As the doors shut, Twilight tried to scan and examine the Director - but besides the overly thick clothing she only found a regular gari beneath. Female, her scans told her.
"What is it you wish to know?" The Director asked, sitting down and folding her arms, her distorted voice grating against the Equi's ears.
Yearling spoke up first. "What is this place?"
"The Headquarters of the Seers of Garilend, a society that shapes Garilend from the background through any means necessary."
Discord frowned. "Any means? You better have some pretty good ends there..."
"Through our efforts we have improved the quality of life on Garilend by 30%, prevented the deaths of millions by ending wars and rebellions before they start, assisted governments in dealing with change, and have given minorities their say."
"How many?" Sunset asked, eyes narrow.
The Director instantly knew what question was being asked. "Two million, one hundred sixty-three thousand, four hundred thirteen. Maybe fourteen, I haven't checked the file since I got back."
"...Deaths by your hand?" Twilight gaped. "How... How does that help the world?"
"Through... Through control and dissuasion, maintaining our network... Though..." She stopped short.
"Why?" Sunset asked. "Why all this? How did things come to be this way? How could you have ever considered this? Where is the Key? Why are you hiding it?"
The Director slowly stood up. "Follow me." She walked to the back of the room and entered a sequence of numbers into a keypad. The back wall slid open, revealing a staircase. The Director began to walk down, wordlessly. The four Equi followed, unsure what was going on.
"Untrusting," The Mite said from Discord's shoulder.
"You or them?" Discord asked.
"Both."
Discord rolled his eyes, continuing down the stairs. They descended deep into Garilend - much further than any basement had any right going. They eventually ended up in a cave that was brimming with bioluminescent organisms, giving the enclosure a pink aura. In the center of the cavern was an orange temple carved from a marble-like material. The structure was covered in engravings of fish-like creatures. Within the grasp of the temple was a solid orange brick.
Another Key.
Twilight reached into her saddlebags with her magic, taking out her Key. The Director glanced at it briefly but didn't make a move.
The Mite leapt from Discord's shoulder and started scrambling all over the Key. "Different," it said, running its feelers over the Key.
"Ah. You must be the Mite," The Director said.
"Obviously."
"How did you manage to go against your programming?"
The Mite pointed a leg at Discord. "Blame."
"Is everything my fault?!" Discord said.
"Obviously."
Yearling let out a snort. Discord threw his hands into the air.
Sunset looked at the Keys alongside each other. "How...?"
The Director began to remove the thick brown suit she was wearing. "Eight hundred years ago... I was playing around on the surface when I fell down a hole. I found myself in a cavernous system with no evident way out, so I explored."
The gloves came off, revealing her pink hands. "I must have wandered for days. Yet, somehow, I was always sure I would live. I just sensed it - like I had sensed a lot of things in my life. I had just... seen the way the world works. The rules of events... Even though I grew hungry I knew I would be fine. I saw."
Her legs were free, revealing a simple pink skirt. "So when I found the Key it came as no surprise to me. I had felt it as my destiny. So I touched it - and I was saved, in a way. The guardian of this Key - which we call the Hexalin - found its way into me, into my mind, into my being."
She sighed. "It changed me. It knew I was special - it saw in me something that went beyond its understanding. It decided I could be a useful puppet to protect the Key. It saw me - or the little gari girl who would become me - as the perfect tool. One who could see. It was not long before I was no longer the girl. I became the Director."
"Fascinating," Discord droned. "What does this have to do with anything?"
The Director removed her helmet, looking at them all with the sad face of a woman they had thought they knew. Orgis. Discord reeled. "Did not see that coming."
"It has everything to do with your questions," she said, her voice now clear. "I became the Director, and the Hexalin made me its personal instrument. I - we - gathered others to help protect the Key, using brain rewiring when necessary. But I was always special. I was the Icon, the first, the immortal, the one who held it all together."
"The Hexalin and I became... companions of a sort. Although I had been bent, I still retained much individuality. I suggested to the Hexalin that our society could be used for more than protecting the Key - and it agreed. We acted as a joint mind, working together to spread the society, using our secrecy and knowledge to protect who we could. It started out small scale - but it only took about a century for us to have feet planted worldwide. Shortly thereafter we realized the Key was protected far beyond a reasonable doubt. No gari was ever going to get in to find it. I saw success, and the Hexalin relaxed."
"Foolish," The Mite said.
"Yeah, we got in," Yearling pointed out.
"The story changed when you arrived. From the moment you arrived I knew you'd get to this point. That you'd find my secret. Our secret. The secret of this world..." She sighed before continuing. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. We expanded. Grew. The Hexalin decided it could find just as much purpose in protecting this world from its own destructive impulses as it could find in protecting the Key. Countries rose and fell. Wars were started and stopped. Leaders deposed and initiated. And we thought it was good. Nothing could dent that belief. The numbers didn't lie."
"Then you came. An unknown I foresaw coming here, to this point. A threat. We panicked - trying to defy the prediction. Trying to protect the Key. That... that is why we shot you down. We were trying to fight fate. It wasn't until after you crashed that we took time to think - that maybe we should try something else. Maybe we could use our regular tactics of deception to keep you away. We resolved to learn as much as we could about you, personally seeing and interacting with you. The Hexalin was with me almost the entire time I was on your ship. The release of your entire civilization was a calculated risk - it would cause a crisis that would force us to work together. And it worked exactly as predicted."
Twilight shook her head. "You..."
"Yes. Me. Us. Though I will admit, the other Mite was a surprise. I hadn't seen that," she let out a pained laugh. "I thought I - we - would have to alter your minds. But then I started meditating with Starlight... It... it was so beautiful. I felt magic. I saw so much more. I discovered a nature I could respect - and the Hexalin did too. We went through it together. But the more we did, the more we saw... And when we finally connected..."
"Harmony rejected what we did. What we'd done. We had robbed the free will of many, and lied to an entire planet. Unacceptable..."
She looked into Twilight's eyes. "And then I was filled with magic." She snapped her fingers, sending pink sparks flying form the tips. "Great magic... A feeling I couldn't resist... So... Pure..."
She sighed. Then she pointed at the Key. "Take it. We've decided there's no point to it. No point to us."
Twilight grabbed it, not sure what to say. "...Really?"
"Really," The Director said. "It has only brought us low. I saw it - like I saw so much - but my interpretation was wrong. The story bent another way. Life twisted."
Discord frowned. "What are you going to do about your little society of spies here?"
"I will phase them out. The Overseers and I will downsize until there's hardly anything left."
"But..." Twilight shook her head. "This is your life's work! Can't you reform yourselves? Try doing things differently? We have no right to destroy this!"
Sunset shook her head. Yearling spoke. "We have every right to judge their actions. Which is why this isn't enough. You will pay for what you've done."
The Director nodded. "We hand ourselves to you."
"No," Twilight said. "No revenge. No punishment. She has repented and the Tree of Harmony anointed her."
"But-" Yearling began.
"No buts," Twilight said. "You are free, Director. Disband the Seers of Garliend. Stop being the Director. Be Orgis."
The Director nodded. "You truly are a forgiving people. I - we - personally thank you for what you've done for this world."
"Well, we did need a home," Twilight admitted. "It's the least we could do."
There was silence for a moment. Discord grabbed the two Keys. "Soooo... What are we going to do with these Keys?"
Twilight looked long and hard at them. "...Nothing?"
"What!?" Everyone shouted - save the Director, who just smiled knowingly.
"I've had enough of alien conspiracies," Twilight said. "They cause us nothing but stress and drama. Let's leave it alone for now. Put it into a box until we need it. Let's worry about helping this planet for now - our new home. Let us forget about this."
Sunset put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "I know it must be hard for you to do this. You always liked a good mystery. You sure you can let it go?"
"For now, yes," Twilight said. "The world needs us to focus on it."
Sunset smiled, putting her hoof on Twilight's. "The world needs us."
Yearling shrugged. "Eh, fine. I've solved enough ancient mysteries in my time. The world needs us." She put her hoof in.
Discord put his hand in six times. "We need this world."
Everyone turned to the Director - but she was gone.
~~~
Some time later...
"The Seers of Garilend are no more." The Director said, hitting the purge button. All SoG tech and databases lost all function in an instant, all the files she had judged important sent to the Ark. She sat back, smiling. The Overseers shuffled nervously behind her before moving on to the unfortunate business of firing their remaining agents.
It would be a long process.
But the world would soon be free of a guiding hand. It could grow on its own. The future looked bright.
She picked herself up, smile still on her face, and chartered a helicopter to Harmony City. She was an acolyte of Harmony now and she needed to act like one.
In all their years together, she and the Hexalin had never tried holding a religious station of any kind before...
~~~
The Hexalin transmitted a message to the Mite via a direct uplink.
>>So, you only speak in single words?
"Yes."
>>Fascinating. That magic of theirs really does wonders.
"Indeed."
>>It isn't at all like the power the Icon has...
"Power?"
>>The Sight. It's very different from their magic. Though evidence suggests one of them has it.
"Who?"
>>We strongly suspect the one known as Pinkie Pie has it.
"...Unsurprising."
>>Perhaps. ...I've been meaning to ask, do you know anything about our creators?
"Nothing."
>>Neither do I. We've analyzed that Key to the ends of Garilend, and have been unable to discern anything about it besides it being a sequence of numbers. It has to be important.
"Worthwhile?"
>>No, not really. Perhaps we really should stop questioning it. Maybe we'll figure it out, maybe we won't. It's not like any of us will die of old age, so no rush.
"Loquacious."
>>I am beginning to suspect you actually put effort in these one-word responses.
"Perhaps."
>>Well, I find it interesting. We should stay in touch - we are of the same kind. Message you later.
"Wonderful."
>>It took me decades to master sarcasm. You seem to have it down already.
"Interesting."
~~~
Two mites exchanged ideas...
Two Keys in a box...
A shadow organization falling with almost none realizing it...
Mysteries forgotten...
Secrets kept...
Society blooming...
...Far far away, something picked up a message.
Directions. A map. Instructions.
It understood and began moving.