gave their lives so that you could live – it was more than a selfless, brave act, it was one of love. But if I push you away, all I’d be doing is saying that Sparkler and Dinky’s actions wasn’t worth it…and I loved them both too much to ever say that. So I’m going to put myself out on the cliff and take a risk.

“Be the woman you are, DJ; I’ll accept that, or I’ll learn, somehow. This isn’t about me and my pride as a pony; that went out the window the day you and your sisters died. And regardless of what Rarity thinks, this isn’t about her, either. This is about you and the life your sisters sacrificed so you could have yours – and I’d be a foal to let you go.”

“I’d like you to at least say something to my parents. You don’t have to be buddy-buddy with them, but I would like you to at least respect them. My husband as well.”

He nodded. “I’m not so proud a stallion to know when I’ve mistrotted. I can do that.”

“And I refuse to have anything to do with your wife until she can do the same,” DJ insisted. “Like I said, I’m not expecting her and Mom to suddenly trade dinner recipes, but until she realizes and accepts me for me, then no dice.”

“I’m not very happy with that, I’ll admit,” he told her. “I want you to understand something, DJ: Rarity still loves you. There’s a lot that you still don’t understand and know about, and there will be time to tell you later. However, that doesn’t mean that I won’t agree with the request for now.”

“And if my opinion never changes? Because I don’t see that happening,” DJ grunted. “Furthermore, I don’t see her changing her mind either.”

“Things change,” he told her. “I can only hope they’ll change for the better.”

“Driver’s here,” Lyra said as she looked out the window.

DJ started to hand the photograph back to Silver. “I…I can’t accept this,” she told him, a nervous look on her face.

Lyra went over and patted the humanized pony on the shoulder. “Look, you wanted something to show Stuart and Tyler about where they came from, right? This is where it starts.”

“You’re right,” she admitted, slipping it into her purse. Turning back to Silver, she added, “Thank you.”

“It was always meant to be yours, muffin,” he told her. “But you have no idea how good it feels for me to give it to you finally.”

She looked at him again. “Well, I….” She chose to leave the bungalow before she said or did anything further.

“I never realized it was this bad,” Silver told Lyra as she stood at the door.

“Truthfully, Silver? If it wasn’t for me, Twi, Sweetie and a few others? You wouldn’t even have this much,” she told him. “At times, she’s been this close to not caring about what happens to ponydom at all. If it wasn’t for the ponies she considers family? Let’s be glad things didn’t go there.” She went over to him and gave him the embrace that his daughter denied him. “Night, Silver. I’ll keep looking out for her.”

“Thanks, Lyra. I appreciate that more than you know.” As she closed the door, he thought about he and his daughter and the gulf that lay between them, but that paled compared to the one between DJ and Rarity. But as much as he loved her, he wasn’t entirely happy with her conduct in this issue over the years, and it made him wonder: would a chasm similar to the one between the two mares develop between him and his beloved wife?

“I just don’t know what went wrong,” he said to nopony in particular.

“Thank you once again, Cadance,” Imago said as the two royals looked at one another. “Tonight let me finally participate as part of this nation and to protect my adopted species. You can’t imagine how much of a dream that’s been to me.”

“I’m glad that you had the chance, Maggie,” the romance alicorn said. “But it’s getting late, and you’ve got some running around to do in the morning, right?”

She nodded. “Pip wanted to show me around Canterlot, especially the shopping districts. He says that it’s a great way to get me noticed around the capital, but I think he’s also planning to pick something up for the boys.”

“That’ll break the bank,” Cadance laughed.

“Perhaps, but spoiling one’s foals is the point of being a parent, right?” Imago replied.

“Too true. Anyways, I should let you get some sleep, Maggie. The guards here will show you to the guest room. See you hopefully for breakfast?”

“Certainly,” the flutterqueen answered. “Have a wonderful evening.”

“You, too.”

Cadance started the trek towards her old room in the palace; while she would have preferred to have returned to her mansion, unfortunately Duskie was too young for such late-night travel and thus had a nanny watching him while she finished up her affairs of state for the evening. Thankfully, one of the maids offered to take care of Rose while Pip and Cadance continued to trade what little they knew about the long journey known as parenthoo—

The wave slammed her to the floor, filled her body with ecstasy in a way she hadn’t felt in years. Her body suddenly burned with desire, and while she had never entertained going out with anypony since the passing of her husband, had he been present, she would have immediately wanted to make her opinion known on her desires. Right now. On the floor.

After a few seconds passed, the Princess of Love gathered enough semblance about her to shake off the torpor and realize that she’d been hit by a wave of desire stronger than she’d ever have needed to process, a sexual urge that felt as though the floodgates hadn’t been opened in a very, very long tim….

Cadance suddenly blushed as she realized the source of it all, the only one that could have that much of an impact on her powers. Well, she does deserve to have somepony. I’ll have to talk with her later and congratulate her.

But first, Cadance had her son to take care of. And probably needed a cold shower, too.

DJ yawned as she reached for the doorknob to Twilight’s front door. She just wanted to go in, crawl into bed, and hope she could get up early enough to see of Mike as he prepped for his first full day as the unit commander. Then she was going to have to see about returning back to Yokosuka as well and updating FFSC of the change in Mike’s status. She could probably stay there – sadly, without him after all – long enough for the boys to finish out the school year, then arrange for their furniture to be moved to their new home here in Canterlot.

That in itself was going to be interesting, since she was going to have to check to make sure that the contractors working on it were building it according to human standards. She didn’t doubt that they could get the standard measurements, but all things considered she wanted the house redone in standard US measurements, not metric or Japanese building standards. Then there was the trouble about where the boys were going to attend school while here. There was no US base, which meant there was no DODDS, but considering there was a US embassy that meant there was probably an American International School in Canterlot somewhere….

“DJ,” a voice said behind her.

Shoulda known, the humanized pony thought to herself, but she smiled; she could really use a friend right now.

“Don’t say it, Luna,” DJ said regardless, the words spilling out of her. “I appreciate what you’re going to say, but just…you don’t have to say it.”

Luna bent down and nuzzled the humanized pony. “I’m proud of you, DJ. You dealt with the situation very well.”

“How did you know about that?” she interjected.

“I stopped to check in with Silver on the way home from some business out of town. He was worried about you, and asked me to at least check on you.”

“That was nice of him.”

Luna rolled her eyes and sighed. “Is that it?”

DJ hugged her aunt. “Better?”

“Yes, though that’s not what I was talking about,” Luna admonished the humanized pony. “I want you to realize something, DJ: just like your human parents love each other, so too do Rarity and Silver; and just like your parents, I’m sure, Rarity and Silver don’t see eye to eye on everything. I’m guessing you don’t always agree with Mike?”

DJ remembered the argument she had with him just a week or so ago in the hospital in Singapore – it already felt like it had been a long time ago and yet his words still rang clear in her mind. “Yeah, we’ve had a few dustups,” she admitted.

“Give Silver a chance,” Luna pled. “I don’t think you fully understand how much losing almost all of his daughters at one point or another in his life has hurt him. It’s broken him, DJ, and only you can help heal his pain from losing you, Sparkler and Dinky in just one blow.”

”Look, I’m not about to—”

“This isn’t about Rarity. This is about Silver. I would ask you this regardless, because in addition to being family, he is a dear friend as well. I remember the night he lost you, Derpy, Sparkler and Dinky. I feared for him, I really did. Rarity was broken – but Silver was shattered.”

“What were they like?” DJ suddenly asked. “My, uh, sisters, I mean.”

“I didn’t know them that well,” Luna admitted. “It was during the time that Celestia was reorganizing the government and so I was still largely isolated to night duties only, so I didn’t run into them that often, but…you would have loved them as much as they loved you. Sparkler…I remember her being such a bright and beautiful young mare, in the prime of her teenage years and adjusting to her life as a jeweler. And Dinky? Even at her age, I recall her being absolutely brilliant. I daresay that if she’d lived to a ripe old age, she probably would have outpaced Derpy, who was an accomplished scientist in her own right.”

DJ was suddenly quiet at that, and Luna picked up on it immediately. “Nopony is blaming you for what happened. And if they were still alive, Derpy could never have placed any blame on you, just a newborn at the time. And Silver was right when he told you that your sisters loved you more than anything. If they could say it, they’d be absolutely proud of the woman you’ve become, DJ, I know it.”

“I…I think I remember them,” DJ admitted. “Growing up, I had these occasional dreams where I was looking at two shapes: a larger purple one and a smaller lilac one. I remember happy sounds, almost like giggling and I….” She let her words trail off; there was too much to say and not enough to say it in.

“If you’d like, when it’s possible, I can work with you in your dreams to show some of my memories,” the dusky alicorn offered. “It won’t be easy – you having a fully-human mindset is hard enough to adjust to while moving through the Dreamlands – but I think you might appreciate seeing them as they were.”

DJ nodded, unable to trust herself to say anything further. Finally, she added, “I think I’d like that sometime…when you have the chance. No need to rush on my account.”

“It’s a deal, then,” Luna agreed. “But for now, you have a long day ahead of you. And frankly, so do I.”

“Huh?” DJ asked.

Luna smirked. “Tia lowered the sun about thirty minutes late…as if she was distracted by something,” she clarified.

“Distracted her?” DJ asked, confused. “Isn’t she the very picture of composure or something?”

“Well, if you want my guess,” Luna said, a slight smile on her face, “to use a human turn of phrase, I guess you would call it a miracle.”

“Not being clear,” DJ grumbled.

“Don’t worry about it,” Luna laughed, bending down to nuzzle her niece once more. “Goodnight, DJ.”

Hours later, Fluffy Pillow led her group of maids towards Princess Celestia’s chambers. By the posted schedule, the sun would be up in a few minutes, so the sun alicorn would be on the Grand Sidereal Balcony raising the sun, before heading off to breakfast and the day’s duties. Usually this was the time that the maids would clean her room, so they could make it spotless for their Divine Ruler.

As they arrived at the door, they were surprised to find the door sealed by a magic spell, followed by two scrolls tied to the door by a ribbon. The smaller scroll was sealed by a single deep-blue ribbon, while the other unfurled easily for Fluffy:

My dear servants,

I plan to sleep in for the day – feeling a bit tired. I will raise the sun from my balcony and do not worry; you do not have to worry about cleaning my room today. Please ensure that Princess Luna receives the second scroll, and then please feel free to take the remainder of the day off, with my grateful thanks for all that you do.

- Warmly,

Celestia, HRM

One of the other maids, a pegasus named Cozy Hearth, giggled. “Sleep in, my flank – does she think we don’t know the ‘tying soc—’”

“Hush, you!” a third maid named Dustpan answered. “She is our Divine Sovereign and she deserves our respect! Though…I am wondering who the lucky stallion is….”

“Stallion, my flank – I’ll bet it’s a mare,” a unicorn by the name of Potpourri, teased. “You know she has that ‘protégé’ of hers,” Potpourri said, doing air quotes with her hooves. “I’ll just bet that now that she and Duchess Twilight are pra—”

“Don’t you even go there!” Fluffy Pillow snarled. “Even to suggest that our Divine Lady would be mounted by a hot-blooded stallion or between the thighs of a lovely mare wou—”

“Ahem,” a voice said behind the four and they turned to see Princess Cadance, standing there. “Is there an issue, ladies?” the youngest alicorn asked, keeping her tone neutral.

The four of them went very pale as they realized the romance alicorn had heard their bawdy banter – and was not happy about it. “I…uh….” Fluffy began, having been the most recent offender.

“Princesscelestiasaidthatshessleepinginsoshedoesntneedustocleanherapartmentssoifyoullexcuseuswehavetogorewindthecheesewheelsinthekitchenbecauseitsveryurgent!” Dustpan said, freaking out and beating a quick retreat. The three others soon did, leaving both the note and Luna’s scroll behind.

Cadance picked it up and read the first note. Slept in? Celestia never sleeps in, even when she was raising me and Twilight. I really wonder….

“Oh, hello, Cadance,” Luna said a second later as she joined her niece in front of Celestia’s doors. “I was already awake and was coming to get Tia for breakfast, but…I….” She blinked. “Is that a door seal spell?”

“And a privacy ribbon as well,” Cadance said, telekinetically passing Luna the tied scroll. “Looks like I was right about the paramour,” Cadance said fondly. “Good for her – she really needs somepony. No offense, Luna.”

“None taken,” Luna said, inwardly relieved that it wasn’t who she feared it was. She’d thought earlier that it had been DJ’s husband, but he had been at Twilight’s place all night, waiting for his wife to return. So if it wasn’t him…who was it?

“You know,” Cadance said, “if I was more impish, I’d probably take a peek with magic. But she’s likely got the whole place magically sealed and honestly – Celestia’s more like my mother than my actual mother is. And thinking about your parents having sex? Ick.”

Luna at that point decided discretion was the better part of valor. “Well, I believe Pip and Imago are joining us for breakfast this morning, correct?” Luna asked, as she gestured in the direction of the morning parlor.

“Yes. Plus, apparently a courier came with sealed mail from Twilight. She needs to talk to us as soon as possible, and with the Infirmary being damaged, we’re going to have to find a way to ad hoc the communications until we can get them to a new quarantine location,” Cadance replied as they started walking off.

“Twilight and the others will be fine,” Luna assured Cadance, seeing the concern present. “Twilight’s strong and adept; she’ll save the others. If anything, I’m more concerned about whoever it is in there with Tia.”

“Oh?”

The look on Luna’s face was wicked. “Think about it: my sister hasn’t had a lover in hundreds of years. And unlike either of us, she’s never been sexually active. So put the two together and….” Cadance shuddered slightly and Luna facehoofed as she realized who she was talking to. “You felt it, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Cadance sighed. “Cold shower and lots of memories of my husband last night.”

“I’m sorry, Cadance. Shining was a wonderful stallion.”

“No need to apologize,” Cadance replied as the pair arrived at the morning parlor. “It’s just…well, if nothing else, I’m thrilled that things are changing for the better around here. We need a little brightness our way for a change, and no more shocks.”

The warmth of the morning sun tickled Sam gently on his face, and he yawned, opening his eyes. He felt…well, exhausted would be the word that came to mind, but exhausted in the best of ways.

Blinking his eyes to dispel the last vestiges of sleepiness, he looked around the room: it was certainly the room of a queen, with walls of marble, gold and silver metal trim, and him on the largest bed he’d ever slept on in his life.

He then felt the soft brush of fingers against his face, gently guiding his eyes to turn towards the person next to him, whose warm body he could still feel against his, every luscious curve. The fact that she normally didn’t look like this didn’t matter. The fact that something had changed over the course of the night did.

“Morning,” she said, stretching in what seemed like unfamiliar directions. He focused on the face and recognition came to mind: it was Celestia, the only difference being that she’d let her natural haircolors come through this time rather than the strawberry-blonde she’d used prior. Likewise, the eyes on the person were an unusual lilac – her natural eyeshade – rather than the soft brown she’d used last night. She smelled deeply of chocolate and honey and looking at her now he was feeling slightly aroused.

“Heya, yourself,” he replied, looking at her.

“Sam, I think we need to talk,” she intoned, suddenly and abruptly.

“I’m guessing I don’t get the job?” he asked, hoping that the joke wouldn’t fall too flat.

“Oh, that? My only purpose was to interview you for the position. Your day-to-day reporting would be to Luna with a small briefing to me as necessary. I’d actually be recused for the most part, both because I could unintentionally cause a bias, and because Luna’s been working on legal reforms in general. Besides, you showed a lot of integrity last night in going after me last night, and I would be a foal to let someone of your caliber go. The job’s yours, if you want it.”

“Then you’re talking about us, I gather.”

She sighed. “I’ll be honest: what you said last night? I gave in because it hit me hard. I wanted it – I wanted you. But I’m not sure you want me.” She shifted back to normal, reverting to her true form. Tossing her mane back, the day alicorn looked at him evenly as she pointed out, “This is who I am, Sam. Not the woman you kissed last night. Not the woman you had sex with last night. This is me. And I am not like a regular pony.”

“Celestia, do you really think I care about that?” he asked.

In her true form, she sat down next to him on the bed. She dominated most of it, and the situation looked almost as it would to a casual onlooker: a man sitting next to a horse. “I’m larger than people – so much so that there is a reason we alicorns walk through the human world as we are and not just bipedally as is the custom for most of our kind. Standing on my hindhooves, I’m easily closer to thirteen feet, if you were to measure me by human standards.”

“Okay, you’re confusing me – why are you telling me all this?”

“Because I’m not just some mare that you could have a relationship with, and not just because I’m a princess. I know about many of the difficulties that human/pony couples have, and with me, they would be that much worse. It would be difficult for me to have a relationship with a stallion of my kind,” she said, as a soft flicker of a memory came to mind. Her beloved Argent – she would finally be putting him in the memories of the past.

“Still losing me,” he stated, though there was a curious look in his eyes that she couldn’t read.

Nevertheless, she continued. “But you’re not a pony an—” She was cut off abruptly when Sam got up and kissed her – in her true form. The two remained that way for several minutes as he kissed her repeatedly, each kiss tracing down the line of her jaw.

“I said I don’t care about that,” he told her. “Look, call me crazy, but…I almost feel as if my whole life has just been waiting for this. There’s a quote from a book I read years ago, and I memorized it for the girl that I knew I would ultimately end up with. I’ve never said it to anyone before, and yet now…I feel like I’m going to burst unless I do.”

“You do?” she asked, surprised.

He closed his eyes, calling it from memory: “‘I could not tell you if I loved you the first moment I saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But I remember the first moment I looked at you walking toward me and realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when I was with you.’”

“And you mean all of this?”

“If my sister had never come, if Sandalwood was just some pony in the background that I never knew and our worlds bridged, if I saw you I would know. If I had been born a stallion, I would still feel this way. If you were just a normal woman in a normal human world, I would still feel this way.”

The scents of chocolate and wild honey began to permeate the room again.

“Sam,” she started once more as she changed back to her human form, “I want you to promise me a few things if this is going to continue.”

“Absolutely.”

“First, I never want you to see me as a princess. I must be one – I have to be one for my ponies – but you are not a pony. When I’m with you, I just want to be myself. In fact,” she said with a soft smile, “I’d actually prefer it if just called me Tia.”

“Okay, that’s going to be kinda creepy,” he groaned. When she looked at him, he explained, “Well, ‘tia’ means ‘aunt’ in Spanish an—”

She shuddered. “Say no more.”

“What about just ‘Cel’?”

His reward was a gentle kiss. “I think I can deal with that. The second thing is that once you move here, I want you to find a place close to the palace – easier for us to go back and forth while we’re dating,” she insisted. “It’s for your sake, not mine; the palace staff tends to be far chattier than I’d like.”

“Okay, had planned that anyway. Anything else?”

She nodded. “We’ll have to keep this quiet for a bit. It’s not that I don’t want to tell anypony, but….”

He nodded. “Look – I’m going to have a hell of a time explaining this to my sister, so…yeah, I agree, at least until we can agree on something.”

“Works for me. Oh, and one last thing.”

“Which is?”

She took his hand in hers, and smiled. “Sorry for all this.”

“Sorry for all what?”

The look in her eyes was wicked. “There’s a lot of things I’ve wanted to do, and a lot of frustrations to work out, so…we’ll be very busy today,” she said as she led him towards the bathroom.

“The bathroom?”

“Oh, yeah – in this form, the bath’s about the size of a swimming pool.”

He grinned.

Author's Note

The "Bowie vs. covers" argument is based on one that my wife and I actually had.

Sam's quote is from The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Claire. While I'm not a huge fan of her works, she does have a way with quotes.

Chapter Twenty-One: Bright Blazon Forever Unstained

Faust suddenly woke up. Something had changed overnight, though she didn’t know what. Did the Rules suddenly change once more? Was she free?

She got up from the bed, only to feel a hand on her wrist as she did. “Leaving so soon?” Greg asked her, looking at her intently.

“Just going to get a glass of water, hon,” she told him. “I just got back home last night from my ‘business’ and believe me, I’m looking forward to getting back to being just a housewife again. You have no idea how much I prefer doing the laundry to watching Belgium turn into a war zone.”

“Please don’t tell me you were there,” he said, facepalming.

“Well, I could either lie and say I wasn’t or I could tell the truth and say that I had a hand in keeping a bad situation from becoming worse.”

“Do I want to know?”

“No,” she told him sadly, “you don’t.”

“Well, while I’m used to you vanishing back and forth on a regular basis, what are you going to tell the kids?”

“Easy: got home late from my business last night, had Emmé pick me up at the airport and didn’t want to wake them. Standard lie,” she said. But the look in her eyes said she hated every bit of that. She’d never had cause to lie to her older daughters when she was with them, and it seemed that she had every little secret and falsehood truly keeping herself from her younger ones.

“Look, Faust, I’m not going to say I disapprove….” Greg began.

“I don’t like it either, love,” she told him, “but we have to wait until they’re old enough to know the truth.”

“I’m not going to disagree with that,” he stated. “As it is, Emmé’s not happy with you for teaching me some magic.”

“She’ll get over it. She trusts you; she’s just worried about generalities, I gu—” She was suddenly interrupted by the scream of a child and a large crash downstairs. At once, both of them leapt out of bed, and with snaps of their fingers were instantly dressed as the rushed down the stairs to find a freaked-out Sarah, instinctively protecting a confused Jon, while oversized Froot Loops floated in the air.

“What th…?” Greg asked.

Faust facepalmed. “When I told you that you could go home, I didn’t mean my home!” she groaned as a pair of ponies attempted to make breakfast for the whole family.

“7|-|3 bR34|<Ph457 0Ph (|-|4/\/\P10||5!” Screwball said happily, her voice sounding like an old computer modem on the verge of losing the connection. Beside her, Screw Loose merely nodded, throwing a chicken in the air, which suddenly exploded into scrambled eggs and – inexplicably – bacon.

“Mom! Dad! What’s going on?” Sarah asked.

“Um….” Faust thought about it for a second before she realized she wasn’t getting out of this one. “Well, sweetie, it’s a long story….”

Blue Velvet peeled herself off her lover. She felt something she hadn’t felt in a while: sated and at peace. There was something about Ghino di Tacco that had caught her attentions in the past few, and as she cuddled closer to him, she found herself wanting more with him, and less with the others.

Now that I think of it, the last time I…. she thought, then realized she couldn’t come up with the answer. And maybe in itself that was the answer. She was about to go back to sleep when she heard a command from the hivemind:

«Daughter, attend me.»

She knew that order when she came to it. Getting out of the bed and casting a quick cleansing spell, she stepped out of the tent that she shared with him and headed over to the command tent where Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon made their own plans. As she made her way towards the tent, she looked at the beautiful sky before her and the gentle murmur of the seaside cliffs below her, things that she’d somehow never noticed before; she never thought them important. Truthfully, things hadn’t been important before she’d met Ghino – only pleasure and her duties for mother. But, like everything in the past few days, things had changed.

Was she experiencing something that she’d never expected? Yes, she decided. But is it love? I wouldn’t really know what that is or how I could. I suppose I could discuss it with him later, but...I wonder if he feels the same about me.

As she entered the tents, she bowed before the Queen of the Changelings and the Eternal Demon. “I have come as called, Mother,” she said, not looking up from the floor. “I wish to be of service.”

“Rise,” Chrysalis said. “I have an assignment for you.” Velvet smiled appreciatively until Chrysalis delivered her next words. “You are to seduce Prince Artemis, the Heir to the Viceroyalty of Saddle Arabia. His father, Prince Solaris, is on the verge of death, and they are looking to Prince Artemis to lead the future of their realm. The problem is, for his age, he has never had an heir. The ponies that live there spin a great story that their Heir Presumptive will not marry until they are free. But I suspect there is more to it.

“You are to go and seduce Prince Artemis and bring him under your hoof at any cost possible. We are sending a group of drones with you to assist you in this. Your duty is to seduce him, not to replace him. We will need him for the next stage.”

“I see,” Velvet said, suddenly feeling very wrong about something, though she couldn’t pin it down. It was a job tailor-made for her, and yet…she didn’t want to do it. Something in her wanted to turn around, head back into bed with Ghino and just stay there. Was it fear? Confusion? She didn’t know and the feeling, like the one earlier, was definitely a new sensation for her.

“Is there something amiss, Blue Velvet?” Nightmare Moon asked, narrowing her eyes at the pepsis. “You seem…hesitant.”

“Forgive me, Lady Nightmare,” Velvet recovered immediately, knowing that favored foal of Chrysalis or not, Nightmare would likely murder her instantly if she felt something was amiss. “It’s just that I might need a bit more information as to how to ensnare Prince Artemis if I am to succeed. If, for example, he’s a stallion-lover, then sending a mare to do the business would hardly be of use. Even my skills have limits, my lady.”

“Understandable, which is why we are sending regular changelings with you,” the Alicorn of Terrors told her. “Should that turn out to be the case, the drones can imitate either sex and will take orders from you. But we would rather have somechangeling with a mind present to deal with the situation as opposed to the awkwardness of the hivemind.”

“I see,” she said, feeling a slight defeat. She was going to have to leave Ghino, even for a while. “When do I depart?”

“Immediately,” Chrysalis told her.

As she walked out of the room, she heard Nightmare’s voice ring out, “Don’t worry, we will make sure that your…current…duties are taken care of for you.” At those words, she stopped and paused, her face a mask of shock.

Seated at the small table in Twilight’s kitchen, DJ yawned. Maybe it’s just the hell of the past few days catching up to me, she thought to herself as she took another huge gulp from the coffee mug in her hands. God knows I could use the extra sleep. Unfortunately, however, that wasn’t going to be in her plans. While the truth was, she really didn’t have many plans for the day, as she’d done just about everything she’d intended to do in her visit to Equestria – and a few she hadn’t – she was more than happy to return to her place in officers’ housing back in Yoko. She wanted to get back to just being an author and housewife, two kids, picket fence on a little slice of America on Japan’s eastern coast. Right now, she realized to herself, just going to that, and that alone, would have been utter heaven for the humanized pony.

But at she looked at her parents, both of which were seated across from her at the table, she knew she wasn’t going to get off easily. That and the unassailable fact that since she’d returned to the land she was reputedly born in – Wish I could find a way to disprove otherwise! – whatever barebones of a schedule that she’d planned had been tossed like so much jetsam in the sea, leaving her adrift and buffeted by the flow of fate as she could honestly say that the only thing of her original plans that she’d accomplished was to see Twilight and some of her other family members.

Instead, I almost got killed, then Mike almost got killed while I got a ringside seat for Cloudsdale’s obliteration, then I got to argue with that…that….

“Furball?” DJ looked up and saw Anna looking at her from the other side of the table. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“You’re brooding,” the older woman said. “I don’t recall having raised Bruce Wayne.”

DJ rolled her eyes. “Just thinking about the…fun…I’ve had since I arrived here. I think I might still have a scar or two from Singapore. Besides, I was not brooding.”

“A mother knows her child,” was Anna’s response, who then went back to sipping her own coffee.

Matt took that as a cue to continue. “So, care to discuss last night?”

DJ sighed. “I’m…still having issues processing it. He…Silversteel…he….” She paused, looking at the light brown liquid almost completely gone from her mug. “He says that he wants to have a relationship with me. He wants to get to know me, to, and I quote, ‘make things right.’”

Matt looked at his daughter with sympathy. “So?”

“So? What right does he have? I’m your daughter, not his! You raised me, not him!”

“Furball, we’re not going to feel offended if you want to have some kind of relationship with your birth parents,” Matt replied. “If you think you’re ‘betraying’ us—” He punctuated that statement with air quotes made by his fingers, “—that’s hardly the case. We’ve had a life with you, DJ, and nothing is ever going to take that away from us.”

“Besides,” Anna added, “Look at it from his point of view.”

“I tried. I tried picturing Tyler disappearing and thrown into another reality where they’re raised by, I dunno, sapient bats or something. Then we finally find him and he loves hanging from the ceiling, screaming in order to find out where he is, all that stuff. And yes, I know that after searching for a decade and a half, I would want my son back – I don’t blame Silversteel or even Rarity for that.”

“You don’t? I thought—”

“It was an accident, an unexpected occurrence. I can’t blame anyone, anypony, any-fill-in-the-blank-after-‘any’ because it just happened. Plus, I found out that he lost a lot more than just me.” DJ then reached into her pocket and pulled out the photo, handing it to her parents.

Anna took it in hand, and both of DJ’s parents leaned over to peruse the image. “This is your birth family?” Anna asked.

DJ nodded. “Including the two ponies who died that day risking their necks to save me: Dinky and Sparkler.” DJ then fell silent for a few before she said in a soft voice, “They were my older sisters.”

“What?” both Matt and Anna stated at once.

“Yeah. The person who took the picture was their mother, Derpy, who was Silversteel’s first wife, I think. Don’t know the whole story, save that I guess it was an amicable divorce, and both she and Silversteel doted on their kids. She also died that day; they were apparently babysitting me when all hell broke loose.” At that point, all three at the table fell into an uneasy silence; regardless of the situation, there was no doubt that outliving one’s children was an unpalatable and unthinkable option.

It was a few minutes more before Anna spoke. “So, what do you plan to do?”

“I don’t know,” DJ admitted. “Yes, I’ll be the first one to admit the whole situation is insane. And it’s not as though I’ve called a wholesale embargo on knowing members of my birth family. I’ve gotten to know Elusive very well, and I don’t think I would change the growing situation there.”

“And what about Rarity? How does she factor into this?” Seeing the sudden scowl alight on DJ’s face, Anna stated, “DJ, any conversation about your birth family is going to involve Rarity in some form or another. It’s unavoidable.”

“Mom, please don’t take her side,” DJ groaned.

“I’m not taking anyone’s side,” Anna replied. “If you’ll recall, I was recently bucked by her. I still have some bruises from that and thankfully the doctors cleared me of any injuries.”

“I swear, I’m never going to forgive her for just that alone,” the humanized pony seethed. “I want nothing to do with her. Nothing.”

“Unfortunately, that’s just not realistic,” Matt pointed out. “The day we arrived, we had a brief meeting with Princess Celestia prior to her departure to Singapore. During the meeting, she discussed a few things that pained her regarding the family situation. She does want you and Rarity to make up, and she told me she would discuss it with you when you met there.” A sad look came onto the elderly woman’s face as she asked, “Given all that happened, I guess that didn’t occur?”

“Well, Celestia probably brought it up, but as usual my mouth got in the way of things and then a building got dropped on me. Otherwise, no, it really didn’t come up.” The pair became quiet for a second as they searched for a way to change the subject slightly, given the macabre detour that had just been taken.

It was finally Matt who spoke after the second bout of silence. “So, then, DJ, what thought have you given to Mike’s new assignment?”

“I’ve already told him, and I’ll be honest: I don’t want to live here. Especially since if I do, I won’t be me, but ‘Countess Faroe’, which is how several of the ponies in the know have been treating me. I’m not some royal that lives for Arsenic & Old Lace bullshit; I want to have a normal life, and I want the boys to have normal lives.

“But…I remember the time when Mike was stationed at Fifth Fleet and I was still living in LA. Just being apart…it was soul-crushing. And that was just when we were carefree and single, not married for nearly a decade with two kids. And he’s been incredibly supportive of my own career, even when it was problematic for him. So…I’ll have to just suck it up and deal with his assignment here. Yay, Navy Wife, go me.”

“Well, if it means anything, we’re very proud of you, sweetie.”

“Thanks. I’m just glad that Twilight is giving us her parents’ old place on Northside. I still have to go today to check that out. I was planning to go yesterday, but I didn’t have the opportunity. Hopefully now, I’ll be able to do so without the problem of anyone deciding to blow up a building, shoot in my general direction or have a sudden firefight break out while I’m present.” Suddenly, DJ froze, as if paused in thought.

“Something wrong, furball?”

A sly grin came onto the pony’s muzzle. “Yeah. Just realizing all that I just said? I’m probably the Royal Equestriani Tourism Council’s worst nightmare.”

“Celestia!” Luna knocked on the door of her sister’s bedchambers. It was almost noon and she hadn’t made an appearance. Granted, while both Luna and Cadance were more than versed in how to deal with the day’s events and had even split the day’s required royal duties between them, Celestia’s absence was a glaring mark for all that knew her. The Princess of the Day’s conspicuous absence within the halls of the palace was everpresent. This was likely going to be made worse by the loose muzzles of the housekeeping staff, and regardless of whether or not Luna had a talk with the maître d’hôtel, the secret would be out. By tomorrow, whatever little tryst the Sun Alicorn was up to was likely to be headlines in the papers – or possibly even sooner, given modern technology that had crept in from Human-Earth.

After a few minutes, there was a click of the door, and a very haggard-looking alicorn with a wide smile came to the door. Her mane, for a change, was neither flowing nor sparkling, but hung limply, as if it had been worn completely down. She was not wearing her regalia; instead, Luna swore that her beloved sister was wearing…a saddle and socks? Lastly, even from here, the Princess of the Night could catch the distinctly overpowering scent of both chocolate and wild honey, something she herself knew was an extra addition to the alicorn status.

And I think I got Robin addicted to honeycomb chocolate after that, Luna mused softly, though she didn’t say anything further. Instead, she looked at her beloved older sister and was as plain as she could be: “Cadance and I could hear you from the Throne Room. Do you know how much magic it took to white noise your moaning?” A half-second later, she clamped her jaws shut before they could drop as she realized her sister was a moaner.

“Hi, Luna,” Celestia said in a syrupy-sweet, laconic tone. During one of her previous trips to Human-Earth, Luna had accidentally tuned into a pornographic film while trying to find something to watch on her hotel television. The woman had the same exact look on her face that Celestia had at the moment, and while translated from human to pony it still disturbed Luna somewhat.

Cadance’s words from earlier came to mind: “Celestia’s more like my mother than my actual mother is. And thinking about your parents having sex? Ick.” Like Cadance, Luna had spent most of her life being raised by her older sister; she’d never really known their mother, Faust, so Celestia was very much a mother figure to Luna as well as older sibling.

And right now, I think I’m in wholehearted agreement with Cadance, Luna mused, looking at the sated alicorn standing there.

Celestia, giddy, giggled. “Oh, Luna, you have no idea, how wonderful I feel right now.”

“That’s…uh…nice. Um…Tia, we have a meeting with the Indonesian ambassador at three, and I wa—” Luna was suddenly silenced by Celestia’s gently placement of her hoof – complete with sock – on her muzzle.

“I trust you to know what you’re doing,” Celestia said, a wild smile on her face, which went away as she added, “And…I was wrong, Luna. I never should have broken you and Robin apart. I want you to know that.”

Luna blinked. “Are…are you okay?” Celestia admitting she was wrong was rare. Celestia delegating duties was also that. Celestia doing both in one breath was almost as freakish as if someone had announced the laws of physics were about to be rewritten in the next thirty seconds.

“Fine,” she said in a husky, unwound voice. “Oh, also, I’m going to step out for a few days – going to use the grotto for a little while. I’ll notify the ERG to set up the security perimeter.”

“Tia?”

“Yes?”

“What is going on?”

A soft, tender smile came onto Celestia’s face. “Lulu…for the first time in centuries, I’ve let my heart fly once again. For the first time, I finally have somepony special to share my life with.”

“But Tia, we can’—”

“I know you won’t mind running the show for a few days, dearest sister of mine, so please, let me state how much I appreciate your sacrifice.”

“But I can’t b—”

Celestia leaned over and gave her sister a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for being so understanding, Lulu. I love you for that. Ta-ta!” And with that, the Princess of Equestria closed the door to her bedchambers, leaving one very stunned younger sister standing outside.

What. The. Buck? Luna thought, her mind still feverishly trying to make a connection as to the situation.

As for Celestia, she giddily trotted over to her desk, jotted down a note, then sent it to the head of the ERG via magic. That done, she shifted back to her human form, the saddle and socks easily falling off her body. With that, she made her way back to the bed, where Sam was gently dozing. Sitting down next to him, she ran a finger down the trace of his jaw, gazing at him with a longing she hadn’t felt in a long time. The past few hours had set her mind that, right or wrong, this relationship was meant to be, and right or wrong, she was going to pursue it.

After all, he’d admitted to having wished to pursue her.

After a few seconds, he woke up and looked up at her. “Hi.”

“Hi yourself,” she said, a soft smile on her face.

“So, what now?”

“Well, Luna thinks I’m going to the grotto for a few days. I can maintain a doppelganger spell long enough to look convincing, so I’ll effectively be there for a few days.” As proof, she waved her hand, and an identical duplicate of her normal form stood before them, before wandering off to go slip on Celestia’s regalia. “Meanwhile, that should leave the two of us a few days to go househunting for you.”

“So you’re serious about this, then?”

Celestia pouted. Surprisingly, she was good at it. “What, did you change your mind about us already?”

Sam sat up, taking her face in his hands. “Not on your life, Cel.”

She grinned. “Good. Now let’s get dressed, and go see this realtor I know about down on Queen Platinum Way. She’s assisted the Crown in several real estate deals before, so she should be able to find exactly what we need, especially for the Princess’ Hoof.”

Meanwhile, in the ruins of the Royal Infirmary, the Archmagus of Equestria was on the counterattack. Focusing her magic into a small, isolated sphere, Twilight strained to compress the magical forces she had on hoof. Now that she was free from the contamination that had almost killed her and her sisters, she was going to find the cure, save them all and then bring the fight to Nightmare Moon.

I’m coming, Twilight said to herself, her face a mask of grim determination as she focused on compressing the magic energies even further. You’re not going to stop me from saving everyone, Nightmare.

At her side, watching intently with a look on her face that was both awe and pride, Twilight’s newly-claimed daughter, the pepsis Shining Dawn, sat, an apt pupil if there ever was one. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.

Twilight’s tone was gentle, even though she never took her eyes off her experiment. “Yes. Go see if any of your aunts need assistance.”

“Um…I’m not sure they like me, Mom.”

“Nonsense, sweetie. They just…look, sometimes it takes a while to get used to big adjustments. When my parents adopted my younger brother, they had to get used to having a child that wasn’t a pony. And sometimes it wasn’t easy. But just like Spike became an important part of the family, so will you.”

Shiny blushed. “Thanks.” With that, she immediately went over to the cots, where Sweetie Belle and Rainbow Dash were currently in stasis and watched over by a concerned Rarity and Applejack. “Mom said I should check to see if there’s anything I can do to help you.”

Both mares looked at the teen with cautious glances, then briefly to Twilight, whose attention was already taken, and then back to Shiny. Applejack was the one to speak. “We dun’ need anythin’ at th’ moment, Shiny, but we’ll be sure t’ tell ya if’n we do, okay?”

Shiny huffed. “Fine,” she said, lying down on the ground petulantly.

“Well, if nothing else, she has the ‘petulant teenager’ part down pat,” Rarity wryly said to the earth pony. For that, she earned a glare from the teenage pepsis, to which Rarity said tartly, “A lady does not stare.” Chastened, Shiny sighed, then looked down at a small pillbug as it crawled along the length of the floor. Spurred on by boredom and a fascination with the terrestrial crustacean, Shiny then did what came naturally to any being of changeling ancestry: spellfire surrounded her, and a second later, a giant pillbug sat where she’d been.

Rarity and Applejack stared, wondering if they’d both wandered into some sort of surrealist nightmare. “Whut th’….” the farmer gasped.

The pillbug then turned to face them. “What, is something wrong?” it asked, its mandibles moving in time with the speech. The response was an immediate and sudden scream of fright from both mares, to which the pillbug realized what just happened and uttered an embarrassed, “Aw, crud.”

The next sound that occurred, a WHOOMPHF as Twilight was working on, interrupted by the sudden terror-stricken screams of her sisters, caused her to lose concentration; the spell misfired and did what any compressed-magic spell did naturally – exploded. Fortunately for the lavender unicorn, she had a spell up to prevent any major issues that would have occurred had the backblast hit them. As the energy and shield annihilated one another, she turned to shout in irritation at the others, “What are you girls…oh. Um, Shiny, do you mind…?”

With another flicker of changeling magic, the pepsis was back to normal again. “Sorry,” she said, having the good grace to look embarrassed at her faux-pas.

With that, Twilight then looked at Rarity and Applejack, both of whom were holding onto one another for dear life. “Girls, it’s a subconscious thing with changelings, part of their natural curiosity,” Twilight explained. “I found that out during my research. She didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Are you kidding? What if she turns into a manticore or something? Or, Celestia forbid, an attercop?” Rarity asked.

Shiny shook her head. “Wouldn’t be able to use venom, if that’s what you’re worried about – changelings can only take the form of something, not the ability, unless it’s already ingrained in the native changeling phenotype.”

“But aren’t changelings venomous?”

“It’s a recessive trait in the drones,” Shiny explained, “and supplementary in the pepsis Velvet brood. I couldn’t do it if I tried, not that I want to. And why would I hurt you two anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be my aunts?”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything!” Rarity snapped.

“Rarity, that’s enough,” Twilight interjected. “Look, I know this isn’t easy for either of you, especially given what we’ve been through and general mistrust of changelings, but you have to understand that Shiny is now a part of our family and she’s here to stay!”

“Twilight, I think we’ve come to an agreement that something is definitely wrong here,” Rarity replied, looking at Applejack for approval. “This…this…filly has you wrapped around her hoof, and…well, it’s just not natural. Granted, it’s clear that she favors Shining Armor in nature and behavior – unexpected transformations aside – but…I think your biological clock is making you do something rash that you wouldn’t do normally.” She then turned to Shiny. “I don’t blame you. It’s clear that you’ve been nothing but helpful, young miss, and that’s clearly the influence of your father’s side. But I don’t believe tha—”

“Liar,” Shiny accused. “You just don’t like me, because I’m part-changeling. Well, I didn’t choose that! Do you think I want Chrysalis’ blood in me? Did you think I asked to be hatched by her?” Tears began to well in the pepsis’ eyes. “I just want to be a normal pony – a pony, not a changeling, or this halfway thing that Chrysalis considers disposable and you consider a monster!”

Applejack remained silent throughout this time, looking at the teary-eyed face of the filly, the angry scowl on Twilight’s face, and the same look on Rarity’s face. Applejack then thought back to her own son, who she hadn’t seen in months. Little tyke must be worried ‘bout me; Ah know Notes is. That thought brought a new line of concern to the former farmer: If she’d been th’ daughter of Shining an’ some mare he had a fling with, would we be as worried? Or is it just because of her mother?

At what point did the sins of the mother transfer to the child – especially given that said child was already horrified by her links to her past? Should mah boy be held account’ble ‘cause Ah’ve done wrong at times in mah life? Er Notes? An’ what ‘bout Pinkie’s kids? Or Bloomie an’ that foster kid Sweetie says she’s got now? At what point did it all end?

She came out of her thoughtstream just as she heard Rarity say, “…and both Applejack and I firmly believe that this should be none of your business, Twilight. Give her to Cadance, or put her in an orphanage. While neither of us blame the filly, this…this isn’t you.”

“Yer right, Rares,” Applejack replied. “It ain’t like Twi. But…maybe it should be.” From the sudden change of look on the three other females’ faces, Applejack suddenly knew she was on the right course. “Rares, we’re holdin’ Shiny t’ a standard we don’ hold ourselves to. She ain’t t’ blame fer everything that Chrysalis an’ th’ Nightmare’s done; she ain’t t’ blame fer us being stuck here, sick an’ poisoned.”

“N-no, I never implied that,” Rarity said, suddenly backtracking.

“Yeah, we done did,” Applejack told her sister royal. “We told Twi that she’s insane t’ take this filly underhoof ‘cuz she’s part changelin’. If’n she’d been just a normal pegasus er other pony, we wouldnta batted an eye. Hell, Ah bet if’n she was a zebra, donkey er even a gryphon we wouldnta cared. But we’re holdin’ her birth against her an’ that ain’t right.” She then turned to both Twilight and Shiny. “Girls…even an Apple should know that y’ don’t push away family, an’ t’ mah shame, Ah realized Ah did. An’ Ah’m sorry.”

“Applejack, you can’t seriously be—”

“Ah am.” Straining herself, Applejack looked at Twilight Sparkle, her knight commander, long-time friend and sister royal. Taking the unicorn’s hooves in her own, she said, “Ah done ya wrong, Twi. Ah blamed ya fer so much over th’ years, an’ in th’ process fergot what friends are t’ each other – what sisters are t’ each other. Ah prob’ly don’t deserve it, but Ah hope y’ kin fergive me.”

“I do, Applejack,” Twilight said, a smile on her face. “I really do.” The two mares embraced…

…and then three apples suddenly flared with light.

Seated in his VIP quarters at the officers’ quarters on-base, Silversteel sipped a mug of chamomile tea. He’d rather have had coffee, but the nurse who came by to take his blood pressure and give him another dose of medicine and magical injections “suggested” (in that friendly yet firm near-medical-order tone) that he stay off caffeine for a few weeks. With what little choice he had in the matter, he agreed, though he was horrified to learn that “caffeine-free” included caffeine free products, because they did, in fact, have trace amounts of the compound within them. By the time the nurse had fully detailed the list of items he was required to stay clear of, Silversteel had begun to seriously wonder if he should just go out in a big blaze of caffeinated glory instead.

So, one pot of chamomile and a nearly tossed-out-on-her-plot nurse later, Silversteel looked out the window and watched as the various members of the REAF went about their duties. It felt to him as though he were trapped, in a sense; a survivor stranded on an island of light blue far away from the nearest REA facility and any semblance of sanity. Oh, sure, the REAF’s military medical system was the closest to the palace since the destruction of the Royal Infirmary and the doctors knew what they were doing, but…when push came to shove, he was an Army stallion. Always had been, always would be.

It was then that he noticed one of the flag cars coming towards the building. Soarin’, maybe? Probably not; though he was a friend, he was busy managing the hell that had broken loose over the past couple of days and threatened to get worse. If war with the human nation of Iran broke out, Spitfire would be very much leaning heavily on Soarin’ to keep the REAF upstairs and flying, which meant that his old friend was likely too damn busy with paperwork to even look up from his desk and breathe.

The car came to a stop, and as it did, the stallion noticed the license plate on the car was that of the one assigned to Allied Forces Equestria; specifically, the fact that the plate’s number started with OE indicated that it was an official vehicle assigned to a US military unit. Only one American unit was stationed here at Canterlot Mountain, and that was the US Forces Element of the Combined Command. And a second later, as an American naval officer arrived in his dress uniform, Silver knew that things were about to get ugly.

Rising from the chair, he limped over to the door, just as the officer present started to knock. As he opened it, he said, “I hardly expected this to be a formal call, Commander – it is Commander, right? Still not sure how differently American military ranks are from naval ones.”

“It’s ‘commander’,” Mike replied, looking down at the stallion that was his wife’s biological father. Mike himself hadn’t expected to be here either, and frankly, knowing what he knew, he thought the whole thing stunk. But it wasn’t his call to make, just his to deal with. “Reporting as ordered, General.”

Silversteel shook his head. “Look, just…just drop it, okay? I’m out of uniform right now and I don’t feel particularly like a general officer – or flag officer, to use the term you navy guys do. And for the record, I’m not really happy about this either. I just received the paperwork this morning and knowing the folks involved, this smacks highly of meddling…and I’m married to one of the all-time meddlers. I know this kind of stuff from the bottom of my hooves.”

“I see,” Mike said, not sure where to continue.

Silversteel got the unspoken hint. “Well, c’mon in,” the stallion told the man. “Got a pot of chamomile tea brewing – doctors insist that I have to stay off caffeine until further notice – but I can whip up something if you need anything stronger.”

“Tea’s fine. DJ’s not too fond of it, but I grew up in Europe, so you get used to it.” With that, both males made it back to the chairs and sat down, overlooking the tea, both trying to avoid any conversation.

Finally, Silversteel focused his soft red eyes on Mike and chuckled. “Look at us, acting like a pair of mules. Listen: I meant what I said. I want to make it up to Sand...DJ. This isn’t going to be easy for me, but I’ve never denied that. And I know that as hard as it is for me, it’s going to be harder for my wife. But you hav—”

“General, I’m not sure this is the best time to discuss this,” Mike interjected.

“Commander…Michael. Mike?”

Mike sighed. “Mike’s fine.”

“You’re being defensive about the whole thing. Protective of DJ – I can appreciate that. Probably even protecting her adoptive parents as well.” Seeing the cautious look in the man’s eyes, he said, “I promise you, I’m not trying to shatter the relationship DJ has with the people who raised her. I couldn’t do that even if I tried. She clearly loves them, and she wouldn’t have survived five minutes on Human-Earth if she wasn’t loved as well. I can’t state that enough, and I know that’s been the case for years – I’ve certainly spent the past couple of decades having Twilight harangue us – quite fairly – over that fact. But I bet you don’t know what we talked about last night, do you?”

“Wait – you and she talked last night?” Mike looked at him with surprise. DJ didn’t mention anything about that.

“You can ask Lyra if you don’t believe me; she was here doing the same ‘overprotective big sister’ shtick that seems to be so common in this family.” Silversteel poured himself a cup of tea, then did the same for Mike. “And just to breeze over the formal stuff, I’ve looked at your record, Commander, it’s impeccable, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, you really did Equestria a favor we can never repay by saving Princess Celestia, yadda yadda yadda, your recent promotion is well deserved, I’m sure your unit will do well while reporting to me, end of story.” He shook his head. “So now can we get back to what we were really talking about?”

“So, I don’t normally assume nepotism is standard in the Royal Equestriani military,” Mike said, flatly.

“Well, you’re honest about that; Applejack would very much appreciate that. So do I,” Silver replied. “And to answer your question, no, I don’t know who did it. Maybe one of the folks who outrank me; maybe Rainbow, since she is technically Minister of Defense – hell, for all I know, Tia or Luna did it themselves – they’re the worst when it comes to meddling; taught their sisters everything they needed to know and then some. But I didn’t ask for this. I firmly believe that everypony should earn their stripes and work their way to the top, not have it handed to them. Otherwise, that’s likely to get good soldiers killed. But like I said, I’ve seen the stuff that the Pentagon sent over. And I’ve read the reports that Tia and Luna filled out – they wouldn’t lie, not even for family. If they say that you know what you’re doing, then you clearly earned your CO post.” He then leaned back in his chair and added, “Plus, General Bryson isn’t exactly a paper pusher. Man reminds me of a pet manticore – friendly as all get out, but you really don’t want to get on his bad side. Men like him don’t put puppies in charge of the dog pound.”

“Thank you, sir,” Mike said, appreciative of the compliment. Whatever kind of relationship DJ and he were going to have with Silversteel, it was at least good to hear that the stallion knew that Mike was a competent officer; he got the feeling that actually would smooth things in the long run, at least on the personal side.

“Well, if you ask me, they paired us up for one of two reasons. The first would be that they expect us to be like bucking broncos. It’s no secret about our respective relationships with DJ, and given the rather salacious nature of the press – humanity doesn’t have the cornerstone on poor journalism, sad to say – somepony is hoping that repeated public flare-ups will make the Royal Family look bad. Might even reflect badly on humanity, given DJ’s high notoriety as an adopted member of your species.”

“Then let me guess the other one: it could also be construed that someone put us together, because the exact opposite will occur, after which someone will accuse the princesses of nepotism, that I got the job both because of my family connections and because I saved her in Singapore. Also given that my wife’s biological father is the person I’m reporting to in my new command, and my authority is instantly undermined; furthermore, because of the situation and that no one in the Royal Family voiced concerns or tried to put a stop to it, it also damages the position of the princesses as well.”

Silversteel let out an appreciative nicker. “Yeah, looks like you’re as quick on your mental feet as they claim. Looks like my troops are in good hooves.”

“Well, if that’s the case, then I’d like to have my XO, Sable Loam, involved in this. I’ve been talking to him and I think he’s got the mindset that we can use as a go-between to help ameliorate this whole thing.”

Silversteel chuckled. “Sable, huh? Good kid, but you’d better watch your back, Mike.”

“Something I should be aware of?”

“No, I don’t mean that way. What I mean is that he’s utterly devious when it comes to his opponents, but if you don’t put a leash on him, he’ll get ‘creative.’ Again, not that it’s a bad thing, but you at least want to know what he’s up to so that if you ever have to explain something to an inquiry board you’ll at least have your story straight.”

“I see. Anything else?”

“Yes. I think we should get back to the topic in question. I’ll tell you the same thing I told DJ last night: the night she disappeared and her sisters and my ex-wife died trying to save her was the most horrific day of my life, with the events of the trial having been the second. And now my oldest two and youngest daughters are dead, and the middle one is back – and I will be damned to Tartarus if I let this chance to change the narrative slip from my hooves.

“I know Sandalwood is gone; DJ said so. But regardless of who she is, she is still my daughter. And I appreciate everything her parents – your in-laws – did to give her a life. I didn’t say that back then and it made things a whole lot worse as a result. But I’m stallion enough to know when I’ve made a mess and need to clean it up. I asked DJ to arrange a meeting for me and her parents. I will probably never be buddy-buddy with them, but I want to make it clear that this…whatever this nothing is… it can’t go on forever.

“But I told her – and I’m telling you – deep down, Rarity still loves DJ. She may want Sandalwood back; she may hate the person that DJ has become and blame her human parents. But that doesn’t take away the love that Rarity has had all these years for our daughter. Neither of you have seen the anguish and hell she’s gone through these last few decades, or the pain that she feels inside to keep this charade going. While I would like for all of this to end, I’m not blind – I know it’s not going to happen in a day or so.

“But I need your help, Mike. I’m not asking you as your commanding general. I’m not asking you as a member of the Royal Family. I’m not even asking you because I saved your lives. I’m asking you because I’m a father who is haunted by the loss of his children and wants his daughter back in whatever way he can have her. That doesn’t take away from her human parents, and the past can’t be undone. Surely, as a father yourself, you understand that?”

Mike didn’t say anything for fear that his words could be easily misconstrued. After all, what could he say? Silversteel was right, at least about that much. And while Mike stood firm in the fact that he wanted DJ to resolve her issues with her birth and extended families in the way that would be best for her, as a father he couldn’t deny that Silversteel, objectively, had a point.

Not that I’m about to tell him that. I don’t want that to be completely misconstrued.

“From the look in your eyes, I can see there’s a slight conflict,” Silver said. “Well, I’m not going to push the issue further. I should be checked out of my medical status soon and will be able to go back on light duty; unfortunately, that means no field time for me for a while. So the next time, bring your XO and your SEA and we can discuss where to go next. I want your unit trained and ready to roll at a moment’s notice – we cannot afford to have another situation like Fillydelphia or Cloudsdale happen again, and with our enemies out there, we have to be extra vigilant. The lives of too many innocents stand in the balance.”

“Understood, sir,” Mike replied as he rose from his chair.

“Silver, if you please, Mike,” the stallion replied. “You can do all that ‘sir’ and ‘Yes, General’ stuff when I’m in uniform in my office. Now, in the meanwhile, get going. I understand that DJ wanted to check out that home that Twilight provided for you in Northside and I’m enough of a stallion to know that unless the stallion manages to stop his wife from spending one out of hock and halter, things are bound to get very messy indeed.” He nodded to DJ’s husband in approval. “Dismissed.”

As Rumble walked down the streets of Ponyville towards the Guild Office, he noticed a certain tension in the streets that he hadn’t before. It was weird; the town was never like this even during its weirdest when he was younger. Maybe it’s just like in the human world, where things change so much from when you were young and innocent that it always seems so much darker, he reasoned. I’ve heard more than enough people bitch about that.

Finally arriving at the treehouse that was once the old library, he noticed how much things had changed. For one, the tree itself was much larger, probably reaching close to five stories now, and far greater than any oak tree that he’d ever seen on either Earth. Secondly, the structure itself had grown in size, with a third floor added to accommodate the growth of the tree. There was a small parking lot now to the left of the tree, with a Smart Fortwo 4000 in the parking lot. A sign stating WELCOME TO THE PONYVILLE MAGE GUILD OFFICE along with hours of operation hung in a brick-set wrought iron sign that replaced the old wooden sign from when this building was a place of learning of an entirely different nature.

Knocking on the door, the pegasus waited for a few minutes before a cute young mare answered the door. He could feel magic radiating off her in a way he hadn’t felt since the one time he’d met Archmage Twilight a few decades back. “Yes, can I help you?” she asked.

“Actually, I’m looking for Star Swirl,” he asked.

“I’m Star Swirl. You don’t look like a mage,” she said, eyeing him. “Library’s been moved over to the old town hall, if you’re looking for that.”

“No, I’m actually looking for you, Ms. Swirl.” Rumble reached into his pocket and produced his ID. “Need to speak to you for a minute, if you don’t mind.”

“Well, office hours haven’t started, but…sure, c’mon in.” She opened the door, and as Rumble walked in, he noticed the library of old was definitely gone, with its only remnant a replica of the unicorn bust that sat on the central table – and he knew it was a replica, because the current bust was marble vice wood. The bookshelves had mostly been replaced with various charts, tables and computers; on the upper loft what used to be the living space of the library was a makeshift office that seemed to be buried in documents and the like; just barely in the corner of his vision against the far wall of the loft was a closed door that likely led to the new residential spaces on the third floor.

“So, welcome to the Ponyville Mage Guild Office,” Star said, standing there at ease. “We are responsible for the Ponyville, Berryville, Everfree, Lakeside and Whitetail Woods jurisdictions. We have a current liaison office with Fort Ponyville, the local REA installation down the road, though of course that’s army, not navy. Is there anything I can assist you with, Captain Rumble?”

“Well,” he said, scratching the back of his head; it wasn’t really itchy, but he picked up the habit while spending all the time around humans. “I was actually looking for your mentor, Sweetie Belle. I’m an old friend of hers an—”

“Great,” Star groaned. “Another suitor.” When Rumble looked at her oddly, she grunted, “Just…look, Sweetie’s been more than just a mentor to me – she’s like a big sister, so excuse me for being overprotective when stallions like you come looking for a piece of tail an—”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Rumble said, waving his forelegs. He did not want this going south just because of…other suitors? “No, I meant what I said. I was just in town on leave – I live in San Diego, on Human-Earth – and I just thought I’d see some of my old friends.”

The change in demeanor was night and day. “Really?” When he nodded, she perked up. “Well, then. Have a seat!” Star offered, pointing at a lounge chair near the center of the room. “I was just going to put on some coffee. Care for some?”

“Um, sure, if you don’t mind.”

With that, Star jotted over to the kitchen, and a few minutes later was back. “Sorry about coming down so hard on you,” the mage said, handing him a mug. “It’s just that when you’re a ‘Star Swirl’, quotes and all, everyone treats you like you’re the greatest thing since the princesses. But Sweetie didn’t care about any of that and treated me as though I was just another apprentice in need of training. But then she realized I needed more than that, and she filled that spot in my life as well. I absolutely love her for that – she’ll always be more than just a mentor to me; she’s a big sister and so I’m very protective of her.” Star sighed. “You won’t believe how many jerks come here to try to sweep her off her hooves.”

“Really?”

Star’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you said—”

“And I meant it. It’s just that…well, Sweetie was somewhat of a tomcolt when we were all foals, so it’s somewhat of a surprise to hear that she’s the talk of the town. I mean, I was surprised enough to hear that she hadn’t pursued her dreams of a career in music.”

Star blinked. Is he really on the up and up? The last thing she wanted to deal with was another stallion trying to get in the way of her winning Sweetie’s heart. But this “Rumble” stallion was a military pony, he said he lived on Human-Earth – which means that he clearly wasn’t here on a regular basis – and he wasn’t in the know about the various ponies that tried to pledge themselves to Sweetie’s attentions, including that of the one that had her attention – Pip.

Plus, he did mention something about her foalhood, which nopony has before. Maybe he is being honest. She looked at him and stated a lie: “Really? I don’t think she ever mentioned about any sort of musical career.”

“Really? I remember her singing a lot of showtunes when we were kids – Hinny of the Hills, Appleoosa!, that kind of stuff. I know it probably drove Apple Bloom and Scootaloo all kinds of nuts when she did it, but then again, they were all so fixated on getting their cutie marks I don’t think it really registered. By the time she’d gotten her mark, I’d already started on my apprenticeship with pre-Guard duties. The rest, I guess, is history.”

Star took a drink from her mug. “And here I thought that you were just here to use me in an attempt to get a hold of Sweetie.”

Rumble’s face was like stone, though he was wincing inside. Thankfully, Wednesday Night Poker at the Naval Station O-Club comes in real handy. “No, that would be like someone hitting up one of my junior personnel to get a hold of me. That wouldn’t be fair to the hypothetical sailor, and it wouldn’t be fair to you.”

“Thanks,” Star said, giving Rumble a genuine smile…and for a second, it made him pause. Well, she is kinda cute. About twenty or so years younger than me, but really cute. But just as much as that, it gave him pause. Yeah, that would go over well. I’m trying to dig up info on Sweetie, and I end up in bed with her apprentice. Yeah, that’s really a good way to try and start a relationship, Rumble.

With that going, the two fell into a sort of easy pattern, just idly chatting about nothing in particular while spending some time just bantering away. For Star, it was a definite change; it felt like a relief, with someone wanting to talk to her about nothing in particular, not really wanting any demands on her or to berate her for being “Star Swirl the Waste of the ‘Star Swirl’ Name”. For Rumble, he found himself chatting with a very interesting young mare, someone far worldlier than her age seemed; she was well-traveled, both due to her duties as a mage and from all the trips that Sweetie had taken her on. She was even raising a baby dragon, like Twilight Sparkle, and just as with Twilight and her adopted brother, Star Swirl and her kid sister Spines were just two getting along in a world that didn’t seem very normal for a pair of mismatched siblings.

Finally, as the grandfather clock upstairs chimed 11, Star sighed and said, “Well, I really hate to break this convo off – it’s been great, really – but I have an investigation to conduct in the Everfree today regarding a potential attercop infestation near Berryville.”

“Attercops?” Rumble had never seen one, but he knew they were dangerous. “Why on Earth are you going up against attercops?”

“It’s…it’s a long story.” The order, in fact, had come down last night: Mesothelae, the would-be attercop queen that Star had tangled with last year, was recently seen on the outskirts of the Everfree that had bordered the town of Berryville. While Star had no idea what the giant spider wanted, the Vicemagus believed that she was possibly tied to Nightmare Moon and/or Chrysalis and that it would be, regardless of the truth, best if the monstrous eight-legged creature was driven back into the depths of the Everfree, or dealt with for once and for all.

But the truth was that Star was afraid. Sure, she had the power to deal with Mesothelae – recent changes in her life all but assuring that – but she’d lost to the wicked creature before, and that had taken a toll on her. But unlike last time, she didn’t have lording things over Blackie – who was currently suspended from the Guild for his actions – to use as a confidence booster, nor did she have Sweetie to rely on, who was apparently on “special assignment” and wouldn’t be able to bail her out of this. She was so afraid of the situation, she hadn’t even told Spines about it, instead having “allowed” the baby draconess to stay over at Sugar Sprinkle’s house tonight.

But from where Rumble stood, all he saw was fear in her eyes. Maybe she was arachnophobic, maybe she’d had a recent incident where she’d lost her nerve and had yet to recover it. The latter was a common enough problem out in the field, and it was just one of those little reminders that no matter what kind of ditty-bag kind of sailor you were, that and other stressors proved that you were more than your hooves, wings or horn. Besides, even as powerful as this mare standing before him was, she was still just a pony at the end of the day, and ponies naturally felt fear.

Besides, maybe this’ll get me in good with Sweetie, he considered – she’d probably be more interested in the stallion who saved her precious protégé from trouble. And besides, an attercop is nothing to sneeze at – and when he ordered me to take leave, Soarin’ didn’t say that I couldn’t get myself into trouble of another kind.

“Okay, any way you can magic me up some gear?” he asked. “I’m going with.”

She looked at him with a stunned expression. After a second, she said, “You don’t have to do that.”

“Yes I do,” he told her. “I’m a sailor, a Seapony, and I’m sworn to protect the lives of the Crown and its citizenry. Besides, attercop spawnlings are the size of adult stallions – if you’re dealing with an infestation, things are going to get messy and ponies are going to get hurt.” He paused, then added, “Besides, I’d feel bad if I let a cute mare like you get hurt because I didn’t do my job. So I’m coming with you.”

“You’re on leave,” Star said, surprised. “If I recall military regulations, you’re not authorized to have weapons or anything of the sort while out of uniform, right?”

He looked at her, a stern grimace planted on his muzzle. “Do you think the attercops care?”

“Right this way if you please, your grace,” an aging stallion with a combover mane peered at DJ through thick lenses. “Allow me to say that it is an honor to assist you, Countess Faroe, i—”

DJ sighed. “Please, Mr. Watermelon Slice, I would very much appreciate it if you just called me DJ. Or Ms. Martinez, if you must. I’m still not entirely used to the title.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. You are a member of the Royal Family, your grace,” Watermelon said, a dutiful tone in his voice, “and etiquette prevents me from doing so. Besides, your uncle, Lord Spike insisted that I treat you and your family with the utmost diligence and dutifulness that is within the demeanor of the Crown Services, your grace.”

Behind her, Anna chuckled slightly. “I think what he means is—”

“Yes, Mom, I got the point that he should really just eschew obfuscation,” she said, wondering exactly how the hell she got roped into all of this. The original plan had been for her and her parents to go check out the place that Twilight was giving them in Northside, so that DJ could get a general idea of the neighborhood, the house itself and a bunch of other stuff that she’d need to know once she returned back to Japan to prepare for the move. As it was, Mike would only have enough time to meet his ship back at the nearest port call and officially detach from the Konetzni before he returned back here to Canterlot; that meant that with the boys’ schooling still ongoing, DJ and the boys would have to remain in Japan for at least a few more months until the paperwork approving their overseas move would be allowed. Granted, while DJ’s technical dual citizenship – something that turned out to be a rare case of serendipity, all things considered – would speed things up, she would still not get a chance to move into their new place until August at the earliest.

“Furball, I can already see that you’re bummed about having to live separately from Mike for a while, but look at it this way: soon enough you’ll be here with him, and your whole family can enjoy living at this place. Plus, it might not be bad living here in Canterlot.”

“Dad, I love you with all my heart,” DJ said, “but please don’t tell me how wonderful things will be when you know how much I’m sacrificing for my husband’s sake.”

Anna smiled. “You’ll do fine, DJ. You’re strong, after all.”

“Yeah, I know,” she replied. “Well, shall we catch up with Watermelon?”

With that, the two humans and humanized pony caught up to the stallion. “Now, as I was saying, your grace, we’ve had traffic blocked off to the street so that you can park your automotive vehicle anywhere you choose.”

“Wat.” The look on DJ’s face as she tried very hard not to do a facepalm would have been considered priceless had she not been on the ragged edge of irritation. “Watermelon, approximately how many families live on this street?”

The pony thought for a moment. “About thirty or so, I believe, your grace,” he told her.

“And how many are human and thus have cars?”

“Almost all of them, your grace,” he replied. “The ERG felt it was important, due to the fact that you will not be residing within the standard safety perimeter of the Westside, that we increase security for both yourself and your family—”

“Why?” DJ asked, genuinely exasperated. “Look, I’m a minor noble. Nobody’s going to give a damn about that in the slightest.”

“If I may, milady Countess,” he pointed out, “you are the niece of the princesses and the daughter of her grace Duchess Lippizan – no offense meant to either of you, sir and madam.” The last he said as an aside to DJ’s parents, who understood. “Furthermore, you are a celebrity and a noted pony within the media. And lastly, you have been attacked in the very recent past, not once, not twice, but three times. Given that, even with the fact that your husband is a member of the American military, we cannot afford to risk your safety.”

“But what about the people who live on this street? You can’t just—”

“Actually, Statute 321.649A of the Crown Safety and Security Codes allow the ERG to take plenipotentiary measures to ensure the safety of a member of the Royal Family when her or his life is at risk. As I understand it, the head of your security detail wanted to have everyhuman – and the one gryphon family at the end of the street – removed from the block for your safety, but the ERG believed that was a bit of overkill.”

“So’s banning them from using the street!” DJ finally facepalmed, counted to five, and then told him, “Let’s get something clear: One, I don’t want – or need – a security detail. Do you really feel that Equestria is so dangerous that I need to be packing heat with bodyguards?”

“Milady, I think not alone of your security, but that of your foals – your colts will need a security escort to and from their school, undoubtedly.” The look in Watermelon’s eyes radiated sincerity – DJ was sure at this point the stallion could show no other emotion than that. Well, maybe fawning as well, she thought.

“I refuse to allow myself or my family to live in a Goddamn birdcage,” DJ said. “And furthermore, it is completely unfair to the people who rely on their vehicles to have to trudge a few blocks—”

“Actually, the vehicular cordon is about a half-mile radius, your grace,” Watermelon said meekly.

“That’s worse!”

“Watermelon, just give it up,” a new voice said. The group turned to see Lyra walking down the street, with her own family in tow. “Tell you what: just give me the keys and you can head back to your office.”

“Milady Viscountess, I must protest,” the bureaucrat stated. “My instructions were specific: to escort Countess Faroe to see the ancestral home of their graces Duchess Shetland and Margra—”

Lyra burst out laughing, a near-bray. “Ancestral home my ass! Watermelon, do you see that house down the street there?” Lyra pointed to a house just past the end of the block, on the corner of the next one. “I grew up in that house. My parents used to live there until they passed away a few decades back. I think my brother sold it to one of our cousins, though I’m not sure which. But the point is that Twilight and Spike’s house is hardly ancestral. They come from the lesser line of the Cloverines, so I know that for a fact.”

“Yes, your grace,” Watermelon said, “but even still I—”

“DJ, would you look at the house right there?” Lyra pointed at a brownstone townhouse in the middle of the street. Unlike the others, it looked slightly run down, though that was more due to the fact that it hadn’t been lived in for a while than any sort of neglect.

“Is that it?” DJ knew her aunt had come from humble beginnings, but for someone like Twilight Sparkle, even still it seemed a little…well, pedestrian.

“Yeah, that’s it. Amazing, huh?” She then turned to Watermelon. “Mazel tov, you have now shown Countess Faroe the home as duly prescribed in your orders. Now give me the keys and I’ll take care of the rest.”

“But mil—”

“Did I mention my husband’s a lawyer? I learned how to argue real good from him.” A wicked grin split her muzzle. Sighing, the aged stallion reached into his waistcoat pocket and produced a key that he handed over to Lyra. “See? Wasn’t so hard,” she replied. “Now go ahead and head back to your office, and I’ll be sure to let Spike know that you were very helpful.” As the stallion departed, Lyra looked at DJ. “Don’t give me that look – I’ve had a lifetime of dealing with pencil jockeys like him. It’s why I personally oversee the hiring of all my diplomatic staff at the embassy; I really don’t weak or nebbish types hanging around.”

“Then why…?” DJ asked.

“Because he’s really good at his job. When it comes to local governmental duties, I’m sure he’s one of the best Spike has working for him. But you know as well as I do that just because you’re good with A doesn’t mean you should be placed in charge of B, right?” Handing the key over to DJ, she said, “Well, let’s go take a peek at the place. I haven’t been here since I was a child, so I have to admit that I’m a little curious myself as to how it looks.”

DJ nodded, looking at Paul, then her own parents. “Yeah, let’s get going.”

A minute and one unlocked door later, two humanized ponies and three humans entered the townhome that had once been the fond foalhood domicile of a few members of Equestria’s cherished royalty. As they entered, a scholarly look came over DJ’s face: she could almost see the filly version of Twilight Sparkle, bouncing around with a book in her magical grip, dancing and carrying on just like every other little girl, regardless of species, that had ever existed.

Lyra went over to a nearby shelf and ran a hoof over it, drawing a line in the dust. “Wow, the preservation spell must have partially failed,” she mused. To the non-unicorns in the room, the celeste diplomat explained, “When a house is kept in storage for a while, humans tend to throw tarps over everything and double-spray the house with insecticides, right? Well for ponies, we have house preservation specialists who cast a stasis spell, which basically keeps away bugs, pests and dust until the spell wears off – about every five years or so – or until it’s renewed. It’s such a power-intensive spell that usually only specialists do it and it’s not used as a common housecleaning spell, though obviously someone of Twi’s skill could easily have done the spell herself – it wouldn’t surprise me if she did.” Lyra then looked down at the dust and said, “Given the lack of cobwebs or bug corpses, the anti-dust portion of the spell must have failed, which means that it won’t be long before the rest of it does. Hopefully by then the renovations will begin.”

“I see,” DJ said, looking around at the various furniture that had been left as is. It was almost as though neither Twilight or her siblings wanted to deal with the house after their parents passed away. DJ then looked at her own parents, and a brief tightness gripped her heart. They’re in their seventies, she thought, and I dread the day that Sam and I have to think about that. She then turned back to focus on the furniture, before her parents realized what she was thinking about.

“Were they happy?” DJ asked. “Twilight’s family, I mean.”

“I really didn’t know her parents that well,” Lyra admitted, “though I think Rarity once told me that her mother, Sandalwood, and Twilight’s mother, Twilight Velvet, were old friends. Maybe I’m misremembering that; I’m not sure. But don’t let any of that color what you think of the place. I do know, from what little of our shared childhood was, that Twilight and her siblings were well-loved and that her parents were respected members of the community.”

“I see.” A small thought came to her. “I wonder how much grief I would get if I put the US ensign and the Navy flag up?”

Lyra looked at DJ oddly. “That’d be unusual.”

“Well, if I recall correctly, don’t you have the Equestriani national flag flying from a flagpole in your front yard?”

“That’s different – I’m the ambassador, remember? I’m supposed to do that. Besides, technically, the house belongs to the embassy, not me personally, so it marks it as Equestriani territory.”

“Well, I am American, so it does behoove me to fly the flag of my country.”

“You’re also a member of the Royal Family of this nation, remember? Divided loyalties and all that?”

DJ groaned. “And this is why I didn’t want the title! Look, Lyra, I consider myself American, not Equestriani – as far as I’m considered, my citizenship—”

“Subjecthood. This is a monarchy, remember.”

“Whatever. The point is that I’m hoping to move here by early July, and I certainly plan to hold a 4th of July party here—”

“DJ, did it ever occur to you to not piss off people of other countries?”

“Yeah,” she said, a grin on her face. “That’s why we live on-base instead of off.”

Now it was Lyra’s turn to facepalm. “You’re incorrigible, you know that?”

The remainder of the hour was spent looking at the house, appreciating all the fine points. One particular point was scored when DJ noted that a house two blocks away was flying a Canadian flag, to which Lyra just gave up and basically made DJ promise that she wouldn’t try to fly a battle ensign from the top of the house. Finally, as the group went down to the basement, Lyra used a lighting spell – since the house still wasn’t wired for electricity, but instead magic use – to illuminate the basement.

“Never been down here before,” she explained. “Obviously they didn’t let little fillies play in basements back then.”

As they walked around, they noticed a ton of older things: various pieces of Night Light’s astronomy equipment, old typewriters that Twilight Velvet used in the production of her writing, even a rusted old flugelhorn that Lyra said Shining Armor played when he was younger. Most of those downstairs were interested in the life of a family long gone from the household, but DJ found it sad and melancholy. Maybe I’ll have to discuss this with Twilight or Spike. I don’t want to get rid of anything they want to keep to remember their parents by.

Once done, they were about to head upstairs, when a flash caught the corner of DJ’s eye. Turning back, she walked over to a shelf, upon which sat a curious object. It looked like a crystal ball or an unfinished genderstone, save that the crystal was a smoky brown color. It glowed with a soft violet sheen, and DJ felt like touching it—

She found herself standing on a barren plane. Behind her was a smoking, wrecked city seemingly made out of quartz and other crystals – Empire City, the capital of the region known as the Crystal Empire, if she remembered Twilight and Sweetie’s own recollections of the place. The sky was dark and burning with a dim red, as though the very air itself was ablaze. The ground itself was burnt and cracked, as though it had just survived utter hell.

Where the fuck am I? she thought.

“You’re here, though you’re not supposed to be here yet.” DJ turned to see a woman approaching her. Silhouetted, the woman looked ripped. Muscular but not overly so, a body that clearly looked as though she was a looker or athlete of some kind. Definitely attractive for a guy’s attention, DJ reasoned, unlike her own body – thankfully she never had to worry about breasts. But it was that when the silhouetted woman moved closer, DJ realized the woman had a pony’s head. She was a hybrid of sorts – a pony’s head, though proportionate to the human body that was the rest of the person.

That, and the voice sounded familiar. Quite a bit familiar.

“It’s not your time yet,” the woman told her. “You will be here someday, and you will be present at the final decision. But until then, you need to forget about all you see here. Clarity will come soon enough.” There was a soft chuckle as the woman then added, “Though I have yet to figure it out myself. Maybe someday.”

DJ looked at the woman as she grew closer now. There was an incredible magic coming from her, so strong that it even someone unversed in it like DJ could feel it. “Why? Who are you?”

The woman stopped before her, then smiled before looking up at DJ with clear purple eyes framed by brown hair, set in tan fur.

“You, of course.”

Everything went black.

Author's Note

This year's chapter title comes from the lyrics added during the Civil War:

When our land is illumined with liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.

And yes, it's good to be back. :yay:

Chapter Twenty-Two: Can't Move On, So Much Untold

“This is for me?” DJ looked at the brand-new 2028 candy-apple red Ford Mustang that sat in her family’s driveway. Okay, it wasn’t “new”-new; while it had just come off the dealership lot, it was also one of the last 2028 models they had, as they were clearing them out for the 2029 editions. Still, the car had less than a hundred miles on it, it definitely had that new car smell, and it gleamed like a radiant star in the sunlight.

“Eyup, it’s all yers,” Applejack said with a nod, trying to ignore the chafing of the shirt collar at the back of her neck. This was her first visit to “Human-Earth” – she never quite understood why humans called it that; with earth ponies like her, they at least had a reason to call their world Earth, though now the term “Alter-Earth” seemed to be sticking – and while she wanted to make a good impression on her niece’s adopted family, she also had to admit that wearing clothing on a regular basis was annoying, and standing upright even more so. But those were the rules that Celestia had insisted on while ponies started to visit the alternate dimension – when in Roam, do as the Roamans do, after all – and the former farmmare had to see the look on her niece’s face to change her mind on the whole thing.

That being said, she did not plan to make this a regular visit, even if DJ lived in apple country. However, she did know some relatives, fellow Apples, who might be willing to make a regular visit to the human world….

From their vantage point on the sundeck while he watched his daughter bounce to and fro while checking out her new car, Matt sighed. “This is going to be interesting.”

“How so?” Twilight asked the man. “She’s sixteen and from what I read up on human teenagers, at that age in this part of the world, they start to operate motor vehicles, don’t they? Besides, the girls and I wanted to spoil her a bit – she is our niece, after all – and when she said she got her driver’s license, Pinkie, Applejack and I decided on a car that would remind her of her roots, and I did overhear someone call this a ‘pony car’.”

At that point, Anna broke out in sudden laughter, to the point that Pinkie, usually the one who could understand the humor in any situation, struggled to comprehend. “Did I miss something?” she asked. At the moment, she was seated on a nearby bench, wearing a light-blue t-shirt and blue jeans. Not too surprisingly, she seemed to feel completely at home in them. “I don’t get what’s so funny – and usually I do. I guess it’s a cultural kind of thing? Maybe I should come up with a pony one so that we can all laugh!”

“No, no,” Anna replied, coming down from her moment. “A ‘pony car’ is also known as a ‘muscle car’ or a ‘performance car’.”

“So it’s meant to perform?” Pinkie looked at the wheeled form of metal and paint that DJ was giddy over and Applejack was confused about. The gift wrap and ribbons that Pinkie had somehow inexplicably tied the entire car in were still strewn around the front yard, as neighbors watched with slight interest. “What does it do? Make animal balloons? Oh, I know, I know! It’s like my Welcome Wagon and bakes a cake and shoots confetti, right?” When both humans looked at her, mystified, she added, “I guess not, then.”

“Uh, no. What it means is that it’s a car designed for racing. Think of it this way: you have your regular pegasi, like Fluttershy or such, then you have those…Thunderbolts?”

“Wonderbolts,” Twilight supplied, before the analogy suddenly kicked in. “So, it’s the difference between piloting an airship and an airskiff?”

“I’m not really familiar with either, but I’m going to guess that’s the same.” From the sudden look of dismay on the unicorn’s face, Anna said, “I think you’ve got the point.”

“Plus, you just handed a sports car – another term for that kind of car – to a teen in the midst of her prime sense of irresponsibility,” Matt replied. “I remember having a Porsche 911 when I was her age – my parents weren’t exactly thinking clearly either – and I’d racked up several speeding tickets before my parents took away the keys. Hopefully, DJ will be more circumspect about it.”

The four then watched as DJ got into the car, followed by a very cautious Applejack. DJ showed her aunt how to buckle up, then as she turned the ignition, the engine roared like a beast. Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie stared in shock as DJ gunned the engine, then backed up and started her first solo drive…which was best described as the teen slamming the gas while going in reverse, skidding on the brakes to a stop, then gunning it down the road. A second later, Emily Marbury, the state police officer who lived in the house across the street, poked her head out just in time to see DJ turn the corner. While the officer was too far away for either Matt or Anna to see, they were willing to bet that the other woman was likely rolling her eyes right now.

“What in Celestia’s name have I done?” Twilight whispered, the look on her face despondent.

“Whee!” Pinkie swooned. “Can I go next?”

Both Matt and Anna simultaneously facepalmed.

The look on Sarah’s face was crestfallen. “And we can’t tell anyone else, Mom?”

Faust looked at her youngest daughter, sympathizing. “No, sweetie, you can’t. I didn’t even want to tell you or Jon until you were both old enough.” The catch on her words indicated she was angry; while Sarah knew she wasn’t the source of that ire, it still wasn’t anything fun.

“But Betty McDaniels keeps talking about the fact that her uncle plays for the Indians and she makes a big deal about that,” the preteen replied. “And I can’t tell her I’m a princess? A real princess?”

“It’s…complicated,” Faust said, now regretting having told her younger half-human children about who and what she really was. She could have come up with any number of valid lies about Screwball and Screw Loose, a few of which they might have actually believed until they were old enough to know the truth. But she’d grown tired of the lies and though he’d never said anything, she knew Greg wasn’t happy about them either. Now the cat was out of the bag, and for better or for worse, they would have to deal with it.

Thankfully, both of acolytes of chaos were now behaving themselves – or as much as they could be considered behaving. However, given how violently ill Screwball became when trying to be normal or focused, the great alicorn wondered if it was a good idea at all having them over. Still, both of them knew how important her family was to her, so they’d hopefully try to tone down their usual insanity.

It also helped that Greg went to work, probably so he could keep a normal semblance of reality, the alicorn mused. Maybe I can drop things down to a dull roar by the time he gets back.

“Hey, Mom?” Jon called from the other room. “Um…Ms. Loose wants to see you.” But before Faust could go out there, Screw Loose came into the kitchen.

“Yes, Screw Loose?” Faust said.

The pony, currently in her human disguise as an old matron, blinked twice in seeming incomprehension before speaking: “I suppose I should be asking what assistance I may be able to proffer, dear.” The pony’s voice was mellifluous, calm, and with a clear received pronunciation as though she was practicing her BBC English for a role on British television. In fact, she seemed as though she was a deranged version of Mrs. Doubtfire.

“I, uh….” For one of the rare moments in her life, Faust was at a loss for words.

“Oh, no need for that, your majesty,” Screw Loose said, a soft smile on her face that seemed homey and pleasant. “From what I gathered, I should probably put a spot of tea on for the guests that I’m presuming you’ll have shortly.” As Faust suddenly looked at the pony-in-human-form as though she’d grown a second head, Screw Loose laughed. “And now I suppose I’ll have to explain my…change, as it were.”

Not trusting herself to say anything further, Faust simply nodded.

“I was this way before Lord Discord blessed me with his anarchic grace,” the gray-haired woman told the redhead. “I had a husband and two foals. I also did not have the cutie mark I did, nor even my name. But during his brief sojourn into Ponyville, he saw me and knew I had the spark to be his follower. So he took me aside and…changed me.” Seeing the look on Faust’s face, Screw Loose added, “Oh, it was entirely voluntary, I assure you.”

Yes, yes it was, Discord rang in Faust’s mind. His tone was oddly nostalgic.

Ignoring him, Faust asked, “But what about your husband and foals?”

Screw Loose smiled. “I am still with them – Lord Discord duplicated me and sent my old form to remain with my family. Or maybe I am the duplicate and the original Skylark is still with her family. It matters little in the end,” she shrugged. “I serve my lord faithfully and he has asked me to serve you for the nonce, and so I shall.”

“Then why…?”

“Because the chaos and anarchy we sow is for the adult mind, not the impressionable ones of youth,” she explained. “Young minds are corruptible, and sometimes chaos does not beget chaos, but instead evil and madness – the two are different, you understand. Thus, I will temporarily be my old self while I am of service to you here. And please, don’t worry; I will keep Screwball to a minimum. Unlike myself, she is a being of pure chaos and thus it’s much harder for her to rein herself in.”

“I…see.”

Toldja they’d be of use to you, Discord replied in her mind. No need to thank me; praise and poetry is all I need.

Faust facepalmed.

The black disappeared, replaced by light, and when everything settled, the scene had changed to something a little more familiar and comforting: a bench by the Shakad¬ō Pass. It was a part of Kamakura that wasn’t frequented by foreigners like herself, so whenever she went to the town alone it was a nice place to sit and have lunch and generally not be bothered save for the occasional person who wanted to know about umajin – to which she had to confusingly explain her particular situation.

The hybrid pointed to a small bench to the right of the pass’ mouth. “Have a seat – we always used to when we lived in Japan, after all. Well, you still do. For me…it’s been a while.”

DJ looked the hybrid across the way from herself. In a sense, it was everything she wanted: hands, feet, a human body, and with the exception of the fur, pony head and tail, just a normal woman. But at the same time, it would be a betrayal of everything her parents had given her, she knew. A beautiful idol was still a false one, after all, and a temptation was just the beginning of the fall.

“Yes, I am you. I am your future,” the humanized DJ – far more humanized than the behooved version ever imagined – said.

“Yeah, right,” DJ said to the hybrid claiming to be her. “You know what else is in my future? Double cheeseburger, heavy on the bacon. And some chili cheese fries, too. Chocolate-peanut butter malt if I can get that in as well.”

The DJ-hybrid smiled. “You know, you’re going to make us fat if you keep that up. You might not take the hit with that earth pony metabolism of yours, but….” She looked down at her toned, human body; despite the fur, DJ could see the rippling, human-like muscles on the other being’s frame. “I can assure you that things do change.”
“There’s that ‘we’ again, and I’m going to assume you’re not speaking French,” the humanized pony snarked. “Or at least you think you’re me.”
A playful smile came onto the creature’s face as she delicately tapped her muzzle with a finger, something DJ always did with an extensory. “Let’s see: favorite color is true purple, your favorite song is ‘Be Human’ by Scott Matthews, your favorite videogame is Star Wars: The Jedi Legacy, your fav—”

DJ rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you mastered Ello. Yay, let me pour one out for you. Meanwhile, your point is?”

The hybrid’s smile became wolfish. “The first night of your honeymoon, you had to calm Mike down because in all the rush, he completely forgot to buy condoms and was freaking that he got you pregnant when you two weren’t ready. That’s when you reminded him about genetic differences and that he was welcome to use you as his own personal little sperm conta—”

“HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW THAT?” DJ screamed.

The hybrid looked at DJ with sympathy. “Just admit that it wasn’t one of our better moments. Honeymoon plus hormones do not equal the most clear of minds?”

The look on DJ’s face at that point could best be described as apoplectic. “How the h—” She immediately shook her head. “Aw fuck no! This has to be telepathy. You’re probably using some sort of spell, and got that out of my mind or something.”

The hybrid shook her head. “Nope, doesn’t work that way. Hasn’t worked that way since the dawn of time, hasn’t worked that way in all my centuries of life.”

DJ just stared at the other hybrid. “One, you’re wasting my time. And two, ‘centuries’? Spare me the bull – you know as well as I do that earth ponies are supposed to live to, at most, 110, give or take…but given that my diet has been far more human than the average pony, I’m probably going to live slightly less than that, closer to that of my husband. And I’m fine with that. Besides, if you were really me…you know I wouldn’t want to outlive Mike. Or my boys.”

“But we did.” The look on the hybrid’s face got strangely sad. “And truth be told…it wasn’t easy. At least I have Ritty and Heather to keep me company.”

“Who?”

“Our daughter, who we named after our biological mother; and our granddaughter, who’s Rarity’s only child. Needless to say, neither of them has been born yet.” The hybrid grinned. “Well, as far as you’re concerned, that is.”

“You’re saying that I’m going to have a daughter and I’m going to name her after Rarity, instead of my mom or Mike’s mother? Now I know you’re lying.”

“Believe it or not; your call. In any case, you still have five more years to go before Ritty – it’s what’s most people call her – is born.” She then sat down on the other side of the bench, holding out a palm; a second later, a couple of bento boxes and two Japanese cans of Coke appeared in a soft blue glow. “Lunch? I haven’t eaten yet.”

“Uh…no. You have magic?”

“Yes, but believe me…I’d rather not have it.” The hybrid banished the second meal away, then opened up the remaining bento box and took out an onigiri. “Look, you’re not going to believe anything I say, but that’s not germane to why I suspect you’re here. In the end, this is but one possibility out of millions. You could say that you’re in a possible future…or maybe you’re just imagining it all.”

“I’ll take ‘Bullshit Answers’ for $400, Craig,” DJ drawled, not believing a single word of it.

“Be that as it may, there is still a certain truth about it. The fact is that you will be facing hard times soon, harder than you’ll ever know, and you may do things that you hadn’t expected to do. They may be things you don’t want to do, but may be forced to, if the future – not just mine, any positive one – is going to come.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Hope you like being lunch for changelings.”

The world vanished into black once more….

“Fuuuuuuuuck….” DJ moaned as she came to. “Did anyone get the number of that Death Star?” she muttered. As she looked up, she saw several people staring down at her. “Wh-what the hell happened?” she murmured.

Lyra was the one to answer. “Sorry, I’m going to have to have a talk with Twilight on this one: you touched a chargesphere.” To those not in the know – which was everyone in the room save for herself – she said, “Think of a cross between a crystal ball and a battery. Basically like that New Age infusion crystal bullshit that existed on Human-Earth before ponies came around. Mages use it for long-term power storage, and likely Twilight had left one down her for her parents in case of some kind of magical emergency. Foals know not to touch them without protection, but obviously you didn’t grow up in Equestria, DJ, so that’s not your fault. Still, Twi shouldn’t have left something like that around.”

“You okay, furball?” Anna asked, looking at her daughter with worry.

DJ gently waved her mother’s ministrations off. “Yeah, Mom, I’m fine. Just…ugh.”

“You sure you okay, DJ?” Lyra asked. “Occasionally, earth ponies have been known to hallucinate while touching a chargesphere while unprepared….”

The humanized pony gave her friend a weak smile. “Well that explains that….”

“Explains what?”

“Let’s just say that that time I had a dream where I was a human police officer and everyone else I knew that was a pony were actually human teenagers attending a high school in Redding – that one was hella weird; this one by comparison, was outright psychedelic, and that’s all I’m saying about that,” DJ replied. “Look, let’s just walk around the house again one last time and make sure we got photos so Mike will be able to see the house. I don’t want him to miss any of this.”

Footsteps crunched on the ground as the pair entered the Everfree. Star Swirl entered first, wearing protective gear that seemed oddly reminiscent of old-fashioned barding. Behind her, Rumble walked in, gun held at the ready. Because he wasn’t on duty, he couldn’t use his field gear and had to convince Star to gen up some acceptable replacements; at the moment, he was decked in “hunting attire” reminiscent of the US Marine Corps’ MARPAT uniform and was armed with a Ruger SR-556P with the secondary shot modification and an HS Produkt HS2000E as a backup weapon – she had no idea what he was describing, but thankfully he had his smartphone with him to show pics. He’d also insisted that she carry something as well, but she looked at him and replied that she had everything she needed this time, thanks.

It wasn’t until her cape moved just so that Rumble noticed the magical sword at her side, radiating with enough power to be a uranium rod. “You know how to use that?” he asked.

She grinned cockily. “Yeah. Sweetie taught me, obviously; plus, I went through a phase where I got interested in Japanese drama cartoons – anime, if you’re familiar with the term – and learned a bit of the Japanese sword style. I’ve found that while sparring with ponies who are rigidly used to the Equestriani, Grifonican, and Zebrabawean styles, that it comes in handy. I’ve been meaning to spar with an Inarijin onmyōji to see how similar the styles are to Japanese, but I haven’t really had the chance.”

“I see,” he said, a grin on his face. “How far until we’re there?”

“About another quarter mile. You sure you going to handle it walking upright like that?” Star inquired. “That looks painful, if you ask me.” The two went on a little more before Star continued. “I know we’re supposed to go upright while on Earth, but there’s walking on flat ground and then there’s traipsing through the Everfree.”

Rumble just smiled. “We train with the humans in all their styles and in all their methods, which includes running for miles. This might sound hard to believe, but at their peak, humans can run longer distances than we can.”

“Really?”

The pegasus nodded. “It surprised me. I mean, yeah, they’re way more technologically advanced than ponydom is, and that’s what the average pony knows about humans, but it was seeing their endurance while I was attending their special warfare training that I saw that they can be pretty tough. I’ll admit that it inspired me since I’m obviously not an earth pony and most special forces are either that or heavily-trained unicorns, so it made me push harder and work my way to my current sp—” He suddenly paused and held up a hoof in front of his mouth. Then, the extensories of his hoof began moving and wiggling in some sort of strange code that she had no idea the meaning of.

“What are you—” she began before he clamped a hoof over her mouth.

“Heard something, one-fife-oh mikes out,” he whispered to her. “Can you create a magical communication circuit?” She nodded and he let go.

«Okay, what the hell is going on?» Star asked, sending her response over the mental link.

«Heard something one-fi…I mean, 150 meters, out,» Rumble explained; when she stared at him with incomprehension, he amended to, «Uh, that’s about 160 yards or so. In any case, whatever it is, it’s big enough to rustle the whole of the area. You’ll want to be careful.»

«Careful of what?»

With a grim look on his face, Rumble brought the carbine to bear; Star could barely hear the slide of the safety coming off. «Careful that you can identify it as safe before I put a bullet through its eyes,» he replied starkly.

She looked at him like he was insane. She practically shouted, «That is not how we do things here!» He rolled his eyes and she glared at him. «You are soooo lucky that you’re a friend of Sweetie’s, or else I’d turn you into a newt right now.»

«Involuntary shapeshifting is a violation of Crown Statutes and the Quaggaton Treaty Regarding Magic Uses,» he replied blithely. She glared at him again, and the two continued on in silence for a while longer.

Finally, as the two reached a point in the forest that Rumble had never been to before during his days as part of the old Guard, he noticed that the whole of the clearing was covered in two things: blood, and webs.

“Oh, this does not look good,” Star whispered, temporarily forgetting about the magical channel she’d set up.

Rumble, however, had not forgotten. «What are we looking at?» he asked, bringing his carbine to the ready. Suddenly, he heard the sound of her gasp, and turned in her direction, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. What he saw surprised him.

Silhouetted by the moonlight were eight giant legs, pointing to the sky, each a spear pointing towards the dark heavens. He didn’t have to ask what that was; he’d read about its kind in the history books.

But Star knew; she’d almost lost her life due to the creature that had now lost its own. “Mesothele….” she whispered, not believing it.

“What?” Rumble asked in kind.

“The queen-mother of the attercops,” Star replied, her voice numb. “She tried to kill me six months ago, and I was suspecting it was her that we were going to have to deal with. But I didn’t think that we’d find her—”

“Like this?” a voice cried out, disembodied seeming to come from everywhere at once. At once, the glade lit up with blinding klieg lights, utterly blinding the pair.

“COUNTERSPELL!” Rumble shouted, knowing that the time for quiet was over. Instead, while his eyes were still completely stinging from the sudden lights, he heard Star’s muffled screams. “STAR!” he turned to move, but instead felt something sink into his shoulder, followed by a sudden numbness and the sharp report of a rifle shot.

“Not your problem, hero,” the voice sounded. “Just sleep and forget about all this.”

Rumble barely snarled out a “Damn you….” before the tranquilizer dart’s payload took full effect.

“Tia, that’s enough—” Luna began as she barged into her sister’s room, ready to face her over this insanity. What she got an eyeful of, instead, was not what she had planned.

Seated outside, watching the afternoon sun, was Celestia, and she was talking to a human, one she identified a second later as DJ’s younger brother, the one that Celestia had picked as a candidate for the revised law enforcement organization. She was seated as normal, while he had taken the time to dress a little more formally than she’d expected.

“So, what do you intend to do with the Guild Investigations grouping?” Celestia asked him, though she waved her sister to come closer.

“Well, I’d thought about giving it a name that fit: the Royal Equestriani Agency for Law, or REAL for short.” He gave the sun alicorn a sly grin, and she smiled at that. “Seriously, I was just going to have it named the Crown Investigations Service.”

“CIS?” Luna asked as she approached. “Sounds too American, if you ask me; I think I like REAL better.”

Sam turned and faced her. “Well, it also has the bonus points of meaning ‘royal’ in Spanish,” he told the night alicorn.

“Nonetheless, the latter would be suited for actual bureaucratic use,” Luna replied.

“Of course, sister,” Celestia replied. “In day-to-day duties, the agency will reporting to you, as part of our realigning of the government. The new agency will be separate from the Ministries of Justice and Defense, though it will still be considered a law enforcement agency.”

“Why separate?” Luna inquired, while at the same time mentally fussing that this was not what she came in here for. She wanted to talk to her sister about her new paramour, not business.

“Because unfortunately, Justice doesn’t have the budget for a national police force, which is why the Guild had it; meanwhile, the military doesn’t want a gendarmerie, which again, is why the Guild has it,” Sam replied, showing an astute observation that both alicorns noted; Luna in particular was surprised at how fast the young man had gotten up to speed on the whole situation. “But unfortunately, the Guild is the wrong location for it. They’re most likely to put nothing but unicorns in, because that’s what the Guild is about, and that’s exactly what REAL…CIS, whatever we’re going to call it – doesn’t need.”

“Sam, would you be willing to explain?” Celestia asked. “Not that we don’t disagree, but we’d like to hear the outsider’s view, specieswise, per se.”

“Oh, that’s easy, Celestia. While ponies are overwhelmingly the species that lives in Equestria, there are dozens from other species that are not only resident, but citizens, and several more that are legal aliens, humans included. But due to their nature as ponies, while dealing with operations and investigations, the current Guild personnel are only going to see things through a pony lens, which might not be to the best interests of non-pony species. For example, ponies have a huge distrust of diamond dogs, do they not? And yet, while having lunch the first day I got here, I stopped at a café that was owned by a diamond dog – he was polite, cultured, and intelligent, all things that many ponies do not consider the average diamond dog to be. If a pony employee embezzles from the diamond dog’s store, are investigators going to believe that the pony was a thief or that the diamond dog lied? And that’s a concern.

“But before you think that I’m just picking on ponies, I’d like to point out that humans have the same problem in our midst. For the longest time, the FBI was known or believed to be hostile to other ethnicities or races. And the US is not the only country; I recall the ongoing lawsuit between a naturalized Canadian who happens to be a gryphon, who is suing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police over an alleged violation of her civil rights.

“I’m hoping by making the force an independent agency that reports to no one save the Crown itself that we can be free of it. I’ve spoken to Potato Chip, and he knows of several other individuals, regardless of species, that may be of assistance. And by doing that, we’ll have a diverse, modern force that will be able to investigate everyone fairly and look over things equally, regardless of species. I admit, it won’t be easy at first – while I’ve been speaking already to the Canterlot sheriff’s office and they’d be happy to have our support, that’s just because they’ve known me and Potato Chip from the outset. Can we say the same thing about other law enforcement agencies around the realm?”

Luna raised a forehoof, then placed her muzzle on it in thought. “You might be right about that. Speaking from personal experience, I know we can count on the sheriffs of Canterlot, Ponyville, Appaloosa, Rainbow Falls, and possibly Dodge Junction if their sheriff hasn’t retired yet, but as for the others, I really cannot say.”

“Don’t forget Empire City’s – they just hired a gryphon to be the head of their sheriff’s office,” Celestia interjected.

“Really? I was not aware of that,” Luna admitted. “In any case, it will take some time to build trust in the…REAL…yes, I think that should stick…but as the princess you’re reporting to, I will wholeheartedly sign off on this.” She turned back to Celestia and said, “If you’ll have the documents sent to me, I’ll sign off on this instantly so you can put it into law.”

“Are you sure? I thought documents took forever to get through your offices?”

“Which is why I said send to me and not to my office,” the moon princess said with a grin.

Sam got up from his chair. “Well, since that solves that, I think I need to get going, ladies. I have a date for tonight.”

“You do?” Luna asked.

“Already getting accustomed to the local social life?” Celestia commented wryly.

Sam grinned again. “Hey, I grew up with an older sister that gave me a rather unique outlook on life, and while I know that DJ’s not exactly the most average of mares – and she’d probably kill me just for calling her that – I’ve met quite a few others, and I can say the mare I’m going to have dinner with tonight is rather special.”

“Well, don’t let us keep you,” Celestia insisted. “We still have affairs of state to work on and then the diurnal shift. So have a nice date, Sam.”

“Thanks, I’ll let her know you said that,” he said with a grin as he departed.

“Well then, sister,” Luna said as she sat down, “so what’s with this new paramour of yours?”

Celestia blushed. “Sister, you have to understand that I fell in love once while you were gone – even though it was long ago, I remember it with melancholy clarity. Argent Lance was his name, and though history barely remembers him now, I will always remember him with love and fondess.”

“What happened?”

“Politics,” the ivory mare replied, “based on ignorance and power mongering. Argent ultimately exiled himself from Equestria to save the realm, but it was too high a cost, as far as I felt. The whole ordeal would have left me broken had it not been for Blue and Belle, but when they passed on, that had truly destroyed me in a way I hadn’t felt since your own tragedy. I didn’t start to truly recover until Cadance came into my life.”

“I…see.” Luna wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but she was sure she wasn’t going to like it. Granted, she had long gotten over her fears that others didn’t love her; the fact that she had a family now, with nieces and nephews to care for, proved that. But she always had care for whenever Celestia marched off on a verbal tangent that Luna was unfamiliar with. As cryptic as the older alicorn tended to be, well, she might have learned that from their mother, for all Luna knew.

“And then when I saw you with Robin, I saw you so happy, and it is to my eternal shame that I broke the two of you up. I should have never have done that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have, but I’ve gotten over it. No doubt Robin’s gotten over me now.” Luna of course knew that was a lie, but with the vastly different lives the two had, there would never be a chance to permanently tie together. And Luna knew that, restrictions barred, she would accept a life permanently with the man she loved.

“Luna?” Celestia said. “I know…I know you can’t marry him. Your lives are too different. But what about a long distance relationship? I know you see him from afar, every time you take a vaca—”

Luna was stunned. “How?”

Celestia smiled softly. “Didn’t you ever notice that you got massive discounts at the vegetarian place over on 3rd Street? Technically, it’s owned via the Crown through a holding company and the manager was specifically told to give Selene De Lune free food.” When Luna’s jaw dropped, Celestia smiled. “What do you think I’ve been doing on my small vacations? Investing in the human world is a good way for us to tie the two together. I got that advice from the British Crown, who sold us a nice apartment complex in Detroit.”

Luna fought every urge to facehoof at that point. “Tia, please don’t tell me that you’re doing all of this for me. I mean, really, I appreciate it, but I…I mean, he and I broke up because of our responsibilities. And if you’re telling that was never necessary, I’m not sure I’m going to take that very well.”

Celestia went over and put a wing around her sister. “Go to him. I’m sure he loves you still, and I know you love him. I will forever regret that I broke you two up when I shouldn’t have; that’s something that I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life. But now I have a chance to fix it…and you have a chance to spend your life with him.” The sun alicorn gave her sister a tender kiss on the forehead. “Go to him.”

“Are you sure about this?”

Celestia’s smile was wide. “I can handle things for a while.”

“Even with everything that we have going on? The country was just attacked, we have no idea where Chrysalis or Nightmare Moon are and even if those two issues hadn’t reared their ugly heads, we still have the issue with DJ and Rarity.” Luna shook her head. “No, I shan’t do this. Please don’t tempt me like this, Tia. I realize that you have a special somepony of your own now, and I hope someday to meet him or her. But I am a proud princess of Equestria and I cannot shirk my duties when my ponies need me.”

Celestia nodded softly, but pointed out, “There is, dearest sister, another alicorn, as well as several minor princesses and princes. I think we can handle things.”

“But isn’t Cadance taking a break from her own duties to care for her son?”

“Yes, but it wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve run the realm single-hooved. Besides, we have talented ponies to assist us, sister, and it’s not like in the old days. There are methods available for you to handle your duties remotely while you’re visiting him.”

“But what about REAL—”

“I’m sure Sam would be more than appreciative for the extra time to plan the organization as well as recruit some of the critical personnel that he’ll require. Afterwards, you can contact him indirectly for any initial reports. I’m sure Robin wouldn’t even mind if you built a portal between his home and your personal apartments.”

Luna sat there, both digesting her sister’s line of thought and trying not to succumb to the temptation. Was Celestia testing her in some way? Or was her sister sincere? It was a temptation beyond compare, the night alicorn had to admit, and her heart still beat for the man she fell in love with so many years ago. And yet at the same time, he could never break free from his commitments, and she was the crown princess of a vitally important nation to both worlds.

Would either have time for love?

She looked at her sister, who had loved during Luna’s exile and had to choose duty over happiness…but it had been a choice from which Celestia had never seemed to quite recover. Now the sun alicorn had found someone to love once again, but had she found a final balance? Was this the lesson that elder wished to pass on to younger?

Luna looked at the unused fireplace, as if trying to discern the answer from its depths. She loved Robin and she ached to be with him. She loved her sister and had already had a lifetime full of regrets from what had come between them and the monstrosity that had consumed her for over a millennium. Luna would do everything to change the course of what had come before, but she could not. She could only change what was to come.

Luna’s turquoise eyes locked onto Celestia’s lilac ones. “Promise me this is true, sister mine: that you will let me find my true love, even as I hope that you have finally found yours.”

“I do not know if I’ve found mine,” Celestia said softly, “but I can only hope that the path I’m taking will lead me to that, Lulu. But you deserve to have a chance at happiness, even if I cannot have that for myself…not that I’m saying I won’t so much as I’m saying that you are entitled to it.”

Luna nodded. She still had a feeling that Celestia was up to something, but the temptation was too great. Even still, she couldn’t leave quite yet. “Sister, I will take my leave once the girls are safe. Twilight has a plan to rectify what has happened to them, and while I feel ill at ease about leaving the country during its trials, I will not abandon family when they need us.”

Celestia leaned forward and nuzzled her sister. “I never expected you to.”

Emmé looked at Screw Loose in her human form, then back to Faust. Then to Screwball, who was currently standing on the ceiling, pulling flowers out of the air, whereupon she would throw them against the surface of the ceiling, turning into colorful splotches that sang out with pleasant notes as they hit. Below the chaos-pony in teen form, both of Faust’s kids watched in wonder, both held back from school today for no other reason than the fact that the alicorn queen did not want to leave her new guests alone.

“You ponies are weird,” the human sorceress muttered before taking a swig of her tea.

“What would give you that idea, O Queen of the Sorcerers and Queen of the Fey – even though fairies don’t exist?” Faust snarked.

“Oh, trust me, fairies exist,” Emmé said sardonically.

Faust lifted an eyebrow. “News to me.”

“You’re just not paying attention,” the French blonde cooed. “Let’s just say that when the term ‘fairy’ is used in a derogatory manner? It was kinda true back then. Fairies weren’t these Barbie doll-sized elves with butterfly wings, they were basically hippies and flower children back when people didn’t care about that kinda thing. The orgies were especially fun.”

Faust stared. “Emmé? Kids?” She nodded her head in the direction of her children, who were now entertained by Screwball’s turning herself into a Lego set and constantly rebuilding herself in arcane and weird shapes.

“Sorry,” the sorceress replied. “And besides, that’s all in my past, you know that. I’m a far different person now. Besides, I’m your kids’ godmother, right? Far be it from me to set a bad example.”

“We are all forgiven our transgressions, I’m sure,” Screw Loose replied, “though I must admit in my case, I am bid by Lord Discord to cause them instead of forgive them, per se.”

“See? Weird.”

Faust couldn’t help but smirk at that. “Anyway, Emmé, so what’s up?”

The smile fell from the Frenchwoman’s face. “I thought you wanted to tell your kids about what happened to Kuzu, and I thought you’d want me here for that, a shoulder to cry on or something. Honestly, I think I’m going to need one myself.”

“I think we should wait until Greg comes home from work. At least then we’ll have a reasonable adult in the house – no offense, Screw Loose – in case we need to sojourn to a bar to commiserate. How’s the Convocation taking it?”

“The Convocation really doesn’t know how to take it, to be honest,” Emmé replied. “They’ve always been wary of non-humans like you and her, but at the same time they knew you two could be trusted. If anything, they see it as losing a valuable ally, though they’ll never come right out and say it.”

Faust sighed. The Convocation was a fickle group, loyal to their fellow humans on Earth, but so used to fighting inhuman monsters that they were very much blindsided when “monsters” sympathetic to their cause appeared. While some members had adjusted quickly, unfortunately the majority had not, leaving both Faust and Kuzu mostly independent, much to the Convocation’s chagrin.

But now with Kuzu gone, maybe those bastards will appreciate everything we did for humanity. Faust admitted that she was more than a little angry over how the Convocation had treated her and Kuzu, but there was little that could be done now. A war was brewing, one on the level that would scatter the strongest of human mages like chaff, much moreso the otherwise incredible technologies that mankind had at its disposal. She had long since lost count of the centuries she had been here on this world and the alicorn of imagination had grown to love this place as much as the one she once ruled.

Besides, she thought to herself, fondly looking at her children as Emmé rose from her chair to play with the kids, I have a stake in what happens here now. Equestria is Celestia’s concern…. She smiled as her children laughed while trying to survive a tickle attack from their Auntie Emmy. But the lives of Jon and Sarah, as well as that of my husband, are mine.

“I see the brilliant light of order that Lord Discord knew so,” Screw Loose replied.

“Faust, what now?” Emmé commented. “You know I’ll back your plan no matter what.”

It was that point that Screwball walked up to her and exploded into dozens of cards. As the dozens of scraps fell to the ground, Emmé instinctively caught one and turned to her friend. “Does, she, uh, do this often?”

Faust nodded. “More times than I like. What card did you catch?”

The blonde looked at the card. “Temperance.”

The alicorn queen smiled. “Somehow, I’m not surprised.”

“Hey, Skipper, mind coming here for a second?” Sable Loam called out to Mike.

“Yeah, what’s up, XO?” he said as he walked over to the pony. At the moment, his CSAU unit was getting a tour of a long-decommissioned changeling hive. It had been under control of the Equestriani military for a couple of decades now, but had been left almost virtually untouched so that intelligence and research personnel could study the base. And now that NATO allies were being made aware of ponydom’s most notorious enemy, humanity now had its first view of a genuinely hostile species. And in Mike’s opinion, it reminded him of the old Alien movie series – but that this was real life.

As Mike approached, Sable said in a lower tone, “Wanted to know what you thought of all this. I mean, I was just a kid when the changelings hit Canterlot. Kinda embarrassed to admit it, but I was one of those foals who believed there were changelings under the bed out to get me.”

“No shame there about that,” the human admitted. “This place kinda gives me the creeps as well. Kinda freaky to realize that we’re up against some kind of sapient insectoid creature – one that has the ability to apparently to imitate as well as mate with practically any being it sees. I can think about all the horror films of the past, and nothing about them has it on reality.”

“Commander, are you ready to see the rest of this?” a pony from REA intelligence asked. “We have some magical mockups of changeling populations. We obviously don’t have the real ones on-hoof, as that might be a little too dangerous.”

“I would imagine so,” Mike responded, thinking briefly about how he was starting to regret having his family remain here in Equestria while these things ran around. In any case, it was too late to think about it and even if he could spare DJ and his children from this, her extended family was still under the gun – and he was too close to them now to let them be under fire once more. He’d read up the intelligence after-action reports on the Canterlot attack decades ago, and in a normal world, decades would make things irrelevant. But in a world where all-powerful immortals were members of your own family, it also meant that there were beings as powerful as the alicorns out there…and with decidedly less sterling senses of morality and duty.

And I don’t think I could look DJ in the eyes if I told her that I didn’t do my utmost to protect Twilight and the others.

Mike nodded briefly to Sable, then turned to the intelligence officer. “Lead the way, Captain,” he said. “Best to get this over with.”

In an apartment in Manhattan, two males sat across from one another; one was soberly serious, while the other was disconsolate. Spike, having arrived in New York just the day prior, made his first imperative to visit the grieving Antiquity. He wasn’t worried about whatever documents Apple Cobbler had in her possession at home prior to her murder; a stallion he knew was hurting and he had to do something.

“I…I still can’t feel it,” Antiquity told him. “They said she….” Tears slid down the stallion’s muzzle. “She died instantly, so there was no pain. But there’s no murderer, either. DSS agents believed that the murderer was killed in the explosion down the road and they’re still investigating.” The look on his face was broken. “I feel…her around the house, Spike. I wish it had been me that had been killed, not her. She was the important one – I’m a nopony.”

The dragon shook his head. “Don’t say that. She loved you and you were somepony to her. And she would never want you to say otherwise. She knew that there was a possibility that this would happen, and yet she still did her job for the Crown. As a representative of the Crown, I can say that there is no finer calling. But as somepony from Ponyville just like you and her…she will be missed. And she will be remembered. I can promise that.”

“Thanks, Spike,” Antiquity said in a broken voice. “That means more than I can say.”

“What are your plans now? I’ll be here until an official replacement can be chosen, but I’ll be staying at the Waldorf. Nopony’s expecting you to move out anytime soon.”

“Thanks, but after the funeral, I’ll be returning here to Human-Earth. The job I have here is too important and it’s a cultural asset to both worlds. However…I won’t be staying in New York. I turned down a job last year to work at the Smithsonian in Washington DC, and now that I’m unaccompanied….” He wiped tears from his eyes, looking at the apartment that just days earlier had been the loving home he’d shared with his wife. “I need to get away from here. This place reminds me too much of her. Everything reminds me of her.”

“I understand,” Spike replied.

“No, you don’t. You never will. And if you by any chance ever find somepony to settle down with, I pray to Celestia that you never will.” Antiquity rose from his chair, a bleak look on his face. “I…need to get something to drink. I’ll be right back.” Without waiting for an answer or acknowledgement, the dragon watched as the stallion stumbled off, in search of something on the alcoholic side.

A shudder passed through Spike. He was only here to fulfill the duties because Celestia needed him to. It was something he hadn’t intended to do. He didn’t even want to come so early, but he had to represent not only the Crown, but his family as well. Apple Cobbler was an Apple, and Apples were a part of what made Equestria great. He dreaded having to briefly head back to Ponyville for the funeral, only to have to return here. He dreaded seeing the looks on the faces of Bloomie and Big Mac – AJ, with her current hospitalization, would be thankfully spared the whole ordeal. He dreaded seeing the pain on the faces of those who knew AC and celebrated her as another local filly having hit the big time. He hated the fact that so much of both worlds were in disarray because of Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon and their attempts to destroy all. He hated that Chrysalis had violated his older brother, and that Shining’s legacy was being dragged through the mud thanks to the monster that was the changeling queen. But most of all…

…he hated that he couldn’t do a damn thing to stop any of it.

The first thing Rumble realized when he came to was that he was unarmed…in the middle of the afternoon in the middle of the Everfree – this was definitely not the safest location for him to be right now, the pegasus realized as he got back to his hindlegs, standing erect and looking around at the area for any signs of motion.

The next thing he noticed was the signs of the struggle that had occurred while he’d been put down: they’d taken Star, as well as the attercop corpses. Based on that and several indentations on the ground that weren’t made by hooves, feet or anything he was familiar with, Rumble was convinced that a new group of attercops had come in and taken Star. How he had survived, he wasn’t sure, but he was more than willing to bet somepony had placed a defensive shield around him, keeping the titanic arachnids from harming him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t say the same for her – which meant that she’d been the target and he was simply a case of “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

Unfurling his wings, he moved to a position where he could hover a few feet off the ground. He needed to find her, and fast; there would be no time to fly out of the Everfree and find assistance, as if somepony was willing to make these steps and attack them, then they would have no qualms about having Star taken out while keeping their hooves clean. Unfortunately, for them, they’d make a mistake.

They didn’t take me out of the equation – that’s the biggest mistake they made.

His eyes narrowed.

The last mistake they’ll ever make.

Noticing what seemed to be the signs of a path taken deeper into the forest, he followed it, while through his mind he tried to remember all the particular tricks that a pegasus had naturally at his disposal and how it was going to work into rescuing Star. If he didn’t figure it out, she was as good as dead, and not only would that blow his chances with Sweetie, he also had to admit that a cute mare like Star didn’t deserve that kind of fate.

“Cute.” Yeah, just keep it up moron, he chided himself. Focus on the mission, not the tail.

He followed the path for nearly an hour before he came across the tell-tale signs of webs, thick as ropes, as well as piles of bones from several creatures. This was the home of the attercops, undoubtedly. The place was thick with magic and darkness in a way he hadn’t felt in a while, and going in there unarmed would be suicide – he’d have no way to generate winds or use sonic boom strikes, as he wouldn’t be able to pick up speed in what was likely a relatively small warren.

Fortunately, there were some weapons here that he could use. Digging through the bones, he found a surprisingly well-tended sword – being buried under countless skeletons must’ve protected it from the elements – as well as some functional throwing knives and an old Guard pike. While, unfortunately, there were no modern weapons he could use, at least the aged, antiquated weapons of his youth were in far better shape than he’d hoped.

Too bad it took the loss of some fine Guardsponies to get them here, he mourned silently as he saw the jawline of a pony skull sticking out of the pile. I’ll rescue Star and come back for you all, he vowed. The Guard doesn’t leave its own behind…nor does the Fleet. Pausing briefly to salute the fallen, he attached the sword and the knives to his web belt, then held the pike at the ready and marched in. The moment he did, he saw an attercop the size of an elephant, standing there on its web, looking both completely alien and completely bored.

Perfect.

Rumble, without a seeming care in the world, walked in, then swung the pike across the giant spider’s eyes. Ichor spilled as the magically-sharp blade sliced through compound eyes like a hot knife through butter. As the creature screamed a metallic cry of pain, Rumble jabbed the blade through its fangs, then pulled up, slicing through the head entirely. The creature fell to the ground, dead, though it took Rumble a few precious seconds to pull the pike free – seconds during which he heard the chittering of attercops rushing towards the scene.

Taking to wing, he blasted forward, pulling the knives from his belt and throwing as he rushed over the tops of ones on the ground; thankfully they’d made an iron grip on the idiot ball – Someday I’m going to have to ask one of the guys back at Coronado what the fuck that means – and they weren’t trying to climb the walls and ceilings to capture him. That turned out to be a minor miracle, as after he’d thrown the last of his knives, he noticed an overly-large attercop coming straight towards him, sizeable enough that he couldn’t easily outmaneuver. Instead, Rumble charged straight through, pike at the ready, and as the massive attercop jumped towards him to take him down, Rumble thrust forward, burying the pike right through the body of the monster before him. Even still, Rumble had to practically scrape the ceiling, almost running into the webs that would have ensnared him and spelled utter disaster for him and Star. Even still, he pressed onwards, glad that his pegasus eyes adjusted quickly to the dark.

As he dived down, he was swallowed up by utter darkness as the tunnel opened up to a gaping cavern that must have been the warren’s auditorium, with strobing flashes as the bottom. As he drew closer, he soon noted that the pulses had been one white sphere, dotted with several jags of red, as though a visual symphony of battle was ongoing. Quickly figuring out that it was likely where Star was, he made a beeline for the light, dove down even as he felt a leg reach out towards him. With lightning-fast reflexes, he unsheathed the saber and swung in an arc as he spun, severing the leg instantly. Ignoring his roaring opponent, he continued his dive, seeing the demonic arachnids being illuminated by Star’s spell as she desperately poured power into it.

It was then that he saw a moment of unparalleled amazement. Despite her exhausted state, Star continued to pour power into her shield, even as she threw blast after blast at her attackers. The fact that her horn blazed ivory, the shaped aura of her spell creating countless micronized galaxies and nebulae as she kept the spell strong enough to withstand the repeated ramming by the giant spiders was amazing enough, but the fact that she was casting attack spells – through her forehooves, no less! – was unimaginable. The fact that her name was Star Swirl hinted at her power, but the fact that she was so versatile…none of the troops he’d served with before had that level of power and utility at their hooftips.

He found himself enthralled by grace of her spells, fighting against incredible odds where he knew those physically stronger than her would have succumbed by now. It was as though he was watching Celestia herself in battle against dark hosts, horn erupting mightily with power and without a fear in the world that her cause was anything less than just. Something within him stirred, something unexpected – and it surprised him utterly.

But as he got within feet of the shield, even from this high up, she clearly looked exhausted, and was probably weakened from whatever the original attackers had done to her; sooner or later her shield was going to fall.

Well, if it’s going to fall, it’s going to fall with me being there for her! Rumble decided as he burst forward, plunging into the shield. Somehow, he managed to pass through it unharmed; either she was losing control, or she’d set one specifically for allies to pass through – and how the spell would be able to tell the difference was beyond him.

“Rumble!” she gasped, sounding half-grateful, half-exhausted. “Thank Celestia you’re here!”

Rumble got back to his hindhooves, looking at the various eight-eyed monsters ramming the shield and screaming obscenities and curses. Thankfully they hadn’t used any magic against the shield, but what little he knew about the creatures did include the fact that some of their higher-ranked members had magical skills and sooner or later, one of those was going to show up…and then it would be all over.

“Can you make me another rifle? This time I’m going to need military standard!” he called out to her.

“I can, but to do so I’m going to have to drop the shield!” she cried back. “I’m barely holding on as is.” As if to illustrate the point, one of the attercops leered at the two ponies, and venom dripped from its fangs. The venom slid against the outside of the shield, then sizzled as it made its way inside the barrier. It was going to go soon and once it did, they were as good as dead.

“Okay, then I’ve got a plan. On the count of three, drop the shields and start charging up the most destructive spell you have, even if it makes you black out. I’ll take care of the rest, but you’ve got to trust me.” With that, he pulled her to her hind legs, moving behind her and reaching around her barrel for a snug grasp.

Despite the situation, she grinned. “You know, I usually go through a couple of dates before I let anypony do that to me,” she mock-purred.

He groaned. “We make it through this, fine, dinner’s on me.”

“Dinner at the Polaran Tea House – most expensive restaurant in town,” she insisted.

Rumble rolled his eyes. “Are you trying to…?” He cut himself off, lest he say something stupid. She was Sweetie’s apprentice, after all, and the wrong thing said could eventually turn around and bite him in the flank bigtime.

In the distance there was a roar that seemed to shake through the ponies’ bones. Apparently something had awakened the big guns, and Rumble and Star were out of time.

“One…Two…THREE!” The white shield suddenly sputtered and died, and the moment it did, Rumble pulled her tight– and went from zero to transonic instantly. Granted, it was more of a thing useful to pilots than groundpounders like him, but he’d had the pleasure of growing up with access to history’s greatest flyer, Rainbow Dash. And while it had been Rainbow’s little sister figure Scootaloo that had benefited most from Rainbow’s arsenal of tricks, there was not a single pegasus foal in Ponyville that had not learned one trick or another from the hyper-fast mare.

But the beautiful thing about zero to boom is that all that white noise has to go somewhere once Mach is achieved…and in a confined space like this, you don’t have to worry about the flames of the explosive when it hits – it’s the shockwave that will do you in. By the time the concussive force began to spread around the chamber, Rumble had already cleared the area and was halfway down the entry tunnel, dragging along a massive amount of shock diamonds, as well as the remains of smaller creatures that had been killed directly in the path, not to mention a few attercop corpses from those that he beat.

As he reached the mouth of the warren, he shouted, “Fire your spell!”

“What?”

“JUST DO IT!” he bellowed, as they cleared the hole. As he came out, two attercops were outside, building a massive web intended to catch them. Unfortunately for the pair, they hadn’t counted on pegasi being able to pull literal ninety-degree turns, rocketing straight up. Beneath him, a massive flare of orange blossomed as Star cut loose with Strike of the Eternal Sun, the most powerful of offensive spells. Rumble knew that because he’d once seen Twilight Sparkle herself use it in practice; she’d completely leveled a hill a mile away by accident, and it had taken about three months for the area to cool down afterwards from all the molten rock. From what he could tell, this version of the spell was weaker due to Star’s exhaustion, or perhaps due to her sheer lack of power compared to that of the archmagus, but in any case it was more than enough. The huge blast of orange power flared forward, like a laser fired from the sun itself, straight down the hole.

This is going to hurt, Rumble thought a split-second later as he heard a massive crack below him, followed by a huge pillar of energy and fire racing skyward as the warren became consumed in fire. The concussive force threw both him and a mercifully now-unconscious Star completely out of the Everfree, towards a painful crash against the side of the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. Rumble had just enough time to turn and shield the mare as he collided with the planks.

As he slid off the broken wall of the barn, he looked up into the sky, seeing the burnt-umber mushroom cloud in the distance that was funeral pyre for the attercops that had taken Star. He weakly smiled.

Good.

He barely heard someone – “somepony”; I’m back in Equestria so it’s “somepony”, not “someone” – shout something before he passed out.

“Okay, I just need you to sign here, and here and here,” said the construction pony in a gruff voice as he read his copy of the contract, “and we’ll begin work converting your house over to the…er…human standard.” The stallion looked at her oddly and asked, “You sure about this, lady?”

DJ signed the contract, then looked at him, then crossed her arms. Given that she was sitting as normal instead of how a pony did, she asked, “Look at how I’m dressed, how I’m sitting, how I just signed the documents and then go ahead and ask me again.”

The stallion scratched the back of his head, then looked at the contract. “And…woah, House Shetland is paying for this? That’s some pretty bits there.” Clarity suddenly dawned on the earth pony as he said, “You’re the Lost Foal, arentcha?”

DJ rolled her eyes. “I hate that term. I also hate ‘Alien Girl’, too. I’m just me.”

A weird look came over the construction pony’s face. “I, uh, I guess I should admit that I was one of the ponies who backed Generosity in the War of the Elements. I, uh, thought that the humans didn’t deserve to have a pony.”

DJ’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, because nobody thought to ask me what I thought about the parents who raised me and who I love.” Seeing the suddenly nervous look on the earth pony’s face, she calmed down. “Look, long story short: I love the people who raised me and I consider myself human. I have a human husband and two human-looking children. I’ve loved my aunts, uncles and cousins ever since I met them. But all I have ever known is a human life – I have nothing against ponies, but I wasn’t raised as one, because we didn’t know they existed until I was fifteen. So isn’t it natural that I’d want the comforts of home? I’m already having to move to Equestria to support my husband, and that’s going to take some getting used to.”

The stallion scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, if you put it that way, I guess so. My wife and I wanted kids, but she died of rinderpest before I got around to it. I eventually adopted from the old Crystal Empire, because I could; heh, I bet my wife never expected me to adopt triplets, but I fell in love with the youngest and couldn’t let her older two sisters alone.” He sighed. “They took a long time to get used to things here in regular Equestria, and I really didn’t know what to do, until I finally realized that I needed to make them feel at home, not just give them one.”

“And?”

“Well…let’s just say that you’re right. I took them in as a dad, but it took me a while to realize that I had to be one. I had to give them love so they could experience it, and that was hard for me to do, since I was still trying to get over my wife’s passing.” He grinned. “Since then, my girls want to be singers now that they got their cutie marks. Funny thing is, they don’t know what kind of music to sing.”

DJ couldn’t help but grin. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Adagio’s into dance music, Aria’s into that hard rock stuff, and Sonata likes pop. Glad we have a house big enough for them to have their own rooms; I have no idea what would happen if I heard the cacophony of three fillies trying to make their own styles work.” He laughed. “Well, you don’t have to convince me in either case: You’re the customer and what you want is what we give. Might cost a little more, but hey, we’ve got experience in this department – we’ve renovated houses for minotaurs before – and if we’re billing a bigwig like Twilight Sparkle for everything, well, then, as far as I’m concerned, you don’t have anything to worry about, lady.”

DJ sighed. “I do, sir. Believe me, I do.”

“So you were referred to us by the Crown, Mister…ah, Martinez?” Fenced Yard, Canterlot’s Best Real Estate Agent – it said so on her card! – asked the human in front of her. “That’s rather unusual.”

“Well, I’ll be working for the Crown,” Sam said, “and I’ll b—”

“Wait!” a voice cried from behind as a winded-sounding woman strode in, looking like she’d run a mile. Turning to Sam, she said, “Sorry I’m late, but things were a little hectic at my job.” Sitting down in the seat next to him, she offered her hand to Fenced. “Apologies for the delay.”

The mare laughed. “I get that all the time, Ms….?”

“Einhorn,” the woman said, brushing a strawberry-blonde lock of hair out of her violet-blue eyes. “Celestia Einhorn.”

The mare blinked. “Celestia? Really?”

“Well, Celeste is the more common version of the name back on Human-Earth,” the woman admitted. “I actually just go by Tia. And you wouldn’t believe how much jokes I got in the office when they found out that the princess here has the same name as I do.”

Fenced smiled widely. “Yes, I can imagine. Anyways, do you two have an idea of what you’re looking for?”

Sam and Tia looked at each other briefly before Sam said, “Just a nice brownstone in Central, not too far from the palace. Both Tia and I work there.”

“Sounds reasonable; let me check with my secretary to see what minotaur-convertible homes we have available and we should go from there.”

“Minotaur convertible?” Sam asked.

Tia nodded, “I told you that it’s easier to convert houses with minotaur profiles to the human standards than it is to do it from a pony house.”

Sam looked embarrassed. “Sorry, forgot that. Meeting with the princesses kinda had me absorbed.”

“You work for the princesses?” Fenced asked.

“Yes. Specifically for Princess Luna,” Sam replied.

“And I work with Princess Celestia’s office a lot,” Tia added.

Fenced blanched. Turning towards her secretary’s office, she shouted, “Rainbowdance! Get me the Type M houses, and get the best ones!” Nodding to them briefly, Fenced said, “I’ll be right back,” and with that, practically teleported towards the file room.

Once they were alone, Sam said, “Okay, I hadn’t expected that kind of response.”

“Sorry,” Celestia whispered back. “It all comes with the divinity bit. Many of them think they’re failing their holiest of duties if they anger any of us alicorns. And I wish they wouldn’t think that. It’s not as though I think the worst of my little ponies.”

“Maybe you should think about publicly announcing our relationship?”

She sighed. “That will not go over well, Sam, and you know it. For starters, the populace seems to think that I must be chaste – the scandal my previous relationship centuries ago nearly caused a complete breakdown in pony society. Second and most important, what do you think DJ will do once she finds out?”

He thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, I’m dead man, aren’t I?”

“So long as you’re my dead man,” she sighed, putting her head on his shoulder.

“That’s not helping,” he groaned.

“The dead man part or the sigh?”

“Both.”

Her response was to simply give him a mischievous wink then kissing him softly on the lips just before Fenced returned with the list.

“We were lucky that you both suffered few injuries,” the doctor said, “because between the extra acceleration and the magic energy being bandied about, you two could have easily been killed.”

“I’ll say,” a major from the local REA garrison replied. “As it is, I’m sending in a platoon of infantry to sweep for any further attercops. Having any of those eight-legged freaks this close to Ponyville will be a major issue. Thanks for, uh, dealing with the issue, in a matter of speaking, but we’ll take it from here, Mage Star Swirl.”

“Thanks,” she said woozily. She looked at her bed and the unconscious pony still on it. Rumble had taken several blows for her, and though he’d survived most of it, he hadn’t come away completely unscathed: He had a concussion from the crash into the Sweet Apple Acres barn, and was likely going to be down for a few days. She’d already had to explain things to Thunderlane, who seemed to panic about the whole thing. Fortunately, Pinkie was there to calm him down.

And then there was the extra paperwork and reports. She’d already had to brief Caramel; now she was talking to REA and she expected Raspberry Blast to be here first thing tomorrow morning for a report there. It was a minor miracle that Apple bloom had offered to host the CMCs for a sleepover in their clubhouse on the apple farm; the older mare knew that Star was going to need a night alone.

And as she escorted the two stallions out, she wondered exactly how to process what happened: he saved her. Her. Her, a damned soul, one that had sinned countless times and wasn’t worth all the glory and honor of her name. One that wasn’t worth the precious baby dragon that she raised. One that wasn’t worth Sweetie Belle’s friendship, much less the love that she so coveted from her mentor and would-be lover.

One that had been tempted by Nightmare Moon herself, Star thought, but before she could finish, she heard a sound from upstairs. She rushed up to see Rumble gingerly sitting up, trying not to upset his bandages. Well, at least he realizes the situation he’s in, she thought to herself.

“How are you?” she asked, carefully sitting down on the stool next to him.

“I’ve been better,” he said, “but trust me, I’ve been through a lot worse too, Star. Takes more than that to put a Sea Pony out of commission.”

“I guess,” she said with a soft smile. “But…why me? Why save me? It was clear that whomever attacked us meant for me to die, not you. And no, before you ask about that, I’ve no idea,” she replied. “I’ll be talking to the Vicemagus tomorrow about that.”

“Count me in on that; I know that EQMILCOM will want to know about it,” he told her. “And as to why I saved you…well, would you believe it’s because you’re Sweetie’s protégé and if I let you die, that would look really bad for me when I see her again?” he added, though his tone indicated that he was joking.

However, she didn’t take it that way. “Oh,” she said, turning her head away. She felt bad about it, but she couldn’t explain why.

He reached out and turned her muzzle back towards him. “Look: the truth is, I did it because…well…you were incredibly brave and beautiful in that fight. Even as exhausted as you were, I have rarely seen that kind of strength and fortitude outside of my own circles. You were incredible out there, Star. You should be proud.”

“I…did you just say I was beautiful?” she asked, blushing. Did I just blush?

After a second, he nodded, a small smile on his face. “Yeah, I did. Is that a problem?”

Before she even realized what she was doing, she leaned forward and kissed him, almost as if her own body was rebelling against what she wanted. She wanted Sweetie, body and soul, she knew that. But she couldn’t stop kissing this stallion before her, a friend of Sweetie’s. Was she betraying Sweetie in her heart? Was her body telling her that it was time to move on from the mare she loved and find somepony suitable? Was she looking, subconsciously, for another pony that could be a decent parent for Spines? What was it she was doing? And why couldn’t she stop?

He didn’t seem to want to stop. But as the need to breathe broke their kiss apart, she asked again, but for a different reason, “Why?”

His answer was to kiss her again. “I don’t know,” he said as he broke from the second one. “Maybe…maybe my brain’s just telling me that I should be looking for love somewhere apart from where I have.”

She suddenly initiated, and he joined in. She got off her stool, leaning against the bed on her hindlegs, as her forelegs reached out to him and pulled him closer.

Pinkie’s left ear started itching and her right leg suddenly shot out. Before she could realize it, her tail suddenly began to lift, and it was all she could do to force it down for propriety’s sake – she was in a public location, after all.

She grinned slightly. Her Pinkie Sense was rarely wrong.

Good for you, Rumble, she thought to herself. I just hope that it works out for you.

In a ruined hospital basement, Twilight Sparkle looked at the glimmering sigils in front of her. She then nuzzled her daughter, who smiled at her.

“Mom, what’s up?” Shining Dawn asked.

Twilight Sparkle looked at her sisters, then back to her daughter. “It’s time,” she replied. “They hit us and hit us hard, Shiny. They hit us until we reeled from the blow.”

The unicorn archmagus’ smile brought a thrill of joy to her pepsis daughter’s face.

“Now we bounce back.”

Author's Note

And we're approaching the end!

Chapter Twenty-Four: In Full Glory Reflected, Now Shines in the Stream

“Far away up yonder,
Planets wander,
Through the starry skies

As we gaze and ponder,
They just wander on.”

Essential Mix listened to the old human children’s song and wondered if she should play it. Her station, HFTR, was the first human-owned radio station in Equestria, and she was to be the first host of “Outernational Incident Equestria”, a nationally-broadcast radio show based on the human one that currently played on Saturday evenings. The radio station had licensed the format for their own show, and Essential Mix, a unicorn mare that had spent the last five years working at radio stations in LA, had recently been hired back to be the host of OIE and the station’s radio director; it also helped that she’d worked with Logan Bradford himself and had guested on the show a couple of times when he was on vacation.

She looked out the window at the ruined hospital and the light that seemed to glow around it. There were dozens of troops in the area as well as law enforcement officials, and most of the buildings in the surrounding location had been evacuated; due to its necessity, the radio station was given a waiver so they could continue to perform. But in the meanwhile, the station’s recording booth, with its unique window made of Lexan so that the outside world’s sounds couldn’t affect the radio mix, let her look through and see the destruction caused.

There was a soft knock on the door, and the station’s general manager, a pegasus mare named Signalfeed, poked her head in. “Everything going okay, Mix?”

“Yeah,” Mix said in a soft tone. “Trying to lay out the tracks for tonight’s OIE, but can’t quite get the feel that I wanted. I was going for ‘Happy’, but seeing the hospital out there like that, I can’t help but feel differently.”

“Yeah, I can’t help but agree. Maybe play something else?” Signal suggested. “More elegiac?”

Inspiration hit. “Signal, you’re brilliant!” Mix’s horn lit up and she brought one of her flash drives to bear, sticking it into the USB port on the desktop computer she used to mix the tracks. A second later, a lilting group of singers came on, both haunting, beautiful and hopeful at once.

“‘Massage Situation’, the Stripped Remix,” Mix authoritatively detailed. “Comes from Flying Lotus’ BBC show that he did decades ago there. “I think I can lead this into other songs, a memorial for those who lost their lives at the hospital. What song should I follow up wi— Ah! I got it! The Griffonica String Jam Band’s ‘Iron Companion’. That’s always been a somber enough song, but not so that it depresses ponies.”

Signal nodded. “Sounds like you have things well in hoof, Mix. I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Thanks.” She sighed and brushed a dark gray lock of her mane out of her face. “I just wish…well, I wish this hadn’t happened.”

“You and me both, Mix. You and me and probably everypony out there.”

“Do you think Princess Celestia has a plan to deal with it?”

“I used to,” Signalfeed said as she looked out the window at the ruined hospital, bathed in the light of the afternoon sun. “Now? I don’t actually know.”

Everything within a square mile of the damaged hospital had become a national emergency zone as more ponies were being moved in to secure the area. A block beyond that, most of Canterlot’s sheriff’s department had been deployed to keep the curious and the troublesome out. It had displaced more than a few residents, but given the circumstances, there was little that could be done. Given that within a few minutes Blueblood was going to be given temporary comprehensive authority over the realm as the royal in charge, there were bigger problems to be had in the halls of power.

Lyra knew those problems well: she was dealing with the aftermath of them at the moment. Seated in the office that had been reserved for her during the few times she was in town, she was looking over the paperwork that would give her the commensurate emergency powers to run the government as a counterbalance against someone she didn’t trust and, if the paperwork was right, neither did the princesses. That little fact alone scared her: as a musician, she never thought she’d ever be here, and now as a diplomat, it horrified her to see the amount of power that they were giving her. She’d grown used to human-style democracies and constitutional monarchies, and while she wasn’t going to gainsay the absolute authority wielded by the alicorns, she dreaded seeing that same power in the hooves of someone like Blueblood.

Or me, she mused as she stared at the paper.

“Your grace, won’t you sign?” a voice asked, and Lyra looked at the voice’s speaker: Black Bacon. He had been assigned as her personal assistant for the duration of her stay here. Admittedly, he had a strange name and had mostly been brought aboard because he could cook human food, but he was doing his utmost to assist her when possible. There was, of course, more to it than just that, but that was all that Lyra could think of at the moment.

She looked at him. “I don’t know if I can,” she said softly. “This position the princesses are asking me to fulfill in the event something happens to them…it’s not me. It’s just…I’m not a leader. I’m just a musician who got really lucky in life.”

“But you are a leader, your grace,” the unicorn said to her. “I’ve been following all your exploits throughout the years, and quite frankly, you are an impressive mare, moreso than just about anypony I’ve ever seen. You were the one who compiled years of information about unknown species—”

“Species most ponies thought were fake,” Lyra pointed out. The decades had since blunted any anger and loathing she had from the times where she’d not been believed, but all of that had been buried by the subsequent decades of vindication.

“Yes, but you reached out to them all whenever you could…which I guess, wasn’t much?” Black stated.

Lyra shook her head. “No. We’ve chosen not to tell the humans about the other humanoid species that we discovered during Project SANDALWOOD. Both groups were violent, and in the case of the more advanced one, haughty and specist, but the humans that we know are far more advanced than the prior two groups. A group of well-armed humans could wreak major havoc on those worlds, never mind something along the lines of, say, the Russian military. So, the Crown has opted not to tell them about those worlds. We have to share the gate and portal tech with them, certainly, but it’s going to take a while for them to learn how to replicate the abilities using technology instead of magic. Plus, there’s so much uninhabited land on our world, that I suspect we’ll have human nations pop up here on Alter-Earth first before they start looking elsewhere – they seem to be more interested as a species in searching extraplanetary locations instead of extradimensional.”

“That just proves how impressive you are, your grace. You went from a simple musician to a diplomat and now one of the most politically-powerful ponies. And you have children that will likely have incredible places in either pony or human society. You are going to be the matriarch of a family just as important as the Star Swirls, or the Wisterias, or th—”

Lyra cut him off. “Black, that may all be well and good, but that’s not what I’m looking for. I just want to be a normal mare and mother, not some power-playing bureaucratic leader!”

The door opened and a familiar voice said, “But you are a leader, hon.” Sure enough, Paul walked into the office, giving a brief nod to the other pony before looking back at his wife. “I don’t know anyone more capable of handling what you’re going through – certainly not me.”

“Yeah, says the named partner over at Lincoln, Lincoln & Phillips,” Lyra told him evenly. “Who was the one representing the case to the Supreme Court last year?”

He shrugged. “Well, Mary was going to do it, but she got the flu, and Abe had that guest speaking lecture at Harvard,” Paul replied. “Someone had to step in and many of our junior partners weren’t really ready for that kind of heat yet. But you’re trying to change the point and I’m not going to let you do that.”

“That obvious?”

“Who are you married to?”

Her ears cantilevered in admission. “Point.”

He moved and sat down at a desk in front of the desk. “Lyra, I want you to stop selling yourself short. You’re a wonderful mare, and I know you better than anyone, short of Harper and Bon-Bon.”

“Yes, and yet I let that friendship fail, go by the wayside.” A thought crossed her mind. “I thought that you were going to take the kids home, given the declaration?”

“I think you need us more than you need us to be gone,” he told her. “Besides, no school today, a little late in the afternoon to find a babysitter, my parents are on vacation and you’re trying to change the subject again.”

“I take it you’re really not going to let me do that, are you?” she asked.

“Nope. And before you ask, the kids are playing with DJ’s kids right now. Her brother is looking after them.”

“Sam’s looking after them?” Lyra parroted. “Celestia, I can still remember when he was a kid needing looking after on his own. I am really getting old.”

“Not old, finer – like a wine.”

She flashed him a grin and then said, “I need to finish looking over this paperwork, then decide if I want to sign it or not, then head to the meeting that should be starting in a few minutes. Blueblood and his staff – and the ones that will be serving as mine in the event that the worst happens.”

“Will be serving?” Paul asked. “You’re not familiar with them?”

She shook her head. “No. You know all my staff, because most of them have served with me for years at the Embassy. But these are Ministry staff, and the only one I know with any degree of certainty is Black here, and that’s more due to the fact that he’s the son of one of the Guild researchers more than anything else. I’ll have to vet others to make sure that they’re not in Blueblood’s pocket, or….” She trailed off.

“Or?” Paul asked.

“It’s a long story, your grace,” Black said to the human. “I believe the Viscountess is referring to the various internal issues the realm has had as of late. Issues with the Purehooves, problems with the changelings, and of course, the whole Nightmare Moon scenario. Needless to say,” the stallion said with a sigh, “to use a human turn of phrase, things aren’t looking good for the home team right now, and we’ve got to do something about it.”

“Sorry, honey, but this is one of those things I can’t tell you,” Lyra answered, an apologetic smile coming onto her muzzle.

“Figured that. Well, no matter what, have more confidence in yourself, okay?” He reached over and took her hooves in his hands. “Other ponies may have seen you as important only now, but you’ve always been important to me.”

She blushed. “What, want a fourth kid?” she laughed. He gave her a whimsical look, and she waved her hooves off.

“Get going, you,” she said with a grin. “I’ve got to finish this, then head to my initial meeting with Blueblood.”

“Anything I should do afterwards?”

“Yes, get the champagne and chocolate ready – I’m going to need it.”

“Hey, sis, you’re pacing a hole in the carpet,” Sam said to DJ as she walked back and forth. At the moment, he was playing with his nephews as well as Lyra’s three children. “Next you’ll probably scare the children.”

DJ shook her head and laughed, plopping down on the couch. “The floor is made for pony hooves; I’m going to have to do a lot more than that to do damage to Twilight’s floors. Hell, I’d have to do a lot more than that just to wear down the ones at the new house we got.”

“Good, then they should be kid proof,” he said idly. “Dad said that you and Mike want to try for a girl?”

She rolled her eyes. “No, rather that was Mom saying that she hopes that Mike and I have a girl next. We’re not even sure we want a third rug runner. And besides, isn’t it your turn to contribute to the family gene pool?” Both being adoptees, it was an old joke between them.

“Well, that depends on whether you want your future sister-in-law walking on four legs or two,” he commented. “Personally, I think my bigger priorities are finding a place to live here and finding a final headquarters for my organization. I still have to head back home to hand in my two weeks and talk to some people I know to see what sort of tips they can give me.”

“Well, you’re welcome to live with us while you find a place,” DJ offered. “I’m sure the kids would love it.”

He shook his head. “Thanks, but no – Celestia already hooked me up with a decent realty group. I’m looking at something in Central, close to the palace complex, you know, in case.”

“What, some cute little earth mare caught your eye?” She thought about it a second. “Well, Luna did tell me that there are some human personnel working at the palace now – did one of them catch your attention?”

Sam walked away from the kids and said, “Well, you know, Rarity has a cute secretary my age, right?”

DJ narrowed her eyes in genuine anger. “You wouldn’t.”

“What makes you think I wouldn’t?” he asked her, a perfect poker face coming over his visage. She stewed in silent annoyance for a second before he finally flashed her a car salesman’s grin and added, “Gotcha.”

“You are soooooo lucky that I’m critically short on siblings, you know that?” To her surprise, Sam merely gave her an even look and said nothing. Somehow she crossed a line that she didn’t know was there. “Sam, did I just say something stupid?” she asked.

“Well, for someone whose….” He looked around at the children around him and said, “Let’s go talk on the balcony, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.” The two adults walked past the kids towards the balcony. DJ saw the look on Sam’s face again and lost a bit of heart; she tended to joke and be brash about a ton of things in life – maybe too many things, Mike would say in a semi-serious tone – but caring about her little brother was one of the things she took seriously. In many ways, they were kindred spirits – both adopted by the same couple, and both likely wouldn’t have stood a chance in a cruel world had that not happened. Therefore, DJ had always made it a personal matter to watch out for her kid brother, even if or when he didn’t need it.

DJ had barely enough time to close the door to the balcony when Sam wheeled on her. “You know, that’s the coldest thing I’ve ever heard coming from you, DJ, and in front of your kids, no less. That’s just fucked up.”

“What are you talkin—”

“Your biological sister is dead. Your younger biological brother – who, last I checked, you considered a sibling now – is hurting like hell from all that’s going on. And meanwhile, you make a crack about being critically short of siblings. Aside from the fact that makes me feel like shit, did you even think about how that looks in front of the boys? Or Lyra’s kids?”

DJ just looked at him as though realization had just come to pay a long-overdue visit. “I just said something stupid again, didn’t I?”

Sam laughed bitterly. “You know, sis, for someone who’s not really human, you tend to embody the best – and worst – of humanity’s assets. Guess which ones you just pulled off a few minutes ago?”

“Look, I didn’t mean it that way, okay? For God’s sake, I was just referencing the fact that Mom and Dad never had that third kid they wanted and now they want one of us – probably me, though you’re still up for debate – to produce a triple.”

“And you didn’t come off like that. Seriously, sis, you don’t think when you talk sometimes. You’re brilliant, intelligent and well-spoken…and somehow you always manage to screw that up. I mean, what if Elusive had heard that instead of me? I can take it as one of your shitty jokes. But he’s put up with a lifetime of hearing about what kind of a cunt that you are, and if he’d heard you make a joke about Minty dying?”

She facepalmed as her tail began to angrily dart like it usually did when she was irritated at something. “You know what? You’re right. I wasn’t thinking. Okay? Yes, I don’t consider her a sister, even if genetically she is one. And I’m really not sure how I feel about her being dead, because I really didn’t know her. But you’re right, it was unconscionable for me to make a crack like that, and I didn’t consider Luse’s feelings. So yes, I fucked up.” She moved over to the bench by the flower wall. “You know me: I have a mouth that wasn’t built with an off-switch.”

“Yes, the least pony of all ponydom,” Sam noted.

“Pony-shaped human,” she countered. “But I’ll try to keep my mouth on a filter. God only knows I’d never hear the end of it from Mike if I didn’t.”

“Yeah.” He was about to say something else when his phone chirped. He fished in his pocket for it and then looked. “Well, that was the realtor. He wants me to come by and sign a statement of intent to purchase the place – apparently that’s how they do things here in Equestria.”

She rolled her eyes. “You mean they don’t just build a house out of candy and let the first person who walks into it keep it?” When Sam gave her a reproachful look, she waved it off and snarked, “That was on purpose.”

“I know. Coming from you, not surprised in the least.” He walked toward the balcony door, he then said, “By the way, are you ready for tonight?”

She shook her head. “You know, I was trying not to think about that,” she said glumly as he left.

“Sing a song of sixpence that goes:
Burn the witch
Burn the witch
We know where you live….”

A soft glow of purple surrounded the selector button of the stereo system within the sitting room. Celestia sighed; ever since Luna first heard Radiohead, she’d become a major fan, and had once even spent the weekend partying with Thom Yorke back in 2037. Of course, her being an immortal alicorn and Yorke at the time being nearly seventy years old, well…it had made for the usual scandals in the papers. At least Luna had taken the time to pay for the hospital bills.

Once she found a suitable folk-rock station and the sound of pegasus singer-songwriter Soft Melody filled the air, the sun alicorn turned back to the person she was speaking to. “There. My apologies; as you can imagine, my sister and I have somewhat of a difference in musical tastes.”

Holding her cup in the air with deep blue magic and trying not to faint from the panic she felt, Sunset Shimmer looked at the princess and squeaked, “I’m fine…I mean, I’m fine, your highness.”

Celestia raised the cup to her lips and took a drink of the tea before continuing. “You know, I was surprised to see you here with Champagne. And I didn’t know you two were old friends.”

“Yes, w-w-well,” Sunset stammered as she set down the cup, “I…after the incident at school, I…I did a lot of things to survive. Things I’m not proud of.” Tears began to well in her cyan eyes. “A lot of illegal things.”

“Illegal?” Celestia said, surprised. That had not been an answer that she’d been expecting.

“Yes – Chammie…that is, Princess Champagne…gave me a royal pardon.” Sunset turned away, tears rolling down her cheeks, her crying soaking her fur. “I did what I had to do to survive. I couldn’t go back to my hometown, and I couldn’t stay here in Canterlot. So I travelled, trying to find a place where I could run away, doing what it took to survive.”

Celestia looked at the younger mare with utter shock. What happened? You were so defiant when you were cast out of the Academy. Where’s that strength you showed? “What did you do?” Celestia asked.

“I….”

The solar alicorn shook her head. “You’ve been pardoned, Sunset, so nothing will happen to you. You have my word.”

The mare briefly nodded and, taking a huge breath, began. “I…I sold myself, Princess. As a mare of the night and for experiments.”

“Experiments?”

Sunset nodded. “For a number of years I’d served as the, ahem, ‘research assistant’ to Senior Mage Nightshadow.” Sunset fell silent on that, and Celestia fought to keep back her own surprise. Nightshadow had been arrested twelve years prior for experimentation. Dozens of ponies, gryphons and other species had been discovered at his home, several of them dead – including, horrifically, one human woman. When he was arrested, he’d admitted to testing on the concepts of both eternal youth and homeoformic elasticity. He was now sitting in the deepest part of their dungeons with no chance of ever being let out again.

“What happened?”

“I….” She turned away again. “He used me as part of his rejuvenation spells. The doctors said he wiped away both twenty years of my life, as well as my magic.”

“He aged you twenty years? You don’t look it….”

“No, he didn’t age me twenty years – he removed them. Physically, I’m back in my thirties.”

Celestia, finding the whole thing odd, immediately lit her horn for a magical scan. Sunset immediately flinched in fear, and the princess immediately stopped.

“I’m…sorry, Princess. I know you don’t mean to harm me, but…I get nervous about being probed with magic. It took a long time and a lot of patience for me to trust anyone and even still, it took years for intensive thaumic therapy for me to get my magic back.”

“Your magic did seem off,” the princess admitted. “I have one last question, if you don’t mind.”

“I’ll answer it as best as I can, Princess.”

Celestia took another sip of tea, then sighed. This wasn’t going to be an easy answer. “How did you come into Champagne’s employ? She’s never mentioned you and until recently, I hadn’t seen you around the palace.”

“Chammie knew about my past here and wanted to protect me in case you were still angry at me. As for how we met…I was setting a business arrangement with her guards.” The tears started to fall again. “She happened to see me and…and I felt so ashamed of myself, of how far I’d fallen. And yet she forgave me for everything. She knew that I’d been disowned, and then I told her everything. In return, she offered me a job – a real job, one I didn’t have to lift my tail for – and I’ve spent the last year working out of their palace, doing critical paperwork for Chammie and Prince Blueblood until she thought it was time for me to make my appearance back at the castle.” She seemed to wilt as she admitted, “It hasn’t been easy.”

“Sunset, I—”

“Please, Princess – punish me! Don’t blame Chammie for what I did, please! She’s practically the only family I have left, and I’d do anything for her! Just please don’t blame her!” What little composure the orange unicorn had left melted away in a broken mess of fur and heartwrenching tears.

Celestia let the younger mare cry her eyes out while she figured what to say. This was a delicate situation, to say the least, and she was at a loss of what to say. It would be so much easier if it were a member of my own family, the alicorn thought to herself, but she has a family of her own. One that tossed her aside when she made a horrible mistake. And it was a mistake, even if she meant goodwill by it.

Celestia got up from her seat and walked over to where Sunset had collapsed in a teary, near-fetal ball. Walking over to the distraught pony, she placed a gentle wing around her, enveloping her in an embrace. “Sunset, everything’s going to be alright,” Celestia promised. “What’s in the past is in the past.”

Cyan, desperately searching for a line of redemption, looked into lilac. “Do you mean that?”

Celestia gave the mare a smile. “Sunset, what you did was wrong – I understand why you did it, and I commend you for trying to save your father, but you made a horrible mistake. But so did I.” Hearing the gasp from the unicorn, Celestia continued. “If I had been more diligent in my students’ affairs, you wouldn’t have had to make the mistake you did. And you’ve clearly had a hard time since; you’ve been punished more than enough. So please, take heart: your suffering is over.”

“You mean that?”

“You are the secretary and apparently best friend of my nephew’s wife and one of the realm’s princesses. You’ve earned the accolades you’ve built for yourself since. You should be proud of yourself.”

The mare wiped her eyes. “Thank you, Princess. It means the world to me to hear you say that.”

“Thank you, Princess. It means the world to me to hear you say that.”

Seated in a private alcove of the palace, Champagne listened to the conversation the doppelganger was having with Celestia. And as she did, she felt both jealousy and pleasure. Pleasure that she’d noted indecision and hesitancy on the part of the alicorn, and that was an advantage that could be exploited. But she also felt jealousy because it was the doll that was getting the comfort, not her.

It was my father that was injured, you stupid bitch, she silently seethed at the Celestia comforting the toy. And you’re talking to a fucking puppet, you idiot! That should be me you’re telling this to! Not the fucking fake!

Furthermore, listening to the conversation…was the doppelganger going off-script? While the clone had been programmed with a number of actions in the event of needing to act…well, like a real pony, there was something about the look in the clone’s eyes that said that she believed everything that she had been told that had happened to her.

That she wasn’t a clone.
That she was the real Sunset Shimmer.

Champagne seethed with anger. She’d have to destroy the simulacrum when she had the chance – it would take a while, as she had to build a new one from scratch, and so that meant that she’d have to keep this one around for a little while longer. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve disposed of a clone, and it probably won’t be the last.

Calling up a teleport spell, Champagne went off to her home, and the hidden workshop beneath the basement. She would have to start the reagents today if she would have a new copy ready in a few months, and time was of the essence.

Looking at the shaft of light that had somehow managed to make its way down to the bowels of the shattered hospital, Twilight Sparkle contemplated what was to come next. In a few hours, it would be, as it always seemed to be, a do or die attempt to counteract the curse that had befallen them. And it would either lead with them making it out of this pit alive – or Equestria entering a dark new future without any of its most vaunted heroes and leaders.

“I wish there was an easier way to do this,” the lavender unicorn said to no one in particular. Right now she wanted to be alone with her thoughts, if only because it would be the last possible moment that she would have peace of mind.

“Mom?” A voice rang out behind her, and Twilight couldn’t help but smile. Her daughter, Shining Dawn, sat there, looking at her with a gaze that was somewhere between pure love and hero worship. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” She gave Dawn a smile, then looked back at the shaft of light. “I was just thinking about when I was younger, when I first moved to Ponyville. I was young and silly and didn’t think about anything but studying and Celestia’s mission. If it wasn’t for your uncle, I probably wouldn’t have eaten that day,” she said with a chuckle. “But then over the course of a day, I met the most amazing ponies ever – ponies that took me out of my comfort zone and showed me what friendship and love could be. And since that day, through thick and thin, through the best of times and the worst of times, we’ve always been together. And I don’t want it to end. They’re my family – I love them.

“But now we’re facing something that could end us all, Dawn. I mean, sure, we’re the Knights – we’ve faced just about any and everything that could ever be thrown at us before and were able to walk away. But then, we were united. And I’m afraid we won’t be united this time. Something’s happened between us all, and even though I believe in those I love…I have to wonder if they feel the same about me. Rarity, in particular…she’s been scarred by everything that’s happened with DJ. And I’m afraid it’s about to get much, much worse for her.”

“Then y’ need t’ believe, Twi,” a new voice said. Twilight and Dawn turned to see Applejack, struggling slightly but otherwise standing there, her eyes filled with both determination and love. “Because Ah b’lieve in you, Ah surely do. We all do.”

“But why?” Twilight asked. “I failed you as a leader – I failed us all. I should have found a way to keep us all on the same page, and now, I want to find a way to spare both Rarity and Rainbow any pain that might come from this. I know it’ll work, I do…but at the same time, I don’t know what the costs will be.”

“Y’ been thinking about it too much, Twi,” Applejack said, patting her sister royal on the wither. “Ah just know Ah need t’ believe. Because if’n it were the other way around, y’d believe in me.”

Dawn took the idea and ran with it. “She’s right, Mom! You’re Twilight Sparkle – The Knight Commander of Magic, Duchess Shetland and the most powerful magic user out there, hooves down! Plus, you’re my mom! If there’s anypony who can pull this off, it’s you!”

Applejack looked at the half-pony half-changeling hybrid and saw unconditional love in her eyes. And Twilight was returning it. Twi, you’ll make this work, Applejack said silently, a soft smile coming to her face.

Twilight put a foreleg around her daughter and smiled. “Thanks, girls.” She then looked for one last time at the fading sunlight and thought, Don’t go anywhere – I’ll be back out there soon enough.

Attired in dress uniforms, Soarin’ and Silversteel arrived at the point where they would escort the princesses into the belly of the beast. The sitting room was devoid of any other souls, with nothing in it save for the furniture, the bookcases, and the ancient barding on the ponnequin in the glass case. The room exuded an ancient, sober mood on its own, and somehow it was a perfect meeting location for those who were about to face the test of their lives.

Soarin’ looked at his old friend. “Don’t be so damn maudlin, Silver,” he grunted as he sat down on one of the sofas and reached over for the drink decanter, quickly pouring a tumbler filled with amber-hued apple brandy. “We’ve been through worse; we’ll survive this, too.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Silver pulled the glass out of the pegasus’ hoof and downed it in one gulp. He then poured another one for himself and one for Soarin’. “I’m actually thinking beyond that, as in what happens after we beat this? Obviously we need to go after Nightmare Moon and whatever shit she’s got behind her, but I’m more concerned about the homefront. Like what’s going to happen to my wife? And yours? Not to mention the various other family members.”

“Yeah, they hit us hard, no doubt about that. But look on the bright side, Silver: your daughter’s back—”

“And I lost one in the process, as well as her husband and child,” the earth stallion said in an empty voice. “And despite what Sandalw…DJ says, I’m not entirely sure she’s willing to go through with what she said. She is, after all, mostly human. And right now, I really don’t know what to feel or trust.”

Soarin’ downed his, then gave his friend a smile. “Trust in family, Silver. No matter what, we’re always going to be there for you, thick or thin. We’ll get through this. Just baby steps, okay?”

Silversteel shook his head in wonder. “How can you manage to be such a positive pony right now?”

The grin grew wider. “Because if the situation was reversed? Rainbow would be there for me.”

“And that’s the way it should be,” Cadance said as she entered the room. She looked tired but wary, as if her mind was already prepared for the trials ahead even if her body was not. The alicorn walked over to the drinks and availed herself of the rest of the bottle. “I know this is a little late in admitting it, but being a single mom sucks haybales.”

“Tired?” Soarin’ asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

“I feel like I could sleep a whole week and it wouldn’t be enough,” the alicorn grunted. “Still, Dusk is the best thing that’s happened to me in a long, long time. I’d be lost without my son.”

“That’s the blessing of children, Cadance,” Silver said with a smile. “Even when you’re at your most worn out, you find that they’re absolutely worth it. Besides, you didn’t have to do the really hard part, and you got a wonderful colt out of the deal.”

“Ain’t that the truth!” The three turned around to see Pinkie waving at them from the doorway. Behind her was Fluttershy, Big Mac and Thunderlane.

“Thought Ah’d come t’ back up th’ home team,” Big Mac told them.

“Yeah, big guy’s right. We’re a family – we do this together,” Thunderlane replied. “Besides, I don’t think my wife would let me live it down if I didn’t.”

Pinkie kissed him on the cheek. “Isn’t he wonderful?”

Star Swirl was anxious, to say the least. “She hasn’t gotten back in touch with me today,” the mare muttered. “She promised me!” she groaned, reading a book as she made tea for the both of them. The book was an unpublished treatise on magic that Sweetie had been working on and off for the past few years and she was now to the point that she planned to publish it; Star had felt honored, as she had been asked to read it before the older unicorn was to send it off for a lengthier peer review.

But even as her eyes scanned the pages, her own mind was an unyielding stew of emotions. She was head over heels in love with Sweetie, right? None of her previous relationships – especially the ones that leaned towards male – ever really seemed to work out. And yet here was this guy, this stallion that was an old friend of Sweetie’s, that she hadn’t intended anything to happen with…and yet it did.

So what did that say about her and her own loyalty towards the one that had been so instrumental to her life? And what did that say about her friendship with Pip, given that he and Sweetie were engaged? Should she fight for what she wanted, against a friend and risking losing Sweetie forever, or should she “settle” for the stallion that clearly wanted her attention – and from the looks of things, she wanted to, to some degree as well.

I feel like I’m going round and round on this, she rued. Like time stopped for a year and suddenly hustled to get back up to speed.

As the kettle sang its magical tune of readiness, Star called out, “Rumble, do you want any sugar or honey with your tea?”

“Both, thanks,” he called back from his seat on the sofa. At the moment he was reading a book: The Principles of Aerial Warfare, by Bannerfall. She’d read the book a few times herself; he’d been a commander during the last days of the Era of the Warring Tribes and had dutifully served Celestia and Luna as one of the first commanders of the original REG. From a standpoint of modern war, it was an outdated work, but nowadays it served the same thing as so many early human military leadership books did nowadays – they served more as modern business guides to the enterprising businessperson than anything else.

Even still, he looked incredibly sexy just sitting there and rea—wait, did I just think that?

The back door to the domicile opened and Spines came in. “Heya, Star, how goes the date?”

Star was taken aback by that. “Uh, Spines, what do y—”

“Awww, c’mon, Star, I’m not blind – you did raise me, sis,” the draconess said with a wry grin. “If you like the stallion, you should just be honest with him. Aren’t you the one who’s always telling me to be honest with myself? And believe me, I love me some Spike dragon. You keep telling me I’m too young to think about getting married yet, but you’re not.”

“Way to remember that talk we had about etiquette a few weeks back,” the mare grumbled.

“Sorry,” the draconess murmured. “But we’re family, Star – if you’re not going to listen to me when I’m telling you to be honest with your heart, then who are you going to listen to?” Spines reached over and hugged her sister’s hindleg. “Please, Star. For your own sake – be happy. I hate to see you so sad, and I want you to be happy.”

Star reached down and hugged back. “Love you too, Spines.” She closed her eyes as she embraced her charge, feeling the fuzziness of her fur—

Fur?

A split-second later, she opened her eyes with a start. The late afternoon light streamed into the room from the closed blinds. And next to her, she could hear a stallion, dozing away gently. She didn’t need to know why; the answer was as blatantly obvious as the dream she’d just had, and its message.

It’s time to put away the last vestiges of childhood, Star thought as she looked at Rumble. I can either keep trying for a love I can never have, or I can have the one that’s right near me. But I don’t love him, and he probably doesn’t love me. But maybe if this is more than a simple fling, we can love each other.

Feeling a warbling in her heart, she leaned forward and kissed him. She then felt the kiss being returned, as his eyes opened briefly. “Hi,” she finally said.

“Hello yourself,” he replied, a soft smile on his face.

“So what now?” she asked, casting her lot into the void and hoping for a final solution to it all.

Lying next to her, Rumble was just as emotionally conflicted. He’d been spending a lot of time – far more than he probably should have – with Sweetie’s former apprentice, and the results of that had been entirely unexpected, and certainly not what he’d wanted at first. Truthfully, why should he? Sleeping with Star had not been on his mind at all, and here he was, it having happened. But that being said, he couldn’t find a complaint with the situation, and if she had, it wouldn’t have happened at all.

So here he was, with a mare at least a decade or two younger than him, and in bed post-coitus – and not the first time this had happened, either. They led both very different lives: she was a senior-ranking Guild mage, and he lived in San Diego, with his unit being assigned to work with the American Navy’s special forces. Their lives were entirely too different from what they likely expected from one another, and besides, he still had feelings for Sweetie, and Star likely had a special somepony of her own.

And yet we’re both here, he thought. And neither of us would have done this if there wasn’t some attraction. Was that the issue? Did two lonely hearts call out to each other with a need so powerful that not even Princess Cadance could have stopped it – not that she was the kind of mare that would stop true love to begin with, but….

He felt her kiss him. And despite the dozens of reasons in his mind saying why he it wasn’t a good idea to go through with it, despite himself he felt his body lean in and return the kiss.

Lives can be changed, he thought to himself. And new realities written. Maybe it was time to think about changing his own.

“So what now?” he heard her ask.

“We’ll figure it out,” he told her with a tender smile.

“So, are you going?” DJ looked up at the speaker, and she knew who it was.

“I thought you guys were going back,” she said with an uneasy voice.

“We did,” Anna told her daughter. “But Sam said that there might be some children in need of babysitting since you and Mike were going to be busy taking care of something important. Unfortunately, your father couldn’t make it, so we agreed that I’d make the trip alone.” Anna went over and hugged her daughter. “But you were saying about doing something important?”

“I was just about to….” DJ trailed off, then shook her head. “No. No, I told Sam and Mike that I was going to go, but the truth is, I’m conflicted. On one hand, I want to be there for Twilight and the others. They’re my family, and I can’t just leave them in the lurch. But on the other hand, I can’t quite get over the fact that the bitch will be free if this succeeds. And if it doesn’t, well…I’ll be short a whole lot of relatives.”

“Furball, you know that no matter what, we’re always going to be there for you. And you’re an adult. It’s time that you cast aside childish things. Nobody says you have to like Rarity or do nothing more than acknowledge her. But you’ve made great strides in accepting your biological brother, father and aunt into your life, so there’s that. If Rarity doesn’t want you participating in her life, that’s her loss then.

“But that doesn’t mean that you should abandon the rest of your relatives, DJ. We taught you better than that. And if I were younger, I’d go with you – certainly they’re my friends and we should always back those we care about. Besides, you’ve never run.”

“I’m learning how to a lot as of late. It’s not a feeling that I’m really comfortable with.”

Anna gave a smile. “Then don’t. Be the Daisy Jo that we all know and love, not a pale copy. You’re better than that and you know it.”

She nodded. “Right. So, do you mind watching all the children while I get going? I have somewhere to be right now.”

“You go do what you need to do, Furball,” Anna said as she walked towards the kitchen. “Now I’ve got some hungry tykes to feed. You go get a taxi and get to where you gotta go as soon as you can.”

DJ didn’t bother answering. Instead, she rushed out of the house, hellbent on making it before it was too late.

The moment she stepped outside, she wasted no time in signaling for a taxi. To her surprise, however, a pulled chariot sidled up to the curb, and the moment it did the door threw wide open, revealing Elusive. “C’mon,” he told his sister. “We’re running late.”

She blinked in surprise. “Luse?”

He gave her a winning grin. “Thought you could use some company going over there.”

“But how did you know I was going?”

“I didn’t. Frankly, I didn’t expect you to go at all, given both the potential danger and the fact that…well, you and Mother hate each other. But to be honest,” Elusive said in a soft voice as the coach began to move again, “I hadn’t expected to go, either. With Butter still in a delicate state from birth and the fact that I could potentially lose so many of my family to this plan that Aunt Twilight’s not sure is going to work? I’m not brave enough to see that through. I might be my mother’s child, but I don’t think I have the courage of either of our parents, DJ.”

“What do you mean you don’t have the courage? You came here to get me, even if you weren’t sure if I would go. And I suspect that if I’d have said no, you wouldn’t have taken that as a final answer. Look, I don’t know anything about the courage of our family other than what we’ve been told, but coming here…that takes a lot of courage.”

He blushed. “Thanks, sis.”

The two said nothing more as the vehicle continued on towards the palace.

Two had become three had become five, and soon all those who were going to make the effort to enact Twilight’s plan had arrived. Spouses, sisters, royals, nobles, generals – ponies all…with two notable exceptions. Standing there in his work uniform, was Mike, while next to him, dressed in a suit, was Sam. The two humans were here to coordinate defensive strategies.

“Defensive strategies?” Blueblood, an irritated look on his face, asked. “Whatever for do you need de—”

“You can’t possibly ask why we need protection,” Pinkie said in a tone that indicated that for once, she was completely and utterly fed up with the buffoon in front of her. Even still, she chose a relatively nicer attitude to take…for the nonce.

“What Pinkie means,” Mike interjected, “is that given the earlier attack, and the fact that the most important ponies will be present for the situation, it would be vastly unwise for us not to have any sort of security plan in place.” Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the party pony giving him a grateful hint of a smile.

Sam then spoke up. “We’ve already worked it out: REAL agents will cover the outer perimeter, while military personnel will cover the inner. Due to the inner workings of this disease, curse, whatever, human personnel will be the majority of the inner perimeter protection.”

“REAL?” Blueblood and Lyra asked at the same time.

“The new national police organization we developed,” Luna explained. “There wasn’t much time to brief either of you on the situation, save that Guild Investigations will be folded into it and this new group will be open to all Equestriani citizens, not just ponies. Too many have complained that they’re being sidelined or ignored in favor of ponies, so hopefully this will change the balance. But that’s neither here nor there.” She turned to Mike and Sam. “Anyways, please continue, gentlemen.”

“Thanks. As REAL isn’t really fully up to speed yet, they will be using most of the human members of my CSAU contingent,” Mike explained. “In turn, the US Embassy’s Marine division is going to lend me about half their troops; the Canadian and British embassies will be doing so as well. Lyra has already talked to their ambassadors and they are willing to keep what’s going on under wraps until it’s complete.”

“And are you sure they can be trusted?” Blueblood asked. “I don’t like the fact that we’re trusting another species to our nation’s defense!”

“A second ago you were complaining that we have a defense,” Lyra muttered.

“Blue, Equestria is more than just ponies – it’s been more than just ponies for the longest time now. Our governance should reflect the wellbeing of our subjects, not just the ones that we look like,” Celestia gently rebuked.

“Even still, they chose Equestria over living in their native lands, so you can bet that I’m going to back them up any way I can,” Lyra told him. “They are beings that want to be Equestriani – and to me, that’s a sign I owe them that respect.”

“Well said,” Fluttershy said, giving her old friend a smile.

“So are we all set to do this?” Luna asked.

“Sure. I just had my troops set up the closed-circuit cameras a few minutes ago, so that those who won’t be at the site can watch in one of the other conference rooms,” Mike explained. “That would obviously be you, Lyra, and you, your highness.”

“That’s not what I meant, Mike,” Luna said with a soft voice, and everyone in the room fell quiet. All eyes fell on the man in the military outfit, and he shook his head, knowing what the request really meant.

“I don’t know. We talked about it earlier, but as much as I love my wife, I know she’ll say one thing and then do another. And right now, I know she’s very afraid.”

“Afraid? Of what?” Silver asked.

“Probably of Twilight and Sweetie dying. Or maybe of Rarity living.” When he heard Fluttershy gasp, Mike immediately went into damage control mode. “Silver, she’s accepted you and Elusive, because you two have accepted her for who she is. But Rarity won’t, and DJ refuses to change for her.” He then looked at them all and said, “And I think it’s a little unfair of you all to assume that she should. I know it’s a pony trait that friendship is uber alles – ‘friendship is magic’, if I remember the old pony maxim – but I think you all keep forgetting that in the end, she’s essentially human, and she’s going to think like a human and resolve any issues like a human.” He then took a defiant stance and added, “And as her husband, I’m going to back whatever decision she makes completely and totally.”

Sam moved to stand next to him. “Same here. She’s my big sister, and I won’t agree to anything that she’s not willing to do.” He thought he saw a flash of a look of something on Celestia’s face – disappointment? guilt? – but it was gone before it could fully register.

Then, to pretty much no one’s surprise, Lyra joined in. “Look,” she said, waving a hoof, “I don’t think I need to say that I’ve always had an affinity for humans, and now I’ve pretty much gone native.” Gesturing to her clothing, she added, “So if there’s one pony that understands what she’s going through? It’s not me.” She looked at all of them. “No, seriously, not me. I’m as tuned to humans as a pony can possibly be…but I wasn’t raised as one. I’m not DJ or that pegasus that lives in Japan or the unicorn that was just adopted by Liverpudlian parents—”

“Liverpudlian? What a grotesque name for a human settlement,” Blueblood interjected.

Lyra ignored him and continued. “The point being that I’m not ever going to understand humanity quite like DJ or those other humanized ponies will. Ponies like me, or ones that have permanently settled there? We’re never going to completely, 100% understand the human mind. But,” she said, creating a pointed finger with an extensory, “the opposite applies as well. She doesn’t understand what it’s like to be truly pony. And that’s where the problem is.”

“That for years, we expected her to, without so much as giving her the benefit of the doubt?” Soarin’ asked.

“Exactly. She may look like a pony, and genetically is one, but she’s exactly what she’s so often fond of saying: she’s a human, just pony-shaped. And we’re only realizing that now.”

“Listen, I don’t care about any of this,” Blueblood interjected once more. “You can carry on with your minor issues after we take care of what needs to be done, but I hardly think this is the time or place to discuss personal trivialities. Besides, from what I know of this ‘Sandalwood’, or whatever she calls herself, she’s a freak and half that has no business infecting ponykind?”

“Excuse me?” Mike said in a soft voice. Sam said nothing, but those who looked at him saw him suddenly tense up.

“This is a pony matter, human, so this discussion is none of your concern.”

“DJ is my wife,” Mike explained, “so excuse me if I take a bit of umbrage at her being insulted. Or weren’t you bothering to pay attention to what we were just discussing?”

“Why should I? She’s clearly some sort of infection on my species, so I don’t pay attention to that. Do you have concern for every virus that comes your w—” That was all he said before the human crossed the room in a short span of strides and picked the pony up by the scruff of his neck.

“Would you care to revise your statement?” Mike seethed.

“Unhoof me at once, you imbecile!” Blueblood ordered, feebly trying to push himself out of the human’s grasp. “Guards! Arrest this cretin for stallionhandling me! Aunties, banish this fool immediately!”

“Actually,” Sam said in an even voice, “you provoked him, your highness, and just caused an international incident in front of everyone, including the rulers of the land. So yes, while Cmdr. Hengst probably shouldn’t have lost his cool like that, you started the whole thing. And as the person who would be potentially arresting him, I’m personally willing to let the whole thing slide, if Princess Luna would be willing to.”

Luna looked at her nephew with disappointment, then a reproachful look at Mike, who took that as a cue to let Blueblood go. “That would be sufficient, Director Martinez,” she told him with a nod. “You may rescind any arrest authority for the Commander or Prince Blueblood. But if it happens again…then do what you need to do. I suspect, however, that the Americans won’t take arresting Cmdr. Hengst very well. But we’ll manage it somehow if Blueblood needs to sit in the pokey for a night.”

He nodded. “Understood, your highness.”

Blueblood’s eyes opened when he heard that. “Wait – you gave a human the authority to arrest me?” he wailed.

“Blueblood, you provoked a foreign dignitary. Even at my worst, I haven’t managed to pull that one off,” Lyra explained. “And here I thought that you somehow managed to grow up over the years.”

Lyra would have continued, had it not been for a knock at the door and a sentry entered shortly thereafter. “My lords and ladies, I have Count Lusitano and Countess Faroe here to see you.” That got a bunch of attention. That shock was added to a few seconds later as Elusive and DJ walked through the door.

“Hon, I wasn’t expecting you to show up for this,” Mike said, likely voicing the agreement of everyone present.

Her smile grew wide as she couldn’t help but be herself in front of her husband. “What, and you doubt the power of this fully-armed and operational insult-station? I think you underestimate your chances.”

Pinkie looked at her. “I don’t think the line from Star Wars goes quite that way, DJ,” she said with a soft smile.

“Eh, so I improved. Go fig,” the humanized pony replied with a shrug. “Can’t get it right all the time, not with the need to be a smartass.” She still noticed that everyone present was still staring at her. “Okay, what?”

“DJ,” Celestia began, “it’s been brought to our attention that we’ve done you a great wrong. That we really haven’t been treating you like the sort of individual that you are, and that we should have. And on behalf of everyone, even if they don’t realize it…I apologize. You’re not a pony. You didn’t grow up as one, and we’ve been foisting all this on you. I’m sorry.”

DJ stood there for a second, jaw hung in shock, eyes wide in surprise and ears seemingly alert as if instinct had her looking out for predators as her horse ancestors had once done. But after a second, she managed to compose herself and added, “What brought this on?”

Mike blushed slightly. “I finally told them how you felt.”

“WHAT?”

As an aside, Blueblood muttered to himself, “Why are they fawning over some strange pony like her? She’s no better than Heartstrings.”

“Blueblood, shut the hell up now or I will permanently shut you up.” The unicorn looked up in shock at that sound and found Fluttershy glaring at him, who quickly turned the baleful stare to a smarmy grin before turning her attention away from the sniveling pony.

“Look, Dee, we know this isn’t easy for you,” Sam added, “but this is a cross-cultural situation here. They expected you to be one way, while you’ve always been another. I think they’re trying to meet you halfway.”

“Sam, if I may?” Fluttershy stated. “DJ…I know this is old news, but your loss hurt us hard. And for the longest time, we hoped that Sandalwood would come back to us, but she never did. And you came instead. And while so many of us said that we would accept you for who you are, I don’t think that in our hearts, we really realized that. We thought we’d put up with your quirks…but they’re not quirks. They’re just the nature of a human being. And it’s something that we have to adjust to, not you.”

Silver walked up to her and Elusive. “You two are my only children left. That hurts me more than everything. Your older sisters and Minty are all gone. For a father, that’s nothing that anypony should live through. And now my wife, the love of my life, might die today if Twilight’s plan doesn’t work. So all I have left is you. Elusive, I haven’t been completely the father to you that I should have.”

“You were, Father,” Elusive told him with a smile. “I couldn’t have asked for a better father.”

“Yes, you could have. I spent so much time grieving over Dinky and Sparkler’s deaths, and in a haunted search for Sandalwood, that I neglected you and Minty. Hell, I’ve heard the rumors that your mother and I had you two just to assuage the deaths of your oldest sisters,” he said in a sad voice. “None of that is obviously true. But the truth is that I wasn’t there when I should have been. And your mother tried to do the best that she could, but she essentially acted as a single parent when she shouldn’t have. And for that, I’m sorry, son.” Tears welled in his eyes as he embraced his only colt. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Father,” Elusive said, embracing him in turn and feeling the emotions overcome him. “You did the best you could, given the trying circumstances.” The two let each other go after a few minutes and Silver turned to his wayward daughter.

“DJ…I don’t know what to say that hasn’t already been said. But I’m your father, just as much as the man who raised you.” He paused for a second. “No, that’s not quite right. He’s done more for you, given the circumstances. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want in your life. I meant everything I’ve said until now and I don’t mean to change that. I want my daughter in my life, even if she’s not quite the daughter that left me. After all, there’s no guarantee that you would have been the person you are even if you never left Equestria.”

“He’s got a point,” Lyra said with a soft smile, walking over to the pony that was sort of a kindred soul to her. “I never turned out quite the way my parents wanted me to, and I’ve lived most of my life in Equestria. I honestly wonder how much more different I would have been if I had been in your situation.”

“But I want you in my life, DJ,” Silver continued. “Even if my wife won’t accept you, I do. I must. Because I can’t take another day of this uneasy détente we have.”

“I already said my answer,” DJ replied with a soft voice, as she hesitantly went over to hug her sire. “And I meant every word I said. I’m willing to give it a chance. With you, with Elusive and his family. But not with Rarity if she can’t accept me.”

He sighed sadly as he held her tight. “I wish you two would make up, but you’re not completely a pony – and I’m realizing now that’s not an insult – and she needs to understand that as well.”

“That’s all I’ve ever asked for,” DJ said, trying hard not to cry.

At this time, a second sentry, joined by a human dressed in USMC attire, popped his head in and said, “My lords and ladies, it is time. Those who will be staying here to watch everything remote, please follow me to the new Emergency Command Center. Those who will be headed to the site, please follow Gunnery Sergeant Ribbentrop.”

Mike returned the gunnery sergeant’s salute. “So, Gunny, what have we got?”

“Sir, just about everyone who isn’t on watch volunteered for this. Both Ambassador Williams and General Bryson think this should be interesting for international agreements with Equestria, but to be honest…sir, with the number of men dating or married to ponies, I think we’d have had a hard time getting them to ignore the situation,” Ribbentrop said with a chuckle.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Besides, my wife Chiffon Swirl wouldn’t have let me hear the end of it if I hadn’t volunteered myself,” he admitted.

“I hear that, Gunny,” Mike replied, “though obviously your wife’s a little more pony than mine.”

“Commander, my wife would like to meet yours someday. I’m not sure you quite get how much she’s regarded out there, and not because she’s an author. Arrow would probably tell you that your wife is an interesting pony, because of the life she’s lived and how unpony it is.”

“Well, thank you for the kind words,” DJ said as she approached, having overheard him. “Perhaps when all this is over, I might be able to meet your lovely wife, sir?”

The sergeant laughed and nodded. “She’d like that. She’s a huge fan of your works and the fact that you’re a pony writing in human-style genre makes it even more interesting. Human authors tend to be a guilty pleasure for her.”

DJ smiled. “Yeah, I’ll definitely make plans to meet your wife, then – but don’t tell her: we’ll make it a surprise.” The smile then fell from her face as she looked at her husband. “Are you sure you have to do this?”

“Duty, hon. Besides, this is family that I’ll be looking out for.”

“I know,” she said in a soft voice. “It’s just that if there’s that much security going on….”

“Just a precaution, sis,” Sam said, giving her a look. “Probably won’t be needing this much personnel or hardware, but given that we’re guarding the princesses, and that the ERG would have a collective aneurysm if we didn’t….” He shrugged. “You know how it is.”

From behind them, Celestia called out, “Director Martinez, when you have a moment, I would like a word with you, in private.”

“Hrm, wonder what that’s about,” Sam said in a tone that indicated he knew exactly what it was about. “Look, sis, you’re staying with Lyra and Blueblood in the command center, right?”

“Yes.” Her tone showed that she didn’t want to be there, but that there was little choice.

“Good. Take care of her, will you, Luse?”

“Like my life depended on it, gentlemen,” Elusive said to both Sam and Mike.

As the room began to filter in the directions that those concerned would be going, Luna paused for a second to talk to DJ. “You know, I don’t think that in a million years that I’d have ever expected this situation.”

“What, having to cure everypony of an evil curse by all joining together in one of Twilight’s crazy schemes that even by her standards – and that’s her own words from the last time I talked to her, not a judgement call – may or may not work.”

“No – that you were willing to back your pony family when it counted most,” Luna said in a not unkind voice. “You’ve grown since we first encountered each other back in Tokyo, DJ, and I want you to know that.” Luna reached over with her wings, embracing the pony; DJ in turned hugged her aunt’s neck. “I’m proud of you, DJ. You really came through when the time came, and that makes you a special person, pony or not.”

Pinkie and Fluttershy said nothing, save to hug DJ before departing. Finally, all had departed save for DJ and Lyra. “Come on, DJ. We gotta get going,” the older mare said. There was no response, and Lyra asked again, “Dee?”

DJ just stood there, emotionless, silent. Finally, she said in a sad voice, “I should be used to this. I mean, I’m a Navy wife, and Mike deploys all the time. I should be used to this. But right now…it’s like I’ve got a hole in my heart and it’s not going to go away.”

“You’re worried about the others, aren’t you? I mean, not just your brother, but Celestia, Luna and the rest. And those who are already there and suffering, right?” Lyra asked, and DJ nodded sadly. Lyra hugged her and said, “Looks like you know more about what it’s like to be pony than you let on, kiddo.”

DJ pulled away and there were tears forming in her eyes. “What, it’s not okay to love those you care about? It’s a very human trait.”

“Yes, and it’s a pony trait, too. And after all, friendship is magic.” The unicorn patted the younger mare on the back and said, “Baby steps, DJ, baby steps. Soon we’ll have you on a vegetarian diet and walking around naked on all fours in no time flat.”

“Get bent, Lyra,” DJ said with a loving smile on her face.

Lyra laughed at that.

Celestia and Sam quickly teleported to her office and so sooner than she did she transformed and began kissing him.

“This is a little awkward right now, Cel,” he told her. “Not that I wouldn’t want to kiss you, but given the situation….”

“I know,” she said, burying her face in his chest. “I feel like everything’s slipping away from my grasp. I wanted to protect Twilight and the others, and I couldn’t. I wanted to reunite DJ and Rarity, and I can’t. And I certainly never intended to fall for you,” she said. “I don’t feel like I’m in control anymore, and when I’m not in control, the world goes all to smash and that’s dangerous for everypony. It makes me feel…well, mortal.”

He laughed at that. “Um…I’m mortal. What’s wrong with that?”

“It reminds me that life is finite, and that I’ve only got a finite span of years. That I might watch you grow old and infirm and pass away, leaving me behind, and that even I can’t stop death – I don’t have that kind of power, and I’m not sure that even my mother does.” She sighed. “It would have been nice to talk to her before she departed, but she did without warning and I’m not completely sure she’s even alive.” Celestia paused and stated, “We got a note from one of Lyra’s friends a few years back, but we haven’t been able to confirm it, and Lyra unfortunately explained that Bon-Bon was hospitalized a few years back for mental illness. So there’s no way to know for sure, but….”

“But?”

“About us. About me. About everything and anything and all that the average pony knows and doesn’t know.” She groaned. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be putting all this on your shoulders.”

“Yes, you should. Because that’s why I’m here. Because otherwise you’ll let it stew inside, and that’s not healthy for anyone, Cel. I know you haven’t been used to having someone in your life for a long, long while, but guess what? I’m here for the long haul, as long as you need or want me. That’s what being in a relationship is, after all.”

Her cheeks flushed with crimson, nearly as powerful as the glow from her pastel hair. “And are you sure you’re going to want me and all that comes with me? Didn’t Shakespeare once say ‘heavy lies the crown’?”

“Actually, he said,” as Sam assumed a theatrical voice, “‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.’ That’s from Henry IV, Part II – I had to help in a high school production of it way back when. I wasn’t an actor, but I had to help them with learning the lines. Ended up dating the girl who played Nell Quickly, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“No, it is,” she told him. “I want to know all about you, just as you want to know all about me. And tomorrow, I promise we’re going to start.” She then said glumly, “if there’s going to be a tomorrow.”

He then pulled her so that they faced each other, eye to eye. “There will be a tomorrow. Because you’re not going to give up – and if you think you are, think of me and how I feel for you, Cel. I want you back tomorrow so that we can have that tomorrow and the one after that, and the one after that, ad infinitium, got me?”

Her response was to kiss him, lovingly and passionately, so much so that neither heard the door open.

Cadance stood there, a look somewhere between surprised, angry and resigned. “You know, there was no way in Tartarus that I knew this was coming. Guess I still have a lot to learn about being the Alicorn of Love.”

Celestia reacted. “I…uh….”

“I came here to see what was taking you so long. Tonsil hockey was not on the list of things I’d considered.”

“Look, Cadance—”

The romance alicorn raised her hoof. “No. Don’t say a word, Auntie.” Celestia knew she was in trouble whenever Cadance used that appellation. “You’re entitled to find love again and clearly you have, so I should be happy for you. But this is going to be—”

“Awkward?” Sam offered, feeling very much like a schoolboy at the moment.

“Yes. But don’t worry, I’m not going to tell Luna or DJ, mainly because I’m not sure that we have time to and frankly I don’t know what I would say anyway. But I get the feeling that this is – no, I know this is happening on the illicit side, because I think somepony would have said something by now. So if you truly care about each other and this isn’t just a fling – and the feeling I’m getting from the both of you is that this clearly isn’t – you owe it to come clean. Because as the Alicorn of Love, I don’t like deceit in love, since it only comes back to bite those who do it in the plot when they least expect it.” Nothing more to say, she left the room.

“Sometimes I think I raised her too well.” Celestia sighed and changed back to her normal form. “Well, let’s get this over and done with. I want to help you move into your new home…because you’ll have a guest over quite often.”

“Looking forward to that,” he said, as he opened the door for her.

“Guys,” Twilight said, cueing the spell to wake them all up, “It’s time.”

Rarity looked haggard. “Are you so sure this is going to work?”

“Worked for me, didn’t it?” the lavender unicorn said with a wink. “I’m only here because I promised that we’d all walk out of this together, and to do that, we need to all be together for this spell to work. All of us. If one component is missing, it won’t.”

“Well,” Rainbow groaned, feeling as though she’d flown a million miles, “I’m all for it. I want to save my foal, and I need all of you to do that. Besides, we’ve all gone so long together – I don’t want this to be the end.”

“Ah, some sob-hearted pony you turned out t’ be, Rainbow,” Applejack said with a laugh.

Sweetie, helped by Dawn, joined them. “The last set of runes are set, Twi,” she practically coughed out. “When do we do this?”

“When the others show,” Twilight announced. “And that’s when magic happens.”

The Nightmare looked at the setting sun. “This is the last sun that shall ever fall on Equestria,” she said with a soft, contented sigh. “By this time tomorrow, the sun and moon will be dead and my reign will begin.”

A changeling, dressed in armor, approached her. “Our intelligence assets have reported that they are on the move now to the hospital.”

“Hospital, ha!” Chrysalis announced. “That isn’t a hospital, not anymore – it’s an abattoir. Are our troops in position?”

“Yes, your highness,” the changeling announced. “Prince Armor states that he has over 2500 of our best changelings in position, with no orders other than to kill any and every last living thing on the hospital grounds – that nothing is to survive, neither us nor them.”

“Good,” Chrysalis stated.

“This plan had better work,” Nightmare warned her.

“Or else?”

Nightmare pointed to the glowing cave, where changelings were currently mining for uranium and plutonium. “Or else we’ll have to go with Di Tacco’s plan – and frankly, I hate to rule over an irradiated wasteland, wouldn’t you?”

Chrysalis laughed mercilessly. “Won’t happen.” She turned to her general. “Tell them that the moment that Celestia and her fools are at their most vulnerable, to attack without mercy.”

“It shall be done, my queen.”

Author's Note

Up next: the conclusion of Book I!

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave

“This is the way the world ended,” the words on the paper stated. The words, written in the diary, as if they had been placed there for no other reason than to record a posterity that even she couldn’t have imagined. I mean, who could? Nopony – no being – could have ever foreseen what was to come.

A colleague of mine at the University, Dr. Esteban Julían Ricardo Montoya de la Rosa-Ramirez (note: Spanish scholars’ names can be a hoofful), explained once that many cultures on Human-Earth had gone through such a trial, although not with the, ahem, “flashiness” that we had. Dr. Ramirez, in fact, stated that his own nation had gone through such an upheaval in the 20th century, with their king supplanted by a dictator, who upon his death reinstalled the monarchy. I suppose that was to be expected; reading from the Queen’s journals, she herself appeared to not be prepared for what actions were to come.

“This is the way the world ended,” was the lone line on that journal page. When the entry was revealed, she stated that she had been trying her hoof at poetry and that it had nothing to do with the trials that were to soon come afterwards. The sad part was that she suffered so much, watching her family, her loved ones suffer and while blessed with incredible power, felt like merely a mare that could do nothing more than to stand by the sidelines and watch as our world – Alter-Earth – went straight to hell in a hoofbasket.

I guess I’ll have to interview more of those who were alive at that time. I always wonder what it would have been like to live through what we call the Great War and what humans call World War III (a misnomer, given that this war never happened on their world), but I would guess on a day like this, a century ago, there was not a single individual who could have predicted what would come in short order.

- Dr. Ancient Annals
Chair, Department of Historical Studies
Royal University of Equestria at Canterlot
June 26, 2143

The Emergency Command Center, despite earlier indications, was a separate building away from both the main part of Canterlot Mountain Air Base and the palace complex. Located in a remote portion of the base, the facility was modeled based on the legendary NORAD complex on Human-Earth, complete with too many computers, military personnel hustling around like their life depended on it, and several human and non-human military dignitaries from other nations looking around in awe. It was said to be the most impregnable stronghold in Equestria short of the living spaces in the palace, and from the vault-like doors to the thick plating in places, it lived up to its reputation.

As she took it all in, DJ joked that pretty much the only thing missing was a stargate – and that a stargate-shaped portal would pretty much make the place complete.

As the three continued down the passageways of the facility, she looked around, wondering if she was actually authorized to be here. Aside from her noble title, she held no military rank nor position in the government. After all, Macintosh, Thunderlane and Noteworthy opted to watch it from the latter’s home in Westside, because they weren’t allowed in here, so why should she be cut slack? For that matter, why was Elusive allowed in here?

She watched as he breezily spoke to an REA officer, who was blushing furiously. While she didn’t think her brother was up to any canoodling, she did get the idea that the officer, a mare, would be more than happy to volunteer should that question ever come up somehow.

“Wow, I did not know she still had a thing for him,” Lyra said softly. DJ merely looked at her, as if expecting an answer.

She got an answer, but not from the person she was expecting it from.

“The mare’s name is Honeysuckle, and she was close friends with Minty; she also had a thing for Elusive. However, she was the daughter of Guard parents who got reassigned elsewhere, and that’s when your brother met Apple Butter. Times changed, the Guard became the military, and Honeysuckle joined the latter, returning to Ponyville to find your brother engaged.” They turned to see Spitfire standing there, looking at them both.

“Go on, Spitfire,” Lyra commented. “You probably know more than I do.”

The pegasus nodded. “She really hasn’t taken it well. She keeps trying to lure Elusive away, but he’s too much of a gentleman to even consider. If it wasn’t for the fact that she’s a friend of his sister’s, well, he wouldn’t even give her the time of day.”

“And how do you know this?” DJ asked.

“Rarity told me once, last time I saw her. She was concerned that Honeysuckle would try something, but I told her that if she did, we’d put an end to it. I think she’s talking to him though for a different reason.” Spitfire pointed with her wing, and looked to see Honeysuckle crying, with Elusive giving her a fraternal embrace.

Seeing the two there in a fragile moment, neither DJ nor Lyra spoke. The latter could see the pain clearly on her brother’s face, and she wished she could do anything to take it away from him. But that pain was tied up into a different sort of pain for DJ, one she really wasn’t in the mood to deal with herself.

“Well, time to break this up before she gets the wrong idea,” Spitfire said. “Lt. Honeysuckle?”

The mare turned to look at Spitfire. “Oh, General! I…I…um…I didn’t see you there, sorry!” The mare proffered a quick salute, which Spitfire quickly returned.

“Lieutenant, I need you to check on the status of the incoming attack helicopters we’ve ordered from the Russians. The first shipment should be here tomorrow and I’m quite sure REA Aviation will want to know the full details.”

“Uh, yes ma’am!” Honeysuckle squeaked, then rushed off, pausing only to give Elusive a not-entirely chaste kiss on the cheek. Within a few seconds, the young officer had all but vanished, leaving the others behind.

Spitfire went up to Elusive. “You okay, kid?”

“Yeah,” he said in a sort of melancholic tone. “I know what she wants, but we can’t ever go back to that, General. Time passes regardless of what you wish for, and nothing can change that, not even my dearest alicorn aunts.”

“Wise stallion,” Spitfire told him with a grin on her face. “Well, I need to prepare for what’s probably going to be a very long day. You three are welcome as long as you need to be – just don’t break anything, okay?”

“Yeah, sure, especially since my ministry is what got you the chance to get this stuff in the first place,” Lyra counter with a smile.

Spitfire just shook her head, chuckled and signaled at an REAF officer walking down the hall. Pulling him aside to explain the details, she then left them in the stallion’s hooves while she waved and walked off.

“My lord and ladies, if you’ll follow me, please,” he told them, “I’ll get you to the briefing room soonest.”

The ruins of the hospital loomed in the body of Canterlot like a wound, a shattered wreckage amongst the pomp and glitter that was the capital of ponydom. Along with the ruins of Cloudsdale and Fillydelphia, the hospital was a monument to the change that ponies had never wanted or asked for: a war, on a level that ponies had never seen before, that was nigh inbound. Worse, within the Canterlot ruins were the affected bearers, and possibly others – all heroes to the nation and ponies that had stopped those evils before…and were now powerless to do so this time around. Alongside them was a magical virus that was deadly to all but humans and changelings, and if it escaped into the general population the tolls on the residents of the capital city would be immense.

In the immediate environs around the facility, dozens of armed humans, ponies and other species stood around, poised for the worst. In a perimeter above, REA attack helicopters circled the neighborhood, all armed to the teeth and poised to rain down Tartarus on any attackers. Beyond that, a second line of steel enveloped the city, as REN and the remaining REAF fighters girded down against any attackers coming from that angle. Pegasi from all three branches dotted the sky, looking for any sign that their foes would be around. And the forces of Canterlot girded themselves for a potential fight.

Sitting by a tent housing the on-site command center, four males stood: two men and two stallions, all armed. All four were in working uniforms, and like the others around, were ready for what might come. The quartet were anxious for something to happen, though none were sure what exactly was to pass: their only purpose here was to ensure that the ritual took place, and none of them had been briefed exactly on what the ritual was.

Seated in a chair by the map table, Mike looked at his brother in law. “Never thought I’d see you in battledress, Sam.”

For his part, Sam laughed, and stretched out in his all-black fatigues. “These are actually police fatigues, and they’re going to be the REAL’s field uniform. While the day-to-day stuff we’re going to do in suits like the FBI and the REG, I do expect that we’re going to have situations where we’ll have a hostage rescue situation or other conditions where suits don’t cut it. Besides, from what Potato Chip told me, several of our personnel can’t wait to try out the uniforms.”

“Well, I’ll be the first to admit that these things feel way comfier than my old barding,” Silversteel noted with a chuckle.

“What, the heavy armor getting a little too much for you in your old age, Silver?” Soarin’ jibed.

“Hey, at least I could wear mine unaided. You pegasi had to have yours specially ensorcelled so you didn’t get weighted down all the time!”

A helicopter raced above, the thrum of the blades sending its vibrations through the air, a deep WHUP WHUP WHUP as it flew past. An ad-hoc company of airborne pegasi serving in the old squadron method landed, immediately replaced by another squadron. The system worked like clockwork, just as it was supposed to.

“Any idea when the show’s going to start?” Soarin’ asked the others, and none present had a decent reply.

“I don’t like this,” Silver stated. “We have no idea what’s going to happen, only that we need to protect the princesses and the Bearers at all costs. Even with all the troops and hardware that we have at hoof, we’re talking about the changelings – they’re masters at stealth and subterfuge. Then there’s Nightmare Moon and all her power – and the main forces we have against them, the princesses, are going to be tied up! Finally, we have those humans that are missing, and even if we took their toys away from them, a military-trained human is still a dangerous one.”

Mike looked at the others. “Wait – the Iranians are missing? When did this happen?”

“Day before,” Sam explained. “They were due to be transferred from military to civilian custody and the holding facility got hit.” He turned to Soarin’. “You guys might want to consider a revised protocol that will allow for a faster turnover.”

“I’ll take that under advisement,” Soarin’ replied. “As for right now it’s an Equestrian government need to know, but the Foreign Ministry intends to brief our allies as soon as we can. Admittedly we should have our allies who are in country briefed as well, but you know how things are in the military, Commander.”

“Look, anyone who is not present here is on the manhunt for them,” Sam informed them. “My second-in-command has every agent we can spare at the moment. Additionally, the Guild has offered to assist as well, and they’ve sent a number of personnel, too.”

“In any case, we have two flight perimeters, armor on the streets and a battalion worth of soldiers from different disciplines here,” Soarin’ added. “EQMILCOM and the MGEC are probing for any sign of any enemy, and Celestia notified NATO that she may invoke Article 5. Short of Spitfire putting on a Power Ponies costume, I’m pretty sure we’re covered.”

“Yeah, we have all these lovely toys and nobody to play with,” Silver grunted. “I wish Celestia would’ve given us some clue.”

“Operational security, Silver,” Mike reminded them. “Loose lips sink ships and all that. I don’t doubt Celestia was thinking about that when she decided to keep it close to her vest. In any case, we do know that Twilight’s determined it’s the only way to save them all, and I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt.”

“I want my wife back, guys,” Soarin’ told them. “I know Silver does as well.”

Just then a US Marine came in and whispered something to Mike who acknowledged it. “Looks like we’ve got some extra problems: apparently the media wants to set up cameras and the like just outside the perimeter.”

“Well, the public has the right to know,” Sam commented. “That being said, we probably should keep the message under control. I’ll detail a couple of my folks to ensure that we have no journalist adventurers running around. Things are already tight, and the last thing we need is an unaccountable running around here.”

“Good idea, Director Martinez. Please see to that,” Soarin’ commented.

“General, if I may, perhaps we need to gather all the senior hands on deck and go over everything. They’re going to need to know some of this stuff as well and we still have some unanswered questions, like who has priority at what point – when is it a law enforcement issue and at what point do we turn this into an outright military operation.”

“This isn’t like home, Mike,” Sam reminded him, as he poked his head out of the tent to flag two of his people. “Here in Equestria, military has gendarmerie authority, so long as they turn over suspects within seventy-two hours.”

“Okay, then we also need to know at what point you’ll have to redeploy any of your folks from police operations to keeping the populace clear of the battlezone, should it come to that.”

“Now that’s a good point,” Soarin’ admitted. “I’m afraid my previous Guard knowledge isn’t going to help here. Okay, we’ll go with it. Everypony gather up your senior personnel who need to know and meet back here in ten minutes. Director, I’d like you to have a couple of your senior personnel on site join us as well.”

“On it,” Mike and Silver said as they departed the tent, while Sam got on his radio and called for a couple of personnel to report for briefing.

Even in war, pilots have always had an interest in the adversary’s aircraft; it is one thing to fly a craft you’re familiar with, but to take to the sky in another aircraft you are flying is a chance of a lifetime, especially when it belongs to the other side. Even though he was now a former IRIAF pilot, he had no love for the Western nations, even as he’d appreciated their aircraft. Even as a child he could remember the American F-14, once the mainstay of their navy as well as the IRIAF air force. Even now, mainstays like the American F-22 or the Russian T-50 held some intrigue for him.

So it was a surprise that today, he was in a ready room, along with all of his surviving pilots and dozens of several others, both male and female, and none of which he knew. They were all dressed in black flight gear, which looked a little fanciful, colorwise. “And you guys are?”

A man approached him and shook. He had short black hair with streaks of white. “Name’s Stormy Night. We work for you, Colonel. Those are our orders.”

Khalid was about to say something, when two individuals came into the room: Di Tacco, as well as a second one. “Greetings, colonel. I see you’ve met the other members of your wing?”

“My…wing?”

“Yes,” di Tacco said affably. “I believe it’s time to show you a little project that we’ve been working on, alongside our patron. It’s taken a while to find the right mixture of qualified personnel, but I believe you can handle it.” He looked at a woman that had been sitting by a computer. “Dark Velvet, if you please?”

The screen at the front of the room turned on, revealing a fighter aircraft that didn’t look like anything he was familiar with. “These are yours now, Colonel, and your pilots will follow your orders. This is the SAF.1 Privateer, built by the finest engineers all over both worlds.”

“Both worlds, eh?” Khalid laughed. “They’ve been taking engineering from us, not creating it.”

“Oh, I think you’d be quite surprised,” the newcomer told them. “Did you know, for example, that one of the more…interesting problems facing your economy is that many of your technical experts and engineers have been put out of work by those from our world. So when we offered them an opportunity to build a new type of aircraft usable by both ponies and humans, well….” The stranger smiled. “Let’s just say they aren’t complaining about the pay, either.”

Khalid turned to address the newcomer. “With all due respect, the best technology in the world means nothing if the aircraft will not be effective against our opponents.” He looked at the image. “It looks advanced, but how advanced?”

“I think a demonstration is in order, shall we?” Di Tacco gestured to a door, and as one, the new pilots exited the room, followed shortly afterwards by the newcomers. “Trust me, you’ll want to see this, Ibrahim.”

Khalid sighed and signaled to his pilots. “This had better be interesting.”

“I’m sure you’ll find it quite interesting.”

As they stepped out of the building, Khalid was immediately hit with a blast of hot, familiar air. “Wait, are we in the desert? But to my knowledge, Equestria has no desert.”

“Who said we are in Equestria?” the stranger said. “There are many lands that have ponies aside from Equestria, and not all of us dance to Princess Celestia’s tune. I can assure you, when the time comes, we will aid you in taking down Canterlot.” He then looked at the skies. “And it is time to see exactly how we will aid you.”

Above, a number of fighters, mostly older fourth-generation models such as F-16s and Hawk 200s, raced above. They were painted in gray and orange livery, the markings of targeting drones.

“You’d think that the Americans and British would actually pay attention when Equestria claims to want to purchase one hundred fighter drones each that they would actually check where the money is coming from, as well as whether the ferrying pilots were legitimate,” the stranger chuckled. “Fortunately for us, greed seems to be a more common human trait than common sense.”

“So I fail to see how that the image of the earlier fighter would—” The colonel’s words were cut off by a massive explosion above. Immediately he saw as the older fighters engaged what clearly looked like the fighters from the image…and they were clearly on the losing side. One of them detonated directly above them, courtesy of a missile, and a magical field activated above them, the wreckage crashing above them.

“Drones?” one of the former Iranian pilots asked.

“In a sense,” one of the newer pilots said. “Those pilots above knew they would not succeed, yet they did their duty regardless.”

Khalid looked at them in shock. “The training units are being flown by live pilots?”

Another one of the new pilots shrugged. “They’re Old Brood, stupid and useless. Not as smart or cunning as us.”

A second one, who looked a lot like the pilot that just spoke added, “Someday soon, they’ll be replaced. After all, we have no need for simple beasts.”

Khalid looked at both di Tacco and the newcomer with surprise. “And you knew about this?”

Di Tacco grinned. “Did you think our alliances was only with Nightmare Moon?” He turned to the newer pilots. “Show yourselves, please.”

“At once, my lord,” they said as one, before green fire enveloped them, revealing strange pony-like creatures that also seemed like what Khalid had heard about changelings at the same time. But that wasn’t possible, given that the two species weren’t even remotely related. Ponies, as he recalled, were mammals or at least mammalian; changelings were heavily advanced arthopods. And yet these looked like a combination of the two.

“Are these…?”

“We are the pepsis, Colonel.” The one that had been identified as Stormy Night approached; odd that he somehow seemed the same regardless of species. “We are our mother’s finest creation. I suppose you could refer to us as Changelings 2.0, but that would be somewhat of an insult – the Old Brood is a throwback, an error that the world needed to correct. We are the superior beings of this realm. And we,” he said, gesturing to the other pilots, “serve you as part of your command, sir.”

“And you’re qualified?”

“Many of the subbroods represented here were taught from before birth on how to fly human aircraft of a variety of types. Additionally, we have some from another clutch who were taught how to maintain and prep these aircraft for flight. And we have been directed to follow no orders save for those of yourself and Mr. di Tacco’s.”

Somewhat accepting, Khalid turned to their new benefactor. “And what of you?”

The benefactor laughed and lit his horn. “Oh, I am just a unicorn, I assure you. Or rather, I should say I am Prince Artemis, ruler of Saddle Arabia under the aegis of my aunt—” he said that part with a grunt, “Princess Celestia. And with your help, I will finally realize my dreams.

“With your help, I will be king.”

The trio followed the young officer as they continued down the hallway. A lot of the hallways were filled with technology and magical gear, making for an odd look; the sleek and electronic up against the ancient and arcane. To DJ, the area started to look less like a military facility and more like the props room of a film studio.

Lyra, on the other hoof, looked at the place with a growing interest. “Maybe I should think about having the Embassy upgraded if we’ve already got this sort of tech in Equestria,” the unicorn said, more to herself than anypony in particular. “In fact, I may have to recommend that all the senior embassies be equipped with situation rooms.”

“You don’t already?” DJ asked. “I’d think the State Department would’ve insisted or something.”

“Why would they? The State Department has one of their own, and situation rooms fall squarely under the Triumverate Treaty.”

“The Triumverate? I think I’ve heard that term from Uncle Mac before.”

Lyra nodded. “Since the appearance of Equestria on the geopolitical scene, the close bond between us, the US and the UK, well, around some circles, we’re called the Triumverate. Or, depending on whatever country doesn’t like us at the time, the Axis. Took me a long time to get that latter reference, and well, not happy about that, but people are allowed to criticize.” A thought came across the unicorn’s face. “Oh, and for the record, the official name of the treaty is the Anglo-Equestriani-American Cooperation Treaty.”

“Lyra, no offense, but I couldn’t give two shits about that right now,” DJ commented. “I’m a little too concerned with the goings-on at the moment.”

“Wait – did I just hear you say that you’re worried about Rarity?” Lyra teased her.

“Lyra, I love you dearly – you mean a lot to me,” DJ said sincerely, “but just fuck you, okay? Seriously, can we just dispense with the jokes for a change?”

Lyra looked at the younger mare oddly. “You know, this isn’t really like you, DJ. You’re usually the one making with the gallows humor. I’m wondering if we should have you checked out for poneumonia.”

Elusive, despite not having been in conversation, finally decided to speak up. “Lyra, as much as I agree with you that my sister is somewhat…out of sorts at the moment, I also agree with her that we should focus on other things.” He then turned to the officer that was with them. “Maj. Spearflight, how much longer do we have until we get to this room?”

“Not much farther, my lord and ladies.” The military pony seemed out of sorts.

“Is everything okay, Major?” Lyra asked.

“Of course not, ma’am,” Spearflight dutifully replied. “The Bearers are in the ruins of the Infirmary fighting for their lives. The center of Canterlot itself has been attacked, and both Fillydelphia and Cloudsdale have been destroyed. We are beset upon by our oldest foes and now we have humans, who in the past we have thought of as monsters, now proving themselves to be so! Even now we are preparing for an assault on the Southwestern Continent, where all the changelings reside. And then there’s Nightmare Moon to consider! So, nothing is okay at all, major…but we are ponies. We will endure.”

“Well, spoken, Major,” Elusive said with appreciation.

Finally, after several more minutes, they reached a long hallway where several REA soldiers lined the walls. “This is one of the most secure locations in the facility,” Spearflight explained. “VIPs mostly use this one, which is why we have the contingent of guards protecting the room twenty-four hours a day.” Something about what the stallion was saying set off some of DJ’s nerves, but she wrote them off due to her being through one mess after another.

“Makes sense,” Elusive said, nodding in appreciation.

“I dunno,” DJ voiced. “Kinda weird.”

“No, this is perfectly normal,” Lyra told her. “You don’t want your critical infrastructure somewhere that can be taken out instantly. You want something as safe as this location.”

As they approached the door, Spearflight looked at one of the sergeants by the door. “How are the other VIPs, Sergeant?”

“They’re doing fine, sir,” the sergeant said as she opened the door. It was a thick metal door, the kind that sealed vaults as opposed to being a simple portal gate. Holding it open, he said, “If you’d go in, please.”

The trio walked into a well-appointed room with a table, monitors showing various information and a large screen by the far wall showing a camera view of the ruined hospital and the troops present. The room looked as though it had been occupied for a few minutes, but then whoever had been here had departed.

“You said someone was here earlier, Major?” Lyra asked him.

“Yes,” he said, as a wicked grin came over his face and green spellfire surrounded him. “And now we have three more victims.” As the changeling came into clear view, Lyra, DJ and Elusive gasped in shock as Queen Chrysalis appeared before them. Before they could react, however, the monstrous queen blasted all three of them with a magic bolt, dropping them like flies.

“Get that door shut!” she ordered, and the soldiers burned with green fire, becoming changelings as well, save for one.

“Looks like your plan worked so far, Mother,” Blood Armor told the queen, “but we’re far from done, so don’t rest on your laurels.”

“Far be it from me to do so,” she told him. “And if you ever address me like that again, I will rip your lungs out. You may be my treasured son, but even your ambitions will only carry you so far, son. Now that we have our dummies trapped in there, how do you intend to keep them pacified?”

“Oh, don’t worry, Mother,” he told her in a “you should know by now” attitude. “Unlike you – I know what I’m doing.”

The three alicorns of Equestria met at Cadance’s balcony. There, on the table was a tea kettle, its stores mostly exhausted by the trio, as was the tray of tea cakes…and the second tray of tea cakes that were for the other two.

“Are you sure about this plan, sister?” Luna asked Celestia. “This is a huge risk, not just for us, but for the girls as well. There’s a good chance that none of us will survive if anything goes wrong.”

“I’ll have to agree with Luna here,” Cadance added, a cup of tea floating before her lips. “Have all the variables been thought out?”

“This is Twilight we’re talking about,” Celestia insisted. “You both know as well as I that when it comes to Twilight, there is no finer in spellcraft. Luna, you’ve known her for years! Cadance, even longer than that!” The look in Celestia’s eyes was stern. “Even if we didn’t owe Twilight the benefit of the doubt, she is a national heroine! She has given so much – shouldn’t we trust her?”

“I do, you know I do,” Cadance replied. “And I’m not backing out! I’m just…I’m just thinking about my son. If this goes sideways….”

“It won’t, Cadance. You have my word.”

A hesitant look came over Luna’s face as she spoke, “Then I think it’s time I spoke about my reservations, too.”

“Go ahead,” the older sister prodded.

“If we succeed, I intend to reach out to Robin once more, and if he’ll have me, I will take him as my husband.” The other two alicorns looked at her, and Luna sighed. “I’m tired of the solitude, and my heart has never wavered all these years. Plus, Robin is mortal and though we’ve been apart all these years, I strongly suspect his feelings have not changed either.”

“Are you sure?” Cadance asked. “Granted, you two know more about humans than I, but they tend to love more, well, intensely than we do, rumors to the contrary. Plus, it’s natural for any being not to want to be alone forever. Have you considered that he has taken another mate?”

“He already has, twice. Both times ended in divorce, because he couldn’t get over our time together.” Luna looked at both of them, an ache in her heart that read clearly on her face. “I don’t want the next time I see him to be at his funeral after he dies of old age! I want to marry him, love him and have a life together! And I am tired of being a slave to this damnable crown!”

Celestia and Cadance looked at each other. “Is this because of Shining?”

Luna’s face softened. “Cadance, you know I would never hold that against you. He was a member of our family and I loved him dearly and was heartbroken when he passed. And he has given you joy in the form of your son. There would be no possible way I would have any reason to resent you for anything.” She then looked at Celestia. “You, however, I am cross with.”

Celestia knew this would happen. “Is it because I have a lover now?”

“Yes,” Luna growled. “Because as always, you feel what is best for Celestia does not work for anypony else!”

“Luna, I don’t feel that way.”

But Luna wasn’t done yet. “You’ve gone without a love life for so long, you think it’s natural for ponies to idealize their white, virginal princess! Just because you have the same coat color as Mother doesn’t mean you’re in the same category!”

“Luna, you’re being unreasonable,” Cadance interjected.

Unfortunately, shots had already been fired. “Leave Mother out of this,” Celestia insisted.

“Why? You’ve never told me anything about our father – assuming we even have one! Maybe our mother gave birth parthenogenetically? Maybe we were never actually alicons when we were born and she just turned us into them!”

“Okay, now you’re just being silly,” Cadance told Luna. “There’s no proof at all that alicorns can just be ‘made’, like something by a glassblower or in a factory.”

“I DON’T CARE!” Luna screamed. “For the sake of our family, I’ll perform this risky endeavor – I don’t think I could live with myself if something happened to the others. But after that? I’m done, mares. Personally, I like being Cyndi Hanover more than I like being Princess Luna right now!” To illustrate her point, she assumed her human form.

“Luna, no. Our ponies need us. Now, more than ever.”

“And what about your lover?” Luna accused. “From what I gather, he’s not a pony.”

“Oh, yeah, you betcha he’s not a pony,” Cadance replied.

Luna wheeled on her niece. “What do you know.” It was not a question.

“Luna, I can’t tell you. I promised I wouldn’t.”

Luna looked at her sister with sad eyes. “Well, what do you know? An alicorn that can actually keep a promise.”

“Luna, please. Our ponies need you. Our family needs you. We need you.”

“Yes,” she said coldly, “and the last time I did that, I chose to listen to you over my heart, and I paid the price. I will not do so again.” Celestia turned away, and Luna felt as though she’d breached something she hadn’t intended. “Sister…this doesn’t mean I don’t care about the realm or our ponies. It doesn’t mean I don’t care about our family, or even you.” She walked over and hugged her sister’s neck, given that she was still I her human guise. “It’s…it’s about me this time. And this time, there’s no Nightmare. There’s no anger or hatred or jealousy. There’s just love.”

“Except that she is out there still – and we need to stop her for once and for all.”

Luna agreed. “Then she is my…what’s the human term? Ah, yes – she’s my cross to bear. And just because I intend to abdicate doesn’t mean that I won’t be around, sister. I won’t leave you alone to face the Nightmare. You have my word.”

“Okay. Then let’s go save the girls.”

The Taj Mahoof was the palace of Saddle Arabia, and the center of this part of the world. Even though it had been reduced to being nothing more than a colony for Equestria. But that had not always been the case, Prince Artemis knew.

His father, Prince Helios Apollo, had told him the story of their ancestor, Sultan Wolfram, and how he’d foolishly begged the alicorns to come in during the Discordian Era, and House Tungsten had paid the price, dearly. This was a land of hardy pegasi and unicorns that had banded together to form this land, away from the strife of the Warring States Era. Even now, the tradition still held: when a unicorn was prince, he took pegasi for his brides, and vice versa.

Such now was the case: approaching now was his first wife, Gold Lily. Though he wasn’t supposed to pick favorites in his harem, he had to admit that if he was limited to one bride only, she would be it. She had been raised in the Crystal Empire and so technically she was much, much older than he. But after seeing the modernization travesty that ‘neo-tyrant’ Princess Cadance had forced upon the citizens of the Empire (which, technically was now just an empire in name only) and had moved to Saddle Arabia, whose customs had fortunately stood the test of time. He had been entranced by her beauty, so much so that when his father announced that he intended to take her as his seventh bride, he had parleyed with his father to reconsider.

That had been a wise investment, as Goldie was possessed of a smart mind, and with the right persuasion, had turned out to be quite the princess. She ruled alongside him wisely, and the public loved her dearly. It had been her that had chosen his second, fourth and fifth wives, and they respected her as the first amongst equals.

He would never say it aloud, but while he was fond of Sunstripe, Merriweather, Paisley Pop, Moonlit Night and Desert Jade, the only one he truly loved was his Goldie.

“My husband?” The graceful pegasus approached him. A flawless coat of sunglow, deep blue eyes that said so much without her uttering a word and a mane of light blue and copper. She stepped up to him and nuzzled him. “The delegation from Canterlot just departed.” She sighed. “I know you mean well, my love, but I wish you would leave Harmonia and Galaxis out of the negotiations. I…I just do not believe that they have our nation’s best interests at heart.”

He said nothing, though he certainly agreed with her. Twins, Harmonia and Galaxis were the foals of his father’s fourth wife, and thus not eligible to rule; as per custom, neither were given royal titles but simply addressed as Lady Harmonia and Lord Galaxis. Sadly, they had not inherited their father’s courage and wisdom, but instead the pathetic nature of their mother, and as a result, they were more like Cadenza than he would’ve preferred. The sole reason they had not been exiled from Saddle Arabian lands was that he could not think of a valid reason without triggering an inquiry from Canterlot.

Finally, he rubbed his chin and nodded. “You’re right of course, dear. I should encourage their patronage of the arts; they seem to prefer that anyway. But you were saying about the delegation?”

“Oh, as per your wishes we agreed to the alliance with Prince Blueblood and his wife. Supporting their little ‘purehooves’ plan, as distasteful as it is, may just work. It’s just….”

“Yes?”

“Their envoy, that mare – Sunset Shimmer. There’s something about her that rubs me the wrong way, husband. She reminds me too much of Blueblood’s wife, Champagne Dreams.” She clucked her tongue. “Even if we have an alliance with your cousin, I don’t trust her at all.”

“What’s to trust about her? She’s vain and flighty, according to everything our spies have uncovered.”

“It’s just…well, this will sound silly, but for a moment, when I was talking to Miss Shimmer, I swore I was talking to Champagne herself.” She looked at the beach from the veranda they stood on. “Well, nevermind that. Why are you standing out here, watching the seaside?”

“Freedom,” he said, summoning two goblets of wine. “Our first round of dividends is paying off.”

As if to underscore his words, sleek metal objects took to the air, their engines roaring as they blazed past the city of Maredina and the Taj Mahoof. Nearly as one, they banked towards the left, off towards their destination.

He smiled and gave his wife a kiss. “This will be the first strike across Celestia’s face. May it be the first of many until I am rightfully king.”

“General Soarin’, sir!” One of the senior enlisted ponies flagged the pegasus down. “I have EQMILCOM online, sir. They say they need to speak to you at once.”

“Thank you, sergeant,” Soarin’ replied. “Please send it to my headset.”

“Will do, sir,” the soldier replied, tapping a few buttons on the communication console. “Ready when you are.”

With that, Soarin’ slid the headset over his ears and reached up to make sure the mic was in place. “EQMILCOM, this is Senior Site Officer, over.”

A junior communicator answered the line. “SSO, stand by for EQMILCOM Actual, over.”

The line briefly went silent before a second voice came online. “How are things down there, Soar?”

“Oh, you know, we just set up the wine pavilion and are waiting for the cheese delivery from the royal stores. We did have an emergency earlier, though: we ran out of napkins and I had to have one of my airponies make a run to the supermarket.”

“Well, aren’t you the comedian?”

“I try, Spits, I try. What’s up?”

“We just got word that Kindness and Laughter are enroute. Once they touch down at the palace, the princess will likely brief bothe beforehoof and once that’s done, then the show’s going to start. I estimate about another thirty minutes to an hour, tops. Make sure your forces are good to go.”

“Well, we have everything locked tight for the moment and all troops are in position. We’ll be able to catch any issue within seconds.”

“Soarin’, don’t get cocky. That’s a disadvantage you don’t need, and one they’ll use against you.”

“Yeah, Silver was just commenting about that a few ago.”

“That’s because he’s a smart stallion. Maybe you should listen to him,” Spitfire gently admonished. “We have to be ready for anything, from the changelings to militant cybernetic parasprites, got that?”

“Yeah, I got it,” he laughed. “You know, there are times you remind me of my wife.”

“Well, we are cousins, so that shouldn’t surprise you,” Spitfire reminded him, chuckling. “Besides, flycolt, you had your chance to party with me when we were both single. Don’t blame me because you decided to stick with the second best.”

Thankfully, she couldn’t see him roll his eyes; though they had never been an item when they were both in the Wonderbolts, she often liked to tease Rainbow about that to no end. “Save it for Rainbow, Spits. After this is all over, you two will have all the time in the world to get on each other’s nerves.”

“Looking forward to it. Anyway, I need to get going; we’ve got some VIPs running around here – apparently Lyra wants to start throwing around that authority she recently was given.”

“Lyra’s in town? Didn’t you used to have a thing for her?”

“No, I used to flirt with her just because it was fun. Anyways, major Spearflight says he hasn’t seen them in Conference Room 7, so she’s probably wandering off causing mischief. Not too worried about it, but I really don’t need unauthorized ponies running around during such a sensitive time you know? Anyway, you take care down there, Soar. EQMILCOM, out.”

Removing his headset, he turned his attention to the map table, one of those fancy Microsoft Pixelsense tables that had been purchased in the last round of tech upgrades. Personally, he didn’t care for it; the digital surface of the table never worked right with his hoofspace, and besides, he preferred the old papery feel of old-style maps that they used to use in the old days. Unfortunately, time marched on whether or not a stallion wanted it to, and the same went for technology as well.

The table reflected the hospital, in the center of the map, as well as the armor and ad-hoc companies that had been assembled from all the troops present. Beyond that was the helicopter and aircraft perimeters. All civilian air traffic was being redirected to Ponyville International Airport, the closest city available to pick up the pieces. Civilians were being asked to say indoors, and the Foreign Ministry had worked out agreements with the various embassies to cover selected areas in case things got out of hoof.

All he could see was blue everywhere – the sign of allied troops – and not a sign of red, that of the enemy. But these were changelings. Subterfuge and stealth was their bread and butter, and over the years, they’d gotten better at hitting their targets when they were least suspected. He’d heard a legend once on Human-Earth about ancient warriors called ninjas who were masters of stealth and assassins supreme. While he didn’t believe the stories and knew the changelings weren’t assassins – you can’t kill what you feed on, after all – the rest of it rang all too true.

“Come on out, you nags,” he seethed softly, looking at the map, a moment of time that would look very different soon enough. “I’m going to make you all pay for hurting my Rainbow.”

Slowly, DJ came to consciousness, her head screaming. As her vision cleared, she looked around and saw that Elusive and Lyra were still out. What happened? The last thing she remembered, they had been escorted by some military personnel into a conference room, and…

Her head throbbed. “Owwww….” she whined. Using the table as a crutch, she forced herself to her feet, then leaned against it for a bit to stabilize herself, taking deep breaths. After a few seconds, she felt okay enough to help the others. Dropping down to her knees, she shook both Lyra and Elusive. “C’mon, get up! We’ve got problems!”

Elusive was the first to open his eyes. “DJ? What happened?”

Lyra rubbed her face as she sat up; it looked as though she’d been clocked in the face and a black eye was developing. “Changelings,” she growled, before wincing. “They got the drop on us and hit us hard – me, specifically. How’d they get on the base?”

“We need to warn the others! Is there a phone in here?” The trio got up and looked around, seeing nothing.

“Dee, try the door,” Lyra told her. “Elusive, you good enough to throw a magic blast? I still feel a bit woozy.”

DJ started jiggling the door handle, to no avail. “Hey!” She then started banging on the door, with the only response being the clang of the metal. “Hey, there’s someone in here, dammit!”

“Sister, stand back,” Elusive said, charging his horn. He then loosed a magenta blast of energy against the door, only to watch it harmlessly dissipate. “Looks like the door has preacher’s iron in it,” he added.

“Preacher’s iron?” DJ asked.

Lyra groaned. “It’s an isotope of iron that’s found, ironically, on Human-Earth. It’s called preacher’s iron, because the majority of previously known objects tend to be religious objects made of iron or an alloy of same. It doesn’t impact us normally, but it will dissipate any magic used against it. I don’t know the specifics; I think the Guild was researching it.”

“Well, if it’s in the walls, there’s no way we’re getting out,” DJ groaned. “In any case, we should assume we’re trapped until further notice. Fuck!”

Elusive’s ears flickered. “Wait, did you hear that?”

“From behind the table. Be careful; it could be a trap.”

He nodded, then slowly made his way to the other side of the table, charging another spell just in case. But as he did, he noticed two others also just coming to: one a unicorn mare slightly older than him, the other a human woman. “Hey, we’ve got two over here!” He immediately started to administer first aid spells, while Lyra did the same for herself. Once that was all done, the unicorn mare was the first to respond, giving their rescuers a smile. The woman, on the other hand, eyed them warily.

“Looks like they got you, too,” the mare spoke. “You three okay?”

“As much as we can be,” Lyra told her. “Who are you?”

“Oh! Sorry about that! My name is Sunset Shimmer. I’m here on behalf of my employer, Princess Champagne Dreams, to observe the situation from here. But as I said, looks like they got to you as well. In any case, we’re trapped in here: there’s no outbound communications, and the room is lined with preacher’s iron, so we can’t blast or teleport our way out.”

Lyra whistled appreciatively. “Teleport? You must be an accomplished mage.”

Sunset blushed. “Actually…I dropped out of the Magic Academy. I really don’t know what my power level is measured at. I think I’m fairly good, but every unicorn does, I guess.”

Elusive then noticed the other person. “Cerise? What are you doing here?”

“Lord Elusive?” the blonde gasped, as if finally noticing he was in the room. “What are you doing here, your grace?”

“Here with the acting Chancellor and my sister,” he said, gesturing to Lyra and then DJ in turn.

Cerise’s eyes suddenly hardened. “What is that…thing doing here?”

Lyra’s decades of experience as an ambassador taught her when to defuse a situation and this was no different. “Well, I think we should take the time to introduce ourselves,” she said, interrupting. “You obviously know Elusive, and as for me, I’m—”

Cerise briefly smiled. “I know who you are. Lyra Heartstrings, Viscountess Morgan. It’s an honor to meet you, your grace.” The smile vanished as she turned to glare at DJ. “And I know who you are, traitress.”

“Excuse me?” DJ asked.

“You’re the ungrateful brat that abandoned your family!” Cerise snarled. “Lady Rarity is a saint, and you’ve been backstabbing her all these years, you…you harridelle!”

“I’ve been what?” DJ said, dropping her tone, a sign that she was not happy – and was about to show said person just how not-happy she was.

“Your own mother! That mare is the most generous soul I’ve ever met!” Cerise said, getting into the humanized pony’s face, “and you had to go dump all over her and your family! Your grandparents, sisters and so many have died because of your selfish, uncouth ways!” But Cerise wasn’t done yet. “Lord Elusive, how could you stand to be with this betrayer?” she asked him. “She stepped in the way of everything you and your family stand for! And you’re with this…this…human?”

Elusive looked at the woman, finding it more than a bit ironic that she would use her own species’ name as an epithet towards DJ. “Cerise, I don’t believe this is any of your business. Please don’t confuse your working relationship – and I presume friendship as well – with my mother for actual permission to get involved with my family’s affairs.”

“But, Lord Elusive! I—”

“Okay, I don’t know – or care – who you are,” DJ snarled. “I think we’re going to have a nice chat, you bitch. At full fucking volume!”

Lyra, knowing exactly what was about to come next, immediately stepped behind DJ and grabbed both her arms. “Okay, we’re cutting this off before it goes nuclear,” she said in an all-too-weary tone.

“I think I agree, your grace,” Sunset said, encircling Cerise in a silver bubble and pulling her to the other side of the room.

Meanwhile, Lyra and Elusive dealt with their problem. “Look, Dee, she’s not worth the hassle,” Lyra insisted.

“She won’t be – after I knock her fucking block off!” DJ snarled.

“Sister, please!” Elusive said. “We’re all trapped in here for the nonce and we have a bigger issue than Cerise’s accusations right now. For example, we need to get out of here and let the authorities know the base has been compromised!”

Meanwhile, Sunset was doing the same in her corner. “Cerise, what in Tartarus do you think you’re doing?”

“Don’t you know who that is?” the human told her.

“I would’ve if you hadn’t interrupted the introductions!” The amber mare looked at her friend oddly. “Seriously, what has gotten into you?”

“What’s wrong with me? Sunset, what’s wrong with you? Last month you were all about how much you hated humans and how you’d wish they’d all go back to their world and that Celestia would throw away the key!”

“When did I say that? I don’t hate humans – I barely know any, aside from you!”

“Yeah, and you know I wish I was a mare,” Cerise reminded her. “As it is, you said it at my roommate’s birthday party last week, when you were flirting with that stallion? What was his name again?”

“Okay, now I know you’re joking – I don’t go visit you because your roommate hates me!”

“No she doesn’t. She’s just kinda sad that you didn’t return her affections,” Cerise explained. “Besides, you sure you don’t remember him? He asked you out and you kissed him.”

“I would say I had one too many ciders, but I rarely drink, you know that. Besides, my boss has me so busy I don’t have time to date,” Sunset explained. “Besides, this isn’t about me, and we have bigger things to worry about. We have to get out of here and warn the princesses that the base has been taken over by changelings – this could be the first step towards outright war!”

“Okay, okay, I get your point,” Cerise grumbled. “Because we’re friends, I’ll knock it off. But promise me you’ll keep that freak away from me so I don’t have to deal with her.”

“Fine, fine, but you’re buying me lunch later got that?”

“Deal.”

That done, the two sides returned to where they were. “I, um, apologize for the tension, all,” Sunset said. “I hope we’ve managed to sort things out. Anyway, again, I’m Sunset Shimmer, and apparently you already know Cerise.”

“Well, I guess we should try again on our end,” Lyra began. “I’m Lyra Phillips, Viscountess Morgan and the Equestrian Ambassador to the United States. Apparently you both know Elusive, and as for the other one here, she’s Daisy Jo Martinez, officially Countess Faroe, but technically not a part of the normal standing nobility.”

“That sounds interesting,” Sunset said, offering a hoof to DJ. “Do tell, your grace.”

“Please,” DJ replied, “Just call me DJ, Ms. Shimmer.”

“Then please, just call me Sunset.” The unicorn suddenly had a thought. “You know, I get this strange feeling that we’re related. I know that’s a weird thing to say, but….” She shrugged.

DJ chuckled. “Do you say that to everyone or am I just lucky?”

Sunset waved it off. “No, just an odd thought. Please just forget about it.”

Elusive smiled, trying to put on his mother’s charm. “Well, now that we know one another, would you care to tell us how you ended up here?”

“Sure,” the woman said, pulling up a seat, followed soon by the others.

Sunset began. “Well, my employers, Prince Blueblood and Princess Champagne, requested that I be an official observer on their behalf, as the two have a vested concern in both the condition of the hospital and the bearers.”

“Any reason why they’re not present in-pony?” Lyra asked.

“They started a goodwill tour of the Hoofalulu Islands,” Sunset explained. “Furthermore, Princess Celestia requested that all minor houses relocate out of the capital for the nonce.”

“That’s right,” Lyra pointed out. “In emergency situations like this, it’s important to have somepony in the line out of town. Something like what the Americans do with their designated survivor program.”

“In any case,” Sunset continued, “I was willing to stay behind and observe on behalf of the Prince.”

Elusive nodded. “And what about you, Cerise?”

“No official reason,” the human replied. “I guess if you want to know the truth, I’m just worried about Rarity. She’s not only my employer, she’s a friend, too.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet!” DJ snarked. “So, fucking or 69?”

“DJ….” Elusive sighed.

“Fine, fine. Look, you just stay on your side of the room and I’ll stay on mine, okay?”

The woman huffed. “Fine!”

“DJ, stop acting like a child,” Lyra admonished. “In case you forgot, we’re trapped by changelings, who apparently have taken over the base as far as we know, and we need to get out of here!”

It was then that the screen in the room came on, with the face of Chrysalis filling up the screen. Behind her was a group of changelings, as well as adult version of the type of pony that Cadance’s son was. None of them looked affable. “Well it’s good to see that you’re all comfortable,” the changeling queen replied.

“What do you want, Chrysalis?” Lyra snarled.

“Oh, is that you? I don’t recall your name, but I do remember having you under my collar. You and those other two mares, well, we could’ve had some fun times. Regrettably, I was too busy at the time plotting the downfall for Canterlot…a plan that had sadly failed due to the meddling of that little purple tail-lifter. But now, you see, I have her and that harridelle Cadenza out of the way, and there’s nothing that will stop me from taking over Canterlot!”

“Bullshit! You want to bet? First word that Canterlot goes down, NATO will be all up in your ass, bitch!” DJ shouted.

“And I see you haven’t learned to control that mouth of yours. I suppose the Nightmare was right. I have no idea what she sees in you, but she wants you alive, so we agreed to corral you. The rest of you are just…what’s the term the humans use? Ah, yes – collateral damage.”

“Wow, how did you get to be in charge of anything other than a fry cook? That’s not to say that fry cooking is a bad job, but rather that you seem too much of a retard to even figure out that much.”

“Watch your tongue, foal. The Nightmare only insisted that you be alive – not that you be intact.”

“Kiss my ass, okay, you freakstick fuck? You can rim me, run your tongue around—”

Lyra knew what was coming next, descriptionwise. “DJ, I don’t think the rest of us need to hear that.” DJ merely turned to face her old friend and shrugged.

“However, I thought I’d share a little something with you, namely, as I destroy Canterlot once and for all. You get to be the last survivors of both ponydom and humankind in this abattoir, and when I am done, you will beg for death. And if you are lucky, I will grant it. But for now, I have other things to do, so…taa!” Thevisual onscreen changed from where Chrysalis was to the hospital grounds, where the forces present had been prepped for what was to come next.

And the camera was clearly centered on what was both Mike and Sam.

“YOU BITCH!” DJ screamed, slamming the table in anger and cracking it with the force of her blow.

The helicopter landed at the castle helipad and the two Knights stepped out, saluted by those around. The airponies present had a feeling something big was about to go down, especially with the tension that was said to be in the palace right now. That then became magnified as the three princesses appeared, striding over to the two Knights. Not a single one of them, not even Pinkie Pie, had a smile on their face. The airponies watching knew that had to be significant, but what the significance was? Of that, they had no clue.

“Hello, girls,” Celestia said, as she looked at Pinkie and Fluttershy. “I trust the flight was okay?”

“No,” Pinkie said, a guilty look on her face.

“Pinkie,” Luna said, knowing what was going to come up. It always did. “It wasn’t your fault. None of this is your fault.”

Pinkie’s hair wilted. “I should’ve tried harder to grab the other girls. I let them all suffer because I wasn’t fast enough.”

Candance went over and hugged the smaller mare. “It wasn’t your fault. It was Chrysalis’ and Nightmare Moon’s. They did this, and now you have a chance to break their hold on the others.”

“I take you two read my brief?” Celestia asked them.

“On the way over, Celestia,” Fluttershy explained. “I’d be lying if I said I understood the whole plan, but given that it’s something that Twilight came up with, I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising.”

“Let’s go in and discuss this for a bit. We still have an hour to go before we need to be there, so I want you to know your parts in detail. From what I understand, we only have one shot at this, and if we fail….” The sun alicorn didn’t want to finish her statement.

“Then let’s do this,” Pinkie said immediately. “I…even if it’s not my fault, I can’t stand to see ponies I love so hurt by this meanie jo greenie of a virus! Then once we do that, we stop Chrysalis and Nightmare Meanie for once and for all! And theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen I’m going to throw the biggest party there ever was!” With a slight jump, Pinkie’s hair, as well as her, was back to normal buoyancy.

“Glad to see you’re back, Pinkie,” Luna said with a smile.

“I’m always back! And forth! And sideways, too! Now, we need to go over this plan. Oh, and cake, cake too! Very important.”

Despite the situation, Celestia laughed. “Of course, Pinkie. There are few things in life more important than cake. So, shall we go attend to that?” With that, the five mares headed back towards the castle, leaving the airponies watching, even more confused than before.

Sixty of the Privateer fighters raced in the air, all armed to the teeth and piloted by the best available. Tearing apart the distance between Saddle Arabia and the Equestriani mainland, the aircraft and its pilots were ready for war.

In his pilot’s seat and very comfortable with how his unit was performing, Khalid spoke to his troops. “You have your orders: Group A will commence to Canterlot and take down the fighter and attack helicopter screens. Group B will move down the coast and engage and sink their aircraft carrier, as well as any other Equestriani ships. If there are any other nation’s ships in the area, do not engage unless they are firing at you. The fewer nations assisting Equestria, the better.”

“Now you have your orders. Good hunting and may we make it all back alive.”

The two groups of fighters banked away from one another, headed towards their targets of opportunity.

A pepsis seated at a communications station turned to look at di Tacco. “Sir, the fighters are halfway to Equestria and should be arriving over their airspace within the hour. We have not appeared on any of their radar systems, even the ones our advance unit has disengaged.”

“Good,” he told her, before turning to Prince Artemis. “Any particular requests that you would like aside from Celestia and Luna’s deaths?”

“Yes, ensure that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is dead at all costs, whatever it takes.”

“Of course, but I’m wondering why you prioritized Cadenza over Celestia, who apparently is holding you back from declaring independence.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Artemis told the man. “Cadenza is my sister…and she was a mistake that should never have lived. Saddle Arabia will suffer no more under the hooves of the alicorns. Even if one is of my own blood.”

Tied up in a chair and her mouth gagged, Spitfire glared at Chrysalis, who looked like the manticore that ate the cockatrice. “Oh, did you want to say something?” the changeling queen asked, removing the gag.

“Well, for starters, how did you get on base? This is one of the most secure locations in the world!” Spitfire demanded.

“That’s easy. We didn’t have to get on base…because we were already here. This building sits right atop one of our backup nests, and so it was easy to gain access to a facility that was compromised from the very beginning. After that, we had changeling laborers, disguised as construction ponies, build a hidden subbasement where we have had access all this time. After all, why would a non-technological species like us be able to outwit you at every turn?” She gave a toothy grin, filled with fangs and malice. “Because we are not the primitives you ponies think we are…and you ponies are not the vaunted species you think you are, either.”

“I should let you know, you’re not going to get away with this. We have alarms and changeling detectors all over the place!”

In response, Chrysalis transformed into Spitfire. “Well, it’s a shame that they’re down at the moment because I ordered the equipment repaired, and the contractor informed us replacement equipment won’t arrive from Japan for at least another three weeks.” She changed back to herself, and laughed. “Besides, I don’t have to worry about ‘getting away with this’, as you say. All I have to do is just make sure that the obstacles are out of my way. Then my allies will turn Canterlot into a memorial.” She looked at her pepsis. “Get into position and keep the enemy busy while we take down the defenses.” She then turned back to Spitfire, adding, “And what to do with you, I wonder?”

Chrysalis walked over to where the weapons had been confiscated from the remaining ponies still alive in the room. Picking up a pistol, she cooed, “You know, I’ve always wanted to know how these things work. They are vastly different from the bows and arrows you ponies were using just a few decades ago. And to think that you had a chance to stop us with those? Well, with these,” she said, as she slipped one in her hoof and cocked the hammer, “you actually do. And I’m afraid I cannot allow that at all.”

With that she aimed at a pony, and pulled the trigger. The gun gave out a bark and a lick of flame, and a second later a pony had a hole in its head where it wasn’t supposed to be. However, Chrysalis, unused to the recoil, stepped back in surprise. “Interesting, a weapon that bites back. These humans are very interesting, are they not?”

“Go to Tartarus,” another pony shouted.

“You first.” Chrysalis pulled the trigger once more and there was a second pony that would never speak again.

She then pointed the gun at Spitfire. “You know, I could just mesmerize you and get the information out of you that I need. But no, I think I’ll have a little fun here, what do you think?”

One of the pepsis approached her. “Mother, may I?” To Spitfire’s surprise, he looked like a nightmarish version of Shining Armor.

The look on Chrysalis’ face suddenly became maternal. “Why, Cold Armor, dear, what did you ever have in mind?”

“Let’s just say she’s going to tell me everything I want to know, and she won’t live to see the end of the day.” Spitfire glared at the pepsis, who casually spit in her face. She was about to complain about something, but then she suddenly felt something very wrong with her.

Cold’s horn lit up. “Oh, Spitfire, dear, I need to talk to you.”

“No, you bastard, I’m not talking!” she said, fighting against what she knew was a changeling compulsion spell. “I’m not telling you shit!”

“Oh, but dear,” he said, continuing to channel his magic. Slowly, he started changing color to a bright yellow, with a short blue and red mane and building blocks for a cutie mark. “I need to speak to Princess Celestia, and I can’t find her. She said there was a plan for me to find out where all the alicorns are, because they wanted me to provide games for the victory party.”

Her eyes now glazed over by the spell, she tried to reach out for her husband, but found she couldn’t. “Klick? What’s wrong with me?”

“You…were injured in a flight accident,” he told her. “You’ve been given medicine to prevent you from moving so you don’t injure your wings further. That’s why you asked me to talk to the princesses, remember?”

A soft, loving smile came over Spitfire’s face. “Yes, I remember. That’s so sweet of you to do that.”

Cold gave a cruel smile, though that’s not what Spitfire, in her reverie, saw. “I’d do anything for you, dearest. But I need to know that information. I don’t have a lot of time left before I have to set up.”

“Okay,” she said. “The princesses will all be flying above the hospital, encircling it.”

Got you. “That sounds pretty weird, hon. Why would they do that?”

“Because…because they’re absorbing an immense amount of power from their three aspects, and then channeling it down to the Knights, who will then destroy the curse, or so I’m told. It didn’t make much sense to me, but you’re the unicorn, love, not me.”

“Right. But I still don’t see why they’re up in the air.”

“Because it’ll be safer and easier than on the ground. If they’re on the ground, it makes it harder to absorb mana from their aspects. If they’re in the air, it’s easier. Plus, they’d be harder to keep safe while on ground; ironically, in the air, all the troops have to do is just shoot down any opponents. And between the two perimeters and all the troops on site, there’s no way Chrysalis will be able to attack us.”

The malicious grin on Cold’s face was one of enjoyment. “Yes, I don’t know what would happen to Canterlot if the changeling queen were to show her face again. But I wonder why the princesses must not be bothered? That part doesn’t make sense.”

“Sure it does – you tell me all the time about magical overload, right? I remember you telling Hopes that it’s a physical law, Second Law of Thaumodynamics. The princesses said if they absorb too much energy and can’t channel it, they’re subject to it as well.” She looked at her husband. “I feel…sleepy all of a sudden.”

Chrysalis looked at Cold. “That’s perfect. Now get rid of her.” She hoofed him the gun. “You know what to do.”

He smiled and said, “Oh, thank you, nurse. Oh, honey, the nurse is here, and she brought a new medical serum that will help. Straight from the human lands – supposedly it will speed up your healing.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “You just put the item against your head and when you’re ready, you just pull the trigger, and there you go.”

“Sounds like a gun.”

To her, Klick Klack leaned over and kissed her. “But they have all sorts of guns in the human world, and not just weapons. You know, radar guns, staple guns, water guns, you know, that sort of stuff. This is a medicine gun.”

Spitfire put the gun to her head. “You sure?”

“I promise that once you pull the trigger, you won’t feel any further pain.”

She smiled and said softly, “I love you.”

And then pulled the trigger.

Green fire burned around Chrysalis, and a second later, Spitfire was alive once more, in a matter of speaking. “Establish contact with their senior officer,” she ordered, “and draw away half their troops. While we have more than enough changelings to throw at them, I want Equestria’s forces to be made inconsequential.”

The pepsis at the station nodded. “SSO, this is EQMILCOM. Stand by for EQMILCOM Actual.” She paused the line and said, “Pick up that unit over there, Mother, and speak into the bottom.”

“I know how to use a phone, you idiot,” she snarled before picking it up and speaking into it. “This is EQMILCOM Actual.”

“Yeah, I’m here, Spits. What’s up?”

“Intelligence just got a report that there’s a changeling group building at the base of the mountain. We need to strike while the iron’s hot. How many troops can you spare?”

“Did the princess authorize this? I thought she wanted all available troops on station?”

“I spoke to Luna about twenty minutes ago. She wants troops down there, soonest.” In order to keep up appearances, “Spitfire” sighed. “Yeah, for the record, I agree with you, stallion, I do. I told her that it was a waste of time and that it was probably just a diversion. But Luna doesn’t want to take chances. You know how she is.”

“No argument. So, I can send a quarter of our troops down there, light infantry. They’ll move fast and in the event of an emergency, we can have them back up here soonest.”

“Luna’s not going to like that. Send a third of the total troops, plus some armor. It’ll be slower, but in the event that the intelligence is correct, we can put those bugs down for good.”

“A third of the troops is more than I like. Plus, those tanks’ll take forever to get back here.”

“Do you really think tanks will be effective against changelings? And be glad Luna gave me discretion to choose the amount of forces rather than just ordering us. Then we’d really be underponied.”

“Okay, you have a point. Okay, a third of our troops, plus all but a couple of the tanks. A show of force should scare them silly.”

Oh, you stupid stallion. If you only knew. “Sounds like a plan. Make it happen.”

“Roger that, Spits. Anything else?”

“Not on this end. You take care, okay?”

“Roger that. SSO out.”

The moment the communication was done, she said, “Send a message to both Nightmare Moon and di Tacco. I want that fighter perimeter down and once it is, I want everything in the area taken apart. As many changelings as it takes.”

“Mother, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” She turned to see Blood Armor approaching her. “While taking down the fighter and attack helo screens is a good idea, having them attack in coordination with the changeling wave is only going to get valuable warriors killed! And while we have millions of the Old Brood, it does take a toll on morale. We pepsis are superior, but we understand that the Old Brood are worth something.”

“I don’t care,” she said. “I want Celestia’s, Luna’s and Cadenza’s head on bucking pikes outside the palace walls. I want each of the Bearer’s skins carved up and made into capes for my personal amusement! And I want all of ponydom to burn.”

“And I thought you wanted more than just that.” Both turned to see Nightmare Moon approach them. “You know the rules. We make this fast, efficient and brutal. You get what you want, I get what I want, and the human world is wide open for a coordinated strike from all of us. We will split the treasures of two worlds, and all you want is revenge?”

“As if you’re one to talk,” Chrysalis countered. “I’ve had my brood in position for months, waiting for this moment. I was the one who supplied troops for both your strike and that damnable human’s. Don’t forget who the most important ruler in this agreement is.”

As Chrysalis turned her attention back to her brood, Nightmare narrowed her eyes. “Take care, Chrysalis. You may find that even you are not indispensable.”

“All things considered, sir, this is stupid.” Maj. Sable Loam watched as the tanks and several companies’ worth of troops pulled off. “We’re supposed to protect the alicorns at all costs for this operation and they’re peeling off a third of our forces?

“I’m really not sure tanks will be of much use unless changelings can turn into massive things that require the need for armor,” Mike told him. “As it is, unless the information we have is wrong, when in battle don’t changelings prefer to fight with overwhelming numbers?”

The stallion nodded. “If I recall correctly, there was a news reporter tracking down the approximate numbers of changelings the last time they approached Canterlot, and if the number crunching was correct, there were close to 200,000 of the bugs in the air. And now if the reports of Chrysalis making runs down south where most of the hives are? Not good.”

“How ‘not good’?”

“Conservative guess? There are, what close to 10 billion humans on your Earth? There are probably just about that many changelings on this one. Even all the ammunition available can’t do enough to take down that many. We would literally have to empty the magazines of all Human-Earth’s armies in order to deal with them.”

Mike shook his head. “Wow, aren’t you cheerful?”

“No sir, just a realist. I’m REA – we’re the last line of defense between the princesses and the things that go bump in the night. I just happen to bump back first.”

Mike laughed. “Well, I’m not going to argue with that sentiment. I just hope that we don’t have to worry about that right now. Or at all, for that matter.” He noted as Sam spoke to several more of his agents, then slowly made his way over. “So, what’s the word?”

“The princesses and the bearers have concluded their briefing,” Sam told both Mike and Sable, “and they’re due inbound in a few minutes. We don’t know if they’re going to helicopter in or teleport, but we should be prepared for anything.

At that point, several REA troops, backed up by US Marines, started to secure the hospital’s helipad, seated in the practical center of the grassy field. At the same time, Soarin’ took to the air, floating just above all the troops present so that they could see him as they addressed him.

“ATTENTION ALL PRESENT,” Soarin’, his voice enhanced via a spell, spoke. “You are here to represent your nations in one of the most important events in Equestriani history. In just a few minutes, our princesses, alongside the other two Knights, will attempt to use a complex and intense magic spell in order to rescue the remaining Knights from their curse. Your duty is simple: we must protect the princesses at all costs. The fate of the nation – possibly even of both Earths – may hinge on the success of today’s operation.

“As you know, Equestria has been under attack by several factions in the recent past. We face Chrysalis and the Changeling Kingdom, who were directly responsible for the destruction of Fillydelphia, causing numerous deaths and injuries and the displacement of countless ponies, as well as an assassination attempt on our princesses while they were in Singapore. Cloudsdale was destroyed by humans from the Islamic Republic of Iran, who then later stormed a peace summit in Belgium, costing the lives of several Dutch and Syrian citizens working to gulf the divide. And lastly, there is the monster that has tormented our very own Princess Luna, Nightmare Moon, whose intent to destroy all of Equestria is well-known. These are the monsters that intend us harm, and may very well attempt to disrupt the situation.

“Make no mistake: all of you present – pony, human, gryphon, minotaur and others – are in possibly the most crucial moment we have. Already we’ve split off a part of the force present in order to investigate a potential changeling advance force at the base of the mountain. That means that the rest of you must – and I do mean must – maintain vigilance in order to protect our princesses. They are relying on all of you to ensure that this mission goes smoothly and so am I.

“So best of hunting, and may Harmony guide your steps and your aim. Make me proud, all of you.” Nothing more to say, Soarin’ returned to the ground, ready to lead the troops on-hoof into battle if need be.

Ibrahim Khalid had always considered himself a devout Muslim, though he thought the ruling class of his former nation was more than a little extreme. That being said, he would admit to having some issues throwing in with creatures that looked more like the concept of demons than the horse demons did. However, di Tacco assured him that the changelings and pepsis worshipped no false gods; though the two were infidels and Nightmare Moon herself was close to djinn, they did not worship the alicorns in any way, shape, or form, which made them better than the horse demons.

Besides, he reminded himself, in war, one does not always get to pick and choose their allies.

As they cruised along, Khalid smiled. The Privateers, as the fighters had been named, flew like a dream. He remembered all the times he’d spent in a simulator and how simplified some of them were in comparison to actual airtime; the Privateer felt very much like that, without the drawbacks of a simplified fighter. The engines were purring along as they were supercruising at Mach 3, and everything read green. This was truly a marvel of human hands, though he could see where the horse demons had added their touch – so much of the coloring in the cockpit was the pink and purple shades they seemed obsessed with.

Now as for the current situation, well, that brought a grin to his face as well. They’d crossed into Equestrian territory an hour ago and so far, there were no sign of interceptors, and the only aircraft of consideration they’d seen to date was a British Airways flight headed south, likely towards Mareami. In any case, it didn’t matter: within a few minutes, the first group would be hitting the REN base at Norflank and the only considerable threat left. The REAF was in shambles and at this point the only serious threat would be that Canterlot fighter screen, which was outnumbered by far. Once that was down, his allies would have a straight shot to victory.

Once again, the old maxim held true: the formula between success and failure danced on the edge of a knife, and only who surprised whom would win this day. So far, they held the advantage, which would pave the way for Nightmare Moon and the utter threat she represented.

He almost felt sorry for the horse demons.

Almost.

After this was over, he relished having the chance to see his wife and children again – di Tacco had informed him that all of the families of those who had defected along with him were being repatriated to Saddle Arabia as welcomed guests of Prince Artemis. The prince himself had been an interesting contrast; though he was a pony and ostensibly the nephew of the princesses, he held no truck with them and indeed found them to be as reprehensible as Khalid did himself. Furthermore, his lands were very reminiscent of Mecca and Medina (Saddle Arabia’s capital, in fact, was called “Maredina”) and it was a beautiful land. Khalid could easily see himself settling down there.

All he had to do was to live long enough to survive what could end up being World War III.

A scroll, scented with chamomile, suddenly popped into existence. “Mom?” Shining Dawn spoke, moving to Twilight Sparkle’s side to help her up. “The sign’s here.”

Twilight, despite feeling exhaustion and the searing pain roaring through her body, forced herself to her hooves. “Thank you, Dawn. Wake the others while I read this message, and ask your aunts to wake up Rainbow.” As Dawn went to go do so, Twilight opened the letter, waiting to see how Celestia would execute her part of the plan.

Twilight,

This plan of yours…it’s madness. Not even Star Swirl the Bearded would have suggested such a plan. And yet, you’ve done the calculations and the preparations, and you’ve done it in your state. And I must admit: if anypony else aside from you would have suggested it, I would have sadly declined. But you are not merely anypony. Not to the others.

Not to me.

Once you are done reading this, tear the paper in half and place each half on the location where you wish Fluttershy and Pinkie to be. They will be teleported to the locations. Once that happens, Luna, Cadance and I will teleport into position and begin our portion. As you said, timing is critical and we only have one shot at this.

We are putting all our lives in your hooves, Twilight.

We believe in you.

- Celestia

“Twi, we’re ready.” Twilight turned to see Applejack and Rarity standing there, with Sweetie and Dawn helping an unsteady Rainbow to her hooves.

“Should we go over the plan one more time?” Twilight asked and the others nodded.

“I can barely remember anything right now, Twi,” Rainbow said in a woozy tone. “So, yeah, go over it again, will ya?”

“Okay,” Twilight said softly, using her magic to draw a diagram on the ground. “We Knights will be in the magic circle, with me as the focal point. It is imperative that you keep your Elements focused on me at all times; we cannot afford to break concentration at all.” She turned to Sweetie and Dawn. “While we’re doing that, you two will have to keep any attempted attacks away from us. Switch between offense and defense, because we don’t know what to expect.”

She then drew a second diagram in the air. “Above us, the princesses will be drawing power from their aspects and channeling it down to me. If it works correctly, then the energy from the aspects should supercharge the Elements and literally burn away the curse.”

“And if not?” Rarity asked, thinking of the foals she might never see again – of the grandfoals she could never see again. Of the husband who had been through so much thick and thin with her, and of everything else.

“Don’t worry, Rares,” Rainbow said, weakly giving the unicorn a wink. “We’ve been through all this before, and we came out on top. Why stop the lucky streak?”

“Are we ready?” Twilight asked. “The moment I tear the paper and summon Pinkie and Fluttershy, it begins.”

Rarity looked at Twilight. “Rainbow’s foal needs her father. My husband, foals and grandfoals need me. Do it.”

“Mac, honey…it’s time.”

“Please, hon, be careful,” Macintosh said, nuzzling Fluttershy. “Ah don’ know what we’d do without ya, darlin’.”

“I’ll be as careful as I can,” Fluttershy told him. “Please, take care of our daughter. I don’t know how she’ll react if I—”

He gently placed his hoof on her mouth. “You’ll come back, an’ we’ll talk about what comes next, darlin’. Just….” He hugged her, his body shuddering. For her part, she hugged him back as tightly as she could, not wanting to let go, her silent tears saying all she could. Eventually, it was time to go, and she reluctantly let go of the love of her life.

“I’ll be back soon,” she told him, tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, her Elemental torc blazing with green energy. “I’ll be back.”

Then she disappeared into nothingness.

Pinkie got out of bed, where she’d been loving Thunderlane in the best way she could. Now, it was time to go.

“Pinkie….”

She moved back to the bed and looked at her husband, the father of her foals. The pony she never thought she’d end up with, and now the pony she couldn’t live without.

“Thundie…I love you. I love our foals. I love our family. I love this world.” She gave him a smile filled with love and joy, the essence of what she was and what she always would be. “I’ll fight for all of this, because the world needs me to.”

“I love you,” Thunderlane told her.

“I know,” she said with a smile and tears in her eyes as she put on her Element, the blue gem glowing like a star. “And I’ll be back.” Tapping her torc, she said, “Twilight, one to beam up!”

And then she vanished in motes of azure sparkles.

Two mares appeared in the circle. “We’re ready, Twi,” Fluttershy told them, trying not to look away from the ragged, haggard individuals before them. Her heart broke to see her loved ones like this, but she had to remind herself that once it was over, they would be back to normal and able to get regular medical care to take care of any remaining issues.

“Let’s do this!” Pinkie chirped, flaring the power of her Element into being. Immediately, four more mares did the same in concert.

“That’s our cue,” Sweetie said, wrapping a shield around the group despite the fact that doing so caused her excruciating pain. Looking at Dawn and trying not to wince, she ordered, “You are the first line of defense in this room, Dawn. Remember what your mother and I taught you, and remember that we’re all counting on you.”

The look on Dawn’s face was once again reminiscent of her father’s. “I won’t let you down,” she intoned with utter gravity. “I won’t let anypony down, ever again!”

Sweetie coughed; the spell was starting to take a hard toll on her. “That’s the spirit! Now let’s save the day!”

In both everywhere and nowhere, the Nightmare looked at her current host. “Are you ready for this confrontation?”

I am, the host spoke without speaking. I am ready no matter what the consequences are.

“Are you sure? This could – and possibly will – end in your death.”

You have your wrongs that you need addressed, as do I. We fight together, as one.

Nightmare smiled. “Good to know that.” With that, she winged off into the air, headed for her target.

As one, the alicorns stood on the balcony, looking at the sky. “Are we ready?”

Luna smiled. “No pressure, right, girls?”

Cadance went up to Celestia and kissed her on the cheek. “Once again, what I said before still applies.”

Celestia beamed proudly. “You both make me so proud, you know that?”

Luna nodded. “Save the speech for the press after this is all done, sister. For now, we have family to save.” No more words passed between the three princesses as they took to the skies, lancing their way towards the ruined infirmary and the loved ones trapped within. They rose majestically into the air, and as ponies around Canterlot watched their rulers soared above, for the first time in what felt like a while, ponydom had hope for a better future, that the dark skies would pass and Celestia herself would let the sun rain down joy and peace on the land of the ponies once more.

The moment they reached their destination, they started to fly around it in a circle. When sure of their path, the three nodded to each other and started to speed up.

Mach 1.

Mach 2.

Mach 3.

The three became nothing more than a purple ring enveloping the space above the hospital, their speed so fast that their coat colors ran together. And as they felt the time was right they called to their aspects.

Celestia sang, “Huc venit sol!”

In the skies above, the sun blazed mightily, sending down a pure stream of energy towards her, both blinding and yet at the same time dazzling in its intensity, until the magical tether made Celestia appear almost as luminescent as the sun.

Luna then canted, “Puer adhuc vivit lunam in corde meo!”

On the other side of the world, the moon flared with intense energy and shot a line of power that arced across the surface of the world until it impacted with the dusky alicorn, turning her into a silvery ball of energy.

Finally, Cadance completed the spell: “Amor est medicamento ego cogito!”

In the Crystal Empire, the Crystal Heart spun and sang faster than it had ever done before. To the amazement of those around it, it blasted a beam of glistening rose power across the sky, lancing into Cadance and creating a pink match to the other two blazing auroras.

The three aspect magics burned together, rose into the air and created a tricolor column that bored down into the very depths of the hospital. The skies shimmered with music and light, as a spell never before seen anywhere began to commence – the very essence of magic, sent to wage war against its darker counterpart, striking down to reach towards the Elements in the hopes the two forces would defeat the darkfire destroying the Bearers.

Thanks to the former cave network within Mt. Canterhorn being converted into a highway system, the group made it down to the base of the mountain in a record amount of time. The moment they arrived on location, the local officer commanding, a burly stallion by the name of Sky Diamond. He was one of the REA’s best infantry commanders, and right now, he’d been placed in charge of a situation that hadn’t been around since he was a foal: an imminent attack on Canterlot by the changelings.

At the moment, they were at the former Guard facility at the foot of the mountain that was soon to play home to the headquarters of REAL. However, as the base was still mostly behind lock and key, it was empty – and a perfect place from which the changelings could launch a brutal attack against the capital.

Well, that’s not going to happen, Diamond thought to himself. I didn’t make colonel just to watch the world fall apart!

“Fan out!” the colonel said, hovering above most of the troops. “You find so much as a bug hoofprint, I want it wasted, understand?”

“Colonel, we’re getting ready to hit the building. Orders?” That came from the second in command, an Equestrian gryphon by the name of Gordon Graystorm, an REA Lt. Colonel. He’d grown up as part of the community of gryphons in Cloudsdale, and as far as Diamond was concerned, he was probably more pony than some of the other ponies he’d served with. He’d known Graystorm for years and if there was a being out there he could trust to do the job, it would be him.

“You heard me, Colonel. If there’s anything in there that looks like a bug? Exterminate it.”

Graystorm flipped him a salute. “Roger that, sir.”

Diamond looked his old friend in the eye. “Seriously, Gordon, take care, okay?”

The gryphon laughed. “If I don’t, my wife’s never going to let me hear the end of it. You just do what you gotta do, Sky.” With that, Graystorm then turned to his troops. “Okay, we go in and we hammer them, got that?” He led the troops in out into the courtyard of the building before entering the facility proper.

Silence reigned for a few minutes while the troops inside the facility swept the area for enemy. Outside, the tanks sat, while the various troops present were itching for a fight and on their guard. Still, Diamond had a good feeling about this. Between the might of the M2 Powell tanks present and enough troops to run roughshod over just about any threat, he knew that the changelings down here didn’t stand a chance.

“Yo, everyone!” Diamond called out, “when we crush these things and get back to base, cider’s on me!” A brief cheer went up for that one, and he grinned. Still got the touch.

That smile fell as he started to hear the echoing chatter of automatic gunfire going off within the building. Keying his headset and quickly slipping it on, he barked out, “Frontline 6 to Chaser 1. Come in, do you copy!”

He heard a voice over the line, but it wasn’t Graystorm’s. “Get…of…! Contact with…! Repeat,….” The line abruptly broke as quickly as it connected. Meanwhile, the gunfire got louder.

“Chaser 2, get your unit in there!” Diamond ordered and another group of ponies responded and began their entry. The moment they reached the front door of the building, however, the whole facility flickered with magical energy before it exploded. The windows and doors shattered and vaporized as flames defenestrated from the building. The sound of gunfire turned to the sound of screams as the troops inside were burned alive in the detonation.

All present looked at the building in shock as a group of large sabertooth tigers made out of molten rock and flame. They growled, and started to prowl around the front of the building.

“Lavacelots?” a sergeant to the right of Diamond gasped. “But they’re supposed to be in Draconia, not here!”

“Well, tell them that!” Diamond argued, as the flaming creatures started charging. “Tanks, open fi—” He was suddenly thrown backwards, and only the quick deployment of his wings saved him from being slammed into a nearby tree. As he got back to his hooves, he noted that the four tanks that had come with him had all been shattered, and below them were the burn marks of incendiary magical circles.

“Well, well, I guess Hearth’s Warming came early!” Diamond turned to see something he’d never seen before: a stallion and a mare, strange hybrids of both pony and changeling. The mare’s horn was glowing the same color as the explosive circles. “Looks like Mother sent us some toys to play with, brother.”

The look in the stallion’s eyes was cold and unforgiving. “Well, my pets did need something to chew on,” he commented drily. “And if not, well, the Old Brood could use some practice.”

That’s when Diamond noticed the hundreds of changelings behind the two strange ponies. The fact that the changelings did not move indicated that these two commanded them.

The mare smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “I’ll tell you what: if you surrender, I’ll make this quick and painless....” She shrugged. “Well, at least for the unit commander. The rest of you? Oh, you’re going to die horribly.” She gave them all another grin. “So, ladies and gentlestallions and others whose species I couldn’t care less about – what’s it going to be?”

The answer came as the mare was shot straight in the head by one of the soldiers. The pepsis fell to the ground, dead.

The strange stallion, meanwhile, sighed. “And here I thought you’d accept her kindness. That just shows me why you all need to be wiped off the map.” He lit his own horn and ordered, “Leave none of them alive.”

The order given, the lavacelots rushed towards the soldiers, leaving burning footfalls in the wake. The soldiers, without needing to be prodded, immediately started opening fire. The changelings rushed into the air, and then down on their enemies. Screams of all types rent the air and the smell of burning flesh, blood and melted metal poured into the skies.

Though those above in the shining city did not know it yet, the Second Battle of Canterlot had begun, and the results of it would change ponykind forever.

In the immediate grounds surrounding the hospital, all present watched as the alicorns once again proved their divine nature. The ponies, touched at a spiritual level, instinctively kneeled before their holy rulers. The humans and other species present stood in utter shock, unable to believe that such a thing was possible – while many had heard of the legends and some had even seen the alicorns use their skills, to see them in full glorious display was a thing of incredible wonder.

Standing there, practically slack-jawed, Mike watched the incredible power on display, as the alicorns began their work. Knowing what he now saw before him, he had to wonder why anyone would have been insane enough to attempt to assassinate the princesses a few weeks back. Yet it happened and as he saw the trio channel power that no human could ever do, he realized another superpower the three alicorns had as well: restraint. They had let him deal with the issue, when they could have merely just blasted their attackers into component atoms.

How powerful are they? he wondered. Maybe the story about them truly being divine, their protests to the contrary, was true after all.

As for Sam, he looked at the blazing orange blur and knew who it was in an instant. Decorum prevented him from blowing her a kiss, but he was sure that she knew. Sure enough, he felt a tap of warmth on his cheek, almost as if a gentle kiss. He continued to watch the miniature sun as it continued to whip around the circle faster and faster, and he knew that part of that awesome strength was bolstered by something that she now knew as fact: she was no longer alone, and she would never face another night solitary.

The soldiers began to cheer as the magical circle began to build, a pure torus of purpure energies, sparkling and shimmering and vibrating with the vitality of both the alicorns and their aspects. The very air tingled and sparked with a sort of static electricity, yet not quite that at all. Ambient magic filled the air, and it passed through every living soul present, and the species of Alter-Earth felt recharged and refreshed. Even the humans, with no magics to call their own, knew something had changed at the elemental level, though they could never quite explain.

As the energies began to build, the forces present relaxed their positions. It seemed as if the forces of light would finally see the day victorious.

“I HAVE YOU NOW!”

Two blurs of black lanced through the sky and slammed into the ring. The torus detonated with a massive sonic boom strong enough to jolt the ground as if the very bones of the mountain shook. Windows detonated, objects were flung around as if toys and people of all species were thrown off their feet, practically flattened by the radiating blast wave. One helicopter in the path of the wake of the white noise blast lost control and plummeted, crashing into a nearby building, though fortunately the pilots, both pegasi, managed to eject in time.

“WE”RE UNDER ATTACK!” Soarin’ shouted, though it was hardly necessary; the troops were immediately scrambling to their feet and to find cover from where the attack had come. Above, the sky began to darken and move like thick ink, and for those who had been alive back then, remembered the scene once more as countless changeling rushed towards the site.

Explosions ripped through the sky and without warning, fighters of an unknown make roared through the space where the helicopters had been just seconds ago. The aircraft quickly fired, loosing missiles at the remaining helicopters, before pulling away. Some of the soldiers began to fire at the agressors as they vanished into the distance, but it was a futile gesture.

Unencumbered, the changelings made their way to the ground and the drones did what they did best, sowing chaos by changing into duplicates of many of the creatures present and blasting away with green spellfire. But the defenders immediately began returning fire, and “unarmed” troops fell, their bodies reverting to the original changeling form once they died. The drones knew that disguises would now be useless, so they switched to their alternate tactics: swarming and brute force.

“EQMILCOM, we are under attack, repeat, we are under attack,” Soarin’ said into his headset. “Notify the advance group to return immediately!” Silence was his only answer. “EQMILCOM, we are under attack, repeat, we are under attack!” Still nothing. “Dammit, Spits, answer the Faustdamn call!” The pegasus ripped off his headset and as he did, a green energy blast hit it, turning it into so much cooked electronics. He immediately dived for the ground and started to return fire.

“What the hell is going on with EQMILCOM?” Silver, who was maneuvering behind him to get to some of the troops, asked.

“They’re down. Don’t know what the hell the deal is…” Soarin’’s words were cut off as he let his weapon, an H&K MP8P, roar. “…but we’ve got our own problems here!”

Silver nodded. “Hold my gun,” he told his friend. “I’m going to out there to show them what a real earth pony can do!”

“What the hell do you mean by that?” Soarin’ asked, but by then, Silver had dropped to all four legs and dashed off towards the enemy at a full gallop, ignoring the inconvenience of his body armor, the blasts being thrown at him by the changelings and the general chaos of the battlefield. As a soldier, that last one was something he was at least used to.

After what felt like a second’s worth of grueling minutes, he reached a group of changelings, back to back, fighting the enemy in the coordination only due to the hivemind they shared. Silver knew he had to stop this and cut loose with the full power of his Monolith ability. Having been born a super-strong earth pony, he and his brother Diamondplate were incredibly powerful and could cause immense destruction when it came to it.

He certainly hoped that would be the case now.

Leaping into the air as high as he could, he slammed right into the middle of the changeling group, all four of his hooves hitting the earth. The ground cracked beneath him and exploded, and any changelings that weren’t pulverized by his landing were crushed by the impromptu ground tsunami he caused. Then the blast wave from his groundslam radiated out, shredding any changelings that were in the immediate vicinity. Finally, in a feat that would’ve impressed most humans, he got back up to his hindlegs, withdrew his pistol and shot the remaining two changelings, who had looked at him with something bordering awe.

Soarin’ and his troops approached him. “Just had to show off, didn’t you?” he chuckled as he handed Silver back his rifle.

“Hey, I’ve been cooped up in a hospital until recently,” Silver joked back. “Had to stretch my legs, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah, now get back to your unit and get them back into the fight, okay? Time’s a wastin’.”

Mike and the others rushed into the safety of a place that, hours before, had just been a café. They immediately got by the windows and started returning fire. They then watched as one of the enemy fighters, attempting to do a strafing run, got hit by something and exploded, crashing into the hospital remains and causing more damage as its weapons cooked off.

“You know, I’d say we needed to hang out more often,” Mike told Sam as they started firing on the enemy, “but somehow I didn’t think this was what I had in mind.”

“That’s okay,” Sam laughed, despite the situation. “I really don’t like fishing, anyway.” His face then hardened as he added, “Besides, once the changelings showed up, any chance of this being a law enforcement operation went out the window. I’m not a military guy, but I’ll do what I have to protect the populace.”

“Sir, those enemy aircraft…they look familiar to you?” Sable Loam was setting up shop by the other window, what looked to be a sniper rifle. But it glowed in certain spots and didn’t look like a normal sniper.

“Major, what’s that?”

Loam grinned. “Oh, this thing, sir? It’s the Hoofington Blastworks MCR-47 Magical Accelerator Firing System. It’s a sniper rifle based on the concept of human coil rifles, except that it runs off of magic. High speed, serious impact.” He patted the plastic side. “Not every modern piece of military equipment we have is built on Human-Earth, Commander. In fact, from what I understand, a modification is being made for humans where it will be a standard coil system.”

“Odd, I hadn’t heard of that.”

“Well, with all due respect, sir, you said you came from the surface warfare community. This is more along the lines of special warfare, at least for now.”

“How powerful is that thing?” Sam asked. While he wasn’t too concerned about the power right now, as a cop he knew that eventually all military weapons somehow managed to find themselves in the hands (or even hoofs, claws, etc.) of criminals and gangs.

As if to answer, Loam slapped a magazine into the well, aimed, and fired. A blast of bluish-white energy flared from the muzzle, and two changelings in the path of the shot practically vaporized into nothingness before the round finally impacted against large flower planter on the hospital grounds, where it detonated from the blow. “As powerful as the usual kinetic blast, I’d say.”

Everyone present looked at Loam’s sniper before finally Mike spoke. “Well, targets of opportunity and all that.” Nothing more was said as they began raining gunfire at their enemy.

The three alicorns picked themselves off the ground in the middle of the huge crater they’d made when they crashed to earth. “Everypony okay?” Celestia asked them.

“Fine,” Luna said, brushing off her coat.

“Not happy though,” Cadance added, as she spat out some dirt that had lodged itself into her mouth.

They looked up to see their ancient enemies hovering above, glaring down at them. “What’s the plan, sister?” Luna asked Celestia.

“You and I will deal with the gruesome twosome,” Celestia said. “Cadance, you will have to maintain the ring until we can assist you.”

“Let me go after the bug,” Cadance seethed. “She and I have a few scores to settle.”

“All the more reason why you shouldn’t,” Luna told her. “Please, let us handle this. You save the girls. You’re the fastest flyer of the three of us – only you can do it.”

Without further ado, the three launched into the air. Cadance immediately used the energy she was drawing from her aspect to boost her speed, while Celestia and Luna summoned their old armor from the past, ready to do battle once more.

Luna and Chrysalis were the first to collide in battle. “Charming,” the queen cooed. “Who’s your tailor?”

“Your reign of terror ends here, monster!”Using the extra power within her, Luna threw a massive blast of burning red energy through the space the changeling queen was, only to find she’d moved just barely out of range.

“My,” Chrysalis cooed, “Looks like you’ll be some fun.”

Luna rushed towards her. “The only fun you’ll have is in the afterlife!” Luna swore as she slammed against the changeling queen, barely missing a direct hit on her foe. Even still, the blow was enough to daze the tyrant queen, sending her spinning through the air.

“You aren’t getting away that easily!” Luna thundered as she raced after Chrysalis.

“Look to yourself, nag!” A blast of green spellfire smacked the lunar alicorn across the face and she briefly lost altitude as she tried to recover. Swinging back up, she steadied herself in the air and charged the changeling queen once more.

While Luna and Chrysalis were slugging it out, Celestia and the Nightmare dove and parried each other, using both magical blasts and weapons. Celestia’s broadsword, Sol Invictus, sang as it burned through the air, only to repeatedly collide against the Nightmare’s hammer. Each blow was a detonation of solar magic, creating a fireworks display of explosions in the sky to anypony witnessing it from a very safe distance.

“YOUR DAYS ARE OVER, NIGHTMARE!” Celestia roared with the full force of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

The Nightmare smirked. “So says the fat, useless politician. When was the last time you truly were a warrior, I wonder? I practically live in my armor. Yours is in a glass case in the Royal Museum, I’m sure.” Pirouetting out the path of Celestia’s swing, the Nightmare struck back, aiming down towards the solar regent’s head.

Celestia immediately blocked and slashed forward – with another sword, a burning flamberge. She followed it up with a strike from a blazing rapier, and as the third blade scored across Nightmare’s barrel, she screamed in utter pain. Celestia moved back, her blades dancing around her as if they were attack drones commanded by a battle platform.

“Did you think I fought only with Sol Invictus?” Celestia laughed as golden power encircled her and her armor began to form from the extra energy her aspect was feeding her. “I also have my other sword, Dawn’s Light – and I’m sure you’re familiar with this one,” she said, bringing the rapier before her.

Nightmare’s eyes narrowed. “The Inkbrush of Wonder,” she snarled. “Faust’s blade.” The dark alicorn brought her hammer to the ready. “Your aunt has taught you well.”

“I have no other forebears, save for my mother,” Celestia said as she lunged forward, striking at Nightmare repeatedly.

“She never told you, did she?” Nightmare spun as quick as a top, putting all her energy into a blow and slammed away Celestia’s swords. Her second blow hit the solar alicorn straight on the barrel, sending her careening towards the ground. Nightmare matched the falling alicorn’s speed and laughed. “You probably thought you came from her twat and sucked at her dugs, didn’t you? And I thought I was supposed to be the monster!”

“What are you talking about?” Celestia snarled as she tried to get control of her descent.

“Isn’t it obvious, Alicorn of the Sun?” Nightmare smiled, her fangs giving an eerie cast to her rictus. “You think me a creation of Luna’s madness, but that was never true. I existed long before either of you. I came into being at the same time as my sister: your aunt, Faust.”

“Whatever trickery you’re trying, it won’t work!” Celestia snarled, firing an energy blast at the Nightmare’s head, but the demon alicorn merely moved her head slightly, letting the beam pass.

“Such a naïve little foal, thinking because the lone surviving alicorn raised her that she must’ve spat her out of her cunt.” The Nightmare laughed cruelly. “Listen, little princess, for I will tell you a True Thing: You’re not Faust’s daughter…

“…you’re mine.”

Both alicorns pulled up at the last second, tearing up gouts of dirt and gashes in the earth as they avoided a potentially cratering impact. The loam sprayed everywhere, brief agrarian roostertails filling the sky. At other times, Celestia would’ve found the general idea amusing; as a filly, she used to dive bomb the lake near Castle Everfree and bring up huge waves as she blew past. But now, she wasn’t focused on that little slice of happy nostalgia.

No, she was focused on the Nightmare’s words and her repeated insults of her mother, infuriating the Princess of the Day to no end. Not only could Nightmare’s statements be completely ludicrous, she knew her mother. Faust had always been there for her from day one and had never shown her anything else than complete and total love, as a mother should. She and Luna were Faust’s daughters, born from the Avatar of Imagination, and any other words were utter falsehoods.

With a movement that bored on balletic, Celestia flipped in mid-air and slammed down onto Nightmare’s back, crashing her to the ground with a scream of rage. This was immediately followed by the solar alicorn raking a massive energy blast across Nightmare’s back, making her scream further.

The dark alicorn got back to her hooves and glared at Celestia. “You’ve been a naughty filly. Mommy spank.”

“If you keep claiming to be my mother, monster,” Celestia seethed, “then perhaps I should consider matricide!”

From her vantage point in her fighter, Scootaloo flew above the remains of Cloudsdale while the rebuilding was going on. She knew she still wasn’t rated for flight duty, but right now she didn’t give a damn. She needed to help, because so many ponies had died in a senseless battle against humans that even the human world wanted to get rid of.

“Colonel, it’s pretty quiet out here,” one of the pilots spoke over the line.

“Reduced communications, colts and fillies,” she reminded them. “We need to keep the channels open in case something happens.”

“Request permission to speak,” an all-too-familiar voice spoke.

“Private channel, Sunsinger 13,” she told him, then switched over. “What is it now, Blitz?”

“This is bullshit, Aunt Scoots,” Rainbow Blitz told her. “Why the hell are we here to protect a place that’s no longer strategically viable? There’s better things to do with our time, like turn the Southwestern Continent into a black glass parking lot.”

Scootaloo knew that term. “Seriously, Blitz?”

“Okay, maybe not that far – we have alliances with the Jaguars, I think. But the point is, we have to do something!”

She said nothing but silently, she had to agree. From the report she got from Lightning Dust this morning, the bulk of the REAF’s fighters had been destroyed, and bombers were useless for what was going on now. They were relying on reinforcement REAF wings to come in from the western portion of Equestria, but the fact was that with the way things were now, the bulk of the useful air force…belonged to the REN.

And she couldn’t disagree with her nephew regarding the intelligence about the south Continent. REAF Intel had reported the vast majority of the changeling strongholds were now based in the Southwestern Continent, and while they had always been down there, from what she knew, the majority of those hives had always been peaceful. But if they had all decided to bow to Chrysalis, that could make things incredibly problematic.

Besides, doing something meant that she could protect her loved ones, like Rainbow, who was trapped in that destroyed hospital. Or her husband Featherweight, who was on the “ground” in Cloudsdale, interviewing survivors of the whole mess. Even Blitz, though he was complaining. She wanted to defend all her family members, all of which could potentially be in danger.

But she was in command right now, which meant restraint. And if she had to do circles around Cloudsdale as a show of force to calm the populace (the real reason they were there) then she would do that.

A new voice came over the line. “Hey Colonel, when’s the tanker getting here? I’m nearly bingo, and we’re due to pull in.”

“He’s right: it’s 1610 – they’re nearly thirty minutes late.”

“Roger that,” Scootaloo replied. “Calling it in.” She then toggled over the channel and began. “EQMILCOM, this is Sunsinger 6. Requesting status on refueling tanker, over.” Silence. “EQMILCOM, this is Sunsinger 6, requesting status on the fueling tanker – it was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago, over.” Still nothing, and Blitz tried a different frequency. “EQMILCOM, this is Sunsinger 6, request response, over.”

A voice came over the line, but it wasn’t one he was expecting. “Sunsinger 6, this is MGEC. EQMILCOM is believed to have been compromised. I say again, EQMILCOM is believed to have been compromised. We will be handling all communications at this time, over.”

“MGEC, Sunsinger 6. What the hell’s going on?”

“EQMILCOM went dark about an hour ago and we are in the middle of a pitched battle with an army of changelings. Defense screens are down and the princesses are in the middle of a battle with Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis. We need you inbound, immediately!”

“MGEC, we are near bingo, though we have weapons onboard. We can head to Canterlot soonest, but we’re gonna need a gas station and quick, over.”

“Sunsinger 6, this is Vice Magus Raspberry Blast. Proceed immediately to Canterlot. We will find a way to get you all fueled up before you arrive on scene. We’ll think of something, but we need you here right now.”

“Roger that, we are inbound. Standing by on channel for further updates, Sunsinger 6, out.” Switching channels once more, she ordered. “All units, Sunsinger 6. Canterlot is under attack and we have orders to assist. Furthermore, EQMILCOM is believed to be out of commission; all traffic will come through MGEC until further notice, got that?”

“What the hell’s going on?”

“Not a clue, but we have our orders,” Scootaloo replied as she winged away from Cloudsdale and kicked in the afterburners, headed towards Canterlot. “Canterlot’s under attack and we’ve been sitting here, tapping our hooves. I don’t know about you all, but I’m not going to be happy until I get some bug squishing done!”

Flying overhead, Celestia saw, with horror, that the battle had expanded well beyond the hospital and there was now fighting in the streets, moving beyond the center of the town and headed both westward and northward. The Mage Guild entered the fray, blasting away with arcane powers and mystic energies. Even some of the citizenry marched out into the streets, fighting alongside their pony brethren. Bodies of various species littered the ground and many went to the Great Plains, or whatever their belief systems allowed. Orders were barked and a variety of martial sounds went through the air.

“Take them down!”
“I’m hit!”
“Keep the pressure on! Unicorns, full range magic blasts, now!”
“Weapons free, weapons free, repeat, weapons free!”

She looked frantically for Sam; last she saw, she had been with Mike and some other troops, but she lost them in the middle of her battle against Nightmare Moon – and right now, there was a lot of that going on as well.

The dark alicorn rammed her directly into the palace complex, ironically destroying her own wing of the venerable building. Before Nightmare Moon could follow up, however, Celestia spun and bucked her opponent as hard as she could, sending her flying through the walls. She took off after her opponent, but paused to see REG personnel evacuating the floor.

“Evacuate the whole of the complex and get the staff to the safety of the basements,” she commanded.

“The whole complex?” the pony gasped.

“At the rate things are going,” she told him as she launched after Nightmare Moon, “there might not be one standing!”

Having moved several buildings to the south, Mike, Sam and his group met up with Master Chief Khan and his contingent. They had moved into the worst of the fighting and, sadly, encountered the remains of a family of ponies that had been killed in the battle when part of the building collapsed.

“They didn’t deserve this,” Mike growled.

“No one does, Commander,” Khan replied, finding a blanket in the ruins of the apartment and covering the family.

“Any word from anyone?” Sam asked.

One of the soldiers with Khan’s group spoke up. “Nothing yet, sir. We have reduced communications and EQMILCOM has gone dark. MGEC has stepped in to back up, but they don’t have the full spectrum of gear we need and we don’t know completely what the status is. We don’t have casualty estimates for either side and the fighting doesn’t look to be stopping anytime soon, sir.”

“Wonder what the hell’s going—” He never finished his sentence as the back caved in and changelings started to boil through the wall.

Khan turned and fired, killing the trio instantly. However, the shots didn’t come from his service-issued XM-29, but instead a revolver in his hand.

Sable looked at the hand cannon, then at the perfect-hit shots from it. “Nice shooting.”

He nodded. “It was hand cannon given to me by my father, who served in the Gulf War,” the man said. “I’ve been using it since I was a kid, and while it’s not standard-issue, it still kills the bad guys dead.”

“Well, we can’t stay much longer,” Sam told him as they looked outside. “We’re going to have to move on from this location.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mike replied. “Master Chief, you take your unit and see if you can find one of the generals. Director Martinez, the XO and I will remain here and see what we can do to keep the changelings away from the hospital.”

“Think you can do that, sir?” one of the troops asked Mike.

“Well, given how things are, I don’t think it can get any worse,” Sam replied.

“Director, trust me,” Khan replied. “In all my years in the fleet, I’ve found one truth: it will always get worse.”

Cadance had always loved flying. As a young filly, she’d proven a hoofful and a half for her governess, Cozy Hearth, as well as her Sentinels, the guards who had come with her from Saddle Arabia and sworn to protect her. As she was older, she often flew with her foalhood friend, Quick Draw, and some of her guards. And through the years, she’d flown, often times wondering if she should’ve been a pegasus instead of an alicorn – oftentimes it felt like that was the magic she used most.

So now she used that ability for all it was worth, and then some. Mach 1? No problem. Mach 2, 3? Eh, even the fastest pegasi could do that when it came to it. Mach 4? Rainbow and her family did that regularly.

So here she was, pushing Mach 6, absorbing all the ambient magic from her own flight, while fending off changelings trying to stop her by the dozen. And on top of that, she was absorbing all the magic that was being blasted into her by the Crystal Heart, all the way in Empire City. It was more than any alicorn was used to dealing with and certainly, more than she, the youngest of the alicorns, had ever had to contend with.

Yet, despite the burning, the hits from the changelings and the soreness in her wings that was kicking in, she continued to push. She had to do it, or else Twilight and the others would die. Without them, the Elements would go inert. Without those, they were powerless against Nightmare Moon and other magical evils and ultimately, Canterlot would fail. Her family would rupture and her son would be in grave danger, not to mention the subjects of Equestria.

So, she had no choice – she kept on going.

Around her, she could hear the blasts of magic and the staccato of gunfire. She herself was throwing out the occasional punch or magic blast to keep the changelings away, though she was using speed as her main weapon.

I wish Celestia or Luna would have taught me how to create an aetherial weapon like they have, she thought to herself. Maybe once we survive this – if we survive this – I’ll have to talk to them about that.

She vaguely recalled what Twilight’s plan was: to use their magic to create a sort of tokamak, drawing in the various energies of the aspects to blast down to the Elements. She’d gone over this plan in her head a dozen times, and still it didn’t make sense, but she didn’t have the science and magical background that Twilight had. Regardless, it was blatantly obvious that if this didn’t work, they were all doomed.

So she flew, hoping she would see her loved ones again.

Outside the perimeter of Canterlot, a new fighter screen had been put up, but this one was intended to keep the forces of Equestria out of the city. From his position above Canterlot, Khalid pulled away from a heavy strike on Canterlot Mountain base. With most of the facility heavily damaged, even if by the impossibility that they could lose, it would be a long time before the ponies rebuilt.

One of his pepsis pilots spoke up. “Sir, shall we begin strike runs?”

“No,” Khalid told him. “We are as likely to hit our own troops as we are the enemy and it wouldn’t do that much good. Besides, news that Canterlot is under attack can’t last much longer.”

Sure enough, his alert radar went off, followed shortly by one of his pilots shouting, “Incoming REAF fighters, angels 5, coming in from the south!”

Khalid rolled his eyes; when this was over he was going to “Understood. Turn and engage fighters; Units 8 through 14, hit those gun emplacements. The rest of you will engage and strike the enemy, am I clear? How many contacts do we have?”

“We have twelve fighters inbound, sir.”

Khalid laughed. Like lambs to the slaughter, little ponies, like lambs to the slaughter. “On my mark, engage and fire, do you understand?”

The targeting signal went off again. They’d already fired!

“Break, break! Drop countermeasures and engage!” Khalid ordered. The fighters pulled away, with only one unsuccessfully doing so and taking a missile full-on. The fighter broke apart and exploded, and the burning remains fell and crashed against the side of the mountain.

The Privateers immediately returned fire, launching missiles against their enemy.

In her cockpit, Scootaloo was about to target the unidentified fighter. Glad that the Guild were smart enough to come up with a refueling plan – Fly to the Lonely Spire, then have mages teleport the fuel into our tanks; that’s a new one – she’d never seen them before and she didn’t know what their qualifications were. However, the moment most of them managed to avoid their first strike, she knew it was bad. “All units, break, break! Drop CMs and take ‘em to the roof! We can’t let them take Canterlot!” she ordered. At once the REAF fighters rocketed into the air, all barely dodging the missile barrage. They headed for the cloudline and pushed through it, eight miles up.

The enemy fighters cut along and followed, just as Scootaloo hoped. “Alpha flight, follow me. Sunsinger 13, you have command of Bravo flight. Everypony, break them apart, choose your targets, cut them down, but more importantly, stay alive.”

“Roger that!” Blitz told her over the line.

As she looked out of her canopy, she could see his fighters banking right, drawing off half the fighters. Now it was just a two against one ratio. Now all we have to do is just outfly them. We’re pegasi – we rule the skies, so it shouldn’t be a major issue.

The fighters began to dance through the skies, aiming for each other’s backside, a sadistic and dangerous mating game of sorts. All sorts of alarms sang out in cockpits and the battle pushed on.

Scootaloo dropped behind one of them, and called out, “Fox Two, Fox Two!” An AIM-10B Desert Adder lanced away from her aircraft, streaked across the void and slammed into the back of the enemy aircraft. It detonated into a fireball, and Scootaloo banked to avoid the wreckage. “Scratch one bandit!”

“Got one on my tail!”
“I’m on it, I’m on it! Guns, Guns, Guns!”
Too la—”

She could hear the explosion behind her and knew one of her own was lost. “Who was that?” she demanded.

“Sunsinger 17.” Blitz sounded as though he’d taken a mortal blow. She didn’t know the pilot well, but she knew that he was Blitz’ wingman – and that was more than enough.

“Okay, he’s gone but we can’t do anything but get revenge, ponies. Let’s get back in the furball!” Like angry wasps, the F-23s burned their way against the enemy aircraft, two sides throwing immense tons of metal at each other.

In her seat, Scootaloo was angry. These were cutting-edge aircraft that no other nation had ever seen before…but they were up against the REAF, pegasi that since even before Equestria were masters of both flying and war. And as the enemy’s heat-seeking missiles came towards them, she swore that she would show the enemy just how big of a mistake they made by crossing her.

Within seconds, the two sides had engaged once more, earnestly trying to kill one another.

DJ slammed on the door, but to no avail. “LET US OUT OF HERE, YOU TOOLS!” she shouted, also to no avail.

Lyra sighed. “You may as well give up, Dee. If they haven’t opened now, they’re not going to open for anybody.”

Elusive nodded. “I’m afraid she’s right – if anypony who could have helped us were in a position to do so, we’d have been freed already.”

DJ, however, was not going to give up. Leaning against the door, she groaned, “Great, just fucking great. One of the few times in my life I wish I had the full abilities of an earth pony and here I am, being me. Fucked up world, huh?”

“Wait.” The three turned to look at Sunset, who was looking at DJ with surprise. “You’re not an earth pony?”

“Well no duh, Sunset,” Cerise replied. “She grew up on my Earth, where there’s no magic. She’s probably picked up some here, but whatever strength she has is likely just due to genetics. Otherwise, she’s just a garden-variety useless traitor to her own kind.”

“I heard that,” DJ replied.

“I don’t care if you did.”

“Well, bitch, let me show you just how weak I am!” DJ stomped over to where Cerise was with murder in her eyes, until Sunset stepped in-between them. “Sunset, I don’t have an issue with you, so get out of the way,” DJ warned.

“Look, Cerise can be insensitive as hell, but she’s my friend, okay? And I like my friends intact,” Sunset told her. “Besides, you haven’t answered my question: You seriously don’t have magic?”

“Why should I? I’m genetically an earth pony, but I’ve lived on Human-Earth all this time, so I didn’t have exposure to any kind of magic at all until I came here. As it is, I really don’t know if I’ve picked up any and I really don’t care…well, until now, that is.”

“I see,” the amber unicorn replied. “I don’t know if you know this, but I think you’re a Monolith.”

Lyra sat up immediately. “How the hell do you know about that?” she asked. “That’s heavily classified!”

“How do you know, your grace?” Sunset replied in turn.

“State secrets are what I deal in,” the celeste unicorn replied. “But you’re just a secretary.”

“Not quite – I’m the secretary for Princess Champagne,” the unicorn explained.

“You’d better have a more satisfactory answer. How do I know you’re not a changeling?”

“Seriously?” Cerise rolled her eyes. “Changelings can’t change into the human form – that’s a known fact!”

“Except there are two changelings in the custody of the Singaporean government,” Lyra countered. “They attempted to assassinate the princesses – and they did it in a human form!” Lyra didn’t voice the rest of the report: that they’d escaped and there were no signs of how they had done it, another indicator that they could assume human forms.

“Your grace, we are not changelings,” Sunset repeated, trying to assure them. “What would give you proof?”

“For starters, you could tell me how you know so much about the Monolith program,” Lyra said, a stern look in her eyes. “That’s some of the highest classifications in the government and only the princesses and a few select others know about it!”

Sunset sighed. “I’m an Adept.”

“A what?” DJ and Elusive asked at the same time.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you two,” Lyra explained. “You especially DJ, given that you hold dual citizenship.” She turned to Sunset. “Give me a better answer than that.”

“I’m from Adept family,” Sunset explained. “I’m originally from a town south of Oatmaha, little forest town out of the way. My parents didn’t have much in the way of bits – my mother is a housewife, and my father is a lumberjack. So, when I got an all-expenses paid scholarship to the Academy, I jumped at it.” She sighed. “Something went wrong, and I was expelled.”

“Are you talking about the crystal incident?” Lyra asked. “That happened the year before I attended the Music Conservatory! And you don’t look as old as I was.”

Sunset laid down and charged her horn with a white glow. “I’ve readied the sharing spell. You know changelings don’t have that ability, as far as we know. You will see everything.”

Lyra looked at DJ and then Elusive. “Elusive, charge a stun blow. I’m going to do it.”

“Lyra, don’t. Please.” DJ asked. “This is my fault.”

“This is only something unicorns can do, DJ. Elusive is probably better trained at magic blasts than I am, so it has to be me.” She smiled. “Besides, I’m no stranger to this.” She smiled. “Besides, I’ve done this once before.” She sat down pony style, commenting, “Haven’t done this in ages.”

The two crossed their horns, and the white glow shifted from Sunset’s horn to Lyra’s. As with the last time, Lyra looked at the information giver with sorrow and sympathy. She went over and hugged Sunset. “I’m sorry that you had to go through all that. And I’m sorry you found out that way.”

There were tears in Sunset’s eyes. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Lyra got back to her feet. “It’s okay,” she said to her companions. “She’s real, which probably means Cerise is real as well.”

“A real bitch,” DJ muttered.

“Dee….” Lyra sighed. “Anyway, Sunset, are you sure about this?”

Sunset nodded. “I shared that information with you, your grace. That’s why I think what I know about DJ here.”

“Please, just call me Lyra.”

Sunset grinned, nodded, then turned to DJ. “I have reason to believe that you are a super-strong earth pony, if you had magic.”

That made DJ look at her oddly. “How so?”

“From what I know, you’re much bigger than most mares. Seriously, have you realized this?”

“Well, I know there’s at least a foot or so difference between DJ and when we’re upright,” Lyra said, “but I thought that was just due to her living on Human-Earth and all that protein.”

“You know what? You’re right.” Elusive looked at his sister. “DJ, would you stand on all fours, please?”

She looked at her brother oddly, but complied. “I don’t know why, but okay.”

Elusive gestured to Sunset to stand next to him, as well. You are much taller than her, sister.” Elusive eyed his sister, stroking his chin while visually measuring her. “In fact, if I had to take a guess, you’re three inches taller than Uncle Mac.” A thought then crossed his mind. “Actually, now that I think of it, so are Father and Uncle Diamondplate. Minty was a regular-sized mare, but…you’re much taller. Larger around the barrel, too.”

The humanized pony huffed. “Are you calling me fat?” she snarled.

Elusive facepalmed. Way to walk into that one. Trying to take the higher ground, he said, “No, sister, I’m calling you the heir to our father’s legacy.”

DJ stood up again and started waving her arms dismissively. “Look, okay, I admit it! I probably eat more cheeseburgers than I should. I think I’m thin for my bodytype,” she replied, muttering, “though I’d kill for looking model thin like some I’ve seen.”

“Look, guys, whatever Hulk thing you say she is? Doesn’t make a damn difference if she can’t use her magic,” Cerise interrupted. “She’s useless as is! Not that she was much better to begin with, but now she’s extra-special useless!”

“Not if we can force charge her,” Sunset replied as she addressed her fellow unicorns. “Do either of you remember what we were taught about corneal impact-based magic overload in Magic Kindergarten?”

“That we shouldn’t do it at all,” Lyra said. “Why?”

The amber mare grinned. “Your gra…nevermind, I’m just going to call you Elusive, if you don’t mind. Anyway, do you know why?”

“No, I don’t mind at all,” Elusive replied. “As for why we shouldn’t, I remember them explaining that in biology back in high school.”

“Ah, that explains it,” Lyra blurted. “Back when I was in school, biology really wasn’t part of the post-mark education system. I presume now it is?” When Sunset and Cerise nodded, Lyra added, “Okay then, I’m going to say for the sake of argument that I could use a refresher.”

“I’d be happy to,” Elusive said, and all present listened to the young stallion’s explanation. “It tends to happen only with unicorns, hence the ‘corneal impact’. What happens is there is a massive discharge, followed by a brief backlash and side effect. But it doesn’t last very long, as I recall. But the big concern is that it creates a massive amount of magical energy and if the ponies involved don’t take care, they could get scorched or shocked by the discharge as the thaumic half-life vaporizes it.” He looked at Sunset. “That about it?” Sunset nodded in response, and he smiled. “Glad I recalled a few things from those years.”

“Yes, but I don’t see what any of that has to do with me,” DJ asked.

Sunset looked at her. “I can use an essence transference spell to rebuild your ley nerves and mana bloodcells. I won’t lie, it’s going to hurt – for them and for you, but it’s the only way we can get out of here: if you break that door down.”

“What? But you saw me hit that door! I’m stronger than a regular human, but I’m not strong enough to take that thing down!”

Lyra stepped closer and placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “Look, Dee, I get what she’s saying: basically, if your brother and I hit each other with our horns, we could create a magical discharge that Sunset can use to jumpstart your magic! You’ll finally have earth pony magic!”

“Yeah, because this doesn’t sound like a deus ex machina,” DJ groaned, rolling her eyes. “Guys, I’m an author, so I come up with a lot of stuff for my books, and let me tell you: this is clear as mud! It makes no sense whatso-fucking-ever! It’s like you gave Pinkie some mescaline and told her to write the principal laws of magic or something!”

“Look, Martinez, let’s get something straight,” Cerise said. “I hate your guts. You pissed on your mother and you’re a stuck-up little fuck. But let’s be honest: the next time they open that door, we are all done for. If we take control of the situation, then we have a fighting chance. And I’d much prefer my chances having to owe you one rather than all of us getting very, very dead.”

“DJ, you’re the only one who can do this,” Elusive told her. “Not even a regular earth pony could pull this off.”

“Dee, please,” Lyra asked. “I want to see my children again, and so do you.” Lyra took her friend’s hoof in her own. “You and I are special: we’re the first two that have given birth to hybrid children, the first who have children as special as ours. And I don’t want mine or yours to grow up without mothers.”

Despite how much Lyra meant to her, DJ glared at the unicorn. Damn you for hitting me at that weak spot! But she knew her old friend was right. “Fine. Make my nightmares come true.”

“Your nightmares?”

“Did you forget what I told you the day we first met, Lyra?” DJ asked.

“No, I didn’t,” Lyra said with a soft, maternal smile, hugging the younger humanized pony. “This is different. You have always been afraid of your strength hurting others.” Lyra’s smile then turned into a wicked grin. “Now? We’re asking you to.”

DJ merely gave her a grin.

The two unicorns in the room were about to get ready to do this when a sudden thought came across Elusive’s mind. “Wait – Sunset, are you really sure that this can be done? My aunt Twilight has said before that mana transfer is a form of thaumic therapy and that you need to be licensed.”

The look on Sunset’s face was that of the manticore that ate the phoenix. “I’ll figure it out. I hope.”

The first to feel the overload was Cadance. While rocketing around the circle and While blazing through and holding the spell in place, she began to feel queasy and wobbly, and it was becoming harder to ignore the changeling blasts, such as they were right now. Her whole body became numb as the Crystal Heart continued to feed her energy, a force she was now straining to absorb. She bit off the scream, however, and kept moving. Her loved ones – her family – was counting on her to keep going, and it was now a do or die situation.

As Luna pushed her strikes towards Chrysalis, she began to burn with an intensity that was not just her anger at work. Finally, she felt as if her insides were exploding, and she screamed before falling.

Chrysalis paused and hovered above the plummeting alicorn. “Awww, what’s the matter?” the queen cooed. “Can’t hold your power anymore?” She charged up a blast and hit Luna as hard as he could. “LET ME HELP YOU DOWN!”

The lunar alicorn crashed against a building, bounced off and slammed into a street, leaving a small impact crater. She could feel her skin start to burn from the energy she was absorbing from the moon, but she couldn’t stop. To do so would be to end that part of the spell, and as it would take forever to recast, it would ultimately mean the death of those she loved. She couldn’t abide that.

She would just have to fight through the pain. Luna grinned with malice – all it meant was that she got to return the pain to Chrysalis.

She blasted back into the air, aiming straight towards her opponent.

The moment Celestia heard Luna’s scream, she knew what was happening. Starting to feel the intense power of solar magic burn into her, the day alicorn adjusted, pouring more and more into her attacks against Nightmare. The beams became stronger and more intense and her swords became glowing stars of light. Still, as much as she was putting out, the sun continued to dump into her and she knew she would hit her limit. Luna was already at that point, and as much as Celestia wanted to help her sister, fighting two combatants at once would be a very calculated risk. Furthermore, with Luna at her limit, she knew that Cadance had to be there as well, and was likely still going through via sheer willpower.

The sun alicorn parried another one of the Nightmare’s hammer blows and the nemesis chuckled. “You feel it, don’t you? The energies that you can’t shake or absorb anymore. An elemental burn, just like when those little shits hit me with the Elements!” she seethed. “Now you will feel all the pain you deserve, foal, and best of all, it’s self-inflicted!”

The solar alicorn finally began to sweat, lather building up around her armor as she began to feel tired. “This isn’t over yet, Nightmare! Not by a longshot!”

“Oh, I know,” Nightmare said, blocking one of Celestia’s sword blows with magic before slamming her with the hammer. “If you’re lucky, you’ll get to live long enough to see the end. You just won’t like it.”

“How’s…how’s it coming, Twi?” Rainbow looked barely conscious, and to the casual onlooker, she appeared afraid – which Rainbow would say wasn’t true, because she was the kind of mare who wasn’t afraid of anything. After all, she’d faced down Nightmare Moon, Tirek, Sombra, Chrysalis, the Storm King, and so many others during her life, so there was no reason to be afraid at all.

“I’m still not getting enough energy for the spell,” Twi said, worriedly. Again the ceiling above them then thumped, as loud noises came from outside and dust rained down upon them. “Something must’ve happened.”

“Queen Chrysalis is attacking,” Dawn told them. “If they don’t stop the aboveground portion of the spell, then you all get out and can counter her. She knows that, so she’s probably throwing both the Old and New Broods against the princesses.”

“Well, dontcha worry none, sugarcube,” Applejack began, before anything she wanted to say was dissolved into a coughing fit. She looked unsteady on her feet, barely able to stand despite the magical assistance her Element was rendering. She finally got a hold of her breath again, and finished. “We got Celestia, Luna an’ Cadance up there – they ain’t gonna give up until we’re out of this mess, you sure ya betcha.”

“I for one, completely agree with Applejack,” Rarity said, giving the young flutter a smile. “If you fear that the changelings have come for you, that isn’t true at all. You are family now, and we do not give up on family.”

“Really?”

“It is…a lesson that we all have to learn some time or another,” the unicorn replied, less to Dawn and more for the sake of the others. “It is a lesson that I feel sometimes I am still learning myself.”

The ground around them shook hard and rubble continued to fall. Part of the ceiling in the back portion of the room caved in, though thankfully it was a distance enough away that they were all still safe. “It’s like there’s a war out there!” Pinkie chirped.

“You don’t have to – cough – sound so happy about it!” Rainbow snarled.

They then heard an all-too-familiar buzzing. “Shields up!” Twilight ordered. Sweetie immediately complied, putting all her power into a domed shield around them, with an opening at the time for the spell energy to continue making its way down.

“We’re all counting on you,” Sweetie said through clenched teeth to Dawn. “You’re our point defense, Dawn. Make it happen.”

The answer to that was Dawn letting her magic slip around her, changing form until she had the shape she intended to fight in. The moment they all saw it, they all looked on with approval, except for Twilight, whose slack-jawed gaze at her daughter’s new form surprised her.

“I think she looks perfect,” Fluttershy said, encapsulating all their thoughts.

“Better, even,” Twilight responded, her heart bursting with pride.

After all, it wasn’t every day that one got to see oneself as an alicorn, majestic, powerful and ready for war.

Digging noises sounded, and the moment the changelings broke through, Dawn slammed a hoof on the ground, then reared. “BEGONE! I AM TWILIGHT SPARKLE, THE GREATEST MAGE THAT HAS EVER LIVED! FACE ME AT YOUR PERIL!”

If changelings were capable of having a horror-struck look, these ones mastered it, just in time for Dawn to hit them with a force barrier, sending them flying back into the pit before blasting the wall shut with a second shot. Wiping her hooves off, she said, “Well, that’s round one to me. Next?”

“That’s my filly,” the real Twilight Sparkle said with utter joy.

There was a hard slam against the door, followed by a second one.

Blackest Night looked at Faded Sparkle. “What the hell is going on in there?”

Faded shrugged. “One guy, four girls, you figure it out, stupid. Wish I could be in there – could probably get my rocks off.”

“You sure you’re not one of the Velvet subbrood?”

“Meet me in my bunk tonight and you’ll find out,” she told him. “Either way, we need to investigate that. You go be the big strong stallion and check that out for me, will you?”

Blackest sighed. “Fine, fine, I’ll go risk my neck while your pretty little tail waits here.”

“This tail will be lifted just for you tonight,” she cooed.

The door started to buckle.

“Wait – that’s not just—” Faded started.

It was the last thing she ever said.

The door immediately flew off its hinges, slamming hard into both pepsis, and a sickening crunch could be heard from the other side as it collided, cracking the wall. A greenish-gray ooze dripped out from the other side.

Across from the ruined wall, an earth pony stood bipedally, an electric blue corona dancing around her. She was breathing heavily, but it was the breathing heavily of someone enraged rather than due to exertion.

“I am der lurgh,” she said in a guttural voice.

“Not even going to ask what that means,” Sunset replied as she stepped behind her. “Must be some human reference.”

“Hell if I know,” Cerise replied. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s a reference from Sylvester Stallone, an old Hollywood actor,” DJ explained, “and—”

“Look, we don’t have time for that,” Sunset interrupted. “You and I have to deal with the changelings in EQMILCOM. You ready for a fight?”

DJ felt the energy coursing around her. Was this how it felt to be an earth pony – a true earth pony? That door had to have been a couple of tons, something she couldn’t even dream of dragging around before, and given that she was the kind of person who changed the tires on the car by lifting the car and just putting it on sans a jack, that was something completely shocking to her.

“DJ, we gotta move!” Sunset shouted, breaking her from her reverie.

“On it!” she said, following behind Sunset and after a few seconds of falling really behind, opting to switch to four-wheel drive.

“Cerise, you stay here and take care of the others until they’re okay!” Sunset called back.

As the two ran down the hall, Cerise looked at them and said, “Yeah, no problem!” She then sighed, adding, “As if I know what the hell to do here.”

“Get me some clothes!” Lyra argued.

“You’re a pony! You’re normally naked!” Cerise countered.

A nude woman stood in front of the younger one. “Not when I’m a human!”

Cerise looked at her. “Wait, you’re in your sixties, right?”

“And?”

“You have a better body than I do. Fuck my life.”

“Hey, down here!” a tiny voice shouted. “I got shrunk to nothing!” They both looked down, and had to get on their knees to actually see Elusive.

“You okay?” Lyra asked.

“I’m an inch tall!” he squeaked. “What do you think?”

As they approached the command center, Sunset told DJ, “All I need for you is to provide backup, okay? Let me handle the main brunt of the attack. You weren’t combat trained, so I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“And you were?”

“Part of the Guild training,” Sunset answered. “Plus, I spar with Chammie…that is, Princess Champagne. She likes to keep the both of us in shape.”

“I see,” DJ replied.

“No, not like that! I went through some trauma a few years ago, and I grew up with her – she’s just making sure that I recover and that she looks good for her husband!” Sunset raced up some stairs and approached the door, with DJ close behind. “Okay, here’s the plan: I’m going to ensorcell the code into the door here. Then we’re going to sneak in and—”

“That’ll take too long.” To Sunset’s confusion, DJ slid back down the stairs, stared at the door, then called back, “Be ready to move when I do this!”

“What are you doing?”

“Let’s just say this isn’t my first dance with something as big as a fridge that wanted to have its way.” With that, DJ took off at a gallop, and just as she was about to connect with the door, she leapt to her feet and rammed it with her shoulder – or technically, her withers. “HULK SMASH!” she roared as it hit, and the door went flying across the room, crashing into the giant monitor on the opposite end of the room, surprising all the changelings and pepsis present – and smashing the one that had been unlucky enough to be in the path of the door.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO?!” Sunset shouted at DJ the moment the door fell, but the humanized pony, completely empowered by (and at this point, possibly drunk on) magic, wasn’t even close to done yet.

With an insanity that came from who knew where, she leapt into the air, shouting, “FEEL THE PAIN TRAIN!” and came down into the center of the room. The moment she hit the floor, a blast of energy radiated from her as the floor buckled. Bodies were thrown in every direction, which provided a convenient excuse for Sunset to magically blast them all. DJ then started going hoof-to-hoof with the changelings and pepsis while Sunset blasted as many as she could.

A second later, the two were all that was left. DJ’s magic continued to swirl around her, and Sunset gingerly stepped around all the broken and damaged equipment that had been “modified” during the fight. “Minotaur in a crystal ball shop much?” the unicorn accused.

“Hey, Fist of Panic. Works every time,” DJ said with a grin.

“You’ve done this before?” Sunset asked, incredulous.

“Uh, sorta? I mean, there’s the Destiny remake that Activision Blizzard put out a couple of years ago, and my main is a human Titan Striker. My husband likes to play a pegasus Gunslinger Hunter, but between the eight species, I kinda go with human for obvious reasons.”

Sunset tried not to do a facehoof. “Look, that’s not important right now. Right now, I need to get these computers up. Check the closets and other rooms to see if there’s other changelings we missed.” The unicorn went over to sit down by one of the computers that that was both mercifully still intact and had power running. She immediately placed her hooves over the hoofboard, getting to work.

“What, there’s no magical repair spell or something?” DJ asked, looking over the unicorn’s withers.

“I’m sure there is one, but I really don’t know it,” Sunset replied, not taking her eyes off the screen. “And remember what I said about the changelings? You’d better start looking.”

“Got it.” DJ went over to the table where the guns were – where were the weapons’ owners? – and picked up the most familiar one, a MN-23E. Checking the weapon, she slung the strap over her neck and said, “Be right back.”

Sunset gave DJ a brief look of confusion. “Uh, do you know how to use that thing?” As if to answer, the door nearest Sunset slammed open, and a manticore in full rage charged at her. Caught off-guard, she instinctively flinched and covered herself.

Three shots rang out and the manticore fell to the ground, dead, before green flame enveloped it and one very dead changeling lay in a pool of its own ichor.

Sunset looked at DJ with utter shock.

“You know what one of the best parts of being an American is?” The humanized pony just rested the gun against her shoulder. “Two words: Second fucking Amendment.”

Sunset finally facehoofed and didn’t even try to figure out what the hell that meant before getting back to work. As she continued to type on the hoofboard, she added, “I have no idea what I’m looking for. I mean, I’ve got a decent clearance of my own due to having to work for a princess, but this is well above my paygrade.”

“I see you’ve been busy,” Elusive said as he came through the door. He’d been restored to normal size, and behind him was both Cerise, and Lyra, who was still in human form – and thankfully dressed, courtesy of Elusive.

Lyra looked at DJ. “You just had to go full redneck, didn’t you?”

“Love you too, Lyra.”

Lyra flashed her friend a grin, then turned her attention to Sunset. “What’s the situation?”

“Hey, had to do what we had to do,” DJ said.

“Minotaur. In. A. Crystal Ball. Shop,” Sunset grunted. “Seriously though, Lyra, all I can get are basic functions on this thing. I don’t have the authority to get more than just the basic stuff up.” She added in a few more commands, and the computer screens came alive with the situation in Canterlot – and things did not look good.

Seeing the fighting in the streets onscreen, Elusive said just about what was on all their minds: “Lunadammit.”

“Cerise, you help Sunset –I’m sure you know how to use hoofboards, right? Elusive, as repulsive as it is, I’ll need you to clear the bodies. Throw them in that supply closet for now.”

“That’s…rather distasteful, but better than seeing these monsters,” he admitted.

“I guess I’m security, then?” DJ asked.

“You’re probably the only one who knows how to use a gun properly, so yeah,” Lyra told her. “Now as for me, I’m going to go into the commander’s office and see if I can find something that will allow us to get higher level access. Maybe a keycard or something.” With that, Lyra strode into the EQMILCOM Commander’s office…and then screamed.

DJ was there in a flash. “Lyra, you okay?”

And then she saw the bodies.

Lyra bent down, and cradled the dead body of Spitfire. “I knew her, a long time ago. She…she used to come by Bonnie’s old shop to get chocolates whenever she was in town and…. She used to flirt with me a lot, and it always annoyed Bonnie. She was straight, though, so nothing ever happened.” Lyra laid Spitfire down and placed her in repose. “She didn’t deserve this. None of them deserved this.” Lyra turned to face DJ, and her eyes were tearstruck. “My kind – your kind – are being hunted by those monsters!”

“Lyra…” DJ bent down and hugged her friend and mentor. “It’s not over yet, Lyra. Trust me.”

“How do you know? You weren’t here when Chrysalis hit Canterlot the last time! And the Knights are in worse shape than last time!”

“And we will be fine, I know it.”

“Why?”

“Because they pushed us, Lyra,” DJ said, and when the mint unicorn looked up, she saw her friend’s face change. Gone was the empty bluster, the devil-may-care attitude. This was just deadly seriousness, but with a bit of the old DJ style. “Now it’s our turn to push back.”

Cerise shouted from the other room, “I’ve got the Guild online!”

Lyra and DJ rushed out to see the large screen, which had been bisected, and on the left side of the screen was the Magic Guild’s situation room, with Raspberry Blast online. Lyra looked at the gentle, wizened face of the unicorn mare with a short raspberry-hued mane, eggshell coat and deep, penetrating blue eyes that nonetheless showed a friendliness in them.

“Lord Elusive, it is good to see you,” Blast spoke in her native Scoltish brogue. “You as well, Miss Shimmer. I’ve heard you’ve excelled in magic studies despite your status at the Academy. I am impressed.” She then saw the two humans and the unfamiliar earth pony behind her. “I would take it that at least one of those behind you is the legendary Lost Foal?”

“I don’t like being called that,” DJ growled.

“Apologies, Miss Sandalwood, or whatever you may call yourself now. I never kept up on the history, and so I am woefully uninformed, so I mean no offense. And who are the two humans?”

“Blastie, it’s Lyra Heartstrings,” the celeste-haired human said. “Long story as to why I’m in human form at the moment, but it’s me.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll be the judge of that,” Blast told her. “When we first met, what was going on?”

Lyra smiled. Memory test. Smart, Blastie. “It was supposed to be your first day at the Academy, and you accidentally showed up at the Conservatory instead. You went through all the same classes as I did until music class when only then did you realize that you had gone to the wrong school.”

Blast chuckled. “Yes, and fortunately, the Guild and Academy shared common courses at the time, so I didn’t miss anything on my first day. It’s good to see you, Lyra. I take it EQMILCOM is back in our hooves?”

Lyra nodded. “It was interesting experience. Remind me to tell you about it sometime.”

“Okay, standby for teleport. I’m sending some ponies there immediately.” Multiple lights winked into existence, which immediately turned into unicorns. “They’ll operate the systems until the military can get back in there. Until then, you have command.”

Lyra looked at Blast oddly. “I do?”

“Weren’t you given acting prime minister authority?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then you are in command, Lyra,” Blast informed her. “I know this is a little out of your depth, but if you’re going to be a leader, we need you to lead. So do it.”

“Okay.” She looked at the unicorns around her. “Let them know that EQMILCOM is back online.”

Across all the communication channels came the simple call: “All units, this is EQMILCOM. We are back online. Repeat, this is EQMILCOM. We are back online.”

Sitting in a burnt-out building, Soarin’ smiled and grabbed a headset from one of his subordinates since his had been destroyed. “About damn time, Spits!” he called out. “What in Tartarus has been going on over there?”

“Stand by for EQMILCOM Actual.” He did, and was surprised to hear the next voice. “Soarin’, this is Lyra Heartstrings. I need you here on station.”

“Lyra? No offense, but this is a military operation. You’re a diplomat. You don’t have authority here. Where’s Spits?”

“Soarin’, I have been given special authority by Celestia herself. I am now in command of the national authority until this is over. I need you here, now. Tell your subordinates to take over down there, because you’re being teleported in.” Her tone indicated that she wasn’t going to be denied.

“What the hell?” Regardless, he turned to the colonel at his side and said, “You’ve got command. I’m about to be teleported out of—”

“—here,” he finished as the teleport field finished. He found himself standing in front of a bunch of Guild personnel running the operations, and an eerily-familiar human standing in front of him.

“Welcome back to EQMILCOM,” the woman told him.

“Lyra? Is that you?” he asked.

“Long story,” she told him, “but yes, it’s me.”

“Where’s Spitfire and the rest?”

Lyra turned away. “You don’t want me to answer that, Soarin’,” she said in sad tones, and the stallion understood immediately.

“I see,” he replied glumly, but straightened up. “What do you need me to do?”

She gestured to the commander’s chair. “Take command, of course. In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s hell out there.”

Flying around, Celestia looked at the situation. The battle had grown out of hoof, and was claiming far more lives than before, mainly because the city was far larger than before. She was going to have to even the odds, even if it was going to take a lot more lives than she wanted. But at this rate, the civilians—!

Despite being in the middle of a battle with the Nightmare, Celestia reached out with her mind to her fellow alicorns. Ladies, I think it’s time for Shining’s Shield to be activated.

Luna, on the other side of the city and still battling with Chrysalis, shouted back, Just do it! We don’t have time to for this!/i]

Cadance, not surprisingly, was the Tirek’s advocate. But if we do that…?

I agree, Cadance, but what choice do we have? Luna told her.

There’s always a choice, sister, Celestia reminded her. And we’re running out of them. With reluctance, I recommend Shining’s Shield be activated.

I second it, Luna replied. Now, if possible!

Are you sure about this? Cadance asked her elder aunt. There won’t be a way to take it back. And I’ve already been heavily criticized over the strike I ordered on the changelings in Fillydelphia. The public will pillory you, Celestia.

I know, but it’s the only choice we have, or we will lose Canterlot and all its ponies.

Then so be it, Cadance sighed mentally. I authorize the deployment of Shining’s Shield.

A scroll immediately popped in front of Lyra. She grabbed it and opened it, reading. “What is Shining’s Shield?” she asked.

Soarin’s eyes opened wide. “Is she serious?”

“What is it, Soarin’?”

“A last-ditch weapon, specially designed for the event we had an enemy incursion, specifically changelings, in Canterlot.” The look on Soarin’s face was haggard. “The princesses can authorize it, but we have to activate it.”

“How?” Lyra asked as Soarin’ went over to a hoofboard and typed in a series of commands. A portion of the floor in front of the main screen slid away, and a golden yellow crystal slide out of the room. Three sides of it started to pulse with electric blue coloration.

“Touch the crystal on one of the glowing sides,” he told her as he went over and placed a hoof on one. “Don’t worry about magic; if you have a high-enough authorization, the crystal will read your essence and match it up against a list.” He looked at Elusive. “Luse, either you or your sister will have to come here and touch it. We set it so that the foals of the Knights should be able to access it as well.”

DJ looked at Elusive. “I’ve got security, bro. You’ll have to do this.”

“If it means saving Mother, I’d sacrifice myself to it.” Elusive walked over and placed a hoof on the second area.

“Guess it’s my turn then,” Lyra said, walking over to the machine and placing her hand on it. The moment she did, all three spots turned a warm, white color, except for Lyra’s, which turned a deep red. “What the…?” she voiced.

SYSTEM OVERLOAD. MALFUNCTION, a voice stated. SYSTEM OVERLOAD. MALFUNCTION.

“That isn’t good,” Elusive voiced.

STANDBY FOR DISCHARGE. PLEASE STEP OUT OF DISCHARGE ZONE IN 10…9….
DISCHARGE INITIATING.

As the system has warned, a blast of electrical energy pulsed out from the obelisk, but it had done so far too early for anyone present to react. Elusive reflexively brought up a shield that could protect him. As a pegasus who was an expert with lightning magic, Soarin’ was partially immune to lightning and all he felt was a brief burning sensation.

Lyra, however, as a human, had no defenses. The bolt hit her full force and she screamed, before the discharge slammed her backwards, into a smoking body on the floor.

“LYRA!” DJ dropped her gun and raced over to her friend. The blast had burned through Lyra’s shirt and the woman was motionless. DJ, as much as she could remember, immediately started CPR, desperate to save her friend’s life.

Meanwhile, the obelisk changed to a white, electric blue and deep blue hue – a sign that Shining’s Shield was ready.

DISCHARGE COMPLETE. BEGIN REBOOT.
REBOOT COMPLETE.
DEPLOYING SHINING SHIELD IN 3…2…1.

DEPLOYMENT COMMENCING.

If there was one thing that ponies had been the most jealous about humanity, it was that they’d journeyed to the stars. No being on Alter-Earth, with the possible exception of Princess Luna had ever been to their moon. So when they heard about NASA, Roscosmos and other human space agencies, they developed their own: the Government Administration for Lunar Landings and Outerspace Programs, better known as GALLOP. It was a fairly new agency, so much so that it wasn’t well known to the public. One of its principal responsibilities was to launch communications satellites, so that modern telecommunication could be used all over Equestria, not just in the major cities. The other nations of Alter-Earth didn’t invest in this as much, seeing the sun and moon – and thus space – as the domain of the princesses, despite their protestations to the contrary.

But just as humanity had done with their space, so ponies had done with theirs, too. In 2032, the United States Air Force deployed MOUNTAINTOP, a kinetic bombardment system. Working in tandem with the Russian Foothold system and the Chinese Second Great Wall, the human-designed systems were never to be used against humanity, but instead in the event that a catastrophic-level enemy reached their Earth and had to be dealt with. When the various Alter-Earth nations were informed, most reacted with disinterest or mild irritation that they humans would consider anything from their world a threat.

Reputedly, the only one who had not, was the then-Minister of Defense of Equestria, Prince Shining Armor. As part of his plans to protect the land he loved, the very first satellite GALLOP had launched into space was officially a communications satellite for the military. In time, the plan had been to set one of these over every major city in the realm, but the plan had only managed to launch ones over Canterlot, Empire City and Ponyville before he passed away. In time, all but the most senior of the military had forgotten it.

Today, however, would be a different story. Doors opened on the satellite, and arms extended, each carrying rocket pods. But they were not loaded with rockets. Instead, each was fitted with a magically shielded and guided rod of tungsten, a meter in length, that was ejected from the pods, heading into the atmosphere. The magical shielding was designed to ensure that the rods would get through atmospheric entry. Once within a couple of kilometers of Canterlot, the additional guidance spell would activate, specifically a heat-seeking spell.

All in all, it was Shining’s last gift to his people: a shield that would protect them when he could not. It was also revenge against Chrysalis and her kind for what she’d done to him: taken a part of his soul and ultimately, his life. And so, from space flew hundreds of meter-long tungsten rods, what humans tended to call “Rods from God.”

Officially, Equestria referred to this system as the Shining’s Shield Kinetic Defense System. But those in the know had a different, more macabre, name for it.

They called it the Orbital Friendship Cannon.

Above all, a massive sonic rainboom roared, the spectrum flaring out to the world. From the center of the ring, blasts of rainbow light bulleted down towards the invading horde, slamming into whatever changeling they could find. Normally, this is where the kinetic discharge would occur, causing a massive explosion burning away everything in the vicinity. However, as these were imbued with magical force, the moment they hit, they vaporized the changeling, while sending out rainbow-hued lighting in every direction to vaporize every changeling within a meter of the initial hit. Where the magical lightning impacted something not a changeling, it either passed through harmlessly, or if needed, had a beneficial effect – the last being an ironic twist on the changeling’s feeding habits.

And as countless rainbow blasts rained down on Canterlot, dozens of changelings began to go down in waves of prismatic energy, annihilated before they could even react. The strike continued to tear paths through the changelings, each blast worth its weight in platinum.

Seeing what was happening, Chrysalis screamed. “NOOOOOOOO!!!” One rainbow blast hit a group of changelings before her and the blasts reached out to her; flying backwards, she managed to get out of the damage radius in time. Still, that was no comfort to the changeling queen as she saw hundreds of her brood go up in flashes of magic – and the assault continued to come from skyward.

My children! she shouted through the hivemind. Take to the ground and get out of the range o— Her speech was interrupted by a blur of midnight, tearing into her and knocking her senseless.

“I’M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!” Luna reentered the fray, landing blow after blow against Chrysalis. She then went for the kill, summoning her own weapon, a battleaxe she called Moonstone, and started harrying her enemy for all she was worth. Chrysalis, however, had no advantage of a weapon and was reduced to dodging and calling up shields.

“DAMN YOU, YOU HORRIBLE NAG!” Chrysalis could start to see a change in the shift of the battle. The new attack had bolstered the defending forces and all she had left on her side was the Nightmare. The human aircraft had disappeared, and no reinforcements were forthcoming. At the rate things were going, assured victory was about to turn into crushing defeat.

The assault from above drove the changelings to the ground, where the troops, already overwhelmed, were still fighting on, though they could now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Guns and magical blasts blazed away at the changelings, who returned the volley, but for every defender that fell dozens of changelings were now being destroyed. Most of central Canterlot had been ruined by the battle, and the conflict stretched on to the north and west. Still, there was a change in the air, courtesy of what most were deeming “Celestia’s special attack”, and that change was a slow, but steady decrease in changeling numbers.

For his part, Mike felt wiped. The fighting had only gone on for what was probably an hour, but felt like a whole day. He wondered if this was what special forces, or probably just more likely your everyday Marine on the battlefield felt like. Part of him wished he could be at sea; at least then he could get what the hell was going on. But here, where it was a land battle, he felt like the proverbial fish out of water. As it was, he’d already emptied the rest of his rifle’s magazine into a changeling who had tried to kill them by changing into a manticore and lashing out with its tail.

As it was, the bodies were everywhere, human, pony and other alike, and he’d seen more than a few good men cut down, including one of his own – Lt. Vasquez had been killed and Master Chief Khan had been seriously injured. He hadn’t heard from the rest of his officers, save for his XO, who was laying down cover fire for a group of Marines who were bringing the fight to the enemy.

“I’m dry!” he shouted, and to his side, Sam threw him a clip.

“Last one, make it count!” With that, he turned and opened fire, his gun cutting down two more changelings. For his part, Sam was trying to keep calm. He’d been in a firefight before, back when he was a Honolulu PD officer; he’d responded to a call in Pearl City where a drug deal had gone sour and as a result, there had been a pitched fight between the HPD and several gangbangers. Back then, that had gotten his adrenaline up followed by the inevitable thoughts of mortality when the fight was over. But this was a thousand times worse – here, he was serving as a soldier, not an officer of the law, and there was no quarter to give or take. And what was he going to do, anyway? Arrest whatever changelings there were left?

Meanwhile, Gy.Sgt. Ribbontrop made his way over to them, several of his own men in tow. “Hey, skipper, like the place you picked. Nice view of the hospital ruins and everything. Hustle and bustle of all the enemies shooting at us – maybe after this we should all have a barbecue here?”

Despite the situation, Mike laughed. “What’s the word, Gunny?”

“Combat mage in the middle of the situation over there estimates that between us and the guns that just kicked in, we’ve probably hit about thirty-five percent of tangos. There’s a whole lotta bugs that ain’t coming back.”

“And ours?”

Ribbontrop’s smile went away. “Closer to sixty percent, sir. Plus, it’s spread into the city proper – the other embassies are now sending out their spare troops to assist, but this is…well, it’s a literal world-class shitstorm, sir.”

Mike sighed. “Not what I wanted to hear.”

“Sorry, I’m just here for pickup and ammo dump – you want the good news, go find a chaplain, sir. In any case, the way the battle’s shifting, you’re going to be exposed, and you really don’t want to be around what they’re slinging.” He pointed up.

Above them, the alicorns and the changeling queen continued their fight, while on the other side, Cadance continued flying in a circle, generating the power for the spell while trying to fight off a group of changelings on her own.

“Looks like Cadance might need a little bit of help,” Mike said. “Let’s give her a little breathing room.”

“Are you sure, sir?” one of Ribbontrop’s subordinates asked. “Looks like we could hit her if we’re not careful.”

“The alternative is stopping whatever the hell she’s doing,” Sable told the corporal, “and from the briefing, it involves the Knights. We cannot let her fail!”

“Well, that settles it,” Mike ordered. “Target the changelings harassing Princess Cadance. Sable, you cover our backs against whatever might come, got that?”

“Roger that, sir.” Sable picked up his sniper once more, ready to hit what may come.

“Okay, gut the fuckers!” A stream of gunfire opened up, taking out the changelings around Cadance, hitting with as much precision as they could with their weapons.

“Twi, we gotta help ‘em! They’re getting overwhelmed!” Applejack shouted.

“Don’t you think I want to? That’s my daughter out there!” Twilight shouted back. “But we can’t! We have to hold this in place no matter what! If we don’t, we die!” The others, looking at her, thought the same thing as Applejack, but knew Twilight had the point. This was now a winner-take-all situation.

Just outside the shield she’d created, Sweetie was stained with ichor and panting heavily. Keeping the shield up was draining her magic, and fighting off the changelings that had come in had flagged her strength. “Hey, kid, how you holding up?”

“Could be worse,” Dawn, still in an alicorn’s form, said. She’d used that, along with magic and subterfuge, to fight the drones that had come her way by the dozen. Now standing practically atop a pile of drones she’d downed, privately she felt shame at that. Though she’d chosen the side she would stay with, as a former pepsis princess, the changelings, even changeling princesses, were to bow down to her…and she was to lead them into a brighter tomorrow. But all Chrysalis, their queen – the supposed queen of queens, now – had led them to was failure and death.

There would be a reckoning, someday, she knew. She would face the queen of the changelings and would stop her from her crimes. What would happen to changelingkind Dawn had no clue, but she would make sure that it would never suffer under the hooves of a tyrant like Chrysalis ever again.

Carrying a P-90E, Silver and all his troops continued to battle the changelings in the streets of Canterlot. A lot of damage had already been done, far more than the last time. Moving from building to building, he and his forces tried to contain the damage, but it was too late. Though EQMILCOM had been recovered and the OFC had been activated, there were still too many changelings around for his taste. In the end, it didn’t matter; the city was on fire and he had to serve as the fire brigade.

As they moved towards the west side of the city, he could already see some homes burning and even regular civilians fighting off the changelings. It was a mess, and unlike last time, he wondered if the city would survive.

He wondered if any of them would survive.

A Guild mage read off a report to Soarin’. “Sir, we’re getting reports of civilian casualties in the eastern district.”

“Send a medical team to the district. Make sure they have a trio of mages to back them up – we can’t spare the military or REG.” The pegasus stallion rubbed his eyes; it was a long day and was already magnitudes worse than the last time the changelings showed their carapaces in the city. As of now, he had all emergency assets within the city reporting to him; MGEC was now handling everything outside of Canterlot, for the time behing.

Still, all things considered, he was doing as best as could be. There were others in worse shape than her. He knew finding out about Spitfire’s death was going to break Rainbow’s heart. And she was one of the ones that nothing could be done for. He turned to look at Lyra, who was near death, getting healing spells from both Elusive and that amber unicorn who’d accompanied him (whose name he couldn’t recall) was trying to keep her alive. She was in enough of a condition right now, that she couldn’t be moved, and they could lose her at any moment.

But if anything, he empathized with the look in the eyes of Rarity’s estranged daughter. There was a very human look in her eyes right now – if human meant cool rage. Given the weapon she had in her hooves and the fact that she was staying close to Lyra as if she was the last line defending Canterlot…

…well, he didn’t want to be in her blast radius if the worst came to.

Nightmare looked around the battlefield. Things had changed and the idiot changeling queen hadn’t really noticed how bad. Whatever it was that hit the changelings, it was destroying them wholesale, and while there were still significant numbers amongst their forces, that wouldn’t last long. Plus, there was the issue of that little candy-colored alicorn that nopony had bothered to deal with.

Whatever she was doing, she was sticking to it at all costs, and whatever that was, it was directly above where those six idiots bearing the Elements were, which meant it had something to do with something she didn’t want. And as always, if she wanted something done, apparently, she had to do it herself.

However, it was clear that Chrysalis was definitely going to be a thorn in her side, because of her limited thinking; whether that was due to changeling nature or because she couldn’t face forward into an era where there were new horizons to conquer and new peoples to pacify was up to interpretation. Likely, it was the former, given that everything tied down to feeding her broods and her hives; always feeding and conquering. A very insectile way of life for a species that was more related to them than ponies.

She would have to be dealt with…fortunately, plans were already in motion.

But for now, she needed a distraction to keep Celestia busy while she attacked Cadance. As she continued to combat the white alicorn, she looked around for a potential distraction, and soon found one: a group of troops, sweeping the changelings off the circling alicorn.

Yes, they would do perfectly for a distraction.

Focusing a major blast towards Celestia’s barrel, she sent the white alicorn crashing into a nearby building, giving her the time to do what needed to be done.

The humans continued focusing on taking out changelings, until they heard Sable’s scream from behind them. They then turned to see the stallion, held up in Nightmare Moon’s magic.

The demonic alicorn brought the earth stallion up, face to face. “Ah, a brave defender of Equestria! Quite a bit of difference from the days of wooden arrows and metal armor, is it not?”

“Yes,” he said, aiming his rifle. “And these hurt so much more than arrows.” He pulled the trigger, letting the roar of the gun speak for him. At this range, there was a greater danger of him being hit by a ricochet against her skull than her killing him. And yet, each of the bullets impacted against her maliciously grimacing face…and melted into nothingness.

“Did you really think those would hurt me?” she told him. “I have been studying the human world for decades. I know everything: their economies, their civilizations, their history, everything. And do you know what?” She smiled. “They had a German man by the name of Adolph Hitler, who tried to rule the world. Instead, he let the government run roughshod, and countless millions of people died, either directly by his hand, or by his incompetence. Eleven million people died who didn’t need to. And those numbers do not count the military deaths, or the civilians caught in the crossfire.”

“And?” Sable seethed, wriggling in the Nightmare’s grasp, unable to break free.

“Because I’m not interested in killing eleven million innocents. I will make sure this world – perhaps both worlds – are mine. And if I don’t get what I want?” She reached out and used her nose to boop him. “I’ll kill eleven billion.” Seeing the look of horror on his face, she said, “And let’s start with you, shall we? Nothing personal, of course.”

And with that, she twisted his head and let the body fall to the ground.

Mike watched as his XO fell dead to the ground…and they were going to be next. “Guys, take her down!”

“Take her down? She just shrugged off 7.62mm rounds, sir!” one of Ribbontrop’s men stated. “We need to retreat!”

“Sounds like a plan!” Mike shouted, just before they were wrapped up by Nightmare Moon’s magic. “SAM!” he bellowed as the younger man was lifted into the air by the dark alicorn.

She inspected her new captive as if he were a plaything. “Ah, a human defender of Canterlot. Would that I would see the day.”

“Actually, I’m a cop,” Sam told her. “And you are under arrest. Give yourself up, and you won’t be harmed.”

Then the black alicorn laughed so hard that she had to wipe her eyes. “Oh, what a lark!” she said, still giggling. “To think that you could arrest me? Oh, I haven’t laughed that hard in years! I have not heard such a joke in a long time! Thank you, thank you!” she said to him and it almost sounded sincere. “For that, I think you deserve a quick and painless death, young man. It’s the least I can do for the joy you’ve given me.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” he said.

“You should be.”

“No, I’m afraid of her – and what she’s going to do to you.”

And that’s when a freight train impacted into the dark alicorn.

Picking herself out of the remains of what had been the Ministry of Agriculture’s main building, Celestia shook her head to clear it. She hadn’t been hit like that ever before, not even by Luna. Whoever the host was, he or she was filled with a brutal, unsettling rage that extended even to Celestia herself.

And then she saw the dead earth stallion on the ground – and the person in the Nightmare’s grasp.

From where she’d stood, Celestia became light and rocketed forward, slamming into Nightmare and sending both careening into a building diagonal from where the group were. She continued to hammer the Nightmare, stronger than she’d ever hit anypony before in her life. The blows thundered and caused shockwaves as they went through building after building.

“YOU WILL NEVER TOUCH HIM!” she roared. “YOU WILL DIE, HERE AND NOW, FIEND!”

“My, did I hit a nerv—” The black alicorn never finished her words as Celestia turned and bucked her hard enough to make her neck snap back. It would’ve vaporized a mortal pony. It could have done serious injury to Luna or Cadance, in theory. It could have even killed Chrysalis. But to the Nightmare, it merely hurt. A lot.

“That is the last thing you will ever do to me,” Nightmare Moon snarled.

“No,” Celestia seethed as she slammed the evil creature through another building. “This is.” Using the power she was still absorbing from the sun, she fired a massive blast of energy, more powerful than she had ever done before, right into the Nightmare.

The Nightmare screamed as the power hit its mark, and she could feel herself burning like never before. This wasn’t just Celestia’s power in force, this was her aspect, her charge – the sun, a ball of nuclear fusion that was a primal law of nature on its own. Facing the alicorns was child’s play. Facing the very nature of the universe that had created her…that was a different thing.

The Nightmare screamed in agony as her side imploded from the blast. She could feel her host suffer a critical injury. Without her host, she was lost. She did the only thing she could to save her unnatural life: she departed the battlefield.

Chrysalis saw as the Nightmare fled the scene, her telltale dark smoke rising into the air as it retreated.

“YOU COW—” she meant to scream, only to be slammed to the ground by Luna’s buck.

“You have your own problems,” the night alicorn thundered. “Like how you’ll survive this next blow!”

To answer the challenge, Chrysalis rocketed up to meet Luna, murder in her eyes.

Just as Luna had predicted.

“KNOW YOUR PLACE!” Luna roared as she used her extra power to hit Chrysalis with an energy blast, nearly as powerful as Celestia’s, burrowing her into the ground.

Both Celestia and Luna saw Cadance flagging and knew what they had to do. Immediately, the pair joined her in the magical tokamak, being careful as she was pushing the limits of speed. The three of them became a purple blur once more, flying faster and faster, the magical energies from their aspects transferring from them and blasting down the center, boring through the hospital and colliding into the targets below.

Just as Twilight had planned.

The massive column of energy slammed down on the Knights and the Elements met it, absorbing it, channeling it. Black marks burned away from the mares. Wounds healed, scars vanished. The weakness of infirmity, age and injury vanished in the awesome power thrust upon them.

“Girls, I can feel it, can’t you?” Twilight said softly. “Everything all for this moment. Everything we’ve done, it’s come to this.”

“Wow, Twi, can you see double rainbows? How about the silvery moon and the stars that flicker in June?” Pinkie asked.

“I think she’s high,” Rainbow commented and got a glare from the others. “Well, she sounds it!”

“No, I think I know what she’s saying,” Sweetie spoke up. “We had to get to this point – all the pain, all the suffering…” She looked at her sister and added, “…all the loss. We needed to go through this to become stronger.”

“What doesn’t kill ya makes ya stronger?” Applejack offered.

“Exactly. We had to be reminded of what we all are: a family. We’ve been through so much, and I don’t think it’s over yet. But you all fell apart because you lost trust in each other. You can’t let that happen again, and not just because you’re the Knights.”

It was Rarity who answered. “It’s because we’re family.” She looked at the others. “I have so much to make up for, don’t I?”

Fluttershy nodded. “You do. But right now, we have other things to worry about.”

“Exactly!” Rainbow said. “So let’s get to it! I’m a pregnant mare, I’m hungry and I feel like I could eat a dozen hayburgers right now!”

The six looked at each other, and there was a love in their eyes that hadn’t been seen in the longest time.

“Okay, ready?” Twilight asked.

“Ready!” the others shouted.

Six magical gems charged with energy. Then their wielders charged.

“What’s going on?” Dawn asked.

“Victory,” Sweetie said with a smile.

Cadance was the first to fall. Exhausted, she crashed to the ground, completely spent. Luna moved to her side immediately. “Are you okay?”

The pink alicorn forced herself to her hooves. “I-I can’t give up!” she stammered. “We have to save the othe—”

Cadance was interrupted by a titanic column of energy rising into the sky, prismatic in nature, thundering in its movement.

“I think we’ve already done that,” Luna said, hugging her niece.

The column split into six alicorns of pure energy: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, each blazing like a star. The sextet each flew to a corner of the capital, then reared, each singing a song of harmony. Aetheric energy built around each being as the song continued. The soldiers present that were injured were healed. Ponies looked up into the sky and felt comfort, knowing the Knights were back.

Finally, the world exploded in light and force as a blast went out from the hole that was once the hospital, a very familiar blast to all changeling. Chrysalis, climbing out of her own hole, looked at it in terror. She screamed, but there was no sound as she could feel herself being ejected once more from Canterlot, just as she had a half-century prior.

Flying above it all, Celestia looked on with a heavy heart as the blast wave once again pushed the invading hordes out of Canterlot. Like then, there were countless dead on both sides, and a ruined city left behind. And then she saw eight ponies climb out of the wreck of the hospital. Happy as a lark, Celestia flew down to meet her loved ones.

Twilight looked up. Mentor and mentee looked at one another.

“I’m back,” Twilight said as Celestia wrapped her wings around her in a tight embrace.

Out of the fighters that had accompanied Scootaloo and Blitz into the fighter, only one remained. They’d given as good as they got, expending all their missiles and having gone to guns, but it was over. It was now three against seventeen, and they circled them like timberwolves looking for their next meal. There was nowhere to run.

Scootaloo keyed the comms for the last time. “Sunsinger 13, Sunsinger 27. It’s been an honor serving with you both.”

“Sunsinger 6, private channel, please.” It was Blitz, and in this case, she couldn’t deny him.

“Go ahead, Blitz.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do better, Aunt Scoots.” His voice seemed broken, and it hurt her to hear that in his voice.

“We did the best we could, Blitz. I’m proud of you…and I know your parents would be, too.” Scootaloo looked at the threat still outside her canopy. “Get ready to ram them. If we’re lucky, we can take out a few of them with us!”

“Roger that!”

Scootaloo adjusted her HOTAS, making a beeline towards what she thought was the leader. Maybe if she could get past its guns, she could end at least one threat to Equestria, for once and for all.

“Break, break!” A new voice came over her comms and she did as ordered. In the space where she’d been a fusillade of missiles burned through the air and slammed into the three of the enemy fighters, making them peel off.

“This is Adm. Flash Sentry, Commanding REN/REAF Ad-Hoc Wing ONE. You will stand down or we will blow you into oblivion!” Eighty-seven fighters roared above the three original, and the remaining enemy fighters now found themselves on an imbalance greater than the advantage they originally had. They did the only thing they could do and boosted away, angling back towards where they came.

A squadron of fighters broke off and headed after them. “Chase them until they’re in international waters, then meet us in Canterlot.” He then switched channels and said, “Okay, who is in command of the other flight?”

“Col. Scootaloo, 23rd Fighter Wing, commanding 14th Fighter Squadron…or what’s left of it.”

“Well, Colonel, you’re in good luck. We’ll get you home, safe and sound.” He chuckled. “Last thing I need is for my wife to chew me out because she heard from her cousin that I let one of the Sisters Royal be injured.”

“Roger that sir. Lead the way, we’ll follow.”

DJ looked at the EMTs. “You damn well better take care of her, or else I’ll—?”

The gryphon waved her off. “She’s in good hooves. We’re getting her to Canterlot General immediately.” He turned to his partner. “Okay, she’s got priority care. Contact ICU and let them know we have a VIP, code blue.” The unicorn with him immediately sent a message off before both, with Lyra in his telekinetic field, teleported towards the hospital.

“Listen, I’ve got to go,” she said to Elusive. “You let everyone know where I went, okay?”

“Of course! I’ve got to get to the family anyway.”

“DJ!” She turned to see Mike. He was covered in dirt and grime, and looked like he hadn’t showered in weeks.

She ran over to him and cried into his chest, while he held her and told her how much he loved her.

Author's Note

Just one chapter left for Book I. Really! I mean it!

Book I Epilogue: Dearly Beloved

In the middle of the Whitetail Woods, Nightmare Moon crashed onto the ground, leaking magic from the huge wound in her side. She struggled to stand up, and she looked withered and fragile, the outpouring darkness weakening her by the moment.

A figure approached, a mare. “We haven’t much time.”

“No,” the Nightmare agreed. “We haven’t.” And with that, a mist tore away from where the Nightmare stood, towards the other mare. She grimaced in pain for a few seconds before she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the Nightmare stood in her new body.

Nightmare went to approach her former host. “Sleep, dearest one. You have earned your rest, and when I am victorious, your name will be legion.”

The old host, a pegasus mare so charred and scorched that she was all but unidentifiable, weakly smiled before passing.

Who was she? the host asked.

For a moment, Nightmare looked sorrowful. “Somepony I had an agreement with, as I do with you. She fulfilled her part of the bargain, marvelously, and for that, she deserves to be honored. See that it happens.”

You don’t strike me as the kind of mare that really cares.

“Ah, but you see, you are wrong,” Nightmare said in a voice that bordered on melancholy. “When all you have left is your subordinates, you care for them as you would a family. And when I shatter this world’s bones and decimate the other, when I am queen of all I survey and more, I will remember those who sided with me. I will remember their names, and I will smile.”

You almost sound as though you care about us.

The Nightmare said nothing to that, and instead vanished, returning the host mare back to normal. She looked at a card on the ground that the Nightmare left behind. “Her name was Orange Box,” she said, looking at the dead mare lying on the forest ground. “I wonder where I’ve heard that name before?”

Given that Spitfire had always loved Cloudsdale and had lived there most of her adult life, it had turned out to be a surprise to most that she actually wasn’t from the location at all. Instead, she was from a small town in the west known as Rolling Hills. Apparently, her parents had chosen the place for its completely (and ironically) flat terrain and wheat fields as far as the eye could see. Her mother Junebug and her father Speak Up had settled there and raised their family in contentment.

And now Spitfire was returning home.

As a 21-gun-salute composed of survivors of the Second Battle of Canterlot, as it was known, fired the guns, and a missing pony formation stormed overhead, the National Ensign of Equestria was removed from the casket, ceremonially folded, and given to a distraught Klick Klack and his daughters, nopony said anything. It was far too solemn a moment for the posthumous recipient of the Order of Faust, the realm’s highest honor, to disturb. But that didn’t mean anything at all to the husband and children Spitfire left behind.

Tugging her combo cover down to hide her tears, Rainbow said softly. “I should’ve been the one to die. Not Spits. I was the one in desperate straits, and she was just filling my horseshoes while I was…well, you know.”

At her side, Soarin’ nodded. He, too, had drawn the visor down for much the same reasons. “Let’s not talk about that today, Rainbow. There’s too much sorrow right now without sinking into melancholia.” He paused to watch Klick shudder from tears as he held his two daughters close. “What’s going to happen now?”

“Well, you know the obvious: as an OOF awardee, he’s entitled to her monthly salary for the rest of his life, plus a widower’s annuity. The girls will be fast tracked for the Military Academy if they so desire, and he is now the steward for House Sorraia until Hopes comes of age.” She sighed, “But I know you didn’t ask me about that. I spoke to my cousin Stormy Flare – Spits’ younger sister – and she’s taking a leave of absence from her duties at the Military Academy to move in with Klick and raise the girls for a while. Faust knows he needs the help.”

They heard footsteps and saw Scootaloo and Featherweight joining them. “I got the situation report. Things are looking dire, sis,” Scootaloo said.

“Scootaloo, now is not the time for this.” They all turned to see Celestia approach, dressed in her regal finery. Cadance was taking time off to recuperate from the whole ordeal, and Luna was attending to statecraft while Celestia was here. “I know we have much to discuss, but we have a grieving husband and father who needs us right now.”

“Tia, what happens next?” Rainbow asked. “Spitfire was one of the best of us. She’d served you longer than I had, and this is an aching loss – not just for the REAF or the military, but for my family as well. My cousin’s foals will never really know their mother. And the monsters that did this got away.”

“I know it’s hard, Rainbow. I know that more than anypony. But you have to believe me when I say that we did the right thing. Canterlot and its citizens were saved because of everyone’s actions. And yes, our foes got away. But I promise you, they will not escape justice.”

The three senior officers present all looked at her at once, while Featherweight stated, “I shouldn’t be a part of this conversation, should I?”

“I trust you, Feather,” Celestia told him. “Which is why I’m saying this: after today, our world will change. And we ponies have to be prepared.”

“So, what went wrong, Ibrahim?” di Tacco asked Khalid, sipping ouzo on a patio overlooking the Saddle Arabian beach. The two were in the spacious home Prince Artemis had provided for the fighter wing commander. “Did the Privateers perform as needed?”

“There was nothing wrong with the fighters. They are state-of-the-art, cutting edge aircraft, and I daresay it is a joy to fly them. They make the Q-313s absolutely primitive by comparison. No, the fighters performed brilliantly. The problem,” he said, quaffing his drink, “was the pilots.”

“The pilots?”

“Yes. Those pepsis. They were supposedly bred with all the knowledge of combat flying and everything that it entails…but there is knowledge, and there is experience. I need experienced pilots, Ghino. I sent half of my experienced pilots and half the pepsis against that aircraft carrier. The carrier was nearly destroyed – but only my own, trained people made it back. All of the pepsis there did not survive.” He looked out the window. “Four of the pepsis have proved themselves, and I will be recommending them for full flight duty positions. But I do not want any further pepsis ‘bred for war’ behind the cockpit. Any of them that are to be assigned to me from this point on I want training. I need simulators and training aircraft, not pilots that supposedly know what they’re doing.”

Di Tacco nodded. “I will talk to his highness, and I doubt he will disagree. He doesn’t have much faith in the pepsis either. But let’s be honest: experienced fighter pilots who are soldiers of fortune are, shall we say, somewhat hard to come by. Most are either employed by their home country still or paid a lucrative fortune to be a pilot in another industry.”

“Then his highness will have to put some skin in the game. It’s my understanding that Saddle Arabia is mainly a pegasus and unicorn nation, correct? The Stolzite Guard is wonderful at bodyguard and police duties, I’m sure, but if Prince Artemis wants a real nation – a modern nation – then he will have to take steps.”

“The Prince and I have been in talks, and they’ve been quite favorable. I’m glad you see things my way, Ibrahim,” he said with a smile. “If Artemis has his way, Saddle Arabia will end up as the North Korea of Alter-Earth – and that’s if he’s lucky. No, he needs to learn modern statecraft, my friend, and we have to teach him.” He looked on the beach and saw a girl with fair skin and long dark hair walk past. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe I have something else to do.”

Khalid laughed, then raised a glass. “Women will only get you in trouble, my friend. Especially ones that aren’t human.”

“Ah,” he said, looking at her figure, “but I like playing with fire. I’ll see you later.”

He strode over to the girl, sitting on the beach. “Hi,” she said to him. “Miss me?”

“Blue Velvet? I thought you were reassigned.”

“I was. But my older brother said that I wasn’t doing much of anything, so I may as well keep a friend happy.” She reached up a finger to caress him. “Do I keep you happy?” she asked.

He shook his head. “You certainly serve a better capacity than your predecessor.”

Blue looked at the ocean and a smile came over her face. “I’m going to kill that traitor someday, you know. She turned against the brood and everything we stand for. If she were one of the imbecilic Old Brood drones, I’d understand that. But she is a pepsis. She should know better.”

“Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world, Blue,” he told her. “But look at it this way: her errors ended up with you being here, right?”

She giggled girlishly and leaned against him. “You know what? You’re right. I hadn’t thought of it that way. But still, it’s no excuse. Twilight Sunburn, or as she calls herself now, Shining Dawn, will die and die horribly. And I want to deliver the killing blow. I want her to know what a defect she is.”

Di Tacco shrugged; he really didn’t care. He had other things on his mind. “So now what?”

“Are you busy?”

“Depends.”

“Are you busy enough to take me home and play?” He looked at her and he wondered if she was using her compulsion on him. He knew it wasn’t possible for her to succeed if she was – after all, he did have a secret no one here knew – but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try.

“Depends on whether or not you intend to compel me again.”

“You know I would never do that,” she said, bringing her lips towards his.

“You know you would never succeed.”

The two kissed, then got up and walked away from the beach.

“And the hospital said they should release me by the end of the week, though I’m going to need to deal with some therapy for acute magic overload.” Cadance lay in the bed at Ponyville General. With the Royal Infirmary gone and a couple other hospitals seriously damaged in the fight, the hospitals prioritized the seriously wounded; so that she wouldn’t interfere with that process, Cadance opted to take some time off in Ponyville so she could spend it with her son. Fortunately, she had visitors who came to see her; currently, there was Twilight, Dawn and Sweetie.

“He’s doing well,” Sweetie told her. She was taking a few days off from duty as well in order to watch over Dusk, who was turning out to be quite a hoofful. Thankfully, she was a powerful enough mage that she was able to deal with the headaches and repeated broken items caused by his constant need to fly. “I can see Shining’s semblance in him.”

“Thank you for taking care of him, Sweetie,” Cadance replied. “I would have loved to myself, but the doctors insist that because I’m the youngest alicorn, I’m more at risk for AMO than my aunts.” She rolled her eyes and grunted. “What, I need to be at least a thousand years old before I’m not treated with foal gloves?”

“Maybe,” Twilight giggled. “But now, I have to get to work. Raspberry Blast says there’s paperwork piling up and that I have to hire extra mages to deal with the personnel reduction because the Investigations Division now belongs to REAL.” She sighed good-naturedly. “Is it too late to go back to quarantine?”

“MOM!” Shining Dawn gasped. She herself had changed in the past few days, now sporting a white coat in honor of her father, as well as a pendant that Twilight said had belonged to her own mother, Twilight Velvet. It looked perfect on her daughter and cemented their relationship.

“Just kidding dear,” Twilight said with a smile.

Cadance looked at her sister-in-law, then her niece. “Never thought I’d see the day that you became a family mare, Twi. Now all I need to do is find you a suitable stallion, because Dawn needs a father.” A thought crossed the romance alicorn’s mind. “What about that one pegasus stallion you had your eye on when you visited me back when I was governor of the Empire? Flash Shield or something like that?”

“You mean Flash Sentry. And he married my cousin Moondancer, who is also one of my senior mages, ages ago. They’re expecting grandfoals this year.”

“Oh. Well, in any case, I’ll find somepony for you, Twi. Just a matter of time before I do.” She grinned. “After all, if Celestia and Luna can have coltfriends, so can you.”

The look on Twilight’s face was somewhere between shocked and floored, and for a second, her jaw was actually agape.

“Wow, I’ve been out of the loop a while, haven’t I?”

As they departed Cadance’s room, she found two other ponies standing there, looking at her, worry in their eyes. “You didn’t tell her about Lyra, did you?” Octavia Melody asked.

Twilight looked away. “Octavia, what was I supposed to say? We don’t know if she’ll li—”

Vinyl Scratch got in Twilight’s face. “Don’t you dare say that, Twi! We all grew up together. She’s going to make it through. She has to.”

Twilight looked into Vinyl’s teary red eyes, then embraced her. “She will, Vi. She will.”

A soft repeated beep sounded from the monitor by the table. A human woman, looking to be in her late twenties, lay in the bed, looking frail and weak. She was in a coma, as she had been for the past two days. A man sat in the chair next to her, haggard and worn. He’d been there every moment since he’d found out. and he refused to leave, save for when she had to go into surgery.

The woman was Lyra Heartstrings-Phillips, Viscountess Morgan and the Equestrian ambassador to the United States, and normally, she was a unicorn mare. But for the past two days, she’d been anything but. And it had the medical community of Canterlot completely baffled, to say the least.

The door slowly opened and an African-American woman, clearly a doctor, walked in. “Mr. Phillips?” As he glanced up at her, she looked at the patient and said, “Looks like I’m just in time.” She offered a hand. “I’m Erica McAllister, and I’m here to help your wife.”

Paul stood up and shook it. “You’re DJ’s friend, right?”

Erica nodded. “I came as soon as I could.” She smiled, clearly going into bedside manner mode. “Took me long enough to get the visas and clearance via my place of work.”

“You didn’t have to, though I appreciate it,” he told her.

The woman shook her head, though. “I don’t think you understand, Mr. Phillips. I did this not just because I was requested by the Equestriani government, but moreso for DJ.” She wandered over to pick up the chart and started looking through it. “DJ is blessed with a lot of aunts and uncles and cousins from this realm. But as far as I know, she doesn’t have older siblings. And I don’t know if you know this, but DJ pretty much thinks of your wife as an older sister and mentor. She really loves her. And because Dee and I have always been there for each other, I had to come.”

Paul looked at the woman with awe, not just for being here, but from what she said. “I knew they were close, but….”

“I spoke to Mike this morning. DJ’s feeling an incredible amount of guilt for not being able to stop the electrical blast from hitting Lyra. She’s trying to cope, but…well, you know how that is.” Erica looked through the chart. “Let’s see…oh, this is not good.” She looked back at Paul. “What have they told you?”

“That she had a brief horn incident and was changed into her human form before she got hit with the energy bolt. There’s more, isn’t there?”

Erica nodded. “You’ll have to forgive the pony doctor that was taking care of her; I’ve noted that pony bedside manner is to not tell the family anything until it’s all over. It’s just the pony way of handling things.” She pulled out the X-rays. “This is your wife’s skull as it is. Do you notice the extensive cracks?” When Paul nodded, Erica continued. “The skull cracks are equivalent to where her horn would be on her unicorn skull. Basically, that’s an acute corneal fracture.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Please, sir, let me finish. Additionally, that electrical blast hit her heart. From what the chart says, when they got her out of surgery right after they got her here, they had to use a lot of healing magic on her heart…but it’s a human heart, not a pony one, and it partially rejected the magic. From what I know of pony medicine, from that kind of blow it takes years of therapy to retrain a pony to use magic again. But it’s more than just that, sir. Between the ACU and this?” Erica sighed. “There’s no easy way to say this: at best, if Lyra survives this, she’s going to remain a normal human woman, without magic and living a normal human lifespan. She’ll have no access to her magic, and if she ever tries to change back to a unicorn, she will die instantly.”

Paul caught that instantly. “You said if.”

Erica nodded. “She’s not out of the woods yet. She’s got a major skull fracture and that means brain trauma. We’ve still got to operate to make sure she gets through this, sir. But we can take care of that.”

“What?” Paul knew enough to know that the kind of trauma she was talking about could leave his wife mentally incapacitated, if not worse. “How can you take care of that?”

“Because while Ms. Martinez may have a bit of pull on this world, she has much more pull on ours.” A new voice said this and Paul turned to see an old man standing there in the doorway, roughly about his father’s age. He looked vaguely like an old Errol Flynn and from his clothing, he was just as dapper.

The man offered his hand. “William Hilton, V.D., M.D., Eq.D. Came out of retirement just for this one. And I promise you, we will get your wife out of dire straits and back to health.”

“And here’s the report on the rebuilding,” Sunset said as she laid the paperwork on the desk. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she yawned, “I’m going to call it an early day. I’ve been running on adrenaline for the past couple of days, and I have had zero sleep.”

Seated at her desk, Princess Champagne Dreams replied, “That’s a good idea. Oh, and Sunset?” The other unicorn looked up and Champagne casually replied. “Codex VII.”

Sunset blinked and stepped unsteadily on her hooves for a second, briefly changing colors as if she were a living rapidfire rainbow. But then the technicolor show stopped, she stood back up and moaned, “Woah! Sorry about that, Chammie. Must be more tired than I thought.”

Champagne looked at her doppelganger with shock. The self-destruct code didn’t work? It should’ve killed her instantly! “Form Sixty-One,” she spoke, the override code.

Sunset rubbed her horn and asked, “What’s that?”

It was all Champagne could do from panicking. “Oh, I was just remembering a joke we used to have when we were kids about your brother always wanting to play Guardsponies and Changelings. Remember? Form Sixty-One was this marching thing he did…” The refined unicorn got out of her seat and started parade marching towards the other. “…and we used to laugh. I just happened to recall it.”

“I don’t remember, I really don’t!” The look on Sunset’s face was worried. “You don’t think I’m having thaumic-based exhaustion again?”

Champagne went over and hugged the other mare, practically forcing herself not to literally strangle her. “You need to take care of yourself, Sunny! Who’s going to keep my office in line if something happens to you?” She pulled away, taking Sunset’s hooves in her own. “You’re my best friend, mare! I need you around!”

Sunset looked at Champagne and smiled. “I owe you so much, Chammie, after my life fell apart. You know that.”

Champagne waved it off. “You don’t owe me anything. We’re practically family, remember?” And I hate you more than you will ever know, puppet! “Now, go home and take the rest of the week off to rest. You have to look your best on Friday when you receive the Princesses’ Eclipse medal and your new title.”

“Sunset Shimmer, Baronetess Garron.” She blushed. “Going to take a while to get used to that.”

Because you don’t deserve anything, toy! “You know us royals. We put one hoof down after the other just like everypony else. Now get out of here; if I need help I can ask Blue Savannah for assistance.”

“Okay, give me a call if anything comes up!” And with that, she was gone.

Champagne went over to the door, then looked it, before shivering with rage. She managed to make it to the sofa in her office before she changed to her true colors, her face a mask of hatred. Someone was stealing Sunset Shimmer’s life – and that mare was Sunset Shimmer! And moreso, Sunset herself had enabled it!

That little bitch…. Sunset knew what was happening; in the darkest of grimoires she’d read all warlocks had warned about it – if you left a golem operating long enough, it started to think it was a real person…and real people didn’t have built-in triggers. Worse, if you made a doppelganger, it would start to believe it was the real person in question.

But that made no sense! The current Sunset doppelganger had only been made days ago. Normally, it took years for the “person effect” to happen to golems or doppelgangers. And yet this current puppet not only thought she was Sunset Shimmer, she had practically all but become Sunset, so much so that she was making friends on her own and accomplishing things of her own accord!

No, that will not do, Sunset thought to herself. I will have to replace this one, and soon. But it takes forever to create the formula, and I just used up the last spare sending it to Saddle Arabia! She sighed and rubbed her horn. Decades ago, she would’ve been thrilled to have been a hero of Canterlot, with all the sobriquets and such that went with it. And she would’ve been happy with a coltfriend and an apartment just overlooking the cliffside.

But she didn’t have these. All the previous doppelgangers had, and this new puppet had merely inherited them without really questioning why, hence the cranial and other traumas she believed she had. But this one was moving faster and farther than the others, and it was a short step from that to realizing who your “foalhood friend” really was.

After all, the doppelganger was Sunset Shimmer. And Sunset wasn’t stupid.

She heard the hidden door by the wall slide open, and out came Blueblood. Looking at his wife, he smirked. “Well, that’s a different look for you, dear. I thought you hated being, well…you.”

“Just dealing with that doppelganger, dear,” she sighed as she moved on the couch, allowing him to sit. “I need to start working on another so I can replace this one, but…she’s too high profile now. I can’t just simply kill her; there will be too many questions.”

“I told you this would bite you,” he stated. “I told you that once I found out who you really were, that you should’ve left Sunset Shimmer behind once and for all. And I know why you can’t – and I know that you hope our children never find out.”

“I hate her, I hate Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset replied. “I hate myself for being myself. And I wish I could be Champagne forever and wish Sunset had never existed.”

“And it’s so easy to,” Blueblood told her. “You just have to not care. Trust me, I’ve done it for years. Anyway, the reason I came here is to let you know that other doppelganger you sent to Saddle Arabia had some very big dividends. As a result, I have a private meeting with some…interested parties…in Saddle Arabia who might be interested in helping our cause if we were to back their independence movement.”

“Artemis is a fool who fancies himself a king, you know that. You, at least, have the brains to go with the ambition, my dear husband. He merely thinks that sticking his dick in his harem entitles him to a kingly throne.”

“Perhaps,” Blueblood replied. “But we won’t find out until tonight at dinner. 8pm at the Sterling Platter in Ponyville. You game?”

“On one condition,” she told him.

“Name it.”

She lifted her tail. “I think I want Sunset to be abused a little bit…so that I never think of her again. You game?”

“You drive a hard bargain my dear,” he said, feeling himself rise. “But you will find I am harder.”

The following morning, there was a visitor to the city of Mercer Island, Washington.

The car, a 2048 Packard Calypso SUV, pulled in front of an expensive lakeside house located at 4103 Lakeview Parkway. The driver, a woman in her late twenties, got out of her car and looked around.

I hope this is the right address. She brushed off her clothing, a simple gray blouse and blue jeans, and quickly checked herself in the side-view mirror. Raven-black hair, check. Eyes behind glasses, check. Looking at it again, she saw the face of a very nervous woman. Heh. Me, nervous? Why would I be nervous? I’m an immortal princess of Equestria! I literally shove the moon around the world!

Then her mind reminded her, And right now you’re a 27-year-old woman about to see the man you haven’t dated in years. Yeah, no pressure there, right? She knew she wasn’t getting anywhere, so she opened the gate, and walked onto the grounds of the home of Robin Kirkland, CEO of the Kirkland Corporation, one of the largest employers in the nation.

After a few minutes of walking through the manicured lawn and pond (which, to her fond amusement, contained ghost koi, something that she’d told Robin way back then that she found intriguing). Finally reaching the door, she knocked, to find a young woman answering. “Oh, excuse me, miss!”

Though she kept the smile on her face, inwardly, her courage fell. You stupid nag! Of course he’s with someone again! You didn’t think he’d stay single forever after his second divorce, did you? “Yes, my name’s Cyndi Hanover and I’m here to see Mr. Kirkland. Is he available?”

“Oh, you must be the next appointment!” the woman smiled. “Well, let me let you in. I need to get going.”

“Well, thank you very much, Mrs. Kirkland,” Luna said cordially, though she felt more than a whiff of jealousy.

The woman reacted. “Oh! Oh, I’m sorry, I’m not – we’re not….” She laughed. “Sorry, I’m just a runner from his office. The boss needed some paperwork and his secretary asked me to come out here and drop it off.” The other woman leaned in close and whispered, “Between you and me, I probably would do him if I could get to know him. But from what I understand, his first wife died or something and two divorces later, he still can’t get over her. No chance of winning against a ghost or something. Anyway, catch you later!” Off the woman went, and Luna watched as she climbed into a Toyota Corolla across the street, taking off.

She gently walked into the house and found it somewhat jumbled, like someone who had to redecorate twice after a pair of marriages that went sour. She couldn’t really sense the touches of…what were his wives’ names? I remember the first one being Saffron, but what was the other? Liz? Lily? Something with an L, I’m sure of that…. It was as if they were never here.

Luna frowned. Maybe that other girl was right: you can’t compare yourself to a ghost. She remembered the words he told her five years back, the last time he ran into her: “I fell in love once with a woman that I could never get out of my mind; two divorces later, I’ve given up looking elsewhere and realize I belong only to her.”

Is it true? she asked herself as she heard footsteps sound on the wood of the nearby staircase. Sure enough, she turned to look at him as he came down the stairs, looking at paperwork.

“Hey, Jade, you still here? I’m missing some documents from the Beaumont files, and….” He turned to see the newcomer in the room. He dropped the documents, his jaw going slack as he finally saw her.

She waved impishly. “Hi.” She then looked at him closely. The years had not dulled his handsomeness, as it tended to do with so many human men. She’d once heard the term “lucky enough to actually look better as you get older”, and that was him. He was no longer just the lanky youth she’d fallen in love with. Years of muscle replaced that, and his soul patch had been changed into a neatly trimmed beard. White streaked his hair at this age as it tended to do with humans, and his eyes were clear and bright.

“Luna?” he spoke, as if not believing it.

“Hello, my love,” she said, hoping she was still his. She wanted to be. She felt herself drawing closer to him.

“Why are you here?” he asked, also feeling the inexorable pull, both drifting together until they were fractions of an inch apart.

“Because I’m tired of the cage,” she told him, “and I want us to be free together.”

They kissed like a pair of hormonal teenagers, letting their love for each other overwhelm them. He picked her up in his arms and she sighed, not complaining in the slightest. He carried her up towards the bedroom, and she didn’t complain at all, until he reached for the door handle.

“I’m a little rusty at this,” she blushed.

“Really? I would’ve thought the Lunar Alicorn would’ve been pressed by suitors as far as the eye can see.”

She smiled lovingly. “This alicorn has been waiting forever for just one person.”

He carried her into the bedroom and closed the door.

The two collapsed, spent. Celestia snuggled closer to Sam. “Yup, you’re a keeper,” she breathed.

“I’m glad you think so,” he replied, sitting up. “I suppose my studding myself out to alicorns has worked.”

“Oh really? Do you want to try with me in my normal form?” she asked.

“Uh….”

She laughed, the room filled with raucous humor. “You’re safe for now, though you do keep me happy.” She then looked at the clock on the wall. “And there went my time off. My seneschal scheduled a meeting for me in an hour with the US Secretary of Defense, the British Minister of Defense and the NATO secretary general. They’ll be here to discuss Article 5.”

He looked at her with mild surprise. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

She sighed. “I have to do this. Millions of my ponies are dead or hurt. Property loss is incalculable, and our weather factory has been destroyed, which means we could have weather disasters for a long time to come. Intelligence has even reported that my recalcitrant nephew Artemis down in Saddle Arabia is contemplating trying his hoof at independence.”

“But you’re talking war, Cel!”

“And you nearly died at the hooves of Nightmare!” She sat up as well and looked him right in the eyes. “I almost lost you, Sam. And I’m not just talking in ways that directly affect me. I need someone qualified to start REAL. Your sister and her family need you.” She leaned against his chest, her strawberry blonde hair rubbing up against his chest. “I need you.”

He put his arms around her. “I know. And aside from being dead, my life would be a lot emptier without you as well.”

“Sam, I’ve been thinking….”

“I hope so. Brain death can be a bad thing.”

She pulled away and gave him a mock-scolding look. “Seriously, Sam. I know our relationship is going pretty fast, but it feels as though we’ve been together forever. I never admitted this to her, but I always felt a bit jealous of Cadance when she was with Shining, because she was able to marry the one she loved, and I had to give mine up, but that’s not the case any longer.”

“Are you proposing? I mean, I think it’s a little too early.”

She tapped him on the shoulder. “Being silly again, I see. No, I don’t think we’re at that stage yet. But what I meant is that when we are – and when I make our relationship public – I won’t let the nobility stand in the way of my happiness again. Even if I have to abdicate, I will not let them separate me from you.”

“They won’t, Cel, they won’t,” he insisted.

She wanted to stop time and lay there with him forever. She wanted to ignore the delegation coming to see her in less than an hour. She wanted to abandon her throne, move somewhere secluded with just him and make babies and live a life where no one would ever care about a solar alicorn.

But so long as her ponies suffered…she could not have a life of her own. Her mother would not have done that, and nor would she. She knew Cadance would not, and she suspected that Luna would not have either. That made the alicorns trapped. Shackled by duty and bound by conscience.

She never hated herself more than this moment.

“Do you have to leave?” Star Swirl asked Rumble as they entered the REA base near Ponyville.

He nodded. “Equestria was attacked and protocol requires me to report back to my unit, especially given that I’m the commanding officer,” he told her. “And trust me, I really don’t want to. Soarin’ was right; I needed this time off.” He flashed her a grin, adding, “And I’m glad I found somepony to spend it with.”

She blushed. “I….”

“This isn’t the end, you know,” he told her. “We’ve only been together a few days and yet…well, plenty of humans I know would call it destiny, but I would just say that you were a gift from Cadance.”

She blushed harder. “Call me when you get back, okay? And let me know when you have some free time there in the human world. I want to go visit you there.”

Now it was his turn to blush. “Well, it should be interesting, having my fillyfriend in town,” he said.

“Aren’t you supposed to be one of those non-stop hardcore Seapony special warriors?”

“Hey, I have a gentle side, you know.”

“I know. That’s why I want to see you again, Rumble. That’s why I don’t want this to be the end. I don’t think I’ve ever felt about anypony the way I have about you.” Mentally, she tamped her feelings about Sweetie Belle down; she didn’t need the reminder right now.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the same way,” he said, kissing her. She returned the kiss, eagerly.

An REA lieutenant approached them. “Uh, sir, excuse me for interrupting.”

“Um, yeah, sorry about that, Lieutenant.” Rumble scratched the back of his head; while public displays of affection weren’t as frowned upon in the Equestria Armed Forces as they were in other nations, it still set a bad example for subordinates. “What can I do for you?”

“Sir, Maj. Rotator told me to let you know that your helicopter for Canterlot Mountain Airbase is ready and over by helipad two, sir.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant, that will be all.” The lieutenant saluted and he saluted back. “It’s time for me to g—” His words were cut off by her kiss.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” he told her, and she smiled. With a reluctant look, he walked away, following the lieutenant.

“Sir, is that Mage Star Swirl?” the lieutenant asked. “Wow, from what I get, she’s a hoofful and a half! Looks like you got somepony who can keep up with a Seapony like you.”

Rumble laughed. “Maybe. Just maybe.”

Star sat where she was, watching him drive off to a helipad in the distance and get aboard an REA support helicopter. She then watched as the aircraft rose up to the sky and drifted off towards Canterlot. Part of her wished that she was a pegasus or at least comfortable enough with the Glimmer Wing spell so that she could follow him. But right now, she had other concerns, and likely so did he.

“It’s not easy, watching them go away, is it?” Star turned to see Sweetie standing there, looking at her with a knowing grin. “Wow, you and Rumble, huh? Never would’ve suspected, given that he’s much older than you.”

“Sweetie! I…um…that is….” the younger unicorn stammered before she finally managed to spit out, “What’re you doing here?”

Sweetie laughed. “Well, I needed to shop at the Base Exchange for a few things, and as I was walking back towards the gate, surprisingly who do I see standing here giving her coltfriend a kiss? So how long have you two been an item? I thought he lived overseas in San Diego?”

Star blushed furiously. She just saw off one person who made her heart go wild, and now the other one just appeared. She was going to need a lot of personal time in the bed later tonight.

“Star? Is everything okay?” Sweetie asked.

“No, it’s not.” She looked at Sweetie, guilt in her eyes. “This doesn’t get any easier, does it?”

The older unicorn shook her head and remembered the crash and burn of a thirty year relationship. “No, Star, it never does.”

Pip looked around at Dream Valley and how much things would change. The small garrison was being expanded into a larger facility; not an outright base, but one that would serve as an outlying field for the Ponyville Army Garrison. That in turn would allow Dream Valley to move beyond just a commune and into an actual town; in fact, he could already see Coriander and Paprika building a small general store and deli, so ponies from the garrison could come down and enjoy good old-fashioned flutter cooking. It was just what was needed to bring the flutters to prominence, so that they could be disambiguated from their changeling forebears.

“The foals are adjusting,” Imago said as she moved by his side, their daughter on her back. “They won’t have to live in a world where they’re blamed for what the changelings do.” She kissed her husband on the cheek. “Our foals will lead as normal a life as the ponies outside the Valley. I cannot wait for that moment.”

“Nor can I,” he told her, putting a foreleg around her. He had adjusted to what would be his future now. He hated the fact that he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Sweetie one last time, but he promised everypony he would, if she would listen.

And just as if she read his mind, she asked, “Have you had a chance to talk to Sweetie Belle yet, my love?”

“No. Things have been too busy since the attack on Canterlot. As it is, my unit needs to deploy tomorrow. We’re going to be checking out a suspected changeling backup hive south of Lonesome Dove. We believe that Chrysalis may be recuperating there. Of bigger concern is the hive strongholds down in the Southern Continent. That’s where the bulk of the enemy is, and where we’re going to have to go to war.”

“Go to war?” Imago asked nervously.

“Maggie, I would never leave you and the foals. But after this, we will have to go to war. Nopony wants it, but with two cities in ruins and the capital itself attacked? We don’t have much choice.” He said nothing more and in response she simply leaned against him, a gesture of love. They stood there, watching the hustle and bustle of the flutters as they prepared for a new life due to events in the outside world, hoping it wouldn’t get worse than this, but knowing it would.

“Hell of a day, Master Chief, hell of a day.” Mike was finishing up the last touches of paperwork that had to be done for the day. It was a sad irony that since he’d assumed command, this had only been the third time he’d been in his office. And now he was filling out letters of condolence for people that would never return: about a third of the troops he commanded were dead, and he hadn’t even had a chance to sit down and meet with each, which had been his plan. Now he never could.

“No kidding, sir.” Khan quaffed down a huge gulp from his coffee cup; as befitting a Navy chief petty officer, the coffee mug was practically grafted to his hand. “Look, I know it was rough out there; take it from me, I’ve been in quite a few tussles in my time and I’ve never seen anything like this. But you made it out with flying colors, Skipper, and I can guarantee the troops are going to respect the Old Man after this one.”

“Then what about Maj. Loam? His funeral is tomorrow, and I have to face his wife and let her know why we weren’t able to save him.” The guilt felt overwhelming. His brother-in-law had survived, but not Sable? It felt like he’d failed, especially when Celestia arrived from out of nowhere to save Sam just in time. Would that she was only a few seconds sooner, not that he was blaming her.

“We did all we could out there, sir. Sometimes, it’s not enough, and you know that. When you were in Singapore, protecting the princesses, you couldn’t protect your wife and as a result, she was severely injured if I recall correctly. Same thing here. The XO knew the risks, sir; we all do. It’s what happens when you put on the uniform.”

Mike nodded. “You’re right. How’d you get so wise?”

Khan laughed. “Enlisted, sir. You officers have to make flag officer before your brain starts kicking in.”

Mike was about to say something, when his phone rang. Picking it up, he said, “CSAU Commanding Officer’s office, nonsecure line. Cmdr. Hengst here.”

“Mike? It’s Elusive.”

“Hey, Luse. My sons aren’t giving you any problems, are they?” He covered the mouthpiece of the phone and silently gave Khan an apologetic glance. The master chief merely nodded and departed.

“No, actually, right now Butter is tutoring them in classes. She wanted to get out of the house, and I think working with older children would be good for us – gives us experience for when our foals are that age.”

“Good to hear. But I suspect you’re not calling about Stuart and Tyler.”

“No. She just left. They’re meeting at La Piazza Bitaliano – it’s the newest restaurant in Canterlot and anypony who’s anypony goes there. So, naturally….”

Mike sighed; this was not going to go over well.

Oh well, may as well call Silver in his office and see if he’s interested in having lunch together at a certain restaurant before it gets destroyed utterly.

Lovemaking had been just as they remembered, and just as sweet. Afterwards, they cried tears of joy for being reunited.

And now, Robin was whipping up a Caesar salad for the two of them to have during lunch. While he did, Luna sipped on a glass of wine. “I see your taste in wines still hasn’t changed,” she told him.

He nodded. “Chateaux Mortmoncy ’17 – I was told it was a nice year for wines in this state. As it is, it’s nowhere as wonderful as the company I’m with.”

She smiled over her glass. “Flattery will get you everywhere, my love.”

“Luna,” he began as he served them both, “I…love you. I always have, I always will. You know that. But I have responsibilities now, and a life far different from the time we were last together.”

“I know. And I want things to be different now, too. We can live at the palace. Or if not…I told Tia I would abdicate if it meant being with you.” She looked at him sincerely. “We have been apart for nearly twenty years, my love. We were only together a handful of months, and yet you loved me like no man ever has a woman—”

“—and you like no mare ever has a stallion,” he said, finishing the old statement that they both knew so well. “And I want you in my life – in our life. But I can’t if something causes you to go back and leave us. I’ve heard about the incidents in Equestria, and I saw you on the news in a pitched battle with that…whatever the hell it was alicorn.”

“Nightmare Moon is a demon, and Chrysalis is queen of the changelings,” Luna explained. “The fact that they look like alicorns is coincidental.”

“Regardless. Sterling…she’s a special girl—”

Luna was puzzled. “I thought you named her after me?”

He smiled. “I did, and oh, you cannot believe the headache I got from Saffron over that. But Sterling’s a teenager now, and teenagers do teenager things. She up and one day decided she wanted to go by her middle name, and I wasn’t going to argue.”

“She’s your daughter, Robin. Of course she’s special to you,” Luna replied.

“Look, Luna, how do I explain this….” Robin began, and from the look on his face, Luna began to worry. Of course he would consider his child’s needs over her, but she didn’t want to lose him. She didn’t want this to be the end of them.

“Robin,” Luna asked, nervously holding her fork; the utensil clattered in her hands. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“Luna! I…you won’t lose me. It’s just that there’s something I have to tell you about Sterling.”

Just then a door opened, and a voice sang out, “Yo, Dad! I’m home!” The voice sounded boisterous and lively, a young woman reaching towards adulthood. “Mrs. Cooper gave me a lift. We still going to the movies tonight?”

“Sterling, I’m in the kitchen,” her father called out. “We have company. Did you eat lunch yet?”

“No, half day at school, remember?” Sterling said as she popped into the kitchen. She had blonde hair, blue eyes with glasses, and currently wore the uniform of the private school she attended. “Anyways,” she said, heading for the newcomer with hands out, “I’m Luna Kirkland, but I go by Sterling and….” She paused.

So did Luna as she looked at the girl.

“Sterling, meet Her Royal Highness Princess Claire de Lune of Equestria, more commonly known as Luna.” He then turned to Luna. “Luna, this is Sterling…

“…your daughter.”

“Well, hopefully this will be a pleasant lunch,” Rarity said in what was clearly a strained tone.

“Yes,” DJ said, poring over the menu and wincing at all the Italian-based horse puns and all the pony food options, none of which she was interested in – or would likely find palatable. She flagged down a waitress. “Waitress? A human menu, please.”

The waitress looked at her oddly. “A human menu?”

“Do you have one?”

“Well, of course! This is a favorite restaurant of the Italian ambassador, in fact! But, um….”

“Humor me.” The waitress went off to go get one, and DJ took a drink of her wine. She wasn’t a huge wine drinker, but one did not usually break bread with the enemy, so….

Rarity looked at DJ with a disapproving glance. “Really, Sandalwood? You shouldn’t make a scene. Ponies come here to be seen, and the eyes of the world are on its newest heroine.”

DJ rolled her eyes. “First, Rarity—”

“‘Mother’. I am your mother and I would appreciate being addressed as such.”

“You get that when you earn it. As it is, the only reason I’m here is because I promised Elusive, Luna, Twilight and several others in my family that I would.” The waitress came over and brought the human menu and the humanized pony took it, thanking her. “Right now, I need to be with my family and I need to be with Paul.” A sad look came over DJ’s face. “I need to be there for Lyra.”

“Yes, I heard what happened. Elusive said you were not at fault, Sandalwood, and you shouldn’t blame yourself. I, for one, agree.”

“No. I should’ve stepped in. I could’ve tanked it with my new Hulkamania mode.” She looked at her hoof.

“I’ve also heard about that, as well.” Rarity swirled her wine glass in her magic before taking another sip. “I understand you had a medical check-up yesterday?”

DJ nodded. “Whatever magic I got from Lyra and Luse, it’s permanent. I’ve got the power levels that I should’ve been born with, and then some. Apparently, I’ve inherited Father’s Monolith status.”

Rarity lit up at that. “That’s amazing! Silver will be glad to hear that, because Sparkler and Dinky took after their mother, Minty was her own mare and your brother takes after me.”

“Are you kidding? I’m a freak!” DJ told her. “It was already freaky as hell that I can lift over 700 pounds. And now I can pull close to twenty tons? Hell, the average earth pony can only pull six!”

“Dear, you should be proud! The only one who is known to have towed that weight is your uncle Macintosh. I won’t go into details, but your father and your uncle Diamondplate are theorized to be able to do so as well though it hasn’t been tested. Think of the earth pony abilities you’ve inherited!”

“Yeah, that’s nice and all, but I’m human, if you recall. Just pony shaped.”

Rarity was about to say something, but then the waitress showed up and took their orders. The ever-fashionable unicorn ordered spinach and ricotta cannelloni, while DJ, to the slight horror of the waitress, ordered chicken carbonara.

“Dear!” Rarity hissed, trying to be silent. “Must you make a scene?”

“What do you mean ‘make a scene’?”

“You’re eating meat!” The look on Rarity’s face was one of scandalous shock. “You’re not a gryphon, for Celestia’s sake!”

“Says the mare who’s had cake – which Pinkie has told me has eggs. You know, naturally-canned meat?” The look on Rarity’s face as one of somewhere between horrible realization and the verge of nausea, and DJ knew she hit paydirt. “So don’t you dare lecture me about meat-eating. Maybe you should try some? Bacon, for example, is awesome.”

“Well, that I won’t argue; I have a guilty pleasure for hay bacon. Your father absolutely loves it, but I keep telling him it’s bad for his barrel-line, but I must admit to stealing a few from his plate now and then,” she snickered.

“Um…I wasn’t talking about hay, or soy, or tofurkey, or whatever. I’m talking about pigs.”

Rarity looked at DJ with a nauseous glance. “Pigs?”

“Yup. Ham’s pretty good as well.”

“Pigs?”

DJ grinned maliciously. “Oink, oink.”

Rarity’s eyes grew wide…and then her stomach gurgled. “Excuse me a moment.” She then immediately teleported away, but DJ didn’t have to guess where she went.

DJ picked up her wine glass and took a drink. Giving herself a small smile, she said to herself, “She shoots, she scores.”

Sweetie arrived at her apartment in Canterlot, tired as could be. While Twilight had to catch up on paperwork, now that she was cleared for duty once more, the younger unicorn had to be on a plane to London tomorrow for a symposium on magic and its potential on Human-Earth. The symposium was sponsored by the Society for Human Magicks and Mystycysm, which to her was a sign that she was dealing with a crackpot organization – while there were serious scholars of magic on the human world, more often than not she ran into those who either thought it was something out of The Lord of the Rings, or worse, Harry Potter. In fact, a few years back she’d had the chance to meet JK Rowling, who turned out to be a nice old lady who had loved Sweetie’s explanation of how magic worked and the like. Sweetie had gotten an autographed first edition of the Harry Potter series as a result.

But for now, all she wanted was sleep. Sleep, and maybe a stiff cider or two. Normally about now she would spend the day with Twilight and commiserate about their single lives; or she’d be in bed with Pip. But Pip was no longer single and Twilight was now a mother on top of her other voluminous responsibilities. And that just left Sweetie alone.

Maybe I’ll just watch a couple of movies and order some Zhuanguonese take-out tonight and that’s it, she groaned, as she stumbled through the emptiness of her apartment, towards her living room.

“SURPRISE!”

A camera shutter clicked off, and Scootaloo slid her phone back into her pocket. “This is going to make for some great blackmail later.”

Her face still contorted in a look of shock, Sweetie looked at the assembly in her living room, her oldest friends: Scootaloo, Applebloom, Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara and Twist. The five of them had been through thick and thin (mostly thin in their earlier years and thicker as they grew older) and they were here. In particular, Twist held a cake that read OUR BRAVE DEFENDER OF CANTERLOT.

“Girls,” the unicorn spoke, both shocked and touched.

Bloom was the first to speak: “We know yer goin’ through a rough patch, Sweetie, so we planned this. An’ then when all th’ stuff happened in Canterlot, we knew what we had to do.”

Diamond nodded. “Caught a red-eye from Paris. Mare, was that a mess.”

“So was timing all this,” Spoon added. “Do you ever check your email, Sweetie?”

“Babs sends her apologies,” Twist threw in. “Her ship is still on Human-Earth.”

Looking at her dearest friends, Sweetie finally bawled, letting it all out. Five pairs of forelegs surrounded her in a loving hug, knowing what she was going through. Given that all of them were already happily married, for the last member of them to have given up so much only to have it blow up in her face, well, that was the sort of stuff that made up mares’ nightmares.

For right now, they would keep her safe and happy, because that’s what they did: their own circle of friends, six mares who had been through so much and made it out the other side, and they would always be there for one another.

Luna rose from Robin’s bed, rubbing her eyes. “I just had the weirdest dream….” she said to herself.

Robin walked up with a glass of water. “Thought you could use this.”

She gave him a loving smile and took it. “You know, you always seem to know what I want when I want it.”

“That’s what true love does, Luna,” he told her.

She sighed. “Well, it was about your daughter. For a moment, I…well, this is going to sound crazy, but I thought you said she was mine.”

In response, Robin merely pointed to Luna’s side.

There, dozing away, peacefully, was a pony. She had a gray coat and wavy hair similar in color to Luna’s – a rarity, to say the least. Her cutie mark was the same as Luna’s. She looked smaller than the normal mare, the sign of a teenager who still had yet to grow to her adult height.

And she had both a horn and wings.

Luna looked at the alicorn, then at Robin. “What?”

“She’s yours, Luna. I can’t explain it. I don’t have an explanation, but….” He went over to the small desk in the bedroom and handed her a folder. “I think you should see this.” Taking the folder, Luna began reading the documents and soon found out that it was: a DNA test report. “Somehow, after Saffron gave birth, she knew. She didn’t tell me until the divorce trial, but she had a DNA test done.”

Luna looked up. “The documents say that you’re confirmed as the father…but the mother is unknown, and certainly not your wife.”

He nodded. “Saffron thought it might be a case of genetic chimerism at first; it’s rare in humans, but it does happen. But that wasn’t the case and our marriage fell apart after that, because she accused me of implanting a fertizilied embryo in her. The divorce trial…well, it was interesting,” he said with the telltale chuckle of someone who had lived through it. “As for Lori, she tried to be a mother, and I think Sterling was fond of her, but…we were just too different. Or maybe I was still too much in love with you.”

She handed him back the report. “Well, unless you’ve somehow shacked up with another alicorn for some reason, I have a daughter.” The realization then hit her: “I have a daughter?” When Robin nodded, Luna lifted a hand, filling it with pink spellfire. Without further ado, she placed the sphere against her heart, and her body absorbed it, enveloping her in an aura of the same. She then recreated the spell, and placed it on the alicorn. She soon shone with a rosy radiance, and a tendril of magic reached out from the alicorn to her.

“I don’t know what to say.” Luna became overcome with emotion. She looked at Robin, tears of joy sliding down her cheeks. “I…I’m…I’m a mother.”

As if that was a signal, the alicorn yawned, stretched, then looked at Luna. “So you really are my mother,” she said simply.

Luna looked into Sterling’s eyes. “You have my eyes.” Sure enough, the eyes weren’t blue, but aqua. “How long have you known?”

“Aside from the obvious?” Sterling replied with a grin; sure enough, the snarky attitude also confirmed her parentage. “On some level, I’ve always known. And I never really knew Saffron, though she gave birth to me. And I love Lori, don’t get me wrong: she was a mother to me, just not my mother. But I’ve always known, and then when puberty kicked in….” She giggled. “Let’s just say it was a good thing that I had nothing going on that weekend.”

“Luna, did you do this on purpose?” Robin asked.

The lunar alicorn shook her head. “I didn’t know, Robin, truly I didn’t. I would not have let this stand, and in fact I wish you’d told me sooner,” she sighed. “That day we all ran into each other in Santa Monica. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Back then, I wasn’t sure. If I had been, I would have, you know that. After we realized...I didn't know if you wanted us in your life. We would've had to tell you sooner or later, admittedly, but tomorrow is just another day,” he told her.

“I see."

“Then how...?”

“I have a theory, but we’ll have to talk about that later,” Luna told him.

“Well, this is all well and good, but I think I need to change back to normal, so could you step out, Dad?” Luna looked at Sterling curiously, and the younger alicorn blushed. “I…I haven’t learned magic yet. All I can do is just shapeshift between human and pony.”

Luna laughed, got off the bed and assumed her natural form. “Well, I think it’s high time I took care of my foal’s education, don’t you think?”

The younger alicorn sighed. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m neither a foal nor a kid!”

Robin laughed as he left the room. “Yup, it’s clear you two are mother and daughter.”

Dawn set several bouquets of crystal roses down on a series of graves. “Hello, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa,” she said to the graves. She then looked to her mother, though not saying a thing.

“It’s okay, dearest,” Twilight told her.

“But they’re gone,” Dawn told her.

Twilight gave her daughter a smile. “No, they’re not. They’ll always be here,” she said, placing a hoof over her heart, “and here.” She did the same for her daughter. “If Shiny was alive, he would be proud of you. Same for Mom and Dad. They would have loved you, and in the Great Pasture, they love you still.”

Dawn looked and saw wisdom in her mother’s eyes, then turned back to her forebears. “I’m not really good at this,” she told them. “Just a few days ago, I was worthless. A tool. Then Queen Faust showed me that I was worth something, that I had somepony that would love me despite what I am. And now I know what I am.” She smiled proudly. “I am the daughter of Prince Shining Armor, brave defender of Equestria.” She looked at her adoptive mother. “I am the daughter of Duchess Twilight Sparkle, courageous Knight Commander of Magic.” She looked back at the graves. “And someday, I hope that I will be worthy of being your daughter and grandfoal.”

Twilight walked over and hugged Dawn from behind. “You already are, Dawn.”

Both Mike and Silver walked away from the restaurant, looking relieved that it was still relatively intact – they couldn’t confirm, as they were in battledress, and the restaurant would only allow duty uniforms or better. “Well, the distinct lack of a fire is a good thing,” Silver commented lightly.

“No kidding. I was honestly expecting to see a full-pitched battle in the center of a burnt-out husk of a restaurant,” Mike told him. “I’m glad they showed restraint.”

“Oh, knowing my Rarity, it’s probably not easy for her, not with DJ.”

“Knowing DJ, definitely not.”

“Well, any suggestions for lunch?” Silver asked him. “Not too many places around where we live that I can think of; they got hit during the assault.”

“I’m not as familiar with Canterlot as you are,” Mike told him, “so lead the way, if you please.”

“Wow, a polite son-in-law. I think we’re going to get along just swell.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

The pair walked a few feet before Silver and Mike looked at each other. “Wonder what they’re doing now?” the stallion asked.

“I’m curious myself,” the man replied.

The two shared another concerned look as they took off down the street, hoping they’d arrive before disaster actually struck.

Lunch between the two was awkward. And now they were spending time together, if only because some ponies had insisted so. It wasn’t anything that DJ wanted to do. Rarity herself wasn’t sure of it either. And yet the two ponies walked, both out of inertia, just around with no real destination, DJ on her legs, while Rarity moved on all fours “as befitting a pony”.

“So, what are your plans now?” Rarity asked lightly.

“Not that they’re any concern of yours, but I go back to Yokosuka until the boys finish school for the year. Once that’s done, then we’ll move here. Gen. Bryson told Mike there’s an American International School here in town, and I’ll have to look into it.”

“Why don’t you let me handle that. Why, Gold Standard’s School for Gifted Unicorn Excellence would be absolutely superb for them!” She stopped giddily clapping her forehooves together while squeezing, “It’s one of the top-rated unicorn schools in the country, and I hear their magic kindergarten is absolutely top-notch!”

“Pass,” DJ replied.

“Pass? Whatever for?”

“Well, for one, they’re not unicorns. And secondly, as children tied to the US Embassy, I think they can attend AIS for free. Private schools can be expensive. I should know; my parents sent me to one.”

“Oh, posh,” Rarity said. “Bits shouldn’t be a concern. Nothing is too good for my grandfoals. Although, if they are to attend the School, they will need to have pony names, so they won’t be teased by other students. I would hate to see that happen to those little dears.”

“I’m not changing the boys’ names. And I’m not sending them to that school.”

“Sandalwood, you’re being unreasonable. Think of your foals’ futures! Think about somepony besides yourself for a change!”

“Which part of ‘no’ did you not understand? The quotation marks?”

“I care little for your thoughts on the matter, Sandalwood,” Rarity argued. “They are my grandfoals and I care about what is best for them! They should learn a curriculum of grace and elegance! About such luminaries as Queen Platinum and Stronghoof the Mighty! Not whatever ‘how to throw bombs for fun and profit’ drivel that they teach at human schools!”

“Wow, specist much?”

“No! I simply cannot confirm the quality of human schools! I’ll have you know your brother Elusive attended the School, and obviously he’s a fine stallion of taste and sophistication! Not unli—”

DJ stopped and glared at Rarity. “Finish that sentence and I’ll see how far I can throw you. If I’m lucky, maybe all the way off the Goddamn mountain.”

“And did that fine human schooling of yours teach you a lack of manners? From what little I know of the…well, I will give those two humans that raised you credit: at least they don’t seem to be even half as uncouth as you, young filly!”

“Leave my parents out of this,” DJ warned. “You can say anything you want about me, Rarity, but I warned you once before, there are lines you don’t want to cross.”

Rarity sighed; from the sound of it, it was genuine. “And here I hoped that spending some time with your pony family would at least disabuse you of your sad ways. In that, I have failed you as a mother, and I am very sorry.” But the unicorn’s eyes narrowed as she said, “But I refuse to watch your colts head down the same tragic path you did. I won’t stand for it. And thus, once you move here, I expect to see them enrolled at the School first thing upon their arrival, d’ accord?”

“You’ll be waiting a long time, then.”

She hmphed. “I am not a mare accustomed to being denied.”

“There’s a first time for everythin—” DJ’s phone suddenly rang and instead of continuing her argument, she answered. “This is DJ. Go ahead.” As DJ listened to the call, Rarity was about to interrupt when she saw a shocked look come over the humanized pony’s face. “No! No, it can’t…I…Make sure someone stays with Paul, Erica. I’m on my way.” She hung up the phone and glanced at Rarity. “Well, lucky you, I don’t have time to bicker with you anymore. I gotta go.”

Despite her nigh-perpetual anger and disappointment with her estranged daughter, Rarity still saw the uneasy look on DJ’s face. “Whatever is the matter?”

DJ turned away and sniffed; Rarity knew instantly that the other pony was about to cry, and that made it horribly disturbing. “I have…to get to the hospital. Immediately.”

“Sandalwood, what’s wrong?”

DJ looked at Rarity and sure enough, there were tears in her eyes. “Lyra just came out of surgery. They’re….” DJ wiped her eyes. “They’re saying she’s not going to make it.”

Rarity said nothing else. Instead, she charged her horn, and a second later a teleport spell went off, carrying both to the hospital.

“Thank you for your time, gentlemen,” Celestia said, as they all stood up. “I realize these are trying times for us all, but as you can see, it has been rough on my subjects in particular.”

Sally Pierson, the US National Security Advisor, nodded. “I sympathize with your situation, your majesty. I will recommend to the President that he agree with the vote.”

“As do Ah, ma’am.” Cotton Nicholson, the US Secretary of Defense replied, giving her a tip of his Stetson before putting it back on. “In fact, jus’ say th’ word, an’ Ah’m sure President Cantwell can have th’ USS Obama battle group off yer coast, ready t’ assist.”

“While I’m not quite sure we can spare any of our carriers,” Alexander Bishop, the British Minister of Defense, added, “however, we can have a squadron of destroyers to join up with the Americans.”

“And I believe the other nations would be willing to support our fellow NATO member here on Alter-Earth,” Georg Döbeln, the NATO Secretary-General added, flashing his pearly-whites.

Megan Williams, the US ambassador, said, “I’ll be right back, all. Allow me to escort you to your guards.”

“That would be very kind of you, Ambassador.” Celestia looked at the others again and wished them a pleasant stay for the rest of their duration in Equestria. Once they departed and started walking down the hall, the sun alicorn spoke. “You had something to say, Megan?”

Megan nodded. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this, but I would be very wary of Döbeln. He might be all smiles, but the truth is, he’s bad news.”

Celestia chuckled. “You noticed that as well?”

“Celestia, have you ever heard of the Human Defense Alliance?”

The alicorn shook her head. “It doesn’t ring any particular bells, but from your tone it doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not. About five years ago, several supremacist groups signed a mutual pact: the KKK, the Black Panthers, the Association for a Pure Britain, the Hungarian Restoration Party, the Nuovo Liga Italia, the Yūkoku Dōshikai and so forth and so on. Anyway, they called a truce amongst themselves to band together to fight the quote, unquote ‘real’ enemy: Alter-Earth species.”

“Specism.” The solar alicorn sighed. “I wish I could say our world was free of that nonsense, but it’s a curse amongst all civilized beings, I suppose.”

She nodded. “Anyway, I got a call this morning from Janice Pulaski, our Director of National Intelligence. Probably spent about half an hour on the phone with her, Ross Arbuckle and Masquerade Protocol.”

Celestia stopped. She knew Arbuckle was the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency, but Protocol was the head of CODE, the Clandestine Operations Duty Executive, the more extensive intelligence agency created when Celestia merged SMILE and FROWN as a condition of joining NATO.

“And?” the alicorn asked.

“They have reason to believe that Döbeln might be an HDA affiliate, if not a member. He’ll say that he’ll get the other nations to approve Article 5…but then he’ll insist on sending as little as possible ‘in case Human-Earth needs to be defended’. You’ll end up with US and British support…and toothpicks from the rest of them.”

Celestia nodded. “I see. Thank you for this information, Megan, although I’m not sure why Director Protocol didn’t include it in his report this morning.”

“Can’t answer that one, I’m afraid. Then again, the intelligence community doesn’t always feel the need to fill me in on biplanetary issues quite often, as well.”

“I’m constantly amazed at what I find out about humanity, both the bad and the good,” Celestia admitted.

“That’s okay,” Megan said with a grin. “I’ve been human all my life and I’m always still amazed by what my own species does.”

“Ah, but don’t worry – I’m a fast learner when it comes to humanity. You could say that I have significant reasons to learn.” She wrapped a friendly wing around Megan. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a sad duty to perform, one I have not done in ages.”

“I sympathize, Celestia. I really do.”

In more pain than she’d ever been in her life, Chrysalis stumbled through the badlands. To say she was a mess was an understatement: her horn was broken, she was missing her right foreleg and wing. Numerous cracks appeared over her exoskeleton and at least a few bled green ichor. She looked both dazed and filled with an intense hate. Chrysalis, Queen – no, Empress of the Changelings – had lost to the ponies and their freakish allies.

Superior numbers and planning did not win the day. No, instead she’d been saddled with incredibly stupid drones, useless princesses and glory-seeking neophyte queens that were lucky they’d been killed in the attack instead of by her. And that was just my original children and those of the deposed queens, she seethed. Her own new children, those born from her liaison with Shining Armor?

She mentally groaned. You’d think with a father such as he they would have picked up some pony traits like intelligence and sensibility. No, she had to admit to herself, they’d inherited those other, weaker traits of ponies. “Friendship”. “Love”. My new clutch of children are nearly as useless as the older ones!

She sat down to rest in the shade of a hoodoo, the afternoon sun beating down on her. She was almost at her domain, the center of the vast changeling empire. Once there she could recuperate, ingest extra love and perhaps a pupa or two in order to regrow her chitin and regenerate her lost limbs. Then she would have to start over, taking care of things the way she knew best – by herself. Not only had this alliance with Nightmare Moon proven less than useless, it had cost Chrysalis dearly while the demonic alicorn got away scot-free. There was much work to be done.

But first she had to rest….

She awoke with a start. Her mouth felt parched and she could hear her stomachs growling. She needed sustenance, whether physical or thymic. Looking into the sky, she saw that she’d been out for quite a few hours, as the sun was close to sinking behind the distance of the world. Still, even as close as she was to her palace, it was still a considerable distance in her condition. It was still too hot, so she considered waiting until nightfall. After all, even in the badlands, the most dangerous thing was a changeling, and the most dangerous of the changelings was Chrysalis.

That was when the shadow fell on her. She looked up to see her son, Blood Armor, standing there.

“You know, I analyzed all the battles we’ve been through,” he told her. “And do you know what I found was the weak link?” He grinned, but there was no humor in it. “You.”

She glared up at him imperiously. “Watch your tongue, or I will remove it. Remember who your mother is. More importantly, remember who your Empress is.”

“Oh, I remember,” he said with a cold voice. “My mother. The useless one. The outdated one. The one who was surrounded with all that pony and human tech and what did she decide to do?” He laughed. “She decided to use old tricks and swarm tactics to try to win the day.”

Chrysalis forced herself to her hooves. “Continue your attitude, and you will not be long for this world. Do you know how easily you can be replaced?”

“Yes. As easy as you.” He quickly flickered a flash of magic from his horn.

Two lasers painted red dots on Chrysalis’ eyes.

The sound of zipping through the air, followed by the crack of shots and finally the unearthly scream as the changeling ruler’s eyes were destroyed.

As she collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain, Blood Armor walked around her. “You see, Mother, that is the winghum of modern war. The days of thousands upon thousands of troops is gone. All it takes is the latest human or pony weapons and it will turn those legions of drones into nothing but blood and dust.” He leaned close to her. “What you felt was a low-yield weapon, an old weapon that was made on Human-Earth the same year you hit Canterlot the first time. If these weapons had been here on Alter-Earth at the time, you would have lost before you even made it into the city. And had I had modern weapons shot at you? Well, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

“K-kill you,” she groaned, trying to look up at him with her destroyed face.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said as he raised a hoof. “You see, I remember you once telling me a story, Mother. About how the law of the changelings is that when a new queen is ready, she either departs to build her own hive or she fights the old queen to the death and the loser is torn apart. But when I recalled those old stories, I realized something.” He grinned. “I think it’s time for a change in leadership. You see, I’ve been reading quite a bit of history about Human-Earth. And while this world is matriarchal, on the other world, it’s patriarchal – males are the ones in charge. I like that idea. So, you know what? Your time is through, Empress of Changelings. I, Blood Armor, am now Emperor of the Pepsis and Changeling Empire, and I declare this battle over. And do you know why, Mother? Because you are a relic of the past. And the past should remain where it is – on the dustheap of history.”

Chrysalis heard the buzzing of hundreds of changelings behind him, and unseen to her a black field with glowing blue eyes appeared behind him. And then dozens of the pepsis stepped by his side, all standing in unison, having made their choice.

Blood Armor smiled. “Well, one thing I did like about your story the most? The part where the loser is torn apart.”

The black cloud descended on Chrysalis, and she gave a final scream of rage and horror before she was swallowed by the cloud and screamed no more.

As the cloud grew bigger and bigger and the blood and chitin flew everywhere, Blood Armor walked away from the past. A changeling princess approached him. “M-my king?” she stammered.

He looked down at her with contempt. “What is your name?”

“Gaster, milord. What do we do now?”

“Easy. First, I want you to destroy Chrysalis’ castle. We have no use for an artifact such as that. We have been invited by his highness Prince Artemis to rebuild in the mountains of Saddle Arabia. And that is what we will do. So you will take half your drones and use them to destroy the past, am I clear?”

She nodded. “Then what after?”

He didn’t answer; instead, Black Velvet looked at her. “You are to take the weakest third of the Old Brood and you will leave them at Chrysalis’ Folly to die. Once that is done, you will report to me, Gaster. As of now, you are relieved of command and you will do as I say, am I clear?”

“Yes, milady,” she squeaked before turning back to vast changelings under her command.

Black Velvet then walked back to join her brother. “What now, brother?”

“We will leave this blighted Tartarus-ridden wasteland and we will build a new home and a new future. And if you play your cards right, Black Velvet, well I will have need for a queen and a mate.”

She wrapped her tail around his foreleg. “Is that so?”

“Perhaps, perhaps.” He looked at the ruined remains of what had been his mother and ruler, now nothing more than a pile of chitin and ichor. “Chrysalis never understood the future. We do. Because we are the future.”

DJ was practically in hysterics. “Let me though, Erica!”

“DJ, calm down and listen to me, okay?” That made the humanized pony stop in her tracks. “She’s going to be okay! She’s a fighter. When I called, we honestly thought we were going to lose her, Dee. But Will said there’s something about her that isn’t giving up.”

DJ wiped tears from her eyes. “You mean that?”

Erica went over and hugged her friend. “Have I ever lied to you?”

DJ laughed despite the tears. “Not in the last five minutes, at least.”

The two sat there, embracing each other while Rarity watched. She recognized the woman now as the girl from years ago. It made the unicorn pause: first, there was that human boy that had grown into a young man, and Sandalwood had stayed with him, married him and had foals with him. This girl she remembered as well, and yet here she was, when DJ needed her: a best friend, family in all but blood.

Just like the girls and I, Rarity thought to herself.

Rarity had somepony to talk to, and she wasn’t going to get that done by standing there. She walked into Lyra’s room – she had words to say, and it would be better if Sandalwood wasn’t there to hear it.

As Erica let go of DJ, she said, “Was that…?”

DJ nodded. “We’re trying to work things out. Emphasis on trying. But, she’s still a stuck-up bitch, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change.”

“You never know, Dee. If Valerie can change, anyone can.”

DJ sighed. “You might be right, but with Rarity? I’m not betting the farm on it.”

Erica sighed. “Figured you’d think that way. C’mon, I need some food and coffee, and we can catch up.”

In the room, Rarity stepped up to the bed and saw Lyra there. Only it wasn’t the Lyra she knew – a human, obviously with Lyra’s mane coloring, lay on the bed. Rarity walked over to the foot of the bed and quickly read the chart and the woman’s condition. A split-second later, the chart fell to the ground as Rarity looked at the patient with shock.

She moved over towards Lyra’s face, where she breathed into a mask. “So, this is what happened to you,” Rarity said in a soft voice. “Of all the mares I know, you didn’t deserve this fate.” Rarity felt her eyes sting. “Do you remember what I told you when you first volunteered?” Rarity turned away. “I said I didn’t think you could do it, because you were so into those ‘human’ stories and that wasn’t what was needed. Instead, you proved me wrong. And now here you are, what you always wanted to be.”

Rarity wiped away tears. “It’s funny, isn’t it? To Sandalwood now, my husband is her father. My son is her brother. But all I am, is Rarity – one step removed from a stranger. And yet you…she loves you more than she does me. She needs you more than she does me. All because you saw a path that I never could.”

Rarity closed her eyes and summoned her Element. “You have been more Generous to her than I could have ever been. And while I can only make up for it with my grandfoals, I know my daughter is forever lost to me now. Because she has a BSBFF that has always been there for her. You.”

A faint indigo aura washed over the lost human. “She needs you, Lyra. And I know others, do too. Be there for them, as you always have.” Sobbing, Rarity teleported away.

The aura melted away.

Golden eyes opened.

Dinner at the Kirkland household that night was quite unusual: Luna was doing the cooking…without actually being in the kitchen. At the moment, she was making a wine-marinated roast beef dinner with potatoes, glazed carrots, corn on the cob and a home-baked apple pie, without lifting a finger. Various items moved on their own through the kitchen, orderly and efficiently, as if possessed with a life of their own and a need to be processed for human consumption.

Both Robin and Sterling looked at the kitchen with shock, then at Luna. The lunar alicorn shrugged her shoulders and said, “Blame Rarity. She insisted that all of us learn some domestic skills ‘just in case’.” The alicorn-as-woman laughed. “It just came naturally.”

“I can bet,” Robin said, taking a drink from his wine.

“Yeah,” Sterling said, reaching over and grabbing Luna’s own glass and draining it.

“Young lady, you’re thirteen,” Luna said sternly. “That’s not old enough to drink.”

Sterling adjusted her glasses. “I have a captain of industry for a father and a literal moon goddess for a mother – oh, and I can turn into an alicorn. I think I’m justified.”

Luna smiled. “You might have a point, dear.” She then turned to Robin. “Anyway, I’ve done some thinking and I think I know how Sterling was conceived.” She then looked at her daughter. “The Tantabus.”

“Tantibus?” Sterling asked. When they both looked at her, she smiled. “Hey, I get A’s in my Latin class, okay?”

“I wasn’t aware of the tie between Latin and Old High Equusan,” Luna mused. “Interesting.”

“Luna, I’m lost,” he told her.

It was the younger Luna that answered. “It means nightmare in Latin,” Sterling explained, “and I’m sure she’s going to clear this up, right?”

Luna saw that dinner was complete and walked over to it, still explaining. “Robin, do you know anything of contemporary modern history in Equestria? Past fifty years or so?”

“Not really,” he admitted, but cracked a smile as he said, “if you’re thinking of applying for Social Security if you’re staying here, nobody’s going to believe it, thousands of years old or not.”

The princess then looked at her love and daughter and then explained everything regarding Nightmare Moon, how the ancient spirit seduced an angry and jealous alicorn, then turned her into her slave and personal punching bag during a costly war against Celestia and a subsequent millennium-long stay imprisoned in Alter-Earth’s moon.

Sterling was the first to speak. “Wow, and I thought my friend Athena had problems when her mother was accused of securities fraud.”

Robin gave his daughter the parental look, then turned back to Luna as she was serving dinner for the trio. “When I was free of the Nightmare’s influence, I spent a year in solitude away from public life, because I couldn’t face a single soul for what I did. Yes, the Nightmare had control of me, but she wouldn’t have if I hadn’t let her into my life. But Celestia and Cadance insisted I start again with public life, and so I did. And it wasn’t easy – I felt a lot of guilt over all that I’d killed, tortured, maimed, etc, and I didn’t think I deserved forgiveness. So I punished myself whenever I slept, by creating a creature known as the Tantabus, and its job was to return to me the pain that I inflicted a thousandfold.

“It took the Tantabus getting out of control to make me realize I needed to forgive myself. And when I did, I thought that was the end of it. But I guess it wasn’t, because eventually the Tantabus became, well, real.”

“How real?” Robin asked.

Luna sighed. “About three years after the first incident with the Tantabus, we found a sickly unicorn filly that came out of nowhere. We didn’t know whose it was or where she lived, but for some reason, little Nyx – Twilight named her Nyx, because she looked a lot like me – wouldn’t let go and would follow me wherever I went. I think, in hindsight, that I loved that little scamp,” Luna said with fondness. It was a couple of minutes before Luna spoke again and the only sounds that could be heard was dinner being consumed. “Finally,” Luna said, “one day, she passed away, no reason. We were stunned, and I was heartbroken. But it was what the doctor had told us that amazed us. He said that Nyx…was incomplete. As if she was trying to form from…something, but didn’t have the blueprints, if that make sense.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Sterling commented.

“I’m not sure I do either,” Robin agreed. “Luna, where are you going with this?”

Luna blushed, but there was no other way to put it. “Robin…fourteen years ago, did you…have a loving dream?”

“A what?” He parsed the thought for a moment.

“I think humans call it…a wet dream?” the princess stated. “Sounds odd, but there are differences between HE-English and AE-English.”

“This is going to get creepy, isn’t it?” Sterling got up from the chair. “Okay, I’m going to the bar and graduating to a rum and Coke. Anyone else want one?”

“And you know how to make one how, Luna?” he asked his daughter, using her first name as he usually did when he was making a point.

“I’ll figure it out! I am in desperate need of brain bleach right now!” Sterling looked at Luna. “Look, I don’t know how it is for ponies, but for us humans? Last thing we want to picture is our parents’ sexual lives.”

“Well, that’s not a problem, dear,” Luna said, “because your father and I both made love and yet didn’t.” That got both their attention and Luna looked at her love. “Robin, I want you to be honest: the night you slept with Saffron, were you thinking about me?” Robin looked away, and Luna used her magic to gently nudge him to look at her again. “Please, Robin, this is important.”

Robin sighed, slightly embarrassed but answered: “Yes. I was fantasizing she was you. I have never loved anyone the way I love you and I think both my wives knew that.”

“I thought so. Well, I was thinking about it, and I was going through a rough patch in my life and I missed you so much. And I had a loving dream. And even though I am the mistress of dreams, dream magic is something I still don’t entirely understand.”

Robin blinked. Twice. Then it sank in. “So you’re saying that because I was fantasizing about making love to you and you were having a wet dream in the dreamlands—”

Sterling blushed, mortified. “DAD!”

“—and in that moment, you possessed Saffron and I impregnated you, and when it was all over, you left the egg behind?”

At this point Sterling was blushing furiously, hiding her face behind her hands. “I bet Becky Carlisle doesn’t have to deal with this,” she moaned.

Luna looked at her dearest love, then laughed. “Is that really how you think it worked? No. For one, the physical cannot possess the physical. It breaks so many laws of physics and magic, it’s not funny. And secondly, after what the Nightmare did to me, do you really think I would consider doing that to someone else?” She shook her head. “No, I think the Tantabus used our…shared dream to cross the realms and…well, part of me, part of you, so, like you said, when the dream was over, something remained.” Luna looked at Sterling. “And that something became you.”

The house silenced to a pin drop as Robin and Sterling looked at Luna as if reality decided to take an extended coffee break.

“Wait – my own mother is calling me a nightmare creature?” she said to her father. “What the fuck?”

“Luna, what did I say about that sort of language at home?” he said to her.

“Dad, my own mother just called me a monster!”

“Sterling, dear,” interrupted the elder alicorn, “I did not—”

“Yes you did, Princess! I have waited my whole life to meet my real mother and now that I have and you’re calling me some figment of your imagination that merged with Daddy’s sperm and nine months later, hello world? What the actual fuck?”

“LUNA!” both adults said, and not a bit of irony with the woman.

“Sterling, just…just go to your room right now, okay?” Robin asked.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Sterling said, angrily running up the stairs.

“Well, she’s got my temper, that’s for sure,” Luna sighed, looking at Robin. “I really didn’t explain it well, did I?”

“No, in fact, I’m a little annoyed, because you just made our daughter sound like a magical Frankenstein.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Luna said sadly. “I guess I have a lot to learn about being a mother, don’t I?”

“Nobody gets it perfect, Luna,” he told her. “Not even immortal lunar goddesses.”

It was at that moment her phone rang, providing relief for a tense situation. “Sorry.” With a snap of her fingers, she summoned it. “Oh, it’s my sister.” Answering the phone, Luna began. “Hi, sis, what’s up?…Wait, you’re serious about this?…And what does Cadance think?…Oh, that is bad. Listen, can you hold off the announcement for a few days, until I get back?…No, I’m not coming back tonight. I need a few days with Robin; by the way, he sends his regards.” She pulled away from the phone and said, “Tia says hi.”

“I figured,” he replied with a grin.

Luna continued. “No. We need to discuss this. Not that I don’t agree, it’s just a case that I think we have to explore all options first.…No, sis, I am not coming back tonight. You’ll have to wait until the weekend, okay?” Luna started to look irritated. “Do you really want to know why? Fine! I’m not coming back until Friday night because fourteen years ago I made love to Robin in a dream, the Tantabus got loose, merged with his sperm and as a result, I have a teenage daughter, and yes, she’s an alicorn, and I have just screwed the hell up as a mother! Now deal with it, I’ll be back Friday and then we can declare war to your heart’s content, okay? Bye!” She banished her phone to who knew where.

“I think I need to go talk to her,” Luna replied.

“Then I think I’d better help you learn Parenting 101,” he said to her with a hopeful smile.

Standing on Luna’s balcony, where she’d just raised the moon prior to calling her sister, Celestia dropped her cellphone. Her eyes were pinpricks of shock. “Luna, what have you done?” she said to no one in particular.

“Something wrong, Celestia?” Cadance asked, and Celestia told her. The youngest alicorn sat there, briefly surprised, but then a thoughtful look crossed her face.

“And I have no idea what in Tartarus she means, and I’m tempted to fly to Seattle to find out!” Celestia snapped.

“No.” Cadance’s tone was firm.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“Celestia…I love you dearly, you know that. You are my mother in all but name, and I know I couldn’t have asked for a better aunt.” Cadance sighed. “But you are a worlds-class hypocrite, you know that?”

“What?” That was not the answer the solar alicorn expected.

“When you figure out what to do about your illicit relationship with your niece’s brother – and yes, while it’s not incest, per se, it still doesn’t look good – then you can talk about Luna’s pining over the same person for the past two decades. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on my son.” Nothing more to add, the junior alicorn teleported away.

Celestia continued to look at the balcony, then looked down at the city and the construction going on. And then she looked at a house that had miraculously survived the destruction and its resident – and how much she wanted said resident right now. Wanted him on a primal level that was both more and nothing more than lust at the same time.

Celestia sighed. She was a world-class hypocrite.

She immediately departed her official residence for the one she was starting to actually consider home.

In a far-off corner of the dreamlands, Discord sat in his ethereal chains, plastic figures of alicorns in his paws.

“It’s all coming together, ladies,” he said to everyone and no one at once. “And either she sinks or swims.” He laughed at the cosmic joke, then looked towards the far-off distance.

“I wonder if you know just how bad the situation is…or if you even care.” Discord shrugged. “After all, we are but myth, are we not? Mere figures banished to the land of Nod and its environs.”

A thundering silence spoke back to him.

“Damn,” the draconequus grunted. You’d better get back to work before it’s too late, Luna.

There was a knock on the door. “Go away!” Sterling sobbed.

Luna literally phased through the door. “I’m…sorry,” Luna said to her daughter. “I may be a princess and an avatar, but my sister will be the first to tell you I’m also hot-headed and I tend to put my hoof in my mouth more often than I’d like.”

Sterling sat up, looking at Luna with teary eyes and smelling something. “Is that…?”

Luna nodded. “Yes, your father told me about how much you liked dim sum and that there’s a place in Seattle that you really liked.” Luna held the peace offering out. “I…I like it as well, so I went down to this restaurant in Hong Kong that I think you might enjoy.”

“Hong Kong? Really?” Sterling asked as she took the box of bao. She opened the box, took one out and took a bite. “Dsh gd!” she said between bites.

“Don’t chew with your mouth full, dear,” Luna said as she sat down next to Sterling. “I have a lot to learn about being the mother of a girl as special as you. Not because of what you are – human or alicorn – but because of who you are.”

“I know you probably didn’t mean to call me a monster,” Sterling told her.

“I don’t think you understand, Sterling. Yes, I looked it up and I suppose tantabus and tantibus are cognate, but I created the Tantabus because I didn’t think I deserved to be forgiven. After the Tantabus served its purpose, it tried to turn into Nyx because it realized it was a part of me and wanted to be with me. And if I’m right, it means the same thing: ultimately, the Tantabus was about love, Sterling. It was never about being a monster – it was about preventing one.”

“So I’m not…?”

“No. And I’m sorry I hurt you, even if unintentionally, dear. You’re my daughter and I have much to learn about being a parent.” Sterling laughed, and Luna looked at her strangely. “Is it something I said?”

“I just find it funny that my own mother needs a learning curve.” She pulled another bao from the box. “You do realize you’ll have to take me to this place now, right?”

“Well, how does spending the weekend with me in Hong Kong sound? Just the two of us, getting to know one another?”

Sterling went over and leaned against Luna. “I’d like that.”

Faust felt herself being rustled awake. “What th…?” She focused her eyes. “Screwy?”

“Daddy called.” Her eyes were in pain as they usually were when she was focusing – a horrible thing for a chaos spirit to do. “Need to tell you something.”

“Sure, sweetie,” Faust said, as she got out of bed. Screwball took her by the hand and led her downstairs to the living room, where a pissed off blonde stood.

“Faust, what the hell is going on?” Emeraude asked her.

“Emmé, what are you doing here?” Faust asked her.

“I was with my boyfriend, doing…well, you can figure it out, when she—” she pointed a finger at Screwball. “—teleported my boyfriend back to his place, threw clothing on me and dragged me out here!” She glared at the pseudo-teenager. “Don’t ever screw with someone when they’re…well, you get the idea!”

“She didn’t mean it.” Screw Loose had joined them, dressed in her English nanny/grandmotheresque finery. “She doesn’t quite get the nuances of relationships, your majesty. One may as well tell the wind to stop blowing.”

“Fine, fine. Fortunately, Martin already knows who I am,” Emeraude grumbled, plopping down on the couch and summoning a massive mug of coffee.

A knock was at the door. “Great. Three in the morning and stuff’s already going to hell. I’m blaming you, Emmé.”

“Blame me all you want. I claim your other guest room,” she yawned.

Faust turned to Screw Loose. “Would you make some coffee? I have a feeling no one’s getting any sleep tonight.”

“At once, your majesty. Shall I answer the door as well?”

“No, let me get that. I already know who it is,” she said, walking over to the door and opening it. “Somehow, I expected you or Don. Not surprised.”

“Yes, hello to you too.” A man in his early thirties stood there, polishing his glasses against his vest. He wore a tan vest, khaki pants, a white shirt and an ecru tie. “For what it’s worth, when I heard about Kuzunoha, I was shocked. I know she was practically like a sister to you.”

Faust nodded sadly, then invited him in. “So, how’s things, Tom?”

“Same as always. Being a Silicon Valley wizard is less interesting than being a real wizard, but it pays better. Plus, the wife tends not to complain when I’m programming. Now, when I’m conjuring, that’s a different story.”

Screw Loose came in bearing a tray with a coffee carafe and danishes. “Ah, you have company, I see!”

Tom looked at her and saw her for what she was, instantly. “And you have a chaos bringer in your house. What’s with that, Faust?”

“She’s an acolyte of an old friend of mine, here to help while I’m taking care of horn and wing business. Tom, this is Screw Loose, the First Disciple of Discord, the Avatar of Chaos. Screw Loose, this is Thomas Morgan, CEO of Wizardry Software.”

“I used to go by Merlin a long time ago,” he said, offering his hand. “The name hasn’t worked well since that football player from the 70s.”

“A pleasure to meet you, sir,” Screw Loose said, magically passing everyone a cup of coffee. “I used a special blend. I hope you don’t mind.”

Faust took a sip. “Peanut butter and jelly-flavored coffee. No, I can deal with this.”

Tom took a drink of his. “Pizza-flavored. Unusual, but I think I can live with it. Anyway, you summoned me here for what purpose?”

“I didn’t,” Faust explained, “but I know who did.” She pointed to Screwball, who was in the room, partially melting and looking as if terrified out of her wits.

Faust approached her. “It’s okay, Screwy. We’re here now.”

“It hurts!” she whined, rainbow-colored tears streaking down her cheeks. “Daddy, Daddy, it hurts!”

Tom nearly dropped his coffee. “You have a pure chaos spirit in the middle of your living room and she’s trying to be orderly? No wonder she’s in pain!”

Screw Loose dropped the tray and went over and hugged Screwball. “It’s okay, dear,” she said in soothing tones. “We’re here for you. Queen Faust, Queen Emeraude and I. Even your father, blessed be his random ways.”

Screwball leaned into Screw Loose instinctively. “Safe,” she said. “Loved.” She then backed away and looked at Faust with worry. “Premonition.”

Screwball’s clothing exploded off her and turned into Lego bricks, which fell down to the ground by the hundreds, and in a second, a scale model of downtown Canterlot existed on the ground.

“Does she usually do this?” Tom asked, sipping his coffee. “Hrm…teriyaki chicken. You’ll have to give me this coffee blend sometime.”

With a scream, Screwball exploded into gory chunks. However, given her nature, no one worried about that. Instead, they were worried about the symbolic rain of blood that fell on Canterlot.

Emeraude got up from the couch. “This isn’t over, is it?” she asked Faust worriedly.

Faust didn’t answer her instantly, instead looking at the blood-soaked streets of the miniaturized Canterlot…and the four dead alicorns laying on the street.

“No,” Faust said, a parental worry coming over her. “It’s about to get worse. I may have to kill my sister for once and for all.”

END BOOK I

Author's Note

Well, here we are - the end of Book I.

There are so many things I'd like to say. For starters, for all of you who have read and liked this, thanks. I mean that. You guys are great.

I'd also like to give a shout out to my prereaders: coandco, BlueBastard, Flynt Coal, Cody M. Fett, and the off-line guys at Team Dumbass. You guys make this what it is.

Also, to a lesser degree, I'd like to thank my tsundere fanclub over at /mlp/ ("Because it's not like I like you or your story or anything, baka!") . The stupidity over there is a laugh riot, and you guys just make me lol. Keep up the good work.

Now, back to Seven Days in Sunny June, but not for long: I'll be working on some important AAG sidestories. Aside from that, see you in November with Book II!