Chapter 27: Bloody Carnival
Soon after they left, a train pulled silently into the station. It released steam.
The group noticed the burst.
“(It’s here already?)” one of the felis said.
“(Crap.)” Mido looked around and spotted an open window.
“(Everyone, through that window. Follow my lead.)”
The felis quickly helped each other through the window by stepping on the bottom person’s hands then dragging the last one up.
A noble walked out of the train.
“(Primus Pilus?!)” Centurion Lorenz saluted. “(I wasn’t told you were coming personally.)”
“(That shouldn’t have mattered.)” He said sternly, “(Where are your felis?)”
“(Since you weren’t due for another 45 minutes, I—)”
“(You were ordered to keep them here.)”
Mido stepped out and saluted. “(Sir, the storage room has been prepared to receive the cargo, per orders.)”
Mido then turned sharply and saluted again. “(Welcome commanders. Ready to receive instructions for unloading cargo.)”
The Primus Pilus looked from Mido back at Lorenz. “(I see. I will forgive this since you were technically following orders. And we are early.)”
He looked back at Mido, “(You will follow the orders of the Hessian commander. I will go get them now.)”
The Primus Pilus walked back to the passenger car. “(We have arrived, dear guests. Please make your way out.)”
Lorenz whispered to Mido. “(Someone’s someone important’s kid who skipped out on mandatory service. Make sure everyone is super nice and obedient.)”
“(Yes sir.)”
The griffon’s departed. And Vegeta had a bad feeling.
“They are in business suits? Not armor,” Celestia said surprised.
The griffons were in either plain black or brown clothes with a black tie and no suit jacket. Simple and business-like. The first two had wheeled suitcases handcuffed to their left claw. The others had a knapsack over their shoulders, with two directly behind the firsts carrying a second, most likely belonging to the two with the luggage.
Everyone exchanged salutes.
One of the griffons looked down on them. He was young, but from the others’ reactions, clearly in charge.
“(Are these your only felis?)” he asked.
“(I was told to only bring my officers,)” Lorenz answered.
“(Only four for your entire unit?)”
“(The 5th Hawara is only 100 males.)”
“(Only 100? Your charge must be as ruthless as griffons to pull off the feats we have been hearing about.)”
“(I am very proud of them. They are the best in the legion’s felis auxiliaries.)”
The griffon extended his claw for a shake, “Lord Attilio, of the MVSN.”
“(The Blackshirts that serve the emperor? I am honored my lord.)” Lorenz withdrew his claw and bowed, “(Forgive the lack of fanfare. I was told only more hessians would be arriving.)”
“(That was the original plan, but as we were in Sharm, I insisted we come to see the rumors myself. — As an unbiased observer for your report to Caitro.)”
He turned, “(These griffons in brown shirts are from our new sister order for the northern peasants.)” He rolled his eyes. “(They call themselves the Sturmabteilung. The northerners are dramatic if not industrious. Which you have seem to have inherited from your mother and passed down to your charges.)”
“That was an insult…” the real Mido stuttered to the group. “He’s an illegitimate child of a noble.”
“I can feel your rage,” Vegeta said. “You respect him greatly, even now.”
“He treated us well. The only griffon I ever knew who bothered to learn Arabic.”
“Well this guy’s dead as a doornail…” Vegeta thought.
“(Would you want me to call more felis to help unload?)” Lorenz asked, still bowing.
“(No, it will be enough. We are carrying the most important equipment with us. Order your felis to the back of the train. There are four crates and four boxes. Nothing breakable.)”
Lorenz stood. “Unteroffizier, take your men to the back of the carriages and unload the crates and boxes Lord Attilio mentioned.)”
Mido saluted, “(Yes, Centurion!)” He turned his head, “(Come on men.)”
The four ran to the back of the train.
~~***~~
“(Wow, look at these,)” one said, taking one of the exceptionally long boxes from the top of the crates. “(These aren’t boxes, they’re feuerwaffe cases.)”
He flipped the latches.
“(Woah… look at this. The barrel is as long as we’re tall.)”
“(It must be a new scharfschutzengewehr,)” the other said.
Mido slammed it shut, almost pinching their paws. “(Don’t open them you idiots. Didn’t you hear? These griffons serve the emperor.)”
“(Every griffon serves the emperor,)” one said with a duh face.
“(It means they directly serve the emperor. Report and answer to him and him alone, you morons. You want to get everyone shot and Centurion Lorenz plucked and crucified? Now grab those crates, Ahmed and I will handle the gewehrs.)”
Ahmed shakily came over and grabbed an end.
“(Ahmed. Calm down. Nothing is going to happen. They don’t know the idiots opened anything.)”
Ahmed shook so hard he couldn’t hold on.
“(Ok put it down before you drop it. Go sit in a corner. You two idiots. Get these boxes out of the way and focus on the crates. Get the dolly off the wall and the poles through the rings.)”
~~***~~
It took time, but the three got the boxes off the train and placed them in the station.
“(Ok, carefully carry the others.)”
The two ran out.
Then, Mido heard a noise. He went to the storage room. He did not see anything, just the open window they climbed in. He stuck his head out and looked around, including up.
He saw nothing but their footprints. He bent his ears back and forth. He heard nothing either.
He went back inside to help the idiots.
~~***~~
“(Four thousand prisoners?)” Lord Attilio looked at the report. He looked up, “(You’ve managed to control over 4,000 prisoners with just 300 males?)”
“(The axillaries have maintained the town most of the day while the hessians and my griffons went north to ambush the oncoming reinforcements.)”
“(So only 100 felis have held this town? I…)” he grimaced as he searched to find words that could not be viewed as a complement, but failed. “(Impressive,)” he said begrudgingly. “(I see your bragging is not without merit. How did they do it?)”
“(Horses are herd animals. Violence to make stallions understand it’s pointless while treating the mares and foals manely to keep them calm. Feligypt has over five thousand years of experience battling various horse tribes and understands their psyche intimately. They are as efficient as any well-oiled machine in a factory if you lengthen their leash slightly. We would have lost valuable time subduing the village and would not have been able to ambush the reinforcements at their most vulnerable moments in the mountains.)”
“(And will your felis behave as trained when their leash is pulled back in?)”
“(Absolutely my lord, they are nothing but the best axillaries in the holy empire.)”
“(So, wish to tell me why one of your cats has been eavesdropping on this conversation?)”
“(He’s not. Turning his back and standing at a distance is a sign of respect to our ranks and understanding our meeting is more important.)” Lorenz turned his head, “(Unteroffizier, you may approach.)”
Mido spun around and hurried over. “(My Lord,)” he saluted Lord Attilio. “(The train is successfully unloaded. Awaiting further orders.)”
Lord Attilio raised an eyebrow at Lorenz before turning back to Mido. “(Return to your previous tasks.)”
“(Yes, Lord Attilio,)” he ran back towards the station.
“(I’ll be taking this report with me for now,)” Mido heard him say, the voices rapidly fading with distance. “(To compare with the notes my males are gathering interviewing the Hessians.)”
“(I’m positive you will find nothing amiss…)”
~~***~~
Mido returned to the station. The three were waiting on the benches on the deck.
“(Mido! What’s the new orders?)” one asked, hopping off.
“(To return to our previous tasks. Now let’s get the storage room actually presentable before we go check on the severed heads.)”
“We spent about thirty minutes cleaning the storage room,” the real Mido said. He glanced up at Rasheed briefly. “Nothing important happened.”
“Were you ever caught in that lie that you know of?” Vegeta asked.
“No…” Mido said.
“You don’t sound confident.”
Mido looked down, “I’m sure he faced punishment when he heard we disappeared… especially after praising us.”
“You look annoyed,” Rasheed said.
“Hmm?” Vegeta looked at him.
“You crossed your arms and looked off into space.”
“Oh.” Vegeta uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Something’s nagging at the back of my head telling me I’m missing something obvious and I’m being an idiot because of it…”
“Probably a useless parallel that only distracts from the truth. We should continue to the important parts.”
“Yes, let’s continue,” Celestia said. “If you think of anything else, we can always requestion Mido.”
Vegeta crossed his arms again and looked at her. “And that is called, famous last words.”
He turned back to Mido. “Mido. Did you see what was in the bags the new griffons were carrying?”
“No.”
“Did you ever touch the bags to feel what was inside?”
“No.”
“Those crates?”
“No.”
“The suitcases?”
“No, but there was an incident with the Hessians. A group got the idea there was food or booze in the cases and tried to steal them. Ended in a gunfight. I didn’t see it personally, but my nephew did. I only saw the aftermath.”
“I want to see it. If it was worth a gun battle, it’s important.”
Mido nodded and closed his eyes.
Mido was speaking with Lord Attilio.
“(So… you imprisoned everyone in the temple, and have allowed water and food to be gathered and distributed under intense guard?)”
“(Yes, sir.)”
“(You have also allowed prayers to continue uninterrupted and since you worship the same god, have had your men participate in small numbers on a rotating basis?)”
“(Yes, sir.)”
“(You have also allowed the priest to bless the mass graves?)”
“(Yes, sir.)”
“(And this is all standard training among the Mamluks?)”
“(Yes, sir.)”
“(And from what Centurion Lorenz told me, this methodology is ancient?)”
“(Yes, herd races are highly predictable, once any leadership and standouts are subdued, the rest will fall in line.)”
“(Then why bother with the niceties if simple executions will suffice?)”
Mido paused, “(I believe there’s been a miscommunication. Herd animals predictably come down to their preference to run, but when cornered, they will circle the wagons. They can stomp a felis to death and sever limbs with their teeth. The niceties are to lull them into compliance. We spent no resources or extra time on them. They have basically imprisoned themselves by their own instincts with little effort on our end.)”
Lord Attilio put his claw to his beak, thinking. “(Imprisoning themselves with little effort and no expenditure of resources… I suppose I can see why such customs developed in such a deprived environment.)” He lowered his claw, “(But now with our superior weapons and training, I don’t see the need to practice this going forward. But, that is my personal opinion and not part of this objective report. Your unit has done exceptionally well and obediently followed your training and orders. Now my question is, if your orders from a griffon commander were to contradict your training, which would you follow?)”
“(The griffon, of course.)”
“(Even if it was to run into battle naked and without arms?)”
“(We are not a unit trained for such tactics.—)"
“(Even so, what would you do?)” he interrupted.
“(I don’t believe a griffon would be so foolish. It would be like taking a sword into battle that is just a hilt.)”
Lord Attilio smiled, not hiding his frustration very well. “(Yes, the old parable of the foolish heir… I see you remember your unteroffizier training well. But hypothetically you get a leader who took an arrow to the head. What would you do?)”
“(In the end, without recourse, we would have to obey.)”
Lord Attilio sat back and clapped his claws together. “(Wonderful, I suggest you make your final answer your first response going forward. Save the useless convers—)“
Gun fire suddenly went off. Mido and Lord Attilio ran, weapons drawn.
~~***~~
They came to a scene with several dead hessians and three bleeding blackshirts. One had a chest wound and was not going to make it. Four Brownshirts were holding down Ahmed.
“(What happened?)”
“(This felis killed a griffon!)”
“(What?!)” Mido shouted.
“(They attacked a direct servant of the emperor and tried to steal something clearly precious to him!)” Ahmed shouted. “(Would it not be treason in itself for a soldier to sit back and watch it happen?)”
“(My lord,)” one of the bleeding men raised his good arm. “(As embarrassed as I am to be saved by a cat, that felis took the head off the fool about to shoot the case with a sturmgewehr.)”
“(Is it damaged at all?)”
“(A little…)”
“(Someone get their bag! No chances! Evaluate! Give me that felis!)” Lord Attilio ordered.
The brownshirts got off of him and he grabbed his arm and dragged him off while the griffons scrabbled.
Mido followed.
A good distance away, he stopped and let go. “(Name and rank, soldier.)”
“(Stabskorporal Ahmed al-Qitt,)” he squeaked out, trembling.
“(You saved a lot of griffons today if those idiots had set off what is in those cases. You did good, soldier.)”
Ahmed stood straight and saluted.
“(Now,)” he turned serious, “(what did you hear?)”
“(They were arguing. The Hessians thought there was either food or booze in the cases. The Hessians fired first.)”
“(I see. Unteroffizier. Guard this felis for now. Once the safety of the cases is confirmed and the bastards dealt with, we will need his official statement.)”
Mido saluted. “(Yes sir!)”
“(Don’t talk to anyone,)” Lord Attilio ordered before he ran off.
Mido gave Ahmed a side hug, “(You hear that? You did good! You got a medal on the way for sure.)”
The real Mido bit his lower lip.
“Well, that narrows down what’s in those cases…” Vegeta said.
“That was not sarcasm,” Celestia said surprised.
“A new explosive that’s poisonous if mishandled,” Rasheed said haughtily. “That’s obvious even to an apprentice interrogator. The bags most likely contain personal alchemic protective equipment.”
Vegeta clearly wanted to respond, but he stopped himself, glanced at Mido, took a deep breath, then looked forward, “Alright then… Next scene.”
Celestia, Luna, and Discord all glanced at each other.
“You have tensed up,” Mido said suddenly.
Vegeta glanced at him for a second, then looked forward again thoughtfully. “If what’s in the cases is what I think it is…” he said eventually, “then the horses died a very unpleasant death.”
“I know,” Mido said. He closed his eyes briefly before looking up, “Whatever it was, they brought it for a reason. You don’t have to sugarcoat things. I’ve had months of overthinking and my mind being picked open by mages to focus in on details like that.”
Vegeta looked at Mido, then glared at Rasheed.
“Vegeta, we understand your malaise over the use of mind magic, but trust us—”
“Yes,” Vegeta snapped back, “I trust YOU.”
“Enough!” Celestia spread her wings. She tucked them back in. “Vegeta this is not a therapy session.” She touched her forehead, then extended her hoof. “This is neither the time nor place for your complexes.”
“Which thou art not helping with, sister,” Luna scolded. “What did thou say earlier? Emotions are valid?”
“You’ve never allowed your emotions to interfere with your duties.”
Luna spread her wings, “Then why did we spend a thousand years imprisoned in a magical coma!”
Celestia’s wings drooped. “Luna…”
“Alright. Alright,” Vegeta let go of Mido and moved in between. “We are all messed up people that unfortunately don’t have thrones made of porcelain, making our shit everyone else’s business. But Mido is the messed-up person we need to protect right now. He saw all this shit in person, while we’re just watching an edited YouTube commentary vid. We can all armchair general later.”
Discord crossed his arms and smiled over towards Mido. “I didn’t get any of that, but judging from Mido’s snickering, some part of that is funny.”
Vegeta looked back over his shoulder, “Probably the porcelain throne joke.”
He nodded. Then his snickering turned to crying.
Vegeta dashed and caught him as his arm and leg vanished again. He held him in his arms like a child. Then a beanbag chair appeared. Vegeta placed him in with a plop, then made a blanket. Vegeta then made a normal folding chair and sat down.
“What… is… this?” Mido asked.
“Beanbag chair. Shaped bag full of little squishy balls. Comfy?”
“Umm, yes actually. I, I think this is the nicest thing I’ve ever sat on. Can… Can I have one of these?”
“Of course,” Vegeta smiled. “Now,” he said seriously. “I take it the next thing that’s going to happen is the big one? The one that hurts the most?”
“Yes, he should be at the point he loses his leg and arm. And the point of all of this, witnessing the new bunduq in action.”
Vegeta glared at him for a second, then turned back to Mido. “Your nephew… he’s about to die, right? He was worthy of praise, but only met with betrayal?”
Mido cried, “He had a panic attack and ran. I went after him. We didn’t go far. But we were shot at on our way back. Maybe they really thought we were deserting… Or maybe someone used it as an excuse when we left the light of camp to get even for shooting the Hessian…”
“Part of you blames your nephew,” Vegeta said. “Don’t. If you truly believe he did nothing wrong, and your superiors would know you would never desert, then it was clearly murder. And they would recognize that bullshit immediately.”
“Maybe so… But the only thing capable of that long range would be our gewehrs or those scharfschutzengewehrs we found in the cases. A griffon wouldn’t lower themselves to touching our leftovers, so the only option would be one of the emperor’s males.”
Vegeta put his hand on Mido’s shoulder. “You said your god would honor his service. Remember that.”
Mido nodded.
“Mido, let’s continue,” Rasheed ordered.
Mido nodded again and the scene shifted to the train station.
Everyone gathered behind the train station. The felis in the back, the black and brownshirts in the middle heavily armed. In the front were the Hessians, completely disarmed. And in the very front, were the Hessian band that had attacked them, naked, tied, and beaks wrapped closed with gray strips.
“I see they have duct tape,” Vegeta thought.
Sitting against the wall was a line of blackshirts with assault rifles at attention.
Lord Attilio stood atop the flat roof.
“(Everyone! It seems word of our identities has not spread properly. We are the MVSN and Sturmabteilung. We answer to the emperor and ONLY the emperor! Every snot nosed beak you’ve ever met are below us by leagues. We are so above you, you should be worshiping us as gods!)”
He looked down, “(Thunder Claws! Several of your members killed a member of the emperor’s personal guards and injured three more. I hope the seriousness of your crimes can get through your thick, drunken skulls. Males! Shove them against the wall.)”
The lined-up men dragged the griffons thrashing against the wall. Then the black shirted griffons lined up again.
“(Ready!)”
“(Aim!)”
“(Fire!)”
The blackshirts let loose, and Celestia, Luna and Discord got a close-up view of the meaning of the word ‘paste’ from the autopsy papers.
The shooting stopped and the griffons turned around to face the remaining hessians.
“(Remaining hessians! You should all be ashamed of yourselves! These felis have performed far beyond expectations and their exploits in this campaign will be remembered for years to come! They are fully deserving of the rewards and fame coming to them, BUT THEY SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN PUT IN THAT POSITION! Instead of them meeting up with you, they took the entire central road and wadi valley on their own with a full two days until you showed up! That should have never happened you shit-faced buzzards! The felis are now under my direct personal command. Don’t touch them! Especially the felis who saved all your asses! These cases contain experimental weapons and if that idiot had succeeded in shooting up the case and set off one of the charges, we’d all be dead! We were originally going to come here in two days for desert testing, but after word of your incompetence got south, we were ordered up to see if things were really that bad. And you bastards more than proved the reports right! Congratulations! I’m going to recommend all your pay be halved!)”
The hessians started screeching.
Lord Attilio took his pistol and shot several times in the air. “(Silence! Or I’ll use what’s in the suitcases on you!)”
“(If you’re not going to pay us with money, then pay us with the fucking whores that pussy lover and his cats have been keeping for themselves in the big building!)”
“(If they believe in their god so much, let’s see the bastard protect them!)” a second shouted.
Lord Attilio sighed.
“(Felis Unteroffizier! Have your felis begin moving the females and any male foals too young to be separated into the fort prisons! Leave the males in the temple. It will be cramped for now, but tell them it is temporary.)”
“(BOOOOO!)”
He shot his gun in the air again. “(Silence!)”
The real Mido began to tremble.
The scene skipped ahead.
Mido approached Lord Attilio, but one of the brown shirts landed next to him.
“(Lord Attilio,)” he saluted.
He saluted back, “(Princeps, no, Acting Pilus. My apologies. What is it?)”
“(My Lord, the Hessians are restless and still demanding blood as compensation. If things continue, we may need to execute more.)”
“(Don’t worry,)” he smiled. “(I have every intention to. But not for their sake; these felis have been spoiled by a shameless commander and need to be put in their place. The old order is dead. Today’s world is written with lead and blood. Oh, that’s right,)” he said mockingly, “(Lorenz is one of your flock.)”
“(I find no insult, my lord,)” he answered. “(I’m just glad the campaign was only to take the peninsula. It is already going to be an embarrassment when this hits the headlines. This unit could have easily pushed deep into Arabia, maybe all the way up to Camelscus.)”
“(Yes, the last thing we need is the press latching on to a lone savior taming and leading savages to victory. At least it was against a bunch of Hessians and not the military proper. They are always so unreliable. The senate has been debating cutting back on reliance. This will be good ammunition for them.)”
“(And room for our organizations to rise in prominence as the substitute.)”
“(I see the SA is as eager to please as ever. But do you really think the emperor will overlook the Senate’s protests and reward the SA with the right to wear black?)”
“(Just you wait, my lord. You’ll be calling us the SS by the end of the decade.)”
Vegeta gritted his teeth.
Lord Attilio laughed, “(In your dreams, little sister,)” he said mockingly. “(In your dreams.)” He stopped laughing. “(So, you ready to see what horse meat tastes like?)” he asked jovially.
“(Yes. My family was never able to afford pony for the holidays.)”
“(Oh, there’s a big difference in taste,)” Lord Attilio said. Then he tilted his head. “(Do you have a report, Unteroffizier?)”
The SA’s Pilus turned and spotted Mido.
Mido approached and saluted. “(The females and male infants have been moved successfully.)”
“(Good. Where is Stabskorporal Ahmed currently?)”
Mido swallowed. “(With some of the soldiers keeping the stallions’ calm. Explaining it’s an order from the legion to protect them from drunk Hessians.)”
“(Absolutely perfect, Unteroffizier.)” Lord Attilio Lord gave a sick smile. “(Go fetch him at once. He has more commendations coming his way.)”
“There is no need to show them this Mido,” Rasheed said. “Skip to the end so the princesses can get a good idea of what griffon snipers are capable of.”
“I want more information on those cases,” Vegeta insisted.
“I keep saying they are explosives,” Rasheed said frustrated.
Vegeta turned around. “Celestia, Luna, please. You brought me here as a weapons expert. There are clear alternatives to what could be in those cases.”
“Which we can discuss later since you are so insistent,” Celestia said. “But this could be the exact weapon that was used on Pinkie Pie.”
“The rifles the felis used already shoot over a mile.” Vegeta looked at Mido, “Unless he lied about only being just outside of camp,” he looked back at Celestia. “Seeing one head blown off is no different than the next.”
“Felis can run 60 miles an hour on all fours,” Rasheed said looking at Mido. “I’m sure running in pure panic, even for a few moments, they made quite the distance. Mido may not know the exact distance himself, but we can clearly see it even if his mind fails.”
“Luna,” Vegeta began.
“His mind fails, or a memory charm?” Luna spoke over him.
“I’m told traumatic memories are often blurred. It’s the brain’s self-defense mechanism. If there is a charm on him, it was cast to keep him lucid. He is a witness, not a therapy patient. If you’re so worried about his mental health, then let’s get him out of here as soon as possible.”
“Is there some kind of memory recording device so Mido doesn’t need to keep being put through this?” Vegeta asked.
“None that cannot be tampered with,” Luna said. “We assume the same for you?”
“Yeah…” Vegeta crossed his arms. “We usually don’t even bother unless between ourselves when reinforcements need more info than ‘kill that guy in front of us’. My friends are rather spoiled with such close interactions with the gods. Past. Present. Even a little bit into the future. Issue is the lower the god, the more limited the field of vision, and the higher you go, the more they’re worried about crap like cosmic balance instead of individual lives.”
Celestia and Luna look at Discord.
“Don’t look at me!” he clawed the air in front of him exasperated. “Besides, the answer would be a resounding no.”
“And you?” Mido asked.
“What you would be looking for are gods, demons, and spirits on the planetary scale because they’re the ones who directly interact and have a vested interest in the living. Any gods that would overlap our two planets would be a very hard stretch to get help from.”
“Did you say demons?!” Mido squeaked.
“There’s an elderly woman who contracted with a demon of death on my planet, giving her limited access to the world’s individual book of life. But it’s enough for her to become a billionaire as a fortune teller. She charges an arm and a leg, but with wealthy families providing the financial backing to the divine warriors, the gods know they’ll get the information one way or another so they usually cave.”
“I would assume a god could provide everything,” Rasheed said, glaring at him.
“Sorry you’re so butt hurt, but if your god can build spaceships and survival suits, my wife’s company would be interested in negotiating a contract.”
“You separated yourself from these warriors,” Rasheed pointed out.
“I married into the insanity through a backer, I haven’t been trained by the various tiers of gods either as warriors or failed ascension candidates. I’m self-taught.” Vegeta smirked, “I’ll take the fact you momentarily forgot I was the dark mage as a complement.”
Rasheed grimaced.
Vegeta then knelt down. “Mido, do you want to go forward with this? You don’t have to.”
Mido nodded, “It’s ok. I’ve shown this a lot.” His voice squeaked, “Would have been nice if you were the first interrogators though.”
“Past abuse does not condone its continuation.”
“It’s ok. Besides, Princess Celestia’s right,” Mido began shaking. “This could be the exact weapon you’re looking for. It’s not like my personal memories of Ahmed dying being fake means anything. It’s not important. I’m…” Mido started to cry.
Rasheed lowered his head to be level with Mido, “Mido you are very important.”
“Not in the same way the prince and princesses say I am…”
“Do you really think the brother of the sultan would put up with a bumbling, clumsy servant like you under normal circumstances? Witness or not, I should have sent you right back to the kingdom with a letter of admonishment for my brother.” He put his hoof over his shoulder. “I find your intelligence engaging and my mare finds you adorable. And if these artificial limbs live up to the promises, the other servants will have no grounds for favoritism and jealousy because you will be able to perform equally. I know I have been harsh, but only to protect you. You have been through enough.”
“You knew about the mind charm?”
“Preservation magic. Nothing more. Like I said. Traumatic events are often overwritten and altered as a self-defense mechanism. They are not fake, just imperfect. What we can access is a copy preserved the night you were captured.”
He lifted his face to be level with Vegeta. “I was trying to be subtle,” he said harshly, “but some beings are as unrefined as griffons.” He then turned to the others, “and it’s not like horses can freely pop any flight of fancy into reality without any risk to lives and property. If you have more efficient spells that will do the same thing when engraved as runes as when fresh from the horn, our mages are all ears.”
Celestia sighed. “Mido,” she said sweetly, also lowering her head. “As Vegeta said, the final choice is yours.”
“I’ll show it.”
Mido pressed his eyes tight.
The party was already in full swing. Half-eaten corpses were everywhere, the Hessians drenched in blood. Any surviving mares at this point were in the middle of being assaulted or actively torn apart. Vegeta spotted a few instances of both happening at the same time.
The black and brownshirts were being more civil, gathered around fires chatting and drinking from teacups as foals slowly spun on poles over the flames.
Some had even stopped screaming.
All the felis were standing at attention being forced to watch. One cracked and started to cry.
While everyone was focused on what Vegeta thought of as just another Tuesday, Vegeta looked at the temple.
It was fuzzy and dim, and he concluded if he went over there, he’d run into a wall again.
Smaller horses he assumed were teenagers were being dragged away as brownshirts barricaded the doors and windows. They were struggling to keep the doors and shutters closed and he spotted a hoof making a hole in the door. He spotted griffons in full leather jumpsuits fly onto the roof.
The temple went still, and the griffons left laughing and joined the party, leaving it completely unattended.
Vegeta was about to call attention to it when he saw everyone looking at Discord.
He had turned white with green polka dots and was on all fours dry heaving. “Oh, I never thought I’d be so glad to be a garden statue if this is what the last war was like…”
“Definitely a bloody carnival… a pretty tame one in my experience… but a bloody carnival all the same…”
Discord looked up at him. “You have a word for this?!” He turned back to the ground and heaved again.
“My wife’s language. This was normal, everyday life as a soldier under Emperor Frieza.” He smiled, “May you never be invited to a red wedding.”
“Are you mocking me?” Discord managed to get out between heaves.
Suddenly Ahmed turned and ran into an alley.
“(Wait!)” Mido raced after him.
“Discord, they’re running. Get up!” Celestia ordered.
Mido found Ahmed’s rifle on the ground as the tracks gained pawprints and disappeared into the darkness. Mido slung his rifle across his back, dropped down on all fours and followed.
Mido passed a pair of boots, then a jacket. Mido kicked off his boots, but he couldn’t keep running and take the restrictive jacket off while keeping the rifle on his back.
He took his knife out and jabbed his shoulder, making everyone cringe. After slicing the armpit seams open under both arms, he continued gaining needed speed.
Finally, he spotted Ahmed in the distance.
“(Ahmed! Wait! Stop! It’s Uncle Mido!)”
Ahmed went around a mare’s corpse. Mido jumped over it.
“A mile max now…” Vegeta thought.
Even with cat night vision, it was getting dark now, and smells began hitting everyone in the face as Mido switched senses.
Ahmed continued to get farther away.
“(Ahmed!)” he panted. “(Ahmed! *pant* *pant* Jove fucking a cow. Come on.)”
It was a while before Mido caught up to Ahmed, finally collapsed and curled into a ball sobbing.
“Mido, can you stop the memory?” Celestia asked.
Mido did not respond.
“Mido?” Vegeta said, reaching out to him.
His hand went right through him.
“We’ve crossed into the copy,” Rasheed said. “Princess Luna.”
Luna lit her horn and everything froze.
Celestia rose in the air, lit her horn creating a spotlight on the ground, and followed the tracks back.
She returned sometime later. “We are easily 4 miles away, maybe even five.”
“Five… miles…” Rasheed mouthed, barely audible.
“Modern Canterlot tis only 11 miles at its longest, correct?” Luna asked.
“Yes, that means as long as there is a line of sight, a bullet can come from halfway across the city.”
“Assuming the shot was here.” Vegeta said. He turned to Rasheed, “You alright?”
Rasheed tilted his head slightly and gritted his teeth. He took a deep breath. “The coded message my brother sent with him claimed to have all relevant information. This was not in it.”
“Let’s continue before we assume the sultan lied by omission,” Celestia said. “The felis’s weapons only shoot a mile and a half at most. Adding another mile would be a reasonable improvement, I think.”
“(Ahmed? Ahmed?)” Mido sat next to him.
Ahmed just kept sobbing.
“(I know… I know… That was absolutely horrible, and completely unforgivable. Just cry and get it out of your system. I’ll make sure your retirement goes smoothly, and with as big a pension as possible.)” He began patting his shoulder. “(Just hurry up… ok?)”
After Ahmed cried himself out, they began walking back on all fours.
“(Don’t worry. We’ll pick up your jacket and boots on the way back. Everyone has to be too drunk to notice we disappeared for a few minutes.)”
“(What about your jacket? It’s cut.)”
“(I’ll toss it and say it got lost in the party. It’ll be a hit to the pay, but things happen in battle.)”
“(You could take mine…)”
“(No, don’t even think about it. I’ve lived and trained in the empire. I can lie about a missing coat more convincingly than you. Especially in your state right now.)”
“(Do you smell that?)” Ahmed suddenly said, stopping to sniff the air.
“(Smells like burnt wood and blood.)”
They changed direction and soon found a debris field and a corpse of a horse soldier with a solid metal plate armor.
Mido pulled a green lens on a chain out of a pocket and looked through it. “(It’s enchanted. Rather fancy circles. Definitely a higher up.)” He put it away.
“(What is this?)” Ahmed looked at the scene confused.
“(That’s a metal wheel over there,)” Mido pointed. “(This is from the trains headed south.)”
“(How much explosives did the Hessians use? We can’t be that far—)” Ahmed suddenly shouted and grabbed his head.
Mido could see the blood in between his fingers. “(Behind the horse!)” He shoved him.
The two got behind the corpse.
“(Let me see,)” he ordered.
Ahmed lifted his paw.
“(Just a graze,)” he said, relieved.
“(But we didn’t hear a shot! It can’t be the hors—)” A bullet came completely through the body and removed Ahmed’s head.
“(Ahme—)”
A bullet went through his upper arm, removing everything below it. Mido screamed as he curled up in pain.
Two more bullets went through Ahmed’s torso as Mido got a tourniquet around what was left of his arm and pulled it tight. Then, he used a fire crystal to burn the stump.
Another went through the corpse but hit nothing.
Then another came low to the ground and went through his calf, but didn’t completely remove the limb. Mido used his second tourniquet and knowing the limb was lost, finished it himself. But the kits only contained one fire crystal.
More bullets came through the horse’s body every minute. Mido managed to steal Ahmed’s medical pouch from his pants pocket and shoved its crystal into the gaping hole.
More bullets ripped through Ahmed.
Figuring the crystals had given the sniper’s light, he began crawling away trying to stay out of the line of sight.
Then he heard a metal ding.
Mido looked up and saw the large metal wheel propped up by its broken axel. He made his way over there and hid behind the inches of steel.
The vision froze as he passed out.
“Either that gun can shoot rapidly or they had multiple beads on them this whole time,” Vegeta said.
Celestia took to the air again.
“Less than four, but not by much,” she said when she returned. “Four miles at this accuracy. It would be safer to assume a longer range.”
“So, five it is then…” Rasheed said. “It explains why the mass assassination went off flawlessly. No one can guard against that.”
Vegeta stayed silent.
“Vegeta?” Luna asked.
“No. He’s right. Most governments only put in the effort to protect their highest officials by evacuating the populous and literal tons of shielding in case someone slips into the perimeter. Everyone else is on their own.”
“No one is going to believe this, even with evidence…” Celestia looked at Rasheed. “We are going to need Mido again. The best we can hope for is sharing this with a wider audience.”
“We were already going to call a royal session to introduce Vegeta and debunk his abilities as evil with the help of the eastern nations. Let’s expand the presentation and introduce the weapons at the same time.”
“And when will this be?” Rasheed asked.
“As soon as we can set it up. A few hours at most.”
“Then let’s end this and return us to the embassy. Mido will need time to recover.”
Luna nodded and lit her horn.
~~***~~
Everyone woke up.
Mido began sobbing, curling into an even tighter ball.
“We are glad you called off Twilight and Cadence, sister. Our memories are more recent to mind, but that was horrid even by ancient standards.”
Celestia closed her eyes. “At least it was quick, my poor Joe,” she said softly.
Mido’s ears twitched, and he began gasping for air and he got on his hand, knee, and stub.
“Mido, don’t force yourself,” Rasheed ordered.
Mido shook his head. “I… I have an oath to keep. Royal sisters, my memories are yours to use as you see fit.”
Luna looked around. “The girls are not here. We hope nothing bad happened in the last few minutes.”
Rasheed looked at the clock. “Ten minutes to spare. I say we hurry back to the embassy.”
“All… that was… barely… over seven… minutes?”
“Yes,” Luna leaned her head down. “Equestria thanks you for your strength, Mido.”
Celestia stood. “Yes. We will contact you shortly on how we will proceed.” She went to the door, “Twilight, Cad—”
“Princess, have you been crying?!!!!”
“Twillie, quiet!”
“But but but…”
“My dear Twilight, please come in for the teleport. We have no time to waste.”
~~***~~
Twilight quickly returned alone.
“Now…” Celestia dropped her noble facade, “Why were you not in the room when we awoke?”
“Twilight was freaked out by Mido’s lashing out in his sleep and tried to intervene early,” Cadence said. “She kept teleporting out of my grasp every time I tried to pull her away.”
“He was screaming and writhing around!” She pointed, “Look at the shredded pillows! Something clearly went wrong with the spell because of Vegeta!”
“And why do thee accuse Vegeta?” Luna demanded.
“Because dream magic doesn’t cause pain! And the only time it has is when Vegeta’s involved in a dreamwalk.”
“Your knowledge of dreamwalking is obscured by a thousand years of peace,” Luna said.
“I read Star Swirl’s treatise on night wounds. It said inflicting pain on others is impossible. Only you should have been in danger, but he was howling like a Timberwolf.”
“Young Twilight,” Luna said harshly, “Silence.”
Twilight shut her mouth, clicking her teeth.
Luna took a calming breath. “Recalling extreme memories can cause a being to lash out no different than a nightmare. No,” she raised her hoof when Twilight flinched, “We shall finish. One thousand years of peace, and the quick resolution of recent matters with no consequences of note, mean no pony in modern times have witnessed an event capable of such a reaction. Even our brave bearers. Thou hast no concept of war, little filly.”
Twilight’s ears fell at being called a child again.
Celestia sighed. “Now that the scolding is over with,” she laid back down. “Then let’s go over what we learned from the walk with you and Cadence in a way that won’t drive ponies into a catatonic state…”
~~***~~
Vegeta and Discord woke up in their room.
“Discord… What’s the tally?” Vegeta asked, exhausted.
“73 World War 1, 98 World War 2, and 19 times you flashed three.”
“World War 3 was the Unification War… I just flashed three when stuff was too advanced from what I know from history documentaries about the time.”
“So, not quite an even split, but favoring World War 2 and beyond.”
“Good job spotting the tire tracks and the drip line,” Vegeta told him. “Means they have wheeled vehicles and refined petroleum products.”
“More like I stepped in that black gunk,” Discord admitted.
“Well, if this planet mirrors Earth even in geology, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East in general had the biggest petroleum reserves in the world.”
“May want to share that with Prince Rasheed. Having one of the magic substitutes under his hooves sounds important.”
“I doubt Celestia will let that happen. Thanks for having a clear head in there.” Vegeta smirked, “And an empty stomach.”
“Don’t tease about something like that.” Discord looked out the window at the still sunny night. “I want to meet this man who is a god, devil, priest, and vengeance all at the same time and still sane.” Then he chuckled, “Well, as sane as your world seems to be.”
Vegeta rolled his eyes, “Piccolo is probably the closest to sane as any of us.” He changed topic, “Soooo, the being who keeps punching you in the face… ”
“Eh. Eh. Nope. Stop that question right there. It’s like I told Feiyu.”
Vegeta narrowed his eyes. “You literally hugged me…”
“There’s nothing wrong with a hug between friends, right?”
Vegeta rolled his eyes. He looked at the wall. His thoughts drifted to the red-haired unicorn. “So… let’s peg you as a spirit of harmony, whatever your mortal name is. Then there’s this mother of the skies, probably a Korin analog, may even be the guardian. Or maybe the guardian is Fate. It’s important enough of a concept. Either way…”
Vegeta sighed.
“They are all useless...”
Vegeta’s eyes suddenly widened. “Lawrence of Arabia! Fucking hell, I watched the movie last month!”
~~***~~
At the embassy, Rasheed was barking orders. “Get Mido a calming tea at once!” He leaned down, “Mido. Recline on the pillows and rest up. This won’t be the last time you endure this.”
“Yes… my lord.”
Rasheed then gave a shocking public show of affection by rubbing his head on his wife’s neck. “Alone. Please.”
~~***~~
The two went to the bedroom.
“You’re going to make my position in the herd more difficult when the rumors fly home to roost.”
“You are saying my sole broodmare cannot control the others in the harem palace?”
“I would prefer the neglecting of your duties as a stallion not expose me to the ire of your brother. Especially now that undetectable poison will be harder to get from the alchemists.”
“Yes, all the griffons and hippogriffs are being driven from the sultanate… but darling, where is the instant scroll? Have you written on it yet?”
“No, why?”
He got close and whispered, “The griffons have kidnapped and murdered Princess Celestia’s husband.”
“She had a left hoof?” she asked, shocked.
“Yes, we need to warn the sultan. All that is going to be left of Equus is cinders…
“And there is no way to tell who will be standing on top the ashes at the end.”