They were on a yacht. Sailing across the sea with time-acceleration.
Twilence still needed a moment. She took in a breath. She let it out.
"We need to stop Siron. At all costs," Orchid said, suddenly.
Twilence bit her lip. "Not sure all costs is really something we should be going for, Orchid."
"Look. Even a despotic tyranny of dragons over ponies, like before the chaos storm, would be preferable to that."
"...Would it really though?" Infinity asked. "Some ponies got away through the Overseer. Under tyranny, things may be more suffocating... More pain..."
"There'd be more death!" Twilence blurted.
Aradia shrugged. "Death is not something to fear. Death is something to appreciate for what it is - an end. Often beautiful, often ugly, always fascinating." She stood tall, face serious. "Death is that, by nature, all must experience, even immortals. Nothing can last forever."
Infinity raised an eyebrow. "Can't you make a stable time loop?"
Aradia smirked. "Yes. I can. But just because I see certain things that seem to last forever, that doesn't mean I believe they really will. Infinity doesn't really exist."
Fluttershy looked at the infinite-sided die in her hoof. "I..." She gulped. "This..."
Twilence went to hug her. "Fluttershy, shhhh... It's... It's fine now. We're on a yacht." She glanced at Aradia, having flashbacks of the troll dying before her eyes. "Nothing bad's happening right now."
"But it will," Fluttershy said. "There's this 'pivotal point' and after that everything's going to the dogs!"
Pinkie blinked. "Huh. You've been paying attention. Cool!"
"Why wouldn't I? This defines our life! And those who know what it is, like Aradia and you, can't tell us and it's really really hard not to get angry about that!"
"I apologize ahead of time for what I'll have to do," Aradia said.
Fluttershy twitched. "See? See!? I..." She sighed. "I'm sorry Aradia, I... It's hard."
Aradia smiled. "I know it is. I don't hold it against you. You can think whatever you want about me - I probably deserve it."
"...Was that Starlight right about you? Did you... Did you do those things?"
Aradia nodded. "I do it all the time. Whenever I change a timeline, everyone in that future ceases to exist unless they have some time exploit, like Starlight."
"...Can we give her back her timeline?"
Aradia sighed. "I lack the powers to create an entire universe, which means if I did I'd have to overwrite your home. Your future would never exist."
"I..."
"I also don't know what future she comes from. She just showed up one day and blamed me for everything."
"Maybe we can find some sort of... compromise?"
Aradia shook her head. "If I don't set time back to your time, you won't be able to go back, because all similar timelines that aren't the save will have a Fluttershy and a Twilight that were never taken to the past. And something tells me that Starlight's timeline isn't close to yours."
Fluttershy nodded sadly. "I... I... Yeah."
"Hey, don't feel sad! You really tried. You're a good pony."
"...Thank you, Aradia."
Aradia pulled Fluttershy up into a hug. Fluttershy was surprised but hugged back.
Aradia eventually set her down. "Personally, I trust Vriska nowadays, I'd give her that die. But I'll leave the actual decision to you. You deserve to make your own judgment."
Fluttershy nodded. "I think I'll hold onto it for a while."
"Fair enough."
Pinkie grinned. "Look at these two! Becoming such great friends!" She squeed. "It's so awesome and nice! Let's throw a getting to know each other party!"
Twilence smiled softly. "I... I think we need a break, Pinkie. We've had a lot happen. We need to take a moment and process everything."
"Oh, okie. I understand. I'll go practice blood rituals on this frying pan then, don't come running if you hear screams." She bounced into the lower deck.
Twilence raised her eyebrows. "I'm going to talk to the Influence now. Do... any of you want to listen?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm going to go see if I can talk to some fish."
"You can talk to fish?" Infinity asked.
"Uh... Yeah?"
"I want to see this."
"You're welcome to come along."
Twilence looked at Orchid and Aradia. "Just you two?"
Aradia shrugged. "Sure."
Orchid rolled her eyes. "I need to hear everything I can. My sight will not be complete until I get the sixth spirit. Give me all you can in these conversations."
"All right then. Starting with... Ponygood, it looks like. Hey, guess you got my rather hasty thought. It still means GM said something about Akumakami, even if I wasn't particularly clear on it because I was in the middle of some chaos. It still implies that GM is active and cares about this, or Akumakami at least. Which... I guess is comforting."
Aradia sat back. "Think about it. Most authors and artists care deeply about their work."
"Good point. Anyway, he also talks about a demonic warrior race, buglike, tribal, and that another version of Twilight was manipulated by them. Their leader was Siron and it was in GM's other story, Songs of the Spheres. So there's a possible connection."
"Could just be the same as 'other Twilight' connection," Orchid noted.
"True. But that suggests they'll be similar. And we already know he's crafty..." Twilence frowned, glancing at her Eye. "Something tells me the Songs of the Spheres are more important than we give them credit for, but... We aren't thinking about them the right way. I don't know. ...Wolfe, I see you got my thought though. Sorry, it was probably a little degrading to you, wasn't it? I think you should seek help about that. Perhaps find a way to burn things that won't put people in danger? I don't know, I'm not really an expert or a therapist. Though sometimes it feels like it..." She frowned. "Sonic... I just..." She facehooved.
Orchid raised an eyebrow. "Again?"
"Again. Goodbye Sunbro, hope you'll drop by again later. And Zen, that kinda makes sense. Stories were arranged in rhyme to be remembered... If my eye does exist only to reach in and out of stories, what will it do when it works properly? See into other stories, other worlds?"
Orchid shrugged. "Probably. I believe mine will allow me to see the entire future, though the existence of you is a bit troublesome."
"Maybe even complete Eyes have holes in their vision."
"Maybe... And Creek..." Twilence smiled. "Of course. I can say, for certain, that I would consider most of you in the Influence friends. Even Afizah, crazy as he is. Even if you are all crazy some of the time... You've all tried to help in one way or another. And just like with any friends, I've gotten frustrated. But that should mean nothing. Oh, I wish I could come over there and give you a hug. Everything will be fine, you don't need to be so worried all the time."
Aradia gave Twilence a thumbs up.
"Thanks. Though... Creek, theres a lot of deleted messages here. Were you trying to tell me something else? ...Hey, Aradia. How long till we arrive?"
"Well, twenty minutes for us, no time at all for anyone watching."
~~~
It was definitely night in the city of Chalak now. 24 hours remained until the moonless night. The orange city was still well-lit by the many artificial lights ranging from magic crystals to dragonfire lamps. The place was nowhere near as advanced as Acket, but it was still plenty impressive.
Twilence teleported them all into the city so they wouldn't have to deal with 'customs' (as Orchid put it). "So, how on earth are we going to find the palace?"
"It's this way," Orchid said.
"Do you see us finding it in the future?" Infinity asked.
"No. I just know where it is. I've lived here, and everyone who lives here knows where the palace is. It's impossible to explain the route to an outsider, though. Come on."
They all followed Orchid. Aradia smiled. "Well, I don't see a future version of myself coming back to reset the day, so either everything works out, they're trying to remain hidden from me, or everything goes wrong."
"That's... Not very reassuring," Fluttershy said.
"...Oh yeah. Good point."
Orchid groaned. "Just keep walking and don't get lost. I- where's Pinkie?"
"I don't know," Infinity said. "All I know is that street stand is selling fried stuff on a stick and I want some."
"No, don't go over there, the bridge is enchanted with magic to loop you back around and you'll never get back here."
Infinity blinked. "...What kind of cruel joke is that?"
"One set up by a fried stuff on a stick vendor," Orchid said. "Chalak may be the capital of Peran, and it may be hailed as the pinnacle of society, and it may be beautiful, but it is filled with deception and betrayal at every corner." She looked at Aradia. "You mentioned the altar is probably in the catacombs. Do you by chance know how to navigate them?"
"Oh, Jegus no," Aradia chuckled. "I said 'probably' for a reason. That place is a mess. Pretty sure Vester designed it to specifically hide the altar."
"Hey..." a black-scaled dragon asked. "Do y'all want a guide?"
"Already have one, thanks," Twilence said.
"Really? Cause I could've sworn there was a white unicorn with you a moment ago, and now she's not here..."
Orchid blinked. "She'll be back momentarily."
"Really? How can you be sure?"
"Does this third eye look like a decoration to you? It sees the future you prick! So hurry up and draw your gun to threaten us so we can get through this self-fulfilling clusterfudge!"
The dragon drew his gun without thinking, only for Infinity to blast it away with a laser. She had a fried thing on a stick in her mouth. The dragon flew away.
Infinity continued munching. "I cheated the cheating system."
"You've been cursed with a poor navigation sense and now we'll have to watch you like a hawk."
Infinity glared at Orchid. "How on Equis does anyone live here?"
"Ridiculous amounts of apathy or cunning," Orchid muttered.
Twilence shivered. "Yeah, I've decided it, this place isn't good. How did Vriska manage to walk around without a problem?"
"Luck," Aradia said. "I bet she annoyed a lot of people."
"Got arrested," Twilence said.
"Ah. Yeah, that'll hapen in a place where the odds are stacked against you and you suddenly start winning."
Orchid frowned. "...That's an interesting thought... Watch your step, trapdoor floor."
"Huh- AUGH!" Twilence fumbled, barely avoiding falling into 'Barnum's Pay To Leave Funhouse.' "Okay, can we just get to the palace already?"
Pinkie suddenly appeared. "OKAY!"
~~~
They were at the palace.
"...Pinkie, that took several hours. It's morning already."
"They got to the palace faster," Pinkie said, tapping the Eye.
Twilence groaned. "Pinkie..."
Pinkie giggled. "So! Here's masterful orange onion dome palace! Let's knock on the front door!"
"They won't let us in," Orchid said. "Not through that door anyway. We have to go talk to one of the receptionists. There's a kiosk over there." She pointed at a small kiosk that... Pinkie was sitting at. Pinkie was no longer sitting next to them.
Twilence and Fluttershy facehooved and groaned at the same time.
Orchid raised an eyebrow. "What-"
"You'll find out. Just... Just go do the thing you need to do."
Aradia, Orchid, and Infinity exchanged glances. Then they walked up to the kiosk and Pinkie. Orchid cleared her throat. "Pinkie, can you get us in?"
"I mean, yeah I can, but you have to fill out the official forms!"
Orchid blinked. "...Don't you know, it's us? Can you just-"
"Sorry, them's the rules, gotta fill out forms!" She produced a giant stack of paper. "Here!"
Orchid shook her head. "Those aren't the forms, those are three hundred times as large!"
"Times have changed since you've been here last! The power of paperwork has been truly realized! Seriously, I'm not even joking here, this is acutally the form. They don't want people to be able to fill it out quickly."
"How does anyone get into the palace at all anymore?"
Pinkie shrugged. "Urgent business or prevelance to the council's current business."
Infinity raised a hoof. "Uh... Pinkie? What are you doing?"
"My job as a receptionist, duh!"
"But you're not a receptionist, you're our companion..."
"Of course not, silly! I'm just a lowly paperwork manager who's never met you before. C'mon Infinity, get it right."
Infinity turned to Twilence and Fluttershy, mouthing 'please help.' Twilence and Fluttershy shook their heads rapidly.
Orchid sighed. "Look, I'm the niece of Evanescence, and we have matters to discuss of national security."
"Evanescence has posted a note that any query posted by one Orchid, unicorn are to be ignored outright."
"...Is that you saying that, or did she really do that?"
"Huh? Come again?"
Orchid rammed her face into the table. "Why can't I see what you're going to do right now, of all times."
Aradia cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but I do believe I have important matters of time to discuss. You see, I can travel into the future."
"Prove it."
Aradia moved them all an entire hour into the future. "See?"
"Cool, but that doesn't really qualify as a meeting. At best you'd be sent to the scientists where they'd consider your interesting power and then go through with it as best they could, giving you ideas. The council doesn't need to hear from you."
Aradia blinked. "But I can bring warnings..."
"Sorry, no dice."
Aradia laughed. "Well in that case... Check your records. I should already be in the meeting room."
Pinkie blinked, sifting through some papers. "Oh. So you are. Is your current party pertinent to your temporally displaced discussion?"
"Yes."
"Then, by all means, come on in!"
The big double doors opened. Twilence let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia..."
"Huh? Why? What'd I miss?" Pinkie said, suddenly not at the kiosk and standing next to Twilence like a regular party member. The kiosk had a very confused looking dragon sitting at it.
Twilence rolled her eyes. "Nothing Pinkie, nothing at all."
Infinity pointed a hoof at Pinkie. "Wh... Bu.. What?"
"What's so confusing?"
"I... I... I have no idea..."
"Good!" Pinkie giggled. "You're finally getting it!"
"I think I need to reexamine my life..."
Orchid nodded. "I... Am feeling something similar."
Aradia shrugged. "Just move on. Sometimes weird things happen." They went into the palace and easily found the big double golden doors that led to the main meeting hall.
Aradia sighed deeply. "This is it." She looked at Twilence. The Eye started glowing.
Twilence frowned. "This is it...?"
"I'm sorry."
~~~
[IMPORTING...]
As Vriska approached the door, Aradia appeared. "Hi!"
Vriska blinked. "Have you-"
"Probably not, pretty new here. I just got some clues that said I should probably head here to close a time loop! So... Yeah!"
The Overseer looked her up and down. "Who are you?"
"Aradia Megido, Maid of Time. New to this corner of the woods."
"Mustard," the Mite said.
"What was that?" Aradia asked.
"Nothing to concern yourself with. Yet," Vriska said.
"Mite," the Mite said. Vriska facepalmed.
"Oh cool a microscopic creature! Is this one of those altar recruits?"
"Yeah," Vriska said. "You know what, I don't want to explain twice, just come into the meeting with us and listen, okay?"
"Sure!"
The Overseer flashed slightly. "I'll allow it."
Vriska walked through the giant ornate double doors into the council's meeting room, the Overseer at her side. She, for once, remained quiet, taking in the other seats of the council. There was a golden hydra with brilliant red eyes, a teal unicorn with flowing hair, a lung dragon with a truly stupendous blue mane, and a stallion who could only be described as a farm pony with a fancy hat.
The Overseer took his position between the two dragons, the two ponies on either end. "I call this meeting of the Council of Peran to order. The beings before us - Mite, Aradia Megido, and most importantly, Vriska Serket - have become aware of something which has passed under our radar. There is more to concern us than just the actions of Heildor and Moissan. Vriska, tell us of the other Eyes and the Dark Lord."
"So, short version, there are two ponies I know by the name of Twilence and Orchid-" at the name Orchid the unicorn visibly narrowed her eyes. "-and they've come across two Eyes with power that make them think they are the Oracle destined to save the world from the Dark Lord. Turns out, we're not sure who the Oracle is for sure, but we do know the Dark Lord is real, and probably a combination of the demon 'king' Siron and some dark star known as Corot. Want the long version?"
The lung shook her head. "No need. We can work with that for now."
"That's hardly enough information..." the earth pony said.
The hydra grunted, speaking with his central head only. "Some of us are fully aware of the legends of the Oracle and the Dark Lord. It is a part of our heritage. A great prophecy that we have chosen to ignore in recent years because it has been so long."
The Overseer nodded. "So much so that I haven't been looking for any. But as I look, I can see Orchid and Twilence in our fair city, approaching the palace, among a group of many others. Including Aradia Megido."
Aradia blinked. "Huh. I guess I'll have to close that loop eventually."
The unicorn looked at the Overseer. "What can you tell us of Orchid?"
"She has the essence of five spirits, presumably looking for the sixth."
Vriska blinked. "Hey, you can see everywhere, you know where it is right?"
"Yes. In the catacombs. Getting there, however, is easier said than done. The protection enchantments are both ancient and beyond complicated. Vester knew the prophecy would involve his capture, and he did not want it."
"Can you blame him?" The hydra said.
"No."
"Hey, can you see Vester?" Vriska asked.
The Overseer somehow bristled. "Unfortunatley that is one of my blind spots. As is this Corot. I can, however, see Siron, sitting in Tartarus. He's noticed me. He seems to find it amusing."
The farm pony coughed. "Okay, so, I've gotten the idea that there's some dark threat to our land and that these newcomers have something to do with it. What are we going to do to stop it?"
"Stopping the summoning of Corot will be easy," the unicorn said. "Finally stomp out that star-cult in Troisha."
"Troisha will not be pleased with that," the lung said.
"Who cares if they're pleased or not?" the hydra countered. "The last thing we need is a dark star appearing on our back door!"
"Precisely," the Overseer said. "We will take action. I assume you and your companions will assist us in this regard?"
Vriska nodded. "Yeah, it's kind of our quest."
"What of Siron?" the hydra said. "Surely there must be a way to defeat him that doesn't rely on some Oracle fufilling a prophecy."
"That is largely an unknown," the Overseer said. "We do not even know the method by which he escapes Tartarus. The meer fact that it seems like he will is concerning. Tartarus is guarded by Cerberus in addition to many sealing enchantments. Even we lack the energy to breach Tartarus or seal anyone within it."
Vriska smirked. "Betcha I could do it."
"Then perhaps you are all the cause of his release. Prophecies have a way of making sure their agents carry out every part of it."
"We should take care of them then," the hydra said.
"Gilead," the Overseer cautioned. "Fighting against a prophecy is pointless."
"Nope," the Mite said.
"...care to elaborate?" the lung said.
Vriska shrugged. "Twilence, bearer of the Eye of Rhyme, has shown time and time again she can fly in the face of prophecy and predetermined future."
"I can confirm," Aradia said.
"Yeah. So basically your prophecy could easily be fucked or unfucked at any moment."
The unicorn frowned. "What exactly does the Eye of Rhyme allow Twilence to do?"
"Unimportant-" the Overseer said.
"I don't think so. Vriska, tell me."
"It allows her to hear voices from beyond, called the Influence."
The unicorn nodded. "This is dangerous."
"Well, yeah, duh."
"Indubidebly."
The unicorn shrugged. "I will wish to ask Twilence directly about her Influence and what they say. They are the source of her power, they must be analyzed as well."
"You will get your chance," the Overseer said. "They are coming in now. I believe I just witnessed a reverse time walk to the door."
The doors flew open - and there were screams.
Vriska turned around. She saw everyone...
Everyone except Twilence.
She looked at Pinkie and future Aradia - there was guilt in their eyes.
"What did you do?" both Vriska and past Aradia shouted.
"What needed to be done," Pinkie said. "We cannot let this change. This needs to happen to Twilence."
"What?" Vriska blurted.
"The ordeals," future Aradia said. "The pivotal point."
The Overseer frowned. "Aradia. She is not where you said she would be."
Future Aradia glared. "I told you not to - wait." She glanced at past Aradia. "I... I don't remember this. Something's changed."
"No shit," a new voice said. Vriska recognized it - her own. Everyone turned to see another Vriska in red robes smirking and mocking. "Hey, Aradia, how's it feel to be outfoxed by someone who can't even time travel?"
Vriska blinked. She had no idea what was going on. And she didn't like it.
Where was Twilence!?