Simplified

In the Crystal Mountains The next morning...

Sounds in the underground cave reverberate as occasional shrieks and laughs can be heard. Inside of one of the cavernous rooms gathers as many as forty stallions, each watching as some of their comrades take full advantage of the two mares present in the middle of the firelit gathering.

A unicorn with her golden mane lays on her back, managing a total of seven with no trouble, her magic tantalizing and bringing an easy ruin to three other watchers nearby. A cacophony of moans and grunts sound as seed is spilled recklessly to the ground. A stallion pounds away at her from behind, her face etched with indifference as the thrusting male gives his best effort. Her lips are at work with another stallion, who gives a hoof of approval to the one taking her from the other end. Each foreleg offers an intense attention to their benefactors, one stallion trying to hold out as the other succumbs. Remedy lips pop as the one who filled her mouth pulls out with spurts falling next to her. She rolls her eyes at the pitiful stallion. "A weak load for a weak bastard like you. Are any of you ever going to give me anything remotely close to his majesty's effort?"

The one still working behind her pulls out and smirks as she realigns himself for another entrance. "You want majestic effort, you're gonna get it!"

Instead of going along with it, she gives him a swift kick to his loins, causing him to buckle over in pain. A strong condemnation jets from the mare's mouth. "FILTHY LOW-CLASS SCUM, YOUR CUM ISN'T WORTHY OF MY WOMB! WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?" She follows her rebuke with a call into the viewing audience. "NEXT!"

A smaller group of four surround the other mare, a silver-maned green pegasus shows much less dominance, her eyes occasionally glances back at the stallion who yanks her neck-length mane. Her grunts are a lot more unrestrained, guttural, sometimes breathless as she receives where her sister soundly rejects. Melody says little in words, but her body does not yield to her benefactor's ruthless advances. "Eheheheh! Yeah, we love this one! She's so raw!"

"Careful now, we still want a taste of her after you're done!"

"Get in line!" One of the others call out, causing the rest to laugh in chorus.

Walking past the sexually grotesque scene is none other than the third of their sibling line, Rapsody. She grits her teeth in disgust as she turns her head away in shame of seeing her sisters being desecrated before the cultists. Her eyes close as she tries to drown out their grunts and groans on her way to meet with the prince with her report.

As she enters the room, she stares directly at the young Militades with every ounce of her being filled with hate. "Sir." Also being adept to managing her tone, she sounds as no different than her usual informative approach. "The two leggers our forces engaged with two days ago, they've incurred more losses. But they seem to be planning something large. Much of the snow on the plains just outside of town has been cleared and lit with beacons."

"I wonder what they got in store for us this time." The prince comments. "If it's anything like those shiny rectangle things we sent over to the old bastard back home, this should be fun."

The cult leader also applies for an update. "And what of the false flag operations?"

"Resounding success. Our agents have successfully infiltrated their designated locations. We now have operatives working the city from the inside. It'll only be a matter of time before we see results."

"The barrels?" The leader asks one more.

"Taken and inspected. They don't seem to notice a thing different."

"Good. We'll see some significant sabotage efforts made. Hopefully it'll be enough to remove the threat of those flying machines they use. We can't have them moving that fast when our forces get into play." Reiterates the young prince with a chuckle. "I knew this would be fun."

"Are you sure that our efforts to keep them off the ground will still prove useful with those things?" The cult leader questions.

"Of course! Those things gotta have a fuel resource somewhere. All we're doing is minimizing how much they can use. If they're anything like us, the less they have, the less they'll fly." The prince responds. "But I can't help but to wonder, why would they be digging in the snow like they've been."

"To seek out the tunnels we've built." The cult leader answers.

"Well, you might have a point, those two leggers got some real tech hiding out in the arsenal. Which means that if we let them dig something up, they've probably got something they're doing, some mode of additional fortification for all their weird shit. And it brings up the question, what do you think would require them to dig in randomized areas in and around the city?"

"Seems to me that they're working with some sort of device capable or detecting movement."

"Devices that none of your magic surveyors would be able to pick up because of the lack thereof." Replies Militades.

"Equestria has this kind of technology available, but never have I heard of a variant not using enchanted crystals to detect the slightest tremors. The only reasons they would do that is for archeological survey, seismic survey, or core sampling for construction."

"Hmm... One of those things could be right."

"They could be trying to find out how we're moving."

"Boom. Just like the princess we knocked off." Cosigns the young prince. "We're looking at a possibility of them trying to insert some devices that will allow them to detect even the most sensitive seismic movements. And given that they have no magic of their own, it's almost assured they'll be very sensitive. So any new tunnel you guys dig will probably be found within the hour."

"And as you already said, keeping them off the ground will further waste away any resources that they may use to keep them in the air, provided that they do have a limited amount of resources."

"And sabotaging their base of operations will only exacerbate their issues."

"Reducing their mobility and furthering our advantage against their technological improvements."

"And we can even snag a few of those weapons on the way out, tilting that advantage to us overwhelmingly."

"Not only will your country obtain examples of those weapons, but will be able to replicate them in mass quantities."

"And what we create, we'll supply you with."

The cult leader chuckles with pride in hearing the agreement they've come to draft up. "I think I am starting to enjoy this little business venture you've manifested, Prince Militades. A shame that your father respects you so little."

"Who cares what he wants. As long as I get to have fun doing what I do, I couldn't care less." The young prince replies before reclining himself against the wall. "The only downside is that now we do the boring part; sit and wait."

The cult leader glances over to Rhapsody and gives off a smirk. "I believe you have mares keeping our gents busy. Perhaps they could be made to attend to us as well."

The prince nonchalantly makes his offer. "Well Melody's been busy with Remedy in the other room. Rapsody can be a bit prickly, but once I give her the command, she's pretty obedient."

The mare's upper lip twitches in foul disgust as the cultist leader nods with acceptance. "Then she'll do."

Meanwhile at the Crystal Empire...

I don't think I've had a moment of clear sleep last night. If anything, I thought that having Ocellus and Smolder run me dry for the better part of an hour was going to be the thing that got me to fall asleep from exhaustion. But then that damn changeling had to do the one thing that I tried to keep my mind off of.

"That's right Spike, show me how you cut loose."

She spoke in Twilight's voice, which I didn't even think would put me over the edge as hard as I did. But turns out that I wasn't too disgusted at that moment. No, in fact I was... enthralled. I was so enthralled that Smolder clutched me again, and we had to wait another ten minutes before I could pull out. Then we called it a night, and that was it... for them.

I stayed up for a good few hours, thinking about that. I couldn't ignore it, the sensations of what I felt when Twilight took command of me and this collar. I'm sure I had similar feelings when Zenobia was keeping me drugged up, tugging me along with that collar. But I had to really think on it, Zenobia had drugged me and ordered me to do as she said. Twilight merely had a passing thought... But was it really a passing thought?

That face she made, I'm sure she was nervous about it. Perhaps she was embarrassed that I appeared so submissive, completely at her whims, exposed in all the places she dared not to glint at. She barked her commands and I was truly helpless to them. She had but one meandering thought and it made me drool at the possibility. I can't help but to wonder if I had seen her at another angle, would she have been... receptive?

Hell no.

No way, she's like a sister to me, almost a mom in some aspects. There's no way I could think like that about her. Me and her going at it like how I was made to capitulate to Zenobia's desires, bending her over a desk mid broadcast and smashing my hips into hers like I can't function beyond being nothing more than a meat slave... I just can't see it.

This morning, I woke up to a brief moment of clarity, mainly to vomit, and followed that up with a long shower consisting of letting the water run between my scales. After that, I thought to have dumped that moment from my brain, and now I'm escorting the two girls I actually ransacked last night onward for breakfast.

...Naturally, they had their curiosities. "Damn, so you really can't take that thing off, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm stuck with it for another two months." I answer to Smolder. "That or until Twilight finds a spell to free me from it."

"So you'll be seeing a lot more of her then." Ocellus brings up.

A flash of Twilight's blush-riddled face shows in my mind. "I'd rather not." Just as I thought I had banished the moment from my brain, they dump it back in as though I left the mess in the neighbor's yard. Needless to say that I just about gagged at the idea. "She's about as appealing to be around as a hungry roc looking to strip down my scales to the soft meaty bits."

Smolder giggles at my visual discomfort. "You shouldn't be that hard on her, you know. She's still trying to help." The changeling replies, showing a bit of concern.

"Look, I get that." I reply as we come up to the dining room. "I know that she wants to help, but I just can't stand the fact that she puts me in compromising positions every time she's involved. There's been a number of experiments where she's used me as her personal guinea pig, and while quite a few were rather harmless, some don't just leave an awkwardly uncomfortable memory. Like there was this one time where she had─"

As I open the doors, the first thing I'm greeted to across the way is a sapphire eye staring at me through some bloodied bandages. Much of her mane was disheveled and impeded by the gauss, one wing partially extended to reveal a gruesomely wrapped nub. Never minding the others sitting at the table, my eyes are drawn to the sight that seems to elicit a grotesque reminder.

My stomach dropped to the base of my tail, nausea started to reform in my body. "Yeah, I'm not even that hungry this morning. I'll see you two later."

Since the two were walking behind me, they didn't yet see who was at the table. "What? What happened?" Smolder asks.

"Nothing, just gonna go pay Amor a visit and see what he's got planned for the da─AHK!" As my words are cut off, I notice a thin blue leash yanking me in. I glance to it's source, seeing the injured alicorn reeling me into the room.

"Uncle Spike!" Flurry cheers as her mother draws me in.

The other two glance at the development, immediately recognizing the mare who sat at the head of the table beside her daughter. "Empress Cadance!?" Ocellus asks with immense surprise. "You're up and moving!?"

Seeming awfully proud of her intuitions, Flurry jumps on me and drags me into touching distance of her still-recovering mother. "Mommy got better ever since I showed up! She's been really happy to get her eyes back this morning. But speaking is still something she can't do too well."

I hear a grunt as the mare shoves my head into her chest. She's in obvious pain, but still chooses to embrace me like a long-lost family member. There's a kindness behind her eyes, one trying to overcome the pain to still reveal that undying aspect of her personality. "I can imagine."

Flurry pulls up a chair close to her side, noticeably planted directly in front of Twilight. "She wants you to join us for breakfast."

My nausea is getting the better of me, and it's not even from Cadance's current condition. "Uh... sure."

Ocellus and Smolder pull up their chairs and sit themselves beside me also. "So that was you that pulled on the collar?" The changeling asks the gauss-dressed princess.

The silent alicorn glances to her daughter, who speaks the mare's thoughts. "Mommy means to say that she's heard from Auntie Twilight what's been going on. She says that collar on your neck should've been removed, that it's too dangerous to keep on. She just wanted to see how effect it was from being used in it's neutral state."

My eyes try to avoid the purple mare sitting in front of me. "Let me guess, you guys spent all morning talking about that?"

"As if we have a choice." The source of the retort is very much across the table from me, driving my nausea up a wall. "Who knows who else could use that spell to get him to do whatever they ask. It's too dangerous, much less how compromising it can be for who knows what other reasons."

"Well it's not his fault that it's stuck on him." Hestia's voice rings loud and clear from the doorway, just as she continues to drag her quiet brother alongside her.

"Hestia, Amor, I was actually looking to check in on you." I greet the pair.

The young prince remains despondent, not daring to look Twilight's way. "Amor is... well he's processing the issue still. But we haven't seen hide nor tail of Zenobia. She probably wandered out of the room while we were asleep."

"That's actually why we've brought you in here." Fluttershy asks. "We thought you might have some knowledge of her whereabouts since the guards haven't reported in on her status."

"Well he wouldn't know anything about that anyhow. He was with us the entire night." Smolder responds.

Once more, Twilight raises the issue of my assignment. "We understand that, but his oversight of the Ponyland imperials is his solemn duty as long as they're present."

"Oh, well that's a convenient flip of logic." I mutter under my breath.

She chides back at me. "Spike, this isn't a game."

The door barely stays closed for long, this time a pair of humans pop their heads into the room. "Pony peoples, good morning to all." Alex greets before his eyes are stun-locked to the injured mare. "Woah, Cadance! You're... up."

Cadance levitates a napkin and waves it at the two men in greeting. Flurry speaks up once more. "Mommy says it's been a while since we've seen you, she also says it's nice to have you over our way for the first time."

Ocellus grows mum as the pair introduces themselves. Smolder immediately goes into protect mode. "You again."

"Hello to you, madam dragon." Captain Mosley replies as he points his thumb to the injured alicorn. "Might I ask sir, who's that in the bandages?"

"That's Empress Cadance, Emperor Shining Armor's wife, and second rank high princess of the realm."

"Wait, that's the one from the hospital bed?" A long sigh of disbelief draws from the man's mouth. "Jesus Christ, you're a fighter!"

"I'd hug you, but I know you're in considerable pain. So I'll relent." Alex says, only to be dragged in without restraint and crashed into the injured side of Cadance. She makes an audible grunt of discomfort, but she makes sure that his arm wraps around her. "Nevermind, I forget that you about that."

"Uh... your majesty." Mosley stammers at the sight of the mare pulling her boss in for a hug despite her condition. "Yes, well ahem... I'll just mind my tone today."

The mare's brows furrow as her daughter verbalizes in her place. "I think she wants you to say what's on your mind."

He takes a quick inhale before gauging his words. "I've seen an Al Qaida fighter run up to us with half of a face and less than a quarter of his jaw after a bombing run, but you're just hardcore with the come-up. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want me to be afraid of you, but I can't help how terrifying it would be to be the guys on the other side who did the damage to you."

"I think she likes that." Flurry expresses.

The door opens once more, the albino alicorn freezes in place as she stares long at the injured empress. "What in ghastly discoveries am I looking at right now?"

"Zenobia, where have you been?" Hestia inquires angrily. "You know Sir Spike's gotten in trouble because of you just wandering off last night."

"Oh yeah, she was with me." Alex seems completely dismissive of any concern with his response.

The opposite reaction draws from Twilight. "She was what!?"

"Yeah, we were going over some logistics, apparently some information that would prove useful to our boys out on the field. We couldn't really wait around for the end of the recess today, but we did come across with some valuable tactics they might look to use."

"You've been working with her?" I ask.

"Yeah." Mosley cosigns. "Turns out that she's been pretty useful with her magic in finishing up with our seismic probes. Now we don't have to worry about sending our boys out into the snowy unknown to get ambushed again. She insisted we'd take a ride over the area and she'd assist in the planting phase. Our guys provided cover, and we moved in the dark of night. Plus she managed to stave off a few of those spears from hitting our bird. Saved our asses and then some."

"You do realize that she's a flight risk, right?" Rarity brings up.

"We understood that. That's why I oversaw the mission personally." Alex adds as he takes a seat. "Could definitely use a bit of food before getting everything to a move with the ceremony later."

Zenobia walks over towards me. "Furthermore, I wouldn't dare leave after last night. Not while I have some ground to make up for."

"And what ground would that be?" Rainbow asks.

"In regards to my dear pet, of course." She answers as she nuzzles me from behind. "I couldn't let my mistake go unanswered and unaccounted for. So I made a contribution to minimize his concerns and efforts."

Twilight still seems to take great offense to her calling me her 'pet'. "I think you should reconsider your choice of words there, madam princess."

"Ain't nan one of us appreciate that y'all done put our friend Spike in compromisin' danger." Applejack interjects.

"Your method is rather exploitative." Fluttershy speaks out.

"And what fun is it really when you're forced to do something?" Pinkie chimes in.

"Yeah. Not cool, lady." Rainbow cosigns.

Getting brigaded by the others, Zenobia calmly opts to minimize conflict out of the sake of acknowledging her mistake. "I understand, this is all about the collar."

Rarity raises a hoof to speak out. "It's fine, girls. After all, there's a more than suitable reason why she wouldn't dare to defect now of all times. She's very much aware that her leash is indeed a short one."

The alicorn glances off, appearing to lose patience while I question her about her comment. "A short leash?"

"Either way, she's been of use for us. So my complaints are minimal at this point." Alex praises.

"For you." Twilight returns with a scoff.

"And we got done in time for breakfast!" Zenobia proudly claims. "See, I did all of that to help where I could, contributed vital information, and came back to have time with my adorable dragon brute."

"Wait a minute. Whose dragon?" Ocellus looks back to the albino alicorn.

"Mine. Maybe for a day of the week, definitely not this one since it belongs to the griffon. But when a Thursday comes, he's mine then and there." She playfully jabs back at the changeling, causing Rarity to mockingly cackle back. "What, what's the amusement?"

The alabaster unicorn briskly replies. "Oh darling, I don't recall you being involved in his life beyond a month's time of him wearing a collar and his being forced by your hoof. Is that not the reason we all show such pointed animosity towards you, because you demean one of our dearest friends?"

No longer wanting to let the comment go uncontested, Zenobia batters back. "Well I don't recall you reciprocating his feelings very often, now do you?"

The fashionista is taken aback and argues in return. "I'll have you know that Spike is a wonderful friend. That's something you wouldn't know the first thing about."

"Oh to know that he's such a wonderful friend that you would hear his heart beating about and your reply is to shower him with fucking gifts every so often, all because you feel guilty about your pitiful reproach. It's almost funny how you've the fortitude to judge me when I'm not the one who stunted his emotional and sexual growth from a juvenile's age! Or is that just something you do for fun, because your scaly dragon boy-toy outlived it's usefulness as an unrequited, unfulfilled emotional whipping post, and wants a little more of a serious development in return? Oh now that he's big enough, you suddenly care for his relationships with others. It's almost as if you're upset at the fact that he's still trying to fight past his damage from you and finding some success in doing so, that you're afraid that he might one day forget how shitty you actually are as quote-unquote 'friend'!" Zenobia wings spread slowly as she glares down the fashionista from across the table. "I wonder if you even mean to tell him anything of your current insecurities, or if you'd have some bravery to do so without some shitty hang-ups about your age difference, especially now that he's bent my back over and rammed his dick into my uterus far more than an axe to firewood."

Rarity, in a brief moment, flashes her magic with the intent to beam down the princess. She snarls for the moment before looking over to me and sighing in dejection. She quenches the powerful magic built in her horn immediately. "I... will dismiss myself." She hops out of her chair and calmly walks out of the room. "If I may be excused."

Zenobia doesn't stop there. "You know what, I'll follow you on that! I'm far too tired to be cast over, especially by a mare who wouldn't even care enough to understand what she's been given!"

"You watch your mouth!" Twilight replies sternly through gritted teeth to the albino mare. "Rarity is a good pony who cares about Spike and his needs, and unlike you, she's willing to put her own pride aside for what's better in the moment."

"Uh boss, do we need to take five on this?" Mosley questions.

"Here we go again." Alex grumbles as he palms over his face.

"Well look at you, judging one for what they do and abetting the other for even longer-standing abuses. Not the dragon you raised as a sibling!

"Twilight, Zenobia, please let's just cool off for a moment." I say as I stand before the Ponyland princess, trying to push her out of the room. "Hey, I know you mean well in my name, but can we save that convo for later?"

"Oh no, let's talk about it now, because you know how I feel about that bullshit! If she cared enough, she would've either tried leaving you alone then and there, or opening her heart to you instead of leaving you to deal with years of built up emotional baggage! I understand you!"

"You don't even have the slightest clue, lady! Get a grip!" Rainbow shouts back.

"Well you probably don't know the first thing about trying your whole damn life trying to appease the wills and needs of one creature, only to either be degraded or not seen as enough!" Zenobia goes along with me, but not to diffuse the situation. Instead, she trots out to the hall, screaming at the departing seamstress. "If you so much as gave a shit for him, you'd at least have the marebits to walk back down here and say it to his face! You're a poor excuse of a mare, you fucking manipulative bitch!"

"Enough!" I grab the mare once more, trying to give enough time for the two to separate. Rarity helps her own disappearance by teleporting away. As I see her spark into nothing, I let the infuriated princess go with a growing migraine. "I get it, I do. I'm not going to say that you're wrong, and I can't condemn you for defending me."

"I'm sorry. It's just─"

"No." I interrupt, trying to pace off my internalized pain. "We were off to a shaky start, but not for nothing. You did a good thing and helped us, that's wonderful. But now you've taken that momentum you've built and just... Again, I can't blame you for what you feel, because I know what you went through to an extent, and you relayed that from what I went through to a certain extent. They don't know your history, not like I do. But I fear that you've isolated yourself in a way that blocks them off from doing that. And that's what hurts us the most here. We can't do that, not when you're trying to put yourself out there as an asset."

I rub the sides of my head, knowing by now I've bought enough time for Rarity to separate herself from us. But now I have to go back into that room with a bunch of angry mares and no way to dismiss this tension without taking the catalyst into consideration.

"Zenobia, you did some good. But I can't let you back in that room after that. For now, I need you to be separate from everything, just for peace sake. Okay?"

Her stomach growls in response to my request. I feel an even greater remorse as she ignores her own body in her response. "Only because you ask it, dearest pet. I'll... keep my distance."

"I can still order you breakfast─"

"That won't be necessary." She responds as she hovers off. "I've been picking up a bit of weight anyways."

I grimace at her gradual disappearance down the hall before walking back into the dining room, where the others look back at me, watching cautiously as I enter alone. As Zenobia appears to not be joining us, Captain Mosley whispers to Alex. "Sir, I think we should hold off on that update for now."

"Whole ass playbook." The man replies as he looks at me.

Hestia utters a discouraged complaint under her breath. "...I'm never getting a dress."

Smolder shrugs her shoulders with a mutter. "Guess Ember left her mark on more than just Spike."

Sometime later...

As the hour approaches for the ceremonial sendoff, many of the citizens gather towards the outskirts of town. It's a situation we all wanted to avoid due to the danger of a bombing taking place in the midst of the congregating. But the citizens don't seem to care, bombs be damned. They're determined to see how the humans honor their fallen, honor the ones that took assignment to protect a city so far from home, in a foreign dimension where very few chose to remain.

It doesn't take too terribly long for the airship to arrive, once they transmitted their location near Ghastly Gorge, I anticipated that it would be another hour and some change, just like the helicopter. Instead, it takes a mere, mind-rattling thirty minutes. In the time it transmitted it's transfer into our world, it's only thirty minutes before we see a large metal beast hailing in from the east, almost as a warning to the opposition. And as it gets closer, we realize just how monstrous that thing is.

Alex told us during breakfast that the thing coming in was none other than what they called an AC-130, some sort of airship used for combat operations as far as 39,000 feet in the sky. Obviously that number is far beyond our capabilities, so it's like we're just numb thinking of how high that actually is. Cloudsdale is barely two miles in the sky at the peak of it's highest building, the cloud factory. That's over seven miles, more than the distance of Manehattan's sprawl lengthwise. The idea that humans have such strengths in their military operations truly gives credence to fears of their ability to wage unrestricted warfare. It takes thirteen humans to run it effectively, sometimes more. And the idea that this is just for a ceremony for four dead men is completely ludicrous.

As it lands in, it's slow to come to a complete stop, and it takes a significant distance. I look as the monumental beast slowly lowers it rear gate. As it does, we see a trio of humans step from within that loading bay. Hestia's jaw is floored as she sees how small the three humans are in comparison to the mouth of that beast. And we already see the humans as giants, that just tells how immense the size is in contrast to even my height. But they walk off as if nothing's even wrong with what they've just stepped off of.

The three humans walk over, donning a different uniform than that of the others on post. Instead of black fatigues, two of theirs are black dress uniforms adorned with medals and ribbons on the left breast. The shoulders of their left arms sport an insignia of their rank, and they move with a cold and calculated discipline, almost robotic. The third appears to be a priest dressed in a black cassock. The trio stop and signal for twenty-six others to follow off of the ship. A total of twenty nine humans.

A female soldier leads the party, directing a squad of four flag bearers. "Colors, attention!" They snap into position, their heels clicking loudly and proudly. The flags poles barely even move. "Forward, march!" They march in step, there's a rhythmic battering of the snow underneath their feet and no speaking outside of the calls from the woman in uniform. "Mark time, march!" They step in place until... "Colors, halt!"

Mosley loudly gives the orders to those behind him. "COMPANY, ATTENTION!" The entirety of the present human army snaps their heels at once, sounding as thunder as they reply in perfect unison. Even our guards break their characters in seeing the stiff discipline the humans moves with.

The three that initially stepped off the ship takes a moment to march to each and every flag-draped casket individually. The priest offers each their final rites. And upon completion, one of the soldiers from our end speaks out loudly a brief role call, names of the deceased. They repeat all of the four names three times each. A moment of silence for each time they are called, until the words are uttered. 'Reached completion of service.'

"PRESENT, ARMS!" Mosley calls out. The entire company of humans honor their fallen with a salute. As do our guards, as do we.

The woman calls out to seven of the color guard, armed with rifles. She gives the command. "Present, arms!" They snap the rifles to their chest, facing the coffins. Then she gives a rapid command. "FIRE!" The seven in quick succession snap their heads to their left, pull their triggers, and unleash a volley into the blue clear sky. Many of us jump at the sudden reports of their weapons. Three seconds pass. "FIRE!" They clear their chambers, turn their heads, and unleash yet another volley. Three seconds. "FIRE!" Clear, turn, fire, three seconds. it's almost perfectly mechanical. "Order, arms!"

It's then do we hear a trumpet call towards the mountains in the distance.

As the group starts to maneuver themselves to take the caskets and draw them slowly into the airship, we notice that Mosley doesn't give his company the same orders. They stand in salute as each coffin is slowly brought to the loading bay, strapped and secured, and the door to the bay rises into a close. It's only then do we hear his voice again. "ORDER, ARMS!"

The engines start, the noise revs up, and the massive plane starts to move. Eventually, it takes it's run along the way and reaches the air going towards the west. We all marvel at the spectacle born of tragedy, amazed that they would offer so much of their resources for what appears to be so little in scale. The airship makes a turn around and barrels back into an eastward swing. And as it climbs, it unleashes flares to either side and underneath, the smoke behind them appearing as angels of their image, truly a terrifying but beautiful display to honor their fallen men.

"That's four families who are going to be left with more questions than answers." Alex Mutters.

"I'd sure hate that these things had to happen the way they do." I respond to him. "This was one weapons demonstration I'd never thought I'd be prepared to see. Though I'm sure it would be off color to call it such."

"No, you're spot on." He replies. "They flew back east as a message to the ones who put our guys under. Maybe they'll relay that back home. It could always get uglier. It's just that we REALLY don't want those guys involved. Because once they do, it's cart blanche."

I watch as the smokey angels dissipate into the wind. "It was only three that died in action. The last guy, was there a reason why he did it?"

"Audrey Paulmann, rank Corporal of the U.S. Marines, served in Iraq in his first tour, was neck-deep in the second battle of Fallujah. Got sent into the hot zone where a family still lived. Insurgent forces took advantage of that and fought from that position. They called in an airstrike to clean up the mess, only to get an even worse one afterwards. That incident stayed on his record for a while, stopped him from getting promoted, and he lost a few of his battle buddies to suicide too." Alex digs in his pocket, pulls out a cigarette, places it to his lips and lights it. He takes a long drag before he speaks again. "He was always a risk of that, but still enlisted to my company as security. When I presented him the offer of being in an expeditionary force, he took it."

"But why? Why would he do something like that?"

He takes another drag. "I got a question for you. When a man endures hell on earth and comes back to civilian life, does he ever really come back home. The answer to that is no, you don't always come home. That's a lot of these guys here, it happens to me sometimes too, when I think about Ponyville and Corrotto. They all have battle experiences, retired, found that living the safe life ain't always the vibe, so they enroll in things like law enforcement, security, join gangs, a few go overseas and volunteer in some other militias around the world. This was just an option of many for them."

"That doesn't make any sense though."

"Yeah it do." He says as he offers me a hit. "Tobacco's addictive, that's why I prefer Mary, you get a way better chill." I shake my head at his off. "A lot of those who serve in hell don't find it right that they leave there, only to come home to the lack thereof. It's a programming error, one that some veterans of war will experience. It's not that they enjoy the fighting, it's just happens to be the thing they know, the thing they can do without the struggle. It's hard to keep a man retired when his mind is still stuck where the bodies are." Yet another puff leaves his lips, and he offers it to me again. "It's the reason why we try to work with Celestia so much to keep Nondis out of trouble, because we know he'll find a hell to crawl back into. And if he crawling back into it, who knows what other version of himself he'll find, probably the version we never want to see again... or worse. And the more I think on it, the more stressed I get." This time I take him on his offer. I take an initial puff, only to come up coughing. "Damn, didn't think the natural fire-breather would actually get a cough on that. Guess that means you'll be riding high like that damn plane is right now."

"This shit is insane." I cough before I clear my throat to get back on topic. "So that's why everyone's so scared to see him in action."

"Some people think they might know what happened to the man, but there's pictures and tapes... tapes with his screams... I went a week not sleeping after those, maybe a month trying to process that. It's why I took up weed, just don't tell the wife... In fact, let me help you with some stress relief. It's gonna be a long one with this war going on." He reaches in his coat pocket, pulling out a set of brown cigarettes with wooden tips, they have a hint of sweetness in the scent. He also pulls out a sandwich bag full of green dried leaves and offers me those also. He then pats me on my chest and walk off. "Don't smoke it all at once. Just treat it like a casual drink, you'll enjoy it more."

I look at the smoldering bud, along with the newly acquired spoils given to me, quirking a brow at the strange assortment of items. I glance back to the smoldering bud and ask myself. "So do I... just keep smoking this or... what?"

Meanwhile in the Crystal Mountains...

The gathering of both cultists and centuries alike stare and marvel at the metal beast leaving its marks upon the perfect blue sky. Many of them mutter and speak upon themselves as their leaders sit upon a higher position, seeing nothing more than a mesmerizing display of problems they've yet to face.

"What. The actual fuck. Is that?" The young prince stammers.

"I know one thing, it's not Equestrian." The cult leader replies. "That thing roared like a dragon as it passed, and shook the very foundations of the mountains."

The three maids to the prince also watch in amazement, Remedy having the most to say. "Wow, look how high that thing flies! It goes way higher than our airships, and faster! If we were to look like ants from up high, we would never even be seen from one of those! Our cities would look like specks of dirt on the land!"

"I don't know if stirring this beast was a good idea." Rhapsody replies. "If what they have is more of those, I don't think our country would last the night. The siege from that alone would bring Midnight Castle to it's knees."

Melody speaks nothing, instead flapping her wings as the airship disappears beyond the mountainous horizon with another show of flares. But as she starts to flutter into the air, a ring of magic pulls at her hind leg, dragging her down from her imagination and rooting her back into reality. "No way you're catching that." The prince cruelly reminds her. "Two-legger technology and the weapons they use to wage war. I get to see their current advancements with my own two eyes... I was truly blessed by the good Doctor to be here."

"A blessing, more like a curse if it were to ever decide we were worth it's time." The cult leader replies.

The young prince squeaks like a mouse as he shows irrational exuberance. "Rhapsody..."

"I'll relay our findings to the Emperor."

Back at the Crystal Empire...

I'm not exactly sure if I can feel my claws or not. I feel something, actually I feel a lot of it. I'm not numb, but the world feels numb. I'm sure the colors of these crystals are the same, but I sure do see them sparkle pretty bright. I'm pretty cool with everything so far, nothing seems out of place except for the fact that I can't tell whether I'm actually walking of flying. Not that it matters at this point, I'm getting to my location pretty fine, even if I seem to notice just the smallest movements out the corner of my eye.

I meander my way over to everyone else, Amor, Hestia, Ocellus, Smolder, and Zenobia all sharing their thoughts over what we saw earlier. They seem pretty amazed over the ceremony the humans threw together. Hell, I'm more stunned over the fact that a big-ass machine started drawing angels in the sky. Glad I wasn't like what I am now back then, I'd probably go chasing after the damn thing. "Hey, how you girls feeling?"

The group turns to see me walking up. "We're feeling pretty... whoa!" Smolder leaps over to me, leaning into my face and looking into my eyes for some odd reason. "What the hell happened to you, and what's that smell?"

"Ehh, Alex gave me some stuff for stress relief." An intrusive thought comes to the forefront of my mind and I verbalize it instantly. "Yeah, I'm definitely gonna puff this shit up during a game of Oggs and Oubs. I can't feel shit, but I feel good as fuck." I laugh.

"Uh... you okay?" Hestia asks. "You look... drugged."

"No way, I just smoked up some of these dried leaves Alex forked over. I feel like I can hear the frequencies of the colors around me. Life is pretty good right now."

Everyone else just stare at me with concern, everyone save Captain Mosely coming up from behind them. He peeps out my eyes and smell my scent. He immediately starts to chuckle. "Hey buddy, you feeling good?"

"I feel good as fuck." I say with a huge grin.

The man laughs. "Yeah, the green will do it to you."

"Green?" A visibly distressed Ocellus asks.

"Cannabis, often known as herb, bush, kush, smoke, gas, heat, dope, weed, hemp, greens, or it's more notable name marijuana, nicknamed Mary Jane. It's a natural growing plant in our world that can be used for all sorts of purposes. More notably, it's used for medication for those who have eye issues, stress, migraines, pain relief, muscle spasms. epilepsy, you name it. Studies even show it helps intensify sexual experiences too, but I never really tried it outside of a group of friends in college."

"Intensify sexual experiences?" I ask as I let more of my intrusive thoughts pass my filters. "Yeah, Gabby's gonna catch it tonight."

"I don't know if I feel comfortable with him on that." The changeling replies.

"Eh, give him about two hours and he'll be right back down. It'll be fine." He assures her before clearing his throat to change the subject to more formal matters. "But truthfully, we appreciate you taking the time to honor our guys with us. I know that Paulmann didn't leave you with a good memory to go on, but I want to thank you for having the strength to see him off with us. You'll always have my gratitude, as well as the gratitude of our nation."

"You guys are sacrificing for us, it wouldn't be right if we didn't." I speak out. "Hell, without you guys, we'd probably be even more fucked up now. You guys caught a bomb threat on Friday, ain't no telling how many more lives would've been lost. I don't mind sticking up for you guys. If anything, we owe your species for dealing with that shit in Canterlot seven years ago, a lot of Equestria sees you guys as heroes."

The man snickers for a moment. "Yeah, it's too bad some other guy came around and built up his resumé first. We get crazy comparisons to that one guy who got into like a 1v50 with a sword and a brick. Some guy they call the Captain. I asked the boss about it, he never really says much about him except the fact that he's a good guy. Guess he doesn't like being compared to him either." The man shrugs. "But yeah. Just so you know, your helo is smoking and ready for your ride back home. That's if you feel like going."

Ocellus grabs me by my wrist immediately. "Yeah, I think we'll go that route. Home, please."

"What of the others?" Hestia asks about Twilight's friends.

"They say they'll stick around a little longer. Guess they're doing it because of that empress lady. Gotta admit, she's hardcore as hell to be pulling people in for hugs with the injuries she's got."

"Yeah, they are friends with Cadance just as much as they are with each other." I point out. "Besides, we need to haul ass away from here. Way too much stress and bad juju hanging about."

"All for it." The changeling cosigns as she pulls me along. "C'mon, let's get moving before Alex gives you any other bad influences."

As we walk along, we easily close in on the stadium where our transport awaits. Amor looks towards his sisters and speaks out for seemingly the first time today. "So, guess this is part of our starting over, left with nothing, not even the dreams we had along the way."

"Hmm." Hestia quickly fills the role of her brother and gives a more optimistic outlook. "I guess we'll start on finding ourselves a new place to live after we get back."

"Might wanna take your time on that. Let's wait until the war is over. You guys can still crash out at my place." I suggest.

"Nice offer, but way too much... extracurricular activity for my liking." She counters. "Yeah, I'll stay for as long as I can try to find someplace else to move into."

The gloomy prince let his eyes linger towards the changeling mare pulling my arm. "Ms. Ocellus." He meekly calls to her, glancing away as her eyes trail to him. "I was wondering... could you... Never mind, forget I said anything."

As we get closer to the improvised landing zone, I notice that one of us appear to be missing from the group. I look back to see the one lingering behind, rather standing stationary at the arena's entrance. "Zenobia, what's the matter?"

"I think she feels you're still upset with her." Amor answers.

"Don't you dare fucking talk for me, you dipshit!" The alicorn chides her brother before turning her attention to me with a saddened look of remorse. "...You go on without me." She turns around to walk away. "I'll catch back up with you in a bit."

"What do you mean?" I ask her.

"Uh, just to point something out, I don't think he's gonna make another trip to Ponyville." Smolder keenly illustrates. "I'm sure it takes a lot of resources to even fly us back and forth. So it's not like you'll be─

"I'm staying behind to help with the war effort." She interrupts. All of us are left baffled at her revelation. I'm so caught off guard that the moment sobers me up at that instant. She gives me a weak smile as she explains herself. "It's my brother they're up against. So... I should be the one to try to counter his every approach. I know he's working with others, but I can't just let these humans go against him and his antics. He's much too cruel to go uncontested."

"But... I don't understand." I begin. "Like... How do you just up and decide something like this? What about─"

"I owe you an apology for what I've done this morning, how I've acted in front of your friends and acquaintances. I'm sure I've left a bad impression on them, much less the princess who brought you up, and the little one who looks up to you. So allow me do with this one so I can get back to you with a good conscience. Who knows, maybe the separation would do us good. Absence and hearts, fondness and all that bullshit, you know."

"Are you sure you want to do thi─"

She erupts back at me, visibly distressed and upset over her decision. "You dumb dragon, just get on the whirlidick and fuck off back home so that I can make something up to your name, please!" She sighs heavily while trying to calm herself down. "Besides, don't I need to pad my resume a bit to prove that I can be a serious world player?"

I'm reluctant, mainly in part by her still being here where Rarity or Twilight and her can still butt heads. But she doesn't seem to be interested in any vendettas. In fact, I can tell in her eyes that she has a drive to dedicate herself to what she said in her presser.

I still hold my reservations, but I know that this is her biggest chance to stand on her own. So I'll give her a chance to seek her own measures to atone, even if I personally feel that she didn't really say anything wrong. "You could do that." She truly does mean well for me, even if our start wasn't exactly the best, she did look out.

"Good then." She replies, smiling at me, walking up closer and using her magic to take my hand from Ocellus to the pink diamond choker her neck, her aura especially highlighting the ring on my index claw. "And just so you know for the next time, that ring you're wearing, it controls this. So give it a yank when you want me... or rather when you have the time to think of me."

As she pulls away, I see a tiny strand of sapphire magic tether itself from my ring to her choker. I take the opportunity to immediately yank her in and give her a hug, not knowing if she will be okay in any of this. And I surely don't want to leave her without making sure that she knows I do appreciate her. I whisper to her in a soft voice. "Stay safe for me. Whatever day you come back, I'll make it yours by default."

The mare smirks as she replies. "I will make certain that you destroy whatever's left of me when I return. So... till the next time, dear pet." As we slowly separate from each other, she offers yet another quip. "Or should I say, Spike the Honorable, Brave, and Glorious." I groan at the overly used title I'm given every time I come to this city. She sways as she continues to tease me upon her departure. "That statue of yours is really cute! I'm glad they saved it for me to see!"

The foreign princess breaks into a gallop, disappearing down the avenue. Ocellus makes a comment about her mocking my title. "You know, this whole time I didn't think she knew your name."

"Oh, she knows it." I reply. "And she can be a sweetheart too."

"A protective one at that." Smolder adds. "Didn't think she had the balls to tell Rarity to her face what we've all been thinking about her and you. She's cool with me for that."

"I think we can all agree. Whatever day she comes back, you belong to her." Ocellus proposes. "And only her."

"That's the plan." I confirm.

Hestia shudders as she offers her own resolution. "Hopefully I'll be long gone before then."

2407 Golden Oaks Way 90 minutes later...

From the moment we get off the helicopter, Ocellus is already inquiring about the herbs I was given earlier. It seems she's heavily concerned with how it will affect me and my decision making. So far from my experience on the ride, I haven't really felt much but an unrelenting desire to unburden myself by talking about every last one of my issues, and personal gripes with how this situation's been unfolding with Ponyland. Some of my thoughts do make Hestia uncomfortable because I do find myself a staunch supporter of our armed forces, and I personally wish nothing but the worst for every idiot looking to put me in a box underground. And even though I may not like fighting, I personally don't mind putting peace aside to go on the counteroffensive.

A candid thought, dominating Zenobia isn't enough of a revenge fantasy for me against Xerxes. I need his blood to spill. And my verbalizing that thought is what made Hestia feel a bit uncomfortable on the ride back. Not that she feels he doesn't deserve it, but that I've spoken so favorably of violence against him, that I do wish I could tote his head through the streets as he did the other dragons he made into his flail. Smolder quirked her brow with interest at my thought, and more than agreed. Amor couldn't care less, his disposition hasn't been the same since the night he ran into Twilight.

Back into current matters, we arrive at my front door once more, my humble abode that brings my mind peace upon seeing it's entrance. As I open the door, I call to the drywall corridors all around. "Hey, we're home." Gabby doesn't initially respond, but I do catch a glimpse of her sitting at the dining table. I peek my head in and ask. "What are you doing?"

"Spike!" She seems startled out of a thought or two. In her scattered hurriedness, she pulls a chair for me to sit in, appearing that she wants to divulge some sort of ill tidings. "Okay, um, take a seat. I might have some things to say, you know, so... get comfy."

"You look like you've been panicking. Is everything okay?"

Instantly, her eyes shift wayward, her body language seems wracked with guilt. "Uh... well... Princess Flurry Heart... so─"

"Oh Flurry, yeah. She snuck on the helicopter with us and rode back to the Crystal Empire." I conclude for her.

In the very second, her head drops and her griffon feathers seem to flatten at the news. "Oh thank Faust she's okay!" She takes her own seat, glancing down at her talons. "I was going to start a community search effort if she didn't turn up later. But now that you're here telling me the good news, I can... destress."

"Well I'm glad to see you're willing to chill out for a bit after this. I sure hope you weren't too stressed out." I look at her face and see the obvious lack of sleep. "You were totally stressed out, weren't you?"

"How could I not be!?" She voices with a exasperated strain. "The high princess' niece gone missing? I didn't want to call you because I knew that you would've felt like I was incompetent, then you would've had to come back, and knowing you, you would've flew back on your own at break-neck speed, flying over mountains, dropping in, completely out of breath or almost about to fall out─"

I pinch her beak shut for a moment. "I got something for that if you need to quiet down in the mind for Oggs and Oubs on tonight. And I think I'm more than interested in the campaign have in mind for us. And I want to see how this turns out. I know, a bit different, but I want to try this out."

I show her the bag of green stuff I gained from Alex's charitable donation into mental health awareness and placed it on the table. Naturally, her response is inquiry. "What's this?"

"Medicine for stress relief." I advertise to the griffon. "Now let's wind down and get this game started so I can do things to you on your day, because you obviously deserve my attention."

The griffons eyes shimmer with warmth as she stands up and floats to the shelf nearby. "Aww, not you being sweet and everything! I guess I can set up." An invisible exclamation point pops over her head as a question sprouts in her mind. "Where's Zenobia, she was supposed to create her character too?"

I simply inform her of the Ponyland princess' status. "She's staying up north to help with the war effort, padding her resumé a bit."

"Disappointing, but at least she's doing something good. I hope she stays safe." Gabby replies before noticing one of the others who wanted to join the campaign a few days ago. "Hey Amor, you still wanna go with your character you were creating or do you want to start over?"

"Actually, I'll join you guys later." He mutters in despondence. "I'm going to my room."

Still unaware of the stallion's change in mood, Smolder asks about his recent emotional shift. "What happened to him?"

Hestia provides an answer. "Princess Twilight finally had the talk with him. He's pretty upset about it."

Ocellus quietly trails off, appearing to follow the stallion on his slow dirge to the room upstairs. Meanwhile, Gabby shares her sympathies for him. "Aw, poor thing."

I reassure everyone from my own experiences. "He'll be fine. Amor will be right back to it in a few days. Just give him some time to mingle about and we'll keep him busy. That way he doesn't stay on it too much."

Smolder smirks as she takes a seat, looking to also join the campaign. "I'm with you on that." She looks at the bag of green bulbs on the table and asks. "So... what are we supposed to do with this?"

I look down and I purse my lips with uncertainty. "Actually, let me call Alex and find that out."

As the noises from downstairs fade into background for the changeling, she approaches the door known to inhabit the young prince. A soft patter against the sound-resistant wood is all she risks for his attention. "You okay in there?"

"I'm fine." A solemn response is all he gives.

The changeling waits for a few seconds before pursuing the issue. "Can I come in?"

A sigh is heard from the other side. "Sure."

The changeling's magic turns his knob slowly, allowing her a gradual entrance into his room. He lays in the bed with his face turned away from her. "Heard what happened. How are you feeling?"

"I feel like a pegasus without wings, as if the clouds got pulled from underneath my hooves. Now all I can do is stay in this unending freefall into the crushing rocks below of planet reality."

"That's a pretty heave thought." She lingers towards the bed, resting herself upon the foot of his frame. "I'm here if you want to talk, or vent, or whatever."

"All of this... I just." He begins slowy. "...I have to ask, how do you deal with what you are? I mean I know you're a changeling, but what I mean is who you are, like the world knows of your mother, not to mention the way she used to roam around from nation to nation, causing the harm she has in her years of rule. How do you develop relationships looking past all of that?"

"Well, for starters, it helps when your older brother takes the reigns of power from her and show the others that there's a different way of doing things aside from plundering and abducting victims to feed on." She explains as she slides a little closer to the stallion, offering to pet the top of his head. "It comes with time, it's not easy at first. I still remember the first day we came to the School of Friendship, how nervous I was, I turned into a dragon just to not seem as threatening to the general populace of the town. Wouldn't you guess it, dragons had a better reputation here in Ponyville than changelings, and for good reason. But Thorax always told me to be true to what I am. In time, I gained confidence through the friends I've made, even relationships."

"Be who I truly am." Amor scoffs as he rolls over to look at the mare beside him. "What a joke, I don't even know what I am now. How do I find any security in that?"

"Give it time. Bad days and good days, they all fall in a pattern of waves. Just take a deep breath, and just as easily as you breathe in and out, time passes by. And as you get older, whether it be days, months, years or whatever, you gain confidence in your own self. You find the strength to keep pushing, even when you sometimes doubt yourself." The prince doesn't exactly appear accepting of the mare's testimony, so she approaches from a familiar perspective. "Can I tell you a story? I had a pretty big crush on one of my friends."

"Spike?" The prince guesses.

"No, I'm with Spike now but I didn't see him as anything other than 'Headmare Twilight's assistant' back then. This guy was different, he's an earth pony. Now in my eyes at the time he really was cute, optimistic, kinda shy in some ways, but he was always the spark that encouraged me. Not to mention I had other thoughts that many teenagers have, you can fill in the blanks. So then one day, I thought to ask him to a dance, at least a chance to break the ice and see where we could grow together. Can you guess what happened?"

"He said no."

"Not even." She spouts back at the prince with a chuckle. "I didn't get the chance to ask. He asked some other creature, a yak."

"A yak?" His brows lift as the realization is instant to his mind. "The shopkeeper at the boutique?"

"Yup. She never even entertained the idea of the two of them being an item until he asked. Over time, they really started to grow into each other, but it also started the both of them thinking if things would work between them, you know, like in that way. He was an earth pony, way smaller than a yak who's three times his size and four times his weight. He wondered if he would be enough for her. And she knew that the ground shakes every time she jumps, so she felt she would crush him to death if she wasn't careful enough. So you wouldn't guess who had to step in and mediate that whole situation."

"You?"

The changeling nods as she starts to play with her forelegs. "When I mean I had to mediate things, I mean that I spent time shifting between him and her, the yak who was my friend, and the pony that I wanted to be with. I had my fair share of time with them both, exchanging comforts and limitations, finding a middle ground that works for the both of them. But it grew to a point where my personal feelings got mixed in because I'm literally fucking him. And you might not know this, but your feelings can come to a height when the one you like is hilt-deep and kissing your cervix the way you like it. And because our transformations can be tethered deeply into our emotions, I broke character and just outright slept with him, for hours. Of course, that's not how it was supposed to be. Yona found out and things came to a steam between all three of us. But thankfully, matters cooled off and we stayed friends."

"Well at least that worked out for you guys." He comments.

She slides in closer to him as she tells more of her history. "Actually, it's not the only time I took the form of a friend to run a test ride for another friend. I did it for Smolder and Spike. Now here I am sandwiched between the both of them because dragon cuddle sandwich is full of love and it makes me feel good."

"What fun." He sarcastically grumbles. "I wish I could have a Princess Twilight sandwich."

The changeling lays herself next to the stallion, looking directly into his eyes as she outright proposes to him. "You know, I might not be able to quite do it for you. But if you need the moment, I can... maybe bend a few rules. That's if you won't tell any authorities that I did it."

"It's fine." He denies initially, though the idea quickly gains steam in his mind. "I mean... I shouldn't. I know I shouldn't. It's not cordial, nor appropriate."

"Oh spare me that, high school has taught me that ponies will literally ask you to be their crush just so they can practice for the real thing. And the first thing you need to get over the hump is a little practice with a friend." The mare closes the distance between her and the prince, her nose inches from his as she gradually adapts her voice to Twilight's. "Changelings don't feed on love in the manners of old times. We give love and offer comfort instead. So tell me this. Is there anything you truly want in your heart right now?"

Even for the growing change of her voice, he remains quiet for an initial time. But in the moments that pass as her eyes shift to the magenta hues of the high princess, he subsequently gives into his desperation. With a heavy mind, and a broken heart, he whispers to the changeling in his closeness. "I just want her. Could you be that for me?"

Her hesitation nonexistent, her body flashes in his bed, revealing a form more than twice her original height and weight. The warmth of the mare's wings surround him as she kisses his forehead as the princess of his dreams. "I would be anything for you."

His eyes glance at the princess' wares, seeing the shape and form of every detail that festered in his fantasies for many unfulfilled nights. He's aware of the inauthenticity of the moment, but allows himself the one instance of his greed and weakness. "I have no further shame at this point. So please feel free to feast on what I have left. All I ask is that you let me pretend, that I have only one night with her, the last and only for the road."

"Don't hold back." The faux princess urges in character. "I want this as much as you do right now. It's been a while for me, so... don't mind if I'm in need of warming up."

The prince licks his lips, the bottom of his tongue accidentally touching her lips also. She sneaks in and closes the space between him. And in his desperate show of affection, he parts his lips to invite her into him.

Within the heavy pants of his arousal, he whispers the weight of his heart into the lavender scented fur of her neck. "I love you. I love you, so much."

Later in the Crystal Empire...

Night crawls from the dying light of the sun pulled into it's daily retirement, much of the city is still abuzz with talks and wonderment of the ceremony from earlier. Many speculate of the funeral being a common practice among the humans who have reached their demise. Some even start to write out their requests to replicate such grandiose conditions to the best of their abilities. The morbid thoughts infest the general pony populace in earnest.

But while the thoughts of many are affixed to such dismal affairs, there resides a pony's thoughts that eat soundly at the words repeating in her mind ad nauseum.

"...your reply is to shower him with fucking gifts every so often..."

In the guest room of the palace, the globally-renowned fashion icon glances back at herself, seeing the image of her magic parting the many strands of hair in her mane. Her eyes remains affixed to a few graying strands, oft well hidden but becoming gradually more discolored by the day. The process is an atrophic realization that her time dedicated to her work has yielded favorable results in most of her life. All... if not for one garish outlier.

"...all because you feel guilty about your pitiful reproach."

The floor is littered with incomplete attire, some even scrapped for other ideas. Behind her immediate proximity is a mountain of drawn drafts, balled up into crumpled sheets of notepaper, discarded with brazen scribbles of non-committals and words unsaid. Each of the denials having a common theme; it is the preferred recipient of her arduous labor.

"Because you feel guilty about your pitiful relationship with him..."

The longer the mare looks at herself, the more she begins to feel a painful truth manifesting in her heart, one that's gone ignored for many years now.

"I'm not the one who stunted his emotional and sexual growth from a juvenile's age!"

Rarity is intensively aware of the long-grown affections towards her. But throughout the course of her stress, business, and dealings, not to mention the many high-profile relationships that failed before the eyes of the word, she would always have a retreat somewhere. And while many of those suitors speak no ill of her personality in public, privately she knows that she sabotages her going abouts with the remaining speck of doubt staining her heart and judgement.

"It's almost as if you're upset at the fact that he's still trying to fight past his damage from you and finding some success in doing so..."

For years, she's tried to ignore it, even disregard it. But the more she did, the more those aspiring suitors looked to distract her. Then there would be the moments of self-isolation, the gorging of icy sweets, the inevitable downpour of wines from their bottles, and the frustrated tears that stained many of her brilliant designs. And in getting to that point, there would always be the one who'd just so happen to be in town for that day, her emotional go-to whenever she wanted to finally feel less ashamed of herself in those drunken moments.

But across the years, those maudlin stupors have hardened the heart of the dragon she cared for most, the calluses grown over from the many times her words echoed a painful rejection. But not for reason of animosity did she turn away his advances, but instead they were concern, concern that his long-tenured crush would yield favorable results that many would easily decry as a higher form of debauchery, a black mark that could compromise all of her dreams.

Often, her words were 'no' and 'stop thinking of me and think elsewhere', all while the hole in her heart could only be filled by the moments he found himself in her. While her denial was painful initially, it also grew colder. Praises from him would end with unresponsiveness. Love shared falls flat to the dirt and stones beneath where she walked, and her dance would be to avoid it all...

...That is until a hoof steps into one of those long-pruned gifts, giving her the intrepid reminder that his body is easily given to any that asks, that the hole in his heart is trying to be filled by anyone other than the one who excavated the alter made in her image.

Her phone, being vastly outdated and a bit slow, remains the jeweled mnemonic of a failed pursuit that had honest intentions, but failed in part of a promise made to one who healed the hurts bestowed upon them. Her hoof taps gently to the screen, the lagging display frames down a few pages before the name falls into reach. A slide to her right and his name sprouts to the center of the screen, accompanied by a dial tone. The purring pattern repeats until a voice bellows with bass-heavy response. "Hello?"

She knows the sound too well, hearing it as another one of her drunken stupors lead her to a bad night at the function. And no matter how I try to ready myself for an early morning, my slumber is abruptly interrupted by the sight of her name popping at the front of my screen yet again. "Hey, Spike. It's me. Just... checking in on you dear."

The gravely quality of the voice hastens a blush. "You checking in on me? Heh... What for?"

The unicorn begins to sashay around the topic of her call, even now fighting with herself over the idea of simply confessing her intentions. "Just seeing about you, obviously a bit confused that a certain princess is still here while you are not. Did something happen between you two, any reason she's here?"

"Princess?" I ponder for a split second. "Oh, Zenobia. Yeah, she's helping Alex with the war effort. Something about making things up to me for earlier. I don't know."

She spills a fake laugh, hiding more of her own vested interests on the matter. "Oh... well that's good. At least she can do something other than demean you in any way. That collar isn't bothering you right now, is it?"

"No, just a tingle here and there, some residual emotions. I would say it feels pretty bummy, but my whole body feels way too good right now."

Gabby interrupts in the background. "Are you seriously on the phone?"

"I answered because I thought it was an emergency. Usually happens a little later in the night, but yeah."

"Well if it isn't one, can we get back to where we are right now?" The griffon complains. "Who are you on the phone with anyways?"

"Rarity."

Smolder shows disapproval of the sudden call into our gametime. "Hey, Spike! Get off of that thing, already!"

"Yeah, I know." I sputter back.

"Ha! His voice does sound growly as shit after that hit!" Smolder calls out from the background.

"I know, right? This shit got me feeling like I could come up with a whole other campaign in my head. Shit, let's get this game going!"

"Not until you fucking hang up on that b─"

The call ends, leaving the mare with yet even more unspoken words. Her eyes glance down to the screen of the ended call before the screen falls to black, revealing her own reflection yet again. Guilt impedes where bubbling thoughts once filled, and weights bear down the space butterflies once swarmed.

"I wonder if you even mean to tell him anything of your current insecurities, or if you'd have some bravery to do so without some shitty hang-ups about your age difference..."

In a faux sense of reassurance, she buries her feelings once more before returning to her notepad. "Believe me... I've already tried."