Chapter 44

They opened the door to the security office once again, and Jeremy tried desperately to control himself as those goddamn camoflauge uniforms came into view. Taking a few deep breaths, he sat down, glaring at the guy closest to him. Part of him was whispering in his head that these weren’t the same people, they hadn’t committed the same atrocities, but most of him was itching to throttle them, to make them pay. “Alright, so… why are you here?” Jeremy said, and winced as his accusing tone sounded loud and clear to his audience.

The first man cleared his throat and leaned forward. “We’re here because our intelligence has learned that Ethan F., the one who tried to kill you a few months ago, has escaped from incarceration while awaiting death row.”

Jeremy raised an eyebrow, distracted and worried enough by this news to forget his earlier trepidation. “So? Track him, find him, and kill him. You guys are good at that, right?”

The man shook his head. “It’s not that simple. Judging from the evidence, he didn’t escape solo – he was bailed out. We’re here to ask – is there any group that might want you dead enough to free him?” Jeremy thought long and hard.

“Can’t be the changelings, they have no reason to fight me again,” he thought aloud. “Nightmare Moon’s dead forever, I confirmed that much. So then… that’s it. Those two and Ethan are the only important enemies I’ve faced, to my recollection,” he finished. Mary interjected.

“Wait, what about the high school thing?” she asked, and Jeremy’s face fell as the fleeting escape from his memories evaporated. He put a hand to his forehead, feeling both stupid and angry.

“Yeah, that’s true. What, you think I didn’t get all of that military squad? Is that what this is about?” he asked, only somewhat sarcastic. Some of the camoflauged men glared at him, and Jeremy glared right back.

“No, I meant the other group. The terrorists, or whatever they were,” Mary explained hurriedly.

Jeremy grimaced, finally looking away and realizing he was gripping the arms of his chair rather painfully. “…Right…” he muttered. “You think there are more of them? I… killed quite a lot, I didn’t think they’d have kept people in reserve,” he wondered.

“A hundred and six,” another camoflauged military man said. Jeremy looked at him, confused. “You killed a hundred and six people, not counting… that squad,” the man explained, and Jeremy’s eyes widened. He never had discovered the true total, and now that it was out there, the number shocked him.

“A hundred and six people…” he whispered. Most of the group were staring at him, a combination of fear and admiration on their faces.

“Well, that’s it, then,” Mary continued uncertainly. “It’s got to be them – they’re the only group left that wants your head, and they might just have the resources to rescue Ethan.”

Jeremy massaged his temples. “Jegus. We have to deal with those assholes again? Great, just… Wonderful. The circle of stupidity is now complete! Maybe I can get Celestia to incinerate them with unholy murderflame,” he muttered, and he was surprised by how serious he was. Several people shifted uncomfortably at that, but one near the back stifled a snort. Jeremy looked over at him. “You think this is funny?” he accused, not even caring anymore about the suppressed rage in his voice. The man tried to hold back his grin, failing miserably.

“I mean, what you said, about Princess Celestia… I thought that was pretty funny,” he finished. Jeremy glared daggers at him.

“This is not. Fucking. FUNNY.” Several of the squad and Mary flinched, and the grin evaporated off of the guilty soldier’s face. “You think this is a game or something? These people ruined my life, and now they’re back for more – you’re damn right I’m going to make sure they’re dead this time!” Mary put a calming hand on his shoulder.

“Jeremy, calm down. I know this is upsetting, and you feel like you’ve had enough. But we’re going to get through this, okay? Together. No matter what it takes.” Jeremy stared at her hand for a moment, then put his head in his own hands, rage giving way to gentle sobs.

“I just… when’s it going to end? I’ve fought so many times… I just can’t take it anymore…” he cried into Mary’s shoulder, who looked startled at the sudden burst of emotion but confusedly patted him on the back all the same.

“Hey, sorry…” the guy who had laughed earlier embarrassedly mumbled. Jeremy didn’t reply.

“Listen, we’re here to help. We’re going to make sure none of those bastards even get close to you,” the man closest to him consoled.

Jeremy gave a hollow laugh, finally sitting up. “Right. Because that’s worked before, huh?”

There was nothing much else to say, so Jeremy got up, waved a quick goodbye to Mary, and filed out, not even looking at the soldiers as he exited. Heading back to his dorm room, he considered how hungry he now was. Sighing, he packed up his laptop and headed out again, planning to first head to the dining hall while it was still open and then head to work.

Work had been uneventful – after a few hours of running the machines, he exited the polymer science labs and headed back to the dining hall for dinner. Entering his dorm room, he was surprised to find Chrysalis waiting, an expectant look on her face.

“I got one hell of a negative emotional cocktail earlier off you – wanna talk about it?” she queried.

Jeremy sighed. “Sure, why not, might as well pass the shock and horror on to someone else,” he sarcastically replied. Raising an eyebrow, Chrysalis jumped up onto his bed, and Jeremy sat with her, glad his roommate was out as usual.

“And now they’re back too,” Jeremy finished, laying down next to Chrysalis. He had left out the part about his running away – it wasn’t useful information. She looked up at the ceiling, surprisingly calm.

“Why does this always happen to us?” she questioned. Jeremy looked at her, and she continued. “It’s never over, is it? Someone always has to try and pull us apart, or try to kill one of us. Why can’t they just leave us alone?” Chrysalis demanded. Jeremy chuckled darkly.

“I was asking the same thing… Every time we get out of yet another scrape, I think to myself ‘This is it, I can finally settle down to a peaceful life. Ha! Of course not. There’s always another hurdle, another maniac with a weapon in their hands and death in their eyes… And stopping them peacefully doesn’t help. No, if I want to solve my problems, the best thing for everyone is to pick up a gun and start taking potshots.”

Chrysalis looked down. “I should have killed Ethan when I had the chance,” she muttered.

Jeremy shook his head. “Nah, because then that would’ve been evil or whatever. You did the right thing, don’t worry about that.”

They lay there for a moment in silence. “…Hungry?” Jeremy asked after a while. Chrysalis stuck her tongue out.

“With the emotional turbulence you’ve been going through? Asking you to feed me wouldn’t help matters much. If it’s alright with you, I’ll just grab some from the machine before I head off to the cocoon for the night.” Jeremy shrugged.

“Sure, I guess…” he dejectedly muttered. He couldn’t even help his marefriend now, he was so messed up inside.

Chrysalis looked regretful, and kissed him on the lips. “Hey, you’re more than just another love machine to me, remember?”  Jeremy looked away, and finally nodded. They stayed like that for a while, each locked in the other’s embrace.

10-7-14, 6:07 P.M.

Jeremy had explained yesterday that Mary had wanted him for a military recruitment opportunity, thus explaining any potential sightings of the squad of soldiers after their meeting – this was an alibi of Mary’s design, so Jeremy assumed she was backing this up as well. Having just gotten out of the shower, he found an email addressed to himself on his laptop – confusing, as while he did send emails to himself as reminders on occasion, he couldn’t remember this one. Opening it, he saw why – one of the others must have written it as a note to him. It was very simply “Come see us.” Frowning, Jeremy threw back on his clothes and headed through the portal, taking care to replace the foam covering.

Celestia and Luna were both awake, and it was officially nighttime in Equestria. No ponies were in court currently, and Jeremy remembered something about today being a national holiday for some reason.

“Greetings, Jeremy,” Celestia opened, sounding oddly concerned.

“Hey. You wanted to see me?” Jeremy asked, feeling weirded out. Normally, contact was rare over the week – he was almost always too busy making sure nobody discovered the portal, or doing school things.

“…Yes. Chrysalis has been in contact, and she’s concerned your past might finally be catching up with you – and I promise I meant no pun on that, though it was doubly true.” Jeremy chuckled humorlessly.

“Yeah, that’s one way of putting it. So… what are we gonna do?” he asked.

Luna sighed. “Our initial suggestion was simply to magically track these deviants down and destroy every last one of them,” she remarked angrily. Jeremy privately agreed, and Celestia looked at him.

“You would seriously see every last one of them dead?” she asked, and Jeremy remembered that both could read his mind.

“At this point, I don’t see any other long-term solution,” he began, choosing his words carefully. “We’ve tried handing people who want us dead over to the authorities. It hasn’t worked. So, that leaves punishing them yourselves, which could get awkward real fast if one of them escaped or something, or outright killing them. We can’t establish peace, for whatever reasons – probably something to do with my initial killing spree. Any other ideas?” he asked.

Celestia shook her head. “I still think there is some less murderous solution – didn’t you say you didn’t want to murder anymore the last time this happens?” she pointedly asked. Jeremy looked away.

“Well, it just keeps happening. And since everyone else seems fine with murder of various parties, why not? Might as well join in on the fun,” he sarcastically replied.

Celestia frowned, unamused. “I know you don’t mean that,” she stated. “I will contact your FBI and this new military group, over your email – I have since learned some spells that make even digital communication difficult to track. This is not the first time I have had to defuse conflict, after all.” Jeremy considered this. She had two thousand years of political experience – maybe they had a chance.

“Well, good luck,” he said, half meaning it.

“Also, Queen Chrysalis could tell you left something out of your description of the meeting with Mary,” Celestia prompted. Jeremy groaned, this empathic business on his marefriends’ part was starting to get to him.

“Okay, fine. You want to know what happened? First time I saw that squad of soldiers, I panicked. I ran home, locked myself in my dorm, and Mary had to come over and talk me into going back. Happy?” he spat, furious. Luna looked taken aback.

“…Why didst thou run? Surely thou were aware they meant not to harm thee,” she wondered.

“I… well… For a second when I saw those vests, I had a flashback to the School Incident,” Jeremy admitted, using his own name for that horrific week. “It was my first time dealing with the military, and I overheard them making negotiations to kill me in exchange for the lives of everyone else. So, I chucked a grenade or two into the classroom and ran. And… it came back to me, and the next thing I knew, I was running,” he finished, sounding small. Celestia and Luna shared a concerned look. “Great, now you think I’m crazy. You’re probably right,” Jeremy muttered.

“Nay, that was not our intention,” Luna hurriedly soothed. “We were simply discussing whether thou required counseling, and how we would go about such a thing.” She looked at him, seemingly nervous at his reaction. Jeremy just sighed.

“Counseling would be wonderful - but who’s going to pay for it?” Luna chuckled.

“For thee, we would gladly pay ourselves.” Jeremy gave a small smile, and it was settled.

He headed over to the hive next – he was long overdue for a visit. He opened the door to his office, noting an unfinished weapon on the table next to him – maybe he’d get to that on the weekend. Walking through the portal to the hive, he looked around, finding that no one appeared to be home. Jeremy decided to wander through the caves for a while, being sure to look out for any green glow that wasn’t organic in nature. Feeling oddly alone and out of place, he tried to piece together why every single changeling in the hive would have left.

Suddenly, he was tackled from behind, and excited chittering sounded around him as changelings swarmed around and over him, appearing from invisibility all around. For a moment, Jeremy was very confused. Then, the changelings began to poke and tickle him all over as their chitinous bodies forced him to the floor, and he began rolling around while desperately attempting not to laugh, a grin forced onto his face by the constant tickling.

“Ah – hey, get off – Hahaha, it’s not -!” he spluttered, finally giving in to giggling. Queen Chrysalis approached the spectacle, a smirk on her face.

“So that’s how you cheer a human up? You tickle them? And here I thought it’d be harder,” she muttered.

“I’m not – haha, stop! – happy, I just – Pfft!” Jeremy was unable to continue.

After a while, he forced himself into a sitting position, and looked around at the changelings who had been messing with him with a sardonic grin. “Where’d you even learn that, anyway?” he asked. Chrysalis laughed.

“We knew about tickling – we used to use it to get love out of the smaller ponies. Hmm, maybe after this we should try it on the larger ones…” she mused.

Jeremy chuckled. “You might actually get away with it, too – that would be a sight to see,” he replied. Chrysalis crossed over to him, sitting down next to him and looking at him expectantly.

“So, did it work? Are you feeling better?” she asked.

Jeremy’s smile quickly turned into a grimace. “For now, yeah. It’s not gonna last, though, I know that much.” Chrysalis frowned, and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Then I’ll make it last as long as I can,” she whispered, and after a moment, Jeremy returned the hug, glad he had someone to confide to.

“You know what scares me most?” he asked after a moment.

“You mean, apart from a terrorist group who’s out for specifically your blood?” Chrysalis asked mockingly.

“Heh. No. What scares me most is facing this alone,” he admitted. “I used to think I could do everything myself, but this? I don’t think I can handle this without you.”

Chrysalis looked at him, a small blush creeping onto her cheeks. “Jeremy, I’m… touched…” she mumbled.

"Now who’s the romantic sap?” Jeremy teased. Chrysalis laughed.

“I’m never going to get used to all this free love… but you’re a fool if you think I’m not going to take advantage of it!” she proclaimed, tackling him and laughing.

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