//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Fateless // Story: Elements of Harmony // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Twilight didn’t march straight for the pony upstairs—if Twilight saw her coming, she was very likely to panic. On the other hoof, a sudden appearance would briefly startle her, but there was very little chance of her being able to escape once she got close. Twilight remembered perfectly well how awful it was to cast any meaningful spells while under Starlight’s curse. There was no chance of being overpowered here. Twilight walked to one side of the bottom floor, where she would have a good view of top floor shelves. Then she teleported the distance, appearing inside them surrounded by more identical books. At least from their titles, it looked like Starlight had a fairly decent library here. Many of these were classics of pony literature, or useful reference materials. Twilight lifted one in her magic out of curiosity, frowning down at its contents. The book—a familiar title of poetry she’d had to study briefly in Celestia’s academy—had been reprinted in boring block letters. But at a glance everything she could see was accurate. Maybe you were more moderate about it when you didn’t have anypony to oppose you. Or maybe trying to keep meaningful information from her population was less successful in a world that was actively trying to kill them in half a dozen different ways. Twilight reshelved the book, then crept out of the aisle and towards the back wall. There were identical square windows here, though with nothing but moonlight outside she couldn’t imagine the point. No non-bat would be reading to this. Her own dull copy was working just a little distance away, lifting books with her hooves and settling them on the shelves. With each she made careful notes on her clipboard, then pushed her cart along. Twilight waited until she was walking away, then hurried towards her from behind. She got close enough that she could tap the pony on the shoulder. “Excuse me,” she said, before she could make it out of the row to the central aisle. “Do you have a moment?” Twilight stopped. “Of course, I’m always happy to help anypony seeking knowledge,” she recited. “The war can’t be won in ignorance after all.” She turned, and for a few seconds, didn’t even seem to realize what she was looking at. Her coat was dull, her eyes slightly glazed, and her magic a faint spark Twilight could barely even sense. Clearly this world’s Starlight hadn’t brought her in on the scheme. Twilight had a strange moment of vertigo as she looked down at her unicorn self—an actual unicorn too, not just the pretend she was playing while remaining at Alicorn size. Was this really the pony she’d been? The pony she’d be stuck as without her friends to help her reach her potential. “I, uh…” Unicorn Twilight looked desperately to her cutie mark, expecting to find something there. But of course she wouldn’t, and with magic so weak she wouldn’t be able to search her resonance either. “Do I know you from—” Twilight rested a hoof on her shoulder, pulling her deeper into the shelves. “Listen to me, Twilight. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’m here to rescue you. I have an airship waiting outside the city, and a skilled team to get you out.” Twilight pulled away from her, with surprising force for a unicorn with little magic. She focused on her, a gesture that seemed to take great effort. “I don’t understand what you mean,” she said, glancing once down the aisle. Maybe she was afraid they were being overheard. Twilight’s horn glowed for a second, and a little bubble appeared around them. It was as invisible as the shield outside, and unlike that one it wouldn’t be illuminated by falling ash. “There, I’ve created a silence spell. Nopony can hear us, we can talk safely.” Twilight glanced behind her again, and the artificial smile she’d been wearing shattered. Not into relief as she would’ve expected, but terror. “I don’t know what you mean by rescue,” she said, more clearly. “Nopony is in danger here. I think you must be in the wrong place. I know we have ponies captured by our enemies. You should go free them instead.” She looked back down to her clipboard, as though she was going to go back to filing books. Twilight yanked it away with her magic, tossing it out of the bubble. “Listen to me,” she said, forcing the pony to meet her eyes. “I don’t know how much brainwashing you’ve endured here, but nopony is going to know that you’re disloyal. I can get you out, and you’ll never see this place again. My friends and… yours, I guess, are going to put Equestria back to the way it was.” Even as she said it, Twilight realized with horror there was one part missing from their plan. She couldn’t just teleport this Twilight directly to their airship and be done with it. Her cutie mark, and with it her connection to magic itself, had been stolen. She would need it back to wield one of the Elements. We have to break into her castle. “We can get your magic back,” she continued. “I have a representative from Nightmare Moon with me. We can get legal permission and everything.” She wanted to explain everything, but every time she tried to touch this pony, she would back further away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her voice panicked. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my town. My home. I have thousands of friends here.” Twilight stared, stupefied by her response. Had she been a prisoner here for so long that her brainwashing was too deep? Or worse, maybe Starlight had found other ways to reinforce the procedure. Maybe it was more than simple psychology. Twilight’s horn glowed, searching briefly for signs of tampering. The other Twilight fell limp as the mind-magic hit her, eyes glazing over again. Twilight was no expert at this forbidden school, not the way Starlight was. But anything that she’d done ought to be visible to her here, as a painful reality. Twilight was focused so intently that she didn’t notice the voice behind her, not until the pony had popped her bubble from the outside and was glaring up at her. “What are you doing to my friend?” asked a voice, angry and harsh. There was nothing. No matter how much she scanned, she could sense no sign of tampering. She let go, turning to face the newcomer. And she froze. The pony holding Twilight’s fallen clipboard was none other than Starlight Glimmer. She shared much in common with what Twilight expected—same hairstyle, same cutie mark as everyone else. Apparently she’d gone the extra mile to look like her citizens, because her coat was pale, and she wasn’t using magic much. Why didn’t the others warn me? Because they don’t recognize her, stupid. Twilight faced her, preparing herself with half a dozen counterspells. Starlight Glimmer had been a powerful enemy in her own world, trapping her long enough that she hadn’t been able to preserve the Rainboom. She wouldn’t be rendered helpless this time. This would not be another Sombra. “I didn’t do anything to her,” Twilight said flatly. Remember, her mind is erased like everypony else. Don’t be emotional about this. Starlight was the reason for every drop of suffering ponies in her world were experiencing. Everypony dead on a battlefield, everypony starving in Sombra’s mines. It was all because of her. “Nightmare sent me,” she said confidently. “I’m here incognito so I don’t disrupt your city. But I’m here to retrieve this prisoner. She’s been fully pardoned.” Starlight’s eyes widened, glancing between them. “Why do you…” “It’s complicated,” Twilight answered uselessly. “But I’m not here to cause trouble. Twilight Sparkle here is needed in the capital. Her sentence is served.” “I’m not a prisoner!” Twilight snapped, louder than she’d been yet. “I didn’t get sent here to be reformed! I moved here!” She took a step towards Starlight, relaxing as soon as she was beside her. “My friends were there for me at the worst time in my life. Why would I want to leave them now?” “Because…” she argued, more by reflex than logically. “Because you’ve got friends on the outside. Because they need your help to save Equestria. We have a way to end the war—both wars, all at once. A spell they need you for.” “You sound exactly like her,” Starlight said, glancing between them again. “You’re… older too?” She backed away, eyes widening. “I’ve gotta go!” She ran. Twilight didn’t stop her. Even if she was leaving to raise some kind of alarm, it didn’t matter. She had herself alone now. They were almost finished. She could get her out. Twilight watched Starlight go, fear returning. But she didn’t try to run away. Maybe she understood that she wouldn’t be able to escape. “That isn’t me,” she said. “This is my town. Outside here, I’m nothing. I’ve always been nothing. Find somepony better.” Twilight advanced on her, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Your friends need you, Twilight. You’re the last one. We’ve gone to Tartarus and back to get everypony together to undo the time-travel spell that created this nightmare-world in the first place. You’re the missing piece. With your help, it’s all undone. Everything goes back to the way it was. You get into Celestia’s school. You stop Nightmare Moon. You meet your friends. Equestria is saved over and over again and it isn’t in constant war while the planet dies around us.” This gave her pause. Twilight couldn’t tell what had finally caught her attention, but her smaller self was listening now. “Who are you?” “I’m you,” she explained, speeding up. “I’m from the Equestria where things are the way they’re supposed to be.” She concentrated, banishing her illusion in a flash of magic that sent a few nearby books scattering. She spread her wings. “This is what Celestia wanted you to be. This is the future waiting for you, if you help me make things right.” “Can’t.” She retreated again, shaking her head vigorously. “I’m not… whatever you are. I can’t save Equestria. I can’t even pass a test. This is where I belong. Filing books. Helping ponies. Useful. Knowledge fights the war. Knowledge fights the war…” She looked down, and started picking up the books Twilight had scattered, replacing them on her cart one at a time. Twilight recognized that look, because she’d felt it a dozen times in herself. She was having a nervous breakdown. She felt the spell behind her only seconds later, powerful enough that she stopped dead in her tracks to stare. She felt a teleport, but not the short hops she used or the spatial mastery it took to warp across the country. This was runic magic, the kind that could make otherwise impossible spells within the reach of a skilled unicorn. Not the kind of magic one of Starlight’s magic-deprived prisoners was likely to be able to cast. She emerged from behind the shelves, with Starlight following close behind. Except it was Starlight. Now Twilight knew what that pony had felt, as she was briefly overwhelmed by what she saw. Beside Starlight Glimmer was a pony that looked exactly like her, except… she was older, with wrinkles on her face and a few streaks of white in her mane. But where the other Starlight had looked faded and weak like all the other ponies here, this one wasn’t. Twilight needed no spells to tell that she was the one who had cast the transportation spell. More than that, this pony instantly recognized her. She didn’t pause when she saw Twilight’s wings, didn’t seem even momentarily confused. Stars and stones, it’s her. She never left. “Twilight,” she said, her voice gentle. “You should go with Starlight. Go downstairs for a moment. This pony and I have to… talk.” Twilight’s copy looked up, nodded obediently, and hurried away. Twilight watched as a pale Starlight Glimmer helped her down the stairs and out of sight. I hope the rest of you ponies stay out of the way. She doesn’t know you’re here yet. Twilight herself remained where she was until they were gone. She kept her defensive magic ready, her horn glowing faintly. She knew all the spells this pony had used—but Starlight was also a few decades older. Maybe she’d planned for this moment. Had she known? “I was wondering when I’d see you again,” Starlight said casually. She was exactly like the voice booming through the city outside. That was what she’d heard—she was older. “You never know with time travel. I hoped breaking the chain of causality would break you out of the spell.” She nodded slightly towards the stairs. “I took good care of you, as you can see. Everypony in my city is right where they belong.” “We shouldn’t do this here,” Twilight said flatly. “Libraries are sacred. I don’t want to see this one get damaged.” “Alright.” Starlight gestured over her shoulder. “It’s my library. I’d rather not waste the workers’ time rebuilding it.” Twilight followed her along the upper railing, to the metal bands set into the floor that had brought her here. Twilight had no idea where they would lead, but she could read runes well enough to know they wouldn’t do anything but move her. There was no disarming spell, no stun, nothing like that. She didn’t turn around, didn’t even glance over her shoulder and down the railing. She wouldn’t give Starlight even a hint that things weren’t over. She could only hope the girls were listening. Twilight stepped up beside Starlight, and vanished. Twilight Sparkle had not had much of a life. From some of her first moments of early childhood, she had known only failure. What should’ve been the beginning of her magical career was the end, setting the stage for a lifetime of mistakes and little impact. Until she found Our Town, the one place where all her mistakes were forgotten. Starlight Glimmer was a strange ruler, and she obviously wasn’t being honest with her subjects. But that didn’t really matter to Twilight. It didn’t matter if Starlight told the truth so long as she gave her somewhere she could belong. The passing of years became a blur after that. Though the world outside got worse—much worse, once the terrible cold of the sunless world descended—their town lived on. Twilight kept her place, obeyed Starlight’s orders, and was only a little confused by the appearance of another Starlight to join her in the library. But she could always use more friends. Until today. Twilight retreated to the back corner of the library, trying not to hear the voice of the other her. She could imagine sounding like that—in another life. That pony was confident, demanding, and so confusing. Young Starlight had called her older self, the proper thing to do whenever their city was in danger. But Twilight did wish she hadn’t been sent away. The same thing happened whenever danger struck: when crystal ponies besieged them, when any kind of threat arrived, the other starlight retreated to the bunker as a bulwark against the city’s failure. Twilight knew that, and she didn’t resent seeing her go. If her older self fell in battle, the younger pony would take her place. But even so, she didn’t want to be alone in the library right now. There were voices coming from somewhere in the books, strange voices she hadn’t heard before. Twilight dropped low, listening. She wasn’t sure she could deal with ponies after what she’d just seen. “They’re gone,” said an elegant, confident voice. “Positive. I felt the transport close.” “Seems crazy to me,” a different speaker, in the valley accent instead of old Canterlot. “Going up against her alone like that. Why not bring us along?” “I think… maybe because she knows she doesn’t need to win,” whispered a pony so quiet she almost couldn’t catch the words. “She wasn’t part of the spell, remember? She isn’t the pony we need.” “I didn’t hear her leave!” said another voice, louder and more energetic than the others. And anypony else she’d heard in the city in years. “We should go say hello! It didn’t seem like she got off on the right hoof with Twilight.” Then there was motion in the shelves. Twilight scrambled to her hooves, backing desperately away. What she knew that few of their visitors did was that each of the large central buildings had direct tunnel access to the palace. She could flee that way, even if both Starlights were gone. Those ponies don’t sound like they’re from around here either. They aren’t like us. They’ll just try to change me like Twilight did. She reached the end of the row, and nearly smacked her face directly into a brilliantly pink pony. “Hi there! You must be Twilight, right? Twilight Sparkle?” She froze. There was another way to the secret exit, though she’d have to go all the way up to the top floor. She started retreating, this time towards the stairs. The pony followed her. “I’m sorry you didn’t like our friend too much. Maybe we can do better?” She whimpered, shaking her head. “I don’t want anything to do with you. I hope you’ll stay and learn our ways like everypony from Equestria should.” “Yeah, I dunno about that,” the pony admitted. She extended a hoof. “I’m Pinkie! The ponies behind you are Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy!” Twilight glanced over her shoulder, gasping and jumping several feet up into the air. She landed with her hooves scrambling on carpet. She had a little magic—but swinging books at them like weapons would be unthinkable. And anything more than that was beyond her. “I’m not the pony you’re looking for!” she protested, stomping one hoof on the ground. “I’m not a prisoner, I don’t need to be rescued. This is my home. I like it here and I don’t want to leave.” “Oh.” The yellow pegasus—Fluttershy, according to the brief introduction—glared pointedly at the others. She was the only one who got closer to Twilight. Her voice was gentler than the others, and her wings on her shoulder softer. “I’m sorry we came here and made you uncomfortable. I know how unpleasant an unexpected visitor can be.” She sniffed, wiping her eyes—and didn’t push the pegasus away. “I’m sure…” She swallowed. “That Alicorn sounded so sure of herself. But I’m not the pony she’s looking for. I can’t change the world; I couldn’t even change my own future.” “Yeah, I know,” Fluttershy said. “I thought the same exact thing when she came for me.” “But Twilight really is something else,” said the earth pony, apparently Applejack. “She’s kept all her promises. Showed us what the world would look like with the sun returned. With our relatives returned, the war over.” “Then let her save it,” Twilight said, stamping one hoof weakly on the floor. “She’s an Alicorn. She is so smart and perfect and good at everything. Why even bother with me?” “She’s not from here,” the thestral, Rainbow Dash, said. “You are. She only remembers a perfect world. I dunno about you, but I think it might be a little easier to be perfect when the place you come from is perfect too? It’s probably not fair for you to compare yourself against her. Just be a little faster than you were yesterday, you don’t have to be faster than everypony else in the flight.” “I… I’m not sure that’s terribly useful advice,” the white unicorn said. Rarity. “But the sentiment is certainly there.” Then the windows shattered. Twilight screamed, covering her head as bricks and mortar and stone were ripped away. Shelves toppled with a crash, probably destroying dozens of precious books. She didn’t see what was happening, not cowering in the corner. She could feel the ponies around her all hurry away, and hear the sound of heavy hooves marching in. “They went in here,” said a voice, like bits of rock bouncing together in a polisher. Twilight crawled backwards along the floor, retreating towards the secret exit. There was nopony blocking her anymore. Maybe she could escape. “Crystal ponies,” Rainbow said from the end of the aisle, her voice faint. “I knew we were north, but doesn’t she have… some kinda plan? Soldiers, maybe?” “There they are!” Twilight didn’t watch, but she knew the sound of a battle when she heard one. She kept backing away, keeping her head down and praying that nopony would notice her. Not another raid. They shouldn’t have made it so far into the city. But as she thought about it, somehow she already knew how it had happened. The other Twilight had left to confront Starlight Glimmer. The instant the city’s protector was gone, their city was attacked. So in a way, this is my fault too. If I’d just done what the Alicorn wanted, Starlight could’ve stopped them. She dared a glance towards the front of the building, and whimpered in horror at what she saw there. The face had been completely ripped off, with every nearby shelf topped in the bargain. There were at least a dozen crystal ponies there, each in black armor with slitted helmets. Most seemed to be guarding the exit. She caught glimpses of the other few as they fought with the ponies who had come for her. Maybe this isn’t so bad. They were intruders too, right? They’d brought this attack; they were the ones who could deal with it. With the wall missing, she could hear sirens blaring through the city, replacing the usual calming voice of Starlight’s confident promises. The militia should be here soon. They’ll help even if Starlight is busy fighting off the Alicorn. Twilight rounded the corner to the conference rooms, where the secret entrance was hidden. She found a pair of crystal pegasi waiting there, wearing dark armor and pointing spears. She could see them grin behind their masks. “You,” the one in front commanded. “Stop where you are. If you move, you die.” She didn’t move, flopping uselessly to the ground. One of them stomped up to her, hefting her under the forelegs and dragging her towards the front of the library. The ponies who had come for her fought better than she’d ever seen militia ponies fight—the blue bat zipped through the air with only one wing and a metal substitute, dodging and weaving between the shelves much faster than any of these crystal attackers could keep up. The fight passed her by, and Twilight felt the soldier throw her callously forward onto the cold ground outside. “Found this one hiding,” he said. “Thought we wouldn’t find her.” She looked up, whimpering. There weren’t a dozen ponies out here anymore—the majority had rushed into the library to join the fight. Apparently this one was their commander, an officer with black spikes running out of his shoulders just like King Sombra was said to have them running through his body. He was a unicorn, with pale green light emerging from the slits of his helmet. “Our Lord’s target was captured by the Fateless, amusing. Assist the others. How many have we lost so far?” “Four, sir!” the other soldier said. A pegasus mare, though she spoke with no more compassion. “They don’t fight like the other soulless ponies here.” “We need six to pull my chariot,” he said. “If I have to shatter this body to get home, I’ll be annoyed. Tell them that.” They saluted, darting back to join the battle. Twilight dropped to the ground, covering her head with her forelegs. It’s okay. I’m safe. Starlight always promised she would keep me safe here. Our magic is powerful. Our soldiers will win. The palace guards were close, why hadn’t they come running? She looked up and discovered the answer—there were at least fifty broken crystal ponies outside the palace—and just as many dead ponies. One of the spires was on fire. “The act is unnecessary,” said a voice from just behind her—low, dangerous. “I recognize you, Twilight. You can’t honestly expect me to believe that an Alicorn was captured by the Fateless. If you think this will convince us to leave you here to die, you’re mistaken. Our king is… upset with the way you behaved.” Something took hold of her from behind, yanking her onto her back. A second later and she felt a knife against her neck, its glass blade sharp enough that it drew blood at the lightest touch. “Let me say it another way. Dismiss the disguise, or I’ll cut your throat. Whatever anger my king might express will be swallowed in the joy of conquest. None can say they’ve killed an Alicorn. Perhaps I will be the first.”