//------------------------------// // Twilight: Nor'easter III // Story: Game of Worlds // by DualThrone //------------------------------// The journey on foot (the leader-construct became extremely agitated when Twilight spread her wings, although its reasons were as incomprehensible as before) was a very eerie experience. The first part of it was that except for the coherent construct that had ‘spoken’ to them, the rest of the flickering creatures seemed mindless and the randomness of their forms was more than a little unsettling. The hallucination, after interpreting the leader’s runes, had offered no further insights into what the constructs were, something that was even more unsettling as it implied that Nightmare was also unfamiliar with the nature of the creations escorting them. Turning off her magesight just made the situation more creepy, because the very odd-looking “pony” that had communicated with them turned out to be disguised as a freakishly tall and slender pony in an immaculately-tailored suit, carrying a scythe. And if all of those elements hadn’t set Twilight’s nerves on edge, the town they passed through had the appearance of having been abandoned only moments before they arrived: toys lay strewn as if dropped in a hurry, wisps of smoke curled from chimneys, many of the homes were well-lit, and what little land each home had looked like it had been groomed in the last couple of days. Given the eerieness of the atmosphere and the unsettling nature of their company, Twilight was only mildly chagrined that her reaction to a sudden girlish “Hi!” from a filly she hadn’t noticed until right then was to shriek and knock said filly head over flank with a panic barrier. The sudden creation of distance between herself and the filly allowed her to notice two things about her: first, that she was a zebra with stripes that were more blue-grey than black. The second, she noticed as the filly righted herself, was that the zebra was also a unicorn. The zebra-unicorn gave her head a quick little shake before beaming in a very childlike expression of awe and excitement. “Hi lady!” she said. “That’s a cool pink glowy bubble.” Twilight just blinked a couple of times as she looked at the cheerful mixed-species filly standing in the middle of an extremely eerie neighborhood of abandoned homes and beaming like she’d run across Twilight in the middle of a school playground. “Um, thanks,” she finally managed. “You’re welcome.” The filly turned her smile on the rest of the girls. “Hi! I’m Penny! What’re your names?” “Hi! I’m Pinkie!” came the instant response from the grinning pink earth pony. “Nice to meet you, Penny!” “Dawn.” “Rarity, and aren’t you an adorable little thing?” “Thanks, lady!” Penny turned her smile on Applejack, who just eyed her for several seconds before doffing her hat. “Jackie.” Penny was turned away from them, or she would have seen four looks of blank surprise directed at Applejack. As it was, she bounced a little in place. “Jackie! That’s a really cool name.” “OK, just cut the acting,” Ember growled. “If you’re an innocent filly, I’m a skink.” “You’re not a skink, silly,” Penny said in exactly the same bubbly and happy voice, without her excited and cheerful demeanor fading even a little. “So nice to meet you all. Don’t be late for dinner, now. Buh-bye!” Twilight waited until the odd little filly had turned and trotted down the empty street out of earshot before she stepped closer to Ember. “Acting?” “Yeah.” “That’s the one they called ‘little one’ ain’t it?” Ember grimaced. “Yeah.” Twilight watched as the small unicorn-zebra continued up the road, her trotting consisting of several bouncing little steps as she went. “Is it a disguise?” “Yeah, but not the kind yer thinkin’.” Ember looked at the head of their escort. “OK, we’ve met your boss. Can we go now?” The abnormally slim pony illusion nodded to Ember once and the entire pack of them began moving, going in the general direction that ‘Penny’ had taken, which Twilight assumed was the way out of the town and wherever their ultimate destination was. “Hey sis,” Dawn said in a low voice as they walked. “Yes?” “Got a spell that lets us talk at each other like we’re whispering and right next to each other, while we’re actually apart?” “Yes, a… umm… telegram spell.” Twilight did her best to sweep her eyes over the others without turning her head too much. “But I’m sure our guide has supernatural hearing of some kind.” Dawn shrugged. “So we test it first. It’s not like us trying to conceal conversation from an enemy is any kind of surprise. It’d probably get suspicious if we were perfect little angels and trotted along like sheep to shearing.” “Good point.” Twilight lit her horn and picked the memory of the spell’s pattern out of her mind. With a small effort, she sent several motes of lavender light into the air, flitting over to the ears of her companions and settling thereon, winking out as they did. “OK, g…” “Kin hear ya jus’ fine, Twilight,” Applejack said before Twilight could even ask. “Kin hear ya jus’...” “Whoah, sis, it’s like you’re talking normal…” “The hell can I hear you talking, Sparkle?” “...in my ear…” “...Twilight.” “You’re coming through…” “...and not in a whisper.” “...can I hear you…” Twilight stumbled a little as she first heard her friends reply to her question, before she even asked it, and then heard their voices repeating what they just said a split second later. “I think Nightmare tweaked another one of your spells,” Pinkamena observed after the discordant cacophony had stopped; significantly, her voice repeating what she just said didn’t follow immediately. “Whatcha mean, Pinkster?” Pinkamena waited until the inevitable repetition passed. “I mean, I can hear you speak before you speak,” she said. “We all heard Twilight’s question, and then she actually asked it.” “Pinkster, are you saying we’re talking with our thoughts?” “If we were, we wouldn’t be able to hear ya,” Ember said, also without repeating herself audibly. Dawn turned her head and blew a raspberry at the dragon, who just bared her teeth in a grin. “I think it’s more that the improved spell ‘intercepts’ the intent to speak, and the words intended to be spoken, before they’re actually spoken,” Twilight said, keeping her mouth shut as she did. Noticeably, the ears of their escort had turned back forwards, implying that there was nothing to hear any longer. “So we’re talking to each other without making a sound?” “Until our escorts choose to respond, we can’t be sure of that,” Twilight said. “But the probability seems such that it would warrant acting as if it was true, given the data. Simply, the captain of our escort is imitating pony mannerisms with enough precision that it seems highly likely that the mannerisms are as automatic to it as they are to us. It turned them back to listen when we initially spoke all at once, but turned them back forwards when we stopped being audible.” “Well, not lahk she kin learn anything more ‘bout us if the theory about her sorta readin’ minds works out,” Applejack said. “Seems pretty harmless.” “If ya thought that, ya wouldn’t have lied to her face, Element of Honesty.” “Why did you lie to her, darling?” Applejack looked uncomfortable. “Well, it ain’t a proper lie cuz some family calls me that, so it’s sorta mah name, but it ain’t the name folk usually use.” “So Applejack, why did you lie to her?” Applejack frowned. “Ah… dunno, ‘zactly. Jus’ kinda had a sense that she knew it all, but wanted ta hear it from us. Lahk…” “...she gets something from it,” Dawn finished. “Eeyup, that. Ah… jus’ got the feeling it’d be bad if Ah said mah name ta her.” “So the rest of us who answered the question could be in danger?” “Considering we’re walking straight into her clutches with the ‘help’ of a bunch of her creepy constructs, I think yer already sorta in danger,” Ember said. “Like, tons of it. What can she get from you telling her your name?” “There’s lotsa theories about that,” Dawn said. “Ranging from being able to control someone like a puppet on a string, to being able to drag you into their presence by name repetition, to being able to kill you and have done.” “All the research is pure theory, conjecture, and guessing,” Twilight said. “No pony has ever developed that kind of power, so there’s no proof to go on. In theory, certain beings have related powers due to intellectus but all are too strong and malevolent to be a useful source of data.” “Intel… what-is?” Twilight looked sheepishly at her friends. “Sorry. Um… situational omniscience.” “Twi, Ah’m afraid…” “Being all-knowing except not really,” Dawn said. “Basically, having power over a place so that you know absolutely everything that goes on there. Like, a fly lands on an apple in the place, and you instantly know which apple in which tree and know exactly where on the apple it is, even if you have no way to see the apple, much less the tree.” “It’s also possible to gain the state of being in relation to a field of knowledge,” Twilight added. “Attain intellectus in mathematics and you gain the ability to instantly know the solution to an equation. You no longer need to understand how to solve the equation, you just look at the equation and instantly know the answer. Mom and Luna inherently have intellectus in relation to their sun and moon respectively: every fluctuation and nuance is instantly available to them, which is why they can move them by pretty much wishing it to be so.” “Sounds about like what Little Bint set up,” Ember said. “She always seems to know everything about everyone in the Lands. Betcha she’s got that intellectus thing going on.” “I’ve never heard of being able to simply create a state of intellectus,” Twilight said. “Pretty sure these Evils and their buddies don’t obey our rules sis,” Dawn said. “I mean, remember Nightmare’s story? About how her species can just sort of hollow out a body and wear it like clothes? Shred the soul, even when they don’t mean to? We don’t even have a theory for that kind of thing.” “And so we give up all hope?” If Twilight hadn’t been able to see the ghost of a smirk and the slight skeptical twitch of an eyebrow, Applejack’s question would have sounded more resigned. “No.” Pinkamena shook her head. “We just kinda start believing we don’t know anything, then watch really closely. Everything obeys the rules, even when ‘the rules’ are totally different. So what’re the rules of Penny?” “Don’t get noticed,” Ember said. “Yeah, the meeting your airship thing was really noticable and so was popping in to talk at you herself, but she’s usually keeping it low key.” “You said she fears Queen Chrysalis, right?” “Yeah, but I don’t get why she latched onto the bug queen,” Ember said. “Griffons are a bigger deal. So’s Equestria, and you’ve got Princess Burn-Cities-To-Set-An-Example and Princess Black Banners.” “...did mum really…?” “Naw,” Ember glanced at their escort, who continued to walk along unawares, before flashing Dawn a grin. “She’s sorta too nice to go that far. But I wasn’t kidding about her kid sister. Clearly, you ponies didn’t write down what the princess of sky pictures and moonlight did with her spare time.” “Eyup, probably,” Applejack said. “So she’s got only the single one?” “She’d got another, but it’s sorta… hard to describe. For me, at least, cuz I haven’t actually seen it myself.” “Thalia has?” “Yeah. It’s why she wasn’t the one to meet ya on the airship in front of the crowd: if Pen put two an’ two together, she’d’ve pulled some puppet strings and dogpiled her to death.” Ember expression became grim. “I’ve seen it done, bunch of times. Ever heard that anyone can kill th’ king if they don’t care about living after? Same principle, ‘cept the meat don’t have a choice.” “How’d she…?” “Take power?” Ember snorted. “Take a wild guess.” “You didn't figure she was gonna stab ya and twist the knife till she did.” “Got it in one, pinky.” Ember sighed. “Oh yeah, couple things about Penny. Not rules, but stuff ya might wanna keep in mind. First, ya don’t want to touch her.” “She… don’t lahk bein’ touched?” “She doesn’t mind at all,” Ember said. “But she feels like a long-dead corpse to the touch. Cold as ice and clammy, though she’s pretty clearly breathing and doing all the other alive stuff. Doesn’t smell like a corpse either. I mean, sorta odd-smelling, but she’s a zebra with a horn so that comes with the territory.” “Can she use it?” “Sure, ‘bout as well as any average unicorn from what I hear.” Ember glanced at Twilight. “Why’d ya ask? Ain’t it, yanno, normal for pony with a horn to be able to use it?” “Hybridization is a very rare birth defect,” Twilight said. “Viable hybridization even rarer. As in, the last census data from three years ago showed ten hybrids in the entire world and upwards of seventy percent aren’t viable.” “Pretty heartbreaking no matter what,” Dawn added. “Stunted and useless wings, withered legs, barely any horn to speak of or more than one horn, and a hybrid with a horn can’t really use it cuz there ain’t a metaphysical connection to the font. So Penny’s pretty much the only one ever.” “Explains why ‘Lia seemed taken aback. OK, so the second thing about her is that looking her direct in the eye is a bad idea.” “Why?” “Cuz behind the eyes is the brain, and the brain is the metaphysical mind, an’ her mind can reach out and play with your mind.” Ember gave Twilight a wide grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “So, fun fact about winning a fight without fighting: ya can back someone down who’s a lot bigger and stronger by lookin’ ‘em directly in the eye. Or, if you’re big and strong too, you can beat someone down by force of will without hurting them.” “And that is why the other dragons were acting strangely.” Rarity hadn’t said much during the mental conversation, so her chiming in made Twilight glance at her. The elegant fashionista (who was inexplicably groomed considering their long walk so far) was watching Ember with a distant but calculating expression, and Twilight had the immediate impression that she was watching her friend’s assassin training at work even though no weapon was visible. “She enthralled them.” “Some, yeah,” Ember said. “The biggest brawns. Me and ‘Lia are still trying to work out what she did to the ones with a big of brains on top of the muscle…” \ “...and why she didn’t do it to the heir to the throne.” Rarity fixed Ember with a look. “And why she didn’t do it when you inherited.” “Well, that last one is cuz I haven’t inherited anything.” Twilight realized that she could hear Ember’s retort with her real ears instead of her mind at about the moment that their escort’s eyes snapped to them and even with how alien it looked, she could see metaphorical gears turning behind the construct’s eyes. “Something you want to say to me?” Ember said as she stepped around Pinkamena and stared at the construct with her arms crossed. The construct stared back at her before the total black that were its eyes seemed to flow out of the sockets, leaving black irises behind, and its disguise began shrinking down even as a mouth and a gray-and-black mane formed. Its coat turned a deep charcoal and over it grew a black, perfectly-fitted suit. After several moments of the transformation, the construct tilted its head back and forth, jointed popping, before the mouth curled into a sneer. “Yeah,” it said in a very male voice that sounded like it was plucked directly from the upper cruster of Trotsford University. “You’re kind of cute when you’re hurting and trying to cover it up.” Ignoring Ember’s expression turning suddenly stormy, the construct looked at Twilight. “If you don’t want me to teach you a few lessons, princess, don’t try that thought-speak trick anymore.” He tapped a hoof against the side of his head. “I can hear you jabbering up here, and I don’t have a lot of patience for nonsense.” Twilight blinked a couple times as the construct changed forms with no apparent sign of having used any kind of magic, or some kind of magic being cast on it to alter it. Was a completely different…? “None of your business,” the construct interrupted her thought-question. “Any other dumb questions you need answered before I get you out of my mane?” “Yer pretty chatty all of a sudden,” Ember snorted. “So was he, but you lot couldn’t figure out how to listen to him.” The construct leered. “Lucky you. Now, I woulda loved to watch him give you the garden tour but boss-girl wants your plots kicked to Ember’s house, recently swiped by her intellectual and magical superiors. Chop chop kids, daddy’s already bored with you.” “Yeah, sure, got it,” Dawn said. “So if you can hear us thinking, does this mean we can chatter loudly to each other and piss you off instead of thinking it?” The construct looked steadily at her for several moments. “Alright, so we have our first problem child on this little playground tour. Guess this means I get to spank a bad little filly.” His grin became unnaturally wide, and the teeth looked pointed all of a sudden. “Lucky me.” “What makes you think I’ll let you hurt her?” Twilight said, looking hard at the construct. “What makes you think you can stop her from getting hurt?” The unnatural grin persisted. “The things you want to step in the way of? They operate on a higher level than you, girl. Sure, you can stop me; it won’t even be hard for you, you just need to ask with a really angry expression on your face. And do you know what I’ll do, if you do?” “An’ what’s that?” “Don’t interrupt your betters, farmer.” “An’ what’s that?” Twilight repeated, doing her best to imitate Applejack’s drawl. The construct’s eyes narrowed very slightly. “I’ll stop, and we’ll keep walking. And I’ll tell the boss that there’s a problem in this little shindig. Girl with a bunch of spirit and a good touch of defiance. Possible obstacle, kid sister of one of the Elements.” He paused, the rictus grin dropped, and he gave Twilight a perfectly blank and neutral expression. “Fixing that little character flaw rarely takes more than an hour.” “...excuse me, fixing?” The construct ignored the question from Dawn, staring at Twilight with that perfectly neutral expression, before the sadistic grin returned. “No matter who does it, Miss Sparkle, a little problem gets a lot solved. I suppose you could strike me down--I’m sure you have the power for it--and scatter my pieces to every edge of the world but that’d be like coming right out and telling the kid that you’re hostile and need to get beat. You want to plan, to learn what you’re up against, devise a strategy, use all that book learning and massive smarts to get an advantage-- or at least a level playing field--and I’m pretty sure you’re hot and bothered to chat up the firecracker Penny want to throttle but can’t. Goes down the crapper real quick if you start the party early, don’t it?” “So, wait, you’re telling us that if you don’t get to stop and torture me for a while, the cheerful little thing made of smiles and bubbles will rewrite my mind?” Dawn gaped at the construct. “You realize how stupid that sounds, right?” “Feel free to correct anything I’ve said to you.” He smirked, although he continued to not look at Dawn. “If I’ve said anything that’s false, or simply omitted the truth, lay it down. But the clock’s ticking. So, lightning round princess: you’ve got exactly one minute to decide as of the end of me speaking this sentence.” Twilight stared at him. “Do you honestly expect me to stand by any let you torture my sister in front of me?” “Forty-one, and yes.” “Why?” “Thirty-four, and because I’m taking an opportunity that was offered me by circumstances. Twenty-five.” “I’m serious. Why are you doing this?” “Eighteen. Because I’ve got something to gain, and the rest is none of your business. Think fast, princess, cuz your time is nearly up. Seven.” “...what will you do?” “I’m not going to make it that easy.” The sadistic, rictus grin returned. “Time’s up, Twilight Sparkle. Make the call.”