Chapter 21:
Allies?

"Mark?" I was back in the observation pit, black mist swirling all around me as I was looking for my fellow soldier. Green whisps of flame started appearing in the mist. My entire body suddenly felt as if it were on fire too as the whisps attached themselves to me.

"What are you doing?!" I heard a griffin screech as I forced my eyes open again, taking in the scene through the mist that seemed to be clearing. My body hadn't gotten away unscathed, a beak protruding where my nose was supposed to sit while my hands had lost two digits and the soft fingers had been turned into talons.

“A betrayal for a betrayal, that’s the price you pay.” A zebra sitting in the middle of an intricate pattern of glowing lines that covered the entire floor. A dagger was sticking out of the zebra's chest, her own hooves driving it deeper which in turn seemed to increase the power coursing through the growing lines.

The griffin snarled and drew his sword, jumping forward and decapitating the zebra in a single swoop. This didn't seem to have the desired effect though as it only increased the luminosity of the lines. To such a degree even to blind me and do something much worse to the griffin.

The black mist around me closed in again, drawing me elsewhere but before it obscured my view was the griffin on fire with the same green fire

The last thing I heard before hitting snow was an unnatural scream.

I jumped up from the bed I was laying on, my talons had dug into the soft pillow, and my breathing was rapid as I looked at my surroundings. My memories of the past few days returned to me, the attack, the cleanup efforts, and the subsequent move to different locations. Rainbow and I were recalled back to Canterlot while production was being set up in different locations, mainly Vanhoover which was possibly the furthest away location to any fighting as it could be.

That can't have been a dream...

"Jack, you okay?"

I snapped around, locking eyes with Rainbow Dash, relaxing as she cringed back.

“Sorry. Bad dream.” Taking a deep breath, I laid back down, Rainbow snuggling close to me.

“Was it about Baltimare?” Rainbow asked after we got comfortable again.

"No, it's... something that has been weighing on my mind for a while now," I sighed, brushing a claw through Dash's mane. "I'm actually starting to think it's not just a dream, but a memory. Actually, I'm fairly sure it is."

"What's it about?" She asked, pressing up against the claw.

"It's my last moment in my own world. We're sitting in an observation pit when strange black smoke started entering it... I think that may have been when I got transported here. There were a griffin and a zebra, the latter doing some sort of ritual before I find myself blacking out and waking up,” I laid out in broad terms, leaving out the exact details of how exactly the zebra had performed said ritual.

“You should bring it up to the Princesses, they might be able to ask the zebras if they know about anything related to the griffins,” Dash commented as she let out a yawn.

“Still tired?” I asked as Rainbow snuggled into my feathers.

“Didn't sleep well,” she admitted without me having to pry it out of her.

“Baltimare?” I asked, returning the question she had asked of me.

“Yeah...” Rainbow replied fairly quietly.

“Want to talk about it?”

Rainbow shook her head but spoke anyway. “It was too easy." she simply stated. "Two shots to the chest, he slid up to my hooves and just... he was dead before he had even hit the ground." Rainbow stared up at the ceiling, her eyes unfocused.

"The industrialization of warfare," I simply stated, letting out a sigh. "It's why I was so hesitant to accelerate your world's weapons development. Just remember that you didn't do anything wrong, you protected yourself and Thorax from harm."

"Right..."

"It's never a good feeling to take a life, Rainbow... it gets easier, but never becomes a good feeling."

Dash pulled me closer and pushed her face into my chest feathers, the two of us silently laying there close to each other. We stayed like that until light started to flow through the gaps in the room's curtains.

"Hey, want to go for a morning run? It might be a good way to start the day off fresh," I proposed to Rainbow, the pegasus stretching herself out.

"Sounds good to me," she yawned in response, untangling herself from me and getting up. Following her I walked over to our stack of gear, retrieving my pistol and strapping it to my hip. We might have been in the royal palace but after the changeling incident, I was not taking any chances.

"You ready, slowpoke?" Dash teased as she waited by the door, her trademarked cocky grin plastered on her face.

"Ready for you to eat my dust?" I shot back, making my way over.

"Careful there, hotshot. Race you to the maze entrance in the palace garden," she proposed as we walked into the hallway.

"No wings allowed," I demanded, if Dash got to fly she'd beat me for sure but on the ground, I would have a fighting chance.

Rainbow let out a laugh, tossing her mane. "Sure, you're still going to lose!"

"We'll see, we'll see," I chuckled, lowering myself and getting ready to push off. "Ready..." Dash lowered herself in the same way. "Set..." we both braced. "GO!"

Jumping into a flurry of motion the two of us went into full sprints, Dash actually got the early lead but I wasn't all that far behind her. We passed a set of two Lunar guards who were still on duty until they would be relieved by their Solar counterpart, the pair of them being startled as we ran by.

"You still back there, slowpoke?!" Dash called out through her breaths, I chose that moment to put on a little more speed and got up next to her. Rainbows eyes widened slightly as she hadn't expected me to have kept up with her quick start. Truth be told, I was strained close to my limit just keeping up with her but I guessed Dash didn't have much more to give either.

"I'll do you one better," I replied with a smirk, pushing myself to get ahead of the pegasus. My legs were on fire as I burst through the door into the garden. Dash gained a little on me again as I had to re-orient myself for a brief moment before getting back on track, I could feel my tail brushing against her as we got in sight of the maze entrance. Pushing myself right to the edge I got that little extra bit of speed and burst into the maze, not wanting to slow down and give Dash the chance to slip by at the last moment.

The two of us came to a halt partially into the maze, heavily panting. Turning around I fixed my eyes on the defeated pegasus with a smug smile on my face. "So, what do I get for winning, slowpoke?" I said teasingly.

"I... well... uhm..." Dash stuttered through her own panting. "I'll let you know when I think of something."

"Hmm, sounds great," I chuckled, getting back to the entrance of the maze. The two guards we'd passed were looking at the two of us from a distance, I shook my head and waved at them. "Let's take it easy for the rest of the run, go around the garden a couple of times."

"Sounds good to me," Dash agreed as we set off to run at a more manageable pace.

"We'll just have a quick talk with him," I said to Dash as we headed down the castle's hallway. We'd had a conversation with the Princesses about everything that happened and asked her to contact the zebras, they decided that we should take a break in Ponyville while they managed the situation further. The materials we'd already created was being distributed to newly created units to be send to Manehattan for a new offensive.

"Yeah, yeah, just get it over with," Dash said, not really in the mood and wanting to get back in the train to ponyville as fast as possible.

"He's in here?" I asked as I, Rainbow, and a Lunar guard sent along by Luna approached the two Solar guards that were keeping watch of the room where Thorax was being held.

"Yes sir," the higher ranked Solar guard replied. "We haven't heard anything from in there, he seems to be calm."

"I wasn't expecting him to cause a scene," I stated. "We're just going to have a talk with him."

The solar guard nodded and got out of the way. I pushed through the door, finding myself in the darkened room. "Thorax?"

Two blue eyes blinked open looking over at us, at first the changeling smiled but then I could see his focus switch to the guard beside Dash and his smile drop. Rainbow noticed it too as she immediately turned on the spot and bucked the guard flanking her into the wall, I Immediately pulled my pistol and took aim at him as well.

"Hey what the-!" The Solar guard didn't get to finish his surprised exclamation before the Lunar Guard burst into yellow flames, revealing a similarly coloured carapaced changeling. He wasn't out yet and tried scrambling back onto its hooves. I didn't give it the chance as I charged and used my weight to push him down onto the ground.

"Thought using us would get you close?" I growled as the changeling stopped struggling and hissed.

"There's more of us than just those that follow that crazy bitch queen, griffin," he hissed. I opened my beak but shut it again, looking between Thorax, who had his back pressed against the far wall, and the other changeling below me. Thorax's carapace on his back was a shade of blue along with his eyes while this newcomer had yellow shades instead, as I'd observed before.

Though these guys can change their appearance, it may just be a trick... however...

"Thorax, is this changeling a part of your hive?" I asked of the terrified changeling.

"N-no," he replied, confirming the new changeling wasn't lying. Turning my attention back to him, I locked eyes.

"What are your hive's intentions?" I asked pointedly.

"Jack what are you doing?" Rainbow questioned as she was still tense from the quick takedown of the changeling.

"Wouldn't you like to know," the changeling hissed, completely ignoring Rainbow's question. I then did something I am very sure it did not expect—I holstered my pistol, let go of him, and stepped back.

"Yes. I actually would," I stated as he got onto his haunches. "How about we start with your name. I'm sure you've heard mine. Jack Grey." I held out a claw for him to take. He carefully reached out with his hoof, not sure what kind of ploy I was pulling. Grabbing it, I pulled him back onto his hooves. "Still waiting for that name, I'd like to call you something other than changeling."

"Call me Cipher," he said after a moment of hesitation.

"Well, Cipher, what are your hive's intentions?" I asked again. "And what are your intentions with him." I pointed at Thorax.

"We cannot allow the ponies to find a way to reveal our kind. It would be the death of us," Cipher stated, glancing over at Thorax. I didn't make an overt move but I did set a step to put myself in the potential path for a charge.

"And we cannot fight this war if we have infiltrators killing our commanders and key personnel," I replied to him. "That leaves us in a bit of a pickle, doesn't it?"

"That it does," Cipher replied. More Solar guards joined us in the room but I motioned for them to stay back at the door.

"Jack?" Rainbow asked again, unsure of what I was getting at too.

"The Palace. Are there any hives other than yours disguised among the staff?" I pushed him.

"I am not going to reveal anything about my-"

"I'm not asking you to reveal any identities," I cut him off. "If I want to find out about any infiltrators, I would take Thorax to check. every. single. damn. pony. in this castle. What I want to know if there is more than one hive present within this castle."

"No." He answered through clenched teeth.

"Sir, please step aside and let us take the changeling into custody," A pair of Solar guards had moved in and were ready to apprehend the changeling.

I shot them a withering glare. "Stand down, you two."

"Sir, you have not the authority-"

"I said, STAND DOWN!" I roared before turning back to the changeling. "If we refrain from performing research into changeling disguise methods, would you be willing to ask your queen to set up a meeting between your hive and the Equestrians?"

"You do not have the authority to set this up!" The solar guard stated more forcefully, his horn lighting up and a telekinetic field wrapping around the sheathed sword that hung around his barrel. "Step away from the changeling!"

"Step the fuck back!" I shouted back at him, now fully facing the pair. Rainbow got up beside me, not looking too sure but willing to stick by me regardless of her doubts.

That's some true loyalty there.

"What is going on here?!" Princess Celestia stood in the doorway, her ethereal mane whipping about much more violently that the usual cerene way. Nopony in our standoff moved a muscle as the nation's ruler walked forward. "Explain this situation, specialist."

"There seem to be more changelings in play than the one hive that attacked Baltimare," I stated, setting a step to the side to reveal the second changeling behind me. Cipher seemed to be rooted in place, his pool of options being very limited indeed. "We need a method of detecting infiltration and changelings are able to identify each other. They do not want you researching ways to break their disguises and you need a way to stop your forces from being infiltrated and destroyed from within."

The princess looked over to Cipher, studying him thoroughly before facing me again. "You propose letting him go."

"Yes I do," I confirmed. "Having a hive on our side would be immensely beneficial."

The princess nodded. "It would be." She motioned for me and Rainbow to step aside, something we immediately did, and lit her horn, summoning a piece of parchment and a quill. "Deliver this to your queen. If I do not receive a response within two days I shall consider it to be a sign no talks are forthcoming and act accordingly." The quill danced over the paper, leaving black lines of ink on it before the Princess used her magic to dry it and rolled up the parchment, closing it with a glowing seal of the sun. "Guards, have this changeling escorted to the Palace gate."

Cipher carefully took the parchment without a word, looking stunned at the turn of events. Stepping forward towards the guards, expecting them to jump him the moment he got close. When it didn't happen he looked back at me and lowered his head, two guards leading him away. Celestia turned back to me as he was no longer in sight.

"I think it best if you stay over in Ponyville for somewhat longer, let things cool down a bit around here while I deal with this development," she stated, clearly a polite way of saying 'Get out of my palace'.

"Of course," I replied, lowering my head a little. "I'm sure Spike and Twilight can pass on any message if you have need of me."

"Indeed. Now please, you have already dropped more work on my desk with your request to contact the zebras, this will only further increase my workload. I should be getting back to it."

I nodded and both me and Rainbow quickly left the room, heading over to our guestroom to get all our gear. A quick re-dress later the two of us were on our way to the train station. As the guards returned to the palace, Rainbow slugged me in the face. "Can you please fill me in next time you do something stupid like that?!" she shouted, the ponies around the two of us giving us some more space than they already were.

"Sorry, I was kinda winging it there," I responded as I rubbed the side of my face, I definitely deserved that one.

Rainbow huffed. "You are such a magnet for stupid situations. Seriously, everywhere you go shit tends to start flying!"

I gave her a sheepish smile. "Perhaps that zebra from my dream cursed me?"

Dash rolled her eyes in response. "Curses don't exist, Twilight explained that when we had our... uhh, episode with Zecora."

"Zecora?" I questioned as we got onto the train and found a fairly empty cart.

"Ponyville's local zebra, she lives in the Everfree. Doesn't come to town all that often so that might be why you missed her," Dash explained quickly.

"Wait, she lives in the Everfree?" I questioned, having gotten a good feel of that forest's reputation from my previous stay in Ponyville.

"Yeah, she's some kind of shaman. Knows a lot about the plants in and around the Everfree."

Huh, interesting... Maybe I should visit her to see if she knows about that ritual from my dream.

"Intriguing..."

A whistle was blown outside and the train was moving a couple of minutes later. Dash took the liberty of rolling up the sleeves of her camo jacket before staring outside at the terrain that was wisping by at speed. I reached and pulled my beret from my head, the motion suddenly reminding myself of something I'd had wanted to do the day the compound was attacked. I'd had an aid of the science team go by a tailor in Baltimare to have him create a replica of the beret for Rainbow, I just never got around to giving it to her.

"Hey, Rainbow?"

She looked back over to me. "Hmm?"

"There's something I wanted to give you but didn't get the opportunity. I sort of wanted to make it a little more official but with how things went back in Baltimare..." I pulled the new red beret out of a pocket in my pants and held it out for her to take. Dash's eyes widened as she realized what I was holding out.

"Jack I..." She took it and held it in her hooves the custom insignia that of a winged dagger crossed by a lightning bolt. "I don't know what to say..."

"You have lots to learn but I'm positive if I had an instructor check the basic skills you'd pass," I stated with absolute certainty. "It might not be anything official in this world or in mine but treat it with respect and wear it with pride."

Dash put it on, straightening her back and snapping a salute. "I promise that I will."

A smile found its way onto my lips. "Attagirl."

She blushed. "Oh, shut up you."

"Just don't think this'll be the end of it. I took enough ammo for the mark one's with me for us to shoot days with," I smirked, Dash returning a competitive grin of her own.

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

Author's Note

Well, I'm not sure when the chapter after this one will be coming out because I will be very busy for at least six months in about a week. I might push out one more chapter if I find the inspiration but no promises.

Remember that comments are like authors' food, we gain energy from them. Constructive criticism is welcome.