Not Incompetent

by Palladium Pony

Chapter 2 - Fort Hale

Towering above the cloud layer is a massive, blocky fortress. They massive complex seems to have been hewn from a single, monumental slab of rock, with precision and detail known only to the most skilled of craftsmen and artisans. The four corner spires extend downward rather than upward, and hold four massive crystals firmly in place, allowing the complex to be fully stablized in the air, where it is suspended by a much more massive crystal that seems to be growing from the base of the massive building.

This is Fort Hale. The last bastion of light in a world of darkness. Unfortunately, it doesn't shine all that bright. The Solar Cult, the Freedom Fighters, the Minutemen, the Crusaders, the Paladins. They go by so many names, and they call this place their home, headquarters, and sole refuge. They are not powerful, but they are smart, enough so that Nightmare Moon has been unable to find them. At least, not so far.

The fortress itself is cut up in five sections. The largest, known as the Half, though it is merely one third of the fortress' area, is outfitted with agricultural technology, sleeping quarters, and a cafeteria. The second largest, Levitation, is one area in five, and it is simply where the gems reside. Nothing happens here unless a gem is damaged in some way.

The strangest is the labs. Uncertain size, they defy all physics in their construction. They were a small broom closet until they were expanded into a series of massive factory-style rooms, each the size of the entire fortress, for a total of thirty seven extra fortresses of space in what used to be a closet.

Second smallest is the infirmary, comprised of seven rooms. The smallest is the Shadowgrove. Not much happens in the Shadowgrove, unless someone dies. It serves as the cemetary, and Archra, an undead dragon, serves as the gatekeeper, or rather, the gravedigger.

The Shadowgrove, however, is unimportant right now, because Twilight isn't IN the Shadowgrove, she's in the infirmary, unconscious, having her malnutrition and atrophied muscles fixed. She lies motionless and undreaming as she lies in the cot, though after being stuck in a dream for so very long, when she awakes she might see it as the blessing it is.

After all, Nightmare Moon might be able to track the dream.

Looking over Twilight is none other than the former princess, Cadance. She gives a heaving sigh as she looks at the unconscious form of what was practically her little sister all those years ago. She brushes a few errant strands of her mane from her face, and sets herself down in a seat next to the bed.

She turns to the door as it clicks in, and Chrysalis steps in, her chitinous hooves clicking on the tile flooring. The holes in her hooves are filled with a sticky cyan substance, doing its best to stay in the holes, but slowly leaking regardless. She looks a bit uncomfortable, but whether it's due to the substance or the unconscious mare in the room is unsure.

"Chryssie," Cadance smiles at the Queen of all remaining changelings. She pats the cushion next to her, and Chrysalis sits down on it. "How was... How did the mission go?" Chryalis' eyebrows rise.

"I hadn't told you?" Cadance shakes her head, and Chrysalis sighs. "We somehow managed to eliminate fifty guards while only losing three changelings... Problem is, as vital as Twilight here is," she nods at the unconscious mare, "She's the only agent we managed to rescue. And..." She sighs, bracing herself. "We don't know if she'll even be willing to help us."

Cadance rounds on Chrysalis, who withers under the glare of the former princess of love. "Listen, here, Chrysalis," Cadance starts, poking Chrysalis in the chest, who winces at hearing her whole name, "Twily is compassionate, loyal, and kind. Yeah, she's a nerd, but she'll always fight for who she cares about, and even without the mares she declared to the Nightmare were her genuine friends being here, there's still me, and I was like a big sister to her, if you haven't forgotten!"

Chrysalis winces, and takes the time to think over her words. A minute goes by before she responds. "I haven't forgotten, Cady. Even if I had, your love for her is so strong I can't just smell it, I can see it. Far more than-" She cuts herself off with a shake of her head, unwilling to bring such a thing up. "Even with love, even with such a strength of character to fight for those she loves... she's gone up against the Nightmare before, and that was twenty years ago."

She looks out of the window, up at the everpresent moon, shining its pale light into the room heartlessly. Chrysalis opens her mouth and goes on, "She has gotten stronger. Stronger than she was even before the Elements sealed her. You know this, I know this, there is no doubt Twilight knows..." She looks over the mare in the bed, and gives a light huff. "She failed against her when she was, at most, only at 10% capacity. She's at practically 270% now, so you know what she'll think?"

Chrysalis' horn lights up, and before Cadance can protest, show displeasure, or anything, a magical hologram of Twilight, Cadance and Chrysalis interacting pops up in the middle of the room. "You want me to what?" The Holo-Twilight yells, pointing angrily at Cadance with her hoof, "I can't do that, did you forget what happened? HUH?! I nearly DIED! I just barely survived, and only because Nightmare Moon found her morals for a second!" Holo-Cadance, real Cadance, and Holo-Chrysalis all sink at those words.

"I'm not going to give my life in a meaningless sacrifice!" She goes on, "I had an idea the first time, and you all know how THAT brilliant plan worked out!" She steps up close to Holo-Cadance, "One of my best friends, my family, or no, I'm not going to fight a demon that can overpower me with a thought for you!" She rounds on Holo-Chrysalis, getting up in her face, and stomping hard enough to create cracks in the ground, "And YOU! I don't even KNOW you!" The hologram, and cracks in the floor dissipate as Chrysalis looks sadly upon a crying Cadance, and puts her hoof on her shoulder.

"I don't want to hurt you. Even if it didn't physically feel pain from you being upset, it would still hurt. I'm just saying... It isn't likely that she'll be willing to help, given how badly she takes failure." Cadance sobs, sniffles, and shakes her head, muttering.

"No, no, she'll help, I know it, she'll help, no, no, no, she'll help..."

Chrysalis pats her companion on the back, and looks to the door as it creaks open again. A ten-year-old Alicorn filly is standing on the other side. A pitch black coat and a pink mane and tail are her most pominant features, though the slit pupils and small fangs are definitely visible as well. She flaps her wings anxiously as she looks at Twilight. Her bent horn gives a few weak sparks of magic. Her eyes show great concern, and she nearly trips over the doorframe's base as she enters.

"This is Twilight?" The filly asks, in a wierdly mature voice, looking up at the figure on the bed. She turns to Chrysalis as she nods, and sees Cadance crying, and denying. "What's wrong with Momma Cadance?" She asks, rushing up to her, the concern in her eyes tripling.

Chrysalis rubs Cadance's back as she mumbles, and responds in lieu of the pink pony. "Momma Cadance is upset because I'm not sure Twilight is going to stay. I'm scared that she'll be scared and leave." The filly's jaw drops, and she nuzzles Cadance.

"Don't worry Momma Cadance! Auntie Twilight will help us! I know she will! She loves you!" Cadance is shaken from her horrified denials at this just to smile and pat the filly on the head reassuringly.

"Mommy Chryssie just isn't thinking straight," Cadance assures her daughter.

"Mommy Chryssie is so thinking straight, Lightning" Chrysalis denies to her daughter. "I'm just thinking negatively." Cadance and Lightning both roll their eyes, having seen this before whle thing before, and the tension filling the air evaporates in an instant, making both Chrysalis and Lightning feel a lot less on edge.

They all turn to Twilight as she rolls around in her sleep. Cadance's eyes widen, and her smile grows. "She's waking up," she squeals exitedly, as Twilight opens her eyes. She turns the bleary orbs to the other three in the room, seeing blurs, but not hardly comprehending anything.

She shakes her head, and blinks the blurriness away, throwing her head back onto the pillow when she meets Cadance's eyes. Short giggles come out as she stares at the marble ceiling. "Hehehe... Cadance, you won't believe this."

Cadance's eyebrow rises, as Twilight continues giggling at the ceiling. "I had this... this crazy dream." Chrysalis has to keep Lightning from jumping on Twilight to introduce herself, and the merriment, both physical and edible, just makes her fight harder to get out and make friends.

Twilight glances at Cadance, and coughs, before giggling more. "I, well... Okay, I was in this cell, right, and there was this grey dog with red speckles." Chrysalis hears Granbull sneeze from the hallway. "And I just scream, so he tells me to be quiet, he's breaking me out." Twilight smiles, and lets out giddy, "Heeeee..."

"Hehe, so, I'm following him around, he picks up this blue torch, and we walk up some stairs. A lot, actualy. We pass by a bunch of crazy skeletons, and then we see SOMBRA of all ponies waiting at the top." Cadance chuckles as she hears Sombra's echoing sneeze from outside the door. Twilight's brow furrows, and then she shakes her head.

"So, anyway, they talk about someone called the Queen, and the Black Whore, who is, apparently, Nightmare MOON, and, then we rush into the courtyard, and this crazy pony shows up with a wagonload of knives hovering around her!" She throws her forelegs in the air for emphasis.

"Then, she takes one look at me, and teleports away, then we go to the edge of the prison, and who comes to take us away but the Queen, who it turns out, was CHRYSALIS! Isn't... That..." She turns to face Chrysalis, who is holding a squirming Lightning with a sheepish grin.

The merriment and joy on Twilight's face fades quickly, replaced by the frown of all frowns. "Ponyfeathers."

========

"And this is my room! The best room! Because I'm the mechanic! Have I mentioned that?!" Lightning exclaims, hovering around her newly dubbed 'Auntie Twilight'. 'Excitable' is a good word for describing the little filly, and a word that Twilight decides would be good to stick to.

Lightning's room is massive, a space not unlike a warehouse, the floor covered with all sorts of machines and blackboards, and the walls and catwalks not faring much tidier. The filly smiles at Twilight, and then rushes straight at a blackboard, slamming into it headfirst.

Before Twilight can even cry out in shock, the blackboard launches her through the air, she hopscotches along some tesla coils set up in a line on a series of tank-like machines, and she bounces off a strategically placed mattress up onto a catwalk. She leans over the yellow and black striped rails, grinning down at Twilight.

"I'd say, 'Now you try!' but I don't think you have enough pegasus magic to just jump on a tesla coil unharmed. In fact, I doubt you have any at all." She leans back on the railing arrogantly, looking for all the world like a black Rainbow Dash, right down to the hair. "Stairs are over there," She gestures to the staircase beside the wall, "Good luck getting to them, Double D rearranges my lab every now and then to keep me on my toes."

"Honestly, it helps me think to be in an entirely unfamiliar environment," she monologues as Twilight begins to navigate the maze, "We need lots of machines and weapons to fight Nightmare, so I need to come up with new stuff all the time, or she'll start countering them." She shivers, though Twilight doesn't see. "Don't ever mention Las Pegasus around Sombra. Ever see a Shadow cry? It's creepy. He was sobbing on the ground, but in a cultured monotone. It almost sounded sarcastic, which makes it worse, because he's genuinely hurting."

Twilight glances up at Lightning as a pain strikes her chest at the thought of the prideful king brought so very low. Evil he may have been, he was a stoic pillar of strength for the empire, and now, with the good stallion he appears to be, it only makes the image worse. "Yeah, so don't do that. Worst failure in the Minutemen's history. Archra sent a hundred fighters through the Shadowgrove. And that's just what we recovered."

Lightning shivers again as Twilight makes her way up the stairs. "On a lighter note, now we know to constantly update our- oh, hey, when did you get here?" Lightning suddenly notices Twilight's presence, and the she gives a flat stare to the halfbreed, who is still leaning on the rail.

"Twenty years ago," Twilight replies sarcastically, and Lightning withers. Twilight's ears fall flat against her head, realizing that that was most certainly NOT the right thing to say. "I-I, uh, s-sorry? Is that a, uh, a sensitive subject?"

"Yeah, sorta," Lightning gives her morose reply, "I'm uh... It was THE worst day in ponykind's history." She rubs the back of her head. "This isn't the worst thing ever for the 'Taurs an' dragons, and, you know, whatever, but for ponies, the newest race? Yup."

"That, uh, reminds me, actually," Twilight tries to turn the conversation in a different direction as they start walking down the catwalk, "Where's Spike? He a big, strong dragon like he always wanted?"

Lightning's ears fall to the sides of her head. Twilight looks at her in concern as she walks on silently. Her steps seem unsure and shuddering, a definite bad sign. Twilight swallows thickly hoping with all her heart that maybe, just maybe, it isn't as it appears.

Lightning doesn't speak, not for a long time. They move across the entirety of the catwalk, entering the room at the end. Full of all you'd expect to find in a filly's bedroom, if you replace the dolls and stuff with small machines. She moves slowly over to a cabinet.

The thing is massive, and made entirely of brass. There are tubes and pumps all along the edges, like accents, but running as though serving a purpose. Twilight is intrigued by the device, but very concerned by Lightning's lack of response. She opens her mouth, but Lightning holds up a hoof.

She takes a deep breath, and slowly lets it out. "No."

"N-No?" Twilight can feel her breath quickening, her heartbeat picking up the pace, and sweat already pouring from her glands. Tears begin to well up in her eyes, knowing in her heart what the case must be.

"No. He is not a big and strong dragon. He... isn't dead, but he's gone. For good. Nothing comes back from Oblivion." Twilight doesn't register nearly any of this. "Oblivion is like the afterlife, but... not. It's filled with nothing. It's a pessimistic afterlife."

"He can't contact us, because by all rights, he doesn't exist. Never did, either. That's what Oblivion does. Nothing he did ever happened anymore, but he exists still, and he's... suspended. Indefinitely. Not dead, but... long gone..." Lightning's head falls, and Twilight's follows suit.

"What... Happened?" Twilight looks up at her neice, the black filly, blinking slowly, and then turning back to the cabinet. She presses a circular indention in the center, and twists it to the right. The cabinet opens outward, and begins to look like a cask with what is inside.

A near skeletal creature is covered with brass, and fused to tubes of all sorts. The being is bipedial, and short, giving Twilight no room to doubt who it is. "S-Spike...?" Lightning nods.

"His mind is unrecoverable, but his body is alive. Of course, unrecoverable is... not exact. We might someday recover him, but for now... I'm the only one who can service his life support. He dies, and he's gone forever." Twilight sinks to the floor before her comatose, long-term best friend. "I can tell you what happened."

Twilight, numb with grief, nods.

"Okay... where do I start...?"

Author's Note:

Sorry for the wait, guys. Hopefully, number three will be up by Friday.

Gods Be With You
-Palladium

Comments

[Twilight Kira]

Finally!

[Scorch215]

Well....twilight took finding out a good chunck of her life never happened and was just a dream rather well....I'd have expect her ton freak out, deny what is happing to be reality or possiblly have some form of existential crisis.

And she took seeing enemies of hers rather well.....I am predicting a massive break down in the near future.

[Razzy]

Yeah, Twilight is gonna have a massive breakdown one she learns of everything that happened.

On the plus side, Chryssie and Cadance had a baby, eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[Palladium Pony]

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Breakdown is more of a chapter 4 sort of thing, actually. It's in the best place to have a breakdown, too.