“Swallowing is no easy task—it takes over fifty different pairs of muscles and nerves for you to swallow and you’ve never done it before… take a deep breath there, friendo… keep this in mind should you ever tell a mare to just swallow.”

Coughing, Sideralis hacked and gasped as he tried to fill his lungs with air. He could see little white spots in his vision. The apple sauce tasted wonderful on his tongue, sour, sweet, tangy, it made his whole body tingle with pleasure the moment it hit his tongue, but swallowing it, swallowing it was a new level of agony. He gagged, and for a moment, he thought he was going to be sick.

“Hmm, maybe we should try the pudding.” Stout lifted Sideralis’ head in a bright orange telekinesis field and looked into his eyes. “Don’t quit on me now. The fact that you’ve gotten a few bites down you at all is amazing. You can’t give up now.”

Without being ready for it, Sideralis found a spoon jammed into his mouth. His senses were overloaded right away; his brain laboured to process what was in his mouth and what to do with it. It was… chocolate, but it was unlike any other chocolate he had experienced. All of his previous chocolate experiences had been falsified, fake, little more than a dream. This was rich, creamy, far sweeter, there was a faint hint of bitterness, it was quite possibly the greatest thing he had ever tasted in his life, at least up to this point. He was so overwhelmed from the intense flavour, the reality of the moment, that his eyes crossed as he sank into a blissful state.

“Yeah, it’s good, isn’t it?” Stout leaned her head closer to Sideralis. “Don’t answer that… just… try to swallow. Just a little at a time… leave some in your mouth and just ease it down. It sounds simple but I suppose it is pretty complicated if you’ve never done it before. You’ve never used these muscles before.”

Fearful, his whole body quivering from fear, Sideralis swallowed. The pain started right away as his muscles all clenched and flexed, trying to carry the pudding down to his stomach. It wasn’t quite as bad this time, it went a little smoother, but the pain was considerable. He had to make an effort not to choke. He swallowed again, his tongue doing weird things in his mouth, moving on its own.

“You’re doing good… let’s see if we can finish this,” Stout said, giving Sideralis a smile of encouragement.

Laying on his back, Sideralis watched as his legs kicked and moved. Stout was making them move, manipulating them in an orange glowing field. His throat was sore, but he found that he didn’t mind. He had a feeling of accomplishment after eating one tub of applesauce and two tubs of pudding, one chocolate, the other butterscotch.

“There are others like you? Are they on this ship?” Sideralis asked as Stout continued to work on his legs.

Stout stretched out Sideralis’ legs, tugging on them, and almost lifting Sideralis from the bed. She heard him moan, but kept the pressure on, knowing that a little pain was unavoidable. “There are three others like me on the ship right now. There are more of us though. Most of us are in Saddle Arabia. Chrysalis isn’t the only changeling we have as an ally.”

“Who are they?” Sideralis closed his eyes as the pain in his legs increased. Pulling his legs straight hurt something awful. It made his vision fuzz over and the muscles in his back spasmed as he wanted to kick free from Stout’s orange magical glow.

“Mjölna, she’s a lot like me. She’s real cutting edge and advanced. She doesn’t have my winning personality though.” Stout smiled. “Mjölna and I are close friends. She’s older than I am. She was there at the battle of Ponyville. In Ponyville, she was a member of Twilight’s royal guard… Twilight never wanted a group of guards, but she ended up with them. Mjölna keeps the steel heart of The Ouroboros maintained.”

There was a loud pop from Sideralis’ right front knee. He whimpered and Stout stopped for a moment to allow him to recover. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and gave Stout a nod to make it known that he could keep going.

“Mustang Salvation… she’s like my sister. Fluttershy raised her too. She’s got a few… problems. She’s a good pony, don’t get me wrong, but she’s a little violent. They have to keep her medicated and she has inhibitors to keep her powered down. Everypony calls her ‘Mustang Sally.’ One day, Twilight is probably going to release her in battle with no inhibitors and see what she’s capable of, and that’s gonna be a real horrible day for something. Most likely bugs.” Stout flexed Sideralis’ right front knee, paying special attention to it, massaging the flesh and trying to work the knots out.

Sideralis wondered what would happen after the war, when there was nothing left to fight.

“Octavia is Twilight’s effort at normality. She’s got new hooves, but no combat chassis. Her muscles have been regrown, but not with combat in mind. Octavia is our post war goal. Make ponies healthy again, but try to keep them as normal as possible. One day, this war is going to be over, and we have to prepare for that future as well.”

“You keep mentioning a combat chassis… what was done to you?” Sideralis asked.

Stout sighed, took a deep breath, and sighed again. “It’s complicated. Aside from having a reinforced skeleton, each of my legs have been reinforced and enhanced with a number of organic hydraulic actuators and rams, mechanical replacements that will keep me going in the event of muscle failure. It’s why I’m so bulky and heavy. Just never call me fat, or I’ll kick a hole through you, alicorn or not.”

Sideralis had no idea what Stout was talking about, but he said nothing. He just gave a weak nod. He supposed that he would learn more in time and all of this would eventually make sense. He had no concept of ‘organic hydraulic actuators and rams,’ or what they did, or what they looked like, or how they might function.

“I have a backup heart, it’s not a very good one though, Chrysalis says it’s a failure. She wants to replace it. I also have an organic pump that keeps the pressure in my hydraulic systems regulated. One day, Chrysalis says I’m going to have wings. I already have the sockets surgically implanted and the specialised nerve clusters have been grown. I have some problems though… I have phantom pains in wings I don’t even have yet. And sometimes, they itch, which is awful, because I can’t scratch them.”

“How can you have pain in wings you don’t have?” Sideralis felt very confused by this. He tried to furrow his brows, but his ears twitched instead, and his cheeks spasmed.

“Hey, you made a funny face… you’re getting better,” Stout replied. The earth pony shrugged. “My body thinks I have wings because of the synthetic nerve clusters that have been implanted and infused to my spinal cord. We’re in unexplored territory now… each day we’re learning something new.”

“Stout… what happens to you after the war?” Sideralis asked.

“I don’t know.” Stout shook her head. “We’ve all had to make sacrifices. I gave up my equinity. I try not to think about it.” The earth pony shrugged and folded Sideralis’ legs at each knee, then applied light pressure on the bent joints. “I just hope I can be repurposed.”

The door opened. Sideralis couldn’t see who had entered, because he couldn’t turn his head. He was currently facing the wall, trying to count rivets, and Stout was snoozing beside him. He felt the mare stirring and heard a sleepy yawn.

“Hey there? How ya feeling?”

Twilight’s voice was a welcome sound. Sideralis felt himself being rolled over and after a flash of the ceiling in front of his eyes, he found himself staring at a purple smear. He blinked a few times, trying to get Twilight into focus.

“I ate stuff,” Sideralis said. He felt stupid saying it, but it was the only thing he could think of. “Stout’s been working my legs over.”

“You’re eating already? That’s amazing…” Twilight’s words trailed off and she seemed distracted. She stepped closer to the bed and leaned her head down closer to Sideralis as Stout slid out of the bed and stood on the floor beside her.

“Chrysalis told me that you had an interest in project Rainbow Revival.” Twilight took a deep a breath, nodded her head, puffed out her cheeks, and blew out from puckered lips. “She seems to think that you’ll be a universal donor, and she has some ideas about you. Before we go into details, or before a decision is made, I think that you should know what the project is, and why it is important. If you are feeling up to it, there is something I’d like to show you.”

“I’m bored out of my mind and counting rivets on the wall… right now, anything sounds better than that,” Sideralis said to Twilight. He heard Twilight let out a little laugh.

“Twilight, let me get him to empty his bladder and then I’ll be happy to haul him around for you.” Stout activated her telekinetic field generator and pulled the bedpan out from beneath the bed.

Nodding, Twilight stepped away, backing up towards the door. “Have him ready. I’ll be right outside waiting. Sideralis, I’m going to show you how we’re going to end this war.”

“Try to kick your legs around. Act like you are walking. Make a little movement,” Stout said as she carried Sideralis down the hallway, his body suspended in a bright orange glow. “You’d better make an effort, or I’ll have to try the ‘tickle’ setting on my telekinesis projector. I’ve never tried it out, so I don’t know what it will do.”

Ahead of them, Twilight laughed.

Sideralis made an effort to kick his legs around as he looked at Twilight. She wasn’t very big. She was an alicorn, but she was small, not much larger than a pony. She walked with a slight limp. As Sideralis was carried down the hall, he saw other ponies, many of them wearing eyepatches. Some of them were wearing vests. Seeing the little ponies and the reminders of their injuries made Sideralis angry, and the anger made it easier to kick his legs.

“I have a question,” Sideralis said to Twilight.

“Ask,” Twilight replied.

“We have other changelings helping us… I remember King Stag being mentioned… who are they?” Sideralis asked as he tried to focus his eyes. The bright light of the hallway made it difficult to see, it hurt his eyes and made them water.

“King Stag and Queen Acherontia.” Twilight glanced back over her shoulder at Sideralis. “King Stag is actually the first changeling to work with ponies. He’s an oddity. He’s male, and Chrysalis says he is an anomaly. He has all of the magical powers of a changeling queen. He revealed himself to the Saddle Arabians and stated that he wished to live in peace. In time, he earned their trust. This was before the war. He has several ponies that gestate his eggs for him. His drones tend to come out as both male and female, which is very, very unusual. He harvests love through a most unusual way.” Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat and then let out a little cough.

“King Stag operates a very successful brothel,” Stout said.

“Oh.” Sideralis noted that the walls were getting weird. They were black, somewhat lumpy looking, bulbous. Greenish blue veins pulsated along the ceiling. Stout’s hooves made an odd ringing sound on the floor, like bells pealing. The veiny things on the ceiling made gurgling sounds, sort of like a stomach with a bad case of indigestion. “And the other?”

“Queen Acherontia.” Stout snorted.

“Queen Acherontia is Queen Mariposa's mother.” Twilight continued down the hallway, sidestepping as a group of ponies passed. “Mariposa stole away part of her mother’s swarm and then just vanished. Just disappeared. She then attacked Equestria later. Queen Acherontia is helping us, but she’s not as enthusiastic about it as Chrysalis and Stag.”

“Queen Acherontia has a superiority complex that I’d like to kick out of her,” Stout grumbled. “I mean, she’s been good to us, she’s been real helpful, but she’s always so quick to point out how vastly superiour that she and her changelings are to ponies, and how weak and fragile we ponies are.”

“Why is she helping us?” Sideralis asked.

Twilight began to chuckle. “She had her pride pricked by Mariposa. Acherontia wants revenge.” Twilight glanced back over her shoulder once more. “She’s also tired of the constant fighting and warring. She’s starting to see that we can accomplish so much more if we work together. Acherontia is old, even older than Chrysalis. She’s been around for a long time. She’s grown weary of war. I think when this is done, she’ll be content to live in peace.”

“And if she doesn’t want to live in peace, Twilight and Chrysalis have a plan to deal with her if she double crosses us,” Stout said to Sideralis.

Something overhead made a flatulent sound and then gurgled. Sideralis smelled something, something pleasant, something that made him think of spring, a season that he had never actually experienced. He sniffed, trying to catch a whiff of the delightful smell.

“We’re near the hydroponic quarter where we grow much of our food. It always smells nice. I like to come here and visit sometimes. The earth ponies here are always real happy… a happiness I’ll never know,” Stout said in a soft voice as they continued down the hallway.

“What? I don’t understand.” Sideralis tried to look at Stout but couldn’t turn his head enough to do so. “Why can’t you be happy?”

“Sideralis, Creamy Stout’s hoof rot severed her connection to earth and nature. It ruined her earth pony magic.” Twilight let out a sorrowful sigh. “The earth ponies that were hit by the plague lost their ability to grow things and keep the ground healthy. She can’t feel the earth anymore.”

“I… uh… I… that’s awful, Stout, I don’t even know what to say.” Sideralis felt a crushing sense of sadness that threatened to overwhelm him. He felt even worse when Stout did not reply. He did not like Stout’s silence, and wished he could hear her voice.

Twilight stopped in front of a strange looking door. She touched her hoof to it, then her horn, and then, much to Sideralis’ disgust, the strange looking door opened up, looking very much like a yawning sphincter. Strange veiny things pulsated and the fleshy looking door glistened with some kind of shiny moisture. Sideralis, blinking, had his vision clear long enough to see that there were eyes blinking in the sphincter door.

“We’re here. If I become emotional, you’ll have to forgive me,” Twilight said as she entered.

Author's Notes:

Next chapter... Rainbow Revival.