EDM Death Machine

by GenerousGhibli

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Octavia, Science Fiction, Adventure, DJ P0N-3, Twilight Sparkle, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 17108

Vinyl Scratch becomes a cyborg. She's... open to it. Others aren't, and they're real jerks about it.

Vinyl Scratch is mortally injured during a terrorist bombing, and as a result becomes a Cyborg.

She’s… open to the idea.

But others aren’t. Soon, she finds herself in a battle against a shadowy organization that threatens to topple the technologically advanced Lunar Division, and bring the nation to its knees.

>>Name comes from HERE.

Published 2016-03-02 17:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-19 20:58:36 UTC

Prologue: Nightfall

“One thousand years ago, Nightmare Moon wasn’t banished, as Celestia had originally intended. Instead, for the first time in recorded history, the Elements of Harmony were used in a different way; they were brandished, but not activated. In lieu of banishing her sister to the moon, Princess Celestia struck a deal. If Nightmare Moon would stand down, then she would be willing to negotiate a partial surrender.

“And that is exactly what happened. Princess Celestia sacrificed half of Equestria to her beloved sister and, over time, Princess Luna returned to her senses. It was a slow process, but Celestia would wait… After a few hundred years, Nightmare Moon conceded to be called Nightmare Luna. In time, she even allowed her sister to address her as merely ‘Luna,’ though she was still Princess Nightmare to her subjects.

“The half of Equestria that Princess Nightmare ruled became know as the Lunar Division and, within its boundaries, no sunlight existed. For over a thousand years, half of the planet has been completely dark. And yet, in the sunlight’s absence, technology, science, and art prospered. With no sun to grow their crops, Division scholars developed special lanterns that would produce the same light as the sun, and that spurred the nation along on its path of progress. Even still, without its sister’s need of technology, the Solar Empire became magically advanced, and under the warm light of the sun, magic and alchemy replaced the sciences of the night.

“To date, Princess Celestia still values the love of her younger sister, and makes a monthly pilgrimage to the Lunar Division to visit with her, and vice versa. This not only maintains their bond, but promotes good relations between the Division and the Empire.

“Any questions, students?” Cheerilee asked from the front of the class.

“Yeah, I have one!” a small pink filly called from the back row.

Cheerilee heaved a sigh. “Yes, Diamond Tiara?” she asked though gritted teeth, despite already knowing what her question was. She was likely going to ask why they actually needed to know this stuff.

“Why did Princess Nightmare rebel in the first place?” Diamond asked, cocking her head sideways.

“Bec– I’m sorry, what?”

“I asked why Princess Nightmare rebelled,” she reiterated, drawing a number of surprised looks from her classmates. “I mean, she had everything she could want, right? Money… power… she had it all! Why would she rebel?”

“Oh, I thought…” Cheerilee shook her head, dispelling the notion and giving her student a kind smile. “Never mind. Glad to see you actually taking an interest in history,” she said calmly. “To answer your question, let me pose another; if you had an older sister who was maybe… prettier than you… and because of that, she got all of the attention, leaving you to be ignored… how would you feel about that?”

“I guess… I’d be pretty jealous of her…” Diamond said quietly, eying the teacher suspiciously.

Cheerilee smirked, glad to have delivered her message properly. “And that is exactly how Princess Nightmare felt when she saw the love her sister received for her gift of the sun. Why did the ponies shun her beautiful night? Why did they not appreciate the effort she put into painting the night sky? Was her pale moon not enough for them? Were her glittering stars not beautiful in their eyes? Why did they not love her?” she cried, turning away from the class. “But!” she whipped back around, giving the students a hard glare and making them all flinch. “This was no petty jealousy! Princess Nightmare stewed in her misery for centuries, letting her hate and rage and envy fester inside of her until it manifested as dark magic, transforming her body and altering her mind, sealing away the once beautiful Princess Luna and releasing the demon known as Nightmare Moon!”

The class let loose a collective gasp. Cheerilee smirked, delighting in heir reactions. She should not be having this much fun with them.

“That’s awful!” a filly in the front row shouted. “How could Princess Celestia let her sister go through that alone?!”

“Well, Apple Bloom, she didn’t know,” Cheerilee explained, moving over to her desk. “Princess Nightmare hid her negative feelings, fearing that the ponies, as well as her sister, would see her desires as selfish and immature. Even she herself felt that they were,” Cheerilee said softly, but loud enough for everypony to hear. She suddenly raised her head and smiled at the class. “Remember, every pony, bottling up your emotions can have absolutely disastrous effects. If something is ever bothering you, even if it’s something you think is silly, talk to somepony about it. Maybe your parents or your friends can help to ease your mind. Now, next week, we’re taking a six-day trip to the Lunar Division to learn a little more about it and the way they live there. I need you all to take home these permission slips,” she said, tapping the small stack of papers on the desk, “and return them when you come in tomorrow.”

X<>X

“I wonder what it’s like in the Division…” Diamond Tiara said quietly, watching the countryside roll by. She turned to see her best friend giving her a coy smirk. “Oh don’t give me that, Bloom!” she said, playfully pushing her away. “You’ve never even been out of Ponyville!”

“It’s alright to be excited, Di; we all are!” Apple Bloom said warmly, putting a hoof on Diamond Tiara’s shoulder.

“And nervous!” Both fillies turned towards Pipsqueak. The poor lad looked like he was on the verge of a complete breakdown.

Scootaloo, who sat beside him, bopped the side of his head. “Dude, you’re from the Division!” she said teasingly.

“I was born in the Division, but I was raised in the Empire,” he said bluntly, poking her in the side. She immediately jerked to the side and batted his hoof away, blushing furiously. “I don’t know any more about the Division than you three.”

“It don’t really matter who knows more about it,” Apple Bloom pointed out. “We’re all gonna learn a boat load about it on this trip.”

“Ugh… Learning…” Scootaloo put a hoof in front of her mouth and made a gagging motion. “You make it sound so boring! Which is why…” she leaned out into the aisle and looked up at the chaperones, all of whom were busy talking about the schedule. “…I brought my Trotmare!” she whispered, unfolding her right wing to reveal a cassette player with a headphone cable wrapped around it. “And extra tapes!”

“Are you mad, filly?” Pipsqueak hissed, pushing Scootaloo’s wing back down. “If the chaperones see that…”

“See what?” All four ponies froze as Rainbow Dash trotted over, grinning as though she’d heard everything.

“Uh, absolutely nothing!” Diamond said much too quickly, shaking her hooves in front of her face.

Rainbow let loose a small laugh and pointed at Scootaloo’s wing. “I’ll tell you right now…” She paused, narrowing her eyes. “…you won’t need that.”

As Scootaloo pulled the tape player out from under her wing, she frowned up at Rainbow Dash. “Will I get it back?”

Rainbow smiled and pushed the filly’s hoof back. “I’m not taking it,” she said, turning away. “And I’ll tell the others not to, either. You just won’t want to listen to it, is all I’m saying. Oh, and you all may want to get dressed.”

“Oh, yeah! Why did we need to bring clothes with us, anyway?” Apple Bloom asked, getting out of her seat to pull her bag out from under it. “We don’t normally wear them…”

“They wear clothes in the Division,” Pipsqueak said as he pulled his suitcase down from the luggage rack. “It’s supposed to be really cold there.”

Diamond was already pulling on her faux marten fur jacket when she shrugged. “That makes sense. They don’t have any sunlight, so the sun can’t heat up their side of the planet.”

“I’m surrounded by eggheads…” Scootaloo muttered as she slipped into her black denim jacket.

!*_!%_&_@!_%

Author's Note

Super stoked for this one! and hey! This one might get a cover image soon! What's the inspiration for this, you ask? Several thing, actually. For one, my good friend, The Hat Man's story, The Iron Horse, which I edit for. His story is like mine, but better, because it has robots. That was a joke. It's super good though, so check it out. More inspiration comes from playing Deus Ex, and listening to a lot of electronic music. Also, please note that I use the term 'EDM' as a blanket, even if it is wrong. Anything that is electronically produced and is danceable falls into the category.

Yes, AB is chums with DT in this timeline.

Chapter One: Contact

“You’re… kidding, right?”

“Nope.”

“You’re leading a school pony tour?”

“No, Octavia, I’m leading five.” Vinyl Scratch paused, putting a hoof to her chin. “I think? It’s the same group… but I’ll be with them all five days. Does that count as five tours?”

Octavia Melody trotted around her roommate, blocking her path to the door. “It does, but… I’m confused… Why are you doing this? You hate hard work!”

“No, I hate boring hard work,” Vinyl clarified, attempting to step around Octavia. Still, her path was block as the grey mare stepped in her way again. With a sigh, Vinyl looked Octavia in the eyes. “Look, Octavia… What do I always say about the future?”

Octavia’s eyes shot to the floor. “You always say that the future is like the sky… full of brilliant stars,” she answered quietly. “But I don’t see what that ha–”

“Those stars are foals, Tavi. The future belongs to the young, and I'm going to make sure they can shine as bright as possible.”

“Vinyl… I’ve never seen you this serious about anything before…”

Vinyl gave a sigh and trotted past her. “The future’s some serious biz, you know? I’ll see you tonight; I gotta scram or I’ll be late.”

“I’ll be waiting,” she whispered, hanging her head. She promptly perked back up and gave her best friend a wide smile. “Good luck!” she said, trying to sound cheerful. It must have worked, because Vinyl turned to her and wrapped a foreleg around her neck in a half hug.

“Thanks, Tavi.” With that, Vinyl stepped out of their apartment and disappeared into the night.

X<>X

Vinyl’s hoof tapped repeatedly against pavement as she stared patiently out over the train tracks, squinting under the harsh light of the platform’s lamps. They were late. She was worried about being late, but the school ponies’ train was five minutes late.

“Are they there yet?” a voice rang in her ear.

“No, Tavi, they aren’t,” Vinyl replied into the small microphone beside her mouth. She paused to bite her lip. “I’m starting to worry.”

“Relax,” a voice said to Vinyl’s right. She turned to see Twilight Sparkle approaching. She was wearing a black suit with a dark violet blouse and had a crescent moon pin on her jacket’s lapel. She had her mane done up in a simple bun with her bangs left to hang just above her brow. “They’ll be fine. Remember, Imperial trains are slower than ours. Oh and hi, Octavia!”

Vinyl touched the panel on her foreleg and switched her phone app to speaker mode. “Hello, Twilight!” Octavia said over the phone. “Vinyl, I’ve got to go. My show is in ten minutes.”

“Alright, later. And break a leg, Tavi!”

“Thanks, bye,” Octavia said before the line went dead.

“Not to be rude, Sparky, but why are you here?” Vinyl asked.

“Don’t call me Sparky,” she said a bit too quickly, her left eye twitching. “And I’m here as a chaperone.”

“I’m their chaperone,” Vinyl replied sharply.

“And I’m your chaperone.” Twilight strutted past, flashing a sharp glare at her. “Her Majesty still doesn’t trust you completely after the Blood Fountain fiasco.”

“That was eight years ago! And it was pomegranate juice!” Vinyl protested, stomping a hoof for emphasis. “And everypony loved it, the princess included!”

“That’s the problem, Vinyl,” Twilight explained as a steam train came over the horizon. “She’s afraid you’ll do something reckless again. Meanwhile, I’m afraid you’re going to take the foals to nothing but clubs and parties. You’ll corrupt them and teach them all the wrong things.”

Vinyl visibly flinched at the word corrupt, before narrowing her eyes. “…You don’t even know me.”

“I know enough, Vinyl,” Twilight snapped, looking back over her shoulder. “I know that you’re a bad influence on ponies.”

Vinyl said nothing as Twilight levitated a neatly folded sheet of paper out of her coat pocket. “Now, I’ve got a very educational itinerary planned out. First, we’ll visit the observatory and study star charts and then we’re going to tour the Rider’s-Prance packaging pla–” Twilight was cut off as her list burst into bright blue flames. She snapped around to see Vinyl glaring at her with her horn glowing. “What do y–”

“You listen here, Sparky,” Vinyl all but spat, stepping up to Twilight. “I know the princess didn’t send you. I cleared this with her myself weeks ago. She seemed to trust me just fine.” Vinyl pulled her own list from the inside of her pleather coat, unfolding it and thrusting it in Twilight’s face. “This is my job. I earned this gig fair and square, and you are not taking it from me.”

“You want to go to the observatory for a laser show?” Twilight scoffed, glaring at the list. “That’s kind of foalish, isn’t it?”

“They are foals, Twilight,” she pointed out. “You want to show them technology in a way that makes it seem boring and uninteresting. I want to show them what technology is truly capable of, the way it impacts the daily lives of everypony in the Division. I want them to be excited about learning; you just want to make them learn.”

As Vinyl stared down Twilight, the train pulled into the station with a loud hiss, sending steam rolling over the platform. “We’ll try this your way, Vinyl,” Twilight hissed, turning towards the train. “But when you fail, and I do mean when, I will be there to pick up the pieces and guide them.”

The door on the lead car opened and two mares stepped out, and through the train’s windows, she could see a familiar prismatic mane as its owner searched the luggage racks. After the mares, nearly two dozen foals spilled out of the car and started looking around nervously. One of the adults, a mare with a fuchsia coat and a two-tone pink mane, trotted forward slowly and stopped in front of Twilight. “Are you the tour guide?”

“Aaaactually,” Vinyl cut in, bumping Twilight aside with her flank. “That would be me. Twilight’s just a tight wad that didn’t think I could handle the job.”

“And why would she think that?” the mare asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“We were college buddies,” Vinyl said shortly, glaring sidelong at Twilight. “Although, buddies might not really be the right word.”

“Ah, say no more,” the mare said, holding up a hoof. “I had my wild college days as well. I’m Miss Cheerilee, their teacher.”

“Nice to meet you. Name’s Vinyl Scratch.” Vinyl held up a hoof, which was promptly shaken by Cheerilee.

“It’s a pleasure, Miss Scratch,” Cheerilee replied. “In our correspondence, you said that you’d work out transportation and board. I don’t see a carriage anywhere.”

“Actually,” Vinyl said, pointing to a large hover transport some distance away in the station parking lot. “That’s a carriage. It floats.” She whispered the last part, savoring the teacher’s expression.

Miss Cheerilee looked like her jaw was about to unhinge, it dropped so hard. “No way… are you messing with me?”

“No lie, Teach. C’mon, let’s get introductions done and get out of here.”

The teacher shook her head and turned to the students. “Alright, everypony, gather round!” All of the foals promptly stopped whatever they were doing and trotted up to Miss Cheerilee. “My little ponies, this lady here is Miss Vinyl Scratch, and she is your tour guide. You are to show her the same respect you show me, Miss Rainbow Dash, and Miss Applejack.”

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee,” the class said as one, nodding and turning to Vinyl. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Well, that was mildly unsettling,” Vinyl said quietly as another mare stepped up to her.

“Howdy, there!” she said cheerfully. “Name’s Applejack!”

“Good to meet you,” Vinyl said, matching the mare’s vigor. She promptly shook hooves with Applejack, before the mare took note of Vinyl’s Datapad.

“That’s some odd looking jewelry ya got there,” she said pointing to the screen Vinyl’s foreleg.

“Um, that’s not jewelry…” Vinyl said slowly, not sure how to play this. She’d dealt with Imperials before, but she’d never had to explain what a Datapad was… “It’s, uh… hard to explain. Let’s get the foals to the hotel, and then we can talk.”

“Alright, but where’s the carriage?” Off to the side, Rainbow Dash chuckled as she trotted away from the train.

Vinyl sighed and offered a gentle smile. “Just follow me,” she said, turning towards the school ponies, who had begun whispering excitedly amongst themselves. “Aright, little ponies, follow me!” she called to the group. They immediately perked up and looked to her with excited smiles.

“Where are we going first?” a pink filly with a lavender and white mane in a fur coat asked as she trotted to the front of the group. Two more fillies and a much smaller colt trotted up next to her.

“Well, we’re going to the hotel, which is all the way across the city,” Vinyl explained, noting that one of the fillies beside her, an orange one with pink hair, had a pair of antique-looking headphones on. “Come on, everypony! This way to the transport shuttle!”

As she led the group over to the craft, many of the students looked around in confusion. It was understandable, since the hovercraft was the only thing in the lot, and many of them wouldn’t even know what a hovercraft was.

The back of the transport opened, causing most of the foals to stop and stare at the empty space lined with multiple rows of seats. “Everypony, hop onboard!” Vinyl called as she stepped up into the passenger bay. “You do not want to miss this!”

They were hesitant. Rainbow Dash hopped up and flew over the group, landing with a loud clank on the loading ramp. “Come on, guys! I rode in one of these last time I was in the Division; It’s totally safe!”

That seemed to be enough for at least a few of them, as the pink filly and two of her friends cautiously stepped forward onto the metal ramp. The one with the headphones hung back, her eyes closed and her head bobbing to whatever jam she had fired up.

“Go ahead, Vinyl,” Twilight whispered as she stepped up beside her. “Grab them with your magic and yank them off. I know you want to. Bonus points if you break them.”

Vinyl sighed for what had to be the tenth time in the last hour. “No, I’ve got a better idea,” she whispered back, trotting back down the ramp. As she drew near, the filly looked up and scowled. “Hey, there.”

“Hey,” she said bluntly, glaring at Vinyl.

“Why so angry?”

“Because I didn’t wanna come,” the filly snapped, pulling a cassette player out of her jacket. She quickly swiped a wheel on the side, and the sound of swing jazz permeated the air.

“I see.” With a soft smile, Vinyl turned and stepped back up into transport, signaling for the filly to follow. She did, stepping cautiously onto the ramp, and then trotted over to sit down by her friends. One by one, each of the school ponies ventured in after them. Once the chaperone’s checked to make sure everypony was onboard, they followed and took the two seats behind the cockpit, looking out over the students.

Twilight cut her eyes. “What was that?”

“You’ll see… Sparky, if you would please, get their seat belts?” Vinyl said politely as the rear hatch closed, causing the entire bay to go utterly dark. A soft violet aura enveloped all of the ponies’ seats, shortly before a large number of clicks sounded throughout the transport. Soon after, everypony, the adults included, began protesting. “Okay, so who can see anything? Show of hooves, who is completely blind?” All of them. Save for Vinyl and Twilight, everypony was blinded. “Well, we’ve got a remedy for that!” Vinyl touched a few spots on her Datapad, bringing up the transport’s controls. “See, centuries ago, doctors found that pony eyesight was becoming more and more adapted to function in lower light. They decided that that was a bad idea, since Division ponies would often visit the Empire. Pretty soon, THESE were developed!” A calm blue-purple glow filled the bay, eliciting excited murmurs from all of the foals. All except one, that is. The little pegasus filly with the headphones widened her eyes, then shut them tight and turned her head to the floor. “These lights are called shadow lanterns, and you’ll find them in every home, business, and even in the streetlights! They’re soft enough not to hurt Division ponies’ eyes, but clear enough that Imperials can see when they visit! These also have a number of medical purposes, but I won’t bore you with all that boring science-y stuff!”

The pink filly in the fur nudged her friend and glared at her. She muttered something, but the pegasus shook her head and turned away.

Rainbow Dash stood up behind her, but a raised hoof from Twilight stopped her. Vinyl promptly arched her eyebrow at the other mare. Her response was to mouth out, “I’m curious.”

As Vinyl turned back to the class, she tapped a spot on her Datapad and smirked. “We all set up there, Captain?”

“Aye-aye, Ma’am!” a chipper voice said though the small device. All of the students immediately started looking for the source of the captain’s voice, but were incredibly unsuccessful.

“This, ponies, is called a Datapad,” Vinyl announced, holding her foreleg up to show the students. “It does a lot of cool stuff. For one, it lets me talk to other ponies, like you just saw. It also functions as a Trotmare, a film projector… kind of… and a bunch of other stuff! I can even read comic books on it! And well… regular books too, but nerd stuff like that’s Twilight’s thing.”

“Hey!” Twilight protested playfully, causing all of the students to laugh. Both she and Vinyl noticed that the headphone filly had slid one of the speakers over behind her ear.

“But this little gizmo here doesn’t begin to compare to the other stuff we have here in the Division,” she explained, tapping her hoof on the floor. “Like this carriage, for example.”

“This isn’t a carriage!” the headphone filly shouted, furrowing her brow. “It’s just a dumb box with a bunch of chairs in it!”

“Scootaloo!” Miss Cheerilee shouted, unbuckling her seat belt and standing up. “What did I say abo–” she was cut off by Twilight putting a hoof on her shoulder.

“Relax, Ma’am. I think my friend has a plan,” she whispered, causing the teacher to glance over at Vinyl, who was ignoring the small disturbance.

“You said before that you didn’t want to come to the Division,” Vinyl said calmly, walking casually over to the filly. “Why is that, Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo’s face flushed red as Vinyl came closer, but she grit her teeth and glared at Vinyl. “Because the Division is just a place full of nothing but cold, hard science and technology, where everything is done by machines and nopony ever has any fun!” she shouted, causing Vinyl’s eyes to widen.

Vinyl blinked a few times, shocked by the filly’s seemingly mature views. “Well, those are good reasons, or they would be, if they were right.”

“You saying I don’t have a good reason?!”

“No, I’m saying you don’t know anything about the Division. Who told you all of that stuff?”

“My dad!” Scootaloo answered, unfastening her seatbelt so she could stand up in the chair. “He told me all of that!”

“Has he ever been to the Division?” Vinyl asked simply, sitting down. “Because it doesn’t really sound like it.”

“Well, n-no… But that doesn’t mean he's wro–” She was cut off as Vinyl held up a hoof and smiled warmly at her.

“Except, it does mean he’s wrong. He’s so very, very wrong, Scootaloo,” Vinyl explained as she levitated a pair of white and blue headphones off of her neck. “Do you know what these are?”

“H-headphones… But they don’t look like mine…”

“Because they’re not like yours.” Vinyl snapped them over the filly’s ears before she could process what was happening, and then sparked up one of her own songs. It was called ‘Music to My Ears,’ and it was arguably her biggest hit. After a minute passed, Vinyl removed the headphones from the filly’s head, leaving her shocked and staring wide-eyed at her in awe.

“What… what the hay was that?” she asked, putting a hoof over her chest.

“It’s called dubstep, and it’s a prime example of you being wrong.” Vinyl stepped back up to the front of the carriage and tapped a few places on her Datapad. The transport’s side windows immediately cleared up and revealed a view of the parking lot. “Thing is Scootaloo, I’m not a scientist, or a doctor, or a programmer. I’m a musician, and a dang good one. If the Division were anything like you’d said, then I would be one of those other things. But I’m not. And we’re about to fly.”

The entire class seemed confused, but Scootaloo just looked angry. Vinyl knew why, too. She’d read the student profiles Miss Cheerilee had mailed her. Scootaloo suffered from a birth defect and her wings weren’t developed properly. That was why Vinyl had chosen a hover transport, instead of the more common wheeled transports.

“Captain, lift off.”

“Ay-aye, Ma’am!” the pilot said over the radio. The entire craft lurched and rattled for a minute before it stabilized, floating gently a few dozen hooves from the ground. “Proceeding now to the Moon’s Glow Hotel.”

“My little ponies…” Vinyl said loudly as the transport tilted forward, moving towards the hill at the edge of the parking lot.

“Welcome…” The transport lifted up to the peak of the hill as Vinyl tapped a few spots on her Datapad, preparing to activate the craft’s ‘tour mode.’ They lifted over the hill and many of the ponies, including the chaperone’s, were looking around frantically, trying to see the city out of the side windows.

She hit the final command point on her Datapad, prompting the walls, roof, and floor to seemingly turn transparent, revealing the City in all its urban glory.

“…to the Lunar Division!” Vinyl shouted, holding a foreleg out dramatically. “Well, its capital, Elara, at least.”

X<>X

The student’s all gasped, several of them in fear, as the floor disappeared from beneath them. Scootaloo in particular stared down at it in shocked silence. She… she was flying.

“Scoots, look!” Scootaloo raised her head at Diamond’s prompt, and her heart stopped. The Division’s capital… It was beautiful!

The massive, sprawling metropolis was, in itself, luminescent, lit up by so many blue and purple lights. Signs that seemed to be actually made of light hung from the sides of buildings, giving a cool glow to the buildings themselves. Even some of the buildings themselves seemed to be made of light, with long, blue beams shooting up their sides and corners. Countless other flying machines soared through the gaps between massive towers that seemed to big to be real, while what had to be thousands of carriages in just as many shapes rolled along the streets, all without a single pony pulling them.

The carriage they were in shifted, tilting sideways and started flying towards the ground. It swooped down between two of the towers, then soared down the streets, the building zooming by quicker and quicker as they went.

Just what in the world was this place?

“Guys?” Scootaloo asked quietly, prompting her friends to turn to her. “Are you seeing this?”

“Well, yeah,” Pip said from a few seats over. “It’s outstanding, isn’t it?”

“I’ll say… It’s breathtaking,” Diamond Tiara added, staring at all of the wild clothes the ponies below were wearing. “Look at the local fashion!”

“Prettier that a perfectly picked apple!”

“J-just making sure…” Scootaloo whispered, putting her headphones around her neck. “I guess I won’t need these after all…”

X<>X

“Welcome to the Moon’s Glow Hotel!” a mare called cheerfully from the front desk as the class entered the building. “How can I…” Her eyes went wide at the sight of Vinyl.

“Hey, we have a reservation,” Vinyl said as she trotted up to the desk. “It’s under ‘Scratch.”

“Uh, I, um…Of… of course, Miss Scratch!” the mare manage to choke out, typing a command into her keypad. “How… how many nights?”

“It should say,” Vinyl replied, leaning over the desk. “Yeah, see right here?” She pointed at the hologram screen.

“R-right…” the mare muttered, her ears folding back. “Sorry… I don’t normally meet a lot of… celebrities…”

Vinyl only offered a soft sigh and a smile, before fishing her wallet out of her coat. “It’s cool. Look, I already have an account here. Let’s go ahead and confirm it’s me, I’ll give you my card, and we can go on with our lives.”

“O-of course, Miss Scratch… CIDVN, please?” the mare asked, pulling another screen up beside the other.

“Vinyl Scratch, Citizen Identity Verification Number 509b-as-in-bolt327c-as-in-clop-614-f-as-in-fly318.”

The mare read the serial back to her, having to restart twice because she stumbled on a number and a letter. “Is that correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Alright, checks out,” the mare confirmed, blushing as Vinyl slid her card over the desk’s top. She ran it through the scanner and hoofed it, as well as the requested four extra bio-keys, back to Vinyl. “Wow, I can’t believe THE Vinyl Scratch is staying at the MGH… My girls are not going to believe this!”

“Well, here’s some proof,” Vinyl said with a smirk, trotting around behind the desk. She wrapped a leg around the mare and held the other up in front of them. “Smile and say Holy crap I met someone famous today!”

“H-holy crap I met someone famous today!” the mare said with a bright, excited smile. With a flash, the photo was taken and Vinyl bumped hooves with the mare to share it to her Datapad. “I can’t believe this is happening… a week here and I already met a celebrity!”

Vinyl chuckled as she trotted back around and stood in front of the group. “Alright, fillies and colts, let’s get you to your rooms,” she said as she gestured for Miss Cheerilee to hold up her hoof. “This is called a bio-key. It goes on your hoof and uses your genetic information as a passcode. I won’t lie, this is gonna sting a bit.”

“A bit?” she asked as Vinyl used her magic to strap the device to her foreleg.

“Yes, a bit. You’re gonna wanna clench your teeth now.”

“Wh– OW!” Miss Cheerilee winced as a small needle pricked her and drew a milliliter of blood. “Why would somepony make a key like this?”

“Well, much like the CIDVN, it’s intended for more high profile citizens,” Twilight explained as she strapped Applejack’s and Rainbow Dash’s bio-keys on. Both of them winced as their blood was taken. “It’s the most secure key type on the planet. After all, only you have your specific genetic code.”

Applejack quirked her brow. “High profile? What’re you talking about? And why was that mare gettin’ all gushy over Miss Scratch?”

“It’s not really important…” Vinyl muttered, glaring at Twilight. Either she didn’t get the message, or she ignored it.

“Vinyl here is a famous musician, and has her own CIDVN,” she explained, smiling at the foals.

“No way!” the filly in the fur shouted, bounding forward towards Vinyl. “Do we really get to hang out with a celebrity?!”

Vinyl’s face flushed bright red as more of the foals came up to her. “Well, um…” She was used to ponies that knew she was famous… she was even used to paparazzi, but ponies that suddenly found out about her? That was new. But… maybe she could make it work. “As a matter of fact, yes! I am a celebrity! I’m best known for pioneering electronic music.”

“What’s electronic music?” one of them asked, looking up at her with wide eyes.

“Well, I use machines to make music…”

“How do you do that?” a colt asked, bouncing up over his classmates.

“It’s actually kind of complicated.”

Miss Cheerilee stepped up beside her and cleared her throat. “Now, now. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but I think it’s best we get to our rooms.”

They protested, of course. “Come on, kids, y'all need your sleep; it's a big week ahead of you,” Applejack said sternly. Her face shifted as she seemed to realize something. “Uh, Miss Scratch? Where are the stairs?”

Vinyl smirked and pointed towards a large semi-circular area near the entrance. “We don’t use stairs unless it’s an emergency. That over there is an elevator. Since this is a VIP hotel, you ponies get another view of Elara as we head up. Come on!” Vinyl said as she started off towards the elevator. “Trust me; it’s almost as cool as the transport.”

“Well…” Miss Cheerilee said calmly to Applejack as she started after the guide. “She hasn’t led us astray yet…”

“I dunno, that carriage-thing made me a might bit queasy.”

“Remember AJ, they do things a lot different here,” Rainbow said as she glided overhead.

“Miss, no flying in the lobby!” the mare at the desk called.

“Sorry!” Rainbow replied, falling to the floor with a loud thump. “Case and point, a lot of places, you can’t fly indoors. If you just acclimate yourself to that concept, you’ll do fine in the Division.”

“I understand that things are different here, Dash,” Applejack replied. “But... I dunno, it just don’t feel right to me, is all…”

Once everypony was in the elevator, Vinyl tapped her Datapad a few times, accessing the system’s control’s, then sent the elevator up.

“Does everypony use their um… Datapad… like that?” Miss Cheerilee asked, peering over Vinyl’s shoulder at the Device. “Does everypony get control of the machines like this?”

“Ordinarily, no,” Twilight cut in, glaring at Vinyl. “In accordance with Princess Nightmare’s policies, Vinyl has been given special access to the city’s infrastructural computer network.”

“The… The what?” she asked, tilting her head.

“The network that connects all of the machines in the city,” Vinyl clarified. “Since I’m ‘aiding in strengthening the bonds we share with the Solar Empire,’ I was given special access to that network.” Vinyl paused for a moment and pawed at the ground. “Just… kind of enjoying it a bit too much, I guess.”

Twilight smiled and stepped over to the window as the tops of the nearby buildings came into view. “You’re fine, Vinyl. Just don’t get carried away.”

“I’ll try not to,” she replied with a smirk, before turning to the foals. All of them, Scootaloo included, practically had their faces glued to the elevator’s massive window. “So, Sparky, still think I’m not cut out for the job?”

“I’m… coming around to the idea of you being in charge.”

$_!_^_@)_!^_@!_!$_!!

Author's Note

So, first chapter down. Yes, it is an exposition dump. I am sorry for that, but I felt like I should do a bit of world building first. I tried my best to make it interesting. If you came here for the cyborgs, but were disappointed, don't fear. It'll happen in a couple of chapters.

The CIDVN is, as you probably guessed, like a social security number, only more complicated to remember. It works exactly the same way, and because it's so hard to remember, it's difficult to replicate. The more high profile you are, the more complex your CIDVN is. Vinyl is close to top tier, which would have five sections and four letters. Example: 000x000x000x000x000. This exists for a specific reason that will come into play in later chapters. Twilight is actually a top tier, but for a different reason than Vinyl. Also, you can pronounce CIDVN as Cid-Vin.

One more bit, Rider's-Prance is a play on Snyder's-Lance, who pretty much have a monopoly on snack foods. I used to work at one of their factories. It's nothing special, really.

Chapter Two: Just like that

“Thanks again for letting me stay the cycle,” Twilight said as a small overnight bag appeared beside her. “I don’t really feel like traveling all the way across town just to come back in a few hours.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all!” Octavia said cheerfully as she trotted into the kitchen. “We’re happy to help.”

“Seriously, Sparky, our apartment is huge,” Vinyl pointed out. “It’s not like you’ll be in the way or anything. But what about Lobos?”

Twilight gave a soft sigh as she sat down beside Vinyl on the couch. “Moondancer is taking care of him for the week. And I know that you have the space, but you and I aren’t exactly friends.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Vinyl countered, using her ESPM to levitate the remote from the coffee table. “Even if Tavi and I still lived apart, I’d still offer you my spare room. Well, then it would be my couch, but whatever.” She turned the TV on, only to see that it was on the wrong input.

“Right, right,” Twilight muttered with a soft smile. “What was it you used to say back in college; ‘from the milk of equine kindness’?”

Vinyl responded with a soft chuckle. “Yeah…” she said softly. “I picked that up from my mom…”

An awkward silence hung in the air as Vinyl flipped through input settings, then channels. “So, um, Octavia’s been in there a while…”

“She’s cooking. It’s kind of her thing,” Vinyl said simply, her scowl deepening. “Really? Five hundred channels and not a single thing on.”

“Vinyl…” Twilight started hesitantly, her shoulders slumping. “I wan–”

“If you’re about to apologize for earlier, don’t,” Vinyl said sharply, turning the TV off. “I know you don’t have any reason to believe that I’m responsible enough to handle this.” She sat up in the couch and turned to Twilight. “Look, I know I wasn’t exactly mature when we hung out, but I’ve changed, mellowed out.”

“We never really hung out, though.”

“Really?” Vinyl asked, putting a hoof to her chin. A moment later, a wicked grin spread over her muzzle. “Cuz I’m pretty sure I remember a lavender unicorn sleeping in my dorm a few times.”

Twilight’s face immediately lost every bit of its color. “I-I-I stayed the cycle because I was tutoring you and we always finished late! You were flunking Advanced Mechanical Theory! I would never s-s-s–”

“Chill, Sparky. It was a joke.” Vinyl put a hoof to Twilight’s shoulder and leaned around to look at her face. “I know what happened.”

“UGH!” Twilight knocked Vinyl’s hoof off and looked away from her tormenter. “That’s not funny! This is what worries me about you! You never take anything seriously…”

“That is definitely not true,” Vinyl said calmly as she hopped off the couch. “If I didn’t take anything seriously, you wouldn’t be here, you never would have tutored me, and I’d have never made it as a DJ.”

“If you hadn’t slacked off, you wouldn’t have needed tutoring.”

“I needed tutoring because I was having trouble keeping up, Twilight, not because I was slacking off. Remember, I aced almost all of my other classes.”

Twilight and Vinyl stared each other down as what was said sunk in. “Oh,” Twilight whispered somberly. “Sorry.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Octavia sang as she poked her head into the living room.

“Awesome! I am starving!” Vinyl trotted over to follow her into the kitchen. She turned briefly to look at Twilight with a polite smile. “Coming, Sparky?”

“Um, yeah… Yeah, I’m starving too!” She said with a smile, hopping off of the couch and following Vinyl.

X<>X

“That was amazing!” Scootaloo shouted as the tour group stepped out of the carriage assembly plant. “They not only have carriages that move themselves, they have machines that build them!”

“Looks like somepony’s having more fun than she thought,” Vinyl teased over her shoulder, causing several of the students to laugh quietly to themselves. “And that’s not even the biggest factory we have in the division! I would have shown you the hovercarriage factory, but they wouldn’t authorize a tour.”

“Oh, I can explain that,” Twilight said politely. “Skyway Aeronautic Industries is cu–” She was silenced as Vinyl dashed over and clamped a hoof over her mouth.

“Hey, hey, heeeey…” she hissed, turning the two of them away from the crowd. “I know why they wouldn’t authorize a tour. I know it’s a military contract, but they don’t need to, you dig?”

Twilight nodded as Vinyl let her go and turned back to the crowd. “As I was saying,” Twilight started, earning a glare from Vinyl. It was repaid with a smirk. “SAI is currently undergoing a few classified projects within their facility.”

“…Right…” Vinyl said slowly, but quickly regained her stride and trotted back to the front of the group. “Our next stop is for lunch, and then we’re headed over to the Night Light Observatory to… Well, you’ll see.”

X<>X

“In the beginning, the sky was not so constant, as it is now. It was changing, ever darkening and lightening as the day would pass into night. This change was the royal duty of the sisters eternal, Celestia and Luna…”

Vinyl smiled as she watched the laser show overhead. She heard excited whispers as the neon-colored outlines of the two princesses danced onto screen, prancing around each other, and eventually coming into a tender embrace.

“You know, Sparky, I never get tired of these things,” Vinyl whispered. “They may be a little old school, but there’s nothing quite like them.”

“I guess you’re right…” Twilight answered sourly, yet she still smiled up at the projection. “They seem to be enjoying it, too.”

A thought occurred to Vinyl as she looked over at her fellow chaperone. “Hey, didn’t your old man create these? And doesn’t he own this place?”

Twilight’s smile faltered a bit. “No on both accounts, actually. The technology to create these shows existed prior to the concept, but my father adapted it, made it into something foals could enjoy. And the building is only dedicated to him.”

“So science runs in the family?”

“My mother was a scientist, just like me… so yes, I suppose it does,” Twilight explained, a small smirk crossing her face. “Though, Momma was never quite as accomplished as I am.”

Vinyl’s smile widened a bit as she leaned back in her chair. “I can dig that. My folks were both big back in the day. Mom was a violinist, Dad was a pop star. Played synth in one of those old bands. I think it was ‘Colts with no Bonnets’ or something like that.”

“It seems we both followed in the previous generation’s hoofsteps, then.”

“Yeah,” Vinyl said quietly as the laser show’s narrative took a darker turn, telling how Luna suffered in silence for centuries. “You know, it’s a shame…”

“What is?”

Vinyl sighed and pointed up to the screen. “Our society. It’s a wonderful place, full of love and peace and everypony is connected through technology, but for us to have this… utopia, I guess… both of the princesses had to suffer so much. It just doesn’t seem fair.”

Twilight was quiet for several minutes before she replied. “No… no it doesn’t.”

X<>X

“Aaaw, does it have to end so soon?” one of the fillies asked as Cheerilee herded them into the hotel room.

“Yes, it does,” she said sternly, pushing the foal though the door. “Miss Scratch and Miss Sparkle are probably very busy ponies.”

“Besides,” Vinyl said from the hallway, “the sooner you kids get to sleep, the sooner you get to start tomorrow’s tour.” That seemed to do the trick, and the filly trotted into the room of her own accord.

Once she was inside, Miss Cheerilee turned and smiled at Vinyl. “Thank you for the wonderful time you showed them today. It’s rare to find someone who puts as much value in their interests as their education.”

Vinyl’s cheeks turned a bit pink from the compliment. “It was, uh, no problem! It’s like I always say: the future is like the sky, filled with brilliant starts… a-and those stars are foals…”

Miss Cheerilee’s smile faded for a moment as her eyes widened, before it returned in full force, albeit in a softer form. “How… poetic,” she said sweetly. “I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

“Woooow, you’ve got a new fan and she hasn’t even heard your music yet. Impressive.”

“Shut up…”

“That was a joke,” Twilight said sourly as she trotted away. She stopped for a moment to turn back to Vinyl. “Come on, we need to talk.”

Vinyl trotted up to her and frowned at her grim expression. “What’s up?”

“Vinyl, why did you set them up here?” she asked quietly. “This place is only really used by ponies like you, Coloratura, or Lady Rarity. Not just average tourists, but celebrities.”

Vinyl’s scowl deepened as she took a step forward. “You know why,” she said in a low voice. “Look, I’ve got connections. I know about the Brotherhood, Sparky. This place has the best security in Elara, second only to the palace itself.”

Twilight paled at the mention of the Brotherhood, before stepping up and looking around frantically. “You need to be careful talking about them! If somepony else heard you…”

“Which is why I said it quietly,” Vinyl hissed, stepping back. “Look, they can’t get in this building without drawing attention, and that kind of attention is the last thing they want.”

Twilight considered her words for a moment, before nodding. “Alright, I’ll trust you on this. Even so, you have me worried now. Next cycle, I’m brining Lobos with me.”

“Fair enough. I think the kids will like him, too.”

“Then it’s settled. I’ll see you in a cycle,” Twilight said as she trotted away.

“Uh, you know I’m headed that way too, right?” Vinyl said as she galloped to catch up to Twilight, smiling as she came up next to her.

“…Shut up…”

X<>X

The next cycle found Vinyl, Twilight and the tour group waiting patiently outside the hotel for a third Division chaperone. Cheerilee in particular was getting a little antsy. Why did they need another chaperone?

No sooner did the thought cross her mind that she got her answer.

Trotting calmly and casually towards them was a mare that carried herself much with the same air as Miss Sparkle. She even looked a bit like her in the face. She wore the same kind of suit as Twilight, but with slightly more flared sleeves, and with trousers instead of a skirt, all in a fetching scarlet with a peach blouse. In addition, her mane was more styled, falling around her face in thick, luscious locks. She also seemed to walk with a very slight limp in her left foreleg.

And she had timberwolves flanking her.

Two timberwolves, a bit smaller than what was seen in the Everfree forest, padded alongside the new mare, producing a hollow thump as their paws hit the ground. Cheerilee knew that there was no danger (Miss Sparkle had explained that they were somehow domesticated), but even so, she felt her heart seize up as one of the beasts yawned, stretching it massive maw to reveal a mouth full of neatly carved, pointed teeth.

That was another thing. Instead of the mess of sticks and brush that comprised the bodies of Everfree timberwolves, these proudly bore bodies meticulously carved from what appeared to be mahogany. In reality, they were less terrifying and more majestic than anything.

“Now that there… that really don’t sit right with me,” Applejack whispered beside her. Cheerilee nodded, even as some of the students behind her started whispering nervously. Rainbow dash didn’t seem bothered by it at all. She’d probably seen them before on her trips to the Division.

As the timberwolf on the mare’s right caught sight of Twilight, its face lit up and it started to pad a little quicker than its compatriot. The mare sighed and waved a hoof, prompting the wolf to huff happily and sprint towards Twilight.

Twilight smiled and trotted forward slightly and held out a foreleg to welcome it. The timberwolf all but tackled her and started licking her face with its leafy tongue. “Hello Lobos!” she said loudly, wrapping her forelegs around the wolf. “Momma missed you!” Lobos whined in response, pressing his cheek into hers. Apparently, he’d missed her too.

“You must be Cheerilee.” Cheerilee snapped her eyes away from Twilight and Lobos to see that the mare in red was standing a few hooves away, holding out her right foreleg. She had a slight smile on her face that sent a bit of a chill down Cheerilee’s spine.

She shook the mare’s hoof, smiling nervously back at her. “Yes,” she said hoarsely, trying to avoid making eye contact with her lupine companion. “And you are?”

“I’m Moondancer,” she replied, reaching a hoof up and scratching her timberwolf’s chin, “and this is Lupe. We work with Twilight and Lobos.”

“I… see… It’s a pleasure!” Cheerilee exclaimed, and then gestured towards the other chaperones. “These are the other chaperones, Applejack and Rainbow Dash.”

Moondancer smiled at them and gave a quick nod. “A delight,” she said politely as Vinyl stepped up beside her and whispered in her ear. She then turned towards the foals, her smile becoming a smirk. “Are these the students?” she asked mischievously as Lupe walked around her and lowered his head to sniff at the closest foal. The colt whimpered and backed away, only to bump into the other students, who had all huddled up in fear.

Vinyl moved up beside the wolf and rubbed the back of his head, as though he was a common house pet. “It's okay little dude; they don't bite unless they're told to,” she explained as Lupe started wagging his tail excitedly. “See, these timberwolves are domesticated.”

“Even though they are much more than just pets,” Twilight chimed in, trotting up to the student with Lobos close on her hooves. “In truth, they're more like a best friend, or a big brother. We were paired with them when we were about your age, and they've been with us since then.”

Scootaloo stepped forward and gave the wolves an odd look, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes, all while tilting her head sideways. After a moment, a huge grin spread across her face and she held up a hoof for them to sniff. “So they're basically big wooden dogs, right?” she said happily as Lobos gave her a hoof a gentle nudge with his nose.

Moondancer and Twilight looked at each other and smiled, before turning back to the filly. “Well,” Moondancer said with and amused tone, “yes, actually! They are kind of like wooden dogs, only a lot more intelligent.”

Cheerilee chose this moment to cut in. “Miss Vinyl, why don’t we get the tour started?” she said politely. “You did say we had a full schedule, after all.”

“I was just about to suggest that,” the DJ answered nearly instantly. She turned and tapped Twilight on the shoulder. Twilight nodded and gestured to Moondancer, giving a small flick of her forehoof. As if by some unheard command, Lobos and Lupe stiffened and padded around to the back of the group, silently observing the students. “Alright, everypony, our first stop is a friend of mine’s store. I commissioned her to make a special souvenir for each and every one of you.”

“Do we get to ride in that cool flying carriage again?” one of the fillies asked, grinning excitedly.

“No, not this time,” she replied with a chuckle. “This time, it's within trotting distance!”

X<>X

As the group made their way through the bustling metropolis, a variety of strange things caught Applejack’s eye. Everypony wore such strange clothes; none of them even looked remotely suitable for a hard day’s labor. Even ponies that she presumed were police officers wore odd clothes; some kind of strange, form-fitting jumpsuit coupled with a vest that looked like soft padding. This place was so strange…

Not everypony greeted them with smiles, as Vinyl and her two friends did, which was completely fine. But a very small number of them even sent disgusted scowls at them, like they’d wronged them somehow. She’d figured there might be a few ponies that would dislike the Empire, but not to this degree.

And then she saw it. It’s slick, black hide shining in the glow of the street’s shadow lamps and its pale blue eyes narrowed in malice as it thundered down the sidewalk after two pegasus fillies and cackled like a mad pony. To think that one of those… monsters would show itself in public…

Her lips curled back in a snarl and her pace quickened as she trotted towards the changeling.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Vinyl asked, a worried tone creeping into her voice. That’s okay, she wouldn’t be worried for long… “Don’t ju–”

“Applejack, STOP.” AJ whipped around to glare at Rainbow Dash, who was trotting up to her.

“Why should I?!” she demanded, her voice shaking. “I know you see it too!”

“Yeah, I do. But see, here’s the thing, AJ: if you attack that hatchling, you’ll be the one committing a crime.”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed as she maintained her glare. “What are you talking about?” she asked, barely hiding the tremble in her voice.

“Oh!” Vinyl shouted, smacking a hoof against her head. “I totally forgot about the whole… thing… with the changelings…” She raised her hoof up and hung her head. “Okay, calling it now, that was my bad!”

“Miss Applejack,” Moondancer started as she stepped forward, “changelings are legal citizens of the Lunar Division. I understand that you must have had it hard during the war, but… if you attack a changeling in the Division, it will result in you being charged with assault and subsequently extradited to the Solar Empire.”

“Why would you shelter those things like that?” Applejack hissed, backing away from the group.

Rainbow stepped forward, holding out a hoof as if Applejack was some kind of animal. “Where else would they have gone, AJ? Where could they go?”

“Princess Nightmare is a kind and accepting ruler,” Twilight stated bluntly. “She does not turn away those that are in need, nor is she short on second chances to give.”

Applejack’s gaze switched quickly between the ponies advancing towards her, each one bearing a different expression. Dash glared at her with a sternness that could withstand a hurricane. Moondancer had a false look of sympathy on her face, but was clearly still ready to fight, and Twilight just looked at her in slight disdain. They were all prepared to take her down if they thought they had to… Her mind raced, trying to find a solution, but only one seemed feasible to her at the moment.

She bolted, heading straight down a nearby alleyway.

“After her!” Twilight shouted from behind her. She immediately heard the sound of the timberwolves’ paws beating against the hard concrete. Applejack picked up her pace, ducking around a corner and heading into another alleyway.

After several more twists and turns, the sound of wood on asphalt had completely disappeared.

But she was lost. Frantically, Applejack looked around in an attempt to locate herself. She was ultimately unsuccessful.

“Well,” she muttered, “I guess I’d better start marching…”

With that, she walked slowly out into the open and started down a sidewalk.

X<>X

“You’re sure Moondancer can reason with her?” Vinyl asked as the group came to the front of a somewhat large boutique. The sign above the door read ‘Lady Rarity’s Starlit Styles’ in big, red neon letters.

Twilight sighed as she lightly flicked her hoof at the door, prompting Lobos and Lupe to take up a position on either side. “Yes, Vinyl, I’m positive. She has more in common with Miss Applejack than you could even begin to realize.”

“If you say so…” she said in defeat, before turning to the students. “Alright everypony, today we’re going to meet somepony even more famous than me. Now, she’s taken special time away form her extremely busy schedule to greet you all and give you a very special gift that she’s made herself.” Vinyl turned and pushed open the door to the shop, then marched in, gesturing for everypony to follow her.

Once inside, she looked around, attempting to find the owner. “Rarity?! Aw, don’t tell me she for–”

“Vinyl, Darling!” Everypony looked up at the top of a nearby staircase to see a mare with pale gray fur and a long, curled, violet mane. She was dressed in a long, red silk robe that trailed behind her, and had a glass of wine levitating beside her. “I was beginning to worry you wouldn’t show,” she said with a playful wink.

“Yeah, yeah,” Vinyl said as she advanced towards the stairs. “You sure that’s really appropriate to wear in front of foals?”

“I will have you know, Baroness, that I’m no common exhi…” She trailed off and her face reddened slightly as she recalled the company she was in. “Ahem… I am wearing a gown beneath,” she said quietly as she began her descent towards Vinyl. Once she reached the bottom, she leaned forward and kissed both of Vinyl’s cheeks, a gesture that the DJ quickly returned. “Regardless, it is wonderful to see you again. You and I really should spend more time together!”

“We totally should. Also, Rarity, please stop calling me Baroness. You know I don’t like it.”

Rarity gave a playful pout, raising her foreleg up to her chest. “Oh, but how often does a mare become a noble by merit of their talent alone? Besides, I do so enjoy teasing you,” she said in mock disappointment as she waltzed passed Vinyl. Her expression shifted into a friendly smile as she approached the students, completely ignoring Twilight, who offered a scowl in response. “These must be the school ponies!” she exclaimed cheerfully, lowering her head to greet them. “I’m so happy to meet you all! My name is Lady Rarity, and today, I’ll be showing you how my boutique operates.”

Cheerilee stepped up and extended a hoof to Lady Rarity, who stood up to greet the mare. “Hello, Miss–”

“Lady Rarity, if you please. I’ve worked very hard for that title.”

“…Oh, um, Lady Rarity. My apologies. My name is Cheerilee. I’m the teacher. This is Rainbow Dash, one of the chaperones.”

Lady Rarity smiled and gave a short curtsey, before turning and heading back to the stairs. She stopped to look over her shoulder, smiling at the group. “One moment, please?” She received a nod from Cheerilee and Vinyl, and then turned back to the stairs. “Sweetie Belle, Silver Spoon! Could you come down here for a moment?” she called, prompting two fillies to appear at the top of the stairs. Both of them were wearing the same outfit: a simple grey jacket and a pleated skirt with black shorts underneath. One of them was pale white with long pink and lavender hair that flowed around her face, while the other had plain grey hair in a Prench braid and fur of a slightly darker grey. The latter was wearing a pair of wire-frame glasses.

“What’s up, sis?” the white filly asked, cocking her head sideways.

“Correct me if I am wrong, but should you two not be leaving for Tura’s place for your lessons?” Lady Rarity asked narrowing her eyes at the two.

“Madame Coloratura VMed us and told us to take the day off,” the grey one replied, pointing at the small Datapad on her foreleg. “She said she had some stuff to take care of.”

Lady Rarity’s eyes narrowed to the point that they were practically shut, which caused the fillies to shrink back a little. “Show me.”

The grey filly, Silver Spoon, judging by the spoon shaped patch on her uniform sleeve, tapped a few places on her Datapad and held it up to Rarity. A holographic screen appeared, showing a mare with grayish-blue fur and a dark gray mane with teal accents. After buffering the video for a moment, as JrDatapads were notorious for doing, the hologram played, and a beautiful voice drifted throughout the boutique.

“Hi girls,” the mare on-screen said sweetly. “Sorry, but I’m cancelling today’s lesson. I’ve got some stuff to take care of at the palace, and it really can’t wait. Besides, I’m sure those cute little voices of yours could use a break, what with the school choir thing the other day. Byyyye!”

Madame Coloratura winked at the camera and the screen disappeared, prompting the two fillies to smile down at Lady Rarity. “No need to be smug,” she scolded. “It looks like you’ll have to come with me.”

Sweetie Belle and Silver spoon looked at each other, then back to their caretaker. “Where to?” they asked in unison.

With a sigh, the Lady turned away from the duo. “Regrettably, into the backroom. I don’t trust either of you not to wreck the storefront while I’m back there.”

“What?!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, a broad grin crossing her face. “You never let us go in the backroom!”

Lady Rarity whipped around and gave them a hard stare. “It’s a special occasion, and we have guests touring the store. You will behave yourselves.”

The fillies seemed to shirk two sizes under the mare’s gaze. “Yes ma’am…” they muttered together.

“Good, now get in line with me.” Once Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon had lined up behind her, Lady Rarity strutted up in front of the group and smiled proudly. “Alright, everypony, follow me!”

It turned out that the backroom was more like a small factory. There were at least two dozen workstations, each operated by a pony, changeling, or a griffon. Each of these workers was busy sewing together clothes, adding embellishments or otherwise doing something related to clothes production. They all operated with a drone-like sense of purpose, never looking up from their tasks, even as they finished a piece. When one did so, another worker came up and took it before running back the direction they came from. It was a like a hive, to put it simply.

“I prefer to have the clothes manufactured manually, without using machines. Each garment that is produced by this boutique is crafted with dedication and love, by each of my lovely, trusted employees.” A griffon at a nearby station raised his claw, drawing the attention of a mare that was scurrying about, collecting finished pieces. Lady Rarity waved a hoof at the mare and approached the griffon. The mare quickly nodded and dashed into a door to the side. “What seems to be the problem?”

“Ah, Milady… I wasn’t expecting you,” he answered softly, never looking up from his station. “The pattern is… problematic. The border cannot be claw-stitched, not in the way specified…”

“What kind of tools do you need?

“Merely a double-ended sewing machine, Milady. Will that be permissible?”

“Of course!” the Lady replied, putting a hoof over the griffon’s back. “As long as you are the one making it, not some robot in a dirty factory.”

“Thank you, Lady Rarity.”

“Of course.” She promptly turned back towards the student, smiling. “As you may have guessed, I have one of the most successful stores in all of Elara, if not the Division in her entirety,” Lady Rarity said, waving a hoof in front of her to gesture at the workers. “I always dreamed of being a top designer, but even I would have never imagined ending up where I am now! Not only did I accomplish my dreams, but I did so much more.” She turned back to the group and smiled. “I became so well known in the Division, that Her Majesty recognized my skill, and I was gifted the rank of Grand Couturier!”

“Wait a second,” Diamond Tiara said abruptly. “Let me get this straight: we’re being guided by a famous musician who’s famous enough to be friends with Princess Nightmare’s personal designer?!”

“Um… Yes?” Lady Rarity replied hesitantly. “I suppose that would come as a bit of surprise, wouldn’t it?”

“I never really think about us being famous…” Vinyl said calmly. “It’s just kind of what we are.”

“Indeed. Neither do I… Well, not often.” Lady Rarity shook her head softly and smiled at the students. “Why don’t you all head out into the storefront with Miss Rainbow and Miss Cheerilee? Miss Vinyl and I have to retrieve something from back here.”

Once the foals were past the doors, Rarity led Vinyl back into another room, one that was lined with dozen upon dozens of shelves, each loaded with marked boxes. “So, the pendants I commissioned are back here in the store room? That’s not really like you.”

“It is like me, however, to know how to get a pony alone,” Rarity replied softly, turning towards her friend. “Vinyl, what’s going on? You’ve always stood behind youth development programs, but something like this? Introducing young Imperials to the Division and our way of life? That’s not like you, not at all.”

Vinyl immediately offered a grimace in response, which was quickly replaced with a soft frown. “I just… I wanna make a difference… in somepony’s life. I know it’s not much, but… It’s something, right?”

“I understand, Vinyl, I really do. But surely you realize that you have changed lives.” Rarity stepped forwards and placed a hoof on Vinyl’s chest. “After everything you’ve done for the city? You deserve to be on the royal advisory council.”

Vinyl offered a slight ‘tsk’ in response. “That’s different, Rarity,” she explained bitterly. “Donating youth centers and giving to charity? I’m expected to do those. Anypony with money can do those. I want to do something special for these kids. I want to be a direct influence on them.”

“I… I think I understand,” Rarity conceded softly. She immediately perked up and levitated a box off of a nearby shelf. “Well, let’s put the gloom behind us, shall we?”

She was answered with a soft smile. “Yeah, let’s.”

X<>X

Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon sat at a table off to the side of the storefront, each with screens open on their JrDatapads. “So, what did you get for number four?” Silver asked, holding her hoof a bit away from the screen. She had officially come to the conclusion that Algebra III sucked. Like, it really sucked. It especially sucked when it was homework.

“X is equal to five, and Y is equal to six,” Sweetie replied almost instantly. “I’m not showing you my work, though. You’ve got to learn this stuff, Sil.”

“It’s boring though!”

“Well, why did you take it?” Sweetie Belle asked, never once stopping the rapid swiping of her hoof through the hologram screen as she worked out another formula. “You only had to finish Algebra II, and you’d have been set for an all-elective schedule this year.”

“I wanted to be in the same class as you,” Silver answered weakly, adjusting her glasses. “We only have two other classes together, you know.”

“I know, Sil. It stinks, but we–”

“Hi there!” Both fillies froze and looked down at the pony that had addressed them. She was one of the Imperial students, and she clearly had Imperial tastes if her fur coat was any indication.

“Uh, Hi…” Sweetie replied hesitantly. “Did you… need something?”

“No, just thought I’d introduce myself,” the filly said, smiling at them. “I’m Diamond Tiara!”

“Sweetie Belle.”

“Silver Spoon. Is that all you needed?”

Diamond Tiara shrugged. “I guess? I was just thinking I could make some new friends.”

“New friends?” Sweetie Belle practically scoffed. “What would be the point? We’d never see each other again.”

“Yeah, But back home, we’re taught that we should make friends before enemies,” Diamond explained. “Even if we never meet again, it’s nice to know I’ve got friends in another country. And hey, I can still send you a letter now and then.”

Silver tilted her head, causing her glasses to shift. “Why just one letter? That’d take a while to finish a message…”

“Different letter, Sil. It’s an antiquated form of communication involving the delivery of messages written down on paper.” Sweetie Belle turned back to Diamond. “We don’t have letters in the Division. We have Email. Electronic mail. It’s sent through machines.”

“I… see. Well, can we still be friends anyway?”

Sweetie Belle sighed and closed out of her homework. “Sure, I guess.”

Silver Spoon simply shook her head at Sweetie’s response with a smile. “I’d like that,” she said softly as she turned back to Diamond Tiara.

“Cool!” Diamond shouted. “Come meet my other friends!”

“Wait, I never agreed…” She never finished as Diamond Tiara turned and trotted back to the tour group.

“Come on, Sweets,” Silver said as she hopped down from her chair. “Who knows, you might actually like them.”

“…Fine.”

Once Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon had caught up to their new Imperial friend, she was already chatting excitedly with three of her classmates. One of them didn’t even look old enough to be in their class. As they approached, Diamond turned back to them with a warm smile.

“Okay, so, this is Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon,” she said, pointing at each of them in turn. “They said they’d be our friends!”

“Nice to meet you,” one of the other Imperials said with a smirk. “Name’s Scootaloo.”

“I’m Apple Bloom!”

“I’m Pipsqueak, but everypony calls me Pip. Pleased to meet you!”

Silver smiled politely, pushing her glasses back up her nose a bit. “It’s nice to meet you all.” When Sweetie Belle didn’t follow suit, a sharp elbow to the barrel prompted her to scowl and nod to the group.

“So, what’s the deal with the matching outfits?” Scootaloo asked. “You two sisters or something?”

This prompted Sweetie Belle look at the filly in confusion. “It’s… a school uniform. You don’t have uniforms at your schools?”

“We don’t wear clothes in the Empire,” Apple bloom pointed out with a glance down at her red flannel shirt and overalls. “This is literally the most I’ve ever worn. Ever.”

“B-but…” Sweetie Belle’s face twisted in disgust. “Everypony can see–”

“We’re baaack!” Lady Rarity sang as she and Vinyl strolled back into the room. “And we brought Preeeseeents!”

That seemed to draw the attention of every foal in the room, including Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon. With a speed rivaling that of Rainbow Dash, all of the students gathered around the two mares. At the same time, Vinyl and Rarity started levitating a number of crescent moon pendants out of the box.

“These pendants are special,” Lady Rarity started, putting one of the silver necklaces around Pipsqueak’s neck. The little colt’s face immediately turned three shades pinker as she leaned down close to him. “They say that, so long as you wear this pendant, you will never have another bad dream,” she whispered placing the pendant around his neck.

X<>X

Applejack looked around desperately, trying to locate the hotel they were staying at. She was utterly unsuccessful. With a sigh, she trotted up to the edge of the large bridge she was on, staring at the equally large waterway below. She’d made a fool of herself in front of the kids… again. This was third time in recent history. She really needed to get her temper under control.

“So, this is where you disappeared to,” a voice said from behind. “You are a very difficult mare to track down.”

“Stardancer, was it? Ya come to arrest me?”

The mare chuckled and sat down beside her. “Moondancer, actually. And no, I’ve got no reason to take you into custody. I’m just… here to talk.”

“You wanna know why I went crazy back there, don’t ya?” Applejack asked sourly.

“No, I think I can piece it together. It was your father, wasn’t it?”

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she turned to look over at the soft face of the Division mare beside her. She was kind of tall, and had a thicker build than most unicorns she’d met. “Brother, actually. Pa weren’t fit for service; had himself a bum leg.”

“It must be hard, then, being surrounded by them.”

“You ain’t kidding,” Applejack said with a sardonic chuckle. “Worse, I can’t even tell who’s a changeling and who’s not. They all look like you and me.”

“Once you’ve been here long enough, you start to get a feel for it,” Moondancer explained calmly. “They walk a certain way, say things a bit differently. A slight lisp… It’s the little things that give it away, really.”

“You seem to know your stuff.”

“I’ve been around them a while. They don’t even seem like a different species to me anymore. They’re just ponies with an exoskeleton.”

It was a long while before either of them said anything. They simply stared at the waters below as a few motorized gondolas passed by. “I’m sorry for losing it back there,” Applejack said softly.

“I’m not mad. Twilight and Rainbow Dash might be, but I’m not,” Moondancer replied just as softly. “In fact, I understand. It’s the same whenever I see a griffon.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow as she turned her gaze to Moondancer. “Not following. I though the griffons were a peaceful bunch?”

“Maybe in the empire… But they weren’t too happy about the Division coming in and offering aid.”

“That… makes absolutely no sense.”

“Griffonstone is a proud country. Even in the derelict state they were in, they refused Princess Nightmare’s numerous offers of aid,” she explained, frowning heavily at the water. “They ambushed the relief teams that were sent there. Killed almost all of them.”

“Your Pa was there, wasn’t he?”

“No. My dad died in a carriage accident when I was a child.” Moondancer paused, lifting her left foreleg and glaring at it in what seemed like disgust. “But I was there. I lost my whole squad and…”

“And?”

With a sigh, Moondancer backed away from the rail a bit. “Command code zero-five-three-two, disengage prosthetic.” Applejack watched in horror as, with a barely audible click and a hiss, the mare’s left foreleg detached, then fell away and hit the ground with a hard thump. “I was forced to resign from the service after the battle.”

“I… I see. I’m so sorry.”

Moondancer smiled at her as she used her magic to undo her coat and shirt. “Don’t be,” she said calmly, pulling the stub of her foreleg out of her sleeves. “I’m still a head researcher in the Science Corps; I’m just not combat personnel anymore.” As she held her stump down next to the prosthetic, it practically jumped into the socket, reconnecting with a hiss and a click. “It’s not that bad, really. I just limp a little now. I can’t run really fast, or jump too high, but it’s nothing I can’t live with.”

“It’s neat, but how’s it work? I mean, it moves the way a regular leg would…”

“It reads muscle movement and determines how it’s supposed to move based on data collected. It’s got a little information processing unit in it somewhere.”

“So… it’s got a brain its own?”

Moondancer laughed, buttoning her clothes back up. “Yes and no,” she said, using her hooves to pull her hair out of her collar. “It’s more like it has a piece of a brain in it. It’s just reads how I want to move, and follows through with the action.”

“Sounds complicated.”

“Oh, it is. Everything here is.”

Applejack gave a soft chuckle. “It’s like that in the Empire, too you know,” she said with a smirk.

“I’d bet. It’s always been said that our nations are the same, but still–”

“–opposite, and that they developed the same things through different means. Yeah, I’ve heard the whole spiel a hundred times. A little tired of it, honestly.”

Moondancer smiled, genuinely happy to have met someone she understood, and who understood her in turn. She despised that old saying.

“So…” the unicorn started. “What was with the looks you gave Lo–” She never finished her question, as a sharp, earsplitting beep filled the air.

“Gah, what the hay is that?” Applejack shouted, covering her ears. When the beeping stopped, Moondancer was staring at the Datapad on her real leg, a look of horror on her face. “Moo–”

“Miss Applejack, can you find your way back to the hotel?” the unicorn asked in a hushed voice.

“A-absolutely not. I’ll just get lost again.”

“Then you’re coming with me!” Moondancer shouted, grabbing hold of Applejack’s shirt with her magic.

“Where to?! And what was that noise?!”

“That noise was an emergency call, and we’re going to the palace. Something’s going down, and I can’t tell you what. All you need to know is that it’s something big.”

X<>X

Vinyl led the tour group towards a massive glass dome the size of ten city blocks, which was located in the center of Elara. Once they were in front of the door, she turned and cleared her throat. “So, you’ve seen out factories, where cutting edge technology makes even more cutting edge technology, and you’ve seen Lady Rarity’s shop, where her garments are all made by hoof or by claw, but you haven’t seen the city’s most special place yet. It’s a place that’s been left nearly completely untouched by the progress of technology and science, where animals roam free and plants grow naturally, uninhibited by the controlling touch of ponykind. I also happen to know the caretakers personally.”

Behind her, the door to the sanctuary opened, and a yellow pegasus mare with pink hair slowly strode out. Her mane was held in a slightly messy up-do, with one thick lock hanging down over her left eye. She was dressed in a blue kimono-like robe with a pink collar and cherry blossoms printed on the dress’s main body. She was the picture of grace and beauty, baring a soft smile on her lips and a serene look in her only visible eye. She immediately stepped up to Vinyl and bowed low, practically prostrating herself before the DJ. “Hello, Miss Scratch.”

Vinyl quickly returned the bow, though she didn’t go quite as low. “High Priestess Fluttershy… It’s good to see you again.” As soon as she finished, the two of them rose, and exchanged a quick hug. “Sorry it’s been so long. Things have been a little hectic lately.”

“Oh, there’s no reason to apologize, Vinyl,” the priestess said softly, her silky voice drifting over the group. “I understand perfectly.” She then turned to the students. “Hello, children. My name is Fluttershy, and I’m the High Priestess here at the Elara Nature Preserve and Animal Sanctuary. Why don’t you all come inside?” Suddenly, Fluttershy caught sight of Lobos and Lupe, and her gentle smile turned into a fierce scowl as she glared at the wolves. “I’m very sorry, but your timberwolves will have to stay outside,” she said sharply, eliciting a grimace from Twilight.

“That–” she started but was immediately cut off by a sharp, ear-splitting beep. As she tapped her Datapad and read whatever was on the screen, her expression changed drastically, from disdain, to shock, to horror, and then to a chilling calm. “That’s fine,” she said bluntly. “I need to be going anyways. Vinyl, Fluttershy… a word before I go, please?”

They trotted over to Twilight with confused looks, even more so when Twilight grabbed them by their collars and pulled them in close. “What’s wrong, Twilight?” Vinyl whispered, knowing full well what that alarm was.

“You listen, and listen well, mares. I’m going to trust you two with a very important task. That dome behind us isn’t just glass; hasn’t been for a few decades. It’s a high-density kinetic energy field over the original glass. I know that you both what that means.”

“Indestructible from the outside, right?” Vinyl asked, receiving a nod from Twilight.

“And since the sanctuary is only accessible with the priestesses’ permission, it’s unlikely to be destroyed at all,” Fluttershy clarified.

“Right,” Twilight affirmed. “High Priestess, You’re on both the city and royal councils, so you know about the Brotherhood. And Vinyl, you know through your connections in the underground.”

“I… really don’t like where this is going…” Fluttershy whispered.

“They’re making a move, aren’t they?” Vinyl asked softly, at barely even a whisper.

“They already have,” Twilight quickly, her tone and the speed of her speech rapidly changing. “An explosive device was found in the sewers during a patrol. It was big. I need you to keep the Imperials in the dome. At any cost, understand?”

Both mares nodded, stern scowls crossing their faces. “We’ll wait for your all-clear, Miss Twilight,” Fluttershy said sharply, pulling away. “You should be on your way.”

With an exchanged nod between the three of them, Twilight whistled sharply, prompting Lobos and Lupe to flank her. “I’ll see you both when this is over,” she called as she galloped away, the wolves hot on her hooves.

“So,” Vinyl whispered, “same as always. We smile for the Imperials and pretend nothing’s wrong.”

“Mm-hmm.”

X<>X

Before the tour group could enter into the huge dome of the sanctuary, they were first sent into an airlock and given masks with small oxygen cartridges on the side. After all of the masks had been donned, a vent on the right wall sucked the contaminated air out, and a vent in the ceiling pumped clean air in. This was so as few pollutants as possible were brought into the sanctuary. Their hooves received a thorough scrubbing, and then they were ready to go in.

“Here at the Elara Sanctuary,” Fluttershy said softly through her microphone, “it is the task me and my sisters, the Nature Priestesses, undertake to ensure that these ancient plants and animals still prosper and thrive.” The door behind her opened, and she turned and made her way though it. As they made their way in, the stark contrast of the new environment made every one of the Imperials pause. The scenery in front of them could only be described as a miniature forest, similar in appearance to the Everfree, aside from the soft blue light that enveloped everything. All around them, beautiful mares from all three tribes dressed in simple clothing somewhat similar to Fluttershy’s were tending to various tasks around the sanctuary. A few of them were gently gliding between the trees, careful not to hit any of them as they checked for any irregularities, while some were harvesting fruit from trees or bushes, and others were tending to a wide variety of animals. All of them had their hair fixed in a loose up-do, which was obviously meant to keep their mane out of their eyes. Those who were not hard at work were lounging about on the ground, heedless of the dirt sullying their clothes. Many of these mares lounged in pairs or groups, huddled together as though they were lovers.

“What is with this place?” Pipsqueak asked as he took off his respirator. “Why are there only mares? And why are they all so pretty?”

Diamond Tiara groaned and smacked him in the back of the head. “Geez, subtle, much?”

Apple Bloom chuckled as she stared at a nearby group of mares that seemed to be napping together. “He’s got a point, though. What I wanna know is why a bunch of mares are gettin’ all mushy n’ cuddly with each other. It’s weirdin’ me out…”

“I’d heard rumors, but they say it’s cool here for mares to get with other mares,” Scootaloo muttered, cringing as one of the mares winked at her. “It’s still super weird though.”

“Actually, Little Pegasus, you’re very right,” one of the priestesses said in a soothing tone, landing softly in front of the group. “My name is Star Drift. I understand you’re all from the Empire?” She turned her gaze to Pipsqueak, and something in that look she was giving him made him very, very uncomfortable.

“Y-yes ma’am…” Pipsqueak stuttered, backing away.

“Oh, you don’t need to be afr–”

“Star Drift.”

The mare froze and slowly turned her head towards Fluttershy. “Um… Yes, High Priestess?”

“I see that gleam in your eyes. You should go meditate for a while,” she suggested, smiling at her fellow priestess. “It’ll help to clear your mind and heart.”

Star Drift looked, back at Pipsqueak, than back at the High Priestess, then back and forth between them several times. “B-but…” She trailed off, a look of heavy disappointment on her face. “Yes, Sister,” she muttered, hanging her head.

Once the other priestess had flown off, Fluttershy turned back to the tour group, specifically the chaperones. “I’m very sorry, but my priestesses are very… um… affectionate,” she explained, a small blush coming over her cheeks. “They are not allowed to leave the sanctuary, and they become very attached to each other as a result. When they meet a new pony, the affection they show each other bleeds into the way they approach the newcomer. They would not do any harm, I promise; they merely seek to give and receive attention.”

“Regardless, Star Drift does bring up an interesting point,” Vinyl cut in, trotting up beside Fluttershy. “And I’d actually planned on bringing it up here. In the Empire, it’s not exactly common or acceptable to have same-sex couples, but it’s actually really common here in the Division. It’s almost the standard.”

“But… what about foals?” one of the fillies asked, raising her hoof. “Don’t mares want to have foals when they get married?”

Vinyl and Fluttershy’s faces immediately turned bright red. “Most of them adopt,” Fluttershy said quickly.

“There are special facilities if they want to have their own, but there are still foals that need good homes. Before a mare can visit one of these facilities, they’re required to present a document showing that they’ve visited an orphanage and considered her available options.”

Another colt raised his hoof, prompting Vinyl to nod at him. “What do they do at these facilities? How can a mare have a foal without a stallion?”

“I’m not certain I’m comfortable discussing that kind of stuff with foals…” Vinyl said, scratching the back of her head.

“Oh, I assure you, it’s fine,” Cheerilee chimed in. “Education of that sort is covered very early in our school.”

“Well, it’s not like that here…” Vinyl muttered with an increasingly red face.

“Why don’t I introduce you all to my wife?” Fluttershy blurted, drawing the attention to her. “She’s in the back, taking care of some of the plants.” The students all looked confused.

“That sounds… delightful!” Cheerilee said happily, though it was clear to anypony watching that it was a more than a little forced.

“Then it’s settled!” Fluttershy said sweetly, turning away. “I’ll be back in a bit; it’ll take a while for her to get here.”

“So, should I like… set up an ESPM barrier or something?” Vinyl asked, catching Fluttershy with a hoof on the shoulder before she could take off.

The High Priestess merely smiled back. “Whatever for? Star Drift is the only one that would… um, harm them, and she’s been dealt with. The others will only want to spend time with them. Maybe hug them a lot. Nothing to really worry about.” She paused, putting a hoof to her chin. “In fact… Sisters! If you are not doing labor, gather around!” she called, causing Vinyl to flinch. All of the priestesses that weren’t working immediately sprang up and ran over, almost as if they were waiting for the command. “I want each of you to partner with one of these Imperial students and show them around the forest. Understood?”

All of them nodded, then immediately started chattering excitedly among themselves. In the middle of it, Vinyl managed to catch snippets of things like ‘they’re so cute’ and ‘I just wanna hug ‘em to death!’ And that bothered her a little. More than a little. A lot.

“Yo, Shy… are you sure this is such a good idea…?”

Fluttershy sighed and turned to Vinyl with a bit of hurt in her eyes. “Vinyl, I know what they say about us… about the way we live… But I thought you, at least, knew better.”

“I… You’re right. That was a horrible thing to think; even worse to say. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, Vinyl. We all doubt our friends at some point or another. It’s only natural.”

“…Right,” Vinyl said softly, moving back towards the crowd. “You go get Tree Hugger, and I’ll chill here.”

“Alright, but you know you’re more than welcome to come with me.”

Vinyl Chuckled, shaking her head. “Nah. I am their chaperone, after all.”

“Touché,” Fluttershy replied with a soft smirk. “You know, it does speak volumes about how much you’ve grown… to be concerned for them like that? Most Division ponies would just as soon look away before they help an Imperial.”

“And that’s why I’m awesome.”

“You could be more modest, though,” she teased, before finally taking off and gliding deep into the trees.

X<>X

Some time later, Vinyl and Cheerilee sat at the base of a tree and watched as a group of students and their assigned priestesses played hide and seek among the trees. Whenever one of the sisters would find their student, they would tackle them and nuzzle them maybe a bit too much. Aside from that, everything was grand.

Rainbow Dash was busy napping in one of the trees, but Vinyl knew she was a light sleeper. All it would take was a shout to rouse her.

“So, you’re saying that her in The Division, you have the means to manipulate a pony’s very genes?” Cheerilee asked curiously. She and Vinyl had been discussing the details of the cloning facilities mentioned before.

“Yep. It’s not exactly new, either. Been doing it for about sixty years, if I remember right.”

“And it’s as simple as walking up to this facility, providing a genetic sample?”

Vinyl sighed, taking a sip from the drink one of the sisters had brought her. Cheerilee and Rainbow also had one, but the teacher hadn’t even touched hers, and Rainbow had downed it in one go. “Well, it’s got to be a sample from a specific organ, and that takes a bit of work, but yeah. Both mares provide a sample, and one is picked to be the ‘father’ of the child. Artificial… uh, stuff is created with the modified sample, and then boom! Pregnant lesbians.”

“You make it sound so simple…”

“Maybe, but it’s actually pretty complex stuff,” Vinyl replied simply. “Twilight could probably tell you way more about it. Her mom’s pretty big in that field.”

“You seem to know a good bit about it, yourself,” Cheerilee said suspiciously, finally taking a sip of her drink. “Oh, my. This is quite good.”

“Well, I should. I was seriously considering it at one point.”

“I see… what changed?”

“The mare I was seeing broke it off after she was transferred back to the Empire. Part of that whole soldier exchange program that was going on a while back.”

“What was her name? I might know her.”

“Well, I’d say that was unlikely, but you do actually know her.” There was a rustle over head as Rainbow slid off of her branch a glided away. “And there she goes.”

Cheerilee spit out a mouthful of her drink. “It was… Miss Dash?!” she asked incredulously.

“Yup. She still feels bad about it. I tell her it’s fine, though. We were young, impulsive, made hasty decisions,” Vinyl said softly, a smile spreading across her lips. “But it was nice, and I do miss it, sometimes.”

“That’s why you looked familiar!” Cheerilee shouted, stomping her forehoof down. “When I met you, you looked very familiar, but I couldn’t place it. She carries a picture of you in her wallet!”

“Makes sense, I guess. I keep a photo from our first date on my dresser. Oh, look. Shy’s back.”

Sure enough, High Priestess Fluttershy was making her way back toward them with a green-furred mare beside her. She had her wing over her wife, who in turn leaned against her for support. Despite the obvious struggle of a pregnant mare walking a mile across the forest, Tree Hugger still wore that dopey smile she was known for.

Vinyl and Cheerilee stood and started to trot towards the couple, but Vinyl’s Datapad started ringing. Looking down, she saw Twilight’s name on the display, and two thoughts entered her mind. She pulled up the holographic display on her headset and tapped the ‘answer’ icon on the pad. The lavender mare’s face promptly appeared in front of hers. “Sup Sparky? We good?”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Twilight screamed as her head bobbed up and down. Or rather, everything behind her face was bobbing up and down. She was galloping hard. “GET EVERYPONY OUT OF THE SANCTUARY, NOW! IS THE PRIESTESS WITH YOU?!”

“I am now,” Fluttershy said softly as she stepped up beside Vinyl. “What’s wrong, Twilight?”

“There’s a bomb at the top of the dome!” Twilight shouted. “Start evacuating! I’ll be there in a moment to disarm the device!”

X<>X

Within minutes, all of the Imperial students and the priestess were gathered at the sanctuary’s exit. Well, most of them.

“I can’t find the student I was with!” one of the sisters screamed as she grabbed Vinyl’s shoulders.

“What?!” Vinyl scanned around her, looking for the colt she was with. He was small, so he might have… “When did you lose him?”

“I don’t kn–”

“Vinyl, I can’t find Star Drift!” Fluttershy shouted over the chattering throng of foals and mares.

“She didn’t…” Vinyl hissed. She felt her blood boil as the two things connected in her mind. “Rainbow!” she screamed, drawing the attention of her ex-marefriend. “Find Pipsqueak! I’ll tail you!”

That proved unnecessary, as the tiny colt burst through a bush some ways away, with Star Drift following closely behind in the air. It was clear from her expression that she was chasing him. He was shouting, crying for help. As Star Drift dove towards him, Rainbow circled right and tackled her from the side, sending both of them crashing to the ground.

“Get off me!” Star shouted, using her hind legs to push her assailant off. Once she got to her hooves, she was tackled again, but she caught this one head on and managed to stand her ground. She forgot there was a unicorn nearby.

A magenta ESPM field wrapped around Star Drift’s right hind leg and snatched it out from under her. She was promptly lifted off the ground and slammed back down onto her back, producing a sharp crack as her wings bent entirely the wrong way. Vinyl turned towards the group with a harsh scowl, her horn still glowing. “Get them out of here!” she barked at Cheerilee and Fluttershy, both of whom nodded and turned to start ushering everypony out of the gate.

It was too late.

Twilight wasn’t going to make it.

Five explosions went of in rapid succession, and the dome started to crumble above them. The group stopped and looked, before turning back to the entrance and rushing out. It was chaos. Ponies were pushing and shoving and they had completely jammed the gate, which definitely wasn’t built to allow seventy or so ponies through at once.

With a growl, Vinyl released Star Drift and started threading her ESPM field through the crowd, pulling a few ponies out and sorting the mess so they could all get out easily. It worked, and the flow commenced. In just a few seconds, everypony, including Vinyl and Rainbow, were outside.

As Vinyl exited the preserve, Twilight and Lobos, as well as Applejack, sprinted up to group. Applejack immediately darted over to her little sister. “I was too–”

“Yeah,” Vinyl spat, glaring at the ground. She didn’t look back as the national treasure behind her crumbled in on itself. Even as the priestesses screamed in horror and anguish, and as foals cried, she didn’t look back. “But that doesn’t matter now. We need to find somew–”

Another explosion cut her off, this coming from the base of a nearby business tower. It started falling, and subsequently crashed into a similarly sized building next to it. Both buildings were falling now. Another explosion sounded to her right, several city blocks away. That was followed by another blast, coming from a hotel slightly further down the street.

“We have to get them to the palace!” Twilight shouted. She signaled Lobos to start herding the students and priestesses together. As he followed the command, more and more explosions sounded, rocking the very ground they stood on.

“There’s no time to get organized!” Vinyl hollered at Twilight. She turned to the group with a scowl. “Listen up!” she called, earning a bunch of worried glances. She pointed behind her, towards the massive, starch-white towers of the royal palace. “We’re going there! Stay with the group and you will be fine! Now get moving!”

The group immediately started off slowly in the direction of the palace, with many of them flinching when another blast shook the city, some freezing when a piece of rubble landed nearby. All around them, ponies ran and screamed, and there were already a number of casualties in the streets. Everything was happening so fast, nopony had really any time to react.

They only managed to make it a few city blocks before they had to stop. The building ahead of them exploded at the ground floor, sending flames and debris across the sidewalk. Then, the building beside them detonated close to the middle. Rubble started raining down on top of them, prompting Vinyl and Twilight both to put up a barrier overhead. The fields fused together to make something stronger than either of them could produce alone. As more and more debris started falling on them, it began piling up around them. Bigger pieces started falling. Entire slabs of concrete slammed into the compound barrier, causing both mares to flinch.

Prompted by an unseen, unheard command from Twilight, Lobos started nudging ponies out from under the barrier and into the street. It was safer there. The rubble might not reach them as easily so far away from the buildings. Many of them looked back at Twilight and Vinyl with worry or fear. After only a minute, the entire group had been cleared.

“Go, Vinyl! Get out of here! I can take this!”

“I call bullshit!”

“Don’t be stupid, Vinyl! Get OUT! If you stay we’ll both die! Think of Octavia!”

The magenta portion of the barrier vanished, eliciting a sigh of relief from Twilight. Her eyes widened when she felt the familiar tug of an ESPM field around her barrel. She turned her horrified gaze to Vinyl, who had a soft smile on her lips. “She’ll understand.”

Twilight’s entire body jerked sideways, making her lose her focus and allow her barrier to dissipate. She was hurled out from under the falling pile of rubble that had gathered on the shields. Rainbow Dash caught her out of the air and sat her down. She turned back just in time to see Vinyl’s smile vanish under the debris.

“VINYL!!!”

X<>X

The massive maw of a giant mechanical wolf bit down on a chunk of rubble a few times bigger than a pony and spat it off to the side. Several more wolves joined in and were doing the same. It didn’t take very long to find what they were after. This was indicated as one of the wolves pulled out a chunk of rubble with a starch white foreleg, adorned with a cobalt and azure Datapad, hanging from it.

!^_%_&_@_!%_!_!*_$_!$_%_!*_$_!(

Author's Note

So, how about that wait time, huh? Super sorry about that. I've been incredibly busy lately. A few months back, I met this super cute guy at this club and we kind of hit it off well. Like, REALLY well. We'd been seeing each other pretty regularly and it has been taking up a bit of my time. Couple that with full-time burger-flippin, and I've not really had much time to write. But, the single life welcomes me back with open arms. As will FiMFiction. I hope.

I know things feel a bit rushed at the end, but I wanted to kind of portray that... numb terror that you feel whenever everything goes south. Like, everything is happening so fast, and you are so scared that you just kind of go numb. Too afraid to be afraid. You start just quietly observing what's happening around you. If you've ever been near a train when it wrecks, you might get what I'm saying.

Anyway, so what's with that funky weird string of characters that's now at the end of each chapter? It's a code. And to decipher it, you will need a standard English keyboard. I thought this might be a fun little game for the readers. I promise, it's not integral to the story anything, it's just a bit of good fun. If you manage to decipher even one of the codes, PM me with the answer and you will receive a copy of the actual cipher. I' not completely devious, though. Here's a hint: underscores aren't part of the code. They just separate the characters. Good luck! You'll receive another hint next chapter.

Edit: let me clarify, if you break the rules and put the answer in the comments, your comment will be deleted and you won't receive the cipher.