//------------------------------// // 33 -- Sometimes they don't come back at all // Story: A Method to his Madness // by Luna-tic Scientist //------------------------------// Waits For Sunrise made a half-hearted movement to stand, then flinched and relaxed. Night nodded and backed away, finally turning to look at the rest of the room. Discord's ponies were in a quiet, nervous huddle, bunched up and moving with the high, prancing steps of foals separated from their dams. She took a step towards them and they flowed away, heads high and drawn back. Night froze, holding her breath. Don't bolt, not in here. They relaxed and she exhaled slowly. "It was bad enough being under his power for a few minutes... I can't imagine what they have been through," Blevie murmured in her ear. "Poor bastards." "They're going to need specialist help," she whispered back. "Best leave them for a while." Night nodded to herself, glancing in turn at the two holes in the ceiling and the entrance they had used. "What do you think... any chance of the local gryphs coming to find us?" "Rut all we can do about it. Discord destroyed all our kit." Blevie frowned, then circled around to the archway, taking position where she could surprise anyone coming through. What little light in the chamber came in through one of the ceiling holes. Even this faded as something blocked the opening and cast distorted shadows across the floor. She tensed, inhaling with a hiss, preparing her magic and ignoring the sudden stab of pain in her head-- Purple light flooded in as Luna dropped into the chamber, looking tired but victorious, dragging a frozen Discord behind her. Celestia followed a moment later, landing clumsily, the gentle pastel glow of her body shading the walls with the colours of a predawn sky. Night let her breath out with a sob, sagging the relief, then looked at Discord's ponies. There was no panic, no sudden, directionless stampede, but a hesitant movement towards them. Discord was dropped unceremoniously on the floor, lying on his side like a fallen statue. He stared sightlessly up at some point on the ceiling, strange, delayed shadows played over his features. There was an expression on his face that Night had never seen before, one of uncertainty, almost fear.  Celestia and Luna, the magically dense shapes of the Elements still orbiting them, moved like icebreakers into the ice shoals of the other ponies. They clustered around the two Princesses like a crèche of foals around their teachers, constantly in motion and always seeking to touch and be touched. Both Princesses had spread their wings over the herd, and a feeling of calm seemed to ripple out from them both. More magic, Night thought, or perhaps it's just them. Old and eternal...  Night narrowed her eyes, staring at the pair. ...but not indestructible. Little patches of burned fur and feathers dotted Luna's coat, and she was obviously lame on a hind leg. With Celestia it was less obvious; she was the normal, perfect shade of white, the only visible damage a section of stripped fur on the chest. More concerning was the slight vacancy to her gaze, like the expression of an elderly pony wondering exactly who all these visitors were. The sight kept her transfixed and she was still staring when Princess Luna came over and carefully lay down beside her. There was nothing but fatigue on her face and her horn glowed with a faint violet haze, powering the telekinetic glow over her hind leg. "Blevie, Nightstorm, thank you for everything. I owe you and all the ponies who went along with me a great debt. Without you..." She shook her head, eyes fixed on Celestia. "It doesn't bear thinking about." Night nodded, too tired to reply. "How did Captain Trailblazer die?" Night froze, mouth half open, the image of those talons reaching inside the pegasus' armour suit and coming away with clawfuls of red blotting out everything. Tears started to run down her muzzle, and she sagged against Blevie when the earth pony leaned against her. "One of Discord's toys," Blevie said flatly, "he'd made a new kind of chimera, out of a unicorn and a gryphon. Rose still had her mind all through that, or so Chirr said." She nodded at the chiropt, still unconscious and propped up against one wall. "What will happen to Discord?" "Now we know this trick we can watch for it, and the artificial Elements the Express used will be rebuilt and improved. There will be no next time for Discord, and I think he knew it, at the end." Luna climbed to her hooves, swaying slightly. "I will make sure a rescue team gets here as soon as possible. In the meantime, I have a war to stop and a monster to cage." She stared at Celestia and frowned, then shook her head and trotted over. The pair separated themselves from the nervous herd and stepped into a clear section of floor, Luna lifting Discord in a field of violet magic. Night watched with interest, probing with her own power. A chance to watch the Princesses jump... All three blinked out with a whump of displaced air, leaving the rocky room a lot darker and more threatening than it had been, then a breath later there were the rattling noises of pebbles falling to the floor. She winced, a sudden spike of sensation from her horn making her headache flare up. "Problem?" Blevie asked, getting up and walking over to investigate the last noise. "Must be me, but one of those teleport spells seemed really ragged; there was a lot of wasted..." She tailed off, seeing Blevie look down at something and her ears fold flat. "What?" "You'd better take a look at this." She reached out and tapped a crystalline sphere with one hoof, rolling it in Night's direction. As it moved, the little spark of light at the centre dimmed and went out, turning the ball a flat, uninteresting grey. Night stopped the thing with her magic and held it up, stomach suddenly twisting. "That's one of the Elements," she said softly, "one of the ones Princess Celestia was using." She swallowed, feeling ill. "There are two more here. Why would the Princess leave half of the most powerful magical artefact in the world behind?" Blevie's ears stayed back as she stared down at the objects between her hooves. "I've never been able to master the teleport spell... but I've spoken to those who have. They all say that it needs a lot of focus, and that if you lose concentration..." She gave Blevie a pained smile. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." === Luna teleported holding the time-locked body of Discord close, like he was some sort of giant, misshapen, stuffed toy. One long jump to take her to the coast of Equestria, dumping excess momentum in one of the big marine reserves that were forbidden to shipping, then a flurry of short ones to end up at the Monster Room. On the way she had a taste of what had happened; cities dotted with tall columns of smoke and the countryside with roaming herds of displaced ponies, but the flow of traffic was now towards, not away from, the cities. The inside of the Room was as she'd left it; a shallow bowl lined with expensive spellcraft equipment, surrounding a section of broken concrete that had held the artificial Elements. The other Discord was gone, replaced by a pile of dusty ashes. A wave of her wings cleared the plinth and Luna put 'her' Discord down. "See you later," she said, turning around and not looking back. A leap and she was hovering under the high ceiling, then a push-- ~~~discontinuity~~~ ---landing and staggering in a wide and shadowed concrete corridor, in front of a door heavy enough to have come from a bank vault. There was blast damage in the surface; the outer layers of concrete and steel had been flayed away, revealing the flat grey armour ceramic, still glowing gently from the spellcraft thaumic damping systems below its skin. There was movement in the darkness at her back and Luna wheeled, coming muzzle to muzzle with a Royal Guard pegasus wearing the discrete horse shoe tabs of an entry specialist on the pauldrons of his scarred armour. He flinched, backing away from her, stopping when his rump hit the fluted tip of a thaumic ram. Behind the big cutting machine were a pair of unicorn mares, still strapped into the control traces, and what must have been half a platoon of Guards. Everypony was looking at her, open-mouthed, and she scowled back. "You, soldier," she snapped. "Where is my sister?" "Y-your Highness!" His mouth dropped open, then snapped shut as he reflexively stamped to attention. "We have not had word of Princess Celestia for six hours, ever since you..." He fell silent, looking up at her with wide eyes. "Ever since I what?" she hissed, dropping her head, ears going back. "...attacked the Palace," he said in a small voice, hunching up inside his scuffed and battered armour. Tears started to run down his muzzle. "Princess, what happened? I remember orders to breach the Panopticon, insane orders that seemed to make perfect sense, and fighting in the streets, and the city on fire, and you being declared traitor, and-and..." I suppose I did, at that. Luna stepped back a pace, making an effort to relax her features. "Discord got to my sister, but we have him now. She was supposed to meet me here, at the Panopticon, within the last five minutes. Are you saying that she never showed up?" The stallion nodded, and a slight shiver of worry stole up her spine, then Luna pushed it away. She's a big filly, she must have had an idea at the last moment... but what could be more important than this? She bit her lip, then shook her head. "Do you have a working communicator?" One of the grey unicorns bent her head, unsnapping the fixings tying her to the cutting machine. "Yes, Princess. The ram has one," she said, backing away and horn glowing as she manipulated the controls, "but the Director won't talk to us." Luna snorted, pushing into the small space the unicorn mare had just left. "Topsy Krett will talk to me, or I will break her door myself." A few seconds of high speed manipulation of the thaumic interface left Luna looking at an image of Director Krett, obviously taken from some wide angle lens on a portable communicator. The background showed blank concrete walls, covered with packed shelving. "Princess! Tell me your plan worked?" "You can stop hiding in the cupboard, Topsy, we got him. What is the status of our forces?" "As soon as I noticed the change in radio traffic, I took the liberty of cutting a new set of orders. We are in full retreat." The earth pony mare looked nervous, relaxing when Luna nodded. "The gryphon-zebra coalition is in pursuit, but they are not pushing too hard." She swallowed, eyes suddenly haunted. "The sight of those mass drivers firing and the nuclear detonations... this is not a day I will forget in a hurry." Topsy took a deep breath, then another. "I have been talking to some of the ambassadors, but they are reluctant to believe anything I tell them, what with me being locked in here. Localisation risks being what they are, I can't reach the heads of state." The point of view moved, showing a long avenue of shelves and narrow aisles, then started to bounce up and down as Topsy cantered forwards. "Do you want the Sky Chamber?" "Yes. I'll start with the hotline, then I will probably have to talk to them in person." There was the loud sound of concrete rubble being ground into powder, then the big blast doors slowly opened. "Where is my sister, Topsy? I know everypony keeps tabs on us." The view jerked as Director Krett stumbled, the cadence of her hooves slowing. "Nopony has reported seeing her since you entered Razorclaw territory. The last sighting was from one of the Express' drones, but that was when everything was still crazy. Big chunks of our orbital infrastructure have been lost to radiation and clouds of fragments, and it's going to take days to fill those holes." "Keep looking with whatever you have." Luna turned to the Guards, who seemed transfixed by her presence. "There will be explanations in time. For now, go out into Canterlot and help wherever you can. Spread the word that Discord was the cause, and that he is imprisoned." They jumped as if electrified, galloping off down the corridor to leave Luna alone. She turned and trotted smartly through the still opening doors. Probably just happy to be away from me, but it will do. Topsy met her at the main reception block, a concrete bowl lined with defensive positions, all unoccupied, and Luna grabbed the mare with her magic, the pushed-- ~~~discontinuity~~~ --materialising in a compact, understated chamber, ringed with large monitors. Dropping Topsy and leaving her, wide-eyed and trembling, to recover from the sudden teleport, Luna walked into the centre of the chamber. The screen opposite came alive at her presence, displaying the splayed wing-and-talon seal of Razorclaw before fading to a very nervous looking gryphon, whom she didn't recognise. "Princess Luna! I'll put you through." Why is everyone always surprised to see me? She stamped one hind hoof impatiently, letting the pain clear her mind. After what seemed like an eternity, the seal disappeared again, revealing three gryphons and a zebra, all looking like they hadn't slept for a while. Join the club. "Ambassadors. The Equestrian forces are pulling back. The threats made by my sister were the result of Discord escaping his relativistic imprisonment. He has now been contained." There was a moment's silence, with all four Ambassadors sharing a glance. "I see," said Farasi Jasisi carefully, "and where is Celestia now?" Where indeed? Luna's ears lay flat and she fluttered her wings. "I am no more than a few minutes from the final battle we had with Discord; my sister was injured in the fight. I suspect--" Luna's head came up and she gasped. That must be it! "--she must have been unable to teleport." Got to go, got to get back-- "These are big claims, Princess. Equestria's own research said that his release was at least two years away. In any case, your forces have been hitting targets within my country for several hours, so it seems that your sister's 'threats' are closer to fact than fiction!" Talons Sheathed In Steel’s beak closed with a snap. "Prove what you say is true, and we won't view all this as Equestria suddenly taking advantage of Razorclaw's internal troubles." Luna laughed, an abrupt, humourless sound. "Look out your window, Steel. Canterlot is burning. Come the night, the sky will be alive with the aurora caused by all those high altitude nuclear detonations. Who were you firing at, if not Discord?" "Our strategic forces were firing at something," the gryphon said, "who can say that this isn't some elaborate bluff on your part." "I would not put my people through this for another patch of mountains." Luna leaned forward, voice becoming hard. "This may not have been of your making, but I will defend my people. Ask the Diamond Dogs or Changelings about my resolve, if you have any doubts." Her tone became softer, more pleading. Stick and carrot... or would it be rabbit, for most of these? "I can show you everything; just stop your forces from doing something everyone will regret. We can talk about reparations later." "Diamond Dogs? But the Dawn War was between dragons and the Dogs, and any pony involvement was just a myth--" Steel looked confused, then his eyes widened and he looked thoughtful. "Sometimes I forget just how old you are, Princess. Very well. Show us this proof." Luna nodded. "Assemble as many medical staff as you can; I will take you all there directly." Delays and more delays; would that I could take their leaders directly, but there was never enough trust for that. Her horn started to glow and she pushed-- ~~~discontinuity~~~ --appearing in the brightly lit courtyard under smoke-stained skies, surrounded by the bustle and controlled panic of security staff who knew they might be called on at any moment. She stood still, waiting for the many and varied weapons to be lowered, magic held at trip-wire readiness. Behind all the gryphons were a herd of ponies, tightly packed behind an improvised fence, more armed gryphons at the gate. Her ears went back. A burly female with the characteristic white plumage of the southern Razorclaw states landed at her side, her barrel of a chest made even larger by the equipment harness that went from shoulder to hip. "Princess, I am--" She noticed the direction of Luna's gaze and paused, swallowing hard. "They requested asylum, your Highness. I assure you that no one... ah, pony, has been held against their will." "I am very glad to hear that," Luna said, looking sharply at the gryphon. "You have my thanks." The ambassadors emerged from the Razorclaw embassy and variously trotted or flew over, followed by a retinue of what were obviously security staff, all equipped with bulging panniers. "Princess Luna," Steel said, staring up at her, eyes narrow. "You still have the Elements with you. I must insist that you--" Luna gave a humourless laugh. "I will not leave them behind, Ambassador. Whether I have them or not will make no difference to the threat I pose to you." The gryphons looked unhappy, muttering among themselves, but decided not to push the matter. "Our forces are holding in international airspace while we verify your claims. I have requested transport, but it will be hours before--" Steel said, then gasped as Luna picked him and everyone else up. "There's no need; I can take you all." And Celestia might be injured... perhaps some delayed effect of Discord's last spell. She formed the pattern and pushed-- ~~~discontinuity~~~ --the dark, the rapid pummelling of high velocity air, suddenly shutting off behind a layer of violet light-- ~~~discontinuity~~~ --a sudden surge as velocities changed and a shocked silence; the moon jumping to a new position in the sky-- ~~~discontinuity~~~ --screaming and curses in several dialects and from several sets of vocal apparatus; the moon moved again, the faint whisper of dawn colouring the sky a faint rose-- ~~~discontinuity~~~ --mountains under her hooves, starkly lit by skies filled with rapidly evaporating little clouds-- ~~~discontinuity~~~ --a valley, blasted on one side like someone had detonated a nuclear weapon right in the middle. Ash and dust, the fines still raining out of the heavy, dirty cloud overhead, coated everything and turned it into a wasteland. "Just down here," Luna called out, swooping down towards the platform jutting out from the valley wall. She glanced over her shoulder, a slightly vindictive smile on her lips at the looks of outrage on the faces of those tugged along in her magic. Luna pushed them all, the four Ambassadors and over twenty support staff, through the front gate, then landed behind them, forcing her way through the group and ignoring the babble of complaint. Her horn glowed as she swept the complex for any sign of Celestia, but there was nothing. Where are you? The urge to fly on, ripping this place to shreds as she searched, was very strong. "This way." She cut open the inner door and trotted down the ramp, then passed through the mesh gate and blasted opening in the heavy door behind that. Her new retinue was slow to follow, clustering around the drugged guards. "Princess! Why does this gryphon look like... like... this," Ambassador Talons Shod In Steel asked in strangled tones, sweeping one set of feathers over the misshapen sleeper. "Discord likes to play with his food. There is worse to come." She walked off, brushing aside the wreckage that littered the corridor on the other side, clearing a path. There was a thumping noise from the left, and she cocked her head, listening for a moment. "More gryphons in there," she said, gesturing with one wing. "The door is sealed and, by the sound of it, we should leave them in there for a while longer." The medical teams had fanned out among the gryphons lying amid the wreckage, then moved on, leaving a few of their number behind to check for any life-threatening issues. Luna strode ahead, deaf to the questions and pleas from the prisoners in the next few levels, as well as those from the ambassadorial staff, stopping only when she encountered the body of Trailblazer. Unlike the other blocks, the prisoners here were silent when she entered, all watching intently as she walked up to the FOAL and stared down. "You did well... I gave you an impossible task and you managed it. Sleep well." She turned, staring at the group entering behind her, then moved to the second body, gently lifting the two heads so all could see. "If you weren't convinced before, then this should be enough." She waited, impatiently tapping a hind hoof on the ground as they examined the body, then moved on again. Finally, they all reached the lower chamber, lit only by the gentle glow of unicorn magic and filled with nervous ponies, who immediately shrank away from all the gryphons filtering in behind Luna. "Everypony," she called out, sending up a bright ball of white light, "these are friends. If you are hurt, let them help you." She turned back, addressing the ambassadorial group directly. "These are your witnesses. Treat them gently; they have seen far too much." === Chirr looked out over the mixed crowd of ponies, zebra and gryphon, eyes fixed on the towering shape of Princess Luna as she moved through the chamber. She looked tired and worried, her head constantly sweeping from side to side, as if looking for something. Three objects orbited her head like a halo, patterned spheres whose surface lighting didn't match the ambient light sources. Stiffly, he got up and limped over to Night and Blevie, sitting at the back of the room, moving each leg one at a time. His body felt odd: too small and the wrong shape, with each pair of legs exactly the same, and walking was no longer something he could do without thinking. Carefully laying down, he leaned heavily against Blevie, sighing as the mare shifted to better support his weight. She eyed him for a few moments, then nodded. "Did you see things while you were part of the circle?" she said, head cocked to one side. "Little flashes from everywhere Discord's magic went, I think. Full of anger or terror... is that really what it was like everywhere?" Night reached out a hoof, tapping one of three grey stone spheres where they rested between her forelegs. "Everywhere a pony was infected by his magic, I guess. At least the Elements did their thing. At the end, I saw ponies reverting back to their real selves... anypony else see that?" There was hope in her eyes, and Chirr and Blevie nodded. "Thank Celestia for that... I was beginning to think that part was a dream." "Speaking of... why isn't she here?" Chirr asked, eyes going back to Luna. "The Moon Princess looks on edge... Celestia was really the better statesmare of the two; I guess she's trying to repair all the damage. I'd hate to have to go to war after all this." The Night looked down at the stone spheres and frowned. "I just don't know why she left the Elements behind." Finally, Luna came in their direction, trailing a cometary tail of uncertain looking ponies and gryphons wearing the bulky harnesses of security staff. They made to stand, but she shook her head. "Stay there; you earned it. Everypony -- everybody -- owes you a great debt, myself especially. Without..." Her gaze was drawn to the stone balls and she trailed off into silence, transfixed. "Princess...?" Chirr said, tentatively. She jerked, nostrils flaring and eyes going wide, dancing back with flared wings like a pony surprised by a snake. "What are they doing here?" she said in strangled tones. "Where is my sister?" Something cold ran down Chirr's spine. "She teleported away at the same time as you did. We assumed you went to the same place." "There was something odd..." Night said, shifting uneasily. "I can't teleport, but the spell seemed... I don't know, ragged?" Her ears went back at the sudden look of horror on Luna's face. "You don't think--?" Luna's face abruptly shifted, losing all expression and becoming as still and distant as the surface of the moon. "I need your memories," she rasped, horn glowing. "Yes, of cou--" Night's face became slack, mouth drooping. The Princess' eyes closed, rapidly moving under their lids, then she inhaled sharply and gave a little whimper, legs folding and dropping her belly-first to the rough stones. Tears leaked out past closed lids and she slumped, wings relaxing until they splayed messily across the floor. Chirr stared at her in alarm, glancing at a shocked Night and Blevie. That can't be good news... she must have had an accident -- but what can go wrong while teleporting? He started to feel sick, then tentatively reached forward to lay a wing over Luna's back. "Princess, what's wrong?" he said softly. "I won't believe it... I can't," Luna whispered, then shrugged off his touch and scrambled to her hooves, wiping her eyes on the soft feathers of her wing's leading edge. Staring down at the three other Elements, she gathered them up and held them to her chest, then stalked away. Ignoring the questions thrown at her by the Ambassadors she took flight, accelerating down the still hot tunnel so fast she blurred. A moment later there was the sharp bang of the sound barrier being broken. Does that mean what I think it means? He stared, open mouthed, at the hole she'd left by, trying not to come to the awful, obvious, conclusion, then looked at Night. The mare was shaking her head and trembling, like she was trying to dislodge some invisible fly. Her teeth chattered, sudden and loud, then she clenched her jaws to still them. An angry-looking, elderly gryphon wearing an ornate collar carrying the seal of Goldenwing was approaching, but Chirr ignored him. "Night? What was that?" "Pony! I demand to know what--" Blevie surged to her hooves, suddenly appearing far more dangerous than the either of the two security staffers at his flanks. "You will let Nightstorm speak without interruptions," she said in a low voice, making the gryphons bristle and open their beaks in reflexive response. Night, slightly calmer, nodded and cleared her throat. "Princess Luna wanted to see my memories of Princess Celestia's departure." Her ears went back and she gulped air, swallowing hard. "She watched the teleport a dozen times, and I-I had to, as well. I think something went wrong." Tears started to run through the fur of her cheeks and her voice roughened, like she was trying to squeeze the words out past a garrotte. "I took some teleport lessons, and the failure modes are varied... but if you get it wrong, sometimes things come back damaged." She looked up at Blevie with haunted eyes. "Sometimes they don't come back at all." The earth pony growled under her breath, a sudden, furious, sound more suited to the throat of a Diamond Dog. "I don't believe you; that's impossible. This is Celestia we are talking about!" Night made a quiet whinny and looked down at her hooves. "You must have noticed how she seemed confused, after the battle. Discord hit her with a spell, right before he made a break for it. It felt like his usual reality warping magic, but what if it was more than that?" "Something in her mind... we all know how good Discord is at that sort of thing," Chirr muttered, giving the gryphon a hard stare. The desire to lash out was sudden and very, very strong, and he had to close his eyes and force back his directionless anger. Luna certainly suspects it... You saw the injuries on Luna's body; they might not age, but that doesn't mean they are unkillable. Night must be right. It's true, it's really true. He saw the acceptance of the truth in Blevie's eyes, then the mare turned, lying down next to Night, getting as close as possible to the unicorn. "There, you have your answer. Happy now?" The elder gryphon seemed to shrink, and he stared at his foreclaws. "I've worked our Embassy in Canterlot for nearly forty years. Being able to interact with the Day Princess was a constant wonder..." He backed away, waving at the security gryphons to leave. "I can't imagine a world without Celestia. You have my deepest sympathies."