Fallout Equestria: The Ashlands Timeline

POV: Midnight Sparkle
Thursday, 11/3/2287
Midnight Castle

Midnight and her generals had come up with a plan to counter Trinity, but it was annoying to have to resort to such an extreme plan, especially since it would require moving all their supplies, including every book in her enormous library, into Underfree. Worse, this whole situation required she make a truce with individuals that should be screaming in agony right now.

It was funny how allies and enemies shifted. Statera was Midnight’s enemy, and she suspected Starlight was in contact with them. Yet due to their goals of evening the odds, it was in Midnight’s best interests to not attack them so long as she was at a disadvantage to Trinity.

She was already at a disadvantage before this, if recent intelligence was to be believed, so attacking them now would be foalish. They had to die while Midnight had an advantage over Trinity, if that could even happen now. It was hard to admit, but most of the ‘evening out’ in the war had been to Midnight’s benefit.

It was the same with Starlight herself. Midnight was no foal; she knew Starlight was responsible for the Mirror Pool incident and that she had a totally-not-Midnight ally, which was likely some profane side effect of time travel. Yet now that Starlight realized that it was in her best interest to stop Trinity, it was in Midnight’s best interests to spare Starlight and this mystery alicorn.

It was torture to have means to destroy someone that deserved it when she couldn’t. On top of that, even though she was certain Starlight would give her a convenient reason to kill her later, she had to get Rainbow on her side first. What a mess.

At least Rainbow would have wings soon, assuming Solar was as good as she hoped at cybernetics. Midnight had teleported much of Solar’s lab from Stable 27 here, so that should help. Considering Stable 27 voiced a desire to have Solar back there after she’d betrayed them, she must be an impressive scientist.

Midnight wanted to watch Solar work on her cute little buckbean, but recognized that if she was there, her fear aura would make it hard for Solar, the sort of hard Solar didn’t like. So instead, she had a screen set up in her room to watch the lab from afar.

On that screen, Midnight saw Rainbow belly down on the lab table with Spitfire’s wings wired into her back and several cables connected to her head. Her head casing was repaired and Solar had even fashioned a new glass cover for the cyber eye. There was blood from where Solar had been wiring magitech wings into her wing stumps, but Rainbow took it like a champ. From her slack expression, boredom was Rainbow’s current main enemy.

Ember’s youngest capable child Cinder was there too. He had limited medical experience to make sure Kamikaze didn’t get infection, but was also hurrying things by helping her with any trivial thing he could. He’d been latched onto her since she arrived, and it was obvious they wanted to buck. This was fine, but Midnight told him that he couldn’t until after Rainbow was repaired to ensure he’d help to the best of his ability.

Solar was nearby typing on a keyboard with her wings and looking frustrated at her progress. It was a good thing she had wings, since the artificial hoof Midnight gave her couldn’t sticky-hoof like a normal or cybernetic one.

She’d already gone above and beyond, crafting routines to dull the itches and headaches that plagued Rainbow due to her cybernetics. She also was doing her best to fix Rainbow's wings, but even with the encryption codes, it wouldn’t be easy to get them to function when attached to somepony they weren’t made for.

Midnight listened to the radio as she waited. Sometimes Songsmith reported on something horrible Midnight had done, which might make her feel better.

“Creatures of the Ashlands!” Songsmith’s voice rang out from his radio show. “It is I, Songsmith, your ruler! Hear me and obey!... Oh sorry, that’s those other radio stations.”

“Instead, I got more news of the mystery guests from old Canterlot,” Songsmith continued. “Believe it or not, none other than war-time Minister of Magic Starlight Glimmer fell through a time portal. Hard to believe, right? Well my sources confirm; it’s her.”

How did he know all this? Midnight wished she had the time and resources to hunt him down and torture it out of him.

“But here’s the harder to believe part,” Songsmith continued. “She’s allied herself with none other than Midnight Sparkle, or so it seems. Midnight popped into Holder and informed them all to do what Starlight said. Not only that, but several of the Pie sisters from Holder’s bomb-statue arrived with the Minister. Must be nice for Trinity to know everyone hates her so much that they’ll shack up with their arch nemeses to take her down.”

“Urrrrgh,” Midnight grunted and rubbed her forehead. “That happened less than an hour ago! How does he know?”

“Um…” the nearest guard sounded nervous, as if he thought not answering would result in agony.

“It was a rhetorical question,” Midnight growled. “One more word and I’ll make you buck that pegaslut scientist again until you die from dehydration.”

The guard remained silent.

Whatever. Midnight changed the station to her guilty pleasure: Radio Gollytopia. Her room guards were under orders to never utter a word of her listening to this station, but she had to admit it was a lot of fun.

“Welcome to another episode of Know – Your – Mutants!” Shimmy’s voice started. “Special guest star, Best Friend Cozy Glow, is with us in the studio to share her insights on this topic that affects us all!”

“Thank you, Shimmy,” Cozy said. “Today I wanted to talk about something that isn’t actually a mutant but is under the command of our great and powerful leader, The Trinity, all the same.”

“We have things that aren’t mutants?” Shimmy asked. “Everything I know is a lie!”

“Now calm down, Shimmy,” Cozy continued. “I’m just talking about the changelings. Sadly, friendship science does not work on them, but they make up for this with their ability to change into useful stuff.”

“Stuff, you say?” Shimmy asked. “Could you go into detail?”

“All sorts of stuff,” answered Cozy. “Things as well! And KNIVES.”

“Thank you for that detailed explanation!” Shimmy said. “But why did they join The Trinity if they couldn’t benefit from being made superior to other INFERIOR, FRIENDSHIP-HATING life forms?”

“It is a sad story,” Cozy said solemnly. “You see, Shimmy... They remembered the good old days before everything EXPLODED GLORIOUSLY. They remembered the gentle, compelling, and yet oddly insistent voice of their SUPREME MASTER crawling through their minds, telling them exactly what to do.”

“That would make life pretty easy,” Shimmy noted.

“That’s a good point, Shimmy,” Cozy said. “They missed the times when they didn’t have to think for themselves, when they could enjoy lazy days of following the BELLOWED COMMANDS OF OTHERS. So, The Trinity took on the BURDEN of their OBEDIENCE! Not that they do much.”

“Amazing!” Shimmy said. “So many amazing examples of kindness have surfaced lately. But they don’t do much?”

“I know they don’t, because they never ask me what Trinity wants them to do,” Cozy answered. “And only I can contact The Trinity! This makes sense though, since The Trinity wouldn’t resort to COWARDLY tactics like shape-shifting infiltrators!”

Midnight shook her head; Cozy had no idea how a hive mind worked. It was interesting though. Why did Trinity hide what she ordered her changelings to do from her primary forces? It could be as simple as not trusting someone with a radio show not to spill the beans about top secret missions, or it could be something more. She always wondered if ‘turning everyone into monsters’ was really Trinity’s goal.

“You know, Best Friend Cozy Glow, I think we can all learn from this.” Shimmy said.

“Indeed, Shimmy,” Cozy agreed. “You don’t have to be a changeling to live the easy life in Gollytopia. Ponies can come here and have an even better life, trading in their WEAK PATHETIC bodies for FRIENDSHIP AND MINDLESS OBEDIENCE!”

“Why would anypony pass up this deal?” Shimmy gasped.

“Golly, they’d have to be some pretty dumb poop-heads, Shimmy,” agreed Cozy.

Shimmy added rapidly, “Acceptance into Gollytopia pending Best Friend Cozy Glow’s approval. Best Friend Cozy Glow reserves the right to turn down applicants for any reason, including whimsy or boredom. Non-ponies may be accepted conditionally as egg-sacks for tatzlponies. Dismemberment and evisceration may occur.”

While it annoyed Midnight that Chrysalis was pretending not to be involved, Cozy always put it in a way that made her smile. She wished she had a supreme general with that kind of enthusiasm.

An inappropriately touching song by Songbird Serenade began, so Midnight turned off the radio. As she did, a squeal rattled the room, and Midnight realized it was from the monitor. She looked to see what might have died.

The lab looked the same, save for Solar who had tumbled out of her chair for unknown reasons as Cinder ran to assist her. With a flash, Midnight teleported herself within the lab.

“What’s going on?” Midnight demanded. “If you damaged my tribbing log, I swear…”

Solar further squealed at Midnight’s sudden arrival, but then dragged herself back into a standing position as Cinder bowed and backed up a few steps.

“Just Solar derping and startling me so much I nearly crapped myself,” replied Rainbow in an annoyed tone. “You two are lucky I haven’t been eating much, or there might be trouble! Speaking of which, I’d really like my next dump not to require the help of a bat guard who drew the short straw, so you done or what?“

Rainbow’s familiar brand of humor gave Midnight a touch of delight, lessening her anger as she looked to Solar.

“Sorry,” Solar said. “I figured out what I needed to do. I’m almost pretty sure the wings will work now.”

“About time!” Rainbow said.

“D-did you have an orgasm from solving a difficult problem?” Midnight peered at Solar with one eye.

“Um, yes?” Solar chuckled nervously, awkwardly wiping the wetness off the chair with a wing.

Cinder didn’t respond, but leaned to sniff in the direction of Solar’s nethers. He lowered himself to all-fours and pulled his legs closer together.

“Hm… I thought only I did that,” pondered Midnight. “Regardless, you say they will function? Activate them then.”

“Almost probably!” Solar nodded as she hopped back to the table and disconnected the cables attached to Rainbow’s wings and head.

“Got the update,” Rainbow grinned. “Let’s see how this… whoa!”

Rainbow shot up into the air, hovering for a moment. At first it seemed to work, until Rainbow zipped to the wall and slammed face-first into it. She turned, swooped at Solar, then charged into Midnight’s head. At first, Midnight thought Rainbow was getting affectionate, but unfortunately not.

“I can’t control them!” Rainbow complained. “I’m not doing any of this!”

“Huh,” said Solar. “I wonder if prolonged use by a feral made them aggressive.”

“How does that even work?” demanded Rainbow. “Are you saying my wings still want to kill everypony?... That’s kinda rad.”

“It’s probably due to the necrotic magic imprinting itself on the physical object after so many years,” explained Midnight as she steadied Rainbow with her magic. “It’s fascinating really, but not what I was hoping for.”

Midnight gave Rainbow an inappropriate lick then placed her belly down on the table again. She pulled the straps up from the sides of the table to keep Rainbow down, but her wings kept buzzing away.

“Possibly!” Solar pondered. “I’ll try to drain the old magic. You should gain control of them. Eventually. Or become a zombie, but there’s probably only like a three percent chance of that, four percent tops.”

“Then there’s a three or four percent chance of you regretting you were ever born,” growled Midnight. “Understand, pegaslut?”

“Oh, um,” Solar stammered. “I’ll make super-sure that doesn’t happen, your Divine Shadowyness.”

“So, um, question,” Rainbow said as her wings flapped sporadically. “When we finish, do I get to leave?”

Midnight’s annoyance drained, replaced by a sudden emptiness.

“D-do you want to leave?” Midnight was the one stammering now.

“Yes,” Rainbow turned as if afraid to make eye contact while saying it.

“You can do as you want,” Midnight turned her head so that Solar wouldn’t see her tears. “I have no desire to control your will… though I have a request for you.” She didn’t specify what around Solar.

“And if I don’t do that request?” asked Rainbow. “Or if I never want to return?”

“Um, should I leave the room for this?” asked Solar.

Solar edged towards the exit. Cinder was already there, though probably from a hope that they’d be done soon so he could grab Solar under one arm and run back to his cave with her. He somehow seemed even more excited than her about finishing. She wanted to let them go to talk to Rainbow alone, but first things first…

“Solar,” Midnight turned to her. “Is there a way to prove I did not alter Rainbow’s programming? We need to remove the directives that kept her from attacking my likeness.”

“Um, maybe?” Solar said. “I can check the change logs. Can Kamikaze not do that?”

“I assume she can’t if she hasn’t,” said Midnight. “So, do that for her. Now.”

“Right on it!” Solar turned, feather-fingers typing lightning fast.

Her fascination appeared to be battling with her fear of being in the same room as Midnight. Solar’s wings were shaking with Midnight so close, so typing was difficult.

“Huh,” said Solar. “You’re right, she wouldn’t be able to read these. I wouldn’t be able to without improvements to my equipment made since the Breaking. The logs say…. Gizmo? Who’s that?”

“That’s a programmer that worked on me,” said Rainbow. “But he hated the NLR more than anypony; most of his family died in an NLR attack. Why would he program that?”

“He wouldn’t,” said Midnight, turning back to Rainbow. “Do you believe me now? A changeling replaced him and did this to you.”

“You could’ve changed the log,” said Rainbow.

“But if I did that,” said Midnight. “I would make sure you had access so you could see and think somepony else did it. Or, as said before, simply not use an error message so you’d never know.”

“Okay, got me there,” sighed Rainbow. “On both counts.”

“Will you stay now?” asked Midnight.

“No,” Rainbow answered after a few moments. “Sorry… look, you might not’ve brainwashed me, but my feelings for you weren’t real, and the real ones…I wouldn’t say they’re at a level where I want to be your loyal wife.”

“Very well,” Midnight sighed. She wasn’t giving up, but Rainbow was the one creature she wanted to love her without fear, so she had to be careful.

Midnight dried her eyes and turned back to them. Solar had backed into a corner and was sobbing into her wings, Cinder patting her head as if trying to comfort a puppy. Midnight realized that she’d cranked up her fear aura unintentionally. Even Rainbow was tearing up; it was a credit to her that she could speak at all.

“I’ll teleport you to Holder, but I want to have a brief conversation first, alone,” Midnight said as she lowered the aura as much as she could, then turned to Cinder. “Run off and itch her ditches thoroughly, not just the stuff you like, but whatever weird stuff she’s into, so she feels amazing, then return her here so I can send them both back.”

Cinder saluted without a word; the dragon never spoke more than he needed to around Midnight, which probably showed wisdom. As she expected, he departed carrying Solar literally under one arm. Solar’d probably get horny as soon as they were out of range.

Midnight thought about keeping Rainbow a bit longer to give her more chances to decide, but this was best for other reasons, too. For one, if Rainbow was here, she’d want to fight Trinity’s forces when they arrived, and Midnight would rather keep her out of this particular battle.

“So a request…” Kamikaze sighed. “If it’s killing somepony, I’d love to, but these new wings don’t do the razer cutting thing. If you lost your keys up a dragon’s hole again, I’d need legs for that. …oh horseapples, this is some scheme, isn’t it?” Her jokes fizzled into dread for what it might be.

POV: Twilight Sparkle
Holder

Gloomy followed Twilight back into the center of Holder. Despite their disagreement, he obsessed over protecting her as Watcher had instructed. It made Twilight nervous to know he thought as he did, but she let it go for the time being. She just hoped she could still talk Luna down if she needed to later.

Twilight’s pipbuck interrupted her thoughts as it buzzed to life. The light blinked to signify radio contact. She pulled it up and accepted the transmission.

“Anypony alive?” Kamikaze’s voice asked over the radio. “I can’t find Starlight’s network.”

“Don’t worry,” Twilight responded. “She’s in the bunker with Pinkie, Maud, and Dyo getting supplies to save Limestone. It’s shielded so they’re out of contact for the moment. I take it Midnight let you go?”

“Yeah,” said Kamikaze. “She was surprisingly reasonable, but I got the impression it was because she’s about to do something crazy to stop Trinity and doesn’t want me hurt. She’s moving a lot of things from the castle to Underfree beneath it, like she doesn’t expect it to survive. Anyway, Solar got my wings attached and they're mostly not trying to kill anypony. Then Midnight teleported us here. We retrieved the magazines and stuff from the wagon too; maybe we can sell some of the extra stuff.”

“That is surprisingly reasonable,” said Twilight, a little relieved at that. “Wait… your wings are mostly not doing what?”

“Hey,” Mercury’s voice came over the vocal comms too. “Let Solar know we haven’t found Tranquil yet, but we think she’ll be around later today. Anyway, Crimson is headed to the PUB.”

“That brothel?” asked Kamikaze. “Yeah, Solar saw a poster ad for it and now she’s walking funny wanting to go. I’m going to buzz around and explore, but she’ll probably meet you there, despite having JUST banged a dragon. I swear...”

They could hear Solar squee-ing in the background of Kamikaze’s CB transmission. It was followed by a brief ‘thump’ and an ‘ow’ from Kamikaze as if she buzzed into something on accident.

“I hope Crimson isn’t intent on causing issues,” Twilight said, ignoring the various ruckus. “I’ll try to cut her off. By the way, I’m disguised, but I’ll be with Gloomy. Call me Clover in public.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Kamikaze said before clicking off the transmission.

“Did you get my memory sphere?” asked Gloomy. “Twilight said you left it in Everfree with other supplies.”

“Yeah we got it,” said Kamikaze. “I’ll make sure it’s passed off to you.”

“Good” Gloomy said, touching Blinding’s necklace that he wore before continuing. “The PUB though? Think we’ll be able to talk her down? She doesn’t seem rational.”

“Well if she’s going in, we may as well go with her just to make sure,” Twilight already knew who Gloomy would want.

Back home, Twilight visited the Ponyville Spa semi-regularly, but rarely indulged in the lewder services. Even then, with how awkward she was, it was only a licking as part of a “full body relaxation” massage, often while talking with Rarity. That was only for when she was especially stressed, but she definitely was now.

Twilight and Gloomy had already been close, so they arrived first, but still didn’t have to wait long for Crimson to show up there as well. As she approached and saw them standing there, she seemed to know what they were going to say.

“Come with me to make sure no one dies?” Crimson asked.

“Were you planning on that?” Twilight asked, but Crimson walked around them.

“Guess we’ll follow her,” Gloomy chuckled. “I doubt she’ll do anything troubling so long as she’s not alone. And honestly, I’ve been curious about this place as it’s not somewhere Midnight would let us go.”

The inside of the PUB was sanitary, but there weren’t many more compliments to lie upon it. It had an entryway, a waiting room with a counter, and several halls that led back to various rooms. Photos of their workers covered one wall, eight males and four females of various species.

There were also various raunchy photos. It was obvious it was a brothel first and a spa second, rather than the other way around like the Ponyville Spa. Twilight imagined ponies got more stressed in this world, so it made sense. She couldn’t look down on them; these creatures made it their life’s work to make others happy.

Also unlike the Ponyville Spa, there weren't any specific services to pay for. It looked like patrons paid by the hour for a room, then additional caps per hour depending on how many masseuses they wanted and if they were shifted.

Twilight still wondered about the change potion. Long-term repeated use of a potion like that should cause permanent physical and psychological damage. There was a big difference between a gender spell and a species-shifting spell, especially if these potions could turn one into an inanimate object. Twilight wasn’t even certain if changelings could do that, though it seemed likely.

No one was at the counter, so Gloomy tapped the bell atop it, moving in front of Crimson as he did.

“Oh hey!” a unicorn stallion said as he emerged from the back. “I’m Daydream. I wondered when some of you guys would show up. Kyo let us know you each get a free service. Were you looking to try a shift? One for each?”

Daydream was a blue stallion with a white mane and green eyes. His cutie mark was a kiss mark next to a pile of bottle caps. It fascinated Twilight how cutie marks customized themselves to the culture of the pony, including things like currency type. The currency being bottle caps still confused her a little though.

“Two for now, thanks,” Twilight smiled and nodded at him, hoping Crimson wouldn’t contradict her, but not wanting to take up so many of their spa workers at once. She glanced at Gloomy and sighed. “I assume you want Nightmare Moon for us? I hope she’s not too realistic though.”

“I could do her,” Daydream nodded. “If you don’t mind a stallion being a mare. I’m the least frightened of bats here… um, no offense of course!”

“Am I that scary?” Gloomy asked, sounding heartbroken.

“It’s more who you work for,” Daydream said. “Again, no offense. We worship Her Shadow, but she is scary. I imagine she’d take that as a compliment.”

“Right,” sighed Gloomy. He clearly hated that Daydream felt the need to praise Midnight in front of him.

It was too bad he couldn’t tell anyone in Holder what he really was, but these citizens were no doubt under orders to turn in bats that weren’t with Midnight. Gloomy had already taken enough of a chance by being seen with them at all.

“Actually, I’d rather not have Nightmare,” Gloomy said, however. “I mean it’s not like I wouldn’t love it, but it feels a little… blasphemous? You choose, Tw… Clover.”

“Oh, my apologies,” Daydream nodded, then turned to Twilight.

If they could change into anyone, Twilight knew who she wanted, but saying it made her blush more than she ever had. If her Celestia ever found out she did this, Twilight would die of embarrassment.

“Um, Princess Celestia,” Twilight stammered, then blushed more as she asked Gloomy. “Would a stallion version be okay?”

“Sure, I’m good with a big stallion,” Gloomy shrugged and didn’t seem opposed, so his stable door must have swung both ways.

“You really don’t mind?” Daydream looked momentarily confused when Gloomy was okay with Celestia, but nodded. “I can do that, it’s a common request.”

Celestia was a common choice? Twilight wasn’t abnormal then, at least.

“Well that’s an interesting first date for you deviants,” commented Crimson. “Banging Day-dick-her together.”

Twilight sighed, taking a deep breath before turning towards the Crimson. She wasn’t particularly looking forward to Crimson being there, but still smiled at her to counter her attempt at annoyance.

“Is there any particular form you’d like?” Daydream asked.

Before Crimson answered, they heard Solar’s squee-ing before she even entered the PUB. The pegasus collided with the door and two walls on her way into the waiting room.

“Pinkie’s pee dance, what is that sound?” Daydream asked before seeing Solar come in. “Ah, you are Solar, yes? We were told to also expect a brightly colored pegasus.”

“Flag down, Solar,” Crimson said. “We’re sharing one apparently, so I’m choosing. Do any of them know what Tranquil Melody looks like? She’s new in town.”

“Aw,” Solar didn’t seem enthused about sharing with Crimson, but Twilight hoped she wouldn’t complain.

“We can pull her image from your mind,” Daydream nodded to Crimson.

“Good,” said Crimson. “Because I want to see what the whore looks like before she shifts so I can be sure she’s a mare in her natural form.”

“Of course,” Daydream nodded.

“If I find out you gave me a stallion,” Crimson growled. “I will make sure neither of you get to be one any longer. Got it?”

“I assure you, there is nothing to worry about,” Daydream’s nervous smile remained. “We’ll give you Fable. She is 100% mare, I assure you.”

That was all fine, but Twilight recognized something wrong. Something she probably shouldn’t have mentioned, but her curiosity pushed it out before she thought twice.

“You can read minds to take on the form of loved ones?” asked Twilight.

“Only with consent,” Daydream assured. “But yes.”

“All of your employees have this ability?” Twilight tilted her head.

“We have high standards for employees,” smiled Daydream. “We only hire those that are healthy enough for long-term potion use and able to learn basic psionic imaging.”

“Okay…” Twilight nodded, holding in increasing suspicion. “That’s… fascinating, certainly.”

Something was even more wrong, because that ability wasn't 'basic'. They’d found a dozen individuals capable of learning such a thing? Even Twilight would take years to learn that trick well, and many of these spa creatures were species that should have found it impossible.

This ability reminded Twilight of her own experiences with changelings. There had been multiple reports of this during the changeling attack on Canterlot that they could invade the minds of victims to take the form of somepony they loved without having ever seen the pony. The potion could explain the shifting, but the psionics were harder to dismiss.

But could it really be that obvious? Even Xander, as paranoid as he seemed about changelings, hadn’t suspected the spa workers for probably that same reason. It was hard to think that Trinity would have her changelings hiding in plain sight like this.

“Is it my turn yet?” Solar asked.

“Sure,” said Daydream. “Or weren’t you sharing with your friend?”

“Maybe,” Solar rocked back and forth in excitement. “But if she can shift once, she can shift again, and I’ll take one of each!”

“One of each?” asked Daydream. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“Like they shift into one thing,” explained Solar. “Buck me, shift into the next thing, buck me, and repeat until all the things! The only things I’ve marked off my list so far are bat ponies and dragons. Did you know dragons have two dicks?!”

“I am aware they have hemipenis, yes,” Daydream chuckled. “We usually charge extra for multiple shifts, but I’ll make an exception once since you’re with the Pies. Fable should be okay with multiple potions, but do keep each brief to save time.”

That was increasingly suspicious. Even somepony accustomed to shifting potions couldn’t safely drink that many in quick succession, but Twilight didn’t want to rain on Solar’s parade.

“This is amazing!” Solar could barely stand from her shivers. “I’ll get my entire list done in one day!”

“Does it count if they aren't real?” asked Crimson bitterly. “And we do Tranquil first regardless.”

“Maybe!” Solar said. “I mean I do want a full session with natural ones, but this is still a good warm-up!”

Twilight blushed as they all finally headed back. Ordering sex was one thing, but she wasn’t sure how she’d function in a room with two threesomes going on. Maybe she shouldn’t have ordered such a private fantasy, though it was a pretty vanilla fantasy by the standards this world seemed to have.

The room was large, with a metal basin for a tub, heated with magic bubbles but not what Twilight would call a jacuzzi. There were also fresh straw beds for getting massages or more intense activity. This wouldn’t pass for a spa in Twilight’s time, but after what she’d been through, it was heavenly.

They each slipped off their saddlebags and slid into the tub, which was as large as Daydream indicated. Each took one side of the tub to soak, though it’d be a tight fit when Daydream and Fable joined them. Regardless, the warm water felt wonderful.

Gloomy sat next to Twilight, guarding her even here. The other two sat on the opposite side, though Solar seemed to keep her distance from Crimson.

“Hey, you wanna get batty after we finish with our fun?” Solar was already hitting on Gloomy.

“Huh?” Gloomy blushed but nodded. “Well not sure if I’ll have the energy right afterward, and didn’t you already…”

“Later then?” Solar assumed. “Great!”

Twilight felt her blood heat when Solar flirted with Gloomy, as hooking up with a friend was a bit different than spa relaxation. She wasn’t sure why it upset her though, so tried to put it out of her mind. Instead, she distracted herself by looking around. The spa workers weren’t here yet, so perhaps she should mention her suspicions.

“You know,” Twilight said quietly, not wanting to be heard if they arrived suddenly. “Seeing into someone’s head… and shifting that many times in a row… isn’t something normal creatures should be able to do, even with a potion. It seems too obvious but...”

“Huh,” Solar tilted her head. “I guess that is weird, but I don’t really care! If they turn out to be real changelings, that’s another thing to cross off the list!”

“Oh yeah?” Crimson tugged her saddlebags closer to the tub. “There’s one way to find out.”

Crimson dug around it looking for something, then put a jar where it’d be in easy reach for her. It looked like Xander’s green goo.

“You have one too?” Twilight asked. “I didn’t think to bring the one I had. Did Xander give it to you?”

“Yep,” said Crimson. “I’m supposed to rub it on anyone I suspect, but not like I’d know who to suspect, right? So I’ll rub it on who you suspect.”

“Tact, please,” advised Twilight, even if she knew Crimson’s capacity for such was limited. “I am glad you have it, but keep in mind how they might react if suddenly outed. It’s not a good idea without Starlight here to teleport us out.”

“That’s the fun of it!” Crimson said. “Not knowing how they’ll react!”

Was there any end to Crimson’s lack of tact in delicate situations? Twilight wished she’d had more time to think of a better plan, and considered maybe she shouldn’t have told them yet at all, but there was no stopping it now. Their conversation quieted as the door opened and Twilight took a deep breath before turning to look. In marched their two orders, though there seemed to have been some confusion.

In hindsight, Twilight should have made sure they knew she meant Celestia-Celestia and not Daybreaker. The flaming mane and demonic eyes were the most notable difference, with her cutie mark having a flare in the background as well. Twilight was too stunned for a moment to even complain, shying away. It wasn’t just how they looked, but also the sudden reminder of how Twilight let down everyone by allowing such a thing to happen at all. She barely held it together.

“I think I’ll exit the bath,” Crimson said as she slid out. “I don’t want to be in a soup full of filthy stallion juice. Full offense intended to your mango boyfriend, Totally-Not-Twilight.”

“That is fine,” smiled Crimson’s order Fable, a blue and green earth mare with a heart-shaped cutie mark. She joined her on the edge of the tub, and Solar bounced out after them.

“Hey cutie!” Solar giggled. “Can you be Tranquil with a dick?”

“Eh, sure,” Crimson shrugged. She didn’t seem to mind so long as the partner was naturally female.

Twilight was distracted from their antics for a moment when her own order splashed into the water in front of her and Gloomy. Gloomy seemed predictably unenthused, though wasn’t soft either. Daydream’s Daybreaker form seemed perfect, right down to the flaming tail that caused a burst of steam as he sank into the water. His malicious grin was probably perfect too as he looked down at them. Twilight chuckled nervously and was about to ask for a slight change. She didn’t need to though.

“Oh goodness,” Daydream-breaker paused about an inch from slurping Twilight’s muzzle and pulled his head back. “You wanted Celestia’s classical form? I am so sorry; I will get another potion.”

“Wait,” Twilight peered. “I thought you needed permission to read our minds.”

“Oh uh… didn’t I get it?” Daydream’s maniacal Daybreaker face became very nervous.

“Um, is this some kind of fetish?” a timid voice said from across the pool. “I don’t think it’s listed in our study guides…”

Twilight looked up to see Crimson slathering goo all over Fable’s face. At least she assumed it was Fable, since she was in a form which Twilight recognized from descriptions of Tranquil. Either way, it relieved Twilight when the goo didn’t work.

“Yes, yes, it is,” Crimson answered Fable-Tranquil. “So is this!”

With that, Crimson grabbed Fable-Tranquil by the head in her magic, dragging her to the edge of the pool and using both forehooves to shove her head under the water. Since her front legs were still weak, she mostly just lay atop her to push her under. Fable-Tranquil sputtered and tried to pull her head out.

“Um, miss?” Daydream turned from Twilight. “You should okay any violent fetishes prior to…”

“This isn’t a fetish,” Crimson explained, taking her time as she kept Fable-Tranquil drowning. “I mean, I do have a fetish for this, but that’s not why I’m doing it. I was told they might need to be under emotional stress for this to work.”

“Crimson, that’s enough!” Twilight sighed.

Twilight felt bad for her suspicions as Crimson finally gave up on stopping Fable-Tranquil from breathing. However, this respite was short-lived. In a flash of green magic, Fable’s form shimmered and reverted into what Twilight could only assume was her true form.

No wait, his true form; Crimson was grinning triumphantly now, but wouldn’t be for long.

Fable wasn’t as bright as the other changeling they saw, but wasn’t solid black or filled with holes either. He had dark green chitin over most of his body, with dark purple around his torso and wings, which looked like a traditional changeling’s minus the holes. He sported two dark purple antlers and somewhat lighter eyes. The form and color scheme was more intimidating than the bright one they’d seen at Everfree, but his terrified expression detracted from that.

Gloomy was faster than Twilight, grasping Daydream from behind as soon as he realized what they were dealing with. He leaped up on her back and bit down on his horn, twisting it to provide enough interference to keep him from casting. Still, that wouldn’t keep him from getting other changelings here.

“Hey! What gives!” Solar didn’t understand, but slowly caught on as her intelligence overpowered her hormones. “Whatever she just changed into, I want to buck it! Wait… is that a changeling? Are we sure, because it looks kinda different from the other we saw.”

This was rapidly going bad, Twilight did her best to charge up her own broken horn, wanting to be ready if she needed to use it, only for it to crackle out. That was weird, her horn being broken shouldn’t prevent all channeling of energy.

At this point, Crimson realized the gender difference, and her face turned to rage. She doubled her efforts to push Fable’s head under the surface. Solar and her fought over whether to keep it down. Solar easily won that disagreement, since Crimson was both weaker and lost her telekinesis at the same time Twilight stopped being able to charge her horn.

Twilight moved towards that tussle, wondering if she should intervene. It really showed how this world had affected her that she considered letting Crimson murder one outright to improve their odds, if only for a moment.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” cried Fable, somehow seeming more upset at offending the customer than being revealed. “We didn’t have enough females so they asked me to be one until we could find more! I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings!”

“We’re not Trinity’s! Spare us!” Daydream-breaker shrieked, shrinking down and not even attempting to buck off Gloomy. “Please! I know we disabled your magic, but it’s just for defense, we mean you no harm!”

So that’s why everyone’s magic had just stopped working. Twilight wondered if it was an official part of the town’s defenses or if it was specific to the PUB. More importantly though, their responses didn’t seem evil or controlled, they were both far too apologetic.

“Wait,” Twilight said, moving to help Solar keep Fable’s head above water, making Crimson give up and sigh in defeat. “You two work for Kyo only, not Trinity?”

“What?” Daydream-breaker shrieked. “Of course only Kyo... but one of the Chosen is here, he’ll tell Midnight for sure and she’s no better!”

Twilight believed them. She expected it would be scary if they turned out to be changelings, but this reaction and the lack of resistance made far more sense if they were refugees instead of soldiers.

“Calm down,” Gloomy seemed to get the idea too, and even eased up on Daydream’s horn. “I don’t work for Midnight either. She’d probably kill me if she knew I was here.”

The statement calmed them enough to prevent a screaming panic, but not a lot more. At first, Twilight wondered why Gloomy didn’t hesitate to tell them, but it didn’t take her long to work it out. They couldn’t tell on him if they didn’t want him telling on them, and an alliance with rogue changelings would benefit Statera.

Even then, Twilight had to focus to reign in her emotions. She’d spent the whole time here telling her group not to be racist, so she felt bad for her instinctive feelings about changelings.

The door opened and Olivia entered, out of breath as if she’d ran the whole way. Twilight could only assume they had a hive network where they called her. Was she a changeling too?

Olivia’s eyes and book glowed as she held out one paw. When she’d said she used magic before, Twilight had assumed alchemy, but it seemed it was more literal. The dog grabbed Crimson, apparently having been told about the attempt to drown Fable, easily pulling her away from the changeling and holding her. As Crimson grumbled, Gloomy was pulled off of Daydream as well, but not held still.

“Everyone calm down!” Olivia called. “Please, friends, I can explain, and Kyo is on her way too. She just returned to town. Please hear us out before you go.”

“Who said anything about leaving?” Solar asked. “I got a list to go through!”
Solar tried to follow Fable as she retreated to hide behind Olivia with Daydream.

“Daydream, Fable, please go for now,” Olivia said. “I apologize to our patrons, but we need to get this settled. If you still want afterward, you can still have your free session as promised.”

“Aw,” Solar sighed, having the least idea what was going on. Twilight felt for her.

“You were going to have a male buck me!” Crimson shrieked at Olivia. “I might have broken my vow to never buck a male without killing him!”

“I apologize,” said Olivia. “I really do. What vow was that though?”

“I… gah, whatever,” Crimson went limp. “Disgusting bug-horses. If only I had a giant fly-swatter.”

Olivia frowned but released Crimson. She seemed ready to grasp her again.

Crimson calmed and an awkward silence enveloping the room for a moment. Olivia opened the door again an instant before Kyo rounded the corner to come into the spa. Mercury followed behind her as if she’d been on her way to the PUB with her already. Kyo seemed less out of breath than Olivia had been now that they knew the situation calmed.

“Well,” Kyo started. “I guess I should have told them to check your things on your way in, but it doesn’t matter now.”

“Um, Twilight,” Gloomy said, not bothering to use Twilight’s pretend name. “You should take point on this conversation.”

“Very well,” Twilight nodded. It was best to clear this up before Starlight and the Pies knew. “Kyo. We are not your enemies. Please, just be honest with us… I take it you and Olivia are also changelings? Is that why you can still use magic despite whatever turns ours off?”

“No,” Kyo shook her head. “We’re not. Olivia developed a way for non-changelings to access a changeling hive, and a way for us to separate these changelings from Trinity’s hive. Being part of that hive makes us as immune to magical null fields as changelings are. I assure you, none of these changelings are your enemies either; they’re just scared.”

“Not a changeling?” Twilight looked at Olivia. “But you’re a diamond dog, how did you learn magic at all?”

“Excuse me?” Olivia said, wrinkling her forehead. “Do you think diamond dogs are stupid?”

“I don’t think she meant it that way,” Kyo patted Olivia’s arm. “Don’t forget what they said before. That one is an off-worlder, and from the past on top of that, supposedly.”

“No, she’s right to be angry,” Twilight realized her mistake. “Sorry, it wasn’t fair for me to say that.”

“Tsk, racist,” Crimson sounded triumphant, but she wasn’t wrong. Twilight felt ashamed that she’d slipped up so soon after resisting it with the changelings. “Magical null field though? How’s that work?”

“It’s fine,” Olivia seemed to forgive quickly enough. She turned to Crimson and politely added. “Our secret, but I will deactivate it so long as you remain docile, as a sign that we intend no harm.”

Twilight felt a slight jolt in her horn stump, and assumed that meant she could channel energy again.

“Anyway,” Kyo said. “It’s just like I said. These changelings are ones me and Olivia rescued from Trinity’s hive. The method requires surgery and magic, but it makes them unfindable by a normal changeling, which protects them from detection by our own systems as well. If Trinity or Midnight found out they were here, they would drag them off for experiments.”

“We won’t turn them in,” Twilight assured. “Please, you need not fear.” She turned to the others. “I am right, am I not?” She added “Crimson?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Crimson grumbled. “I’m angry, but it’s not in my best interest to out them either. They’re just lucky that monstrosity didn’t have time to touch me with his dick or I’d insist I get to kill him in exchange for my silence.”

It was a good thing Olivia and Kyo didn’t know Crimson like Twilight did. They seemed to take the death threat as figurative.

“I am sorry for that,” Kyo said. “I’ll ensure that you get the partner you wish if you come here again. Or you can have me, if that helps.”

“I just want to find Tranquil now,” Crimson sighed.

“Right,” Twilight turned back to them. “So, I take it that Peaceful Melody is one of yours?”

“No,” Kyo shook her head. “We were being honest before, we had no idea she was a changeling. Honestly, it worries me how she got through our detection grid, which should have picked up any of Trinity’s.”

“It is indeed an issue,” nodded Olivia. “But sadly we have not found her. She seems to have disappeared, as has Cola, right after I asked about their guests. I hope I didn’t cause him to suspect them.”

“Well, to be fair, Peaceful may not be Trinity’s,” said Twilight. “We suspect that she escaped from Midnight Castle when Tranquil passed by there and joined her as her ‘twin’. Since she came here instead of booking it for Trinity’s territory, she might be avoiding her too.”

“If that is the case, we still must acquire Peaceful as soon as possible,” said Kyo. “Just because we can’t sense her doesn’t mean Trinity can’t. We need to make sure she isn’t in danger, and that her presence doesn’t draw attention to us. And of course we need to know if there are more like her.”

Twilight started to respond, but a burst of static in her head cut her off, like someone had just cracked her over the head with a cattle prod.

‘Team!’ Starlight’s voice rang over the PCB. ‘This is Starlight! I’ve amplified my signal with the computer. I’m in the bunker.’

“Starlight?” Twilight asked aloud before responding on the PCB. ‘We hear you, what is it?’

“What about Starlight?” Kyo asked.

“Damn that smarts,” Crimson twitched. “Starlight just activated her pipbuck PCB by amping the signal from within your bunker.”

“Is Dyo okay?” Kyo asked.

Dyo wasn’t already on Kyo’s hive network? Twilight couldn’t help but wonder why. Was it because he wasn’t able to or because Kyo didn’t trust her brother that much?

‘Dyo is fleeing the city,’ Starlight said over the pipbuck network. ‘He’ll probably go by the Pie Museum to get Custard; acquire him at all costs! And evacuate as much of the city as possible! Not into Stable 11, I mean EVACUATE the city. No time for questions, just get them as far away as possible. If we can’t get this launch sequence stopped within 20 minutes, this whole city above and below will burn.’

Twilight felt her blood run cold. Was her assumption that the bombs couldn’t still explode wrong?

“Kyo,” Twilight widened her eyes. “We have a more immediate problem.”