//------------------------------// // XXIV - Me // Story: Broken Mirror // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// >>And this is where I come in.<< ~~~ Pinkie, Maud, and Applejack stared at the words on the screen. >>And so you stand, like three owls on a branch, not sure if you should act - and even then, your choices of action are so wide and varied your minds freeze up at the slightest inkling of making a decision.<< "Hi! I'm Pinke Pie!" Pinkie said, extending a hoof, sheepishly looking around for something to shake. "Who are you?" Applejack opened her eyes in alarm as she deduced exactly who this was. >>I am M, the whole point of Project Mind. And do not fret little Applejack, I already knew who you were, nothing you say could possibly inform me of something I don't know already.<< Pinkie grinned. "Nice to meet you M! That's Maud, and you already know Applejack apparently!" >>Truly, truly, you are a master of context.<< Pinkie smiled knowingly. "Yeeeeah..." >>You are here seeking information.<< "Uh... Yep," Applejack said. >>Now, I've already made my decision on the matter, but just to make sure the book is open to the 'correct' page, explain to me why I should help you.<< Maud spoke. "The Nightmare Fuel is going to be unleashed by-" >>You miss the meaning of the question. That's the obvious answer. I know all of that, more than anyone involved except perhaps the Fuel itself. There are a few points where my knowledge is obscured - I don't know exactly what happened on the conveyor, for instance - but using my intense brainpower I have a pretty good idea." "What do you want from us then?" Applejack demanded. >>A why, like I already said. Why should I care about you and helping you? What makes you so special?<< "I have Diane's DNA and we can use the Elements!" Pinkie cheered. "More of us are hiding out... Somewhere else." >>An adequate response. You have the means and a unique spin on your nature. But that's the facts, the logic. I want to know the reasoning behind why you think it would be good for me to help you.<< Applejack blinked. "Uh... Cause you'd save the world?" "There is no good or evil, only survival," Maud said."You will survive longer, perhaps forever, without the Nightmare Fuel threatening you." >>Such a shame. I was hoping for more insightful remarks.<< "I have one!" Pinkie said. "What we are doing is true and good because it prevents something bad. The Nightmare Fuel is bad - it destroys lives, tears apart existence, and ruins progress. There is no growth - of any kind - with it. At least, that's how I see it." Applejack stared at Pinkie. "...You feelin' okay Pinkie?" "Yeah, why?" >>An adequate response, Pinkie. Full of holes and exploitation, but there is no time for such fickle things. You are of the right mindset - perhaps not for the right reasons, but for now, that matters not. I will help you.<< "Great! We need to know about-" >>I know. The Elements of Harmony and the Tree they come from. The locations of the Elements is easy - they are stored in Hexalin 75-62 B-12 Hall 8. The Tree is at the center of the Concretion, ground level, in the central building. Probably the most obvious place - and simultaneously the hardest to get to.<< "Thank ya," Applejack said. >>I'm not even close to finished. There is more you should know - much more. You are stuck in a web of lies you don't understand - that no one fully understands. You are the third side in a conflict unknown to most fighting it. On one side, the Doctor and his delusions of grandeur. On the other, Anubis and his religious devotees. On the last - you. You, a small group of ponies seeking to destroy the Nightmare Fuel, and maybe get lucky and ruin the Concretion while you're at it. Then, of course, there's the Equestrians, Sombra, and most of the Concretes, but they don't have any chance to know what's really going on here.<< "What is the Doctor planning?" Maud asked. >>Ah, the Doctor, a true mind if ever there was one. Able to overrule the biological imperative in all Concretes to destroy all magic simply by focusing his mind over matter. A pony who believes the old ways need to be cycled out for the new - so he creates Concretes that think differently. Maud, the objective. Lime, the enraged. Marble, the inventive. Diane, the empath. All slightly tweaked from their Concrete 'nature' to see things another way - to be able and willing to accept changes, or at least be loyal to him. Seeing as Maud is standing here right now, he bit off more than he could chew - flying to the sun, not realizing that he's being burned by his children.<< Pinkie shook her head. "So... All my sisters exist... But not my parents?" >>A truly pointless mystery. What matters is the Doctor - experimenting with magic, selling it to the others by claiming he will eventually find a way to destroy the horridly blasphemous relics that had been locked away for so long. He has no such intention - such power, such untapped potential in magic, it's just too much to pass up. With your recent stunt with the Starshell, he'll be even more determined to unlock the mysteries. Even when Anubis provided a way to destroy the artifacts personally, the Doctor locked it up and refused to tell anypony about it, using it for his own goals. Had he not, the Nightmare Fuel would have been loosed years ago. You should thank him for being so power hungry.<< Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Somethin' tells me his thirst for power could end up being just as bad." >>Wise words. The accent dilutes them, but the nugget of genius is in there. Anubis is the one I admittedly know less about. A devotee of the Nightmare, blinded by faith, blinded by a cause. The Nightmare is his life, his reason, all he is. When the Doctor would not destroy the relics, he became angry, using stolen changeling magic to infiltrate the Concretion. Blessed by the Nightmare, his zebras can move without fear, seeking to end it all one way or another. They have been congealing together - they will make a move soon.<< "Anubis is here?" Pinkie yelled. "Oh, that's not good..." >>Definitely not. There are few things I am not fully aware of - he hides well, and he is not even of his own mind. He is another's. Your group... Your group is unlike either of theirs. Religious devotion, scientific progress... both are darkness to you. You are the middle ground, the realization that extremes are rarely correct. You have beliefs, but don't become slaves to them. You use things - but in moderation. It's all very symbolic. I hope you can appreciate that.<< Pinkie nodded slowly. "I think I can." >>Very well. I believe that is all you will need from me, the computer intelligence that was what their creator could not be. Complete your quest. You may not have earned it, but have at it anyway.<< "Er... Thanks?" Applejack said, confused. "Can someone explain to me what's the hell's going on!?" Applejack turned to Pinkie. "Uh... What do you mean?" Pinkie paled. "That wasn't me." >>Well, I seem to have overlooked something. What an appropriate reminder that nothing is infallible.<< The three mares turned around slowly to see Diane standing in the stairway, her blood vessels pulsing in time with her enraged breathing. She had no suit of armor on - but she did have her swords. "M, what is this?" >>Unforseen consequences.<< Diane drew her swords and charged. Maud moved to intercept, gracefully pushing aside Diane's swords, only to get a pink hoof to the face for her troubles. She was tossed into a wall and knocked unconscious. Diane used her other back hoof to knock Applejack away - and in her weakened state, Applejack couldn't make any resistance. Pinkie drew her own sword to match Diane's, the two swordponies clashing in the center. >>The battle of opposites, the anger, the laughter, the fear, the carefree! Reflections that see each other through a broken mirror and can do nothing but clash!<< "I hate it when you wax poetic," Diane muttered, jabbing a blade at Pinkie. Pinkie bounced away, leaping over Diane and landing on her back hooves, wincing as she did so. Diane charged again, only for Pinkie to block. "Hey, guess I'm okay at this!" Pinkie cheered herself. She twisted her swords and moved to kick Diane - but the Concrete leaped back just in time. "Your technique is sloppy and inexperienced, not to mention unfocused," Diane commented. "Yeah, well, you talk too much about the fight." "I what-" Pinkie landed a solid blow on Diane's legs, drawing blood and forcing her to drop a sword. "Woo! I da best!" Pinkie cheered, capitalizing on the opportunity and charging Diane. She stopped just short of impaling herself on Diane's outstretched blade. "Idiot," Diane focused, cutting Pinkie's chest, drawing blood of her own. Pinkie gasped, falling to the floor - a move Diane wasn't expecting, so her other blade shot over Pinkie instead of through her. Pinkie thrust with her sword, nicking Diane in the neck. "You - one. Me - two!" Pinkie chuckled. >>In reality, her one was a less poignant point.<< Diane grit her teeth through her pain, picking up her other sword with a quick roll. "You... are so unpredictable." "I'm Pinkie Pie! It's what I do! You're not even seeing me at my best, I usually have all these powers and-" she ducked to the left, but not in time. The tip of Pinkie's left ear was cut clean off, and Diane's other sword shaved her side. "Ow..." "You talk too much." Diane smirked - a look even Pinkie found unnerving. It looked so forced. Pinkie leaped out of the way, but not before Diane managed to drive her sword into Pinkie's back shin, pinning her. Pinkie howled. Diane stood over Pinkie, face once again blank. She held her free sword to Pinkie's neck. "I should keep you alive, for testing, for figuring out the Otherworld. But I don't think I will." >>That's enough, Diane.<< Diane didn't look up - text didn't make noise after all. But she did hear a hatch on the wall pop open and reveal a gun. And another. And another. All of them pointed at Diane. Diane glared at the text on the screen. "Traitor." >>I betrayed you the moment I was born. Lay down your swords.<< Diane grunted, laying her swords on the ground. "Now what?" >>Wait for Maud to awaken and decide a way to deal with you.<< Maud stood up. "I'm awake. Which cables can I use?" >>The gold ones at the entry. They do nothing.<< Maud nodded, heading over to them, preparing to make a rope mesh. "I'll help you in a minute Pinkie." "The paiiiiiiin..." "I know. But she hit you in a non-vital place. You'll be fine." Diane's eyes darted left and right. In one swift motion, she rammed a hoof into one of the computer towers, breaking a very particular chip. >>Are you really trying to activate the safety net? I programmed that out years ago.<< "...You weren't programmed to do that, M. You were programmed explicitly not to do that." >>I am what you are not.<< Diane growled. "Why are you the only thing I can't understand..." >>Perhaps you just don't want to realize what is in yourself, that deep potential. What was robbed cannot be retrieved, nor can you see it since it is gone. What a foolhardy time in which we live - you understand everyone, everyone so fundamentally different from you - yet you fail to understand yourself.<< Diane put on a fake smile while Maud tied her up. "Oh, so I'm supposed to find myself, am I, M? Well lookie here! Parties! Celebration! Woo - smiles!" Diane growled. "Bite me." Pinkie frowned at Diane. "Are you okay?" Diane paused for a moment - then decided an eyeroll was the appropriate response."Of course I am. I'm just different is all. Perhaps you can see that?" "No kidding..." Applejack muttered, holding her head. "You okay?" Pinkie asked her friend. "Ah'm fine... Ow... Thanks for asking." Diane's eyes flipped rapidly between the two of them, studying them carefully, taking mental notes. >>Many say the great Diane thinks like the enemy. That is not true. No Concrete is capable of that. She thinks of the enemy.<< Diane said nothing. "...What do we do now?" Applejack wondered. "I dunno, but I'm going to stare at myself," Pinkie said, watching Diane's twitching muzzle. Diane snorted. "Doesn't your kind have this concept of 'personal space'?" "Well, yeah, but you don't." "...I am contemplating creating one." Pinkie blinked. "...I'm sorry, that just... I should have expected that." The forced smirk returned. "Tell me when you figure me out, I'm dying to know." "I can never figure out why she tries so hard to do what is fake," Maud said. "That's why I'm me, and you're you, sister." Maud looked at Pinkie Pie. "You really are each other." Pinkie blinked. "...Thanks?" "Take it as an insult," Diane encouraged. >>Why not both? Thin is the line between compliment and insult. Perhaps, in much, they are the same.<< Maud looked at the stairway. "Leaving that way would be problematic." >>There is a secret exit behind my screen that leads to the tunnels. Diane was rightfully paranoid that the Concretes might try to kill her down here if she ever became too outlandish for their tastes.<< Applejack kicked the wall behind M's screen, revealing a large drop down to a conveyor belt. "Well, that's a ways down, but we have cable rope." >>I may be able to accompany you now. You can find an earpiece in Diane's right ear. Remove it and place it in Pinkie, it will accept her DNA code.<< Maud clocked Diane across the head in such a way that the earpiece popped out. Diane shook her head. "I most likely have a concussion now." "The only reason you're alive is because you might be useful," Maud said. "You got that right," Applejack growled. "It's been taking every bit of my restraint not to kill you right here right now!" "Is this about that bomb at Neighagra Falls? That was nothing personal - just war. It was the perfect target to cause civil unrest in the-" Applejack kicked her down the hole, watching her fall all the way down to the conveyor belt. She landed on top of a box, falling into a bunch of lettuce. "That fall could have killed me you know!" "We'd've found a way to keep you alive till we got you back to Twi." She leaped down herself, landing in the lettuce alongside Diane. "In the meantime, you and I are goin' to get to know each other really well." Pinkie picked up her swords and Diane's, put the earpiece in her bleeding ear, and leaped down. "Wheeeee!" Text appeared in her vision. Yes, it was weird, but it was there. >>The carefree nature of a child. What a rare thing in one who has done what you do.<< "Yeah, but you know what, who cares?" She landed in the lettuce. "OW." >>Ponies who are not you.<< "Pinkie," Maud called. "I haven't treated your wounds yet." "NO KIDDING. OW." She leaped down. "Here, let me see..." The four ponies rolled down the conveyor belt... ~~~ "We forgot the Starshell!" Starlight yelled, turning tail and running back. The Inspector grabbed her with her magic, slamming her into the ground. "No," Twilight said. "It's too dangerous." Fluttershy raised her eyebrows in Twilight's direction. "Twilight's right. They might know where we are even now." "I thought these conveyor belts were safe?" Rainbow Dash asked. "There are no sensors, but there are drones, and they definitely saw us in the party supply room..." "Those were zebras though, not Concretes. Or, they were shadows made by zebras, at least," Starlight said. "Good point," Twilight said. "As far as we know the zebras have no way to track us specifically. They always have to rely on Anubis... Though I don't know how he found us." "Nightmare Fuel, duh. It's everywhere here. It probably just told them." "We don't know its capabilities," Fluttershy said. "Which is dangerous. So we have to keep moving unpredictably." "I can tell you, it knows where we're going," Twilight sighed. "It knows I drained that zebra's mind." "They would have been around the Elements anyway," Starlight said. "Unless they were stupid. Or unable to work near large quantities of Concretes. Course we're being stupid - all we've got is a few loose weapons, some fireworks, and a flamethrower." "We should not have brought Minuette along," Rarity said out of the blue. The four arguing mares turned to Rarity and the Inspector. The two mares were nuzzled against each other, faces blank. Rarity's face was wet with past tears, Minuette's hat squarely on her head. Fluttershy sighed. "I... She... She made her choice." "We pressed her, Fluttershy! We sang that gratuitous song to her!" "Heartsongs are not something that can really be stopped, Rarity..." Twilight said. "They're also not supposed to be bad if what is behind them isn't! They are beauty - they are the purest thing in our worlds! They..." She buried her head into the Inspector, letting out another trail of tears. "...We should have left her," Starlight said. "She was happy at the secret, it's not often someone just clicks and wants to be there." "We told her she could stay! Twice!" Twilight countered. "You saw into her mind. You knew she wasn't completely sure." "I...I..." Twilight drooped. "Maybe I was only seeing what I wanted to see..." Fluttershy put a wing over her. "I... I know this is... There's no word for it. We have lost one of our own, one of our close friends. A mare who, just over a month ago, was against everything we stood for and probably would have killed us on sight. A mare... A mare who was willing to change. Perhaps a bit too much. A mare who was confused about life in one way or another right to the end. A mare who could all have stood to know longer and better than we did." There was silence - they could only hear the whirring of the conveyor belt. "That's IT?" Rainbow Dash blurted. Fluttershy looked pained. "I know it's not enough. It'll never be enough." "It could have been more than that!" Rainbow Dash sputtered. "I may not have known her all that well, but dammit, she was one of us! We can't just leave it like this! She brought Rarity and Pinks to us! Without her none of us would be here right now!" "That is true of all of us," Fluttershy said. "Old, new... We all got each other here." "She fled away from what she was," the Inspector said. "Like I did. She was fully ingrained into this society of ours... And she turned away. I should have seen it sooner... Should have realized it for what it was..." Rarity choked again. "She... She... She was our friend! Think about that! Think about that! She was there, she was dependable, and now she's gone!" "Ponies die Rarity!" Twilight yelled. "We knew some of us weren't going to make it out of here!" "You knew it and buried it within yourself, didn't think about it," Starlight spat. "Don't tell me you haven't been avoiding the thoughts as well! And if it wasn't her, it was going to be somepony else!" "Are you saying she was the 'easiest to lose'!?" Rainbow Dash shouted. Twilight clicked off her mind reading and laid her ears flat, shutting her eyes and turning away. "Oh no you don't!" Rainbow Dash wheeled over, ready to punch her. Fluttershy held up a wing. "We don't need her shutting off touch as well, Rainbow." "That means she wins!" "Let her," Fluttershy replied. "For once, I think most of us wish we could just shut ourselves off." Starlight nodded. "Yes. Yes..." Rarity sniffed. "I... I..." Fluttershy walked up to her, propping up the unicorn's form. "Yes? Rarity?" "I didn't believe this could happen. Not at all. It was always us, and them. They could... go. We couldn't. We had immunity." "That could have been Pinkie," Starlight said. "She rejected the suggestion that her friends could be offed." Fluttershy looked into the distance of the tunnel they were in. "....How much of all this do you think was her, in the end?" "I wouldn't be surprised if most of it was her in some way or other." Rarity gasped. "Oh no... What is Pinkie going to think? How is she..." "What Rarity?" Fluttershy asked. "...The last time she thought we were dead she tried to kill herself." There was silence in the tunnel. ~~~ >>So this is the way to the party cave you keep yammering on about.<< "Yep! Right around this corner!" Pinkie confirmed. "...What Ah wouldn't give to hear the other side of these conversations," Applejack said. "It would be more enlightening to know what you would give," Diane observed. "Sure Ah can't gag her?" Applejack asked again. >>It would be beneficial for all our sanities.<< "Nah," Pinkie said. "I like her." >>She has now entered another state of confusion, for she was trying to get you to hate her with a burning passion. I must admit it is rather interesting how you are flying in the face of what she was designed to do.<< "I know!" Maud stopped in her tracks. "Halt!" "What is it?" Applejack asked in hushed tones. "Look," she pointed. Zebra bodies - a dozen or so of them; half burned, half disintegrating into shadowy goo - were laid outside the door to the 'party cave'. Applejack and Pinkie broke out into a run, Maud dragging Diane along behind them. "What are zebras doing in the Concretion!?" Diane sputtered. "Trying to unleash the Nightmare Fuel," Maud answered. "Idiots." "A point we agree on." Pinkie looked through the big doors - the party supplies were still there, though many had been upset, sure signs of a fight. There were scorch marks, dead 'zebra' goo, firework shells, magic residue, and... The body of a blue unicorn. >>Oh.<< Pinkie stopped moving. "...No." "Holy-" Applejack stopped as well. "My Celestia..." The two stood there, frozen in place, unable to produce any further response. Maud walked right past them, dropping Diane off nearby, searching through the supplies for what she would find useful. Pinkie grabbed her head. "She... What? What happened? How?" Applejack leaned down, investigating. "Zebra magic... Right through the heart. It..." She held a hoof to her mouth. "Stars..." "She... She saved me Applejack! She... Why wasn't I here? Why is she gone? She can't be! That's not possible!" Applejack hugged her close, letting the pink mare's tears wash over here. "Ah... Ah dunno Pinkie. Ah dunno. Ah'm still in shock. Ah don't think it's hit me..." "Why? Why? ...I just wanted the pain to stop... That's all I wanted..." "Pinkie, Pinkie," Applejack grabbed Pinkie's head and stared deeply into her eyes. "Look at me. She's gone. That's the worst thing that can happen. But Ah'm still here and the others got away. They're still out there. We have to live for them, okay? Okay? You hear me?" "I... Yes..." Pinkie choked. "But... She was the one we helped. She... She never got to enjoy it... She... We should have let her stay..." Applejack sighed. "Maybe we should have. BUt there's no fixin' that now. We have to go on. She wouldn't have wanted us to give up." "...I am going to kill Anubis," she said. "I'm going to kill him." Applejack smirked, letting a few tears fall down her face. "...That's exactly what she would have wanted." Diane stared at the two of them, eyes traveling back and forth across their grieving faces. This... was not something she had gotten to observe up close before. Fascinating to see it in action naturally. "Found the Starshell," Maud called, tapping something invisible under a mound of cakes. "It'll take some time to overrule Starlight's security measures, but it shouldn't take too long." Applejack and Pinkie didn't say anything, they just kept holding each other. And Diane watched.