SotS: 154 - Journey, Part 3 (Unwanted Legacy) · 12:39pm Apr 2nd, 2020
See blog for previous parts.
154 – Journey
III – Unwanted Legacy
“This is a terrible story, there’s too much going on,” Onion said, tapping her hoof against a wall.
“Onion!” Pringle shouted.
“What? It is.”
“They’re all related in the end! Come on, you know how this goes. The romance ties into the research ties into the two cities all into one big—”
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” the Elder said, holding up one of her hands to calm the young ones. “There’s always more to see if the story is laid out all at once… though admittedly, it is hard to tell verbally from memory when things bounce around so much.”
“Luckily you basically have the book memorized,” Joanne pointed out, no doubt scrolling through the book in question on her phone.
“Why not just read it, then?” Onion asked.
“Because having a story told together is a bonding experience!” Pringle grinned.
Jang nodded. “I find myself intrigued by the dynamic between Discord and Flutterfree every time I hear of it. So many stories and legends put love as the highest of all possible goals, but Flutterfree explicitly does not.”
“You’re just jealous because you can’t get a girlfriend,” Joanne retorted.
“That has nothing to do with it.”
“And Flutterfree’s full of BS anyway,” Joanne kept typing. “She loves her religion more than people. That’s just idiotic.”
“Joanne!” the Elder chided.
“I don’t think that’s how it works…” Pringle said.
Joanne didn’t look up. “That’s just how I see it. She’s being unreasonable for a belief and it’s being treated as acceptable, even good, while the cities are fighting over their beliefs and it’s not. There’s a discontinuity there.”
“That’s different…”
“And stories are not told objectively,” the Elder said. “That said, there is more to it than you seem to realize. There’s a key difference between the alicorns and Flutterfree. Maybe it will be more obvious when I describe how they met with their ‘gods’ in person.”
“…At least that part’s always enjoyable.”
“Make sure you do the voices for them!” Pringle cheered. “It’s the best part for the voices!”
“I will try, little one, but my old voice does not do the regal sisters justice.”
“Nothing does…” Onion muttered.
Ignoring the detraction, the Elder continued. “Corona’s invitation was the warmest, though this would not last…”
~~~
Corona teleported herself to the top of the Dark Side temple-palace, Minna at her side.
“…I thought the point was not to make them want to worship you?”
“Yes. But I want them to know I’m here.” She waved down at the city—easily in view of several cameras and citizens. “This ‘Troi’ won’t be able to pull a fast one on us anymore.”
The wind blew through Minna’s hair. They stood in silence for a few minutes, letting their presence sink in.
“Got anything?” Corona asked.
Minna frowned. “Someone’s coming to meet us.”
A hatch in the pyramid opened up, revealing a woman in black robes. She was decidedly inhuman with an orange face and two striped head-tails. “You’re making quite the commotion up here.”
Corona smirked. “That’s the idea. Here to take us to Troi?”
“Yes. I believe I was sent because I wasn’t likely to start bowing in stunned awe the moment I met you.”
“Thanks for that.”
She smiled. “Don’t mention it.”
“This is Minna Belle, by the way.” Minna saluted.
“I know. I’m Master Ahsoka Tano, for what it’s worth.”
“Sounds familiar…”
“I’m a common Star Wars ‘template’.” She descended into the pyramid’s hatch. “Might want to get down here before some people get brave enough to fly up.”
They followed her, descending down a long shaft until they came to a major hallway, the sides lined with many ‘Sith’. It wasn’t a very formal guard, since most of them were walking around and talking to one another, but they kept a careful eye on Corona and Minna. Corona caught a few of them refusing to look at her, or bowing their heads and looking at her feet.
“Just a reminder,” she said as they neared the end of the hallway. “Not a god! Kay? Kay, good.” She didn’t wait for a response, stepping right into the room Troi was standing in with Mlinx’s team.
Troi held Corona’s gaze for all of two seconds before breaking and bowing her head. “I am sorry, Corona, I cannot treat you as an equal, for that is not what you deserve.”
“Oh for the love of… they’re apologizing for worshipping me now?”
“It was the next logical step of worship progression,” Thrackerzod deadpanned.
Corona sighed. “Troi, get up, I’m just a person. And from what I hear, a person who’s going to disagree with a lot of what you’ve got going on here. I don’t want to send you into an existential spiral by daring to disagree with you.”
Troi forced a smile. “Ah… yes! That does seem… appropriate and inevitable.”
“I was just telling them how they’re betraying your vision,” Vriska said.
Corona smirked. “Vriska, no offense, you don’t know the first thing about my vision. You were never one of those fighting for ideals, you fought because that was what your trusted friends were doing.”
“…Bullshit, but true.”
Corona created herself a chair and sat in it, folding her hands together. “What is your creed as the Dark Side of the Moon, Centroid? Put it simply.”
Troi bit her lip. “Freedom of the self in the New World.”
“Hmm. Freedom of the self. Admirable, and I can’t find fault with that yet, but Vriska’s right. That’s… not what I fought for. I fought to end the suffering. Freeing us from the clutches of destiny was a secondary concern. The suffering perpetuated by the Tower is petering out.”
“A-and because of that, there’s no more reason to devote ourselves to ending it! The problem is solved, we’re here to live in the New World however we want.”
“Personally, if I hadn’t been systematically broken down like a ragdoll after the collapse, I think I would have shifted the goal to ending as much natural suffering as I could. That is mostly what I’m doing now, come to think of it. Traveling around, saving whoever I can… being a beacon of hope, contrary to my supposed mastery of Doom.”
“And you are! You are a beacon of hope to us!”
Corona sighed. “I’m a god to you. And if not you, the people down there, at least.”
“It’s not like it’s a state-sanctioned religion like the Light Side…”
“Eve’s gonna have fun over there…” Corona mused.
“Wait, Eve? She’s here too!?”
Corona smirked. “Why does that surprise you? Surely you got some news from the City, even out this far.”
“W-well it was hard to tell rumor from—”
“Eve and I made up within a week or two of the collapse. It was a… harrowing experience, but we made it through.” She tapped the Master Sword fastened to her hip. “The universe reminded me that I was, and still am, a hero. And I will be until the Tower falls, ending corruption and suffering wherever I see it.” She smiled sadly. “Troi, I know it’s a difficult situation, but trying to shut them out isn’t the answer. The way to break through to those who want to hurt you is not by fighting back. It’s by turning the other cheek.”
“I don’t want my people to be genocided!”
Corona’s expression darkened considerably. “You fought for the collapse. You declared the price of self-genocide to be worth the goal at the end. This is much the same. Is the reconciliation and peace between enemies not worth that price?”
“W-well…”
“I don’t know enough to say for sure.” Corona’s voice softened. “We can’t see the good or evil that will come from an act. None of us saw what the New World would have to offer, and none of us saw whatever a preservation victory would have brought. No mind can handle the details, so we have to try our best and hope there’s more to life.”
Troi was silent as Corona stood up, walking out to the balcony. She looked over the city, smiling.
“Your people are happy,” Corona said.
“Yes.”
“Reveling in freedom, a release from the rules, a lessening of fate…” Corona folded her wings back, pressing her lips together until her mouth was a flat, emotionless line. She was silent for quite some time.
Tori didn’t dare interrupt her.
“It won’t last. You can’t be both accepting of freedom and hate the outside. It’ll collapse eventually.”
“I have no intention of keeping this city here forever,” Tori said. “We will spread out and make our own paths. It is just that… now, we are endangered.”
“You’re arguing exactly like the preservation did.” Corona held out a hand. “They cared so much about their homes and their lives and their preconceived notions that they didn’t see what we saw; a greater good bigger than all of us.”
“Are you claiming their goal of our destruction is a greater good?”
“Personally? No. I don’t think justice is really all it’s cracked up to be. But a lot of people do. Who are we to tell them their desire for justice is wrong? For retribution? Maybe the cycle of revenge truly is the highest form of being a person. Maybe worship is. Maybe exercising the freedom of choice and free will is. Or maybe it’s just friendship and peace.” She turned to look Troi directly in the eyes. “The problem is, we don’t know.”
“Your certainty is gone…” Troi breathed.
“What?”
“Your certainty. The fire that drove you to victory. That determination that brought you to…” She backed away. “It’s gone.”
“…I think you’re confusing the mask I put on to lead the collapse armies with who I really am. I cried my eyes out regularly until I fell asleep while the war was happening, Troi. I was determined, I was convinced I was right, but every day I wondered if there was another way, for the war itself was evil.”
Troi shook her head. “That’s the problem, then. We… we don’t idolize you, Corona.”
“Pretty sure y—”
“We serve that ideal you created. That… ‘mask,’ you said it was? That. That mask. That is what we, as the Dark Side of the Moon, follow. That unrelenting power, that charismatic determination, the gall to challenge what everyone had assumed. That is what the Dark Side of the Moon is all about. And we will defend our right to do that to our dying breath.”
“Troi, I don’t think…”
“I don’t think I’m getting through to you like this…” Troi tapped her hoof on the ground. “Oh! Idea!”
“Here we go…” Burgerbelle muttered.
~~~
Eve stood atop the Light Side temple-palace, Monika at her side.
“I could just…”
“No, Monika,” Eve said. “You’re here to provide a face and the threat of power, not to actually edit the entire city until it obeys your every whim.”
“…Fine…” Monika growled.
A hatch in the side of the pyramid opened up, revealing an orange face in a dark robe. “Chancellor Tesseract requests your presence inside the temple-palace, Most High Preserver.”
“I am going to get real tired of this…” Eve hissed. “Lead the way…?”
“Master Ahsoka Tano.” They followed her into the temple-palace, arriving in a long hallway with Jedi on all sides. Every last one of them stood at attention, bowing their heads silently to Eve in reverence. She could hear some of them muttering quiet prayers.
Years of being the Relations Overhead had taught her to keep her knee-jerk reactions in check when they wouldn’t be helpful, so she gave them no indication of her approval or disdain.
Monika, on the other hand, was grinning like a child the entire time.
They soon arrived in the room Tesseract was meeting the rest of the team.
“Most High Preserver Evening Sparkle,” Tesseract greeted with a deep bow. Eve was easily able to detect the fake reverence in her tone and motions—this mare did not believe Eve was a god, not even close. She just wanted everyone to think she did.
“Chancellor Tesseract of the Light Side of the Moon,” Eve bowed, sure to linger in the motion just long enough to make the Celestia slightly nervous. When she rose, Eve was delighted to find she was taller than the mare. Size intimidation was worth a lot more than people gave it credit for.
“You are here to tell me why my quest for just retribution is wrong,” Tesseract said.
“That will be a topic on the agenda, but first… I would appreciate an explanation for the statue outside, hmm?”
“Most High Preserver, it is the legacy of your tragic defense of existence. We remember what you did so we may continue in your hoofsteps.”
Eve nodded slowly. “Yes. I did defend existence. I did fight to the last breath to save what we had. I regret none of it. But I lost, and now there is no more need to be that.”
“No more need? Those who triggered the collapse are still here.”
“And they have absolutely no desire to attack you. In fact, out of all the people I’ve met in this New World, it’s our side that wants to attack the most. But I’m sure Starbeat caught you up on this already.”
Tesseract’s frown deepened. “Yes… She has. You and Corona, standing together, ending her little… ‘witch hunt’.”
“We failed to end it,” Eve breathed. “The Hub destroyed itself in Rage.”
Tesseract was silent.
“I don’t want that to be your fate.”
“I was aware of your implication, I am no fool,” Tesseract hissed.
“And yet you let your emotions seep through and show your hoof,” Eve said, raising an eyebrow. “It is clear you have no reverence for me.”
Tesseract realized she’d just been played and allowed her scowl to come out in full force. “I should have expected as much from the Overhead of Relations.”
“There we are, now we’re being honest.” Eve smirked. “Do tell, why do you lie to your people about me? Why do you build statues?”
“The answer is very simple, Evening. They want to believe in something. If they all believe in the same thing, they don’t kill themselves or each other. Your consort should be evidence of such effectiveness.”
“Call Flutterfree a consort again, and this conversation is over,” Eve deadpanned.
Tesseract nodded, accepting the threat as fact and moving on. “My point remains.”
“Effectiveness is not good, Tesseract. It’s still a lie.”
“Lies for the greater good, Evening.”
Eve pressed her wingtips together, frown deepening. “This is backwards.”
“Our conversation?”
“No. The Light Side and Dark Side, the preservation and the collapse. The other side is the one that fights for the greater good against the common definitions of right and wrong. We fight for that which we’ve always had. We say that the price they ask for is too great, that the way things are is better. We don’t go witch hunting to fulfill ourselves, we fight for the beauty inherent in ourselves.”
“You started a war for the greater good.”
“That was a mistake,” Eve said without hesitation. “And that’s the difference between me and Corona. I believe it was a mistake. She doesn’t. She’s had a hard time living with it, but she doesn’t regret what she’s done. That fight for the greater good? That’s what brought the multiverse to its knees. How can you claim to fight for the very enemy you were sworn to destroy?”
Tesseract turned away, looking out over the balcony to the city below. “…This is getting us nowhere.”
“I would prefer discussing with you possible alternatives rather than using what power I have to forcibly end this,” Eve said.
“I am aware of your penchant for interference.” Tesseract paused. “I am willing to negotiate, but logical arguments will get us nowhere. We are both steeped in our ways, unwilling to change, unwilling to see. We are too old.”
“If we do not argue, what then would you suggest we use to reach a resolution? Emotional appeals?”
Tesseract smiled. It was decidedly unpleasant to see such a slash on a face made to scowl. “…Something like that.”
~~~
The temple-palaces of the Light and Dark pulsed in unison, the connection between them synching up a deep beat. Two cellos faded into the ears of both cities’ citizens, inserting the familiar beat of a heartsong into their daily lives. Atop the temples, both Troi and Tesseract sensed the other’s presence in the beat, and yet they continued anyway. They weren’t about to let the other interfere with their mission.
Both temple-palaces shot beams of light into the sky, one red and one blue. Beneath, similar lasers fired into the ground, impacting the soil below. From her vantage point next to the mecha, Roxy watched in fascination as the light from the temples interacted with them, making them twitch slightly—as if an attempt were being made to power them.
Tesseract gestured for Eve to follow her, flying down to the street leading to her temple-palace. She marched forward, flanked by her citizens on the sides of the street. Every last one of them looked up to her with respect and adoration.
“Look closely at all my people
Faces say they’re strong and able
Their eyes tell a different tale
Everyone wishes they could wail
Holes in their hearts beyond filling
Screams of the dead call unending
We live to avenge the dark tomb
To strike them down, show them their Doom.”
Troi led Corona through a crowd of smiling faces, many of which she addressed directly.
“Charlie, are you ok?
You were a tragedy,
But now a proud father.
Cotton, remember now?
Timelines that you destroyed,
Lives that you now enchant.
Ruby, see the great news?
A new life; comedy
Far from the soldier’s walk.
Come see, o Corona.
Shining souls rest right here, cowering in new fear.”
Troi twirled around and pointed to the sky.
“Come see, o Corona
Will you tell us, freedom is wrong?
You’ve given people new life
Escape from strife
The Dark Side’s spark rings true.”
Both alicorns turned to their listeners at the same time.
“Our city is superior
Facing their ways, ulterior
For remembering the dark tomb
To strike them down, show them their Doom.”
Troi ignored Corona for a moment, turning to shout across the divide at the other City.
“Tessa, are you insane?
We don’t want your evil
Or your spiteful vengeance
Tessa, what have you done?
Spreading lies to your own
Restraining the new life
Tessa, why do you scream?
We’ve lost one and the same
End your deluded fight!”
Tesseract snarled, flaring her wings.
“You don’t get off
You won’t escape
Your righteous justice!”
She returned to Eve, lifting her high into the air to see the Light Side as a whole.
“These souls need a reason to live
Their grief too strong, they might just leave
You make them dishonor the lost
Spit in their face, call them light cost
Many of us made promises
Repay the debt, see lost faces
Their wishes don’t end with the war
Their hearts all groan, to settle the score.”
Troi turned away from the song reaching her ears from the other city, forcing a smile and returning to her people.
“Nora, can you show us?
Your bright husbands and wives
Definition no more
Trader, I see your wares
No pleasure is hidden
No answer kept away
Mikov, ancient wizard
Go beyond the taboo
Secrets we dare to know
Come see, o Corona,
The power within us, liberty burns anew!”
Twitching, the mare of the Dark Side flared her wings, prompting the weapons of the Dark Side to ignite, basking her in a red glow.
“Tessa, how can you say
That what we do, is so evil?
You berate us ev’ry day,
Our upheaval,
Your sadistic delight!”
They sang as one, rage clear in their tone.
“Our city is superior
Facing their ways, ulterior
For remembering the dark tomb
To strike them down, show them their Doom.”
Tesseract grinned.
“Young Troi, don’t lie to me
You hate us just the same
The death you truly want!
You don’t get off
You won’t escape
Your righteous justice!”
Tesseract’s Jedi lit their lightsabers as well, marching behind her in time with the beat. On both sides of the divide, an alicorn charged through the streets of their city in a show of power, flanked by their most powerful warriors swinging their blades and dancing in time.
Trailing behind on both sides was a single observer: Eve and Corona. Supposed gods to these cities, forgotten in the song. Little more than an afterthought in a connected rhythm that did little more than drive up the rage between the sides. What was meant to be an emotional appeal fell apart into shouting and a show of power.
Separated by a bridge though they were, the two cities pointed their weapons at each other and roared.
Eve and Corona were tired of being ignored.
Eve landed in front of Tesseract.
“Tessa, find perspective
See in your heart, revenge is lost
They will always need to hate
Impossible
For you to satiate
What of justice for your great sins?
Lies, pain, hatred, what-should-have-beens?
Who will hold you accountable?
Guilt has no end, even in Doom
Tessa!”
Corona flared her wings and pointed the Master Sword at Troi, forcing her to stop.
“Freedom, where’s the limit?
Is there a point, where it’s too much?
You still have a sense of law
But this passion
Will run your city raw
Don’t let them get at your anguish
Give them your cheek, make a kind wish
Hope for a reconciliation
Save your nation from its own Doom!
Listen!”
Tesseract and Troi stared, uncertain, at their problematic ‘gods’ as the music faded and the connection severed.
Below, Roxy let out a sigh of relief as the mecha stopped trying to activate.
~~~
“You look like shit,” Rina said.
Flutterfree looked up from the rock she’d been staring at, not even attempting to hide her tears.
“It went badly, I take it?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Flutterfree sagged. “I’m sitting here alone trying to be ‘fair’ and that’s just… stupid. I’m being stupid.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have context.”
Flutterfree just kept talking. “What good does it do to try to be fair? All it does is make there be more sorrow in the world. Instead of moping here for his sake I could be rebuilding bridges, helping with the Austraeoh reconstruction, getting past this. But no, I had to go and mope alone until you walk up out of…” She frowned. “Why are you here?”
“Rev’s worried, that’s why,” Rina explained. “She’s giving you space because you asked, but I can tell it’s driving her nuts. So here I am.” She booped Flutterfree’s snout. “And you are a hot mess.”
“You should see Discord. He’s… he’s heartbroken.”
“And you’re not?” Rina cocked her head.
“I’m the one w—”
“Unless I’m completely off the deep end, which I don’t think I am since I took a pill an hour ago, you can heartbreak yourself easy. Just refuse advances and presto, instant inner torment.”
“Rina, that’s… not the point.”
Rina raised an eyebrow. “Like I know what the point is.”
“…Right. Sorry.” Flutterfree sagged. “You are… sort of right. I just… it’s more important.”
“You’ve locked yourself up in a box, haven’t you?”
“Well…”
“Look, I’m a mess who has difficulty understanding basic emotions, and even I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to hide. Just because you made the right choice doesn’t mean it won’t hurt! Stop pretending like it’s not supposed to hurt, kapeesh?”
“But… it—”
“Have you heard Rev? We are not perfect. We are not able to take hardship with a smile and confidence. We will feel pain, disdain, doubt, and a whole mess of other nasty little things. You’re not perfect, you can’t just say ‘it was good, so I’m good’.”
Flutterfree looked deep into her eyes. Then, almost a whisper, she spoke. “I wanted him so bad…”
“I know. You’ve got it easy. At least your urges aren’t to kill everyone who looks at you wrong.” She looked toward the almost-complete construction of the Austraeoh, frowning. “When I look at everyone on that crew, I can think of multiple moments where I wanted to kill them. Often brutally.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Uh, thanks? I’m just trying to empathize here, I don’t think you need t—”
Flutterfree pulled her into a hug, dripping tears down the dark alicorn’s back. “W-we need ponies like you… that aren’t caught up…”
“…Er…”
Flutterfree released Rina, smiling softly. “It’s okay if you don’t understand.”
“I guess I got my daily allotment for wisdom already.”
“Who knows? You might have more.” Flutterfree wiped her eyes. “…I think I’ll go talk to Rev. She probably needs it just as much as I do.”
“She’s crazy, taking on everyone’s weights like that.”
“It’s what she does.”
The two of them walked back to the Austraeoh construction rather than teleporting, taking a moment to appreciate the scenery. They passed Mattie on the way there, sitting in her beach chair, absorbing the nonexistent ‘sun’.
“I swear, you’re going to pop any minute,” Rina commented.
Mattie snorted. “It’ll be more than a few minutes, but it’s not going to be long, either.”
“…Do you actually know when it’s going to happen?”
Mattie shrugged, glancing up at the two cities. “Whenever what’s happening up there reaches its climax, BAM, out comes the new kid. Or somewhere around then. This isn’t an exact science, you understand.”
“Starbeat might disagree.”
“Balls to her, she’s busy up there with whatever musical nonsense is happening.”
“Take it easy, Mattie,” Flutterfree said as they walked past her. “We’ll be here for you when it happens.”
“Crikey, Flutters, don’t make promises you won’t be able to keep when the chaos starts.”
Flutterfree sighed. “I…”
Mattie coughed. “Wait, wait, that was… uncalled for. …Sorry.”
Flutterfree stared at her in mild disbelief… and then broke out into a smile. “Mattie… thank you.”
“I’m going soft…” Mattie grumbled, looking away. Flutterfree’s smile didn’t go anywhere, even after she and Rina had left Mattie long behind.
The re-construction of the Austraeoh was going well. From a distance, it was impossible to tell it was unfinished, but up close some of the metal panels were clearly missing and a few of the propellers hadn’t been attached yet. Shimmy was working with the Everykid and Pinkie to add a large, gray blade to the center mast. They were arguing about how cool, but ineffective and ‘unrealistic’, sky-ships were.
Flutterfree ignored the banter, walking right up to Rev. “…Sorry for running off.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Rev retorted, placing a warm hoof on Flutterfree’s shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
“It hurts.”
“I still…”
“Rev… even if you’re right, and it’s perfectly fine to just take him on, it doesn’t feel right to me. And it’s wrong to do what we think is wrong.” She held a hoof over her chest. “What matters is what’s in our hearts.”
Rev put a hoof over her chest as well, smiling. “You’ve grown so much.”
“I have you to thank for it.”
They shared a quiet moment together—interrupted only when Discord teleported to them. “Hey, Rina, I need to t—”
He locked eyes with Flutterfree.
She started bawling.
He couldn’t take it—he teleported away without saying another word.
~~~
Pinkie looked at the beautiful Austraeoh VI, delighted at its shiny hull, mecha-harvested weapons, and a plethora of magic provided by none other than Shimmy herself. And yet, it still looked like the same ship that had blown up a few hours ago; a beautiful propeller sky-ship that honestly looked a little silly ‘sailing’ through the sky, but that was just the way Pinkie liked it.
“Thanks for your help!” Pinkie said, grinning.
“It’s the least I could do.” Shimmy dusted her hands off. “Well, the others are getting antsy in the ship…”
“You go to the City, we won’t mind.”
Shimmy glanced up at the two sky-cities that had just shot the Force-lasers above and below a few minutes ago. “You sure?”
“We can handle that. And, let’s be honest here, we need to handle that. It’s our problem, not yours. Go enjoy your vacation, we’ll mess with the knuckleheads when they need messing with.”
“If you’re sure…” Shimmy shrugged. “See you around?”
“We’ll be back at the City when the Tower falls!” Pinkie saluted. “Be there!”
“Planning on it!”
Shimmy teleported back to her ship. A moment later, they blasted off toward the City, leaving Pinkie and her new Austraeoh in the dust. She kept waving long after they’d left.
Roxy tapped her on the back. “They can’t see you anymore.”
“I know!”
“…Right…” Roxy coughed. “I’ve figured something out. About the mecha.”
“They’re related to the SBURB aspects and can only hold one at once?”
“Yes, but there’s more than that. They reacted to those lasers the cities shot, reacted heavily. Jenny and I were able to trace the magical signature beneath the ground and… I think you need to see it.”
“Considering how I don’t just know, you’re probably right!”
Roxy dragged Pinkie to a large hole Jenny had made with a shovel, some anger, and a lot of excess magical energy. It led to a metallic box in the ground made out of a smooth, gray material. A hatch had been popped open, revealing dozens of the pearl-robots, a few of which were set to Roxy’s Void essence. One of them was even walking around, though it didn’t seem to be doing anything besides cutting a circle into the ground.
“Huh. What’re they for?”
Roxy shrugged. “Dunno, really. What’s really interesting is down here.” She jumped down one of the box’s sides, rubbing away some dirt to show a relief sculpture. It was old, so old the details had been worn away, but Pinkie could make out the shape of two pyramids connected by a bridge. Floating between them was a shield-shape, and on the edges of the image there were lots of jagged edges. Those represented chaos and violence, if Pinkie had to guess.
Pinkie laid her hoof on the central shield. “…This is important. What is it?”
“I might know,” Jenny said. “I saw it in the dungeon. A shield-shaped coin-thing. Vriska had it, last I knew.”
Pinkie looked up at the cities. “That’s going to be… unfortunate, isn’t it?”
“It really is. I’ve tried calling them, too… something about what those lasers did either fried their phones or surrounded the cities in a null communication field of somesort. If we want to talk to them we’ll have to go up there ourselves.”
“…The vast majority of us are up there,” Pinkie mused. “They should be able to handle it. But just in case there’s a big problem, we need to be prepared. Gather everyone to the Austraeoh, we’ll get up there fast the moment we’re needed.”
“What about Mattie?” Pidge asked.
“Okay, we’ll need to leave someone who can handle her behind…”
Roxy coughed. “I can do it. Yes, I do know how to deliver equine foals. No, don’t ask me how. I need to stay down here to mess with these robots anyway.”
“Consider it Captain’s orders to do exactly that!” Pinkie winked.
“I’ll find everyone…” Pidge said, taking out her phone.
~~~
Troi dragged Eve off on a magical adventure of song and dance…
…leaving Minna, Burgerbelle, Mlinx, Vriska, Roland, and Thrackerzod alone in the room with Ahsoka.
“…They’re going to be busy with that for a while,” Burgerbelle said, observing as the song ramped up. “Taking bets now, will this be the longest heartsong yet?”
“No time for that,” Vriska whipped around, grabbing Ahsoka by the neck. “Lucky you, solid this time!”
Ahsoka Force-pushed Vriska away, knocking the troll onto her back. “Ow…”
“Vriska! What was that for?” Minna demanded.
Roland pointed his gun at Ahsoka's head. “She talked to us earlier. Warned us to get out of the city.”
“And you repay the favor by not listening to my advice and holding me at gunpoint?” Ahsoka raised an eyebrow. “Real good at the hero business.”
“We’ve learned to be wary of mysterious voices,” Thrackerzod said.
“Still, in fairness…” Mlinx gestured that Roland should lower his gun. “Now that your boss is out of the room, care to explain what’s really going on here?”
“It’s mostly as she says it is,” Ahsoka admitted. “I don’t think anything she said was an outright lie, but she’s leaving out a lot of the ‘countermeasures’ she has in place for ‘dealing with’ the Light Side. And with the temples activating like that…” She bit her lip. “There’s no more time.”
“For what?”
“With the temples having that surge of power, one of them is going to try something. I don’t know what she’s been doing in the temple’s core, but I know it’s not good.”
Thrackerzod lit her horn. “Where is this temple core? I’ll teleport us.”
“It’s protected…” Ahsoka ran to a side wall and removed a panel. “We’ll have to sneak around the back way.”
Mlinx nodded. “You will explain more on the way, yes?”
“If I can do it without slowing us down.”
~~~
On the other side of the divide, Monika, Lightning, Jotaro, Starbeat, Nanoha, and O’Neill were experiencing something similar.
Ahsoka ran to a side wall and removed a panel. “We’ll have to sneak around the back way.”
“Or we could just…” Monika held up a hand, ready to edit any character files.
“No,” Nanoha said. “Not now, Monika.”
Monika twitched, taking out her notebook and scribbling something passive-aggressive out on the pages.
Everyone else filed in after Ahsoka, crawling through the uncomfortable passage in single file. The passage was acoustic enough to let them hear each other just fine, though this made everything a little loud.
O’Neill capitalized on this by talking just a little louder than was necessary. “So! What’s up with these temple-palace things!”
“SHH!” Ahsoka hissed. “These corridors are not completely soundproof. We don’t want them to hear us.”
O’Neill whispered something too quiet to hear, prompting Nanoha to stifle a giggle.
“I’m going to assume you asked the same question again…” Ahsoka groaned. “The Sith and Jedi temples are ancient, so ancient we’re not even sure they were created by the Sith and Jedi. They were built together, always attached by the bridge, symbolizing a Balance in the Force. They never act independently—for every manifestation of the Light Side, there is one of the Dark Side. Before the collapse, these dual temples served as a place of neutral territory for the multiversal Force Orders. After… I was the only one who remained.”
They turned a corridor and started crawling down a long ladder.
“I wasn’t alone for long. Tessa and Troi arrived soon afterward, bringing with them people from both sides. At first, there was talk of peace and moving past the events of the war. But as they acclimated to the Force, something strange happened. The Force changed them—as it always changes those who use it—but they also changed the Force. And this mixture went… badly.”
“No kidding,” Starbeat said. “That mare is murderously vindictive… it reminds me a lot of the Rage.”
“I have heard your story, Starbeat,” Ahsoka said. “This is not full hypnosis, or even suggestion. This is them corrupting the Force itself, and letting their ideals override every other part of themselves. And in doing so, they created a divide. The Force seeks balance… or it used to. In this New World, it’s not doing that anymore.”
“Maybe we can fix this by altering the Force itself?” Starbeat suggested. “Change it back to what it was, or at least remove its influence. Even if they are choosing this, it’s clearly causing some kind of strengthened groupthink.”
“It might be too far gone for that,” Ahsoka admitted.
“Again, I’m always here, I can do things,” Monika said.
“We know,” Nanoha said. “It looks like we might need you… but we need to be careful with your power.”
“Why do you all always say that? It’s like I have to walk on eggshells…”
“It can endanger other people by painting a target on them.”
“You’re just paranoid.”
“Yare yare daze…” Jotaro muttered.
“We’re here,” Ahsoka said, kicking a panel open to reveal the core of the Light Side temple. The room itself was supposed to be barren save for a spark of white energy above a pedestal in the middle of the room. However, there were numerous additions, all affixed together by bright yellow lines of magic that looked a bit like circuitry. Nineteen orbs of light floated around at different locations in the room, all affixed to the central spark by one magic line or another. The orbs did not have a calming light with them—rather, it was a harsh, purging light that burned all eyes gazing upon it. This was no pleasant summer day, this was a cold sun blazing the eyes in the middle of a frigid winter.
“These are summoning lines,” Nanoha said, tracing a finger along them.
Ahsoka blinked. “I was sure it was some kind of weapon.”
“It probably is,” Nanoha admitted. “But I don’t see how you can summon something when there are no other universes to summon from.”
Monika pointed at herself.
“Your set of powers isn’t normal.” Nanoha walked toward the central pedestal and laid her hand upon it. “It’s inactive, right now, but it’s waiting for something. A… catalyst. Raising Heart, locate.”
“Done, master,” the Device said, directing her attention to a shield-shaped hole in the pedestal.
“Something needs to go here to activate everything,” Nanoha deduced. “Without it, nothing works.”
“Can we destroy it?” Jotaro asked, summoning Star Platinum.
“It would take some effort, but yes, I believe so.”
Ahsoka winced. “I would prefer it if we didn’t try to destroy the legacy of the Force…”
“And we need to worry about the Dark Side too,” Lightning pointed out. “They might have a similar weapon. If we disable this one, what if the Dark Side has a weapon and just exterminates this temple because they can’t defend themselves?”
“I’ll just make a call,” O’Neill said, pulling out a phone. “…No service.”
Ahsoka paled. “…We should have service in here…”
~~~
The core of the Dark Side had an identical room design, though the walls were black and the spark in the center was an unsettling murky color. Lines of magic criss-crossed the walls here as well, though they were less akin to circuitry and more like tangled thorny vines twisting all over every surface. Nineteen purple eyes with ominous slits in them floated around the room, affixed to the tangled magic lines by large thaumic thorns.
“She’s been up to some shady stuff…” Mlinx observed.
“No, really?” Thrackerzod called. “This is a summoning network, the kind you would use to call the Old Ones down to smite a planet.” She laid a hoof down on the magic lines, frowning. “This is not natural to the Dark Side, this was added later. She must be trying to exploit it.”
“How would you summon anything?” Minna asked. “There are no other realms.”
“I have no idea,” Thrackerzod admitted, tracing the purple vines to the altar. “All I know is that it shouldn’t work. But we can’t take the risk that it does.”
Roland pointed a gun at the altar.
“WAIT!” Ahsoka shouted. “Can we not blow up this ancient piece of Force history?”
Mlinx nodded. “It would be hasty. And, mind you, the Light Side may have the same issue. We’ll need to coordinate with them regardless.”
Burgerbelle took out a rotary phone. “Calling… calling… calling… no signal. BEEP.”
“No signal…?” Ahsoka frowned. “We should get one in here.”
Mlinx took out his phone. “Nothing.”
“We’re being jammed, obviously,” Vriska said.
“Can you cancel the spell matrix?” Ahsoka asked.
“Difficult, but possible,” Thrackerzod said. “It will just take some time…”
“Is it hot in here, or something?” Vriska said, tugging at her robe, suddenly sweating profusely. “Geez…”
“It’s colder than room temperature,” Thrackerzod reported, continuing to analyze the tangled circuitry.
“I seriously feel like I’m burning up…” Vriska put a hand to her head and sat down. “Geez…”
“Your inventory,” Minna said. “It’s in your inventory.”
“My… what?”
“Just check.” Minna tapped her head to remind Vriska of her unusual abilities.
Vriska pulled an eight-ball out of her robes and cracked it on the ground. Instantly, she felt relief—the heat was gone. The item contained within the eight-ball floated into the air: the shield-shaped object she had found in the dungeon. It was glowing a bright white.
“What…?” Vriska cocked her head. “I’m not even sure I remember picking that up.”
The shield flashed, gaining a brilliant coloration. The worn edges and flat face suddenly shot to life with all the designs needed for them to identify it.
It was a Sweetie Belle Crusader Shield.
“…What?” Thrackerzod asked nobody in particular.
The shield shot toward the hole in the altar—barely stopped by Ahsoka’s use of the Force. “H-help… it… wants to complete…”
Thrackerzod grabbed hold of it with her magic, pulling it away from the altar. She started preparing some sealing spells in the background to create a more permanent solution, but she never finished.
Troi appeared in a flash of dark light right behind the altar, having bypassed the teleport security she had set up. She used her immense stores of alicorn power and the Force to pry the shield out of their grasp. It slid into the hole in the altar with a satisfying click.
A beautiful holographic rose began to bloom from the shield, and numerous spirograph images twirled around it rapidly.
“Uh, sorry about this,” Troi said, laughing nervously. “You might want to take cover.”
~~~
Discord found himself standing in the middle of a grassy field.
He stood there, perfectly still, for several minutes.
Only after he had established his motionlessness did he throw his head back.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
The shout wasn’t enough for him, so he pointed a pointed claw at the sky.
“YOU! Oh, have I got a few things to say to you! You know what’s wrong with you? You’ve got all these stupid rules that make no sense! Normal rules are bad enough as it is, but at least those have a point! What’s the point of this, huh? Pain? Do you like causing pain? You claim to have made everything, so apparently you made pain too! Sadist! And that’s not all you are, oh no, I’ve heard lots about you over the years, and hot diggity dog are you a piece of WORK!”
Discord sneered, spreading his arms wide. “Let’s go down the list, why don’t we? Arrogant, prideful, vengeful, ridiculously cryptic, secretive, manipulative, angry, inconsistent, oppressive, and… and…” He created a boulder and hurled it at the sky so hard it wasn’t going to come back down. “WHAT DOES SHE SEE IN YOU!?”
The planets in the sky continued to swirl around each other, unresponsive to his cries.
Discord fell to his knees and rammed his hands into the ground, silent and still once more.
“You forgot a few.”
Discord turned, shocked to see Rev laying down next to him, looking blankly forward. She kept talking, not waiting for a response from him. “Nepotistic, despotic, warmongering, stubborn, homophobic, racist, sexist, enslaving, meek, over-achieving, judgmental, soft, overly-forgiving, confusing, unfair, tactless, brutal, silent—”
“I get it,” Discord muttered.
“Get what?” Rev asked, cocking her head.
“There’s a long list…”
“What is it a list of?”
“Of… bad things your God does.” He frowned.
“That’s not what the list is.”
“Then what is it?”
“It things we think are wrong with Him.” She was silent for a moment, letting it sink in. “We’re small. We get angry at life, at others, at the world, and we want to blame it all on Him. It really does make things simple: after all, He is the root cause of everything, and He has the blame for everything.” Absent-mindedly, she began tracing swirls in the ground. “That list is a bunch of reasons we’ve found to justify that feeling. A lot of them contradict each other - are their own opposites, meaning He is neither of the extremes we think. Others are from misinterpretation of what we know. And still others come from us trying to define good and evil on our own, and messing up with our limited, limited scope.”
Discord said nothing.
“If the war taught the multiverse anything, it’s that none of us have the right to declare what is good and what is evil. We can’t handle that kind of responsibility.”
Both she and Discord stared at the planets shifting above their heads for a moment.
Eventually, Discord spoke. “I see it. I think. Every moment of my chaotic life, I was convinced I was right. But I never was. Even now, Flutterfree has to drag my chaotic rear out of the slime pit and show me the MAAAAGIC of FRIENDSHIP.” He laughed, but it wasn’t a happy laugh.
“…I think you’re ready to understand,” Rev said.
“Understand what?”
Rev stood up and gestured to a yellow shape standing on the crest of a nearby hill. “Her.”
Rev teleported away, leaving Flutterfree and Discord alone.
Flutterfree was crying, but she refused to look away from Discord. Barely managing to breathe through her sniffles and heaves, she forced herself to walk all the way to him. Eventually, she sat down at his knees, looking straight up at him.
“I didn’t come into the faith because of it,” she began. “I came because I liked the way the people were kind to one another. How the love flowed between them, how they… they had a reason to be the best they could be. I had always just been kind because that’s what I was. Rev showed me it was more meaningful than that.
“But now… I see more. Love…” She choked. “Love is the highest virtue. If you can love everyone perfectly, you are perfect. All other virtues can be rolled up into it. B-but… how can we know what is the most loving thing to do? We h-have gut feelings, a conscience, and virtues… but they’re not always right. They change as we age. Back and forth… and some of us do evil things in the name of g-good.
“And that’s it. That’s… that’s part of why I stay, and w-why I’m doing this to us. Discord, I love you, and I mean that in every sense of the word however far you want to take it. But I can’t trust myself to know what’s right… even if every fiber of my soul c-cries that this is right that this is the way that this is happiness that this is best that…” She took a moment to catch her breath, forcing her heartbeat to slow. “Even if I think this is good, I can’t trust what my heart wants. I’ve chosen to trust something aside from myself. I trust His words. I have faith that He won’t lead me astray. Because… because everything else has been good and pure and right and…” She let out a breath. “I can’t just pick and choose what parts I want to believe. I’ve chosen this, so I… I have to stick with it. This… this isn’t one of those things open to interpretation. Marry into the faith.” She wiped her eyes. “I-I can’t ignore that.”
Discord stared at her with old, tired, and damp eyes. “…I know.” He pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay.”
She returned the hug with a desperate, almost predatory grip with all four of her hooves and her wings, squeezing him for all she was worth. She buried her face in his neck, filling his fur with her tears. He did the same, though he was nowhere near as loud as she was.
Discord’s delicate little flower clung to him. She never wanted to let go. She feared what would happen when she did.
But the New World could not let their moment last forever. Other things were brewing in the sky above them, and it interrupted as they held each other.
A brilliant orb of light rose from the Light Side, surrounding itself in a myriad of shimmering segmented wings of white coloration with red and pink backing, acting like a sun to Nucleon.
The Dark Side saw an equally impressive, but much more monstrous presence. A tangled mess of thorns and fleshy, pulsating tendrils swirled around an ice-blue eye with a slit of darkness through the middle. It was an eye that screamed of a hunger for blood.
Wings and tendrils smashed into each other, creating a massive shockwave between the two cities. The bridge somehow held.
Flutterfree’s tear-filled eyes reflected the light and the darkness.
“…The world needs us,” Flutterfree said, prying herself off Discord. With shaking legs, she pointed a wing at the city. “They are more important.”
As the summons fought, they heard a distant scream from Mattie.
The time had come.
The Elder has hands. Not sure if that had been established before now, but interesting to note.
It's either that or worshiping you ironically.
Rogue of Doom. Redistributing it, which can bestow hope through negative space, just as Roxy can bestow significance and existence.
Oh. Oh. They bought into the hype in the worst way.
Yeah, generally how these things go. I suppose the Star Trek "teleport it out of the womb" concept isn't on the table.
They're going to fly the Austreoh XIX into the City, aren't they?
That was a fun cameo.
... Huh. Did the Force merge with Galeem and Dharkon?
Huh. Not exactly. Fascinating.
For someone lukewarm about romance, you wrote some heart-wrenching Fluttercord here. Looking forward to the next installment and the developments on all levels of the story.
5234204
I was wondering if anyone would be able to place the designs. Have an internet cookie.
-GM, master of spices.
... This is pretty much a new chapter. Why is this a blog?
5235357
See part 1 of the blogs or the last chapter of SotS.
-GM, master of blocks.