Alicorn Song

Alicorn Song

Chapter 5

Damage Control

Textbook slumped into the chair in his office after having dealt with a lot of stupid Ponies for most of the night. Did they not understand that this had to be kept quiet? Did they not understand that knowledge of what had really happened could, potentially, cause a public panic?

The middle aged gray stallion had pulled a lot of strings and asked for a lot of favors to cover up the massacre on the beach of Acorn island. Sighing, he took a look at his computer. Of course some other departments of the company were complaining about his way of running things once more, but he didn't care. He would remember the ones that were complaining when the day came on which their contracts ran out...

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

        “Last night, Acorn island was the scene of an event that has never happened before in written history. Several Pegasus recruits on leave, were on their way to visit their families on Acorn island, when they spotted a dragon flying parallel to their own course. Since the dragon kingdoms borders are about twenty miles to the northwest from where the island is located, the recruits decided to investigate the matter. One of them flew towards the flying reptile, intending to ask what it's business in the area was.” the news reporter said darkly, looking into the camera with a grim expression.

        “We are sorry to inform you that the young mare, Private Dandelion, was killed before she got a chance to try and resolve the situation peacefully...” the mare on the screen continued. The picture of a smiling Pegasus mare with a blond mane and bright blue eyes filled the screen for a moment. According to the reporter, her beige coat had been charred beyond recognition.

Candy Cane and Celest watched the report, not saying a word, while Lulu slept in the room next door. The two of them had to actually sedate her with a free sleeping aid, before the big purple mare had stopped screaming.

        “Afterward, the rest of Dandelions friends engaged the dragon, believing that it was on its way to the island to feed off its population. They were unable to stop the creature from reaching the island, but they managed to force it out of the sky on the southern shore. The fight that ensued was violent, and resulted in the death of all nineteen surviving recruits.” the mare on the screen continued, and the pictures of nineteen young and smiling Pegasi rolled past.

        “Military units from the nearby base saw the fight and intervened, killing the dragon in the end, but not before it had claimed thirty more lives. For this reason, the south shore of Acorn island will be closed for the time being. Dignitaries have been sent to the dragon kingdom, but the dragon king is denying any knowledge of one of his subjects venturing into Equestria. In fact, the dragons claim that the one slain on Acorn island was part of a group of three who went missing forty years ago, while they were on vacation near the Equestrian border. Tensions with the dragons have been rising for quite a while and there was, indeed, a case of three who went missing near our border forty years ago. The case was, however, closed two years later as it was determined that those three must have been the victims of a tragic accident.”

The image on the screen changed, now showing an old stallion standing on a podium in front of a whole bunch of reporters. Candy could see that he was very uncomfortable in his hide, and he got the distinct feeling that something was not quite right about the whole situation.

        “We have heard what the dragon king had to say, yet we can only assume that it is some kind of ruse with which they are trying to cover up their own short comings. It is quite obvious, according to our own intelligence reports, that the dragon kingdom is in disarray, and that there are parties within their government that want to attack Equestria and turn it into a feeding ground. Of course, their government declines this referencing the peace treaty that was signed over a hundred years ago. The parliament has decided to station additional troops on the border, to ensure the safety of our citizens. We want to assure you, at this point, that there is no danger whatsoever, and that we are doing our best to resolve this matter peacefully...” the old stallion explained, but Celest didn't want to listen to his explanation anymore, so she shut off the TV.

Silence filled the room for a long while, as the siblings just stared at each other.

        “You think it's true? That there was a dragon I mean. Could that be why Lulu was covered in blood?” Celest asked hesitantly after a while. Her tone was hopeful, not really wanting to believe what she had seen with her own eyes. There had been bullet holes in Lulus dress, and at least two wounds on her body were caused by projectiles rather than a dragons claws. For all she knew, their guest was strong enough to deflect a blow from a dragon with her shield, so something definitely felt off about all of this. Candy Cane shook his head in response.

        “You said it yourself. She's been shot. I was down at the beach this morning, and there surely is a dragon corpse, but that does not explain her wounds. If anything, she could only have gotten them if she got hit by a stray bullet or ended up in their crossfire. Then again, I don't think our soldiers would open fire if there was a civilian around... Nope... Something doesn't quite add up here, and I'm pretty sure that those shots were intensionally aimed at Lulu.” the lavender stallion put a hoof to his chin, tapping it thoughtfully.

Just as his cousin wanted to say something though, they both heard a scream from Lulus room. The mare had obviously woken up once more. Neither of them said a word as they rushed to their guests bedside...

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

        “Bloody hell...” Firestorm cursed, as two medics were working on her. She had been lucky that each and every one of her unit had been carrying an implant that transmitted their life signs and position. Only five minutes after her target had disappeared without finishing her off, a helicopter with reinforcements had arrived, getting her treated and off the scene as fast as they could.

Now she was stuck in a hospital that was run by the company, instead of being out there and getting some payback for her lost leg. In fact, the doctors had told her that she had been lucky. None of the bullets that monster had shot at her had hit anything vital. Mostly they had only penetrated muscle tissue, but none of her organs. Judging from the rate of fire of the rifles her team had used, the mare was either one legendary shot, or Firestorm was just really lucky.

Funny... the Pegasus didn't feel particularly lucky. In fact, she felt like she was the most unlucky Pony in all of Equestria at that moment. Her leg could not be saved, and so the doctors had fitted a prosthetic to the stump where her leg had once been. It was one of those newer models, that she could actually move, but it didn't transmit any feelings. Nor was she able to pick things up with it, since the artificial appendage was unable to channel her inherent Pegasus magic.

        “Pff... This sucks.” she spat, as one of the medics changed the dressings on her chest and wings. It didn't hurt at all, but that only made the whole thing worse for the combative mare. They had put some kind of spell on her, that robbed her of any pain until she was better. The side effect was, that she couldn't move at all. For a mare like her, that was a quite embarrassing state of being.

Even if she wanted to relief herself, she had to call for another Pony to help her out if she didn't want to soil herself...

        “This really sucks...”

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lulu rested her head on Candy Canes lap while tears were running down her face. The scarred mare kept her eyes closed, as pain radiated from the wound on her flank. The one on her face had been healed nicely by the magical healing bandages her two friends had put on her, but the one on her flank was much deeper.

Whatever had hurt her had, or so Celest had said earlier, chipped off a tiny bit of her hip. Lulu knew instinctively that this injury would hurt for quite a while, so it felt even better to have these two Ponies around her. She trusted both of them. They kept the nightmares and the pain at bay, and did everything in their power to help her. The purple mare appreciated this greatly, even if she lacked the vocabulary to express her gratitude.

Even the muffins Candy had brought her earlier didn't taste as good, due to the pain. She knew it would go away eventually, but that did not stop her from sobbing each time a new spike of pain shot through her body.

        “Shh.... Everything is going to be alright.” Candy Cane cooed, stroking her blue mane softly. It felt nice to be stroked... to be … loved... Lulu decided. She did not understand what had happened to her. She didn't remember anything after they had trotted around the beach for a while, until she had suddenly appeared in the middle of the street, and Candy had come around the corner.

The lavender Unicorn stallion had wasted no time hugging her close. It had taken Lulu quite some time to calm down enough to attempt walking back with him. In the end the pain in her flank had been too much for her, and Candy had ended up carrying her once more.

She would have liked to spare him the effort, but each step she took with her right hind leg had sent spiked of pain through her body.

Finally the pills Celest had given her earlier were starting to work, and Lulu could feel the pain lessen considerably. It wasn't long after that, that her breathing slowed and she fell asleep once more.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOo

        “So how is her injury?” Candy whispered, not wanting to wake up Lulu. For the moment they had not bothered to give her a new set of clothes. It would only have interfered with the treatment of the wound on her right flank. Celest grimaced slightly.

        “The healing bandages aren't doing anything to the wound, which is odd. At least the flesh should start to heal by now. As for her bones... I can't really tell. It doesn't seem too bad though, since I can move her joint passively. If there was any major damage, that wouldn't be possible. If she doesn't get better though, we have to bring her to the mainland. There's only so much I can do, and Plunger doesn't have much more resources then me. She's only a village doctor after all. For now, I've poured a healing potion into the wound to concentrate its healing magic, and wrapped her flank with two more layers of bandages. It's moments like this that I really hate this island. They could, at least, have regular ferry schedules, instead of only once a week...” the white mare muttered, while wiping a bit of sweat off her brow with a hoof. Candy nodded.

        “Alright... So I guess we've got no other choice. The ferry comes tomorrow morning. You go and pack a few things for her, while I'll go down to the harbor and get the tickets.” Candy said, and Celest nodded in agreement. Both of them looked down at their injured guest, concern obvious in their gazes.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOo

Textbook looked at the monitor of his vid-phone, chewing his lower lip. A member of the government was on the other end of the line. He had really hoped to get this sorted out before they interfered, but now his time was up. Whatever happened next, his hooves were bound. The higher ups had just iced him... Well... not really, but they had limited his power considerably...

        “You understand what we are expecting of you?” the hooded figure on the screen asked. Textbook asked himself, not for the first time, what the point was in having a vid-phone if you were hiding under a cloak.

        “Sir... With all due respect... I... I don't think that would be a good idea. They are...” the grey stallion began, but the figure on the screen interrupted him.

        “You will use them. Try number fifty first. We will ship numbers ninety-four and ninety-nine to you from complex B and C.”

Subject ninety-nine...

Cold sweat broke out on Textbooks forehead as he heard that number. That subject had been caught a few days after number ninety-five, and brought to a facility in the frozen north. That facility had been build especially to hold it, due to her magical capabilities.

He remembered the mare only too well, since he had inspected the facility a few years ago. The inside of the complex felt like a furnace most of the time, even though the mare was covered, horn to hoof, in a suppression suit.

Magical chains that were put on her melted and evaporated in mere seconds, and not a single experiment had ever been conducted on her. Most of the time she was docile, just laying in a corner of her prison and not reacting to any outward stimuli. He, however, had witnessed one of her tantrums.

Facility C... It was much more then just a designation...

When Textbook was finally regaining his composure, he noticed that his vid-phones screen was blank. Apparently the stallion on the other end had ended the call while he had been lost in his thoughts. Sighing, he brought up the file of subject ninety-nine on his computer screen.

        “Celestia...” he muttered, as he read through the information once more.