500 Kilometresby WhellerChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8EpilogueTable of ContentsChapter 1500 Kilometres Chapter 1 Police sirens. The mare instinctively threw herself to the ground, waited for them to pass before getting back up. Despite the fact that she was wearing a hood, and in the dark, could not be seen. She trotted down the dark street, and turned into a dark alleyway. She stopped only to look at a poster that had caught her eye. It was a wanted poster. She looked over it, unable to understand what it said, as it was written in nederlands. All that she was able to make out was ‘Twilight Sparkle’, and ‘5000 cheval francs’. She promptly enveloped the poster in her magic and ripped it off the wall, crumpling it up into a ball and tossing it into a gutter. She trotted down the alleyway, and reached out with her hoof and began banging on a door. She waited for a moment, and listened as rain began to fall in the background. The door’s mail slot opened, and she discovered a pair of eyes looking back at her. The mail slot closed again, and the door opened. ‘You are late’, the doorman said. ‘It was unavoidable’, she responded. She looked up at the doorman, his Heinrich, and he was a schäferhund. Heinrich was far bigger than she was, what with his shaggy fur and his razor sharp teeth, he was an imposing figure to any who would casually meet him, and however, she knew him well enough to know he was just a big softie. She trotted inside and Heinrich closed the door behind her. Twilight Sparkle pulled the hood off her head and shook her head, her mane falling back into place. ‘You have the payment?’ Heinrich asked. Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes at the question. ‘Of course I do’, she said as she opened up her cloak and pulled out a small bag that she had clipped into the storm harness she was wearing for convenience, tossing it over to Heinrich. ‘Two hundred gulden, minus my fee, of course’. The bag landed at Heinrich’s paws, making a sound, the satisfying clink of a bag of coins, exactly as they should. ‘Yes, yes of course’. Twilight smirked at the schäferhund before her. ‘What? You’re not going to check and see if I cheated you?’ Heinrich shook his head. ‘No, I trust you, so far you’ve never given me any reasons to suspect that you are cheating me out of the money for my goods, why would you start now?’ ‘Maybe I thought I could get away with it?’ Twilight said with a grin as she trotted up to the schäferhund and gave him a gentle kiss. ‘Maybe because I know that under that gruff exterior, you’re nothing but a softie’. Heinrich chuckled and the two trotted out of the antechamber of the building farther into Heinrich’s Workshop. Twilight looked around at the messy room, filled with several work benches, a forge, and an ammunition press. Everything that Heinrich needed to make his weapons. Heinrich was a black market weapon’s dealer, he made all his own equipment, and Twilight ferried to buyers and collected the payment. To say that they were business partners was something of an understatement. Their relationship had started out as one of simple business; however, it had evolved into a more... personal connection. Heinrich liked Twilight a lot; he remembered when he had first met her. She had sought him out, she had been in the market, not for weapons, but ammunition, and had learned that he specialised in both. She found him and wanted to buy ammunition for a revolver that she’d been carrying. Heinrich had given her revolver a look over, the Emerald Ordinance No.4, 11mm magnum revolver was a fine weapon, to be sure, but to admit it would be damaging to the schäferhund pride. He’d scoffed her over it, to manufacture a design of kangaroo origin, or any ammunition for it was an affront to all schäferhund. Naturally, he refused... but Twilight had shown to be... persuasive. Twilight hadn’t looked like much, but she had proved to be quite the master in the matter of intimate relations. They had met in the middle on the ammunition, he agreed to make some for her, but Heinrich had also convinced her to make her primary weapon a submachine gun of his own people’s design, the Maschinenpistole 9, though he was not able to convince her to part with the revolver all together, citing ‘sentiment’ as the main reason. It did not take long for Heinrich to learn that Twilight was a fugitive from the law; he only needed to walk outside to see wanted posters with her picture on it from the Police Internationale. Twilight Sparkle was wanted for several including theft, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, extortion, and, as the two of them liked to add as a joke, jaywalking. Heinrich was fine with that, however, most, if not all of his friends were criminals. He was technically a criminal himself. Bundesrepublik Schäferhund required weapon merchants to be registered, and their incomes taxed heavily. Likewise, there were limitations on what they were allowed to produce. Most of these laws were recent after Bundesrepublik Schäferhund had been accused of being ‘the promoter of violence and disharmony’ by the Crown Princess Celestia of the Principality of Equestria some fifty years ago, resulting in a trade embargo being placed on them. It had lead to many schäferhund to migrate out of the Bundesrepublik and into the Nederlands, and the Österungarischereich to continue their operations as gunsmiths. The embargo on the Bundesrepublik had eventually been lifted, Bundesrepublik Schäferhund and Österungarischereich, being the two major schäferhund speaking countries, however kept many of the restrictions to appease the Principality of Equestria. After all, who dared to argue with a living goddess? Heinrich knew that Twilight Sparkle was Equestrian. Equestria was the unicorn nation, after all, despite the fact that it had other races in it. It didn’t bother Heinrich, for he also knew that Twilight Sparkle was an outcast and a criminal in her own country. If anything it made them closer, and now, they were both lovers, and partners. Heinrich made weapons; Twilight would go out and deliver them. Despite being a unicorn, and the fact that a unicorn outside Equestria was a rare occurrence all together, Twilight was a master of blending into the background. Heinrich figured that it had something to do with the unicorn race’s mystical abilities. Heinrich didn’t complain, she could go many places unseen, while he could not. Schäferhund were much larger in size than the other races of the continent. He couldn’t hide in plain sight if he wanted to. It didn’t help that the other races on the continent were all herbivores, while the schäferhund were carnivores, in times past, wars between schäferhund, and particularly the cheval, were frequent and victories for the schäferhund armies would often end with them feasting upon the slain enemies, granting them the reputation for being savage and uncouth. They hadn’t cared then, savage and uncouth, were only words after all, it wasn’t a concern for them as long as they continued to win. In more recent history, however, the political climate of the continent Europa had changed much, The Cheval Second Empire and Kaiserreich Schäferhund had been at war with each other, the Imperial government of the Kaiserreich had been over confidant and had been overwhelmingly defeated by the cheval, whose use of airborne tactics (which it had not been able to do in wars prior, due to the heavy barding that had been worn by cheval soldiers) had lead to a swift defeat and outright collapse of the Kaiserreich. Tensions between schäferhund and cheval were still distrustful; however they no longer warred openly, and were generally more concerned of others. In particular, the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, whose society, had flourished in recent years since they had entered the industrial age. That was politics, however, and Heinrich was not interested in politics. What he was interested in was money, and as a result, he would sell to anyone who would buy, within reason, and without being stupid. He was smart enough to know who was a legitimate buyer, and who was a member of the Police Internationale. Twilight was especially helpful with that, as her unicorn abilities gave her a number of edges in detection. Twilight did have a few quirks, but as far as Heinrich was concerned, that was of little consequence. Everyone did, though; he did note that Twilight’s were rather odd. She was a bit of a perfectionist, she liked things to be neat, tidy, and well organised, and she would often go through his things and sort them every once in a while, and then resort them a week later, but what Heinrich thought was most odd, was the strange book that Twilight carried with her at all times. Not exactly a practical thing, as the book was large, bulky and barely fit in her saddlebags. Every time Heinrich asked about the book, Twilight would snap at him that it wasn’t any of his business, and go to lengths to keep him from looking at it. ‘Ohhh Heinrich...’ Twilight called out to him. Heinrich trotted around the corner, Twilight was in his bedroom, laying on his bed, stroking the bed suggestively. ‘Yes Twilight?’ Heinrich asked playfully. ‘Oh it’s been such a long day... and I could use a little... relaxation, couldn’t you?’ she asked giving him a wink. Heinrich chuckled. ‘And here I thought you would never ask’. Chapter 2Chapter 2 His name was Pierre, Pierre La Roche, he was different from the others around him. He was a member of La Police Internationale, He was Inspecteur divisionnaire Pierre La Roche, and he stood on a street corner in Bruxelles, the capital of the cheval speaking region of the Nederlands, looking up at the sky. He took a long drag off his cigarette before putting it out and continuing on his way. Bruxelles had the reputation of being quiet the beautiful city, to many it was a grand city. La Roche didn’t see it, however. Those who did not know him would have considered him biased to his own home. He was a native born cheval, after all, and while Bruxelles had, in recent years, become predominately cheval speaking, it’s population were nederlanders, who despite speaking the same language as he did, lacked wings. However it was not the case. Those that knew Pierre La Roche knew that he was nothing more than a cynical, cold hearted bastard; he knew that he was as well, but it didn’t bother him in the slightest. It was what he needed to be. Inspecteur divisionnaire Pierre La Roche was a member of La Police Internationale, one of the best inspectors La Police Internationale had ever seen, and it was because Pierre La Roche was a cold hearted bastard. There was use in an inspector like him, his superiors acknowledged that, and at the same time, kept him on a tight leash. Pierre La Roche was unsympathetic, and determined to bring his mark in, in the sense that La Police Internationale did, of course. La Police Internationale was different from most law enforcement organisations that it did arrest criminals. Instead, it did much of the legwork required in tracking criminal movements across international borders, and then allowed local police to make the arrest, where the criminal would then be taken back to the country that they were wanted in for trial and eventual imprisonment. La Roche was thorough, every mark he went after was one that had been put away on the first time, and guaranteed to stay away for a long, long time. Pierre La Roche was only tasked the worst criminals as one could imagine. The kinds of criminals who could be afforded no sympathy because he would give none, could give none. Pierre La Roche opened up his greatcoat, pulling out another cigarette and a pocket lighter, an ingenious little device that popped out of a coat pocket, flipped open, and produced a small flame, enough to light a cigarette and then pop back into the pocket. Smoking was Pierre La Roche’s only earthly pleasure. The only thing he allowed himself to enjoy. He discovered much to his disappointment that it had been his last one. Pierre burned through fags like they were going out of style. He made a mental note to get more before leaving Bruxelles. Pierre La Roche stopped when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye it was a poster, printed in cheval: Recherché pour crimes de vol, coups et blessures, et l'extorsion. Twilight Sparkle Cinq mille francs à la personne qui fournit des renseignements menant à une arrestation. And then again in wallish: Wanted for crimes of theft, assault, and extortion. Twilight Sparkle Five thousand francs to the person who provides information leading to an arrest. Pierre sighed; this was the criminal he had been tasked to bring to justice, a pony who had evaded capture after nearly a month on the run. Pierre had reliable information that she was in Trotterdam, which was exactly where he would soon be headed, or at least, as soon has he’d popped into a tabac for another pack of fags. He looked up at a street clock, the time was 1137, and any other inspector in La Police Internationale would have needed to be on a train for Trotterdam by now. Pierre La Roche had no need for trains. Not when he had wings. … 'Are you sure this is a good idea?' 'Of course it is, just you watch! My “Vinyl Scratch is about to do something brilliant” sense is going off'. Surprise could only watch as Vinyl Scratch put the finishing touches on her hoof made trebuchet. Using her magic to hoist the devices counterweight into position. Surprise was rather impressed with the device, the design was an old one, cheval in origin, but pre-dating even the Cheval First Republic. The device was a simple one, in the past it would have been used to lob giant stones great distances, when the device was released, the counterweight would drop and it would fling the stone off into the distance. Since the advent of gunpowder in Europa, however, devices such as these were considered to be obsolete, and the only ones to be found were hoof made by enthusiasts. Vinyl Scratch grinned madly as she inspected her handiwork. This was going to be fun, she could tell. 'Are you sure this is a good idea?' Surprise asked. 'Of course I'm sure!' Vinyl replied with a grin. 'The “Vinyl Scratch is about to do something brilliant” sense has never failed me! Now, get ready to release the counterweight!' 'But... Vinyl!' Surprise began but was quickly shushed by Vinyl as she climbed into the sling and curled herself up into a ball. 'I'll be fine, we're doing this over water and I have magic to slow me down before I hit, trust me I thought this through!' Vinyl said with a smile. 'You spent ten minutes thinking this over during breakfast', Surprise said. 'And?' Vinyl asked. 'Most ponies would hardly consider that thinking it over', Surprise said. 'I thought you were adventurous?' Vinyl replied back. 'Oh no! Don't get me wrong! I am, and I think it's brilliant, but Whirlwind made me promise that I would try to talk you out of it', Surprise said with a shrug. 'And?' Vinyl asked back with a grin. 'I tried!' Surprise beamed back at her, she spread her wings and hopped into the air, getting into position. Vinyl Scratch grinned madly. 'Hold on to your hooves! I am just about to be brilliant!' … Octavia Auditore slowly moved her bow across her cello, she and her ensemble were just about to finish up practise for the day, when she felt a sharp feeling in her chest, and dropped her bow, nearly stumbling over in the process. The entrie ensemble stopped playing and they all looked over to the cellist. 'Octavia? Are you alright?' Beauty Brass, sousaphone, asked. Octavia regained her composure and got to her hooves, running one of them through her mane to push it back into place. 'Yes I'm fine... I do apologise, my “Vinyl Scratch is about to do something stupid” sense went off'. … The counterweight dropped flinging the unicorn pony at a 35 degree arc into the air. 'AWWWWWWWWWWW YEAAAHHHHHHHHHH!' Vinyl Scratch cried out as she soared through the air, sticking her forelimbs out in front of her, acting like she was a pegasus, she looked down towards the water of the Bharatma Ocean. She looked back towards the coast line of Swan City and grinned. This was what it was like to fly. She enveloped herself in her magic and began to slow herself down, readying to soften the impact of her hitting the water. She straightened her body as best she could, and dove like a torpedo into the water. Her magic had not been enough to slow her down, and the impact hurt like hell. Still totally awesome. Still totally worth it. She opened her eyes, looking around from behind her goggles. Water was starting to leak in, but that was okay, it was just water. She looked around to see a number of tropical fish, and smiled. South Island was a wonderful country, and it was too bad that her trip was almost over. She began to push herself up towards the surface. She breached the water and took in a deep breath. She looked over to the beach and discovered that she'd gone at least a hundred metres. Surprise was waving at her from the shore. Vinyl watched as Surprise reset the counterweight and climbed into the device. She climbed into the sling and hit the lever, sending her flying into the air. 'SURRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPPRRRRRIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!' Surprise called out as she flew through the air, keeping her wings tucked in and diving into the water next to Vinyl. A few seconds later, Surprise burst up through the water. Growling loudly and crying out. 'Rawr! I'm a whale!' The two of them couldn't help but giggle as they swam back to the shore. Pulling themselves up onto the beach grabbing a towel and drying themselves off. 'So much fun!' Vinyl Scratch cried out. They looked up to discover a grey coated pegasus walking towards them with a scroll of paper in his mouth. Vinyl gave him a smile and waved to him. 'Hey Whirlwind!' Whirlwind nodded to her and dropped the scroll in front of her. 'Vinyl... we have a problem'. Vinyl Scratch took the scroll in her magic and opened it up. It was a wanted poster from the Police Internationale, Vinyl looked over it for a few seconds, not sure what to believe.'If this is true...' Vinyl said. 'Then we've got lots of problems'. Chapter 3Chapter 3 Twilight Sparkle lay in bed next to the snoring schäferhund. There was certainly no chance of getting any rest with that racket. Twilight looked over at Heinrich Büchsenmacher, and considered how easy it would be to smother him with a pillow while he slept. Some nights, Twilight wondered why she hadn’t done it already. She didn’t need Heinrich Büchsenmacher as much as he needed her. He was really quite pathetic when she thought about it, and it wasn’t hard for her to see why. Apparently, at least to schäferhund standards, Heinrich was pretty ugly looking, something about his teeth not being big enough for the bitches of his race or something stupid like that. To Twilight, Heinrich was a means to an end, she didn’t particularly care about him, though, she didn’t particularly care about anyone at this point. Not since she had left Ponyville behind her. She didn’t need friends, all she needed was her gun, her wits, and the Tome of Alhazred and she was set for life. The only reason why she kept Heinrich around was for his ammunition press, that and the few weapon smuggling jobs that he set up for her was good money, even if it was the Nederlands’ second rate decimalised paper money. In truth, the nederlands gulden wasn’t actually worth anything compared to the Equestrian pound, as it wasn’t pegged to anything, unlike the pound, which was pegged to gold. Twilight supposed it mattered little, money was money, and here money was paper. Twilight slipped out of bed, she felt like she needed a bath after sharing a bed with the smelly schäferhund. That would wait until morning, however. She had things that needed doing. She trotted into the main room of Heinrich’s workshop, the small, dark, dank room had little in the way of light, though Twilight wasn’t sure what she would have expected, it was the middle of the night after all. She trotted over to where she had hidden her saddlebags, over in the far corner where Heinrich would not notice them. The last thing Twilight wanted was him poking through her things. She used her magic to pull a book out from the bag and opened it up. The Tome of Alhazred, her guide to the world was a book filled with experience and knowledge that Equestrians could never hope to know, and Twilight didn’t feel like sharing. She peered into the book for hours, mesmerised in the book’s words. She didn’t understand all of them, as the book had been written in Old Equestrian, but Twilight also noticed that the actual words on the pages didn’t matter, rather, all she had to do was just look at the pages and the meaning seemed to come to her as if they were a line of her own casual thoughts. Twilight Sparkle had never encountered a book like the Tome of Alhazred before, and she never intended to be apart from it. She had learned much from the book, all she had to do now was make sure that that information stayed hers. She looked up at the clock in the room, and discovered that she'd been sitting here reading for the last several hours. She shut the Tome of Alhazred and slid it back into her saddlebags and began her trot over to the washroom just as she heard Heinrich’s yawns. He was awake and pulling himself out of bed. Twilight gave him a small smile, suggestively shaking her flanks as she walked by him, and giving him a wink. He was so easy to take advantage of that it was almost a crime. All Heinrich needed was a bat of her eyelashes or a flick of her tail and he'd do whatever it was that she wanted. That was the real reason that Twilight kept him around. She had Heinrich on a leash, to use an adequate metaphor. Twilight closed the door to the washroom behind her, locking it up, while useful, Heinrich could get to be pretty clingy. Twilight's morning bath was the only time she could really get to herself. She turned on the facet and watched for a moment as water gushed from the spout, and as steam from the hot water rose into the air. Twilight reached out with a hoof and stuck it into the water slightly. Nice and hot, just how she liked it. She climbed into the bath and gently laid herself back, allowing her self to submerge into the water, where soon enough, only her head stayed above. She had almost taken the Tome of Alhazred into the bath with her. The book had multiple enchantments on it, one of which made it impervious to water. Twilight had decided against it however, just because it did repel water, didn't mean it wasn't disrespectful. Twilight reached out for a bottle of bubble bath with her magic opening it up and pouring a small amount into the tub. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to lean back and relax, making sure that her head wouldn't go underneath the water. She must have fallen asleep in the bath, because when she opened her eyes, the bubbles were all gone, and the bath water had become cold. Her skin felt like prunes, indicating that it had taken on more water than normal through osmosis. Twilight pulled the plug on the bath and hopped out of the tub, grabbing a towel with her magic and drying herself off. She felt more than a little groggy. It had been a couple of weeks since leaving Equestria, and she was still having trouble getting her circadian rhythms into proper alignment. She walked out of the washroom to discover Heinrich sitting in front of the door, waiting patiently for her to come out. She gave him a wink, casually and 'accidentally' brushing her flank up against his. Causing the schäferhund's tail wag to pick up speed. Twilight notice this sign of his arousal, and she gave him a wink. He was way too easy. Soon enough, the two of them were out to make their rounds. They'd head out into the market district and check on their suppliers, who handled the importation of the raw materials, Twilight considered it boring, but did take slight amusement in trying to figure out just how much they were cheating Heinrich. Once they were squared away, and Twilight was getting bored again, they'd stop for a brief lunch and then continue on to meet the respective buyers. This was a normal day, and this would be how all the days went, at least until they would get an order to smuggle some weapons into l'Afrique, or to rebels in the Capran Empire through their maritime boarder with Österungarischereich. The aging Capran Empire was a nation of horned goats and their vassals that was on the verge of falling apart. Independent weapon merchants were all jumping to sell weapons to bands of rebels, where they could make a killing on them. After all, the Capran's decimalised gold standard Lira was worth far more than the currencies of Europa. The weapon merchants could set pretty much any price they wanted and rebels would buy them. Heinrich was, of course, sympathetic to their cause, and allowed himself to be taken advantage of by the rebels instead of taking advantage of them like he should have. She would have to have a talk with him about that. Twilight glanced over her shoulder, someone was following them, she could feel it. She lead Heinrich away from their set path, and into a dark alleyway. Their tail was still following them. Twilight turned around and looked. Their tail was standing at the edge of the alley, smirking slightly at them. 'Bonjour mademoiselle', he said. Twilight rose an eyebrow in confusion, their tail was a dark grey coated cheval, with a short, shaggy brown mane. His eyes were a brilliant green and he was wearing a black greatcoat. She didn't speak cheval, and she turned to Heinrich for translation. 'He says: “hello ma'am”', Heinrich said. 'I don't care, ask him what he wants', Twilight said with annoyance. Heinrich coveyed the message, causing the cheval to smirk. 'Je m'appelle Pierre La Roche, comment allez-vous aujourd'hui?' he asked with a smirk. 'He says his name is Pierre La Roche, and he wants to know how you are', Heinrich said. Twilight sighed. 'That's nice I don't care. Ask him what he wants', she asked, and Heinrich conveyed. 'Je ne pouvais pas m'empêcher de remarquer que vous êtes une licorne.Les licornes sont seulement trouvés dans Equestria, non?' La Roche asked. Twilight looked to Heinrich. Heinrich looked nervously at her. 'Uh... he didn't answer'. 'I don't care what he didn't say, I want to know what he did say!' Twilight said in annoyance. 'He says that he noticed you're a unicorn, and he's wondering if unicorns come from any place other than Equestria', Heinrich said. 'No of course not', Twilight said, rolling her eyes. This Pierre La Roche was starting to annoy her. 'Vous êtes loin de la maison alors. J'espère que rien de mauvais arrive à vous, si loin de la maison. Bonne journée', La Roche said, and he turned and walked away. Twilight looked at Heinrich for translation. 'He says.... you're a long way from home, and he hopes nothing bad happens to you', Heinrich said. Twilight thought about what he said for a moment. Then it hit her. 'Heinrich? We need to leave, and we need to live now'. 'What? Why? Where?' Heinrich asked. 'Out of the city, we need to leave. He was Police Internationale', Twilight said. 'He knows who I am, and we need to get out of here'. Chapter 4Chapter 4 When it came to the matters of state, there were none more important. As the King’s duly appointed representative in South Island, Albert Isaac, the first kangaroo ever to be appointed as the Governor General of South Island had no equal, while not officially Head of State himself, a title that belonged to King George of Welara, as his representative. Albert Isaac had supreme executive authority in the Commonwealth of South Island, and was the highest level of authority that anyone could go to, unless the King of Welara should step off a ship and onto the continent. Or, at least, in theory, in practice, the powers that Albert Isaac had were not ones that he would ordinarily use without consulting Robert Pace, the Prime Minister, and the rest of parliament. Really, the powers that Albert Isaac had were for emergencies. Tonight was going to be a long night, Welara was knees deep in the Said Canal Crisis, and the Misr were putting up a bigger fight that the wallish or cheval had thought possible. There were rumours that black market weapons dealers in the nederlands were passing munitions off to them by laundering them through the Capran Empire. Before Albert Isaac knew it, South Island was going to be getting itself involved. He took out the key to his office door, and was about to put it in the lock when he noticed that the door was already unlocked. Damn himself, he must have left it unlocked the last time he was here. Instead he pushed open the door and hopped into his office. There was someone in his office, leaning back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling, this someone was a pony. This pony was a unicorn. She turned to look at him, giving him a wide grin. ‘Hi there!’ ‘W... who are you!? How did you get in here!?’ Albert Isaac cried out in surprise. The unicorn mare’s grin got wider, and she casually pulled the goggles that she was wearing off her eyes and down around her neck, revealing a bright pair of ruby red eyes. ‘Oh relax would ya? Name’s Vinyl Scratch and you should really invest in a sturdier lock, but here’s the thing, You’re Excellency, while I’m sure the who and how are great questions to ask in your mind, I’ve got a better one for you. “What do I want?”’ Albert Isaac studied the unicorn for a moment, she didn’t stop grinning at him, and he sighed, and lowered his head. At least, he figured that whatever she was going to say was at least going to be interesting, if nothing else. ‘Fine, what do you want?’ Vinyl Scratch leaned forward. Resting her foreknees on the desk and resting her head on her hooves, she smiled at him. ‘I need a ship, a fast ship, a ship fast enough to say... run the blockade of the Said Canal?’ Albert Isaac frowned at the unicorn before him. The frown quickly turned into a scowl. ‘So, what? You think that you can just barge into my office in the middle of the night, and demand me to give you a ship?’ ‘Well, it worked for Princess Luna, didn’t it?’ Vinyl Scratch said, tapping her hooves together and giving him a grin. Albert Isaac was taken aback by that statement. ‘How... how do you know about that?!’ ‘Simple, Princess Luna happens to be one of my friends, and being my friend, is a good step into being her friend, and the Governor General of South Island being friends with one of the Princesses of Equestria... well, there aren’t many of those outside of Equestria’. ‘I see... I take it you have a ship in mind?’ Albert Isaac asked. ‘I do!’ Vinyl Scratch said. ‘HMSIS Dash’. Albert Isaac raised an eyebrow at the mention of the Dash, that sounded familiar. Then he remembered, those ponies from Equestria that had gone to Trotterdam had taken the HMSIS Dash. ‘You... you’re that mare that caused all that property damage? Aren’t you?’ he asked. Vinyl Scratch sighed. ‘How many times do I need to explain this? I put the fires out, and I paid for all the damages. Everypony just needs to let it go...’ Albert Isaac smirked. ‘All right, all right, you plan on running the Said Canal? Well I wish you good luck. The Dash’s is at Port Beagle, and I’ll let them know that you’re coming’. Vinyl Scratch nodded in thanks. ‘One more thing’, she added. ‘Yes?’ Albert Isaac asked. Vinyl Scratch grinned. ‘There’s a certain kangaroo I need on board...’ ... Twilight Sparkle practically kicked open the door to Heinrich’s workshop as she gathered all of her things together in her saddlebags, throwing them onto her flanks and then pulling her cloak back over herself. ‘Heinrich? What nations have not become parts of the Police Internationale?’ The Schäferhund thought to himself for a moment. He knew that there weren’t many. ‘Bundesrepublik Schäferhund’s membership is still pending, other than that; it’s going to be the Capran Empire... or the Peking Republic’. Twilight frowned. From what little she knew about them, neither seemed entirely pleasing. The Capran Empire was an empire in decline of a race of horned goats, the Caprans, and a number of other races. Civil strife was common in the Empire in this day and age. The Peking Republic on the other hoof was worse probably worse off. Inhabited by the Māo Xióng, bear like creatures that’s country had been fractured and mostly under the control of independent warlords. The ruling party of the Peking Republic, the Kuomintang, were in the process of fighting to regain control from the warlords. Though they had refused to buy weapons from them, and as such, Twilight and Heinrich had payed them little mind. ‘Well, it looks like we have no other options’, Twilight said. ‘To Bundesrepublik Schäferhund we go’. ‘Once we get there I have a friend who can smuggle us out of the country and into the Capran Empire, once there. The Police Internationale cannot come after us’, Heinrich said simply. Twilight gave Heinrich a small smile before putting her foreleg around his neck for a hug. ‘I knew there was a reason why I kept you around, now come on, grab as much ammunition as you can carry without drawing attention to yourself’. ‘You want me to bring the entire contents of my workshop?’ Heinrich asked. Twilight smirked. He was schäferhund all right. ‘A little less than that, if you’d please’. Heinrich nodded, and set out to gathering up as much equipment as was necessary. They only had a few hours to get as far away from here as they possibly could, and this Inspector, Pierre La Roche, would not be far behind them. … Pierre La Roche had always found it easier to keep eyes on his marks from the sky, he was cheval, after all, and the luxury of wings was one that was well afforded to him. Twilight Sparkle and Heinrich Büchsenmacher had acted exactly as predicted so far, they had fled back to their residence, and now they were rushing out the door and heading east. It was obvious where they were going, Bundesrepublik Schäferhund, and more particularly, to its capital, Königsberg. Pierre gently floated down to the roof a nearby building and opened up his new pack of fags. Taking one out of the packaging and lighting up. Sparkle and Büchsenmacher probably thought they were being clever. Flee the Nederlands to Budesrepublik Schäferhund, whose membership in La Police Internationale was still being finalised, where they would then be smuggled out of the country and on their way to either the Capran Empire or the Peking Republic where he was legally not allowed to follow them. Criminals thought they were smart with this plan, clearly, however, they were not because they all came up with the exact same one, and he had caught all of them on their way out, before they could get to where they could get into the Bundesrepublik, scoring their run in the proverbial game of cricket. Pierre La Roche, however, was counting on the fact that Twilight Sparkle would be a poor batsman, and he was quite the bowler. Yes. Indeed, it wouldn’t be long before he’d dismissed both of them, and they’d be dragged off to the Cheval Fourth Republic’s prison island of Sainte-Hélène and lopped in with the rest of those degenerates. Pierre took a long drag on his cigarette and looked out into the streets; he could still see Twilight Sparkle and Heinrich Büchsenmacher trotting away at a good pace. He figured that, like any good cricketer, he needed to be a good sport about it. After all, he knew he could catch them with no trouble at all, and that wasn’t any fun. No, he’d give them a few hours head start. Pierre La Roche smiled, they’d think themselves to be scoring their run, only to look back and discover how dead wrong they really were. Chapter 5Chapter 5 Vinyl Scratch watched as HMSIS Dash pulled out of its berth in Port Beagle, sailing north west headed for the Sea of Orange, and the southern entrance to the Said Canal. She smiled and glanced at Whirlwind and Surprise, the fast ship would take them to the entrance to the canal in about 22 hours. The ship’s Lieutenant Commander was less than happy to see her. Despite paying for the damage done to one of the ship’s guns by shooting potatoes out of it, and taking ammunition from the ship’s arms locker, and leaving money for it in it’s place the last time she had been aboard the ship. Had his orders not come directly from the Governor General himself, he would have flat out refused to let her on board, and would have tossed her overboard when she would have snuck on afterwards. She even promised that she wouldn’t touch anything. Poor Surprise looked incredibly disappointed after that, after the Lieutenant Commander was out of earshot, promised her that she would make it up to her. The ship needed to be in the best shape it had ever been if it was going to run the blockade the Misr had erected at the Said Canal to keep the welarans and the cheval from taking it. ‘Well, Vinyl Scratch’, said a voice behind her. ‘We’ve just hit open sea. I hope you know what you’re doing with this’. Vinyl Scratch turned around and gave the kangaroo a bright smile. ‘Benny, you don’t need to worry about me. The Misr aren’t going to see this coming’. Benjamin Willoughby sighed, shaking his head slightly, and taking a place next to the group. ‘You haven’t changed since the last time I saw you Vinyl’. ‘Course not!’ Vinyl said brightly. ‘Still insane!’ she added with a grin. Willoughby shook his head. He didn’t know what else he should have expected. ‘Oh, did I tell you who I ran into on my last deployment?’ ‘Nope, who?’ Vinyl asked. ‘Princess Luna, Rainbow Dash, and all them’, Willoughby said simply. ‘No way!? Where was this?’ Vinyl Scratch cried out. ‘The prison island of Sainte-Hélène’, Willoughby said. ‘What?!’ Vinyl Scratch cried out in surprise. Both Surprise and Whirlwind looked up and over to the kangaroo. ‘What was Rainbow Dash doing on a prison island?’ Whirlwind asked. ‘ Same thing we’re doing right now, actually. They were on a ship bound for South Island that sank, hoping to find you three and look for Twilight Sparkle, They didn’t know where to start looking, so one of my mates pointed them in the right direction, they boarded a cheval battleship and made for the port of Lisbonne’, Willoughby said matter of fact-ly. ‘Well, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised when they find us huh?’ Vinyl asked. ‘What makes you sure that they’ll find us?’ Willoughby asked. ‘Simple’, Vinyl said. ‘Unlike Equestria, Europa has no native populations of Unicorns. Thus, it hasn’t had the chance to become saturated with magic, now, a magic user as powerful as Princess Luna’s going to be able to home in on any other source of magic, Since Rarity is with them, once we get there, the only other source of magic will be Twilight’, Vinyl’s grin widened. ‘Twilight’s going to be using her magic for everything, it’s what she’s used to, and that’s going to lead us right to her...’ ‘You can detect magic from other unicorns?’ Willoughby asked. ‘Not ordinarily, but in a magic-less environment like that of Europa, it’ll be like hearing a pin drop, a pin that’s the size of the moon crashing into the continent’, Vinyl said. ‘That’s a pretty... colourful metaphor, Vinyl Scratch’, Willoughby said. ‘That’s a simile actually’, Vinyl said with a grin. ‘Whatever’, Willoughby said, rolling his eyes. It was the middle of the next night by the time that the HMSIS Dash entered the Sea of Orange, in range of the entrance to the Said Canal. The Misr had erected several gates at the entrance to the canal. The Dash cut all it’s running lights and continued to slip quietly towards the entrance. Below deck, Vinyl Scratch, Whirlwind, Surprise, and Benjamin Willoughby were looking out of a porthole. A signature grin began to form on Vinyl’s face, she turned to Willoughby. ‘Hey Ben? Why do they call it the Sea of Orange?’ Willoughby grinned back at her, realising instantly what she was getting at. ‘We’re about to find out!’ With two hundred and fifty metres left before reaching the entrance, the Dash immediately switched on all its lights and opened up with the ship’s single forward hull mounted 102 mm gun, smashing through the gates with a huge bang. The ship floored the throttle, and zoomed off into the canal proper, setting off every alarm in the Misr encampments along the side of the canal in the process. Search lights snapped on and turned directly towards the Dash, fully illuminating the ship in the canal. The ship’s gunners turned their 20mm auto cannons on search light towers, knocking out the lights before Misr anti-tank emplacements could have the opportunity to fire on them. Surprise was the key of getting through. It was the middle of the night, and it was dark out, if they had any hope of getting through, they would need to move fast, and stay in the dark as best they could. Getting through the actual canal was the easy part. The hard part would be getting out of it and into the Sea of Europa, passed the Misr fleet, and doing so in a way that didn’t implicate South Island. As a result, the flag they were flying was the Welaran White Ensign. While such dishonesty was generally not allowed in modern, civilised, warfare, these were extraordinary times, and extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures. The darkness was the corvette’s advantage. It’s swift speed would allow it to dart through the waters, hopefully without drawing too much attention to itself. The Dash, quickly reached the end of the canal. Here was the real blockade, a dozen or so ships from the Misr navy. While large and imposing, these were older designs built by Welara itself some forty years ago, under armed, under armoured monstrosities, each of them with plenty of weaknesses that modern weapons could blast right through. The Misr fleet had search lights shining out upon the entrance to the canal, searching for the intruder in their waters. The Dash slowed herself to a near crawl, compared to these ships, the Dash was tiny, not even sixty metres in length, but that was her strength. She was well armed for most ships her size, and could put up with almost everything these Misr junk heaps could throw at her. A searchlight passed into the path of the Dash fully illuminating the ship for all Misr eyes to see. The corvette hit full throttle once more, barrelling right down the middle of two aging battleships. The Lieutenant Commander watched from his seat on the bridge as the battleship’s turrets began to track his ship, preparing to fire. The Dash slung between the ships, just as the turrets fired, sending a high velocity shell right into the bridges of both Battleships. Dumb clods. The Lieutenant Commander thought to himself as they sped off into the distance. They had made their way through the blockade. The Lieutenant Commander sighed a sigh of relief, and ordered one of his jacks to take down the welaran ensign and replace it with one of their own. It would be smooth sailing from here on out. ... Night had fallen over Trotterdam by the time that Twilight Sparkle and Heinrich Büchsenmacher made their way out of Trotterdam. Twilight Sparkle barely noticed the road signs as they passed out of the city limits, despite having one of their destination on it. ‘Königsberg, 500 kilometres’. The Capital city of Bundesrepublik Schäferhund, a city where they could be safe from the likes of Pierre La Roche, and the Police Internationale, if only for a little while. Fortunately for them, the governments of Europa were all highly bureaucratic, parliamentary democracies, most of them with constitutional monarchies, with the only notable exceptions being the Cheval Fourth Republic, Bundesrepublik Schäferhund, and the Cossack Confederation. The former two being republics, the latter, despite its name, a highly autocratic absolute monarchy. Twilight had not realised just how different Equestria was from the rest of these countries. Equestria was an absolute monarchy, and absolute monarchies weren’t fairing too well in the world anymore. The last one to fall had been one called Hispañia, an absolute monarchy which had been overthrown by a violent revolution, where a republic was founded in it’s stead. República Hispañia, however did not last long, and was politically unstable from the start, another uprising and civil war allowed the Cheval, then as the third republic to swarm in and conquer and stabilise the entire area. Twilight and Heinrich kept a fair pace, they were both getting tired, but they wouldn’t stop, couldn’t stop. To stop would mean their capture, and they would go as far as they could, for as long as they could. They had five hundred kilometres to go, and five hundred kilometres they would walk, unaware that they were not walking the path alone. Chapter 6Chapter 6 Simply divine. Rarity continued to look in the mirror before her as she turned from side to side, continuing to admire the new cloak that she had made for herself out of the limited materials that she had access to while aboard the cheval battleship Renault. To be perfectly honest, she had astounded herself with how good she looked considering that she had started with a few old bed sheets that the cheval were going to throw out, and some purple dye. Rarity was now clad in a beautiful royal purple travelling cloak. Of course, her reasons for making it weren't for the fashion aspect, though it was certainly pulling that off quite well. Instead, she had made it because she still Danielle Voltare's 7.65mm MAE-28 Submachine gun that she had taken off her during their time being shipwrecked on Sainte Hélène, and she had no intentions of giving it up. Sainte-Hélène had taught Rarity just how dangerous the world really was, and while the Renault was about to put into port at Trotterdam, and she hadn't been worried the last time she had been here, she wasn't about to take any chances. She had taken some old deck ropes and tied the submachine gun behind her back, draping the cloak over it, her figure was perfectly obscured, only those who were looking a little too closely would notice that she had the submachine gun on her. Rarity trotted out and up onto deck, joining Princess Luna and the rest of her friends as the cheval Battleship glided into dock. 'Wow Rarity, you look amazing!' Fluttershy said as she glanced over to her. Rarity smiled warmly at Fluttershy, bowing her head in modesty. 'Thank you, it's really nothing special, just something I threw together, I do apologise, I didn't have enough time or resources to make one for all of you'. Applejack looked over at her and chuckled. 'Tha's fine Rarity, don't ya worry yer head none, we'll be fine'. Rarity smiled at Applejack, and to the rest of her friends, they all clearly shared Applejack's opinion. She was glad that they all understood. Rarity took a look back over at Applejack. There was something different about her, something going on deep within the recesses of her mind. Something had happened to Applejack on Sainte-Hélène, something that she did not want to share. Rarity wondered what it could be, she had half a mind to ask her right out, but she decided that it was likely personal, and she might not have wanted to share with everyone just yet. The battleship Renault pulled into its mooring and dropped its gangplanks, allowing it's Equestrian passengers to disembark. Rarity fell in behind Applejack, leaning in and whispering to her. 'Applejack? Is everything all right?' 'Huh?' Applejack asked. 'Wha? Of... of course! Why would ya think somethin's wrong?' That pretty much confirmed it for Rarity, she gave Applejack an annoyed glare. 'You're a terrible liar, Applejack. I understand if you don't want to talk about it... but... please, tell me one of those brutes didn't... have their way with you?' Applejack shook her head. 'Nah, it ain't that, Rarity, ah want ta tell ya'll. Ah really do, but ah can't. Not yet, Ah need ta be able to explain it ta mahself befer Ah can explain it ta any'un else. Ya understand?' Rarity shook her head. 'No, not really, but I respect your decision regardless'. 'Thanks Rarity', Applejack said with a smile. Up at the front of the group, Princess Luna had her head tilted up towards the sky, her horn glowing and her face held a look of deep concentration. Rarity understood what she was doing instantly. She was detecting traces of magic, if Twilight had been in the city, she would have been using her magic. Unicorns relied heavily upon their magic, and in an area that lacked of magic users, any magic that had been in the area would be like somepony walking into the middle of Ponyville at noon and screaming their head off. Very noticeable. Princess Luna started walking, her eyes shut and deep in concentration, began walking through the streets of Trotterdam, everypony stayed quiet, following behind Princess Luna and allowing her to concentrate. They walked for nearly an hour when they reached the eastern edge of the city, where the strength of the background magic began to spike. Rarity started to feel it and she wasn't even trying. 'This is it', Princess Luna said, as she opened her eyes and discovered that they were in front of a warehouse. She pushed open the door and took a step inside. The background magic levels rose sharply. This was clearly where Twilight had been living. All of them went inside and took a look around. Rarity trotted around to the back of the room, it was a workshop, Rarity looked around to discover several boxes of ammunition, clips for submachine guns, several half completed Schäferhund MP9 submachine guns. This was a weapons factory. What had Twilight been doing here? Rarity could only imagine the group that Twilight had fallen into. 'Hey! Look at this!' Rainbow Dash called out. Rarity turned and trotted back over to the rest of the group. Rainbow Dash was hovering over a map that had been spread across the table. Trotterdam was circled in read, and there was a line drawing along the map, following a road called 'Highway 62', and ending at another city, which too was circled. 'Königsberg'. 'This had got to be where they were going!' Rainbow Dash said. Princess Luna took a look at it, running her horn over it. She nodded her head in agreement. 'Twilight did this, the paper is covered in magic', Princess Luna said. 'Well then, looks like we know where we need to go then', Rarity said. Princess Luna nodded and the rolled up the map, placing it into her saddlebags. 'Come, the magic is recent, if he hurry, we can catch up to her'. … HMSIS Dash, pulled into port in the Bundesrepublik Schäferhund port of Venedig, one of the busiest warm water port on the Hadriatic Sea. Vinyl Scratch watched as the ship pulled into its mooring. Schäferhund dockworkers, these ones wearing storm harnesses with pistols clipped into them, scrambled to secure the ship to the dock. They pushed a boarding ramp towards the ship and set it against the side of the ship. Vinyl Scratch, Whirlwind, Surprise, and Benjamin Willoughby gathered on the gangplanks, giving the crew a goodbye before disembarking. Vinyl Scratch was the first to step off the ship; she turned back and gave the Lieutenant Conmmander a grin. ‘Hey Lieutenant Commander? I’m off your ship!’ she said brightly. ‘Couldn’t have happened any faster’, the kangaroo commander replied with a sigh. His voice regained a serious tone. ‘We’ll make for the port of Trotterdam, you’ve got a week to get there, or we’re going to have to leave, and you’ll have to find your own ride to Equestria’. ‘Understood’, Vinyl said. ‘See you in a week’. The group stepped onto Schäferhund soil and made their way into town, where they’d head north east, by rail to the town of Mün, a railhub close to the border with the Nederlands. They’d be a couple of hours, but hey, it beat walking. ... Twilight Sparkle didn’t want to keep walking. The town of Mün was some fifty kilometres to go, really, fifty kilometres until she and Heinrich were home free, at Mün, and Twilight could risk boarding a train. Since she wasn’t wanted for any crimes in Bundesrepublik Schäferhund, and they weren’t yet a member of the Police Internationale, Twilight could move about freely in Mün. They just had to get there. Safety was in sight. Both she and Heinrich were tired, though neither would complain, they’d only been walking for a few hours, but they kept a brisk pace, faster than a trot, slower than a full out run. They stayed off the roads, lest someone see them, instead tracing the path of this bend of the River Rijn. Twilight was on edge, this was too easy, their path was clear, and their endgame in sight. Surely, the Police Internationale Inspector, Pierre La Roche, he should have tried something by now. Twilight hated herself; she’d opened her proverbial big mouth. She looked up to discover a Pegasus diving on her. It was La Roche. Twilight hit the deck and tried to roll out of the way. La Roche anticipated the manoeuvre, and adjusted himself at least minute. He tackled Twilight, to the ground, with a hard thump. Her saddlebags ripped, sending the Tome of Alhazred flying into the air. Twilight watched in horror as the book sailed to her left, landing in the River Rijn with a loud splash, and the strong currents carried the book away from her. ‘No...’ Twilight cried quietly. Heinrich dived at La Roche. Pierre leapt into the air and circled back around. Heinrich anticipated this, and hit the manual adjustments on his storm harness, turning both of the Schäferhund’s MP9 towards the sky. Heinrich bit down hard on the control yoke, spraying bullets into the sky. La Roche anticipated this manoeuvre, and dived below the firing arc that Heinrich had adjusted to, slamming hard into the Schäferhund’s chest, knocking him cold. Twilight was far too preoccupied to notice, she crawled to the edge of the River Rijn, reaching into the water, feeling around for the Tome of Alhazred. No use, the book was gone. Carried off by the current to who knows wear. She felt somepony bite down on her tail and before she knew it she was being dragged backwards. La Roche flipped her onto her back, and drove his hoof into her face. Twilight’s nose began to bleed, La Roche, however, was not satisfied, and hit her again, this time in the stomach with his back hoof. Twilight cried out in pain. La Roche could only grin. Twilight looked up, and to her horror, discovered La Roche’s fully erect penis hovering dangerously close to her. ‘No...’ Twilight pleaded, before feeling a sharp stabbing pain. She closed her eyes, this wasn’t happening to her. It couldn’t be happening to her. She cried out, wanting it to stop. She felt a gust of wind blow across her face, and the sound of hoof steps approaching. ‘La Roche!’ cried a voice from the side. Pierre La Roche turned and looked to his left. Something happened, something that Twilight Sparkle would never be able to explain, for Pierre La Roche exploded. It was as if he was a water balloon, and someone had taken a needle to it, showering Twilight in blood. Twilight turned to the left. There were three ponies standing several metres from where she lay. Two were pegasi, a mare, and a stallion, the mare’s mane and tail were an icy blue, with a matching icy blue colouring on her legs and hooves. A coat of white, and a cutie mark of a snow flake, likewise, the stallion was also white coated, his mane and tail, however, were a deep blond, and he had a cutie mark of a wing. Twilight recognised the third. He was an Earth Pony, grey coated, orange mane. But what stuck out about him were the eyes. They were blood red. ‘Monty?’ Twilight asked. The earth pony smiled at her, and in a blink, her saviours were gone. Twilight quickly fell unconscious. Chapter 7Chapter 7 Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes to discover that she was lying in bed. Her bed. Her bed in her home. The Ponyville Public Library. She glanced around and slowly sat up and looked around. This was the library, but... she couldn't actually be here, could she? 'Heinrich?' Twilight called out to her schäferhund companion. No response, though, if she was in the Ponyville Public Library, then she really shouldn't be surprised at that. 'Heinrich's not here', said a voice from over in the corner. 'Neither are you really'. Twilight looked over to discover Montana Ulan sitting quietly in the corner, reading a book. 'Monty?' Twilight asked. Monty looked up at her and smiled, he set down the book he was reading and gave her a polite wave. 'Hello Twilight'. 'Monty?' Twilight asked again. 'What's going on?' 'Simple, you're sort of dreaming. You're still lying on the ground on the banks of the River Rijn', Monty said. 'Your consciousness has been divorced from your body for a time, but don't worry. I'll get you put back right. I brought you here because I know you have questions, and to be frank you deserve answers'. Twilight blinked slowly for a few moments, processing what Monty had said. 'I'm dreaming?' 'Sort of', Monty said. 'It looks like a dream, it feels like a dream, once you wake up, you'll struggle to remember this like it was a dream, and because you aren't going to remember it when you wake up, you can ask me any questions you would like, and I will answer them truly'. Twilight blinked for a few moments. 'Who are you?' she eventually asked. Monty smiled at her. 'A fair first question, not a very good one mind you, I am Montana Ulan, the same pony that you know me as, a better question would have been, 'what are you?' I'll save you the trouble of asking, but respond with another question, do you remember the tale of The Mare in the Moon?' Twilight thought about it for a moment, and then recited the legend from memory. 'The Mare in the Moon: myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring about night time eternal'. Monty nodded. 'Not one of our better decisions, mind you'. Twilight thought about it for a moment, then the realisation hit her. ''The stars will aid her escape' …' Monty nodded again. 'The nephites know us as god, the tigers of Bharat know us as Krishna, the gryphons abandoned their old time worship of us for an atheistic society, and the ponies of Equestria know us as the Stars... though they have forgotten us entirely, not a surprise really, especially when our enemies have actively worked to suppress knowledge of us. They call us, 'The Others''. Twilight sat quietly for a moment, taking all that was being told to her in slowly. 'Your enemies? Who are they?' 'The Royals, of course', Monty said simply. 'Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, especially, since Overdrive and the Siblings Nightmare have been rendered a non-factor'. 'Why are they your enemies?! The princesses are good, fair, and just rulers!' Twilight proclaimed. 'Yes, you would say that', Monty said. 'You don't quite have a choice to say anything different'. Twilight thought about it for a moment and realised that he had a point. Twilight had really learned much about her own upbringing from her time in Europa. She’d been indoctrinated from childbirth to love Princess Celestia, but she had only recently become aware of it. ‘I’m more concerned, however, with the more recent indoctrination by the Tome of Alhazred’, Monty said. ‘You can hardly stand to be without it’. ‘That’s a lie!’ Twilight cried out, her voice shaking with hostility. ‘I don’t need it! I can go perfectly fine without it!’ Monty sighed and rolled his eyes at her. ‘Prove it, then’, he said, extending his leg and pointing at a spot on Twilight’s bed. Twilight looked over to it, and discovered the Tome of Alhazred lying on her bed next to her, which she had not noticed before. ‘Toss it out the window if you don’t need it’. Twilight picked up the book in her magic, rising from bed, she trotted over to the window, she held it out, and told herself to drop it. Nothing happened, she told herself to drop the book again, but to no avail, the book would not drop, her magical hold on it staying firm. ‘I can’t...’ Twilight said in resignation. She needed the book, she loved it, and she wanted nothing more than to hold it close and to read it until the long hours of the morning. ‘I didn’t think so’, Monty said with a sigh. ‘The book, the real one, is a powerful magical artefact, and it does not release its hold on others, even after it is done with them’. Twilight looked up to discover that the Tome of Alhazred had vanished; she understood that in this dream like state, it wasn’t even real to begin with. ‘To answer your question, we’re enemies with the royals because they have an opposing ideology to ours. They hold power over you directly, ruling over you and providing with the illusion of comfort, safety, and security, while at the same time ruling with an iron hoof and a pleasant smile. While we, on the other hoof, prefer to get you started along the right path, and once you’re on it, we leave you be to make your own choices... and that’s gotten me into a bit of trouble, actually...’ Monty said, rubbing the back of his head with his hoof. ‘What do you mean?’ Twilight asked, razing an eyebrow. ‘I killed La Roche’, Monty said. ‘I intervened directly, and I’m going to have to pay for it’. ‘What’s going to happen?’ Twilight asked. ‘What did happen is a better question’, Monty said. ‘Let me give you some background, Pierre La Roche was a simple pony, the quiet type, doesn’t particularly like to be around other ponies, prefers to spend his time with himself, has been for his entire life, sound familiar?’ Twilight nodded, it sounded just like her before she had come to Ponyville. ‘La Roche was isolated from others, it’s enough to make a pony feel small, insignificant. So when he joined the Police Internationale, he discovered that he liked hunting down criminals, it made him feel special, important. He had power over others and he liked it. For Pierre La Roche, power was everything’. ‘Then he... raped me...’ Twilight said with a shudder. ‘Rape is always about power. The sex is just a bonus’, Monty said. ‘Having total control over another’s fate... It’s a huge power trip, La Roche isn’t the only one guilty of this, I can name six others right off the top of my head. Overdrive, Nightcaller, Nightsinger, Nightshadow, Celestia, and Luna... and many others to go along with them... in any case, the Others convened a tribunal to determine wether or not La Roche’s life was taken fairly or not, the tribunal ruled in his favour. Since he was killed by one of us without the approval of the tribunal, they have opted to restore his life. He’ll wake up tomorrow morning in his flat in Seine, CFR, with no memories of the last few days. I was also able to convince them that the best way to maintain the status quo would be to expunge your criminal record in the Cheval Fourth Republic, believe it or not, they agreed with me right out. Pierre La Roche will have never heard of you, and will not bother you ever again’. ‘I suppose I should be thanking you... doesn’t change the fact that he still raped me’, Twilight said, her ears drooping in disappointment. ‘No... no it doesn’t’, Monty said with a frown. He looked up towards the ceiling for a moment, but then looked back to Twilight. ‘It’s almost time for you to wake up... I’m sorry, but you’re not going to remember anything that I just told you... but you’re not going to know how you know that. You’re going to forget who Pierre La Roche is too, you’ll have no idea what you were doing out here either’. Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but Monty interrupted her. ‘It’s not up to me, Twilight, this is what the tribunal decided, I’m already in enough trouble with them as it is, I don’t care what they’ll do to me, it’s the other two that were with me that I’m worried about. The tribunal knows that I don’t care what happens to me, so they’re going to punish them to put me in my place’. ‘Sounds like they don’t like you’, Twilight said. ‘We have a difference of opinion, right now, we’re sitting back and letting the Royals do as they please while we should be taking the offensive to them. We could wipe them out in seconds, but the tribunal doesn’t want to because it’ll upset the balance of power in the world’, Monty said with a shrug. ‘So now, we sit back, and we do nothing, and you have to forget everything, the influence of the Tome of Alhazred providing a plausible explanation as to why you can’t’. Twilight frowned, she looked down at the ground. ‘Monty?’ she asked, looking back up at him. ‘What about Heinrich? Am I going to forget him too?’ ‘Yes’, Monty said with a simple nod. ‘I... I never told him I loved him’, Twilight said, tears forming in her eyes. ‘I’m sorry’, Monty said, the lights in the room began to grow bright, and Twilight Sparkle was shaken awake. Chapter 8Chapter 8 Twilight slowly opened her eyes, raising a hoof above her head to block out the bright sunlight that was shining right into her eyes. Her head ached like no other, she felt as if she’d stepped in front of a moving train, and for all she knew, she had. Twilight opened her eyes some more, the light still blinding her, she could see that something was over her; a big pink blob was hovering mere centimetres from her face. Twilight’s eyes soon enough began to adjust and when her sight came into focus, that pink blob was an all too familiar form. ‘Pinkie Pie?’ Twilight asked. ‘Twilight!’ Pinkie Pie called out excitedly. ‘Have you finally stopped being grumps mcgirt!?’ ‘Huh? Pinkie? What are you talking about?’ Twilight asked as she sat up, she looked around to discover that it was not only Pinkie Pie that was here, but also Princess Luna, Rarity, Spike, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. Twilight looked around, and discovered something very odd about the place in which she found herself in. ‘This isn’t Ponyville...’ ‘Uh... no’, Pinkie Pie said, cocking her head slightly to the left as she looked at Twilight in confusion. ‘This is the Nederlands!’ ‘What? What am I doing here? What are we doing here?’ Twilight cried out in surprise. ‘You... don’t know?’ Rainbow Dash said, her ears perking up as she walked over towards where Twilight was laying. Twilight thought as hard as she could, she was struggling to remember any of the events that had led her to this place. She could not, for the life of her recall anything. ‘The last thing I remember...’ Twilight said, as she thought about it more. ‘I went down stairs from my room, I opened the front door... and Raindrops was there to deliver the morning’s post. She found a book that wasn’t labelled to anyone, and wanted to donate it to the Library... I thanked her for it and I took it from her... and the next thing I know, I woke up here’. Princess Luna stepped forward. ‘How... odd’, she said, looking over Twilight closely. Twilight felt an odd sensation, like something was gnawing at the back of her brain. ‘There... is nothing there’, Luna said in surprise. ‘What?’ Twilight asked in confusion, and then as she thought about it, she realised what the gnawing sensation she felt was. She quickly shut her eyes and turned her head away from Princess Luna. ‘Get out of my head!’ she cried out, causing the princess of the night to recoil in surprise. ‘I... I am sorry Twilight, I should have asked your permission before looking’, Princess Luna said apologetically. ‘I forgive you Princess’, Twilight said, keeping her eyes closed and head turned aeay. ‘What did you mean that nothing is there?’ she asked. ‘Your memories of the last two weeks have not been merely repressed or hidden. They’re gone completely, as if someone, or something, more than likely’. ‘The book stole her memories?’ Spike asked. ‘More than likely, yes, the question we have to ask is why? And where is it now?’ ‘The book?’ Twilight asked, blinking her eyes. ‘You mean that book Raindrops gave me? Why would I have brought that with me?’ Princess Luna opened her mouth to answer, however, was quickly interrupted by Pinkie Pie. ‘Hey Twilight!’ Who’s this?’ she asked. Twilight glanced over to where Pinkie Pie was and looked in confusion, lying on the ground, unconscious, was a schäferhund. Twilight didn’t know much about schäferhund culture, but she could tell by his hat, called a schirmmütze, that he fit the role of a schäferhund officer. ‘I... don’t know’. Pinkie Pie wasted no time in prodding the stranger, snapping him awake, He sat up and got to his paws. Glancing around to Twilight. ‘Twilight!’ he cried out, rushing over to her. ‘Are you all right? Where is La Roche? Did he hurt you?’ Twilight blinked at the schäferhund for a moment, feeling more than a little awkward. She didn’t know who he was, or what he was talking about. ‘Um... I’m sorry, who are you?’ she asked. The schäferhund recoiled slightly, he looked confused. ‘Twilight? It’s me... Heinrich? Heinrich Büschenmacher?’ Twilight said nothing. Causing the schäferhund to look more than a little hurt. He took a step back then lowered his head. Twilight didn’t recognise him, and he knew it. ‘I... I’m sorry’, Twilight said. ‘I don’t know who you are’. Heinrich’s head lowered even further, almost touching the ground. ‘That’s okay... just as long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters’. Heinrich picked his head back up, giving Twilight Sparkle a weak smile and turning around, trotting towards the east towards Mün. Twilight felt horribly guilty, even though she knew that she could do nothing about it. She didn’t remember him. That was that. Twilight’s ears began to twitch, she looked up into the air, as did everyone else as they heard something coming towards them. It was faint at first, but as it began to get closer, they were able to make out what it was. It was someone’s voice. Then once it got somewhat closer, they recognised it instantly. ‘SURRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!’ Before Twilight could move, she felt someone slam into her at high speed, causing her to skid backwards several metres before stopping, she looked up to discover Surprise was on top of her, looking down and grinning madly at her. ‘Hi!’ she cried out cheerfully, then promptly giving Twilight a hug. ‘Uh... hello Surprise’, Twilight said. ‘Did I surprise ya? Did I? Huh? Did I? Did I?’ Surprise cried out excitedly. ‘Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting it, I’ll say that... now let me up!’ Twilight said. Surprise nodded, hopping off Twilight and helping her up to her hooves. ‘I helped!’ Surprise said brightly. Twilight looked out to the east, Heinrich had passed out of sight, but coming galloping over the hill were none other than Vinyl Scratch and Whirlwind, and as could almost be expected, kangaroo soldier Benjamin Willoughby hopping along not far behind. ‘Surprise!? I thought I told you to hold her down until we got here!’ Vinyl Scratch cried out. ‘OH YEAH!’ Surprise called out, promptly tackling Twilight Sparkle to the ground. ‘Surprise!’ she cried out cheerfully. Twilight couldn’t help but sigh loudly as Vinyl Scratch approached the group, continuing to run with her horn lowered and glowing brightly toward Twilight. ‘Vinyl Scratch! Stop! It is okay!’ Princess Luna called out. Naturally, Vinyl Scratch skidded to a halt. Turning and looking at the Princess. ‘Oh hi! I see you’ve already fixed Twilight, okay Surprise, you can get off her’. ‘Kay!’ Surprise called out. Hopping off Twilight and helping her back to her hooves. ‘I helped!’ Princess Luna shook her head at Vinyl Scratch. ‘Not quiet’, she said. ‘Oh, well then’, Vinyl Scratch said. ‘Surprise, tackle her again!’ ‘Kay!’ Surprise called out, promptly bringing Twilight to the ground. ‘Surprise!’ she cried out excitedly. ‘Okay, this really needs to stop’, Twilight said in annoyance. ‘No way! This is fun!’ Surprise said brightly. ‘What I meant was’, Princess Luna interrupted. ‘Is that we found Twilight in this state, she has no memory of the past few weeks... which is concerning’. ‘So? Twilight’s not evil?’ Vinyl Scratch asked. ‘When was I evil?!’ Twilight called out, her line of questioning falling of deaf ears. ‘No’, Princess Luna said simply. ‘Surprise?’ Vinyl Scratch asked. ‘Let her up’. ‘Kay!’ Surprise called out. Hopping off Twilight and helping her back to her hooves. ‘I helped!’ Twilight ignored her. ‘I guess it’s time to go home then?’ Pinkie Pie asked as she trotted back over to the group. Princess Luna nodded. ‘Well, good news then everypony! I got us a ride home!’ Vinyl Scratch said. ‘The HMSIS Dash is supposed to meet us in Trotterdam at the end of the week’. ‘You got the Dash?’ Rainbow Dash asked. ‘I bet the lef-tenant commander was real pleased to see you’. ‘More than you could ever imagine’, Vinyl said with a grin. The group fell in together and began their walk back towards Trotterdam. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Surprise, falling back from the group on purpose. Rainbow Dash wanting to have private words with Twilight, Surprise, on the other hoof, just wanted to look at everything. ‘Twilight? We need to talk about us’, Rainbow Dash said. ‘Rainbow?’ Twilight asked. ‘We broke up during the time that you’re missing your memories’, Rainbow Dash said. ‘And... I know you don’t remember doing it... but I wouldn’t want to assume...’ Twilight stopped her promptly. ‘Rainbow Dash, what kind of mare do you think I am? You weren’t thinking that I don’t love you any more do you?’ ‘Well... to be honest...’ Rainbow Dash said, her voice trailing off. ‘Rainbow...’ Twilight said, moving closer to her marefriend and planting a quick kiss on her cheek. ‘I don’t know what happened. But I do know this, I love you Rainbow Dash, don’t you forget it’. ‘Thanks Twilight’, Rainbow Dash said with a smile as the two of them moved to catch up with the rest of the group. They didn’t get very far, before they knew it, Surprise had pounced on them. ‘Surprise! Did I surprise ya? Did I? Huh? Did I? Did I?’ Twilight sighed in annoyance. ‘Pinkie Pie was never this bad... this is going to be a reoccurring thing, isn’t it Surprise?’ ‘Uh huh!’ Surprise said cheerfully as she hopped off Rainbow Dash and Twilight and helping them back to their hooves. ‘I helped!’ she cried out happily. Twilight sighed again as the group caught back up with the rest of their friends. EpilogueEpilogue They were all glad to finally be returning home. It had been nearly a month to the day since Princess Luna and company had departed from Ponyville to search for Twilight Sparkle, and nearly two since Vinyl Scratch, Surprise, and Whirlwind had left for South Island, they all trotted along the southern road, up into town, chatting pleasantly with each other. Oh they were ever so happy to be... home? All of their jaws, even Princess Luna’s had fallen open as they rounded the last corner into Ponyville, they watched in awe as EPMB combots rolled to and fro on their tracked wheelbases some of them were carrying large boxes. Others were carrying construction materials. ‘What... happened... here?’ Applejack asked in shock. None of them had a good answer. That was when they heard an artificial, but cheerful voice from behind them. ‘Hello!’ it called out. All of them jumped in surprise, and quickly turned around to discover that an EPMB combot had rolled up behind them, this one was different from the others, as it had a very bright and happy looking face on its monitor, although incredibly creepy at the same time. ‘Greetings travellers! Welcome to Ponyville, the new technologies capital of Equestria! And the birthplace of FutureTec industries, I’m Mister Happy, because I’m happy! All the time!’ the combot said cheerfully. ‘If you don’t mind my asking, what brings you to Ponyville?’ Mister Happy asked. ‘Uh... we live here’, Rainbow Dash said. Mister Happy did not reply initially, but his monitor face continued to smile brightly at them, and it was more than a little disconcerting. ‘That’s funny! Because I don’t have records of any of you in the database! I’m sure that’s just a mistake though, if I could have your names, I can go ahead and add you in!’ ‘Uh... I’m Rainbow Dash’, Rainbow Dash said. Mister Happy promptly interrupted her. ‘OH! You’re the ones who have been away on holiday! I’m sorry for not recognising you! Oh... hello! It’s looking like someone just added you all to the database manually! That was very nice of them... I’ve just been informed that the bosses at FutureTec want to see you immediately!’ Princess Luna frowned. ‘I can already see where this is going... I need to return to Canterlot... I can only imagine what Tia’s planning to do about all this’. ‘Okie Dokie Lokie!’ Mister Happy said brightly, ‘If that’s what you think is best. I can go ahead and take the rest of you to the bosses!’ Twilight and looked to Vinyl Scratch, then to Princess Luna, then to Rainbow Dash, then to everyone else. ‘Well... then... where are the FutureTec bosses at?’ she asked. ‘Oh that’s an easy one! They’re at FutureTec Headquarters in Whitetail Wood!’ Mister Happy said. ‘Whitetail... Wood?’ Twilight asked. She knew instantly what Mister Happy meant. ‘But I locked the EPMB door! For this very reason! How did somepony get in there!?’ Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and then she looked down at the ground nervously. ‘I may have gone into EPMB after you locked it... I also may have left the door unlocked...’ ‘Rainbow!’ Twilight cried out, more in a state of worry than anger. ‘We really shouldn’t keep the bosses waiting!’ Mister Happy said, as he spun around on the axis of his tracked wheelbase. ‘Follow me!’ he said as he started to roll down the street. ‘Twilight Sparkle’, Princess Luna said. ‘Please be careful, I leave for Canterlot, and I may be gone for some time... remember, if these bosses of FutureTec have taken control of Emerald Sparkle’s technology, they are incredibly dangerous, and not to be trusted’. ‘I understand Princess; do what you need to do’, Twilight said with a nod. With that, Princess Luna spread her wings, taking flight towards Canterlot. While the rest of the group fell in line behind Mister Happy. Time to meet the bosses of FutureTec. Table of ContentsStop! You are reading the third story in the Ashes to Ashes series which in turn is a sequel series to the All Good Things and Bonds of Eternity Series. PLEASE look at the table of contents and read the series in order. FAILURE TO READ THE PREVIOUS STORIES WITH RESULT IN YOU BEING EXTREMELY CONFUSED, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. REPEATEDLY.
Chapter 1500 Kilometres Chapter 1 Police sirens. The mare instinctively threw herself to the ground, waited for them to pass before getting back up. Despite the fact that she was wearing a hood, and in the dark, could not be seen. She trotted down the dark street, and turned into a dark alleyway. She stopped only to look at a poster that had caught her eye. It was a wanted poster. She looked over it, unable to understand what it said, as it was written in nederlands. All that she was able to make out was ‘Twilight Sparkle’, and ‘5000 cheval francs’. She promptly enveloped the poster in her magic and ripped it off the wall, crumpling it up into a ball and tossing it into a gutter. She trotted down the alleyway, and reached out with her hoof and began banging on a door. She waited for a moment, and listened as rain began to fall in the background. The door’s mail slot opened, and she discovered a pair of eyes looking back at her. The mail slot closed again, and the door opened. ‘You are late’, the doorman said. ‘It was unavoidable’, she responded. She looked up at the doorman, his Heinrich, and he was a schäferhund. Heinrich was far bigger than she was, what with his shaggy fur and his razor sharp teeth, he was an imposing figure to any who would casually meet him, and however, she knew him well enough to know he was just a big softie. She trotted inside and Heinrich closed the door behind her. Twilight Sparkle pulled the hood off her head and shook her head, her mane falling back into place. ‘You have the payment?’ Heinrich asked. Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes at the question. ‘Of course I do’, she said as she opened up her cloak and pulled out a small bag that she had clipped into the storm harness she was wearing for convenience, tossing it over to Heinrich. ‘Two hundred gulden, minus my fee, of course’. The bag landed at Heinrich’s paws, making a sound, the satisfying clink of a bag of coins, exactly as they should. ‘Yes, yes of course’. Twilight smirked at the schäferhund before her. ‘What? You’re not going to check and see if I cheated you?’ Heinrich shook his head. ‘No, I trust you, so far you’ve never given me any reasons to suspect that you are cheating me out of the money for my goods, why would you start now?’ ‘Maybe I thought I could get away with it?’ Twilight said with a grin as she trotted up to the schäferhund and gave him a gentle kiss. ‘Maybe because I know that under that gruff exterior, you’re nothing but a softie’. Heinrich chuckled and the two trotted out of the antechamber of the building farther into Heinrich’s Workshop. Twilight looked around at the messy room, filled with several work benches, a forge, and an ammunition press. Everything that Heinrich needed to make his weapons. Heinrich was a black market weapon’s dealer, he made all his own equipment, and Twilight ferried to buyers and collected the payment. To say that they were business partners was something of an understatement. Their relationship had started out as one of simple business; however, it had evolved into a more... personal connection. Heinrich liked Twilight a lot; he remembered when he had first met her. She had sought him out, she had been in the market, not for weapons, but ammunition, and had learned that he specialised in both. She found him and wanted to buy ammunition for a revolver that she’d been carrying. Heinrich had given her revolver a look over, the Emerald Ordinance No.4, 11mm magnum revolver was a fine weapon, to be sure, but to admit it would be damaging to the schäferhund pride. He’d scoffed her over it, to manufacture a design of kangaroo origin, or any ammunition for it was an affront to all schäferhund. Naturally, he refused... but Twilight had shown to be... persuasive. Twilight hadn’t looked like much, but she had proved to be quite the master in the matter of intimate relations. They had met in the middle on the ammunition, he agreed to make some for her, but Heinrich had also convinced her to make her primary weapon a submachine gun of his own people’s design, the Maschinenpistole 9, though he was not able to convince her to part with the revolver all together, citing ‘sentiment’ as the main reason. It did not take long for Heinrich to learn that Twilight was a fugitive from the law; he only needed to walk outside to see wanted posters with her picture on it from the Police Internationale. Twilight Sparkle was wanted for several including theft, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, extortion, and, as the two of them liked to add as a joke, jaywalking. Heinrich was fine with that, however, most, if not all of his friends were criminals. He was technically a criminal himself. Bundesrepublik Schäferhund required weapon merchants to be registered, and their incomes taxed heavily. Likewise, there were limitations on what they were allowed to produce. Most of these laws were recent after Bundesrepublik Schäferhund had been accused of being ‘the promoter of violence and disharmony’ by the Crown Princess Celestia of the Principality of Equestria some fifty years ago, resulting in a trade embargo being placed on them. It had lead to many schäferhund to migrate out of the Bundesrepublik and into the Nederlands, and the Österungarischereich to continue their operations as gunsmiths. The embargo on the Bundesrepublik had eventually been lifted, Bundesrepublik Schäferhund and Österungarischereich, being the two major schäferhund speaking countries, however kept many of the restrictions to appease the Principality of Equestria. After all, who dared to argue with a living goddess? Heinrich knew that Twilight Sparkle was Equestrian. Equestria was the unicorn nation, after all, despite the fact that it had other races in it. It didn’t bother Heinrich, for he also knew that Twilight Sparkle was an outcast and a criminal in her own country. If anything it made them closer, and now, they were both lovers, and partners. Heinrich made weapons; Twilight would go out and deliver them. Despite being a unicorn, and the fact that a unicorn outside Equestria was a rare occurrence all together, Twilight was a master of blending into the background. Heinrich figured that it had something to do with the unicorn race’s mystical abilities. Heinrich didn’t complain, she could go many places unseen, while he could not. Schäferhund were much larger in size than the other races of the continent. He couldn’t hide in plain sight if he wanted to. It didn’t help that the other races on the continent were all herbivores, while the schäferhund were carnivores, in times past, wars between schäferhund, and particularly the cheval, were frequent and victories for the schäferhund armies would often end with them feasting upon the slain enemies, granting them the reputation for being savage and uncouth. They hadn’t cared then, savage and uncouth, were only words after all, it wasn’t a concern for them as long as they continued to win. In more recent history, however, the political climate of the continent Europa had changed much, The Cheval Second Empire and Kaiserreich Schäferhund had been at war with each other, the Imperial government of the Kaiserreich had been over confidant and had been overwhelmingly defeated by the cheval, whose use of airborne tactics (which it had not been able to do in wars prior, due to the heavy barding that had been worn by cheval soldiers) had lead to a swift defeat and outright collapse of the Kaiserreich. Tensions between schäferhund and cheval were still distrustful; however they no longer warred openly, and were generally more concerned of others. In particular, the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, whose society, had flourished in recent years since they had entered the industrial age. That was politics, however, and Heinrich was not interested in politics. What he was interested in was money, and as a result, he would sell to anyone who would buy, within reason, and without being stupid. He was smart enough to know who was a legitimate buyer, and who was a member of the Police Internationale. Twilight was especially helpful with that, as her unicorn abilities gave her a number of edges in detection. Twilight did have a few quirks, but as far as Heinrich was concerned, that was of little consequence. Everyone did, though; he did note that Twilight’s were rather odd. She was a bit of a perfectionist, she liked things to be neat, tidy, and well organised, and she would often go through his things and sort them every once in a while, and then resort them a week later, but what Heinrich thought was most odd, was the strange book that Twilight carried with her at all times. Not exactly a practical thing, as the book was large, bulky and barely fit in her saddlebags. Every time Heinrich asked about the book, Twilight would snap at him that it wasn’t any of his business, and go to lengths to keep him from looking at it. ‘Ohhh Heinrich...’ Twilight called out to him. Heinrich trotted around the corner, Twilight was in his bedroom, laying on his bed, stroking the bed suggestively. ‘Yes Twilight?’ Heinrich asked playfully. ‘Oh it’s been such a long day... and I could use a little... relaxation, couldn’t you?’ she asked giving him a wink. Heinrich chuckled. ‘And here I thought you would never ask’.
Chapter 2Chapter 2 His name was Pierre, Pierre La Roche, he was different from the others around him. He was a member of La Police Internationale, He was Inspecteur divisionnaire Pierre La Roche, and he stood on a street corner in Bruxelles, the capital of the cheval speaking region of the Nederlands, looking up at the sky. He took a long drag off his cigarette before putting it out and continuing on his way. Bruxelles had the reputation of being quiet the beautiful city, to many it was a grand city. La Roche didn’t see it, however. Those who did not know him would have considered him biased to his own home. He was a native born cheval, after all, and while Bruxelles had, in recent years, become predominately cheval speaking, it’s population were nederlanders, who despite speaking the same language as he did, lacked wings. However it was not the case. Those that knew Pierre La Roche knew that he was nothing more than a cynical, cold hearted bastard; he knew that he was as well, but it didn’t bother him in the slightest. It was what he needed to be. Inspecteur divisionnaire Pierre La Roche was a member of La Police Internationale, one of the best inspectors La Police Internationale had ever seen, and it was because Pierre La Roche was a cold hearted bastard. There was use in an inspector like him, his superiors acknowledged that, and at the same time, kept him on a tight leash. Pierre La Roche was unsympathetic, and determined to bring his mark in, in the sense that La Police Internationale did, of course. La Police Internationale was different from most law enforcement organisations that it did arrest criminals. Instead, it did much of the legwork required in tracking criminal movements across international borders, and then allowed local police to make the arrest, where the criminal would then be taken back to the country that they were wanted in for trial and eventual imprisonment. La Roche was thorough, every mark he went after was one that had been put away on the first time, and guaranteed to stay away for a long, long time. Pierre La Roche was only tasked the worst criminals as one could imagine. The kinds of criminals who could be afforded no sympathy because he would give none, could give none. Pierre La Roche opened up his greatcoat, pulling out another cigarette and a pocket lighter, an ingenious little device that popped out of a coat pocket, flipped open, and produced a small flame, enough to light a cigarette and then pop back into the pocket. Smoking was Pierre La Roche’s only earthly pleasure. The only thing he allowed himself to enjoy. He discovered much to his disappointment that it had been his last one. Pierre burned through fags like they were going out of style. He made a mental note to get more before leaving Bruxelles. Pierre La Roche stopped when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye it was a poster, printed in cheval: Recherché pour crimes de vol, coups et blessures, et l'extorsion. Twilight Sparkle Cinq mille francs à la personne qui fournit des renseignements menant à une arrestation. And then again in wallish: Wanted for crimes of theft, assault, and extortion. Twilight Sparkle Five thousand francs to the person who provides information leading to an arrest. Pierre sighed; this was the criminal he had been tasked to bring to justice, a pony who had evaded capture after nearly a month on the run. Pierre had reliable information that she was in Trotterdam, which was exactly where he would soon be headed, or at least, as soon has he’d popped into a tabac for another pack of fags. He looked up at a street clock, the time was 1137, and any other inspector in La Police Internationale would have needed to be on a train for Trotterdam by now. Pierre La Roche had no need for trains. Not when he had wings. … 'Are you sure this is a good idea?' 'Of course it is, just you watch! My “Vinyl Scratch is about to do something brilliant” sense is going off'. Surprise could only watch as Vinyl Scratch put the finishing touches on her hoof made trebuchet. Using her magic to hoist the devices counterweight into position. Surprise was rather impressed with the device, the design was an old one, cheval in origin, but pre-dating even the Cheval First Republic. The device was a simple one, in the past it would have been used to lob giant stones great distances, when the device was released, the counterweight would drop and it would fling the stone off into the distance. Since the advent of gunpowder in Europa, however, devices such as these were considered to be obsolete, and the only ones to be found were hoof made by enthusiasts. Vinyl Scratch grinned madly as she inspected her handiwork. This was going to be fun, she could tell. 'Are you sure this is a good idea?' Surprise asked. 'Of course I'm sure!' Vinyl replied with a grin. 'The “Vinyl Scratch is about to do something brilliant” sense has never failed me! Now, get ready to release the counterweight!' 'But... Vinyl!' Surprise began but was quickly shushed by Vinyl as she climbed into the sling and curled herself up into a ball. 'I'll be fine, we're doing this over water and I have magic to slow me down before I hit, trust me I thought this through!' Vinyl said with a smile. 'You spent ten minutes thinking this over during breakfast', Surprise said. 'And?' Vinyl asked. 'Most ponies would hardly consider that thinking it over', Surprise said. 'I thought you were adventurous?' Vinyl replied back. 'Oh no! Don't get me wrong! I am, and I think it's brilliant, but Whirlwind made me promise that I would try to talk you out of it', Surprise said with a shrug. 'And?' Vinyl asked back with a grin. 'I tried!' Surprise beamed back at her, she spread her wings and hopped into the air, getting into position. Vinyl Scratch grinned madly. 'Hold on to your hooves! I am just about to be brilliant!' … Octavia Auditore slowly moved her bow across her cello, she and her ensemble were just about to finish up practise for the day, when she felt a sharp feeling in her chest, and dropped her bow, nearly stumbling over in the process. The entrie ensemble stopped playing and they all looked over to the cellist. 'Octavia? Are you alright?' Beauty Brass, sousaphone, asked. Octavia regained her composure and got to her hooves, running one of them through her mane to push it back into place. 'Yes I'm fine... I do apologise, my “Vinyl Scratch is about to do something stupid” sense went off'. … The counterweight dropped flinging the unicorn pony at a 35 degree arc into the air. 'AWWWWWWWWWWW YEAAAHHHHHHHHHH!' Vinyl Scratch cried out as she soared through the air, sticking her forelimbs out in front of her, acting like she was a pegasus, she looked down towards the water of the Bharatma Ocean. She looked back towards the coast line of Swan City and grinned. This was what it was like to fly. She enveloped herself in her magic and began to slow herself down, readying to soften the impact of her hitting the water. She straightened her body as best she could, and dove like a torpedo into the water. Her magic had not been enough to slow her down, and the impact hurt like hell. Still totally awesome. Still totally worth it. She opened her eyes, looking around from behind her goggles. Water was starting to leak in, but that was okay, it was just water. She looked around to see a number of tropical fish, and smiled. South Island was a wonderful country, and it was too bad that her trip was almost over. She began to push herself up towards the surface. She breached the water and took in a deep breath. She looked over to the beach and discovered that she'd gone at least a hundred metres. Surprise was waving at her from the shore. Vinyl watched as Surprise reset the counterweight and climbed into the device. She climbed into the sling and hit the lever, sending her flying into the air. 'SURRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPPRRRRRIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!' Surprise called out as she flew through the air, keeping her wings tucked in and diving into the water next to Vinyl. A few seconds later, Surprise burst up through the water. Growling loudly and crying out. 'Rawr! I'm a whale!' The two of them couldn't help but giggle as they swam back to the shore. Pulling themselves up onto the beach grabbing a towel and drying themselves off. 'So much fun!' Vinyl Scratch cried out. They looked up to discover a grey coated pegasus walking towards them with a scroll of paper in his mouth. Vinyl gave him a smile and waved to him. 'Hey Whirlwind!' Whirlwind nodded to her and dropped the scroll in front of her. 'Vinyl... we have a problem'. Vinyl Scratch took the scroll in her magic and opened it up. It was a wanted poster from the Police Internationale, Vinyl looked over it for a few seconds, not sure what to believe.'If this is true...' Vinyl said. 'Then we've got lots of problems'.
Chapter 3Chapter 3 Twilight Sparkle lay in bed next to the snoring schäferhund. There was certainly no chance of getting any rest with that racket. Twilight looked over at Heinrich Büchsenmacher, and considered how easy it would be to smother him with a pillow while he slept. Some nights, Twilight wondered why she hadn’t done it already. She didn’t need Heinrich Büchsenmacher as much as he needed her. He was really quite pathetic when she thought about it, and it wasn’t hard for her to see why. Apparently, at least to schäferhund standards, Heinrich was pretty ugly looking, something about his teeth not being big enough for the bitches of his race or something stupid like that. To Twilight, Heinrich was a means to an end, she didn’t particularly care about him, though, she didn’t particularly care about anyone at this point. Not since she had left Ponyville behind her. She didn’t need friends, all she needed was her gun, her wits, and the Tome of Alhazred and she was set for life. The only reason why she kept Heinrich around was for his ammunition press, that and the few weapon smuggling jobs that he set up for her was good money, even if it was the Nederlands’ second rate decimalised paper money. In truth, the nederlands gulden wasn’t actually worth anything compared to the Equestrian pound, as it wasn’t pegged to anything, unlike the pound, which was pegged to gold. Twilight supposed it mattered little, money was money, and here money was paper. Twilight slipped out of bed, she felt like she needed a bath after sharing a bed with the smelly schäferhund. That would wait until morning, however. She had things that needed doing. She trotted into the main room of Heinrich’s workshop, the small, dark, dank room had little in the way of light, though Twilight wasn’t sure what she would have expected, it was the middle of the night after all. She trotted over to where she had hidden her saddlebags, over in the far corner where Heinrich would not notice them. The last thing Twilight wanted was him poking through her things. She used her magic to pull a book out from the bag and opened it up. The Tome of Alhazred, her guide to the world was a book filled with experience and knowledge that Equestrians could never hope to know, and Twilight didn’t feel like sharing. She peered into the book for hours, mesmerised in the book’s words. She didn’t understand all of them, as the book had been written in Old Equestrian, but Twilight also noticed that the actual words on the pages didn’t matter, rather, all she had to do was just look at the pages and the meaning seemed to come to her as if they were a line of her own casual thoughts. Twilight Sparkle had never encountered a book like the Tome of Alhazred before, and she never intended to be apart from it. She had learned much from the book, all she had to do now was make sure that that information stayed hers. She looked up at the clock in the room, and discovered that she'd been sitting here reading for the last several hours. She shut the Tome of Alhazred and slid it back into her saddlebags and began her trot over to the washroom just as she heard Heinrich’s yawns. He was awake and pulling himself out of bed. Twilight gave him a small smile, suggestively shaking her flanks as she walked by him, and giving him a wink. He was so easy to take advantage of that it was almost a crime. All Heinrich needed was a bat of her eyelashes or a flick of her tail and he'd do whatever it was that she wanted. That was the real reason that Twilight kept him around. She had Heinrich on a leash, to use an adequate metaphor. Twilight closed the door to the washroom behind her, locking it up, while useful, Heinrich could get to be pretty clingy. Twilight's morning bath was the only time she could really get to herself. She turned on the facet and watched for a moment as water gushed from the spout, and as steam from the hot water rose into the air. Twilight reached out with a hoof and stuck it into the water slightly. Nice and hot, just how she liked it. She climbed into the bath and gently laid herself back, allowing her self to submerge into the water, where soon enough, only her head stayed above. She had almost taken the Tome of Alhazred into the bath with her. The book had multiple enchantments on it, one of which made it impervious to water. Twilight had decided against it however, just because it did repel water, didn't mean it wasn't disrespectful. Twilight reached out for a bottle of bubble bath with her magic opening it up and pouring a small amount into the tub. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to lean back and relax, making sure that her head wouldn't go underneath the water. She must have fallen asleep in the bath, because when she opened her eyes, the bubbles were all gone, and the bath water had become cold. Her skin felt like prunes, indicating that it had taken on more water than normal through osmosis. Twilight pulled the plug on the bath and hopped out of the tub, grabbing a towel with her magic and drying herself off. She felt more than a little groggy. It had been a couple of weeks since leaving Equestria, and she was still having trouble getting her circadian rhythms into proper alignment. She walked out of the washroom to discover Heinrich sitting in front of the door, waiting patiently for her to come out. She gave him a wink, casually and 'accidentally' brushing her flank up against his. Causing the schäferhund's tail wag to pick up speed. Twilight notice this sign of his arousal, and she gave him a wink. He was way too easy. Soon enough, the two of them were out to make their rounds. They'd head out into the market district and check on their suppliers, who handled the importation of the raw materials, Twilight considered it boring, but did take slight amusement in trying to figure out just how much they were cheating Heinrich. Once they were squared away, and Twilight was getting bored again, they'd stop for a brief lunch and then continue on to meet the respective buyers. This was a normal day, and this would be how all the days went, at least until they would get an order to smuggle some weapons into l'Afrique, or to rebels in the Capran Empire through their maritime boarder with Österungarischereich. The aging Capran Empire was a nation of horned goats and their vassals that was on the verge of falling apart. Independent weapon merchants were all jumping to sell weapons to bands of rebels, where they could make a killing on them. After all, the Capran's decimalised gold standard Lira was worth far more than the currencies of Europa. The weapon merchants could set pretty much any price they wanted and rebels would buy them. Heinrich was, of course, sympathetic to their cause, and allowed himself to be taken advantage of by the rebels instead of taking advantage of them like he should have. She would have to have a talk with him about that. Twilight glanced over her shoulder, someone was following them, she could feel it. She lead Heinrich away from their set path, and into a dark alleyway. Their tail was still following them. Twilight turned around and looked. Their tail was standing at the edge of the alley, smirking slightly at them. 'Bonjour mademoiselle', he said. Twilight rose an eyebrow in confusion, their tail was a dark grey coated cheval, with a short, shaggy brown mane. His eyes were a brilliant green and he was wearing a black greatcoat. She didn't speak cheval, and she turned to Heinrich for translation. 'He says: “hello ma'am”', Heinrich said. 'I don't care, ask him what he wants', Twilight said with annoyance. Heinrich coveyed the message, causing the cheval to smirk. 'Je m'appelle Pierre La Roche, comment allez-vous aujourd'hui?' he asked with a smirk. 'He says his name is Pierre La Roche, and he wants to know how you are', Heinrich said. Twilight sighed. 'That's nice I don't care. Ask him what he wants', she asked, and Heinrich conveyed. 'Je ne pouvais pas m'empêcher de remarquer que vous êtes une licorne.Les licornes sont seulement trouvés dans Equestria, non?' La Roche asked. Twilight looked to Heinrich. Heinrich looked nervously at her. 'Uh... he didn't answer'. 'I don't care what he didn't say, I want to know what he did say!' Twilight said in annoyance. 'He says that he noticed you're a unicorn, and he's wondering if unicorns come from any place other than Equestria', Heinrich said. 'No of course not', Twilight said, rolling her eyes. This Pierre La Roche was starting to annoy her. 'Vous êtes loin de la maison alors. J'espère que rien de mauvais arrive à vous, si loin de la maison. Bonne journée', La Roche said, and he turned and walked away. Twilight looked at Heinrich for translation. 'He says.... you're a long way from home, and he hopes nothing bad happens to you', Heinrich said. Twilight thought about what he said for a moment. Then it hit her. 'Heinrich? We need to leave, and we need to live now'. 'What? Why? Where?' Heinrich asked. 'Out of the city, we need to leave. He was Police Internationale', Twilight said. 'He knows who I am, and we need to get out of here'.
Chapter 4Chapter 4 When it came to the matters of state, there were none more important. As the King’s duly appointed representative in South Island, Albert Isaac, the first kangaroo ever to be appointed as the Governor General of South Island had no equal, while not officially Head of State himself, a title that belonged to King George of Welara, as his representative. Albert Isaac had supreme executive authority in the Commonwealth of South Island, and was the highest level of authority that anyone could go to, unless the King of Welara should step off a ship and onto the continent. Or, at least, in theory, in practice, the powers that Albert Isaac had were not ones that he would ordinarily use without consulting Robert Pace, the Prime Minister, and the rest of parliament. Really, the powers that Albert Isaac had were for emergencies. Tonight was going to be a long night, Welara was knees deep in the Said Canal Crisis, and the Misr were putting up a bigger fight that the wallish or cheval had thought possible. There were rumours that black market weapons dealers in the nederlands were passing munitions off to them by laundering them through the Capran Empire. Before Albert Isaac knew it, South Island was going to be getting itself involved. He took out the key to his office door, and was about to put it in the lock when he noticed that the door was already unlocked. Damn himself, he must have left it unlocked the last time he was here. Instead he pushed open the door and hopped into his office. There was someone in his office, leaning back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling, this someone was a pony. This pony was a unicorn. She turned to look at him, giving him a wide grin. ‘Hi there!’ ‘W... who are you!? How did you get in here!?’ Albert Isaac cried out in surprise. The unicorn mare’s grin got wider, and she casually pulled the goggles that she was wearing off her eyes and down around her neck, revealing a bright pair of ruby red eyes. ‘Oh relax would ya? Name’s Vinyl Scratch and you should really invest in a sturdier lock, but here’s the thing, You’re Excellency, while I’m sure the who and how are great questions to ask in your mind, I’ve got a better one for you. “What do I want?”’ Albert Isaac studied the unicorn for a moment, she didn’t stop grinning at him, and he sighed, and lowered his head. At least, he figured that whatever she was going to say was at least going to be interesting, if nothing else. ‘Fine, what do you want?’ Vinyl Scratch leaned forward. Resting her foreknees on the desk and resting her head on her hooves, she smiled at him. ‘I need a ship, a fast ship, a ship fast enough to say... run the blockade of the Said Canal?’ Albert Isaac frowned at the unicorn before him. The frown quickly turned into a scowl. ‘So, what? You think that you can just barge into my office in the middle of the night, and demand me to give you a ship?’ ‘Well, it worked for Princess Luna, didn’t it?’ Vinyl Scratch said, tapping her hooves together and giving him a grin. Albert Isaac was taken aback by that statement. ‘How... how do you know about that?!’ ‘Simple, Princess Luna happens to be one of my friends, and being my friend, is a good step into being her friend, and the Governor General of South Island being friends with one of the Princesses of Equestria... well, there aren’t many of those outside of Equestria’. ‘I see... I take it you have a ship in mind?’ Albert Isaac asked. ‘I do!’ Vinyl Scratch said. ‘HMSIS Dash’. Albert Isaac raised an eyebrow at the mention of the Dash, that sounded familiar. Then he remembered, those ponies from Equestria that had gone to Trotterdam had taken the HMSIS Dash. ‘You... you’re that mare that caused all that property damage? Aren’t you?’ he asked. Vinyl Scratch sighed. ‘How many times do I need to explain this? I put the fires out, and I paid for all the damages. Everypony just needs to let it go...’ Albert Isaac smirked. ‘All right, all right, you plan on running the Said Canal? Well I wish you good luck. The Dash’s is at Port Beagle, and I’ll let them know that you’re coming’. Vinyl Scratch nodded in thanks. ‘One more thing’, she added. ‘Yes?’ Albert Isaac asked. Vinyl Scratch grinned. ‘There’s a certain kangaroo I need on board...’ ... Twilight Sparkle practically kicked open the door to Heinrich’s workshop as she gathered all of her things together in her saddlebags, throwing them onto her flanks and then pulling her cloak back over herself. ‘Heinrich? What nations have not become parts of the Police Internationale?’ The Schäferhund thought to himself for a moment. He knew that there weren’t many. ‘Bundesrepublik Schäferhund’s membership is still pending, other than that; it’s going to be the Capran Empire... or the Peking Republic’. Twilight frowned. From what little she knew about them, neither seemed entirely pleasing. The Capran Empire was an empire in decline of a race of horned goats, the Caprans, and a number of other races. Civil strife was common in the Empire in this day and age. The Peking Republic on the other hoof was worse probably worse off. Inhabited by the Māo Xióng, bear like creatures that’s country had been fractured and mostly under the control of independent warlords. The ruling party of the Peking Republic, the Kuomintang, were in the process of fighting to regain control from the warlords. Though they had refused to buy weapons from them, and as such, Twilight and Heinrich had payed them little mind. ‘Well, it looks like we have no other options’, Twilight said. ‘To Bundesrepublik Schäferhund we go’. ‘Once we get there I have a friend who can smuggle us out of the country and into the Capran Empire, once there. The Police Internationale cannot come after us’, Heinrich said simply. Twilight gave Heinrich a small smile before putting her foreleg around his neck for a hug. ‘I knew there was a reason why I kept you around, now come on, grab as much ammunition as you can carry without drawing attention to yourself’. ‘You want me to bring the entire contents of my workshop?’ Heinrich asked. Twilight smirked. He was schäferhund all right. ‘A little less than that, if you’d please’. Heinrich nodded, and set out to gathering up as much equipment as was necessary. They only had a few hours to get as far away from here as they possibly could, and this Inspector, Pierre La Roche, would not be far behind them. … Pierre La Roche had always found it easier to keep eyes on his marks from the sky, he was cheval, after all, and the luxury of wings was one that was well afforded to him. Twilight Sparkle and Heinrich Büchsenmacher had acted exactly as predicted so far, they had fled back to their residence, and now they were rushing out the door and heading east. It was obvious where they were going, Bundesrepublik Schäferhund, and more particularly, to its capital, Königsberg. Pierre gently floated down to the roof a nearby building and opened up his new pack of fags. Taking one out of the packaging and lighting up. Sparkle and Büchsenmacher probably thought they were being clever. Flee the Nederlands to Budesrepublik Schäferhund, whose membership in La Police Internationale was still being finalised, where they would then be smuggled out of the country and on their way to either the Capran Empire or the Peking Republic where he was legally not allowed to follow them. Criminals thought they were smart with this plan, clearly, however, they were not because they all came up with the exact same one, and he had caught all of them on their way out, before they could get to where they could get into the Bundesrepublik, scoring their run in the proverbial game of cricket. Pierre La Roche, however, was counting on the fact that Twilight Sparkle would be a poor batsman, and he was quite the bowler. Yes. Indeed, it wouldn’t be long before he’d dismissed both of them, and they’d be dragged off to the Cheval Fourth Republic’s prison island of Sainte-Hélène and lopped in with the rest of those degenerates. Pierre took a long drag on his cigarette and looked out into the streets; he could still see Twilight Sparkle and Heinrich Büchsenmacher trotting away at a good pace. He figured that, like any good cricketer, he needed to be a good sport about it. After all, he knew he could catch them with no trouble at all, and that wasn’t any fun. No, he’d give them a few hours head start. Pierre La Roche smiled, they’d think themselves to be scoring their run, only to look back and discover how dead wrong they really were.
Chapter 5Chapter 5 Vinyl Scratch watched as HMSIS Dash pulled out of its berth in Port Beagle, sailing north west headed for the Sea of Orange, and the southern entrance to the Said Canal. She smiled and glanced at Whirlwind and Surprise, the fast ship would take them to the entrance to the canal in about 22 hours. The ship’s Lieutenant Commander was less than happy to see her. Despite paying for the damage done to one of the ship’s guns by shooting potatoes out of it, and taking ammunition from the ship’s arms locker, and leaving money for it in it’s place the last time she had been aboard the ship. Had his orders not come directly from the Governor General himself, he would have flat out refused to let her on board, and would have tossed her overboard when she would have snuck on afterwards. She even promised that she wouldn’t touch anything. Poor Surprise looked incredibly disappointed after that, after the Lieutenant Commander was out of earshot, promised her that she would make it up to her. The ship needed to be in the best shape it had ever been if it was going to run the blockade the Misr had erected at the Said Canal to keep the welarans and the cheval from taking it. ‘Well, Vinyl Scratch’, said a voice behind her. ‘We’ve just hit open sea. I hope you know what you’re doing with this’. Vinyl Scratch turned around and gave the kangaroo a bright smile. ‘Benny, you don’t need to worry about me. The Misr aren’t going to see this coming’. Benjamin Willoughby sighed, shaking his head slightly, and taking a place next to the group. ‘You haven’t changed since the last time I saw you Vinyl’. ‘Course not!’ Vinyl said brightly. ‘Still insane!’ she added with a grin. Willoughby shook his head. He didn’t know what else he should have expected. ‘Oh, did I tell you who I ran into on my last deployment?’ ‘Nope, who?’ Vinyl asked. ‘Princess Luna, Rainbow Dash, and all them’, Willoughby said simply. ‘No way!? Where was this?’ Vinyl Scratch cried out. ‘The prison island of Sainte-Hélène’, Willoughby said. ‘What?!’ Vinyl Scratch cried out in surprise. Both Surprise and Whirlwind looked up and over to the kangaroo. ‘What was Rainbow Dash doing on a prison island?’ Whirlwind asked. ‘ Same thing we’re doing right now, actually. They were on a ship bound for South Island that sank, hoping to find you three and look for Twilight Sparkle, They didn’t know where to start looking, so one of my mates pointed them in the right direction, they boarded a cheval battleship and made for the port of Lisbonne’, Willoughby said matter of fact-ly. ‘Well, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised when they find us huh?’ Vinyl asked. ‘What makes you sure that they’ll find us?’ Willoughby asked. ‘Simple’, Vinyl said. ‘Unlike Equestria, Europa has no native populations of Unicorns. Thus, it hasn’t had the chance to become saturated with magic, now, a magic user as powerful as Princess Luna’s going to be able to home in on any other source of magic, Since Rarity is with them, once we get there, the only other source of magic will be Twilight’, Vinyl’s grin widened. ‘Twilight’s going to be using her magic for everything, it’s what she’s used to, and that’s going to lead us right to her...’ ‘You can detect magic from other unicorns?’ Willoughby asked. ‘Not ordinarily, but in a magic-less environment like that of Europa, it’ll be like hearing a pin drop, a pin that’s the size of the moon crashing into the continent’, Vinyl said. ‘That’s a pretty... colourful metaphor, Vinyl Scratch’, Willoughby said. ‘That’s a simile actually’, Vinyl said with a grin. ‘Whatever’, Willoughby said, rolling his eyes. It was the middle of the next night by the time that the HMSIS Dash entered the Sea of Orange, in range of the entrance to the Said Canal. The Misr had erected several gates at the entrance to the canal. The Dash cut all it’s running lights and continued to slip quietly towards the entrance. Below deck, Vinyl Scratch, Whirlwind, Surprise, and Benjamin Willoughby were looking out of a porthole. A signature grin began to form on Vinyl’s face, she turned to Willoughby. ‘Hey Ben? Why do they call it the Sea of Orange?’ Willoughby grinned back at her, realising instantly what she was getting at. ‘We’re about to find out!’ With two hundred and fifty metres left before reaching the entrance, the Dash immediately switched on all its lights and opened up with the ship’s single forward hull mounted 102 mm gun, smashing through the gates with a huge bang. The ship floored the throttle, and zoomed off into the canal proper, setting off every alarm in the Misr encampments along the side of the canal in the process. Search lights snapped on and turned directly towards the Dash, fully illuminating the ship in the canal. The ship’s gunners turned their 20mm auto cannons on search light towers, knocking out the lights before Misr anti-tank emplacements could have the opportunity to fire on them. Surprise was the key of getting through. It was the middle of the night, and it was dark out, if they had any hope of getting through, they would need to move fast, and stay in the dark as best they could. Getting through the actual canal was the easy part. The hard part would be getting out of it and into the Sea of Europa, passed the Misr fleet, and doing so in a way that didn’t implicate South Island. As a result, the flag they were flying was the Welaran White Ensign. While such dishonesty was generally not allowed in modern, civilised, warfare, these were extraordinary times, and extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures. The darkness was the corvette’s advantage. It’s swift speed would allow it to dart through the waters, hopefully without drawing too much attention to itself. The Dash, quickly reached the end of the canal. Here was the real blockade, a dozen or so ships from the Misr navy. While large and imposing, these were older designs built by Welara itself some forty years ago, under armed, under armoured monstrosities, each of them with plenty of weaknesses that modern weapons could blast right through. The Misr fleet had search lights shining out upon the entrance to the canal, searching for the intruder in their waters. The Dash slowed herself to a near crawl, compared to these ships, the Dash was tiny, not even sixty metres in length, but that was her strength. She was well armed for most ships her size, and could put up with almost everything these Misr junk heaps could throw at her. A searchlight passed into the path of the Dash fully illuminating the ship for all Misr eyes to see. The corvette hit full throttle once more, barrelling right down the middle of two aging battleships. The Lieutenant Commander watched from his seat on the bridge as the battleship’s turrets began to track his ship, preparing to fire. The Dash slung between the ships, just as the turrets fired, sending a high velocity shell right into the bridges of both Battleships. Dumb clods. The Lieutenant Commander thought to himself as they sped off into the distance. They had made their way through the blockade. The Lieutenant Commander sighed a sigh of relief, and ordered one of his jacks to take down the welaran ensign and replace it with one of their own. It would be smooth sailing from here on out. ... Night had fallen over Trotterdam by the time that Twilight Sparkle and Heinrich Büchsenmacher made their way out of Trotterdam. Twilight Sparkle barely noticed the road signs as they passed out of the city limits, despite having one of their destination on it. ‘Königsberg, 500 kilometres’. The Capital city of Bundesrepublik Schäferhund, a city where they could be safe from the likes of Pierre La Roche, and the Police Internationale, if only for a little while. Fortunately for them, the governments of Europa were all highly bureaucratic, parliamentary democracies, most of them with constitutional monarchies, with the only notable exceptions being the Cheval Fourth Republic, Bundesrepublik Schäferhund, and the Cossack Confederation. The former two being republics, the latter, despite its name, a highly autocratic absolute monarchy. Twilight had not realised just how different Equestria was from the rest of these countries. Equestria was an absolute monarchy, and absolute monarchies weren’t fairing too well in the world anymore. The last one to fall had been one called Hispañia, an absolute monarchy which had been overthrown by a violent revolution, where a republic was founded in it’s stead. República Hispañia, however did not last long, and was politically unstable from the start, another uprising and civil war allowed the Cheval, then as the third republic to swarm in and conquer and stabilise the entire area. Twilight and Heinrich kept a fair pace, they were both getting tired, but they wouldn’t stop, couldn’t stop. To stop would mean their capture, and they would go as far as they could, for as long as they could. They had five hundred kilometres to go, and five hundred kilometres they would walk, unaware that they were not walking the path alone.
Chapter 6Chapter 6 Simply divine. Rarity continued to look in the mirror before her as she turned from side to side, continuing to admire the new cloak that she had made for herself out of the limited materials that she had access to while aboard the cheval battleship Renault. To be perfectly honest, she had astounded herself with how good she looked considering that she had started with a few old bed sheets that the cheval were going to throw out, and some purple dye. Rarity was now clad in a beautiful royal purple travelling cloak. Of course, her reasons for making it weren't for the fashion aspect, though it was certainly pulling that off quite well. Instead, she had made it because she still Danielle Voltare's 7.65mm MAE-28 Submachine gun that she had taken off her during their time being shipwrecked on Sainte Hélène, and she had no intentions of giving it up. Sainte-Hélène had taught Rarity just how dangerous the world really was, and while the Renault was about to put into port at Trotterdam, and she hadn't been worried the last time she had been here, she wasn't about to take any chances. She had taken some old deck ropes and tied the submachine gun behind her back, draping the cloak over it, her figure was perfectly obscured, only those who were looking a little too closely would notice that she had the submachine gun on her. Rarity trotted out and up onto deck, joining Princess Luna and the rest of her friends as the cheval Battleship glided into dock. 'Wow Rarity, you look amazing!' Fluttershy said as she glanced over to her. Rarity smiled warmly at Fluttershy, bowing her head in modesty. 'Thank you, it's really nothing special, just something I threw together, I do apologise, I didn't have enough time or resources to make one for all of you'. Applejack looked over at her and chuckled. 'Tha's fine Rarity, don't ya worry yer head none, we'll be fine'. Rarity smiled at Applejack, and to the rest of her friends, they all clearly shared Applejack's opinion. She was glad that they all understood. Rarity took a look back over at Applejack. There was something different about her, something going on deep within the recesses of her mind. Something had happened to Applejack on Sainte-Hélène, something that she did not want to share. Rarity wondered what it could be, she had half a mind to ask her right out, but she decided that it was likely personal, and she might not have wanted to share with everyone just yet. The battleship Renault pulled into its mooring and dropped its gangplanks, allowing it's Equestrian passengers to disembark. Rarity fell in behind Applejack, leaning in and whispering to her. 'Applejack? Is everything all right?' 'Huh?' Applejack asked. 'Wha? Of... of course! Why would ya think somethin's wrong?' That pretty much confirmed it for Rarity, she gave Applejack an annoyed glare. 'You're a terrible liar, Applejack. I understand if you don't want to talk about it... but... please, tell me one of those brutes didn't... have their way with you?' Applejack shook her head. 'Nah, it ain't that, Rarity, ah want ta tell ya'll. Ah really do, but ah can't. Not yet, Ah need ta be able to explain it ta mahself befer Ah can explain it ta any'un else. Ya understand?' Rarity shook her head. 'No, not really, but I respect your decision regardless'. 'Thanks Rarity', Applejack said with a smile. Up at the front of the group, Princess Luna had her head tilted up towards the sky, her horn glowing and her face held a look of deep concentration. Rarity understood what she was doing instantly. She was detecting traces of magic, if Twilight had been in the city, she would have been using her magic. Unicorns relied heavily upon their magic, and in an area that lacked of magic users, any magic that had been in the area would be like somepony walking into the middle of Ponyville at noon and screaming their head off. Very noticeable. Princess Luna started walking, her eyes shut and deep in concentration, began walking through the streets of Trotterdam, everypony stayed quiet, following behind Princess Luna and allowing her to concentrate. They walked for nearly an hour when they reached the eastern edge of the city, where the strength of the background magic began to spike. Rarity started to feel it and she wasn't even trying. 'This is it', Princess Luna said, as she opened her eyes and discovered that they were in front of a warehouse. She pushed open the door and took a step inside. The background magic levels rose sharply. This was clearly where Twilight had been living. All of them went inside and took a look around. Rarity trotted around to the back of the room, it was a workshop, Rarity looked around to discover several boxes of ammunition, clips for submachine guns, several half completed Schäferhund MP9 submachine guns. This was a weapons factory. What had Twilight been doing here? Rarity could only imagine the group that Twilight had fallen into. 'Hey! Look at this!' Rainbow Dash called out. Rarity turned and trotted back over to the rest of the group. Rainbow Dash was hovering over a map that had been spread across the table. Trotterdam was circled in read, and there was a line drawing along the map, following a road called 'Highway 62', and ending at another city, which too was circled. 'Königsberg'. 'This had got to be where they were going!' Rainbow Dash said. Princess Luna took a look at it, running her horn over it. She nodded her head in agreement. 'Twilight did this, the paper is covered in magic', Princess Luna said. 'Well then, looks like we know where we need to go then', Rarity said. Princess Luna nodded and the rolled up the map, placing it into her saddlebags. 'Come, the magic is recent, if he hurry, we can catch up to her'. … HMSIS Dash, pulled into port in the Bundesrepublik Schäferhund port of Venedig, one of the busiest warm water port on the Hadriatic Sea. Vinyl Scratch watched as the ship pulled into its mooring. Schäferhund dockworkers, these ones wearing storm harnesses with pistols clipped into them, scrambled to secure the ship to the dock. They pushed a boarding ramp towards the ship and set it against the side of the ship. Vinyl Scratch, Whirlwind, Surprise, and Benjamin Willoughby gathered on the gangplanks, giving the crew a goodbye before disembarking. Vinyl Scratch was the first to step off the ship; she turned back and gave the Lieutenant Conmmander a grin. ‘Hey Lieutenant Commander? I’m off your ship!’ she said brightly. ‘Couldn’t have happened any faster’, the kangaroo commander replied with a sigh. His voice regained a serious tone. ‘We’ll make for the port of Trotterdam, you’ve got a week to get there, or we’re going to have to leave, and you’ll have to find your own ride to Equestria’. ‘Understood’, Vinyl said. ‘See you in a week’. The group stepped onto Schäferhund soil and made their way into town, where they’d head north east, by rail to the town of Mün, a railhub close to the border with the Nederlands. They’d be a couple of hours, but hey, it beat walking. ... Twilight Sparkle didn’t want to keep walking. The town of Mün was some fifty kilometres to go, really, fifty kilometres until she and Heinrich were home free, at Mün, and Twilight could risk boarding a train. Since she wasn’t wanted for any crimes in Bundesrepublik Schäferhund, and they weren’t yet a member of the Police Internationale, Twilight could move about freely in Mün. They just had to get there. Safety was in sight. Both she and Heinrich were tired, though neither would complain, they’d only been walking for a few hours, but they kept a brisk pace, faster than a trot, slower than a full out run. They stayed off the roads, lest someone see them, instead tracing the path of this bend of the River Rijn. Twilight was on edge, this was too easy, their path was clear, and their endgame in sight. Surely, the Police Internationale Inspector, Pierre La Roche, he should have tried something by now. Twilight hated herself; she’d opened her proverbial big mouth. She looked up to discover a Pegasus diving on her. It was La Roche. Twilight hit the deck and tried to roll out of the way. La Roche anticipated the manoeuvre, and adjusted himself at least minute. He tackled Twilight, to the ground, with a hard thump. Her saddlebags ripped, sending the Tome of Alhazred flying into the air. Twilight watched in horror as the book sailed to her left, landing in the River Rijn with a loud splash, and the strong currents carried the book away from her. ‘No...’ Twilight cried quietly. Heinrich dived at La Roche. Pierre leapt into the air and circled back around. Heinrich anticipated this, and hit the manual adjustments on his storm harness, turning both of the Schäferhund’s MP9 towards the sky. Heinrich bit down hard on the control yoke, spraying bullets into the sky. La Roche anticipated this manoeuvre, and dived below the firing arc that Heinrich had adjusted to, slamming hard into the Schäferhund’s chest, knocking him cold. Twilight was far too preoccupied to notice, she crawled to the edge of the River Rijn, reaching into the water, feeling around for the Tome of Alhazred. No use, the book was gone. Carried off by the current to who knows wear. She felt somepony bite down on her tail and before she knew it she was being dragged backwards. La Roche flipped her onto her back, and drove his hoof into her face. Twilight’s nose began to bleed, La Roche, however, was not satisfied, and hit her again, this time in the stomach with his back hoof. Twilight cried out in pain. La Roche could only grin. Twilight looked up, and to her horror, discovered La Roche’s fully erect penis hovering dangerously close to her. ‘No...’ Twilight pleaded, before feeling a sharp stabbing pain. She closed her eyes, this wasn’t happening to her. It couldn’t be happening to her. She cried out, wanting it to stop. She felt a gust of wind blow across her face, and the sound of hoof steps approaching. ‘La Roche!’ cried a voice from the side. Pierre La Roche turned and looked to his left. Something happened, something that Twilight Sparkle would never be able to explain, for Pierre La Roche exploded. It was as if he was a water balloon, and someone had taken a needle to it, showering Twilight in blood. Twilight turned to the left. There were three ponies standing several metres from where she lay. Two were pegasi, a mare, and a stallion, the mare’s mane and tail were an icy blue, with a matching icy blue colouring on her legs and hooves. A coat of white, and a cutie mark of a snow flake, likewise, the stallion was also white coated, his mane and tail, however, were a deep blond, and he had a cutie mark of a wing. Twilight recognised the third. He was an Earth Pony, grey coated, orange mane. But what stuck out about him were the eyes. They were blood red. ‘Monty?’ Twilight asked. The earth pony smiled at her, and in a blink, her saviours were gone. Twilight quickly fell unconscious.
Chapter 7Chapter 7 Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes to discover that she was lying in bed. Her bed. Her bed in her home. The Ponyville Public Library. She glanced around and slowly sat up and looked around. This was the library, but... she couldn't actually be here, could she? 'Heinrich?' Twilight called out to her schäferhund companion. No response, though, if she was in the Ponyville Public Library, then she really shouldn't be surprised at that. 'Heinrich's not here', said a voice from over in the corner. 'Neither are you really'. Twilight looked over to discover Montana Ulan sitting quietly in the corner, reading a book. 'Monty?' Twilight asked. Monty looked up at her and smiled, he set down the book he was reading and gave her a polite wave. 'Hello Twilight'. 'Monty?' Twilight asked again. 'What's going on?' 'Simple, you're sort of dreaming. You're still lying on the ground on the banks of the River Rijn', Monty said. 'Your consciousness has been divorced from your body for a time, but don't worry. I'll get you put back right. I brought you here because I know you have questions, and to be frank you deserve answers'. Twilight blinked slowly for a few moments, processing what Monty had said. 'I'm dreaming?' 'Sort of', Monty said. 'It looks like a dream, it feels like a dream, once you wake up, you'll struggle to remember this like it was a dream, and because you aren't going to remember it when you wake up, you can ask me any questions you would like, and I will answer them truly'. Twilight blinked for a few moments. 'Who are you?' she eventually asked. Monty smiled at her. 'A fair first question, not a very good one mind you, I am Montana Ulan, the same pony that you know me as, a better question would have been, 'what are you?' I'll save you the trouble of asking, but respond with another question, do you remember the tale of The Mare in the Moon?' Twilight thought about it for a moment, and then recited the legend from memory. 'The Mare in the Moon: myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring about night time eternal'. Monty nodded. 'Not one of our better decisions, mind you'. Twilight thought about it for a moment, then the realisation hit her. ''The stars will aid her escape' …' Monty nodded again. 'The nephites know us as god, the tigers of Bharat know us as Krishna, the gryphons abandoned their old time worship of us for an atheistic society, and the ponies of Equestria know us as the Stars... though they have forgotten us entirely, not a surprise really, especially when our enemies have actively worked to suppress knowledge of us. They call us, 'The Others''. Twilight sat quietly for a moment, taking all that was being told to her in slowly. 'Your enemies? Who are they?' 'The Royals, of course', Monty said simply. 'Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, especially, since Overdrive and the Siblings Nightmare have been rendered a non-factor'. 'Why are they your enemies?! The princesses are good, fair, and just rulers!' Twilight proclaimed. 'Yes, you would say that', Monty said. 'You don't quite have a choice to say anything different'. Twilight thought about it for a moment and realised that he had a point. Twilight had really learned much about her own upbringing from her time in Europa. She’d been indoctrinated from childbirth to love Princess Celestia, but she had only recently become aware of it. ‘I’m more concerned, however, with the more recent indoctrination by the Tome of Alhazred’, Monty said. ‘You can hardly stand to be without it’. ‘That’s a lie!’ Twilight cried out, her voice shaking with hostility. ‘I don’t need it! I can go perfectly fine without it!’ Monty sighed and rolled his eyes at her. ‘Prove it, then’, he said, extending his leg and pointing at a spot on Twilight’s bed. Twilight looked over to it, and discovered the Tome of Alhazred lying on her bed next to her, which she had not noticed before. ‘Toss it out the window if you don’t need it’. Twilight picked up the book in her magic, rising from bed, she trotted over to the window, she held it out, and told herself to drop it. Nothing happened, she told herself to drop the book again, but to no avail, the book would not drop, her magical hold on it staying firm. ‘I can’t...’ Twilight said in resignation. She needed the book, she loved it, and she wanted nothing more than to hold it close and to read it until the long hours of the morning. ‘I didn’t think so’, Monty said with a sigh. ‘The book, the real one, is a powerful magical artefact, and it does not release its hold on others, even after it is done with them’. Twilight looked up to discover that the Tome of Alhazred had vanished; she understood that in this dream like state, it wasn’t even real to begin with. ‘To answer your question, we’re enemies with the royals because they have an opposing ideology to ours. They hold power over you directly, ruling over you and providing with the illusion of comfort, safety, and security, while at the same time ruling with an iron hoof and a pleasant smile. While we, on the other hoof, prefer to get you started along the right path, and once you’re on it, we leave you be to make your own choices... and that’s gotten me into a bit of trouble, actually...’ Monty said, rubbing the back of his head with his hoof. ‘What do you mean?’ Twilight asked, razing an eyebrow. ‘I killed La Roche’, Monty said. ‘I intervened directly, and I’m going to have to pay for it’. ‘What’s going to happen?’ Twilight asked. ‘What did happen is a better question’, Monty said. ‘Let me give you some background, Pierre La Roche was a simple pony, the quiet type, doesn’t particularly like to be around other ponies, prefers to spend his time with himself, has been for his entire life, sound familiar?’ Twilight nodded, it sounded just like her before she had come to Ponyville. ‘La Roche was isolated from others, it’s enough to make a pony feel small, insignificant. So when he joined the Police Internationale, he discovered that he liked hunting down criminals, it made him feel special, important. He had power over others and he liked it. For Pierre La Roche, power was everything’. ‘Then he... raped me...’ Twilight said with a shudder. ‘Rape is always about power. The sex is just a bonus’, Monty said. ‘Having total control over another’s fate... It’s a huge power trip, La Roche isn’t the only one guilty of this, I can name six others right off the top of my head. Overdrive, Nightcaller, Nightsinger, Nightshadow, Celestia, and Luna... and many others to go along with them... in any case, the Others convened a tribunal to determine wether or not La Roche’s life was taken fairly or not, the tribunal ruled in his favour. Since he was killed by one of us without the approval of the tribunal, they have opted to restore his life. He’ll wake up tomorrow morning in his flat in Seine, CFR, with no memories of the last few days. I was also able to convince them that the best way to maintain the status quo would be to expunge your criminal record in the Cheval Fourth Republic, believe it or not, they agreed with me right out. Pierre La Roche will have never heard of you, and will not bother you ever again’. ‘I suppose I should be thanking you... doesn’t change the fact that he still raped me’, Twilight said, her ears drooping in disappointment. ‘No... no it doesn’t’, Monty said with a frown. He looked up towards the ceiling for a moment, but then looked back to Twilight. ‘It’s almost time for you to wake up... I’m sorry, but you’re not going to remember anything that I just told you... but you’re not going to know how you know that. You’re going to forget who Pierre La Roche is too, you’ll have no idea what you were doing out here either’. Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but Monty interrupted her. ‘It’s not up to me, Twilight, this is what the tribunal decided, I’m already in enough trouble with them as it is, I don’t care what they’ll do to me, it’s the other two that were with me that I’m worried about. The tribunal knows that I don’t care what happens to me, so they’re going to punish them to put me in my place’. ‘Sounds like they don’t like you’, Twilight said. ‘We have a difference of opinion, right now, we’re sitting back and letting the Royals do as they please while we should be taking the offensive to them. We could wipe them out in seconds, but the tribunal doesn’t want to because it’ll upset the balance of power in the world’, Monty said with a shrug. ‘So now, we sit back, and we do nothing, and you have to forget everything, the influence of the Tome of Alhazred providing a plausible explanation as to why you can’t’. Twilight frowned, she looked down at the ground. ‘Monty?’ she asked, looking back up at him. ‘What about Heinrich? Am I going to forget him too?’ ‘Yes’, Monty said with a simple nod. ‘I... I never told him I loved him’, Twilight said, tears forming in her eyes. ‘I’m sorry’, Monty said, the lights in the room began to grow bright, and Twilight Sparkle was shaken awake.
Chapter 8Chapter 8 Twilight slowly opened her eyes, raising a hoof above her head to block out the bright sunlight that was shining right into her eyes. Her head ached like no other, she felt as if she’d stepped in front of a moving train, and for all she knew, she had. Twilight opened her eyes some more, the light still blinding her, she could see that something was over her; a big pink blob was hovering mere centimetres from her face. Twilight’s eyes soon enough began to adjust and when her sight came into focus, that pink blob was an all too familiar form. ‘Pinkie Pie?’ Twilight asked. ‘Twilight!’ Pinkie Pie called out excitedly. ‘Have you finally stopped being grumps mcgirt!?’ ‘Huh? Pinkie? What are you talking about?’ Twilight asked as she sat up, she looked around to discover that it was not only Pinkie Pie that was here, but also Princess Luna, Rarity, Spike, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. Twilight looked around, and discovered something very odd about the place in which she found herself in. ‘This isn’t Ponyville...’ ‘Uh... no’, Pinkie Pie said, cocking her head slightly to the left as she looked at Twilight in confusion. ‘This is the Nederlands!’ ‘What? What am I doing here? What are we doing here?’ Twilight cried out in surprise. ‘You... don’t know?’ Rainbow Dash said, her ears perking up as she walked over towards where Twilight was laying. Twilight thought as hard as she could, she was struggling to remember any of the events that had led her to this place. She could not, for the life of her recall anything. ‘The last thing I remember...’ Twilight said, as she thought about it more. ‘I went down stairs from my room, I opened the front door... and Raindrops was there to deliver the morning’s post. She found a book that wasn’t labelled to anyone, and wanted to donate it to the Library... I thanked her for it and I took it from her... and the next thing I know, I woke up here’. Princess Luna stepped forward. ‘How... odd’, she said, looking over Twilight closely. Twilight felt an odd sensation, like something was gnawing at the back of her brain. ‘There... is nothing there’, Luna said in surprise. ‘What?’ Twilight asked in confusion, and then as she thought about it, she realised what the gnawing sensation she felt was. She quickly shut her eyes and turned her head away from Princess Luna. ‘Get out of my head!’ she cried out, causing the princess of the night to recoil in surprise. ‘I... I am sorry Twilight, I should have asked your permission before looking’, Princess Luna said apologetically. ‘I forgive you Princess’, Twilight said, keeping her eyes closed and head turned aeay. ‘What did you mean that nothing is there?’ she asked. ‘Your memories of the last two weeks have not been merely repressed or hidden. They’re gone completely, as if someone, or something, more than likely’. ‘The book stole her memories?’ Spike asked. ‘More than likely, yes, the question we have to ask is why? And where is it now?’ ‘The book?’ Twilight asked, blinking her eyes. ‘You mean that book Raindrops gave me? Why would I have brought that with me?’ Princess Luna opened her mouth to answer, however, was quickly interrupted by Pinkie Pie. ‘Hey Twilight!’ Who’s this?’ she asked. Twilight glanced over to where Pinkie Pie was and looked in confusion, lying on the ground, unconscious, was a schäferhund. Twilight didn’t know much about schäferhund culture, but she could tell by his hat, called a schirmmütze, that he fit the role of a schäferhund officer. ‘I... don’t know’. Pinkie Pie wasted no time in prodding the stranger, snapping him awake, He sat up and got to his paws. Glancing around to Twilight. ‘Twilight!’ he cried out, rushing over to her. ‘Are you all right? Where is La Roche? Did he hurt you?’ Twilight blinked at the schäferhund for a moment, feeling more than a little awkward. She didn’t know who he was, or what he was talking about. ‘Um... I’m sorry, who are you?’ she asked. The schäferhund recoiled slightly, he looked confused. ‘Twilight? It’s me... Heinrich? Heinrich Büschenmacher?’ Twilight said nothing. Causing the schäferhund to look more than a little hurt. He took a step back then lowered his head. Twilight didn’t recognise him, and he knew it. ‘I... I’m sorry’, Twilight said. ‘I don’t know who you are’. Heinrich’s head lowered even further, almost touching the ground. ‘That’s okay... just as long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters’. Heinrich picked his head back up, giving Twilight Sparkle a weak smile and turning around, trotting towards the east towards Mün. Twilight felt horribly guilty, even though she knew that she could do nothing about it. She didn’t remember him. That was that. Twilight’s ears began to twitch, she looked up into the air, as did everyone else as they heard something coming towards them. It was faint at first, but as it began to get closer, they were able to make out what it was. It was someone’s voice. Then once it got somewhat closer, they recognised it instantly. ‘SURRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!’ Before Twilight could move, she felt someone slam into her at high speed, causing her to skid backwards several metres before stopping, she looked up to discover Surprise was on top of her, looking down and grinning madly at her. ‘Hi!’ she cried out cheerfully, then promptly giving Twilight a hug. ‘Uh... hello Surprise’, Twilight said. ‘Did I surprise ya? Did I? Huh? Did I? Did I?’ Surprise cried out excitedly. ‘Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting it, I’ll say that... now let me up!’ Twilight said. Surprise nodded, hopping off Twilight and helping her up to her hooves. ‘I helped!’ Surprise said brightly. Twilight looked out to the east, Heinrich had passed out of sight, but coming galloping over the hill were none other than Vinyl Scratch and Whirlwind, and as could almost be expected, kangaroo soldier Benjamin Willoughby hopping along not far behind. ‘Surprise!? I thought I told you to hold her down until we got here!’ Vinyl Scratch cried out. ‘OH YEAH!’ Surprise called out, promptly tackling Twilight Sparkle to the ground. ‘Surprise!’ she cried out cheerfully. Twilight couldn’t help but sigh loudly as Vinyl Scratch approached the group, continuing to run with her horn lowered and glowing brightly toward Twilight. ‘Vinyl Scratch! Stop! It is okay!’ Princess Luna called out. Naturally, Vinyl Scratch skidded to a halt. Turning and looking at the Princess. ‘Oh hi! I see you’ve already fixed Twilight, okay Surprise, you can get off her’. ‘Kay!’ Surprise called out. Hopping off Twilight and helping her back to her hooves. ‘I helped!’ Princess Luna shook her head at Vinyl Scratch. ‘Not quiet’, she said. ‘Oh, well then’, Vinyl Scratch said. ‘Surprise, tackle her again!’ ‘Kay!’ Surprise called out, promptly bringing Twilight to the ground. ‘Surprise!’ she cried out excitedly. ‘Okay, this really needs to stop’, Twilight said in annoyance. ‘No way! This is fun!’ Surprise said brightly. ‘What I meant was’, Princess Luna interrupted. ‘Is that we found Twilight in this state, she has no memory of the past few weeks... which is concerning’. ‘So? Twilight’s not evil?’ Vinyl Scratch asked. ‘When was I evil?!’ Twilight called out, her line of questioning falling of deaf ears. ‘No’, Princess Luna said simply. ‘Surprise?’ Vinyl Scratch asked. ‘Let her up’. ‘Kay!’ Surprise called out. Hopping off Twilight and helping her back to her hooves. ‘I helped!’ Twilight ignored her. ‘I guess it’s time to go home then?’ Pinkie Pie asked as she trotted back over to the group. Princess Luna nodded. ‘Well, good news then everypony! I got us a ride home!’ Vinyl Scratch said. ‘The HMSIS Dash is supposed to meet us in Trotterdam at the end of the week’. ‘You got the Dash?’ Rainbow Dash asked. ‘I bet the lef-tenant commander was real pleased to see you’. ‘More than you could ever imagine’, Vinyl said with a grin. The group fell in together and began their walk back towards Trotterdam. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Surprise, falling back from the group on purpose. Rainbow Dash wanting to have private words with Twilight, Surprise, on the other hoof, just wanted to look at everything. ‘Twilight? We need to talk about us’, Rainbow Dash said. ‘Rainbow?’ Twilight asked. ‘We broke up during the time that you’re missing your memories’, Rainbow Dash said. ‘And... I know you don’t remember doing it... but I wouldn’t want to assume...’ Twilight stopped her promptly. ‘Rainbow Dash, what kind of mare do you think I am? You weren’t thinking that I don’t love you any more do you?’ ‘Well... to be honest...’ Rainbow Dash said, her voice trailing off. ‘Rainbow...’ Twilight said, moving closer to her marefriend and planting a quick kiss on her cheek. ‘I don’t know what happened. But I do know this, I love you Rainbow Dash, don’t you forget it’. ‘Thanks Twilight’, Rainbow Dash said with a smile as the two of them moved to catch up with the rest of the group. They didn’t get very far, before they knew it, Surprise had pounced on them. ‘Surprise! Did I surprise ya? Did I? Huh? Did I? Did I?’ Twilight sighed in annoyance. ‘Pinkie Pie was never this bad... this is going to be a reoccurring thing, isn’t it Surprise?’ ‘Uh huh!’ Surprise said cheerfully as she hopped off Rainbow Dash and Twilight and helping them back to their hooves. ‘I helped!’ she cried out happily. Twilight sighed again as the group caught back up with the rest of their friends.
EpilogueEpilogue They were all glad to finally be returning home. It had been nearly a month to the day since Princess Luna and company had departed from Ponyville to search for Twilight Sparkle, and nearly two since Vinyl Scratch, Surprise, and Whirlwind had left for South Island, they all trotted along the southern road, up into town, chatting pleasantly with each other. Oh they were ever so happy to be... home? All of their jaws, even Princess Luna’s had fallen open as they rounded the last corner into Ponyville, they watched in awe as EPMB combots rolled to and fro on their tracked wheelbases some of them were carrying large boxes. Others were carrying construction materials. ‘What... happened... here?’ Applejack asked in shock. None of them had a good answer. That was when they heard an artificial, but cheerful voice from behind them. ‘Hello!’ it called out. All of them jumped in surprise, and quickly turned around to discover that an EPMB combot had rolled up behind them, this one was different from the others, as it had a very bright and happy looking face on its monitor, although incredibly creepy at the same time. ‘Greetings travellers! Welcome to Ponyville, the new technologies capital of Equestria! And the birthplace of FutureTec industries, I’m Mister Happy, because I’m happy! All the time!’ the combot said cheerfully. ‘If you don’t mind my asking, what brings you to Ponyville?’ Mister Happy asked. ‘Uh... we live here’, Rainbow Dash said. Mister Happy did not reply initially, but his monitor face continued to smile brightly at them, and it was more than a little disconcerting. ‘That’s funny! Because I don’t have records of any of you in the database! I’m sure that’s just a mistake though, if I could have your names, I can go ahead and add you in!’ ‘Uh... I’m Rainbow Dash’, Rainbow Dash said. Mister Happy promptly interrupted her. ‘OH! You’re the ones who have been away on holiday! I’m sorry for not recognising you! Oh... hello! It’s looking like someone just added you all to the database manually! That was very nice of them... I’ve just been informed that the bosses at FutureTec want to see you immediately!’ Princess Luna frowned. ‘I can already see where this is going... I need to return to Canterlot... I can only imagine what Tia’s planning to do about all this’. ‘Okie Dokie Lokie!’ Mister Happy said brightly, ‘If that’s what you think is best. I can go ahead and take the rest of you to the bosses!’ Twilight and looked to Vinyl Scratch, then to Princess Luna, then to Rainbow Dash, then to everyone else. ‘Well... then... where are the FutureTec bosses at?’ she asked. ‘Oh that’s an easy one! They’re at FutureTec Headquarters in Whitetail Wood!’ Mister Happy said. ‘Whitetail... Wood?’ Twilight asked. She knew instantly what Mister Happy meant. ‘But I locked the EPMB door! For this very reason! How did somepony get in there!?’ Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and then she looked down at the ground nervously. ‘I may have gone into EPMB after you locked it... I also may have left the door unlocked...’ ‘Rainbow!’ Twilight cried out, more in a state of worry than anger. ‘We really shouldn’t keep the bosses waiting!’ Mister Happy said, as he spun around on the axis of his tracked wheelbase. ‘Follow me!’ he said as he started to roll down the street. ‘Twilight Sparkle’, Princess Luna said. ‘Please be careful, I leave for Canterlot, and I may be gone for some time... remember, if these bosses of FutureTec have taken control of Emerald Sparkle’s technology, they are incredibly dangerous, and not to be trusted’. ‘I understand Princess; do what you need to do’, Twilight said with a nod. With that, Princess Luna spread her wings, taking flight towards Canterlot. While the rest of the group fell in line behind Mister Happy. Time to meet the bosses of FutureTec.
Table of ContentsStop! You are reading the third story in the Ashes to Ashes series which in turn is a sequel series to the All Good Things and Bonds of Eternity Series. PLEASE look at the table of contents and read the series in order. FAILURE TO READ THE PREVIOUS STORIES WITH RESULT IN YOU BEING EXTREMELY CONFUSED, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. REPEATEDLY.
