Mimic followed Midlight out of the room, down the hall, and into a small lab. Several machines sat on the counter space along each wall, their functions a mystery to her. On a table in the center of the room, glowing with a warm, golden light and looking none the worse for wear, was the fragment of harmony.
“Your suspicions were right, boss,” Marble said. “Specifically, it’s a highly concentrated source of harmonic magic. The Sitrest test revealed six traceable magical signatures, and further analysis confirms they’re resonating with one another across a spectrum of frequencies. The crystal itself forms a structural matrix for the spell, which is why our initial attempt to use it failed. The spell is capable of breaking an enchantment, but it can only be used by one of three predefined ponies. It’s a fairly impressive construct for its size.”
“Is it enough?” Midlight asked.
“Only one way to find out.”
Midlight closed his eyes, took a steadying breath, and said, “Then let’s give it a try.”
“Okay. Ivy, you ready?” Marble asked. An earth pony, this one a brown male, nodded and held a pencil between his teeth. Marble turned her attention to Mimic. “Star, come stand over here then.”
Mimic complied, moving to stand a few paces from the unicorn. The movement put her within reach of the fragment. She could grab it and run, but curiosity held her in place. There was obviously more going on here than she understood.
“Are you ready?” Marble asked.
“Uh, no? What exactly is going to happen?” she asked. She tensed, ready for the question to spark suspicion, but Marble didn’t bat an eye.
“Well, using the Sitrest readings, I’m going to unravel the structural matrix of the harmonic spell, reverting it into base energy, and then I’m going to re-structure that energy into your father’s unbinding spell. Given the nature of this magic, well, hooves crossed this time. You just need to stand still and remember to breathe. It’ll only take a minute.”
Comprehension dawned. Mimic leaned forward, hoof coming up to swipe the fragment of harmony before they could destroy it trying to cast a spell on the wrong pony. Before she had grabbed it, another pegasus entered the room.
“Boss. Star Charmer.”
Midlight turned toward him. “Hmm?”
“She’s collapsed again. She’s downstairs. So are the guests.” The pegasus paused, eyes coming to rest on Mimic.
Everypony in the room turned toward her.
She grabbed the fragment and turned, wings appearing in a flash of changeling fire. The room had no windows, but only two ponies stood between her and the door. A moment’s surprise was all she needed and she’d be gone.
She didn’t get it. Midlight was between her and the door almost instantly, his own wings spread wide. He wasn’t particularly well built, but then neither was Star Charmer. He blocked Mimic long enough for the other pegasus to react, and the two of them forced her to the ground. The fragment of harmony was wrested from her grip, and a brown hoof came down to rest on her horn.
“One of you was a changeling,” Midlight said, seemingly as unfazed as he’d been when learning of Canterlot’s destruction. “Surprising.” He stepped back, the fragment of harmony clutched beneath one wing. The second pegasus and the earth pony Ivy kept on her, restraining her.
“Where is Star Charmer?” Midlight asked.
“Bunk room,” the pegasus said.
“Marble, with me please. Ivy, Chaser, please keep the changeling here. If it tries to escape, break its horn.” With those commands issued, he stepped out into the hall, followed by the unicorn.
A minute passed in silence. The two ponies keeping watch over Mimic shifted their weight, getting comfortable. An earth pony and a pegasus. Neither was particularly intimidating. What had Scootaloo called ponies like them? Eggheads?
“Hey, do you ponies want to see something neat?” she asked.
They looked down at her, then to each other. They didn’t answer, but she felt Ivy put more of his weight on her horn: a silent warning.
“Yes, I heard what he said, but that was what I wanted to show you,” Mimic said. And then, with a flash of magic, her horn vanished.
*****
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had settled Star Charmer onto one of the bunks by the time Midlight entered the room. He was flanked by three other ponies. More stood outside the door, looking in with varying expressions of worry and curiosity.
A unicorn mare that had entered with Midlight crossed the room and placed a hoof against Star Charmer’s forehead. She used her hoof to open one of Star Charmer’s eyes, then the other, moving with a practiced surety.
“Pupil dilation is normal. Nothing unusual.”
Midlight nodded before shifting his attention to Scootaloo. As he turned, she saw a golden glow peeking from beneath his right wing.
“We want that crystal back,” she said.
“I’m afraid that’s out of the question.”
“It ain’t yours to take,” Apple Bloom said, stepping forward. “We ain’t asking.”
“What are you going to do with it?” Midlight asked.
“We’re going to use it to free Twilight Sparkle. Then she can free the other Element Bearers and the princesses,” Scootaloo said.
“And where is Twilight Sparkle right now? You said she’d been taken by a changeling queen, didn’t you? Do you know where she’s being kept? Do you know if she’s still even alive?”
“No, I don’t,” Scootaloo said, voice filled with heat. “But we don’t get anything out of assuming the worst. We have to do what we can.”
“And what happens if you do free Twilight Sparkle from stone? She’ll prevail where the princesses failed?” Midlight shook his head. “It’s futile. There’s too many unknown elements, too many slim chances. You would be throwing away powerful magic for no gain. The last of the harmonic magic we’re ever likely to see from the Elements of Harmony. I won’t have it. Not when it can be put to real use.”
Scootaloo began to retort, but Sweetie Belle spoke first, voice soft, “You mean for Star Charmer, don’t you?”
Scootaloo turned. The silvery blue unicorn still lay unmoving on the bunk, eyes closed. She thought she saw Star Charmer’s eyelids flutter, but then she was still once more.
Midlight closed his eyes slowly, and when he looked again to his daughter he seemed older. Tired. “Yes.”
“What’s wrong with her,” Sweetie Belle asked.
Midlight hesitated, then shifted so that his right side was a little further back, the fragment held away from them. “We’re not sure. A curse, a magical sickness, something in that vein. It began nine years ago, just after we first came here. Whenever she tries to use magic, this happens, and it’s been getting worse. Even when she doesn’t use magic, she grows tired.”
As he spoke, some of the ponies watching from out in the hall edged into the room. A few of them moved to open spaces in the corners. Two, a brawny grey earth pony and a slender pegasus mare, took up positions near Midlight, facing Scootaloo and her group. A silent but obvious show of force.
“You have to understand, we tried so many treatments. At first, we went away to find healers and doctors, thinking maybe a change of environment would help. Travelling only made her weaker, so we started bringing ponies here whenever we could. My connections through the SEA helped there, but nopony could figure it out. Eventually I got desperate enough to take the problem to Princess Celestia herself, but it came to nothing.”
“That crystal you're holding was made by Princess Celestia,” Scootaloo said. “If she couldn’t help then, why do you think that will now?”
Midlight shook his head. “I knew even back then that the Elements of Harmony could help. They’re the strongest form of magic known to ponykind. They just needed to be guided. So I spent the years since studying my daughter’s affliction, learning what little I could of it, and developing a spell that would use harmonic magic to unravel it. And just as the spell was nearing completion, you came and told me that the elements had been lost to us.”
“We can still save them, though,” Scootaloo said. “We can use that magic to free them, and then they can help you with the spell.”
“How sure is your victory?” Midlight asked. “How confident are you that you can find Twilight and free her? That you can free the others and defeat this changeling queen and the thing she freed?” His face hardened. “The world hasn’t ended. We’re still living just as we always have. And ponies will continue to survive no matter who rules them. The same can not be said about my daughter.”
A faint voice spoke up from behind Scootaloo. “Dad.” Everypony turned to see Star Charmer pushing herself into a sitting position. She looked tired, fragile even, but her gaze was set unwavering on her father. “Just give it to them.”
Midlight shook his head again. “Star. I know your feelings on the matter, but this is our last chance. We can’t give up on it.”
“I’m not the one giving up,” Star Charmer said. Midlight tried to speak, but she cut him off. "I grew up with stories about Twilight Sparkle and her friends. They were right up there with the first Hearth's Warming and with Starswirl and the heroes who traveled with him. You’re the one who told me about how they beat Nightmare Moon and Discord.”
Star Charmer shifted off the bed. She wavered, and the unicorn mare beside her moved to catch her, but she managed to keep her balance. “Scootaloo told me about what would happen if they can’t win this time. That changelings and other monsters would be able to do whatever they want. We already stay away from the forest at night. What happens when the things out there start coming into the town? I don’t want that on my conscience. We should be trying to help them, not fighting against them.”
Midlight lowered his head. A long moment passed. “You’re right. Of course, you’re right.” He sighed. Scootaloo felt the tension in her shoulders relax.
“You really are your mother’s daughter. I’m sorry, but I can’t. Marble, restrain her.”
“Dad?” Star Charmer said, eyes widening. She turned as the unicorn beside her stepped back. Marble’s horn flashed and the blanket on the cot jumped onto Star Charmer’s back, bearing the young mare to the ground.
Scootaloo reacted a beat too slowly. The pegasus mare that had entered during their talk moved between her and Midlight before she could charge him. The brawny earth pony stepped closer to Midlight while the others moved forward creating a barrier between him and Scootaloo’s group. Eggheads or not, they outnumbered Scootaloo’s group two to one.
“Boss?” the earth pony said.
“Keep them back,” Midlight said. “We only need a few moments.”
“I just wanted you to know I’m sorry,” the earth pony said before rearing up on his hind legs. Midlight tried to move, but he was too slow. The earth pony came down in a vicious blow, driving his front legs into Midlight’s left wing.
His wing broke with a muted crack and he cried out in pain. He fell to the floor. The fragment of harmony skittered away.
With a wash of green flame, the earth pony became a slender pegasus and dived after it.
Scootaloo moved, charging forward and slamming into the pegasus mare with a heavy shoulder tackle. The mare went down, one leg instinctively covering her head.
Apple Bloom was only a heartbeat behind, turning to buck another pony out of the way.
“Mimic!” Scootaloo called. The changeling turned, saw the newly created opening, and dashed toward it. She passed Scootaloo and Apple Bloom and the two of them fell back.
A wave of magic washed over them and Scootaloo’s body slowed. It was like a lead blanket had been thrown over her. She turned, the movement taking far too much effort, and saw Marble, eyes half closed in focus, horn shining like a beacon. The other ponies of the SEA research center had recovered from the sudden flurry of action and were closing on them.
And then Scootaloo saw Star Charmer. The unicorn had managed to regain her hooves when Marble’s attention had shifted. Star Charmer looked to Mimic, the fragment of harmony tucked under one leg, the other moving agonizingly slow toward the back window. She looked to her father, forcing himself back up, wing bent in two places. Then, she met Scootaloo’s gaze.
Star Charmer’s face set. She turned, and with what little strength she had recovered, she threw herself at Marble.
Scootaloo jerked forward as the spell ended, but managed to keep her balance. A fraction of a second later the window shattered with changeling fire and Mimic was through. Spike, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Thistleroot climbed through after her. Finally, with one look back at Star Charmer who had once again been forced to the ground, Scootaloo followed.