The Nine

She finds out the Princesses are dead and doesn’t even bat an eye. And I thought I was weird. Oh well, I had other things to do. I sought out Applejack, who was chatting with another mare.

“Hey, AJ” I said when the other left.

“Hey there. Whadja need?”

“Well, I managed to hold on to a piece of Tratchy shell, and I was wondering if you could crack it” I said, leaving and motioning for her to follow me.

"Tratchy?”

I gave her a quizzical look. “Ya know, the big red and purple things that call us their slaves.”

“Oh, right, right” she said, more than a little ashamed. “Anyway, why do you want me to crack it?”

“I want to see if it can be done.”

“Well, I’m sure it can, but what does this have to do with me?”

“Well, I know it can be done with picks and the like, but I think you may be able to crack them with just your hooves.”

She then managed to put two and two together, and was raring to go when we walked into the training room I had set up. I hung the plate at about hip level, and she did her best to crack it. I didn’t see it, though, since I was knocked out by something or other.

Applejack

Crack! I grinned proudly at the newly cracked Tratchy plate, but only until I heard a thunk. I looked over, and saw Kiqo lying unconscious on the floor. I went over and inspected him, but couldn’t find any sign of a blow. If he hadn’t been knocked unconscious by a blow, then it was probably magic, and if it was magic related, Twilight would probably know.

So, I picked him up, throwing onto my back, and set off to find Twilight. I found her eventually, and every pegasus in Canterlot, in the new throne room. Tom was sitting on the throne, restoring the pegasi’s wings. When Twilight saw me come in, she immediately rushed over. I set him down, and she proceeded to inspect him.

“It seems the magical feedback from Tom drinking from the well did more than just restore our magic” she said after a while.

“So, it was a magical blow?”

She was about to respond, but Kiqo groaned, distracting the both of us.

“Mornin” he said, stretching. “Why was I asleep?”

“Well, it would appear that having your magic restored caused damage to your mind. Not that there was much left to damage, but you get the picture.”

He just gave her the ‘Really?’ look. “So, if my magic were restored, then I should be able to use it, right?”

“Right.”

His horn popped and fizzled a little, and a dust mote twitched a little.

“Okay, so maybe he didn’t fully restore yours, but it shouldn’t be much of a hindrance, right?”

He grumbled a little, and Twilight asked him to speak up. “I’ve always had something to grab things. As a human, I had hands, and here I had magic. There was only a short period where I had to use my mouth, so I never really got the hang of it.”

“Oh, right.”

“Ah could teach ya” I offered.

“Thanks, but no thanks. I know enough about cybernetics that I could probably build a new pair of arms.”

“Cybernetics?”

He stared at me, a little puzzled. He opened his mouth, then shut it, then repeated this process a few more times. “Cybernetics deals with robots” he said, finally getting out what he was trying to say.

“Robots?”

He just facehoofed, then adopted a bewildered look. “Since when have I been a pony?”

“Since ya came here.”

“But I turned into a dog. What happened to that?”

“I guess the magical feedback dispelled it.”

“I guess. Anyway, I’m gonna need an assistant. Severing limbs isn’t easy by yourself, especially when they’re yours.”

Twilight and I shared a quick concerned glance, and she followed him to the lab.

Kiqo

“Alright, so what do you know about wiring?” I asked Twilight when we were inside the lab.

“Nothing.”

I sighed. “Alright, the first two rules of wiring are don’t work while plugged in, and don’t cross the wires.”

“Why?”

I sighed again. “That’s not important. If you really want to find out, you can do it on your own time.”

“Come on, can’t you tell me?”

“They’ll explode.”

She looked absolutely bewildered. “Really?”

“Yes. Not a great fireball, but enough that if there are flammable gases in the atmosphere, the air will ignite.”

“You know this how?”

“I got really bored one summer.”

“Alright, that’s all I want to know.”

I chuckled. “Anyways, I’ll walk you through all the rest.”

“Okay.”

I did walk her through the rest, and with only a few explosions, she made the arms.

“That was actually more fun than I thought it would be” she said, admiring her work.

“Yeah, now comes the not so fun part. For me. I dunno, maybe you’ll get some sort of sick pleasure out of it” I said, taking a shot of morphine.

“What’s that?”

“Painkillers, so that you aren’t deafened when you cut my arms off.”

“We’re just gonna do this? I thought you would like, demonstrate it or something first” she said, looking horrified.

“I’ll talk you through it, alright? Now, grab that hacksaw” I said, gesturing to the saw laying on the table.

She did as she was told, though very shakily.

“Is it sanitary?” she asked in a quavering voice.

“It should be, but it couldn’t hurt to do it again.”

She resanitized it, and stood at the ready at my shoulder.

“Alright, now, I’m not going to feel anything, so don’t think you’re hurting me in any way, alright?” she nodded. “Good, now, don’t cut through the bone. Just cut through all the flesh around the bone.”

She nodded, and I could see tears welling in her eyes. She set to work, and in a few painless minutes I had one dangling arm. She however, was turning green.

“If you’re gonna barf, aim it away from the wound, alright?”

“Do you even realize what you just put me through? I just sawed your arm off, and now you’re just casually asking me not to barf on it? Are you crazy?”

I stared at her with a stone cold expression. “Ask Ace about his left arm sometime. Then you’ll know why I seem so cold.”

She realized what I was saying, and immediately backed down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“That’s alright, it’s not your fault. Now, I have this arm problem.”

“Oh, right.”

“Alright, just pop it out of the socket” she did, and laid the severed limb on the table. “Now, in my little bag of fun, you’re going to see some plates that look like they would fit over a shoulder” she pulled some of them out, but I shook my head. “Not those ones, the ones with the socket in them” she pulled out right ones, and I nodded eagerly. “Alright, now there are some orbs with three spherical indentations in one side” she pulled those out, and set them next to the plates. “Alright, now I need you to create loops out of my veins, making the output one flow directly into the input ones and then bundle my nerve endings up. Think you can do that?” she nodded solemnly, and got to work.

About halfway through the process, she had to give me another shot of morphine, but other than that it was fairly uneventful. She threaded the nerve endings through the hole in the socket of the plate, then popped the plate into my socket, forming an artificial exoskeletonal shoulder blade. She then inserted the nerve endings into the orb, then popped that into the reinforced socket. I tried moving my arm, and beamed when the small ball buzzed a little.

“Brilliant. Now all that needs to be done is for the arm to be socketed.”

“Is that what the port is for?”

“Yes. It’s my own design. You can painlessly remove your arm and replace it with another, per the need of your situation. Of course, that’s now outdated, since I developed an arm that simply stores different endings inside of it, but it can still be handy in getting out of sticky situations.”

She slid the arm in, socket meeting port, and it emitted an audible click. I tested it out, and grinned again.

“I am so glad this worked!”

“There was a chance it wouldn’t?”

“Well, back in the beta stages, when I had only my ‘guinea pig’ to test on, one of them may have exploded when you tried to move it in a certain way.”

“And you had me wire you up with what could possibly have killed you?”

“Look, I know what went wrong in the first one. I forgot to cover some sections of wire, and they crossed and exploded.”

“So, it was because you crossed your wires?”

“Yep.”

“Well, that’s certainly a tale. I suppose this has something to do with Ace’s arm story?”

“Yeah. Once we finish this up, I’ll find him, sit him down, and we’ll tell you what happened, alright?”

“Alright.”

She proceeded with the other arm, and it went off without any hitches.

“So, what do we do with the spare arms?”

“Throw ‘em in the freezer. They could be some sort of relic. You’ll go into a museum after this is all over, and the museum guide will say: ‘And these are the arms of Kiqo, one of the main heroes of Equestria.’”

“Yeah, and there’ll be some kid who’ll ask how they got them.”

“He wouldn’t be expecting him to say ‘out of the royal freezer’.”

We shared a laugh, and tracked down Ace. He was in the gardens, training. He rounded at the sound of our hoofbeats, but stood down when he saw it was just us.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Well, I’m sure you remember, way back when, in the summer of thirteen?”

“Oh, no. You are not forcing that story out of me. That was a terrible idea and I never should have trusted you on that.”

“Look, it still functions, right?”

“Well, yeah, but I’m not telling her that story.”

“You don’t have to. Just help me out with the details. You know how my memory is.”

“Alright, but I’m not doing any more than that.”

“That’s fine. You don’t need to” I turned to Twilight, and began the tale. “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” I started, but Ace cut me off with a cough. “What?”

“Well, two things. One, it wasn’t really that long ago, and B, it wasn’t in a galaxy far away, it was in a separate universe altogether.”

“Fine, kill the mood. Anyway, it was a while ago, in our world, and he and I were in the wash. I had just started dabbling in cybernetics, but had gotten pretty good by then. I convinced Ace to be my guinea pig, and he grudgingly said yes. So, we went back to my makeshift lab, which was in my attic crawlspace, and I lopped off his left hand. I replaced it with a robotic one, but it exploded, making his arm toast. So I had to take off his entire arm. He almost didn’t want me to replace it, but he eventually relented, and his new arm hasn’t exploded yet. I’m honestly surprised he trusted me to replace his eye.”

He glared at me, his artificial retina tinting red. “Yeah, and I like how you slipped in that guinea pig comment.”

“Did I never tell you that was what I really started on?”

“No, I thought you were just calling that time back to memory.”

“Oh, no. One of my neighbors had an injured guinea pig, but didn’t have the money for a vet. So, she entrusted him to me, and he wound up with a robotic leg. I loved that little guy” I said wistfully.

“You two have the strangest friendship” Twilight said, looking somewhere between confused and happy.

“Well, that seems to be our way” I said, nudging Ace to continue the jingle we had made up.

“Through thick and through thin” he grumbled.

“For better or for worse.”

“We’ll always be...”

“Bros for life” we finished together, though I was much more enthusiastic than he was.

Twilight collapsed laughing, and Ace left, grumbling.

“So, how does he hide it?” Twilight asked when she recovered.

“His arm? He wears a sleeve. It’s flesh colored, so anyone who doesn’t touch it probably doesn’t know. I’m sure Rainbow noticed, though.”

“Yeah. Well, I’ve got some research to do, see if there are any historical documents about a Tratchy invasion.”

“Alright, well, see you later.”

She turned and left, and I sought out Rarity. I found her eventually, talking to Spike. I honestly didn’t want to interrupt them, but after about ten minutes of nonstop chatter, I had to interrupt.

“I hate to interrupt you two, but there is a matter of some importance I have been mulling over. And it concerns you, Rarity.”

“Alright, well, Spike, I’ll see you later” he departed, but not before landing a kiss on her lips. “Anyway, what was concerning you, Kiqo?”

“The matter of armor. In a fit of boredom, I learned to smith, but could never form the armor right. So, since you’re a dressmaker, you would probably have an easier time of it. Would you?”

“Well, I suppose it’s to help the war effort, so if it means one day being able to live free, then I suppose I should.”

“Brilliant. Now, I found a forge earlier, so all that’s left is your training.”

“Wait, aren’t smiths irreputably buff?”

“Yes, is that a problem?”

“Well, no, it’s just that I think I would look silly being so muscular.”

“The female anatomy does not easily give sway to larger muscles, no matter the strength.”

“I suppose you’re right. Alright, so, this training?”

“Right this way, m’lady.”

She rolled her eyes, but followed me nonetheless. We eventually arrived at the smith’s stand, its occupant either long dead or long enslaved. I taught her the craft, and she got the hang of armor making in no time at all. I had her make a set for everyone, and she obliged. I knew it would take her a while, since we were over a thousand strong. But, I had faith in her, and by the ringing as I walked away, my faith was not misplaced.

Now, I just had to find Fluttershy. I heard melodious singing coming from some corner of the castle, and decided to follow it. At its source, like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, was the pink haired, white hared pony I sought. I approached her quietly, not wanting to interrupt her song. When she finished, I spoke up.

“That was beautiful.”

She squeaked. “Oh, Kiqo, I didn’t hear you come up.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. What was that?”

“It was a song my grandmother sang to me.”

“That’s a rarity. A beautiful song with sentimental value. Anyways,  I came on business.”

“I figured as much.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Anyone can see that you aren’t an outgoing pony, Kiqo.”

“Alright, you caught me. But is it really a crime?”

“I would have to say no, or else I would have been locked up years ago.”

We shared a laugh, but I pressed on to the aforementioned business. “So, that business. Do you faint at the sight of blood?”

“Oh, no. I’ve doctored enough animals to be undisturbed.”

“Well, funny that you bring up doctoring, because that’s what I’m here about.”

“You want me to doctor soldiers, don’t you?”

I stared at her in shock. “And I thought Twilight was the clever one.”

She giggled. “She is, but who says I can’t be, too?”

“Well, no one did say, but anyways, do you know about pony doctoring?”

“I know enough about animal doctoring that whatever I don’t know about pony doctoring, I can make pretty good guesses.”

“Well, that makes my job simpler, especially since I know nothing about first aid.”

She smiled softly. “I suppose this means you’ll be going?”

“Yep. I’m a busy pony, apparently.”

She gave me a questioning look, but did not press the matter.  Now to find Applejack. I had plans for that plate cracking, before I was so rudely spontaneously knocked out. First time in forever, and it had to come at the most inconvenient time. Just like my rare ectopic wave of nausea. The last one had made me botch a date. Oh, that was a nightmare. While I was in the bathroom, she bailed. Right after finishing her lobster, of course. God, she was a bitch. As I was lost in thought, I bumped into somepony.

“Oops, sorry” I said hurriedly.

“‘Sno problem, sugarcube.”

“Oh, AJ! I was actually looking for you.”

“Looks like ya managed to bump into me, eh?”

I chuckled. “Yep. Anyway, about that Tratchy plate. D’jou manage to crack it?”

“Sure did. Why?”

“Well, I was hoping you teach the others how.”

“Sure can. ‘Sthat all?”

“Yeah. See ya around.”

“Bye.”

That was easy. Now to find Spike. He was going to be an important piece. I wonder where he could be? Maybe Twilight would know. I had a job for her, too, so maybe seeking out the both of them would prove to be deuced advantageous. She was probably in the library, like I would if I didn’t have things to do. I found her in the library, snout deep in a book.

“Oh, hey Kiqo. I think this book would interest you” she said, pushing the book to me.

I glanced at the title. ‘A Document on Humans, How They Come to Equestria, and What Happens Thereafter’.

“Bit of a mouthful. But, I’ve got business to attend to.”

She mock saluted, and I rolled my eyes.

“What?” she asked, sounding hurt. “Everypony knows that you salute alicorns, since they are of noble blood.”

“Look, I don’t ca-” I stopped myself, realizing what she had said. “Alicorn?”

“Didn’t you know you were an alicorn?”

“No!” I exclaimed, venturing a look at my back. “Holy haybales, I really am. When did this happen?”

“You woke up from your magical concussion like that.”

“Is that why everypony’s been listening to what I order?”

“I guess so. Anyway, what are you here for?”

“Right, that business. Have you seen Spike?”

“Yes, I have. Spike!”

“Yes?” he called from the shelves.

“Kiqo wants to talk to you.”

“Gimme a second.”

“You don’t keep alicorns waiting, Spike!”

“Twilight!” I cried, outraged. “Just because I happen to be gifted with more physical attributes than you, or anypony else, does not make me greater, just like the fact that the earth ponies lack any such extremities does not make them lesser.”

She just smirked. “And this is why I didn’t choose you for the throne, aside from the fact that Tom was already there. You aren’t a leader, in the traditional sense. You don’t assume the leadership role, you just let your actions speak for themselves, whether anypony else listens to you or not.”

“If only I could put what you said into the shell of a nut, and carve ‘Kiqo’ on it. Oh well.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“That’s me in a nutshell.”

She retained a confused look for a few seconds, but then caught it, and chuckled a little. Spike came over then, and I proceeded to instruct him.

“I need you to start hoarding, but make sure to not-” he cut me off.

“Right, right, hoard until I’m a certain size, but don’t go crazy. How big?”

“Full size, preferably. Lots of Tratchy to kill.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Good, now, Twilight.”

“Yes?”

“Your role intertwines beautifully with Spike’s. You’ll ride him into battle, and keep score. Basically, you’ll be commanding the army.”

“Okay. What do you mean by ‘keep score’, though?”

“Keep tallies on how many of ours and theirs are dead.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

“I’m glad it does. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Right. Goodbye, your highness.”

I groaned, even though I was smiling.  Five down, three to go. So much walking. I will be so glad when today is over. But, that’s a concern for later. Right now, I needed to find a certain ball of fluffy pink joy. I figured I’d just follow the noise of conversation, since she seemed to always be the heart of them. Surprisingly, she wasn’t where all the other ponies were. I asked around, and found that Rarity had asked for her.

Weird, was she already getting some pony’s armor done? I dismissed that thought, and went back to the blacksmith’s stand. Sure enough, Rarity was fitting Pinkie into a new suit of armor. Pink as the pony underneath, it would be hard to miss her on the battlefield. When she was fitted, she lifted her visor and greeted me.

“Hey, alicorn!”

“Look, being an alicorn is nothing special in my book. Besides, I don’t have magic, so in all technicalities, I’m really just an oversized pegasus with a deformity.”

“You lost me at ‘technicalities’.”

I sighed. “Damn this overextensive literary assemblage of knowledge.”

She just giggled. “Anyway, mister ‘oversized pegasus’, what’s up?”

“I’ve a job for you.”

“For the war, right?”

“Right. I’m just going to need you to transport our troops to the front line, and then back at Twilight’s command.”

“Oh. That’s it? That’ll be easy!”

“I’m glad you think so” then, in my most regal voice: “Thou art dismissed.”

She laughed so hard she fell over. Attempting to speak over her raucous laughter, I addressed Rarity. “How’s the armor coming?”

“Pinkie’s is the only one besides mine I’ve gotten done. Is that too slow?”

“Of course not! Hay, when I was doing it, I’d have hardly a half a set done.”

She returned to work, but I couldn’t help but notice something. “What’s that hammer behind you?”

“Oh, this? Well, if I ever have to fight, I’m sure I can just use this like a smith’s hammer on their plating.”

“Is Tom the third written on it?”

She giggled. “Yes. I thought it would be funny.”

I laughed as well. “It definitely is. Anyway, I must be going. Many preparations are in order.”

“But of course. I’m sure you’re a busy pony.”

“See you around.”

I walked away, once more to the ringing of a smith, but this time to seek out Rainbow. She’d be critical in this war, but I had no idea where to find her. Perhaps Ace knew. Then again, considering the last note we ended on, he probably wouldn’t want to see me. Probably just needed to let off some steam on those training dummies. But who else would know where she is? Maybe I could ask that Rainbow blur that just shot past. I took off after what was undoubtedly Rainbow, giving my new wings a workout. I was not used to flying, and was quite a bit slower than her, but I persisted. Eventually, I suppose she noticed me following her and slowed up.

“Hey, slowpoke. What’s up?”

I panted heavily, having used muscles I didn’t even have before. “Can we stop flying? I’m not so good at this.”

She giggled, but landed all the same. I immediately collapsed, having never known exhaustion like this since eighth grade gym. She towered over me, smirking a little.

“Not the endurance type, are ya?”

“No, I am. It’s just that I’ve never flown before. On my own, anyway.”

“So, do you think you can beat me on hoof if I’m in the air?”

“When I can breathe, yes.”

She chuckled. “I doubt it. But, we can give it a shot later.”

“Alright. Anyway, I’ve got a proposition.”

She glared at me.

“Right. I’ve got an ultimatum.”

She glared harder.

“A proposal?” Glare. “A recommendation?”

She sighed. “That’s probably the best I’m gonna get outta you. So, what’s this plan of yours?”

“Well, Fluttershy’s going to act as medic on the battlefield, but you’re faster than she, so I’m proposing you take the wounded to her, a fair ways back from the front lines, so we can save lives easier.”

She groaned. “You’re doing this to bug me, aren’t you?”

“I could speak in a far more extraneously overextensive dialect, if you do prefer.”

She groaned again. “I’m gettin’ outta here. I’ll do what you want me to, but” she groaned yet again. “just, don’t talk like that ever again.”

I chuckled. “See ya, blitz.”

She took off in a stream of color, and I went to find Ace. I was sure he knew what he’d be doing, but I needed to apologize. Sometimes my mouth got the better of me, and recirculating the memories of what I’d done was just terrible of me. And then forcing that jingle on him. Some days I just couldn’t believe the trouble my mouth got me in. Sure, he hadn’t said anything about it, but I knew him better than he even knew. That huff he walked off in did give away a little, but I knew he was really a lot angrier than he let show.

I figured I’d find him letting off steam on the training dummies, and right I was. He was destroying the one, a lot more vicious than when he had been training earlier. That was the last clue that I needed. This was going to be difficult, since he was basically emanating rage.

“Hey, buddy” I said, cautiously approaching.

He whirled on me, speaking in a voice he only used when extremely pissed. “You dain to call your buddy after the trials and tribulations you put me through? I ought to slit your throat for what you’ve done. You had no right to go and tell that tale, let alone tell it near me. I had nearly succeeded in tucking that memory away, but you had to go and bring it up. Then that jingle. I told you that we would bury that away, forget it forever.”

“Dude, you know my tongue. It gets away from me, and sometimes I say things that I don’t mean, make promises I shouldn’t keep.”

“Yes, I know this” he spat. “Ever think you could break a promise? Oh, wait. You already have. You remember that time, don’t you?”

I lowered my head, shamed. “Dude, I already apologized.”

“You told me you’d help me with that.”

“Dude, that was illegal. You know that as well as I do.”

“He deserved what should have come to him. You know that as well as I do.”

“I know we both hated him, but we had no reason to really go after him.”

“No reason?” he laughed. “We had every reason. Do you know what he did to my sister?”

“No” I said, hesitant though curious.

“He beat her into a bloody pulp. She was hospitalized for days. Then, I plan revenge and you chicken out.”

I was taken aback. “You never told me. If i had known, I would’ve brought more concrete.”

He chuckled. “Maybe that is my fault, then. Still, can you imagine burying his house in so much.”

“I dunno, I liked his house.”

“All the more reason to hate him, right?”

“Yeah. So, we on even terms now?”

“I guess. Let me blow off some steam, and I’ll be alright.”

“Alright.”

I left him to his training, proud of how well that had gone. Now I had some research to do, namely on why the hay I was an alicorn and why I no longer had my magic. But, as I yawned, I realized I was dog tired, so I bed down with Twilight on a bed in the Royal Guard’s barracks.