A Second Life chapter 15

>The carriage gently came to a halt, but enough to jostle you from your sleep.
>Luna remained asleep in your arms, her tiara askew, and her white dress in the floor of the carriage.
>You pulled away, careful to not wake your wife, and quickly donned your trousers and shirt.
>Perfect timing, as one of your drivers knocked on the door, ever so gently.
>You cracked the door just enough to slip out, handing several bits to each of the ponies.
“There is an inn on the edge of town, take the carriage there and get a room for the night.”
>The p0ny… bowed? “Thank you your highness”
>Dafuq.
“If you wish to give me a title, Sergeant will do fine.”
>The p0ny gave no response, only taking the bits in his mouth and hooking back up to the carriage.
>The light was on inside Sugarcube Corner, the sound of crying foals clear in your ears.
>Part of you missed that noise.
>You knocked on the door, bringing tall blue p0ny out from the back of the store where their house was.
>”Do you have any idea what time it is? We are clos- oh. Anonymous I take it?”
“Yes ma’am. I ‘m here for Dawn and Dusk. This is the right place?”
>She gave a tired smile, and allowed you inside.
>“Mrs. Cake will do fine. And yes, we took the children for the night so Pinkie Pie could go to the wedding.”
>She led you to the back of the restaurant, where four cribs sat.
“You have children of your own?”
>”A colt and filly, just a little older than your own.”
“Thank you for watching them. I can’t imagine four foals under one roof for so long.”
>You took out several hundred bits and placed them on the counter.
“Divide this however you see fit with Pinkie Pie.”
>”This is so much…”
“I left them here for over a month, much longer than I expected. You all deserve it.”
>”Thank you Anonymous, this is still a generous amount.”
“Thank you for watching them. I should get going to the inn. Have a good night Mrs. Cake.”
>You scooped up the two little foals in your arms, and began the walk to the edge of town.
>The night sky was lovely as always, the cool night air stirring the two foals from their sleep.
>Soft whines escaped from their mouths, upset from being woken.
“Shhh, Daddy’s here. Go back to sleep.”
>You cradled them tightly, pressing them against your chest.
>You stepped inside the inn, finding the innkeeper behind a desk snoozing.
>Luna came behind you, nuzzling against you and looking at the foals, ”This way dear.”
>She led you up a staircase and to wooden double doors, opening them to reveal what you guessed to be the p0ny equivalent to the presidential suite.
>The atmosphere was homely, like a bed and breakfast back home.
>You keep using that word; I do not think you understand what it means.
>Right, this was your home now.
>The room lacked a crib, forcing you to improvise.
>Luna lay on one side of the bed, you on the other, Dawn and Dusk in between the two of you, covered by her wing.
>It wasn’t the most ideal sleeping situation, but it would keep the two little ones from rolling out of bed.
“Now that you’re married… does that make you Queen?”
>”No Anon, not until my parents step down from their position.”
“And when will that be?”
>”When these two are capable of ruling Equestria, Celestia and I will depart to Elysium and Tartarus to govern them as my parents did.”
“Does that make me…?”
>Luna chuckled. “A prince? Yes. You are technically royalty by marriage.”
“Great, I’ve become what I’ve hated most.”
>”A prince?”
“No, a politician.”
>”I’m not sure I understand…”
>English served you better for this next part, hopefully Luna remembered it still.
“On Earth, us soldiers hated politics. Always trying to cut our pay, while increasing their own.”
>”Seems hardly fair.”
“Exactly. Politics always annoyed me. I was always a fighter, not a talker.”
>”I’m sure you will be a fine politician. Much better than the ones on Earth.”
>Luna laid her head down on her pillow, tightening her wing around Dusk and Dawn.
>That was your signal to kill the lights, it was time for bed.
>You were awoken the next day by the sun’s rays of light in your eyes.
>You crawled out of the bed, looking over at your family.
>Each of them were still asleep, all cuddled together in a massive ball of adorableness.
>With no predetermined route you could take for a proper run, you stuck to some calisthenics.
>Midway through pushups, you felt two weights at your back.
>You pushed up quickly, launching your upper body into the air, and sending the two foals into the air.
>Just as you rolled on your back, the two foals landed on your chest, giggling.
>”You three seem to be having fun.”
“Did we wake you Woona?”
>Luna glared down at you, reaching down to nuzzle the two foals.
>”How are my little ones?”
>The foals nuzzled back, their furry bodies  tickling your chest.
“How about I go get us some breakfast, and bring it back here for us?”
>”Sounds lovely Anonymous.”
>Luna magically grabbed the two foals off your chest, allowing you to get up and put a shirt on.
>You patted Dusk and Dawn on the head, and grabbed your things.
“You two be good for mommy.”
>The walk back to Sugarcube Corner was short, just like last night.
>The town was still fairly empty, most likely all the ponies were still in Canterlot or on their way home.
>There were a few you recognized from Nightmare Night.
>Derpy, the grey Pegasus with crossed eyes was making her rounds.
>Big Mac was hauling a massive cart of hay, and a few other p0niss you didn’t recognize were walking around as well.
>You stepped into Sugarcube Corner, greeted this time by a yellow p0ny.
>”Welcome to Sugarcube Corner Anonymous! What can I get you?”
“Some fritters and blueberry muffins in a bag. Do you have applesauce?”
>”Need some baby food? I got some you can have.”
“Thank you sir.”
>”Mr. Cake is fine. Here you go Anonymous! Congratulations on the wedding.”
>Mr. Cake, should have guessed.
>You shelled out the appropriate amount of bits and grabbed your bag, heading back to the Inn.
>With spirits this high, it felt only natural to begin whistling a little tune.
>Nothing in particular really, most of the tunes various cadences you remembered from Earth.
>Nothing could damper your spirits.
>”Hello Anon old pal.”
>Spoke too soon.
>You knew that smug, sly, deceitful voice anywhere, even if you hadn’t hear it in so long.
“Discord, what an unpleasant surprise.”
>”I heard you got married! I just wanted to drop by and congratulate you. Say, where’s the bride?”
“Not here.”
>”Well I can see that, silly.”
“I was not commenting on your powers of observation, merely remarking the paradox of asking your sworn enemy where his loved ones are.”
>”That hurts Anon, that really hurts.”
“What do you really want Discord. I’m hungry, and I’d like to get this over with so I can go eat with my family.”
>”So they are here? Hmm… That gives me an idea. A very… chaotic… idea.”
>You sighed, placing your bag of baked goods on the ground, reaching back and drawing your knife.
“Come Discord, let us fight.”
>”While you tote that giant knife? That hardly seems fair.”
>A blue flame appeared in Discord’s lion paw, flickering brightly.
“Fair? You have that fireball spell all ready for me.”
>Discord chuckled.
“This isn’t for you Anonymous. I’m about to spread chaos to the entire town, for all the good fillies and colts. Maybe you’re little ones will catch a bit of it as well.”
>Before you could respond, the blue flame shot into the sky, exploding.
“Congratulations, you had the entire town to aim at, and you missed. You are officially the worst shot I know.”
>”But wait! Here comes the crescendo!”
>A familiar tune of Tchaikovsky’s Overture 1812 suddenly played all around you, throwing your mind into total fuck.
>Dark clouds billowed out of nowhere, and fire suddenly rained down on the small town, causing a mass panic.
>Discord floated in the air on the outskirts of the town in front of you, laughing hysterically.
>”Isn’t it marvelous Anon?”
“You’re crazy! You’re mad! You’re…”
>”Brilliant, a genius, a mastermind of chaos?”
>Discord closed his eyes; his grin was getting impossibly big.
>A fatal mistake, as he failed to notice you draw your pistol and take aim.
“No, you’re dead.”
>”Please An-“
>You cut Discord off with two shots, driving center mass into his chest.
>He collapsed, gasping for breath, clutching the two bloody holes in his chest.
>You fired off another pair of bullets just as he snapped his talons, escaping to safety, and the two  .45 caliber slugs threw up dirt behind where his body had been.
>Discord’s disembodied voice rang out loudly. ”Curse you Anonymous! You and your entire family shall pay for this!”
>You searched around, ensuring Discord wasn’t just hiding on a nearby roof top.
>Satisfied he had fled, you were now faced with two options.
>Go into the town, and do your best to take control of this chaos, and save as many lives as possible.
>Or run to the inn, and ensure the safety of your family.
>The father and husband in you was telling you to head to the inn, and your family.
>The soldier in you, ordered you toward the chaos in the town
>Fuck it, you would never forgive yourself if something happened to your family the day after it became complete.
>You took off toward the inn as fast as your two legs could carry you.
>Seems all the PT had served you well, as you arrived at a blazing inn in just a few minutes.
>Luna had already brought Dawn and Dusk out, soot covering her dark blue coat.
“You’re safe!”
>You never felt so relieved in your life.
>”Yes, I’ll watch the children, go to the town!”
“Way ahead of you.”
>You took back off down the town, again as fast as your legs could carry you.
>Discord had succeeded in his first objective, that was apparent.
>P0nies were running every which way, some carrying buckets of water to quell the fires.
>You snatched the first Pegasus you could find, bringing it eyelevel.
“Get all the Pegasi you can find, bring as many rainclouds as you can over the town and bring the rain!”
>The p0ny nodded, dashing off into the sky.
>You kicked in the door of the nearest house that was on fire and began searching the interior.
“Anybody in here?”
>You searched through the house, finding a p0ny already passed out in bed.
>You snatched the soot covered purple p0ny from its resting place, just as pieces of wood crashed onto a dresser by the door.
>Several alcohol bottles smashed open, their contents fueling the flames even more.
>Fuck, trapped.
>After everything you’ve lived through, you were not about to be killed in a house fire.
>The front door was blocked by a thick wooden beam set ablaze.
>The window, not so much. But it was tiny.
>You drew your pistol and fired a pair of bullets, shattering the glass.
>Whether this p0ny was passed out from liquor or smoke, you had no idea, but damn if the 45 going off didn’t wake her, nothing would.
>After clearing the window with your knife of any remaining shards of glass. You tossed the p0ny through.
>Now it was your turn, and you dove head first through the window, landing on top of the p0ny
>With the two of you safe, you through the p0ny over your shoulder and carried it into the street, laying it down for somep0ny with medical training to get to.
>Above dark rain clouds formed and began a downpour, quelling the fires.
>Tired as you were, you kept directing the p0nies, examining the hurt p0nies for any type of wound you could treat.
>On the other side of the courtyard, a tarp was placed over a small purple unicorn with blonde hair.
>Just a little filly.
>You knew you couldn’t save everyp0ny, but this wasn’t right.
>Derpy stood over the fillies tarp covered body, sobbing in the rain.
>Not Derpy, you only met her briefly, but she had seemed the most loving and carefree p0ny ever.
>You walked across the town center and knelt by Derpy, placing a hand on her back.
“I’m so… so… sorry Derpy. Discord will pay for this. I swear it.”
>You hugged her tight as she buried her face in your shoulder, sobbing.
>This must have been what your mom went through when the Army sent home that letter.
>Brain, focus, now’s not the time to be thinking of Earth, and what you left behind.
>The young are supposed to bury their parents.
>But in war, the parents are forced to bury their young.
“You want war Discord, well you’ve got one”
>”Anon, are you ok? You didn’t talk the entire trip to Canterlot.”
“Yeah, I’m ok… Hand me a diaper, think Dusk made some fudge for us.”
>You unpinned the diaper and held it away from you with two fingers.
>Like a rat that smelled and you were afraid it was going to bite you if it got too close.
>Luna traded you diapers, taking the spent one out of your hands with magic.
>Lucky her, she didn’t have to touch the biohazard.
>”Want to talk about it?”
>Yeah, she knew you all too well. But that’s why you married her was it not?
“I just saw some things in P0nyville, best left unseen.”
>Baby wipes, baby powder, place diaper here, fold, fold, fold, and pin.
“There, good as new.”
>Dusk squealed, his tiny body wriggling in your hands.
>”I think another child of yours needs a change too.”
“How come they’re my children when they need a diaper changed, but when they want to play they’re our children?”
>”Oh hush and take care of Dawn.”
“Go do your Spidercolt thing Dusk.”
>Dusk squealed again and floated up to the ceiling and began crawling around up there while you changed Dawn’s diaper as well.
>”Great, now I have to get Dusk down from the ceiling.”
“Let him have his fun. He’ll tire out after an hour or so.”
>Dawn floated up as well, and you assumed she was going off to play with her brother.
>You took your gear and homemade cleaning kit from its non-magical chest, and began ensuring everything was in perfect condition.
>You felt a soft weight on your head an you broke down the rifle and began inspecting the parts.
“Now who could that be, laying on my head?”
>The foal on your head giggled and bit at your hair that you had grown out some just for this reason.
>It wasn’t as comfortable as a buzzcut, but you liked it when the kids did this.
>It was your own fuzzy hat.
>You checked in the nearby mirror, careful not to throw the foal off with any sudden movements.
“Filly confirmed, welcome aboard Dawn.”
>Another squee.
>Setting back down, you inspected each and every part of gear, ensuring it was cleaned and recleaned.
>You’d kill for some proper gun oil, instead of whatever the hell you were using
>For all you knew, it was KY jelly for p0nies, and you were giving all the internals of your weapons a thin coat.
>The knife was sharpened and placed in its sheath.
>Everything had to be perfect.
>”Are you ok Anon? I’ve never seen you like this.”
“Discord will pay for what he did in P0nyville.”
>”Perhaps you’re taking this a bit too hard on yourself.”
“I’m not taking this out on myself. I’m going to take it out on him. He’ll be sorry he ever messed with Equestria.”
>”How can you hope to defeat a demi-god of chaos? For centuries we’ve only been able to capture him temporarily.”
“Easy. Discord killed innocent p0nies yesterday. Stallions, mares, colts and fillies.”
>”That’s horrid but… how does it help us?”
“Because now Discord’s started a war. And as far as I’m concerned, I’m the demi-god of war.”
>”You’re silly Anon.”
>Luna leaned in a kissed your cheek, continuing to keep an eye on the two foals, occasionally looking over to watch you work.
>Yeah, maybe you were being overly dramatic and somewhat silly.
>Still, nop0ny knew combat like you. Nothing outside the human race knew war like you did.
>That was your advantage, and you would exploit it.
>You reassembled your weapons and donned your fatigues, armor, and gear.
>With your rifle slung over your shoulder, sidearm holstered, and blade sheathed, you kissed the two foals and Luna.
“I’m going out on patrol; I’ll see you all later.”
>”Be careful…”
>Outside, the Equestrian summer reminded you much of Iraq.
>That or it was the heavy breastplate that seemed to roast your chest like an easy bake oven.
>You placed your patrol cap on your head, bringing the bill low over your eyes, blocking out the more direct rays of sunshine.
>”Afternoon your highness.” A pair of guards greeted, beginning to bow.
“I swear if you bow to me I’ll kick both of your flanks to the gates of Tartarus.”
>The guards froze in confusion, mid bow.
“I’m a guard, and will be addressed as such. Sir will suffice, as will a salute.”
>The guards straightened up, giving a salute which you returned quickly.
“Make sure the other guards know what to do. Carry on.”
>You walked along the castle walls, passing by the other guards who continually tried to bow.
>This was becoming frustrating.
>Biting your lip to avoid going off on them, you made your way back the way you came.
>No worries, you’ll just check the areas of the castle that were patrolled less.
>You walked around all day, sweat building up all over your body from the heavy gear mixed with the heat.
>As the moon rose into the sky, a cold wind chilled you to the bone.
>”Anon, there you are.”
>You turned to confirm the source of the voice.
“Good evening Celestia. Something I can help you with?”
>You liked to keep meetings with her as brief as possible, best to get to the point.
>“Luna seems worried about you, perhaps you should retire for the night. It’s late.”
>At least she shared the interest of getting to the point.
“Very well then…”
>You had been out here for a while, Discord was probably still licking his wounds anyways.
>Celestia trotted away, the sound of her hooves fading into the night as you looked up at the full moon.
>Right now you were in the garden, where the two sisters often did their ritual of changing out the moon for the sun and vice versa.
>Guards never patrolled here, it was one of the deepest sections of the castle grounds.
>”Expecting someone?”
>In one fluid motion you unslung your rifle, charged the first round, and flicked it off safe.
“Show yourself you filthy animal.”
>”Ah ah ah, sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”
“I got something that’ll hurt you. And it isn’t sticks and stones. Although I’m surprised you’re even walking after yesterday.”
>You continued sweeping the area around you, the darkness doing well at concealing Discord.
>”You’d be surprised what some healing spells can do given enough time. Now, you somehow acquired some new toys from Tartarus itself. A wedding present perhaps?”
“Smarter than you look Discord. That’s saying something too.”
>Fuck his disembodied voice was impossible to track. Was he playing with your brain again?
>”Now Anon, must we continue with these petty insults?”
“Wait, one more. Why are you made up of so many animal parts? Was your mom the star of some… interspecies porn flick?”
>That struck a nerve, and sending Discord into a rage. “RRAAGGHHH! Not another word!”
>He materialized behind you, gripping your throat tightly with his eagle talons, tearing small cuts into your neck.
>Your rifle fell at your feet as you struggled to free yourself from his grasp, not that it was any use at this range.
>”Look up! Look up! At the tower where your family will be going to sleep soon.”
>His lion paw pressed against your forehead, tilting it back to show you Luna’s tower silhouetted against the night sky.
>Not good, your jugular was completely exposed now.
>Not that it had much better of a chance any other way with the size of these talons.
>”Yesterday’s fireworks were but a prequel. HERE is the grand finale.”
>He leaned in, his hot breath stinking of chocolate milk.
>”You should keep your toys away from your children. Especially the ones that go… Boom.”
>Discord snapped his lion paw as he said boom, putting emphasis on the sudden explosion that erupted from the tower.
“NO!”
>You tried to break free, but met Discord’s razor sharp talons digging into your neck.
>You had three hand grenades stored up there in your chest, the rest stayed in the makeshift arms room.
>but only one would have been needed to clear a room that size.
“You bastard! You fucking bastard! I’m going to fucking kill you!”
>”How does it feel, knowing that the ones you loved just got wiped out by your own carelessness?”
>Tears streamed from your eyes. Luna… Dawn… Dusk… all gone.
>”So that’s how you break a human, not through pain, or psychological attacks. But to physically hurt the ones they love.”
“Welcome to Humans 101…”
>Your voice quivered, but you forced through it all.
“I’m your instructor, Sgt. Anonymous. First question… What happens when you take away everything a human has?”
>”Uncontrollable crying, depression, am I missing any-oh. Oh my.”
>You pulled the pin on a grenade, clutching it in your hand
“Wrong. He realizes the only thing he has left to loose, is his life. And I already died once.”
>You dropped the grenade on the ground, causing Discord to gasp and take his talons away from your throat to snap.
>You gripped him just as he snapped, turning you both into dust as the grenade detonated.
>His unexpected passenger threw his spell off, causing the two of you to reappear in the air just a few meters away after the grenade detonated.
>The extra weight sent him falling to the ground, and into the shallow creek, with you on top of him.
>Discord was stunned a moment by the impact, giving you time to draw your knife.
>His lion paw swatted at you, claws out.
>Just like the manticore, you speared through his paw with your knife, jamming the blade into the creek bed until the hilt touched his paw.
>You brought your empty hand across Discord’s face, and gripped his eagle arm mid swing.
>His talons were only a foot away from your face, and inching closer.
>Suddenly a lance of pain shot through your arm as he brought his teeth down on your bicep, his one sharp tooth tearing your arm.
“You wanna fight dirty? Take this!”
>You drew your sidearm, a bit awkwardly with it set to draw for a right handed shooter, and brought it to bear on his face.
>No, too easy. You wanted to see him suffer.
>You aimed at his arm, just above where you held, and fired six shots, each one ripping the flesh.
>Discord let his grip on your arm go as he howled in pain, and his arm was blown in two.
>You drove an elbow into his throat then stood over him as he gasped for air.
>”M-mercy! Mercy!” Discord raised his bloody stump of an arm in defense, and you lined up the next shot.
>You fired one shot, into his knee.
“Mercy? Did you hear the cries of the p0nies from P0nyville as you set their homes ablaze?”
>Another shot, in his other knee.
“You ask me for mercy, after all this time of you hounding me and my love?”
>Third shot, into his stomach, causing him to cough as he plead again.
“Only minutes after you held your talons to my throat and blew my family up in front of me.”
>Your fourth shot landed center mass, making his cries louder and his coughing heavier.
“You will get no mercy from me. All you get is a one way ticket to Tartarus!”
>You lined up a headshot, and pulled the trigger, only to be met with a click.
“Seems I’m out of ammo.”
>”So, I’m free to go?” Discord choked out, blood trickling from almost every part of his body.
“Not a chance. Just means I get to have some more fun.”
>You pressed down on the slide catch of your pistol, allowing the slide to come forward.
>Dropping a knee to his chest, you raised the gun above your head and struck him across the face with it.
>And again.
>And again.
>Until his face was covered in his own blood, and even then you only tossed your weapon aside, pulling the knife from its place in his paw.
>You continued your assault, driving the massive knife into his skull several times, until his face wasn’t even recognizable and his brain was mush.
>Slowly, you rose to your feet, the creek water already turning red with blood.
>The sound of hooves thundered behind you, and Celestia stood next to probably 50 guards.
“It’s done. Nice timing.”
>”Anon, you’re bleeding.” Celestia gently placed a hoof on your chest, only to be met with a firm shove.
“It’s not mine. Leave me be.”
>You made your way to what remained of Luna’s tower, only to be knocked out of the way by a pair of unicorn guards carrying Luna off.
>Shining Armor came down, a crying Dawn and Dusk levitating in front of him.
“Is she…?”
>”She’s hurt bad Anonymous… I don’t know if she’ll make it.”
>You looked over the two crying foals in his levitation field.
>Both looked fairly untouched, their manes ruffled a little from the massive shockwave.
>”She took most of the blast to her back side, lost a lot of blood… You don’t look very good either to be honest.”
“It’s not my blood.”
>”Holy…”
“I need a room to stay in, a few cribs, preferably one close to Luna’s bed.
>Shining Armor was obviously thinking, diplomats often came and went, and you had moved out of your old room and into Luna’s.
“I… I need to be close to her.”
>”We’re treating Luna here, we have a few doctors that know what they’re doing when it comes to wounds. All I can do tonight is put you in the medical bay with her, until I know for sure if we have an empty guest room.”
“That’ll do fine, thanks Captain... Can I hold my kids?”
>”You should wash up first Anon. You look lie Tartarus.”
>That night, you lay next to Luna in the adjacent hospital bed, with Dusk and Dawn forced to share a crib on your other side.
>They seemed to fall asleep quickly, after you hummed a little lullaby to your little ones.
>As for yourself, you didn’t sleep.
>You just lay there, covered by an itchy wool blanket as your only set of clothes was being washed.
>There was a fluttering noise, and a weight on your chest.
“Hey Dusk. Can’t sleep?”
>He shook his head.
>Guess he could understand what you were saying.
>You sat up and cradled him in your arms.
“Me either buddy… Me either…”
>You fell into a new routine fairly quickly as you stayed inside the medical bay.
>Other rooms were available, but you declined, remaining in the medical bay next to Luna.
>Cadence had brought a few toys for Dawn and Dusk to play with, and various p0nies would bring you food throughout the day.
>The steady beep of the EKG seemed to be slowly chipping away at your sanity, and you fully expected t to flat line at any moment.
>No, keep positive brain, Luna survived the initial explosion, she’ll pull through…
>On the other side of your bed, the two foals began to whine.
>You just fed them, maybe they made a mess in their diapers
>Or they were complaining of being stuck in the crib all day.
>You checked their diapers to ensure they were clean, replacing them both.
>The whining persisted, and you scooped them both up, placing Dusk on your head and cradling Dawn in your arms.
“Let’s go for a walk you two.”
>You took the foals to the courtyard, where guards were going about their patrols, and gardeners were maintaining the plant life all around.
>Dusk leapt into the air and fluttered around, catching a gust of wind and shooting up higher than he had ever gone.
>He panicked, causing his wings to stop and plummeted down back at you.
>You jumped into the air, catching him with your injured arm and pulling him to your chest as you fell on your back.
>Lucky for you Discord had only one sharp tooth, or else his bite would have done much more damage.
>Still, you were supposed to go easy on it with the stitches in place.
>Catching a falling colt probably didn’t qualify as “going easy”
>You winced on impact, looking down at the two foals who looked at you with giant blue eyes.
>They tilted their head’s in unison, landing a direct hit to the d’aw factory.
“Dusk, you are going to be the death of daddy.”
>”Ma?”
>Did he just…? It was a single syllable, does it count?
>”Ma?”
“No Dusk, you aren’t the reason mommy’s hurt. Daddy is…”
>”Da?”
>So cute… Dawn and Dusk’s first “words” were opposites.
>They weren’t words really, just baby talk really. Still, it was the first thing you could understand that came out of their mouths.
>”Da?” Dawn repeated, some question implied but you couldn’t tell what.
>You did what you thought best, and put on your pokeface, tussling each of their mane’s.
>”You look like you’re having fun Anon.”
>Cadence stood over you, looking down with a smile.
“Oh, hello Princess.”
>Her horn glowed, picking you up and placing you on your feet.
>”Didn’t the doctor tell you to take it easy?”
“He did, but you know I don’t always listen.”
>”Fair enough.”
>Cadence took Dawn out of your hands with her magic, nuzzling her gently before placing her back in your arms.
>Dusk fluttered back to his perch on your head, bringing laughter to you and Cadence.
>It felt good to laugh in a time like this.
>”How’s Luna?”
>And their went you smile.
“She hasn’t changed at all…”
>”She’ll be ok Anon.”
>Silence took over for a minute.
“Celestia would like to see you when you get the chance. I can watch the little ones if you’d like.”
“Thank you Cadence. Where is Celestia?”
>”She should be in the throne room.”
>She took Dusk and Dawn in her magical field, placing them on her back.
>You made your way to the throne room, meeting Celestia as she exited through the large doors.
“You wanted to see me Celestia?”
>”Yes… I have a problem and I don’t know who else to turn to. Join me for dinner?”
>Your stomach growled in response.
“Yes… dinner would be nice about now.”
>You walked beside the Princess, keeping your distance.
>Trust was not one thing you had in Molest- er, Celestia.
>Celestia waited until you had your food before beginning.
>”Do you remember the changelings Anon?”
“Black creepy looking things? Yes.”
>”They are threatening Equestria once more, with yet another army.”
“How big?”
>”I don’t know… So far all we have received is threats of invasion and war.”
“I guess this is where I come in?”
>”Yes. I need you to go to the Changeling land, and-“
“Assassinate the Queen? Gather intelligence on their forces? Start a coup? Sabotage their forces?”
>”Negotiate a peace treaty. Equestria is ill equipped for war. Normally I would go myself, but I need to look over things here. And with Luna in her current state, I believe you to be the best choice for the job.”
“I don’t think you’ve read my resume Celestia. I’m not a diplomat.”
 >”I know Anon, but… I don’t have another p0ny I can turn to.”
“This is crazy.”
>”I’m desperate Anon.”
“What about Luna? I have to stay here in case she wakes-“
>Celestia brought a hoof across your face, bringing the attention of everyp0ny in the room.
>”Luna is my sister, I love her more than you ever will! And if you don’t do this, then there may not be an Equestria for her to recover in!”
>Well now you just felt like an ass.
“I’m sorry Celestia. I’ll leave for the Changeling kingdom at once.”
>”No. I’m sorry. That was… unlike me. I will have a chariot ready with escorts within the hour. You should prepare yourself.”
>You didn’t bother to finish your meal.
>You made your way to the “armory” you had made near the barracks, grabbing as much ammo and grenades as you could stuff in your vest.
>Diplomatic trip or not, these creatures were vicious. If things went bad while you tried to negotiate peace, you wanted to be able to defend yourself properly.
>You had two stops left on your list.
>First, you stopped by Cadence’s room, to let her know of your “mission”
>She agreed of course, to watch Dusk and Dawn while you were away.
>Second of course, was Luna’s bedside.
>You knelt, silent at first, your eyes wandering over the bandages the covered her body.
“I have to go for a while… but I promise I’ll be back. Cadence is going to watch the kids…”
>Could she even hear you?
“Anyways, stay strong ok? You better not die on me while I’m gone. I’ll kick your flank if you do.”
>You leaned forward, kissing Luna’s cheek.
>Lastly, you made your way to the courtyard, where three golden chariots sat.
>Each one was pulled by two Pegasus, while one Pegasus remained unyoked.
>Five Unicorns stood by, saluting you as you approached.
“I trust you stallions know our mission?”
>”Yes sir!”
“You, Pegasus. Why are you here?”
>”I’m Hermes sir, fastest Pegasus in the guard. I’ll be your forward scout once we get into Changeling territory and a messenger to Celestia if need be.”
“Hermes, a fitting name. Mount up stallions. Hermes, lead the way.”