Twilight took in a sharp breath - she felt like she had been holding her breath for a while. A lot longer than usual...
"Oh, there you are. I was worried for a while there," Fluttershy said. "You were in the trance for almost two minutes."
Twilight gasped for air. "Wow... That... Wow... Paff..." She slowly calmed herself down, getting air into her lungs. "Okay... I'm fine..." She shook her head. "...Did anything happen in those two minutes?"
"Four and Vriska bonded." Fluttershy pointed at Four running around to various ship wreckages, Vriska on top of his head pointing at certain pieces and laughing. Four was still damaged, though Twilight could see one of his holes was patched up.
"Good. We need this team to work together... Okay, Four? Vriska?"
"Yeeeeeeees boss pony?" Vriska trilled playfully.
"I-I AM HERE-E TO ASSIST."
Twilight nodded. "First, Four, fix yourself if you can with what you have. Then you need to make us a ship from the wreckage if you can - preferably one that is as fast as possible. We need to get to Alderan's alter before Orchid."
"ALL STAR-R-DRIVES ARE BROKEN-N BEYOND REPAIR. BUT A SHIP-P CAN BE CREATED-D WITH SP-PEED AS OPP-POSED TO SMOOTHNESS. AS FOR M-ME, I AM OPERATIONAL. F-FIXING THE VOICE SYNTHES-SIZER AND MOTHERB-BOARD CONNECTION CAN WAIT."
"Are you sure it isn't painful to be disconnected from your motherboard? Creek said it was."
"IT IS F-FINE. MY INTERNAL M-MOTHERBOARD IS S-S-STILL CONNECTED, MERELY EXTERNAL-L COMMUNICATIO-ONS HAVE BEEN L-LOST."
"Can they be repaired?"
"NOT WITHOUT-T A N-NEW ANTENNAE-E."
"Oh. Sorry Four."
"D-DON'T BE."
Vriska smirked. "Ah, ol' Four, I've known you for all of eight minutes and already I like you! Now let's build ourselves a speedster ship to catch that bitch!"
"AFFIRM-MATIVE!"
Twilight nodded. "Well... That's that. Fluttershy? You need anything before I confer with the Influence?"
"I don't think so... ...you think Infinity's okay?"
Twilight nodded. "I'm sure she is."
"Okay."
Twilight took a breath and looked into her mind. "Okay, first off- Owleero and Lyoko, welcome! I look forward to getting to know you and hope that we haven't scared you off already! What can you tell me about yourselves? Ponygood, I didn't get a good enough look at the eye spell to replicate, and something tells me I couldn't without a LOT of practice anyway. And I suppose it is possible we're both the Oracle - maybe Pamphile was right, maybe it is just a misunderstanding and we are meant to work together."
"I doubt that!" Vriska shouted.
"Or not..." Twilight said, raising an eyebrow at the troll. "You seem to be taking this in stride."
"I have been apart of such a huge mess of complicated adventure in my life that this pales in comparison. Get off your high horse, this isn't THAT unusual." She chuckled. "Talking to those beyond isn't even unique. I met my 'creator' once. He was the orange-skinned fucktard I mentioned. Screw him."
Twilight nodded. "I can see... I can see why you think that. I recently was forwarded a message made by my creator - GM he calls himself. He uses you as his avatar."
"I'm flattered," Vriska deadpanned.
"GM's message was... A bit distant. He didn't seem very caring. He kinda sounded like one of those manipulative mastermind villains you read about in books. Distant, crazy, and eternally amused. It... Wasn't pleasant. He also suggested that the Influence Influences - gah - me more than we realize. Which is... Concerning."
"Oh, that's not good..." Fluttershy said. "Is it?"
"I... I don't know." Twilight sighed. "Anyway... Thanks for the list of classes Nickel. Those of you who are suggesting new people to get through altars, I think I've decided we're going to get Mite and Evermore Pinkie eventually, and I think Josh is right, seems like we are destined to get Aradia somehow. That leaves one hole that you guys will have to discuss to fill with something, somehow."
"Wait, Aradia?" Vriska said. "...I haven't seen her in eons..."
"Yeah. You... Do like her right?"
"Are you kidding? We were awesome god tiers together there at the end before everything went to shit! ...Man that was a long time ago..."
"Oh, Vriska, got a message for you from Ponygood. He says hi, sorry that you're stuck here, but you may be able to get home through the Time Tunnels, or call your fellow trolls and tell them what's up."
Vriska laughed. "Ah, he's behind the times. I've been trying to get home for longer than you can comprehend, little pony. The multiverse seems to be keeping me away, despite my awesome luck. I can't contact any of my troll or human buddies, and I seriously doubt these Time Tunnels can do what so many other things have failed to accomplish."
"Oh... I'm sorry."
"Eh, I'm used to being fucked over by now." Vriska shrugged. "Maybe it's penance or something. Bluh. Four, how's it coming?"
"WELL-L," Four stated.
Twilight looked up at Four. "By the way, Ponygood? He's like... Three stories tall. Huge. Don't know why you can't see that - wait, nevermind, you read this as words. Right. Yeah, we'll talk to Motherboard as we pass overhead, shouldn't be too hard. And... I..." She blinked. "I guess I was immune to Orchid's scrying spell there. Huh. That's helpful."
"Wasn't very helpful in-fight, was it?" Vriska commented.
"...You know I can't decide what to think about you."
"Don't be in a rush to make up your mind, I sense I'm in here for the long haul. Bring on the fucking legions of evil."
"Ah. Okay, so, Akumakami? I choose... Both, one, two, three, four, five, and s-"
"Eight. She chooses eight."
"...Fine, I choose eight, doesn't really matter, this is all kinda pointless anyway. Creek, I'm glad to hear that about Cartridge. You two take care, you hear? And you, King Discord and Pamphile... You two. Still not sure what to make of you. Hey, Fluttershy, King Discord is making moves to get his Fluttershy to trust him, AND he calls me... Influlight."
Fluttershy smiled. "That's nice. Him talking to other me, that is. Do you like the name Twilight?"
"It'll do. Not sure it fits me though..." She frowned. "I do think I should get myself a name other than Twilight or Twilight Glimmer, I am not the 'mane' Twilight, after all. I've deviated. Wonder what I should call myself..."
"Sporacle," Vriska suggested.
"Ha-ha." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Anyway... Yes I'll look for information on the Dark Lord but I don't think we can find it here..."
"FILES-S COME UP EMPTY-Y ON SPECIFICS-S," Four said.
"Yeah. Thought so. Also, Pamphile? Akumakami's using innuendos around you. Just thought I'd warn you. Yes, it annoys me too."
She took a breath. "So! Okay. PLAN. We're going to Alderan's altar, but Orchid might get there first. She left a while ago. So, after we head there, we'll probably need to leave right away for another altar - one she hopefully ISN'T going to, so we can stop her from taking the spirit that dwells in it. She has three - Proteus, Castorson, and Ine. One of those was from the forest altar I found early on, and Ine was from here. I don't know where the other came from, we'll probably have to ask the Motherboard."
"C-CASTOR-SON CAME FROM THE ARCHIP-PELAGO," Four stated. "I HAVE INF-FORMATION ABOUT T-THAT."
"Okay, so she's going to Alderan, then if she follows the pattern of 'closest alter' she'd go for the frozen south, then the capital of Peran. We should probably head to the capital after Alderan."
Vriska nodded. "Sounds like a plan. An annoyingly good one at that."
"COMPLET-TED!" Four announced, standing back from his work. There was a ship before him - long, pointed, and fast looking. It was obviously slapped together quickly, and it looked like there was barely going to be room for them all to fit - Four was huge after all - but at least it looked functional.
Vriska marked the side in something blue. 'Spider8ite.' "I thus christen you the Spiderbite!"
Twilight looked ready to object, but then shook her head. "Fine. Spiderbite it is. Can we get in Four?"
"AFF-IRMATIVE."
"Good. Let's go then."
Four got in first, towards the back of the cockpit. Vriska, Fluttershy, and Twilight squished themselves into the front. There was only one couch-like seat here that probably didn't even belong on a ship in the first place, but it was what they had.
The three of them exchanged glances. Then they put hands and hooves on the throttle.
"This makes it go?" Fluttershy asked.
"YES," Four said.
"Then let's do this..."
They pulled the lever - and blasted off in an instant sonic boom.
This was definitely faster than the previous ship they had.
~~~
"Okay, this is fast," Fluttershy said, teeth chattering. "How long until we reach the mountains?"
"ONE HOUR AND TWELVE MINUTES," Four said, his voice synthesizer fixed.
"Okay..." Fluttershy stopped talking - it was painful to talk with the shaking the Spiterbite was undergoing.
"WE WILL PASS OVER FOSIS MOMENTARILY. ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT MOTHERBOARD..."
The connection was successful, seeing as a message appeared on the screen in front of them.
>> I have bad news. <<
"What's that?" Twilight asked through the shaking.
>> I am afraid Orchid returned to us literally two minutes ago. It looks like she is going to make it to the control room despite our best efforts. <<
"Oh..."
Vriska growled. "That bitch..."
>> I expect she will order us to shoot you down, or to become her personal army, or something else equally petty. <<
"WE MUST RETURN-"
>> No. Four, remain disconnected from me. Continue on, there's nothing you can do. Just try not to get shut down. If you have any questions, ask them quickly. <<
Twilight gulped. "I'm... I'm sorry, we tried to help."
>> And that is why I'm talking to you now instead of just letting her shoot you out of the sky. Ask, quickly. <<
"The Dark Lord? Do you have any idea who he could be or what he represents?"
>> None at all. I believe he will come out of the Archipelago, but that is simply an educated guess. <<
"Can you name the spirits at each altar and tell us what they're like?"
>> Ine and Alderan you know. Gamnemnon lives in the frozen south and hates company. Castorson lives in the Archipelago, in the protection of some Star-worshipping cult. Proteus is in the forest and loves all living creatures. And Vester lives in the Palace and˜√∑¨ø¥ƒß˜ø∂ßµ√´<<
"What?" Twilight blurted.
"The Mind's been Compromised," Vriska said. "Four, avoid all missile fire-"
A missile hit them right in their engine. Twilight was rammed into the ceiling and blacked out.
~~~
She was dreaming again.
...Ine was nowhere to be found.
Twilight gulped. "Hello? Anybody? Anybody at all?"
There was no response at all. Just blackness. Eternal, infinite blackness.
She felt like she was being watched. And it wasn't just the Eye on her chest. She gulped.
She saw something in the inky blackness. A brilliant eye - but not one of the same design as hers, like Orchid's had been. This one was round, and had stars in it, stars imposed upon a spiral.
And it was red.
She screamed.
~~~
She woke up screaming in fear - then screaming in pain. She knew instantly that her front left leg and left wing were broken. She wailed, tears squeezing out her tightly shut eyelids.
"Twilight! Sit still!" Fluttershy yelled. "You'll make it worse!"
Twilight forced herself to stop squirming - but the pain was still too much. Every breath shot a horrible pain through her entire body. She shook involuntarily.
Vriska walked up to her - a look of genuine concern on her face. Her own right arm was broken, stuck in a cast. "Guess that was a rough landing, huh?"
Twilight let out a pained laugh. "No... Kidding... ...Four?"
"HERE," Four said, standing tall. He looked mostly undamaged. Behind him Twilight could see the wreckage of the Spiderbite - it had been cannibalized. Fluttershy looked unhurt, praise the Stars.
They were in the desert, sand all around them. She saw one of the islands that had once floated crashed in the distance, but no Fosis. But she did see something else...
Mountains.
"We're... We're close," she managed.
"TO THE MOISSAN BORDER," Four agreed.
"Turns out, traveling at the speed of sound makes you crash really, really far away from where you were hit," Vriska observed. "We're ahead of her right now."
"Not for long..." Twilight said. "We're injured... And heading into foreign territory..."
Vriska smirked. "Bring it on."
And then the Eye activated, and Twilight's pain was taken away momentarially...