//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: The Stronger Tiara // by computerneek //------------------------------// Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom! She lets out a sigh of relief as she finally hears Twilight’s yelp on the other side.  It’s in the middle of the night right now; she’d been awoken herself, very suddenly, only two minutes ago.  Now, she’s finally managed to awaken Twilight- though her knocks on Twilight’s bedroom door must have sounded like a giant was knocking. She didn’t think she was that strong.  Whatever- she’d tried knocking lighter, but Twilight had slept through it.  She’d contemplated waking Spike, to have him go in Twilight’s room to wake her up, but again, it’s the middle of the night- Spike would be even harder to wake than Twilight, at this hour.  And she doesn’t want to enter Spike’s room herself either, for the same reason. And besides, she didn’t damage the doors or anything, so no harm, no foul, right? “Wha-?” Twilight calls from within, tone wavering slightly as if shaking herself awake.  “Who’s there?” It now sounds like she’s getting herself awake, and starting to focus more on her strength. “Twilight?” she asks the closed doors. Moments later, the doors slam open, surrounded by purple glow, with Twilight behind them, searching for something.  “Wha…? Wait, was that you?” She nods.  “Yeah! There’s-!” The door slams back shut, right in her face.  “I’m tired, come back in the morning.” “But- but Twilight!  It’s-!” She stops, listening to the sound of Twilight’s snoring through the door for a second.  “Aaand… you’re already back asleep. That’s not normal, is it?” Not waiting for an answer, she gallops for the next closest pony of importance:  The Carousel Boutique. It takes her a minute to get there, and she instantly sets to work pounding on the door, not waiting to catch her breath.  She can actually see Rarity in the main room, snoozing softly on the floor. The simple wooden door creaks and groans, the frame and hinges protesting as well, but the normally light sleeper stays asleep. “Something’s not right,” she declares, and heads for the next one:  Sugarcube Corner. As usual, a gentle knock is all she needs, and Pinkie answers the door instantly.  Pinkie also starts talking immediately, though it seems faster than normal. “Sorry I can’t talk right now I can’t stay awake for more than five seconds at a time because of something and I don’t know how to fight it maybe Bonbon could help try them bye!” The door lands closed again, and she hears the springs of Pinkie’s bed upstairs groaning as she hits them again. She nods.  “Thanks for the tip,” she states, and runs for the named mare’s home- even though she doesn’t know how she could help when the Elements of Harmony themselves couldn’t. Here, she assaults the door once again.  She breaks off when she hears a crash- and following scream- from inside.  Seconds later, Bonbon opens the door- and flings it wide. “Diamond?” Bonbon’s housemate, Lyra Heartstrings, asks, her head rising from where she had been looking through a tube-like magnification device she doesn’t know the name for attached to the top of a long, thin, tube-like physical-object-acceleration-based weapon device she also doesn’t know the name for, both pointed at her.  “How’re you even awake right now?” She blinks; that was not what she expected.  “Uh, what?” Then Bonbon grabs her and pulls her inside, before Lyra’s magic flicks the door closed.  Lyra also rises from her weapon, lifting it with her as she moves closer on her hind legs.  As she does so, she keeps it pointed at the floor. “How are you awake right now?” Bonbon repeats the musician’s question. “I don’t know,” she states. “Does it have anything to do with the sinkhole Twilight’s ordered protected for you?” Lyra asks. “Probably.” “How do you mean?” Bonbon asks. “It sensed something, so I woke up.” “Called it,” Lyra states, glancing briefly at the candymaker.  “Have you had a chance to talk to it yet?” She blinks.  “Talk to it?” “Yeah.  Those Bolos can sense a lot of stuff that we can’t.” “Oh,” she states; Lyra must be thinking of something else.  “No. I just sensed… danger, and woke up.” An eyebrow raised.  “You mindmelded with it or something?” She tilts her head.  “What’s that mean?” “Same mind- like an extension of yourself?” She blinks.  Perhaps she is talking about the same thing.  “I think.” “Alright.  Any clue where the danger is?” She shakes her head.  “Sweetie’s called the alarm.  I haven’t seen it yet.” “Sweetie’s?  She has one too?” Nod.  “Not… mindmelded yet.” “Is she okay?” Nod.  “She’s in mine.” “Can you ask hers what the problem is?” Headshake.  “Tried. It’s gone silent.” “Power loss,” Bonbon mutters. Lyra nods.  “Probably. Those things are solar powered.”  She glances back forwards.  “But that’s not the cause for the alarm, is it?” She shakes her head.  “Sweetie was transferred from the healing box in hers to the one in mine four hours ago, because hers was running out of power.” “Sounds like a medical nanovat,” Lyra states.  Then she glances at Bonbon. “And Bolos don’t panic.” “What?” the candymaker asks. The musician nods.  “How do you think Diamond has even a semblance of calm left?  We’re in the middle of a snooze field for crying out loud!” “Snooze field?” she asks. “Dark magic,” Lyra states.  “Area-effect spell, used to put large numbers of ponies to sleep.  We’re trained to resist it.” A glance down at her. “And they’re really effective against foals, training or not.  The mindmeld with the Bolo is probably the only reason you’re awake right now.” “Dark magic?” she asks.  “Like the curse they found on my tiara?” Both mares eye her tiara suspiciously.  “Cursed tiara?” Lyra asks, weapon shifting. “Not this one,” she states.  “The original. It’s been sent to Celestia for cleaning- I made this one myself, as a replacement, yesterday.” Lyra squints at the tiara, then nods.  “Yeah, that’s duralloy, not silver. Dark magic won’t stick to it.” “What happened to the first one?” “It was stolen, found, and found to be cursed.” “Who stole it?” “I don’t know.” “Any idea why they stole it?” “No.” “When?” “Twelve oh-seven A.M., last night.” An eyebrow goes up.  “Where?” “In my…  you called it a Bolo.” “Wait,” Bonbon states.  “Why did Twilight order it protected for you?” “Because the mindmeld whatsits bond is still forming or something.” Lyra shakes her head.  “No, the mindmeld is instant.  That’s bodymeld you’re talking about.  And I bet she’s feeding it with the Element of Magic, isn’t she?” “Yes.” “Then we need to get over there.” “What?” “If she fed it with one of the Elements, Dark magic can find it.  It’ll be protected for a little, but not forever- and we don’t want Twilight, because if it finishes the process with Harmony magic, it’ll be useless.” “What-?” “A Bolo is a machine of war, Diamond.  You’ve already got a mindmeld, so it literally can’t do anything you don’t want it to.  If fed on the Elements of Harmony, it’ll be little more than an inert hunk of alloy.” “Huh?” “Yeah.  I mind-and-body-melded with one myself, a long time ago.  Fed it with Harmony magic. Because of that, it’s a great big lump of useless alloy buried deep under Canterlot, all its remaining knowledge transferred to me.  I didn’t even get to keep its processing capacity!” “What-!?” “Don’t worry.  I know exactly how to stop that from happening to you and finish off the bond at the same time.”  She smiles. “I was planning to bond Bonnie with another one, so I did my research.” “Another one?” “Yeah.  Never found another, though- and it’s not possible to break the bond, once started, without completely trashing at least one side.” She looks at the unicorn’s weapon.  “What’s that?” The unicorn blinks.  “It’s a sniper rifle.  Yours missing a lot of data too?” She shakes her head.  “It feels complete- except it doesn’t know Equestrian.” Nod.  “That would do it.  Mine knew Equestrian, but very little of the rest of its databanks were still in one piece.”  She hefts the weapon. “That’s where I got the plans for this. Best one I have. Now, we’d better get going.” She turns to the door, but Lyra stops Bonbon from reaching the handle.  “Before we do,” Lyra states. “Diamond, how much outside sensor capability do you have?” “Huh?” “How much can you see outside?” “Nothing,” she states.  “I do have a few spider-like things I can send out, though.” “You have tech spiders?” She tilts her head.  “Tech spiders…? Uh, yeah, I think.” “Awesome!  See if you can’t sneak them out near your entrance, undetected- to watch for threats as we approach.”  She sighs. “Keep one hidden, though. Those things are what allows your Bolo to fix itself; I’d hate risk permanently crippling your repair capability.” “I don’t rely on them,” she states.  “Something else, smaller. It can pass through walls, build, gather…  not very good at seeing, though. And I have a lot of those.” The musician blinks twice.  “You have nanites?  That’s even better!  I only got a few mentions of ‘em in my databanks, and most of my spiders were destroyed when somepony else found my Bolo, before the bond was complete.  I understand nanites aren’t very useful in combat- but they’re virtually impossible to exterminate, thanks to their numbers and mobility.  So, whatever you think is best, I guess. I’d vastly prefer to make the trip with surveillance than without.” “Huh?” “Yeah.  He could attack us while we’re on our way over- and I’d like to see him coming when he does, if at all possible.” She closes her eyes, concentrates.  Twilight’s scans had tickled her walls- so hopefully, she can sense the ‘snooze field’ as well. She can.  It’s a strange feeling, almost like she’s looking through muddy water, and it takes a lot of effort- but she can see it. She draws in a breath, and lets it go, opening her eyes again.  “He’s in my house.” “What?” the candymaker asks. “He’s in my house,” she repeats.  “It takes effort, but I can see the snooze field- and through it, him.” “We must hurry,” the musician states.  “High-level sensor access means the bond is nearing completion- and difficulty reaching it means it’s Harmony magic.  And we cannot let it complete on either Harmony magic or Dark magic.”  She rips the door open again, and runs out of it on three legs, the last one holding her weapon. She follows, the candymaker on her tail, and immediately turns down the street, towards her Bolo.  “This way,” she states- and the other two follow. On the way, she pauses, twice, to sense the field again.  The first time, he’s still in her house. “So what would happen if it finished on dark magic?” she asks, while they sneak down an alleyway. “You’d die,” Lyra answers.  “And dark magic would gain control of the Bolo- like Sombra.  Think about it again after I’ve finished the bond off for you, and you’ll understand how bad that would be.” “Huh?” “Because that’s when you’ll have access to all its functions.” The second time she senses for him, though… “He’s following us!” she hisses, and breaks into a gallop.  Not a full gallop, no- but fast enough the two mares are having difficulty keeping up with her.