//------------------------------// // Phase 3: Consultancy Part 2 // Story: Harmony Consultant // by jqnexx //------------------------------// Sweetie Bell carefully nosed her head out from under the porch, making sure to keep the bushes to her side between herself and the sun. The rainbow of darkness, whatever it was, had just passed overhead and it should be safe to move now. Should. Sweetie had taken note of the timing of the attacks of the rainbow of darkness; between each pass, there was about one minute of safety. She looked over at the porch across the street and two doors down – there should be just enough time. She leapt out of the hiding spot, barreling forward and darting around a spread of broken glass that had been knocked from the windows of one of the houses. Jumping over the harness of an abandoned wagon, she scooted under the porch just as another tremendous boom rattled the planks. Carousel Boutique, she had to get to Carousel Boutique. Whatever was going on, her sister was a Hero of Equestria with a capital "H" and Sweetie knew Rarity'd know what to do. She'd catch her breath and wait for the opening after this one. One minute. Boom! Sweetie dashed through the side yard, leaping over the low shrubs and into the back yard of the house behind her previous hiding space. This house, however, did not have a porch, Sweetie discovered. Looking around frantically, she spotted a doghouse, and hoped it was unoccupied as she dived in. Fortunately, it was. Boom! Across the street she could see the back door to the Boutique. Almost there Sweetie! Keep it together! She waited for the boom. She waited. And waited. And waited... No boom? Boom! The sound was distant, coming from over Ponyville's modest industrial district at the North of the town rather than over its center. Sweetie ventured a glance out the door of the doghouse, and, craning her neck, beheld the rainbow of darkness (unbeknownst to her, the possessed Rainbow Dash) attacking a distant white speck with a blue speck hovering near it. Is that... Princesses Celestia and Luna? It kind of looks like them. I'm glad they're on the case, now to go find Rarity. I'm sure she'll know what to do. If she's not in then maybe Mir's back at the Boutique? I hope the bad things they were saying about her were just a misunderstanding, but everything's gone crazy today. Worse than it usually does. Anxiously, Sweetie extended one leg out from the shadow of the doghouse, then her other front leg, and finally crawled all the way out. She looked up. The Rainbow of Darkness was battling the Princesses to the north exactly where she'd last seen them fighting. Instead of rushing pell-mell towards the Boutique, Sweetie took a cautious pace, dividing her gaze between the battle and the nearly empty street. "Authorization code Barsett Delta Niner Omega." "Administrator Shurelia, you are acknowledged." The red and white shell of the android bore resemblance to a shorter version of an ancient priestess's robe, but was obviously solid metal. "Confirm direct order authority." "Negative. Tower Administrator possesses advisory authority only." The so-called "maid-droid" combat androids were among the most deadly combatants of the first age, with their durable armor and self-repair systems making them virtually invincible. This one, known as Raki, had been built almost eight centuries ago and was more or less in perfect condition, ready to activate its rocket wings and cut its targets to pieces with its gigantic energy sword at any moment – a fact leading a little urgency to the conduct of the room's other inhabitants. In front of Raki, holding her attention, stood the small, white-haired woman known as Shurelia, but behind her were her two female engineering friends, Sasha and Krusche. "Maybe this command?" Krusche pointed to a line on one of the screens displaying a readout on the android. "That's the factory reset command. I have no idea who she'd acknowledge as her primary user in that case." "Ugh." Krusche banged her metallic left arm on the frame of the monitor. "I'm sick of this. Everything depends on people who don't exist anymore, or command passwords that are lost to history. What the hell would you do in the event of an emergency preventing you from contacting HQ..." Krusche stopped, blinked once. "Emergency mode! Shurelia's the highest high-up in the chain of command still standing. If we could somehow force Raki to contact her boss, it'll eventually fail down to Shurelia." Sasha smacked one palm with her other hand balled up in a fist. "Right. But..." Her face fell. "Is there such an emergency mode?" Krusche nodded. "Yep. Here it is, chain of command verification." She turned and rushed up to Shurelia. Raki glanced at her as she entered her field of vision, but made no other move and remained fixed on Shurelia. Krusche whispered into Shurelia's ear. "Raki unit, there are casualties among the chain of command. Please verify your chain of command using the Residence Server of the Tower of Ar Tonelico," Shurelia commanded. "Acknowledged, standing by. Tabulating the list of dead, presumed dead, and missing against the command chart. Processing. Highest ranking controller acknowledged as Administrator Shurelia. Direct Order Authority acknowledged. Awaiting orders." Shurelia smiled. "Finally. Direct order: accept orders from General Akane. End order." "Acknowledged. General Akane is now authorized to give Ordinary orders." "Excellent. Direct order: protect General Akane and Specialist Finnel." "Bodyguard protocol loaded. Subjects: General Akane, Specialist Finnel." "Clarification of previous order: prioritize the protection of Specialist Finnel, General Akane can take care of herself mostly." "Acknowledged." "Psst, Shurelia." Sasha pressed a note into the palm of her hand. "Oh, uh, right. Also, cancel demolition order for the Second Tower." "Acknowledged." Shurelia nodded, then walked past Raki to her engineers. "Good job everyone, really glad that's over with. Let's get everything ready to send them in." "Rarity!" Sweetie could see her sister's hindquarters poking out of the shop's entrance. Beaming, she rushed forward. "I'm so glad you're here, it's even worse than usual and – oh dear." Sweetie's smile of relief darkened to a frown of concern as her sister turned around and emerged fully into the waning daylight. Rarity seemed much taller now, her horn sharper, her fur grayer. "Sweetie! So good to see you." Rarity's grin was diabolical and menacing. "I need you to do something for me." She loomed over her smaller sibling. "Uh..." Sweetie cringed away. "Sure! OK! Sounds good!" "Wonderful! Now die!" Sweetie jolted into the air just as a blast from Rarity's horn scorched the dirt under her feet into slag. Touching down, she hot-hoof skittered backwards. "Wh-wh-why!" "Because..." Rarity's voice seemed distorted, with an odd crackle underlying it. "Because we don't get along, we're too different. We'll never understand one another." Sweetie's lip quavered. "Didn't... but... the Sisterhoof Social!" "Oh." Rarity paused, eyes moving left and right. Her mouth hung open, but nothing was coming out except the crackling noise. "Oh right, I need to kill you because you always mess up." "But..." Sweetie sniffled, "that whole thing with Luna and the Sapphire Shores outfit!" "Oh, right. Ummm..." Once again Rarity paused with her mouth open and the odd, electronic crackle the only sound. "I'm killing you because the voice in my head keeps saying I have to." "Oh come on!" Sweetie's annoyance quickly turned to fear as she realized Rarity was charging up another bolt. She ducked under the projectile, then rolled away from a second one. Rarity growled in frustration. "Stop being so difficult you silly bag of fluff!" Rarity giggled madly, her eye twitching. "Fluff and blood!" Rarity's horn lit, but rather than fire another bolt at Sweetie, she levitated a set of needles from somewhere inside the shop out through one of the broken windows. The aura around them flickered from purple and green as they arranged themselves into a V-formation pointed at Sweetie. "Your fur would look so much better dyed red." Rarity's mad grin was almost as terrifying to Sweetie as the possibility of being killed by her sister, seeming to stretch all the way around her head. "Hold it!" An orange blur collided with Rarity, causing the aura to cut out and the needles to fall to the ground. "Uhfff! You little ruffian! You're dying too. I'd stuff a pillow with you if you had any proper wings." Rarity staggered for a moment before she caught her footing; between her and Sweetie stood a panting Scootaloo. "Thank you." Sweetie felt more relaxed than she'd been since Mir saved her from Tirek – she knew the value of having a friend. "Scoots, give me a hoof for a little bit." Deep inside her mind, data aligned itself. The crystal planted by Mir split off a new bud. Sweetie began to sing. She sang of how safe she felt when she was held in the forelegs of her loved ones. Her friends. Her family. Mir. "Fine; I'll bleed you dry! Both of you!" The shop building itself was lit in a blue aura that rapidly changed to purple and green, and every needle in the shop flew out the windows, hanging in the air like an alien armada. As one, the hundreds of sharp bits of metal aligned themselves towards the two fillies. Scootaloo threw her forlegs over her face, but Sweetie just kept singing. The needles surged forward, only to bounce against an invisible bubble surrounding Swetie and Scootaloo, clattering to the ground. Sweetie opened her eyes to grin. "I'm not helpless anymore. I don't have to take things from bullies or monsters." She gave her sister an appraising look. "Or both." Rarity took a step back. "What! You dare threaten me?" Sweetie stared back. "I'd just like you to stop trying to kill me, if that's all right." "Ooooh!" Rarity glared at her, stomping a hoof. "I'll stop all right! When you're dead!" "What the Tartarus is wrong with you?" Scootaloo put her hooves down, realizing that she was not, in fact, impaled. She couldn't hear what Sweetie was singing, but it was somehow something she could feel. It felt nice. It was like she was connected to everything around her, her senses expanded. "Drop dead!" Rarity tossed her head and flung a ball of magical energy from her head into the air. The ball of glowing energy arced and began to fall towards Sweetie. Scootaloo didn't really know why, but she knew she had to get between the ball and Sweetie. She bent all four knees, and lept up and backwards. The trajectory wasn't quite right. Scootaloo's wings couldn't keep her in the air, but they could move her a bit. Looking good. The ball was getting closer. Scootaloo batted it with a hoof. Ching! The ball went soaring into the air and detonated high over Ponyville. Sparks danced along the edge of Scootaloo's hoof, but dissipated harmlessly. Oh wow I did it. Oh right landing. Scootaloo buzzed her wings to straighten out, then landed with all four hooves simultaneously right in front of Sweetie. The singing filly didn't flinch, deep in concentration on the song. Power was building around her horn and streaming into a glowing orb over her head. "I... khhh... how!" Rarity stamped her fore-hooves and snorted. "This is hardly fair to poor little me." She slyly glanced a space behind Sweetie "I suppose I'll have to..." Rarity vanished. "SURPRISE YOU!" Rarity appeared directly behind Sweetie, hooves raised in a decidedly rampant posture. Before she could bring them down, a sudden impact slammed into her sternum, driving her backwards. Scootaloo glared up at her. "No way!" "Scootaloo. Thank you." Sweetie's eyes were closed, concentrating on her song. Not much longer. Then switch and strike. Rarity backpedaled, eye staring wide. "I will destroy you! And then slay Princess Celestia! And then my designs will be eternal, the most daring fashionista ever!" "You're not making any sense." Scootaloo shook her head at the mare. "Is this a dark magic thing? I heard about it at Twilight Time." "I am trying to be dramatic here! This is supposed to be some kind of final showdown between me and my destined rival, my sister." "Uh, we've never been rivals, Rarity." The energy hovering over Sweetie had taken on the form of a pegasus filly wrapped in ribbons, but suddenly vanished in a burst of feathers, to be replaced by a gigantic Opalescence. The feline construct pounced forward, smashing, smacking, and clawing the mare. Rarity and her attacker vanished briefly into a cloud of dust kicked up by the attack. When it faded, Rarity lay sprawled in a small crater, covered in scrapes and cuts. Her coat was matted and marred, but Rarity seemed too exhausted to care. She remained darkened and enlarged, however. Sweetie panted for a moment as she regarded her sister, glaring at her unmoving form. Then the silence was broken by cheering and stomping. Sweetie turned to her side to see Mir standing across the street, next to the doghouse she'd briefly hid in. "Great job girls." As Sweetie processed the scene, she noticed Croix straightening from his position at her side, relaxing from readiness to leap forward, presumably to save her or Scootaloo. Further behind him were, surprisingly, the two senior Princesses. Celestia looked absolutely awful, more beaten up than Rarity, but she was still standing, looking concerned at the scene before her. Princess Luna, on the other hand, looked smug about the whole thing and didn't have a scratch on her, just some mud. "Well spoken. We knew full well your student was capable, valorous Mir." Luna gave her sister a slight nudge that sent the larger Alicorn tottering for a moment, until she was caught by Mir's blood-red aura. "Thank you, Luna. I believe your sister shall forgive me for preventing her from joining in the fray." Mir patted Celestia's side gently. In the meantime, Croix had approached Scootaloo. "Nice blocking kid. You seem to be a natural at it. And no wonder, look at that." "Yesssssss!" Scootaloo pumped a fore-hoof. The adrenaline from saving Sweetie had worn off, and she was feeling shaky and spent, but her cutie mark was still worth getting excited over. She stared down at a pair of vertical lines embedded in a shield. She glanced over at Croix's similar mark. "I guess whatever decides on cutie marks doesn't want them to look exactly the same?" While Scootaloo was distracted, Sweetie had approached the crater Rarity was laying in. Luna had grabbed the mare and held her still, while Mir had begun to sing to cleanse her. "Why?" Sweetie shouted. "Why did you attack me! I'm your sister. Even if this was some kind of dark magic mind control, you should have fought it. You should have done better!" "Sweetie!" Mir opened her eyes to glare at her, shouting even as she continued the song. "I don't know what you know about mind control, but having felt this insidious creation as I purged it–" Nopony noticed, but Luna flinched at those words. "–and I have studied all sorts of terrible things. Once something gets in, that's it. If the problems are actually coming from inside your head, no amount of willpower or love will save you. You need someone else to do it for you. That's the unfortunate truth. Now I know Rarity will feel terrible about all this once she's recovered. But you need to forgive her, because it's not her fault. Based on my study of pony magic, you guys just don't have any good defenses against mind control." Sweetie bowed her head, chastised. "Yes, sensei." "Sensei, really?" "Sorry. I read a lot of the light novels Fluttershy likes." Mir's song concluded. Rarity was smaller, and her color was back to normal, albeit considerably muddier, dustier, and a little bloodier. Luna released her, and the mare stirred once more. "Sweetie?" Rarity's eyes shot open. "Oh ancient alicorns above, tell me I haven't hurt you Sweetie!" Sweetie grinned. "Only emotionally." "Oh. That's not too bad. Thank heavens!" Rarity launched forward into a hug, which was considerably less bone-crushing than Sweetie was expecting. Mir shook her head. "Rarity, you're completely exhausted. Let's get you to a safe place. The town's inn has all its windows still intact and we've got Rainbow Dash there until she gets her strength back." "But... my shop." Celestia took this moment to jump in. "It needs new glass put in before you can really do anything with it. I'll have a word with the town's weather team to avoid any rain until everypony's windows are fixed up." "Right. Thank you." Mir turned her back on Rarity and Sweetie. "Luna, please escort Rarity to the inn. I hate to exclude you, but Croix, Celestia, and I are going to have to make a plan right now." Luna nodded once, then gently lifted Rarity in her aura and flew away. "Right. I'm sure all three of us suspect that Sombra doesn't actually intend for the Element Bearers and whoever he gave the other four orbs to to actually beat us. He's done this to deprive you of any Harmony powers they've got, but also to waste your time. I'd like to say that time isn't a luxury and we should power through this all without stopping, but not one of us is a perfect immortal machine. Some of us are closer than others, but we're going to be down a significant portion of our strength soon. Croix has been fighting all day and – dear, I know you're putting on a front – he's reached his limit. Celestia would be evenly distributed over the town's atmosphere if she wasn't a remarkably durable alicorn. Luna's fresh but I'm getting the feeling we're going to start running into even worse stuff. Trust me, they always lowball the threat you pose at the start and throw chumps at you." "Rainbow Dash and Rarity are not 'chumps' thank you very much." Celestia defended. "Rarity got beaten by two fillies. Admittedly one of them received a copy of my song magic core, but still." "I see your point. You're saying that our future adversaries will be more suited to controlling their newfound power?" "I'm convinced that Twilight is planning to fight us with at the very least a partner. She stole all but one of the other copies of my song magic core and..." Mir blinked for a moment. "OK. I know what we need to do."