With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

19th March
23:22 GMT +5:30

"…that he was in South America during the War." Angelika smiles excitedly as we look down at the Valmiki facility. "I had no idea that he had a son!"

"How did your government know about him? He wasn't anything like as visible during the First World War as superheroes were during the Second."

"Aunty Gerri's grandfather met Professor Abednego Danner at a conference organised by the American Breeders' Association. That was where he received a sample of his formula."

"Does Germania have a lot of Danner enhanciles?"

"No, hardly any. Just Aunty Gerri and Imperial Cross. The Professor… Some of his claims seemed a little… Strange. Of course, now we know that he knew exactly what he was talking about, but… There were some very strange people drawn to the National Socialist cause in the early days."

…

She's not wrong.

"It wasn't until after the Great War that he heard about Hugo's strength from the soldiers who survived his attacks. He had the vial, so he gave it to his pregnant daughter."

"He didn't try to replicate it?"

"Yes, of course, when he found out that it worked. But Professor Danner was dead and mass spectroscopy did not exist yet. He wasn't even certain that the vial he had would still work, and he couldn't risk the chemical experiments he would need to perform to try and work out what was in it."

I suppose that makes sense.

"What was Squire saying about the location?"

I bow my head slightly.

"When the All-Star Squadron fought Hugo Danner's Children of Dawn, that area is.. more or less where the last fight took place. Dying super strong children fanatically throwing themselves at war veteran superheroes." I snort quietly. "I'm not surprised that the Squadron broke up after that."

"Why were they dying?"

"No resistance to European diseases. They got infected as soon as they left the jungle, then it was just a.. countdown."

"That is-."

I narrow my eyes slightly. "I really hope that you're not about to say-."

"I know that disease resistance comes from your ancestors having prior exposure, not from any greater destiny. But choosing a people who kept themselves isolated as his subjects was very poor planning. If he had recruited from the cities or other civilised areas he would not have had that problem."

True, I suppose. I wonder why he did it?

"What happened to him on your Earth?"

"He attempted to take over the country, but they were allied to the Confederated States of America. Axis Amerika intervened in defence of the Brazilian government and Great Horned Owl killed him with poisonous gas. It wasn't until after his body had been destroyed that they discovered his identity. We could not reverse engineer the Formula from his remains either."

"Or from your aunt?"

"No. Which is odd, but-" She shakes her head. "-I am not a chemist. How hard is it to reverse engineer?"

"I don't know. I used Hugo's own records." I start flying towards the facility entrance. "Come on, we shouldn't keep him waiting."

Doctor Munro waves at me as we fly closer, frowning mildly as he takes in Overgirl.

"Orange Lantern and… Overgirl?" She nods as she lands. "Paul, you remember Doctor Niang?"

The woman whom I initially thought was LexCorp's plant turned out to be a noted Chinese researcher they headhunted, and she accepted the job largely for a fresh start after her divorce. I haven't had all that much to do with her, but the steadily growing violet strands suggest that Doctor Munro and her have a great deal to do with one another.

I shake her right hand.

"A pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise."

Dr Munro smiles curiously. "So what's this about?"

"We have reason to believe that there's a formerly unknown Danner enhancile active in Brazil. They appear to have taken exception to the actions of a logging company."

"If so, that's.. hardly surprising. My father spent a lot of time working with several tribes deep in the Amazon. It was always unlikely that.. ev-." He winces, and Dr Niang looks at him with concern. "That.. everyone he worked with died. There'd been.. expeditions into the jungle before. Some would have had some exposure."

"And… There's no delicate way to put this, but you said that you might have inherited it-."

"No-. No, that-." He shakes his head emphatically. "There wasn't-. Ah-."

"That's fine. I just wanted to check."

Dr Niang puts her right hand on his left shoulder. I.. hadn't realised how distressing he'd find the idea. "Might the survivors from amongst the people Hugo Danner augmented have had their own children?"

"It's certainly possible. There are no publically acknowledged children of Danner enhanciles other than..- " I gesture to Dr Munro with my right hand. "-Doctor Munro, but then there aren't that many known Danner enhanciles. We really don't know what it does to fertility or virility."

"Aunty Gerri has never conceived." I turn to Angelika. "Though I.. suppose that she probably hasn't tried."

"In.. any case, any tribal groups probably aren't going to want to talk to me about one of the Children of Dawn attacking a logging camp. You, on the other hand-."

"I-. I don't-. I didn't.. even go deep inside the jungle, just the.. farms that were already up and running."

"Yes, but you're Hugo Danner's son. They're going to be a lot more willing to talk to their god's son than they are me."

"And… What do you want out of it?"

"I'd like some sort of reassurance that there won't be any further attacks. And.. to organise some sort of negotiation. Once random acts of violence are off the table my job is over."

He gazes blankly at me for a moment, then turns to Dr Niang. They look at each other for a moment, then he nods.

"Okay. I guess I.. should try talking to them. To stop making things worse. You wanna go now?"

 

18th March
14:58 GMT -3

Dr Munro looks around the logging camp.

"I… Never saw this.. part of the records."

"This part? I thought that you researched your father's activity thoroughly."

"Up to his arrest, yes. After that…"

I nod sympathetically. "Blue Lantern showed me the pictures of Sons of Dawn, and their autopsy reports. I suppose that you wouldn't have learned that much about him or the formula by reading about the clean up."

"No. I should, though. I might have learned more about how to avoid his mistakes."

I smile. "Why, are you planning on taking over a country-?"

He snaps his head in my direction. "God, no."

"Sorry, I was just trying to-."

"No, no, you meant it as a joke. I… My father… They revered him, you know? And he'd have known them from… Before they were born. Every couple he gave the formula to, he was the only man in the villages who knew anything about modern medicine. And…" He sighs. "You know how much they all looked up to him."

I nod.

"I hadn't realised that you would take it quite this much to heart."

He shrugs. "I guess I see too much of myself in him not to. What do you think he should have done differently?"

"Depends what his objective was. Going back to America and setting up there would have avoided the fatal flaw he encountered. And if he went back to visit your mother then he clearly had the ability to go back. But I suppose that would have risked the American government acquiring the Formula."

"Would that have been so bad?"

"Not sure-. No, it would have been. The first generation would have reached adulthood at the same time you did, in the fifties. If America had gotten mass recruitable Danner enhanciles during the Cold War, they'd have made as many as they could and… They couldn't have reliably hidden it. They'd have arm-twisted as many of those people into the military as possible. I… Think that would have caused a nuclear war."

And given the nuclear weapons in use at the time…

Danner enhanciles would be able to survive near misses, and the likelihood of a nuclear winter gets overstated, but long-range bombers would still destroy cities. And the longer they waited, the more devastating it would get. On.. the other hand, given the distances involved, a platoon of Danner enhanciles that kept moving and spread out could have destroyed most of the Soviet Union's manufacturing capacity, given supplies and enough time. The only real counterstrategy would be mining their own factories.

Europe would be doomed, but I think the US would win without being crippled itself. Which… Means that there was a good chance that they would go for it.

Up until the Russians got the Garrick Formula, then everyone would be doomed. Though… In that situation, would Mr Garrick have kept it to himself?

"I think so too. Did you know they had the theory for nuclear weapons in the Great War?"

"Yes, though I don't know if Hugo would have known that. And no one could have predicted exactly how they affected the strategic situation."

"He-." He takes a moment. "No, I suppose he couldn't. But he wasn't exactly Ben Salmon. He saw the whole of the Great War, and rather than turn his back on fighting he decided another war was the way to go." Dr Munro shakes his head. "I.. think the only reason he didn't start up in America was because his abilities hadn't ever been well-received there."

"And he probably wasn't all that fond of Germany, so they're out. What would be the ideal? Somewhere with access to medicine, but where he could still dominate the local people."

"Domin-? He didn't take over the tribes."

"No, but he'd have to be sure that his enhanciles would follow his lead. Otherwise they'd just default to being loyal to their own government and.. probably cause a war. Social isolation would help with that, otherwise… He'd have to have an in with a new government, somewhere that would willingly offer him virtual autonomy. I… Think that a colony in Africa might have been best, but... It would really depend on exactly what he wanted."

"I always thought it was 'more people like him'."

"That's what it looked like, but… Okay, he takes over Brazil, and… Restores democracy-."

"No, he'd have to deal with.. a lot of things first."

"Okay, so he runs things as fairly as he can, breaks up opposing power blocks semi-legally, gets elected and starts dishing out the Formula to everyone. Every nation that can immediately grabs it and gives it to everyone they can. Nothing much happens for a decade or two, then… Every country that's been able to go into mass production steamrollers every country that can't. Germany… The far right probably has an edge, but there's a good chance that the country just tears itself apart. The British Empire flat out annexes China and… Splits the Middle East with France as a better alternative to going to war against them. Only now there's no way for a local resistance movement to fight their supersoldiers. I.. don't.. think Britain would go to war against the Soviet Union just because they really hate Communism and knew that their supersoldier strength advantage wouldn't last, but I can't rule it out."

"Brazil's a nicer place to live with a good man running it and their neighbours get enough enhanciles of their own that they don't start wars of conquest after Hugo leaves office. Hugo himself would be revered as the man who saved Brazilian democracy and could do whatever he wanted with his time. Since he's not aging and plenty of women would be as strong as him… Have a family? Act as a political advisor to his successors?"

"You..? Think it would always lead to war? Across the world?"

"People leverage their advantages. Particularly if they know that their rivals are trying to catch up with them. The Soviet Union would struggle to go into Danner formula production as quickly as the other world powers but could easily overrun Europe when they did. Britain wouldn't want to risk sharing it with their new Chinese subjects so they'd have to go early."

I shrug.

"Chemical industries become a key strategic resource while projectile weapons are increasingly sidelined. Any poison that can kill Danner enhanciles goes into mass production, and the remaining empires are very careful about which of their citizens and subjects are loyal enough to be trusted with it. I don't imagine that superheroes remain independent, because there are too many people with powers for them to seem 'special'. And some of them flat out couldn't compete with Danner enhanciles."

Dr Munro bows his head. "Maybe it's just as well he lost."

"Impossible to say. So, the nearest people we could talk to-."

"Squire to Orange Lantern."

I raise my ring to my head.

"Orange Lantern here. Doctor Munro has agreed to assist us."

"Dawn Warrior has as well. As long as we agree to keep things confidential."

"'Don't tell the Brazilians' confidential or 'don't tell Batman' confidential?"

Not that I mind either way, I just need to know in advance.

"Don't tell the Brazilians."

"Then that's fine. One moment." I look over to where Tempest is sitting cross-legged on the ground, his eyes closed and his tattoos glowing. "Tempest, any luck?"

He opens his eyes and shakes his head.

"Okay, stay where you are. We'll come to you."

 

18th March
15:04 GMT -3

"You sure Nazigirl's alright lookin' after a bunch of brown people?"

"Apparently, Overman was very clear about insisting that she follow local rules where reasonably practical. And the government of Germania hasn't bothered purging-."

"Yeah yeah, they're the super friendly kinda mass murderers."

Dr Munro looks increasingly concerned.

"No, they're just surprisingly realistic about the logistics."

We land in the courtyard at the front of the apartment building where Dawn Warrior lives, and Raquel presses the buzzer.

"I'm sorry, I think I missed something. Nazi?"

"Overgirl comes from a parallel universe where the fascists won the Second World War using alien technology. We're trying-"

"You're trying."

"-to talk her around and so's Superman, actually."

Winning quite a lot of points from me there, actually. Not that he's likely to ever use them without prompting. Can't be because I Dannered Lois…

There's a beep and the door unlocks, prompting the three of us to walk through the small and unmanned lobby into the lift.

Dawn Warrior is a superhero, but with no secret identity… He lives in the sort of apartment that he used to get paid to protect. His protection jobs these days are rather better paying, and his schedule is a lot more flexible. He volunteers with the police, and him being able to resolve situations without needing to open fire himself has kept the number of police-related fatalities noticeably lower than other Brazilian cities of comparable size. It's a… Different way of doing things.

"You…" Dr Munro looks a little awkward. I suppose that he did get the 'Nazi' thing sprung on him. Hoping that Raquel wouldn't tell people about that was a little too hopeful. "Got.. trained by Green-. Ah, the original Green Lantern, right?"

"If I got trained by the original Green Lantern I'd be millions of years old." I smile at Dr Munro as the lift comes to a halt. "But yes, the one who used to be in the Justice Society."

"And the All-Star Squadron."

"Yes. He stayed for the whole cleanup here and wrote his resignation letter on the way home."

Raquel frowns. "He didn't stop being a superhero, though."

"He cut down his hours a lot. He still won't look at the pictures."

Dr Munro nods as I knock on Dawn Warrior's door. "I know how he feels."

Beatriz opens the door and I lead the way inside. Dawn Warrior himself is sitting in his living area, wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt. He raises his right hand and lazily waves it.

"Orange Lantern and god!"

His eyes widen in shock as he gets a clear look at Dr Munro.

"Ah…" Dr Munro bows his head slightly. "No. No, though… Some of your parents' people thought that my father was one."

Dawn Warrior stands up, clearly shaken by the resemblance. "You look… So much like him."

Dr Munro nods. "Good job my mother's husband never met him. So, can you tell us what's going on?"

Dawn Warrior's still staring at him, clearly not quite crediting that he's meeting his creator's son.

"No. But I can get in contact with the people who can. My tribe -and the others your father tried to help- are very cautious about contact with the outside." He smiles. "Did you know that my grandfather was the first of my people to meet him, Hugo Danner?"

"I… Didn't. How did it happen?"

"They were keeping watch over some archaeological expedition, when one of them -your father- decided to climb to the top of a mountain during a storm. He was hit by lightning, fell to the ground… And then got up again." Dawn Warrior grins. "And then he started laughing."

Raquel tilts her head to the right.

"What's so funny about being struck by lightning?"

"Hugo Danner the Man-God came to Brazil to get away from everyone who had rejected him in his own country. He climbed the mountain to ask God for advice… And his answer was lightning! Boom!"

He chuckles, and… Yes, I can see why Hugo might have found very black humour in that.

Beryl frowns. "Why did he call himself 'Man-God'?"

"He didn't. Ah, he said he was just a man, but they had seen him do things only gods could do! Yes, yes, a woman who can set herself on green fire, and-" He gestures to us. "-a man with an alien ring… But all our tribe had was herbalists and a little weak magic. We had never seen a metahuman like him before. They said he was a god, he said he was a man… So they compromised on Man-God."

"I've got to ask: how many other enhanciles like you are there?"

"I'm not exactly sure. Making the 'potion of the gods' isn't easy in the jungle-."

"What?" / "I beg your pardon?"

"What?" Dawn Warrior shrugs. "Hugo Danner made that stuff in the jungle. We lost his equipment when the American soldiers stole it, but the modern world being what it is, it wasn't hard to get more. And he never hid the process from us."

Dr Munro gapes, and I'm.. not far behind. That's a lot of years and a lot of Danner enhanciles.

"Roughly..? How many..?"

"Couple hundred? It's not just our tribe now. When it got real obvious that the government was going to sell the whole forest, people-. Eh, you know how it works. Pregnant women volunteered."

"And you.. kept it quiet?"

"After we started dying of diseases, the survivors went deep into the jungle to get away. It's hard to make vaccines which people like me can use. But it can be done."

"So… What was the plan, here? Why are you telling us?"

"The plan was to protect our territory from loggers, ranchers and the Brazilian government with the threat of violence. I don't know why someone attacked this logging camp early. It was supposed to be a couple of days of overwhelming force, then send me to Brasília to negotiate. Probably some kid being stupid."

He shrugs.

"So what do you want to do?"

"You're.. not at all concerned that we might stop you?"

"Not really, and if you try to?" He shrugs again. "How? The Justice League won't approve of you just killing everyone. You could try arresting everyone, but the government has nowhere to put us. Plus… There are a lot of us, now. No, I think that since you are here, it is best that we go and talk to my tribe and maybe start with the negotiations."

He smiles and gestures to his door.

"You gonna come?"

 

18th March
15:09 GMT -3

"Would you pardon us for a moment, please?"

Dawn Warrior hesitates at the door, then shrugs.

"Sure. Take me a couple hours to get home without you flying me."

I nod, smile, then make eye contact with my colleagues. "Team meeting."

Beatriz, Beryl and Raquel approach. Dr Munro takes a step towards me as well, then reconsiders and heads over to talk to Dawn Warrior. Once they're within convenient confab distance I stick an orange shield around us and make it as opaque as I can.

Raquel exhales heavily. "So. That happened."

I nod. "It does simplify things quite a lot."

"Ah. How?"

Beryl looks at me curiously, but nods. "Because if enough people get involved, it's not exactly a crime anymore."

"Pr-etty sure it is."

"No, it's a political protest. And since we're crime fighters and it's not our job to preserve the integrity of Brazil's borders, our job is completed once we confirm that the attack on the logging site was done as part of that."

"Seriously?"

"I'm not saying we should just leave, but technically… Yeah. Brazil as a country is descended from the Portuguese colony which conquered the area. These people are descendants of the people who were here first. If they choose not to recognise Brazil's claim to their land… That's not exactly a crime."

Even if we're looking at a rerun of Hugo Danner's original putsch attempt, with Sons and Daughters of Dawn who aren't vulnerable to disease and are at least ten times more numerous than their grandparents' generation. Against a Brazilian military which hasn't improved by anything like the same degree.

"It's not a crime because the thing at issue is who has the authority to make things a crime within a given territory. Civil wars are only a crime if you lose."

Raquel nods. "Most a' the guys who lost the American Civil War got let off. An' I get where you're comin' from. Don’t think Mister 'Fair Play' Terrific woulda tried enforcin' segregation back in the sixties. Or Indian Reservations."

I nod. "As I told Kaldur when he asked me what I'd do if Atlantis had a civil war… Unless one side commits an atrocity, it isn't our job to back one side or another."

Beatriz doesn't look entirely sanguine about that statement.

"So you don't care about Brazil having a civil war."

"It's not that I don't care, it's just… There are, what, eight..?"

I look at Beryl.

"Does Rhelasia count?"

"Not if there hasn't been any shelling this week."

"Twelve."

"Twelve ongoing insurgencies or flat out civil wars in the world right now. And I'd rather there wasn't, but stopping them isn't my job. And unless the Security Council rewrites the Justice League's charter, it's not their job either. Because..?" I raise my eyebrows.

Beryl shrugs. "No one really wants powerful superheroes deciding that they can tell governments they're not allowed to have wars anymore." Raquel opens her mouth. "Except all of the people living wherever the war is happening. And probably most of the people doing the fighting."

"So we just go talk to them, and if they want to start a war we just tell them that's fine?"

"No, we try and persuade them not to, and we try to persuade the Brazilian government to offer a compromise, but we aren't obliged to help either side until the other one starts committing war crimes. And Dawn Warrior seemed pretty certain they weren't planning on going beyond property damage, at least to start with."

Beatriz gives her head a small shake. "And then what happens?"

"A few hundred Danner enhanciles can smash anything Brazil can throw at them that isn't a jet aircraft, but they can't hold territory and probably can't run a government. I doubt that they're going to try conquering the rest of the country. They're getting support from other tribes so they won't be exiling them, and there aren't all that many other people in the jungle. If the Brazilian army attacks them, risk to civilians is minimal. The risk to civilians would come if they attacked a Brazilian city, and then… What are they attacking? Government buildings? Military bases? They're relying on superstrength, not guns. They're not where the collateral damage will be coming from. Though, in the spirit of the Spanish Civil War, if anyone here wants to back either side..?"

Raquel shakes her head. Beryl shrugs.

"How, exactly?"

I raise my eyebrows at Beatriz.

"You're a Brazilian citizen, so you have a personal stake in this that we don't. So if you've got a plan on how to stop-."

"I can't stop a hundred Children of Dawn!" She exhales sharply, then shakes her head. "Let's just go and see what they want."

"Good show. Orange Lantern to…" I should really send a message to Garth, but if he's in the middle of a ritual… "Overgirl."

"Overgirl here."

"We're going to see Dawn Warrior's tribe. We're not expecting anyone to attack your location. Will keep you updated."

"Understood."

I dismiss the barrier and head towards-

"…or nine? I don't get back often, and we're pretty spread out…"

Dawn Warrior shrugs, then turns to us.

"You ready to go?"

"Yes, all ready." I create a map construct. "Where are we heading?"

He points… That's a long way from anywhere.

"I can't guarantee that no one will be able to track me when I take us there."

"And do what?"

"Airstrike?"

"Can you keep watch?"

"While we're there, yes. But it's extremely unlikely that we'll provide direct assistance."

He shrugs. "When we move, we all move. Don't worry."

"Alright then." I tag everyone with a filament. "Transition in two, one."

 

18th March
12:12 GMT -6

I sit in my chair in the dining room, staring pensively at the far wall. Sunset crosses my field of vision, her eyes splitting their time between her tablet and the sandwich cupboard. She makes it halfway there before noticing me, and three quarters before she processes my expression.

"Grayven?"

"Talk to me… About Harmony."

She blinks, looks me over, and then puts her tablet down on the sideboard and folds her arms across her chest.

"Did.. something go wrong?"

"It's going wrong. Not an emergency yet-."

"The Anti-Life fragment. You want to-." She shakes her head. "Grayven, that was a worst case scenario plan. Even if there is some way to channel Equestria's entire magic field into you, and even if you could survive that, I don’t know if it would do anything to the fragment. We don’t have things like that in Equestria."

I nod, not really focusing on her.

"Tell me about Harmony."

"It's…" She makes a vague circling motion with her right hand. "It's usually when I started tuning Celestia out."

"Oh. Um, in that case, how's the portal coming?"

"The terminus rerouting's all set and I've got it set up to open a year after I arrived. Keeping it open this time should be pretty easy." She looks away for a moment. "I.. do remember some of what she said. I…" She shrugs. "What do you..? Need to know?"

"What is it? Is it just a theology, or is there some underlying truth to it?"

Her eyes widen.

"Are you dying?"

I frown. "No, almost certainly not. Why?"

"'What is Harmony?' 'Is it real?' Those are dying pony questions, Grayven!"

"Heh." I manage a small smile and bow my head slightly. "No, not dying. It's possible that I'll go insane and become Darkseid's willing thrall, but it's unlikely that I'll die. So."

Sunset looks a combination of relieved and irritated, but masters herself, pulls out a chair and sits down on it.

"Harmony is something… How ponies live when they're completely virtuous. How Equestrian society would work… The 'utopian' version, rather than the real version we actually live in. But it's also… When ponies work together-. When ponies who know each other work together on something with their magic, they can do… More. Even if their special talents don’t directly relate to the thing they're doing, and even if they aren't directly working on the same thing."

"Interesting."

And not at all how it works on Apokolips. Apokoliptian New Gods serving the same master could buff one another, but only if their natures and that of their master were similar. A couple of basket-weaving New Gods working for DeSaad couldn't get any sort of boost from one another. If anything, they'd probably make worse baskets and then be made to fight to the death with them.

"And… If they'd known each other a long time, the effect was even more pronounced."

"If they were friends."

"I couldn't quantify friendship." She blinks, her gaze growing a little distant. "I mean, I suppose I could quantify it in terms of exactly how much their output was boosted… But it.. could just mean that they've learned to instinctively harmonise their magic when they work near each other. I'd have had to find ponies who'd worked together for years and still didn’t like each other in order to check, and I'd still have needed them to self-report."

"Is that why you didn't?"

She looks at me like I've said something a little dumb, then brightens up. "Hey guys, I'm Sunset Shimmer. I'm trying to study the effects of combining magics. Which of your co-workers don’t you like?"

"Are ponies too friendly for you to get any subjects?"

"Either that, or they just didn't want to admit it. And that was about the time Celestia told me to move on to something else." She snorts. "Just when I was getting somewhere. Like always."

"I'd have thought that she would have wanted you to study Harmony."

"She got the impression that I was going to study it by learning to be more 'harmonious' myself. Ah…" She looks at me awkwardly, then looks away again.

"What?"

"Thanks. For… Y'know, everything. Taking me in. Setting up my lab. Stuff like that."

I slide my chair back, stand and walk around the table to her. Then I bend down and spread my arms out.

"Hug?"

She furtively looks around, then leans towards me and puts her arms around my chest.

Aw.

Then she pulls back and waves her right index finger at me.

"This didn't happen."

I nod. "Of course."

I rise to my feet and walk back around the table to my seat. "So. Harmony?"

"Like I said, Celestia told me to stop studying it. I guess… Over a sufficiently large area, if everyone synchronised their magic… But I don't know whether it's additive or multiplicative. And there are plenty of tail hole ponies so there's no way that everyone's contributing."

I regard her levelly for a-.

"Yes, I know I was one of them. I've got some ponies I… Need to… Need to be polite to. When I get back. It's just… Not having to deal with Celestia's horse apples all the time, I'm a lot less… Tense."

"You don't have to go-."

"No! No, I… I know you said I should just.. cut her out, but she was a huge part of my life and I… Want to-. I want her to see what I've done and just-! Admit she was wrong. That she didn't.. know? Ugh."

"I hope that it provides you with the catharsis you're looking for."

"Thanks." She thinks for a moment. "Harmony… There might be a way to focus it and purge the Anti-Life fragment, but… I don't think anypony in Equestria is going to be able to do it for you."

"No?"

"I tried studying it, remember? There wasn't anything written down that was any use, and Equestrian thaumaturgy is far less advanced than what Atlantis has."

"You don't think Celestia might have some sort of friendship-powered superweapon hidden away somewhere?"

"I hope not."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Because I'd have wanted to study it. If a weapon like that existed and I'd seen it, that would mean that she'd been on to something with her whole 'friendship'.. thing."

"Yes, which-."

"And she'd have known that and still chose not to show me anyway. If I knew there was something like that laying around I'd have made friends just so I could study it. If that actually happened then after I ascend then I'm going to buck her in the face twice."

 

18th March
15:19 GMT -3

Of course, the downside of everyone having superpowers-

There's a splintering sound as a young woman crushes the base of the trunk of a young tree with her bare hands.

-is that they can get away with rejecting technology. I don't think much of tribal society. It's something everyone starts with and which advanced civilisations grow out of. But if the Accala spread out across the area they might try and claim at a population density that would be sustainable… They'll never need tools, let alone science or technology. They can outrun cars now. Tear down trees with no need for chainsaws. As long as they can make the Danner formula they don't even have a use for draught animals. Not that they-.

Or do they?

"Dawn Warrior?" He turns back from the local he was talking to, who runs off to find someone senior. "Do your people farm?"

"My tribe don't, but some of our allies do. We know how to, but we were worried that planting areas would give us away on aerial photographs." He looks away, frowning at Beryl as she moves her arm computer's camera around. "What are you doing?"

"I want some photos." She smiles brightly. "I've never been to the Amazon Rainforest before."

"Ah, okay."

"I thought it was Australian tribes who thought cameras steal your souls when they take pictures."

"Ah… It could be. But we get…" He shrugs. "The jungle is warm and damp, so we don't usually wear all that much. Sometimes, the tourists-."

"I'm not taking 'private time' material." She lowers her computer and makes a show of turning off the camera. "Really."

"Okay." He raises his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry."

Though I see why they might get that sort of attention. Everyone I've seen so far is a Danner enhancile. Tribal people generally don't get that fat due to the fact that their lifestyles involve constant physical exercise and don't involve a lot of refined sugar, but they don't usually get as overtly muscular as civilised athletes do. But while the Danner formula doesn't make you huge it does make you muscular. And it keeps you in your physical prime. So there are a lot of healthy-looking young-looking men and women around who aren't used to seeing white people and probably haven't seen a superhero other than Dawn Warrior before.

And as a result they're taking a break from their usual routine to wander over and stare at us.

Dr Munro-. Ring, translator off.

Compliance.

Dr Munro is talking to them in their native language, which is provoking a little surprise. A couple of children are daring one another to touch Beatriz's fire, which… Hm, it shouldn't be hot enough to burn a Danner enhancile, not unless she puts a lot of effort into it. Beryl is-. Beryl has noticed Beatriz's unease and is trying to distract them with her computer. Raquel actually is checking people out-.

"Hey… Orange."

"Yes, Rocket?"

"You can just dose anyone with that stuff, right?"

"Yes, that's correct. Interested?"

"I dunno." She's staring at one youth-. Who could be old enough to be her father for all we know. He spots her interest, smiles with extreme self-confidence and flexes a little. "How hard is it to hide it?"

"No idea. But no one's spotted that Kon has super strength and Superman went through Junior School, High School and college without anyone spotting that he did. So it can't be that hard."

"And the downside's that I have to eat an extra egg every day?"

"And you can't use other forms of augmentation. And it will probably try regenerating your piercings."

Her right hand goes to the collection of hoops piercing her right ear. "Oh."

"That's what bothers you? Given how much exposure you've had to Terminan technology, I'd have thought-."

The crowd parts, and a trio of older people walk through the crowd. Dawn Warrior immediately walks over to them and starts talking-.

Ring, translation.

Compliance.

"…investigating one of us attacking a logging camp."

A grey-haired woman who… Perhaps her mother just didn't want to have the formula? I'd be astonished if she actually predated Hugo's arrival in the jungle. She gives her head a dismissive shake.

"We have not yet begun. You know this."

"They tested blood found at the site. Danner formula, and there are only a handful of us outside of Brazil."

One of the old men half-turns and whispers something to a stern-looking enhancile standing next to him, who turns around and takes off -metaphorically- at speed. The old man then turns to Dawn Warrior.

"It will take some time to be sure. These people…" He looks at us. "They are here to stop us?"

"No. They want to find out exactly what we want, and then negotiate with the government for us. They will make that part easier."

"I think that making our initial attack a statement of intent would have a greater effect. But since they are here, we may-." He blinks, looking past me. "May well-."

He brushes off his minders and strides past me, walking up to Dr Munro and staring in amazement. Dawn Warrior goes after him.

"No, Elder. It's not him. That's his son, Doctor Arnold Munro."

Dr Munro somewhat sheepishly nods his head. I suppose that the younger people he was talking to would have never met Hugo Danner, and they probably wouldn't have had a picture of him either. The resemblance would only be obvious to people who were around when he was.

"Actually…" Beryl turns away from the children and brings up an image of an old… report of some kind. "That's not."

What?

Dr Munro turns to her with a frown, his neck curving slightly as he tries to read her screen from the wrong side.

"Doctor Arnold Munro died in nineteen seventy four. In Brazil, doing veterinary work on isolated farms. Which is probably why he got buried without anyone notifying his family, because the people who found the body didn't know who he was and didn't know where he came from."

She smiles at Dr M-. The man who apparently isn't Dr Munro.

"Pretty good choice of fake ID, really. I had to check a whole load of forms manually, and it wasn't as if he wrote an itinerary. Took bloody ages."

"How did you-?"

"You're not the only Lantern on the team any more. Arisia needs more friends."

The impostor nods, and I'm trying to work out where he could have gotten a shot of the Danner formula from. Or rather, his mother. I suppose there's no reason why Hugo couldn't have given it to someone outside of his tribal allies. Oh, please tell me that Lex didn't clone him.

Beryl smiles smugly as she turns off her computer.

"So why don't you tell everyone who you really are?"

The impostor shrugs.

"At this point, why wouldn't I?"

 

8th September 2010
02:13 GMT +8

A smile to the few remaining cameras, a polite nod to the usher holding open the car door and then step inside the limousine. The door is closed a moment later and the driver begins the journey back to the airfield.

Hm.

Mercy presses a button and the windows tint, preventing lip readers from recording their words. The barrier between the passenger compartment and the driver is already in place and Mercy will have already checked for listening devices in a car which hasn't been left alone for even a minute.

Still. This isn't home territory, and with superheroes -even unusually helpful ones- on site one could never be too careful.

He gives Mercy a small nod, and she opens a laptop.

"Hugo Danner. Born, eighteen ninety six in Colorado to Abednego and Matilda Danner. Only child-."

He raises his right hand slightly and she stops. No need for his full biography at the moment, though he'll need to absorb the entire thing later.

"The first recorded demonstration of his superhuman abilities was when his French Foreign Legion unit was deployed during the First World War. A fully loaded munitions train they were unloading was struck by German artillery and exploded. He was the only survivor. He was believed to be seriously injured and was transported to a field hospital, but he recovered within a day."

Rapid regeneration was interesting -and possibly very profitable- but that wasn't what Orange Lantern had claimed for him. If the train had been fully loaded… He didn't know what 'fully loaded' meant for a World War One munitions train. It would be in the full brief. Certainly, it would represent a significant level of force.

But enough to injure a kryptonian? That was harder to say with any confidence. He had considered attempting to lure the alien into a large quantity of conventional explosives, but given its estimated toughness based on data gained from weaker attacks it turned out to be impractical. The alien had an acute sense of smell, and there were limits to how much explosive could be manufactured and transported without leaving potentially incriminating records.

"His commanding officer noted that he was shot repeatedly but was never injured."

German rifles and machine guns of that era had a muzzle velocity of just under 3000 feet per second. Given the prevalence of static defences on the western front, he would have to be able to absorb repeated hits in quick succession. Whatever gave him his resilience didn't need to recharge, or if it did it was strong enough that the recharge wasn't noticeable when confronted with mainstream weapons of that era.

"He was also noted as being strong enough to pulverise German bunkers made with concrete and steel."

That was more significant. The human body wasn't designed to bring that level of force to bear, which meant that not only was he strong enough to do that, he was strong enough to do that repeatedly and inefficiently. And resilient enough to do so without being injured. Orange Lantern might still be exaggerating about his peak performance, but this was certainly worth investigating further.

"His next noteworthy action occurs in nineteen fifty two, when he attempted a coup against the government of Brazil with the aid of a group of enhanced tribesmen. They defeated the Brazilian military in every engagement before being defeated by a combination of diseases and the All-Star Squadron."

The All-Star Squadron. The American government's attempt to bring the country's anarchic superhero population under government control. He remembered noting that the organisation failed after they used their powered operatives in what was clearly a military role to support a morally dubious ally, but since he had no interest in improving superhero-related legislation at this stage he hadn't ever learned the specifics.

Physical regeneration, but not disease immunity. Useful, with an available control mechanism.

"In the aftermath of the coup's defeat he was taken into custody by the Brazilian government."

He waits a moment, but Mercy remains silent.

Unusual.

"I take it that they executed him."

"I haven't been able to locate Brazil's records of what they did with the survivors. Since it involves their intelligence agency-."

He nods, once. While he's not averse to using certain third party agencies to perform research on his behalf, in-house research above a certain level of risk requires his direct approval. It's a trade-off in deniability and control, and he had been burned by inadequate contractors before. Though his alliance with Ra's al Ghul has made control... Slightly less of an issue.

"Were there any survivors?"

"Yes. The one most easily contacted is Beto Accala. He's-" She turns the screen to face him. "-seventy two."

The garish costume suggests that he's operating as a superhero, but the face… He'd have guessed that the man was less than half of his actual age. No wrinkles or grey hair, not even a receding hairline. That had applications beyond security. If it actually was the result of a serum of some sort and this 'Beto Accala' wasn't simply Hugo Danner's natural son.

Though even if he was, the opportunities for studying how his body worked…

"Make polite conventional enquiries with our friends in Brazil. I would be quite interested in learning what became of Mister Danner."

'Quite interested' being code for a specific level of financial and legal risk. Given the changes which Brazil had undergone in the intervening period it was unlikely that their intelligence apparatus would react too strongly to an investigation into a foreign criminal who was disappeared in the fifties, but it would be best to smooth things over quickly if they did. He wasn't worried about his personal safety, but such people could become unprofitably distracting when not pacified.

Mercy nods. "And Orange Lantern?"

Orange Lantern indeed. He'd have to check -and he would- but he couldn't call to mind any Green Lantern demonstrating quite that level of control or power before. It would be too much to hope for future cooperation…

"Have our people assemble a file on him."

The other matter he raised -while interesting- would be rather harder to investigate than a dead expatriate. The.. 'ally' who knew most about it was far too erratic and as for other contacts… There were a few magicians of note amongst America's supervillain community, but most were far too unstable and unpredictable to be useful assets.

"Magic research is definitely an area which is ripe for LexCorp to explore. I will simply have to ask our allies whether or not they can recommend a project lead."

11th September 2010
13:27 GMT -3

"No, that's quite alright, Governor, I understand completely."

His freshly pressed suit made him stand out like an alien creature amongst the filth and squalor of the… Prison. It wasn't surprising to learn that Brazil maintained a prison for inmates that it didn’t want to admit to holding. He glanced left and right, the cameras in his glasses picking up faces for analysis later.

What was surprising was that they had been looking for a face-saving way to send one inmate home, since between one round of prosecution-dodging document-shredding and another his details appeared to have been entirely lost. They had no idea why he was here at all, and amongst the current generation of Brazilian politicians the fear of the consequences if America found out than they were holding an American citizen were far greater than the fear of whatever he did to be sent here.

"And you will not have any trouble with the repatriation?"

"Oh, no. Clearly, this was the fault of someone from Brazil's period of military rule. And I'm sure that I can talk the State Department into seeing that."

If it ever came to their attention, which was unlikely.

"I will see to it that this lost soul receives appropriate counselling and care."

"That is very generous of you, Mister Luthor."

"Oh, please." He stops, waiting until one of the jailers opens the impressively sturdy metal door into the heavily-reinforced cell. "Call me Lex. And I'm about to go into the cell, so I'm going to have to call you back."

He hangs up, handing the phone to Mercy as he walks through the door. It's dark inside; no windows and little light from the barred arrowslits in the corridor. The smell is… Not as bad as it could be. He suspects that the jailers cleaned it out a little before he arrived. But the man sitting in the corner with his head bowed and his face curtained by his long and tangled hair is clearly in dire need of a bath.

He gets a little closer and crouches down in front of him, careful not to get too close or let any part of his suit touch the floor.

"Hello. My name is Lex Luthor. And I'm here to take you home."

Then he stands and steps aside and the man hardly struggles at all as his jailers manhandle him out.

 

Another day
And another and another and another

The light was.. getting brighter.

The light hurt a little, but the pain was as distant as everything… Else. And then… Water? He thought that he remembered… Water. Rain. He remembers being wet.

A.. pulling at his face. That meant something, or… Had meant something, but the ideas weren't coming together.

Just sink back…

"…real number on this guy's head, Mister Luthor."

"But you can help him."

"I can snap him out of it, but I wouldn't know where to even begin to fix this guy's problems."

"Mr. Praxis, if I'm unable to capitalise on the opportunities you provide me… Well, that's my problem."

"Your money. This'll only take a second, then… A couple of minutes for him to figure himself out. Then assuming he doesn't just fall back into it, he'll be able to talk."

"Proceed."

**Knock knock.**

And colors so bright they sear his eyes and his mind the tiny sounds of cloth against leather feeling so much louder than they should be and his skin feels clean and-.

No. No no no-.

"Mister Danner."

One man, blond hair tied back into a ponytail, stands from where he had been kneeling to his right. Sitting.. across from him, is a… Another man. White, bald. Wearing a suit. Next to him, a woman. Secretary? Blouse, jacket, skirt. The room… Office? Living room?

"Mister Danner?"

He should… Say something, but… He tries to remember last time he.. spoke to anyone.

"Mhuh?"

The bald man appears to take this in his stride.

"Not too bad, considering how long you were in there. I've taken the liberty of having you washed, shaved and dressed. I don't think that the conditions of your prison-"

Prison?

"-did much good for your state of mind."

He mentally floundered, images and barely remembered sensations. Explosions, he remembers explosions, and… Mud? And chains and.. a.. prison? Yes, a prison. Why was he in a prison?

"I can see that you're having a little trouble processing this. Do you remember your name?"

"Drnnr. Dan. Ner."

The bald man s-smiles.

"Yes. Hugo Danner. You're presently in the United States of America, in the city of Metropolis."

America.. was.. home? He remembered the flag, at… High school? And outside the houses of a lot of his neighbors.

"You were in Brazil, when I found you. Do you remember why?"

Shouting, people.. hitting him, but not getting hurt. Sadness and irritation, and-. He'd tried to help them and they'd accused him of-.

"To-. Get away. People didn't..."

"Yes." The bald man picks up a file and leafs through it. "I understand that society had a difficult time adjusting to your abilities. Of course, that was rather a long time ago now."

How long ago was..? He looked away from the bald man, focusing on the carpeted floor. He remembered… He left America to.. go to France, for the War. He joined the French Foreign Legion to get away, and… The other soldiers liked him in a way that.. people he knew in America never had. But they died, they all… He didn’t. They weren't as tough as him. Then he went back to America but it was still just as bad, then… He left again. Took a job assisting an archeological expedition. Then-.

OhGodthechildren!

"Ah. I see that you're remembering-."

"They all died, because I-!"

"No. No." What? "Oh, quite a few did, but some survived the exposure to the outside world, and others simply retreated back into the jungle without being infected. I'm sure that if they'd known where you were they would have attempted to rescue you, but the Brazilian government didn't advertise it."

They-? They weren't-?

Olowin, he remembers when Olowin was born. He remembers holding him, playing with him, the sheer joy of being able to play with someone who wouldn't die if he threw a ball too hard. He remembers his first hunt, his growing infatuation with Awendea, sitting with him as he listened intently to stories about the Great War. He remembers the boy being knocked flat by an anti-tank round and laughing it off. And-and he remembers-.

"I… Understand that you were trying to share your abilities with other people. I very much share that desire."

Flashes of blue and green and red, dozens of other Americans, people with powers like he had powers, all.. sent to stop him. Why? Didn't they understand how Brazil worked, how the rich treated the common people? Why didn't they want to share the powers that elevated them?

He'd thought that he couldn't get on with people because he was too different. But he couldn't get on with people who were like him either. And those he could…

He remembered the coughs. The vomiting. The.. wounds that didn't heal because all their bodies could do was hold themselves together. The starvation that happened when they healed injuries but couldn't keep down the food necessary to replenish themselves.

"Mister Danner?"

"Why?" He raises his eyes, looking directly at the bald man. "Why do you want to share this?"

"Because I believe that everyone should try to better themselves. And ensure that their children have better lives than they had. Hugo, I'm all too aware of the difficulties you had… You were the first of your kind, the first person like you in the world. You… Had it rough, but those who came after you benefited from your experience. People told their children about the things they'd seen you do, and that… That's part of why when the first generation of superheroes appeared they were accepted. You changed people's idea of what a man might accomplish. And… Yes, you had setbacks, and made more than a few mistakes. Because the situation was as new for you as it was for everyone else. And because you were so often forced to do things on your own."

"Hugo, I want to help." The bald man leaned forward. "I want to help you recreate your father's formula. I want to help you use the best of modern technology to find out exactly what went wrong and how to fix it, so that the next generation of Children of Dawn grow up strong and healthy. I've-."

"It won't work. For you. It.. doesn't work on adults."

"I know." The bald man… Luthor? Nods solemnly. "I'm not doing this to benefit myself. I'm doing this for the betterment of future generations of humankind. Will you help me?"

18th March
15:23 GMT -3

He shrugged. It was going to come out eventually anyway.

"I'm Hugo Danner."

 

18th March
15:23 GMT -3

Well sugar.

The old-looking people drop to their knees, followed by Dawn Warrior and the.. people I assume are the older enhanciles. The younger children stop what they're doing and look around in confusion, but the younger adults realise who this man is a moment later and join their elders-

"No, no, don't-"

-in kneeling.

"-do that, please. I don't deserve it." Mr Danner kneels down next to the Elder who went to speak with him. "Cauã, your sons died because of me. I.. watched them-."

"My sons died for our people. The natives of the Amazon have fought for centuries against those who occupy our lands. Why should I be angry with you for being more successful than anyone before you?"

Mr Danner can't meet his eyes, tears trickling down his cheeks.

"No one fought beside you who was not willing to die."

"They shouldn't have had to! I led the Accala to war because I didn't think anything could stop us! I wanted-. I wanted everything to be over by.. Christmas."

"You always told us that you were not a god. The fact that you failed to foresee what none of us foresaw will not make me blame you. But see!" He rises to his feet and puts his right hand on Mr Danner's shoulder, pushing him to look at the tribespeople surrounding them. "We are stronger now than ever! There is no one here who is not immune to the diseases which killed their great uncles and aunts!"

Mr Danner looks around, and there's no excitement or hope in his face. I think.. maybe I should step in now.

"Elder Cauã, I am Orange Lantern." Cauã turns to look at me, his expression guarded. "I'd like to avoid open conflict between your people and the Brazilian government. Do you have a list of demands I could pass on to them, so that we could try negotiating first?"

"Lantern?"

I hold out my left hand and call my personal lantern out of subspace.

"Yes."

"Like the Green Lantern?"

"Same.. sort of idea, yes."

His eyes narrow. "Why would we negotiate with you?"

"Because the Brazilian government will probably listen to me, which gives you a chance to resolve things without anyone dying."

"We are not afraid to die for our people, for our lands."

"And I can see that. But while you have a lot of power here, it isn't enough to fight the entire world. The Brazilian government will attempt to convince other nations that you are a threat to them as well, and so get their support for fighting you. The best way to prevent them being successful in doing that is to attempt to negotiate before you start fighting, and to be very clear with everyone exactly what you are fighting for."

Ring, message to Fabiana Holguin. Message: Hugo Danner is alive and has a superhuman army. Interested in interviews?

Message sent.

"Hm." He looks over to the other Elders as the tribe gets back to its collective feet. "Man-God?"

"I don't want any more of our people to die. We should try talking to them first. And if that doesn't work… I'll start the fighting personally."

Elder Cauã smiles.

"Thank you, Man-God." The other two Elders nod. "Very well, then. Lantern, come with us. We will show you our map room."

He walks back to the other Elders, only a small nudge being needed to make Mr Danner join them. For a moment I consider flying after them, but… I don't think that sort of display of power would help. Particularly if all the people of his generation bear as much of a grudge against Alan as he does.

I go after them and my team forms up around me, the crowd spreading out to let us pass. I shift so that Beryl is next to me, then give her a dubious look.

"Any special reason you chose to share that little bit of information now?"

She gives me a dubious look back. "You didn't know?"

"It sounded a little fishy, but I never investigated it in any detail."

"Oh."

"What?"

She looks a little guilty. "I thought you were covering for him. Since he was working for Luthor."

"No, I didn't think that his identity was so crucially important that I needed to pry into it. So why did you announce it?"

"He was being pretty clear that he didn't want there to be a fight. I thought they'd be more likely to listen to Hugo Danner than Arnold Munro."

I nod. "Quite possibly. And from the colours I was seeing, it might be better for him as well. But if there is any problem arising from the fact that the man who led the last attack is publically leading this one-."

"I'll be-" She nods. "-taking the lead."

"Glad we're on the same wavelength."

We arrive at a collection of wooden buildings, and the Elders enter a long hut. Some tribes build their houses in the trees, but looking around it appears that the Accala prefer building on the ground. That might be tradition, or it might be an adaptation to excitable young enhanciles wanting to skip the whole 'climbing' thing and just jump back home and the damage that results from lacking a basic understanding of physics. No concrete or metal and not a lot of stone. They could mine stone easily enough, but I suppose this isn't the area for it.

I take a moment to wave a rune stone around, but this part of the world doesn't have much of a reputation for sophisticated magic use and Hugo Danner being here didn't encourage them in that direction. I suppose that bringing in a Native American-friendly shaman or two might help provoke some development of improved arcane techniques…

I enter the room, which appears to be their planning area. Several maps of varying levels of detail are laid out on a large central table, and there's another smaller table with seats around it set up a short distance away. Hugo's already studying the whole-country map while Elder Cauã looks at me and gestures to it.

"Here, Orange Lantern, is what we want."

I approach, and what they want… Appears to be virtually all of the country, save for the most heavily populated coastal cities. A lot of it hasn't been densely forested for over a century. This isn't keeping the jungle as it is, this is full-on reforesting on a scale that no advanced nation has ever performed.

And it's not just Brazil that's on the chopping block. There isn't going to be all that much left of Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia or Peru, and Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana will cease to exist.

"That's a hard sell. What are you planning on doing with the people living there?"

"They can keep living there. But there will be no more of these cattle farms. No more of their industry. We will tear it all down and restore our jungle. If they cannot live with that then they can leave."

I look around. The other Elders nod, and Dawn Warrior doesn't exactly seem perturbed by the announcement. Hugo on the other hand has his satellite phone out and is.. trying to call up demographic data on the regions they're planning on clearing. Yeah, that's… It might be possible for the areas they're talking about to continue feeding themselves, but there aren't going to be any exports.. or imports. No motor vehicles, because there won't be any petrol coming in. Tribes like the Accala don't use things like that so don’t care, but even some of the more civilised tribes…

I.. suppose a strong opening position is generally considered to be the way to go in negotiations.

"I will relay this to the Brazilian government and return with their response. Good day."

 

18th March
15:55 GMT -3

The Brazilian Minister for National Integration is pacing, his somewhat panicked eyes occasionally glancing at the map I've placed on the desk of the room we were eventually shown into. I suppose you can't give an emergency appointment with a cabinet minister to just any Justice League affiliate who flies up to the ministry building and asks for one. They'd never get anything-

"This is insane!"

-done.

"Unreasonable, perhaps. Insane, no."

"We would have to evacuate millions of people!" I nod. "They're expecting us to tear up billions of dollars of government and private property!"

"I believe that they're happy to take care of that themselves."

I haven't told him about the demands that they're planning on making of the other countries, but I'm sure that he's intelligent enough to guess.

"They're tearing down everything the people of Brazil have built! People won't want to stay there when there are no schools, no water and they have to.. hunt for their food! Where do they think they're going to go?!"

"I think their answer would be 'back to Portugal'."

"I don't come from Portugal! I've never even been to Portugal! And neither do most of the people they're planning to throw out of their homes!"

"They're not directly threatening anyone. From what they told me, they're happy for anyone who lives there to stay. Ideally, from their point of view, a few map lines will move."

"Yes, few robbers start a fight if you just give them everything they want!" He stops pacing. "When is the Justice League getting here?"

"They're not. I mean, you can appeal to them directly, but by default this is covered by the 'internal political affairs' restriction on their charter."

He stares at me, his eyes growing a little vacant as he tries to remember the exact wording. And he sags slightly as he realises that I'm probably right.

"Who is leading this?"

"As far as I saw, a group of Accala tribal elders. Though there's a good chance that they'll defer to Hugo Danner now that he's back with them."

"Hugo D-? If it's really him then he's a wanted fugitive!"

"I'm… Afraid not. Basically, your security services lost track of which prison was holding him, and… The Governor of Goiás signed a legitimate medical release for a catatonic American prisoner of unknown identity a little over a year ago. I don't think he ever got a proper trial, either. You could try arguing it, but three members of the Justice League were here during his original putsch attempt as part of the All-Star Squadron.. and… I don't think they'll be enthusiastic."

I should have noticed the coincidental timing of Diana's return to Themyscira before now, but she never mentioned Brazil when I asked about it. I suppose that it might not have been the main reason for her. Back when the Amazons were living on the Greek mainland disease would have been a much bigger part of warfare than it is now, so it's likely that the stories she got growing up made her someone more inured to seeing it.

"Then how-?"

The doors to the conference room burst open as civil servants, senior military officers and about a third of the Brazilian cabinet swarm in. Including-.

"Mister President-."

"Miguel, what the fuck is going on?"

The bewildered President of the Federative Republic of Brazil stares at the Minister, then at the map, then back to the Minister. I note that while the gaggle of governmentarians contains all of those I would expect to be present during a military crisis, quite a few look like they were pulled away from other tasks and had to run here. Uniforms are dishevelled, untucked or unbuttoned and there's a decent amount of perspiration and panting.

At least they're taking this seriously.

"One of the deep jungle tribes has been giving its people super strength for the last fifty years and they're threatening… Everything."

"Can they do it?" He looks around as people begin taking seats in order of seniority. "Can they just.. take this?"

The senior general looks at me. "'Super strong' as in they all use something like Venom, or is it more like Superman?"

"Like Hugo Danner. They're far stronger than someone using Venom would be."

"Mm. How many?"

"Hundreds. Essentially, their whole population except for the very oldest are augmented."

"Then… Yes, Mister President. They can. And striking against them would be difficult."

The President grimaces, then takes the position at the head of the table.

"The Justice League?"

National Integration shakes his head. "Internal Brazilian political matter."

"Orange Lantern."

"Mister President?"

"What would it take for the Orange Lantern Corps to assist us?"

That's-. Would Dox..? LEGION is going to be recruiting, but… Even if the entire population of Brazil signed up, it still wouldn't be worth the level of force we'd need.

"The Orange Lantern Corps will shortly be going to war with an alien empire. I doubt that moving any Lanterns here is worth our time and I suspect that my superior would be more interested in acquiring the Accalas' support than yours."

"And they really want…" He gestures to the map. "All this?"

"I have no further information on their demands of the Brazilian government."

"Yeah." Beryl nods. "They do."

"Even…" He shakes his head. "We.. could grant a greater degree of tribal self-governance…"

"I…" I shake my head. "Don't.. think that's going to be anything like enough, but if you want that to be your initial counteroffer I'm willing to relay it. However, I would caution you that they don't get involved in government negotiations ever and a sufficiently poor counteroffer might result in them deciding to abandon negotiations and attack at once."

"Attacking what exactly?"

"Any military or government target they can reach, and they can outrun any ground vehicle and don't need roads."

"I… Can't provide an immediate answer. We will need to discuss this."

"Certainly. Would you like me to wait, or will you contact me when you're ready?"

"Are they going to attack now?"

"I don't believe so, but… Mister President, they don't need logistics. They can get food for a few hundred people easily just about anywhere and they'll be attacking with their bare hands. They don't need build-up time, they just need a 'go' signal."

"Stay in Brasília for four hours. We will have an initial counteroffer for you at that time."

 

18th March
16:22 GMT -3

"…about the size of it, sirs."

"Danner." Alan looks solemn and… Old. Not literally old, but.. there's a quality of… Visually apparent depth of experience I've seen on supernaturally old young-looking people a few times, and he's doing it now. "There's someone I never thought I'd run into again."

Diana doesn't look exactly excited at the prospect either, but she isn't looking quite so dour about it.

"Do you require our aid?"

Behind the screen, Beryl makes exaggerated nodding gestures. Raquel hesitates, then pulls a face and nods too.

"I don't know. Wonder Woman, you're probably a better diplomat than me, but you were here during the Accalas' first attack and I doubt that they'll be glad to see you. You could try moderating the response of the Brazilian government while I handle the Accala…"

"I'll be there in half an hour."

"Thank you."

Her screen blanks out, while Alan shrugs.

"I can come along as well, but you're right: they won't be pleased to see me, and I… Gave a Brazilian ambassador a piece of my mind a couple of years after it happened."

"I doubt that anyone here remembers it."

"You're probably right. You don't think we can make a fight of it?"

"They don’t appear to use magic to a significant degree. If it really came to it I could probably make them not want to attack, but that's the sort of.. wide area mind control sort of thing I don't really want to do."

"You'd rather just let them fight it out?"

"You'd rather I mind control everyone who disagrees with me?"

"No, but you could just… Calm them down a little."

"I can't calm them down at all. I'd be removing their desire to fight, or giving them an obsession with diplomatic solutions. It wouldn't solve anything unless I left it on. This isn't some temporary desire that might fade if they thought about what they're doing for a little while; this has been the focus of their culture since the fifties. There's more room for negotiation in how the Accala deal with the areas that they take."

"They really want to tear everything up?"

"I don't think they've thought it through in that level of detail. At the moment it's just 'government equals enemy'."

"So what's your next step?"

"Once the government give me their counteroffer… I think we should probably try and complete the original mission. We still don’t know who it was that attacked the logging camp, and that actually is a crime if the Elders didn't sign off on it."

Alan manages a small smile. "But they might still argue over jurisdiction."

Hm… Possibly. And if it is a member of the tribe then I don't think that handing them over to the Brazilian police would be sensible. But at least I can tell them who it was. If they can't exercise authority over the territory they claim then that isn't precisely my problem either.

Though since we're on the subject of Danner enhanciles…

"Donner said that Professor Danner was handing his formula out to people he met at research conferences. I'd always suspected, but… Ubermensch, do you think he was a Danner enhancile?"

"The Axis Amerika fellow? He.. might have been. His folks sure moved in the right circles."

"What happened to him? League records just say that he was held on treason charges."

"I.. don't know. I always assumed they found a way to kill him. Danner people still need air, don't they?" I nod. "But I can't say I checked. You think he's alive and in Brazil?"

"It's more likely that it was one of the Accala jumping the gun, but I want to bear all reasonably probable alternatives in mind. I'll let you know how it goes."

"Okay." Alan nods. "Good luck."

I hang up and look at my colleagues. Beatriz is busy trying to contact the entirety of Brazil's superhero population and they're not exactly well organised. I suspect that she'll also be contacting the metahuman security companies, though if she doesn't they'll almost certainly hear about it from their employees. There are probably enough metahumans in Brazil to outnumber the Accala, but… Not all metahumans are created equal. I researched most of them when I was looking for potential League recruits. Most of their abilities are relatively minor, and they're employed more for status than utility. Even the ones who are a bit more useful are mostly far less dangerous than Danner enhanciles. Post-upgrade, Beatriz is.. certainly top tier, if not the most dangerous overall.

"So-?"

Beryl looks mildly pensive. "Regional autonomy, with a guaranteed moratorium on further deforestation."

"How much autonomy?"

Beryl shrugs. "They’ll control everything except foreign policy. Which they don't care about."

"Do you think that the government even can prevent deforestation?"

"They can prevent it happening legally, and let the Accala carry out enforcement. Which spreads the Accala right out and makes it hard for them to do anything else."

That will probably result in a lot of dead manual labourers. I gesture to her arm computer with her right hand.

"Have you guesstimated the borders they'll suggest as well?"

She activates the hologram screen.

"Something like this. They won't want to give up major towns or roads, but they know that they're going to have to offer something outside the edge of the jungle."

"Do you think that the Accala will accept it?"

"No. But it will probably stop them attacking. Today."

"I suppose that's the most we can hope for. So, Rocket: natives fighting back against colonial oppression, or mindless thuggery by backwards primitives?"

"Fuck you."

"You'll have to clear that with my girlf-."

"It's not either. Yeah, the government pretty much just ignores the natives 'cause it can, but they don't need to wreck everything to stop it. An' even if a lot of the people living in the area they want are mostly descended from natives rather than the.. Portuguese or whoever, they've been living out of the jungle so long they probably don't know how to or want to know how to." She pulls a face. "And no."

Beryl snerks.

"You're right, it wouldn't work, the piercings are a-."

Incoming message.

"Excuse me." I raise my left hand to my ear. "Yes?"

"Yes, I want to meet him."

"Pick you up in about an hour."

 

18th March
17:02 GMT -3

I smile at the young-looking captain the Brazilian government is dispatching to confirm the Accalas' claims.

"What did you do to get lumbered with this job?"

The captain -Davi Serra- remains po-faced.

"I studied traditional languages and culture in university. And part of my family still lives in the countryside. I want to try to explain why remaining part of Brazil is good for them."

"Best of luck. You'll experience a moment of disorientation, but there shouldn't be any other side-effects. If you feel anything, let me know at once."

He nods, I attach a filament and the universe flickers. Since I don't think letting the Brazilian government know exactly where the Accala are at the moment is a good idea, we appear under the canopy. I look at Captain Serra just in case, but he gives his head a small shake and waves my concerns off. I nod, then lower us to the jungle floor, the locals keeping back slightly but watching with interest.

"They do not interact much with outsiders."

"Some of them do. Most don't."

"If they are still vulnerable to disease-."

"No, but that sort of thing leaves a mark."

I descend to the jungle floor and remove my filament. The locals have noticed that Captain Serra isn't a superhero, and the looks he's getting are a good deal less friendly.

"Do they speak Portuguese?"

Ring?

"At least some of them do. Hugo Danner certainly didn't speak much Tupi when he got here."

I lead the way towards the hut, where… There's a queue, and inside Hugo is taking the time to meet his people in turn.

"…aged a day."

A woman who could be anywhere between twenty and eighty smiles, nodding.

"I am a great grandmother now, Man-God."

Hugo shakes his head. "How do you manage to take the injection? No needle would pierce your skin. A knife wouldn't work…"

She holds up her right forefinger, whose fingernail looks rather sharp.

"The potion of the gods can enter the body anywhere. Our bodies can break our bodies. I prepare and administer it."

"That's-." He notices me. "Ah, I'm sorry, I need to talk to Orange Lantern again."

She looks around, eyeing me warily for a moment before returning her attention to Hugo. "You will eat with us this evening? All of my children love my stories about you."

He nods, actually smiling. "I'd like that."

She leaves the hut, and Captain Serra and I walk past the queue. I awkwardly wave as the people in the queue look at me.

"Sorry."

The woman Hugo was talking to gives us a glare as she leaves, then it's just us and the man himself. And everyone queuing outside and a group of people I assume are other Elders talking off to one side.

"Mr Danner, this is Captain Serra."

Hugo gets up and offers Captain Serra his right hand.

"Captain. Are you alright in English? My Portuguese is a little rusty."

"Mister Danner." He takes his hand. "English is fine. Did you know that they still teach your coup attempt in the Academy?"

"Oh? I can't think why. We defeated ourselves."

"Yes, but you killed a significant number of Brazilian soldiers first. I believe that the exercise is intended to teach us how to handle unwinnable engagements."

"I hope everyone in the military who's advising the Brazilian government took that class."

"Yes, but there are always people who think it could have been won if they were in command. Focused anti-tank guns or chlorine gas."

"I've spent most of the time since I got out of prison testing exactly what people like me can do. We're too fast for the sort of anti-tank guns they had back then to make much difference. Gas can kill us, but if it doesn't then our lungs heal. Modern weapons are a bit different, but the defending army would have its work cut out. But… You're not here to negotiate. No offense meant…"

"No, they would not send a captain for that. I am here to confirm your claims concerning the military force of the Accala. If you really have as many people as Orange Lantern has told my superiors that you have. And if they are really as strong as he says."

Hugo looks at me, and I take twelve iron bars out of subspace and float one over to Captain Serra.

"If you'd care to check..?"

He tries twisting it, then bangs it against the table. Then he takes his knife out and tries scratching it. He nods, and comes closer and picks another rod at random to subject to the same tests. Then he nods again and passes them both back to me.

Hugo gets up, and they both follow me outside. I pass one bar to Hugo, and he grabs it with both hands and twists it without all that much visible effort.

A couple of small children clap excitedly, and I make momentary eye contact with their adult escorts for affirmation and then reward them with a bar each. The elder child has a little trouble, but manages to bend it into a 'U' shape. The younger's hands are sufficiently small that they're having trouble gripping it properly, but when they squeeze and grip they leave visible impressions in the metal. Right before it pops out of her grip and hits another girl in the head.

The other girl's head moves a little under the impact-

"Sorry! Sorry!"

-but she clearly isn't hurt and only a little annoyed.

"Be careful!"

I recover the metal bars. "Would you like to select some others at random?"

"I don't think that you are lying, but I need to get an idea of the Accala's numbers as well."

Hugo nods. "I can show you around a little. But don't go too far away from me. They all know you're coming, but… This is a community, not an army. They don't have that sort of discipline."

"I'll stay with you. I don't want to get ripped apart."

"Then I'll leave the two of you together while I visit Caracas. Excuse me."

The universe flickers as I appear outside Ms Holguin's office, then I wave through the window at her.

"Ready to go?"

She nods, grabbing her equipment and dashing out of the office. A few moments later I land as she exits the building.

"Is this for real?"

"Very much so, but I'm hopeful that we can avoid open conflict. Ready?"

She nods, and the universe flickers again.

 

18th March
17:13 GMT -3

Mr Souza smiles nervously at me, his eyes slowly shifting to the Accala tribe members who accompanied me.

"So… Do you know who did it?"

One of the young men looks away, before having his right shoulder grabbed and shaken by his mother.

"I did."

"And…" Mr Souza looks at me. "Is he under arrest?"

"No, because there's a bit of a civil war going on, and I'm afraid that the ongoing activity of people like yourself-" He frowns and shakes his head in bewilderment. "-has been a contributing factor in causing it."

"Ah… Civil war? Since… When?"

"A couple of hours ago. Since the Accala are negotiating with the government, this-" I gesture to the group with my right hand. "-group aren't going to take any further action against you and yours, but if negotiations fall through they're going to chase everyone off and destroy your machinery."

The frown is becoming more irritated than confused.

"Five people?"

"Does the name 'Hugo Danner' sound familiar?" He shakes his head. I shrug, turn towards the prematurely emancipating young man and nod at the wrecked truck. "A demonstration's probably best."

The young man walks confidently towards the truck, ignoring the lumberers who have started gathering around. These are physically active men in their prime, or only a little beyond it. And the tribespeople look strong, but the workers can see that they've got completely overwhelming numbers on their side. In the normal run of things… I imagine that quite a lot of confrontations like this don't get back to the police.

I make eye contact with Overgirl, then nod upwards. She hesitates for a moment, then flies upwards into position to catch-.

The young man picks up the truck's tow bar and keeps lifting, the truck ending up front end down. People start backing away as he gets a better grip on the frame and heaves-.

The truck spins through the air for about twenty metres before Overgirl catches it, absorbing the momentum and then flying it back to the ground. It's even more worse for wear now, but it was pretty much a write-off anyway.

"Ohhh…"

Mr Souza's eyes widen a little, and there's a small but definite backing off amongst the crowd. They're not fleeing, but they certainly aren't going to try administering a punishment beating anytime soon.

"They're all that strong."

Mr Souza's still looking at the truck.

"Oh. And you're not arresting them?"

"No. The core of their complaint against the Brazilian government is that they're letting people like you do things like this-."

"We have.. permits. This is not an illegal operation."

"That's… That's rather the problem, yes. If it was illegal then they'd probably punish you themselves. But the government allows it which means that the government is the problem. The young man there wasn't supposed to do this yet. Their original plan was to give it a few more years and then wreck every piece of machinery and chase the people out. But it turns out that this is a site of historical significance for them and he got a little angry about it."

Which is a lie. They actually get one of the substances they use for their jungle chemistry version of the Danner formula here, but the Accala don't appear to realise that I can overhear them from just about any distance and I don't want them to. I also don't want to give the Brazilian government any information which might encourage them to try fighting this out. Not being able to make more enhanciles wouldn't do anything about the ones they already have, and they could almost certainly source the materials from somewhere else.

"Are they going to attack us?"

"Probably not. But I suspect that you're going to get a telephone call before too long telling you to pack up and leave, and… You might want to anticipate the order, because if negotiations with the government break down they're going to smash through here on their way to Brasilia."

"Aren't you…" He wiggles his right forefinger around in a circle. "Supposed to stop things like that?"

"Giving you a completely accurate answer to that requires… A fairly lengthy lecture on political and social philosophy. Short version?" He nods. "Both the Brazilian government and the Accala have sufficiently unclean hands that I'm not moved to help either. Sometimes people can't talk out their disagreements and -barring a superior power making a ruling- that just leaves them fighting to settle the issue instead."

"Aren't the Justice League a superior power? I mean…"

"Do you want the Justice League ruling the planet? Do you believe that they're so inherently wonderful that they should be able to tell anyone to do whatever they want, and everyone should just go along with that?"

"No, but they're stronger-."

"Yes, and if the Accala try killing civilians or the government starts trying to nuke the Amazon, they'll step in. But as things stand there's no obvious reason to pick one side over the other. And in either case our work here is done." I turn back to the group of Accala who accompanied me. "Do you want a lift back, or-?"

The family's matriarch shakes her head as they turn and-. They don't leap away like Kon used to, or try running at full strength and get their legs stuck in the ground. But they do run with enough force to shake the ground, and move with enough speed to get out of sight almost immediately.

"I.. should.. go and make some calls…"

I nod. "That would be wise. I don't think that the Brazilian government is telling anyone anything yet."

Ms Holguin's breaking news piece should be up soon, though hers isn't exactly a major international news outlet. It might take a while to get picked up more widely. Mr Souza waves his right arm in the general direction of his workers as he walks away, and Garth and Angelika approach as the crowd disperses.

"Civil war?" Garth looks concerned. "If.. that's true, I need to speak with King Orin."

"Only if I'm planning to pick a side, and I'm not. We'll be serving as neutral third party go-betweens, unless fighting starts in which case we'll be leaving. Wonder Woman is handling negotiations, which means that our job here is over."

He nods. "How are they so strong?"

"The Danner formula." Angelika looks intrigued. "The jungle people are still using it."

"Yes." I frown, and I nearly say 'no offence, but', but then I remember who I'm talking to. "I'm surprised that doesn't bother you."

"The jungle people are racially inferior to Aryans, but the Portuguese have made themselves mongrels. That is worse."

Right…

"I'll drop you both off in Brasilia, then head back to the Accalas' villiage. Our mission's over, but Wonder Woman might still want you."

They both nod, and just before the camp vanishes I see the workers beginning to pack up in a hurry.

 

18th March
17:41 GMT -5

"Recognized, Orange Lantern, B zero six."

No civil war today, at least.

The Accala weren't exactly impressed by the government's first offer, but they didn't dismiss it out of hand either. Diana was hopeful that they'd eventually be able to reach some kind of settlement and I could see how much Hugo wanted one. I hadn't realised exactly how poor the soil in the Amazon was until he delivered an off the cuff lecture on the subject. The Accala themselves aren't experts on jungle management; they may have been a few generations ago but they haven't been able to use those skills since the putsch and they've sort of fallen out of the collective consciousness. But some of the tribes they've had dealings with do and they're willing to learn if that's what it takes.

I walk across the hangar -no bioship yet- and head up the steps to the kitchen. Of course, the best thing to do would be to recruit the entire tribe into the.. jungle rangers, or whatever the Brazilians call them. Make them part of a federal law enforcement body so that they can enforce the current laws, and pass a piece of legislation recognising the tribal lands as actually belonging to the tribes. But I doubt that the Accala want to be bound to an institution that they hate and I doubt that the government want to invite in people who just metaphorically cattle prodded them in the genitals.

"…complain about, but I had thought there would be more fighting."

I can hear Garth through the door, and I suppose that's a fair observation. He was stuck at the logging camp trying magic he didn't know and waiting for something to happen.

As I walk through the door I see Beryl flash him a grin.

"You could always go and visit the Accala if you wanted. They'd probably be happy to spar with you. Or the Brazilians. Their soldiers need lots of experience fighting metahumans."

"Reports all done?"

Garth nods while Beryl shrugs.

"Sure, but I'm pretty sure that Batman's already getting on top of this one."

"…rises at four o'clock…"

Angelika enters the kitchen area from the other side, Wallace helping her with the bags. He nods as he sees me.

"Hey, Oh El. South America still in one piece?"

"For now."

He and Angelika put their bags on the table and Angelika starts rooting through them. She notices me watching and smiles.

"Kid Flash said that Central City had good German food stores and I was inspired. I thought that I would cook today?"

I shrug. "Fine with me. Should be an interesting change of pace."

She smiles and pulls out a bag of.. some sort of pasta balls. "Ideally, this would all be made from scratch, but this is all good quality. Perhaps, tomorrow, I could do something more involved?"

Ah… Is..? I don’t think there's anyone on the team who would point blank refuse to eat something she cooked, and.. she.. hasn't refused to have anything to do with the non-Caucasian members of the team. I had planned on us visiting a high crime city and making it a low crime city, but I suppose that we can settle for medium crime.

"I'm sure that-" Whose turn-? Oh.. gosh yes. "-Canis won't mind skipping his turn."

Apokoliptian food culture doesn't do much to recommend the place. Though he has backed away from his initial idea of having an elimination tournament for would-be diners to prove that they are worthy of being fed, his… Ideas about flavour and texture combinations would make Heston Blumenthal say 'that's a bit out there'.

Scott Free said that it's better than Barda's efforts, but he has fairly low standards.

I look around as Angelika begins to pull out roasting tins.

"Raquel not here?"

"No." Wallace flops down on the settee. "She wanted to talk to Icon about the whole 'natives versus settlers' thing."

I nod. I suppose he was around while that was still a significant political issue in America.

"How was Russia?"

"I… Don’t know..?" I frown, and he shakes his head. "I mean, the mission went… Fine. We found Christina, she'd joined this… Cult…"

I walk through the kitchen and sit down across from him.

"What sort of cult?"

"They.. kinda.. worship this guy called Savitar."

I nod. "The Hindu deity?"

"No, a metahuman with superspeed who named himself after the god. Or wants to be the god. But I think we might have got played by the Russians."

"How?"

He shuffles in his seat slightly. "We found Savitar's cult-. One of his cults, and the leader could use full on superspeed. I think he was the guy from that Russian army base, the one who got away." I nod. "They had some kind of mystic energy transfer thing. They put it on Christina to give their guys enhanced speed. Not full superspeed, but they did a number on the soldiers the Russians sent with us."

"Did they get away?"

"No, once I talked Christina down their speed vanished right away. But the problem is that we found out there's a whole bunch more places like that and some of the cultists have super speed. So now the Russians want to make more speedsters."

"Which they could do anyway." He looks dubious. "Couldn't they?"

"Yeeeeeaaaagh… They could, but they never got the full formula from Jay Garrick and they haven't done much testing to try and fix what they did get."

I take a moment to remember my own early experiments with it. Also, poor Speedy.

"So they want the full formula?"

He nods. "And any work we've done with it since. And, yeah, they say they're not gunna use it to make a super speed army, and… They probably won't, because they didn't do that when Stalin was running the place and he wasn't exactly averse to human experimentation. But if we give it to the Russians… Why aren't we giving it to anyone else?"

"How about just agreeing to give a dose to a certain number of applicants?"

"Yeah, but they could probably reverse engineer it from their blood."

"Why not give them the Blitzen formula instead?"

We both look around, Wallace craning his neck slightly to look over the back of the settee. "Huh?"

Angelika keeps putting mustard on some raw meat.

"Aunty Geri's.. friend, Blitzen. She developed a formula which gives enhanced speed to the person who takes it. It does not make her so fast as the Flash, but it makes her faster than a normal person. If these cultists do not have the same level of speed as the Flash, then the Russians do not need the same level of speed."

"Huh." Wallace frowns. "Could they reverse engineer it from their blood?"

"I do not think so. You could ask her."

"Yeah, I will."

"Shame there isn't a short term version of the formula, really."

"Yeeeeahh…" Wallace looks thoughtful. "Ac.. tually…" He gets off the settee. "I.. think I know how to make one."

 

Equestrian Girls

1st April
22:17 GMT -6

"So…"

I lean back slightly and fold my arms across my chest as Miss Shimmer cringes, eyes darting left and right as her brain frantically tries to come up with a justification for what just happened.

"How did the trip home go?"

She brings her fists up to just underneath her chin and grins slightly manically. "Funny story."

"Oh do tell."

"Okay, so-." She shakes her fists, then blinks at them-. Ah, she's forgotten to open them, reverting to her hoof-use mannerism. She takes a breath and focuses on her fingers, forcing them to uncurl. "So, the portal opened again, and I used the gems to switch the anchor point to here-."

"Yes, I was here for that."

"I just wanna go through it all in order, okay?"

I raise my eyebrows, sigh, then nod.

"So I anchored it, made sure that it wasn't going to close on me again, and then I went through. It was night time there, and the mirror was still in the same place as it was a year ago."

She hesitates, her mouth twitching a little. Ah. Yes. That probably means that no one bothered looking for you or even tried to work out where you'd gone. Uncertain whether to hug her or not, I settle for patting her limply on the right shoulder with my left hand. She reaches across with her left hand to lay it on top of mine for a moment, then pushes mine off.

"And they'd.. locked the door. And hadn't changed the lock. Took me a moment or two to get used to using unicorn magic again, but the lock wasn't any harder to pick than it was last time I did it. It was dark outside, so I headed for my room, dodging the guards-."

"Why?"

"I didn't have time to bring all my stuff with me when I came here the first time. I wanted to see whether to not it was still there."

"No, why did you dodge the guards?"

She squirms.

"Seeeee… Yeah, that… I.. might.. possibly..? Have left out a thing or two about… Y'know… It's a funny story, actually. Y'see-."

"Miss Shimmer, just tell me." This Is An Order.

"Ikindagotbanishedforlookingatevilmagicbooks."

I take a moment to parse that. "Books that were themselves inherently malicious, or regular books that contained potentially harmful spells?"

"Ah… Both? One of them was talking to me, trying to get me to raise an army of demon zombies." She frowns. "And I think it was written in blood."

"Doesn't blood make really bad ink?"

"… Magic? Anyway, I was really just trying to find information on the mirror, and that wasn't even a dark magic artefact."

I frown. "Then why did they put it in the dark magic sect-?"

"Can I just finish?" I nod. "So one of the librarians ran to tell Celestia, and she turned up and I… Said some things I.. probably shouldn't have. And.. she had the guards escort me out of the palace and you'd think she'd really have, heh, learned by now that two pegasus guards against a magic expert wasn't a remotely fair fight-."

I nod. "You beat up the guards."

"Stunning spells are perfectly safe, in moderation. And then I came through the mirror and had the most disorientating ten minutes of my life. So I didn't think asking the guards for directions was a good idea in case they remembered me, despite the head trauma. And I couldn't just.. run for it because I needed to come back through the mirror afterwards."

"Okay, that actually sounds reasonable. Then what?"

"I got there, and… It wasn't the same. I just sort of… When I walked in I was so surprised that I didn’t realise that there was a pony in my bed. Or… Her bed, I guess. I was just.. looking around in a daze, and she woke up and I panicked."

I nod slowly, then turn my attention to where the young woman I assume is the human form of Twilight Sparkle is chained to a chair.

"'Panicked'."

"Mpmf!"

"She was making a noise in a palace full of guards and Celestia! And I knew a spell for tying ponies up really quickly-"

I look at the ball gag and raise my eyebrows.

"-and it was a really instructive book! And so I used that, but I couldn't risk staying there and I couldn't let her tell anyone I was there. So I brought her back."

She gulps.

"So… You thought that bringing her back, from a civilisation that undoubtedly has all sorts of magic-based tracking techniques, was a better way to handle the situation than pretending that you were a maid?"

"I wasn't wearing a maid uniform."

"And she would have seen that in the dark how?"

"I-." She looks away again. "Okay. Yes. That probably would have been a better plan."

I sigh. "Okay, right, not the best way to handle things, but given that you were exiled anyway we can probably still fix this."

"How?"

"I go through, carry the portal to somewhere outside Canterlot and we go from there. No guards and no Celestia until we're ready. Okay?"

"I.. guess… But what about-" She looks at Ms Sparkle. "-her?"

"Well, assuming that she's adapting to her human body just as well as you did, she won't be able to move, pick things up, use magic or speak any local languages. So she isn't really a security risk." I walk over and kneel down in front of her. "I'm going to take the gag off now. I realise that this is a very unpleasant situation for you, and I intend to return you to Equestria just as soon as we can without compromising our objectives."

"Mhra?"

I smile. "Just so. Hold still a moment." I reach forward and undo the gag preventing Miss Sparkle from speaking. "I'm very sorry about this." I pull the gag from her mouth and hand it to Miss Shimmer, who takes it, notes the saliva and puts it down on the workbench before wiping her hands on her trousers.

"Who are you? Where am I? What's going on? Why am I a monkey-? No, that's not right. No tail. Some kind of ape? But my hind limbs don't seem to have any grasping capacity? Maybe if I take these boots off-." Her chains rattle slightly. "Oh."

"My name is Grayven, you're presently in the Challenger Mountain facility on another world accessible through Starswirl's mirror. It appears to turn ponies who enter from your side into an example of the dominant local sophont species: humans. Humans are a type of ape adapted for the savannah. As such, they have hair on the top of their head to act as a sunshade but not anywhere else as they generally need to lose heat rather than retain it. As they spent more time walking on their hind legs and not climbing trees they lost the grasping capacity but gained land speed."

"Oh. So what other species are there-. Wait, another world?"

"Yes, but don't worry, the portal's staying open this time. I'm going to nip through now, and all being well we'll be returning you within the next hour. Miss Shimmer-."

"But another world!" Twilight beams excitedly, quite ignoring the chains. "That's amazing! I mean, I know Starswirl the Bearded wrote all kinds of fascinating spells, but I've never heard of one like this."

Miss Shimmer rolls her eyes. "Yeah, Celestia puts anything not friendship-related in the restricted-do-not-read-on-pain-of-banishment section. How about I give you a tour while Grayven hides the mirror?"

"Um." Miss Sparkle tries to move in the chains again. "That would be-." Miss Shimmer raises her right hand and clicks her fingers, a sympathetic effect causing the chains to unlock. "How did you do that?"

"You girls have fun while I'm away."

I stride towards the tape outline marking out this side of the mirror. How hard can being a pony be?

 

1st April 2012
22:22 GMT -6

Okay, clearly this was.. built for.. someone smaller than.. me-.

Ah. Okay, head through-.

Whow.

Whow.

I pull my head back for a moment and blink as my visual field readjusts. I knew that normal ponies have side-mounted eyes to better watch for predators, but Equestrian ponies… They're not side-mounted, but the visual field is a noticeably different shape. And there's no.. 'gap' between being here and being there. Your body changes as you go through what appears to be a two dimensional membrane. Circe could.. probably explain how the mirror makes blood flow synchronise despite the differences in body shape and volume, but a precise explanation isn't necessary for my purpose.

Behind me, Sunset tries to help Twilight up while Twilight… She's trying to stand on her toes.

Ah, the memories.

I lean forward once more, my upper body passing through the portal and mydon'tmovethemdon'tmovethem. My forehooves resting on the upper tier of the small dais it stands on. Don’t move them. It feels like I'm putting my bodyweight on the tips of my middle fingers, and while I'm strong and tough enough to actually do that it's.. a weird feeling. My sense of balance isn't usually-.

Where have my rings gone? Sinestro, are you still there?

Yes… Lantern Grayven. Apparently I'm being dragged into this farce as well.

Where did-? I flick my ears, and half-turn my whoew long neck so I can see myself in the mirror's surface. My yellow power ring is now a yellow power earring, hanging from my right ear like a cow's ear tag. Turn my head the other way and, yes, same with my orange ring. Piercings? I hate piercings. I regard it as a weirdly socially acceptable form of self-harm, why couldn't they go over my horn or-

I have a horn!

-something? Ah, never mind. Right, I can still feel my humanoid lower half, just need to take.. one step.. forwards…

I lift my right forehoof up, move it forwards and gently lower it onto the next step down. It's not quite like walking on my middle finger; all the other fingers are tiny vestigial things on the.. back somewhere, so they're not in the way. I push down in a sort of lopsided press-up as I try to get used to the movement. Okay, I think I should be able to manage a slow walk without falling on my face. Left forehoof.. up.. and down. Progress. Normal back right le-.

I'm too wide.

Oh, right. Celestia's tall but anorexically thin. I'm.. probably either a scaled-up regular pony shape, or scaled-up Snowflake-shape.

Um.

Gruh.

I try twisting my hips in a way pony hips are.. apparently, not designed to do. But the mirror's frame appears to be extremely resilient, so if I push off my left leg and reach forward with my forehooves-.

Ahfuck-!

Ugh. I'm through. On the floor in the middle of a storeroom and that probably made enough noise that even the guards of Canterlot couldn't have missed it. Lying on my right side. Flank. Whatever an equine's side is called.

…

I'm a pony now.

I crane my neck to get a look at my whole body in the mirror. Gray fur, eyes.. pretty much the same. My full body armour is now full body barding, though it doesn't cover my forehooves. Have to bring gloves next time I come through. But what the heck is up with my horn? It's curved and.. smooth, without the spiral I remember from My Little Pony. No idea what's going on there. And wings! I have-.

Oh fiddlesticks, how do I move them?

Um. Yes. Yes? Kind of? I'm just twitching the muscles in my shoulders and back in the hope that one of them connects to-.

Huh-ah?

And now I'm on my back. Turns out that my wings are as strong as the rest of me. And while I sort of got a feel for the muscles involved, I don't think I'm going to be doing any flying for the foreseeable future.

You are aware that-?

Yes, yes, I know I could fly by ring. But despite a few questionable decisions I don't honestly believe that Celestia is stupid. There are probably all sorts of magic-detection spells on her capital, and even more on her palace. And I'm pretty sure that they'd-

I squirm and roll onto my side.

-register yellow and orange power rings as some sort of dark magic. I'm not here for a fight.

An intelligent observation, Lantern. But without a ring, how do you intend to move the mirror?

Boom tube, probably. Mother Box?

Ping.

Okay, let me know when you've adjusted. And if you can't, I'll just have to grab it and run.

Another squirm and I'm lying on my… Underside? Gentle flex of the membranous wings now stapled to my spine to check they're working, good. Middle finger middle finger push, and back.. right middle toe..? Yep, okay, good. Back left middle toe and push…

Ah…

Arch my feet and push with my legs and up I go. Hah! Okay, door's over there, should still be unlocked from where Sunset picked it… Yuuuaaah… Alright, I'm probably not stable enough -hah!- to open it by hoof… Ugh, mouth it is, then. I'm immune to disease, as long as I don't lick it I'll be fine.

Okay. Walking… Slowly. Hoof hoof hoof hoof. Hoof hoof hoof hoof. Still a little odd, but I'm getting the hang of it. Walking… Walking… And we're there. And-. Oh, it's just a handle. I mean, I can see the keyhole, but once the lock's open you just.. push. Why do a species who don't have hands have handles like this? Am I supposed to push it with my hoof? No, never mind, my hoof's clean, I'm not going to scuff the paint.

And push…

The door opens out onto a red-carpeted, lilac-painted corridor. The corridor is.. weirdly tall, with stained glass windows going from just below the height of my shoulders to near the ceiling. Hanging between the windows are simple… Tapestries? Banners? Showing stylised images of equines surrounded by the usual heraldic filler. It appears to be night, and the corridor is illuminated by wall-mounted sconces and candle-studded candelabras. Hm. No electrification yet? I suppose a palace this old wouldn't really be designed for it, and they would probably be better off waiting until they can implement it to a standard quality.

I carefully walk up to the closest window to try to get an idea of where the exit is likely to be. No electric lighting means quadrangles and courtyards to let the light in, though… I don't think an equivalent European palace would be quite this profligate in its use of glass. I can… There's another section of palace that way, over which I can just about see some of the taller buildings of part of Canterlot before the city stops. I really hope that it isn't like the hazardously built mess in the animated series, because if so I'm not going to spend a moment longer here than I have to. I'd survive the fall but it isn't as if I'd enjoy hearing everyone else die.

I turn back to the corridor. So… That way. Main entrance should be in front of me somewhere, but there's got to be a tradesman's entrance or something not too far away. As long as I'm careful, I should-.

"Who are you?"

…

Rats.

I turn to see-. Oh, it's two adorable little foals in mock-guard armour! How sweet! They've even got the little lantern-on-a-pole thing. Someone put a lot of effort into that costume. And yes, situational awareness, but it's not like I can move fast enough to hide. And they're clearly terrified of me. That won't do at all. I lean down slightly and smile at them in an attempt to calm them.

"Hello, children. Why don't you run back to your parents and forget I was here?"

"Y-. Y-."

"Look, I'm not here to hurt anyone. I'll just be on my way, and-" I shrug, and-. And I'm momentarily lifted into the air as my wings flap. "-then-." The two foals flee for the stairs at the far end of the corridor.

…

Okay, I need to be somewhere else now.

 

1st April 2012
22:29 GMT -6

Um.

I look around.

But where? The shortest route would be out of the window. I'm not trusting my natural flying ability, or…

I look at my hooves again.

Or the aero-discs which now only cover half of my feet. Legs. Are they still arms-? No, no, doesn't matter. Okay. I turn-.

Ah.

I fall onto my side, roll onto my stomach and then… Cautiously… Rise back onto my hooves. O-kay. Head back into the room with the mirror, don't run, don't run. Just walk. Good. Good. Shoulder the door open, grab the mirror with a packing crate construct and lift-.

The crate makes it about two inches off the floor before the bottom of the crate breaks and the mirror thuds back onto the floor.

Sinestro? It didn't look that heavy.

I'm a little puzzled myself, Lantern Grayven. You should be capable of lifting an object of that weight.

Is it enchanted to resist that sort of manipulation?

Not so far as I can tell. Try creating another construct.

I try making a coilgun construct-. I can clearly see through it!

As I feared. After all Miss Shimmer's talk of 'friendship', I had wondered if there might be some manner of mental compulsion pushing her people in a communitarian direction. And I may be right. Something external is weakening your constructs. I suspect magic.

Huh. Pretty clever. Like Father's Anti-Life broadcasters, only for harmony. Or… Not? That sort of thing is pretty evil.

It might only trigger in response to direct arcane opposition. And it might be generated by the local equoids themselves. Miss Shimmer did explain at length that they have widespread arcane abilities.

I hope so.

This time the shipping crate is orange, and my detestation at the concept of external control makes it glow all the brighter.

Because I really don't want this to be Evilquestria. I'm not good at psychological horror. If ponies are pony-shaped monsters, I… Think I'd just smash things until the situation was resolved.

The crate is holding together this time, which is a little odd given that orange is one step further from the centre of the spectrum than yellow, but… Fine. No one knows how Wilsonian magic and power rings interact. I don't know why they'd oppose fear and not avarice… Or maybe it's the 'inspire fear' mechanism the magic is suppressing? Something for Sunset to study.

I back out-.

And now I'm on my haunches. At least I didn't fall over completely this time. Although… Lean forwards, press down with middle toes… Yes! Now walk. Carefully. Backwards… Yes. And float the mirror out. Yes, getting somewhere! So, out the window or try to find another-.

"Halt, villein!"

The force of the shout slams the construct into my face, breaking it and depositing the mirror on the floor! Ow. I'm back on my haunches again and… Someone's shouting. I lean to the left to peek around the mirror-.

"Thy vile habits-"

I duck back as near hurricane force winds blast down the corridor.

"-and depravations shall-"

I duck back.

"-not besmirch the peace of Our night!"

I peek out again. And.. that's Princess Luna. Black peytral with crescent moon decoration, black tiara, silver hoof boot things. Shouting really loudly, wings flared to make her look bigger, head slightly lowered to either aim her horn or charge and gore me as her mane billows in a non-existent wind.

I think the top of her head might come up to my shoulder.

I want to hug her and pet her and squeeze her and brush her mane and call her Lulu.

I blink, and give my head a small shake. "Not a villein."

"Still thy ophidian tongue, oh scurrilous leasing-monger!"

"No, seriously. 'Villein' means 'peasant'. I think you mean 'villain', meaning 'criminally inclined'."

She blinks, pulling her head back a little. Then she narrows her eyes. "I knowst not how thou hast transcended thine tenebrous state, Sombra, but thy maliferous campaign of abydocomy ends here!"

"I don’t even know what that-."

I duck back behind the mirror as a brilliant blue bolt flies from her horn! It blasts through the air just in front of my rapidly recalled muzzle, impacting the wall behind me and leaving a scorch mark burned into the paint. It just burns.. paint? That's.. nothing like strong enough to hurt me. Unless it's a targeting beam she can amp up once-

"Cease thy craven hiding and face me, churl!"

-she has a lock or something.

"That doesn't sound like a good idea to me!"

Because you're Princess Luna. I mean, come on.

"For all thine manifold wickednesses,-"

I hear galloping hooves.

"-in the name of the moon We shall punish you!"

I look up to see Luna perform a wing-assisted leap over Starswirl's mirror, glaring down at me as she aims her horn in my direction!

"Princess, I think there's been-."

I roll right as the beam slams down through the carpet and into the stonework beneath!

"For Equestria!"

Alright then.

A yellow pneumatic clamp grabs her around the flanks to her momentary astonishment, then speeds her towards the ground. There's a flare of blue from her horn as she shatters the construct, turning the hurtle into a stagger as she absorbs the energy. I generate a construct rounders bat and swing it at her horn, only for it to bounce off a blue shield and fade out of existence.

Okay.

Back on my feet, I charge her, middle toe middle finger thumb fuck!

I trip, forward roll and just about manage to flick Luna on the muzzle with my tail as she takes aim for another shot. She cancels and goes for a double forehoof stomp at my exposed chest instead, which.. my armour absorbs. Realising her mistake, she tries to flap her wings to get away but I reach up with all four hooves and wrap them around her! She flaps anyway haphazardly lifting us off the ground. I swing my weight to the left and her eyes widen as she loses control and we crash into a wall! As we hit the ground she wraps her hooves around me as well and-.

Ow! She bit me!

 

1st April 2012
22:33 GMT -6

Right on the-! Flipping-! Neck!

I retaliate with a weak headbutt, but she's already leaning out of easy range in an attempt to bring her horn to bear! I wrench us left, causing us to roll, floor, corridor and ceiling flashing past as I go above and then below her! As she goes down the impact of her head against the floor breaks her concentration and her horn goes out. Rallying, she waits until she's above me once more and then pulls back at a sharper angle to fuck!

I just about get my head in position to awkwardly parry her attempted horn-stab, the smooth surface of my horn causing her face-spear to slide along it rather than locking. Our equine faces slam together, the muscles of our necks straining as we each try to push the other's head back! Ah, horse diaphragm should be there… I shift my hind legs up her body and squeeze! She grunts as I compress her lungs then flaps her wings, lifting us both into the air once more. I flap my own and ow, okay, mistake! She wiggles enough to bite the membrane of the left wing and it turns out that it's pretty vulnerable. I'm not sure whether my New God resilience just got replaced by alicornism or her bite is just that strong but-. Her neck's exposed! Carotid artery is there and I-.

That's a hoof. I don’t have hands, because I'm a pony.

It's surprisingly easy to forg-.

Waagh!

Oof.

The middle of her body might have been better for squeezing, but it wasn't quite so good for holding on. With my right forehoof off as well, one uneven flap was enough to fling us apart. I wiggle back into a lying position and then-.

Shield!

Luna's war beam.. splashes off my weak.. construct.. barrier..? Huh? I was getting ready to dodge out of the way, but it looks like I can take it. Sinestro, any ideas?

Perhaps her arcane abilities are limited to specific fields, and those do not include direct-

Luna ceases her assault, spreading her wings and floating in the air as a blue shimmer surrounds her body. I rise to my hooves, maintaining my barrier as I do so.

-war magics? Or possibly those-

The blue light intensifies, and as it dims I see that Luna has moved to her second stage.

-guards you dismissed earlier have spread their fear to the rest of the garrison?

Those were g-?

Luna thaumokinetically thrusts her spear at me, the tip effortlessly piercing my construct as I sidestep-. As I fall over to avoid it. Okay, construct to keep myself vertical as Luna recalls her spear. Draw my sword or not? Since this appears to be a low power interpretation version of Equestria, the daiklave -let alone the Sword of the Fallen- could probably kill her. And that armour doesn't look like it's up to taking serious hits.

Plus, I've.. had to reforge it after every significant fight I've used it in...

She floats her spear just behind her head, which isn't actually a sensible place to hold a spear. A javelin maybe, but with a spear she should be advancing, using her superior reach combined with small thrusts to force me back. Or… Maybe she's not sure whether or not it actually will pierce my armour and she doesn't want to risk getting back within grabbing range.

I grin.

"Is that a spear, or are you just pleased to see me?"

"We hath never been less pleased to see any being, thou dew-beating-"

She thrusts again to emphasise her point. Aim, aim-

"-clodomite!"

-and flap!

I hurtle past her spear, the left side of the blade lightly grazing the armour of my criniere. Luna's eyes widen as I slam into her chest to chest, knocking her into the ceiling -ugh- and then landing on her as we fall to the floor.

"Ough."

There's a clatter as she loses her arcane grip on the spear, and it looks like her armour is designed to prevent piercing damage and not blunt trauma. But she's only dazed for a moment, her-. Ow, that's my nose you midget-horse! Right! I grapple her again and roll us down the corridor from which she originally approached, trying her to make her impacts against the hard floor just a little heavier than mine. The look of frustration on her face is…

"Heh."

I'm wrestling a pony princess in a castle full of tiny garish horse people.

"Heh."

Luna gets annoyed enough at my amusement that she flat out headbutts me again, but she can't get that much force behind the blow. She takes a moment to stare at me, then I press my forehead into hers, forcing the back of her head to the floor-.

"Grayven, what are you doing?"

Luna and I both look around-. Sunset and Twilight are standing just this side of the mirror. Sunset appears puzzled, while Twilight is genuinely concerned.

Luna flexes, flipping me onto my back as her horn glows once more.

"Stand away, citizen!"

"Who are you?"

Luna's head jerks in Sunset's direction, clearly irritated. Though I'm not sure how much of that is with me and how much with the pony who couldn't know who she is due to having been on Earth since before she returned. Sunset spots her wings, frowns, then turns to Twilight and spots hers. Her frown turns into a glare, most likely aimed at the absent Princess Celestia.

"And why is everyone an alicorn now?"

"HaHAAhaha!"

"Hm." Twilight rubs her jaw with her right forehoof. "While it's an exaggeration to say that everypony is an alicorn, the population of alicorns has increased by one hundred percent since you left."

Sunset twitches, while Luna's horn glows as she recalls her sp-. I swing my head, banging my horn against hers, an action which causes her spell to fail and the spear to clatter once more to the floor.

"Ah… Mister Grayven? Why are you fighting Princess Luna?"

"She started i-hiheehahaha-t."

"Mine sister's 'prentice, explain thyself!"

"Prin-. Luna, you're shouting again."

"We hath goodly reason!"

Sunset turns her glare my way. "Grayven, what did you do to Princess Shouty?"

"I was just walking!"

"Who is this 'Graven' of whom thou speakst?"

"That's me." I raise my right forehoof and wave it in her face. "Hi."

She blinks. "Thou art not the fiend, Sombra?"

I give my head a little shake. "Don't even know who that is."

Alright, I do, but it's not as if he made much of an impression.

"Ah." She slumps slightly. "Then We fear that We may have-. No! Thou wert still attempting the scurrilous theft of Starswirl's Mirror! Explain thyself at once!"

"I'm from the other side, and I'm here to complain about you using my world as a dumping ground for dangerous relics and creatures." I crane my neck upwards towards her, smiling. "Which way to your complaints department?"

 

1st April 2012
22:36 GMT -6

Luna looks down at me with an expression of bafflement on her face, then turns her head toward Twilight.

"Twilight Sparkle, who are these ponies?"

"They-."

"I'm Sunset Shimmer, Celestia's last student. The one before Twilight." Sunset snorts at the absent solar demigoddess. "Unless she's had others she didn't bother telling anyone about?"

Twilight's ears perk up. "You were-? I didn't-." She frowns. "Why didn't Celestia ever tell me about you?"

I can't help but look at Luna. And not just because having a powerful female lying on me after a period of physical exertion is causing me to become more than a little aroused under my armour. I'm surprised that she hasn't gotten off yet, actually. Maybe I'm comfortable? Or maybe it's a pony thing.

Sunset clenches her jaw. "I don't know."

"Hey, Luna?" She looks down at me and I give her a friendly smile. "Could you either get off… Or wriggle a bit more? I'm good either way…"

"Ah. We apologise." I feel her wiggling, and for a confused moment I think she's actually going for Option 2, which might be awkward. Then she gives her wings a brief flap, rising off me and landing on the floor next to me.

Um. How do I get upright? No, no, stop thinking like a pony. Ring, give me a push.

By your command.

A construct piston appears and shoves me, causing me to roll onto my stomach. And getting up feels a little easier this time. I think I'm getting the hang of being a quadruped.

"Why did you ask Us to 'wriggle more'?"

"I'll tell you when you're older."

"-is she, anyway?" Sunset's looking at Twilight as she jabs her right forehoof at Luna, who doesn't exactly look impressed about being referred to in the third pony.

"We are Princess Luna, Princess of Equestria and Alicorn of the Night."

Sunset turns to face her. She doesn't appear to be irritated with Luna, just a bit put out about the whole situation. "And where did you come from?"

Luna takes a step towards Sunset, clearly not entirely up to speed. Possibly not understanding why she's getting this level of backchat from a peasant. "We were banished to the moon for a millennium. We hath only returned these last fourteen months."

Sunset snorts, but this time with amusement rather than anger. "Oh, did you try reading a history book too?"

"What dost thou mean?"

Twilight blinks in confusion. "What?"

Sunset shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "I stopped being Celestia's student when I got banished for reading 'Canterlot Castle: A History'. Volume Two."

Twilight Sparkle sits down hard and starts to visibly sweat. "Princess Celestia b-b-b-banished you?"

Luna's eyes harden. "If thou wert banished then why hast thou returned?"

"Because I got banished for reading a history book! For trying to get an education and constantly being held back by her."

"Okay." I stride forward and put a restraining hoof across Sunset's chest. "Time out, my little pony. Deep breath." I get a small scowl again, but she closes her eyes for a moment and actually does take a deep breath. "Deep breath. The anger powers the engine; it doesn't turn the steering wheel."

She turns her head away. "I'm… Fffffine."

I lean down. "Does somepony need a hug?"

And the glare's back. "Does somepony need a buck to the snout?"

"Dunno. Never had a snout before." I look up -though still somewhat down, she's quite a bit shorter than me- at the off-balance Luna. "Hi there. We got off on the wrong foot. My name's Grayven."

She looks me over, her eyes pausing momentarily on my wings and horn. "We have never met an alicorn stallion. And We are curious how you came to be in a place you claim was used by Equestria for the dumping of 'dangerous relics and creatures' when you so resemble a manifested umbrum."

"Alicorn stallion? No no no. Present appearances notwithstanding. Starswirl's Mirror transforms you when you pass through it. I don't usually look like this. This is-" I look down at my ponified chest. "-its best attempt to interpret my nature in pony terms." I pause for a moment. "Or it's just messing with me. Could go either way. I get the impression that Starswirl was kind of an arse."

Luna doesn't appear to appreciate me insulting him. "Starswirl was a great scholar and a hero of Equestria."

"He also dumped problem individuals and magic items through a portal to another world. My world. It was too long ago for me to have good records on how many people died as a result of his unwillingness to deal with his problems himself rather than pawning them off on someone else, but it wasn't a small number. Be grateful I'm only calling him an arse."

"People died?"

"Those sirens who mind-controlled people into fighting each other? Following the myths, they rampaged around the world for a few hundred years before Prince Jon Haraldson slew them. The people on the other side of the mirror can use magic, but there aren't many with a high enough level of skill to cope with creatures like that."

Luna bows her head slightly. I think? With the long neck and the normal angle of equine faces it's a little difficult to parse the gesture. "In that case, We apologise on behalf of Equestria. We shall take back anyone or anything which Starswirl sent through to ensure that it no longer endangers your people."

"Nah." I shake my head. "We've pretty much dealt with them now, and you would not believe how much studying those relics has taught Sunset about how your magic works." I smile down at Sunset, raise my right forehoof, and lightly pat-.

"Get-" She bats my hoof away. "-off m-."

She blinks.

"Wait. Fourteen months?"

"Yes, our-."

"What year is it?"

Luna pauses a moment, clearly unaccustomed to being interrupted like this. "In the modern parlance, it is one thousand and one of the Celestia Era."

Sunset's eyes widen. "That's over fifteen years in the future-."

My eyes widen too as Sunset and I stare at each other.

"Fifteen to one time ratio-."

"Yes, I can count." She turns to face the mirror. "Ah…" Orange light surrounds her horn. "Okay, stabilising the link.. should…"

Twilight looks from her to me. "What's going on?"

"By our reckoning Sunset Shimmer came to Earth a year ago. But it's been over fifteen years here. That means that time moves at different rates on each side of the portal. Which is fine for a visit, but it could be a bit of a nuisance for longer stays."

"But it's not a problem-problem. You're immortal and I'm going to be. Having fifteen minutes pass here for every one there won't adversely affect either of us." Sunset bows her head, a lance of orange magic striking the mirror and spreading around its frame. "But this should make it easier to change in the future."

"Wait." Twilight stares at the mirror and then at Sunset. "You just… Changed the spells on Starswirl's Mirror? That's…"

Sunset tosses her mane. "Yeah, I'm pretty good at magic. But-."

"Fifteen to one! That means-!" Her horn glows for a moment, then she sighs with relief. "Oh good, I'm not too late."

"Twilight Sparkle." I think we've expended Luna's patience. "To what do you refer?"

She looks at Luna and puts on a ridiculous fake smile. "Nothing! And.. I.. just need to visit the train station really quickly for no reason. Back soon!"

She vanishes in a flare of purple.

"So apparently Celestia makes crazy mares princesses now." Sunset turns to Luna. "Why did she make her an alicorn?"

"Mine Sister doth not-."

"Sister?" Sunset sits down hard in shock. "Celestia didn't tell me she had a sister!"

Luna huffs and rolls her eyes. "Sister decided that expunging Us from the historical record would act to preserve Our good name."

"But the only night-related alicorn I remember reading about is-."

"Yes." Luna ruffles her wings slightly. "We were Nightmare Moon. Twice we attempted to bring about an era of eternal night and twice we were thwarted."

I smile. "Look on the bright side: you're really bad at evil."

Her eyes briefly alight on me. "We are uncertain that that is a beatitude."

I shr-. Oh. Ponies can't shrug. "Would you rather be highly skilled at evil? Because if so, I know some people?"

"Nightmare Moon." Sunset doesn't look as if she believes it. "Foal-or-candy-eating Nightmare Moon. And that was Celestia trying to preserve your reputation."

"Not all of Sister's plans bear their intended fruit. Something I believe thou hast experienced for thineself. Tell me, did Sister ever tell you of the Elements of Harmony?"

 

1st April 2012
22:48 GMT -6

"Elements of Harmony."

Sunset and I look down from a near-empty viewing gallery as the late train to Canterlot approaches.

"That's why Celestia was so fixated on me making friends. She wanted me to turn Nightmare Moon back into Luna, like Twilight did. And… Probably end up becoming an alicorn like she did."

"Probably."

"I don't… If she'd just told me, I'd have-."

"You'd never have learned to do it for yourself. You'd just have blundered into it copying someone else's work. Like Twilight has."

"I… Guess."

Hm. Change the topic. I nod towards the tracks.

"Do you know why it's called the Friendship Express?"

"What?" She blinks, and shakes her head. "No..? They were still building it when I left." She turns her head in the direction of the train now pulling into Canterlot Central Station. "Though I can't say that I'm surprised. Celestia clearly thinks that friendship is the solution to everything, including trains."

"I was a little surprised that there's only a single line."

"It's because the city's on a mountain. Creating room for a second track was going to be so expensive that they decided to just merge the tracks at Saddle Lake."

"That's a crash waiting to happen."

"It's probably only temporary. I wasn't really paying attention-" I see the purple dot I know to be Twilight Sparkle appear in a flash of purple and trot over to five other dots. Good. "-because the trains use next to no magic and that's pretty much all I was interested in."

I stare at her, eyes wide. "No. Really?"

She turns her head back toward me and rolls her eyes. I grin, and she gives her mane a toss in irritation. "So? Why do you want to meet them?"

"What's my biggest problem?"

"Darkseid. And…" I see it in her expression as understanding dawns. "He's a big, unfriendly, disharmonious evildoer. Do you.. really think that the Elements of Harmony can defeat h-"

"What have I said about the word 'defeat'?"

"-im?" She sags slightly. "That imprecisely worded descriptions are no one's friend." She frowns in puzzlement. "So what do you actually want?"

"I'm not in any position to be fussy. Apokolips doesn't have a moon, but they can banish him to.. wherever it was Uncle Drax ended up if they like. Or turn him to stone. Or… Make him non-evil. I'd take them killing him, but I don't actually want that specifically."

"I'm.. not sure…" Sunset looks like an atheist who has just learned that angels are real and is now trying to calculate how many could fit on a pinhead. "Going to Apokolips might be a little bit dangerous-."

"Obviously. But there's something eminently Apokoliptian right here that we can test it on!"

"You-? Your Anti-Life fragment. You want them to shoot you?"

I nod. "I was a little worried that the Elements rewrote the target's mind when their purge function was used, but after speaking to Luna I'm prepared to accept that they don't. So… Yeah. I'm the best choice of test subject."

"I suppose that makes sense. And… It… Might work. But I'm not sure that-"

Mother Box, boom tube.

Ping.

"-it works on things that aren't a real-"

BOOM!

"-threat noGrayvenno!"

I stride out onto the station platform, the Element bearer herd just in front of me and staring ponies all around. And I shut down the boom tube even as Sunset lunges for it.

Rainbow Dash has crouched slightly, sizing me up for her forthcoming assault. Pinkie Pie looks more puzzled than anything, her head slowly rotating clockwise and I'm going to stop watching in case it keeps going. Applejack is standing nearly still, but is taking the time to loosen her muscles in case of hostilities. Rarity is blinking in surprise, her gaze already moving to my armour. Twilight is frowning, probably trying to work out why I'm here rather than just waiting for them at the palace.

Wait, wasn’t there another one a moment ago? Ring, locate-. Ah, that's where Fluttershy disappeared to, hiding behind the luggage trolley.

Right, can't actually do magic, but if I focus my desire to crush and destroy through my horn… There we go, purple bubbles of evil! I flare my wings, and the rubberneckers either flee or seek cover.

"BAWHAHAHA! I am Grayven, Alicorn of Conquest! I'm going to take over Equestria and when I do, I'm going to ban flying, cakes, apples, clothes, books and-" I jump, misjudge and have to activate my aero-discs to avoid falling on my face. With their help I land next to the cowering Fluttershy, crouching down so that my head is level with hers. "-bunny rabbits."

"Ee!"

She scrambles away from me, wings flaring in an instinctive attempt to make her look bigger than she actually is.

I leap to my hooves! "AND THE ONLY THING THAT CAN STOP ME IS THE ELEMENTS OF-"

Rainbow Dash's forehooves hit me in the chin and I barely feel it. The mare herself wasn't ready for me to remain standing and she grunts in pain as she's knocked off her intended flight path.

"-HARMONY!"

A loop of rope drops over my head and tightens around my neck. Applejack pulls at the far end of the lasso, and slides across the floor towards me as I anchor myself in place.

Wait. They're not wearing their elements, or… Check… Carrying them. Blast.

"BUT THEY ARE IN PONYVILLE, FAR FROM HERE! AND IN THEIR ABSENCE -the absence of the El-e-ments of Har-mon-y- I AM INVIOLATE!"

Rarity's eye widen. "Twilight! We don’t have the Elements-!"

"AT ANY TIME WITHIN THE NEXT-" Eyes staring, I check the arrivals and departures blackboard. Alright, only one track so it’s the same train that leaves that goes back… "-THREE HOURS-" I turn back to the herd. "-BEFORE MY SPELL IS COMPLETE, THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY CAN STOP ME! AT ANY TIME AT ALL. THE ABSOLUTE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN FOR ME IS SOMEONE GOING RIGHT NOW TO FETCH THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY AND BLASTING ME WITH THEM!"

Pinkie Pie narrows her eyes at me suspiciously. "Wait a minute. That's exactly how long it would take us to take a train to Ponyville, visit the library and then take a train back to Canterlot!"

"THE ONE FLAW IN MY PLAN!"

She beams. "That's really convenient! I wish all our bad guys were like you!"

"YOU'RE WELCOME! IT'S NICE TO BE APPRECIATED!"

Twilight moves her head from Pinkie to me and back again. "But the Elements of Harmony aren't in the library. We had to put them back in the Tree of Harmony-"

The what?

"-to stop the Plunderseed Vines."

Right… How long would it take to get from Ponyville to… Wherever that 'Tree of Harmony' thing is..? And the next train… Ah… Roughly…

"THREE HOURS AND THE TWO FURTHER HOURS THE SPELL NEEDS TO FULLY TAKE EFFECT!"

"Wait." Rainbow Dash suddenly looks suspicious. "I think you want to be blasted with the Elements! Like it's your big master plan and you need them to make it work!"

"NO! BEING HIT BY THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY -THE ONE THING TO WHICH I AM VULNERABLE- IS NOT PART OF A DIABOLICAL MASTER PLAN AT ALL!"

"That's exactly what a diabolical master planner would say!"

"Then YES, I WANT YOU TO HIT ME WITH THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! TO PROVE THAT I AM MORE POWERFUL THAN HARMONY! I DEMAND THAT YOU BRING THEM HERE!"

She glare at me. "We're not gunna bring them here just because you tell us to!"

"YOU WON'T BRING THEM HERE WHEN I TELL YOU NOT TO AND YOU WON'T BRING THEM HERE WHEN I TELL YOU TO! WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO MAKE YOU BRING THEM HERE?!"

Twilight sits on her haunches and gesticulates with her forehooves. "We literally can't bring them here."

What?

"WHY NOT?"

 

19th year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Sun
207th day, 1st bell

I sit on the floor of my chamber, power ring on my left ring finger and the Basophil Amulet on my right palm. It's a curious thing; when I first acquired it while wandering in the Sands of Fire it was violet, but when I first used it to charge the ring it shifted to orange. Does that mean that it used to be a Zamaron artefact? I do.. hope not, because having an enraged love goddess coming after me is the absolute last thing I want. But… If it was Zamaron in origin, there isn't any mention of that in any of the books which the Sorceress was kind enough to lend me on its history.

And wasn't finding out that I'm on flipping Eternia a shock. Not that I have much in the way of out of context knowledge; what little I remember from my childhood television habits doesn't seem to match what's actually happening. Ram Man-. Krass -who knew he had an actual name?- is about three times the size of the diminutive figure I remember, and his legs are organic muscle rather than cybernetic springs. Captain Teela's substantially younger than I was expecting her to be and He-Man doesn't look exactly like Prince Adam after a barbarian makeover.

Okay, let's see if I can get it first time this time. Picture in my head the orange light seeping through the fabric of the universe and pooling in every sent-

There's a knock at my door.

-ient being…

"Coming!"

I rise to my feet, slip the Amulet back into my pocket and stride over to the door. Opening it, I'm greeted by-. I look down as Orko backpeddals slightly. He's a.. little more disturbing to meet in person than he was in the animated series: the inky blackness concealing his face never wavers and ring scans return nonsense results when I try to scan him. He's like a flying black mage.

"And what can I do for you this fine morning?"

He backs off a little more. "I was just.. passing by, and… I was wondering how much progress you'd made using the Amulet."

"I can reliably turn it on. That's about it. I think archmagedom is some way off, and frankly I'd rather stick with the ring."

"Oh. That's a-." His eyes dart left and right. "A real shame. But… I thought you said that the Masters need a magician?"

"Yes, they do, so… Ah…" How's my schedule for today..? "If you've got time… This afternoon? I thought I could have a crack at putting together a wand for you." He blinks. "That's what you need, isn't it? Sort of a stabilisation device so that you can control your magic?"

His eyes widen. "You know how to make those?"

"No, but I can make any physical object from a good enough description, so between you, the Sorceress's books on the Trolla and the remains of your old wand, I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make some progress." I smile and lay my right hand on his left shoulder, which has a bizarre… Almost oobleck-like feel. "After all, it's completely ridiculous that the most powerful magic user in Eternia is reduced to being a court jester."

"Oh. Well. Thank you. Ah… Do you think we-?"

"Orange Lantern."

I turn as Captain Technically-Not-My-Boss walks-. No, stalks down the corridor towards us. Oh, delightful. What have I done-

Orko backs up at speed. "I'll see you this afternoon!"

-now?

"Captain. Delightful to see you. What brings you to my corner of the castle?"

"What happened between you and Krass?"

I blink-.

19th year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Sun
205th day, 7th bell

"Don't do yourself down like that, Krass." I pat him on the shoulder. "Ekra would be privileged to be courted by a man like you." He shuffles slightly, shaking his head. "No, seriously. You're polite, honourable, loyal to a fault, you've got a good position which you earned and you regularly fight some of the nastiest and most powerful people on the planet to keep Eternos safe. You're a good guy."

"Ah…" He blushes faintly, then raises his right hand to scratch the back of his head. "If you think she's so great, why don't you go talk to her?"

"Because -with the greatest respect to the noble profession of goatherd- I'm looking for a woman with whom I could share every part of my life. Someone who could keep up with us in a fight."

"But…" He grins. "The only woman we know like that's Teela."

19th year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Sun
207th day, 1st bell

Oh dear. "I've.. known Sergeant Krass for several months. A variety of things have happened between us. Could you narrow-?"

"The night before last, at the tavern."

Of course that's what you're asking about.

"May I.. ask why you're asking?" I smile, but I'm obviously not fooling her. She knows full well that I know what she's talking about.

"Krass was miserable all of yesterday. Look, if one of you got drunk and said something stupid-"

19th year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Sun
205th day, 6th bell

Krass nods at the goblet in front of me. "Wine any good?"

"No idea." I raise the goblet up slightly. "The innkeeper was kind enough to keep a small keg of unfermented grape juice in for me. It allows me to give the appearance of joining in the celebration without compromising my facilities." I look at his tankard. Water? Unexpected, but I suppose it was unfair of me to stereotype him. "Would you care to join me?"

19th year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Sun
207th day, 1st bell

"It turns out that neither of us drink."

Apparently, his reasons relate to a misspent youth and how he earned that skullcap of his. He didn't want to talk about the specifics, so I didn't press him.

"-then that's fine, but the two of you need to talk out your differences. We have to fight side by side, and that requires that we trust each other."

I'm getting the same lecture from a sixteen year old girl from the He-Man universe that I got from the He-Man animated series when I was six. There's something amusingly poetic about that.

"No, neither of us said anything-. Ah… He… Made an observation, which -with the benefit of hindsight- I realise was supposed to be a light-hearted jibe."

19th year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Sun
205th day, 8th bell

"Ah, no." I bow my head slightly as Krass frowns in confusion. "While the Captain is a splendid young woman with many admirable qualities… In my culture, it is considered… Extremely inappropriate for people with an age difference as great as we have to become involved with one another. It wouldn't quite be criminal, but it's close enough that I find the idea quite distasteful."

"Oh." He shrinks back slightly. "Right. I hadn't-. Ah, sorry. I'll just…"

19th year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Sun
207th day, 1st bell

"But, at the time, I.. wasn't sure, and so responded as if it were a… Serious observation. And so I responded in a serious manner, without.. giving any sign that I wasn't sure how it had been intended. Certain.. parts of Eternian custom.. still elude my comprehension, and it may be in turn that Krass believes that he has greatly offended me, when I in fact thought that he.. merely had a misapprehension which I should politely correct."

"Then why didn't you say that at the time?"

"He walked off, and I just thought that things might be a little awkward for a day or so then we'd both forget it. Should I..? Assume that he's taken it a little more to heart than I assumed?"

She rolls her eyes, hands on her hips. "Krass takes everything to heart. He thinks he's massively insulted you, and he's going to keep thinking that until you straighten things out."

I nod. "Then I will do so immediately and I apologise most profusely for not taking care of this before it came to your attention. If you'll.. excuse me?"

 

20th year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Winds
73rd day, 3rd bell

"You really think this is worth doing?"

Krass can't really turn his head too well in his armour, but he twists his shoulders and looks down at me as we head towards the maximum security wing. Or -given what happened to the last maximum security wing- perhaps I should follow Krass' suggestion and call it the hyper-ultra security wing. Sir Duncan really went all out this time.

I shake my head as we approach the second checkpoint and raise our hands, four Royal Guards keeping us covered with plasma blasters while four others come forward with personal scanners. "It doesn't matter what I think. Only what happens."

"Ah, don't try that mystical stuff with me. These guys are the worst of the worst. Most of them joined up after Sk-." I roll my eyes and then glare at him. "After Keldor's revolt. They knew what they were getting into."

"Krass, there are two logical ways to deal with criminality. The first is rehabilitation." I raise my arms as one guard runs his scanner over my torso and another holds a glowing crystal to my forehead. "To turn law-breakers into decent citizens. At the most basic level, that can be achieved through the threat of punishment or punishment itself. Fines, the stocks-"

He winces. There are good reasons beyond mere professionalism why he doesn't drink liquor these days.

"-public whippings, conscription, imprisonment, forced labour… All sorts of things. Then there are more indirect things; finding them useful work or getting them sober." He grunts. "But, ultimately, the convicted has to see it as better to follow the rules than break them."

"Yeah, okay. What's the other one?"

"Laws aren't secret. If you're not going to rehabilitate them and they can't be trusted to behave, simply kill them."

The guards nod to each other, and the corporal lowers his gun. "Identities confirmed, Ram Man and Orange Lantern. Sirs, please wait here while we contact Sir Duncan for authorisation."

I nod and adopt a more relaxed posture.

"Why not just leave them in a hole like this and forget about them?"

I gesture to the guard post. "Does this look like we've forgotten about them? We could have built a town for the resources this place cost. Or built a flipping curtain wall around Castle Grayskull. And then there are the ongoing costs in maintenance, guards… And the risk of another breakout; I mean, we're concentrating the few people who are threats to you and me in one place. If they get out, all of this was a waste of time, because they're going to go right back to Keldor."

The corporal nods and gestures to the armoured lift doors ahead of us. I nod back, and Krass and I stride through as they wheeze open. We turn around as they close, and then I feel the slight sensation of weightlessness as the lift accelerates downwards.

"So what you're saying is: we have to finish them off or make them good?"

"Do you really think his majesty would sign off on us killing them?"

"I don't know. King Hiss shook everyone up pretty bad." I eyeball him. "Okay, no, I don't. But how in Eternia do you think you're going to rehabilitate them?"

I hold up my left hand, letting the ring glow for a moment. "Simply a matter of knowing what they want, my friend."

"Bah, magic."

"I'm still not convinced-."

"Yeah, yeah. I heard that lecture. 'Advanced enough technology'." The doors blast open and we walk out into the panopticon. "Looks the same to me."

I stand in front of the viewing window and press the 'ready' button. That makes a signal go off in the first guard station, which in turn makes them remotely check the cell module I've been authorised to view and then pull the levers required to bring it up to this level.

"You headbutt mountains."

He frowns in confusion. "Yeah?"

"So me doing ridiculous things with a ring is magic while you doing them with your forehead isn't?"

"Just.. got a.. thick skull, I guess."

I nod. These people really don't see anything odd about what they can do. I'm still half-convinced that this place is like Ashan, and all magic is some sort of post-singularity precursor technology the locals don't even begin to understand. It would fit with the history of Hordak's invasion after all, and it would explain Kronis' nanotechnology and why magic users can't do a thing without their focuses…

The viewing window opens and the person I'm here to see glares at me from the chair she's manacled to. Obviously she isn't bound full time, but the only way the system can bring her up is if she's sitting in that chair and the clamps are engaged. The metal of the chair is Eternium, strong enough that even He-Man couldn't… Well, he'd take a minute or two. And Evelyn isn't anything like as strong as he is.

Her eyes narrow slightly as she regards us. "Oh. I was hoping that I warranted He-Man's attention, not two of his lackeys."

Krass snarls as he stomps forward. "You should be glad anyone's coming down here!"

And she's smiling. I sigh quietly, then hold up my right hand. "Ram Man, if you wouldn't mind?"

He glowers at her, then turns his back on her and stomps to the rear of the panopticon.

"Ah, the brains of the operation."

I bow politely. "One does one's humble best."

"And what does the humble one want?"

"The humble one wants to know what you want."

She considers for a moment. "My staff, my freedom and.. shall we say..? Three bags of gold coins? I'd ask for four but I wouldn't want to be over encumbered."

"Hah!" I shake my head. "Easily done, but then what? Back to Keldor and your delightfully appointed quarters in Snake Mountain? Please, aim higher. What do you really want? Long term. If everything goes your way, where do you see yourself in ten years?"

She spots my ring shimmering, but when nothing appears to happen she considers the question for a moment. "Castle Grayskull would be quite nice. Yes, I see myself bearing the full might of Grayskull."

I nod. "Acceptable."

For a moment she looks like she's swallowed something bitter. "What?"

"I.. recently conducted a review of Eternos' defences, and a key weakness I identified was the Sorceress herself. In her fight with King Hiss she was seriously injured, and that.. effectively deprived us of our magic capacity until she recovered. No organisation should have any role where they can't replace the occupant. But…" I make a shrugging motion with my hands. "We have something of a dearth of candidates, Orko isn't compatible with Grayskull's magics… But you are down here."

"And you want to replace the Sorceress with me? I certainly won't refuse, though-."

"No, no… No. We're not that stupid. But… If you're interested, she's willing to consider… You're too old and skilled for an apprenticeship… Shall we say, a pupillage? You would study under her in a controlled environment, with a view to joining the Masters… Once we think we can trust you, and to taking over as Sorceress of Grayskull upon her death. Assuming that you aren't the cause of said death. We will check."

"Y-?" Her eyes dart to the corners of the room before returning to my face. "I'm still somewhat.. surprised, to be offered this." Her eyes narrow. "What's the catch?"

"You'll be geased up to the eyeballs. You will accept the geases and you will not knowingly resist them or try to bypass them. And a lot of the work she'll have you do early on will be apprentice work, just to make sure that you have the right attitude for the job. You also won't be getting your staff back anytime soon, and the Sorceress will want to place limits upon it to ensure that you do not misuse it. Furthermore, the job of Sorceress itself does not give you political control of any land aside from Castle Grayskull itself and the territory immediately abutting it."

"Bearable. I'll want to see the written forms of the geases before I accept anything."

I nod. "Perfectly fine."

"Then… I accept. Provisionally."

"I'll ask the Sorceress to write the bindings up for you to examine. That will most likely take a few days. I will return once they are done."

She looks around her cell. "I will be happy to receive you then."

I nod, smile, and turn aw-.

"Still, I can't help but be curious. I'm sure the other Masters would have been happy to leave me here indefinitely. What do you personally get out of this?"

"Oh, my motives are entirely transparent." Krass is already in the lift and I head towards him. "Good day, Evelyn."

 

1st April 2012
23:01 GMT -6

"Let me-." I hold up my forehooves. The eight of us are sitting in the station's café, the staff having taken one look at us and then abandoned any attempt to enforce the closing times. "Let me make sure that I'm understanding what you're telling me. Just before he was turned to stone by Celestia and Luna, Discord developed some kind of magic-nullifying vine thing-"

Twilight Sparkle nods. "Plunderseed Vines."

"-and threw the seeds around, intending for them to sprout… At some point in the future. A little while ago they did sprout, kidnapped Celestia and Luna from Canterlot and dragged them back to the Everfree… Somehow. Without anyone noticing. Again… Somehow."

Rarity frowns, her right forehoof tapping her snout as she tries to work out how that could have happened.

"So you went into the Everfree, fought through the vines, put the Elements back on the Tree of Harmony because… It turns out that they're actually some kind of fruit? And that sent out a blast of harmonious magic which destroyed the vines, except… Maybe it didn't, so you've got to leave them there in case it missed any. And you got a box. Which… Random items you picked up over the next few months turned into keys for. And when you opened it, there was a rainbow inside, which made you all rainbow coloured, drained Tirek and built Twilight a new house. And then vanished."

Applejack nods. "That's about the size of it."

I study Rainbow Dash while my mind spins. Apparently, I somehow missed two harmony-based magical mega-weapons.

"So did…" I point at her with my right forehoof. "She keep a bit, or is she naturally..?"

Rainbow Dash metaphorically preens. "I'm aaaaall natural."

"So… What happens next time… Picking an example at random here… Another evil magic user like… Queen Chrysalis or… Grogar? Puts in an appearance?"

Twilight thinks for a moment, then shrugs with her wings oh that's cheating!

"I.. guess we'd.. just have to fight them without the Elements. Or we'd find a new magic artefact and beat them with that."

Pinkie Pie nods enthusiastically. "Or we could use the Crystal Heart!"

Crystal Heart. Not sure it's really what I was.. looking for, but… I'll take what I can get. Even if it only sets the Anti-Life fragment back a little it'll have been worth it.

"And where's that?"

There's a slight.. intake of breath from several of the ponies.

"Ah…" Twilight looks around to see if anyone has an idea on how best to lie to me. "It's… A… Long way away?"

Over to my left, Sunset Shimmer rolls her eyes and shakes her head at her successor's dishonesty failure.

"But why do you want us to use something like that on you, anyway? If you're.. evil, you wouldn't want us to, and if you're not evil…" She frowns. "I actually don't know what they do to ponies who aren't evil."

"What about someone who is afflicted by some sort of evil magic but isn't evil themselves?"

"Um. Well, the Elements of Harmony removed the Nightmare from Princess Luna, so I guess they can tell the difference?"

Applejack doesn't look convinced. "Beggin' yer pardon, Twi, but didn't the rainbow make Tirek how he was before he started stealin' everypony's magic? How exactly is he s'poss ta be good?"

"Ahhh… It… Put him in Tartarus and it put Nightmare Moon on the moon the first time. Maybe it-."

"Okay, you and Sunset try working that out together. I'm going to go to a library, find out where this Crystal Heart thing is, then-."

"No!" Twilight's eyes widen. "You-."

"Oh just tell him why not." Sunset takes a couple of steps forward. "Applejack, you're 'honesty', right?"

"That ain't exactly how it works, sugarcube." She looks around the Bearerherd. "But if Graven here's really got some kinda evil magic makin' him look like that, I fer one think we oughta tell him."

Twilight sighs. "Okay, but-. You look a lot like a pony called King Sombra. He used to rule a place called the Crystal Empire, which is where the Crystal Heart is. If you go there, everypony would be terrified."

"Ah, Twilight?" Rarity frowns thoughtfully. "If the ponies of the Crystal Empire are confronted with somepony who looks like something out of their worst nightmares… Wouldn't that prevent the Crystal Heart from working?"

"Yes! You're right!" She smiles as a reason for preventing me from going there hits her. "Which means that there's no point in you going there!"

Sunset frowns. "Why? What does it need to work?"

"The love of all of the crystal ponies. If they see you, it won't get any power. And the spells keeping the Crystal Empire warm would stop working as well and they'll freeze to death!"

She's probably right, Lantern. You could try to sneak in and use it covertly, but if the Zamarons couldn't purify you with love I doubt that these primitives would manage any better.

Yes. Still: no harm in throwing them a bone…

"Love? Don’t Changelings feed on that?" I smile. "Can I assume that the Crystal Heart is well protected? Walls, defensive spells, that sort of thing?"

Twilight sort of freezes. "Y-es?"

"Good show. I'd hate to think that a changeling could just walk up to it and eat their fill. So how about taking me to this 'Tree of Harmony' thing and blasting me with the Elements there? You don't even need to take them off it."

Fluttershy peers out from behind Pinkie Pie and her own mane.

"Why do you think you need us to use the Elements on you? If you don't mind telling us."

"I've got a… Let's call it a curse. It tries to change the way I think. At the moment there's… Another spell keeping it contained, but the containment is gradually weakening. When Sunset described the way magic worked here, I began to hope that a sufficiently powerful harmony-related effect could permanently destroy it. And.. now that I've learned that you could easily regain the ability to generate such blasts, I'm… Really not sure what the problem is?"

Twilight tilts her head to the right. "It's just a curse?"

"It's a… Little worse than 'just a curse', but… Yes?"

She sits up a little straighter, smiling in what I expect she intends to be a reassuring way. "Why don't-" Her horn lights up." "-you let me take a loo-"

I generate a yellow barrier and a suit of yellow barding.

"-kkkkk…? Or… Not?"

"It's a memetic hazard, Twilight. It wants to be spread. If you touch it then it will claim you as well and then you won't be able to use the Elements. That's why you shooting me with them is such a great solution: it's one way. No chance for feedback."

"Okay… What does it do?"

"It uses examples from your own life to prove to you that having any aim results in failure and misery."

Rainbow Dash looks decidedly unimpressed. "That's it? So it doesn't… Turn you into a warthog, or make you get old super fast or turn your legs into sand or… Anything?"

"I spent days raving in anguish before it got shut down."

She exhales dismissively.

"Mister Graven…" Twilight looks like she's about to break some bad news. "I'm happy to try looking at this curse for you, but… We only use the Elements on bad ponies. You're trying to remove a curse and that's… Fine, but it doesn't make you bad."

I nod. "So what you're saying is, that if I become more evil then you'll use the Elements on me?"

"Yes, exactly." She then twitches as she actually hears what I just said. "No! Nonono!"

I stand, grinning maniacally, purple and green bubbles bubbling from my horn.

"THEN PREPARE FOR EVIL AS YOU HAVE NEVER BEFORE EXPERIENCED IT! BAWHAHAHAW!"

I turn and prance away. Now I just need to find a lawyer.

 

Mid-summer, 2279
Morning

I've never really been a sunny weather person.

No. No, that's not true. From what I remember of my early childhood, I enjoyed trips to the beach or to Eastbourne's parks during the long summer holiday. But the older I got, the more I came to dislike the high heats of summer and appreciated the more clement weather of autumn.

And now here I am, in the middle of summer, in a desert, under a near-cloudless sky, with only loose robes and a two hundred year old fedora shielding me from the baking heat. And I'm.. actually happy. I mean, I've sort of believed that the human brain wasn't really designed to cope with the society we'd built for ourselves for a while, but I'm still surprised by exactly how much happier I've become since… Not exactly 'downshifting', but… Embracing a more 'simple' way of life.

There's no internet in post-apocalyptic Nevada. No television. Only two or three radio stations, and most of the time you're lucky if you can get good reception on one. Consumer culture? When I arrived, the people here were happy that they could just about produce enough food for everyone. As Moist von Lipwig said in Making Money, you can't eat gold.

And now, things are going to get a little more complicated.

I glance back at the perimeter wall protecting our 'capital'. Most of it predates the war which burned the world, something I find jolly impressive. The material we've used to patch the places where it's crumbled away is a good deal less resilient, but to a casual observer it makes it look continuous. Not that I think we'll need it, but…

The robe standing next to me flaps slightly. "They're coming."

I don't respond out loud, but nod and begin walking through the open gate to greet our visitors. The robe appears to believe that is the correct course of action as well, and jerkily follows me. As I pass through I glance back at the fortified gatehouse and make momentary eye contact with Keanan. He isn't happy about me going out like this, and he's even less happy about leaving the gate open with a potentially hostile force in the area. We compromised on laying a mix of plasma and fragmentation mines just inside the entrance, but… If this goes badly I very much doubt that they'll be useful.

Looking out across the shimmering salt flats, I can just about make out the plumes of dust being thrown up by the wheels of the oncoming vehicles. An obvious drawback of living in such a well-known pre-war site is that anyone with a map knows where it is. Around here, pre-war military bases are often treasure-troves of valuable weapons and other equipment, and with our nearest civilised neighbours being hard-pressed by one of their less pleasant neighbours it only makes sense for them to come and have a look.

Hm. Let's see. Our wall-guns are in perfect working order. They probably won't expect that, but they will almost certainly assume that at least some of them will be working. We could hit them with lasers from here, and that's… Something they know. Which means that the two-. No, three trucks that I can see, are the advanced scouts. The officer in charge -and if we're lucky, the civilian government representative- will be back behind the ridgeline, out of sight and out of range.

I pick up the pace a little, my left hand reaching for the small ring which hangs from a thong around my neck. An orange power ring. Fully functional when I arrived, I've long since expended all of its power. The tribe accepted me as one of them when I used it to open up the high security areas of the base which had remained inviolate for two hundred years, and… I'm grateful that its power allowed me to survive the fallout from that. But again, I don’t miss it. It was useful while it lasted, but I simply didn't have it for long enough to get really attached.

The trucks are closer now, and from the way the dust plumes are getting smaller I'm going to guess that they're slowing down. I release my ring and hold out my hands to either side so that they can see that I'm if not unarmed then at least I'm not carrying a weapon in my hands right now. Then there's another plume as two of the trucks turn off, one moving to the north and the other to the south. The remaining truck accelerates once again, moving towards us at speed.

Ah, yes. On the canvas sides of the two trucks which turned away I can just about make out the two-headed bear symbol of the New California Republic. The fact that the New California Republic is sending an emissary here isn't surprising. If anything, it's odd that they've taken this long to get around to it. We're only about a hundred miles from their capital Shady Sands here, but without satellites or aircraft I suppose it's not all that easy for them to scout us out. And of course they've had their own, more urgent problems.

Once we reach a decent distance from the gates I stop and patiently wait for them to reach us. And I make a point of not paying undue attention to the grey-coated figure who jumps out of the back of the northern truck and sets up what I'm sure is a sniping gun of some sort. My tribe doesn't make much use of projectile weapons. Making gunpowder is awkward, let alone forging bullets for them. And since the pre-war garrison here was mostly armed with laser weapons anyway…

The truck pulls to a stop about five metres away, whereupon it stops and the squad of lightly equipped soldiers in the back pile out. They don't point their weapons at us-. Well, most of them don't and the one who does gets glared at by his NCO until he stops.

I nod politely as the NCO walks closer, his gun at rest across his chest. "You drew the short straw, huh?"

I smile. "I volunteered, yes."

His brow twitches as he hears my accent. I suppose that he might never have heard one quite like it. It's not that strange, but most tribes in this region have a similar general sound, even if their specific modes of expression vary from tribe to tribe.

"My name is Sergeant Mitchell, and I'm part of the Second Infantry Company of the New California Republic. You know what the NCR is?"

Which isn't nearly as insulting a question as it sounds. News travels slowly around here, and we trade mostly with tribes to the south, rather than the NCR proper to the west or the Rangers to the north-west. There isn't a lot of traffic -none at all, actually- and our only real contact with the NCR comes via the occasional visit to New Vegas.

"Yes, I know the NCR. My name is Krono." Well. It isn't. But even now I can't say my actual name so why worry about it? Though maybe next time I won't ask a five year old to select my nom de guerre.

"Mm. And who's yer friend?"

"This-" I glance at him. "-is Goris. He's a bit shy around new people."

"He armed?"

"He's not carrying any weapons." I smile. "How can I help the NCR?"

"We've heard that there's a raider tribe livin' in this area, a nasty bunch callin' themselves the Sky Reavers. You know anythin' about them?"

Ah, that's how they're going to play this. It's a little sad that even after the Bitter Springs Massacre the NCR seems to have trouble telling tribals apart.

"I suppose you could say that I'm the tribe's leader. Now, anyway."

He nods in satisfaction. "Well that saves us a whole lot of time. You know what the NCR does to raiders?"

"The tribe's raiding behaviour was a result of an unfortunate mental illness that afflicted the tribe's then-leaders. Since I took over, we've been making amends with those among our neighbours who we've attacked. Feel free to confirm that with your contacts in Ashton."

He nods noncommittally. "Yeah, we'll do that. What kinda mental illness did they have?"

What should I call it? The NCR doesn't use mystics, and if you haven't seen that sort of thing in action there's an understandable tendency for people to be sceptical.

"They claimed they could hear whispers from the sky, ordering them to conquer and destroy the wasteland's other inhabitants. The whole tribe ended up praying to the 'Sky Lords' at their behest."

Which is true, though a massive oversimplification. A more complete explanation would mention that the more sensitive settlers had been badly affected by the zetan neurotropic initiator that the pre-war researchers were playing with in the basement, developing minor psychic powers while becoming completely obsessed with getting into the high security areas. When I turned up with a power ring they glommed onto me at once, believing that I was the solution they'd been praying to their alien gods for. I didn't realise exactly how crazy they were until later. The fragmented alien computers might have been able to resist American researchers before the war, but they couldn't stop an orange power ring wielded by a desperate man.

"But they don’t do that no more?"

"I.. was forced to kill most of them. The survivors decided to see things my way. They still believe in the Sky Lords, but they now think that they're evil."

"Heh." He nods. "Alright, Ambassador Granger's gunna be negotiating a settlement on behalf of the NCR. You alright to meet him?"

"Certainly."

"Okay." He turns back to the truck. "Lenny! Signal forward base! Tell 'em we got someone to negotiate for the Sky Reavers!"

"Yes Sergeant!"

"Oh, ah, Sergeant? The tribe isn't called that any more."

He turns back to me. "Oh yeah? What's it called now, then?"

"The Sky Walkers."

 

Mid-summer, 2279
A little later

One of the soldiers lowers the rear flap and I step out of the back of the truck into a temporary campsite. A couple of squads are working on digging a trench and using the soil to create a short sandbag wall just behind it, and they're sweating buckets as a result. I'll have someone come over with fresh water later; all of the good sources around here are already controlled by the tribe and they're probably trying to avoid contact where possible.

Goris hops down after me, his tail somehow staying concealed by his robe. I got a brief flash of his feet, but that was because I knew exactly what to look for. Any of the NCR people who happened to notice would probably write it off as unusual footwear. As for his size? The most obvious explanation is that he's a Super Mutant, and that he's either trained very well or he retained his intelligence during the change. Like magic, 'intelligent deathclaws' are something the people of the NCR regard as a myth.

Sergeant Mitchell is already striding off towards a man in a suit whom I presume to be Ambassador Granger. The Ambassador's tough-looking bodyguards are already sizing me and Goris up as potential threats, so I make a point of showing my empty hands once again. After all, it's just a professional thing for them, rather than an indication of active hostility. The Ambassador himself turns as the sergeant approaches, glances at me and Goris for exactly a second, and then gives the sergeant his full attention. A few moments later he nods and then makes his way towards a canvas-covered area and takes a seat at a desk there before motioning for me to be brought forward.

A fairly basic intimidation technique from a man sitting in the middle of my tribe's territory. I've made a point of telling my tribe's emissaries not to do things like this.

The sergeant beckons us forward, so Goris and I amble unhurriedly in the Ambassador's direction, looking around as we do so. Goris is a keen student of human behaviour and he's given me some useful lessons on the subject. The men and women doing the digging are younger than most of the other soldiers, at least based on what I can see. And their uniform appears to be less armoured, though I suppose that could just be because they're not being deployed in a combat role at the moment. The people who appear to be their NCOs are… Watching them more than joining in. Are they a penal unit? That doesn't seem.. likely…

The rows of tents are neat, the structure I assume to be the latrine is set up and… Oh, a genuine armoured APC. Those are far rarer to find in good working condition than the more common trucks they're using to transport their soldiers. Does the Ambassador rate one, or are they using it for a mobile arms locker? The NCR's rifles are.. a bit basic, but the very fact that they can produce their own firearms in their own foundries is actually quite impressive. That's one of the things I genuinely respect about Shady Sands; it's not a small part of a pre-war settlement trying to bring itself back from the brink of death. It's genuinely new, a farming town founded after the war which made good.

Sergeant Mitchell nods to me at us as we approach the desk. "Mister Ambassador, this is Krono and his associate Goris."

Mr Granger nods. "Gentlemen, good morning. My name is Phillip Granger, and I represent the New California Republic. I'm here to discuss your people's accession to the NCR. The NCR plans for expansion in this region include us taking possession of the old US military base at Groom Lake. Obviously, any of your people living there will have-"

"Hm-hm."

"-to leave. We can help you with your resettlement, and there are a number of public work-."

"Mister Granger, I realise that in a negotiation that it's a common tactic to open with a strong demand and let yourself be negotiated down, but… Please."

"Mister Krono, you're within driving distance of the largest army in America. The NCR will take this area. We'd rather do it with your cooperation but it is going to happen."

"Ambassador Granger, the largest army in America is currently sitting on the east bank of the Colorado River and is facing the second largest army on the west. And I don't believe for a moment that General Oliver will allow you to move more than a token force just to pick a fight with some tribals. But." I raise my hands a little. "We would be delighted to have more contact with the New California Republic. The whole philosophy I've been espousing-."

"And what philosophy is that?"

"Transhumanism."

His face hardens, his eyes flicking to Goris for a moment. "If you're using FEV, General Oliver probably will give me the men I'd need to overrun this place."

"No, we're not using FEV. FEV wasn't developed at Area Fifty One. I've never so much as seen a sample." Though I would like to study it. If only to try to help Goris out. "But when I arrived, I was able to help the rest of the tribe gain access to the highest security areas which the survivors of the Great War put into full lockdown before they pulled out. I think they may have ended up joining the Enclave…" I shrug.

"Oh yeah? And what's in there? Plasma guns? Power armour?"

"In addition to the more conventional military research programs that were carried out there by the pre-war government, Area Fifty One was also the US's centre for zetan research." He looks a little lost. "Aliens."

"Hah! Aliens!" He shakes his head. "Look, I know that some of the stuff the old government had in there was pretty advanced to a tribal-. And if your people know their way around the place, maybe it's worth keeping you on in some capacity. But there's no way that any of that stuff came from another planet."

When I first… Vanished from Earth Prime and appeared here, I desperately looked for a way to recharge the ring. Finding nothing in the blasted world below me I started looking for something else that would give me the power I needed to survive, and maybe make something of the situation. Which is why I came here: the largest cache of nonhuman technology combined with a local population who might be prepared to negotiate with me. The way things actually played out… It could have gone better, but it could have gone a lot worse.

"The pre-war reports stored on the base's terminals suggest otherwise, but if you like I can give you a demonstration."

"A demonstration of aliens?" He sits back, his eyebrows raised. "Excuse me if I'm a little sceptical."

"No, we don't have any-" Living. "-aliens. I mean the abilities their technology gives us."

"By all means."

I focus my telekinetic grip and lift him into the air, his hands grabbing for the desk and his eyes widening!

"Holy cheeses!"

I carefully set him back down while remaining motionless, trying not to further antagonise the NCR soldiers who are pointing their guns at my head. "After I defeated the Cult of Whispers, I cracked the command codes of an alien device which the pre-war researchers called the neurotropic initiator. It was damaged -which is probably what drove the Whisperers mad in the first place- and I repaired it before testing the device upon myself." Ambassador Granger struggles to get himself back under control. "Not everyone in the tribe has chosen to use it since then, but a good few have."

"Okay, that's, ah." He makes a downwards motion with his right hand and the soldiers reluctantly lower their guns. "Certainly.. interesting. But that doesn't prove that it's alien. Pre-war science made all kinds of crazy discoveries."

"As I said, I took control of the alien computer systems. All of the records that were stored at Area Fifty One are at our disposal, and the aliens' technology seems to respond well to-" **-mental contact.**

That gets a blink, but I suppose that simple telepathy is less immediately concerning than the ability to throw people around.

"Including their repair and fabrication guides."

"You're telling me that you know how to make this 'alien' technology?"

"Some things. Most of what the pre-war military acquired came from small alien craft which they shot down. There are still large holes in our knowledge. One of the things we are very eager to trade for is further examples of zetan technology."

"And what's the worth to you?"

"We are happy to take NCR citizens as students, grant them similar abilities and teach them how to use them. These can be soldiers, or your own researchers."

"If we get researchers clued up, why wouldn't we just keep anything we find elsewhere to ourselves?"

I shrug. "We will have more experts for the foreseeable future. You won't have many, and it wouldn't be efficient for them to be split between multiple sites. And if you're serious about us becoming a county in the NCR, the best way to make that happen is to cooperate. Deliberately withholding anything important will strongly alienate my tribe."

He nods. "No pun intended."

"Quite."

"And the situation with Caesar's Legion?"

"They're a blight on the wasteland. We can't offer you a great deal in the short term, but I think you'll be interested in what we have."

"Which is?"

The fully repaired zetan fighter floating above us drops its stealth field.

 

2nd April 2012
06:27 GMT -6
Except it's not

Four minutes is an hour.

That means that while it feels like I've been here for around seven hours, it's actually been about half an hour. It's not half past six in the morning, it's eleven the previous day… Or thereabouts.

I sniff the air and.. take a left. I think that my sense of smell is more acute as a pony.

Which means that this is still the first of April. So what I'm about to do is completely in character.

I take a moment to review the footage I'm getting from my spy drone. Twilight's herd was here to set up a surprise 'Congratulations on Coping with Canterlot' party. Apparently, Celestia's spending a few days in Manehattan and left Luna in charge, which explains why we haven't seen her.

And that suggests that her ability to sense the arcane is somewhat limited. And that she didn't have any sort of detection spell set up on the Mirror.

I sniff again and here we are! A pony Indian restaurant! I have no idea how that's even a thing! But I don't care! I guess India has ponies too, though… I don't know how that maps onto Equestria. Maybe they're from outside Equestria? Pass. And the door is just about big enough to let me in, so…

"Ahoy the restaurant? Sorry I don't have a res…" Huh. Empty. Great! I walk all of the way inside and make eye contact with the portly waiter. "Reservation, but I eat like a-" Um. "-hippopotamus."

The thick-set stallion waiter doesn't seem troubled by my entrance. "We can seat you, sir. Is there anyone else in your party?"

Hm. "Let me just check."

I turn around and stick my head out of the door.

"If you three have been told to keep an eye on me, you might as well do the job on a full stomach." My shadows don't move from their places of concealment: one on a rooftop, one behind a barrel and the third behind a weak chameleon spell. "My goggles are enchanted to bypass concealment attempts and these ear rings are empathic weapons."

A giant yellow arrow marks each of their locations, and the one with the chameleon spell glances upwards before slumping and giving up.

"I'm buying?"

The batpony peeks over the roofline, then drops down onto the street. The unicorn dismisses their spell and the earth pony undulates out of the barrel in a way which.. doesn't look natural for the equine body. I smile and back up into the restaurant.

"Table for four."

"Just here, sirs and madam."

Madam..? Oh, yes, the batpony is a mare. Lunar armour on her and the unicorn. The three of them take their seats while… Yeah, that's not going to work. I'll just sit on the floor. I'm still taller than them, but at least it's not quite as ridiculous as it would be if I joined them on the bench.

As the waiter heads off to pick up some menus I lean closer. "Why are you following me?"

Their eyes each flick to the other two, and none answer.

"Okay, you're wearing night-themed armour and the sun is down. You're night guards. Luna has supreme autocratic authority so if she wanted me arrested I'd be arrested. Your officer take initiative?"

Seems unlikely, but it would be nice to know that those two total nitwits from the day shift aren't the sum total of the guard's officer corps.

"Come on. If you were ordered not to directly contact me then you've already-." A menu is deposited in front of each of us. "Thank you. Already failed that part. What's the harm in telling me who ordered me monitored?"

"We've got standing orders to monitor anyone who uses dark magic." Batmare blows her fringe out of her face. "We're still waiting for orders on exactly what to do about you."

Earth pony looks around. "Do you know this restaurant?"

"Took a walk down the…" I wave my left forehoof in the general direction of outside. "Main.. restaurant row, and they appeared to be serving… Cardboard? I don't think I'm a cardboard-eating pony. But here-" I open the menu and take a look. "-they serve actual food." I turn to the waiter. "It all looks great. I'll just have one of everything."

"I think sir may be ordering too much."

"Look at the size of me, I'm built like a rhino." I take a small crate out of subspace and push it over to him. "And I have unlimited storage, so I can just doggy bag everything I don’t get through. And-" The bit is a commodity currency, so stamping a load of my own gold was an easy way to secure fungible resources. "-if I'm paying-" I flip open the lid and his eyes light up. "-cash, who cares?"

"Sir makes a good point."

The crate vanishes as he heads to the kitchen and starts shouting orders.

"Anyway, if you're following me… Is there anything you want to ask me?"

The unicorn frowns. "Are you working for the Princesses? I mean… You're an alicorn. Have you..? Fulfilled some sort of prophecy, or… Studied the magic of friendship-." I raise my eyebrows incredulously and he looks away. "Yeah I didn't think so."

"No, no, I mean…" I shake my head. "Prophecy? Friendship magic? Are.. they still telling people that? That's not how alicorns are made."

"It isn't?" The earth pony tilts his head slightly to the left. "Then how are alicorns made?"

I take a quick look around and then lean in, prompting the three of them to do the same.

"Alicornism is sexually transmitted."

Their eyes boggle and their bodies freeze.

"So magic of special friendship, maybe. I wish Celestia and Twilight felt they could be open about their relationship, but…" I wrinkle my nose. "I guess after so long without an official consort Celestia's got a hang-up about it."

They keep staring.

"Duh." Batmare flaps her right wing twice, then points it at me. "Y-you..?"

"Well, after going without for a thousand years I imagine you'd be a bit pent up too, but looking at Luna you'd never think she'd be quite that… Vigorous. Heck, I'm lucky I was an earth pony; the other seven guys are still in hospital." They're still staring. "Oh, they'll be fine. Alicorns have the magic of the three tribes, so now they've got earth pony endurance too. Guess we'll just… Each take a day of the week or something."

"Eight?"

"Covering holidays and illnesses, you know. And team events. And maybe she'll calm down once she's got it out of her system. Or, you know, in her system, heh. You want anything to drink?"

The unicorn unsteadily levitates his menu up in front of his face. "I wonder if they have an alcohol licence? I hope they have an alcohol licence."

"Wait wait-" The earth pony shakes his head. "-wait. Captain Shining Armor isn't an alicorn. How-?"

"Ah… I don't really know the fellow, but I'm guessing that with all the work the Crystal 'Empire' needs, they don't think it's a sensible time to have a foal and they're using barrier contraception. Barriers are his special talent, after all. No intimate fluid contact-."

"Okay!" He holds up his forehooves. "Okay, that's…"

The unicorn fidgets. "Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight Sparkle… They're really hiding their relationship?"

The other parts of evil plan phase one are nearly in place… So I nod.

"Huh. I hadn't really thought about.. that sort of thing before. She's just.. so… Above us all. I hadn't thought of her as being.. normal. Wanting… I guess.. it must be kinda lonely. I mean…. I know…" He looks at the other two. "We'd all be totally supportive..?" Two stunned nods.

I nod. "Maybe you should say something."

"Oh, I couldn't."

"Or drop her an anonymous note, or… Maybe have one of Shining Armour's friends send him a letter about his sister's relationship?"

A couple of reluctant nods. Well, if that doesn't convince them that I need to be shot with the Elements of Harmony…

"Are you ready to order drinks, sirs and madam?"

I turn my neck and smile at the waiter. "Oh, yes. Sarsaparilla for me, please. Oh." I turn back to my dinner companions. "Canterlot police and palace guards are separate organisations, right?"

Batmare nods. "Separate commands, yeah. Why?"

"Oh." My smile grows. "No reason."

 

1st April 2012
Evening

Oh this place is amazing!

I don't know if it's the cook or this pony tongue but the food here is top-notch. I was a bit reluctant to try the hay-based things but.. actually, with all the spices to give them flavour, it kind of works. I've got to bring the family here. Once I check that the younger children's medicine still works when they're in pony form.

I wonder if harmony magic could fix them, too? I'd been assuming not because it's just part of how their body works rather than any kind of curse, but I suppose that it wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion.

I slide my very clear formerly-covered-in-chestnut-curry plate forward, then float it up to join the others.

"Okay, I think I'm done. How about you?"

Street Stalker -the earth pony- nods. He'd been sampling a little of everything, and as a result he was still eating about two thirds of the way through my meal.

"This place is really good. Most restaurants in Canterlot are totally overpriced."

Swooping Strike -the bat pony- snorts in agreement. "And the food's terrible."

I frown. "How do they do that? Wouldn't the cooks' special talents mean they.. just knew when they were doing that?"

Hidden Presence -the unicorn- shakes his head. "Only if they were making a mess of things by accident. If they were actually trying to make cardboard, then… Cardboard's what they'd get. And since the restaurant manager probably has a coin pouch on their rump…"

"Canterlot ponies like cardboard? I'd have thought that there'd be more variety than that."

Street and Swooping look at Hidden.

"What? Hey, include me out. Why do you think I always eat in the mess? Just.. herd psychology, I guess. Everypony knows that's what restaurants are supposed to serve, so that's what everypony expects. Though I guess 'following the herd' isn't really an alicorn thing."

"No, it-"

Lantern Grayven, it's happening.

"-isn't."

I smile.

Who went first?

The police.

"Ah, Graven?" Swooping looks at me inquisitively. "I know you said you weren't evil, but that's kinda an evil smile you're doing?"

"I never said I wasn't evil. In fact, I'd say that I'm being pretty evil right now."

The guards look at each other, but Swooping has the initiative.

"You… Are?"

"Sure. You were following me when I went to the library, right?" She nods. "And the law firm?" She nods again. "Wanna see the results?"

There's a small flare as a hologram projector appears in the middle of the table, then an image of the Bearers' party appears. Everyone's smiling and.. playing some sort of game-. They're playing Twister, Luna's longer legs giving her a distinct advantage.

"You're spying on them?"

"Keep watching." I pull the camera out just as a night guard and a couple of other ponies walk in. The first has a truncheon and handc-. Hoofcuffs cutie mark while the second has a scroll and scales.

Street regards them carefully as they approach the game area.

"That's Steady Beat and Weigh Evidence. Why are they there?"

"Is there ever a situation where you think that the law shouldn't be enforced?"

He thinks for a moment. "You mean like if a starving pony steals food?"

"No, if a starving pony steals food then they clearly shouldn't be left in charge of themselves. I mean like if a person is vital to the running of the country they should be allowed to ignore any laws they want."

"No?"

I nod. "Let's see if they feel like that."

Luna frowns and says something to the spinner-wielding Pinkie Pie. The Twister-playing ponies immediately begin disentangling themselves and she walks towards the awkward-looking officers.

"And sound."

"…intruding, your highness, but we need to speak with Miss Rarity. It's.. urgent."

Rarity steps around Applejack and trots over.

"Why? Whatever is the matter?"

"Ah… Well…" Steady Beat levitates the thick bundle of papers myself and my lawyer wrote and opens it near the beginning. "We've received a dossier which alleges that you've committed several acts of theft-."

"Uoh." Rarity rolls her eyes. "Is this the best that Graven fellow could do? Unsubstantiated allegations?"

"I can't comment on where it came from, ma'am, but if this-" He flicks through it briefly. "-is true, then it's very far from unsubstantiated."

Rarity lets out a mildly indignant splutter-cough.

"Really."

"Yes ma'am. It is alleged that you have -on a number of occasions- travelled outside Ponyville town limits and engaged in mineral prospecting; to whit, locating and excavating various precious stones."

"Yes? The land is part of Ponyville, and Ponyville doesn't require that I have a licence."

"In point of fact ma'am -and we're checking this now just in case- the area this dossier alleges that you prospect in isn't part of Ponyville."

"Now hold on a gosh darn minute, here." Applejack steps forward. "That whole area was part o' the original land grant Princess Celestia gave t' my great grandfolks."

"Well, that may be true, but it would only matter if the Princess had the right to give it away. You see -and this is the part we're checking- when ponies first came to this part of the world, there were plenty of species already living here. Which mean that as Equestria was settled there were.. areas that weren't part of pony society."

Luna nods. "Yes, We remember it well. We left them to their own affairs as Our nation expanded."

Steady Beat nods. "The most recent law we found on the subject is…"

"The Aboriginal Relations Act of three thirty two." Weigh Evidence pulls a scroll out of her saddlebags with her teeth and offers it to her sovereign. A blue aura surrounds it and it floats out of her grasp. "Equestria never forced aboriginal groups to become part of Equestria. This resulted in there being a number of semi-autonomous micro-nations wholly within Equestrian territory. The Act defines -among other things- who is responsible if a crime is committed by a citizen on one side of the border against the other."

Steady Beat nods again. "The Diamond Dog pack who live near Ponyville might -and I stress might- be covered by the Act. If they are, that means that their territory was never part of Equestria. And if it was never part of Equestria…"

"Then Our Sister could not grant it to the Apple family. We are surprised that there are still territories within Equestria which have not integrated of their own volition, but the law is as she states."

Rarity's eyes widen slightly.

Twilight trots to the fore. "And what would that mean for Rarity?"

"That would mean that she'd be charged with one count of theft for each prospecting trip."

"But I... The dogs and I came to an arrangement."

"Oh?" Steady Beat smiles. "If they freely agreed to allow you to prospect in their territory then we can throw this whole thing out. Could you describe the circumstances, so we can write it into our report?"

"Yes, of course-. Ah, 'freely'?"

"Yeah, you know: without being threatened by anypony. Ah, anyone, I should say. Because, heh, obviously if they'd been threatened that would invalidate the whole thing."

Rarity sits down.

"Excuse me? I'm looking for Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

A short pegasus pony mare in a plain green suit walks in through the door. Twilight looks from her to the officers to Rarity and back again.

"Is this urgent?"

"Yes. I'm from Canterlot Child Services and I've-" She pulls out a document with her left wing. "-received a report that you're the primary caregiver of an infant dragon, and that he has never been registered either with a school or as being home schooled. A child's education is a rather serious matter and I'm hopeful that you can shed some light on this."

I stand and open a boom tube to the room, grinning evilly as I do so. I stride through, the assembled ponies looking at me in shock.

"All I wanted was to be cleansed of evil. You refused me. This took me but a few hours. Each of you has points of vulnerability. Mistakes you concealed. Use the Elements on me, or I will find them and make you suffer the consequences. And so that you have advanced warning: Pinkie Pie, you're next."

There's silence.

"Whaw, Princess Luna has terrible taste in stallions."

 

1st April 2012
Night

I look out across-.

"Grayven."

I smile. "Hey, you said it right."

I t-. Huh. Turning around as a pony isn't easy. Your legs get in the way. Careful… Careful…

And turned. Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer and a nervous-looking Pinkie Pie have approached me, Twilight in the lead.

"I'm.. not.. seeing any Elements of Harmony."

"We've been talking to Sunset about you."

I lean forwards. "Luna? That you?"

"'We' as in 'the Bearers'. And according to her, this… Unnecessarily confrontational way of behaving is how you handle everything."

"Sunset, have you been telling people the truth? That's a bad habit."

She glares at me. "I thought you were going to wait on this until after my ascension."

"If Celestia was actually here, yes. If they rainbow beam me tonight we can have it sorted before she gets back. Then it can all be about you because I'll be able to support you fully without having to worry about alienating her."

"But the point is-" Twilight looks at me sternly. "-you were right. When we went to rescue Rarity from the Diamond Dogs, all we thought about was getting her out. We didn't think about whether or not the Diamond Dogs had a legitimate complaint. And when we found out that they were going to let her leave we didn't question it. But I've learned that while sometimes being a good friend means supporting your friends completely, sometimes it means telling them when they're doing something wrong and helping them find a better way."

Did I just..? Teach her a friendship lesson?

"So..?"

"So we're going to visit the Diamond Dogs with the Attorney General of Equestria and we're going to negotiate a settlement properly."

"And are you going to stop off at the Tree of Harmony on the way back?"

"No. Because I don't think we're the only ones who should be learning a lesson here."

"No, you should be sending Spike to school, and should have been for years. I had wondered if perhaps Equestrian schools were just for ponies, but the legislation-."

"Yes, Spike will be.. starting school once I've talked things over with Cheerilee. I actually have been teaching-"

"Are you qualified to teach?"

"-him… No, I'm not, and that's why he's going to start school. But that wasn't what I meant. You could just have told us about any of these things. Instead-."

"You interrupted a PARTY!"

I regard Pinkie Pie's outstretched hoof for a moment. I actually did see her move, though it was very fast, and from Sunset's expression I think she missed it.

"You decided you were so important that you could just ruin everypony's day!"

"No, I decided the infectious curse I'm carrying was so important I could browbeat ponies into prioritising properly. This is objectively the most important thing happening right now."

"I disagree." She sits back with her forelegs crossed across her chest. "So do your worst, Mister, because there's nothing worse than having a party ruined."

"Twilight Sparkle. On the day-."

"Hey!" Pinkie renews her glare. "You said it was my turn!"

"This is just a bonus. Twilight, you remember when you wrote to Celestia about Nightmare Moon's forthcoming return, and she told you to get out and make some friends."

"She told me that because if I hadn't been in Ponyville I wouldn't have been able to get to the Elements."

"But what if you'd stuck with your Canterlot friends? What if you hadn't written to her about Nightmare Moon and gone to Moondancer's party instead?"

"Ah. Then-."

"Celestia prioritised saving the world over your existing friends, and she was right to do so. Now Pinkie, you-?"

"Wait…" Twilight stares at the ground as she tries to fault my reasoning. "But I needed to make friends in order for the Elements to work. But Princess Celestia didn't ask about my Canterlot friends before she sent me to Ponyville. But if I hadn't written to her, and she hadn't sent me…"

I lean forwards. "Is she going to be like that for a while?"

Pinkie nods. "Probably."

Well, if she's broken anyway…

"You remember when you used the Mirror Pool to create duplicates of yourself?"

"I already said sorry to everypony about that! I did a scroll and everything!"

"Everyone?"

Pinkie regards me curiously. "And I'm supposed to say 'did I miss somepony', and get ready to say sorry to them as well, and then the actual thing you're going to use against me is something completely different and I'm not going to know what to do because I'm just thinking about saying sorry?"

"No." … "Yes." I give her a respectful frown. "You're surprisingly insightful."

"I know!" She nods confidently. "I surprise myself sometimes."

"Okay, put me off my game a little there… But given what Twilight just said about telling friends when they're in the wrong, don't you think you should have done something about all of the clones of you which Twilight brutally murdered right in front of you?"

"What?" Twilight looks up from her introspection death spiral. "Wait, you mean the Mirror Pool copies? They weren't really ponies."

"Huh. Hardcore. I hadn't realised that ponies went in for 'unpeopling'. Or that you had the authority to do it at-will. Though I suppose it does make murder far simpler, legally speaking."

Pinkie Pie starts to look uncomfortable. "Ah, Twilight? I thought they just went back into the Pool."

"No, I mean they really weren't ponies. They were just magic constructs, with no real internal life."

Twilight seems confident, but Pinkie Pie has started shaking. She knows where this is going.

"One moment."

Mother Box.

… Ping.

Because I may not be an expert in 'Friendship Studies', but I was paying attention during Sunset and Zatanna's talk on magic ethics. The sooner I do this, the less harm will be done.

Ping.

Boom!

The boom tube opens and a pony wearing a dull purple raincoat and fedora jumps through.

"Oooh, this is fun!" She takes a quick look around and then prances up to me. "Party Popper at your service, for all your celebratory needs." She pulls off her hat-

"Pinkie? Is that you?"

-then she catches sight of Twilight Sparkle.

The surviving Pinkie clone shakes in terror, eyes widening, poofy mane and tail collapsing and teeth chattering. "No, no, I don't wanna die I don't wanna die get her away from me!"

"Pin… Kie..?"

"Nononononononono…"

She collapses, tears streaming down her face and forelegs held protectively over her head.

"'No real internal life', huh?" Twilight starts hyperventilating and Pinkie's mouth drops open in horror. "Looks like she's got an internal life to me, Miss Twilight 'Serial Killer' Sparkle."

Sunset glares at me. "Grayven, what the hell?"

"Hey, someone needed to stop that madpony before she decided that anyone else wasn't a real person." I lift Pinkie 2 up-. I clean up the urine and then lift Pinkie 2 up onto my back, where she clings on for dear life. "Elements. Tomorrow. Or I pick someone else."

 

5th March
14:36 GMT -5
Earth 8096

Anthony scowls at me as I chivvy my team mates out. "You know, this is technically my house. And by 'technically' I mean 'I literally own it'."

"And I'll let you all back in just as soon as you're wearing-" I pat Anthony's power armour with my left hand and give Thor a slightly harder glare than he really deserves. "-normal clothes, and I've made sure that he's well enough to do anything."

Janet shrinks and flies up so that she can look at the now-defrosted Steven Rogers over my shoulder. "He looks fine to me."

"He's been frozen in a block of ice for over sixty years, Janet. I'll be impressed if he's not a vegetable. Please?"

"Hmh." She folds her arms across her chest as Anthony and Thor give up and head down the corridor towards their rooms. I raise my left hand and generate a fly swatter construct. Her eyes widen. "You wouldn't."

"I'd feel bad about it, but if I thought your presence was a risk to my patient's wellbeing, I would."

"Okay, fine!" She turns away, reverting to normal size as she stalks down the corridor with fists clenched. "Jerk!"

And we're good. I step back into the mansion's sick bay and close the door. Then I lock it before turning around to look down at Captain America.

Ring, status?

Orange light plays over his body and then cuts out.

Subject is in good physical condition. Mild bruising. Acceptable fat reserves. No muscle wastage. No detectable damage to internal organs. Upon the basis of available evidence-.

It wasn't hibernation, because if he was hibernating he'd be… Thin as a rake. At best.

Based on normal hibernation energy consumption, he would be dead.

While in reality, he's already breathing unaided. His body was the temperature of the ice surrounding it when we dug him out, but ever since we did he's been steadily warming up. He's nearly up to the body temperature of a-

"Mrrhki."

-healthy human-.

I shove my left hand into the pocket of my lab coat as Captain America's eyes flutter open.

"Captain?"

He jerks upright. "Bucky!" He tries to push himself off his bed, his legs getting momentarily tangled in the sheets before he regains enough motor control to just rip them apart. As he comes to his feet his eyes scour the room, noting and then apparently dismissing me as he searches for-.

Ah. His shield. Which is in the armoury two floors away. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I use my thumb to slip the power ring off my left ring finger and then hold both arms out towards him, empty hands clearly on display. "Mister Rogers. Can you understand what I'm saying?"

Two feet firmly planted on the ground, right shoulder slightly forward, enough power in a jab to give me a skull fracture. Right.

"Who are you? Where am I? Where's Bucky?"

"Mister Rogers, I'm not going to tell you anything until I'm certain that you're well. If you're not going to lie down would you at least sit down?"

His eyes narrow slightly. "You're a doctor?"

"A nurse, actually." Sort of. I rushed the theoretical parts of the job by ring download and don't have anything like enough practical experience a fully qualified nurse would have. But I'm pretty sure that I could have qualified in the forties. "And it's my job to make sure that tomorrow we can announce to the nation that Captain America is alive and well and not that he had a heart attack and died because we fouled up his care." I smile, then gesture at the bed with both hands. "Please?"

He regards me cautiously for a moment before scanning the room again. Without ripping out large amounts of equipment I couldn't really make it look like it was from the forties, but I at least got rid of the worst offenders. Nothing.. appears to set him off. He takes a deep breath and then relaxes his muscles a little.

"Is this.. England?"

"No. New York, actually. Please-" I take a small torch out of my right pocket. "-sit down and save your questions until after I've given you a once-over?"

He hesitates, then reluctantly nods, lowering himself back onto the mess of sheets. "You know I can't get sick, right?"

"Given what you went through, we don't want to take any chances." I walk closer. "Head back a little?" He complies, and I shine the torch directly into his right eye. Pupil reaction normal, and I already know that his optic nerve is fine. I switch to the left. Normal there too. I take a step back and turn off the torch before returning it to my pocket. "Please tell me your full name."

He frowns slightly, but obliges me anyway. "Steven Rogers."

"Your parents' names?"

"Joseph Harvey Rogers and Sarah Alicia Rogers."

I raise my right fist, sticking out my forefinger. "Please follow this?" I move it right, up, down and left, then in a figure of eight. His eyes track it with no difficulty. I return it to my right pocket, pull out a lollypop and toss it to him. His right arm blurs as he grabs it out of the air, and for a moment I think he's about to launch himself at me.

Then he opens his hand and realises what it is. "A lollipop?"

I shrug. "You're being a good boy. With reflexes like that, have you ever considered a career in cricket?"

"A-heh." He makes a sort of cough-laugh sound, though his eyes never leave my face. "I think Uncle Sam's going to have first call on my time. Are you going to answer my questions now?"

"Ah… Yes, and as far as I can tell you're in good health. I was…" I glance at the door. "Rather hoping that one of the members of your squad would be here for this bit, but… I'll do my best. Please understand that you may have questions I'm.. not supposed to answer at this time."

"Alright. Where am I?"

"New York. Eight hundred and ninety, fifth avenue, to be precise."

"What the heck-" He starts to stand. "-am I-" I make a motion with my hands like I'm about to try pushing him back down, and he relents. "-doing back home? There is a war on."

"Mister Rogers, what's the last thing you remember?"

His face hardens. "My missions are classified."

Ah… Yes, that's something a HYDRA operative might ask. I don't want this to turn out like the Ultimates. "Mister Rogers, part of my job is to assess your mental state. I've read the files. I know that your previous mission involved an attack on a HYDRA base commanded by Johann Schmidt, where he was attempting to create a portal to Asgard. I'm asking you to tell me because I want to check your short term memory."

He nods, still a little suspicious. "We took the castle. Schmidt tried to run in some kind of rocket plane. Bucky and I-." He stops, and for a moment I think he's about to ask again. "We climbed on board. Schmidt hit the eject and rigged the plane to explode. There wasn't a second parachute, so I told Bucky to jump but-. The entry ladder got twisted around his leg. I tried to free him but he-. I lost my grip. I fell into the water, and… Then I woke up here."

I nod. "That's.. all correct, as far as I know. I'll have to assume that you are compos mentis. Mister Rogers-."

"It's Captain Rogers."

"Ah… Actually, it isn't. While you were… Ah, missing in action… You were promoted."

"Major Rogers, then. I'm not usually a stickler for protocol, but-."

"General Rogers, actually. But since you insist, General, as far as we can tell, after you entered the water your body… Entered a form of suspended animation."

He frowns. "Like hibernation?"

"No, it's more than that. I'm.. sure that Doctor Erskine would have understood it better than I do. You were… Frozen. And.. now you're.. not. And everything I can see tells me that you're exactly as you were when you went into the ocean. Which is pretty darn amazing."

"Bucky, did he make it too?"

"We.. don't know. I.. don't want you to get your hopes up, but… We didn't think we'd get you back either. We've got some people looking." I shrug. "As soon as we know anything…"

He nods. "If you're not rushing me back to the front… Is the war.. over?"

"Yes. Ah. It's actually been over for.. some time. This is.. a bit that I think it's going to be hard for you to accept, and I.. really wanted someone you knew to be here so they could tell you. Ah-."

"Who'd you call in?"

"James Howlett."

"Logan?" General Rogers frowns, but there's a small smile at the point of familiarity. "What's he doing in New York? I thought he'd go right back to the Yukon."

"I believe that he did immediately after the war, but he works as a school teacher in Westchester County these days."

"So it's… Nineteen forty five?" He sees my face. "Forty six? I was out that long?"

"Ah." I take a step back. "I really think it would be best for you to hear this from Mister Howlett. But if you're not willing to wait..?" He gives his head a small shake. "You've been through a rough time and you're in an unfamiliar environment. I'll tell you, but I need you to promise me first that you're not going to dive through the window."

"Why would I dive through the window?"

"Because it's going to be a shock and your initial impulse is going to be to disbelieve me, which is why I wanted to wait until someone you trust would be here."

He turns his head to look at the window.

And he stares at it for a little too long.

"Alright. I swear that I won't dive out the window when you tell me."

"You experienced no physical change for the whole time you were frozen. I'm not sure you couldn't have been in there indefinitely. So I.. suppose that we're lucky it was only sixty five years."

"Sixty f-?" He blinks, staring at me in a mix of fear and disbelief. "Sixty five years?"

"It's the fifth of March, twenty ten. Welcome to the future." My eyes dip to the floor for a moment. "I'm very sorry."

 

13th June
08:36 GMT -5
Earth 8096

I take a moment to look at myself in the hall's full length mirror. I bought this suit specifically for things like this. I've been to court more than once since I started working with-. Since I became an Avenger. Those escapees weren't going to testify against themselves, were they? But I haven't been-. Okay, family court isn't anything like that adversarial. This isn't even a trial. But still…

I shift my weight awkwardly from my left foot to my right. No, it's no good. Anthony was right about the quality. I can't feel uncomfortable about this suit if I try. The cobbler was even able to realise my desire for trainers that look like dress shoes. The nerves are all me, all internal.

And I feel bad for a moment. Because I know at least one person feels worse about-.

"Big day today, huh?" I turn around at Anthony invites himself in, leaning against the dining room's door frame. "I had my people look up Judge McAlister's records. He's an okay guy. There shouldn't be any surprises."

"Yeah."

"Hey." He shrugs, frowning. "You know these things are basically formalities, right?"

I turn away from the mirror and face him. "Honestly, Anthony, I'll be pleased just to walk free from court."

"In that case… Don't punch the judge. I guess? Unless you really want to." He sees my reaction. "Ah. I.. really don't get why you're so worried about this."

"Because I'm a single adult man trying to adopt a teenage girl he's not related to." I shake my head and head for the door.

He steps back into the corridor as I approach and spreads his hands out. "Yeah, but there's extenuating circumstances. I should know; I proof-read the forms."

"Pardon me?"

I turn around as Cap-. Steven-. As Steve walks down the corridor toward us.

I smile. "Good morning, Steve."

"Are you worried about today?" I nod. "I thought Tony said it was just a formality."

Anthony nods. "Tony did say it was just a formality because it is just a formality. The absolute worst thing that can happen is that they reject your application and that's pretty unlikely. If the judge decides it looks suspicious he'll probably just ask for more evidence, and if her folks aren't… Aren't trying to get her back, that doesn't really change anything."

Steve frowns. "Is there a reason why this is so difficult? In my day, if someone wanted to adopt a child and their parents weren't able to take care of them, it was just a matter of signing a form."

Anthony rolls his eyes. "Orphan Trains kinda went out of fashion."

Steve pauses for a moment, which I've learned is a sign that Anthony's made an age-quip that has annoyed him but that he plans to rise above. "Orphan Trains went out of fashion in nineteen twenty nine. That's why I grew up in New York rather than Kansas."

And that expression means that Anthony knows that he said something that he shouldn't, doesn't plan on apologising for it and might well double down unless someone else says something. So I'd best say something.

"Steve, the problem is… Humans are instinctively bad at judging risk. Proportionally to the number of people who use them, planes are far safer than cars. But there'll be a major investigation after every plane crash while car crashes are… Pretty much regarded as the price of driving cars. Newspapers, radios and television news programs keeping everyone informed of the worst things that are happening don't really help. The result is that people.. passing laws are hypersensitive to things going wrong. For example, children sent to the aforementioned Kansas being used as cheap labour rather than being taken into a loving family as a new son or daughter."

Steve frowns. "Sure, it wouldn't be ideal, but I'm.. not sure that growing up as a farm laborer would be worse than growing up homeless on the streets in New York."

"But them growing up homeless on the streets of New York wouldn't have been specifically authorised and enabled by law."

"I see what you're saying, but I think that's a little cynical."

"Yes, yes it is, and as a man who earnestly desires to raise a young woman with.. no one else willing to care for her as his own daughter I'm experiencing that in a way I hadn't ever expected to. But that's.. what I meant about judging risk. People find out that a particular adoption went badly wrong, they demand that laws be passed to prevent it happening again, and… Mostly what that does is make life harder for good people. But it also stops a small number of… People who would abuse their charges. There's always balance to be struck between complexity and risk."

Anthony tilts his head to the right. "If you want really cynical, it's actually in some people's interests to cause those sorts of moral panics. Not that hard to get elected on a promise to fix a problem everyone's worried about, even if you have to make up the problem yourself."

Steve exhales involuntarily and looks away for a moment.

Anthony smirks subtly, then runs his eyes over me once more. "Not wearing your 'power ring'?"

"It's on a cord around my neck. I don't want to get accused of using an unnatural mental influence."

"Ah, don't worry." Anthony pats me on the back. "Only Mutants get accused of that."

Steve shakes his head. "Logan told me about anti-Mutant prejudice, but I still don't understand why it's so common. The fact that there aren't shops with 'no blacks or Irish' signs up front is my favorite thing about the future. It just seems so.. strange to me that Mutants are still victimized."

Anthony shrugs. "Hey, I'm not prejudiced myself. Y'know, I guess people are just.. put off by people who can do.. weird things."

"In the Second World War I fought alongside the King of Atlantis, a robotic man who spent most of the time on fire, a vampire, and a man who could run at the speed of sound. None of them aroused this sort of fear."

Anthony twitches slightly. "Okay, maybe it's because there's so many of them. I don't know."

"Hey guys!" Janet's wings buzz as she flies does the stairs and beaming as she does so. "All ready for the big day!?"

I seem to remember that in the main Marvel universe, her powers are the result of some sort of science experiment gone wrong while in the Ultimate Universe she says that they are while actually being an x-gene Mutant. One ring scan is all it took for me to find out that the latter is true here. That.. might be why she's been so willing to help me with Anna Marie. Or it might just be that she's that nice.

I shake my head. "No, but here we are anyway. Is Anna-?"

Anna steps self-consciously around the corner of the landing and starts down the stairs. It's really.. too hot for the layers that she's wearing, but between Henry's expertise in material science and Janet's skill as a fashion designer we've come up with something that looks… Nice? I think? While also preventing that accidental skin contact that would set off her life-drain power.

"Anna? All ready?"

She meets my eyes for a moment, then returns her gaze to the stairs. "Yeah."

Janet pointedly raises her eyebrows in my direction, but I'm already walking up the stairs and sticking my left hand inside my shirt to touch the ring. Just a touch to get an environmental shield, then I reach out with my right hand and gently hug Anna. We.. haven't been together long enough for me hugging her to be a normal thing, but she does understand that I'm not trying to… Take advantage of the situation of being the only person on the planet outside of her immediate family she can touch without putting them in a coma. She cautiously returns the gesture, her arms going around my chest and her right cheek touching mine for a moment. Still some work to go on convincing her not to completely avoid human touch, but… Better than when we first met.

I pull back, smiling at her in an attempt to reassure her. "You ready?"

She looks away to the left, shrugging helplessly.

"Anna, if you don't want to do this-."

"No, I-." She looks up at me. She isn't crying, but she looks very far from happy. "I just.. wish it.. didn't-."

"I know. I know."