The Takeover

Two days later, E.A.E.A. cafeteria, 12PM

Khan

Nova and I walked nervously to the lunch line, surrounded by ponies we had never met. Some were in military uniforms, some were in casual clothing, some were fillies and colts, some were old. The line was long, at least forty ponies ahead of us. We constantly attracted stares from the ponies that past us by and the one that was already seated. At least the line was moving fast.

This is Nova and I's first day to see the outside of the hospital wing and so far, it was like we were a freak show. I leaned over to Nova, "I'm used to being the subject of attention, but I don't think this is the kind of attention I want" I told Nova in a soft whisper.

"It's probably because you're outsiders," answered the pony in front of us. He turned to look at us, his face covered in a gray beard and a gray mane with a few strands of black in it. "You're the first outsiders we've had in twenty years."

"Is that so?" I asked him casually. "How long has this place been here?"

"Almost thirty years. In fact, this month will be the thirtieth year."

With two questions I found out more about this place than I had in the last four days asking Mosley and the nurses. I wanted to know more. "Really?

"Oh yes sir, there will be a week of festivities the entire week of the anniversary at the end of the month," he said enthusiastically. "There will be live music, parties, after-parties, and the week after that there will be elections for our next combat coordinators."

"What is today?" Nova asked, obviously interested in what the old stallion was saying.

"Well, today is the 30th of September." That's interesting. Maybe this place isn't that bad if they have parties and music.

"So what is this place for? Why is it here?" I felt like these were more important questions. Questions that needed answers.

"I'm am not under the authority to tell you," he answered. "If you want those questions answered, you might wanna ask Sergeant Coldfire or General Vida, they could tell you."

I looked over to Nova and she looked back then I turned around and asked him, "Would you get in trouble if you told us?"

"I don't know, but I know it's a secret, albeit a loose one, but still, I'm not going to risk it."

"Okay thanks," I said.

"No problem," the old stallion said before turning back around and moving up in the line, Nova and I taking his previous spot.

More ponies had extended the line behind us. The line still moving up, I looked over the cafeteria looking for two empty seats. I found a few and asked Nova, "Where do you want to sit?"

She looked around and pointed to a table in the far corner of the seating area, "Over there."

"Alrighty," I said, me finally getting to the serving area. I grabbed a tray from the stack next to the glass divider that separated the ponies in the line from the ponies serving the food and put in on the metal bars like the rest of the ponies were doing.

"Hi," I said to the mare behind the glass. She didn't respond. She just stared at me and poured a spoonful of rice on my tray and then added gravy to it. Well aren't you a bucket of sunshine.

I moved down the line to the next mare, she put a bottle of water on my tray. I stayed there for a second. Then she looked up at me and yelled in raspy voice, "Move your ass!"

"Okay! I'm going, I'm going," I said as I grabbed up my tray and scurried to the end of the line to wait for Nova. When she had her tray, its contents the exact same as mine, we both flew over the occupied tables, holding our trays with our front hooves and landed next to the table we decided on in the line, me sliding mine over to the far side of it and trotted over to it and sat down. Nova set her tray next to me, so both our backs were against the wall and we could see the cluster of people and tables. I noticed that the front of the cafeteria was an elevated platform, with two floor monitors and several loudspeakers set up in a half octagon across it. It was a stage!

"You noticed it too, huh?" Nova said to me. noticing my awestruck look.

She said it with such a bored tone, it prompted the question, "Are you alright?" She looked back at me for a moment before the floor became the object of interest.

"What's wrong? You know you can tell me," I said in a reassuring voice.

"When I saw that stage it brought back a memory of us at the school talent show." When I looked back up to the stage, her observation made sense. It did look just like how our school had their equipment set up. I remember Stone's drums nearly coming apart too, he was holding them together with magic. The memory brought a smile to my face, but I it quickly faded.

"It's because they aren't here," she said in a sad voice, her ears starting to pin to the back of her head. "That's why it hurts."

I looked at her and I didn't know what to say, then she looked down to her plate with a grimace. "We haven't even done anything for them. We didn't have a pyre, or a service of any kind," she said. She was right, we hadn't. Of course, none of the ponies we were now surrounded with knew them, but we knew them and that's the only thing that mattered.

I stood back up and reached out a hoof in offering of assistance to help her up. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"You'll see."

We both took flight high over the cafeteria, leaving our untouched meals on the table, gaining us even more stares than before and left the cafeteria through the same door we had come.

We walked down the hallway we had used to get to the cafeteria because I remember seeing a courtyard and that's where we were going. I took a left and saw a huge, tinted window that displayed the courtyard.

Lining the red brick walls there were flowers of all kinds; roses, tulips, and many more that I couldn't name. A cobblestone pathway had been made curving through it. There were two colts and a filly running around the courtyard playing tag. They were running around laughing and having a good time, not a care in the world. Their joy kinda rubbed off on me, their innocence brightening my mood but also making me envious. I wish I had that kind of peace. The kind of peace that you only have as a foal.

There was a tree in the center of it, it was tall but not too tall and the limbs branched out, leaving the ground beneath it in the shade from the afternoon sun. Grass was growing everywhere around it but under it was nothing but moist dirt. Snapping my attention back to where I was going, we continued down the hall where I tried to find the door to get through to the courtyard. I made sure Nova was still behind me and we both continued down the hall and we both stopped at the outside door, then I slowly pushed it open. A soft and cool breeze was the first thing to greet us as we walked through the door. When the door closed back to, the children heard it and hey all had stopped in a row and looked at me and Nova. Then they went back to playing as if we weren't there.

I walked to the area under the tree, Nova keeping on my heels. When I reached the dirt under the tree, I stopped. I noticed that the area under the tree, where the grass couldn't grow, was a perfect circle. There was a small twig hanging down from a branch and I reached up and grabbed it and pulled it out.

Nova then asked me softly, "Why did you bring me here?"

"You'll see," I answered. "Go over there and pick four of the most beautiful roses you can find."

"Wh-" she started before I cut her off.

"No questions, just do it," I said.

As she flew over to the nearest patch of roses, I turned my attention to the dirt. I broke off all the little branches sprouting out the side of it until it was just a straight stick. I then looked down to the dirt and I wrote a name into it. It wasn't just any name, it may have belonged to thousands of ponies, but this pony was the only pony it belonged to in my book.

Stone.

I went over next to it and wrote a different name, the same condition applying to is as the last one.

Griel.

And I did this. I kept going and under Stone's name, I wrote in the dirt:

Cayne.

And last but not least, under Griel's, I added:

Smokey.

They were about a hoof's length apart and I drew a square around each one.

Nova slowly floated back over to me with four blood red roses.

She sat the flowers on the ground. "What is this?" she asked, cautiously approaching the circle, like it might attack her.

At first I didn't know how to respond. The words quickly came to me however. "This is doing what's right," I said to her. "This is putting our friends to a final rest."

She stared at the squares for what seemed like an hour, but was really only about a minute. She then spoke a single word in a soft whisper, "family."

"What?" I asked gently and softly, the scene I had made before us starting to grip me even harder than it did while I was making it.

She sniffled and let out a sad and defeated sigh. "This is putting our family to rest."

And for the second time today, she was completely right. They were family. They are family.

"You guys made up a our lives..." I said sadly, loud enough for Nova to hear. I bowed my head down and closed my eyes before continuing, "And it kills me to know that when I wake up in the morning, you won't."

"It kills me to know that when I go to sleep tonight, you'll have beat me to it," Nova said. I looked over to her, her comment having surprised me. Her words shook me to the core and I realized something else. We weren't normal ponies. We were musicians. We had explored all of the darker sides of life through music and lyrics, from drugs to death. That's what set us apart from most of the world. We weren't the only musicians in the world, but only musicians can relate and truly understand other musicians. That's what set us apart from normal ponies, from the ones who listen.

I grabbed two of the roses from the ground, careful not poke myself with the thorns. I hovered over their makeshift graves and I dropped a rose on top of Stone's square and then on top of Cayne's.

I went and floated back down next to Nova and tucked in my wings. I looked over at her and she was looking at the two roses on the ground below her. She picked them up and she spread her wings and ascended into a hover just like I had. She dropped a rose on top of Griel's square and then on top of Smokey's.

She then floated back and landed next to me, I could see the tears forming in her eyes.

I looked back over at the graves, the graves of our family members. We were both hurting, but we would be okay. Without even meaning to, I let out a verse from one of the lyric sheets that Smokey had given me the day of the crash.

"You won't see me die here."

I blinked after saying it, a tear escaping my eye and falling down my cheek. The phrase was symbolic to me. It was as if I was talking to all four of them, me assuring them that their absence hurt me, but it wouldn't kill me. I would make it through this and Nova would too. Silence had erupted over the courtyard. I looked around and saw that the three foals that were running around had stopped to see what we were doing. Nova turned around and saw them too and then looked back at me, the motion in my peripherals causing me to look back at her. We both locked eyes.

"You won't see me die here."

She spoke the words and rapped her forearms around me and I immediately returned the gesture. I heard her starting cry, inhales coming in small breathes and released in full ones. I then walked around to the side of her and draped my uninjured wing over her back and turned away from the tree. I held her tight, past the staring children and we both walked through the door from wince we came.

I know this sounds crazy, but I felt better. I felt good. I had left my pain and my sorrows under that tree. A weight that was bringing down my heart and my mind had been lifted. I took the sorrow off like a raincoat after walking into your house. For the time being, I had a taste of the peace of which just a few minutes ago I had envied the children for. It wasn't much, but it made the difference.

<--------o------O------o-------->

Khan

The walk back to our hospital rooms was peaceful. There were no other ponies in the hallways and we just drifted through in silence, side by side. When we turned down the hallway that held our rooms, Sergeant Coldfire was waiting outside of Nova's room, with two piles of neatly folded cloths sitting on the floor to the right of the door. Coldfire was wearing his uniform, the different badges and pins reflecting the bright lights of the hospital hallway.

"You two made it back," he said as I slowed my pace.

"Something I can help you with?" I said calmly but cautiously.

"No, but you can help yourselves to these uniforms," he said tilting his head towards the stacks.

"And why would I do that?" I asked. I hold no allegiance to this place. Hell, I didn't even know what it was.

He straightened up and then said, "You are really about to piss me off with these questions." He paused for a second to see if I would comment on it, but I let him continue. "I figured since you aren't allowed to leave, you might as well start getting to know everypony. So, I took the liberty of moving you to gen-pop."

"You're vagueness is starting to piss me off," I retorted. "What do you mean by, 'we can't leave'?

"Is this a prison or something?" Nova quickly asked, I could tell she was already starting to worry, as was I.

"I'm going to ignore that comment because throughout the next couple of weeks, we are going to be getting to know each other quite well," he said, looking at me but his gaze drifting towards Nova. "Both of you." He once again did not answer her question.

I looked over to Nova and she looked back, I had run out of smart ass comments to say and any questions I had, he wasn't going to spill the beans. It was respectable of him to have such a high tolerance but it was fueling a hatred. One of the perks to being someone who was in band that was somewhat popular, no one told you what to do. If I did anything it was of my own accord, not because someone else told me to.

"You've got five minutes to change, then I will show you to the barracks."

"And if I don't change?" I asked sarcastically.

Nova nudged me and said, "Khan just drop it, it's not worth it."

"Listen to your girlfriend," he stated, the scar across his eye scrunching up with the rest of his face to give a dead serious expression and threateningly calm tone, "Because if you don't change into those clothes and follow me, you will be strapped to the hospital bed in the next and I will personally force the clothes on you and leave you there until I feel like you might wanna change your mind." He leaned towards me, at eye level to me. "Either way, you're putting on that uniform."

He looked over to Nova and his face softened a bit, to more of a concerned look. "I need to talk to you," he said, then turning to face me. "Privately."

<--------o------O------o-------->

Nova

Khan had put his clothes on right there in the hallway and waited outside the door for me. Coldfire led me into the room I had been occupying since I got here and shut the door behind us. He started to slowly walk to the other side of the room and from the direction he was heading, I knew where he was going. He walked up to the bathroom door and turned the knob. He slowly pushed the door open, revealing the shards of broken glass all of the floor and the rusted square on the wall that once held the shards.

"You want to explain to me what this is?" he asked. He had an expression I couldn't read and it kinda worried me. I didn't have an answer, I really didn't want to talk about what had happened in here. "Look, Nova," he started looking to the ceiling and inhaling, his feather chest expanding more and more by the second before he looked back down at me. "Those shards of glass could be used as a weapon. "He stopped and looked out the window, his chest now puffing out. "I have no reason to believe that you would use them as a weapon. But for security purposes, I need you to tell me what happened."

I looked to the ground and pretty much everywhere else besides his eyes, "To put it simply, I had a breakdown. And I smashed it."

He only looked at me for a moment with a contemplating stare. What was he going to do? Search me? I'm not wearing anything so I don't have pockets.

He finally looked over to the window and said, "I'm going to trust that you aren't potentially hiding anything for malicious use." He looked back to me, "I can trust you, right?"

"Yes," I answered quickly. "You can trust me."

"Fantastic," he said casually. "Get changed."

"Okay-"

"Yes, sir," he interrupted, making it obvious that I was suppose to repeat it. "You might as well start getting used to it."

"Yes, sir." He smiled in approval before turning around and started towards the door. Not giving a second thought to our conversation, I pulled the shirt over my head and put my forelegs through it and then put on the pants. The shirt was a military green and gray mix and the pants are a forest camouflage. To my surprise, they felt casual and they were an almost perfect fit.

When I came around the corner, Khan whistled. "Aren't you looking snazzy," he said playfully.

I responded over dramatically, "stop it." I put a hoof to my forehead, "you're flattering me."

He chuckled, "Such a smart ass."

"I could say the same about you."

"Granted."

"Alright, you two," Coldfire commanded, "stop flirting and follow me."

Flirting?

I mean, it wasn't too far fetched. We used to date, sure. I had heard a rumor that I was going to get kicked out of our band. I told him I turned gay, figuring it would be easier on me when I got kicked out. The thing is, I didn't get kicked out but I couldn't just tell him I broke up with him and 'turned' gay just because I thought I was about to get the boot. So I just played the role of the lesbian in our group but with all that has happened, we weren't much of a group anymore and I'll be honest, I've had a major crush on Khan ever since. It sucks because I was in a band with him, on tour with him, sometimes even shared hotel rooms with him, but I couldn't tell him. It was a secret I had kept so long and I was definitely considering coming out of the closet. The straight one.

Coldfire started walking the direction Khan and I had just come from, but instead of turning left towards the mess hall, we kept going straight. There was a door that led outside and apparently that's where we were going.

It had gotten dark outside. It couldn't be past two but clouds had blocked out the sun, the sky now a light gray. We got to the door and I couldn't have prepared myself enough for what I am seeing.

There were ponies everywhere. It was even busier than the streets of Canterlot during the five o'clock rush hour! I heard Khan say, "Whoa," as he too tried to rap his head around the sight.

With just a glance, I could tell that this place had everything. There were shopping outlets lining the streets along with an abundance of various restaurants and bars. The buildings were all at least three stories tall but none were over five. I noticed that a lot of them were wearing the same clothes as me and Khan, which made me feel like I blended in more with the crowd.

Blending in? I must be losing it. All of my life I've done nothing but try not to blend in.

We kept bobbing and weaving in and out of the crowds of ponies in a single file line, at least as straight of a line as we could. A few of them would look up from various activities they were partaking in and give us a glance and some even would say, "Hey Sergeant Coldfire!" Where he would respond with a "Hey" or "How's it going?"

We came to a fork in the road, the street getting wider before branching off. The thing is, they didn't shrink back down. Both streets to the right and left were twice as wide as the one before and with it twice as many ponies and four times as many shops. There were vendors that made a row going down the center of the two streets, adding more variety to the amount of things to see and do.

We ended up going to the left but sticking to the right side of the row of vendors. I saw many different types of food being sold, all of it smelling amazing, considering I hadn't eaten at lunch today. The streets were bricked, but not worn like the ones in downtown Canterlot or Germaney. They were smoother and more even along the ground and looked a lot newer.

The street curved back to the right and I could see that we would have ended up in the same place even if we did go to the right side, because the streets met up again.

To the left is this massive building that towered over the other buildings that we had seen. Where the two streets met again had a wide, open space that had the same symbol that Coldfire had on his combat armor cascaded across the ground using different colored bricks. To the right there were massive barracks that had to be at least three stories tall and just as wide as they were long. There were three that I could see but due to our angle, I couldn't see past the middle of the third one nor could I see what was across the street from the buildings.

"Nova, are you coming?" Coldfire asked me bluntly. I hadn't realized it but I had stopped walking to take in my surroundings. Khan was looking at me with a worried expression and I was going to ask him about it, not that him looking at him was a problem, when Coldfire continued, "We don't have all day, you don't want to keep the general waiting."

"Yeah, I'm coming," I said.

I looked behind him at Khan who was looking at me and said inaudibly, "We don't have all day."

I put my hoof over my muzzle and looked away so that Coldfire wouldn't see that I was laughing.

We were heading to the tall building to the left where there were two guards in what is obviously this base' signature armor. We were coming up on the entrance when Coldfire stopped walking and turned around. "You both need to tuck your shirts in. The general is very strict about new recruits and their dress code."

"We aren't recruits," Khan said sternly.

"Actually, you are," Coldfire replied. "Seeing as you can't leave, that means you have to stay. And just like every other pony that lives on this base, you must go through a mandatory two-week training course."

"Training course?" Khan asked curiously. "Training for what? Why can't we leave?"

"You will be training for combat," Coldfire said, as if it were obvious. "This base is the most secure place in all of Equestria for a reason and you can't leave because the only thing that is out there is the vast expanse of the Everfree Forest and you wouldn't last the first hour." Khan looks a bit insulted, but what Coldfire is saying is probably true. I don't see him having a reason to lie about that, but it made me wonder something.

"Secure from what?" I asked nervously.

"Anything and everything."

I started to tuck in my shirt and Khan did the same although reluctantly. So what I've gained so far is that we are somewhere in the Everfree Forest and we are in a military base that has been here for about thirty years.

After we were tucked in Coldfire looked us over and said, "That should do it."

The two guards stepped aside and let us enter the door, Coldfire in front of me and Khan behind me.

The lobby was just as massive as it was elegant. A beautiful chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling and two stair cases on either side of the front door spiraled up to a second floor balcony that wrapped all the way around the lobby. A red carpet rolled through the room from the door to the reception desks at the end of it, with granite tiled floors that looked as if they had been recently polished. There were three desks but only one was occupied; an elderly mare with glasses and gray mane flowing to the side, who didn't look up when we walked in, perhaps too occupied to notice.

Coldfire turned left and began ascending the staircase. Khan and I looked at each other and we both took flight and went over the gilded gold guard rails and landed right as Coldfire had got to the top of the staircase.

"Pegasi," he said in a defeated tone. "Lazy asses."

I giggled and Khan laughed. Celestia I loved his laugh.

We continued walking, Coldfire now in the lead again and we came up on the end of the balcony and went into a wooden door. Behind the door was another staircase which we followed the griffin up.

We got to the top and compared to the lobby, this room was...interesting. The staircase led out in the center of the room and the front of the room had a large window that looked over the rest of the base; you could see down the streets we had just come from along with the hospital off in the distance. The hospital was also taller than the rest of the buildings, something I had not noticed before. The entire left and right side of the room was lined with bookshelves and had no room for any more additions. In the center of the book cases on one side, there was a table that had record player on it and many vinyl records stacked in their boxes along either side of it. The other side however was cut out completely and a cello stood elegantly against the wall, eight different types of bows that were different lengths and sizes sat four on either side of the neck of the cello. The shelves were a dark mahogany and there wasn't a spec of dust to be seen; it looked as if it had been polished recently.

The opposite side of the room held a dark mahogany desk that matched the bookshelves, with papers and files in random stacks and order all across with enough room to get behind the desk on either sides. Behind the desk was a window that was built into a half circle, looking out over an ocean. The blue water stretched as far as the eye could see.

Also behind the desk was a brown leather chair that was turned around facing the windows. You could see the top part of a light purple mane and the tips of what looked to be some really furry ears.

"General, the outsiders are here to see you," Coldfire spoke in a very respectful tone, standing up straight. Khan and I looked at each other, him giving me a reassuring smile.

The chair started to turn around and a mare in a general's uniform, a pin over her heart that had a five stars in a pentagon shape. I had met a general in the Royal Guard about a year ago and she seemed almost no different. Except that she had the bases' symbol on her shoulder and...she's a batpony.

We only saw batponies when we played small shows at bars when we had first started up Stormborne and very rarely at our bigger shows like Metal on the Meadow; maybe it was just how loud shows like that are that kept them away...or the lights.

She was leaned back in a relaxed position, legs crossed and forehooves behind her head. "Thank you, Sgt. Coldfire," she said in a young and sweet voice. Her tone really didn't match her looks and she couldn't have been over twenty. Her overall expression was very calm, not really that of a general. "May I talk with them privately?"

"Yes Ma'am," Coldfire said, giving a salute by forming his talons into a fist and putting it over his chest before turning tail and heading back down the stairs.

When the door shut, the general erupted. Literally.

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe Khan and Nova are standing in the same room as me!" She jumped up and flew full speed to where the record player and the stacks of vinyl records and began tearing through the stack. I was shocked. How did somepony completely disconnected with the society that we are used to know about either of us? The general quickly found what she was looking for and flew back to her desk full speed, grabbed a pen, and flew towards me and Khan and stopped on a bit in front of us.

"Would you pretty please sign this?" She said, being extremely bubbly. We had fans and we had done autographs but I have yet to come across one so...enthusiastic. It actually brought a sense of normalcy, something I hadn't felt in a while.

Khan was quick to play it cool, "Well of course we could!" Her face lit up like Canterlot on Hearth's Warming Eve. Come to think of it, I've never seen a batpony so happy before.

"This is so cool," she exclaimed quickly giving me the pen which I held with my teeth and the general holding the vinyl record cover so I could sign it. This was actually really fun for me too; it always made me happy to make fans happy. I wrote out my name in cursive, adding my signature loop on the 'a' that wrapped around and made a line across the top of all of the letters, stopping at the 'N'.

When she felt the pressure of the pen on the cover release, she pulled it away and looked at it. "It's even more awesome in person!" she exclaimed with glee, not at all trying to hide her excitement. She the slid over to Khan and I let him grab the pen by the writing end. He flicked his head up, letting the pen fly in the air before it came back down and he caught it in his teeth, the end of it now facing towards the cover. He put the pen to it and began signing. I hadn't noticed it, but this was our first album and this also left me with a question.

"So, General-"

"Please, you two can call me Vida," she interrupted. "Just Vida."

"Okay, Vida," I said making sure to use her name. "How did you get your hooves on this album? I know this has to be the most remote location in Equestria."

"Well, we have a port and we trade with ponies at other ports," she replied as if it were obvious. "We get all kinds of supplies and we build and create things and we send them off to Yellow Pierre Port. It's also how we keep up with a lot of things going on in the world around us."

"They never question where it's all going?"

"They think we come from a country overseas."

That's cool. So they could get just about anything that anypony else in Equestria could, even being way out here. Wherever 'here' is. Khan gave the pen back to Vida who immediately exploded in joy...again. She wrapped her hooves around Khan's neck, unknowingly hitting his currently healing wing which gained a pained face that she couldn't see. She pulled away from him and ran over to me. I braced myself for impact. She wrapped her hooves around my neck and then pulled away leaving her hooves on my shoulders and looking at me with a massive, fangy smile.

"The others won't believe this! Now I just have to get the signatures from Griel, Stone, and Cayne and this album will be worth so much around here!"

Khan and I exchanged a sad look, the thought instantaneously bringing a sense of dread over us. My ears were starting to lean back, Vida noticing our saddened expressions and asked, "What's wrong?"

"You mean you don't know?" Khan asked. "You didn't ever wonder why we are here?"

She began looking around as if trying to find the answer somewhere on the wall or ceiling. "I don't guess I did." How could the general not know about what happened?

"I'm not really kept in the loop about what goes on anymore. I revised the system around here where it runs almost flawlessly without my interaction," she said. "Which is also why I probably won't be reelected next month. But back to you. What happened?"

"We are here because our plane crashed...it might have been taken down," I said sadly. "That's why you'll never be able to get their signatures."

"No! That means Stormborne is over?! You guys can't be over, you're like the gods of modern rock and metal!" She sounded as sad as we looked.

"That's where you're wrong," Khan said. I knew he was about to get really philosophical. "Gods can be killed. It's legends that never die," he said looking away from her before continuing, "And we really aren't much of legends."

He was right, we really weren't but that didn't stop a look of shock implanting itself on the batpony's face. "Not much of legends? You guys are one of my favorite bands of all time! And I'm hard to impress!"

"We're sorry," I said. "I think Stormborne has had it's final tour."

"Celestia, that sucks," she said sadly hanging her head a little.

It sure did. It sucked more than anything else I could think of.

Quickly changing the subject, Khan asked, "So, we have a few questions of our own. Could you answer them?"

"I will do my best," Vida said, putting her smile back on and standing up straight.

"Awesome," Khan said. "So I guess my first question is where in Equestria are we?"

"That one's easy," she said nonchalantly. "We are in the southeastern corner of Equestria and the only thing around us that isn't the Everfree Forest is the Equestrian Sea."

Wow, we are on the edge of Equestria. "Okay, what is this place and what is it doing here?"

"That one isn't so easy," she looked to the ceiling again, expecting the answers to be there I suppose. "Well, I know that going 30 years ago, there was this political group called the UUS, or the United Unicorn Society, and they were trying to do nothing more than eliminate pegasi and earth ponies for an all unicorn society." Eliminate?

"Did that work out for them?" Khan asked curiously.

"Not at first. Nopony knew what they were up to other than trying to get selected leaders into high ranking positions so they could have a massive political influence. When one of the unicorns caught wind of what the UUS was really up to, he quit immediately and built an underground community that was at first known as The Resistance but was later changed to the E.A.E.A. or Equestria As Equals Association."

"I knew it!" Khan exclaimed. "I knew there was a lot more to the UUS than what met the eye!"

"Then you were very correct," Vida said back. "The E.A.E.A. had their first clash with the UUS on the outskirts of Hoofington. That's when the general at the time, General Knapp, had invaded a secret UUS base and found out the kind of magic they were trying to come up with. It basically boiled down to converting pagasi and earth ponies alike, into unicorns. And through their horns, the UUS controls them."

"I was attacked by a unicorn in the forest the day of the crash," I began recollecting what had happened. "He hit me with a spell which sent me toppling back into a tree. He walked up to me and his pupils hexagonal and he had his horn pointing at me? Can you explain that?"

"Yes I can. For pegasi, do not ever get hit by there spells more than twice within an hour," she said. "The first time they hit you shuts off the magic that allows you to fly, leaving you grounded."

"What magic?" I asked. We were pegasi. How do we have magic?

"Have you ever flown fast enough that there is a trail behind you?" Vida asked and we both gave a nod. "That's magic. Surely you didn't think our small wings could carry us around at such speeds did you?"

I had never given it any thought.

"Okay...what happens the second time you get hit?" Khan asked.

"The second time you get hit your wings will be gone. The wing tissue and bones will all line up around your rib cages," she said immediately noticing my jaw dropping. I really hope she was pulling my tail right now. "Since I know one of you is going to ask," Vida continued, "The third time all of the wing tissues and bone will move up through your body and create a horn. Then your horn beams back a signal to wherever the UUS is and they will be able to control you."

"What about earth ponies?" I asked.

"They have two chances to get hit. The first one takes all of the extra muscle that pegasi and unicorns don't have and do the same thing that the second hit does to pegasi. The second time they get hit, well, it's the same as the third for pegasi."

"Wow," is all I could say.

"So, what about unicorns?" Khan asked, his eyes floating to various points all over the room.

Vida replied, "They can't get hit. If they do, they immediately become under control of the UUS."

This information was really useful...and terrifying. It was relief to get an answer to so many questions that have been building up for days. So, this place really risked a lot to help me and Khan out of here, especially since there was nothing we have done in return. They sent a doctor and two, what I assumed to be, EMT's that were unicorns out there, knowing if they got hit they would turn instantly. That actually gave me a twinge of guilt. Why would they go out of their way and risk so much to help us?

What happens if they hit you with the spell, or Coldfire?" Khan's question bringing me out of my thoughts.

"They don't try to hit us with the same spells they would try to hit you with," Vida started and sighed lowly. "They just cast a spell that will stop our hearts within 10 minutes. They can't turn us, which means they can't control us. And if they can't control us, they would rather us be dead."

"That's terrible," I said, Khan also nodding in agreement.

"That's a double-edged sword really," Vida commented, her facing towards the back window across the sea. "A blessing in disguise." That's true. I would probably rather be dead than be controlled and I know for a one hundred percent fact that Khan felt the same way in that matter. "Anyway," Vida continued coming back to a more joyful state. "Anything else you wanna ask me? I've got time for my musical idols."

"Please don't treat us any different from anyone else just because we are famous," Khan said. "I mean, we aren't really famous but please don't treat us better than others. Equestria as equals right?"

Vida thought about it for a minute. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. That doesn't change the fact that I am super hyped that you two are here!" We couldn't very well stop her from that, could we? I did have one more question though.

"So what is this I heard about a mandatory two-week training course?" I asked inquisitively.

"Everypony on the base must go through the course once a year, every year, starting at the age of thirteen and going on to the age of fourty. Normally you could do it at any time of year for your first year and then do it at that same time the next year and onward. However, you guys are technically outsiders, so you'll have to do them immediately. It's really a testament to the security of the base."

"Is the course very hard?" I asked. I really hope it isn't hard.

"Yes. It is just as emotionally straining as it is physically. That's why it's so effective despite the amount of time it takes to complete," Vida said casually, making it obvious that she has been through it enough times that it really wasn't anything to her. Well, that hope of it being easy just flew out the window. Khan looked a little nervous but he still had the celebrity smile on regardless.

"Okay, so when do we start?" he asked.

"You can start Monday. That way you two will finish right as the anniversary festivities begin," Vida said, giving us smile. "Wouldn't want you to miss that. This year should be really good since it's the base's thirtieth year." She looked at both of us. "You two should get going. Coldfire is going to be your training instructor, but don't worry. He's actually a lot more gentle than the others."

"Alright, Vida," I said. "I guess we will be seeing you later, huh?"

"I'm one of your biggest fans," she replied, becoming more giddy. "Don't act like you won't be seeing me later."

"Glad to have somepony on our side," Khan said with a smile.

I smiled at that. Who would have guessed that our first friend on base would have been the general. Coldfire came into the room to collect me and Khan, and we followed him to wherever we were going. I've decided that this base isn't such a bad place after all and I'm sure once we get to know the other ponies, it won't be so bad. With my band now completely gone, I really didn't have much to leave for anyway. Khan was truly all that I had left. He is here and I am here.

That's what really kept me together. That's what made not being able to leave, not so bad.