//------------------------------//
// XVI - Interlude 
// Story: Realms of Existence 
// by GMBlackjack 
//------------------------------//

Rarity looked at herself in the mirror. Pristine pearly coat, well-groomed mane, sparkling eye - and a soft white eyepatch that fit perfectly over her face. She still felt incomplete but... She didn't look hideous. The eyepatch added character of sorts. It was... an accent. She smiled.

The bell of Carousel Boutique rang. Rarity looked away from the mirror. "Ah! how can I help you?"

"It's just us, Rarity," Twilight said, walking in with Fluttershy.

"Oh. Did the ploy work?"

Twilight held up the claw shavings. "Have them right here. Let's get to work."

"Oh. Okay..." Rarity said, removing the eyepatch slowly. The empty socket made Fluttershy visibly wince, but she held her ground. 

Twilight lit her horn and delicately put the claw shavings around Rarity's eye. Fluttershy quickly set to work. Waving her wings in a hypnotic circular pattern, she poured life into Rarity's face. Rarity felt something squish inside her skull. She whimpered as she felt that thing grow, and nestle up next to the lining of her socket. Then, in one final sharp motion, there was a pop, and Rarity could see. Depth had returned to the world, rushing her like a tidal wave. She stumbled back a few steps, overtaken by the restoration of her vision. A dumb grin crossed her face. "Wa-ha-ha! Thank you girls so much!" She pulled them both into a hug and squeezed hard. "This means so much..."

"It was nothing," Fluttershy said. "How's it feel?"

"Odd," Rarity admitted, looking at the mirror. "I mean... It looks the same and acts the same as far as I can tell... But I've still got that burning sensation..."

"Psychological effect," Twilight said, "it may not pass anytime soon. But there's not much I can do for that. You'll probably have to live with it, sorry."

"Well, let me see... Slight burning sensation... Or a missing eye and a slight burning sensation..." She rolled her eyes. "I'll keep the eye. Again, thank you two so much."

Fluttershy nodded. "If you want me to adjust it, just call."

"I will! See you all later!"

"We're going to the Tree of Harmony tomorrow. Be ready," Twilight said.

"Of course." Rarity turned back to her work, her friends vacating the premises shortly afterward. She began sorting fabrics and rummaging through the pile of orders she had received while she was out. Coco had taken care of a surprising number of them, but there were still dozens. Rarity's nose twitched - it was time to start the dress for Fleur. Didn't want to keep her waiting any longer. 

The bell rang again. "Carousel Boutique! How can I help you?"

"Ah, you're back! Finally," the Doctor said, placing a suit on the counter. "I need this seam re-done. Quickly please, I've already cut it really close once..."

"Oh yes," Rarity said, lifting the green suit into the air. "I can have this done in a few minutes. Stand right there..." She grabbed a needle and thread and focused closely on the string. Or, she tried to focus on the string. But it seemed to dance around her sights. She squinted, trying to force it into focus, to no avail. 

Then, just on a whim, she put a hoof over her regrown eye. The image came fully into focus, albeit flat. 

"Uh... Rarity? What are you...?"

"Recently had this eye regrown," she said, "still feels a bit odd, testing it out." Closing her new eye, and keeping it closed, she used her single eye to examine the thread. It wasn't easy, but she was able to redo the seam for the Doctor - although it ended up taking twenty minutes. 

"Here you are! Terribly sorry for the time, no charge."

The Doctor tossed her a bit anyway. "You've just been through a lot. No reason to feel bad about it." He smirked and left. 

She grabbed her head the moment he was out of sight. "What am I doing? I can't make dresses with just one eye!" She wailed, slamming her head onto her countertop. 


~~~


Fluttershy and Discord were having a nice tea party, just talking in Fluttershy's cottage like they normally did. 

"...Oh and of course I'll want to go back and see my animals again, perhaps move some here, make it safer for them... Lou and Roy would like it here."

Discord nodded. "What about the ponies?"

"They..." Fluttershy's smile vanished. "They'll stay there. Ponies would ask questions - the ponies here, not the ponies there." She looked at the ground, a knot forming in her stomach. "...Discord?"

"I said you didn't have to tell me."

"I... I think I need to. It's... affecting me."

Discord folded his hands together. "So... What is it about them that's terrifying?"

"Not them. ...Me."

"You? You're a harmless pegasus! What-"

"What I can do is not harmless..." She let out a shaky breath. "Browncoat was... the only survivor of a slaughter. A dragon. Just as bestial as them. Doesn't deserve the blame I gave... I... I arrived at the scene probably days after it happened... Bones. Bones everywhere... So many bones..."

She looked Discord in the eye. "I... I grabbed them all, all the bones, all of them! Then... I recreated them from the remains. Noises. Sharp, cracking noises as bones appeared... Wet, sticky ones as muscles came... And the eyes... The eyes... Discord, they came back terrified and shaking! The eyes shook! They shook!" She was crying now. "I... One time I ran out of power in the middle of a heal and took a breath... A... mostly-formed pony stood before me. It squirted... It screamed right at me. I... I panicked." She put her head in her hooves. "He just slumped to the ground, lifeless, just because I had a thought!" 

Discord put a hand on her. "Fluttershy..."

"I... I brought him back after... But... But that doesn't change what I did..."

"Yes, it does. You brought him back," Discord said, grabbing her. "I have more power than all of you, and I could cause any pony's head to explode just by thinking it. Stray thoughts of mine can have disastrous consequences, destroying things even without my knowledge at times. I understand completely. My chaos sometimes went too far, even in the old days, when I was all about hammy world domination. And I undid what I did whenever I messed up." He smiled. "Just remember to control yourself - but also remember you have the power to undo anything you do."

Fluttershy blinked. "You... You... Were you just insightful?" She giggled at the absurd thought through her tears. "Thank you."

"You've been there for me all those times, I'm just returning the favor. Now," Discord said, clapping his hands, "who wants crumpets?"

Angel raised his paw.

"Demons don't get crumpets."

Fluttershy laughed. "D-discord! Be nice!"

"Angel isn't!"

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, wiping her face and giggling. Only a few minutes ago she'd felt like the world was trying to eat her alive - and now... She felt like things would be fine, at least for a while. 


~~~


The deepest chamber of the Canterlot dungeons was truly gigantic. Tremendous stone blocks made up the walls, and only one tiny light in the center of the ceiling illuminated the large expanse. The stones were blackened and worn. 

It was a room designed to hold dragons. Multiple dragons. 

It only had one occupant. The prisoner was tied to the wall by seven gigantic chains, each link bigger than her body, each chain glowing with rainbow enchantment glyphs. Congeal's legs, wings, and horn were sealed to the walls. She wasn't going anywhere. 

Twilight looked up at her from the floor.

"Who are you?" Twilight said. 

Having no mouth, Congeal said nothing.

"Your DNA sample from the fight... It's pony. Alicorn. Meaning you must have been ascended somehow. Or naturally born that way, I suppose..."

Congeal made no response. Didn't even blink. Not that she could. 

"Definitely female. The cutie mark you have engraved on your flank is your real one, we determined that. You're just a big mystery..."

Nothing.

"Celestia has admitted to ascending a few other alicorns before my time, and she knew of some before Equestria was founded. Still... Alicorns are rare, and they always exist for a reason. They're an alicorn of something."

...

"Alicorn of Realms?"

...

"Alicorn of Order?"

Congeal made a strange grinding sound with her innards. Twilight frowned, not sure what that meant. "You're just... puzzling. And I think you have the answers. You know. I feel it. It's as if you're a driving force behind this."

Nothing.

"Sperion," Twilight said.

That got a reaction. Congeal shifted, pulling on her chains as if trying to escape, to no avail. 

"Right. Shouldn't be surprised. How did you know him? Did you fight? Did you tell him what was going on and he didn't join you? What?"

She was silent.

Twilight sighed. "I hate not knowing... We'll find out one way or another."

Congeal watched Twilight closely as she left. 


~~~


"Tomorrow Implode! Tomorrow!" Rainbow Dash grinned. "Tomorrow we go to the moon! Then the Realm of Dreams! then we get you back to normal!"

Implode nodded, staring out the window of Rainbow Dash's house. "And that will... Be good... Right?"

"Well duh, of course it will!"

"You sure?" Implode asked, observing the clouds. "I have enough left in me to experience worry. Worry that I'll become like I was before I left home. Crazy. Murderous."

"Pfft, that's  not you-"

"How do you know?" Implode questioned. "You didn't get to know me until after we entered the Realm of Truth. It could have been affecting me even back then."

"You stopped the attack." Rainbow Dash said.

"What does that-"

"You stopped. Right when you saw me. That shocked you out of your 'zombie state.' Which means it was a real connection we had. So chin up Implode, you'll be fine! Back to your old fiery self!"

"Yeah..." She frowned. "Even then, if I was returned... I would be out trying to kill my own father."

Rainbow Dash bit her lip. "Yeeeah..."

"I'm calm and rational now. But I won't be later. He is, objectively, a bad stallion. But as far as I know he's never killed anyone. I have. And we're pretty sure I don't deserve to die..."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Rainbow Dash said. "Now, you have some emotion in you still. Let's race."

"Race...? Why?"

"No reason. To that cloud over there."

"Sure. Why not. Go." Implode took off, through the window. 

"...Did she just... She did! She did it again! Son of a..." She took off after her, rainbow trail blazing through the sky. 

Rainbow Dash was impressed with Implode's skills as a flier. Rainbow wondered how she flew when she wasn't inhibited... You needed to live to really fly. 

"I win," Implode said, alighting on the cloud, the slightest hint of a smile on her face. 

Rainbow grinned back. "Good. Keep smiling, Implode, keep smiling."


~~~


Starlight sat on a hill in the countryside, looking at the stars in the sky above. They glinted back at her with their patterns - as if the constellations were speaking to her. She'd usually look up at the stars and feel comfort in a time like this. Now she felt nothing but an ill omen.

"What's up Starlight?"

"Hey, Applejack," Starlight said. She didn't take her eyes off the stars, barely registering that Applejack had sat down next to her. 

"What brings you here?" Applejack asked.

"I've looked up at the stars since I was a filly. Of course, I believed back then that they were capital S Stars, looking down on us with their great power."

"There could be some truth to those myths, you know. Luna always dodges the question when Twilight brings it up, but there was somethin' about the 'Stars will aid in her escape' in the Nightmare Moon prophecy."

"So, what, they influence things here just when they think it matters?" She frowned. "Why doesn't it matter now? There's a threat to the world..."

"Maybe they think we can handle it. Maybe there is no threat. Maybe they are changing things, we just can't see it."

Starlight sighed. "Is what we're doing dooming the world? A lot of people seem to think it is..."

"Maybe," Applejack admitted. "But we aren't being foolish about it. We're watching ourselves. We're taking steps to keep this a secret - even though Ah don't like secrets. Ah wonder if Sperion and Congeal are right to keep everything from us though. Maybe this whole Seven thing is just dangerous."

Starlight nodded. "Maybe we'll understand when Rarity activates. Maybe not... Maybe we'll never know and spend our whole lives wondering what the big deal was."

Applejack frowned. "You know, Ah just want to go back to farmin'! I can live without any of this fancy inflection stuff, no end-of-the-world business, just regular old life."

"I think we'd all like our lives back," Starlight said, "even if it was more dramatic than most, it was still less dramatic than this." She sighed, looking up at the stars. ...and the Stars.

"...I... used to pray. When I was younger." She said. "...I feel the odd urge to do so again."

Applejack let out a soft 'heh.' "Starlight, Ah have a feelin' we'll need all the help we can get. Go right ahead."

Starlight nodded, lighting her horn. A small sphere of light appeared at the tip, and she whispered into it for a minute. Then she launched it into the sky, leaving a blue-green trail. She smiled. "That will fly through space at the speed of light for eternity. No way the Stars hear it, even if they exist. Just... I don't know, I think I feel better."

Applejack nodded. "And now we wait 'till morning..."

"Yep..." Starlight sat back on the grass again. "...Hey Applejack? Why are you here?"

"This hill is on Sweet Apple Acres. Mah property. I thought you were a trespasser and came here to take care of it."

"Oh. ...If I wasn't the pony here, what would you have done?"

"Depending on the attitude, I'd either chase you off or invite you inside for a hot meal. Was gearing towards chasing off before I saw it was you."

"Wonderful thought, that."

"Ain't it?"

The two laughed under the Stars.


~~~


Trixie was riding Pinkie: Stretchy Pony Express. Which just meant she was sitting on Pinkie's back while the earth pony in question walked through the Everfree Forest with accompanying "choo choo" noises. 

Trixie looked at the map in her hooves. "You sure the Tree of Harmony is this way?"

"Positive! Or, at least, sure we'll get there within a few minutes. Somehow."

"You inspire great confidence."

"It's my job description!"

Trixie rolled her eyes, looking out at the forest. She felt oddly safe around Pinkie, so the forest was less terrifying and more... beautiful. The trees glinted in the light of morning, dew shining off deep blue leaves. Birds flew overhead and some critters scurried through the underbrush. She smiled. "I never noticed how nice this place was before." She stuck her hoof out into a ray of sunlight. "Trixie approves!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie said. "I mean, if you're safe, this place is absolutely amazing!"

Trixie nodded. "I wonder if you can grow peanuts here..."

"What?"

"Nothing," Trixie said, "wait." She pointed at a rock that looked like a face. "Didn't we see a rock that looked like a face a ways back?"

"Silly Trixie, that was a face that looked like a rock! Completely different!"

The 'rock' yawned. Pinkie blinked. "Oh. That is it. Yep. We're lost."

"You said you knew it'd only take a few minutes!"

"And it will only take a few minutes!"

"Trixie finds your optimism grating."

"And I don't find your third-personal speech grating! Even though it's inconsistent!"

"...Trixie senses passive aggression."

"Yeah," Pinkie admitted.

It was at that moment Starlight teleported to them. "There you are! Everyone's waiting for you!" She quickly teleported them to the Tree of Harmony's clearing. "Got them!"

Pinkie nudged Trixie. "Told you it'd only take a few minutes."

Trixie twitched. 

Everyone was there: the Seven, Celestia, Luna, Sunset, Trekker, Overglobe, Implode, Diamond, Discord, Spike, and Ahuizotl. Ahuizotl was currently gawking at the Tree of Harmony itself - a brilliant crystalline tree that loomed over them, casting them all in a holy light. It seemed to dare Ahuizotl to try and exploit it. Ahuizotl decided that'd be a bad idea. 

To Trixie's surprise, there was somepony there she wasn't expecting. "...Zecora?"

Zecora nodded to her. "Done convening I am with the tree. It will let you travel for free." 

Celestia nodded. "Good. Those who we decided to go, prepare yourselves..."

Zecora shook her head. "No, the Tree has chosen different. A team of eight is sufficient."

"Only eight?" Overglobe said, narrowing her eyes.

Zecora pointed out Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Starlight, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Implode. 

Implode blinked. "Me?"

Celestia processed this. Then she bowed. "As the Tree wishes."

Overglobe obviously wasn't happy with this, but she didn't let it out. She turned to Starlight. "Bring my ponies home."

"I will," Starlight said. 

Ahuizotl sighed and growled - he'd wanted to go. He had been planning on piggybacking, but even he felt like defying the Tree would be a blasphemy. 

"Raise the moon, Sister," Celestia said. Luna did as was asked, bringing the moon into the sky alongside the sun. 

Twilight, her friends, and Implode all began to glow, the power inside of them spreading out in an intense harmony of colors. Starlight and Implode were placed in the center. 

"Hang on!" Starlight told Implode.

"Onto what?"

"Your mind."

The six colors of harmony flew out of the Tree and hit the six ponies that represented them. The colors swirled around in a rainbow flurry, sparking into an orb that surrounded all eight mares. 

Then a laser shot out of the orb, upwards towards the moon. Within seconds, a dark shape appeared on the gray sphere in the sky. The design was identical to Congeal's cutie mark - a heptagon with a dot in the middle - minus the purple color.

Celestia frowned. 

What did that mean?