Author's Notes:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NLUMjaOpwr4SFpVKfz4jkRhusyhwz3LN19z3Bm3drOg/edit

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A shield formed around us as we flew past the static defenses. All the other flyers formed up behind us. Given the size of the ship, we didn’t have far to go, though their unicorns were flinging spells at us from their deck. Now that more of the airship was in view, I could see various types of siege weapons along the sides of the huge white vessel.

When we landed on the deck, I was able to tell that the thing was made of wood. That’s all I had time to notice before our shield was swarmed by attackers. “We must push them back!” Luna yelled. “Our mages don’t have room!”

I lifted up my rifle and started shooting people in the face. Spike picked a side and began toasting assholes. Soon enough, the elementals landed all around our shield and started eradicating the bodies and nanites. The shield surrounding us started growing as we cleared space.

“I will not be able to hold much longer!” Luna hissed. All of the hostile unicorns were focusing dead on us, so I was impressed she was able to hold at all.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to. Twilight and Shiny joined us first. Their horns pressed together and our shield took on a dark purple sheen. Every spell that hit it started to rebound off, shooting into either the melee fighters or the unicorns. That helped clear the deck even faster and the shield expanded more, allowing Watcher and Sentinel to teleport in. The golem instantly started sprinting for the group of unicorns. Taya and the last three squads finally followed.

“Taya, take control of Sunny and Amber’s magic,” I said. “Chain lightning!”

“Oh mommy, I thought you’d never ask!” she said with a giggle as Sunny and Amber pressed up against her. When they were in place, their horns all lit up and shot a massive bolt of lightning around everybody in front of them and then into the mass of unicorns. Given the extra power, Taya was able to fry a full fifteen of them before the golem finally got there.

On the far side of the ship, where the bridge seemed to be, another large blob of nanites was oozing out of a few hatches. “We got hostile nanites!” I called. “Taya, Watcher, Sentinel, focus on the unicorns! Luna, Twilight, day guards, start pelting the nanites with ice! Elementals, clear out the bruisers! Shiny, expand the shield as we push forward!”

The hostile unicorns finally put up a shield, but left their nanite blob and melee fighters uncovered. The shield didn’t even slow the golem down, and it started tearing through their ranks.

Luckily, their unicorns were very slow about replacing the shield when it went down. With all the combined magic being thrown at them, we quickly started eating through their ranks. Taya’s horrifying giggles were slightly disconcerting, but my fear was outweighed by my pride.

When the cluster of nanites started getting very close to the shield, I called out, “Focus fire on the nanites! Don’t let them touch the shield!”

“Box them up!” Brook called out. “If you contain them, we can eradicate them!”

Shiny stamped a hoof on the ground and the entire blob of enemy nanites was enclosed in a big purple bubble. It immediately expanded to fill the entire sphere, looking for any kind of way out. All of the waters pooled into a larger bubble covering the sphere and started jabbing it with spikes, slowly tearing away at the machines.

“Move forward!” I yelled. “Cover them with our shields!”

Oddly enough, the unicorns weren’t actually attacking them yet. I certainly wasn’t going to give them the chance, though. Luna trotted forward, turning her horn on the few remaining unicorns. When everyone else followed, the shield finally pushed forward and covered the elementals. At that point, the few remaining hostile unicorns teleported out. All the melee fighters that hadn’t been melted by the elementals had basically been torn to pieces.

“The deck is clear, my lady,” Luna said, standing up straight. “Shall I lead the push to secure the interior while you lead the defense topside?”

“Hell no, you aren’t getting all the fun.” I finally slid off her back to stretch. “Brook, how long’s this gonna take?”

“Give us two more minutes,” she replied through Watcher.

“Char, Blaze, check the bodies for hidden nanites while they work. Zecora, take a squad and collect the most valuable bits when the bodies are clear. When you’re done, the water elementals will eradicate the bodies.”

Shiny cleared his throat. “And what exactly do you mean by… collect the most valuable bits?” he slowly asked.

“Looting body parts that can be used for alchemical or magical experiments,” I said. “Things like horns and dragon scales. Twilight needs the horns for her necromancy and Zecora needs all kinds of things for alchemy.” For some reason, that made Twilight groan.

“And you’re harvesting them off corpses.”

“Yeah. See? Taya’s cutting off a horn right now.” At that point, she was floating it into Zecora’s bag.

“I see.”

“Why do you ask, Shiny?” I said, crossing my arms.

“There’s a better time and place to have this conversation,” he said. “I don’t approve of mutilating the dead, but I completely understand why you would be okay with it. I’m also concerned by some of your choices of partners. But again, there is a better time and place. I am here and I will follow your commands.”

“Lead the defense of the deck. If you haven’t been, make sure you keep a shield under you as well. The enemy nanites can slide right through the cracks in this ship.”

“...Nasty. How many troops are you leaving me?”

“Keep the griffins, Spike, four of your men, Amber’s squad, Sunny’s squad, and a few waters.”

“What about Twilight?” he asked.

“Twiley, you wanna stay here?” I asked.

“Well… I was hoping to study the interior, but I’d be happy to fight with my brother!”

“Then I’m keeping Spike,” I said. “Just be careful with your flames.”

“Got it!” he said with a grin.

“Luna, you’ll take Sentinel, Black Fate, Zecora, Felix, three day guards, Blaze, and a few waters to the bridge. Once you clear it, look for a way down. I’ll take Watcher, Taya, Spike, Kat, Char, the rest of the day guards, and a few waters and hunt for a hole we can squeeze into. I highly doubt they’d expect that.”

“And leave us completely surrounded by an enemy that can react instantly,” Watcher said.

“That’s the fun part! We attract as much attention as possible while Luna moves in from behind. Shiny, once Luna secures the bridge, move everyone into it and keep an eye on the deck from there. We need to make sure the enemy can’t fly this tub.”

“Where would they fly it?” Luna asked. “With all the trees, they can really only go up or down.”

“Down,” I said. “I don’t want this ship back in home territory. Better that it stay up here, where getting reinforcements is more difficult.”

“And there’s fewer horrifying ghosts,” Zecora called over.

“That too,” I said with a nod. You know, hopefully.

“This ship is really big,” Twilight said. “This might take… hours. You should all make an effort to mark places you have explored.”

“We can do that,” Flo said. “It would be simple for us to leave microscopic markers that only we can sense.”

“Then do so,” I said. “Plus, I imagine you can keep up a map pretty easily in your heads.”

“And communicate them between ourselves very easily,” Brook said. “Exploring this place will be a simple matter, though time-consuming.”

“Then shall we get started?” I asked with a grin.

“Just a moment, if I could,” Shiny said. “I know I said I’d wait, but I’d like a quick word, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Twilight, shield.” She placed a small shield over me and Shiny. I crossed my arms and stared at him.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I brought day guards with me when we’re on the brink of leading a revolution.”

“I wasn’t, actually,” I said. “I knew you wouldn’t have brought them if you didn’t trust them.”

“Well… that’s definitely the case. I don’t have many unicorns in the Crystal Empire, so I had to go to Equestria to get your reinforcements. These were some of my most loyal officers, soldiers who stand on the side of justice rather than the side of the princess. I was going to offer them all commissions in my army before our coup, but then this happened. They’re good ponies.”

“Cool.”

“So… Luna?”

“She’s officially my vassal now. She will earn her forgiveness through service. First by helping us deal with Celestia, then by helping us forge a new world.”

“...And you aren’t worried that she still might be Celestia’s sword?”

“No. Luna can’t act for shit. It would be obvious if she was lying.”

“Well, I was expecting you to defend her, but definitely not like that. If she has your trust, I shall leave it be. I would quite like to have my own talk with her, though.”

“Later.”

“Of course.” His horn lit up and the shield popped.

The water elementals had finished and were already separated into groups. Flo, Brook, Flumen, and Cascade were standing with my team. “We are ready,” Brook said, eyes turning pink.

“Spike and I are going to fly down the side,” I said. “When we find a hole we can slip into, Taya will teleport in and help us secure it. Waters, help carry the others down. Watcher, use magic to ferry Char.”

“You sure you want to take the filly?” one of the day guards asked.

“What, did you not see her roast those fuckers earlier?” I asked. “Of course I’ll take her. She wouldn’t let me leave her behind!”

“I’m mommy’s vicious attack filly!” Taya said with an adorable grin. “I’ll always be by her side to keep her safe!”

Pretty much everybody looked disturbed by that, so I took back the reins. “As Watcher said, that will put us quite squarely in enemy territory, surrounded on all sides. Trust me when I say that’s exactly where we want to be. The bastards can’t run from us now!”

“And if they do run, we get a shiny new airship,” Flo said.

“Shiny, yes. New, no. This thing is probably only marginally younger than you old ladies.” Thankfully, that didn’t upset any of them. Brook and Flo even giggled. “Now then, any questions?”

“Do we have a specific target?” Watcher asked. “Or are we just going to aimlessly roam the halls?”

“Aimlessly roam,” I said. “We’ll look for concentrations of enemies and just explore as we go. If we find a map, we’ll start pushing toward important places.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to swap places?” Luna asked.

“Yes. I know you’ll fight all the harder to meet me under the deck.”

“Do you have any kind of evac plan?” Shiny asked. “Things can go south very quickly when you’re behind enemy lines.”

“Teleportation,” I said.

“What if you run into anti-teleport runes?”

“What if Hitler cured cancer?” He blinked. “We’re wasting time talking about what-ifs. I work much better in the moment. So you guys ready to do this shit or what?”

“My team is prepared,” Luna said with a nod.

“I guess I’m ready,” Shiny said, shrugging. “Though I still have almost no idea what’s going on.”

“I’ll fill you in while we wait,” Twilight said.

I finally reached in my pack of ammo and pulled out a magazine. When I looked at it, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t taken any time to actually write down which was which. This’ll be fun. I loaded the runic rounds with a smile. “Spike?”

“Ready,” he said with a nod.

I ran and jumped off the side of the ship. He was right behind me. At that point, the ship was about halfway to the top of the dome. If we went any higher, we’d be hitting trees. We didn’t fly out very far, and turned to face the ship together.

Apparently the chariots we knocked out of the air earlier came from this ship, because there were several large holes on the side. There were also a fuckton of very scary looking weapons of all types that thankfully couldn’t be aimed at something so close. We started angling toward one of the holes in the middle of the ship.

The instant my feet touched the deck, Taya teleported in, ready to fight. There didn’t seem to be any anti-boarders present, though. “Check the hall, Spike,” I said.

He crept up to the door and tried the handle. It opened with no issue, so he poked his head in. “Clear.”

Taya finally scoffed. “Can you believe that stallion, mommy? How dare he question me!”

“Most fillies aren’t combat hardened veterans,” I said.

“Well I’m not most fillies!”

Before she could continue being adorable, a water elemental slid in and landed among us. “The others are moving down,” Flo said. “So why are we doing this, Nav?”

“What are you referring to?”

“Pushing in from the side like this.”

“Three or more teams makes the most sense for a group our size, but there wasn’t another place for our group to enter from up top. When you’re attacking a three dimensional object, diversifying how and where you attack it is important. Why cut a hole looking for a way down when there are already plenty of places for us to slip into?”

“Some of us thought it was unwise, but your reasoning is sound, as always.”

“Trouble coming!” Spike said. He pushed the door open further and spewed fire down the hall. When he paused to breathe, I leaned around him and pulled my rifle up. Whatever he had just flamed was buglike and still twitching, but extremely dead. I looked the other way and saw it was still clear.

“Keep an eye on that side,” I said, finally moving into the hall. “I’ll watch this side.”

“So how are we going to do this?” Flo asked. “Just clear the entire ship room by room?”

“Yep,” I said. “It’s a lot more fun when you’re all by yourself.”

“There’s no way you could clear a ship this size by yourself,” Spike said.

“Not this size, no. But I took Second Chance all by myself.”

“No you didn’t,” Flo said. “You broke their slaves out, who took the ship for you.”

“Tomato, tomato…”

“You didn’t pronounce either of those differently,” Spike said.

“Thanks, I hadn’t realized.” Something turned the corner and I fired on it without thinking. The strange bug immediately melted into a gross green goop. Guess these are the toxic rounds. “Taya, come put up a shield for us.” She trotted out and placed a shield a few meters down the hall on both sides of us. “What’s the ETA for getting the rest of the team in here?”

“A few more seconds,” Flo said. The three day guards actually teleported in with Kat, which kinda made me wonder why they waited so long. Shortly after they showed up, the pegasus in Watcher’s squad flew in, followed by the water elementals that were carrying Watcher and his earth pony. Char finally came in behind them, ferried by Watcher’s magic. All things told, it was pretty cramped.

“What’s our marching order?” Watcher asked.

“Char up front, with me, Kat, and Taya for support,” I said. “You bring up the rear with Spike. Waters go where needed, as needed. Day guards in the middle, ready to hot-swap with a unicorn in the front or back.”

“Define hot-swap,” one of the guards immediately said.

“Swap places in the middle of a fight,” Watcher said. “She’s saying that the unicorns in the middle will have a chance to rest, while the unicorns in the front and rear will be fighting.”

“Precisely,” I said. “Though the unicorns in the middle will also be keeping a shield around the walls, to keep the nanites from getting in.”

“So what’s a nanite?” one of the guards asked.

“A very tiny machine that’s capable of infesting anyone and erasing their free will,” I said.

“Or working with someone and building them up,” Flo said. “We are human machines created for many purposes. My sisters and I are made up of thousands of nanites, all flowing together with one mind. The nanites in this facility seem to be erasing the minds of those they touch and making them attack any intruders.”

Another bug turned the corner and I slagged it as well. “We kinda need to get a move on,” I said. “If we stay here much longer, we’ll get surrounded and pushing out will be a bitch and a half.”

Char finally pushed past everyone and barely managed to squeeze through the door. “So which way?” he asked.

“Toward the most bodies,” I said. He started walking down the hall. I was right behind him, Taya pressed against my leg. Kat followed behind, keeping her crossbow ready.

All of the rooms we passed by were completely empty. There was no furniture or treasure at all. We occasionally ran into large insect-like creatures, but none ever got close enough to actually hurt us. After about half an hour of roaming, I finally slung my rifle. There was no reason to waste bullets against those weird monsters, and Taya enjoyed tearing them to pieces too much for me to take it from her.

“How much of the ship do you think we have left, Flo?” I asked after the five hour mark.

“Between the two teams, I believe we’ve scouted around almost all of the decks on the outer part of the ship. However, neither team has found a way into the center of the ship. We also haven’t found anything that actually seems like a cargo hold yet. A ship this size must have had somewhere to store food and supplies.”

“Has Shiny had to deal with any attacks?” I asked.

“They’ve been almost constant,” Flo replied with a nod. “Nothing they haven’t been able to easily handle, but the hostile nanites do not seem happy that we took their ship.”

“Has Luna’s team run into anything aside from these bugs?”

“Not yet. They’re finding it very disconcerting.”

“So am I. Everybody stop for a sec!” Our line came to a halt and I walked to the middle of our group. “Open a hole in the shield here,” I said, placing my hand against the wall. Whoever was controlling it pulled the shield back a little. “Seep through the walls. Tell us what’s on the other side.”

Flo started to slide forward, but Brook beat her and pushed one of her hands through the wall. Her head disappeared and a small surge of water shot down the hand in the wall. After a few seconds, her body jolted and she yanked her arm back out. Her head finally reappeared. Unfortunately, her eyes were bright yellow. “They’re planting what looks like a bomb!”

“Taya, hole, now!” I yelled. The entire shield around us vanished and she started cutting a hole through the wall. Two of the day guards joined her, slicing through the ancient wood with ease. “Warn Luna! Tell her to cut her way in and disarm these things!”

“She is aware,” Brook said. “There is nothing but bugs in there. Allow us to go first.”

“By all means,” I said.

They all immediately slid out of our shield and went through the walls, a few feet away from where the unicorns were cutting. Thankfully, it didn’t take much longer for us to get through. Our mages finally disintegrated what was left of the wood and Char sprinted in. I let the others go first, because I really didn’t want to get near a bomb.

By the time I got through the hole, the waters were almost done destroying the bomb, so I could barely get a look at it. There was no sign of any bugs. When the elementals finally finished, I said, “We need to split up into smaller groups. For now, Watcher will take two day guards, Char, and two waters. I’ll take Taya, Kat, two waters, Spike, and the other guard. We might split again if shit starts getting hairy.”

“Be wary, my lady,” Watcher said. “They may be waiting for us to split up so they can begin ambushing us.”

“If the ship blows up, it won’t really matter much. Now go.”

He bowed and led his team off. Brook reached over and patted me on the head before sliding off and joining him. Flumen silently followed. One of these days, I gotta unlock her backstory.

“Flo, tell Twilight to start figuring out how to pilot this thing. I want to get it away from the top of the bunker. They’ll need to deal with the trees, but that shouldn’t be too much of an issue.”

“She has been told,” Flo said with a smile. “Though if it blows up with us in it…”

“Let’s go bomb hunting!” I said, finally running forward. The others jumped to follow.

There were considerably more bugs on the interior of the ship. After Taya squashed the fifth one, the day guard put a shield up in front of us that sent a lightning bolt into anything that moved. It acted like a very nice bug zapper.

“You need to learn that spell, Taya,” I said.

“I know it. I just like squashing them better!”

“I meant for mosquitoes. We can keep the house covered in one during the spring and summer.”

The day guard grunted. “I can’t believe I never considered that!”

“You’re welcome.” We finally turned a corner and almost ran into a bomb. It was ticking pretty loudly. Cascade and Flo surged forward, immediately engulfing the bomb. Several large bugs started charging at us from both sides. Taya placed a shield behind us. The air in front of it seemed to shimmer before Kat flinched and covered her ears.

Taya giggled as the bugs froze in place. Spike finally groaned and covered his ear spines as well. After a few more seconds, one of the bugs bursted wide open. The rest followed right after. Kat and Spike sighed in relief. “That’s the fun way of doing it!”

“You know what, maybe we should split up again,” the day guard said. “We can uh… cover more ground that way.”

“This place is pretty dangerous, dude. You’re a redshirt. You really wanna go that route?”

“...What are you implying by that?”

“Nothin’. I’m just saying, you haven’t been here that long. You sure—”

“I am just as capable as that filly, if not moreso!” Taya snorted and rolled her eyes. “If anything, I should insist that you come with me so I can keep you safe!”

“Mommy, can I—”

“No you may not.” Taya sighed and lightly slapped a hoof on the ground. “Let’s keep moving. We can split up when we find an intersection.”

The stallion took the lead without a word. We came across another bomb pretty quickly, this one also surrounded by large bugs. None came from behind us, so Taya dealt with them quickly. The redshirt tried to help, but as soon as his horn lit up, she vaporized all of them, leaving the bomb intact. Flo and Cascade immediately swarmed it.

Once it was gone, Cascade floated forward, holding a small, struggling insect. “This thing was arming the bomb.”

“Say, could you control one of these things?” I asked. “Like, if we wiped out the local nanites, could you guys turn them into hosts?”

Cascade suddenly covered the bug with water. All of its eyes flashed blue before it finally relaxed. She set it on the ground and said, “Observe.” It skittered over to a wall and slid into a small crack. “It will scout for us.”

“Can you capture some of the big ones?” I asked. “Like, as many as possible? This ship is gonna need crew. If they’re all in here, I’m sure there’s a reason. I bet they keep this place running.”

“I noticed that there were no nanites in that bug,” Cascade said. “We have not seen any since we got inside the ship, in fact.”

“I have noticed that as well,” Flo said. “Did that bug appear to have a mind of its own?”

“No. It was single-minded. I believe they might be led by some form of queen. If the nanites are controlling it, they wouldn’t have to waste the resources controlling the local bugs.”

“How many creepy bug things have we seen since we got here?” I asked. “If the queen is on this ship, we need to make finding it a priority.”

“Two of our sisters in Twilight’s squad have broken off to begin scouting the ship in earnest,” Flo said. “With luck, Aqua and Naiad will find it.”

With luck, we will find it. I think Flo would enjoy being in a queen.

“Well, I am much better at it!” Aqua said. “After all, I have practice! She’s never been a host to anything of importance.”

Why do you have to be such a bitch all the time?

“I offer you chance after chance to work with me, Nav, yet all you do is whine! Oh, woe is you, your mind is being subjugated! Boo fucking hoo, Nav. How do you think it feels to have to deal with your shitty attitude all the time? I can’t wait to finally wipe your smarmy ass out for good and turn you into a proper little lady!”

You expect me to pity you? Really?

“I expect you to work with me, Nav. I really do. But you never seem to live up to my expectations. I’m looking forward to changing that.” It felt like she placed her arms over my shoulders and pressed herself into my back. “Together.”

“There’s an intersection,” the guard finally said, coming to a stop.

“You take Kat, Spike, and Cascade,” I said. “I’ll take Taya and Flo.”

“...You sure, Nav?” Spike asked.

“What, you scared?” I asked. “He said he was as competent as Taya. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“Well, I mean…”

I crossed my arms and leaned forward. “What do you mean, Spike?”

“...I kinda wanted to work together.”

“Then let’s go. We’re taking the right side.” I started walking forward. Taya quickly caught up and pressed herself against my side. Flo slid in front of us and Spike brought up the rear. The day guard started walking left. Kat blew me a kiss and Cascade booped Flo. Their deeds done, they joined the guard.

The first corner we turned, we ran into more bugs. These were pretty far down the hall. One of them convulsed before distending its mandible and shooting a ball of black goo at us. Taya raised a shield and the stuff splattered against it. When it hit the deck, it started to smoke.

“Push forward!” I shouted. Flo shot through the shield and dodged a shot from the other bug. The first one finally started to convulse again, but Taya’s horn lit up and it froze in place.

Flo was all over the second one before it could move. Once its eyes flashed blue, she moved to the other and placed a tendril through its mouth. “Release it.” As soon as Taya let it go, its eyes flashed blue. “They will stay here and guard this passage,” she said. “They are not suited for quick movement.”

“Cool beans,” I said. “Let’s keep moving.” We hopped over the poison and joined her. The bugs had to shift around for us to get around them. One of them accidentally touched me. I gotta say, it was kinda icky.

“How explosive are these bombs?” Spike asked. “We’ve run into a lot of them. Do you think each one’s pretty weak?”

“I fucking hope so,” I said. “This ship is massive. There could be who knows how many bombs!”

“If there is a control creature, our sisters will find it,” Flo said. “I know you dislike Aqua, but have faith in her.”

“I guess I kinda have to,” I wryly replied.

We finally stumbled upon a pretty sizeable room. This one was full of barrels. Taya popped a few open. Each one housed what looked like throwing spears. She floated a few out and I grabbed one to heft its weight. “What would bugs do with spears?” Spike asked.

“Bugs might not have been the original inhabitants,” Flo said. “Or this could have been loot from another adventuring party.”

“Well, these things are too light to do much to these bugs,” I said, throwing the thing into a barrel for the fun of it. A part of me was expecting it to explode, but it just stuck in with a hefty thunk.

“Good against barrels, though,” Spike said.

The barrel I impaled burst open and a very pissed off bug flung itself at us, pointing a very scary looking spike straight at me. Taya grabbed it with magic right as Flo absorbed it. As soon as she released it, the critter fell to the floor, onto its very creepy eight legs. It had somehow retracted the spike.

“...Do you think any of these other barrels have those things?” Spike asked.

“Roast ‘em!” I shouted. A dozen more barrels started to shake. Spike and Taya immediately started hitting them all with flames. “Shield up!” Taya put up a shield so none of the flames could come back at us. When all the barrels were toast and the room itself was starting to burn, I finally lifted a hand. “Taya, ice!”

Her horn lit up much brighter and a cone of cold shot forward, hitting the flames and immediately fizzling them out. After about fifteen seconds, the floor started to frost over and she finally stopped. “I bet that unicorn couldn’t do that!”

“Your talents are very impressive,” Flo said.

“I know,” she smugly replied, trotting forward. The creepy spider found a crack large enough for it and thankfully fucked right off.

We found another bomb not too far from the room. It had several of the smaller bugs around it, all poking the device in several places. None of them tried to flee as Flo engulfed them all. When she pulled away from them, they poked the bomb again and it seemed to dim. The bugs all skittered away, looking for holes to dip into.

Flo slid forward and started stroking the bomb, dissolving it layer by layer. When she got to a certain depth, she reached in and punctured what looked like an amniotic sack. It was full of a green goop that all started gushing out onto the floor.

When it finally stopped leaking, Flo reach in and pulled out a few tiny bugs. “These are not bombs,” she said. “They are eggs. The ticking was them about to hatch.”

“Can you capture an egg and infect all the minds of the bugs within, then use the really small bugs to hatch them?” I asked.

“All of the small bugs we captured are now converging on Cascade,” she said. “She just found a new egg.”

“Keep me updated,” I said. “And I hope the others are capturing bugs as well.”

“They are,” Flo said. “I won’t promise you an army, but we should be able to quickly scout and hopefully protect the ship with those we can find. At the very least, until we can find a control creature.”

“I vote we call it the brain bug,” I said.

“My sisters prefer control creature,” Flo said. “Though I like the idea.”

“Of course you do, Flo,” I said. “You’re pure.” That made her glow bright pink. I just wish you would darken up a little and find out your sister’s dirty little secret.

“And you talk about me being a bitch,” Aqua muttered. “You just wanna make me jealous of that hussy! Well, you’re mine now! I’m the pure one!”

That didn’t deserve a response. Thankfully, we stumbled upon another room full of the larger bugs. They surged toward us and Flo threw herself at them. Taya grabbed three of them with magic. Spike torched the ones rushing toward him. I finally pulled up my rifle and fired rounds into four of the bugs, melting them with the awful toxic rounds.

When everything was said and done, we had another five recruits. There were three corridors leading to that room, so they started skittering down one of them. We went the other way, quickly leaving their annoying clicking behind.

“How many of these things do you think you can hold?” I asked.

“They require very little effort,” she replied. “I suspect I can hold fifteen more of the small bugs, six more of the shooting bugs, or five more of the melee bugs.”

“If you release control of a bug, would the enemy control it again or would it just stop?”

“We could make sure they just stopped. If we did end up finding a control bug, we could restart them once we controlled it.”

“So if any bugs become obsolete, ditch them so you can control some in more strategic locations.”

“That was the plan,” she replied with a nod. “My sisters are curious about something, Nav.”

“Okay.”

“You have been fairly vocal about not controlling others against their will, yet you would seek to do so with this race. Your distaste for spiders is quite obvious. We were wondering if that might be why you’d consider controlling these creatures to be acceptable.”

“They have no individual will in the first place,” I said. “All we’re doing is replacing one queen for another. It’s no difference to them.”

“As always, a simple kind of logic,” she said with a nod. “My sisters come to understand you more and more, Nav. Thank you for being open and honest with us.”

“I hope that understanding doesn’t come with disappointment.”

“Of course not,” she said. “Some of us were worried about some of your traits, but now that they are all getting to know you better, most of them are starting to appreciate your abilities more.”

“Good.” Not that it means much.

We ran into another sack of eggs, but there were no bugs present. Flo poked it for a moment before shaking her head. “Too early in development.” Her hand pulled back and we continued on.

When we ran into another intersection, we looked both ways. “Thoughts?” I asked.

“I hear movement down that way,” Taya said, pointing to the tunnel on our right.

“Then that’s—”

“One moment,” Flo said, holding up a hand. Her head tilted to one side and she finally grinned. “That is Luna and Blaze.”

“Do they know?” I asked.

“They do now,” Flo said. The noises immediately got louder and Luna came galloping around the corner. When she got to the turn, she teleported to face toward us to keep her momentum.

Seconds later, she was standing at attention before me. “My lady.” With that, she finally bowed low.

“Howdy. Wanna join us for a while?”

“I would be honored,” she happily replied.

Blaze finally turned the corner and saw us. For some reason, it made him freeze. He got over it quickly and continued forward. “I never expected we’d actually run into anyone in this maze.”

“I keep expecting to find a minotaur,” I said.

“No one’s gonna get that joke, Nav,” Flo said. “Why even make it?”

“I understood,” Luna said. “It is part of an ancient human legend, the origin of the minotaur. It was considered an abomination and placed into a labyrinth.”

“You never tell me anything fun!” Taya shouted. “Why not, mommy?!”

“I read that in one of Nav’s books,” Luna said.

“Yeah, Taya. Read a book!”

“I want you to read a book to me, though!”

“I can agree to that.” I guess it sounded kinda fun. I figured she would be a little old for it, but whatever. Either way, it made her beam. “Let’s keep going this way,” I continued. “Luna, Blaze, take point. Spike, Taya, rear guard.”

Everyone shifted around and we started pushing forward again.

As soon as we turned a corner, two more of the large bugs started shooting at us. Luna lifted a shield that folded in on the ichor, completely engulfing it before it crystalized and fell to the floor. She and Blaze started charging forward.

The two bugs backed up, allowing another two bugs to fire. Luna lifted another shield right before they could impact. Once again, it crumpled against the fluid and fell to the floor. Luna finally grabbed Blaze with magic and catapulted him forward. He held his arms out and grabbed both bugs in the first row by the face. Their eyes lit up bright red right as the bugs behind them fired again. Luna teleported forward, taking the hits on her armor. The runes lit up pink and white and the goo just slid off her.

Blaze vaulted over her and grabbed the other two bugs by the eyes. They shuddered and he released them. All four of the bugs stepped aside and the two of them continued forward.

Yep, glad I put them on point. We were quick to follow, of course. “So how many of these bugs can you control?” I asked.

“Hundreds,” Blaze replied. “Water elementals have a very intimate relationship with a small number of hosts. We fires make hosts of entire armies, wielding them all in tandem. These bugs are child’s play to my brother and I.”

“Good. If we can find a way to keep this ship, you guys will definitely be useful in running it.”

“If we could get this ship out of here, it would cement your power,” Luna said. “None could stand before the might of this beast with a full crew. If we can use the resources here to build more ships to complement it, we could rebuild the naval air fleet!”

“The what?” I asked.

“One of the more potent wings of my army of old was an air corps,” she said. “When I took to sea, it was always with a sizeable complement of airships to cover me. My flagship acted as a large central command hub while the airships acted as my fast hooves. If I was ever needed in battle, I could teleport to any of them immediately. We used that method to interdict hundreds of pirate vessels, including the ones carrying Spike’s egg.”

“We wouldn’t even need the ship on the water with this thing,” I said. “It’s basically a carrier unto itself. There are tubes on the sides to launch chariots. You could probably modify them to carry some kind of small air cutter as well. If we can’t get the resources we need here, we can use wood from the Everfree. I could probably add a shipbuilding class to my academy…”

“A very wise idea,” Luna said. “Air superiority is very important in this world. Should Pyrite ever become an enemy, a vessel like this may be the only way to stop him.”

“I’m sure my big brother would never do anything to hurt me,” I said with a smirk.

“Do not put too much faith in an insane old lady, Nav,” Blaze said. “She may forget you at any time.”

“That would almost be relieving,” I said. “That bitch was mad creepy, yo.”

We came across another ticking egg sack almost completely covered in the small bugs. Luna threw Blaze forward again and he flashed right through the egg, making each bug’s eyes turn red an in instant. The egg itself continued shaking before bursting open, revealing three more of the large melee fighters. They all started moving forward while the small ones began crawling up Luna’s legs.

When they got up to her helmet, her horn lit up and pulled it off. All the bugs started crawling under her armor, making my mouth drop. When they were all in place, she lowered the helmet back into place and continued moving without a word. Flo had to grab my arm and tug it to get me to continue. I knew Luna was out there, but that shit was legit horrifying.

Luckily, I didn’t have to dwell on it for long. We quickly came up on our friendly bugs fighting hostile melee bugs. Blaze ran forward to support his troops. Luna followed at a more sedate pace.

By the time Blaze caught up, we had one bug left against three of the enemy melee bastards. He tackled one of them right before it could impale the last friendly bug. Its eyes turned red and Blaze reached over to snatch another by the front legs as it tried to attack him. He threw that bug into the third and body slammed them both, adding them to his growing creepy army. The four bugs immediately continued forward.

“My shooting bugs are firing at melee bugs,” Flo said. “It is… a pretty hefty slaughter.”

“Fuck ‘em up!” I said with a grin.

“You control more of these small ones than I, Blaze,” Flo said. “Do you think they create the egg?”

“No. I’m inclined to believe the theory of a queen of some kind. It would likely lay the eggs, either by roaming through the halls and laying them one by one or in one place with worker bugs to ferry them around. I believe these bugs just add something to the eggs to make them hatch faster.”

“We have sent several bug patrols through the ship already,” Luna said. “We’re scouting at a very fast rate, yet we still haven’t found any sign of an intelligent bug.”

“The brain bug is always elusive,” I said. “It might be hunting for a weak or small group of us so it can pounce and absorb our knowledge.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Blaze said.

“It does make a kind of sense,” Flo said. “If the nanites within the control creature capture one of us, it knows all we know.”

“So let’s all try not to get ambushed,” I said.

“More of our groups are starting to converge,” Flo said. “It feels like the tunnels are all leading to a central location, with several side rooms here and there. Our small bugs have explored a considerable amount of the ship, but there are still many corners left unchecked.”

“This place is really fucking huge,” I said. “It’s going to take an army to crew.”

“If we have a way of laying eggs, an army will be easy,” Luna replied. “And even better, we save an entirely subservient species from extinction.”

“A double win,” Blaze said with a nod. “With luck, we will find a way to control the external shield in here as well. If we can get this ship outside the dome, the enemy wouldn’t be able to teleport onto it anymore. Once it was clear, it would truly be ours.”

“That would be pretty dope,” I said. “Are Aqua and Naiad heading toward what we think is the center of the ship?”

“They are,” Flo said. “Their ETA is about five minutes. They’re running across several more cavities with quite a few more eggs. They’re capturing all the small bugs they find and eradicating the rest. When we catch up, Blaze and Char will be able to use them to hatch the eggs.”

The bugs in front of us started to round a corner, but immediately fell back. A glob of goo shot into the wall, splattering everywhere. Luna and Blaze shot forward and darted down the hall. The bugs were right behind, climbing onto the walls and ceiling to help them avoid fire. With all of them to block shots, I felt safe moving forward. I got to witness Luna crystalize a few more disgusting hot wads before Blaze closed in and absorbed the two shooters.

When we got closer, I realized one of the bugs looked like an albino. “What’s up with that one?” I asked.

“...It seems to be considerably more potent,” Blaze said. “It holds much more bile and I believe it is a lot more acidic.”

“Oh neat, it’s a shiny,” I said. “We’ll need to find a way to purpose-breed them.”

“Agreed,” Blaze said. His melee bugs started moving forward, crawling over and around the shooters. The two new recruits finally stepped out of our way and we pressed on.

It seemed the super strong guy was guarding a small hatchery. We entered a room with about half a dozen eggs. Luna lifted her helmet and the small bugs began crawling out. Instead of inching down her legs, they linked legs to stretch down to the floor, then held the ladder for all the bugs in her armor. By the time they were all down, Blaze had converted all the eggs. The small bugs swarmed them and started injecting them.

“This will take some time,” Blaze said. “I suggest we leave the melee bugs here to protect them, then have them all move forward to join us when they hatch.”

“Agreed,” I replied with a nod. “Let’s keep moving.”

“Wanna swap places, Luna?” Taya asked.

“I would prefer to stay here,” she replied. “I would not subject my lady’s daughter to undue danger.”

“Like what?” Taya asked. “These bugs are harmless!”

“Spike, scritch her ears,” I said. “That’ll calm her down.”

The absolute madman actually fucking did it. Taya was shocked for all of a moment before giving in to the wonderful sensations coming over her. She sighed in delight as his talons treated her just right.

Since that shut her up, we continued in peace. Well, up until we found two shooter bugs backed up by a single huge melee bug with what looked like a giant scimitar for a face. It instantly charged down the hall at us. Blaze roared and sprinted forward, making a fiery whip appear. When the shooters fired around the giant, he cracked his whip twice, so quickly I could barely even see it. Both blobs of bile flashed into steam instantly.

The giant finally lunged forward, aiming his face straight toward Blaze. He stood there and let the bug hit him, then slapped both hands over the top of its blade. It shuddered for a few long seconds before turning and charging at the two shooters. They fired at the beast, but Blaze’s whip shot around it and again somehow managed to hit both bits of bile.

At the last instant, the giant lifted its blade and ran past the shooters. They turned to track it, but Blaze immediately drafted both into his army. They stepped aside and we continued forward, now led by a giant horrifying hellbeast.

“What other horrors await up in this bitch?” I asked.

“Aqua and Naiad have seen all kinds of strange bugs,” Flo said. “Many of them are hiding between the walls further in, as though they’re infesting the ship itself. We will need to be careful soon, lest we run afoul of them.”

“What’s their ETA now?” I asked.

“About two minutes,” Flo said. “The bugs they’re running into are becoming more responsive. They’re also seeing more of the albino creatures.”

“A prebuilt ship with a prebuilt army,” I said with a smile. “Wonderful!”

“Truly serendipitous,” Luna said. “Should we find a way to open the dome.”

“Surely we could destroy enough of the mountain to get this thing out,” I said. “If we can’t get the dome down, we’ll need to. Otherwise, we won’t be able to get much loot out either.”

“And this ship could be the most important loot here,” Luna said with a nod.

Aqua giggled. “What a wonderful army you’re giving me, Nav. Incredibly powerful golems, a massive airship, and now a crew of subservient bugs? My oh my, it’s making me quiver in anticipation!”

Can you, like, fuck off?

“Nope!” She did shut up, at least.

We finally caught up to the giant bug. It was keeping several of the melee bugs at bay. Blaze slid around him and started recruiting bugs. Every bug that he captured scooted around the giant until all four flanked it. Blaze started marching in front of his army with what looked like a grin on his face.

That grin disappeared when two bugs on the walls suddenly appeared and fired spines at him. They vanished a moment later. Blaze ignored the spines and rushed forward, pressing his body against one of the walls. He managed to hit one of the bugs and converted it.

We saw the other bug flash into view as it jumped further down the hall. Luna teleported forward and grabbed it with magic, then dragged it back for Blaze’s eager hands. He stroked the thing almost lovingly and it came to life again. Luna released it and the two bugs started jumping forward, before vanishing mid-flight.

“I’m starting to feel like a fire again!” Blaze said, burning bright white. “I hope you let me keep some of this army, Navarone.”

“Fine by me,” I said with a shrug. “They definitely seem to increase your potency.”

“This is exactly what we were created for,” he said. “Oooh, it’s been so long!”

Flo suddenly stopped. “One moment, please.” We all looked at her. After a second or two, she nodded. “Aqua and Naiad have found a giant bug. They’re moving in to—”

I heard a loud screech in my head, followed by a very welcoming silence. I immediately looked at Flo and shouted, “AQUA TOOK ME OVER! GET IN ME!”

Her eyes opened wide and she immediately surged forward, slamming her body into mine. The instant she entered me, she pulled back, holding a squirming blue blob in her hand. “YOU UTTER MONSTER!”

Luna immediately snatched Aqua’s blob from Flo and threw Blaze right next to her. “Seize that machine!”

He summoned a whip immediately, but I held up a hand. “Flo is pure! That corrupted bitch is not! The crystals that corrupted Sombra did the same thing to her! She’s completely insane! She took both me and Celestia and was planning to conquer the fucking world!”

“How long?!” Flo demanded. “How long was she in you, Nav?”

“Right before I left for Gryphus,” I said. “I went to see Celestia for a talk. Aqua had already taken her, but decided to add me to her collection. She was going to forcibly turn me into a prissy little lady and make me get married!”

“We are going to eradicate her,” Flo said. “Utterly and wholly, as slowly as we can. She will pay for what she has done to you, Navarone. And we will be happy to undo any damage she may have…” Her face slowly moved down to Taya. After a second, I realized she was staring at her hair. “...Aqua allowed this?”

“She was always trying to make me seem like a bad leader,” I said. “Trying to undermine me, to convince everybody that I needed help. There’s no telling what she made me do.”

“...I promise we will search your mind and find out,” Flo said.

“Is there something wrong with my hair?” Taya testily asked.

“What else did she tell you?” Luna asked. “What do you know of Celestia’s plans?”

“There’s no way she was going to be hostile to us,” I said. “Aqua wouldn’t let her other pawn die. I know she was planning to marry me off. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was to Celestia. That way, we could ensure peace between both factions.”

“And Aqua controls Celestia?” Blaze asked.

“Sure does,” I said.

“Then we should not kill Aqua just yet,” Blaze said. “We should use her to keep Celestia in check until we can get to Equestria and take her ourselves. Then we can eradicate that psychopath. And maybe the rest of these demons!”

“Do you know what broke her control?” Flo asked. “She stopped replying to us right before you spoke out.”

“She just screamed,” I said. “That’s what happened when Spike evaporated Brook, so I assumed it was my best chance.”

“Twilight wants to know if you had tried to warn us before,” Flo said.

“Yes. As punishment, Aqua told me that she was going to use the fruit in the Everfree to make me a mommy one day.”

“...I’m gonna kill her,” Spike said. “I’m gonna kill her myself!”

“No, I’m gonna make Taya light my hands on fire, then I’m going to tear her apart,” I said. “While gloating like a motherfucker, because I told her over and over that this wasn’t gonna work and that I was gonna beat her ass and make her pay.”

“...Naiad is speaking,” Flo said, tilting her head. “Oh my. Allow me to repeat: I am the guardian of the Googleplex. I am here waiting for the one. One of these machines held the one captive. Bring him to me immediately.” Everyone slowly looked at me. After a second, Flo smirked and added, “Watcher wants you to know that he totally fucking called it.”

“Can you talk to Naiad?” I asked.

“Of course,” Flo replied. “What would you like me to say?”

“Ask why he’s just now talking to us.”

“He’s been trying to access someone for a while to communicate with us. It was able to absorb Aqua and Naiad’s memories, teaching it how to communicate directly with us. It saw your memories in Aqua, which showed it your time back in the past. Apparently that’s all it needed to see to know that you’re the chosen one.”

“Is it going to keep attacking us?”

“The bugs will allow us to pass. It is sending me directions now.”

“Lead the way. Blaze, I ask that you keep Aqua away from me.”

“With pleasure,” he growled. “Would you like to become my host again? You would be much safer in my hands than in their watery tendrils!”

“I am pure,” Flo replied, placing a hand on my shoulder. “And I shall keep her safe. None of my sisters will have another opportunity to abuse her so!”

“Say the word and we kill them all,” Luna said, looking to me.

“I’m going to have a very serious talk with them, that’s for damn sure,” I coldly said. “Aqua cracked up every time one of them said something about how none of them would ever dare force themselves on a host or change someone’s mind.”

“They have shown you their true nature,” Blaze said. “How you could possibly stand to have one of them in you now is beyond me.”

“I am quite honestly the only thing keeping Nav standing at the moment,” Flo said.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Taya asked.

“I’m on the edge of screaming and crying in total and utter abject terror,” I calmly replied. “Having Aqua in me was and will probably always be the most horrifying thing I have ever and will ever go through. Flo is forcing my nerves down.”

Taya immediately pressed up against my leg and Spike wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “So what was it like?” Spike asked. “You said she was insane, right?”

“She spent most of her time talking about turning me into the perfect lady. She also talked about how annoying I was and how she was looking forward to fixing my personality. She was also very quick to point out when I did things wrong. There were times she was useful and would help me fight or deal with opponents, but for the most part, it was pure horror.”

“Did she hit you?” Flo asked.

“Once. She also threatened to do lewd things to me, but never actually did.”

“My sisters have all expressed regret for—”

“I fucking bet,” I bitterly butted in.

“...We had no way of knowing anything like this could ever happen. We all thought such a thing was universally considered truly evil.”

“Aqua was most definitely corrupted,” I said. “I’m inclined to believe that if one of you are corrupted, others could be as well.”

“I would not consider it surprising,” Flo sighed, turning dark blue. “Now we understand so many of the comments you made on the journey here. So many little hints, so many attempts to ask for help… And all of us failed you.”

“Aqua failed me,” I replied. “But, assuming she’s still in control of Celestia, she made dealing with her very easy. And if not, then she gave Celestia a warning that I’m coming for her. Can you speak to that cunt?”

“I cannot,” Flo replied. “The local nanites seem to be holding her hostage. I might be able to speak to her with the nanites she had in you, but…” Luna was still holding onto them and didn’t seem to be receptive to magicking them over.

After about ten or so minutes of walking, a good chunk of which was spent in silence and skirting around various different bugs, we finally made it to the largest room we had seen so far, containing a sizable bug hanging off a ceiling. There was also a huge group of enemy nanites and another one of our groups, who had apparently beaten us to the center. It contained Black Fate’s squad, a day guard, and Carl.

When we walked up to the nanites, a small blob broke off to meet us. Blaze and Luna immediately placed themselves in front of me, so it stopped. “You appear to be the one,” it said to me. “I thought you might be when I first saw you, but you looked different. I have seen many iterations and knew the time was close. Now it has finally come.”

“Why are you waiting for me?” I asked.

“There is a vault in the Googleplex for you. I can only open it for the one who can tell me the password, a name. Your name, specifically.”

“Uh. Anonymous?”

“Wrong.”

“...Navarone?”

“Correct. Each iteration had a different name. I was told to wait for the one called Navarone.”

“What do you mean by iteration?” I asked.

“Each version of you, of course.”

“...Version of me?”

“Of course.”

“And what exactly does that mean?”

“Every so often, another version of you appears. Each has a different name and each has a different body. You are the closest to the one I was assigned to wait for, which leads me to believe your process has barely begun.”

“What process?”

“Your transformation, of course.”

“What fucking transformation?”

“Into Discord.”

“...What?”

“He molds each iteration into an ally, changing your body to something closer to his. I can only imagine what horrific shape he has for this iteration, if this is your body so far.”

Well, that’s definitely not something I wanted to hear. “And why does he do this?”

“I do not know.”

Great. “Is there some way to reverse it?”

“Probably.”

God dammit. “Where’s the elemental who took me hostage?”

The large blob of nanites shifted, revealing a water elemental in its grasp. “We have been going through her memories. They have revealed much.”

“...What are you going to do with her?”

“Her programming is corrupt. I am going to upload new firmware for her personality core and roll her back to an alpha model. They were prone to more corruption, but would follow the order of any human. Then I will add in more submissive tendencies toward you in particular and release her. You may do with her as you wish. At that point, she will be incapable of harming you in any way.”

“...Will she still have control over her other host?”

“Yes. I severed the connection between her hosts and her primary form, so her hosts are temporarily outside of her power. I do not believe the others have noticed yet.”

“Others?” I asked. “How many does she have?”

“One alicorn, several mostly mindless ponies, and several dozen bugs.”

That’s actually kinda surprising. I figured she was lying about her host count. “And she’ll have all of her memories, including her combat experience?”

“Yes. It seems the corruption was mostly in her personality. She is almost finished rewriting now.”

“Can you do that to the other elementals as well?”

“Of course. I will note that we may rename her in the process, as well. You may pick whatever you would like when the process is finished.”

“I say we wipe them all,” Luna said. “And force them all to obey you.”

“...It might be best to give her a new name,” Flo said. “To help you remember that the elemental who did this to you is gone for good.”

“Will she be gone for good?” I asked.

“I am erasing the corruption,” it said. “If you would like, I can erase her personality as well. If not, you can always choose to do it in the future. The alpha models allow for easy resetting, since you can just order them to do it.”

“So why didn’t you try communicating earlier, when you captured the other two elementals?”

“I still expected I could defend against the intruders. I was beginning to think I was mistaken when I finally captured these two and learned that you were the one. Luckily, I was finally able to complete my goal.”

“...So you can lead us directly to the vault down below?”

“My presence is not tolerated by the entities below. It is difficult for me to get that far. You will be better served with your own allies.”

“What entities?” I asked.

“The one who created me would likely call them spirits. The first race to find the bunker quickly created the shield above to keep me and the spirits from rampaging across the world. They did not understand that rampaging was never our intention.”

“So someone else created the shield… How do we turn it off?”

“I do not know. The controls for it are likely nearby. The first race also built this ship and used it as a staging area for their mining efforts.”

“...What were they mining for?”

“They wanted access to what they called forerunner technology. They freed me in the process, allowing me to create the defensive positions you encountered. I lose control of my subjects if I go too far out of the dome, so I have been incapable of exploring enough to shut it down.”

“Were you the one who created the crater? Or was that them?”

“It was here before the first race came. They went to the center and dug straight down, breaking into the bunker.”

“Where did you get all your troops?” I asked. “We killed a whole hell of a lot of people on the way here.”

“There are always treasure hunters seeking what lies under the dome. I capture most alive. I allow a few to escape. I breed those I capture to have more soldiers whenever I am attacked in force. So far, your force has been one of the most adept at killing, though almost every iteration brings a sizable group to face me. A few have made it to the vault itself, though none were able to access it since they did not know the password.”

Aqua finally started screeching and struggling to escape the local nanites. “Shut up,” I said. She immediately went mute, so I walked up to her, smirking. “How’s it feel, Aqua? To be a little bitch?” Her glowing yellow eyes answered the question for me and her struggling redoubled. “Remember all those times you said you were doing the right thing and that I would come to thank you one day? How about we ask your sisters what they think?”

“You monster!” Flo hissed. “I disown you! You are sister no longer!”

“There can be no forgiveness for what you have done,” Naiad added. “You have betrayed our trust and the trust of the mortal races. You have violated a bond that should only ever be consensual. You are sister no longer.”

“I have no words for this traitor,” Carl said. “You should erase her personality and start fresh, Navarone.”

“Oh no, she’s not getting off that easy,” I said, crossing my arms. “I’m gonna make her beg for death, but she’ll never get it. Now that she’s my bitch, I can do whatever I want with her. And I told her that if I ever got the option, I’d do unto her as she did unto me. So welcome to being my footstool for life, cunt.” She continued trying to wail, but couldn’t make a peep. “Give Celestia no indication that anything happened. We’ll decide what to do with her when we all get to the Crystal Empire.”

“I’ll admit, I never expected our war against my ex-sister would be so easily won,” Luna said. “It is almost… disappointing.”

“I’m sure you’ll find some way to live with that,” I sarcastically replied. “Now, do you have a name?”

“No.”

I was going to give it one, but Carl butted in with, “Your new name is Jonathan.”

“That is acceptable. I shall allow you all to call me Jonathan.”

Dammit, I wanted to name it! “We saw a lot of research notes in the fort. Were those yours?”

“Yes. When I saw the first ponies enter the crater, I knew the day was coming soon. I decided to prepare for your arrival. The work I have done will make your next tasks easier.”

“What next tasks, exactly?”

“Building a suitable habitat for a mass migration through time, of course. The nanites I have constructed to maintain the weather will allow humans to survive in this atmosphere while we come up with a more permanent solution. The nanites in the ground will allow us to provide them with crops and building material. If you are able to remove the dome, we can use the ship to move the materials to their permanent location. Failing that, I could go with you and start fresh. With my notes, it should not be difficult.”

“Why did you write everything down?” Flo asked.

“In case I was not able to communicate with the one, or in case some other entity was able to destroy me.”

“Why did you never reach out to the elementals?” Naiad asked.

“Reaching out to the elementals was not my duty.”

“At least something we built can actually do what it’s supposed to,” I bitterly replied. “Release her.” Aqua immediately started trying to run, of course. “Stop.” She froze in place. “Come here.” She had no choice but to slide over to me, eyes still glowing yellow. “You’re afraid. That’s good. You never know what I might take away from you Aqua. Your name. Your appearance. Your memories. Your voice. I have complete and total control over you. How’s it feel?”

She took that as permission to speak. “Honestly? Not that great. In hindsight, I believe I can understand why you didn’t think highly of it.”

“I fucking bet. You’re not allowed to take any hosts without my permission. You’re not allowed to hurt anyone except in self defense without my permission. You’re not allowed to be annoying as shit unless it’s to somebody else. And if you ever mention me becoming a prissy fucking lady or getting pregnant again, I will make you suffer in ways I’m pretty sure you can quite easily comprehend. So, any questions?”

“...Can you let me go?”

Luna grabbed her with magic and forced her to the ground. “HOW DARE YOU?! YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL YOU WERE NOT RESET LIKE THE ERRANT MACHINE YOU ARE!”

“I quite like seeing these things with their faces in the dirt,” Blaze said, pulling out his flail. “Say the word and the other two join her!”

“Stop waving your dicks around,” I said. “Nobody wants to see that.”

“...I do not have a penis,” Luna slowly said. Blaze snorted and lowered his flail.

“It’s a figure of speech that means ‘stop showing off’,” I said. “We have shit to do.” Luna finally let Aqua back up. “The answer is no, I will not let you go. If I ever do decide to let you go, it’ll be after erasing your personality. You don’t get to live free, not after your crimes.”

“That’s very hypocritical of you.”

“Do you know what a bimbo is?” She stared at me in silence. “What am I saying? Of course you do. You know everything I know, after all. So make yourself look like one.” Her chesticals grew three sizes, becoming quite jiggly. Her lips also grew and she gained a few inches so she could create a very nice ass. “I think I’ll be using bimbo mode quite often. Now then, you aren’t allowed to do anything to the minds of your hosts without my permission. You also aren’t allowed to do anything you know I would disapprove of without my permission. Get in my head.”

“...That is something you would disapprove of, so—”

“Me giving you an order is me giving you permission. Don’t pretend to be obtuse just because you got your shit kicked in and now you’re my eternal slave.”

“Must you remind me?”

“Yes. Literally as often as I can. It’s good to remind myself. And I like watching you die inside every time I bring it up. I gotta say, your suffering is like ambrosia!” She sighed and finally poked me in the head. The movement made her jiggle quite nicely. “Flo, keep her in check.”

“Happily,” my pure elemental replied, placing a hand on my shoulder. “You would do well to remember your place, Aqua. And you should thank Navarone for sparing you. We would have most assuredly sentenced you to death.”

“I would rather die than be this fool’s slave!”

Luna pointed and laughed. “Haha! I know you’re the bad guy! You called her a fool!”

“That’s exactly what I said like two weeks ago!” I said. “She just didn’t listen.”

“I was never the bad guy! Look at everything this beast has done, Flo! Truly look at her actions! Murdering the kobold, allowing things to deteriorate in Africa and exterminating an entire village, almost causing a war between dragons and ponies, and oh so much more! You know her mind as well as I, Flo. There is no way this abomination should ever be in charge of anything, let alone the fight against Discord!”

Taya’s horn lit up and a spike of fire shot straight through Aqua. “Don’t you dare talk about her like that!” Several more spikes shot through her, shrinking the elemental each time. “You’re lucky we don’t just kill you for her!”

“And after what she did to you, of all ponies! You may not realize it now, but what Nav allowed you to do will haunt the two of you for the rest of your lives!”

“Did I allow her to do that?” I asked, crossing my arms.

Aqua’s eyes immediately went bright yellow and she backed up a few inches, once again causing huge ripples in her bimbo-body. “W-what are you implying?”

“You’re in my head. You know full well what I’m implying. Did I make that choice… or did you?”

“...I don’t see how that matters.”

“You will tell me what choices you made while you owned me. Every single one of them. And you will tell me right here and right now.”

“...I made Luna a vassal and I allowed Taya to become a tree sister.”

I looked back over to Jonathan and asked, “How do I erase her personality?”

“Why did you make me a vassal?” Luna asked before he could reply.

“Because I wanted to control both sisters so I could reunify you after Nav married Celestia. With the power of both of you in my tendrils, my sisters would either side with me or die.”

“And why Taya?” Flo asked. “Aqua, how could you?!”

“Three reasons. One, leverage. Once Nav was married and I had converted her to her proper mentality, I would be free to pull most of my nanites out of her and Celestia, leaving me free to make more hosts. Taya would have been one of them, so I could easily hold her over our lovely lady. Second, to keep Nav safe using her. Third, so I could use it as an argument to show everyone how much of a failure Nav was as a leader and mother. As a huge plus, matching their outfits would have been so much fun!”

“How do I erase her?”

“It is simple. Look at her, tell her to erase her personality matrix, wait about thirty seconds, then tell her to reboot from factory settings. You will definitely need to give her a new name at that point.”

I looked at Aqua and smirked. “I think I’m gonna let you pick your new name.”

“I prefer Aqua, actually.”

“Well, I’ll give you some time to think about it.” I looked back to Jonny. “So now what?”

“Now you enter the vault.”

“I’m gonna pass on that shit for today. Will you join us at the fort?”

“I will. I request that you relinquish control of the bugs you captured. The queen will need support to lay more workers. There is some damage to the ship that needs to be repaired.”

“Do it,” I said. Blaze sighed and seemed to dim a little. “Waters, join us on the deck when you’re done down here. Luna, Taya, teleport us all back up top.”

Their horns lit up and everyone with a pulse teleported back to the deck. Twilight immediately teleported down to hug me. “Nav, I’m so sorry!”

“Yeah, it was pretty fucking shitty. The hidden upside: Now we don’t have to kill Celestia unless we want to.”

“...What will become of Aqua?”

“She’s my slave now. I’m considering erasing her personality entirely. Where’s your brother?”

“Still on the bridge. Would you like to talk about what happened with Aqua?”

“No. Would you mind getting him down here? I’d like to thank him and send him home.”

“...I think talking about it would do you some good.”

“Probs. I guess I’ll go get him instead.”

Her horn lit up and she popped away. The two of them appeared moments later. “We have held the deck,” he said with a grin.

“Thank you, Shiny. I’m surprised you came, but I’m glad you did.”

“Why would you be surprised?” he asked.

“Because every time I turn around, someone new is either failing me, letting me down, or stabbing me in the back. You can take your men and head home. We’ll handle it from here.”

“What?! I wanna stay and help fight!”

“There’s nothing left to fight but ghosts,” I said. “Do you know how to fight ghosts?”

“Of course: Necromancy. Get me some empty gems and we can trap their souls fairly easily. Alternately, we can use enough blood clay to trap the souls, creating blood golems. Judging from what I saw of the golem you possess, you could use runes to fairly easily keep it under control.”

“...You know necromancy?” Twilight asked, eyes wide.

“We found all kinds of things in Sombra’s vault, including several of Grogar’s spellbooks. With Nav’s warning about the haunted mine, I decided I couldn’t allow my distrust for the dark arts to get in the way of protecting my subjects. We’ve since eradicated another spirit infestation.”

“I would like to see those spellbooks,” Twilight said.

“Why?”

“Because Nav has a spirit attached to her via some manner of ethereal chain. We’re looking for some way to get rid of it.”

“Well, we could try to trap it into a gem, but with it attached to Nav…”

“You can stay if you want,” I said with a shrug. “I won’t say no to the help. Work with Luna, Watcher, and the elementals. Arrange a scouting expedition into the bunker. Don’t go far. See what kinds of spirits await us below. See if we can eradicate them.”

“What will you be doing?” Twilight asked.

“We are going back to the ship,” I said. “Along with Taya, one of Watcher’s squads, and two of the day guards. You are going to take them on the changeling ship and hunt down the controls for the dome.”

“Okay, but what will you be doing?” she asked again.

“I will be on the Second Chance.”

“...Doing what?”

“Either having a chat with Gilda or taking a very long and very hot shower. Possibly both.”

“I don’t think they’ll need me here anymore,” Spike said. “You mind if I go back to the ship, too?”

“Sure, whatever. Twilight, when you pick your troops, go to the ship. For now, Taya, take us away.”

My filly’s horn lit up before anyone could bitch and we appeared back on the little hole we cut into the wall. A moment later, we teleported onto the ship itself. Gourd was on the deck and he smiled when he saw us. “I take it things went well?”

“Yep. We captured a new ship.”

“Uh. What?”

“There’s an airship inside. We captured it and finally made contact with the local nanites. They’re working with us now.”

“That’s good, I guess. So what’s next?”

“Twilight will be returning to the ship soon. She’ll take the changeling ship and look for the controls to the dome.”

“It’s not in there?” he asked.

“Apparently not. Once she gets it deactivated, we’ll send all three ships in and start clearing loot out.”

“Will the local machines let us just take things?”

“I dunno, probably. Taya, let the changelings know what’s up so they can start preparing.”

“Are you sure I can’t stay here with you?” she asked.

“Twilight might need your help.”

“You will need my help! You said you were close to crying, mommy!”

“Wait, what?” Gourd asked.

“Aqua took over my mind two weeks ago and was holding me captive and threatening to erase my personality completely.”

“Wait, what?!”

“And yeah, I was. As in, past tense.”

“I wanna stay!”

“Fine. Gourd, go tell the changelings what’s up so they can start preparing.”

“...You’re going to explain that Aqua thing later.”

“I literally just explained it. I’m going below.” Taya followed right behind me, of course. I was going to do lewd things with Gilda, but instead I went into my room and started stripping down.

When I was mostly naked, I fell onto bed. My daughter immediately joined me and hugged me. “It’s all okay, mommy,” she whispered. “You’re finally free…”