The Stories of a Dreamlander

Chapter 31: Cold, Harsh Reality

Part 1: Nuclear Device

TIME: 06:22
DATE: War Day 280 (Local)/8 Primaus, 1003 C.S.
LOCATION: City of Stridesebo, Empire of Neighpon

I squeezed. Fire barked from my Bradley, and the single shot tore through the neck of the Porcine, causing visible ripples in its cellulite-thick flesh. It was like slow motion. The Porcine grabbed its neck, and fell, face-planting right on the cart.

Trixie: *RIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!* She shrieked at the top of her lungs, in frustration.

Suddenly, I heard a Zhukov barking next to me, and saw another Molotov Cocktail sail out of the alleyway, hitting the Porcine in the rear of the formation, and starting them on fire. Five dropped, bathed in flames. Porcines don't wear clothes, save a small loincloth and a few belts of ammo across their large chests.

Toola: "COVERING FIRE!" She yelled. She sounded terrified - and rightly so.

I raked the lines of Porcine that were facing me with automatic fire, emptying my magazine quickly. I saw plenty of hits, but only four went down from them. The others grabbed their guns, and started shooting back.

I had no choice but to change position.

K: "TOOLA! MOVE IT!" I yelled out to her, as I scooted back a bit, and heaved myself through the wall of the building next to me. Hey, they're rice paper and woven bamboo - this isn't the sturdiest stuff in the world.

Trixie: "EXTERMINATE THE INTERLOPERS! DON'T LET THEM SHOOT THE BOMB!" *DOOOOOOOOOOON'T* *LEEEEEEEEEEEET* *THEEEEEEEEEEEEEMMM!* She screeched.

Toola rolled into the house at the back. I was somewhere in the middle.

K: "Over here! Come on!" I had no idea why she stayed, but I wasn't going to question it.

I ran for the side door to the house, and tore it off its track to get it open, and dove out of that, and into the space between that house, and the next. I had to get a clear shot at the Bomb. There was no other option. Meanwhile, machine gunfire from the Porcine's Pershings cut through the house we were just in, shredding everything inside in a hail of 9x35mm bullets.

I moved up to the edge of the space between the two houses, and sighted in on the bomb, my hand tensing on the grenade launcher's trigger.

I couldn't see Trixie. I didn't care. I fired once I had a rough sight picture.

And a burst of purple-pink energy hit me at exactly the same moment.

I barely saw where my grenade went - it skipped along the ground and landed somewhere. I'd missed.

I could also feel Toola Roola pulling me back from where I was, firing her Zhukov one-armed. I then realized I was flat on my back. Trixie had hit me with magical energy, and somehow, I'd managed to survive. I lifted my right hand, seeing my Bradley still clutched in it. I reached over, painfully, with my left hand and hit the breech opening lever on the Gavin, letting the fired shell drop out. I grasped for another, and realized the loaded magazine was still in my hand. Not really thinking, just panic'ed-ly moving my hands as fast as I could, I used the edge of the fresh magazine to hit the ejector on the Bradley, and once the empty was dropped free, I slid the full one in its place.

I hit the bolt release, and pawed at my vest for a new grenade. Fortunately, her magic hadn't set off the ammunition I was carrying. I slid another grenade shell into the Gavin, and closed the breech. I was armed, again. But I was moving so slowly.. it was like everything around me was moving in a blur. I fought to get up.. to get back into the fight. I realized we were at the rear of the houses. It took everything I had to get on my feet.

K: "Toola..! Why..?" Was the first thing out of my mouth.

Toola: "Because I'm not going to let someone like you commit suicide alone." She said, plainly.

I staggered, and caught myself on the edge of the house. The Porcine were not giving chase, and neither was Trixie.

K: "Trixie.." I started, scanning the skies for her.

Toola: "She took off. Like, vanished."

K: "I wonder why she didn't just teleport the bomb wherever she wanted to detonate it at..?" Maybe radioactivity interferes with magic?

Toola: "I don't know. All I know is, we have to destroy that thing and get out of here!" She implored me.

K: "If.." If we can escape. If we have enough firepower. If Trixie doesn't come back. If, if, if. "Come on!"

I doubled-back. I went past the shot-up house, past the alleyway where we'd originally started shooting from, forcing my body to work as I went to the NEXT gangway between two houses, after the alley, and scooted up it, Bradley at my shoulder. I got to the edge of the gangway before I fell backwards on my ass, just as the mouth of the gangway was chewed up with machine gunfire. The Porcines were dug-in!

K: "FUCK!" I cursed.

Toola: "Now what!?"

K: "We go up!" I pointed at the roof of the house that was next to us.

Toola: "UP!? Are you crazy, I can't fly!"

K: "No, we climb." I said, pulling a box over.

Toola: "I can't exactly jump very well, either! I'm not a physical pony, you know! I'm an artist, not a soldier!"

K: "You seem handy enough with that sub-gun to me.." I nodded.

I got up on the box, and pulled myself up on to the angled roof, laying as flat as possible so I wouldn't go THROUGH the roof. Once up, I spun around and dangled my front half over the gangway.

K: "Get up on the box, and give me your hooves!" I commanded.

Toola: "Alright.. alright.." She conceded, and complied with my instructions.

I managed to pull her up on to the roof with me, graspng her fetlocks in my hands, and rolling my body at an angle, to use the leverage of my body to my advantage. It let her get a back-hoof-hold on the building and get up the rest of the way.

Toola: "Now what?"

K: "We get to the edge of the roof, and kill some piggies." I nodded.

Toola: "This is crazy. I only have one firebomb left.." She said, digging it out of her paint bag.

K: "Paint thinner in sake bottles?" I asked, offhand.

Toola: "Good guess. Yeah. This is the last of my paint thinner." She shrugged with a huff.

K: "Light it and get ready to throw." I nodded towards where the Porcine should be.

Toola: "Right."

K: "I'll give you covering fire. With any luck, we can kill enough of them.." ..for me to get a clear shot at the Bomb.

I only had two grenades left - the one in my Gavin, and one spare. That and one spare magazine, and I'd be down to my Morgan (at least, the Morgan I drew from inventory - Senshi had the one I'd actually made for myself). That wasn't much ammunition, but then again, I expected to be with a group, and be able to send Dash back to get more ammo.

Rainbow Dash.. I hoped she'd managed to get to Senshi in time. I hoped they were alright.

Squirming up to the edge of the roof, I didn't bother with precise aiming, I just hosed the Porcine down. As I expected, they'd taken 'cover' around and by anything they could get behind. This was dangerous in itself - the enemy wasn't the stupid masses of bird brains barely able to hold a Sherman, let alone fight. These guys knew tactics.

Toola Roola flung her Molotov as hard as she could, and it landed right among four of them. I managed to shoot down three more. Two left. I got up and took precise aim at the remaining two as they started shooting at me, and put five rounds into the first one, and six into the second. They both fell. Bastards could take some punishment!

I reloaded to my last spare magazine.

K: "Come on! I have to get a look at that bomb before Trixie gets back!" I said, rolling myself down and to the side, to drop down into the gangway.

Toola: "GET a LOOK!? Are you CRAZY!?" She yelled, but followed.

K: "I have to! I HAVE to KNOW!" I said, breaking and running for the Bomb. I had to terminate three Porcine as I got close, that weren't dead, but disabled from their wounds. It took a few rounds to do this with. Plus, there was the (unarmed) Raptorian that was hiding BEHIND the Bomb, dressed in all kinds of odd robes and things. I just shot him down as I approached.

Bolt lock. My Bradley was empty. I just let it dangle on my shoulder as I inspected the casing of the bomb. It looked like it was made of metal - felt like it, too. I wondered how radioactive it was? I gave the casing a knock as Toola Roola approached.

Toola: "So..?"

K: "I don't know, I'll have to open it up." I said, fumbling for my multitool. Pulling it out, I got the pliers ready and gripped them around a bolt that was fixed to what looked like a panel of some kind, or a plate. It was the only raised, circular surface on the casing. My only guess was, it led to the heart of the bomb.

After a bit, I was able to remove three of the four bolts that held the plate on, and use the blade of the multitool to slide the plate open. Inside was exactly what I was afraid of. An early Implosion-type atomic bomb core. It looked about the size of a basket ball, maybe larger. That would match up almost perfectly with the Fat Man Atomic Bomb. Almost. It might be a bit more. My guess, either way, was a bomb of at least 15 kilotons (15kt). That was enough to kill thousands. And a surface burst would kill hundreds more over the years, from radiation poisoning, fallout-induced cancer and thyroid disease.. I didn't want to think about it.

Toola: "Well..?"

K: "It's an Atom Bomb alright." I wanted to faint. I wanted to shit myself. I wanted my mommy! I WAS STANDING NEXT TO AN ATOMIC BOMB THAT HAD NO VISIBLE SAFETY DEVICES!

Hey, you'd want your mommy, too, if you thought you were seconds from being completely vaporized.

Toola: "What do we do!?" She yelled, terrified.

K: "I can think of one thing. Breach the high-explosive casing. That would prevent the explosive from forcing the radioactive material in the center of that sphere from reaching Critical Mass - basically, if the bomb was sent off, it'd just explode. And probably spread some radiation all over the place, but that's better than this thing going off as designed." The only problem was.. I couldn't REACH it.

Toola: "And how do we do that without killing ourselves?" She pressed.

K: "I'm.. not sure. I can't reach in there. It's too narrow."

I looked at the wires that led to the inner casing. They probably were what made sure the inner casing (the high explosives) all went off at precisely the same instant. Hm. I pulled out the Uchigatana and slid it in the hole. If I could just cut all of the cords.. I could disable the device.. roll the casing over on its side, let the bomb core drop out of the hole.. then I could break it and blow it up.

Toola: "Can't we just step back and blow it up?" She quizzed.

K: "I don't think my grenades would make it through the casing. Besides, this thing has no safeties on it - if I HAD managed to hit it with my previous shot, there's an even chance I could have detonated the device."

I cut the wires. All the ones I could reach. Fortunately, the Uchigatana was extremely sharp and went through the wires like spaghetti. After a bit, I heard it clunk on the inside of the outer casing.

K: "Help me roll this thing. I have to get to the Bomb Core." I got around on the other side, and with Toola Roola's help, managed to roll the bomb over. It was very heavy indeed, but it was also rather unbalanced, where the Porcine had set it down.

The bomb core rolled out of the hole, and stopped at the edge of the street. Now, the real dangerous part of this.

K: "Pray the exposives are insensitive to shock." I said, pulling out Celestia's sword this time. I was going to hack the casing apart.

It took me several swings, but I finally managed to crack the casing. Whatever the inner casing was made of, it was pretty tough stuff. Still, I managed to get it cracked - the explosive on the inside was very brittle and flaked out once I opened up a nice hole. After assuring myself that I'd disrupted the explosive jacket enough, I stepped WAY back. Toola followed.

K: "This is going to be a very, very big boom." I cautioned. Toola got behind my legs. I aimed the Gavin at the pile of Nuclear Device and fired.

The explosion, indeed, was very large. But the very fact that I was simply thrown off my feet, and had echoing in my ears, told me that I'd set off the device non-critically. I'd also probably contaminated the area for a good few square blocks. I didn't have a Geiger Counter, so I couldn't tell. I dragged myself to my feet, and staggered over to Toola Roola, just dropping my Bradley/Gavin on the ground as I moved over to her, and dropped to my knees. I was laughing. She was okay. She sat up, and shook her head, patting me on the shoulder.

That's when I caught a glint of something in the reflection of her glasses, and felt a tremendous thump on the back of my head. The glitter of purple-pink light.

Trixie.

{End Part 1}


Part 2: Trixie's Prisoners (The Crazies Run the Loony Bin!)

TIME: Unknown
DATE: Unknown
LOCATION: Unknown

I awoke.. I don't know how much later it was. I don't even know if it was daylight. I was in a stone-floored prison cell, looking up at a stone ceiling, feeling cold stone along my back. I could SEE, though. That immediately told me that my glasses were still on, and not broken. I started flexing everything.. fingers.. toes.. arms.. legs. Yeah, I was alive. I sat up, and I was looking at a stone wall. I turned, and I was looking at a stone wall with a large metal door on it.

I was a prisoner. Of Trixie.

But, I'd disabled her atom bomb. So, I smugly smirked at the iron door in defiance.

Then reminded myself that I'm not Chuck Norris and I'll probably end up broken, beaten, tortured, and forced to talk. I wasn't trained to resist torture! I was barely able to resist my wife trying to learn what her presents were for Christmas! Even THEN..!

So, I curled my legs into my arms. I was still clothed, but devoid of my weapons and tools. They'd even nicked my watch. I made sure to pat myself down carefully, just in case they missed something. That's when I realized that my lower back was hurting. I pulled up my A-Frame shirt - and realized that Rarity's mark had been ripped off of it - and fingered the 'burning' area of my back.

I wanted to puke.

I could feel the outline of Trixie's Cutie Mark, and I swear the words "PROPERTY OF TRIXIE" was written around it. I'd been MARKED by her. As her BITCH. I suddenly felt very dirty. Filthy. Unclean. And wondered if that's how Fluttershy felt after Grogar got ahold of her. At least Bray hadn't done her, too.. that might've gotten her pregnant.. I didn't want to think about that, right now.

I managed to stand, to look around. And I realized that I wasn't alone in my cell.

K: "Toola?" I croaked out. My throat was so DRY..

Toola: "K? Are.. are you awake?" She lifted her head up from her lap. Her right eye was swollen shut, and her glasses were missing. Her left ear looked swollen, too.

I slid over to her, and sat down against the wall.

K: "You.. you got beaten.." I said, simply.

Toola: "Tortured." She corrected. "It.. it hurts to breathe." She wheezed.

I felt her ribs up. Nothing felt broken, but she was wincing and awful lot. Bruised ribs, too. Nice. They'd been thorough. Fuckers.

K: "Did.." *Ahem* "Did Trixie brand me?" I asked.

Toola: "Ye.. yes, she did." She looked ashamed. "I'm glad you don't remember. I didn't think you were conscious, anyway. She seared it into your flesh. I could.. smell bacon.." She shivered a little.

I put my arm around her, and pulled her in close.

K: "I'm sorry." I had no other words.

Toola: "I chose this. I knew what could happen."

K: "How long was I out?" I inquired.

Toola: "Over a day and a half. It's.. tomorrow evening, some time. I'm not sure.." She shrugged. "What do we do?" She asked, almost mewling.

Gone was any semblence of the tough Freedom Fighter I'd originally met. Not that I didn't expect that - she wasn't a trained soldier, just an artist that got sick of the way people were beng treated and took up arms to try and make a difference.

K: "Trixie's smart. Very smart. Maybe smarter than me. I dunno." I shrugged. Actually, I was already wondering how I could escape all of this. Get out of here - WITH Toola. "Do you know where we are?"

Toola: "I don't know. But not THAT far from Stridesebo. We were carried here by her soldiers. I.. I remember a boat ride. But I don't remember how long. They kept me blindfolded, gagged and tied."


DATE: War Day 281 (Local)/9 Primaus, 1003 C.S.
LOCATION: Trixie's Dungeon, Somewhere in the occupied Empire of Neighpon (like that helps, any!)


Toola: "I.. I don't know what to do. I'm so scared. I.." She nuzzled into me as best she could.

K: "Don't worry. We're friends, right?" I gave her a hopeful smile. "Tell me about yourself."

Toola: "I suppose so." She sighed. "I really haven't had many friends, you know.. artists.. we just like to wander. Make friends for a little bit, and keep going. I've been selling my paintings to keep myself going. I've done alright. I've.. I've wanted to learn everything about painting that I possibly could. You know? Learn every technique, every method.. so I can be the best painter in the world - develop my own style that blends everything I know into one big painting style. My style." She sniffled. "We'll probably die in here."

K: "Don't say that. We'll make it out. Somehow."

Toola: "Don't promise me. Don't.. just don't. I don't want you to break a promise." She looked at me.

K: "I am promising. I promise we will get out of here. Somehow, some way, we will get out." I patted her on her dreadlocks.

Toola: "..you'll never keep that promise." She looked down at the floor, glumly.

K: "I'll try. I'll try my hardest." I let myself lean back against the wall while I thought about my options.

I could try to contact Luna the next time I go to sleep. I guessed that I wasn't able to before because of Trixie's magic - it probably somehow interfered with the dream realm that Luna contacted me on. The very fact that she COULDN'T contact me would be cause for alarm for her. She should be getting to Iwo Jima soon, and she can tell everyone that she can't get ahold of me. Could she tell that I was still alive? I hoped so. That meant that they'd be looking for me. Of course, there were dozens and dozens of islands in Neighpon, besides the two Home Islands. It'd take them weeks to scout them all out. Even then, what if the prison is camouflaged from the air?

Then there was the idea that I could try to escape on my own. That'd probably be very hard. I imagined Trixie had this place prepared for my arrival. Me and the girls, in case she needed them alive for.. something. Even if I got out of the building or buildings.. then what? I didn't know very much about sea navigation, and I'd barely learned how to operate a sail craft. Plus, I had no idea where I was.. so.. how could I even get back to Stridesebo or Iwo Jima from here, if I didn't know where 'here' was?

That meant, if I was going to get out of here on my own, I'd have to have a map and a compass. And food. Plenty of food and fresh water. Or we'd dehydrate before we got very far. If this Island was less than a day's sail from Stridesebo - a few hours from what Toola explained - then, if we'd taken Stridesebo like I'd planned, I should be able to get there. But if we hadn't, Iwo Jima was a bit of a sail away, especially if the sail boat (provided there WAS one) was rather slow. It could take a few days to get there.

Yeah, this looked pretty grim. But, I'd have to evaluate everything as I saw things. Hopefully, Trixie values me more alive, than dead.

The door banged. A Porcine was standing there.

Porcine: "Git'up, hyoomin. Great and Powerful Trixie want to see you."

I got up obediently, head bowed. I looked at Toola.

K: "Just relax, and don't give up." I murmured to her.

Porcine: "NO TALK!"

I nodded to him and kept my head down.

He entered the room. He was aided by a single Raptorian. The Raptorian was armed with a Sherman. The Porcine didn't have a firearm, just a big, knotted length of wood dangling off his loincloth. I was shackled, and escorted out. I didn't even try to resist, I just let them lead me.

I was led through a hall with other prison cells in it. I could hear ponies wailing in Neighponese... I could pick out at least one speaking Germane.. and another speaking in Equestrian (English).. this was a massive prison facility. After the first hall, I was taken past "Gen Pop" - instead of highly secure stone rooms with no windows, there were horse stables with gates in front of them. Prisoners? There were easily over a hundred in here!

Come to think of it.. I didn't remember seeing ANY civilians in Stridesebo. Had Trixie removed the entire population? How big WAS this place?

We were on some kind of elevated catwalk. At least three levels up from the bottom, as far as I could tell. I made sure to completely keep pace with my captors. I didn't even try to drag my feet. No resistance. Just let them do whatever, and plan for escape. Don't let them think you're capable of it. Let them think you're weak..

..along the catwalk and over the three lower levels of the prison, we arrived at another door that was obediently opened to us. We passed into a 'nicer' area of the Prison. I guessed this was the Guard's quarters. To my left and right, I could see weapon racks. Halberds and pike poles. I kept my eyes open and eventually, as we were led around a corner, I spotted the armory that held firearms. It looked pretty big. Big enough, anyway. That allowed me to guess at the number of guards in the facility (between 200 and 300) and thus, the likely number of prisoners (perhaps as many as 5,000 or more).

Up the hall, and around another corner, and I was handed off to three Raptorians. One of them had a Filly Arms Makepeace revolver on his belt. A copy? Or one taken from Equestria? I didn't bother to ponder, I just kept my eyes open. I was led up the hallway, to another door, guarded by two Porcines and two Duregars. One of the Porcines opened the door, and the three Raptorians guided me in.

There was Trixie, in all her 'splendor' - naked except for some kind of sheer nightie of some kind. Laying on a very large bed. With food and drink next to her.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going to happen here.

Trixie: "Remove his shackles." She looked at me. "Try anything, and I'll kill your little rainbow-haired friend." She was even in her tone.

Okay, she had that. She could kill Toola Roola, and I'd never forgive myself. I felt responsible for her.

K: "What do you want, Trixie?" I asked.

Trixie: "Just wait, Human." She looked at her guards. "Leave us."

Raptorian: "Bu-but, Great and Powerful One! What if the human attacks you!?"

Trixie: "I'm an Alicorn - the greatest power there is in the land. He cannot fight me. Now go."

The Raptorians departed. I just stood there, looking at her.

K: "Again, what do you want from me?" I shrugged. "You going to torture me with magic? Make me talk about what new technologies I'm planning to create? Strategy?"

Trixie: "HO! No-no-no-no.." She slithered in the bed like a snake, and lay flat on her back, presenting herself to me. "Not yet, anyway. No, I want you to pleasure me, and me pleasure you.. more the latter than the former. I want to be your lover.."

I winced inwardly. I knew where this was going. She wanted to pamper-torture me. She probably knew I was engaged to Applejack, and somehow figured out that I was a guilty soul. That or she just wanted to seduce me away from my friends with promises of otherworldy six-dimensional orgasms that they couldn't match and I'd miss, if I were to ever leave her.

She was playing the psychological angle. She didn't realize just how truly DEVIOUS humans really were. Or, for that matter, how much of a Sex God I really was. I'd play her game, see where it got me.

So, I crossed my arms, and stood there, cocking a very confident brow at her.

K: "Alright. But I'm not going to get much pleasure if I'm completely dehydrated and starving." I shrugged.

Trixie: "Ohh-ho-ho-ho.. I expected you'd say that."

She beckoned me to the table with food on it, next to the table. I walked over and stood there.

Trixie: "I know you eat meat.." She started, grasping the large cover that was over a plate.

I could already guess what was underneath.

She lifted it away to reveal a foal that had been, it seemed, roasted alive. Just as I expected. She wanted me to get squeamish, beg her not to do this anymore.. bargain with her.

Instead, I walked over and yanked the forelimb off of the already dead child, and started eating. I would never tell Cosmic this, but the foal as prepared expertly. Perfectly seasoned. I ate it as I stared at her.

She actually looked a little surprised.

K: "This water?" I asked, pointing to the pitcher with clear fluid in it.

Trixie: "Yes." She tried to keep her even keel, but I'd already pushed her perception of me farther than she thought I could go.

I drank the water straight from the pitcher and deliberately ate nothing but the foal, right in front of her, while staring her in the eye. I was gauging her own response - whether she realized it or not - I wanted to see if there was still some spark of good in her. Anything. I couldn't tell, yet.

I stood there and ate. For a good, solid ten minutes, until I was full. I even made a point of dipping the meat in its own juices.

I'd shocked her.

Trixie: "Does your dear fiancee know you'd be so eager to eat her little sister?!" She started in.

K: "I'm human. She knows I eat meat, and plenty of it." I shrugged. "Would I eat her little sister?" I looked at the roast foal. "If she was prepared this well, maybe."

As I said once before, Politics are part of my raising.

K: "Now, then.. let's see if the Great and Powerful Trixie is so great in bed!" I started, as I predatorially advanced on her. She wanted to rape ME? Oh, HELL naw.. I was going to ride her like the little pony she was, and wear her the fuck right out. She wanted to make me sexually addicted to her? I was going to make HER sexually addicted to ME..

That's the fun thing about being human - we can have very, VERY flexible morals.

Trixie: "Oh-ho-ho.. I seriously doubt you can do better than The Great and Powerful Trixie.." She purred as she stared at me, letting me take the lead, expecting me to wear myself out so quickly.

About an hour later? It was over.

Yeah, that's right, you sick fucks, I'm not telling you what I did with her. Not in any detail, anyway. Let's just say my hands got me out of yet ANOTHER tight spot, and combined with her shorter trigger, I was able to play with her endlessly, switching between my fingers and my tool. I didn't let myself go until well AFTER she was too tired to object. And then? I just did for myself and finished all over her face.

K: *Hmpf* "Some Great-and-Powerful Alicorn you are." I insulted her as the last drops landed. "You didn't show me endless pleasure. I had to finish myself off!" I snorted. "And now, it's all over your face." I growled, dominantly. "Now, be a good girl, and lick it off."

Yeah, I made her clean her face. Of my 'essence.' And she wasn't objecting.

I laid down in the bed with her, naked as a jaybird, and rested with my hands behind my back.

Score? K: 2, Trixie: 0.

Trixie: "I.. had.. mm.. no idea.." She managed to gurgle out.

She was just laying there, her fine coat all mussed up everywhere. Her wings were even mussed up. I'd even been sure to give her horn-fellatio (thankfully, between my liasions with Rarity and Luna, I had plenty of practice - YES, I was still doing Rarity on the side, she liked it, remember?) which only made her problems that much worse.

I noted that Trixie didn't have Luna's stamina. That was important. If she couldn't hold up in bed, then her power was a paper tiger. It meant that any protracted battle with her would end in our favor. She may have the POWER of an Alicorn, but she didn't have the stamina to back it up. That means she was weaker than she seemed to be.

Trix didn't realize it, but she was basically handing me Intel left and right. I now knew that if she were to have any chance against Luna or Celestia, she'd have to take them by surprise, and finish the fight very quickly, then have time to recharge before she went after the other sister.

K: "Now what?" I asked. If I'd had a cigar, I'd've probably lit one up right now (even though, as mentioned previously, I no longer 'needed' tobacco).

Trixie: "Mm.." She rolled over and laid a foreleg over me. "You're still my property.." She said, dreamily. "I say you stay here until I get tired of you.. and that's not happening any time soon." She curled up. Snuggled agaisnt me.

So, I let her drift off to sleep, before I did the same. I hoped to contact Luna.


......

.....

....

...

..

.

I sat up in Luna's bedroom in the palace. She was laying on the bed, in her human form, completely naked.

I fixed her with a gaze. A lusty one.

K: "Remember our first night together?" I said, lustily. "Remember what I said to you?" I asked as I got up and walked over to her.

Luna: "Yes, of course we remember.." She said, lifting her head up to kiss me. "You told me that you loved me."

K: "Ahh." I kissed her back.

That wasn't Luna, that was Trixie. I knew it. And now I knew why I wasn't able to contact Luna while I was unconscious. Trixie had gotten inside my head, and fucked around.

Now she wanted Round Two in the Dream Realm.

K: "Just one thing." I said, caressing her shoulders.

Luna/Trixie: "Anything, my love."

K: "You want to play human forms, show me YOUR human form, not Luna's." I smirked.

Trixie's Voice/Luna's Body: "How did you know?!"

K: "That wasn't what I said to Luna." I shrugged. It was true. I'd said something much kinkier once she started raping me.

Trixie took a moment to get the dimensions right, but shifted herself into her human form, then pounced me on to the bed.

Trixie: "TAKE ME, DAMN IT!" She demanded. "I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO RUT LIKE A MONKEY!"

And so, we did.

.

..

...

....

......

.......


I awoke before she did. Sitting straight up, I gave her a smirk. Again, she'd failed to keep up with my hot monkey lovin'. Now she looked even MORE wore out. Not to mention the fact that she was oozing juices. Mare juices.

I was going to torture the fuck out of her. She thought herself so superior to me? She would have been better off doing BDSM shit. No, no... SHE wanted it ROMANTICALLY dominant.. and here I was, domming the shit out of her.

Don't any of you dare ask how I'm so good at this. I won't fucking answer.


DATE: War Day 283 (Local)/11 Primaus, 1003 C.S.
LOCATION: Trixie's Bedroom, Trixie's Dungeon, Somewhere in Occupied Neighpon


So, it went on like that for a while. Let's just say, I awoke her with some nice attention, wore her out again, ate, slept, did her in the dream realm again, woke up, and repeated the activity.

Yeah, I stole the momentum away from her, and ran with it, using my apparently godly sexual skill to completely destroy her.

But, let's be fair here for a moment, folks. Let's be honest. These are Ponies. To them, sex lasts a minute and it's over. They don't usually go for multiple rounds like two passionate humans could. Hell, my skills are probably average at best when it comes to human performance. My equipment, too, probably. But you know what they say... I'm a big fish in a small pond. I don't exactly have a lot of competition.

Finally, Trixie woke up in the right mind. She just sat up, and looked at me.

Trixie: "That was.." She started off, in an even tone.

K: "You want more?" I asked, slyly. I'd never made a single move to try to attack her, just fuck her brains out.

Trixie: "..no." She finally said. "I want a shower." She got up and trotted over to where the 'bathroom' was. "Don't try to escape."

K: "Who says I want to escape?" I joked, got up, and walked to the shower WITH her.

Oh, yeah, there was more fun in the shower, too.

Finally, after getting OUT of the shower, she was rather frustrated. Maybe with herself.

Trixie: "You.. you.." She held her hooves up, wagging them at me. "..I don't believe this!" She finally said.

K: "Want me to leave? Go back to my cell while you recover, so we can do it again later?" I shrugged.

Trixie: "Do you just want me for my body!?" She grabbed my chest.

K: "Your body IS exeptional - human or pony. I won't pretend that I can turn you to my side." That would be Hero/Villain Mistake #2: Assuming a little hot dicking can turn someone. "But do you think you can turn me to yours?" I left THAT one as an ego tease and a dare.

Trixie: "What is it going to take to make you betray them?!" She finally said, after pondering my dare for several moments.

K: "I don't know." I shrugged. "Humans do have flexible morals, and we are very responsive to bribes of the flesh. You might have a chance if you keep going. But I'm not going to insult you by thinking you'd betray Tirek." Humble, if lefthanded, compliments.

Trixie: "Y-you're right. Lord Tirek has made me promises, as long as I get results. And I have. I spearheaded the invasion of Neighpon and won." She dismissively shrugged. "He rewards me. He even had me brought back to life!" She exclaimed. That confirmed that Hydia's Necrooze had, indeed, been used on her. "But.. but you.. you're different than the others." She slid up to me. "I want you by my side. The same way Tirek has Scorpan at his side... but..." She blushed. "I want you to give yourself to me.. I want to be your Leading Mare." She looked up at me, a twinkle in her eye. "You can even keep that trashy country pony! Yeah!" She nodded emphatically. "Just as long as she stays locked up where she can't interfere with Lord Tirek's plans.. you can have her whenever you want! Any of them! What about the yellow one? Or.. or did Grogar ruin that for you?" She clung to my hand. "I can wipe her memory of it. She's so.. so.. obedient. I could make her your.. OUR.. little slave!"

She was rambling promises to me. She was getting desperate.

Trixie: "I.. I can even see to it that you and I can rule over Equestria together! Yeah! King and Queen.." She nuzzled my hand. "..and you can crown me every single night."

K: "You're promising me an awful lot." I made myself look thoughtful. She was being desperate, but that also put me in a precarious position. If I responded.. poorly.. then she'd probably freak out and have me beaten. I'd like to avoid that. "Of course, I.. don't wish to insult a lady by refusing her outright." I shrugged. "My problem is.. I don't know if I can trust you or not. I mean, this whole sex thing could be just an act - you ARE that good, after all - and you might just want a little information out of me before you execute me on Tirek's orders."

Trixie: "What can I do to prove it?" She seemed.. concerned. "Anything! Well.. don't go acting stupid." She cautioned.

K: "Let's start with something small, shall we?" I shrugged. "The pony I was brought in with."

Trixie: "Right, right.. I'll have her fed and watered three times a day!"

She looked at the door, paced over to it on all fours, and opened the door to yell at one of her guards. The room was VERY soundproof, I could tell that just by how hard it was to make out words that she was yelling near the top of her lungs. She shut the door and came back.

Trixie: "Of course, I'm not stupid. You got something.. now I want something."

K: "I'm guessing that you don't want another round of Hot Monkey Sex.." I left it off with the intonation that I wouldn't mind.

Trixie: "No! Well.. yes.. later." *Ahem* "I want to know how you knew about The Bomb. How to disable it. What it was. I was told that it was.." She looked aside a moment. "..that no one would have any idea of what it was or what it did."

K: "They exist in my world. And as for knowing how to disable it, I understand the basic process of how the device worked. Once you understand the basics, it's very easy to figure out how to disable it. The core of the bomb.. it had to be exactly perfect for it to work. I knew that if it was made imperfect enough, it wouldn't function properly." I shrugged. I knew a lot more than THAT, but I wasn't going to tell her any more than I had to.

Trixie: "That.. makes sense." She pondered this a moment. "One more thing.. then.." She trailed a hoof gently down my tummy. "..how did you know I was on the island?"

K: "Honestly, I didn't. I heard you while I was trying to link up with allied forces." It was the truth.

Trixie: "I thought so! See.. I was.. accused.. of having a leak in my organization." She cocked a brow at me. "Is there one?"

K: "Ah-ah.." I wagged a finger. "I already gave you two." I said, gently sliding my hand behind her head. "Time for you to give." And I guided her head down.

So, now, I was sleeping with the enemy. And pumping her (ha-ha, you sick freaks) for information and favors. Perhaps being a Prisoner of Trixie wasn't going to be so bad, after all? At the very least, I was going to get some intel out of her. I was already planning on how to get her to give me the keys to my freedom, without realizing it.

Of course, I'd deal with my guilt later.

{End of Part 2}


Part 3: Playing the Game (which you just lost, by the way)

TIME: 09:35
DATE: War Day 285 (Local)/13 Primaus, 1003 C.S.
LOCATION: Neighpon Prison and Slave Labor Camp #3, Occupied Empire of Neighpon.


I'd spent the last two days basically enjoying good food, and extensive sex. I'd been playing Trixie like a cheap fiddle. A lot of sex, and she'd ask me intelligence related questions. I would answer something short and simple, and in exchange, ask for things for myself, Toola Roola, or the other prisoners - as a 'show of trust' or 'equivalent exchange for negotiations.' Something like that. Either way, she would give in, in order to continually try to win my favor. To win me over to her side. She had her reasons.

Though I won't deny that Trixie had a very strong will, her convictions very strong, and her desire for power equally so, she wasn't very smart. She was still absolutely convinced that she would be able to turn me to her side. In the meantime, I was sleeping in HER bed, eating HER level of food, sharing HER shower, pounding HER flank, and getting HER information. I even managed to get my watch back, AND find out where my equipment was being stored. My Bradley had apparently been left behind - they didn't have ammo for it, and it was empty, so, they just left it.

That was a GREAT thing, given that my NAME was carved on that particular rifle. Empty rifle and no corpse? The girls - if they'd found it - would KNOW that I was still alive, and captured. They'd be looking for me. Spike would send a message to Celestia, and Celestia would contact Luna. All I had to do was get clear of Trixie's magic, and Luna should be able to detect me when I go to sleep. Then, we'd be rescued.

Let's see.. how about a review of the intel I'd gained?

-I now knew that Tirek's home 'land' was indeed across the sea somewhere. Trixie had never been there, but she knew it was not near the Cervine lands, and was somewhere to the south-west of Equestria. The invasion into Neighpon was actually a stretch of their travel time and capabilities.

-I had confirmation that a weapons factory was set up somewhere in the islands between Tirek's lands and Equestria.

-I knew that Rep was indeed in charge of that project.

-I now knew that Tirek was actively attempting to resurrect, free from imprisonment, or otherwise recruit Equestria's ancient enemies both as distractions and as lieutenants for his campaign.

-I also had confirmation that Tirek was not the one who spurred the Khyangese to attack Equestria - they had a surprise meeting at Paradise Estates, and Somnambula had failed in whatever her objective was, there. However, she had managed to negotiate her own withdrawl.

-I now knew that Tirek was also seeking the Rainbow of Light. For his own self-preservation - it was 'the only thing' that could defeat him.

-I knew that the invasion into South Cowrea was on hold until one of Tirek's lieutenants negotiated with North Cowrea to provide the bulk of the manpower in exchange for the technology to manufacture Shermans, Pershings, Zhukovs and Lees. North Cowrea would conquer the South, and swear loyalty to Tirek, breaking with the Herdintern Pact.

-Trixie was handed the A-Bomb by Tirek personally. And in an unsurprising show of lack of trust, not told exactly what its capabilities were. She was merely informed that "The Bomb" was exceedingly powerful and could destroy a city. She was also warned not to use it with her close by, that not even her magic could protect her - hence why she didn't try to teleport it.

-Trixie feared there was a leak within her command structure.

-Trixie was higher on the totem pole than Rep, but lower than Somnambula and a few others. She was, in fact, in rivalry with Somnambula.

-Her rivalry with Somnabula was the reason she wanted me. I was a trophy, a bird in a gilded cage, and a performing monkey (literally) all at the same time. The trophy part was all she was really interested in - she needed the other two. She needed me to give her an intel and technology boost so she could out-shine Somnambula.

-Tirek had Porcine brought over only recently. He'd conquered them 'ages ago' but only recently started sending them over to this area. They were his elites.

-Tirek had at least one, and probably more, races under his control.

-Tirek honestly didn't care about the ponies one way or another, but he knew of a way to 'extract the rainbow' from them. From this, he wanted to build his own Rainbow - the Rainbow of Darkness. However, this required a LOT of ponies (thousands), so his activities in this area weren't as extensive as everything else. She suspected he had some kind of factory to 'extract the rainbow' somewhere, as he'd threatened her with 'a fate worse than death' if she failed him too many times.

-Tirek also didn't know that she'd captured me, and she had no intention of telling him until I was corrupted to her side. Again, I was a trophy to be paraded around. A medal that didn't get pinned to her chest.

-The invasion of Stridesebo had been effective and accomplished its goals. Gorosbif had retreated and was now in danger of losing his position. Trixie had originally left the Bomb so she could get reinforcements from him, but he refused to help, so she came back and realized that there were just two of us, hence why she decided to capture me.

-Trixie was actually willing to let The Girls live, if I traded my loyalty for their lives. Even Twilight, provided we kept her in bondage and did unsavory things to her, regularly.


By my own personal evaluation, as far as I could tell, Trixie had 'lost it' ages ago, and was psychologically broken. She was driven by greed and lust. Both a lust for power and a lust for ME - the ultimate trophy. She also didn't see death as the ultimate punishment, really - she'd "matured" (her word) and realized that breaking the mind was much more fun than simply killing the body. More entertaining. Now, this wasn't one-sided. I had to give some intel as well, but I kept my answers short, and deliberately limited them to mere confirmations of her suspicions. Oh, the intel leak? I did confirm that it wasn't MY side doing it (which was true), and suggested the Khyangese.

Hey, if I was right, I might be able to get Tirek distracted with attacking Kianga. Which could either destroy them, or force them to side with US. See what I mean about playing the game?

In reality, I gave Trixie very little hard intel, and was setting her up to perceive Kianga as a threat. Play one side against the other.

I will admit, the sexual stuff I had to do to maintain my convincing guise was..

..I felt dirty. Really, really dirty. I wanted my Leading Mare - Applejack. I wanted Luna. Hell, I'd be happy to snuggle Rarity and Katrina at this point. Anything to wash away the feeling that I'd traded my body for military victory. "Lie back and think of Equestria?" Bah. But, I kept my composure.

Even if The Great and Powerful Trixie was playing Hoover Vacuum with my knob, willingly, like a good little bitch.

I let her do it. I let myself enjoy it. Simply because I knew I'd be getting out of here, soon.

Once she finished, I looked her in the eye.

K: "We've been having great fun and all, but I want to see proof that you're keeping your word. I'd like to be escorted to Toola's cell. Just to make sure you didn't let her die of dehydration - or that one of your incompetent guards did." I said, matter-of-factly. I was still playing the "I don't fully trust you" angle, which she fed into.

Trixie: "O-Of course.." She swallowed. Yeah, I had her eating out of the palm of my hand. Literally. "Go tell the guard to come in here." She also trusted me with simple tasks.

So, I got up and went to the door, knocked twice, and let it open. A Raptorian was there.

K: "Mistress Trixie wants to see you." Was all I said.

The Raptorian entered, Sherman on his shoulder, and bowed his beaked face to his Mistress.

Trixie: "Escort this one to his old cell, let him examine the prisoner there, and escort him back when he's done. Also, I demand breakfast. Eggs, toast, bacon, ham steak, and fresh fruit." *Short sniff* "Stop by the kitchen on your way back. I want my delicious prisoner to bring it to me."

Raptorian: "Yessss, Missstresss.." He looked at me.

I was getting my boots and pants on. Because I was modest. Trixie found my clothes fun to play with. I was going to burn them when I got out of here. I stood up and presented myself to the Raptorian.

K: "Let's go, eh?" I shrugged. "Can't keep Mistress waiting."

As I expected, the incompetent bird brain took me directly to the Isolation Cells. Alone. I was 'trusted' to be escorted by only one guard, since 'escape is impossible' and 'I'll (You'll) be back for more.' We got to the cells, and he unlocked the cell that Toola was in. I stepped inside to see her.

As I'd negotiated with Trixie, she had a water bowl, food, and a blanket, now. She was also looking much better.

K: "Guard.. I think you forgot something."

Raptorian: "Whaaat?" He wailed.

K: "You need to go tell the kitchen what to prepare, so I can pick it up on the way back. Or would you rather I tell your Mistress that you had us needlessly wait?!" I demanded. Playing the game indeed!

Raptorian: "ACK! Y-Yes! Of course! You will stay here while I go!" He hissed, and off he went.

Toola: "What was that all about?" She demanded.

I leaned against the wall, looking out the window in the door. When he was good and gone, I got close to her. Of course, she pulled back, now suspicious of me. I reeked of Trixie and sex.

K: "I've got Trixie pretty much addicted to my cock. Listen up, we're escaping soon. Stridesebo was a success - if we can get back there, we can meet up with our friends." I hugged her. "Don't worry. I was the reason you got fed and watered in the first place. Trust me. Please."

Toola: "I.. I don't know." She looked at me with fear and suspicion, but didn't pull back from the hug.

K: "I made a promise. I'm going to keep it." I nodded to her.

Toola: "You did. Maybe you CAN keep it, after all.." She gave me a bit of a hopeful look, but it was a guarded one. Had she been betrayed before?

Eventually, the Raptorian came back. As we headed to the kitchen, I had to reflect on my life so far. I'd come a really, really long way from feeling guilty about sleeping with both Princesses. From my initial guilt over doing things I'd never ordinarily do. I'd been here, now, for almost three years. Guilt? Fuck guilt. Guilt gets you killed. I realized at that moment that I'd indeed changed. But not changed towards the Light side of humanity, according to the apparent niceness of this world. I'd given in to The Dark Side of humanity - lust, manipulation, the machinations of war - in the name of doing what was 'right' - preventing Tirek from harming those I care about.

And something inside me made the decision that I didn't care any longer, as long as we won, and my family and friends survived, so I could go back to them and live in peace.

Is this the kind of 'inner peace' that Soldiers get when they're pushed too far?

I made note that the chef around here was a Griffon. He had a scar on his beak. Probably another outcast that Trixie managed to find and hire. I'd have to ask Gilda what she knew about Outcasts and the way they worked, besides 'fighting each other to death' that is.


TIME: 10:22


We returned to Trixie's quarters. I knew it was time to act. I knew the layout of the prison - roughly - and I knew they had a few small boats down by the dock for movement between occupied islands. The boats had all the equipment needed for navigation stored in them because, apparently, Raptorians are too stupid to remember to bring things with them with when they needed to use the boats (she trusted Duregars more).

I was 'feeding' Trixie. She was being erotic, and I had a dark (and seemingly erotic) mood going.. which she just ate up like it was totally precious. Like she thought she was winning..

Trixie: "Mm.. the apple, next.." She purred. "Maybe we'll keep that trashy country pony around to tend my Royal Orchards.. I cannot deny that she grows good apples." She leered at me. A pony is still a pony, after all.

I lifted the apple off the tray. It was a rather large one, at that. Perfect.

K: "Perhaps. Open up." I bid her.

Ah, yes, that Great-and-Powerful mouth of hers. I watched her open it really, really wide. She was expecting me to stick something ELSE in there.

Perfect.

I took the apple..

..and jammed it into her throat with the force of a thousand suns. HARD. DEEP. CHOKING.

And before she could react, I grabbed her neck and thumped her head HARD against the corner post of her bed. This wouldn't raise any eyebrows, since we were wild enough in bed that the guards didn't come running every time they heard some thumping noises. I thumped her again.. and again.. until she lost consciousness.

I got up and threw on my A-Frame and my uniform shirt. Then I went to the door and knocked, twice.

As expected, a bird brain answered.

K: "Your mistress needs you." I started, letting him come in. "IN HELL!" And grappled him from behind, and twisted his birdy neck until I could feel it break and him go limp.

I took his Sherman, his bandolier, and his knife.

Time to go.

{End Part 3}

Part 4: Escape from Castle Trixiestein

TIME: 10:25
DATE: War Day 285 (Local)
LOCATION: Neighpon Prison and Slave Labor Camp #3, Occupied Empire of Neighpon.


I checked the Sherman and, sure enough, it was loaded. I spun around as the other guards came into the room, and squeezed the trigger bar repeatedly until the weapon was empty. Two Duregars and another Raptorian fell dead at my feet. Without a word, I grabbed the extra Sherman Rifle ammunition from the Raptorian (Raptorians have three magazines - one loaded, two spare), and snatched a Zhukov from one of the Duregars, along with its ammunition (each Duregar also has three magazines). The other Raptorian also had the Makepeace I'd seen earlier - I grabbed that, too.

Sticking everything into my belt line and pockets, I slid up to the door - I could already hear activity in the hall beyond. I had to move quickly. Switching to the fully automatic Zhukov, I spun out into the hall and emptied one magazine into the security teams that were assembling from the outer Guard's area. I dropped four Duregars and a Raptorian.

Up the hallway I scooted, keeping low, changing magazines and running the bolt with my left hand. I grabbed another Zhukov from a fallen Duregar, and spun around the next corner with both in hand, John Woo style. Because fuck everything, I needed volume fire (this is ordinarly a VERY BAD IDEA because your accuracy is shit). I mag-dumped again, and killed another six Duregars as they were reaching for the halberd rack. I slammed myself against the wall, by the corner of the hallway leading to the Armory and where my equipment was stored.

I dropped the spare Zhukov and reloaded the one in my right hand. Then I switched to the Sherman.

Around the corner, I held the diminutive rifle up to my shoulder, and sighted down the (I admit fairly crude) iron sights. Three Raptorians and a Porcine came out of the armory just in time for me to mag-dump into them - the Raptorians got two or three shots each, and the Porcine got the rest of the magazine. Not enough, it was still moving.

I dove under the desk that was set up just inside the Guard area, and reloaded my Sherman. Running the bolt, and pitching around the corner, I shot the Porcine in his knees just as he opened up on me. I felt the desk partially splinter, then saw the line of bullets stitch up to the ceiling. I got up quickly, and advanced on him, putting more rounds into his head until he stopped twitching altogether.

Reload. I was down to five Sherman magazines, and four Zhukov magazines.

I stepped over the fallen soldiers and up to the door to the Armory. I peeked inside just in time to get shot at by the troops in there. They peppered the stone walls and doorway all around me as I pulled my head back. I could feel liquid slowly oozing down my face. Stone shrapnel had cut me.

Time to improvise. I stuffed the Zhukov in my belt, and grabbed the fallen Porcine's Pershing. The belt was still at about half. The barrel jacket was pretty warm, but I grabbed the upper carrying handle and swung the contraption around the corner, firing blindly into the Armory until the belt ran out. I dropped the whole thing and grabbed the Zhukov.

I took a couple steps back and made a running roll into the room, slamming myself behind a work table. I felt rounds whizz all around me as the work table exploded in a shower of splinters. Once the shooting stopped, I leaned out from behind the table and took careful shots at the targets I saw. Two Duregars, a Porcine, and a Raptorian. The Porcine, I shot in the neck about five times, before pulling (while still firing) my shots to the Raptorian, who got three or so. The Duregars were shot about four times each.

I checked my witness holes. I was actually below half. I got up, and was fired on from behind another work table, so I dove to the one across the 'aisle' in the middle of the Armory and ducked down. I didn't bother talking, I just leaned the gun over the side and opened fire in the general direction the shots were coming from. Whatever it was, I killed it.

Magazine empty, I reloaded again. Three magazines.

Standing up now, and checking, I saw no other opposition, so I went about getting my things. My equipment was all in a little leather pouch on one of the shelves, so I just grabbed it and quickly attached it to the front of my belt. Toola's art bag was here, too. I grabbed that and dumpd it out - I'd replace the art supplies later, but I made sure to throw her paint knife back in. Over to the ammo racks, and I stuffed a handful (eight) of Zhukov magazines into the bag, along with another handful (six) of 20-round Sherman magazines. I also stole three Lee Pistols, and simply dragged my arm across the shelf that had Lee magazines on it (I got ten) and dumped them in the bag.

What shocked me - perhaps not as much as it should - was that they had developed Hand Grenades. Actual Hand Grenades, with pull-pins and safety spoons. I took five, slinging the spoons into my belt, and stuffed another five into Toola's art bag.

As a final act, I grabbed the keys that were hanging on the wall before heading back to the doorway to the main Guard's area. I callously grabbed a grenade off the shelf, pulled the pin, and flung it into the room. I heard it explode and I heard groaning. So, I grabbed another, and stepped out, Zhukov in one hand, grenade in the other. I could hear more of them mucking about in the two immediate side rooms, so I pulled the pin on the grenade in my hand, and tossed it into the first room as hard as I could. I grabbed another from my belt and did the same with the second room.

Both exploded, both made nice noises in the aftermath.

I ran for the door leading to the General Population area, and unlocked it with the keys (I'd been watching, so I knew what the key looked like). Flinging the door open, I ran out into the Gen Pop Cells area, and ran across the catwalk. I couldn't help these people right now, but I'd be back. In force.

Some of the Guards started taking pot-shots at me, but I ignored them (it would later shock me how used to being shot at, I'd become). Getting to the other side of the catwalk with the right key in hand, I jammed it into the lock and twisted, opening it. Now, I was in the Isolation Cells. There would be five guards here - Raptorians. Trixie thought them only capable of 'simple' tasks like watching helpless prisoners.

As soon as I got into the first part of the hall, I was rushed by one of them. I jammed the Zhukov into its gut, and pulled the trigger-bar, then kicked him off of me. He'd had his Sherman ready, but hadn't fired it - idiot left the safety on. To the corner I went, and slid along it. Peeking my head out, I got shot at again, but the shot went wide, and skimmed the wall, making me jerk my head back.

See, when bullets strike a solid object, they deflect ALONG the path of the object they struck, not back off at the same ballistic angle at which they first struck said object. Ricochets can kill, and I'd learned that ages ago.

The Raptorian that fired on me was behind the next corner, sticking his head out a bit. Time to use ricochets to my favor. I aimed at the wall, fairly near his head, and fired on full automatic, stitching the wall up and sending at least one shot right into his head. I reloaded again.

Around the corner, to the one I'd killed the second Raptorian at. I peeked around the corner. Two Raptorians were by the cell doors. I didn't want to chance the cell doors not being bullet proof, so I switched quickly to the Sherman, and fired three rounds in to each of them. That's four down. There was one left, and he came around the corner, firing from the hip.

I ducked back, and waited for him to finish his magazine. Once I heard him stop shooting, I braced the Sherman against the corner, and swivelled just enough of it around the corner to shoot him. I fired the last four rounds in my magazine, and, so as not to break momentum, pulled one of the Lee's, and spun around the corner with it. He wasn't hit, but he'd taken cover behind the corpses of the others, so I just mag-dumped into his torso.

Reloading the Lee and the Sherman, I made for Toola's cell and unlocked it.

Toola: "K!" She yelled, and jumped up as soon as I had the door open. She was holding her water bowl in a threatening manner.

K: "Happy to see me?" I asked, casually, leaning the Sherman against my shoulder. "I brought presents. Murder Presents." Katrina said that once.

I stepped into the room and handed her my Zhukov, and her Art Bag. There was two of the Lee pistols inside of it as well as much of the spare ammo.

K: "We're getting out of here - I'll replace the paints." I offered.

Toola: "Ah! MY PAINTS?!" She looked offended. "Ahh.. forget it. Let's go." She chamber-checked the Zhukov and one of the Lees, which she slid into an outer pocket on her satchel. "What about the others?!"

K: "We don't have time to save everyone! We'll come back for them, I promise!" I stated, emphatically.

Toola: "Of course." She muttered. "But we're not leaving everyone behind here!" She grabbed the keys from me, and went to the next cell over.

The pony in this cell made memories rush back to me. Like it was something I was made to forget.

K: "Wh.. Princess Cadence?!" How?! Why?!

Princess Cadence: "And who are you?" Wait..

K: "We don't have time for this - I'm General K----, commander of Equestria's military, and we need to escape. NOW."

I didn't have time to think about it. I didn't - couldn't - remember everything. I had to take a second to think about the layout of the prison.

Toola: "Which way!?" She demanded.

K: "This way. Princess, stay behind us." I directed.

Back to the catwalk.. we'd have to go through the Guard Area to get outside. Fortunately, they either hadn't mustered a response force yet, or they simply hadn't arrived at the Guard Area. I ran through it, and towards the back hall, past the Armory. But, I paused there a moment, and grabbed a grenade from my belt. Time to sow some Chaos.

K: "Run down that hallway! Don't look back!" I ordered.

Toola: "Right! Come on, Princess!" She practically had to drag her.

I pulled the pin on the grenade and dumped it right into a bin filled with them, and right next to lots of loose ammunition. Then, I ran like my ass was on fire. Up the hallway.. five.. four.. around the corner.. three.. two.. and I grabbed both girls and forced them to the ground. ONE!

*KIRCH-A-BLAM!*

The grenade went off, and took more grenades with it. The explosion shook the place a little, and I knew it'd start some fires if I was lucky. Pushing both girls to their feet -

Princess Cadence: "Some way to treat Royalty!" She sniped.

- and shoved them down the hallway. I could hear footsteps approaching to our rear. No time to worry about making things look pretty, I pulled the fourth grenade from my belt, and heaved it - pin pulled - down the hall.

It went off just as we got to the Utility hallway at the rear of the prison. Last key.. last door, and we were out of here.

K: "TOOLA! The key with the green fob!" I instructed - she'd never handed them back.

Toola: "Got it!" And she unlocked the door.

With Cadence between us, we ran out into the harsh light of day (actually, it was overcast, but still, a lot brighter than torchlight). I was blinded for a moment before my eyes adjusted. Once they did, I could see that Guards were pouring out of the prison's other exits. They were really out of range of us, so I didn't bother shooting back.

I just ran for the beach, and the boats that would be there.

It wasn't a long distance. The boats were nestled up against a dock of some kind. One larger boat, four smaller ones.

K: "Get into the big one! The big one!" I instructed. The guards were catching up fast.

I spun around and fired some wild shots with my Sherman - I got one of them, and dropped him, making the others take cover. That was good enough. I dove into the boat, and reloaded as I went for the navigational equipment.

K: "Toola, give me your grenades." I instructed as I pulled out a Verey Pistol from the tool kit.

Toola: "What are you going to do!?" She demanded, but handed over the grenades.

K: "Keep them from chasing us!" I said, grabbing them and getting back on to the dock.

Pulling the pin on them one at a time, I dropped them into each of the other four boats. After they went off, I hopped back in to the one we were going to steal, and pressed the Verey Pistol into Toola's hooves.

K: "Fire this at the dock, once we pull away!" I ordered. I took Celestia's sword and hacked at the lines holding us to the dock. "Princess, can you operate the sails?!" I inquired.

Princess Cadence: "Y-Yes. Yes, I can." She trotted over to the main mast, and started cranking the handle to raise the main sail.

It was up almost as soon as I was done chopping the last line. Toola Roola was now providing cover fire with her Zhukov, spraying the shoreline down as fast as she could. The Guards had gotten within 50 meters of us, and she was going to prevent them from taking shots at our boat. Some of them managed to get a few shots off anyway.

Princess Cadence: *AH!* And one of them hit Cadence.

I pulled her down and put my hands over the wound. It went through her wing root. Tearing my shirt off - dirty as it was, it was still better than nothing - I wrapped it around her wound tightly.

The wind caught our sail, and we were pulling away from the dock at a pretty good pace. Toola took the wheel once we were a bit away from the dock itself, to make sure we didn't crash right back into it. Once we were a good distance from the Dock, she turned and fired the Verey Pistol at it, which immediately set it alight.

We were away!


TIME: 11:00


Now that we were away from shore, and sailing, I took the time to find something better to cover Cadence's wound with. This larger boat, it seemed, had been stolen from Equestria. There was a proper first aid kit on board, and I bandaged up her wound as best I could.

K: "I doesn't look serious." I said, with hope.

Princess Cadence: "Now.. care to tell me who you are?"

K: "We met before, though. You.. SHOULD know me.." I started. "Something is wrong here." I sat on one of the benches on the boat, and tried to think. It was like trying to see through a cloud of fuzz. I was forgetting something. Like, someone or something was trying to MAKE me forget.

Of course! The wedding! Chrysalis! The BUGS!

K: "YOU were already REPLACED!" I said. "You've been a prisoner for over two years, haven't you?!" I said, with a tone of concerned excitement.

Princess Cadence: "YES! And a horrible two years it's been. My dear love.. how has he missed me? And what do you mean by 'replaced'?"

I explained what I knew. At the time I'd "left" earth, Season 3 hadn't aired yet, but there were leaks on the Internet (had to explain that, too) about it. That the end of Season 2 (which I had to explain the concept of Cartoons to her) involved her getting replaced by Chrysalis and her.. bug things. That fed on the power of Love. I explained everything.

It made sense, now! EVERYTHING made sense, now! My own Intelligence Leak was Chrysalis herself, impersonating Cadence! Was she ACTUALLY working with Tirek, though, or Kianga? Both seemed equally likely - after all, Kianga would love nothing more than a military advantage over Equestria, and perhaps some land. Chrysalis just wants something to feed off of - Cadence and Shining Armor. She was in Tirek's prison, but that could just be a peace offering or something. I didn't know.

But.. how had I forgotten about all of this? I broached the subject with Princess Cadence.

Princess Cadence: "You said you're especially weak to magic, right?" She tilted her head at me.

K: "Yes, it's true. I'm incredibly vulnerable to it." I shrugged.

Princess Cadence: "Best guess is that Chrysalis used some kind of memory suppression spell on you. She probably does it to my dear beloved.. to keep him in line, keep him from talking, remembering.." She shook her head. "And you being so vulnerable, it wouldn't take much."

K: "The subject of the Crystal Kingdom came up before. I mentioned it to the girls around the time of the Second Battle of Ponyville.." I shook my head. "But.. since you hadn't - Chrysalis hadn't - asked us for help, we ignored it. We had other concerns. Lots of them."

Toola: "Speaking of concerns.. the wind is really starting to pick up, K. I'm having a hard time steering thi-"

*CRACK!*

K: "What was that!?" I demanded.

Toola: "I've lost control of the wheel! I.. I think one of the shots must have damaged the steering!"

K: "Drop the sail! Quick, before we capsize!" I said, trying to scramble forwards to get the sail down. The wind kicked up HARD.. and the boat lolled off to one side.

I do remember clinging to the ship - and Cadence - for dear life. Toola slipped from her position at the wheel, and landed on the deck. The mainmast snapped like a twig, and fell away. We were foundering! Waves began slapping the ship left and right.. roiling in the waves.

And I would swear to my God, I heard Trixie's laugh in the wind.

Bugger.

{End of Part 4}


Part 5: Castaways (A three hour tour.. a three hour tour..)

TIME: 17:27
DATE: War Day 285 (Local)
LOCATION: Unknown Island, Occupied Empire of Neighpon


I woke up with my face full of sand. And a very large crab right in my face. I sat up.. felt myself up.. and felt around for my glasses. I found them in the sand nearby, with a hermit crab dangling off the cord. Pulling them out of the sand, I shook them off as best I could and took a look at my surroundings again.

I could see the boat not far away, beached. Broken. Yeah, we weren't escaping on that thing any time soon. The large crab was still there, looking at me.

K: "You're not sentient, are you?" I croaked. The crab didn't move, or respond. Lunch time.

I pawed at my hip and came up with Celestia's sword. I then callosuly stabbed the crab straight through its shell, and stood up, carrying it away. It was still wriggling on the sword - not dead at all, but rather pissed off and probably mortally wounded. I did well to keep its claws away from my tender flesh.

Speaking of, that brand on my upper hip was sore as fuck right now. Must be the salt water.

K: "TOOLA ROOOOOOOOOOOLA!?" I called out. "CAAAAAAAAAADEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENCE!?" I hoped they survived. Especially Cadence. Dear God, without her..?

Walking up to the wreckage, I found a set of hoofprints that led away from it. They were smallish - Toola Roola's, I guessed. So, I inspected the inside of the boat. It was a nice little yacht sort of thing, with a proper cabin. The back and front were now torn off completely. Everything that was in the cabin, was strewn all over the place.

First order of business - Fresh water. Vital. We'd be dead in days without it. I regretted not being able to simply steal supplies from the prison as I'd originally planned, but they drew their water from a well right before use, and had no storage containers for it. Food was also carefully inventoried - apparently, the Porcines loved to nick extra food. As I expected, of course. I jammed the tip of the sword into the sand near the boat, and left it there while I checked myself over.

I still had a Lee in my pocket, which I pulled out. That and two 20-round Sherman magazines, two Lee magazines, and a Zhukov magazine. My equipment - lighter, Multi-Tool, gun cleaning kit, and a single flare - was still in the pouch on my belt. Thankfully. I rooted around in the cabin and came up with a large pot, and some smaller cookware. Useful! It also seemed someone had searched here already. So, I took out the large pot and the cookware and set it aside. I set everything else out to dry (except my lighter and multitool) before getting up and grabbing the sword again. The crab was still alive, so, I jut rocked the blade forward to cut its 'head' in half before sticking both halves of the crab in a container inside the ship.

I then proceeded to follow the hoofprints.


TIME: 18:12


It was getting dark quickly. I grabbed a stick off the ground and checked it for dryness. Satisfied that it was dry enough to work, I carefully wrapped some dried vegitation around it and took it with me. Most of the island's floor - for a good distance inland - was sand. It turned to soft dirt soon afterwards, allowing me to track Toola Roola fairly easily.

I was going at a pretty slow pace - I had to conserve energy - so I estimated that after about half an hour, I'd only covered about 500 meters or so. A soldier on a forced march can cover about 4-5km an hour. I could hear water running.. and.. laughing?

K: "TOOOOOOLA!? CAAAAADEEEEEEEENCE!?" I called out.

Cadence: "OVER HERE, GENERAL!" From my left, probably another fifty meters.

I made my way over there as fast as I could, while being careful. I found Cadence and Toola Roola washing themselves off in a pool of water that came from a large waterfall. The waterfall fell into a decent-sized lake that seemed to flow out towards the sea on the other side of the island. Cadence was trying to clean her hair out, and Toola Roola's dreads had all come out, so, her hair looked closer to a wet rat's nest of color.

K: "I'm sorry, Cadence.. please, call me K. 'General' is a title your aunts gave me, not my name." I shrugged a little. "We should start a fire. I left a crab back at the boat, and it'll be dark very soon."

Toola: "Of course. But.. how? Cadence and I were just going to take shelter in the boat tonight." She shrugged.

K: "First name basis, eh?"

Cadence: "While you were busy doing unsavory things with our captor, I managed to hold a conversation with Miss Toola Roola." She grinned. "Through a hole in the wall, no less. I managed to wedge one of the stones loose enough to make a hole. We became well acquainted for the.. day or so.. that we were able to talk."

K: "Given that Toola Roola isn't too up on current events in Equestria, I'm not surprised she didn't get around to explaining me." I shrugged and stripped.

After all, I couldn't walk around in clothes that were full of salt water deposits! I washed them at the confluence of the lake and the river. Yep, I'm stark naked in front of the Princess of Love. And showing my ass. And Trixie's brand.

Cadence: "She.. she mentioned that." Cadence came over and nudged the brand with her nose, gently. "It looks like it was put on there with magic."

K: "You wouldn't happen to have the power to remove it, would you?" I asked as I soaked my clothes as best I could.

Cadence: "I think so. Relax.. and think of someone you love."

Of course, Applejack was the first thing that came to my mind. I felt a warmth.. a tingling sensation.. and I could feel the individual lines of the branding 'unwind' themselves from my flesh, like she was pulling out string or something. Then, without warning, I.. well, I came all over the place. Got some pretty good distance with it, too! Then my balls and prostate ached like I'd just done ten rounds with Applejack, back to back, without stopping.

Cadence: "OH! I'm sorry about that."

I rolled back on my back and just laid there. Totally spent.

Toola: "I don't think he cares, Cadence. It looks like.. it felt incredible."

Cadence: "He DID say he was weak to magic.. somehow, I'm not surprised this happened. My magic is based on love.. I.. borrowed his love for the extra boost. I guess it was romantic love!"

Great - in a sense, I'd just done something sexual with all THREE Princesses. Mind, I fucked her aunts silly. Cadence? I got a.. Magic-Job? Something like that. I felt dirty again.

K: "I'm sorry.. I feel so dirty after that." I could barely move. "I feel like I just did something terribly sexual with you. And we're both betrothed."

Cadence: "Don't worry about it." She hoof-patted my head. "I had no idea that was going to happen!" *Giggle* "So, I don't feel like we.. DID.. anything. I was simply trying to heal you. That's all. And it worked. The marking is gone."

K: "Excellent." I had to lay there a bit longer before getting back up and finishing washing my clothes. "Come on, girls. We should get back to the boat and start a fire as soon as possible." I took the time to drink the water. Very cold, very delicious. I made sure to wash myself off as best I could - I didn't want to have salt deposits on my skin, either.

We got back to the boat and - for now - used some of the broken planks to start a fire. Once we had a raging bonfire going, I used Celestia's sword to cut some wood from the trees. They were mainly palm trees, with some other trees mixed in. And bamboo. Plenty of bamboo. There were also coconut trees here, and - of all things - Gros Michel banana "trees" (if you look it up, it's hard to call them trees). Really, this island was surprisingly bountiful.

For the night, I had crab with roast coconut, a couple bananas, coconut water, and some boiled bamboo. The bamboo was so-so.. I'd try boiling it in coconut water if we had more. The girls, of course, ate nothing but the plants, though Cadence did join me in some of the crab. Delicacy to her, senseless life-ending meat-eating barbarism to Toola Roola. Really, she WAS a huge hippie. And a Vegan, it seemed. Of course, being a pony, this made some sense.

After dinner, I cleaned the weapons we had left after the shipwreck. The Sherman, the Zhukov, and the Lee. At least we could defend ourselves if need be. Toola Roola's art bag had managed to keep most of the other magazines safe, so, we had five magazines for each gun.


TIME: 08:55
DATE: War Day 286 (Local)


I got up first. It had gotten a bit cold at night, and I ended up with both Cadence and Toola Roola on top of me. Given that I was naked, it was a welcome warmth. I went to the river - now that I knew where it was - and washed myself off. I had SAND in places I didn't want. After cleaning up, and checking my clothes - which were now dry - I got dressed.

I spent most of the morning exploring the island. My first stop was the peak of the water fall. It was the second-highest peak on the island - the tallest was a small mountain on what I guessed (by sun plotting) the south side. That meant the island was likely volcanic in nature, though it had the rippling land that suggested continental up-thrust as well. Perhaps it was both? If it WAS both, then the island might have natural deposits of various metals.

I was, indeed, thinking of establishing a supply base here. I was still Equestria's general, even if I was trapped on an island with a VIP and a Freedom Fighter.

I decided that we needed to start a bonfire near the peak of this waterfall - the boat might get spotted from the air, but it might not get investigated. There's a war on - my own people might think it was wrecked here ages ago, and not bother to check it out. It took me the better part of a couple of hours, but I managed to gather up enough brush to get a bonfire going. My lighter didn't have fuel, but I could use it to spark a light with its electric battery. Which I did.

I got back down to where the girls were, and found they'd started breakfast already. I could smell..

K: "Eggs?" I asked as I walked over. "Where did you get eggs from?"

Cadence: "From a bird." She smirked.

K: "Okay, I get it.. where's the bird?"

Cadence held up a stick she was about to place over the fire. There was a medium-sized bird on it alright. Looked a bit bigger than a chicken. It was plucked and gutted already.

K: "Let me guess - you, being Royalty, are used to having meat regularly?" I shrugged. The Germanes took any kind of meat as an exception, as I recalled from my conference with them.

Cadence: "Yes, and I was without it for over two years. They fed us some kind of moss - it was certianly enough to keep us alive, but it tasted horrible. Moss, four times a day?" *Snort* "I want to eat tasty flesh. And when I get back home, I want ham." She nodded, satisfied with herself.

Toola: "Meat is murder, you know."

K: "Technically, so is vegetarianism. You're still killing SOMETHING, no matter what you eat. Of course, in my world, you MIGHT actually manage to get by consuming nothing but chemically-produced caloric powders and vitamins and technically not eat anything living, but then 'eating' would be nothing more than a chore. Like pooping. Not something you enjoy. Of course, HERE, the beef, at least, can actually beg for mercy like a proper meal." I nodded. "I've had steak here."

Toola: *GASP!* "MURDERER!" She hissed.

Cadence: *Giggle* She was enjoying this.

K: "No choice. Tirek bombed Ponyville and killed the cows that were living there. We had no way to preserve their bodies, and soon after, I had almost a quarter of my blood drained from my body through my sweat pores. Unlike Ponies, humans do not have a bacteria in their gut that produces Vitamin Beta-12. Beef is an incredibly dense source of this vitamin. Thus, I was served the dead." I shrugged. "I only knew one of them by name, and I hadn't met them before hand. Of course that pales in comparison to what Trixie did to me." I lowered my head as Cadence handed me some eggs.

Toola: "I probably shouldn't ask.."

Cadence: "I will, then. What did she do to you, dear?" She put a hoof on my shoulder - she could tell it troubled me.

K: "She made me eat a roasted foal." I looked at both of them. "A young, female pony. Looked like she was roasted alive. I didn't have a choice - if I hadn't eaten it, if I'd begged her not to do it again, if I'd shown weakness, I would never have been able to get us free. She would have been able to psychologically dominate me, just as she wanted. So, I pretended it was a horse from Earth. There.. well.. horses aren't sentient. Only humans are. And humans will eat almost anything. So, in a sense, I was a cannibal. I ate another sentient creature. Never mind the fact that she reminded me of my adopted daughter - Oh, that's right, Cadence, you have an adopted niece. Her name is Starlight Mint. Luna and I are her adoptive parents. Her real parents were killed on a resort island about two days out of Fillydelphia." I shrugged, and ate the eggs.

Toola looked ready to be sick. Cadence looked like she wanted to cry - and not for herself, but for me. My pain.

Toola: "Humans.. you're monsters."

K: "I won't deny that." I shrugged, and finished my share of the eggs. "Humans are horrible creatures. We kill other humans over differences as small as one wanting the other's shoes. Or on larger scales over things like religion, land, and access to natural resources. Or just because one group of humans thinks themselves superior to others. Lines on a map." I took some water. "Then again, humans are pure enough that they were able to come to Equus in antiquity. Tens of thousands of years ago." I looked at Toola. "We're also artists, theologians, philosophers, inventors, doctors, nurses, scientists, botanists.." I trailed off. "A terrible beauty. A cruel kindness. We are a contradiction in everything we do. But - and I'm sure Cadence can feel this - we are very, very capable of compassion, love, and friendship. And friendship is magic." I shook my head after that.

Toola: "I.. see." She sat back on her haunches. "At least you know.. you're aware.. of what you do."

Cadence: "And I can feel his guilt over the things he's done." She turned to Toola Roola. "He feels that his very existence here has somehow corrupted the land." And she looked back at me. "It didn't - though you may, perhaps, have shown ponies their own hypocracy. We aren't all sunshine and rainbows - but it's the bonds of love, and friendship, that keep us going. Much like you. I can tell. You love someone very dearly."

K: "Four people. One, I'll probably never see again. My human wife. Then, Applejack and Luna. And my dear daughter." I looked at the bird as Cadence idly turned it over the fire. "I want my loves. My Mares and my little girl. I want this war to be over, so I can raise her in peace. If I never go back to my home, I want to be able to raise my little girl in peace.. surrounded by nothing but friends, and harmony. That's what I want." I chewed my lower lip.

Toola: "Maybe.. you're not so bad after all." She put a hoof on my hand, and smiled. "Okay, maybe I don't like the fact that you eat meat. You seem to need it. You invented.. those things.. but we need those, too. You're right that without them, we wouldn't stand a chance against Tirek. And you seem to.. you seem to really, really love those ladies, and your little girl. You want peace."

K: "Right now, we have war. And being human, War is something I understand with an intimacy that ponies can't." I shrugged.

Toola: "And that's why we all need you." She shrugged. "After the war.. when there's peace.. then we can see about doing something else, hm?"

K: "Yeah. I'll make pizza for a living." I smirked.

Toola & Cadence: "What's pizza?"

Facepalm. Damn these ponies.


TIME: 12:35
DATE: War Day 286 (Local)


I spent a few hours exploring the island with Toola Roola. Cadence stayed at base camp, tending to the cooking fire and doing a little foraging. Toola Roola had her beliefs - but she was being practical about them. There WAS a war on. She could see my side of things, and agreed to respect me on them, provided I respected her. Cadence was the middle ground.. in everything, really. She seemed very adaptable to any situation that required negotiation.

After we got out of here and took care of the impostor, I had a feeling she would be the leading negotiator of the NEIGHTO alliance. She was better than I was at the job. I could be political - she could be understanding and find common ground. That.. I could DO that, but she could be empathic about it and seemed to be able to feel the feelings of others. That.. yeah.

Toola Roola and I found some kind of wild asparagus and water chestnuts. At least we wouldn't starve! The water chestnuts we found in a small swamp area at the bend of the river. The swamp water had interesting properties that I couldn't identify - earth sciences were a weakness of mine - and seemed to be rather coppery. There was also a bubbling freshwater spring at the eastern edge of it.

Toola: "The island is so unspoiled.." She shook her head and got a drink from the spring.

K: "There's no place like this on Earth. Everything.. everywhere.. you can't go anywhere and not see something of human development. Whether it be trash or something else." I was chewing on a piece of dryish 'bird meat' (it tastes like turkey, sort of).

Toola: "That's horrible.. does anyone even care?"

K: "Of course there's people that care. People that act and think a lot like you. Thing is.. like anything to do with humans.. they tend to be driven to extremes in order to get their point across. Which just leads to people resisting them even harder." I shrugged. "That's not to say nothing gets done. There are worthwhile programs out there to reduce pollution, clean up litter and contaminated areas, reduce waste.." I shrugged a little as we started walking. "I'm.. I want the same basic things that you do - a clean world - but I'm a realist. In order for there to BE human civilization, there's going to be some level of pollution. I'd just like to see it minimized in such a way that it doesn't place an incredible burden on the poorest of people, that they then can't afford to feed their families."

Toola: "You know, the more I hear about what you went through, what your world is like.. I'm.. I am glad you're here, K. Despite our differences, I like to think of us as friends."

K: "Ditto. Bro-Hoof." I hoof-bumped her as we scaled the gently sloping back side of a cliff that encircled the eastern part of the island.

The island was perhaps three kilometers across (east to west), and perhaps four wide (north to south). Twelve square kilometers. It was larger than Iwo Jima. Kinda surprising that it wasn't settled, but a quick trip around the island proved that there was nopony around. No signs that it ever got visited, either.

That led me to calculate that it was somewhere off the usual travel routes, and even the routes of fisherponies from Neighpon. Meaning we'd be stuck here until whomever was searching for us exhausted their primary search radius - occupied islands and ones near travel and fishing routes. That is, if they were searching for anything at all. They might still think I'm captured, and they would then be looking for a military facility or prison complex.

Thinking about it, our only option was to either wait for Trixie's mind-fuckery to wear off so I could contact Luna, or wait for Cadence's wing to heal, so she could fly out and try to find someone. By her own admission, she isn't an especially strong long-distance flyer - perhaps fifty kilometers out and back. Rainbow Dash could travel about 530 kilometers (about 2 hours flight time at 265kph/165mph) before she got tired enough that she'd have to rest or risk crashing.

Oh, and Cadence wasn't a very strong swimmer. She could 'Swan Float' and that was about it.

Toola: "How long do you think we'll be stuck here?" She asked as we hiked.

K: "Depends. I have no idea how long my mind is going to be corrupted by Trixie's magic to the point where I can't contact Luna in my dreams. If there's no complications like infection or something, Cadence's wing might take a week or two to heal. Add in another two or three weeks before she's strong enough to fly long distances. She did spend two years in a prison." I shrugged.

Toola: "Five weeks until we can even hope to try and save ourselves. I'm guessing a raft or something is a bad idea?" She looked up at me, as she sat on a rock overlooking the ocean.

K: "Very bad. We don't have any idea where we are, or how far it is to the next island. Up on the mountain, we were about a hundred meters off sea level, so the horizon should be about 36 kilometers. I didn't see any other islands." I shrugged. "Which is a bad thing, since Cadence admitted she could barely do fifty kilometers. No islands for thirty-five kilometers? That's a bad thing. I wish she had Rainbow Dash's endurance. You remember her.. colorful girl wearing the leather jacket with the wool collar?"

Toola: "A little. She.. seemed.." She stopped and looked at me. "She seemed like I knew her, but I'd never met her before."

K: "Past lives. My friend Norfy - Major Norfy Loconsole - is something of an expert on them. He's a unicorn, an Ice mage. But he has a very, very strong connection to his own past lives. So does Pinkie Pie. You.. I have a feeling you more or less met the version of Pinkie Pie that your past self would have known. Pinkie is.. she has very strange powers that no one really understands. She knows past lives, her past selves, and seems to have the ability to pull knowledge and.. like.. almost like souls or refractions of them.. from her own past. And she has this really strange way of.. if not altering reality, then outright breaking it."

Toola: "She didn't look like a unicorn to me." She shrugged.

K: "She isn't, and that's the part that mystifies all of us. She's.. eh.. her strangeness has saved us before. She also has an alter-ego named Pinkamena that comes out at highly stressful times - when her life is very seriously threatned, a friend dies horribly, or things like that. I mean, SERIOUS situations. That alter ego.. nearly took over, once. Her family is all dead, except her nephew." That was a lie, but I couldn't tell her the truth. "Trixie killed them all, deliberately, to try and destroy her as the element of laughter. She's part of the Elements of Harmony."

Toola: "You seem to have a lot on your plate.." She put a hoof on me. "..count me in."

K: "You serious?" I looked at her, more than a bit surprised. "This is going to be very dangerous. Provided we get OFF the island in the first place. You're an artist.. you could easily move on to something else. Stay in Equestria, or move around the NEIGHTO nations until the war is over."

Toola: "And if I do that.." She shrugged. "..the war will last longer. If I contribute, maybe I can end this thing sooner." A smile.

K: "You want to protect Equus itself. This isn't about Tirek so much, is it?"

Toola: "I.. do like to think of myself as Equus' Warrior, yes. I do try to.. influence things towards methods that are better for nature."

K: "Hah. Awesome." I smiled now. "Come on, let's get back to camp, eh?"

{End of Chapter 31}