Fallout Equestria: The Ashlands Timeline

Earlier Tuesday, 10/25/2287
POV: Mercury Shine
Stable 27

Mercury couldn’t believe she had finally figured it out! This would revolutionize Stable 27!

No, take that back. Mercury definitely could believe she had figured it out. Crimson told her she was the best alchemist that the stable ever knew, after all. She claimed Mercury rivaled the scientists at the Ministry of Alchemy before the Breaking, quite a compliment coming from the Overmare!

There had never been a colt born inside Stable 27. Shortly after they had entered over 200 years ago, the Overmare wisely tainted the water supply with chemicals that ensured ponies only gave birth to fillies. Prior to that, Equestria had only ever kept stallions as breeding stock, as every school filly in Stable 27 learned. They were too stupid to do any useful duties.

Of course stallions were good for one thing, so they required magic to give mares the temporary bits necessary to produce foals with their wives. Not only could it be inconvenient to track down a unicorn capable of the spell any time you wished to breed, but the magic was painful; the spell turned a mare’s vagina inside out and formed her ovaries into fertile testicles, and it felt every bit as excruciating as one would expect, which didn’t exactly put one in the mood to make foals.

The new potion Mercury developed was both easy to use and painless, containing a similar numbing agent to the one they used during surgery.

It surprised Mercury that nopony had thought of such a thing. In fact, the problem was so easy to fix that if she didn’t know better, she’d have thought Crimson designed the spell they taught the more magically-gifted unicorns to be painful. The Overmare wouldn’t do that though; that’d be bananas. Mercury assumed that she was just so brilliant with chemistry that it seemed easier than it was.

Strangely though, the Overmare and her wife Tranquil Melody were not enthused when Mercury explained how painless the new potion would be. Crimson had feared adding a numbing agent to it would cause complications, even insanity, but Mercury had run simulations showing no reason it would.

Mercury hoped their lack of enthusiasm didn't indicate issues in their relationship and especially hoped that Tranquil wasn’t relapsing; the poor mare already underwent cryo-rehabilitation for suspected heterosexually once before she and Crimson had wed...not that Mercury had room to speak on that.

Perhaps Mercury could cheer the two up by offering to do trials on it tonight. Crimson, despite being the Overmare, sometimes volunteered as the guinea pig for new potions. Her soul crystal meant that she was effectively immortal, after all. It must be nice to have one of those, the ability to grow a new body whenever you die, or when you just didn't want to get old, would be handy.

At least the stable’s only soul crystal was embedded in the right head. Crimson had led for over 200 years now. She was like Stable 27’s personal goddess, without the part about changing form and reducing the world to ashes.

This meant that much of the stable population was descended from Crimson. Mercury herself was a descendant of Crimson and one of her second wives, Aloe, which made Crimson her 10x great grandmother. Though with Crimson’s tendency to wed her own descendants, she was also Mercury's 3x and 5x great grandmother. That might have been weird once upon a time, but in an enclosed stable with a limited number of residents, it was unavoidable at some point. Thank Break for the genetic stabilization magics to prevent issues from inbreeding.

Either way, Mercury looked forward to testing. It’d be at least a little interesting to observe such a ‘test’. Mercury smiled brightly, picking up one vial and her research folder with her magic before turning to the door and…

...watching as two security mares burst in through said doors and pointed their quivering guns at her face.

“Don’t move or we’ll… um… something bad!” the unicorn mare in front, Pistol Whip, stammered, her gun shaking in her telekinetic grasp.

“What?” Mercury blinked.

She took a step back, dropping both her research folder and the vial in surprise. The vial shattered at Pistol’s hooves as she approached, who took one deep breath of the resulting mist and went cross-eyed. She promptly tumbled to the floor.

“She’s using poison gas on us!” Trigger Teeth, the second guard, said as she dove behind a table.

To Mercury’s horror, Trigger lived up to her name. If not for a reluctance to shoot a fellow stable dweller, she might have scored a direct hit. It was still close; Mercury felt the wind from the bullet buzzing past her head before it struck the wall behind her. She shrieked and dove for cover herself, shielding her head with her hooves.

“It was an accident!” Mercury screamed.

Damn it, this always happened! No matter what Mercury Shine did, it somehow turned into another bad time!

“It’s not poison,” gagged Pistol, “Um, it was… something else.” She staggered back up to her hooves, blushing as she looked at her underside. “Oh that new potion works, nice. It was so painless I barely noticed!”

“Um, sorry,” Trigger stammered, “Regardless, we’re taking you in!”

“For what?!” Mercury cried out, tears streaking down her face now. “I didn’t do anything!”

“You know what you did!” Pistol growled, pulling up her gun again. “Bucking monster!”

“Is it because I took the last broccoli at dinner, and you really wanted it?” asked Mercury, confused as to what else it might be.

“… no.” Pistol sounded unsure, “Though I am peeved about the broccoli.” She must have been angry to use such language. “Look, we searched your room.”

“What’s in my room?” asked Mercury. Oh gods! Did they find the straight romance novel she swiped from the archives? They’d send her to cryo-rehab for sure!

“Look, just follow us, and don’t try anything funny!” Trigger said. “Or, you know, anything not funny either. Just don't try anything, okay?”

Mercury slowly emerged, wishing they wouldn’t point their firearms directly at her, and headed out of the lab back toward her room. The guards walked behind her, tensing as if they expected her to attempt an escape. It wasn’t like there was anywhere to escape to inside a stable. They could track her by her pipbuck even if she lost them.

This was strange though. Why didn’t they tell her what they thought she did? Now that she'd calmed, Mercury realized it had to be more than just finding evidence of heterosexuality. They’d escort her to cryo-rehab for that, since that was the go-to punishment for every crime here, but security didn’t pull their guns on somepony for being a pervert.

When she arrived near her quarters, there were other security around it, many of them looking at Mercury like she disturbed their very souls. She walked past them quickly, unnerved by their stare, and went into her quarters.

She froze as soon as she entered the room. On her bed lay the body of a unicorn filly she had often foal-sat, sprawled out… a thin cord wrapped tightly around her neck. Her face was off-color from suffocation, her body stiffened, dead for at least several hours. Aside from that, the filly had obviously been… used, and Mercury didn’t imagine it was with consent. They filly’s pipbuck lay on the dresser next to the bed

“No!” Mercury felt tears formed as she turned from the bed to the others. “I-it doesn’t even make sense! Only she could take off her own pipbuck and why do it for a killer?”

Trigger told everypony in the gathering crowd. “She perfected that potion she’d been telling everypony about. She must have… tested it… on little Silk Strand.”

“I did no such thing!” Mercury’s eyes blurred with tears as she struggled to stay coherent. “I love that filly! W-why didn’t security know when her pipbuck came off?”

“As if you wouldn’t know,” Trigger grunted. “A maintenance code was used to keep it from triggering. We’re questioning maintenance to see which of them you might have stolen it from.”

“I don’t know enough about magitronics to steal or use one of those codes!” Mercury shouted again, body quivering until her legs gave out and she lay on her belly. “Besides, the potion wasn’t ready for testing until a few minutes ago! And… my pipbuck! It will tell you I wasn’t in here! I’ve been in the lab since late yesterday!”

“Is that so?” Chrome Keys, the head of security, stepped forward as she arrived. “Let me see?”

Mercury held up her pipbuck, giving access freely. Chrome moved closer, pulling Mercury back up and holding her hoof over the screen, using her ‘sticky hoof’ to manipulate the controls.

“According to this,” Chrome spoke after another minute. “You left the lab six hours ago. You stopped by Silk’s quarters, then to your room where you stayed for another hour before heading back to the lab. And it looks like you took all the back corridors so nopony would have seen you. That’s unsurprising.”

“But… WHAT?” Mercury shook her head, pulling her pipbuck back up to look at it. Her position logs said exactly what Chrome said. But how? “I didn’t! I swear I didn’t come here! Why would I show it to you without hesitation if I knew… why would I leave her body in my room and not disintegrate it when I have full access to the alchemy labs? Nothing makes sense!”

“Could somepony have altered it?” Trigger asked. Mercury appreciated the doubt, even if it was probably just a rhetorical question.

“Nonsense,” Pistol sounded more certain, “Only the Overmare could remotely alter a pipbuck, and she wouldn’t do anything like this.”

“Chrome, you know that I am a terrible liar,” Mercury said, exasperated and choking on new tears. “You’d know if I was lying.”

“Wouldn’t she…” Chrome trailed off, “You’re right, you are a terrible liar.” She glanced at the guards, “Take Mercury to the lock up. I’ll question her after I speak with the Overmare.”

“Chief,” Pistol shook her head, “Will you put those blind suspicions to rest? The Overmare has ruled this stable for over two centuries. If she were secretly a serial killer, we’d know it by now.”

“Yeah,” Trigger agreed, apparently not having as much doubt as Mercury thought. “I know it doesn’t seem like something Mercury would do, but ponies crack, it’s happened before and they’re never very careful with their deeds when they do. I mean, we should definitely ask the Overmare if somepony else might have gotten her code, but...”

“It has happened before, fairly regularly in fact,” Chrome nodded, “Ponies cracking I mean, ever since the stable opened… and usually to ponies that the Overmare had a problem with. This is the third time someone invented a potion to replace one of the spells our unicorns learn and then went haywire, as if someone wanted us to dismiss the potions as dangerous.”

“The Overmare doesn’t have a problem with me,” Mercury said, confident of that, even if it hurt her case. “S-she said I was a good alchemist. And… I don’t see why she’d be against a working potion.”

“But usually it turns out to be someone like that,” Chrome pondered.

“You’re always doubting her,” Mercury shook her head.

Chrome had been saying things about the Overmare ever since being appointed, even though never so brashly or publicly as now, so Mercury entertained the idea for a moment that she might be pulling something. Yet, she wasn’t suspicious enough to accuse her outright. Even if Mercury had absolute faith in the Overmare, she still didn’t want to believe anypony here could murder a filly for political gain.

“The Overmare is wise,” said Trigger, “She has ancient knowledge, she’s probably just a good judge of character.”

“Take Mercury to the cell,” Chrome repeated, “I need to get an engineer for something.”

“What do you need an engineer for?” Pistol shook her head, perhaps suspicious that she suddenly wanted one now.

“Are you okay, Security Chief?” Trigger asked. “I walked by your quarters the other day and thought I heard you talking to yourself…”

“You have no idea, Trigger.” She turned to Mercury. “I’m sorry; this is just how it has to be for now, so please understand.” She looked at the other guards. “You’re right of course… I’ll chat with the Overmare later and it will surely alleviate things.” She pulled up her pipbuck. “I will need Solar though for… something unrelated to this murder… or at least beyond it. This is going to be a really crappy week I think.”

Crimson would surely put her fears to rest when they chatted later, and Mercury was confident that Crimson would take her side too. It was weird that Chrome became oddly intense in her suspicions about Crimson before suddenly pulling back though. She’d always stayed just shy of it being enough to earn her rehab, but this outburst might well push other security personnel to request it. It was obvious to anypony that such suspicions had to be wrong, right?

Mercury sat quietly in the cell upon one bed, hunched in one corner, rocking back and forth. She was no longer crying, but it stunned her all the same. At least she was in the cell and not the cryo chambers, which is where she expected to go immediately. That alone meant that Chrome believed that Mercury probably wasn't guilty of anything, but there were other issues.

Surely once they talked to the Overmare, she would settle this. Something else must have happened; it had to be a fault somewhere that allowed somepony else to do this.

“Yes, Overmare? She’s still here,” the voice of one guard outside spoke.

Finally! She was here, once Crimson…

But it wasn’t Crimson that came in and trotted to her cell. It was Chrome Keys.

“Where’s the Overmare?” asked Mercury quietly.

“I am the Overmare,” Chrome answered, “For now, at least, while Crimson serves her time in rehab, which may well be the rest of my life with as much as she needs.”

“Serves her time? What are you talking about?” Mercury stood up from the bed and walked to the glass wall of the cell. "You can't possibly mean she's going into cryo!"

“Did you know what Crimson and Tranquil were doing?” Chrome asked, “Just answer.”

“What were they doing?” Mercury asked, more confused than ever.

“I want to say you’re another victim,” Chrome sighed, “But you were right before, Crimson had no reason to go against you. And you are best friends with Tranquil… maybe a new... recruit to her habits?”

The accusations were oddly unenthusiastic, as if even Chrome didn’t quite believe them, but they were accusations all the same.

“Name one pony I’m not friends with!” Mercury shook violently as she spoke. “Please, Security Chief, just tell me what you’re talking about!”

“Overmare,” Chrome corrected, then sighed. “Look, Tranquil made it out of the stable, but I’d normally expect her to return once she realized Crimson didn’t follow her. If she does, I’ll question her and then come back to talk to you… you’re probably fine, but you need to be in here for now for… reasons. I hope you understand.”

“I don’t understand,” Mercury teared up again.

As they spoke, Mercury heard a commotion outside the room. She looked just in time to see Trigger and Pistol, the same mares that verbally defended Crimson earlier, dragging Crimson into the cryogenics. Crimson still wore her stable suit, gold-trimmed to signify her being the Overmare, but her white fur and pink mane were ruffled from her struggles, though she still sported both a ponytail and pigtail in her mane. Her cutie mark of a quill dipped in red ink seemed more sinister in her current state.

Crimson also wasn’t acting as she normally did. She was laughing hysterically, not struggling as much as making them drag her across the floor on her back.

“Hey, Mercury!” Crimson called as they forced her into the cryo-pod, “Don’t tell them what Tranquil’s up to, okay?” She then laughed again at the guards, “Aw, come on guys! How bout we all calm down and I’ll tell you the story of how...” Her words were cut off as the pod closed.

“What does that even mean?” Chrome sighed and put a hoof to her face in frustration. “I can’t believe things are actually ending up like this.”

“I-I don’t know what she meant!” Mercury stammered, afraid it might cause another accusation.

Why had Crimson said that? If she didn’t know better, Mercury might think Crimson was trying to take Mercury down too just for giggles. There had to be another explanation.

“If they delay putting her in there,” Mercury said. “I’m sure that whatever happened… Chrome, it has to be a misunderstanding! Whatever you found can be explained, I’m sure of it! Are you sure she wasn’t drugged? I haven’t seen her act like this before. I could test her if-”

“Mercury, please,” sighed Chrome, cutting Mercury off and then turning to leave, even as Crimson’s laughter was cut short by her pod closing. “I know it’s confusing just… stay in there for now.”

“Holy buck,” breathed Trigger as she set the controls on the pod.

“Seriously,” Pistol said, “It’s like out of nowhere… bananas! Could she really have been putting on a sane act this whole time?”

“Good thing she stopped to take the soul recycler with her,” Trigger said, “Else she might have gotten away like Tranquil.”

“Trigger, Pistol,” Mercury called to them, “Please, just tell me what is going on!”

“I shouldn’t,” Trigger shook her head, “I think the Overmare should be the one to talk to you.”

“Whatever ‘the Overmare’ found, there’s an explanation!” shrieked Mercury. “What if Chrome planted evidence? It’s no secret she dislikes the Overmare.”

“You didn’t see what she found,” Trigger shook her head. “Didn’t you see how Crimson was acting just now?”

“She’s eccentric,” Mercury shook her head, “I’m sure we would be too if we had lived… and died… as much as her. But she’s not evil, everypony knows that!”

The guards shook their heads, turning to follow Chrome out without another word.

“Let me see her!” another voice spoke after Chrome exited. Mercury recognized it as Solar.

“Solar,” Chrome spoke, “We don’t know what is going on yet. She'll likely be released, just be patient.”

“So, she can’t even have visitors until you know exactly what is going on?” Solar demanded, “Are you acting Overmare or acting tyrant?”

Chrome hesitated, “Fine, but you can’t go in the cell.”

“What, so she won’t escape?” Solar scoffed.

“No, so you won’t spend all your time on duty molesting her,” Chrome dead-panned.

“… got me there,” Solar chuckled.

Solar raced in, coming in so quickly that she slammed into the glass wall of the cell. She tumbled back onto her behind, holding her nose in her wings.

“Mercury!” Solar didn't bother playing it off, staggering back to her hooves and keeping her wings over her nose. “I know you’re not guilty. I won’t let them put you in those pods with that monster!”

“Solar!” Mercury said, “That’s the Overmare you’re talking about, she’s no monster! Chrome Keys is just…”

“Mercury listen,” Solar shook her head, fluffing her wings a bit as she folded them back. “Chrome secretly asked me to hack the Overmare’s terminal. We found detailed logs of her activities on the archives maneframe. Videos and everything; there was literally weeks of footage going back centuries, memory spheres too. Mercury, she’s been killing her subjects for years, blaming it on accidents or other ponies. It's all been for the fun of it as far as we can tell. Tranquil was her… apprentice. It’s all true.”

“What? No!” Mercury refused to believe it. “Tranquil is the nicest soul I know, they wouldn’t do that, either of them!”

“Damn it, Mercury,” Solar almost growled, “For someone almost as smart as me, you’re a cubic buck load of naivety.” She sighed, “Look it doesn’t matter. I won’t let them put you in that thing, Mercury, even if I have to break them all down. I swear.”

“Solar…” Mercury started again.

“I love you Mercury,” Solar put a single hoof against the glass, “I wish you understood that.”

“You love everypony,” Mercury shook her head, backing up and sitting on the bed again.

“I buck everypony, sure,” chuckled Solar, “But it’s you I love. I really do… I’d buck you too if you weren’t so damned picky.”

“You’d buck a Glimmer Cola machine if it wasn’t picky,” Mercury sighed.

Mercury wasn’t picky, though. She was straight, as shameful as that was, which they’d probably realize once they gave her stored goods a good once-over. Maybe it was best if she went into cryo-rehabilitation right beside Crimson. It might do her good, make her more normal so she could give a more positive response to friendly mares like Solar.

Either way, it was a compliment for Solar to say she loved anypony like that. Mercury was the only pony Solar had ever connected with on that level, and she often felt guilty that she didn’t feel similar in return.

Solar looked like she was about to speak again, but a sudden stable alarm silenced her. The pair almost jumped out of their stable suits, taking a moment to figure out what it was. The only time they used a stable-wide alarm was in a disaster, but Mercury could count the number of times that’d happened on one hoof. It had happened once in her lifetime, and it had only been somepony mistaking spilled cola for a dangerous chemical leak.

“Attention,” the magitronic Daybreaker voice spoke over the intercom, “Incursion by the New Lunar Republic imminent. All security to defensive positions.”

“The what?” Mercury squealed.

How could this be? The New Lunar Republic hadn’t existed since the Breaking; it didn’t even last long enough to take part in the final battle. How could they be attacking now? Unless… it was a devil. But how could it be either Nightmare or Midnight? Mercury had heard about how horrifying they were, that they were alive out there, but she assumed that to be stories to frighten foals. Surely they’d died out there the same as everypony else outside this stable.

But then as suddenly as it started, the alarm stopped.

“Attention,” the computer voice said again, “Incursion detection in error. Please refer to your Stable-Tec operating manual or contact your local Stable-Tec representative if you have further questions.”

“That’s… weird,” Solar looked shifty-eyed around the room, “I’ll go see what’s going on.”

“Don’t,” Mercury sighed, “Solar, I need someone here to talk to.”

Mercury didn’t like Solar putting herself in harm’s way. She’d never admit it because Solar would take it as a flirt, but she valued her as a friend.

“Yeah, yeah,” Solar chuckled knowingly. “Look, if there’s a fault, they’ll need me to find it. I’ll run to the reactor to make sure there’s no problem and then go right to hunt down the ‘acting Overmare’. I’ll get you out or end up next to you, one or both.”

“Solar…” Mercury pleaded, but Solar’s only response was to wink and trot back out the door.

The door reopened not long after Solar left. The guards outside were escorting another group of ponies to the cell Mercury occupied.

Ponies she’d never seen before, which was impossible right? There was nopony outside the stable other than devils or undead. Everypony knew that. Right? Yet here they were. Living　ponies she didn't recognize; Mercury assumed they were from outside, but how?

In front was a pegasus though she was more metal than mare. She had a rainbow mane and tail poking free from what looked like the old-style Enclave armor Mercury had seen in history books. She looked an awful lot like the Enclave’s president, Rainbow Dash, exactly in fact. How could she be anypony else?

Behind her were two ponies dressed in Canterlot guard armor, earth ponies. They’d removed their helmets, and Mercury could see that one was pink and the other was gray, both with the same straight-down mane-style. They were eyeing the rainbow mare and stable guards with equal amounts of suspicion.

Behind were two unicorns, also wearing Canterlot guard armor, also having removed their helms. There was a purple one that was crying, a great deal of fresh blood on her armor. Had something else happened? Whoever it was, the poor mare had a very ‘Midnight Sparkle’ color scheme. Mercury couldn’t imagine being unlucky enough to be born favoring such a horrible creature. The possibility that she was Midnight didn’t even register, because she wasn’t killing everypony in sight.

Then the other one, pink with a purple and blue striped mane. She looked like Starlight Glimmer. She even had the head-mounted pipbuck from the newspaper images in their history books, the one that Solar had often spoken of how she’d love to see. Sheesh, if Solar saw that, she might goo herself enough to pass out from dehydration.

“Back up, Mercury Shine,” said Trigger as she moved to the door of the cell, “You're sharing the cell. Don’t bother them and do not discuss internal stable issues.”

“I won’t,” Mercury stood and backed to the opposite side, looking at the new entries in confusion.

Trigger opened the door, allowing the new ponies to enter the cell.

“There are uniforms in the drawers there,” Trigger said, “Get yourselves cleaned up and changed, we’ll be taking the armor you have on.”

Once the door closed, Mercury walked toward the group. She was cut off by the dull colored earth pony however, who was quick to step between her and the others.

“You will not approach,” the mare’s expression showed no hint of real emotion, but her eyes narrowed slightly. She clearly had a way with ponies. A very terrifying way.

“We do not know what crime she committed!” the pink one added, moving beside the other and looking outright murderous. “We should eliminate her to be safe!”

“That is too far, Pink,” Maud glanced at Pinkie. “We do not attack unarmed civilians. If we wait to confirm she is an enemy, it will be more fun.”

Mercury didn’t have the nerve to protest as she stared into those murderous eyes, so backed herself into the corner to look less intimidating, if that were even possible. She stayed still, feeling like those stares would snap her in half.

“Maud, Pinkie,” the pony that looked like Starlight spoke. “Let her be.”

“Yeah,” commented the rainbow pegasus, smirking. “Killing our bunkmate might hurt Starlight’s ability to negotiate, to say the least.”

Maud stepped back and left Mercury alone, Pinkie following more reluctantly, but they and the pegasus kept an eye on Mercury.

That was really Starlight Glimmer? Mercury widened her eyes as Starlight turned to comfort the Midnight pony again, catching a glimpse of the gem at the base of her neck. She had a soul gem, like Crimson. This could actually be Starlight Glimmer! Did that mean the Midnight pony was really that Midnight? Surely not. She couldn't see the back of her neck from here, but whoever the purple unicorn was, she was no devil.

Maybe? Even devils might cry if somepony they loved died.

Mercury nervously made her way to the water dispenser to pour them glasses of water, wanting to make herself seem friendlier and unsure what to say otherwise. Maud reached for the water, at which point Pinkie kicked the glass out of her hoof and across the room as if it were a live grenade.

“It is poisoned!” Pinkie claimed, then pointed at Mercury. “You will drink first! And then the traitorous featherbrain! If neither of you die, Pinkie will test it before giving some to the Empress, yes.”

Mercury stared and cautiously reached for a glass, guzzling it down fast to appease the paranoid earth pony.

“Lose the term Empress for now, please,” Starlight sighed, patting the purple unicorn. “I don’t want to seem like I’m trying to take over. And I doubt the water is poisoned.”

“We are in an enclosed room,” Maud said. “Poison gas would be far more efficient.”

“But their spy is also here!” the pink pony narrowed her eyes at Mercury as she put the glass down. “They put her here to discover our secrets!”

“Um, but I just drank the um…” Mercury stammered a little.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just watch us through cameras?” Rainbow asked, but guzzled one too. “We’d be more likely to talk without somepony else in the cell.”

“A filthy featherbrain would think like that,” the pink one’s eyes narrowed further, watching closely as Rainbow drank to see if anything happened to her. She quirked one eyebrow in slight surprise when neither Mercury or Rainbow keeled over dead from the water, then narrowed her eyes in further suspicion.

“Pinkie, lose the racial slurs,” Starlight said firmly, then grasped a glass with her magic. “Kamikaze is right.” She turned back to Mercury, “I’m sorry, they’re just protective. Though, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you in this cell for?”

Kamikaze? Wait. Mercury remembered that from the history books too. That was Rainbow Dash’s call sign; she got it from having jumped into lethal machines and attacks so often; it was how she’d ended up with so many metal parts. Solar had often gone on about it, mostly because she wondered if certain other parts also got upgrades.

Gods, if Solar saw this group… it surprised Mercury she wasn’t already here. Then again, it’d surprise Mercury if anypony let Solar in here with them. She might be off somewhere figuring out how to get past the guards.

“Well, it’s not anything too bad,” said Mercury, definitely not wanting to tell them ‘suspected of foal murder’. That’d be a poor first impression. “If I did anything too bad, I’d be in cryorehab, right?”

“I do not know. Would you?” Maud asked.

The question took Mercury off guard. She had never spoken to ponies that weren’t familiar with the culture of the stable. She’d assumed that how they did things in Stable 27 was the standard Equestrian way of doing things.

“I would,” Mercury said, uncertainly. “Definitely, I’m certain.” She shook her head, trying to start over, “My name’s Mercury Shine. I’m just in here because of a misunderstanding, I swear. Once the security chief gets back to question me, I’ll be set free. I have… I mean she thinks I have information about… something.”

“The former Overmare?” Starlight asked. “Is that what you have information about?”

“I’m… not supposed to say,” Mercury stammered. “The guards said not to talk about stable issues...”

“As you will,” Starlight looked disappointed, turning back to the Twilight pony, voice pitching higher as one might when speaking to a foal. “Look at this, Twilight, books.”

To cheer the other mare up, Starlight pointed to the cell's bookshelf. Twilight’s eyes followed her to the book shelf, but for the moment just stared, her mind awash in other concerns.

‘Twilight’ though? That was Midnight’s original name… but how could it be?

“Midnight Sparkle?” Mercury asked in a trembling whisper.

The fear must have been apparent in her voice because Starlight acted as if she thought Mercury might scream.

“Oh no, no, no, this isn’t Midnight,” Starlight assured.

“Twilight and Midnight are the same pony, aren’t they?” Mercury asked, sitting back down, looking at Twilight cautiously. It was hard to see the grieving mare as dangerous, yet…

“Your history is inaccurate, I fear,” Starlight explained, “Twilight and Midnight are not the same pony they are… sisters. Twilight differs greatly from Midnight, they oppose one another, like Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon did.”

“No, they are the same,” Mercury shook her head. This made less and less sense. “I heard stories from Crimson herself, and she was alive before the Breaking. She MET Midnight Sparkle.”

“Crimson?” asked Starlight, “Is that the Overmare? Are you sure you still trust her after recent events?”

Starlight looked at her kindly, but as kind as Starlight looked, her stare made Mercury uneasy. It felt like an attempt to rewrite Mercury’s thoughts just by looking at her.

“No!” Mercury got angry rather than cooperative. “Crimson would never kill that foal! She wouldn’t kill anypony! Chrome Keys framed her to take over! I’m sure of it!”

Starlight looked surprised at Mercury’s defensive reaction, but then waxed thoughtful. Meanwhile, Twilight had retrieved a book from the shelf and was flipping through it with an empty expression on her face.

“So, it was murder, foal murder no less,” Starlight said, one hoof still on Twilight’s shoulder. “I assumed something more political. Interesting.”

Damn it. Mercury realized too late that she’d just blurted things they told her not to. She wondered if Starlight had intentionally tricked her into it. If half of what she read about Starlight’s skills was true, she probably did. That pony practically invented the science of psionics.

“This book says Star Swirl was a mare,” Twilight spoke suddenly, not having been paying attention to the rest of the conversation. She still looked distant, speaking as if she barely cared but couldn't resist mentioning it.

Starlight took the book with her magic and flipped through it. Her horn glowed as she seemed to scan the pages.

“That page, and others, have been replaced.” Starlight slid a hoof along the binding of the book. “On close inspection, some pages are obviously added later.” She creased her forehead as if there was no greater sin than damaging a book.

Twilight turned to Starlight, looking like she didn't comprehend in her current state. She stared into space for a few more seconds, then pulled another book out with her hoof as if her body was on automagic while she fell apart internally.

“What?” Mercury didn’t understand, once again, “What do you mean? Of course, Star Swirl was a mare. Stallions can’t reach anywhere near that level of magic. And the book is old, maybe some pages needed replacing.”

“This Crimson has told you a lot of things, hasn’t she,” Starlight looked carefully at Mercury once again, “Crimson… wait. Crimson Prose?”

Mercury nodded.

“I remember that name,” Starlight tapped her head with a hoof. “You're right, she was alive early in the War… oh, what was it.”

“Early in the War?” Mercury asked. “The War ended when the world did. But yes… she headed the Ministry of News.”

“News,” Starlight mused, “She didn’t have anything to do with the sprite-bots, did she? Sprite-bots rescued us when we first got here. Only a few hours ago; I sort of lost track of time.”

“Sprite-bots?” Mercury tilted her head.

“Small, hovering robots,” Starlight clarified, “We used them for propagan… news purposes, if I’m recalling right.”

“Oh those,” Mercury had heard Crimson mention them, “Well the Ministry of News used those, yes, but they couldn’t still be operating. And the Overmare has been hiding or… well frozen.” Mercury motioned towards the pod, “For the last few hours, at least. It couldn’t have been her, though I’m sure she would have saved you if she could, it’s just… oh this is all so confusing.”

“Whatever,” Kamikaze sighed, “Look: they want us to clean up, so I’m gonna hit the shower. You guys argue over who did what and let me know the result when I get out.”

Kamikaze took her helmet off finally, revealing more of her cerulean coat. She stripped her other armor, leaving a trail behind her on her way to the showers. The armor peeled off her body wetly, the mare sweaty as if from a lot of physical activity. Mercury’s eyes fell upon something specific though that she hadn’t seen previously.

“You have a horn slot,” Mercury commented.

“Huh?” Kamikaze turned to face her fully again. It was true. The cyborg had a circular port on her forehead that looked made to fit a horn. She reached up her metal hoof to feel over it, “Huh, guess I do, but for now the shower and toilet takes precedence over my potential horniness.”

“We must be clean and relieved before the next battle!” Pinkie blurted. Did they really expect to enter battle soon? Mercury dismissed it as more paranoia.

Kamikaze didn’t seem amused, shrugging and slipping inside the shower area and closing it. After a while, she hit the switch for the water, and Mercury watched as her shadow through the frosted glass detached her metal wing, cleaning it on its own. It disturbed Mercury, though Solar would think it was amazing... or kinky.

“Um, anyway,” Mercury tried a new subject since everyone got quiet, speaking to Twilight, “You look… well I wanted to give my condolences for… whatever happened.”

“I appreciate that, Mercury,” sighed Twilight, though didn’t seem prepared to talk about it. Instead, she put the other book away and creased her forehead thoughtfully. “Are there any books here on changelings?”

“Changelings?” Mercury asked, then shook her head, “I’m not sure, I don’t remember anything like that.”

“Why do so many not know about them?” asked Twilight, more to herself than to anypony else. “Before the time shift, Kamikaze mentioned hearing about changelings from Luna, but not knowing what they were. Even Luna had just found out. Yet the soldiers that attacked us mentioned them...”

She tugged another book from the shelf, turning her head away as she teared up again.

“What are changelings?” Starlight asked, leaning towards Twilight.

“They can change form into anyone,” Twilight explained, “They gain energy by becoming somepony you love and feeding off your love for them. According to Kamikaze before she lost her memory, Luna… Nightmare, whoever, said they were behind the war, that they wanted to wipe out pony-kind. Just before the fall of Canterlot, Luna rushed off to fight them.”

“Well that sounds terrifying,” said Starlight. “But if our emotions are their food source, why would they want us all dead?”

“I don’t know,” sighed Twilight. “I know nothing. I’m useless.”

Starlight put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, though seemed at a loss on how to comfort her. Mercury was even more so at a loss.

“That’s just what Pinkie would do if she were an evil shape-changer,” Pinkie claimed. “Burn her own food supply! It would be the last thing the food supply suspected! Yes.”

“Pink,” Maud monotoned, “Close your muzzle and let the saner ponies talk.”

“Pinkie’s muzzle does more than just talk,” Pinkie peered at Maud.

"That would be highly inappropriate for us," mentioned Maud. “Probably.”

“Yes,” Pinkie said as her eyes narrowed further, and the two stared one another down.

“We will use the shower next,” Maud decided. Her and Pinkie peered at each other a few more seconds before they unlatched their armor to pile it in the corner.

“Okay, what I know is this,” Mercury sighed. “On the final day, the Breaking, Daybreaker went insane. She launched megaspells against all other nations, even pacifist ones. She wanted to reduce the world to ash. The Grand Pegasus Enclave took vengeance on Canterlot and didn’t stop even though Daybreaker was assassinated shortly after launching the attacks.”

“What about these other devils?” asked Starlight.

“Well, many other devils remained at large,” Mercury explained. It felt strange to explain to adult ponies things she’d learned as a foal. “Sombra, Nightmare Moon, Midnight Sparkle, and Eris. They fought each other during the war, but now… they work together. They’ve gone mad from living out there where nothing else survives, they want to end any remaining life. Crimson protected the stable by sealing us off so they can’t detect us. If they ever did… we’d be goners.”

“Eris?” asked Twilight weakly.

“If I remember now, a psionic pony that Discord appointed as his replacement before disappearing,” Starlight said. “He tired of watching ponies murder one another.”

“Makes sense,” sighed Twilight. “Even at his worst, Discord had higher standards."

Mercury never believed they were still living; Crimson had just been cautious by sealing them off. At least that’s what she used to think.

"What about Celestia? What happened to her?” Twilight asked.

"Celestia?" Mercury asked. "You mean Daybreaker? I thought we just said..."

Twilight's muzzle dropped open as if just registering something. Her whole body froze as if her brain had shorted out. Mercury wasn't sure what that was about, but let her process the information for a moment.

“Do you believe they’re still alive out there?” asked Starlight, seeming to sense the doubt in Mercury’s previous statements.

“I don’t know,” admitted Mercury, “I used to not believe it, but if normal ponies survived out there this whole time, they could too.”

“Celestia would never do that!” Twilight blurted so abruptly that it made them all jump, like a dam of emotions spilling free. “It had to be changelings. Or Midnight. Or somepony else! Anypony but Celestia!”

“But only Daybreaker could fire Canterlot’s megaspells,” Mercury pointed out as gently as she could.

“Well, yes, but Celestia might have kept it charged and ready, in case she wasn’t there!” Twilight explained angrily. “Maybe the impostor used its existing charge. I mean at the fall of Canterlot, they were having trouble firing it again, but did, and 'Daybreaker' was already dead.”

“You were there?” Mercury asked in awe. It seemed logical if they were who they said they were, but to hear it still amazed her.

“If I can’t revert things,” Twilight growled, clenching her teeth and not seeming to hear Mercury. “I will find who is responsible for all this death. I will make them pay.”

Twilight eyes widened as if amazed at what she herself said. Mercury’s eyes shifted and she stepped back as the air around Twilight rose several degrees. It was stunning; Mercury had never met a unicorn with enough raw magic to accidently heat a room with her emotions.

“Done,” Kamikaze opened the shower, reattaching her metal hind leg right before strutting out, her real parts clean and her fake parts shiny. She was reasonably dry as the shower gave one a blow dry when the water turned off. “What did we decide?”

“That we’re all hopelessly confused,” Starlight said, jerking her hoof away from Twilight’s shoulder like it was a hot stove.

“Eh, whatever,” Kamikaze smirked. “Being certain just means that you don’t know everything.”

Kamikaze headed to the drawers, pulling out one of the stable uniforms. It had gray trim, which meant it was meant for a foal, but as soon as she picked it up, the enchanted garment resized to fit the one that picked it up. Kamikaze blinked, but didn’t question it. She ripped slits in the back for her wings, which the enchantment didn’t accommodate, and slipped it on.

“I think Maud was going next,” Mercury started, though paused when both Maud and Pinkie went for the shower together, “And Pinkie, I guess.”

“Guess that’s more efficient,” shrugged Kamikaze, then trotted toward Mercury, “You behaving, ‘criminal’?” At least she was more good-natured about it than Maud.

“Can’t do much else,” Mercury smiled awkwardly.

“Ugh,” Kamikaze rolled her eyes, “So pent up. There’s really no stallion in this whole place? Just my luck to end up in Pussyville.”

“You’re… straight?” Mercury asked in confusion, “And admitting it?”

“Mostly,” shrugged Kamikaze, “I’d make an exception for the right mare, but right now I could go for dick.”

It dumbfounded Mercury how bluntly Kamikaze admitted to liking real males. “You’re not ashamed of that?”

“Why would I be ashamed of it?” Kamikaze arched her real eyebrow as she finished zipping up her stable uniform with her real wing.

“Exactly how do ponies make foals in this stable, Mercury?” asked Starlight, leaning towards them slowly.

“We use magic to give mares a penis, of course,” Mercury said, “Or potions. I mean I had just made a potion to do it but… who knows if anyone will use it now. Had they not developed that magic where you came from?”

“I know that you think all of this is normal, Mercury,” Starlight smiled slightly, “But trust me, the society you have is… unique. They’ve given you shifty information.”

“Like what?” asked Mercury, uncomfortable yet curious.

“I’ve never seen such misandry,” Starlight commented, “I mean sure, stallions don’t desire leadership roles as often, but they’re hardly useless. You treat them like they’re just something ponies kept like livestock before magic conveniently replaced them.”

Well, yes. Mercury thought of them like that, and until now had no reason to doubt her education. Before she could ponder it though, Kamikaze whistled, drawing the attention of the others. When they looked at her, she chuckled and motioned toward the shower pod.

Mercury blushed as she looked. Once again, she could see the shadows of the shower’s occupants through the fogged glass. They were washing one another, but their actions weren’t restricted to washing. What Mercury saw was better defined as making out and spending an awful lot of time cleaning each other’s back half, although the exact details below the neckline were hidden behind the frosted lower glass.

“I half suspected,” sighed Twilight, the pure randomness of the situation seeming to distract her from her grief slightly. Her blush was short lived though as she turned back to the bookshelf to angrily yank another book from it.

“Oh well um, that’s sweet,” Mercury smiled awkwardly. A lot of things she did today were awkward.

“Aren’t they sisters?” Kamikaze asked.

“Yes, yes, they are,” Starlight sighed, turning away. “Well, I guess it’s good for their morale. No reason not to allow it, but I hope they don’t break anything, including one another.”

Mercury quickly ejected herself from that conversation, especially when things sounded increasingly violent in the shower. If she didn’t know better, she’d think they were having a fight to the death.

She ignored the banging and trotted to Twilight at the book shelf. The air around Twilight had cooled, and she forced a fake-looking smile at Mercury. She didn’t speak though, eyes still wet with tears.

“So,” Mercury tried to start a conversation while Starlight and Kamikaze were watching the shower glass like a giant movie screen. “Are you and Starlight a couple?” Mercury wasn’t sure if that was a bad conversation to start but wanted to help get this poor mare’s mind off whatever horrible things they were on.

“Hmm?” Twilight blinked, not seeming to understand at first, then shook her head politely. “Oh goodness no. My stable door doesn’t swing that way. I mean I might make an exception for the right mare… apparently I did, in fact…” She spoke as freely as Kamikaze had.

“What’s it like?” asked Mercury.

“H-having sex with a stallion?” Twilight blushed. “That’s not really an appropriate thing to ask right now.”

“No, not that,” stammered Mercury, blushing in return. “Being Midnight’s sister. I mean, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Well this will sound crazy, but I don’t really care anymore,” Twilight sighed, “Starlight was speaking figuratively. Basically, I’m from another timeline. Midnight is the version of me in this timeline and is Starlight’s arch-nemesis. Actually, we're sort of enemies in my timeline too, where Starlight is the evil of the two. It gives us a unique view of each other I guess.”

Starlight glanced in their direction, then looked back around the room. She stepped closer as if discretely listening. Twilight seemed to notice this as she quieted. Perhaps saying they were friends was wishful thinking on Twilight’s part.

As for Mercury, she wasn’t sure if she believed the weirdness about timelines. However if Twilight were making a cover story, it’d be the more believable one of being Midnight's sister.

The shower pod opened and the sisters casually trotted to the drawers as if nothing unusual had happened. Pinkie opened the drawer first, picking up a stable suit, then immediately dropping it and diving for cover beneath a bunk when it glowed and resized itself.

“I think it is supposed to do that,” suggested Maud, pulling one out for herself.

Starlight retrieved two from the drawers herself, then motioned Twilight towards the shower.

“Will it resize to accommodate… you know?” Twilight asked Starlight quietly.

“We’ll see what we can do, head on in,” Starlight sighed.

They headed into the bathroom pod together as the Pies had, though they seemed more like conspiring comrades than a romantic couple.

“This shower is in need of repair,” Starlight commented when going inside. “There are cracks in some of the ceramic.”

“Sorry,” Maud said, not even looking at Starlight, speaking as if by habit.

“Pinkie is not sorry!” Pinkie added. “Prison showers require sturdiness!”

Oddly, these two went in fully clothed to undress inside, taking the stable suits to put on inside as well. A few seconds later, the glass fogged completely as if they’d used magic to make it fully opaque. Did they have a weird nudity taboo?

“Sheesh, wished I’d known everypony would pair off,” Kamikaze complained, assuming the kinkiest explanation. “Had I known, I’d have dragged you in there, Miss Shine.”

Mercury blushed when Kamikaze eyed her, but shook her head politely, “Sorry, I’m not the playful type, I guess.” She tried a different subject. “Are there many pegasi living outside?”

“Don’t know,” shrugged Kamikaze. “I got here by falling through time apparently, so I’m past my expiration date. It seems like the world fared poorly without my awesomeness. Seriously, I figured everyone would have metal parts by now.”

“Oh,” Mercury nodded. “According to the Overmare, many survivors hunted pegasi because they… well you, sided with Midnight Sparkle against Canterlot. They weren’t allowed in the stable on the final day.”

“Didn’t I see a pegasus earlier?” Kamikaze quirked an ear, then flattened them, “Hunted? All my fault, probably. Damn it. Is that who I am? A danger to my whole species?”

“Well a few pegasi sneaked in,” Mercury explained, “There was an infant that was smuggled in, and another had her wings amputated to pass as an earth pony. And a few ponies had pegasi family, so they popped up. Right now we only have two in the whole stable, Tranquil Melody and Solar Flash. And well… Tranquil is missing.” She placed a hoof on Kamikaze’s shoulder, “I’m sure whatever you did, you thought it was the right thing. And besides, our history isn’t the most accurate, right?”

She still believed the history they had taught her, but this pegasus’s face was tensed like she wanted to cry but her ego wouldn’t let her. Mercury didn’t want to cause anypony more grief.

“It doesn’t matter,” grumbled Kamikaze, “I mean look at me. I’m barely real. Seems every time I blink some new system comes online and diagnostics scroll across my eye. Am I even Rainbow Dash? Or am I her skin stretched over a robot that thinks it’s her?”

“Being worried about that is a good sign,” Mercury smiled, “It takes a real mind to have an existential crisis.”

“I’m not sure which is worse,” shrugged Rainbow. “Either I’m not real and acting on programming, or I’m responsible for horrible things I can’t remember.”

“Pink, I do not think it will hurt you,” Maud’s voice distracted them. Maud had her stable suit on, but Pinkie was glaring at the one on the floor still, cautiously poking the outfit with her hoof, then quickly jerking away as if it were a bear trap.

“How can you be sure?” Pinkie asked. “They could fit it with a tracking device! Or program one to strangle us in our sleep! Or literally pull the wool over our eyes! A fiendish plan. Yes.”

“I do not think they are made from wool,” Maud observed.

“That’s just what they want us to think!” claimed Pinkie.

“You travel with interesting ponies,” observed Mercury.

“Yeah, well,” grinned Kamikaze. “I guess we gotta offset my awesomeness somehow, wouldn’t want the room to explode from too much in one place.” Despite being self-conscious, she hadn’t lost her legendary ego. Either that or she was desperately trying to convince herself. Maybe both.

Mercury smiled. She wondered what it’d be like to travel with a group of ‘interesting’ ponies out there. Now that she knew that it was even possible, she couldn’t help but think how much she could learn out there.