Scootaloo was in the calm of her room, resting on her bed. There wasn't much notable in there. A bed, a few old posters on the walls as a reminder of a happier past, and pictures of her friends when they were still the CMC. Lining the walls were a plethora of weapons both melee and range oriented. The orange mare heaved a sigh and rolled onto her back.
"What happened...?" she asked herself. "Everything was going relatively okay. We were going to start pushing back and reclaim our homes...And now, Apple Bloom killed her sister...Should I have just let Abstract do it? Would the psychological outcome been any different?"
The mare stepped off her bed and opened the curtains of one of her windows to look outside. She could see, on the left, the crystals comprising Abstract's 'lab', and the various flashes Iviesta was creating.
"You're already a part of this community, but is the community a part of you, Abstract?" Scootaloo scratched the back of her head. "Maybe I should talk to Apple Bloom..."
In the city, there was talk. There was rumor. There was fear. The news of Apple Bloom killing her own sister had escaped the mouths of some indiscreet soldiers and reached the common folk. Opinions were divided on the head engineer. Some feared her for killing her sibling even when they were corrupted, while others praised her for various reasons. Some praised her for killing a filthy demon while others praised her for having the courage and fortitude to do something they could never do. Apple Bloom, meanwhile, had given the idea no more thoughts. She was casually tinkering away at some tanks designed by some fresh engineers just recently graduated from the academy.
The hangar they were in was a massive, oily mess, filled to the brim with vehicles, hulls, spare parts, lifters, and a whole other assortment of parts and tools. The air was stagnated with the smell of oil and burning fluids. To any normal person, this would be unbearable, but to an engineer and mechanic, these were the equivalent of smelling roses.
"The axle on the clutch is smooth 'n turns easily thanks ta yer assisted thingy here, but it ain't got any protection on it," Apple Bloom stated. "If'n ya get attacked, some shrapnel o' metal might just get stuck raght in there, jammin' and even cuttin' up the rods linkin' to the axles of the tracks."
Standing in a turret held by some chains, Apple Bloom was gauging how the whole tank would work with the turret currently artificially connected to the vehicle hull.
"Well, we thought that the armor would protect the insides," the diamond dog explained.
Apple Bloom chuckled. "While that may be true, ya still gotta protect the vital parts from sand 'n stuff. Facilitates repairs if it's damaged, and keeps the metal box workin' fer much longer on the battlefield."
The group 'ah'd' in realization. While they started discussing the modifications they could make to the design, Apple Bloom was approached by Sweetie Belle.
"Comin' in here when there's work bein' done, Sweetie?" Apple Bloom said. "Ah thought ya didn't like loud noises 'n gettin' yer mane wet," she laughed.
"Yes, very funny," Sweetie Belle said dismissively. "I'm just worried about you," she explained. "How are you doing?"
"Ah'm fine. Why?" the engineer asked innocently.
"Y...You know?" the grand inquisitor said matter-of-factly.
"What, cause Ah offed the serpent?" She waved a hoof. "Pffff. No problems there."
"But Apple Bloom--"
"AH SAID THERE AIN'T NO PROBLEMS!" The engineer's outburst brought everyone's attention to the two. "Ah killed her. Big deal. She ain't mah sister no more, 'n we kill many demons every day." She waved a hoof and turned to face the tank once more. "S'not like it's anythin' new."
The Grand Inquisitor couldn't figure out what to say in response, so while her mouth did open a few times, nothing came out. Scootaloo, on the other hand, was having an easier time talking with Celestia in the dungeons, her power armored guard keeping a close watch on things.
"Is Pinkie Pie doing alright?" Celestia asked.
Scootaloo shook her head. "She keeps bawling and screaming about all the atrocities she did. Night and day, the staff told me. She's actually tried to kill herself a plethora of times."
Celestia looked at the empress in shock. "That's horrible! And you're not doing anything to stop her?!"
Scootaloo shrugged. "What do you want us to do? We've already tried all the methods we know of. It helped the demons who defected back to our side, and even the crystal ponies we managed to capture and sever from Sombra's link, but for Pinkie Pie? She's been getting worse and worse." The empress raised a brow. "But what about you? You don't seem to have any mental issues."
Celestia closed her eyes and smiled. "I've gone through many, many things, Scoo--EMPRESS Scootaloo," she chuckled. "I know that while the actions were my own, my body was not. I would never do anything to harm my little ponies or even my own sister." She frowned. "Had I the proper fortitude, I could have fought against Sombra's control, but..."
"He was too strong. Yes. We know." Scootaloo wiped her forehead and sighed. "Unfortunately for you, not many of us see it that way, and that won't change. The orange mare turned and walked towards the exit, but she had one last thing to say. "Perhaps all his magic does is release your true self, just in exchange for serving him."
Celestia mulled over these words while Scootaloo's visit already became a past event. Abstract and Iviesta, on their end, were currently continuing to refine the magic being used in the next bubble, hoping to keep it as 'perfect' as Iviesta's coming-to-be was. There was still much work to be done, and the crystallion was extracting magic, shaping it with his magic or hooves, then returning it to the orb. Iviesta, meanwhile, was currently working on refining whatever left over magic her 'father' had left her to tinker with. Several week of training with her own magic saw her fit, in Abstract's eyes, to refine and perfect magic. The crystallion mare was just happy and giddy to be working alongside her parent to bring her new sibling into being. An issue crossed Abstract's mind, however.
"Why is she a mare? Is the alicorn magic that corrosive? I the next one turns out like Iviesta Porravon, then I just might have to take some magic from a random pony to for a theoretical test."
He looked to his daughter who looked back at him with a wide smile. "A disturbing notion, that the crystallions somehow inherited 'genders' from the pony filth."
Cocoon, on her end, was using Chrysalis' new changelings to flutter up towards the room of Abstract. She was absolutely enamored by the shiny crystals.
"I will make him mine!" the tiny changeling queen declared. "He will be my shiny rock toy, and as queen, I am allowed to do this!" She pointed at the crystals. "Charge through them, my minions!" she ordered.
The changelings' attempt to break through the crystals only met with painful lumps and pained squeals as their attempts were met with obvious failure. The tiny changeling stomped angrily on the head of the one carrying her, causing him quite some painful discomfort. 'Ow's interjected themselves within Cocoon's speech.
"Oh come on! They're just shiny rocks!"
"But they're REALLY hard! I don't think any of us will be able to break them," one changeling complained.
"Why don't YOU try it?" a voice asked from afar.
"I..." Cocoon's eyes shot from changeling to changeling until her little filly mind snapped under the pressure. "Fine! I'll show you how it's done." The filly queen metaphorically hitched up her britches and, with a little preparation, charged into the crystal, conking her head very hard.
When one of the changelings managed to catch her, she was rubbing her head and, expectedly, started to cry. The changelings present looked at each other with concern, but there was one voice that was laughing, and Chrysalis was present for the whole debacle.
"So you're the one who got her to do that before I could stop here," the queen said with an ominous tone.
The laughing stopped. The changeling in question was an 'evolved' changeling from the queen's previous hive, and what should've been a black chitin was slowly turning into a white one when the changeling 'queen' slowly turned around, then up, to see the giant, imposing figure staring down at her.
"Let's see how you like it when I throw you several times against that same wall."
Iviesta stopped her work after the consistent sound of thudding brought about her curiosity.
"Dad?" she started. "What is that?"
"Nothing important."
"But it keeps coming in rhythm."
"It's not important, I said. Ignore it. They're just sounds. You have better things to be doing right now."
The crystallion mare shrugged and carried on with her work. While their work was peaceful and partially undisturbed, the lands of chaos were, in more ways than one, in utter chaos. The corrupted demons were fumbling about, unsure of what to do now that a demon lord was 'missing'. Rumors were that she was dead. Others that she was captured. Those witness to what Abstract did to Pinkie Pie think he actually 'cured' her, and many were tempted to defect and be saved, but the remaining chaos lords and Discord could sto them beforehand.
"Ugh," Discord grumbled. "Without that serpent we can't see absolutely everything."
Twilight chuckled. "I thought you were 'omnipotent' and 'all-seeing'." She readjusted herself in her chair whilst keeping her book afloat.
"Omnipotence and all-seeing are two different aspects, Twilight. You should know this by now," Discord mocked.
"Be that as it may, I'M not the one who didn't watch what my subordinates were doing."
The draconequus blinked several times. "You don't care about the loss of your friend?"
"She wasn't my friend," Twilight corrected. "Just a work colleague."
Discord stroked his chin fur. "That's quite cold of you, Twilight. I didn't think you'd be that far gone by now." He grinned maliciously.
"What do we do about Applejack before your ego explodes?"
"I don't really think that should be much of a problem. Our 'intern' should be able to replace her." The draconequus huffed. "Still, this means that our 'game' has a bit of an unbalance, and the other pieces will see this as a weakness to be exploited. We best start mobilizing whatever we have through your greedy FRIEND?" Discord emphasized. "in white, so we don't show any of said weakness...not that they could beat me anyways," he quickly corrected himself.