//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: The Explanations // Story: Dissonance: A Hidden World // by Braininthejar //------------------------------// "A year?" Rarity looked from one filly to the other. “But… what has happened to my boutique? And Opal?” “What about the harvest?” asked Applejack, going a bit pale. “And the weather? Who’s in charge of the weather team?” added Rainbow Dash. Then her eyes widened suddenly. “What about Tank?” “The boutique is closed,” answered Sweetie Belle. Rarity sighed loudly in despair. “Mom and dad are taking care of Opal,” she added hopefully. “But, my customers,” said Rarity in a distressed voice. “They must all have found new tailors by now. I’ll be out of business.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash pushed past her towards the fillies. “Your parents took Tank, Rainbow Dash. And there is a white mare leading the weather team now… Blossom?” said Sweetie Belle. Dash landed, relaxing slightly. “Blossomforth. It’s ok then. She’s smart and good with ponies. She won’t leave the town hanging.” “And cousin Braeburn came to help us with the harvest,” finished Applebloom. “Mrs Bluebonnet wanted to use one of her inventions to help, but Granny wouldn’t have it, and they just argued.” Applejack frowned. “Bluebonnet? I think I’ve heard the name somewhere. Who is she?” Applebloom made a pensive expression. “She’s… Tourmaline’s mom. She came here with princess Celestia after you disappeared. She is some kind of a scientist and was helping everypony look for clues. And then Tourmaline became our friend and princess Celestia said they could live in the library until Twilight is found.” She paused and looked at Applejack. “Twilight’s ok, isn’t she?” Applejack smiled. “Yes, she, Pinkie and Fluttershy are ok. They went to the forest to look for princess Celestia, and to check on Fluttershy’s animals. “Animals? But they’re not there,” said Sweetie Belle. “Nopony knew how to take care of them all, so princess Celestia found some sort of animal doctor from Fillydelphia to take them in. She said Fluttershy knows her.” Rainbow Dash fluttered over the girls and landed near the bed. With her curiosity temporarily sated, she suddenly remembered about watching the patient. She listened for his breath and for a moment she had her heart in her throat, thinking he might have died when she wasn’t paying attention. When Dash finally heard his breathing, she gave a loud sigh of relief. She rested her head on the bed and kept watching the stallion, the conversation continuing behind her back. “So, you said, Mrs Bluebonnet wanted to help with the harvest?” said Applejack. “Yes,” answered Applebloom, “but Granny wouldn’t have it. She said that’s not how Apple family does it.” “Is Mrs Bluebonnet an Apple?” asked Applejack. “I didn’t see her on the last reunion,” said Applebloom. “And I’m sure I’d remember meeting Tourmaline. Mrs Bluebonnet has an apple in her cutie mark, but that doesn’t mean anything. Granny says she’s ‘good for nothing’.” “Ah, I see,” said Applejack in a sad voice. “So she’s the librarian now?” “Just a bit,” said Sweetie Belle. “It’s usually closed. She takes the train to work to Canterlot.” “Yea, mostly it’s just Tourmaline,” said Applebloom. “She doesn’t go out that much because she’s had some… problems with health, headaches and stuff. She’s never been sporty. But she’s a genius and her inventions are great! She keeps building stuff to help in our crusading and she’s teaching me too. She even has a cutie mark in being a genius.” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?” Applebloom nodded vigorously. “Yes, it’s a star like Twilight’s, except it’s green. *** “Princess Celestia!” Twilight ran out of the hut, almost ramming into her mentor in her haste to hug her. A large, white wing wrapped around her back. “I was so worried,” said the Sun princess with a smile. She turned to look at Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy and her expression grew more serious. “Where are the rest of your friends? What’s happened to agent Pierce?” Twilight broke the hug and looked up at the princess. “They’re in Ponyville. Pierce has been bitten by a changeling, so I had them take him to the hospital. What is happening, princess?” “My magic only managed to find you yesterday,” said Celestia. “When we realized there was a hive under Everfree, we prepared a plan to rescue you. With Luna’s magic, Pierce managed to sneak in and out, and with what he told us, we planned a diversion so he could get you out. We also had to evacuate and quarantine the ponies of Ponyville.” “Pierce told us a bit of that,” said Pinkie Pie. “But he said princess Luna would zap us out of there.” “Is everything okay with her?” asked Fluttershy. Celestia smiled warmly. “Yes, it is. Sadly, not all went as planned. The changelings had found a magical pool in the depths of the forest and used its powers to copy themselves, trying to overwhelm us with weight of numbers. Luna had to come to my aid and was not able to lend you assistance as promised.” Pinkie’s eyes widened. “Ooh, I heard of that one.” Celestia nodded. “Not all have been as lucky, I’m afraid.” She looked towards the hut. “I assume, Zecora is… gone?” Pinkie’s ears dropped. Fluttershy swallowed loudly. “I’m afraid so, princess.” said Twilight. “There is a tunnel underneath the hut that leads to the hive. She must have been taken long ago.” Celestia walked towards the hut and peered inside, taking in the details. “Nopony noticed anything. She probably stumbled upon them and got replaced by a changeling who pretended to be her,” she said sadly. “So, she kept sending her reports?” asked Twilight. Celestia stopped, withdrew her head from the hut and turned to face Twilight. “She did. They must have taken the codes out of her mind.” “Wait,” said Pinkie Pie, “so Zecora was your spy?” Twilight cast her a glance that made her seem to wilt a little. Celestia used her magic to retrieve the book from the hut, then, with a flash of her horn, she made it disappear. “Zecora had been my expert on Zebrican magic for years,” she said. “When you moved here, I wanted you to have somepony you could keep learning from without relying on me all the time, to give you room to grow. So I asked Zecora to keep an eye on you.” “But, why?” asked Twilight. “I mean, why observe me in secret? It took me weeks to even learn she lived here. Also, writing reports on me? It really does seem like…” she gulped loudly and found herself unable to finish the sentence, just looking at Celestia. The alicorn sighed. “I have told you already. I wanted you to learn and grow, in ways you couldn’t achieve unless you got out from under my wing. But I also wanted to make sure you had the best ponies to learn from. And I wanted to keep you safe. I only wanted your good, and even that wasn’t enough in the end. You were taken away from me and for months there was no sign of you. I was really beginning to think I’d never see you again.” Twilight took a deep breath and hugged Celestia again. “I… I understand, princess.” “What did those changelings do to you, Twilight?” asked Celestia. “I had spent months casting my spells to look for you, but even using your link to the Element of Magic, I couldn’t find you. It’s like your mind wasn’t in this world at all.” “That’s because it wasn’t,” said Twilight. Celestia stiffened suddenly. “What have they done?” They sent us to some place called Dissonance,” said Twilight. “That’s what Obsidian called it at least.” Celestia flinched away as if burned. She stared into Twilight’s eyes with frightening intensity. “You’ve met Obsidian?” Twilight paled. There was fear in Celestia’s eyes, like the unicorn had never seen before; not when the changeling queen defeated her during the royal wedding, not even when Discord the spirit of chaos broke free. “Yes… I’ve met him,” she stuttered. “I got stuck in his tower and… we had to undo the wards to get out…” Her voice lost force with every word, until she finally stopped, just staring at her mentor with huge eyes Celestia stood still like a statue. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy approached her, but dared not ask questions, waiting for her to speak first. Finally, she took a deep breath. “The worst thing that we feared has happened.” she said. “Come with me. I will explain everything, but right now there’s no time to lose.” As the three mares approached her frightfully, Celestia’s horn glowed bright gold. After several seconds, everypony disappeared in a blinding flash. *** Scootaloo woke up and slowly opened her eyes. She was still slightly numb and it took her some effort to get fully awake. “Don’t get up yet,” said a familiar voice next to her. Scootaloo blinked, slowly taking in her surroundings. She was in a hard, unfamiliar bed, in a small room with stone walls. A small, magical lamp hanging from the ceiling provided illumination. There was no furniture there besides the bed, a small table and what looked like a toilet and sink in the corner. There was only one window and it didn’t even lead outside; instead, behind the unusually thick glass there was an empty corridor. Tourmaline looked at her sadly. “I’m sorry, Scootaloo. It’s all my fault.” “What do you mean, Minty?” asked Scootaloo. “Where are we?” The earth pony looked at her with concern. “Don’t you remember what happened?” * Scootaloo looked over herself, examining the strange harness for the third time. “So, what exactly does it do again?” They were standing on a small hill, outside Sweet Apple Acres, the setting Sun painting everything in shades of red. It had been a long day, filled with fun and games, until a simple bit of small talk went out of hoof, leading to Tourmaline storming off, upset. Scootaloo spent much of the evening trying to improve her mood. And so here she was now, humoring her friend by helping in her newest experiment, the latest attempt to make her fly. “This harness generates a pattern field around your body, manipulating the distribution of air particles for optimized lift,” said the minty green filly. Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Say what?” Tourmaline coughed into her hoof. “I mean… It moves the air around you. But not like the propellers we tried earlier. You’re not just strapped to a flying device. You have to do the actual flying. It just helps you, it’s like if your wings were bigger than they are.” Scootaloo spread her wings and looked at them with doubt. She took a couple of quick flaps. “I don’t think it’s working,” she said to the earth pony. “That’s because it’s not on yet,” said Tourmaline. “I can’t afford to waste pattern energy.” She approached Scootaloo and put her mouth on her withers, manipulating some dials on her back. “There,” she said, stepping away and pulling her goggles over her eyes. “give it a try now.” Scootaloo looked at her, then at her left wing. Finally, she started flapping again. The first flap almost made her fall over and her attempts to compensate only made the situation worse, until she lost balance completely, flipped over forwards and landed on her back. Tourmaline pulled her goggles onto her forehead and frowned. “Too much lift, I think. We should start with giving you just a little extra and then increase it as you get used to it.” “Why do you always put the goggles on, when you experiment?” asked Scootaloo. “This isn’t going to explode, is it? she said, craning her neck to look at her back with worry. “Of course not,” said Tourmaline, rolling her eyes. “I just made it a habit, so I never forget to do it. Pattern is not magic, it doesn’t just explode randomly. I mean, it may explode, but only under specific conditions. And if it did-” “There you are, miss,” said a male voice behind her. Tourmaline turned around, visibly startled. Scootaloo looked at the approaching stallion with suspicion; she hadn’t seen him approach at all. At some point he just emerged from behind the nearest tree. He was a dark blue unicorn, a black jacket covering the front of his body. Though he was walking straight towards them, Scootaloo got a glimpse of his cutie mark, a five pointed star. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere, miss,” said the stallion. Scootaloo had an impression that the voice didn’t quite fit the looks. The unicorn was young, but his manner of speech made him feel surprisingly serious. “The town is being evacuated. There are changelings nearby. You must follow me.” Scootaloo’s jaw dropped. “What?” “Exactly what I said,” responded the unicorn. “Miss Tourmaline, is this thing what I think it is? This shouldn’t even be out of Canterlot, let alone your mother’s basement. This is top secret equipment.” Tourmaline seemed to shrink under his gaze. “It’s not like it’s anything really important. It isn’t a weapon or anything.” The unicorn looked at Scootaloo, then back at her. “Do you realize, how serious this situation is? Your friend should now join the rest of the citizens. But I can’t just let her go knowing that you’ve been showing her pattern devices.” “Only today,” said Tourmaline with a pleading expression. “We used technomagic devices before today. That and some of my inventions, but they didn’t have any pattern technology. Mr Enigma…” The stallion shook his head slowly. “Much as I’d like to, I can’t just leave this matter unattended. She’s going with us. We’ll have to leave it to… princess Luna to straighten up this mess.” “Can I at least finish what I’m doing here?” asked Tourmaline. “I was about to help her learn to fly.” Enigma looked at her sadly. “Listen, it isn’t safe here. You must come back to Canterlot.” Tourmaline’s cheeks reddened. “I always have to come back! I might as well be chained there!” she exploded suddenly. Scootaloo knew why she said that. She had told her before they came to the hill, of the problems with her brain and the regular check-ups they required. She had pretty much grown up in various labs and workshops, either undergoing treatment or just accompanying her mother to work. This was something Sweetie Belle and Applebloom couldn’t really understand. Oh well, It looks like I’m in trouble already anyway. If she wants a bit more time... Flaring her wings, Scootaloo jumped forward, standing between Enigma and Tourmaline. “Run, Minty!” she shouted. My scooter is in the bushes. I can easily get away if she does. It took her a moment to realise that nopony had moved. Enigma kept standing where he had, his facial expression implying a facehoof. Scootaloo turned her head to look at Tourmaline, only to see that she too hadn’t moved an inch. Catching the question in Scootaloo’s expression, she hung her head sadly. “You can’t escape from him. He’s-” “Not a word more,” interrupted Enigma. “What other secrets have you told her?” Tourmaline stepped back, her mouth tangled in hasty declarations of innocence. Scootaloo kept turning on the spot, trying to see both of them at once. When she turned to face Enigma again, she saw him staring into her with a sad expression. “I can’t have you doing anything stupid.” he said. Suddenly Scootaloo’s vision swam and she lost the feeling of up and down. * “I remember meeting this Enigma guy,” said Scootaloo, getting up slowly and rubbing her eyes. “What did he do to me?” “He sedated you,” answered Tourmaline. “Put you to sleep,” she rephrased. Scootaloo frowned. “How? I didn’t see him cast a spell.” “He had a vial of sedative in his jacket. He has an ability to switch things around. He used it to switch some of your blood with it. It was like giving you an injection without touching you.” “That’s creepy,” said Scootaloo, her eyes widening. “So, he could take a pony to pieces with his mind? Wait, weren’t you supposed not to tell me that?” “I don’t think so,” said Tourmaline. “The natural magic binds a living body. And the more vital a part, the more it resists. He can move a whole pony if they don’t struggle against it, but he can’t take bits out. I think a drop of blood is all he can manage.” “And as for telling you stuff, Enigma told me princess Luna will probably make you forget the whole day. So I can answer all of your questions now, so you don’t get bored, but then you won’t remember that anyway.” “That’s creepy too,” said Scootaloo, looking towards the door. “It’s locked,” said Tourmaline. “You have to stay here until princess Luna has a free moment.” Scootaloo looked at her. “Wait, you’re locked up too?” The earth pony sighed. “I should be. I really messed up this time. But I pretty much live here, so they just sent me to my room. I’m here with you because something big is happening and they had nopony to spare to make sure you’re ok when you wake up. “So,” started Scootaloo again, “It will be as if this whole day never happened? Do they often do that?” Tourmaline shook her head. “Not that I know of. Few ponies know this place exists. Just my mom, Dr Stone, the princesses, Enigma and sometimes an assistant or a guard like agent Pierce. I’m not supposed to tell anypony about what’s going on here. The only time I remember was when I eavesdropped on Enigma talking and learned that he got a new body.” “What?” Scootaloo stared at her with big eyes. “I don’t know either,” said Tourmaline. “He used to visit my mom as long as I remember, except he used to be a pegasus. Then one day he came to the lab as a unicorn. He pretended to be a different pony, but I was bored then, so I built a mechanical ear. I heard him talking to dr Stone and she called him Enigma. She said she could make him a better body, but he refused. He said that his old one was becoming too well known and that ‘this guy deserved it’.” “You know, you had a really…” Scootaloo bit her tongue, “interesting childhood,” she finished, hoping it wouldn’t lead to the repeat of the previous day argument. Tourmaline looked at the floor. “I know. You don’t have to hide it. Sometimes I feel like I don’t fit anywhere except these labs, and I hated living here.” “So,” said Scootaloo, trying to change the topic as quickly as possible. “That Enigma guy, is he even a pony?” “I don’t know,” answered Tourmaline. “He isn’t that scary once you get to know him though, just… it feels like he’s sad all the time.” “So, what did they do to you once you found out?” continued the pegasus. “Well, we didn’t talk too much,” answered Tourmaline. “They only found out weeks later, when I accidentally used his old name. Princess Luna said it’s a military secret and nopony’s supposed to know, but dr Stone said that if weeks have passed then making me forget could hurt my brain. So princess Celestia just told me not to tell anypony about it.” “Oh.” said Scootaloo. “I wish I could remember all that tomorrow.” “Don’t” said Tourmaline with a sad smile. “You’d just be itching to tell somepony like I always am.” *** Rainbow Dash took her head off the bed and shook it to wake herself up. In front of her, Pierce kept breathing weakly, but regularly. Behind her, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle kept talking in excited voices, bringing their sisters up to speed with everything that had happened in their absence. As the conversation had already moved to utterly trivial details, Dash tuned it out. Instead she took a closer look at the sleeping stallion in front of her. I think we should change his bandages soon, she thought. Or is it better to not touch them for now? I don't remember much about the waiting for help part... She looked around to locate the first aid kit Rarity had found in the desk in the hall. Opening the box, she confirmed that there were still two rolls of bandages in it. Satisfied, she turned back towards the bed. As she did, her gaze fell upon the chair where all of the equipment taken off Pierce had been left. Coming closer, Rainbow Dash took a better look at the various belts and bandoliers hanging on the chair. Back when they were taking them off, she didn’t have the time for a good look. Now, with nothing else to do beyond watching the patient and waiting for princess Celestia to show up, she felt curious. Her eyes slid over the needles holster, now half empty, to the knives scabbard, where one blade was missing, then to various small containers that looked like spray cans. She could only guess at the contents of those. There was a whole belt filled with small vials marked in what looked like some sort of code, probably obvious to the agent, but nothing but a bunch of foreign acronyms to Dash. There were also other tools, spools of thin wire, small mirrors and things the function of which she had no clue about. “How did he move so fast with all this stuff?” she muttered under her breath. She looked at the stallion. His body was still covered in the chainmail he had been wearing underneath his coat; Rarity decided against all the flipping around that would have been required in order to remove it. Dash rubbed her eyes. It seemed the potion that had awaken her after months of sleep in the changeling pod was wearing out. She was getting hungry too. Having checked for the hundredth time that Pierce was still breathing, she looked around for something to put her head on. “Applejack can keep watch from now on,” she muttered, looking around. The rest of the girls had taken over the other bed. This didn’t leave her too many options, unless she wanted to go elsewhere. She finally grabbed the coat from the chair. It was torn and splattered with blood, but seemed soft enough. I need a shower anyway, she thought, before folding the garment haphazardly into an improvised pillow. “Hey, Applejack,” she called, “uh, I need a bit of a nap. Mind watching this guy for a while?” Applejack shifted around, jumping off the bed to come closer. “No problem, sugarcube. You know you can use the bed, right?” “Nah,” said Dash, sitting on the chair, her head on the folded coat next to Pierce. “Don’t want all of you to have to-” She frowned, looking down at the coat. There was something hard inside there, right underneath her cheek. “What is this?” she mumbled before unfolding it to expose the inner pocket and poking her muzzle inside. What she retrieved turned out to be a pair of broken sunglasses, one glass missing. Dash spat them out onto the bed and stared at them in surprise. “They must have got broken during the fight,” said Applejack. Then, seeing her friend’s distant expression, she turned to get a closer look at her. “You ok, Dash?” Slowly, Dash picked the sunglasses up with her hooves and mouth, unfolded them and put them on the unconscious unicorn’s face. She blinked, taking in the result. “You’re not Pierce. You’re Pincushion,” she whispered. Four pairs of eyes looked at her with confusion. “What are you talking about, darling?” asked Rarity. Dash turned to face them, suddenly wide awake. “His name is Pincushion. I saw him in the Void Passage, during my test.” “And you’d never met him before?” asked Obsidian. Everypony jumped, Applejack giving a very girly yelp. None of them had heard him coming until he poked his head inside the room. The earth pony walked in, looking at everypony in order before stopping on the stallion on the bed. “The Void Passage uses the minds of its visitors to stay up to date with things. The visions are weaved mostly out of their past experience,” he said. “Now, is he a friend or foe?” “A friend,” said Dash. “He’s the one who got us out of the changeling hive. He’s been bitten by one of them.” Obsidian sighed. His staff hanged over the unicorn and glowed briefly. “That should do it. It’s not an instant remedy, but it will help him recover. I assume your Element won’t let you just leave him here?” Dash’s wings flared. “Of course not! Why would you even think about it?” “Because,” said Obsidian, “we need to get out of here fast. I tried to find Twilight Sparkle, but all I found was signs that she had been teleported away. That means your princess will be here any minute.” “You say that like that’s a bad thing,” said Applejack. “It is. I was hoping I could get to the hive before her. I clearly underestimated her scrying magic,” replied Obsidian. “Wait a minute,” said Applejack, “You knew we were in the changeling hive?” All five ponies looked at Obsidian, their expressions ranging from confusion to accusation. “Of course I did,” he replied. “The Amaranthine may be a pain to use, but do you really think I would have sent you back to your bodies without first making sure it would be safe? What kind of a pony do you think I am?” “Well…” started Rarity. “I don’t even know who you are,” said Applebloom. “Then why didn’t you tell us?” continued Applejack. “Because,” said Obsidian, “if I had told you that, it wouldn’t change the circumstances of your return, but Twilight would insist on gathering more information before you leave. She would expect me to do it, since she was still too drained to use the Amaranthine again so soon. And I would probably ruin everything by throwing a fit. You must understand, after so many lifetimes there, I was very impatient to get out.” “Well,” said Rainbow Dash, “You didn’t exactly make a good impression either way.” “I wasn’t in control of your test, Rainbow Dash,” said Obsidian. “I only told you the truth of what it was about. Now, do you expect me to beg?” Dash looked at him in confusion. “What?” Obsidian took a deep breath. “You need to get out of here. Now. I know you trust your princess. You find my declarations preposterous. But I intend to prove my claims and I won’t be able to show you anything if she gets to you first. There is the first proof within hours’ walk from here. Would you at least follow me there?” “What is it all about, sis?” asked Sweetie Belle. “It’s complicated, darling,” replied Rarity in a stage whisper. “Do you really expect us to believe your word against the princess’?” asked Applejack. “No,” said Obsidian. “This is a very difficult position for me. Your princess has shown her trust in you many times, and you always delivered. You expect the same from her, even though there has never been an occasion. I on the other hoof… demanded your trust up front, despite all my apparent shortcomings. You had to trust me with your lives, knowing that if I betray you, I will get free, and you will be lost in Dissonance forever. And what was the result?” There was silence as the three mares considered the question. “You sent us back,” said Applejack. “There were things you didn’t tell us though.” “The changelings clearly wanted you alive. The fact that you got out in one piece is another proof of that,” said Obsidian. “If that pony hadn’t broken you out of there, I would have freed you myself. That’s what I was planning to do. You have my word for that.” “So, what exactly do you want?” asked Applejack, stepping forward to face Obsidian. “I want six hours of your time,” said Obsidian. “This is enough. If I can’t give you the proof during that time, I’ll understand if you take the side of your princess and face me along with your friends, just another monster you have to take down for the good of Equestria. Can I get at least that much from you?” He stood still, one hoof extended. Applejack was still too, the gears in her head turning as she considered the proposal. Finally, she sighed, and lifted her own hoof to meet his, briefly interlocking the pasterns. “Six hours. You have my word.” Obsidian smiled. “I thank you for your trust. Let us hurry then.” His staff waved towards the agent and the unicorn was slowly lifted into the air, following Obsidian as he went outside. The seven ponies moved through the main lobby and outside the front door. Outside, the sky was already turning pink, the Sun almost ready to rise into the sky. “So, where to now?” asked Applejack, looking at Obsidian. “Well,” said Obsidian, “the thing I wanted to show you is in the forest to the south east… but there might not be enough time for that now.” He looked up, just as the morning sky was illuminated by a flash of gold. Obsidian summoned his staff to him, taking a defensive stance, the agent’s body behind his back gently lowering onto the grass. “I’m afraid it is time for me to trust your word, Applejack,” said Obsidian,”because we’ve just ran out of time and I will have to play this one by ear.” The fillies shrunk, stepping away from Obsidian. Applejack, Rarity and Dash looked at him, then at princess Celestia descending from the sky. Not knowing what to do, they made the compromise and just bowed low. Obsidian stepped forward, the runes of his staff glowing in preparation to defend him. “Obsidian!” said Princess Celestia, her magically magnified voice making the hospital windows vibrate. The stallion looked her in the eyes and sneered. “Oh, this answers some of the questions I asked. Long time no see, Gloria.”