//------------------------------// // Act III, scene iii - Scramblin' // Story: A World Rent Asunder // by NeverEatTheLemonsAlone //------------------------------// So, here's the question that's on everypony's mind when Trixie drops that little bombshell: Who? Because it seems like there are better things for everyone to do right now than go after us in a cave near the border of the Lunar Sovereignty. I mean...Celestia, while she's definitely holding a grudge against me after blowing her city up, has her hands full with trying to supply a homeless army and...well, city full of ponies. Literally all the Stormwinds except Rainbow are well and truly dead. Luna is missing in action and her army needs to hold the pieces together after a deity vanished from their chain of command. I mean, I know I may have kidnapped a high-ranking soldier, but honestly, this is a case where the cause is not the thing to address first. Don't these ponies have anything better to do than try and murder us repeatedly? Slam Rainbow is up immediately, raring to go, her hooves cannoning into the wooden floor with a sound that sets my teeth rattling. Without a word, she blasts away, smashing the door open as she charges headlong into danger like an idiot. [1] Five seconds later, I hear the sound of a fight outside, and do my best to pedal over to a window and peer out to observe what's happening. It's Rainbow, alright, and now she's being joined by the other two. The trio of ponies opposite them have no uniforms on, at least not that I recognize; the only thing I see on them to indicate belonging to some sort of organization are the badges adorning each of their right shoulders. I sigh. "Trixie," I mutter to myself, "I know you're nervous. We all are. But I don't know if it's worth getting us riled up for three ponies." They're subdued in short order, and escorted inside, where their eyes immediately gravitate on to me. "So, you really are here," the first of them says. Despite everything that's been thrown against me in the past, I'm intimidated by this earth pony stallion; he's huge, and rippling with muscles. His shaggy red coat looks like it hasn't seen a washing in too long, and he peers at me through narrowed green eyes. His cohorts, both mares, follow suit. One pegasus, one unicorn, gray and white respectively. I try my best to move into a defensive-esque stance, which is helped immensely by the fact that they're looking a little worse for wear from my friends' beatdown. Along that line of thought, I realize something; they look they just got smacked around a little, but there's not a single mark on any of their adversaries. It's pretty evident that there really wasn't much resistance. My paranoia ratchets itself all the way up. "Yes, I'm here." My voice comes out short, clipped. "The question is, why are you?" "We are the eyes, ears, and hooves of those who would see you fulfill your destiny," the white unicorn responds in place of her larger companion. "We bring a message for you now, nothing more." "There are those that you must gather to finish what the Celestial Sisters started," continues the gray pegasus. I look at her with some concern; her eyes don't look quite...right. Hmm. "Bring them to the Founders' Cave beneath Everfree when the time is right, and you will know what you must do." With that, they turn in total sync. Man, the way they were finishing each others' thoughts...kinda eerie. "Who is it?" I call on a whim, "who is it that you claim wants me to 'fulfill my destiny?'" Again, they turn as one. The red one—he seems to be the leader, if the order of speech is any indication—speaks again: "It is not the time or place to tell you. However, you may know this: all your life, all your lives, through all the futures, have led to this moment. Do not waste it." With that, they turn and leave immediately. Rainbow calls, "hey, wait!" and darts after then, then comes back in a moment later, dumbfounded. "They're...gone." "What do you mean, they're gone?" asks Trixie. Gee. I wonder. "I mean they're gone. Nowhere to be found. Not available. Out the door, out of sight. Poof. Pop. Pow. Need any more?" the pegasus shoots back, glaring slightly. Their bickering fades into the background as I consider what just happened. So it really was a little bit of a bombshell, after all. He talked like Luna: all my lives, all the futures. The Founders' Cave. Those who would help me realize my destiny. What destiny? For the first time, I start to think about exactly what I'm going to do once this is all over. [2] I don't have a Solar Citadel to go back to. Celestia and Luna won't have me. I suppose I'll just...keep on doing what I'm doing. Wandering from place to place, never stopping for too long for fear of anywhere I stay becoming like Moonscry, whether with a fake Effigy or the genuine article. It's really beginning to sink in that I have nowhere to go. For the first time in days, images begin to flicker in front of my eyes, and I rub them vigorously, swearing. There's a quiet "are you alright?" from beside me, and I remove the hoof to find Rarity standing there, looking at me sympathetically. I look back, eyes stinging. "I'm just...overwhelmed. This, on top of everything else...who were they? Who says they know my destiny, and why does everypony seem to see my future except me? What in the sky is the Founders' Cave, and why is it under the Cullwood?" My voice gets angrier as the line of thought progresses, until I'm eventually spitting venom. I only realize how angry I sound when Rarity shies back. Good. Maybe she needs somepony to yell at her more often. I sigh and drop my head. "I'm just...tired of this. Of all of this," I continue, waving a forehoof at the nebulous definition of 'this.' "Of Luna and Celestia. Of the war. Of being hunted. Of losing my magic, of not being able to walk. I just...can't do this anymore. Head low, body language radiating defeat, I begin to slide back over towards my room, no doubt to entomb myself in my bed again until I waste away from self-pity. "Or," Rarity cuts me off, "you could act like Sparkle instead of Twilight." I look up at her crossly, and find to my surprise that she looks genuinely concerned for me. After what she pulled, that isn't at all what I would've expected. I mean, there was the whole Sweetie Belle thing that she was talking about, but still...she was yanking my chain for so long that...blehh, I don't even know what's going on anymore. "This isn't how I remember you, Twilight. This is not the pony that decided to bend me over backwards—literally—when we first met. This isn't the pony who managed to translate a proto-Equid inscription in the Cullwood and use it to destroy the Circle Of Bones. This isn't the pony that convinced me to jump out of a cloud city into a lake, and when I didn't make it, surged and casually destroyed an entire city." A hoof jabs me in the chest, and I try to jump backwards, managing only an ungainly stumble with my defective hind legs. "This. Isn't. You. So stop whining, buck up, and get some fire back in those veins, yeah?" [3 By the end of this, to my own surprise, I'm grinning. That doesn't sound like Rarity. That sounds like Marks. Maybe there's still something worth saving in this marksmage after all. If nothing else, she's gotten my blood pumping something fierce. "Well, I won't be able to get anything going myself," I motion at my hind legs, "but I can still lend a hoof at planning. Now, Marks," I enunciate that name very clearly, "let's see if we can't get Sweetie out of that Sanctum, yeah?" "Now you're speaking my language," she fires back, "Sparkle." We share a pair of harried grins/grimaces before I decide that it's just about time to break apart Trixie and Rainbow, who are still at each others' throats. "Simmer off, you two. We have another castle to break into." "Yes," mutters Rainbow, still throwing a sullen glare at Trixie, "because it went so well before, right?" "None of that," I snap. "Bigger problems. So, let's review what we know. Luna was missing last we checked, so she's an uncertain variable; we don't know whether or not she's in the Sanctum. We can pretty safely assume that the Beastmaster is there, as well as a fairly large quantity of guards. So first order of business: how do we—you," I hastily amend, "actually get in?" "Leave that up to me, Sparks," responds Trixie immediately. "I can get us pretty easy. As far as I know, I'm still authorized to pass the teleport wards blocking off the Sanctum. I can't teleport this many ponies a long way, so we'll have to be close, but I can get us in." I nod once, sharply. "Good. You have your in. Next order of business: where in the Sanctum is Sweetie currently residing?" Rarity's turn to chime in: "She should be in the east tower, pretty much as far east as you can get. It's not hard to get to, as long as we're inside. I should be able to lead us." Another nod. "Alright, now—" "Sky's sake, Twilight, we get it! We need an out!" I glare. "Yes, Rainbow. You do. Any suggestions?" She nods. "Here's the problem. We need somepony to take Sweetie; she won't be useful in fighting. So that's one of our unicorns down. Assuming both have free access to the teleport wards?" She's met with two nods, and continues. "Right, one unicorn down to get Sweetie out. That leaves us with just me and either Trixie or Rarity to fight our way past the guards, plus the Beastmaster—without Flutters this time—and hopefully not die. So, here's my idea. Trixie is a scryer, not so much a battlemage. Rarity has been trained as a marksmage, so she'd be able to support me better, and Trixie would be drained from a triple teleport anyway." My eyebrows have been slowly raising this entire time. She's thinking this out quite well. [4] "And you think just you and Rarity will be fine?" Her face is adorned with a cocky grin. "As long as Rarity doesn't slow me down? Won't even be a challenge." --- [1]: Again. [2]: In my defense, I was a bit busy with living through it to consider that, for the most part. [3]: Despite my still-remaining, shall we say...irritation with Rarity, this is pretty much exactly what I needed at the time. [4]: Trust Twilight Smartle to forget that Rainbow's a military leader. Of course she has some grasp on tactics. --- I think I mentioned this some time back, but...I hate waiting. [1] I hate not doing anything, I hate letting other ponies do my work for me. So sitting here like a cripple while my...friends and acquaintances, I suppose, are off doing my job for me is more grating than you could possibly believe. My magic is still pretty broken; it's starting to really sink in that I might spend the rest of my life without magic. Legs are no better either. I don't know if I could even make it to the Sanctum if it were peacetime. Remind me to just absolutely murder Luna next time I see her. If ever. "Alright, Sparks, we're in," comes the slightly-distorted voice of Trixie out of the orb of blue magic that hovers in front of me. "Teleport went smoothly, and nopony has seen us. We're heading to the east tower now. Resuming magical silence." I sigh heavily, dropping my head. Then, from the next room, there's the unmistakable sound of the door opening. My eyes flick around desperately, searching for something I might be able to use as a weapon, but there's no time. The trio of ponies from before walk in, and their eyes are glowing with nimbi of intense white-blue light, beautiful and terrible to behold. "What do you want?" I snap, though I can't keep my voice from quivering. "We have come to deliver another message," says the red one, voice echoing quite unnaturally. He steps forward, then places his hoof on the side of my head and looks dead into my eyes. For a fraction of a fraction of a second, the world ignites with white-blue. "Sparks! Sparks! It's going..." Then Trixie's voice trails off, and darkness swallows the light. --- [1]: It was when we were stuck in the cave. Took some time to remember. No, shut up, Word Smith. You don't get to tell me "I told you so."