Twilight’s entry hall had never looked so regal in all its history of occupation. She’d never bothered with the official banners of Equestria before, nor had she gone all out on ordering tables. Usually, she wasn’t entertaining the leaders of a handful of different worlds – the regular simple stuff wasn’t going to cut it. Instead she had procured carefully furnished oak tables covered in intricately embroidered tablecloths. There were numerous images of famous smiling Equestrian figures, even a picture of Starswirl, bell-adorned hat and all. The Mirror Portal itself had been moved from its secluded space to the honored position at the base of the stairway, facing the front doors. The lighting glinted off it at a pristine angle.
In other words, the hall was amazing.
Twilight looked at her two decorators with a look of utter panic. “What if it’s not good enough!? What if some of them consider smiles condescending and insulting?! What if having images of historical figures who are still alive is bad form!? AUGH!”
Rarity and Pinkie stared at Twilight with raised eyebrows.
“It could happen!”
Rarity continued staring at her.
“Hey, there have been more than a few times where I’ve messed up with these things, okay? I don’t want today to be one of those times! Celestia’s coming here to see what we’ve been doing and it has to look great or… Or…”
“Or what?” Pinkie asked.
“I don’t know! Something! A planet could explode!”
Pinkie giggled.
“It could happen!”
“My, is there an echo?” Rarity wondered aloud.
Twilight spread her wings, flustered. “Look, I get that I may look a little paranoid right now…”
“May?”
Twilight ignored the question. “…but the thing is we don’t know what the other cultures are like all that well! We always visit them – they never visit us! We’re weirded out by them all the time! They could get angry!”
Pinkie grabbed Twilight by the cheeks. “Twilight, calm down. Remember who’s running this thing behind the scenes. That’s right, me, the number one party pony. I’ll keep everything under control at all times. Trust me.”
“I… Pinkie you’re a little-“
“Shoosh. Trust Twilight. Truuuuuuust.”
“Uh… Okay. I’ll trust you Pinkie.”
“Good, cause you won’t see much of me. Behind the sceeeenes, remember?” She mysteriously walked backward behind a potted plant. Twilight didn’t need to investigate to know she was gone.
“…Right. Pinkie’s got this. All I have to worry about is making sure everybody doesn’t want to kill each other and to get everyone to agree to sit down and talk oh Celestia that’s a lot to worry about.”
Rarity sighed. “Twilight, dear, if you’re nervous and flakey like this all those things are more likely to happen.”
“We’re doomed!”
“Twilight Sparkle! Get a handle on yourself! You are a Princess and you need to hold yourself with dignity for the visitors!”
Twilight was startled into silence by Rarity’s sudden fire.
“Better, but you look a little too terrified.”
Twilight whimpered.
Rarity sighed. “If it makes you feel better, you’ll never be alone. Fluttershy, Starlight, and I will all be here. Not to mention most of the people coming are friends. You don’t need to feel afraid of them.”
“I know. I know… I know…”
Starlight walked out of the Mirror Portal. Twilight screamed at the sudden addition of a pony to the room, falling onto her back. Starlight blinked, ignoring Twilight’s outburst and instead noting the Mirror Portal’s new location. “Huh, moved it for the meeting then? Is that why it wasn’t on the same tree?”
“Probably,” Rarity said. “Dear, what is that you’re holding?”
Starlight glanced at the flat, electronic device in her hoof. “Souvenir.”
“Interesting. Meet anyone new?”
“I was just on another Earth, nothing special. Turns out that Sunset never turned good. Had to run quickly.” She snickered. “Turns out she really doesn’t understand that four legs are faster than two. She also forgot I had a horn!” She gently tapped her horn with the screen.
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Yet another escapade. Don’t go anywhere else for the moment, the meeting will start soon.”
“Augh! SOON!” Twilight said, shooting back up to alert and ready. “Are we all certain everything’s fine? Are we?”
“No,” Fluttershy said, walking into the hall. “But, really, should we be? That’d just ruin the experience. I may think Discord’s distracted for the next few hours, but can I really know?”
“Oh no. If he comes in…”
“Twilight, the point is not to panic. The point is to realize you can’t watch everything, you can’t stop time, you just have to go with what you can see. And I think the castle looks fit for a royal banquet, by the way.”
“This isn’t a banquet!”
Fluttershy put her wing over her face. “Twilight…”
“She’ll be like this until the meeting actually starts,” Starlight said. “Then instinct will kick in and she’ll perform amazingly like the Princess she is.”
“Why are you all so confident in my abilities!?” Twilight blurted.
“Because they usually come through,” Rarity said.
Twilight groaned. “Why…”
Fluttershy patted her gently on the back. “There there… It’ll be fun, you’ll see. You’ll be worried and then you’ll be talking to Mlinx and introducing him to Queen Luna and-“
Sunset and human Twilight walked out of a portal of their own creation. Fluttershy screamed and fell on top of pony Twilight.
“Oh. Hi Sparky, Sunset,” Rarity said. “Decide to drop by after all?”
Sunset grimaced, the portal popping shut behind her. “Only for a little while. It’s technically early morning on Earth and today is the first day of classes at Wolfe University. So I will have to abandon you all.”
“Aw...” Starlight said. “I was looking forward to hanging out again.”
“Sorry, got another life. Not to mention all the sushi… So much sushi…”
Sparky raised an eyebrow. “I thought you loved your job and it was Iroh’s training sessions that drained you.”
“Can’t they both?” Sunset said, chuckling tiredly. “Why did I ask him to teach me…”
“Because you like using fire and it fulfills a part of you that you didn’t realize was missing.”
“When I ask a silly question, assume I don’t want a poetic answer.”
Sparky winked. “Oh, really?”
The pony Twilight – Twinkie – finally managed to stand up. “Well, it looks like you two are the first to arrive. Ambassadors from Earth!”
“Ambassador. Single,” Sunset pointed at Sparky. “I don’t have any claim to Earth.”
“It’s still a check off the guest list!” Twilight said, marking her guest checklist. She decided to read it off. “Let’s see… The demons, the ponies of Lai, the Elemental Nations… Those are all who I expect to show up actually. Ardent, the Binaries, and the mushroom people got invitations but I don’t think they’ll listen. We’ll set the Mirror Portal to them anyway, see if anyone’s there.”
“Aren’t you forgetting someponies?” a new voice questioned.
“Who-“ Twinkie paled. “Riiiiiiiight.” She turned around, soon face to face with the royal sisters Celestia and Luna. Celestia’s flowing, magical mane of pastel colors contrasted with her darker sister’s starry mane. Luna herself was of a slightly shorter stature than Celestia, though she still towered above all normal ponies. Images of the moon adorned her regalia and her eyes were a wise, sharp cyan.
Twilight folded her ears back and smiled nervously. “Sorry Princesses, I guess I didn’t think I needed you on the list…?”
Luna rolled her eyes. “It is no problem, Twilight Sparkle, my sister is just giving you a hard time.”
Celestia chuckled. “Oh, Luna, don’t ruin it! I could have drawn that out for a few more minutes at least.”
Sunset tried to look interested in one of the banners on the wall. She tried to look very interested. So interested that Celestia wouldn’t ever try to bother her-
“My, that’s quite an interesting banner, is it not?”
Darn it.
Sunset laughed nervously. “Why, yes, yes it is, I should congratulate the designer!”
“Here,” Rarity said.
“Yes! Good job Rarity! How great!”
“Sunset…” Celestia said.
“Yes…….?” Sunset gulped, turning around slowly.
“We should have lunch sometime.”
“…Okay?”
Celestia smirked. “Good. Tomorrow. Noon. Be late at your own risk.”
“Eheheheheheh… Wait! I might have classes then-“
“I’ll just come to Earth then, eat lunch with you there.”
Sunset paled. “I…”
“Is there a problem with that?”
“…No…”
“Good. Pleasure to see you again.” With a bemused expression on her face, she walked off to the stairway. As soon as she was out of sight Sparky burst into laughter.
“You are terrified of her!”
“I mean, I know she's forgiven me and everything, but I don't really see her that often and there's still a lot of history between us an-"
“I’m sure the lunch will go fine,” Twinkie offered. “Also, Sparky, do not call the Firelord the Fireguy, okay?”
“Oh no… is that a cultural insult?!” Sparky gasped.
“I don’t know! It might be!”
“How many cultural rules do you think we break just by standing around normally!?”
“I DON’T KNOW!”
Luna blinked. “…Mother of… They’re reinforcing each other.”
“Run,” Starlight said. “Run while you still can.”
“This is far too fascinating to flee from.”
Sparky and Twinkie shot Luna a look. She just fixed them with a knowing smile. “I may not be my sister, but even I have to admit at certain times the difficulty of others is… amusing.”
Twilight and Sparky groaned. “They just don’t understand us…”
~~~
In a dense jungle not far removed from the crystal castle, a different Luna paced.
“Are you sure this is the right tree?”
Siron shrugged, leaning against a large flower, slowly eating it petal by petal. “I have never seen it. I could not say for certain.”
Fef raised her fuchsia fists into the air. “I trust what they told us! This is the exact tree the Mirror Thing will find!”
Lieshy raised an eyebrow. “The repeated patterns raise the fog.”
Fef put two hands on her hips and pointed the others at Lieshy. “Translation!”
Lieshy rolled her eyes. “The trees all look the same so it’s easy to make a mistake.”
Fef blinked. “…That makes sense. Dammit, Lieshy, why can’t you always talk like a normal person? I know you know how!”
“There is no such thing as a normal person. Conversations, even in your ‘straight talk’, still rely on context and clues from what I’ve seen. For instance: ‘letting the cat out of the bag,’ a perfectly acceptable phrase in double.”
“That’s not a reason.”
Lieshy allowed herself to smile slightly. “It’s fun.”
Siron chuckled. Luna frowned. “I’m not sure fun at the confusion of others is… harmonious.”
“Harmony is not all there is to seek in life.” Lieshy pointed a wing at Luna. “We can’t call you Luna over there, there’s going to be another one.”
“…Oh. What should I be then?”
“Mistress,” Siron said. “A title, rather than a name.”
Luna looked downcast. “A title I am not proud of…”
“It carries power with it. You can take great pride in your power without exalting your past actions.”
Lieshy raised an eyebrow. “The shark’s maw encroaches on your railway.”
Siron bent his legs so he was closer to Lieshy’s eyes. “The strain on the rope is golden.”
Lieshy smirked. “The glass is half full of potential.”
“For the love of Moons please stop!” Fef moaned. “You agreed that a society built on double-whatsis was bad!”
“While true, that doesn’t mean double is worthless.”
Fef grabbed the sides of her head, grunting. Luna sighed. “This… hardly seems like a dignified set of ambassadors. We’re rather rowdy.”
Siron shrugged. “That’s the way we are. We should not be ashamed of it. We are warriors.”
“I’m not,” Lieshy deadpanned.
“You’re a mental warrior.”
“…Potatoes in a row.”
Siron was silent. Lieshy took this to mean he was unable to parse the meaning of the phrase, which was good, since it was nothing more than a disgruntled expletive. Sometimes the simplest ideas were the hardest to convey in double. A flaw in the system, she supposed.
It was in that moment a nearby tree sparked faintly, signifying the connection of the Mirror Portal. It was not the tree Fef had pointed out. It was the one on the opposite side of the clearing.
“Not. One. Word.” Fef muttered.
“Two words,” Lieshy said.
“What did I just say you little – ohmygosh Luna your mane looks adorable when it blows like that!”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “…You already said this.”
“I know. I think. But diddly-darn it looks so… sparkly…”
Lieshy raised her eyes. She lived with these knuckleheads. Admittedly, the three with her were great friends and good people to talk to. At least when Siron wasn’t busy, when Fef wasn’t having an attention span shorter than a bumblebee, and Luna wasn’t wallowing in the darkness of her past. She actually felt at home here, even though most of the inhabitants of the village were no match for her linguistic wit, the place still gave her a sense of community.
One that didn’t exist in her original world.
Starlight peeked through the portal, appearing before them as a disembodied head affixed to a shiny tree. “You guys coming in yet, or what?”
Siron raised a hand, circling it with another in a gesture Lieshy knew meant ‘time passes us by.’ “It does appear we’ve delayed pointlessly.” Without another word, he walked towards the portal. Starlight ducked out, allowing him to pass through. Fef pranced in next, followed by Lieshy herself.
Lieshy once again found herself in the entry hall of Twilight’s castle. The basic shape hadn’t changed – the double doors were the same tremendous blocks, the stairs still curled up in a symmetric pattern, and the space was as bright as ever. It was easy to see that a lot of care had been put into making the place appear as brilliant as possible. She saw ornate tables, historic paintings, and even a chandelier that slowly shifted through all the colors of the rainbow.
Lieshy’s Twilight had never bothered to decorate the castle this well. She’d cared little about the thoughts of others besides how moldable they were.
Lieshy was not surprised to note that her group was not the first one to arrive. There were several dozen humans she presumed were from the Elemental Nations, all talking in mixed groups, often discussing only with members of their own world instead of members of others. Lieshy understood the politics between the various nations was tense, although she didn’t know the details. Secondhoof information was not much to go off of, even for one as observant as her.
The humans were far from the only group there. She saw some ponies that definitely didn’t belong in this world, namely a Sunset who was part deer, unicorn, and… ‘mawlie’ was the term for the ponies with the mouths for tails, right? She wasn’t sure. There were a few other oddball ponies around her mingling with the others, most of which passed Lieshy’s attention quickly and were simply classified under ‘Other ponies of Lai.’
There were a few oddball attendees who didn’t look like they belonged with any group. Sunset and Twilight – or Sparky – were the first of these that Lieshy noticed, though she also saw a strange girl made of purple shadow and a couple large creatures completely buried in fur.
Lieshy let her gaze fall upon an interesting sight – two versions of Luna. One was the moon princess of the world, the other a conglomeration of all the races of Lai. The Queen was the same height as the other Luna, though she had the horns of a deer, the toothed tail of a mawlie, the fins of a seapony, and the alien eyes of an oculus.
Lieshy nudged her Luna – Mistress. “You should go talk to them.”
“Oh, they look busy, I wouldn’t want to…”
Lieshy raised an incredulous eyebrow.
“Eheh… All right. I’ll… Try.” Nervously, she strode up to her other selves. The native Luna – who Lieshy was already coming to think of as Moona – noticed Mistress and welcomed her in with a wing. Lieshy considered eavesdropping on their conversation, but decided against it. She was much more interested in a different meeting of alternate versions…
Sunset looked down at… Sunset.
“We’re going to need to figure out a naming system,” the hybrid pony said.
“I don’t want a stupid nickname like ‘Twinkie,’ got it?” the human asserted.
“I know the feeling. One of us could be Sunset, the other could be Shimmer.”
“Seems unfair that one of us gets to keep our first name. What if I call you Soldier?”
“…Not a fan of that idea. How about we just come up with new names entirely?”
The human shook her head. “That could take forever…”
Lieshy interjected. “Can I throw a boomerang into the wire?”
“…Are you asking if you can suggest a name?” the pony asked.
“Yes.”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
Lieshy pointed at the human. “You are Sun.” She pointed at the pony. “You are Set.”
Sun raised an eyebrow. “I’m not so sure that’s great…”
Sparky tapped Sun on the shoulder, stopping whatever she was going to say. “Factoring in likely time dilation, you have twenty minutes until your class.”
“Holy fruitcake on a stick! I have to go now!” Sun ran for the Mirror Portal frantically; just in time to witness a man in green arrive. Sun paused to look at him cautiously for a moment before shaking her head and running to the controls of the Mirror Portal, returning to Earth in haste. Lieshy heard Iroh’s hearty laugh fill the space.
Set raised an eyebrow. “Guess we won’t need to worry about the name thing then.” She extended a hoof. “I’m Sunset, but you know that.”
“I’m Fluttershy, but I go by my nickname these days. Lieshy.” She shook the outstretched hoof.
“Seems like you got shafted with the nicknames.”
“It works for me. I’ve grown to appreciate it.”
Sunset raised her eyebrow. “How can you appreciate a name that brands you as a liar?”
“Because it’s wrong. The lie and the shy create a paradox. A… Well, I’d call it a twisting eclipse, but I think the way you’d describe it is the truth makes it a lie but the lie makes it true.”
“…Gotcha.”
Lieshy smiled innocently. “Your leftovers are showing.”
“…What? You’re one of those double-talkers, aint’cha?”
“What do you think?”
“Definitely,” Sunset muttered something incoherent under her breath. “It was… Nice meeting you.”
“Egad, the leftovers return in full force,” Lieshy deadpanned.
Sunset quickly got out of the interaction. Lieshy felt rather proud of herself, she still had it.
“That wasn’t very nice, you know.”
Lieshy saw her counterpart walk up to her. “It was harmless.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “I mean, probably, but that doesn’t change anything. It was an awful lot like how your fellow ponies acted. Manipulation.”
Lieshy rolled her eyes. “I’m not trying to extort anyone for my own gain. It was just for the sake of my amusement.”
“That’s just a lesser form of the same problem. Just because you can run circles around ponies and make them uncomfortable doesn’t mean you should.”
“You and your friends mess with each other all the time. I believe you call it good-natured ribbing.”
“That’s… Not the same thing. We know each other.”
“Why does that really make a difference? If a relationship is going to involve fun mockery and foreplay, why not start with it from the gate?”
“Because there’s this thing called tact.”
“Tact is just a lie, and not the kind I like at that,” Lieshy asserted.
Fluttershy sighed. “I’m just trying to help you here, Lieshy. Ponies will resent you for what you’re doing.”
“Will it make them want to extort me and everypony around them?”
“…No?”
“Then I’m fine with it. I’ll be who I am, regardless of what they like or not.”
Fluttershy took in a deep breath. “Assertiveness can be a flaw.”
Lieshy pondered this. “The barrels turn in many directions.”
“Lieshy…”
Lieshy chuckled awkwardly. “Sorry. It means almost everything can be a flaw or a benefit depending on the situation. The turning represents the benefit or pain, the directions refer to differing viewpoints, the barrels bring to mind images of large objects of impact, referring to the importance of the assertion and direction. And ‘many’ because the issue is not black and white.”
“You really do pack a lot of information into one thought… I don’t think the direction is so vague all the time though. You should try to make friends, not push ponies away.”
“We both know I’m not going to change because of a conversation.”
“I know. I hope you’ll remember this conversation when something does go wrong.” Fluttershy shook her head. “Enough of that. This is supposed to be a happy place with a promising future. Everyone’s going to start helping each other!”
“Idealistic,” Lieshy said. “The cultures here are so very different. The Elementals are used to war while the Lai are used to a brutal peace. Your ponies are all about friendship and understanding while the demons are all about glory in brutality. Not to mention the oddballs. I have no idea about the human Twilight’s world, nor that green guy, nor those fuzzy people, nor that shadow girl.”
“Sparky’s not here to represent anyone, she’s just the inventor of the portable portal. No it doesn’t have a name. The green guy’s Link, a friend from a world called Ardent. He could be here on official business, but I doubt it. Ardent doesn’t seem to care much about us. The fuzzy people are the Binaries. No magic at all, so they find us… a bit scary. And… shadow girl?”
Lieshy pointed at the girl made of purple shadow with a pink striped hat and similarly colored curls that might have been hair. Her eyes were not visible, but her mouth was, curved in a slight innocent smile. She was talking to a man in red robes.
“Huh…” Fluttershy said. “I have no idea who she is. She’s talking to Firelord Zuko though.”
“I bet you never thought you’d need to know all these important people, huh?”
Fluttershy laughed nervously. “Never in my wildest nightmares did I think this much would be put on me… But I am helping them. That’s why I’m out here, even if it isn’t my comfort zone.”
“I wish there were more people like you,” Link said, walking up with Rarity at his side.
Fluttershy blushed. “Thank you.”
Lieshy raised an eyebrow. “Do you really? Would it really be better if people left their comfort zone regularly?”
Link smiled, kneeling down so his eyes were level with hers. “You’re a contrary one, I can tell.”
This guy’s smart. “While that may be true, you didn’t answer the question.”
Link nodded. “True. I really do wish that. You probably do as well and are just poking me to see how I’ll respond.”
“It’ll sharpen your mind.”
“Sometimes you just know things without thinking,” Link asserted.
“Bowtie blubber.”
“…What?”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Her people talk in this bizarre double-speak almost all of the time. It’s a mix of half-truths and metaphors designed to tie your brain in a knot.”
Lieshy cleared her throat. “It essentially meant ‘that’s absurd,’ by the way.”
Link blinked. “I can’t imagine a place like that.”
“You’re derailing the conversation,” Lieshy said.
“So?” Link stretched his arms. “I think I’m just not in the mood for a conversation where I’m dragged around for your amusement.”
Lieshy shrugged. “Have it your way. Enjoy the ignorance.” She turned and walked away, angling her back toward Rarity.
“Lieshy!” Rarity yelled. “That’s rude!”
“He’s being rude to me, is he not?”
“You’re railroading him,” Rarity muttered.
Lieshy smirked. “Maybe I was railroading you.”
Rarity blinked. “…My…”
Fluttershy sighed. “Lieshy…”
Lieshy let herself smirk, walking back to them. ”What?”
“Please, stop treating conversations as… as a game. It’s hurting ponies.”
“No.”
“Lieshy… It’s not good. Surely you can see that you’ve hurt Rarity’s feelings and have put Link on the defensive.”
“So? Their minds could stand to be sharpened.”
“I say!” Rarity blurted. “My mind is just fine!”
“That may be so,” Siron said, walking in on the conversation. “But Lieshy here is a warrior of mind. How will she keep her skills active and ready if she doesn’t spar constantly?”
Link looked up at Siron, sizing him up. There was a slight trace of contempt in his expression that wasn’t present when he was addressing Lieshy. “Siron, is it?”
“Yes.”
“You should know there are other things besides skill and strength if you’re a leader.”
Siron leaned down until his four eyes were level with Link. “My physical and mental strength is what makes me worthy to lead. It is what defines our worth.”
“What place do the weak have in your society then? Slaves?”
“No. Just pity. I can tell you are a strong man yourself. I can also tell you are livid with my perceptions of power. Why?”
“All people are equal.”
“Such an assertion is extremely foolish. Some have power over others. Some can do more things than others. Some of us are given powers beyond understanding while others are limited to simple, menial tasks. Everyone may have a purpose, but some are greater than others.”
“What about care? How can you care for your people if they’re lesser than you?”
“I-“
Princess Twilight teleported between the two of them, pushing their faces apart. “Okay! Enough of that! We won’t be fighting here! This is a place of peace and friendship, not distrust and arguments!”
“But that’s exactly what it is,” Lieshy muttered. Fluttershy nudged her.
Siron and Link took a step back from each other. They did not stop glaring at each other.
“Did you two hear me!?” Twilight snapped. “You’re both different! Just deal with it! There’s no way everyone here is going to agree on everything!”
The two silently turned away from each other and went their separate ways.
“Link!” Rarity called, running after him. Lieshy went after Siron, flying until she was level with his head.
“I appreciate you backing me up, but it was unneeded.”
“I needed to gauge the ‘Link’ fellow. He’s dangerous.”
Lieshy raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“He’s an idealist, like the ponies of this world, but he’s not naïve. He’s seen how the world is broken. People who can stare darkness in the face and come out like that are dangerous, unpredictable, and uncontrollable.”
“Is he a real threat?”
Siron looked directly into Lieshy’s eyes. “No. He’ll never have any reason to act out against me.”
Lieshy’s expression remained flat. “Ah.” She didn’t believe a word of what Siron had just said.
~~~
Princess Twilight Sparkle sighed. “And those two were the third standoff I broke up today! The pony Sunset had to be called off Celestia! I caught Zuko and one of the Water Tribe people yelling at each other!” She covered her eyes. “I just… Augh!”
Iroh patted her on the back. “There there… Yelling happens. Peace, war, it doesn’t matter. Diplomacy always ends up with yelling at one point or another. You shouldn’t be hard on yourself about it. I’m sure you’ve done your fair share of yelling in your time.”
Twilight nodded slowly. “Yeah… But you seem to have it all under control. Your people respect you and you just have this… aura about you that makes people respect you and like you.”
Iroh laughed. “You speak as if you lack that skill.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m a nervous wreck, Iroh, I don’t have things under control! I-“
Iroh grabbed her by the shoulders. “Twilight, I don’t have things under control either. The Earth Kingdom is demanding all the other Nations treat it with respect, the Northern Water Tribe has adopted a stance of isolationism, and there are numerous Fire Nation vigilantes wandering the world seeking revenge of their own. These things bother me. The only difference between you and me is that I’m older and am used to the constant feeling of everything falling around me.”
Twilight blinked. “Really?”
“Really. Well, that, and I can’t stand digging through scientific studies. Too dry. Don’t know how you manage.”
Twilight giggled. “The understanding is its own reward.”
“That explains a lot! I never understand anything!”
Twilight facehooved. “Sweet Celestia…”
“How do you know she tastes sweet? Looking like candy does not make you candy.”
“It does if you’re Pinkie Pie…” Twilight glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see the pink pony there. She wasn’t. The table behind her had just been cleaned though. The party pony was around.
Twilight turned back to Iroh and saw sadness in his eyes. She cocked her head. “What is it?”
“I want to run a tea shop,” he said. “I was looking forward to passing the baton on to the next generation. To living a simple life. But it looks like that won’t be the case… I was chosen as the ambassador for all nations. I don’t rule, I represent. I’m never going to be let go now, never going to retire. The worlds are changing too much too rapidly. I’ll always be needed…”
“Who’s to say you can’t still own a teashop? Rarity still owns her boutiques, even though she doesn’t spend much time in them.”
“There’s something about a personal touch, Princess. Living the tea…”
Twilight smiled sadly. “…When this settles down a little, I’ll see if I can do anything for you. Get you a tea shop in a place where you can keep an eye on things. If we don’t move the Mirror… Maybe inside this very hall.”
Iroh laughed. “I’ll consider your offer. But I will not be able to take it up for… years, probably.”
“The offer will remain,” Twilight said. “You deserve it. You deserve so much more than you’ve been given.”
Iron grinned. “I thought you didn’t like it when people praised you.”
Twilight blushed. “Galloping gazelles, this is just some bizarre cycle of positive reinforcement isn’t it?”
“I leave that deduction up to you. Also, watch out.”
“Huh?” Twilight did not watch out. Aang ran to her, a rush of air blowing her across the face and turning her mane into a bird’s nest.
Aang smiled. “Hi Twilight. So, I’ve talked to a lot of people now but… I can’t wait. Teach me magic.”
Iroh laughed. Twilight raised an eyebrow as she used her magic to straighten her mane. “Are you sure now’s a good time?”
“I don’t see why not,” Aang said. “You’re just talking to Iroh.”
Twilight turned to Iroh. “Do you think he can?”
“I haven’t the foggiest idea. I may know a lot but I don’t know the full capabilities of the Avatar.”
Twilight nodded. “Okay. Aang, you can still bend in here, correct?”
Aang nodded. He created a ball of air in one hand, a ball of fire in the other, and stomped on the ground to dent the crystal floor. A nearby glass of water blasted its contents into the air. “Still got it!”
Twilight smiled. “All right. What about the... other form of bending you know?”
Aang faltered. “I… Don’t think I should bend the energy of others except as a last resort.”
“Good. Sometimes... Power can go right to your head. But you shouldn’t be afraid to use it if you need to, Aang. Who knows what it can do?”
Aang nodded solemnly.
“Okay, first lesson. Forget everything you know about bending. Magic is not focused through motion of the body, like the powers of a pegasus.” She raised her wing and blew a gust of wind into Aang’s face. “That… Was a bad example. I’m not good at my pegasus magic. But you get the idea, it’s basically control of the air and water to produce weather effects.”
“I’ve bent cloud before, is it like that?”
“…Probably? You’d have to talk to my friend Rainbow Dash about that one, she’s good at it. But the point is that actual magic of the arcane is not like that. True use of magic always involves the mind and a focal point. In unicorns, it’s the horn.” She tapped her glowing point. “For dragons, it’s their fire glands. Some pegasi can use their wings to cast actual spells and certain earth ponies have discovered how to use their hooves. I only know one human who actually uses magic – that version of me over there – and she channels through her hands.”
Aang looked at his hands. “So… How do I use them?”
Twilight smiled sheepishly. “Okay… for unicorns it comes naturally, but I’ve done studies. You have to pull the energy of magic from around you into your focal point. This should produce a glow of some kind.”
Aang took a deep breath, held his right hand in front of his face, and focused. The fist vibrated slightly.
Then it burst into flames.
Iroh chuckled. “I think you’re trying too hard, Avatar.”
Aang let the fire dissipate. “The other elements all had a mental state associated with them… passion, peace… Does magic have one?”
“Thoughtful, if any,” Twilight offered. “A sort of lack of emotion. This isn’t always the case, but it’s how it is for me.”
He tried again, careful not to put any power into his hand, keeping the fire at bay. He tried to reach out, to feel the arcane energies around him. He took a breath. “I’m… going to try something.” His body became rigid and his eyes lit up with the intense white of the Avatar State. He focused on the hand, trying to draw the energy to him… But still, nothing.
“Looks like I don’t have anything…”
“The Avatar State only draws on what previous Avatars have learned,” Iroh said. “If no Avatar ever learned a technique, no help will come.”
“I have an idea,” Twilight said. “I can force magic into your hand for you, so you know what it feels like.” She lit her horn and forced magical energy into Aang’s hand. The arrow tattoo on the back of his appendage glowed a soft purple.
He grinned, focusing on the energy in his hand, unleashing a purple spark of energy. “Yeah!”
“Now, see if you can replicate that. Try to draw the energy in yourself. That’s required.”
Aang nodded, readying his hand. He willed the energy to flow back into his hand, to flow into his body…
But nothing happened.
Twilight sighed. “Well, you could probably cast magic if you had someone putting it in your hand constantly, but it doesn’t look like you have it. If you do I’m not sure how to awaken it.”
Aang smiled sadly. “It’s okay. I guess I may want too much.”
Iroh put his hands on Aang. “Even if that is true, which I doubt, you should never stop trying new things. Who knows what you may find?”
“Something really cool, hopefully.”
~~~
Celestia smiled, walking up to the three Lunas. “Hello, sisters.”
The Queen yelped in surprise. “C-Celestia!”
Celestia nodded. “I am not the mare you knew. Which, from what I hear, is a good thing.”
“I… It is… I…” She couldn’t restrain herself. She rushed Celestia into a hug. “I...”
This didn’t surprise Celestia. She warmly held the unusual version of her sister. “It’s fine. It’s never easy to do what needs to be done.”
“I’m sorry!” she blurted, backing up. “I did not need to do that-“
“I do not mind,” Celestia said. “Though I hope your subjects won’t think any less of you.”
“They will…” she said. “But I think Sunset can keep the ones here under control.”
“Good. Sister! What are you calling yourselves now?”
Her sister shrugged. “I’m Moonie, that’s Queenie, and this is Missy.”
The Mistress Missy waved sheepishly. “…Hi.”
Queenie wiped her face, the action punctuated by a nip of her tail. “Celestia, thank you for having us. It’s a delight to see so many happy faces.”
“Glad I could make your day,” Celestia responded. “To be fair, this was all Twilight. She feels bad about not telling me anything of these other worlds she’s been visiting and went the extra mile to make this ‘perfect’.”
Queenie gasped. “She didn’t tell you? Sunset told me the day after it happened!”
“Why’s that a big deal?” Missy asked. “She was having fun and didn’t think you needed to be bothered.”
“It’s not that big a deal,” Moonie said. “My sister is just letting Twilight believe it is.”
Queenie raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t seem like it’d be very helpful…”
“It’s not. It’s just fun,” Celestia said.
Queenie grinned. “Finally, somepony who understands! Tell me, do you walk into guarded rooms from the same direction twice?”
“I’m known to mess with the guards on occasion…” Celestia admitted.
Moonie let out a sharp chuckle. “Oh, ‘occasion?’ Why, just last week I recall a guard running down the halls, raising the alarm because of an ‘overly large swan honking loud enough to tear down the castle walls’.”
“Sister, that’s not what he said. He said there was a ‘big honking swan singeing the walls into oblivion!’ The wording’s important.”
“Yesss!” Queenie cheered inwardly. “All my advisors always tell me to act more regal but that’s just so annoying. If I act regal ponies won’t identify with me and I’d never get to have any fun.”
“Careful,” Celestia said. “A regal aura is important to obtain, at least on some level. Ponies believe their leaders need to be wise and powerful. If a normal pony is on the throne, they’ll start wondering why they aren’t on the throne.”
Queenie blinked. “Huh. I wonder why we never have that problem… Actually, you know what, we do, Sunset did tell me about that Applejack character. I completely forgot about her! Can’t believe my loudest prisoner slipped my mind. Huh.”
Missy cocked her head. “…Do you have many prisoners?”
“Oh yes, the dungeons are filled with monsters, beasts, and cruel ponies.”
“…How many?”
“Several thousand? Why?”
“…Seems like a lot.”
“It is,” Moonie said. “Our prisons have maybe a thousand prisoners across the nation, total.”
“How can you do that?” Queenie asked.
“We let most of them go after a while, thinking they’ve learned their lesson,” Celestia said.
“Weird. Not bad, I suppose, just weird.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “You’re the one with a mouth on your tail.”
The tail seemed upset at this remark. Queenie only laughed. “Why, so I do! I had no idea.”
“…Does it eat?” Missy asked.
“It does. Doesn’t need to though. But food tastes different in the tail, so feasts can be quite interesting. You all will never know the joy of dual ice cream melts.”
“I’m sure Twilight can whip up a race-change spell,” Celestia said.
Queenie stared at her slack-jawed. “You… You have a race-change spell!?”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Do you not have one?”
“…It’s highly illegal.”
“Why?” Moonie asked.
“It’s because…” Queenie blinked. “I actually don’t know, but it is. The idea of forcibly changing your identity is blasphemy against Armonia herself.”
“…Who?” Missy said. Moonie and Celestia shot her worried looks.
Queenie took a breath and let it out slowly. “Okay! Okay. Okay. I’m not going to freak out. I’m going to maintain a level head and HOW THE FLIPPING FRACK CAN YOU NOT KNOW WHO ARMONIA IS!? She’s the creator of everything!”
“…Maybe she’s just the creator of your world,” Celestia said, face serious. “We’ve never heard of her.”
“Then who created your world?”
Celestia looked to the ceiling. “There was a Star.”
“…A what?”
“The Stars in the night are beings of great power. Our legends say they have a society of their own, and that one Star fell to our planet long ago, creating our sun and moon, providing Equis the spark of life and Harmony. Of course, nopony knows if these legends are true or not. My sister believes them, Twilight doesn’t. I myself am undecided. I know the Stars are out there, but they don’t seem to care about us one way or another.”
Queenie took a breath. “I’m… I’m sorry, this is a lot to take in. It… It didn’t occur to me that things would be this different. That each world would be created another way. …You shouldn’t flaunt the race-change spell around. My ponies would be out for blood.”
“It’s not a common thing anyway. Extremely difficult.”
“Good. But now I’m curious… Missy, what legends does your world have?”
“There are two spirits, one of the blue moon and one of the gray moon,” Missy began. “They… Always existed, and so did the world beneath them. The demons don’t really have much in the way of legends.”
“You were in direct contact with the spirit of the gray moon, though,” Moonie observed. “Did you learn anything from that?”
Missy hung her head, silent.
“…I’ve been to the moon,” Moonie said.
“What!?” Queenie blurted. “Are there no end to the surprises!?”
“No,” Moonie said, continuing. “It’s a lifeless rock with nothing on it… except nightmares. Physical, evil, horrid nightmares. They controlled me for a time. Made me do evil things. I saw many horrible things. I understand. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”
“Thank you,” Missy said.
Queenie stared ahead blankly.
“…What is it?” Celestia asked.
“N-nothing. Shouldn’t we start the official meeting sometime soon?”
Celestia looked at the clock. “I suppose so. There wasn’t really a set time for the mingle period to end.”
“Might as well be now, then. Moonie, Missy, excuse us, we have politics to discuss.”
Moonie smirked. “Normally I’d argue that I have as much a right to be there as my sister – which I do, by the way – but I’ll leave the politics to you all. Enjoy.”
“Yaaaaaay,” Queenie muttered, walking towards the center of the hall and sitting down at one of the tables. Celestia looked at her with concern for a few moments – for such a chatty mare, she sure had wanted to end that conversation quickly. But she was right, they might as well start now. With her magic, Celestia conjured a large bell.
With a ring, the conversation in the main hall was silenced. Celestia cleared her throat. “We’re ready to start the official discussions. Will Queen Luna, General Sunset, Twilight ‘Sparky’ Sparkle, Harrier Boxen, Iroh, and Siron please join me at this table.”
Twilight “Twinkie” Sparkle appeared next to Celestia. “Sure you don’t need me?”
“I’m sure, Twilight. Just keep talking and making friends. Do not think what you’re doing is unimportant.”
“Yes, Princess.” She vanished.
Siron arrived at the table first, sitting down next to Queen Luna. “So, you’re a little bit of everything then?”
The Queen nodded. “Everything natural, at least.”
“Those beautiful eyes don’t look natural.”
The Queen smirked. “They are, believe it or not. They also tell me that your motives for that comment aren’t altruistic. Nice try.”
“It seems you have me at a disadvantage!”
“You’re just used to ponies not being able to read your expression.”
Celestia smirked herself. “Siron, pleasure to finally meet you face to face.”
“The pleasure is mine.”
The Queen snorted. Siron’s left hand became a tense fist, but he said nothing.
Twilight “Sparky” Sparkle arrived next, sitting down and delicately setting a box of machinery on the table. She said nothing, nervously glancing around the three powerful individuals at the table.
“Twilight… There’s no need to be worried.”
“Gotcha…” Sparky managed.
General Sunset arrived, sitting on the other side of Queenie. “Remember, your Majesty, don’t just blurt whatever you think out.”
“They have a race-change spell here, Sunset.”
“…I’m sure they have a good reason.”
“This world wasn’t created by Armonia.”
Sunset blinked. “Okay, while that’s a good reason, that just raises more questions.”
“I’ll be sure to answer any and all questions about that you may have at a later time,” Celestia said. “We have slightly more pressing matters to deal with at the moment.”
Harrier Boxen arrived next – a creature made entirely of fur that resembled a mop slightly shorter than a human. He grunted a short greeting before sitting next to Sparky. She tried to inconspicuously scoot away from him. Despite her effort, the movement was loud, jarring, and very noticeable. She turned beet red and tugged on her sleeves.
Iroh arrived last, walking at a leisurely pace to his seat next to Siron and Boxen. “Can I be the first to say I never expected to be sitting at a table with a unicorn-bird, a red bug, a purple woman, and a pillar of wispy fur.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Boxen asserted in a frank, business-like voice.
Celestia nodded. “I want to start by thanking all of you for coming. These new worlds are confusing and baffling to us all, it helps to get us all on the same page.”
“Here here!” Queen Luna cheered.
“We are leaders, ambassadors, scientists, and representatives of our worlds. Through my student Twilight, we have been brought together. Some encounters went well.” She nodded at Siron. “Some went poorly.” She glanced at Iroh. “And, in the end, we are here to figure out what to do with these interdimensional doors that have been thrown open, together. But one thing I want everyone to know for certain is that we will do it together. Everyone, this is Twilight, or ‘Sparky’, a version of my student and a great inventor. Why don’t you show everyone what you have?”
Sparky opened the box and took out several devices nearly identical to the one around her own neck. “These are portable dimension dialers. When powered, they can open any portal you want. Just input coordinates by turning the dials like so and you can go to that location. You’ll have to find out how to power it yourself, but I’m sure most of you could work something out. Go ahead, take one. They’re, uh, not charged so you can’t open a portal at the moment.”
“I could charge it with my magic,” the Queen observed.
“Yeah, er… Please don’t. Anyway, you should know that the screen will be red when it doesn’t have enough power to translate. It’ll turn green once it does.”
“How will we know what to put in?” Iroh asked as he fiddled with one.
Sparky levitated a bunch of large books from the box. “Twinkie – the other Twilight – has created these books. She calls them the Directory. Every coordinate known to function has been put in these books. If new ones are discovered, she will write a note in one book and it’ll be sent to all the books. If you write something in your book, it’ll translate to all the other books as well. So, uh, yeah. Everyone will have access to the same coordinates and all the basic information known about each one.” She sunk back into her seat.
“Thank you,” Sunset said, bowing to her. “We look forward to visiting the rest of your worlds.”
Boxen tensed at this. “Is… our world in there?”
“…Yes. Why?” Celestia asked.
“We’d… Rather unwelcome visitors not drop in.”
The Queen raised an eyebrow. “Oh, so we’re not welcome then?”
“Any of you arriving on official business would be allowed and even encouraged. But many of you have primitive security measures. The demons, for instance, have none at all. Any of them could just drop in and disturb the peace at any time.”
Siron shrugged. “He’s not lying. We are good at destroying peace.”
Iroh furrowed his brow. “I have no qualms striking the Harrier’s world from the Directory. Surely in the future there will be other worlds we wish to keep secret from one another for security reasons.”
Celestia blinked. “That… was not something I foresaw. But I do see Boxen’s point.” She opened one of the Directory books and found the Binary universe. With her magic she removed the coordinates from the book, leaving just the name and notes. “Done. Does anyone else wish their world stricken from the Directory?”
There was silence and a bunch of shaking heads.
“Good. Then we can actually begin. We need to establish what our relations to each other are going to be. And to do that we will need neutral territory for everyone to meet. As proud as I am of my student and of this grand crystal hall, it is definitely a show of power on our part. It is not proper to continue conducting our business here, making everything rather unfair. We will need to select a location.”
Iroh chuckled. “Princess, if you mind, Siron and I may have a solution for you, if you’ll listen to what he has to say for a moment.”
Celestia smiled. “By all means Siron.”
Siron nodded. “Few of you are aware of this, but my world experiences extreme forest fires every year. The entire jungle around us will burn down, and after the smoke clears our tribe travels until we find a new area of the jungle to call home. We are currently three days overdue for this fire.”
“How terrible!” the Queen said.
“It makes us stronger,” Siron dismissed. “However, this time I don’t want to travel to another part of the jungle. I wish to travel to another world. The representatives of the Earth Kingdom have already offered to give us one of their forests.”
“In exchange, they will help us set up the neutral territory for the Elemental Nations,” Iroh said. “In a way, serving as its first citizens.”
Siron nodded. “Their world is the best for us. They understand warriors and struggle on a great scale.”
“How does this help us with the original problem?” Boxen demanded.
Siron snorted. “Because, fluffball, our original jungle will be abandoned. I’m sure you can build a fireproof building there with your oh-so-great technology.”
Boxen leaned away from Siron, silent.
Celestia pursed her lips. “It’s certainly an option. Do other tribes exist in that jungle, Siron?”
Siron shook his head. “We conquered the other tribes. I haven’t run into any others for decades.”
“Any objections or alternatives?” Celestia asked.
“Isn’t there a world with nothing but grass on it?” Sparky asked.
“Yes,” Celestia admitted. “But the soil is made almost entirely of pony bones. Nopony has any idea why, but I’d rather not chance it.”
Iroh frowned. “So there are horror stories out there in the other worlds.”
“There is probably much worse out there than we could ever imagine,” Sunset pointed out.
“But also much better!” the Queen asserted.
“Regardless, any objections to building it in the demon jungle after they leave?”
There were no objections. Boxen looked unsure, but his small beady eyes were hard to read.
“Then that’s where it will go.”
Sunset shook her head. “Politics never goes this quickly back home.”
Iroh laughed. “It helps when you’re not all at each other’s throats.”
“Next… Aid,” Celestia said. “The Elemental Nations need it most, we need it the least, and the rest of you are somewhere in the middle. But we should divide our resources so we all stand strong-“
“Actually…” Iroh took a breath. “Celestia, as ambassador of the Elemental Nations, I am sorry to inform you that we have to decline further offers of aid.”
Celestia blinked. “…What?”
“Yeah, why’d you turn down free help!?” the Queen asked. “It’s free!”
“It’s invading our culture,” Iroh said. “You’ve helped us get on our feet, we appreciate that, but you need to understand that your ponies are building things their way. Not that the houses are too small or anything, but it’s built to accommodate the way you think. The towns are colorful, out of place, and don’t have an identity like that of their nation. They’re already feeling ostracized from their nationality.”
Celestia was speechless.
Iroh smiled sadly. “Please don’t hold it against us Princess, and don’t take this as an insult to your hospitality. We’re extremely grateful for what you have given back to us. It’s just that you’re putting your stamp on it, doing all the work, when we want to do the work and have our own identity from it. You’ve done enough. We’ll take it from here.”
“I… Okay, Iroh, if that is what your people wish… The rest of you…?”
Boxen bristled. “Our stance is similar. We do not need your magic in our world. We are not recovering from a war.”
“I’ll take it!” the Queen said. “Apparently we’ve got several broken and destroyed towns, and we can’t have that.”
“I’m against it,” Siron said. “I already refused assistance in establishing our home in the Earth Kingdom’s forest.”
Celestia nodded, having regained control of herself. “I see. As you all wish. Just know that all you have to do is ask, and we will help if we are able. This does mean we don’t have much to talk about relating to aid then.”
“To the main issue then?” Iroh asked.
“Yes. Concerning exploration.” Celestia lowered her head. “We’ve encountered many, many different worlds. We’ve helped some – and come dangerously close to ruining others. Simply exploring has shown us that we have great power. As a group, we need to decide how to manage this. How to minimize the damage to other worlds and maximize the help. How to deal with first contact and interference. Right now, no rules exist. This should change.”
“Finally, something reasonable,” Boxen said. “Naturally, first contact should be conducted in secret, and only after a long recon mission should revelations be allowed.”
“Why long?” Sunset asked. “Why not short?”
“Because an assessment needs to be made if they are ready to come into the fold of the multiverse, to prevent unfortunate incidents of those not prepared.”
Siron pointed a finger at Boxen. “What are you implying?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Lies,” the Queen said. “My eyes tell me all I need to know. You think his kind is far, far too primitive to be allowed at this table.”
“And your mental tricks are indecent, if you wish to be honest. Clearly, you do not understand the nuance of diplomacy.”
The Queen bristled, but Sunset calmed her down with a gentle touch.
“I propose we not stay hidden at all,” Iroh said. “But that we be sure not to interfere until a certain amount of information is known. All should be allowed to know what we are, but we cannot take the risk of making something worse.”
“But what if there’s death just around the corner?” Celestia said.
Iroh’s face clouded over. “…Sometimes you’ll make the wrong decision for the right reasons. It’s better than doing the wrong thing for the perceived right reasons.”
Celestia sagged her head. “I say we just need to create rules that establish what can and can’t be done based on the situation. We’re out there to help people, after all.”
“Not necessarily,” Sunset said. “We are also out exploring to further our own worlds. Discovery, after all.”
“Not to mention furthering of our own spheres of influence,” Boxen pointed out.
“People… We need to work together on this,” Celestia pleaded. “I know we think differently, that we all have different ideas. But we need to put that aside and come together in unity. We-“
“Why?” Siron asked.
The table fell silent.
“Why do we need to be unified? We are all different nations. Different tribes. We are not the same. We can be allies, friends even, but we are not the same.”
Iroh furrowed his brow. “Unity is still better than division.”
“Is it? If we are all one, where is the struggle? Where are the trials that make us stronger? Greater? What point would there be?”
“Siron, not everyone agrees with your view of the world as a warrior,” Celestia asserted.
“Exactly my point, Princess, why should we feel pressured to make agreements with each other at all? Why not take these threads of alliance here and all do our separate thing! The best will get stronger faster, and we’ll find out what worked in the end. We-“
Pinkie appeared from nowhere and grabbed the table. She flipped it over, tossing the books and devices onto the floor violently. Strapped to the bottom of the table was a strange gray box with multicolored wires framing a large red timer…
With six seconds left on it.
Five seconds.
“BOMB!” Pinkie said, throwing the table into the air.
Celestia blinked. Bomb? Who would – how? How would a bomb –
Four seconds.
Celestia lit her horn, trying to cast a teleport. She hoped she had time to get it away. Far away… She couldn’t send it to Ponyville. Which direction was Ponyville in?
Three seconds.
She had to think about it too hard - she wasn’t going to get it out. She’d probably be fine now thanks to Pinkie throwing it, but it would still kill some of the visitors.
Two seconds.
Just send it somewhere, anywhere, any – what was Link doing waving that sword around?
One second.
He traced an hourglass pattern in the air, unleashing a truly powerful spell… And the table was gone. A window was also somehow broken. They heard an explosion in the distance.
Link walked back in through the window, breathing hard. “You’re all safe now.”
“H-how did I not see that…” the Queen said, face pale.
“Bad luck,” Pinkie explained, face haunted as well. “It needed to get that close to going off, apparently…”
“These ponies tried to kill us!” Boxen shouted.
“They did not!” Iroh roared, standing to his full height to snap Boxen out of it. “They’ve done nothing but be kind to us and patient! This was the work of some other party! A group that wants all or some of us dead!”
Siron slammed his staff into the ground, sending sparks around him. “COWARD! COME OUT AND FACE US IF YOU WISH TO CHALLENGE OUR POWER!”
There was no response.
“Clearly not any of my warriors…” Siron muttered. “Fef’s the only one here anyways.”
“Who’d dare try this?” Sunset demanded.
“You tell me,” Iroh said. “There are a number of nationalist parties from my world that would love me dead, but I hear your Queen isn’t very popular.”
“That’s only part of the picture! We have enemies from within, yes, but none of them even knew about this!”
“What about spies?” Boxen blurted.
“I would see them,” the Queen asserted.
“You didn’t see the bomb!”
“…A fluke.”
“Please!” Celestia said. “We need to be calm and relaxed. Think through this logically. Has anyone looked out of place, shifty, or untrustworthy this entire gathering?”
Sunset pointed at Siron.
“Besides Siron.”
“What a rousing endorsement…” Siron growled. “Were you one of my warriors, you’d be challenged to a duel right now, red pony.”
“I accept. Later, though, bug.”
“Sunset, please, you could be killed. Don’t,” the Queen said, worried.
“It won’t be to the death,” Siron asserted. “Even if she deserves it…”
“What about… …That shadow girl?” Sparky said all of a sudden. “The… The one I’ve seen wandering around. Doesn’t belong to any group.”
Siron pointed at his warrior. “Fef! Bring me the shadow girl! Now!”
“Yes, Siron!” Fef called from across the hall. Two earthbenders she was talking with filed in line alongside her, charging across the room quickly.
Boxen shook his head. “This is pointless. We should all just return to our worlds and let the ponies handle the investigation.”
“Then the assassin would get away,” Sunset pointed out.
“GOT HER!” Fef said, dragging the shadow girl across the hall with her yo-yo string, the girl’s hands encased in rock. She was crying.
Siron narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”
“V-vivian…”
He pointed his staff at her. “Vivian, why did you make that bomb?”
“I d-didn’t!”
“I don’t believe you.” He raised his staff – only to be stopped by Celestia.
“No, Siron. There are other ways.” Celestia kneeled down, lifting Vivian up and breaking the rocks off her hands. “Child, do you mind if I look into your mind? I won’t tell a soul any of your secrets. I’ll just prove your innocence.”
Vivian sniffed, wiping her face with her hands. She nodded silently. Celestia touched her horn to the shadow being’s hat, touching her mind. Vivian shivered, but smiled. “…That felt… warm.”
Celestia smiled. “I try to make it at pleasant as possible.” She turned to Siron. “She’s innocent. She came alone, stumbling across the Mirror Portal when it was left open. She’d been enjoying herself before this moment. I hope you’ve not scarred her for life.”
Siron took a sigh. “…Apologies, Vivian.”
“It’s… It’s okay. Someone just tried to kill you. You… You can be angry.”
Siron folded his arms. “Who then? Who else was mysterious?”
Sunset looked at Boxen. “Lieshy.”
Boxen nodded. “Lieshy.”
Siron blinked. “There’s no way… There’s…” He paused. “…Mother of the Moon, she certainly has the skills to mask her true intentions.”
Lieshy looked up from her position atop a char a couple tables away. “…The spotlight bleeds the color of lies.”
Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Lieshy, now is not the time for your double. This is serious. Did you do it?”
“No,” she said, incredulously.
“That’s the tone of a guilty woman,” Boxen said.
Iroh frowned. “…I think it is more the tone of an arrogant one.”
“Close enough.”
Celestia walked up to Lieshy. “May I?”
“You may not like what you see. But au revoir regardless.”
Celestia touched her mind – and frowned. “…You think in metaphors and images.”
“Did you ever wonder why it’s difficult for me to speak straight?”
“Immune to the mental tricks,” Boxen said. “Suspicious.”
Sunset walked to Lieshy, face angry. “I knew somethin’ was wrong with you.”
Lieshy’s arrogant annoyed expression vanished slowly as she realized what was happening. “This… You can’t be serious.” She turned to Celestia. “I saved your ponies!”
“They’ve been fooled before…” Celestia admitted.
“I’ve lived with your people!” she shouted at Siron.
“And we are not known for our intelligence,” he said, pointing his staff at her. “You could have pulled the blinds over us.”
Lieshy frantically looked around. “Anyone? Anyone?”
Some voices chimed in from the crowd.
“You tricked me earlier!”
“You just sound untrustworthy!”
“You made my wife cry!”
“All of this is just a sick game to you!”
Lieshy’s gaze finally rested on Fluttershy. Fluttershy stared at her sadly. “I don’t believe you’re guilty. But I can’t refute what they’re saying, Lieshy.”
Lieshy’s harrowed expression gave way to a disturbing smile. She laughed. “Well the nexus has held a council and decided on soul-damning Tartarus for the broken lamppost! Grab a mirror, wave it, do the chicken dance why don’t we? The last mountain has driven itself through dark matter’s height.” She held out her hooves. “Take me away, then.”
“Wait!” Link shouted, dragging a man in Fire Nation armor behind him. “It’s not her!”
“How do you know?” Siron grunted.
“I used one of my… items to follow the scent I found on the bomb. It was this guy.” He dumped the dazed soldier in front of Iroh.
Iroh leaned down, removing the helmet. “…Larry?”
“Death… Death to ponies…” the man muttered, obviously very confused.
Celestia blinked. “Is he usually like this?”
“…Dazed? No, of course not. But I have to admit, it’s not all that surprising he’s a Fire Nationalist. He had an anger streak.”
Celestia leaned down to Larry. “Mister Larry, do you mind if I touch your mind?”
“STAY BACK INVADERS!” He belched fire out of his mouth, singeing Celestia’s eyebrows.
“…Well I’m not doing it without his consent… …I liked those eyebrows.”
“There’s enough evidence for me,” Boxen said. “I suggest execution.”
“Seconded,” the Queen voted. Sunset nodded in further agreement.
“And I make four...” Siron said. “…Can it be by my hand?”
“No,” Iroh said. “He will be given a chance to see his family first. I do not vote for execution, but you have the majority.” He stood Larry up and handed him to a couple Earth Kingdom soldiers. ”You know what to do.”
He was taken away.
Lieshy let out a sigh of relief. “I… Funny. The universe wants me to learn.”
Celestia walked up to her. “Our world has a habit of doing that to ponies. You could write me a letter about what you learned.”
“Maybe…”
“But first, we need to continue our discussion about regulations-“
“No,” Boxen said. “This place is not safe. There should not be further debate until a safe location is constructed in the jungle. Until then, Siron’s suggestion will be treated as the decision. We all do what we will until the next meeting. Goodbye.” He walked away to the Mirror Portal without another word, the rest of his furry congregation following suit.
Siron bowed. “I will take my leave as well. Sunset, come with me. We will duel, as promised.”
Sunset smirked. “You’re going down, Siron.”
The Queen sighed. “I’m coming with you all to make sure you don’t hurt each other. …Sorry Celestia.”
“It’s… Okay.” Celestia said, hanging her head. “In reality, I was probably being a little too hopeful about how this would go.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
Soon, only she and Iroh were left.
“I really am sorry about refusing your aid,” he said.
“I believe I understand why you did it,” Celestia responded. “…Go home. See to your people.”
“I think I’ll drop by Sunset’s first, haven’t given her a lesson today.”
“She’s in college, with real lessons.”
“Then I’ll just wait around for a while. I haven’t gotten her to perfect shrimp scampi yet!”
Celestia smiled. “Take care of yourself, Iroh.”
“I will.”
The hall was soon cleared out. A few stragglers remained, finishing up their conversations, but it had died down. The books and devices had been taken, so at least the meeting was a partial success.
Still.
She couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if there’d been no bomb…
She glanced at Vivian and Lieshy. They were talking to each other. Probably bonding over being falsely accused. That was good, at least.
…Still.
She couldn’t help but feel that this was a bad omen.
Twilight walked up to her, crestfallen. “I… I knew this would happen. I knew something would go wrong. I…”
“It’s not your fault,” Celestia said, hugging her once-student close. “I was too much of an idealist today.”
“Celestia-”
“I was, Twilight. Don’t hide the truth. Accept it. And learn from it.”
“...Okay, Princess.”
~~~
Sunset flopped onto the bed in her dorm and groaned into her pillow.
Her roommate glanced at her. “You’re being a whiney freshman. You know this is week one, it’s only going to get harder from here,” she deadpanned.
“Thank you, Sugarcoat, for those words of encouragement!” Sunset blurted.
“Your biting sarcasm could use work.”
“Twilight was not kidding about you.”
“I guarantee she was exaggerating at least one of my traits.”
Sunset took in a deep breath and let it out. “Okay. Sorry, Sugarcoat, I just… I had a bad day. The physics professor has assigned homework on the first day due in two days. I mean, I can answer all the problems easily enough, but it’ll take forever to work them out and show all the steps, same thing for Calc III! Then there’s, suddenly, a paper on what I think about philosophy due in the honors class and-“
“You know you don’t have to deal with the terror of General Ed because of honors class. Why are you complaining?”
Sunset stared at her. “…Good point. Still, Calculus and Physics…”
“You’re the one who decided you wanted to take the Physics major and not retake the previous Calculus classes. Freshmen are not meant to take Calculus III. It will kill you.”
Sunset cocked her head. “…How would you know?”
“I had a sister who went through here several years ago. I got to hear nonstop agonizing tears and screams of joy from her. It was intense,” she deadpanned. Ninety-nine percent of the things she said were deadpan, Sunset had quickly learned. It was baffling, yet oddly endearing.
“…Right,” Sunset said. “I’m going to try to get some rest.”
“Then you’ll wake up in the middle of the night and study.”
“Yep. I’d ask how you know that but my brain is done for the day.” She rolled the blanket around herself. “G’night…”
“It’s only 3 PM. This does not qualify as night.”
“Shush…” She yawned, preparing for sleep to take her and the ordeal of the first day to pass into unconsciousness…
Then there was a knock at the door. Sugarcoat got it.
“Sunset, there’s a creepy old man here to see you.”
Oh no.
Iroh laughed. “Indeed I am little one! I should take offense to being called creepy, though.”
“You’re not offended.”
“You have a sense for the truth, don’t you?”
“I have a sense that Sunset’s going to fall asleep if you don’t get to her soon.”
Sunset groaned, sitting up in her bed. “Iroh, can’t we do this later? I just had one heck of a day and-“
“Shrimp scampi, Sunset. Firebending style.” He shoved a bag of frozen shrimp and seasonings into her arms.
She groaned. “Wonderful…” She blinked, glancing at Iroh’s chest. “Iroh, do you have a university nametag?”
Iroh tapped the metal plate on his shirt that said ‘Professor Iroh.’ “I had your Twilight create this. Good for sneaking ingredients out of the cafeteria.”
“You can’t just steal food!”
“Clearly, he can,” Sugarcoat said.
Iroh grinned. “Yes. Plus, it wasn’t going to be put in actual food. I saw the cafeteria dishes. Not worthy for peasants.”
Sugarcoat blinked. “Huh. Nice one. Mind if I use that when describing the food to my fellow students?’
“Not at all.”
Sunset blinked. “…This is all surreal. Am I dreaming?”
“No. And you’ll realize that after the third failed attempt. No more dilly-dallying! Sunset - cook!”
“All right all right!” She snapped her fingers, producing a candle-like flame.
“And now we’re playing with fire,” Sugarcoat said.
Sunset ignored her.
She didn’t get to relax for three hours.