Vriska Serket raised an eyebrow at the large robot she was talking to, a behemoth by the name of Dintin. “Wait, you’ve seen her?”
Dintin didn’t look up from the flower garden he was watering. “Red ram lady? Yeah. We had to fight her. Several times. Usually punching off heads only needs to be done once… Flower?” He held a blue and purple flower out to Vriska.
Vriska took it, blinking. “…Thanks. So, tank-boy, what happened to her?”
“Dunno. We stopped fighting, I think.”
“Why?”
“The ponies showed up,” Dintin said. “There was a big fight and some time skeletons.”
“How lovely, I’m in an area of the multiverse with time wraiths…” Vriska muttered. “Wait… The ponies? Which ponies?”
“…The little horses? The purple one?”
Vriska facepalmed. “No, moron, I mean which version. The Charter? The Grand Secretariat? The Empress of the Void?”
Dintin thought about this. “She had things on her ears.”
“Charter, got it,” Vriska said, grunting. “Oh, the irony…”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. Hey, you don’t mind if I take your luck do you?”
Dintin beeped happily. “Take whatever you need!”
Vriska saluted. “Thanks, robot nimrod.” Her eye flashed, and she stole as much luck from Dintin as she needed. He toppled over onto his back with a CLANG!
“Ow.”
“I wouldn’t try to do anything complicated for a few hours,” Vriska commented, tapping into her luck reserves. “Hastala-Vriska.” Her luck activated, allowing her to naturally slip through the dimensional fabric without any sort of flashy portal. She simply stepped into the air and was suddenly somewhere else – exactly where she needed to be.
She knew the Hub the instant she arrived even though she’d never actually been in the Hub before. Every time she’d shown up in the local neighborhood she’d only hung around various worlds, never actually bothered to come to the center of multiversal society. She found herself mildly impressed with the place – it was far from the first multiversal hub-world she had come across in her many many years of travel, but each one was slightly different and had its own curiosities to offer.
This one in particular was more organized than most – things looked clean, there wasn’t a constant state of chaos, and there was actually enough space to walk around without bumping into people. Screens lined the walls, broadcasting news for the most part with only the occasional advertisement. She didn’t pay the screens much attention – she started walking down the Hub halls, absorbing the scenery.
That was to say, she was taking tiny amounts of luck from everyone she saw to improve her own reserves. It was so little they wouldn’t even miss it, but she would be able to find whatever she needed with ease soon enough. Plus, it did let her learn a few things about this place.
To her surprise, there were Gems walking around like they were citizens. She hadn’t encountered that many of the Gem race in her travels, but she knew they were generally arrogant and cared little for organic life. But here they were, living alongside ponies, humans, and dragons. Some clearly didn’t want to be there – a particular red Ruby shouting racist remarks was a prime example of this. But Vriska also saw a Peridot working hand-in-hoof with a unicorn to build a dimensional device from scratch inside a technology store.
Vriska noticed a computer terminal sitting outside the shop, a green neon sign hanging above it. HOOK UP YOUR DEVICE TO THE INTERNET! FREE!
Vriska took her phone out of her pocket – it was one of those objects small enough for her not to store it in an 8-ball, even though she didn’t use it all that often. She walked up to the terminal, placing her phone on top of its primary shelf. The screen flashed green for a moment, quickly scanning the technology within the phone and recording its particular signal. Cell service and Internet access initiated. You may need to accept some settings on your phone, depending on the model. If you need help, press the help button to open up the FAQ.
Vriska needed no help; her phone was already set up. This was hardly the first time she’d come across one of these devices, after all. She checked the data plans – the access really was free, but the Internet wasn’t unlimited, definitely choked. Who cared though, it would work for a simple search.
She typed in “Aradia” into the Hub’s default ‘google’ – which wasn’t really Google, due to the Hub deciding that such a prevalent service needed to not be linked to any particular company. It was… Noodle. “What in hell were they thinking…?” Vriska muttered.
The results popped up. Aradia, the Handmaid. Vriska read the short article – not much was known about Aradia, but it was known that she had been protecting the timelines of Equis Vitis for longer than they’d been aware of the multiverse, and that she was still protecting it from the shadows. There wasn’t any information on how to find her, or where she was, or even when she tended to show up. There was a comment about how she liked to clean Canterlot Castle sometimes, like an actual Maid.
Vriska facepalmed. “That’s you, all right,” Vriska said, shaking her head and smiling. “Finally found you. Now I’ve just got to… see you. Yeah. Shut up self, that was a great sentence.” She put her phone away, pursing her lips. Her next step was to find someone who had run into Aradia. Charter-Twilight’s group would probably have the best information. Not that she had any idea where they were…
Not that her lack of knowledge really mattered. She could just walk around a while and she’d eventually find something – assuming some adventure didn’t drop out of the sky and ruin her fortune manipulation. She hated it when that happened.
She had to walk even less than she was expecting. She turned the corner and found herself in front of Iroh’s famous tea shop – and she saw Charter-Twilight standing right in front of it, talking to a version of Fluttershy.
“Chancellor, I do apologize, but the others rejected your application,” Charter-Twilight said. “They don’t think you’re involved enough. For what it’s worth, I voted for Equis Concrete’s inclusion.”
The Chancellor sighed. “It’s okay. You also don’t need to hide that they think our world still has problems.”
“Right,” Charter-Twilight said, nodding sadly. “Do you still want to join us for tea?”
“Of course. By the way, there’s a grey-skinned girl watching you intently.”
Charter-Twilight looked at Vriska. “Oh! Vriska! It’s been a while!”
“How many years on your end?” Vriska asked.
“Less than five, I think,” Twilight asserted.
“Eight on mine,” Vriska said. “Apparently last time I left I really shouldn’t have.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“Well, Twilight, remembe-“
“It’s Eve now,” Eve corrected, quickly. “Or Evening, if you want to be formal.”
Vriska smirked. “Finally decided on a name, did you? About time.”
Eve rolled her eyes. “Yes, we all know it was long overdue.”
“Yeah, regardless, I’ve finally found my old friend. Does the name Aradia ring any bells?”
Eve smirked. “Yeah, it does. I was actually wondering if you’d ask that. How about we talk about it over tea? I could introduce you to some world leaders and tell everyone a few stories.”
“You’re not getting multiversal information out of me.”
Chancellor Fluttershy shrugged. “We can certainly try.”
Vriska shrugged. “Eh, sure, why not. But this tea better be just as legendary as I’ve heard.”
“You will not be disappointed,” Eve declared.
~~~
Corona had graduated from three programs prior to this day.
The first had been high school, where she had been the center of attention and everyone had hung onto her every word.
The second was college, where she was just another student in the masses. Better than most, but not the best, nowhere close to the top of the line, just another budding physicist.
Then she’d gotten a ‘master’s’ equivalent on Equis Cosmic, but there wasn’t even a ceremony for that because she’d been so busy working on the Arcei and Asgard problems she’d basically forgotten it had even happened.
That was only a few months ago.
Today, she was part of a very small gathering – not even twelve individuals – to get what Equis Cosmic called an Overarch Degree, a degree that would currently pass as a PhD on the Earths. Apparently she had contributed more to the Arcei and Asgard projects than she’d thought, enough to qualify as ‘independent research’, even though it wasn’t all that independent.
But, well, here she was. Cosmo was standing over her, giving a long winded speech about how Corona was about as well educated in physics as she possibly could be, and probably deserved honorary degrees in biology and thaumic sciences as well.
Corona was only half-listening. She was busy contemplating that she’d basically just completely won education. How long had it been, ten years now? No… A little less than that. The education on Equis Cosmic had lumped two ‘degrees’ together into one. She now had nothing left to learn, unless she wanted to start from scratch… And she didn’t want to do that.
She didn’t need to spend any more time studying material or courses ever again.
She was so giddy she didn’t realize Cosmo was handing her the certificate.
“Ahem,” Cosmo said, an amused smile on her face.
“Right! Sorry.” Corona levitated the piece of paper into the air. A few camera flashes went off, including a gigantic burst of light from human Pinkie.
“That’s a keeper!” Pinkie declared, holding up an image.
“Pinkie, I’m blind now.”
“Not forever!”
Corona rolled her eyes. She looked up at Cosmo, who was currently just a purple fuzzy mass in her eyes. “Thank you, Princess.”
Cosmo smiled. “You earned this, Corona. Now go tack a PhD onto your name so you can impress all the humans.”
Corona smiled. “I will.” She turned to one of the other ponies present for the small event – Starcei. “Thank you for all your guidance.”
Starcei let a smile come to her face. “You were the one who kept asking all the annoying questions.”
“Can’t help it. I’m not apologizing.”
Pinkie gasped. “OH NO! WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH CORONA?”
Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. “Being unapologetic has always been part of Corona’s personality.”
Pinkie narrowed her eyes at Sugarcoat. “…I can never tell with you.”
“That must mean I’m good at my job,” Sugarcoat deadpanned.
“Customer service representative…?” Corona said, confused.
“I wasn’t being literal.”
Corona blinked. “Ah. Right.” She turned to a familiar face that was sitting in the back of the room, not saying anything. She trotted up to Sparky. “Hey, you’ve been quiet.”
Sparky forced a smile. “I just haven’t had much to say. You’ve done it Corona.”
“Hey, you’ll still be able to do it. You’re already a well-respected voice in the academic community.”
“Yeah…” Sparky said, looking at Corona. “I don’t know though. The more I learn, the more I realize that physics isn’t constant throughout the multiverse. Much of what we know is going to be meaningless in the future…”
“Then we just need to change with the times,” Corona asserted. “We’re on the front lines, Sparky. We get to write the new books.”
Sparky nodded. “You’re right. …But I’m not sure I want to deal with what you’ve been dealing with in order to do that.”
“You don’t mean Alushy, do you?”
“Are you talking about me?” Alushy called from the refreshments table.
“Yes, but it doesn’t concern you, so screw off,” Corona blurted.
“Yowch. The pain… It cuts like a searing knife deep into my cold, dead heart…” She didn’t interject herself into the conversation any further, though.
Sparky shook her head. “No. Well… Yes, that’s part of it, but that’s just a person. I mean…” She stood up. “You’re in a top-secret research facility. You have to keep secrets from everyone, even your friends, about what you’ve done here. You’ve probably held the fate of entire races in your ha- hooves. And… You’ve been part of decisions that you didn’t like.”
“We still saved the Arcei,” Corona commented. “The genetic repurposing has been a huge success on both sides. Not to mention the Asgard and all the new advanced medical techniques…”
“You’re not working hard on the runes anymore,” Sparky said.
Starcei heard this, her ears perking up to high alert. “...Sparky, where did you hear that?”
Corona raised her hands. “I didn’t tell her…”
Sparky shrugged. “I just deduced it. You say you are still working hard, but Corona here’s going away, and I don’t get the impression you’re in a rush. Since the danger is no longer imminent, you’re not putting as much resources into it as you once were. And yet, you keep telling the Arcei you’re working on it.”
“We are,” Corona said.
“Not as hard as you could be,” Sparky said. “And I understand there’s probably politics involved, and I don’t blame you for it, but I don’t think I could work in an environment where that kind of thing happens. Where what I do affects so many, but I’ll just be presented with… With… Oh what’s the word?”
“Bleh?” Corona suggested.
Sparky chuckled. “Yeah. Bleh. That’ll work. A whole lot of Bleh.”
Corona smiled. “I understand. It’s just not for you. I’d talk to Eve if I were you; she could set you to work on a public project. No secrets.”
“But you never know when what you find will need to become a secret.”
Corona nodded slowly. “…We can’t go through life in fear, Sparky.”
Sparky sighed, pulling her legs close. “I certainly have…”
“Well… I’m actually not sure how much I can help you.”
“We have drifted. You’ve been so busy.”
“I’d talk to the girls, if I were you,” Corona said. “Pinkie’s right there.”
Pinkie appeared right behind Sparky. “Yeah I am! Let me tell you, when Corona was unsure about what she was going to do in her life, I helped her out! Now I can help you! Come on, to the planning cave! I’ll get Applejack. We’ve got a destiny to uncover!”
Corona smiled. “You have fun with that.”
“Wait!” Sparky said, crawling out of Pinkie’s grasp. “Corona, what are you going to do?”
Corona smiled sheepishly. “Well I wanted to join up with Eve’s group, but given how Sombra has such close tabs on me, they couldn’t really allow that. So I’m going to Lai to join up with Toph’s, become a scientist for a world that doesn’t really have much in the way of science. Less top-secret stuff there.”
“…How did you keep Sombra from blabbing about this secret?” Sparky wondered.
Corona put on her sunglasses and smirked. “I called in favors. Plus, she doesn’t really want to bring about the collapse of the multiversal alliances. Here’s a little secret – Eve’s actually been working with her to bring about Unification.
“…I can’t imagine Nova’s happy about that,” Sparky commented.
“Nope,” Corona said. “But Nova understands why it’s needed.”
Sparky nodded. “I… guess so.”
“Enough chit chat!” Pinkie declared. “Destiny time!” She pulled Sparky away and out of the universe.
The voice of Sombra filled Corona’s ear. “Oh, so I have to keep your secret, but you can’t keep mine?”
“Give it a rest,” Corona said. “It defused the situation. There’s more to life than just keeping secrets.”
“Mmm,” Sombra muttered. “So are you going to go to Lai or what?”
Corona walked up to the refreshments table and munched on a small pastry. “Ah, I think I’ll stick around for a few hours and gloat a little bit about being Corona Sunset Shimmer, PhD. Revel in my success.”
“Make sure not to get too full of yourself, Amiga.”
“You’re one to talk,” Corona retorted.
Sombra’s only response was a chuckle.
Alushy smirked. “You know, half-conversations are the best. I get to imagine the most wildly raunchy things happening during the half I can’t hear. You’d love the image in my head, Corona.”
Corona raised an eyebrow. “Why are you even here?”
“Cause, my friend, I felt like taking a break. A walk, if you will.”
“Alushy, who did you kill?”
“Nobody!”
“…What body did you turn into a vampire and then kill?”
Alushy raised an eyebrow. “You’re a freaky bitch, you know that?”
“Alushy…”
“What? The body was going to be incinerated anyway, I just wanted to have some fun!”
“She does have a point,” Sombra chirped.
Corona facehooved. “I’m surrounded by bleh…”
~~~
“Everyone, this is Vriska Serket,” Eve said, sitting down at the table, gesturing for Vriska to sit to her left. “Vriska, this is Jack O’Neill, Algernon Siwar, and you’ve already met Chancellor Fluttershy. Iroh will be joining us after he gets our tea.”
O’Neill adjusted his hat. “Was wonderin’ when I’d get to meet you.”
Vriska spread her arms wide. “Well here I am in all my glory. You want an autograph?”
“Pass,” O’Neill said.
Algernon – a tall man in green robes that formed x-shaped creases all over his body – furrowed his brow. “What world does this woman represent?” he asked Eve.
“Hey,” Vriska interjected. “You ask a question about me, you can ask it to me, got it?”
Algernon nodded slowly. “…Sure.”
“I am from a world very far from anywhere any of you have been. You could call it Alternia, or Sburb 2-B. Of course, that universe doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Really?” Chancellor Fluttershy said. “That must be hard on you, to not have a home.”
“Well, I do have a home… It should be a world called Earth C. Not that I have any idea where that is.”
“Do you think we could help?” Iroh said, arriving with tea for everyone. “We’ve checked a lot of universes.”
“Have you actually encountered my race besides me and Aradia?” Vriska asked. “No? Then you won’t be helpful.”
Eve sighed. “Sorry. You have been at this longer than we have.”
“No shit.”
Algernon raised an eyebrow. “Why is she here, again?”
“Do you have a wasp in your ass or something?” Vriska blurted.
“Vriska, calm down,” Eve cautioned. “Algernon’s just more used to official proceedings. You two just do things a little differently.”
“What is your story, anyway?” Vriska asked Algernon.
“I am from Earth Stand,” Algernon asserted. “One of the major worlds in this alliance.”
“You got a new major world since I was here last?” Vriska asked Eve.
“We’ve actually known Earth Stand since before we met Thrackerzod’s people,” Eve said. “They’ve been a part of our culture for a while. Or… Well, had been. Relations have been rocky. Their disclosure went so well too…”
Vriska raised an eyebrow. “Problems?”
“Ah, you don’t know,” Eve said, “Right, sometimes I forget.”
O’Neill raised an eyebrow. “Your Charter, everyone.”
“Har-de-har,” Eve deadpanned. “Vriska, this is a good segue into Aradia. We met her a few years ago, when another multiversal society tried to erase us from history, the University of Doors.”
“Does she have clearance for this?” Algernon demanded.
Eve raised an eyebrow. “If she didn’t before she does now. Plus, it’s not like we were able to keep most of this secret anyway. Everyone knows we were attacked. I’ll even officiate her clearance in some matter later with a simple push of a button.”
“It’s good to be the Charter,” O’Neill asserted.
Vriska stopped glaring at Algernon and looked back to Twilight. “Go on.”
“She helped us return time to its rightful place – though we had to sign a non-interference agreement with the University of Doors and we had to fight a bunch of time wraiths – then she gave Nova some pointers on how to manage time. After this fight for our right to exist in time, well, we realized that we don’t really stand together against the dangers of the multiverse. Beyond the University, there’s also the Eldritch Embodiment. They don’t care about us right now, but if they wanted to they could just wipe us out and Thrackerzod couldn’t do anything about it. There’s also apparently a Starcross Society out there somewhere that even the Stars fear. We… As we are now, we don’t compare to them. But, if we-“
“-form a Federation.” O’Neill interjected.
“We are not calling it the Federation!” Eve blurted. “We already have an Enterprise!”
O’Neill just shrugged and turned to examine his tea.
Vriska raised an eyebrow. “You’re pushing for Unification.”
“Yes. Yes we are,” Eve said. “And, well, I knew it was going to be hard, but it’s been much harder than expected. We’ve got seven universes lined up to be the founders. Earth Vitis, Equis Vitis, Earth Tau’ri, Equis Cosmic, Earth Stand, Gem Vein, Lai, and the Elemental Nations.” She glanced at Chancellor Fluttershy. “There were a few others who were interested, but whose applications were rejected for one reason or another.”
“We’ll join eventually,” Chancellor Fluttershy asserted.
“Most likely. But there’s been a lot of problems,” Eve declared. “I was expecting the Gem Vein to have the biggest issues, but no, it turns out it’s Earth Stand. Algernon can probably explain best.”
Algernon nodded. “My world, embarrassingly, is not being very cooperative. They went through disclosure, opened an embassy, and started connecting their society to the multiverse enough to be eligible for Unification consideration – and then they sealed up and walled off. I can’t explain why, all I can say is that communication is at a standstill. I’m the only member of Earth Stand in the Hub, and everything I try to take back or send to my homeworld never goes anywhere.”
Vriska raised an eyebrow. “…Really? Why would your world do that and not the other Earths? Aren’t they basically the same exact thing?”
“Not precisely,” Algernon said. “My world had a secret just like Earth Tau’ri and Earth Vitis, but it was a little more close to home. Magic was prevalent on Earth Vitis, enough so that people weren’t really surprised. Earth Tau’ri revealed itself after it had power on a galactic scale. But my world has a spiritual energy called Stands – invisible spirits that only some individuals on the world have control over. The powers of these Stands are so diverse, unpredictable, and misunderstood that the governments of the world have little control over them. Stand users are dangerous – not to mention bizarre. While there are some that heal by punching through things, there are others that create hordes of zombies, burn entire forests, or can even mold people as if they were a book. I know a man with the ability to pull ‘sound effects’ out of the air and use them in battle.”
Vriska raised an eyebrow. “Really…?”
“Yes, really. As I’m sure you can understand, the uncontrollable nature of these Stands has made the population on edge. The result is that the governments have stopped introducing them to new things in the multiverse, thinking they need to backpedal. Or that’s my best theory, anyway.”
“And it’s interfering with Unification,” Eve said. “We’re still a few years away from actually coming together, but the longer they don’t talk, the more likely we’ll have to cut them out. And one thing we do know is that they do not want to be cut out, and that’s just creating a political whirlpool that goes nowhere. We’re basically at a standstill until we can get them to open their doors again somehow, and currently Earth Stand requested itself be blacklisted, so… Going uninvited might cause an incident.” She twitched. “So yeah, it’s annoying.”
Vriska nodded slowly, expression incredulous. She felt something tug at the back of her mind. “Hey, Eve, can I talk to you for a moment?”
Eve sent a telepathic message to Vriska’s mind. Sure. Sup?
Vriska was not expecting telepathic communication, but she was skilled enough in her psychic powers to reciprocate. I mean out of sight of these bozos.
None of them have powers, Vriska.
Just take a moment.
Eve rolled her eyes. “Excuse us for a moment.”
“No problem,” the Chancellor said. Algernon’s expression just hardened.
Vriska and Eve took a step outside. “What is it?” Eve asked.
“That Algernon is full of complete bullshit,” Vriska said. “What he says doesn’t really make any sense – I mean, come on, lessening communication after a disclosure? Really? That can’t be what the people want. And the way he describes it… It just sounds too wild for words. Not to mention his face is untrustworthy and I’m pretty sure I felt something tugging at the back of my mind…”
Eve raised an eyebrow. “Vriska, you’re just being paranoid. Earth Stand, as a world, is our friend. I know people over there that I really want to see. I may not have known Algernon that long, and he’s a bit of a stick in the mud at times, but he’s trustworthy. And his Stand isn’t mind control, I’ve seen it. He boils water with it from extremely long distances.”
Vriska blinked. “Wait, he actually has a Stand?”
“Did you not believe that was a real thing?”
“I’ve seen a lot of things on my travels, Eve, a thing that causes such bizarre variations in powers is basically unheard of. He described things without pattern! Every power source has some kind of pattern. Mine comes from the twelve aspects of existence, specifically Light. Yours comes from arcane manipulation and produces effects with sparkles and other crap. But that? Something that varied and powerful? How would they keep it a secret if just random joes had random unpredictable powers that couldn’t be dealt with?”
Eve blinked. “You’re paranoid, aren’t you?”
“I just know something’s up, Eve.”
Eve shook her head. “It’s all fine, Vriska. Really. You just didn’t see or hear about them when you were here. Just by chance.”
“I don’t have bad luck like that,” Vriska muttered, clenching her fist. “There’s something up here, Eve.”
“Oh I have no doubt that something odd is going down on Earth Stand, but Algernon’s not the problem. Trust me, Vriska.”
Vriska lowered her hand. “…Fine. Do you at least know where I can find Aradia?”
“Ah… no, Sorry. She hasn’t shown up for an extended time since the battle with the University. You’re welcome to hang around though, she’ll show up eventually. When she thinks the ‘time is right’ and all that.”
“Right…” Vriska said. “…You go back to your tea party. I’m going to go find something more interesting to do.”
Eve shook her head in mild disapproval “If that’s what you want.” She teleported Vriska’s teacup to her. “You should at least try it though.”
“Oh, right.” Vriska took a sip. She blinked. “…Did Iroh make it spicy?”
“He has a way of surprising people.”
“I like him already. Tell him this is the good shit.”
“Yeah, I will not be using those exact words,” Eve said. “I will tell him you liked it.”
“Eh, good enough.” She took another drink and walked off. “See you around, Eve.”
Eve waved back before re-entering Iroh’s tea shop.
Vriska turned around and glared a few seconds later. “Algernon… I’m on to you. I’m going to find out what you’re really up to. There’s no way what you said was true. You’ve just got all their brains molded the way you want… But not Vriska, oh no, you can’t fuck with ol’ Vriska’s brain… She fucks with yours.” She shattered the teacup that was in her hands. She ignored the cobalt blue blood that seeped out of her hand.
She walked away to plan…
~~~
Corona trotted through Lai’s capital – just called the Capital – sunglasses on her face. The ponies of Lai paid her little attention; after all she just looked like a unicorn with sunglasses. She wouldn’t have gotten much more attention had she decided to go as a human either, the ponies had gotten used to the occasional man walking through their world.
Before, they would have viewed the presence of a human in their city as a threat, or a signal of negative change. But their attitude had altered because of recent events. Events that Corona herself had had a somewhat large hoof in. Sparky was right about one thing, there was a lot of disgusting “Bleh” around what Corona did.
“Feeling guilty?” Sombra’s voice entered Corona’s ear. She could hear Sombra drinking some kind of fruit smoothie on the other side of the feed.
“A little,” Corona admitted. “I mean, the result seems undeniably good, but… Well what’s done is done, I suppose.”
“Eh, it’s not that bad. Just cleverly letting a people believe whatever they want about a situation.”
“Riiight,” Corona said, trotting up to the palace. There were two standard unicorn-pegasus alicorns standing guard. They knew who she was and let her in without any questions. The moment she passed their wings, she heard some commotion behind her.
“It’s the General!” a pony cheered.
“Really? OH MY ARMONIA, IT IS HER!”
Corona raised an eyebrow and turned around to see what this was all about. She was only mildly surprised to see Toph running across the town at a breakneck pace, mild panic on her face. “Make way!”
Behind her was a large crowd of squealing fans, mostly consisting of ponies of Lai. Corona saw that Toph was not faster than the hooves of a pony, so she rendered her assistance with a quick teleport spell. Toph stumbled as she found herself in a new location, but quickly regained her footing next to Corona.
The alicorn guards crossed their wings, preventing the crowd from entering the palace grounds.
Toph took one look at the crowd and smiled. “Sorry! Maybe I can hang around later, but a General is always busy!” She waved, then turned a full one-eighty and ran into the palace hall.
“What was that about?” Corona asked.
“Somebody flipped a switch in those ponies,” Toph muttered. “They used to distrust me like the devil and now they think I’m their savior. It’s freaky.”
“Probably my fault,” Corona admitted.
“No, really?” Toph stretched her arms behind her back, trying to work out her tense muscles. She wore light armor these days, made of metal she could bend to improve her ability in combat. The design was clearly similar to Lady Rarity’s, though not anywhere close to being the behemoth mech suit the spirid’s suit essentially was. The metal plates were spread out, thin, and designed for mobility more than absorbing hits. The Master Sword hung to her side, always ready to be drawn at a moment’s notice. “I let Queen Luna promote me because I thought I needed to make ponies realize the outside was good. I was ready to deal with a lot of angry people, but not a bunch of fanatics.”
“It’s what happens when you let the people believe what they want…”
Toph looked out a wall. Corona knew she was ‘looking’ outside, but the unicorn couldn’t see through the solid wall. “Corona… They think we’re performing genocide for them. That’s not good! That’s bad!”
Lady Rarity strode into the hall. Her armor was not anywhere to be seen, though her hammer was slung over her back. She had eight perfectly healthy legs, and a fully grown mane to go with her four blue eyes. “We never told them that. We told them exactly what we were doing – making new bodies that didn’t need the arcs and would not pass on the Arcei genes.”
“We all knew how they were going to take it,” Toph said. “They hear ‘not pass on genes’ to ‘all the Arcei are going to die out because of the other universes! Maybe they were on our side after all! They’ve solved the biggest problem we’ve ever had!’ Morons.”
Corona sighed. “Yeah. Morons. …What I wonder is what’s going to happen if we discover how to actually make the runes.”
Toph frowned. “Whatever happens, Eve won’t let it happen until after Unification at this point. She cares too much. She’d push an incident under the rug just to keep the plans on schedule.”
Corona furrowed her brow. “Ah, the question, is that really the best choice?” This was met with silence, since nobody knew. Corona shook her head to clear it. “…Hey Rarity, how is that new body treating you?”
“Haven’t quite remembered how to use all eight legs effectively,” Lady Rarity answered, “but I have rediscovered the art of traction walking.” She skittered up the side of a wall, her hooves somehow adhering her body to the vertical surface. “Your science magic works wonders.”
“Creepy,” Toph muttered.
“It works,” Lady Rarity said.
Corona smiled. “Glad it is. We’re going to start using the process to help so many – we can grow new body parts for any pony, human or Asgard. Even a whole new body if needed. We could start curing disabilities.”
“Pass,” Toph said.
“Wouldn’t work on you anyway, not without special research like we did with the Arcei. You were born blind.”
Toph paused for a moment. “…What about Eve?”
Corona frowned. “I already talked to her about it. She… She said she’d think about it. That was a few weeks ago. I think it’s safe to assume the answer’s no.”
“I wonder why…” Lady Rarity wondered aloud. “I agreed to get my legs back on the spot.”
“She’s made it part of her identity,” Toph said. “She can’t hear, but that actually makes her look stronger to the people around her. The obvious ear-devices help make sure everyone who sees her anywhere knows she’s deaf, and knows how strong she is to still be the Charter.”
“If it was just that I think she would have told me,” Corona said. “I think it’s something else. There’s got to be some reason she’s made it her identity…”
Toph shrugged. “I dunno. None of us spend that much time with her. You should talk to Spike, or Renee. They’d probably have some insight.”
Corona nodded. Then she leaned against a wall and decided to change the topic. “So, I guess I’m with you girls now. What do we do around here?”
“Politics and quests, mostly,” Toph said. “As a General I don’t get to go out as much anymore and I have to keep close watch on Queen Luna’s policies. Because, apparently, I’m trustworthy or something.”
Lady Rarity nodded. “Queen Luna has something for us to go do about once a week. Some ancient evil, some crazy artifact, or just bringing back magic from another universe. If Pinkie’s group is about first contact for the most part, ours is more oriented to accomplishing specific goals.”
“Aren’t you here to set up a science guild or something?” Toph asked.
Corona nodded. “That’s what I’ll be doing when we’re not out doing something. I’ll probably take on apprentices once I’m settled in, teach Lai the ways of physics. The materials for my lab should arrive in a few days.”
Toph nodded. “And don’t think you can get out of immersing yourself in the politics of Lai. You’re here with us; you get to deal with it as well. Hope you’re prepared to carefully never mention anything about how you actually feel about the Arcei.”
“Right… That’s going to be harder than it sounds.”
Lady Rarity nodded. “Quite. By the way, Sombra?” Lady Rarity pointed her hammer at Corona’s glasses. “I know we don’t deal with much classified information here, at least not the kind that you care about, but Corona’s placement on this team will be in jeopardy if you screw something up in ANY way, understood?”
Corona blinked. “She says she understands clearly.”
Lady Rarity nodded. “Then welcome to the team, Corona. Let’s go meet up with Lieshy and Vivian. They should be in the training room.”
“Oh, do I get to see them fight?”
“Maybe?” Toph said. “Lieshy rarely does any fighting at all, but she’s not above trying.”
Corona smirked. “Well, if nothing else, I’ll get to see the training room.” She trotted down the hall.
“Other way,” Toph deadpanned.
“Right…” Corona said, turning around.
“Other other way.”
“…What?”
Lady Rarity spoke up. “She means through that door to the left, then seventh door on the right.”
“I’m reminded why castles are so annoying. I need a map or something…”
Toph smirked. “I don’t need a map.”
“Don’t you start.”
~~~
Public Information on Earth Stand
Earth Stand is a Standard Earth currently experiencing the local year 2005. First contact was made slightly before the events of the Disclosure, and they have been involved in multiversal society ever since. Their world underwent its own Disclosure in the local year 2002, an event that upset the world somewhat due to the universe’s primary oddity.
While Earth Stand is known to house low levels of standard magic and physics that allow for natural undead, its primary difference is a largely mysterious form of spiritual energy known as a Stand. Only certain individuals have Stands, and their effects are so varied it is generally impossible to classify them by any hard set rules. The spiritual forms the Stands manifest in are only visible to other Stand users or with the use of other esoteric abilities that deal with spirits.
The coordinates to Earth Stand are blacklisted to prevent an influx of other universe travelers.
And that was generally all Vriska could find. Which was outright absurd. Every other universe she could find people talking on the Internet about - every single one had a conspiracy theorist nut at the very least looking at it. But not Earth Stand. It was just… accepted. It was mentioned in conversation as a fact of life, but there were no extensive files on it she could find. Almost as if they had been purged…
She did find evidence that Earth Stand had been blacklisted recently, maybe the information had actually been purged?
She threw her phone at a nearby wall – the thing was industrial strength, so it didn’t break. “Where the hell am I going to find purged information?”
Vriska felt a tremendous chunk of her luck vanish right as she said that. Dammit. I just used a huge bank of fortune on that. I’m going to have to watch my toe to make sure I don’t stub it… Why does me saying things have to trigger it? You think I’d get ahold of it after all these centuries but noooooo…
Vriska carefully picked up her phone, not all that surprised to see a pink sugar-skull on the screen. “…Sombra, right?”
The one and only, onscreen text informed her.
“Good. So, I need anything you can find me on Earth Stand. I know you save secret files.”
Earth Stand? Odd choice. Nothing really interesting happens there.
Vriska narrowed her eyes. There’s definitely something going on here. I’m pretty sure Earth Stand doesn’t actually exist. “Just get me those files. Files on Algernon as well, while you’re at it.”
What are you offering me?
“I know the coordinates of a world where the local physics give every conscious being within it control of the force of gravity. Nice secret, don’t you say?”
Sounds like enough of a curiosity for this simple information. Done.
They made the trade – Sombra sent her files to Vriska’s phone, Vriska sent the coordinates to the psychic-gravity universe.
I’m not sure what you’ll get out of this.
“It’s what I won’t get out of it that I’ll find interesting…” Vriska muttered.
Perhaps you should see a mental health professional.
Vriska rolled her eyes, ignoring Sombra’s message. Sombra soon released Vriska’s phone, no longer sending messages. The cobalt troll read through the files, of which there actually weren’t that many. There was an actual report on Earth Stand, about the world, politics, and the location of the primary embassy, but strangely there were no coordinates.
“It’s just a really good forgery,” Vriska said, beginning to absent-mindedly stroll through the Hub. “No coordinates… All the mentions of actual people are vague… And history is just copy-pasted from the standard Earth template… It’s like all the interesting bits are just pasted on.” She smirked.
“Yo, lady, you talking to yourself?” a burly Gem called – a Bismuth, Vriska thought.
“Yeah, so what?”
“Well, you just walked into a puddle of mysterious green ooze.”
Vriska looked down. Her boots were now covered in mysterious green ooze. She blinked. Right, her luck was down right now after the communication with Sombra. No matter, she’d just walk out and clean it off-
She stubbed her boot into a nearby stand selling fireworks. A firework went off and hit her in the face, sending her flying back into the mysterious green ooze.
She took in a deep breath and let it out, calming herself. The curse of being a manipulator of luck, you can burn your own luck out so fast you don’t even realize it. She stood up, taking a bit of luck from the Bismuth – she was an asshole anyway, she probably deserved a day of tripping and falling over – and walked away.
Vriska scrolled through the information. Earth Stand was clearly suspicious, but Algernon was even more so. The file Sombra had on him had no backstory at all before a few months ago, when he showed up as Earth Stand’s ambassador. There were a few notes about how he had made great efforts to include Earth Stand in Unification Procedures, but his people were being impossible to work with.
The really bizarre thing was that Earth Stand’s files mentioned nothing at all about ‘being difficult to work with’.
“I do believe I’ve stumbled across a conspiracy,” Vriska smirked. “How wonderful.” Now all that remained was to figure out how he was pulling the blinds over so many people, and get proof that he was doing it.
Then she remembered she was a really powerful psychic.
She grinned, walking down the halls of the Hub, back toward Iroh’s tea shop. She absorbed enough luck to get herself back to manageable levels over the course of the journey. And, just her luck, she saw Algernon leaving Iroh’s tea shop as she arrived.
Perfect.
~~~
Thrackerzod took one look at the eldritch behemoth charging the demon-Binary settlement and leaped into action, leaving the rest of the League of Sweetie Belles in the dust.
She had been afraid of this – with Siron gone, whatever he had been doing to the Binary world had stopped, and the eldritch energies had started to dissipate. But as happened so often when something was about to die, it wanted to make one last ditch effort to take something else out with it.
In this case, it was a gigantic octopus-creature with half-formed images of Majora’s mask all over it, trying desperately to become the master it so needed, but it would never be able to. It was subject only to madness. Half of its body twisted in and out of existence, while the other half switched from a rocklike composition to almost vaporous every couple of seconds.
It was also the size of a full grown dragon.
Thrackerzod knew this was the last stand of the remnant energy, and she knew what she had to do. She was going to have to take it out and purge this world of the corruption that had plagued it ever since Majora’s defeat. She lit her horn, summoning her own dark energies from a plane of existence far removed from the one her body occupied, filling her eyes with black energy and her horn with a deep red power.
The behemoth thought she was charging – so it entered a defensive posture. Exactly what Thrackerzod wanted: she drove her hooves into the ground, stopping several meters away from the behemoth. She quickly scrawled a magic circle into the ground and activated it, tapping into the eldritch halls of her real home. A portal of darkness tore through the earth of the Binary world, revealing a hand.
Thrackerzod was never really sure what she was going to get when she initiated a quick summon – sometimes it was a geometric creature, at others a standard devil-demon, while still another time she’d gotten a cloud of black smoke that could possess people. She’d never gotten a hand before, but she knew it would have power to assist her. With her magic, she ordered the summoned demonic hand to charge the behemoth, embedding itself inside the impossible girth of the beast.
The thing roared in what was probably pain, but Thrackerzod didn’t stop to figure out if it was. She created another circle, summoning a fractal pattern that froze everything around it, sending it after the behemoth as well. The next demon was a centipede made of legs that tore through the fabric of reality. The one after that was an invisible manifestation of the force of thought. And the last… Just an ordinary shoggoth-thing. Somewhat boring, really.
It was enough though. The sheer variety of eldritch essences attacking from all sides had the behemoth confused – it was only made from one type of eldritch energy, that of Majora. As versatile as Majora’s power was, it was all derived from a single power. Thrackerzod was summoning whatever she could grab from the Eldritch Embodiment, not limiting herself to just spawn of Azathoth.
Just one of the perks of the Embodiment.
She decided it was her turn to act – she charged, her unicorn body moving far faster than it should have. She powered magic into her horn, transforming it into a blood-red drill. She spoke a command in the eldritch tongue and charged through the behemoth’s center in an instant.
The behemoth did not die – but the force of thought Thrackerod had summoned earlier entered the beast through the hole. The conflicting nature of the behemoth could no longer be reconciled with the vibrating force within it. The being that might as well have been insanity incarnate was essentially driven insane, divided into multiple personalities bent on devouring each other.
In the distraction, the fractal pattern and the demonic hand worked together. One froze parts, while the other smashed the parts to nothing. The behemoth slowly began to get chipped away.
“TAKING TOO LONG!” Sweetie Bot called from above, launching a barrage of rockets down on the behemoth. “Initiating explode sequence!”
Thrackerzod facehooved. “It’s not safe up there!”
“It is now 99% safe compared to the 13% safe it was before,” Bot declared.
“It could launch a wild attack!”
“That is the 1% non-safeness.”
Squeaky Belle called to them with magic. “Both of you stop arguing! Just make sure the beast doesn’t fall towards the town, okay?”
“Safety is optimized!” Bot assured her.
“It’s rolling like a bowling ball over here! Stop it!”
Thrackerzod acted quickly. She teleported between the rolling form of the dying behemoth, generating a shield of black energy. The demons and binaries that were watching the show had to turn away because of how impossible the walls were.
“I would apologize but they knew it was hard to look at the behemoth from a distance anyway,” Thrackerzod muttered.
The behemoth crashed into the wall of darkness – and shattered into nothingness. Thrackerzod dropped the wall and nodded, allowing all her summoned demons to vanish back to home. She turned around. “The deed is done.”
“That did not go according to plan,” Squeaky commented.
“Blame the robot,” Thrackerzod declared.
“You rushed out there without thinking! We had a plan that didn’t hinge on you giving the entire population headaches!” Squeaky blurted.
“I like Thrackerzod’s style,” Brute declared.
“You don’t get an opinion right now,” Squeaky muttered. “Seriously, Zod, I-“
Sweetie Belle held up a hoof and walked forward. “I think we need to stop and look at Thrackerzod’s flank.”
Thrackerzod glanced – upon her flank, that had previously been blank, there was now a cutie mark. It was a crusader shield with the Elder Sign plastered on it. “…What?”
“That’s the symbol that defends against eldritch powers, right?” Sweetie asked.
“Yes. I’m curious as to why I’m not screaming now that it has found its place on my flank.”
Sweetie put Thrackerzod’s face in her hooves. “It means you’ve found your destiny as a pony, finally. You are Thrackerzod. Your talent? Defending mortals from the eldritch.”
“But I am eldritch.”
“So?” Sweetie smirked. “You can still be good at it.”
“Wait,” Brute said. “I thought we agreed she wasn’t going to get one since she wasn’t really a pony?” She pointed at her own mark she had gotten what seemed like a long time ago. Sweetie Bot gestured at her own as well.
“I just thought that, I wasn’t certain,” Sweetie said. “I’m glad I was wrong.”
“Mortal sensations are bizarre,” Thrackerzod commented. “Incorrect ideas should bring shame!”
“Not always,” Mlinx said, walking toward them with Mistress Luna at his side. “I thought I was wrong most my life about everything. Turns out being incorrect sometimes just means change.”
“I call non sequitur,” Thrackerzod announced.
Sweetie pushed Thrackerzod aside. “Hi Mlinx! Luna! We took care of that monster for you!”
“Thank you,” Mistress Luna said, bowing her head. “We are forever in your debt, as are the people of this planet.”
Squeaky winked. “Just doing our job.”
“What is our job?” Brute asked.
“Anything we want it to be!” Bot declared.
“So my job is to eat every custard I can find?”
“AFFIRMATIVE!”
Squeaky and Sweetie rolled their eyes. “So,” Squeaky said, addressing Luna. “How’s your planet doing?”
“Never better,” Luna declared, smiling softly. “I never realized how much the demons needed Siron gone until it happened. Now… They’re all happier.”
Mlinx nodded. “Who knew that once the chief was gone we’d find they didn’t actually care as much about being warriors as we thought?”
Luna smirked. “That’s all on you, you know. You came back and told them what they could be.”
“Is he the demon chief?” Bot asked.
Luna shook her head. “There are no more chiefs. I run this planet myself, now. Mlinx is just an advisor, just like Lexa. …I thought we told you this?”
“Bot’s mentality never matures,” Thrackerzod deadpanned. “An eternity of childish observations.”
Mlinx leaned down and scratched Sweetie Bot behind the ear. “I find it endearing.”
“You’re encouraging it!”
Luna chuckled. “Perhaps we should be more willing to encourage the innocent and gentle.”
Sweetie Bot grinned. “I have exploding rockets!”
“…Right, my comment has been invalidated. What fun.” Luna cleared her throat. “Regardless, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“A LIFETIME SUPPLY A BUTTERSCOTCH COOKIES!” Brute yelled.
“Something reasonable,” Luna said.
“You could keep Ganondorf on a tighter leash,” Squeaky said. “You’re giving him and his Gerudo too much freedom. They’ll try something eventually.”
Mlinx shook his head. “No… I’m giving him a chance to mind his own business. He saw what happened to Siron. Unless he’s a fool, he won’t try anything.”
Thrackerzod huffed. “Never underestimate a mortal’s capacity for foolishness.”
“Didn’t you get stuck in a toilet last week?” Brute pointed out.
“That… That is neither here nor there!”
“It sounds pretty foolish to me.”
“Humans just don’t know how to design toilets consistently!”
Everyone rolled their eyes as the League of Sweetie Belles devolved into another one of their ‘arguments’.
~~~
Vriska didn’t follow Algernon for long – it soon became clear that he was on an outing for pleasure instead of business, judging by all the window-shopping he was doing. So she might as well make her move.
Looking at him from across the street, she activated her psychic powers in their entirety. For practice, she made a nearby human stick his hand in his mouth and take it out like nothing had happened. She still had the skill, good. She focused her mind onto Algernon’s, trying to touch his psyche. It was very unlikely she’d be able to read his mind – Vriska could only do that to the simplest of intelligences – but she should be able to gauge him well enough. Nothing concrete, but enough to point her in the right direction…
She found herself hitting a brick wall of psychic power.
She blinked, focusing her vision on him. She didn’t want to steal his luck – it might mess with some of the results – but she had to try something. She tried a direct psychic push, a command, a thought implant, even a simple sleep command. All of them had no effect.
She stared in disbelief – over the years she’d gotten exceptionally good at molding the minds of humans. If it were a pony, she wouldn’t have been so surprised, she didn’t have as much experience with their brain structure, but a human? He’d have to either not be a human, or have some kind of psychic power… Neither of which was true, from the file she read anyway. His ‘Stand’, if there was such a thing, could only boil water…
Wait, right, that was a lie. Dammit, whatever he was doing to the others was getting into her head as well. She had already forgotten about the psychic itch in the back of her mind… This guy, whatever he was, was dangerous.
Such an immunity to her psychic powers was all she needed. She placed her fist into her palm and switched into her orange god-tier clothing, ready for a confrontation. She walked right up to him. “Hey, Algernon!”
Algernon turned to her and smiled. “Ah, Miss Serket. I was wondering if I’d run into you again. I’d like to apologize for my behavior at tea earlier – I may have been under a lot of stress, but that’s no excuse for being so bitter toward you.”
Vriska blinked. “…What?”
“I was rather rude. I’m afraid I didn’t realize it at the time.”
“Well… Uh…” She shook her head, clearing it. “Wait a minute. You’re just trying to get me off your scent aren’t you?”
“My… scent?”
“Yeah! I’ve been looking up information about you, about Earth Stand, the whole shebang. Nothing adds up. How can you be the only ambassador? Why does no one question you? Why isn’t there a coordinate to Earth Stand?”
Algernon’s face flashed in surprise, but quickly turned to a stern, sour look. “I believe you are reading too much into things, Miss Serket. The coordinates were purged by request of Earth Stand governments. You have clearly gained access to information you were not supposed to-“
Vriska stole a tiny bit of his luck – only a tiny amount. Confrontations like this were a clever game. She had to spend some of her own fortune to get the edge in the conversation, while lowering Algernon’s own. However, when she used hers to get information or force his face to reveal an expression he would otherwise keep hidden, she might fumble up and fall into a corner by complete accident…
It was all in the luck of light. She was a master at it, but she wasn’t going to underestimate Algernon just because of that.
“What did you do? Your eye just flashed.”
Vriska smirked. “Vision eightfold. It helps me see things. And I really don’t trust you, Algernon.” She took a bit of his luck, which effectively removed his unyielding confidence.
“You have no proof of anything.”
Vriska stole as much luck as she was willing to from a bystander to give her the boost she needed to sell this. “Oh yes, yes I do. You see, I’ve been in contact with Sombra-“ the moment she said that, she felt her immense luck drain to below the line she would have liked. Dammit, he must know somewhere in there that Sombra’s been affected as well. But I can use this… “And I have many files with seriously damning evidence. Furthermore, I have a particular set of psychic powers…” She stole a bit of luck from him, trying to keep her luck from remaining abysmal – she just needed to ride the wave from the last bit of fortune she had spent a little longer, get him to break down… “And through these powers, I have realized that you either aren’t human or you have an impressive psychic power of your own. I’m betting the latter. And guess what, bucko? I’ve also noted that certain aspects of my power fluctuate at times that suggest your guilt. I’m sure of it, Algernon, and I can use the information in those documents together with my powers to get your secret out.”
There it was. Murder in his eyes. He was going to attack her, and she would defend herself. She’d probably kill him, solving the problem without needing any proof. And then she’d be the hero once again…
Then she felt her luck levels rise slightly without her doing anything.
Uh oh. Something unfortunate just happened.
Evening Sparkle and O’Neill charged out of the crowd, tearing Vriska away from Algernon. “OH COME ON! I had him!” Vriska shouted.
“You had him what!?” O’Neill shouted. “Scared? On the ropes? Terrified? What the hell were you doing to him!?”
“I was getting him to confess, nimrod!”
“To what?!” O’Neill demanded.
“Manipulating your minds for his nefarious means? What else!?”
Eve sighed. “Vriska, I told you-“
“And because your mind is under his influence of course you can’t see it,” Vriska blurted, taking a step back. “Argh! Why couldn’t you have waited just five seconds more!”
“Because they’re my friends,” Algernon said, glaring at her. “And they’ll come when I need their help.”
Vriska saw the menace in his eyes. She got his message loud and clear. “You bastard. Can’t you two see he’s doing the evil face!”
Eve and O’Neill turned behind them, only for Algernon’s vicious expression to become broken and tired.
Vriska threw an 8-ball into Algernon’s face and stormed off in anger.
“Wait! Vriska-“ Eve called.
“I’M DONE WITH YOU LOSERS!” Vriska shouted, flipping them off as she walked away. “Go ahead, doom yourselves to the conspiracy. I’ll go find some mountain on Equis Vitis and wait for Aradia. Dig your own graves, see if I care.”
She didn’t listen to Eve calling after her.
~~~
There was a restaurant known as the Tasty Treat located in the Canterlot of Equis Vitis that Renee and Pinkie had a special connection to, because they had helped bring it to life amongst the stuffy atmosphere of high society. It could be vaguely described as ‘Indian’ food, even though such a nationality didn’t really exist on Equis Vitis. The beautiful spicy smells wafted through the restaurant, and the entire place just felt homey.
Daniel Jackson sat at a window table, arms folded over his mouth. His mind was fixated on something deeply important, so important he didn’t realize the waiter walk up.
“Ahem,” the waiter eventually declared.
“Not yet,” Daniel said, coming out of his stupor. “She’s not here.”
“…You’ve been here half an hour.”
“I arrived half an hour early.”
The waiter blinked, then rolled his eyes. “I’ll be back in a few minutes then. Enjoy the smells, I suppose.”
“Sorry for taking up a seat.”
“We’re not full anyway.”
“Thanks,” Daniel said, returning to his deep contemplation. He stared intently at a knot in the table for a few moments before letting his gaze drift to nothing.
He had no idea how much time passed between then and when his thoughts were interrupted.
“My Stars, Daniel! Did you actually dress up?”
Daniel shot bolt upright as Renee took her seat. “Yes! Yes I did. Figured that you were always dressing up-“
“Daniel, Darling, I’m a seamstress. Well, ambassador, diplomat, and seamstress – nevermind, the point is, I make dresses, so I’m going to wear dresses.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “You’re wearing a dress fit for the gala and a hat that could fit an ant colony on it.”
Renee brushed her diamond-white dress and smirked, angling her hat so she could look at Daniel with the perfect level of shadow over her eyes. “I do suppose it is a bit extravagant for the Tasty Treat…”
“Anything is extravagant for the Tasty Treat. They’ll accept anyone.”
“One of the delightful things about this place,” Renee said, beaming. “A beacon of inclusion and hope. And here I am sullying it by being what might as well be a disco ball.”
Daniel chuckled.
“Did I ever tell you about that design that actually was a disco ball? I mean, it was an artistic expression, but I have to admit it did look a little ridiculous. I’m sure you can imagine.”
“I think I can. Though the image in my mind is more using the disco ball as a hamster ball. Or pony ball, I guess.”
Renee chuckled. “Daniel, that’s a brilliant idea. I’ll have to bring up the idea of pony ball races to Pinkie. Of course it’ll double as a dance party…”
“And a boutique?”
“Rarity for You: RACE EDITION!”
The two shared a laugh. Daniel’s died off first.
“Daniel, you seem stressed,” Renee said.
“Oh, you noticed that?”
“It’s not like my talent is noticing the beauty and details in things,” Rarity deadpanned.
“Ah. Right. Well…”
“Daniel, let yourself relax first. Order some food. Okay?”
“…Okay.”
From a table across the restaurant Pinkie twitched. “Oh come on…” she muttered under her breath.
“Oh come on, what?” Nova asked.
“Nothing.”
“It’s something,” Flutterfree said, glancing over her menu at Renee and Daniel. “I mean, she wouldn’t have told us to be here if it wasn’t going to be something.”
“I said nothing!”
Nova rolled her eyes. “Suuuure. Can we order yet?”
“Not until I say so!” Pinkie hissed. “We need to keep the menus over our faces!”
Flutterfree raised an eyebrow. “You know chances are pretty high Renee knows we’re here, right?”
“She doesn’t,” Pinkie asserted. “And I plan to keep it that way…”
Nova blinked. “I can cast a disguise spell so we can at least order some food. I’m hungry!”
“I would feel a lot less like an evil spy if I didn’t have a menu in front of my face,” Flutterfree commented.
“Fine! Cast the spell!” Pinkie muttered. “But don’t let them catch you staring at them!”
“I won’t be,” Flutterfree declared. “That’d be rude. Actually, this entire thing is kind of rude.”
“It’s cute,” Nova said.
“They are cute. We are rude.”
“But we get to experience the cuteness this way!”
Flutterfree blinked. “Okay, I understand Pinkie just kinda knows things, but you’ve spied on them before haven’t you?”
Nova bit her lip. “Er…”
“I can’t believe you two.”
“Just go with it this once, Flutterfree, okay?” Pinkie said. “Trust me. And be discreet.”
Flutterfree took in a deep breath. “Fine. I get to eat some of Saffron’s soup, at least.”
“A good part of your balanced breakfast,” Pinkie declared.
“It’s dinner,” Flutterfree deadpanned.
Nova shrugged. “It’s food.” She cast the spell, surrounding the three of them in a color-change field. The waiter walked up to them and took their order.
~~~
Vriska walked out of a dimensional store in the Hub with a portal device and a license. Apparently she’d been automatically signed up for one after she met Eve the first time, just so she wouldn’t run into trouble with the law later. Which was good, Vriska was really not in the mood for DMV insanity. She wasn’t even sure what the DMV equivalent for dimensional travel even was here, and figuring that out would probably be an ordeal in and of itself.
Regardless, she had her device, so there was no chance of luck backfiring and sending her somewhere else. She dialed Equis Vitis and marched through the portal, fully intending to just find a landmark somewhere and wait for Aradia to show herself. She was thinking a mountain, or some magical nexus of some sort. Perhaps she’d awaken some ancient evil to grab the Handmaid’s attention. And – wait a minute.
Vriska found herself in a room covered in papers. Through a window she could see stars. This clearly wasn’t Equis Vitis.
“FUCK!” She shouted, kicking a wall. “I just can’t catch a br-“
“I GOT YOU!” A voice declared – that of a Starlight. “Yes! Successful interception!”
Vriska blinked, looking at the Starlight. She had goggles on her head and a metal band around one of her front legs. She had a device in her hoof she was using to scan Vriska. “I was right, you’ve got phenomenally high levels of the Beat.”
Vriska tensed. “Who… Are you?”
“Oh, I’m Starbeat, the expert on all thing Beat in this part of the multiverse. Oh, by the way, if I start kissing you for no reason, please don’t take offense – I do that sometimes and I’m so stressed right now I basically have no inhibitions left on my curse.”
“…Curse?”
“Shipping curse, I’m romantically attracted to anything I so much as have a ‘click’ with, hard to explain, we don’t have time anyway.” She cleared her throat. “You know Algernon’s up to something.”
“Yeah! He’s suspicious as all hell!”
“Good. I think he is too. I still remember him like a friend and have memories of everything he says, but I definitely, definitely don’t think anything matches up. He’s messing with everyone’s heads Vriska, and I’m only able to see it because I’m shunting all my willpower to keep myself fixated on him!” Her eye twitched.
“…You look like you belong in a madhouse.” Vriska grinned. “Just what I need.”
“Yay!” Starbeat said, pulling a monitor out of the ceiling. “So, what really makes me sure something is going on is this.” She pointed at two graphs on the screen that meant nothing to Vriska. They looked pretty similar, but weren’t identical. “This graph shows the pattern of Beat around a Chrysalis when she tried to invade Canterlot in an Equis that was offset back several years. This graph shows us the beat around Algernon. They’re almost identical, though Algernon’s patterns are stronger.” She rubbed her hooves together. “But I can’t show this to anyone, because he’s in their heads. They’ll just dismiss it. So it’s up to you and me, Vriska. We’ve got to stop him from whatever he’s doing!”
Vriska nodded. “Right!”
“With the amount of Beat you have, I’m sure nothing can stop us!” Starbeat declared, putting on her goggles.
“…Beat.” Vriska said, a hint of nervousness in her voice. “Right…”