//------------------------------// // 11. The Brightest Minds // Story: Divine Intervention // by Orthoros //------------------------------// Atlas, Twilight, Spike, and Princess Luna were enjoying a nice breakfast in one of the castles private dining rooms. Over the past few days, Atlas had been working himself to the bone drawing arrays, crunching numbers, and dealing with minor administrative things such as coordinating the array locations together with Discord. Every now and again he would leave the castle for a few minutes to go set up one of these locations, albeit in a very unexciting and efficient manner. Despite all of that, he had made it a point to at least show up for breakfast and dinner. Not only to quell Twilight and Luna’s worries, but to grant himself small breaks here and there as well. He knew perfectly well that he had the capabilities to go full steam for a measly three weeks if he wanted to, but recognized that if it came down to it, and his efforts weren’t enough, he’d just have to double down towards the end. This had the side effect that the others didn’t come to check in on him every few hours and disturb his workflow. All things considered, he probably wasted less time like this. “I’ve gotten word that the magisters and our archmage have all gathered in Ponyville,” Luna said between bites of sliced bananas. “They say that they are ready to talk, whenever you wish to do so.” “Already?” Atlas cocked an eyebrow as he loaded his plate with a veritable mountain of pancakes. “I thought they were supposed to show up in three days…” “Given the circumstances, they seem to have hurried here,” Luna retorted. “Can’t blame ‘em, really.” “Huh,” Atlas drowned his pancakes with syrup, not really paying attention to what he was doing. “I guess I’ll talk with them later today. The sooner we get this over with, the better. I assume they’re all in the castle?” “Yes, they should be enjoying their breakfast in the main dining hall,” Twilight chimed in. “Princess Celestia has sent over a few cooks and maids to help out with the increased load. I have to say, it’s interesting to see this place so alive.” “Agreed,” Spike smiled broadly. “And I have less to do now that they’re here. Can we keep them when the world is saved? Please?” Twilight shot Spike a conflicted look, seemingly ready to deny his request. “You are a Princess, you do know that, right?” Luna shot her a pointed look. “You’ll have to get some help at some point, not to mention some guards. Besides, leaving everything to Spike seems a bit cruel to me.” “I suppose you’re right,” Twilight sighed. “I’ll think about it…” “Make sure you do,” Luna nodded once. “So when do you want me to set up that meeting, father?” “Well, since they’re here earlier than I expected, I still need to prepare a few things before talking to them,” Atlas rubbed his chin with a hoof. “I guess somewhere around three should be fine.” “I’ll let them know and come get you when it’s time,” Luna confirmed, reaching for some flakes and milk with her magic. “Much appreciated,” Atlas said, looking down at his plate and seemingly realizing just then that his crisp and fluffy pancakes had devolved into a sticky mess. “Shit.” The tables other occupants shared a chuckle at Atlas’ misfortune before their attention was diverted towards Twilight. More specifically, her flank. Her cutie mark was glowing brightly and flashing at a steady interval, reminding Atlas of a smartphone receiving a phone-call. He was considering putting his ear against it and saying “hello”, when Luna disturbed the curious silence. “Pray tell, does your cutie mark do that often?” “Uhhh…” Twilight helpfully replied. “No.” “Have you ever seen something like that, father?” Luna directed the next question towards her father, who was busy trying to un-fuck his breakfast. “Yes, but no,” Atlas said cryptically. “Don’t worry about it, I’d rather not explain this six times in a row. Just continue eating for now.” “Is it something serious?” Twilight asked, somewhat worried. “I guess for you and your friends it would be,” Atlas shrugged. “But more on that later.” Seeing as none of them would get any more answers out of Atlas, they returned to their regularly scheduled morning sustenance. Everypony aside from Atlas shot curious glances at the flashing cutie mark from time to time, but continued eating while holding somewhat superficial conversations. “They’re here,” Atlas said looking up from his food, looking towards the door. Twilight was about to ask what he meant but was rudely interrupted by the door flying open and a pink blur shooting into the room, almost bowling over Spike. “Good morning everypony!” Pinkie Pie cried out, somehow being seated next to Spike, a plate full of food in front of her. “Great weather today, isn’t it? I made special “great weather Cupcakes” already to celebrate and, oh hey, your cutie mark is doing the thing too!” “The thing?” Twilight looked down at her still flashing cutie mark, before noticing Pinkie's cutie mark flashing in the same manner. “Yes darling, the… thing,” Rarity said as she entered the room as well, albeit in a much more controlled manner than Pinkie did. “I’m afraid all of us are experiencing whatever this is. Although, I do have to admit that it doesn’t look half bad…” True to her word, the rest of Twilight's friends filed in behind Rarity, all of their cutie marks glowing and flashing as well. “You wouldn’t happen to know what’s going on, would you?” Rainbow asked, hovering above the rest. “We got three of the biggest eggheads in Equestria in the same room, surely at least one of you can figure out what’s going on here, right?” “Actually, my father seems to know something,” Luna said. “He was expecting you to show up, and refused to explain further until you were all here.” “And you would be correct,” Atlas said, using a napkin, and failing, to clean some sirup away from his mouth, eventually resorting to magic. “Now that you’re all here, we should move to the… I guess it’s a throne room? Everything will more or less explain itself once we’re there.” “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Pinkie giggled and shot out the door, snatching Atlas along the way and dragging him with her before anypony could react. Luna stared at the space that was until just now occupied by her father with slight confusion while the others already started leaving the room as well, chattering about their current situation and speculating about the reasons for the weird glow. They were obviously used to Pinkies antics and not even fazed in the slightest. Deciding to not be bothered too much about what just happened, she sighed before getting up and following the mares towards Twilight Sparkles “throne room”. When she entered as the last one, the others were already gathered around the table at the center of the multiple crystal thrones spread out around it. For some reason, a map of Equestria was displayed on it by means of magic, and the cutie marks of the element bearers seemed to float above a certain spot. “Well, here it is,” Atlas said, waving his hoof over the map. “The reason your cutie marks are going haywire.” “A map?” Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “Whatever is it for?” “And why are our cutie marks floating around on it?” Rainbow asked, hovering above the table and swatting at her cutie mark like an airborne cat. Atlas had long since confirmed that the map was indeed pointing towards Starlight Glimmers village out in the boonies. There was no doubt that the cutie map was calling Twilight and her friends to resolve their first friendship problem. Thing is, they currently had bigger fish to fry. “You need to know that this entire castle is like a living organism, and its sole concern seems to be the spreading of harmony,” Atlas explained. “Since you six have become some sort of avatars of friendship, the castle is trying to send you out on a mission. It sensed that something is awry and it’s attempting to send you over there to resolve the issue.” “That seems a little… far-fetched,” Luna commented. “But aren’t friendship problems relatively common?” Twilight asked. “What makes this one so special that we should get called like this?” “The problems pointed out by the map are usually of a greater magnitude than your usual small dispute between friends,” Atlas started pacing around the table. “And so is this one.” “Do you know what this one is about? Is there a way to tell?” Rarity asked. “I do know why the map is calling you, in this particular instance, yes,” Atlas grimaced. “But there isn’t really a reliable way to tell, other than go there and find out. As for why I know, let’s just add this to my list of secrets.” “So we should go there and resolve… whatever is happening?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Usually, yes,” Atlas nodded and stopped next to Twilight. “But since we’re currently trying to save the world from being wiped out, no, no you should not. I can safely tell you that this problem will still be there for you to solve after we made sure that everypony survives.” “Why show us all of this then, if you won’t let us go anyway?” Rainbow touched down on the ground with a quizzical look. “It’s still important that you know about this,” Atlas said. “That way you won’t be confused when it happens next time.” “So what do we do now?” Twilight asked. “We continue with the plan like usual,” Atlas put a hoof on the map and lit up his horn. He established a connection with the elements and coaxed them into turning off the map. “I turned off the map, so it won’t disturb us again until everything is… safe. “Now, Luna, could you set up that meeting with the mages? I still have to prepare a few things, so if you’d excuse me, I’ll retreat into my office,” Atlas nodded towards Luna and trotted out of the room, leaving behind six confused mares. “Is it weird that he seems to have more control over your castle than you do?” Applejack asked Twilight. “It kind of is… maybe I can get him to teach me someday…” Twilight said, already thinking about all the fun she’d have, learning from Atlas. “I really do hope he is right about this not being an emergency, though…” “My father really likes to be secretive,” Luna nodded. “But you’ll find that he usually is right. He knows a lot more about the things happening in this world than he’ll let on, and I’m willing to bet that he is right this time as well. So I’d suggest we do as he says and return to the task at hand.” The element bearers reluctantly agreed and shuffled out of the room, one by one, closely followed by Luna, which was already mentally going over the details of the meeting she was about to set up. Luna lead Atlas into one of the castles many, otherwise unused, meeting rooms. Inside, twelve unicorns of all ages were seated around a long table, their eager discussion cut short by the entrance of their Princess and Atlas. The two greeted the room as a whole while Atlas took up position at the head of the table, while Luna took her place at the last empty chair right next to him. Silence permeated the room as Atlas took his sweet time organizing all the different papers he had brought with him. A quick glance behind him revealed a blackboard, which was brought in on his request. He was about to make extensive use of said board, and now that everything was in place, he finally addressed the patiently waiting scholars. “Good afternoon, everypony,” Atlas made it a point to look at everyone present, curious eyes gazing back at him. “I called you here today to further discuss how you will be able to help out with my endeavor.” An elderly stallion two seats down from Atlas gingerly raised his hoof, getting Atlas attention and promptly receiving permission to speak. “Yes, excuse me if I’m so blunt about this, but what exactly is this big and important project of yours? All we’ve been told was that it is paramount for the safety of Equestria and that we’ll need massive amounts of mana.” The stallion's voice betrayed his seeming age, revealing a sharpness behind it, that Atlas didn’t expect. “Fair question,” Atlas nodded sagely. “During today's discussion, I’ll not only provide you with all the details you need to help, but also inform you a bit about why exactly we are doing what we are, so that you may better understand what’s at stake. “But before we begin, I must ask this: Are you all familiar with the theories behind megaspells, and the large-scale mana sharing spells theoretically needed for them?” Atlas looked around the table, receiving nods and other affirmative actions from the other occupants. “I know for most of you those are just theories, since Starswirl banned any and all research concerning them. But to do what we need to do, we’ll have to create such a large scale spell. As such, it is reassuring to me, that you at least are familiar with the concept.” “You mean to tell us that you somehow have the magical knowledge and resources to pull this off, even though nopony has come even close to finding a way to do it, not to mention the fact that research for these kinds of spells have been, as you already said, banned not only by Starswirl, but also the crown?” A younger stallion took a careful glance at Princess Luna next to Atlas as he finished his statement. “Simply put, yes,” Atlas replied, much to the surprise of everypony else, aside from his daughter. “I do in fact possess the required knowledge, and as for the resources, the crown will be supplying and funding all of it, so you won’t need to worry about that. “We are facing an unprecedented threat to this world as a whole, and to overcome this trial, we need spells of an equally epic scale, or, honestly speaking, we’re all done for,” Atlas said ominously. “As such, we need the cooperation of every equine in Equestria, as well as every creature willing to help us out, or we’ll never even come close to gathering enough mana to power the spell. Which reminds me, Luna, how is the effort to gather everypony going?” “The last settlement has been informed as of three days ago…” Luna bit her cheek as she mulled the information over. “Everypony is starting to get ready to do what is needed of them. As far as I’m aware, the first few ponies designated to the Ponyville array are already beginning to show up here.” “Very good,” Atlas nodded happily. “Well then, let me begin my explanation. You all best get comfortable, because this is going to take a while. There is much to discuss, and we only have eleven days left before we’re all toast.” “Eleven days?!?” Multiple shouts of slight panic slammed into Atlas, which he replied to with a sweet smile. “Yes…” Atlas’ smile slowly transformed into a evil smirk. “It’s crunch time!”