“Hello?” called Brown, peering into the dark room. There was no response, save for a gust of cold air from within. Carefully, Brown entered.

He did not recognize the room, but he also knew that there were many places within the Pocket that he was unfamiliar with. This particular room seemed to be dedicated to storage. The floor was covered with crates and steal barrels of various sizes, but it was not especially cramped. The room was rather large, with a high ceiling, something like a warehouse. There was almost no light, save for the glow of a large crystal suspended from a chain attached to the ceiling. The light it produced was barely adequate to cast a gray glow in the nearest parts of the warehouse, and Brown appeared to be alone.

“Commander?” he called. Supposedly, she was there somewhere. Shining Armor had located him several minutes earlier and informed him that the Commander wanted to speak to him. Brown did not particularly fond of Shining Armor- -but he did not dislike him either, even if he had at one point been a unicorn. The fact that he was a soldier- -and a general at that- -more than overcame that particular failing.

Brown had wondered why the Commander had not attended the ceremony for the Subcommander, but he supposed that it was her prerogative not to. He himself had nearly been unable to complete it. Even with his mind pre-programmed strictly for war, losing somepony close to him had hurt more than he could ever have imagined, and he could not image what he would do if he were to lose the Commander or Rainbow Dash. Despite that pain, he had still managed to perform the necessary rites to ensure that the Subcommander would have a restful forever-sleep. It was the least he could do for her.

A strange scent wafted through the air. Brown knew what flowers were, even if he had never seen one, and the scent was similar to what he imagined they smelled like: sweet, but also somewhat spicy and alluring. At the same time, he smelled something darker underneath the sickly scent, a smell that he was genetically pre-programmed to recognize: that of chlorine gas.

“Brown,” said a voice from the shadows. Brown recognized it as that of his commander, but she was in a region of the room that was too dark for him to see. “I am happy that you came.”

“Thank you, Commander. I exist to serve you.”

“That you do,” she said. Brown could hear her voice moving across the room, but he heard no hoofsteps. The Commander usually did not produce sound when she moved. “Tell me, soldier. You will obey any command I give you, is that correct?”

“Yes,” said Brown. “I will.”

“Even if I were to order you to do something unpleasant?”

“Anything you ask. You are my Commander. Even if you ask for something beyond my ability, I will do my best to serve your wishes.”

“Good.”

The Commander emerged from the shadows, and Brown’s eyes widened. Instead of her usual steel gauntlets, the Commander was instead wearing four blue-striped socks that reached up to her torso. Her face also appeared different, and Brown realized that she was wearing eyeshadow.

“Com- -Commander,” stuttered Brown. He had to look away. He did not know why, but seeing her like that seemed inappropriate.

“Look at me,” ordered the Commander, and Brown obeyed.

She moved close to him and raised one of her stocking-clad hooves around his neck. Before Brown could stop her, she leaned in close and kissed him, shoving her tongue into his mouth. The smell of flowers, Brown realized, was coming from her- -but so was the scent of chlorine. Her saliva tasted like bleach.

Brown pushed her away. “Commander, what are you doing?” he asked. His heart was beating quickly in his chest. At some level, he felt himself attracted to her- -and felt horribly ashamed for thinking that way about his beloved Commander. Mostly, though, he felt afraid on an instinctual level that he did not understand.

“I was kissing you.”

“Why?”

“It seemed appropriate. Considering that you are about to have sex with me.”

Brown stepped back, and immediately understood the nature of his fear. He felt himself breathing heavily in a panic as his Commander turned around. She spread her wings and legs, and raised her tail, exposing a set of genitals that were profoundly different from Rainbow Dash’s but similar enough that Brown understood what he was supposed to do.

“Commander…I don’t mean to be insulting. You are an attractive pony, but- -I don’t want to do this.”

“You do not get to say ‘no’,” snapped Five, causing Brown to automatically stand at attention. “This is a direct order, and you will obey it regardless of what you ‘want’.”

Brown whined slightly. He did not understand why she was doing this to him.

“What was that?” she demanded.

“Yes, Commander,” said Brown, stepping forward. He wanted to say no- -to scream it- -but she was his Commander. Every fiber of his being was telling him that he had to obey her, no matter what. As Brown approached her, he desperately hoped that his body would refuse to cooperate, that he would have an excuse to diffuse the situation- -but he felt his body obeying her orders, even if he wanted nothing more than to run.

“Are you hesitating?” snapped Five, angrily. “Are you going to defy me?”

“No,” said Brown. He closed his eyes and grabbed her wings, leaning over her. They were nothing like Rainbow Dash’s. Hers were soft, feathery, and both strong and gentile. The Commander’s were leathery and so cold, as if he had grasped part of a corpse. Her perfume overwhelmed him, and he felt tears forming in his eyes.

“Please Commander,” he begged. “Please! Don’t make me do this! I- -I don’t want to!”

The Commander looked over her shoulder, and Brown saw that she was smiling. Brown felt crushed when he saw that smile, because he saw that she had no interest in intercourse. This would not be loving by any means, but more than that, the Commander had no desire for physical pleasure either- -she just wanted to hurt him, to take from him what was supposed to only belong to Rainbow Dash.

“You will obey,” she said.

“Yes…yes Commander.” Brown pushed forward, and saw his tears dripping on the Commander’s back. “It…it won’t go in…”

“Of course not, you idiot. I’m a parthogen.” She lifted her tail higher. “You are going to have to insert into my plot.”

“But…won’t that hurt you?”

“Not really. But you will enjoy it.”

“No…no I won’t. I won’t enjoy any of this. Please, Commander…please stop.”

“You will enjoy it, because I ordered you to. Now buck your Commander.”

Brown lifted Five’s tail higher, and closed his eyes. He tried to imagine that the Commander was Rainbow Dash, that they were smiling and laughing in their bedroom, sharing something special together. He thought that thinking about Rainbow would make being forced to do this easier for him- -but it only made it worse.

“Well?” said Five.

“Commander…Commander,” sobbed Brown. Then he pushed her as hard as he could, throwing her to the ground. “No!” he cried. “I- -I can’t do it!”

The Commander sprawled across the ground, unable to keep traction in her socks. Brown saw the surprised expression on her face, the disbelief- -and he felt as though his soul itself were being torn for making his Commander feel that way.

“What did you say?” she said, standing. “Even after I ordered you?”

“I- -I can’t. Commander,” said Brown, unable to look her in the eye, “I will follow you into any battle. I will die beside you, or I will die for you. I will fight for you until the day that the Fluffle claims my soul- -but I cannot mate with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because until she rejects me, I belong to Rainbow Dash. I cannot betray her, not even with you. I love her, Commander.”

“Really?” Brown had expected the Commander to yell, to scream at him, to berate him or even beat him, perhaps to the point where she could take what she wanted by force- -but instead she just smiled the same vicious, horrible smile she had been before. “You love Rainbow Dash?”

“Yes,” said Brown, with pride. “Even if she does not return it, I love her.”

“Good. That will make this more fun.”

“Wh…what?”

“Killing her, of course. I don’t need her alive anymore. I was just going to shoot her and take her skull, but if you ‘love’ her, well…”

“Please, Commander,” said Brown. “Stop talking like that.”

“I think I will take her skull while she’s still alive,” mused the Commander. “I’ll start by stripping the skin. And of course I shall scoop out her eyes. What am I saying, though? First I would need to saw off her hooves.”

“Commander,” said Brown, more firmly. “Please stop this. Now.”

“But not until I take those wings. I’ll cut them slowly, and make her watch. Then I think I’ll hang them on my wall. The wings of Rainbow Dash…surely a worthy prize indeed. And I will make you watch as I gut her, and as she screams for mercy- -”

“YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER!” screamed Brown. He could no longer contain the rage that was building inside of him, and the otherwise cool-colored room faded to red. His hooves went out, and he saw the Commander’s confusion as he grasped her head.

“Brown,” she said, “what are you- -”

She never finished the sentence. Brown twisted with all his might, and turned her head so that she was looking down at the tearstain he had left on her back. The Commander’s body convulsed, and then collapsed in a limp heap, twitching slightly as the nerves in her severed spine continued to fire.

Brown looked down at the heap that had been his Commander. He was breathing heavily, but then his breath became sobs. He screamed when he realized what he had done, and he dropped down to his knees, taking his Commander’s body in his grasp.

“No! Commander! What- -what have I done?!” He held her broken neck to his face and wept. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please don’t leave me! Don’t leave me, Commander!”

It was too late, though. Her breathing had stopped, and Brown knew that it was impossible to recover from such a fatal injury. He continued to sob over her body for what felt like hours. She had been his Commander, and he had been so ungrateful that he had murdered her. Now he doubted that he would even be able to face Rainbow Dash, not with what he had done. In one day, he had not only lost the Subcommander, but the Commander as well- -and his heart could not bear the pain.

When he finally calmed- -or rather, fell into despondency- -he looked at her face. Her dead eyes were still open and staring, her mouth open in a perpetual question. She had not understood what had been happening, and now she never would know how she had been betrayed by a pony who she was supposed to be able to trust with her life itself.

“Com…commander,” said Brown, trying to suppress another sobbing fit. “May- -may your forever-sleep- -be restful…”

He brought his shaking hoof to her eyes to close them so that she could rest, but before he could reach her eyelids, her large blue eyes suddenly shifted toward him, her mouth snapping shut and contorting into a smile far more horrible than the last two.

Brown screamed and leapt back, flattening himself against a stack of boxes. As he watched, the Commander stood, her head at a horrible and impossible angle. There was then a horrible sound of bone scratching on bone as she pushed it back into place. Then she lifted her head and fully repaired neck high and stared directly at Brown with her reflective blue eyes.

“That was my first cervical dislocation in some time,” she said, stepping forward slowly in a mock-sensual way. “But that won’t kill me, now shall it? Nothing you can do to me might kill me, not for very long. I will be with you forever. I created you, ‘Brown’, and I. Own. YOU!”

She shoved her hoof between his legs, grabbing him. Brown screamed, not from pain but from abject terror. This thing was his Commander- -and at the same time it was not. He could no longer contain his panic, and he jumped up and sprinted as fast as his short, fluffy legs could carry him out of the storage room- -hearing the Commander’s laughter following him all the way, echoing in his head even after he had escaped her.

Rainbow Dash flipped the small business card over in her hoof, looking at the coordinates. It took some time, but if she waited long enough, they did change. She found it hard to believe that the ‘ink’ that made up the statement on the card was actually made of tiny insects, but she had seen stranger things.

She set the card down on her nightstand and floated over her bed. Then, freezing her wings, she allowed herself to fall into the mattress. It was soft and comfortable, and Rainbow Dash felt a nap coming on, even if she knew that it would mean horrible dreams of dying ponies and the look on Gell’s face just before she had collapsed into ash. Without alcohol, though, sleep was all Rainbow Dash could do.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she heard a knock at the door. She rolled over, hoping whoever it was would go away- -only to be awakened by it again.

“Alright, aright,” she said, lifting herself from the bed with her wings and flying slowly to the door.

When she pulled it open, she was surprised to see Brown- -but even more surprised to find that he was unable to look at her. He was trembling, and for the first time Rainbow Dash saw the evidence of the tears that he had clearly tried to wipe away running down his face.

“Brown!” she cried, dropping to the ground. “What happened?”

He took a deep breath, and she could tell that he was trying not to cry.

“Rainbow,” he said, softly. “There’s something I need to tell you.”