//------------------------------//
// Chapter 34: Crystal Tower 
// Story: Equestria 485,000 
// by Unwhole Hole 
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The storm rushed around them, a vortex of wind and energy that roared through the magical atmosphere. Twilight could see nothing past the tint of her shield sphere, save for the occasional glimpse of narrow hooves or glowing eyes. Despite its power, the force on the outside of the spell was not so great as to provide Twilight any sort of difficulty in holding the sphere intact.

            Then she felt herself strike ground. The sphere bounced once, and then came to a rest. As soon as it did, the storm seemed to dissipate. The windigoes departed from them, returning upward to the atmosphere where they resided in the eternal storms, feeding on magical fallout. Doing so was not without risk, though; although the initial blast had long since faded, the weather in this area was remarkably fair as a result of Light Gloom’s attempt to clear it. Warm sunlight came through some of the clouds, and the windigoes shrank from it.

            Despite the risk, they had born Twilight and her friends as close as they could to their destination. Twilight lowered the bubble, and Silken was set down beside them, her infinitesimally light body having been easily born through the wind without damage. Twilight looked up to the windigoes, and saw several of their mages standing amongst Starlight, and a small filly. Twilight waved to them. Starlight smiled silently, and waved back before returning to the sky.

            “Bye, Starlight’s ghost!” cried Pinkie, waving frantically up at the sky. “Have fun in the stratosphere! If you need any help decorating, Rainbow Dash knows a lot about skylights! Just don’t ask her for advice on carpeting!”

            Rainbow Dash grumbled and walked up next to Twilight. “You know, I could have flown that on my own.”

            “You had no idea where we were going.”

            “Uh, yeah I did. It’s the crystal Empire. I know how to get there.”

            “You used to. Mages in the late seven thousands had a propensity to like experimenting with tectonic magic.”

            “‘Propenisty’? What did you just call me?”

            There was a groan from behind Twilight, and a sudden retching.

            “Applejack?” said Twilight, concerned and trotting to her friend’s side. “Are you okay?”

            “Ugh,” said Applejack, wiping her mouth. She looked pale, and even green. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

            “You don’t look fine,” said Pinkie Pie. “You look like Rarity looked when she found that secret birthday cake I made for her. You know, the one she found four birthdays too late.”

            “Pinkie!” cried Applejack, holding her mouth. “Gosh darn it, can’t you go back to being unconscious?!” She swallowed, even though it made her only look slightly relieved. “It’s just the airsickness. Earth ponies just weren’t meant to fly like that.” She shook her head. “I got this brand new body, and I STILL get airsick…it just isn’t fair…”

            Applejack suddenly retched again, and Twilight let her go about her business. She instead approached Rarity, who looked more tired than sick. “Rarity? Are you okay?”

            “I’m fine, darling. Just a little under the weather.”

            “You did just expend a lot of magic.”

            Rarity sighed. “I just wish I could have done more. Can you imagine! Me, passing out like that, fainting straight away as soon as things got stressful?”

            “No, I can’t,” said Applejack before retching again.

            Silken looked at her. “I cannot tell if that was sarcasm.”

            “Are you not allowed to use contractions, or is it a personal preference?” asked Pinkie.

            “I don’t just faint randomly,” protested Rarity. “Why, the very thought of fainting without a proper fainting chaise! Such a thing is simply uncivilized!” She cleared her throat. “It’s just so embarrassing! Hopefully I get a chance to redeem myself as soon as I get my…bearings…”

            Rarity had just looked around and for the first time noticed the scenery that had surrounded them. As she did, her eyes grew wide. Twilight had largely not considered the area around her- -it was alien, as was everything to her- -but she smiled when she realized why this environment had caused all of Rarity’s malaise to immediately dissipate.

            All around them was a forest. It was not the vast, cold sort that populated the land near Ponyville, or the alien looking forests of enormous horsetails and strange moss that populated the highlands. Instead, it was a lush and dense jungle consisting of plants that looked like more narrow, elegant versions of plants that might very well be found on ancient Equestria- -save for the fact that every stem, leaf, and branch was made out of crystal.

            The ponies looked around in amazement at the sparkling world around them. The canopy overhead left the whole area mostly dark, but let through light at various angles that left an enchanting glow throughout the area. Many of the plants seemed to glow from within, and those that did not reflected light brilliantly.

            “Oh my,” said Rarity, stepping near a tall fern whose leafs consisted of thin pink crystals. She touched it gingerly, and found that although hard it had some give, as would be expected from a living plant. These were clearly not statues; they were quite alive. “This…this is simply…”

            “Shiny?” suggested Rainbow Dash.

            Rarity winced. “I was going to say ‘marvelous’, or ‘fabulous’, or even ‘whimsical’. But yes. Clearly, ‘shiny’ collects all of those adjectives together quite adequately.”

            “I still cannot tell if that is sarcasm,” said Silken. “And personal choice.”

            Applejack looked up at the crystals, clearly intrigued but not nearly as much so as Rarity. “This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Hey, do any of you feel that?”

            “Feel what?” asked Twilight.

            “It’s warmer,” said Rainbow Dash. She looked around. “This place really feels like a jungle. It’s not cold at all.”

            “That might be a residual effect of the explosion overhead,” said Twilight. “Or…”

            “Or what?”

            “Or this place is a result of the residual love that Cadence left behind in the Crystal Empire when she protected it. I only thought it had been to give us enough time to evacuate…but now…”

            “Oh, darling!” said Rarity, picking a crystalline nut from one of the thin trees. “You’re overthinking it! Can’t we just revel in the beauty? I mean, look at this!”

            “A walnut?” asked Applejack, raising an eyebrow.

            “A CRYSTAL walnut!” Rarity examined it closely and gasped. “Made of flawless red emerald, too!”

            “Isn’t that just ruby?” asked Applejack.

            Rarity gasped, shielding the emerald as though it had been insulted. “Heavens no! Ruby is a corundum, this is a beryl! And I could make an incredible necklace out of it!” She looked up at the tree. “Or, if I had two, a pair of earrings…and if I had some leaves…oh my, this place is like something out of my dreams!”

            “It certainly has animals,” said Fluttershy, picking up a large beetle that appeared to be, more or less, a large gemstone with legs and little compound-diamond eyes. “Aww.”

            “And liquid water!” said Pinkie Pie. “And fresh smells, and pretty lights, and quicksand, and- -GRFBLTHBLEFL!”

            Twilight groaned. “Silken?”

            Silken obliged and reached into the pit of quicksand, quickly snagging Pinkie and drawing her out. Pinkie spat out some of the exceedingly sparkly substance. “Bah!” she said. “Thanks, Silken. It just came up and got me!” She leaned in and whispered. “It’s surprisingly quick!”

            With care so as to not bruise her, Silken set Pinkie down on far less soft ground. That there was any quicksand out here at all was a strange sign indeed; even in ancient times, the Crystal Empire had always been deathly cold. It had, in fact, been one of the first locations to fall to the new ice age. There should have been no heat at all, and Twilight wondered if they had arrived in the right place after all.

            Her friends turned to her, though. They were looking to her for leadership. Looking into their faces, Twilight had never before been so tempted to comply with the captain’s suggestion: to take them and leave, bringing them back to the Empire where they would be safe and out of danger.

            That may very well have been impossible now, though.

            “So what’s the plan?” asked Applejack.

            “Yeah!” said Rainbow Dash. “Whose rump is getting roasted next? Because we are totally on a role!”

            “That one was sarcasm!” said Silken, suddenly. “I got that one!”

            “Um…no. It wasn’t. At least, it wasn’t supposed to be.”

            “Oh.”

            “I need to get to the tomb,” said Twilight. “Cadence is buried there, with my brother. I need her genetic code to make an antidote for the Mortality Virus. We need to get there.”

            “And then we leave?” said Rarity. “To a place with warm beds? And baths?”

            Twilight paused for a long moment, and looked at Silken. “I’m not sure,” she said. “Light Gloom took control of my ship.”

            “So?” said Rainbow Dash. “Didn’t you say he was your student?”

            “Yeah,” said Twilight, darkly.

            “Well,” said Fluttershy. “I’m sure you just sit down and have a nice conversation with him.”

            “After he just fired a forbidden weapon at a planet that I was on?!”

            “Well…yes…but he tried to get us off to safety first, didn’t he?”

            “And where does that leave the windigoes, or the shoggoths? Or even the animals!”

            “Twilight,” said Rarity. “There’s no way he could have known about those things!”

            “I agree with Twilight,” said Applejack. “He knew darn well we were in the way of his big fancy beam and he still pulled the trigger. That’s not something friendly ponies do.”

            “Ooh! Ooh! I know! Pick me, pick me!” said Pinkie Pie, raising her hoof.

            “We’re not in class, Pinkie Pie,” said Twilight.

            Pinkie Pie took a deep breath. “This Light Gloom guy is actually a jilted lover from an unethical student-teacher relationship where Twilight broke up with him because she was all dark and broody and didn’t have any friends and now he’s all kinds of angry or even went outright insane I don’t know on that part it’s still up for debate but he’s REAL angry and wants revenge and that sort of thing so he got a big beam and tried to ruin Twilight’s mission in order to show her that he cares or- -”

            “Pinkie!” cried Rarity. “Breathe!”

            Pinkie Pie did, narrowly averting another episode of having passed out. Twilight, meanwhile, turned quite red.

            “It wasn’t unethical,” she muttered. Then she cleared her throat. “Besides. He isn’t that kind of pony. Or wasn’t. I don’t know what happened.”

            “We can ask him,” said Silken.

            “If only.”

            “No. I am being serious. We can.” She pointed at her chest. “The communication uplink has rather miraculously survived within me. I suppose it was fortunate I chose not to install it in my butt but in my upper spine instead.”

            “You said you lost contact with the ship.”

            “I did. But I can still hail it. No doubt, he will send somepony.” Silken paused. “Should I transmit?”

            Twilight thought for a moment. “No,” she said. “Not yet. Once I recover the sample, that might be our only option. But not now.”

            Silken nodded. “As is your will, Goddess, so shall it be done.”

            “Okay,” said Rainbow Dash. “I still can’t get over how cool this ‘Goddess’ thing is.” She suddenly gasped and took to the air. “Do they give you sacrifices? Please tell me they give you sacrifices!”

            “Rainbow!” cried Twilight, insulted. “That is NOT how I run my cult!”

            They started walking. “What?” said Rainbow Dash, following them. “I didn’t mean, like, you know, pony sacrifices. Like weird statues or money or…”

            “Cake!” suggested Pinkie Pie.

            “This is the Cult of Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash, rolling her eyes. “Not the Cult of Celestia.”

            “So…books?”

            Rainbow Dash laughed oddly loud and snorted. Twilight was glad to hear that sound, but something above her gave her pause. She stopped, falling back from the group, and looked up.

            “Twilight?” said Rarity. “Is something wrong, dear?”

            Twilight continued to watch for a second longer, and then lowered her head, smiling at Rarity. “No,” she said. “Everything is fine.”

            They started walking again, and Twilight felt bad about having lied to her friend. In actuality, she had seen a pair of unmared Cult drones pass overhead toward the direction where Cadence’s tomb was supposed to be. That was an ominous sign, and Twilight’s heart had sunk as she realized what it likely meant.

            She did not want to tell her friends, though, until they got closer. She did not want to alarm them if she did not have to. In her mind, she still hoped that Fluttershy was right, and that this would not end with anypony else having to get hurt.



            The forest progressed evenly, growing neither thicker nor more sparse. The land below was not rocky, but difficult to navigate. It was marked with gorges with slow-moving, silty water at the bottoms, and dramatic but slight changes in elevation caused by the crystal plants producing layers of roots that formed the ground, between which were pits of mud and quicksand.

            The whole time, Rarity was looking upward and around at everything with the joy of a filly in a toy store. Everywhere she looked, there seemed to be a new and spectacular form. This was, after all, a forest that was almost entirely free of dirt, where even the insects that Rarity would normally have shrunk from glimmered with jewels of every shape and color.

            Silken also seemed intrigued, although she clearly did not share in Rarity’s joy. In fact, the sight of the crystals seemed to make her sad.

            “Silken?” said Twilight, falling to the rear of the group while Rarity bounded ahead with the others, squealing with delight at the preponderance of crystal. “Are you alright?”

            “I am always alright. I am programmed that way.”

            “You aren’t programmed, Silken. No remni are.”

            “All remni are, even if there was no one to program us but ourselves.” Silken looked out at the forest, and once again looked sad.

            “It is pretty, isn’t it,” said Twilight.

            “I have rarely seen anything so beautiful,” said Silken. “And I am glad to have seen this.” She paused, but then continued. “Sometimes I wonder if that is why I am still here. If it is because there are so many things I never managed to see in life. I tried, Goddess. I tried so very hard.”

            “Is that why you are sad?”

            Silken looked down at Twilight and smiled softly. “I am a remnus. I do not feel sadness. None of us do, as we are not programmed to. And I assure you, Twilight Sparkle: that is indeed the greatest lie I have ever told you.”

            “But why?”

            “Why?” Silken paused, thinking, as though she had never considered it before. “Because of the stories, I suppose. That my mother told me.”

            “About Cadence. Your grandmother.”

            Silken nodded. “Yes.”

            “She’s like you now,” said Twilight. “Not alive, but not on the other side either. Trapped in between.”

            “That is true, and that thought does sadden me, even if your analogy is wrong. It is not me that the Lost Goddess is like, Twilight Sparkle, but you.”

            “Nine weeks ago, I might have agreed with you,” sighed Twilight. “But if that’s not what makes you sad, then what? How can something this beautiful make you feel bad?”

            “Because this forest was built by her love. I know that to you that is only a hypothesis, but I know it. I do not know how, but I do. What makes me wish I could cry is that this product of her love exists here, and has existed here, evolving for untold centuries- -but that none were here to see it. My mother never saw her love, nor did I, and my daughter never can. It does not sadden me that she is trapped between life and death, Twilight Sparkle. It saddens me that she is all alone.”

            Twilight paused to consider this as they walked. She ended up considering it for a long time. They walked together in silence, Twilight Sparkle and what remained of a pony that had been her grandniece in life. It was a strange state that Twilight had never expected she would be in, and the more she considered what Silken had said the more she realized that this really was a sad place. Silken had been right- -about more than one thing.

            Even though they walked in silence for some time, it was not much longer before Silken suddenly stopped. Her mechanical eyes flitted about the forest.

            “What is it?” said Twilight.

            “You will want to get to them,” said Silken. “Be quiet, and be careful. The foliage will reduce their scanning acuity, but not nullify it completely.”

            Twilight did not need to ask what Silken meant. She nodded and spread her wings, flying forward to the rest of her friends. They had gotten far following Rarity, but not escaped Silken’s vision. Twilight found them easily and landed in front of the group.

            “Twilight!” said Rarity. “Why, we were just talking about you!”

            “Yeah!” said Pinkie. “We were discussing in detail what we thought you and your student used to study! And I do mean EQUISITE detail!”

            “Theoretical biology and applied magical defenses,” said Twilight. “Light Gloom is an expert in both, but that’s not the point.”

            “Ha! I was right! They were studying biology! You owe me twelve bits, Fluttershy!”

            Twilight looked from one of them to the other, and was filled with a slight, creeping dread when she realized that one particular Pegasus was missing.

            “Where is Rainbow Dash?” she asked.

            “Right here,” said Rainbow Dash, dropping from the canopy. “Twilight. You have to see this.”

            Twilight frowned and nodded. It seemed that Rainbow Dash and Silken had seen the same thing.

            She was led to a part of the forest where the land suddenly became brighter . Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground and moved quietly, as did the others, until they came quite suddenly to a clearing.

            It was not a normal clearing, though. Nor was it natural by any means. The crystal trees had been removed, but not cut exactly. Rather, they had been sliced cleanly at an even height, leaving nothing but glittering stumps all at an identical level in a vast circle. Far in the distance, Twilight could see the other side of the forest, and looming over it the decaying and overgrown remains of the Crystal Palace.

            “N- -no!” cried Rarity, dropping to her knees with tears in her eyes. “All of these trees! All of that crystal, cut down! And they didn’t even leave me the logs! Who could have done such a horrible, ghastly thing?!”

            “I have one idea,” said Twilight, darkly.

            It was actually quite obvious. They stood in the center of the ring. They were members of the Cult of Twilight. That much was obvious. Many of them had come down to the planet, and they stood beside both remni and heavy mechs. The mechs were something that had always disturbed Twilight; they tended to have been built from nonorthoscopic conversion of living ponies, often those whose bodies were failing for one reason or another. Overhead, many small spiral-shaped vessels slowly revolved, joining the mechs and ponies in their task.

            They had all surrounded a single crystal building, a single tower of blue-pink crystal that had not aged or decayed across the millennia that it had sat unseen and alone while the now leveled forest had grown up around it. It was the upper part of the tomb, a crystal marker of the grave of the two ponies who rested below it.

            The cultists seemed to know this. One of the heavy mechs had placed itself in front of the structure, digging its four massive hooves into the ground and directing its forward array directly at the crystal. Even at a distance, Twilight could make out the blinding light of the plasma beam that it was directing at the crystal, and the technomagic spells cast around it to aid in focus and power modulation. Other cultists were assisting with their own support magic, and cables had been drawn from the ships above to augment the beam. They were attempting to cut their way into the tomb.

            Then, in the distance, Twilight saw one of the cultists shift position. He turned to them, the optics in his mask glinting even at a distance of one hundred meters. Twilight immediately pulled her friends back into the forest with her magic while she herself waited for a moment. The cultist watched for a moment more, and then turned back to his work. When Twilight was sure he had not seen them, she joined her friends deeper in the crystal forest.

            “What are they doing?” asked Fluttershy, her voice betraying grave concern.

            “They’re trying to cut their way into the tower.” Twilight swore, causing Rarity to gasp. It had been a particularly nasty expression involving a certain lesser-known aspect of Celestia’s hair. “It all makes sense now…”

            “Um, no,” said Rainbow Dash. “It doesn’t. Like, at all.”

            “He’s trying to get to Cadence,” said Twilight.

            “But why?” asked Rarity.

            “I don’t know that part yet. But this is bad. Really bad.”

            “How long before he cuts through?” asked Applejack. Twilight sighed, happy to hear that Applejack was still better at focusing on practical thoughts than she was. “And when he does?”

            “That doesn’t matter,” said Twilight. “The tower is just a marker. It doesn’t lead down to the tomb.” Twilight thought for a moment, trying to wrack her brain. “This was originally Shining Armor’s tomb. All of this was a park dedicated to him. There were six small towers, built like a star.” Twilight pointed to her cutie mark; her brother’s had carried an identical star, mounted in the center of a shield. “It was supposed to look like his cutie mark.”

            “So it’s fine then,” said Rarity. “If that tower is only decorative, then it doesn’t matter if he destroys it. Apart from the loss of a simply stunning piece of architecture.” She sighed. “I would bet my blouse that it looked simply stunning in the forest…”

            “Light Gloom isn’t an idiot. I raised him better than that.”

            “You raised him?” Pinkie Pie made a face. “Um, you know how I said ‘unethical’? Well, you’re getting into Apple-family territory now.”

            “And what is that supposed to mean?” snapped Applejack.

            “What it means is that he’ll eventually figure out that he needs to get to one of the outer structures. And when he does, it’s a straight path to the tomb underground.”

            “That seems pretty dumb,” said Rainbow Dash. “I mean, aren’t ancient tombs supposed to have all sorts of curses and enchantments and big clay ponies that get up and try to smash you, or maybe walls that shoot little darts covered in poison- -”

            “This isn’t a Daring Do novel,” said Applejack, rolling her eyes.

            “No. She’s right,” said Twilight. “There IS a spell. To prevent things like this from happening. Only a blood relative of Cadence or Shining Armor can enter.”

            “Well, then, it should be perfectly safe,” said Rarity.

            “It would be,” said Silken as she caught up with the group. “Save for the fact that every living pony apart from the Tribunal is a direct descendant of Flurry Heart.”

            “So everything is borked,” said Pinkie Pie. She shrugged. “Just like Flurry Heart, apparently.”

            “Not entirely,” said Twilight. “We still have the advantage of time. Silken, you need to come with me. I know where the old towers used to be. One of them might still be open.”

            “You’re not leaving us,” said Rainbow Dash.

            “Yeah,” said Pinkie Pie. “I get the impression that this is going to be real climactic! We want to be a part of it too!”

            “I don’t,” said Fluttershy.

            “Nopony care’s about your opinion, Fluttershy,” whispered Pinkie Pie as she stroked Fluttershy’s pink mane. “You’re basically our Shaggy.”

            “You can’t come,” said Twilight. “Only blood relatives, remember? I’m Shining Armor’s sister, and Silken is Cadence’s granddaughter. The rest of you can’t get through.”

            Applejack did a wide-eyed double take, looking at Silken. “Wait, what? How in the name of sour silage…you know what, never mind. I’d rather not know.”

            “You can’t go in there alone!” cried Rainbow Dash. “I mean, what if they get in?”

            “Which is why if they do start searching for the other entrances, you need to distract them.” Twilight smiled. “And we’re not going to be alone.”

            “But you just said only blood-relatives could enter,” said Fluttershy.

            “Yes. And Silken and I are not the only ones that meet that qualification on our side.”

            As Twilight said it, two invisibility spells on either side of the group began to dissipate. They faded and sparked, and two tall creatures became visible. Eeach of them stared forward, the many eyes that covered their golden masks staring unblinkingly at the now terrified group as their tentacles pulsated in the air. One of them was the same that they had met before, in the castle and again at the almost-battle with the windigoes.

            “Oh buck,” said Rainbow Dash, her eyes widening. “Twilight- -you’ve got to be kidding!”

            “They’re clones,” said Twilight. “Genetically identical to me.” She shrugged. “I told you. We won’t be alone. If Light Gloom does managed to get down there…”

            “Oh, he’ll regret it,” said Rainbow Dash. “Voice of experience here. He will NOT be having a good time.”

            “Unless he’s into that sort of thing,” joked Pinkie Pie. Nopony laughed.



            The towers remained, but they had not aged well. Unlike the central marker tower, the old towers were built in a far more primitive era; had Light Gloom chosen to attack them, their crystal would not have withstood exposure to the cutting plasma for more than a few seconds.

            Despite this, Twilight was still able to find them. They were where she remembered. The tomb of Cadence had been one of the last things created by the Exodus; it had not been subject to the same cataclysms- -natural or pony-made- -that had torn apart the world in the time leading up to the apocalypse. This place had been sacred to the crystal ponies even before Cadence was interred there; they had taken great pains to preserve the final resting place of their first and most revered king.

            If anything, it was simply natural changes in the landscape that had rendered some of the points of the star inaccessible. The first one was badly overgrown, with the trunk of a tree made of pure diamond covering the entrance. While magic could have cut through or transfigured it, the spell necessary would have taken far too much time to apply. The second point had vanished completely, and Twilight had no idea where it had gone.

            Twilight was beginning to lose hope that any point would be accessible when they finally reached the third one. It, much to her relief, was intact.

            They entered, with Silken and Twilight in the lead projecting light as the two creatures followed behind them silently through the shadows. The tower was not large- -it did not even approach the canopy of the trees, which had concealed it from Light Gloom’s scans- -and it served only to house a crystal staircase that led downward into the ground, toward a tunnel.

            Like the tower itself, the tunnel was overgrown with plant life. Much of it was vines that had long ago germinated close to the stairs and stretched upward toward the light, but there were also sharp crystalline roots that grew from above and hang through cracks in the ceiling. The floor was wet, and there was a sound of dripping everywhere.

            “I can’t believe this is still here,” said Twilight. She followed the hall, her hooves splashing as she walked. “It’s been so long…”

            “It seems to have been well constructed,” said Silken. Her eyes searched the walls. “It is possible that the roots surrounding this corridor have served to reinforce the main hall.” She paused. “Perhaps they are protecting the tomb.”

            “They are plants,” said Twilight. “Even if they’re crystal, they don’t choose to do or not to do anything. They have no central nervous system.”

            “Neither do the two warriors that are walking behind us and staring at my robotic flank and silky-smooth tail.”

            “That’s different.”

            “Not really. I have seen many things here that I had not expected to see. I see no reason why crystals cannot bear sentience, any more reason than my own processor can- -or whatever diffuse organic consciousness that these creatures possess.” A low clicking groan came from behind her. Silken looked back. “I do not know if that was agreement, or protest.”

            “Or just a random sound.”

            “That is possible. I am admittedly still surprised that you managed to convince them to come with us.”

            “I didn’t.”

            “Then why are they here?”

            “They followed us. I don’t know why. I don’t think I’m supposed to.”

            “It should be obvious. They want to help us.”

            “I can’t guarantee that. The way they see the world, it’s like their looking at it sideways. Helping us and snapping us in half could be the same conclusion to identical logical progressions. They could turn on us at any moment. So, I need you to watch them. VERY carefully.”

            Silken’s eyes tilted to look over her shoulder. “I can do that,” she said, “but I do not think they will become aggressive.”

            “You can’t know that.”

            “No, but I can believe it. If they are helping us, they have to understand that there is some significance, either in our task or in you personally.”

            “Why would they care about me?” Twilight looked back too and saw the creatures. They were moving swiftly through the darkness with no need for light, their tentacle antennae trailing behind them and their golden, poorly-constructed masks reflecting the light of Twilight’s horn. In that light and the shadows it produced, she realized that the masks looked eerily like her own face. “I didn’t create them. They see me as a reminder of what they should have been.”

            “I do not think so,” said Silken. “They do not mind what they are, I think. And to them, you are an equal. Or higher.”

            “Higher?”

            Silken nodded. “I think they comprehend what they are, and what you are to them.”

            “Which is what, Silken?”

            “You are their mother.”

            Twilight shivered. “Don’t ever say that again, Silken,” she said, although only halfheartedly. Although she had never considered that thought before, in a perverse way it was true- -and Twilight found that she could not look back into the shadows behind her again, for fear of what she might see this time.    crosI?��4