“Damn it.” Morgana swore loudly to herself as she descended the ramp to the warehouse. “Celestia’s fat ass…how do you deal with a body like this, Forth? It’s heavy as hell.”

“That’s because it’s full of mercy,” replied Forth, as cheerfully as ever.

“You did not just say that…”

“I was joking. It’s because it’s full of guns. But if the slaughter of infidels isn’t ‘mercy’, then I don’t know what is.”

Elrod followed them, cradling Roxanne in his arms. Her body was small and comparatively light, so it was not difficult; in fact, it was far more of a problem for Roxanne than it was for Elrod.

“I can’t believe this,” she muttered.

“It’s the way it has to be,” said Elrod in reply. “Your body uses a fiberoptic notochord. It’s an extremely delicate system. I’m not able to repair it. I don’t know how. But it can be replaced- -”

“Replaced? With what? By who? Do you have any idea how much that component costs? I don’t have the money to pay for a new one! And I can’t work without my legs! How the hell am I supposed to dance now?!

“We will get you a new one,” said Morgana.

“Fuck you, Morgana! What, am I supposed to somehow believe you have the money? You’re not even going to be able to afford a new body for yourself!”

“Then I’ll be stuck as a Blossomforth”

“We could be like sisters,” whispered Forth in amazement.

Morgana pressed ahead of the others, leaving Forth to fall behind with Elrod, Roxanne, and Lilium. Elrod looked at her, somewhat confused, and his eyes grew distant once again.

“Forth,” he said.

“Yes, I am,” she replied. “Is there something you need, Mr. Jameson?”

“No…it’s just that…”

Forth looked up at him. Her eyes- -and her whole body- -had already healed. Now a pair of empty blue irises stared up at Elrod, analyzing him without blinking. Few thoughts ran behind them. “What is it?”

“You don’t…do you remember anything from the last few days?”

“Just floating in nothingness. Which was horrible. I was all alone. No orders. I’m still there, even though I can see now.”

“But not the Library, or escaping Morgana’s office, or the party…”

Forth shook her head. “That was not me. It was one of my sisters. She is dead now. I killed her.”

“But…did you have to?”

“No. Of course not. But I wanted to. I think it is ideal if we die by other Blossomforths. Maybe it’s more poetic.” Forth paused. “Why?”

“She…I don’t think she was a bad person.”

“Probably not. She was a Blossomforth. I assume she was a lot like me. Just defective. But not a bad person. That does not affect my decision to kill or not, though. I am Forth. She was not. So I made her die.”

Elrod frowned. Roxanne seemed to notice, and her hateful expression softened considerably. She understood what was running through Elrod’s mind, even if he was not able to fully comprehend those emotions.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Why would you be sorry? I don’t…I just don’t understand…”

Lilium listened to this conversation, and though she was far younger than any of them she had a distant understanding as well. She very distantly understood that this was sad, but she also understood Elrod’s confusion. She herself was confused, perhaps even more so.

Ignoring it, she forced herself forward to fall in step with Morgana. Morgana’s Blossomforth body was shorter than her Twilight Sparkle one, and the back had been torn away to reveal heavy zinc alloy armor and the two sockets where Blossomforth’s wings had once been. It looked painful, but Morgana appeared to be more contemplative than in agony.

“So,” said Lilium. “You’re inside me?”

“If you’re asking if you can purge me, the answer is no. I’ve parsed myself VERY well. It would be beyond your ability.”

“One, I could. Two, that isn’t what I’m asking.”

“Then you’re asking if I watched you fuck my ex marefriend.”

Lilium blushed deeply. “I- -well- -um- -”

“I was conscious of it, but not involved in it. As I said, I parsed myself well. Think of it as though I were hiding in an empty room of a large house while you were upstairs ruining the bed. I’m not a pervert. And I don’t actually have a grudge against you.”

“Um…I think you’re lying.”

“I probably am. But it’s better this way. Look at what I did to her. And Valla. Look at my face.” Morgana turned her unblinking blue eyes to Lilium. “Do you see an ounce of remorse?”

“No.”

“And that’s a problem. Because things like that end up happening.” She pointed over her shoulder at Roxanne. “I loved her. And now look at what I’ve done to her. There was a reason I stayed away. Because I can’t stop myself from doing this to her.”

“But I can.”

“No. You can’t. Not as long as I’m around.”

The two fell silent as they approached the door to the warehouse, and the door opened. As it did, light poured out, revealing a white Rarity unit standing in the doorway, waiting for them.

“Welcome back, darling!” Lynnette stepped back as Morgana entered with Lilium at her side. Elrod ducked to enter as well, and gently set Roxanne down on one of the nearest crates.

Morgana said nothing at first, at least not until she was sure that Roxanne was comfortable. Then she turned to Lynnette. “Where the fuck were you?” she asked, her tone not raising above a distinctly cold monotone.

“Where do you think I was? I was watching it all.”

“Lilium. Did you hear anything from her?”

Lilium paused. “No…but I don’t know if Forth…I mean Blossomforth had communication.”

“Well it’s too late to know that now, isn’t it? But I have a hunch that you weren’t contacting her either, were you, O’Toole?”

“And what would you have me do? Even if I had an appropriate rifle, I’m still an Aetna-Cross detective. I simply couldn’t attack our own troops, now could I?”

“You could have done SOMETHING!”

“Oh. Was getting you into the party in the first place not good enough? Should I perhaps have summoned you an army of government shock troops, or maybe a heavy mech?” Her eyes suddenly narrowed. “I’m working with limited resources here, and even more limited personnel. My job was only to get you into the party. And I had other work that needed to be done.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Does the name Gary Jones mean anything to you?”

Morgana raised an eyebrow. “Should it?”

“I don’t know…” Lynnette shook her head as if trying to clear something from it. “Never mind. Have you made any developments in the case?”

“No,” said Morgana. “We lost Valla. Aetna-Cross took her.”

“An acceptable loss.”

“Can you get her out?” asked Lilium.

“You mean recover the body? If I wasn’t in hiding, I might be able to get you the ashes. Or part of them. But right now, no.”

“She wasn’t dead, though.”

“Oh my. Well, she will be soon. We have several Pinkie units who will make sure of that. And no. There isn’t anything I can do about it. You should have killed her before departing. It would be better that way.”

“What…what will they do to her?”

Lynnette seemed to consider for a moment. “Well, I was always partial to drawing as a method for my more substantial interrogations. I’m quite good at it.”

“No,” groaned Roxanne. “Stop, stop! I’m- -oh God I’m going to throw up!”

“Yes, that will happen when you eat expensive hors d'oeuvres and champagne with the gusto of an anorexic sow. Regardless. The loss of your centaur is hardly of consequence.”

“Not of- -!”

Lynnette cut Lilium off. “I mean in the case.”

“I already told you,” said Morgana. “Nothing.”

“Yes there is,” said Forth. “I have coordinates.”

“Coordinates?” Lynnette smiled in a way that made Lilium extremely uncomfortable. “Coordinates to where?”

“Somewhere in the Depths.”

“Forth!”

“The Depths? Oh my. Well, that certainly does seem like a good place for someone to hide if this particular someone did not want to be found…until the time was right, at least.”

“You think it’s the Cult of Humanity,” reasoned Lilium.

“I know it is, dearie. So. Morgana. Are you going to go?”

“Like hell.”

Lynnette seemed to be confused. “But you found them. You know where they are!”

“I already walked into one trap today. And I lost a friend because of it. I’m not walking into another.”

Lynnette frowned. “No. No, that won’t do. You have to go. This is your only option.”

“No. Their toying with me. I don’t know why, but I’m not going to play their game. I already tried to go by their rules, and look where that got us. I’ll need to find a schematic.” Morgana started pacing. “I can talk to some Delvers. I know a few members in the guild, and some of them keep private maps. Then- -”

“No!” snapped Lynnette. She stomped forward, her eyes narrow. “After all this trouble…they’ve delivered the coordinates right to you! It’s right there!”

Morgana frowned. “O’Toole, my decision is final.”

Lynnette laughed suddenly and sardonically. “Really? After we’ve taken the time to make this as easy and painless as possible, you still want to do it the hard way?”

“O’Toole, what- -”

A dark smile crossed Lynnette’s face. “Like I told you. I have made SURE that this is your only option.”

Forth’s ears suddenly pricked up. She turned suddenly, tackling Lilium to the ground as an explosion rocked the room. The warehouse door was blown inward by a fiery plume. Lynnette, likewise, ducked to one side, rolling behind cover as heavily armored Aetna-Cross shock troops burst through.

They did not hesitate or bother to announce themselves. Instead, they opened fire. Morgana lifted one of her hooves to shield herself and the bullets ricocheted off her body. The bullets in question left massive dents in her zinc armor, but her Blossomforth body was durable enough to attempt to retreat temporarily.

Elrod was not as lucky. His body was impacted by a hail of bullets. His eyes widened as they struck and necrosis began to progress from every bullet hole. Aetna-Cross had come prepared for him this time. Their bullets used herbicide cores.

“Forth!” he cried.

Forth responded immediately, her body unfolding as she walked into the gunfire, returning it as she could. In a fraction of a second, she crossed the floor. Most of Elrod’s lower body had collapsed from the toxic bullets, but not all of it. Forth grabbed his head and with one quick motion severed his head at the neck.

“Lilium!” Morgana spoke both verbally and inside Lilium’s mind. “You have to get out of here! Follow Forth!”

Lilium looked over the box she was hiding behind and saw the soldiers approaching. A heavy bullet whizzed by her head, grazing through her hair. She was afraid, and if she had possessed a heart it would have been beating faster than it ever had before. The only exit was blocked; she was trapped. But that was not what worried her.

“NO!” she screamed in response, retreating through the boxes. “Not without Roxanne!”

“There isn’t time! If you don’t get out now, we’ll both die!”

“I CAN’T LEAVE HER!” Lilium called into the room as several smoke grenades detonated, filling the room with toxic mist. “Roxanne!” she screamed. “Roxanne, don’t worry, I’m coming- -”

She took a step forward, and then suddenly stopped. She wanted to move, to run to Roxanne’s side and protect her- -but something was stopping her. Her legs would not respond. Something was forcing its way into her mind, trying to take control of her body.

“What- -what are you doing? NO! Morgana, don’t!”

“I have to.”

Lilium attempted to defend her core systems, but Morgana was stronger. Her firewalls began to break down before she could even reinforce them, and the hidden consciousness in her memory immediately became apparent. Lilium struggled against it, but Morgana’s will was too strong and too focused. It began to take control, forcing her out of her body as it took over. Lilium could not even scream; all that came out was a high squeak.

She started to run into the mist, but not toward Roxanne. Instead, she was driven somewhere where she could not see, until she felt athree- fingered hand reach around her body and lift her up.

“Forth,” she said, “please…”

“I have my orders,” she said, smiling as two soldiers emerged from the mist, their bodies protected behind heavy shields. They opened fire, and Forth turned to defend Lilium. She lifted one of her hands- -the one still holding Elrod’s severed head, its eyes still roving in terror- -and opened the weapons contained within her arm. She fired two projectiles. The human’s shields did nothing; on impact, two luminescent vortices rent them into spirals of red liquid and chunks of metal and organs.

“Roxanne!” cried Lilium, even though it only came out as a low groan. “Roxanne, no! Please!” She started to weep as forth forced her way through the Aetna-Cross lines. “I’m sorry! Roxanne, I’m sorry!”

Morgana did not retreat- -at least not in a bodily sense. Her mind was safe in Lilium’s body, while the body she was using was free to die if need be. The sensation of it was liberating and terrifying at the same time, and for the first time Morgana fully understood Forth’s tendency for reckless abandon and giddiness in battle. She had nothing to lose, yet felt the instinctive fear that she did.

Which was not entirely true. She did have something to lose. Quickly, Morgana found her way to Roxanne and pulled her down, hiding her behind a metal crate. The gunfire around them had grown quiet, with the focus being on Forth who was now some distance from the warehouse itself. The room was still filled with Aetna-Cross soldiers, though. They made no sound as they moved, but Morgana’s Blossomforth eyes could still detect their shadows through the mist.

“Roxanne.”

“Morgana…I’m…we’re fucked, aren’t we?”

“Pretty much.”

“I don’t want to die. Please, I’m not ready. I- -I never saw the sky! Lilium…”

“I’ll do what I can,” replied Morgana, knowing it was not much.

She then stood up on the box and raised her hooves, retracting the surfaces that concealed the weapons below. This battle was not one she could win, but she could provide cover for a little longer and perhaps give Forth a little bit more of a chance.

Morgana opened fire. The recoil of the weapons was extensive, but her stolen body was heavy enough to dampen it. Several soldiers fell, but most of the rounds she fired had missed before the ammunition was depleted. She attempted to switch weapons, but the second one exploded when she attempted to use it.

“DAMN!” she screamed. “Forth, you didn’t have to go so hard on it!”

She turned her attention toward what few working firearms she had left. Their caliber was small, meant for soft targets- -she could not get through the armor that the Aetna-Cross enforcers used. She had to keep trying, though.

Bullets returned to her. One shattered through her body, ruining her central robotics as it passed. Then another came, smashing through her face. More came, and she sent more in one last firefight as they advanced.

“Come on,” she whispered. “Get close to me. Just a little closer…”

The circle closed in, and the last of Morgana’s working weapons clicked as they were emptied. What few bullets and missiles she had were in parts of her that no longer worked. She only had one option remaining, and she chose to take it.

“I’m sorry Roxanne,” she said. Morgana put her hoof around the red gemstone on her neck and accessed her body’s internal controls. She began to prepare to strip the control rods that surrounded the Blossomforth body’s nuclear reactor.

Before she could, something ghostly white shot from the smoke and grabbed her. Morgana saw a vicious frown and a pair of deep blue eyes, and then watched as a number of gold-tipped tendrils shot forth from below a perfect mane of blue hair. Lynnette’s probes wrapped around Morgana’s body, penetrating every port they could find or jamming themselves into her systems directly through the wound she had suffered. In seconds Lynnette had infected the body, driving her consciousness into the core systems and shutting down the self-destruct process.

Morgana tried to resist the incursion, but doing so was futile. The body was remote; her consciousness was hamstrung by the limited connection. Just before Lynnette forced the body into shutdown, though, Morgana was able to look into her mind. She saw in that instant what she had failed to see before: the mind of a pony, trapped screaming beneath a shell of implanted code. Every aspect of her will was infected, and the infection stretched out, even as Lynnette tried to control it from within. Morgana retreated before it could reach her, abandoning the body in the process. Seeing it was enough, though. She knew what had happened, and understood what this meant.

Morgana’s Blossomforth body collapsed, landing on the floor next to Roxanne. Lynnette smiled, and signaled the all-clear. Overhead, a flocculent grenade detonated, and as the black powder within it rained down the smoke collected into neat spheres and clattered to the floor. The room was clear, and the soldiers advanced. Several of them kept their rifles trained on Morgana’s body, as if it would get up and attack them. The rest surrounded Roxanne. Roxanne tried to crawl away, but received a crushing blow from a boot to the face. Several of her teeth skittered across the floor as the soldiers descended on her, beating her before firing bolts through her wrists and forcing them behind her back.

“You goddamn fuck!” screamed Roxanne. “You did this! You traitor!”

“Traitor?” said Lynnette. “Hardly. I do work for Aetna-Cross, now don’t I? If anything, I’m the epitome of loyalty. That really is something you should understand, isn’t it?”

Roxanne lifted her head and tried to spit on Lynnette. Lynnette slid one of her probes into the back of Roxanne’s neck and cut into her settings, shutting her primary reactor into low-power mode. Roxanne gasped and tremored as her power faded, and she collapsed into a comatose state.

Satisfied, Lynnette allowed the soldiers to collect Roxanne. Then, before she left, she spied the red gemstone that was still around Morgana’s body’s neck. While the soldiers directed their attention toward Roxanne, Lynnette reached down and pulled removed it, placing it in her inner jacket pocket as she departed. She made her way toward the front of the warehouse, climbing over the bodies of various coworkers as she did so. Many of them she had known, at least tangentially. Their deaths did not bother her, though; she had never liked them especially much.

As she reached the front, the soldiers that were still alive parted. A Pegasus pony whose skin consider of orange, plated armor stepped through the gap. He had no clearly defined eyes, but when he saw Lynnette, he frowned.

“Detective O’Toole,” he said.

“Captain Zawaski. So good to see you.”

“We didn’t capture our target. You know that.”

“Yes, sir. We did not. However, I did indeed perform my role. Quite spectacularly, in my opinion.”

Zawaski stared at her for a moment, and then sighed. “You did,” he admitted. “Actually, your undercover work was exemplary, as always. You gave set the sting, but it was my op.”

“I’m afraid I didn’t anticipate that they would have a second Blossomforth.”

“THAT aspect comes down to intelligence. You should have known, O’Toole. Now our asses are going to pay for it.” He paused. “But, you also saved a lot of paperwork by preventing her from detonating.”

“We also managed to capture a prisoner. Morgana Twilight Sparkle’s ex-lover, in fact.”

“Her role is irrelevant. She’ll get the same fate as the rest of them.”

“Ah,” said Lynnette, frowning and feigning sensitivity toward the thought. “I had heard that the centaur was captured during the Bottlebrush incident.”

“She was. But she had mostly bled out. We have to stabilize her before the torture can commence. As for the two in the hospital, we successfully terminated both of them. Valla Goldberg and Roxanne Rainbow Dash IV will be executed painfully and on schedule.”

“Excellent. I have prepared my report already.” Roxanne extended one of her cables. “I’m ready to submit it immediately.”

“To me?”
“It is your op, after all. And after Nikolosov’s death, someone is going to need to take control of Enforcement. You may not have seniority, but I know where Morgana is likely to go. Once you capture her, I do expect you to be my new boss.”

Zawaski smiled. “Excellent,” he said. “As efficient as always. I think you might be in line for a promotion as well after all this is said and done.” He lowered his head, and Lynnette inserted the cable into his neck.

Zawaski gasped and shuddered slightly as the virus was installed into his central program. He was not a technomancer, and his mind was instantly overwhelmed and consumed with barely any resistance. When Lynnette had finished the installation, she disconnected. Zawaski looked up at her and smiled. Lynnette returned the same smile, and Zawaski turned away.

“Alright!” he yelled. “I’m issuing new orders! The plan has changed!”