Cadence was quietly pacing back and forth in a sterile white room beneath the crystal empire, pieces of wreckage had been laid out on tarps that lined the floor while the corpse of the pilot had been brought to the local morgue under heavy guard. She loved Shining Armor to death, but sometimes he could be such a bonehead. Unlike him, Cadence realized that upsetting the status quo was unwise with their new neighbor to the south. As her best scientists did their best to examine the wreckage, she was trying to figure out how to respond to the Onorussian’s. The mysterious transmission had stopped, save for that incessant buzzing noise.

As Cadence continued to survey the wreckage that had been recovered she was struck by something odd that had been uncovered by the scientists, a polaroid that was burned on the corners. The mare briefly looked at it and found that it depicted the pilot standing next to a woman while he had what looked like a human child on his shoulder. The mare frowned and looked away from the picture, sighing as she was forced to once again look at the wreckage lying on the ground. She was startled to hear a sigh behind her, and quickly looked over her shoulder to see a pair of yellow eyes staring at her from behind. Slowly Discord became fully visible, though he was in human form and wore a simple suit. Cadence scowled as her horn glowed, but the draconequus simply raised his hands and stood next to the mare.

“Sad thing, isn’t it?” Discord asked simply as he looked over the wrecked aircraft, Cadence nodded with an uncertain expression on her face. “You should know they won’t retaliate, they’re expecting you to.”

“Is that so?” Cadence asked, not taking her eyes off of the wreckage. “How should I respond when I don’t even know what was going on?” Discord shrugged as he watched Cadence rub her temples. “My husband is paranoid so he builds up the military, then these things start flying overhead, so, being paranoid, he has it shot down…” The mare looked at discord and chuckled darkly. “I can remember less than a year ago the biggest thing I had to worry about was offending a couple maretonian diplomats, or the occasional Yakistani child getting lost in our borders…” Cadence sounded bitter as Discord leaned against a nearby table, listening to her rant quietly. ”Now it’s raining fire and wreckage from the sky, humans with families blowing their brains out, and my Aunt alienating almost her entire family.”

“Yes, and you know what else is adding to all that chaos?” Discord said with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the carnage that had once been a high altitude spy plane. “Fear. Fear on both sides.” Cadence was a bit surprised by that and looked at Discord quizzically.

“What do the Onorussian’s have to fear from us? They have numbers, technology, resources…” The Princess asked with genuine curiosity, the chaos god simply reached out and tapped her horn. “They have unicorns and changelings.”

“But not Alicorns. At least, not Alicorns with as much power as you or Celestia.” Discord said simply, Cadence seemed a bit surprised by that. Discord supposed the best way to explain would be to physically show Cadence, and so he snapped his fingers. A sort of screen appeared in front of the two of them, depicting an ancient looking city moments before a blinding white flash filled the screen. The flash faded away and Cadence could see that the entire city had been basically obliterated, the distant silhouette of Celestia was floating in the sky. “You see why they’re afraid of you now?”

“I… I would never…” Cadence said with a bit of fear in her voice, Discord nodded quietly.

“You won’t, but what about your aunt? You think they’ll take her word for it, especially after what she’s done before?” Discord warned, Cadence nervously began pacing back and forth. “They already have access to weapons of equal power, it’s not long until they build more.” The chaos god rested his hands on Cadence’s shoulders. “With what your husband is doing to arm other countries, and your aunt’s clear power… I’m telling you this because despite what you may think, I’m not a fan of violent chaos. And if you all wipe each other out I’ll have failed at my job.”

“I… I can see what you mean, I’ll take what you’re saying under advisement.” Cadence sighed as the creature shifted to his normal form. “Thank you… I think?” Discord only smiled at her, with a wink he disappeared. She looked around the room, surprisingly it seemed time had frozen during her talk with Discord as the scientists hadn’t noticed him. Without wasting any time Cadence walked out of the room, passing by numerous guards that saluted her in the hallways. She trotted for a couple seconds before her horn glowed and she found herself teleported to the throne room where Shining Armor and Celestia were waiting.

“What’s happened? Anything new from the aircraft?” Shining asked as she shook off the odd feeling of teleporting while moving. The mare looked at Shining with a neutral expression, similar to the one that Celestia had been wearing since the incident with the pilot.

“Nothing new.” Cadence said as she took on a serious tone. “I have been thinking though, and after receiving some advice… I think it would be prudent to reach out to the Onorussian government as friends rather than foes.” Shining Armor appeared rather surprised by the revelation, every military bone in his body told him the right thing to do would be to do all they could to get ready for a fight. “ It’s clear that they know of our modernization efforts, and I think perhaps that makes them worried, with good reason.”

“I will be the one to make contact.” Celestia said from across the room, her expression one of stoic worry. “I must face them sooner or later, Cadence… I cannot stand the thought of being responsible for another death.” The mare looked at Cadence, but the younger alicorn shook her head.

“Shining Armor and I shall face them.” Cadence said simply, looking to her aunt quietly. “I fear that sending you could send the wrong message.” Celestia was about to protest, but she didn’t want to interfere with Cadence’s way of running things. Shining looked like he was going to say something as well, but bit his tongue when he saw the serious expression on his wife’s face. “Send word of our arrival, we must depart at once.”

[♠]

Dawn broke over the chilly northern border checkpoint between the Crystal Empire and the Onorussian Republic. Snow whipped around wildly as the wind howled violently, in the distance the border guards could see Crystal Empire tanks parked in formation. The Onorussian’s had their own T-34s lined up as well, their engines rumbled quietly as their crews hunkered inside for warmth. Security had been stepped up when the sudden announcement of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor’s visit had reached the border officers. Their wool jackets barely kept their bodies warm while their ushankas and face masks did their best to heat their faces. It was mainly humans on the border, as they were most resistant to magic attacks.

On the horizon the guards could see the light of the Crystal Empire’s train as it neared the border, its whistle howling like a wolf over the wind as it got closer to the border. The Onorussian flag waved atop the border checkpoint, soft clinking noises rattling out whenever the metal lips banged against the pole. The soldiers quietly adjusted their grip on their AKs, none of them dared speak as they all wanted to be on full alert. Even the radio that quietly played warm hawaiian music had been turned off, creating an atmosphere of cold military efficiency. Among the soldiers was a young man by the name of Dimitri, the eldest adopted son of fighter pilot Stephan Adler.

The man had enlisted as soon as he was old enough, wanting to do his patriotic duty for his new found home. Of course, he hadn’t expected to be deployed to the middle of a frozen wasteland with no women and no booze, but he wasn’t going to complain. Border duty was exciting, there was always someone trying to sneak across from one side or another. Dimitri was of Russian descent, as were many of his fellow border guards. Since the griffons had joined the Onorussian’s, military personnel were learning Russian and German on top of English. Even Imperator Occisor in Canterlot, Dimitri had to admit he had a lot of respect for his commander in chief. Occisor was barely two years older than him and yet he had built an empire from practically nothing.

It was this respect that kept the guards attentive in their duties, they knew that their Imperator would be standing out there with them if he could. Just as he had during the battle of Appleloosa and the Battle of Ponyville. As the train got closer, Dimitri walked out onto the platform of the border checkpoint to get a better look at the engine. It was made of crystal, as were most of the cars, and it almost looked armored.

“Etot poyezd. Eto nekrasivo.” Dimitri muttered in russian as he looked at the ugly train getting closer and closer, his boots crunched snow beneath them as he walked down the platform. The train’s brakes squeaked as it got closer, the checkpoint had barbed wire running along the border, though it didn’t stretch the entire length, it was long enough to make an attempt to go around a death sentence without proper cold weather gear.

“Bud'te gotovy bol'she iskat'!” Shouted another one of the soldiers in russian, an officer. Dimitri got ready to search the train as per his orders, it was standard procedure after all, and no pony princess would get special treatment. The train eventually slowed to a crawl, slowly it moved past the markers that indicated the Crystal Empire’s borders, then it rolled past the barbed wire and came to a stop at the platform. Dimitri watched his commanding officer walk towards the engine and begin talking with the engineer while another officer blew into a whistle, Dimitri stepped onto the train and slung his rifle over his shoulder.

The man was blasted with warm air from inside as he entered the first car, it was empty save for a couple Crystal pony guards that eyed him nervously. They were unarmed, and only had their armor on, Dimitri gave them a pass as he moved onto the next car. His boots thudded against the floor, snow melted from where it had accumulated on his shoulder and coat collar, coating the skin of his neck with cold water that would likely freeze when he stepped back outside. This car was much more ornate than the first one, and he could see why. Two ponies were staring at him, both wore fancy clothes.

“Guten morgen.” He said in German as he looked high and low in the car, pausing as he noticed a pair of odd looking boxes on one of the luggage racks. The man pointed to and cleared his throat before asking in rather broken english. “What is in box?”

“Two cakes. One’s chocolate, the other is vanilla.” The pony princess said, Dimitri nodded quietly and opened one of the boxes to confirm it was in fact cake. “We were bringing them to give to your Imperator, but you’re welcome to take one if you like?” Dimitri was bit surprised by this, he quietly took his radio from his pocket and began mumbling into it.

Cadence was a bit surprised to see such an odd looking man aboard her train, then again, she supposed that border guards on the northern border would rather be bundled tightly than looking fancy for royalty. She hoped offering him and his cohorts a cake would brighten relations with guards on the border, and after a couple seconds the man got a response from his superior. He pulled down the mask over his face to smile.

“Spasibo.” He said simply before taking the box with the vanilla cake in it, he pulled the mask back up over his face and walked out the side door of the car, calling to his fellow guards. The princess of the Crystal Heart was already out of her comfort zone, but judging by the positive vibes she was sensing from the guard, things were going okay. Soon enough the engine let out a loud whistle, signifying that they were once again on their way. Cadence and Shining Armor looked out their window at several parked tanks that were facing towards their border.

The two royals took a moment to look at one another as the train continued heading away from the checkpoint. The whistle occasionally would blow loudly, but other than that the soft rumble of wheels over tracks was just the right amount of noise. Cadence finally cleared her throat, it seemed she would be the one to break the silence that had settled when the train had been boarded.

“Well, at least they aren’t completely hostile towards us.” She said hopefully, Shining Armor remained quiet as he hummed in thought. “What?”

“Just thinking about what to do once we arrive in Canterlot.” Shining replied, looking out the window once again as he continued trying to think about how the Onorussian’s were slipping spies into his country. “Do you think they’ll let me visit mom and Twilight?”

“I don’t see why not.” Cadence said, Shining hummed again and continued looking out the window.

[♠]

Dominic quietly stood on the platform of the Canterlot rail station, standing beside him was Luna and Twilight Sparkle. Maria had opted to stay home, as she had been having a bit more fatigue lately. A cadre of soldiers was keeping a close eye on the building while they waited for the arrival of the Crystal Empire’s leadership, and while the three on the platform stood in stoic silence. The Imperator quietly looked at his watch, as the sun rose higher into the sky, the Crystal ponies were scheduled to arrive soon. Dominic adjusted his tie, this time he had chosen to wear a suit rather than his usual uniform.

“What do you think they’ll want?” Dominic asked Twilight as he looked down at her, he adjusted the cuffs of his suit as he waited for her response. Twilight, for her part, had given up wearing her crown despite still being allowed to. As she looked out over the tracks she found herself at a loss for thoughts, truth be told she wasn’t sure why Cadence was making the journey, it wasn’t like her to be so proactive.

“I’m not sure.” Twilight said as she rubbed the back of her neck, she looked up at Dominic with a bit of an uncertain expression. However, despite all that had happened, she could still see he was her friend. The normal stoic expression had faint cracks in it that showed just out of his element that he felt, despite that he gritted his teeth and forced himself onwards. “I know that whatever the reason they’re coming here, it would be best to keep an open mind.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.” Dominic said as he looked at his watch again, Luna seemed to be focussed on the tracks more than anything else. “I’m sure they’re pretty freaked out, we’re basically like super advanced aliens.” The man paused. “No, that’s exactly what we are, at least by your world’s tech standards.” Twilight nodded quietly as she leaned to a different side, shivering slightly due to the cold winter temperatures that had settled over the area.

“Since we have time, I was wondering if I could ask you a question?” Twilight asked, Dominic nodded quietly. “I want to visit and study Terra, would that be alright?” The man quietly rubbed his chin before looking at Twilight with a faint smile.

“Let’s get this issue cleared up first, then we can talk about you visiting Terra.” He said, Twilight nodded as she realized he was likely going to say that she could. Dominic sighed softly as he thought about what he would bring up during the meeting, there were issues that needed to be discussed, and this meeting would be the best place to do that. The screeching sound of the crystal locomotive’s whistle alerted them to the coming arrival, the soldiers straightened up as they continued their patrols. Soon enough the locomotive came into view, its brakes squealing as it slowed to come into the station. Dominic, Luna, and Twilight stood ready to greet Cadence and Shining Armor.

Steam permeated through the station as the royal train car stopped directly in front of the Imperator. The door to the car began to open, steam formed as the warm air of the inside met the cold air of the outside. Dominic heard Luna chuckle softly beside him, he shot her a brief look but found no reason she would be laughing. Then a single dainty hoof extended from the billowing steam, Princess Cadence stepped into view with an odd looking box floating in her magic. Behind her came Shining Armor, wearing his ‘Captain of the Guard’ uniform and looking around suspiciously at the numerous armed guards patrolling the station.

“Princess Cadence. Prince Shining Armor.” Dominic said with a simple nod as he eyed the box, Cadence returned the nod courteously before levitating the box over to Dominic. The man took it out of the air and opened it. He hummed with a bit of surprise, then looked at Cadence.

“Imperator Occisor, I was hoping that we could discuss things between our two countries over a slice of that.” Cadence said in a diplomatic tone, Dominic gave a slight nod before gesturing through the station to a solitary black Crown Victoria Police Interceptor parked outside. The soldiers were careful to watch for any sudden movement from the alicorn, knowing fully well what the mare was capable of. Cadence stepped out of the station and looked around the once glorious city, many of the familiar shops were boarded up or completely gone while some groups of workers continued to rebuild large buildings.

Shining was stunned as well, seeing what destruction had been wrought by the human’s so called conventional bombs. It only served to up the fear factor of what their ‘Atomic’ weaponry could do. Cautiously they climbed into the sedan, it was much larger than Shining and Cadence had pictured. The driver, a young man wearing a dress uniform, didn’t wait for any command and instead began driving towards the castle. The normal chit chat that would’ve followed the reuniting of two siblings was forgone due to the serious nature of the visit. An uncomfortable silence settled over the car as it drove, Cadence was looking over Dominic for any sign of dishonesty. What she mostly sensed was uncertainty, and quite a bit of determination, though she wasn’t sure about what.

Eventually they arrived at the castle and stepped out of the car, Cadence was surprised to see buildings had been constructed on the once meticulously cared for lawn. They looked like a cafeteria and a medical clinic, she could tell they had probably been constructed for the ponies of Canterlot that needed food and aid.

“I wish to speak with the Imperator alone, if that’s alright?” Cadence asked to Luna and the others, they nodded quietly. A couple soldiers gestured for them to move to a waiting room inside the castle, Dominic and Cadence instead walked inside and made their way to the throne room. The man still held the cake box as they entered the large room, devoid of soldiers or guards, Cadence was glad to see that the decor of the room hadn’t changed much since her last visit. In silence they made their way to the thrones, and to Cadence’s surprise, Dominic took a seat on the steps leading up to them in a rather casual looking way. Cadence supposed it was better than him sitting on the throne while she stood, she nodded and sat on the same step as Dominic placed the box between them.

“So.” Dominic said simply, looking at her a waiting expression. Cadence hummed and ran a hoof through her mane, after that she cleared her throat to speak. The sound carried through the echo inducing hall.

“I suppose I cannot blame you for sending one of those planes, my aunt has wronged you.” Cadence said in a rather warm tone, Dominic maintained his stoic appearance. “I also understand you are concerned by the existence of our tanks.” The mare sighed softly and looked to the floor. “I don’t want a war with you, I don’t want my subjects to be harmed… I sense that you too are weary of war.”

“I am…” Dominic said with a nod, his expression remained calm. “I am also weary of attempted invasions from across the ocean, and I happen to know you have been selling your tanks to our enemy.” Cadence was a bit surprised the man had found out, she supposed that the Onorussian spies truly were good at their jobs. “Most concerning are the ones being sold to the Caribou Empire. A slaveholding despotic state.”

“But against your army the caribou wouldn’t stand a chance, even with tanks, what have you to fear from them?” Cadence asked, Dominic scowled as he stood up quietly and reached into his jacket. Cadence became uneasy until she saw the man pull an indigo primary feather from within, the man looked it over for a couple seconds before turning his eyes back to Cadence.

“You see this feather? Luna gave this to me before I returned to Terra…” The man said, Cadence could sense a hateful sadness enter the man as he looked back to the feather. “I fought a bitter foe to stomp out a grave injustice, a slaveholding nation, very much like the Caribou…” The man slipped the feather back into his jacket and looked back to Cadence, his expression stoic as usual. “The time of that nation is coming to an end, Princess Cadence. Everyday there are reports of their ships on the horizon, and when they attempt invasion, it will be with your tanks and your weapons.”

“What would you have me do? I have no other means of trade, you’ve given me no more options.” Cadence replied, she could still feel that hateful sadness emanating from the man, she had seen pictures of the EOL’s brutal treatment of slaves in numerous reports, and she knew it was most likely the case in the Caribou Empire. “I hate the Caribou, Imperator, but they’re willing to pay, I can’t afford to turn them away.”

“If we were to begin trade between your Empire and Onorus, I would accept your word that you would cease trade with them.” Dominic asked, Cadence looked thoughtful at the proposal. “Make no mistake, Princess. Any threat to this nation will be dealt with. This is your chance to back out.”

“Is that a threat? If I refuse to stop trade will those tanks on my border charge forward? Will my city be turned to glass?” Cadence asked sternly, Dominic shook his head quietly, his expression returning to a scowl.

“No. I don’t like making threats, Princess. I make promises, and when I make them I intend to keep them.” The man gestured to the room around them. “Us standing here and now is a direct result of that, my wife and unborn son are a direct result of that.” He sat back down on the step, being sure to remain on Cadence’s eye level. “What I am saying is that when the next nation thinks they can test Onorussian mettle, they will most likely do so with your weapons. We can eliminate those weapons ourselves, but if they should suddenly get replacements that they didn’t build on their own… Then I would have no choice but to destroy their point of origin. It’s only a logical military strategy.”

“I suppose you have a point…” Cadence said as she looked at the man, she could tell he wasn’t one to start a war, but he was certainly willing to finish one. “You were serious about opening up trade between our two countries?” Dominic nodded with an honest serious expression, Cadence sighed softly. “Alright… If we can work out a trade agreement, I will officially ban the sale of weapons to the Caribou Empire.” She was relieved to see the man faintly smile before he extended her his hand, she shook it firmly. They still had much to discuss about the agreement, but at least they were making progress.

[♠]

Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle had taken to walking around the castle, the stallion still couldn’t believe the shabby shape it was in. He supposed that it was right to rebuild the surrounding city first, but still it seemed that they could’ve at least cleared away some of the rubble. Onorussian flags had replaced the Equestrian flags that had once lined the halls, and soldiers with serious looking weaponry patrolled as opposed to the gold clad royal guards that Shining had commanded at one point. The stallion scowled at that, knowing a good deal of his friends in the guard had most likely died in the war.

The silence between Twilight and Shining was awkward, as both had differing opinions on the war, and it was hard not to talk about it when the desolation surrounded them. Shining Armor stopped when he happened upon a hole in the roof, accompanied by a shattered stained glass window. Twilight stopped with him as he looked up through the hole at a bird that had perched on the edge, the creature tilted its head at the stallion curiously, in that moment he became aware that there were birds quietly chirping outside. Despite the destruction, for them, it was like nothing had happened.

“I’m glad they’re letting us walk around freely…” Shining said softly as he continued looking up at the bird, it flapped its wings and flew away. The stallion turned his attention to his sister, the alicorn was looking at him with an uncertain expression. For Shining this spot had a bit of significance, it was very close to the place where he had first met Cadence, not that Twilight knew that. “You’re probably pretty sore at me, huh? Letting Celestia stay with us….?”

“No…” Twilight said quietly as she looked at the floor, the once familiar red carpet now stained by rain and snow. “In the wake of what I’ve seen… I can’t be mad at family, we’re all we’ve got.” The mare sighed and wiped at her eyes. “I thought Celestia would never betray me, Shining… I know, however, that you won’t.” Shining was surprised as he was wrapped in his sister’s hooves and wings, he quickly reciprocated and patted her on the back. “I can assume you’re probably not mad at me, even though I kinda sided with the humans…?”

“Hey, I may not be pro-Onorus, that doesn’t mean I’m anti-human.” The stallion quietly gestured to the hole in the city. “You have to admit though, they’re very destructive.” Twilight nodded but gained a slight smirk.

“They also tend to rebuild things better than they were before.” She said as they began walking through the halls again, passing by numerous other signs of conflict along the way. Shining could see that most of the humans they passed gave Twilight slight nods, he supposed that came with her new position as a congressmare. Eventually they happened upon a doorway that Shining was familiar with, the door to Luna’s room. He had visited her a couple times with important news, but he had no idea what was beyond it. He gave a slight jump as it was pulled inwards, Twilight turned as she heard the hinges squeak. Shining was a bit surprised to see a human woman poke her head out, her hair was tied back and she looked rather tired.

“Oh… Sorry, I thought it was Luna.” She said groggily as she rubbed her eyes, blinking a couple times at Twilight and her brother. Shining was shocked to realize that the woman had apparently heard them walking by through such a heavy door, she looked oddly familiar, but he couldn’t tell why.

“It’s just me, Imperatrix Occisor.” Twilight said with a slight bow, the woman scowled for a brief moment and Twilight cleared her throat. “I mean… It’s just me, Maria.” The woman sighed softly and stepped fully into the doorway, Shining silently gulped as he saw her wearing attire that seemed fitting of some sort of ancient goddess from his ‘Castles and Creatures’ campaigns, though she looked tired and had a notable bulge to her belly.

“I was hoping it was Lu, I keep waking myself up with that god awful snoring…” She said before looking at Shining and rubbing the back of her neck, smiling with a matronly expression that gave the stallion a feeling of warmth. “I’m sorry, where are my manners…? I’m Maria Occisor…” The woman quietly extended her hand to the stallion, Shining shook it readily. “Anyway… If you happen to see Lu, tell her I need that sleeping thing she does.” The woman paused and quietly lost a bit of that warmth in her face. “Oh, and if you see Dominic…”

“I’ll send him as soon as I can.” Twilight said with a nod, it suddenly clicked in Shining’s head where he had seen the woman before. On top of his usual comics that he read from time to time, the Prince had also skimmed a couple newer Onorussian comics in secret. There was no mistaking that Maria was ‘The Queen of Death’, and yet she looked and acted so kindly. Maria noticed the rather odd look on Shining’s face before he could hide it, she raised an eyebrow at him curiously.

“Something wrong?” She asked, Twilight looked to her brother with a similar curious expression.

“I… Uh… I was starting to get into your comics, I hadn’t realized you were, you know, real?” Shining said sheepishly, Maria stared at him for a couple moments before she simply nodded quietly and looked at Twilight. The stallion caught the glimmer of her eyes watering before Twilight quickly tugged him away. Without another word the woman disappeared into her room. “What? What did I do? Did I start a war? Twilight please tell me I didn’t-”

“No… She’s just got some hormonal stuff going on.” Twilight said in a mildly assuring voice, the two of them resumed walking. “The Imperatrix doesn’t like talking about her exploits in that comic, the author really romanticizes it and that really bothers her.” Shining looked at the floor quietly, feeling rather bad even though Twilight had told him not to. “I won’t really go into detail, for her sake, but from my experience on Terra during the EOL war…” Twilight shivered. “Thirty days was brutal for me. I can’t imagine what four years of that and then the Forty Eight Hour War has been like for her, or other people like her.”

Shining Armor quietly sighed as he looked over his shoulder at the door to Luna’s room again, wishing he could go back and apologize to the woman. Honestly he felt bad for her, the comics he had read had always seemed so unreal that he hadn’t thought about the toll it would have on a real person. With a brief sigh the stallion adjusted his mane, hoping that the discussions between his wife and Dominic were going well.

[♠]

Rainbow Dash quietly sighed as she sat at the bar of a new human restaurant in Ponyville, slide blues played in the background as she sat by herself, her leather jacket hanging from a hook installed next to the stool she occupied. The lights were down, human memorabilia lined the walls, an old American flag was pinned up on the ceiling as a fan slowly circulated the dingy, smoky air. See as it was day time, there were few customers inside, but that hadn’t stopped her from coming in for a quick glass of beer. She had been given the day off after reporting what Scootaloo had told her to her captain, apparently Scootaloo’s parents had some other shady dealings being reported about them, and she had been given strict orders to go about her business as usual, with the exception of taking the day off.

The man standing behind the bar was quietly scrubbing the inside of a glass, he didn’t pay much attention to the mare aside from occasionally looking up to see if she needed a refill. Rainbow Dash leaned her head into her hooves, looking thoughtfully at the polished bar surface. The mare wished she could do more to help Scootaloo, but she was worried about the commitment she had made to the filly. Her time in the military told her not to go back on her word, and it was looking like soon Scootaloo would be in need of someone to take care of her, but Rainbow dash wasn’t sure she was ready for such a task.

The mare looked up quietly at a couple posters behind the bar counter, one of them was rather new, and depicted Imperatrix Maria Occisor watching over numerous children of varying races and ages. The war had left a lot of orphans, and the poster was part of a government program to try and find them qualified homes. Rainbow stared at the woman on the poster, taking a sip of her beer as she did. By now pretty much everyone had heard the stories about her, and knowing that she was pregnant had given a lot of people hope for a new beginning. Rainbow Dash was one of them, but even she knew not to idolize someone to too great an extent. As she was thinking she heard the door to the bar open, she peeked over out of instinct and was surprised to see a mare wearing a big blue cape, glasses, and a floppy grey hat.

The mare looked oddly familiar, but Rainbow shrugged it off and went back to looking over at the poster. She paused when she felt someone sit on the stool next to her, her eyes shifting over from the poster to the mare as the bartender set the glass down and walked over to her. The portly man leaned against the counter.

“I’m gonna need to see some ID.” He said in his usual gruff voice, the spectacled mare reached into her cape and withdrew an ID Card. The bartender quietly looked over the card and chuckled, then looked at Rainbow Dash. “Officer, care to take a gander at this?” Rainbow shrugged, she supposed getting asked questions was the price of her Police Officer’s discount. The bartender handed her the card, everything looked in order until she came upon the name.

“Archaic Kingdom Yearling…” She read aloud, looking at the mare who was staring at her expectantly. Rainbow Dash almost wrote it off as a fake, but held it at an angle and checked the reflective seals. To her utter astonishment, it was legitimate. “It checks out.” She slid the card back, doing her best to conceal her surprise. The man shrugged and took the mare’s order, leaving Rainbow Dash to her thoughts once again. After a couple moments the mare that was apparently A.K. Yearling had a beer sitting in front of her, her eyes were drawn to the mare staring at the poster across the counter.

“That’s kinda odd.” She said, getting Rainbow Dash’s attention. The prismatic mare turned to Yearling with a raised eyebrow. “Most ponies freak out when they find out my name. I take it you’re not a fan?”

“I am, I just didn’t want to intrude.” Rainbow dash replied, taking another sip of her beer and looking at the poster again. “And I have other things on my mind, no offense.” Yearling shrugged for a moment, smiling as she sipped her own drink while the bartender went back to his cleaning of the glasses. After a couple more minutes Rainbow turned to the author, but couldn’t really think of anything to ask, except the most obvious. “So, what brings you to Ponyville?”

“I’m doing some research for my next book, but the place I was going to didn’t have any information, so I’m here thinking of new ways to get in.” Yearling replied with a shrug, she leaned against the counter and looked back at Rainbow Dash. “What about you, ‘Officer’.”

“I’m just thinking on some things, I suppose.” Dash replied, taking a quick gulp of her glass. “Mostly job related, no job I’ve had has ever been easy, but this one’s kinda making me think more than the others.”

“Fair enough.” Yearling said, smirking as she looked around at the decor of the bar. “You know, I can’t believe they pin all this stuff up as decorations. I’d love to get my hooves on it just to study it, you know? There’s literally a whole nother world with tons of stories, and they pin stuff from it on the walls like junk.” The bartender quietly coughed, causing Yearling to quiet down a bit. “For instance, that thing there.” Yearling pointed to an old looking human device sitting on the liquor counter where the bartender was arranging bottles.

“That’s a coffee grinder.” The bartender said without looking away from his work.

“Still, it’s a HUMAN coffee grinder, conceived in entirely different conditions than a pony coffee grinder.” Yearling gushed, she quickly composed herself and sighed. “Hard to hide it, but I’m very interested in the human’s, if you haven’t guessed.” She trailed off. “Also, not the best in a social situation like this… I just can’t seem to stop talking lately.” She trailed off. “If you don’t mind me asking, I’ve noticed you’re looking at that poster quite a bit. Considering adopting?”

“Yes and no…” Rainbow Dash replied. “I know a filly whose parents aren’t the best, and I have a feeling I’m going to end up looking after her for a while. It’s going to be tough if it happens, but I promised her I’d be there for her.” Yearling seemed a bit surprised by the development, her expression becoming stoic in nature. “Whatever happens, I’ll be there for her. That’s all I can do now.”

“I see, sorry if I brought up some bad memories there.” Yearling said simply.

“That’s alright.” Rainbow Dash said, she briefly closed her eyes before looking back at the poster. “It’s been an off week for me too.” She looked back to Yearling. “You know, a year ago I would be asking you all sorts of questions right now, guess I’ve changed more than I thought.” She quickly finished off her beer and leaned against the counter, but stopped as she noticed the door to the bar open again. The music in the background seemed to fade out, and Rainbow Dash was surprised by just who she saw enter the bar. A stallion that looked similar in coloring to Daring Do, and surprisingly AK Yearling. He had a text bubble as his cutie mark and looked around quietly as he approached the bar. “That’s fucking weird…”

“Mhmm.” Yearling said simply, the stallion took a seat beside her and looked around the room until finally settling on the two mares next to him. He blinked a couple times, as if wondering what was going on, before shrugging and placing an order with the bartender. “Canterlot Central Station in here, it seems… I should probably shove off.”

“It was nice talking with you.” Rainbow Dash said with a smile, she chuckled for a second. “I better show up in the next book. Name’s Rainbow Dash.” To her surprise Yearling gave her a wink before she dropped a couple bits on the bar counter and walked out of the room, that left Rainbow and the odd new stallion sitting beside one stool over. He was drinking cola, oddly enough, and looking over something in a notebook marked ‘Illogical Logic’. To be honest, Rainbow found herself thinking less and less about the poster, and the fact she had just met one of her idols, and was more focussed on the stallion. He made her feel rather odd, as if butterflies were rising up in her stomach. She was Rainbow Dash though, she was one of the toughest, grittiest mares out there, she helped win a fucking war for pete sake. Why was she getting butterflies?

The stallion hadn’t noticed that he was being watched but looked over at her without trying to arouse suspicion, Rainbow Dash blushed and looked away, causing the stallion to do the same. After a couple more seconds Rainbow chanced another glance, smiling rather awkwardly at the stallion. She coughed, causing the stallion to return her awkward gaze. Suddenly Rainbow Dash saw the bartender approaching her spot and gesture to the seat closer to the stallion with a knowing smile.

“I’ve gotta clean this spot, mind moving over?” He asked, Rainbow Dash nodded and switched seats, now much closer to the stallion with the oddly familiar coloring.

“So… Who was that you were talking to?” The stallion asked, trying to make conversation, Rainbow Dash gulped before responding.

“Uh… She was an author.” The mare said simply, the stallion seemed rather intrigued. “I was just talking about a book I like with her.” The stallion smirked with a raised eyebrow, sipping his cola.

“What was it? The book, I mean.” He asked.

“Um… Daring Do?” Rainbow Dash said with a bit of hesitation, the stallion brightened, obviously a fan of the book as well. That made Rainbow relax and brush a bit of her mane out of her eye. “I’m, uh… Rainbow Dash.” She offered her hoof.

“Quibble Pants.” The stallion replied as he shook her hoof with a respectful smile.

Author's Notes:

So here's another chapter for you, sorry for the reduced speed of uploads, but I've exhausted my backlog. Also, I'm so glad I watched the new episode during writing this, it gave me just the bit of information I needed to flesh out the arc I had for RD fully. QuibbleDash is my new OTP. I have never uttered or even written a sentence like that until this very moment. History in the making, fellas. In other news, I've also been listening to 'The War of the Worlds Musical', and it's fucking kick ass, they made a thing called 'War of the Servers' based on it too. But I'm getting off topic. I'm just gonna leave you guys your clip of the day and start brainstorming ideas for what happens next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh3OpvUpW7Q

Also, I'd like to give a special thanks to the one guy who donated to my patreon. I won't name names for privacy reasons, but really, thank you a lot. It's been a big confidence booster.