Rainbow Dash woke up on her bunk. She could hear the rumbles of explosions passing through the walls of the ship, telling her that, yes, they were still at war.
They had been fighting nonstop for three days.
Rainbow got up, slipped into her uniform, and took her position at the front door. She took a moment to look at her team – the Wonderbolts.
Half the bunks were empty. Three days ago, almost all of them had been full.
Don’t think about that, grieve later, war now.
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. “RISE AND SHINE FILLIES!”
The seven remaining Wonderbolts flailed out of their beds. They all slipped into their uniforms out of habit and ran to the middle of their room, saluting.
“Right, time for another day of speeding at the enemy. You know the drill – I’ve got team one, Surprise, you’ve got team two.”
Surprise nodded, her yellow mane bouncing. “Right!”
“LET’S MOVE!” They scrambled through the halls of the ship, hurrying to the transporter bay. Their signatures were already keyed in – they were teleported directly into the speeders they had used for the past three days, even though they hardly looked the same as they had on day one. They had started out as just missiles with seats, but as time went on all speeders that weren’t blown to smithereens got point defenses, better shields, better maneuvering, and the Wonderbolts had even gotten a tiny Spectral Rod affixed to the front of each of their speeders.
Not to mention all of them had full body armor now. Ejection had become commonplace – a team’s speeder would be destroyed, and they would shoot out into the space themselves. Rainbow Dash had done that twice already with her speeders. She’d lost ponies both times.
She had not been told about the Redshirt ploy.
Rainbow had Fleetfoot, Thunderlane, and Misty with her. All four of them suited up and took their seats in the speeder. Misty was on communication, Fleetfoot and Thunderlane on weapons, and Rainbow Dash was in the pilot’s seat.
And then they waited. Waited for Meenah to call them as the next speeders to charge into Skarn’s ever-changing maze. That was what most of their day consisted of – agonizing waiting followed by bursts of intense action.
She checked the report. Three-fourths of the way to the Shaping Mechanism, although that might as well be half since Skarn had gotten better at slowing them down over time. Thirty subfleets were still actively pushing the boundary forward. The twelfth was notably very far behind, so it would probably cut its losses and join up with another fleet soon, even though it wasn’t in any danger of being destroyed completely like the twenty-second. They had lost their protomolecule planet, and with it most of their repairing capacity. However, they were very far forward – maybe the twelfth would be ordered to portal directly to them. Rainbow Dash didn’t know – she wasn’t Yellow Diamond. She wasn’t even Meenah. She was Rainbow Dash, captain of the Wonderbolts, who always had and always would be a strike team.
…If they survived this.
“WONDERBOLTS!” Meenah’s voice came over the intercom, “YOU’RE UP! We’ve got a dimensional jammer up ahead – we know the coordinates already, so blow it the shell up!”
“Roger!” Rainbow replied, knowing Surprise had done the same with her team. She got a quick look at the jammer - a relatively simple structure compared to what Skarn usually had for them. It was a black ball with twenty spikes protruding in all directions. Rainbow had been hoping for another giant fish, frankly.
The speeders launched away from the fleet toward Skarn’s defenses. They moved at their near-lightspeed at the start, but they had to slow down in order to make it through.
In three days, Skarn had dropped the usage of ships entirely. With the subfleets as spread out as they were, he simply did not have enough ships at his disposal to keep them all held back. They had seen him shape a few new ships with the Shaper, but they were complicated pieces of technology that took time to shape properly. So Skarn had resorted to impeding the progress of the fleets with larger, trickier shapes.
Since he could only focus on shaping one area at any given time, he had to make the shaped things automatic. Some of them were simple monsters that tried to attack. Others were mazes or constructs, designed to confuse.
But his favorite were large, encompassing structures that could hide things within them. Most notably his seemingly endless supply of those armored soldiers. Recently he had added jammer devices to these areas, which made charging through them with a drill spell somewhat more difficult.
Today it was a giant clock with no backing to its face - just a seemingly endless sea of gears. The fleet occupied a hole within this mesh of gears that it had formed in the last dimensional jump forward. While the speeders rushed forward, the fleet had to deal with attacks on all sides from the remaining gears. They could no longer see beyond their own space, relying entirely on dimensional communication to confirm the whereabouts of the other subfleets.
Rainbow flew her speeder right through the turning gears, worming her way through the holes between them. Skarn thought he was clever, making razor sharp gears that had just enough holes to make it possible to fly through them, but very difficult. No doubt it had sawed numerous speeders in half.
But Rainbow was an excellent pilot. She moved through the gears like a surfer on a wave, elegantly threading the needle. Skarn’s soldiers popped out from hiding spots and fired their weapons – but the shields deflected the invisible dimensional packets. Fleetfoot and Thunderlane made quick work of the offending soldiers with their weapons. They may have had a lot of weird memory tricks, and they may have been able to dodge things before they were fired, but magical seeker bullets were still really effective, especially when large enough to be mounted on a ship.
The speeder shook.
“One’s grabbed onto our engine!” Misty reported.
Rainbow tried to shake him by entering a corkscrew dive through a bunch of rapidly rotating gears.
“He’s still on! Tampering with the engine!”
Rainbow sucked in a sharp breath of air. She pulled up and flew directly for the jammer, worming her way through more gears. She kept a close eye on the engine status, especially the state of the combustion reaction.
She kept one wingtip on the eject button. “Get ready…” she said, pushing as fast as she could through the gears. That tag-on was going to get to the engine and blow the speeder. But they were never as fast or as powerful as the speeder in just their armor. She had to eke out as much as she could…
“NOW!” She shouted, pressing the eject button. The four pegasi were launched into the air just as the soldier managed to trigger an explosive reaction in the drive. Misty was thrown off course by the explosion, struggling to regain control of her power armor.
She failed. She flew right over a gear that was turning and one of its razor edges cut her in half.
“Dammit,” Rainbow muttered, but she didn’t slow down. Her wings – and those of Fleetfoot and Thunderlane – glowed with bright energy. They certainly couldn’t move as fast just with their armor, but they were definitely more nimble.
Rainbow let out a Breath, allowing the three of them to feel the wind under their wings. They flew in formation through the gears, dodging attacks and bullets. She saw no other speeders or squadrons here – she had to assume they were it.
She could see the jammer up ahead. It didn’t seem to be guarded by a squadron of soldiers, which was a plus. They just had to avoid the soldiers that were attacking them right now.
Just as she thought that, one of the weapons hit Fleetfoot’s personal shields. Rainbow tried to use the Breath to keep her on course, but the hit was too strong. She went into a tailspin – recovering within a few seconds. But it was already too late. She was an open target, and Rainbow couldn’t slow down for her.
Fleetfoot knew this – so she unloaded all the weapons she had built in on everything around her, taking out as much as she could before they took her out.
The resulting explosions pushed Rainbow and Thunderlane forward.
“Still with me Thunder?” Rainbow asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “I can see it.”
“Unguarded too.”
“That’s suspicious.”
Rainbow grimaced. He was right – that was suspicious. There should be at least some there, even if they had just been wiped out, they were excellent at reassigning troops. “Prepare for anything.”
They entered weapons range, confirming the black, knobby jammer to be about four times as large as a pony. Rainbow fired a few test shots, glowing blue missiles dropping from her suit. They sailed toward the jammer, but were stopped by an entity that wasn’t a standard armored soldier. The humanoid wasn’t armored at all – he was a bear. Not Brell, not Arthon, not Skarn – a different one.
“Get ready for a fight,” Rainbow said. “Take the shot if you get the opportunity!”
Thunderlane and Rainbow fired off more bullets, but the bear caught them all. He roared – but there was no air in the gears, so it could not be heard. There was little to no magic coming off him, Rainbow’s sensors told her – he was just absurdly strong.
They passed through the last gear between them and the area the jammer was in. Rainbow stopped assisting Thunderlane with her Breath and focused all the winds on the brute of a bear.
He didn’t even flinch. He jumped into the air and punched Rainbow Dash across the face. Her helmet went flying off despite being locked to the rest of her head. She felt a break form in her neck.
She fell, skidding across a flat gear that served as ‘ground’ for this bear. He left her for dead – which would have been a reasonable course of action had she not been the Maid of Breath. She was able to keep air near herself while her suit injected her with a high-strength health potion to fix her neck. It hurt like Tartarus, but she was able to move again.
The bear was fixated on Thunderlane. She watched as he was flattened by one of his hairy, clawed feet.
Rainbow Dash was all that remained. But right now, the bear thought he had won. Rainbow could take advantage of that. Her suit was damaged in most ways, but she still had control over some of the weapons. She fired at the jammer with magic missiles.
The jammer cracked, but didn’t break. The shockwave drew the bear’s attention. He roared again – though Rainbow still couldn’t hear it. He charged at her, claws open.
Rainbow used the winds of Breath to move the jammer between her and the bear. In his rage, he punched right through the jammer with his unimaginable strength – burning off much of his fur and cutting himself in many places in the process. But his fist went straight through and connected directly with Rainbow. Her already broken suit absorbed almost none of it – her ribs were completely flattened as a result, and blood shot out of her mouth.
But she smirked.
“Gotcha, sucker,”
Rainbow Dash fired all her weapons. At this close a range, it was just an explosion. They were both disintegrated.
The twenty-seventh subfleet moved a universe forward.
Across the Q-Sphere, the Tree of Harmony that belonged to Equis Vitis screeched. The branch of Loyalty shattered.
~~~
Overhead-Charter Evening Sparkle put down the book she was reading as a deep pit formed in her stomach.
Something’s happened.
Her first instinct was to slide over to her personal computer and check the state of the war. The defensive front was going well – it had been five days on this side of the front, and ever since day two the damage had been minimal. They had figured out how to block Skarn’s dimensional portals on every planet while keeping their own in orbit active. It had taken quite a bit of power and planning to make it possible, but no more reinforcements were arriving for the ground troops, and Skarn’s ships only showed up occasionally to remind everyone they couldn’t drop the harmony network or they would suffer the consequences. Skarn’s forces had resorted to more stealthy warfare, attacking key locations in small groups. But Saxton Hale’s mercenaries paired with Starbeat’s cheats were proving to be more than they could handle. After the heavy losses of the first day it might have seemed like they were in danger of losing, but they now had control of the situation.
They also hadn’t found Celestia City yet, so that wasn’t what was wrong.
Eve flipped over to the offensive report. Thirty subfleets were still active, but it was looking to be twenty-nine soon enough. They only had a quarter light-day left to travel, but Skarn was getting more and more effective at slowing them down and picking them off. The casualty rates within the offense were absolutely absurd – but after the numbers were run, it was clear that the Redshirt principle was working. Team leaders and prior heroes had a much higher rate of survival than was to be expected.
Corona’s subfleet was still active and was still one of the best-performing fleets. Corona herself was still actively pushing forward, though the latest report said she had taken the opportunity of a lull in the fighting to take a rest.
Eve checked the twenty-seventh fleet next. Still operating strong – they’d just had a major breakthrough with Skarn’s maze of clocks, having pushed to the next universe. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong large-scale… But she just had to be sure.
She opened up the personnel files on the Wonderbolts. Half of them were marked as deceased – but the other eight were still marked as alive. Eve let out a sigh of relief – she had been so sure deep down…
Then the files updated.
There was only one Wonderbolt marked as alive. Surprise. All the rest of them were marked deceased.
Eve stared at Rainbow Dash’s file. She was smirking in the photo.
Eve turned on her eye, examining the Light of the screen.
The information was true.
Rainbow Dash was gone.
“That’s not possible…” Eve told herself, unable to blink. “She was one of us… she was protected! She couldn’t be!”
Cessera looked up from her desk. “…Eve?”
Eve didn’t look at her and therefore didn’t know Cessera was even talking to her. All she saw was a notification appear in her email. She knew what it was – it was the message sent to family and close friends when one of their soldiers died. The Starlight AI was customizing most of the messages, Eve knew, but that thought was far from her mind.
She clicked it open and read it, but didn’t really read it. She saw ‘I regret to inform you…’ and Rainbow Dash’s name somewhere in there. Everything else was just a haze.
Cessera walked up behind her and saw what she was looking at. “…I’ll call Flutterfree.”
“This is all my fault…” Eve said, tears rolling down her face. “This is all my fault!”
Ceessera shook her head, picking up the phone.
“Cass…” Eve said, holding up a hoof. “I need you… I need you to call a meeting.”
“Eve you’re not in any sta-”
“A meeting of friends, Cass. Not… not about the war.” Eve tried to swallow, but found the action too difficult to complete. “There are some people I need to see…”
Cessera nodded slowly.
~~~
The third subfleet jumped forward again, passing through one of Skarn’s creations, entering an empty space in the Congeries.
Corona grinned – this was a good thing to wake up to. They would probably have a significant amount of time to push forward without Skarn sending more traps at them. It would give them a chance to catch up to the further-ahead subfleets – and a much needed break.
Speeders shot forward, found the next universe, and jumped the fleet forward without all the death-defying stunts and complicated maneuvers they’d been stuck in for the last twelve hours. That nest of thorns had been outrageously annoying and had actually managed to turn them around once. But it was over.
…Until the next shape of Skarn decided to rear its ugly head.
“I’m going to actually go eat something in the mess hall,” Corona told the bridge crew. “Rarity, you’ve got the bridge.”
Lady Rarity saluted. “Bring me back a tub of ice cream.”
“Sure. I-”
Raging Sights beeped. “Meeting request from Eve. Earliest convenience.”
Corona let out a grunt. “Never mind then. Looks like I’ll be taking this because it’s convenient.”
Lady Rarity smiled. “I’m sure it won’t take long, she’d never try to keep you given your responsibilities.”
Corona nodded. “If we’re attacked, you know what to do.”
Lady Rarity smiled. Corona teleported herself to the communication center of the Andromeda. She could take the call directly over audio communications on the bridge if she wanted, but since this was a meeting, it would probably be best to use more advanced communication. She entered a cubical, white room with a single console at the door. “Answer the call holographically,” she told Raging Sights.
Suddenly she appeared to be in one of the Relations Divisions’ meeting rooms, standing inside a table. The only other people in the room were Cessera, Spike, and Aradia at the moment.
Cessera looked up at her. “You responded faster than I was expecting.”
“Lull in the fighting. You need to adjust the ‘spawn location’ for this.” She waved her hand through the table. “This probably looks weird.”
Cessera nodded. “I would invite you to sit down, but, you know.”
“Yeah, just a hologram. I’ve got it.” Corona carefully walked a short distance until she felt one of the walls of the cubic room. It looked like she was leaning on nothing. “So, what’s this about?”
“Eve’s called a personal meeting,” Cessera said. “I’ll let her explain it. Everyone should be arriving shortly – you were the only one we thought might be unavailable.” She pressed a few buttons on her data pad, altering the ‘spawn location’ for the holographic setup.
People started filing in. Pinkie, Nova, Flutterfree, Jotaro, and Vriska were the first, followed shortly by Renee and Daniel – notably Daniel took a position in the room as far away from Corona’s hologram as possible. O’Neill and Allure also showed up via hologram, seeing as they were not allowed to physically leave Celestia City at the moment, and Giorno appeared via a similar method. Princess Luna and Toph arrived together. Applejack walked in as well, putting a consoling hoof around the tear-stained form of Prism. There was also a Rarity Corona didn’t recognize sitting in the back of the room, staying out of sight of the others, a crescent-shaped scar over one of her eyes.
Corona knew at that moment this wasn’t going to be a pleasant meeting.
Eve walked in last. She didn’t sit down – she remained standing at the doorway, the door closed behind her. Everyone looked at her expectantly.
Like many of the faces in the room, there was evidence of tears on her features. But unlike all the other faces in the room, she had the look of a deer in the headlights – frozen in a deep, primal fear. Her throat moved as if to swallow, but she choked on it.
Flutterfree moved to comfort her, but Eve held up a hoof. “Just… Let me get through this.” She took in a deep breath and licked her dry lips. “As… as most of you know, Rainbow Dash fell in battle earlier today.”
Corona put a hand to her mouth. She hadn’t known that.
She wasn’t the only one who audibly winced – even those who knew flinched at hearing the words again. Prism broke into tears.
“And it’s all my fault,” Eve concluded.
“Eve…” Flutterfree said, sighing.
“Do not blame yourself, Evening,” Luna said. “Y-”
“I killed her,” Eve said, shuddering. “And it’s not unfounded blame. I called this meeting so I could come clean. I’ve been lying to all of you – some more than others.” She swallowed. “You… you all deserve to know what I’ve done.”
She took in a deep breath and began her story.
~~~
Several months ago…
Gnashing body parts. Screaming. The face of Skarn laughing. Death. Death. Death.
Eve woke up in a cold sweat, her left eye glowing with the power of Light.
That hadn’t been a regular dream. That had been a vision. She’d been getting them more and more lately – the visions Celestia had been known for. Visions that were only augmented by Eve’s status as the Witch of Light.
The only issue was she never knew what they meant. Was it telling her Skarn was a danger to them? Was it telling her Skarn was a horrible individual? Was it just showing her what happened within the Congeries?
She didn’t know. She didn’t know anything. The Light didn’t help her understand dreams.
…It had only been two days since she’d cut ties with Skarn face-to-face. Why now?
Was there any purpose to the vision at all? Luna had mentioned a few times Celestia had received visions that told her things that were true but, in the end, meaningless. Sometimes the visions were misleading as well. She couldn’t be certain about this one.
She rubbed her head, most of the vision fading from her memory. Except one image.
The human zipper of Arthon. It continually ground its way through Eve’s mind, a torture worthy of some of the hell universes they had encountered.
…Why couldn’t they have done something about that? They had the power. They had reason. They were supposed to use their power to help people even at risk to themselves… It wasn’t like the Watchmaker of Zhui. Even if the fall of Skarn destroyed the people in the Congeries, it would prevent billions upon billions of others from being drawn into the cruel, cruel fate.
Why couldn’t the others see that?
She knew the answer. It was too much loyalty to Merodi Universalis over the rest of existence. It was a sort of selfishness, a national pride. They weren’t willing to risk it. She couldn’t blame them. They made what they thought was the best choice.
But it was wrong. She knew it.
If only they felt that Skarn was an actual threat to Merodi Universalis… Something that couldn’t be safely ignored…
Tower’s Fate, I’m actually hoping he attacks one of our worlds in retaliation. What’s wrong with me?
She paused for a moment.
Maybe nothing…
She knew the idea coming into her mind was horrible. She knew from the very start it would require lying, cheating, and gambling with people’s lives. She tried to tell herself the cost was too high – the things she would have to do were just too much.
But she’d told herself that in the past about killing people. About sacrificing those who served under you. About manipulating other governments with kind words and half-truths. Those things she would have sworn she would never do in the past were now part of her day-to-day life. Never a part she liked, and always a part that haunted her, but a part she understood was necessary.
She couldn’t convince herself to throw the idea away. It remained with her, festering in the back of her mind, no matter how much she tried to ignore it.
She had to do something about it.
~~~
Eve walked into Giorno’s secret office and sat down in a chair.
Giorno looked at her with curious eyes. After a moment of examining her features, he pressed a button to lock the door and turn off all recording equipment in the room. “I take it this is going to be extremely off the record.”
Eve nodded. “The fact that this conversation even took place should never be uncovered by anyone.”
“You have my word,” Girono said. “What are you thinking?”
“Skarn and his Congeries need to be ended. I know you agree.”
Giorno nodded. “I agree wholeheartedly. They killed one of my best agents and know nothing of mercy or treating those conquered with respect. It’s atrocious. But the vote was cast – we are going to protect Merodi Universalis instead. We can’t do anything.”
“What if we did?” Eve asked. “What if we could make them think Merodi Universalis was under threat?”
Girono raised an eyebrow.
“What if we created a fake attack – and made it look like Skarn did it?”
Giorno sat back in his chair, hand to his chin. “…That would be difficult. Not to mention so illegal it borders on treason.”
“It wouldn’t overthrow our government.”
“It undermines it and goes against its wishes. Close enough.”
Eve nodded. “I know. But I can’t shake him from my mind. I’m even gotten a vision about Skarn, though I can’t tell you what it means, or even if it’s encouraging me to do this.”
“And there’s the eternal unreliability of multiversal prophecies,” Giorno pointed out.
“Yes. I know that. …But I tried to convince myself this wasn’t what needed to happen, and I couldn’t.”
“How long have you been trying?”
“I first got the idea three days ago. It hasn’t left me since.” She looked into Giorno’s pleading eyes. “Tell me, to my face, that it’s wrong. That we really shouldn’t do it. That our safety is more important than the billions of lives Skarn destroys regularly. That the political process is more important than ending the human zipper.”
Giorno looked at her. “I can’t tell you that.”
Eve sighed. “I was afraid of that…” She looked into his eyes. “Will you help me?”
“I may have resources, but something of this nature I can’t even leave to my Agents. I’ll have to do it personally. We won’t be able to move quickly – but it’s better if there’s a gap between events so it doesn’t look suspicious.”
“We need a nearly uninhabited world that we own, that we can create a fake ‘shaping’ in.”
Giorno nodded. “Scientific outposts on worlds with unusual physics. We’ll need higher dimension-altering spells, a way to evacuate everyone without raising suspicion, and a way to indicate without a doubt that Skarn is the one who did it…”
“I think I can do most of those things. But I can’t alter technological data, which the station will have plenty of.”
“I can do that.”
“I figured as much.”
“Will we be bringing anyone else in on this?”
Eve shook her head. “If we’re found out, only the two of us go down. I know there are others who are willing, but I don’t want to jeopardize them.”
Giorno nodded. “…Eve, you’re going to have to lie to a lot of people. And if the plan works, there will be a war where millions will die.”
“I know.”
“Some of them will probably be your friends.”
Something in the back of Eve’s mind screamed, but she pushed it back. “I know. I can do this, Giorno.”
Giorno was silent for a moment. “Then we need to complete the plan.”
~~~
Eve knocked on the door to Corona’s house. The human-alicorn-thing opened the door with a sad smile. “Hey, Eve.”
“Hey,” Eve said, forcing a smile. “Busy?”
“Oh, no, not at all,” Corona said. “Come on in.”
A few minutes later they were sitting in her living room drinking the latest experiment of Corona’s – extremely fizzy drinks.
“…This is like drinking pop rocks,” Eve said.
Corona smirked. “That’s kinda the idea.”
Eve nodded slowly, taking another sip – carefully.
“So, what brings you here?”
Eve forced herself to keep a straight face. “Out of a mixture of curiosity and a personal desire for science, I’ve come to ask to access your universal shifting spells.”
“Research has those, you know.”
“It’d take an annoying amount of time to get approval to use those, even in my position.” And there’d be a record of it. A very prominent record. “Just figured I’d ask you for them.”
“Sure thing,” Corona said, summoning a book with three different locks on it. She unlocked one of them with her personal magic touch and gave it to Eve with two keys.
“You’re cautious.”
“It’s not exactly a secret that I’m the one creating these spells. Someone could try to steal it. It’s why I don’t have a digital copy of the framework – those are all stored deep in Research’s secure servers. I’d keep one key on you at all times and hide the other somewhere else.”
“Sure you won’t need this?”
Corona tapped her head with Raging Sights. “We’ve got it under control. What’re you going to use this for?”
Eve paused for a moment. “Going to analyze the methods by which universes can be fused together. Less of an experimental nature – like what Research does – and more of a ‘let’s just see what happens’ sort of thing.” Eve shrugged. “I was half expecting you to tell me no.”
Corona rolled her eyes. “Yeah, no, those spells are under lock and key to keep people from destroying everything. You’re not the kind of person who’d do that.”
Well I’m not exactly using it to directly destroy everything… Eve smiled. “Thanks. I guess I’ll get started on this – there’s a few geometric universes that I’ve got in mind.”
“If you need help altering the frameworks to get it to do what you want, just let me know,” Corona said. “They aren’t exactly the simplest of spells. I’d also suggest having magic batteries on standby. It’s very easy to burn yourself out on these even if you’re a magical powerhouse.”
“Thanks for the advice!” Eve said, putting the book in a pocket dimension. “Now, have any other cool inventions I can see?”
“The lab is currently experiencing the eighth color.”
“…Huh?”
“Come on, I’ll show you.”
~~~
Renee giggled. “Eve, listen, I usually don’t gossip… But I’ve realized something.”
“Hm?” Eve said, looking up from her sandwich, preoccupied with other thoughts.
“We’re slowly becoming part of the same family.”
“How so?”
“Think about it. You’re part of the Royal Family, and Cadence’s kids have married into the Apple family – and the Joestars, but they’re separate. Then some of the Apples have married into the Pies, adding Pinkie. Now, if Minna doesn’t marry Frigid I will eat my hat. When it does happen, I’ll be added in as well. That’s four of us. If I were a betting mare I’d say Stardust is going to marry one of the many eligible bachelors in the family tree, which will add Nova and Corona to it. That just leaves Flutterfree and Rainbow.”
“Rainbow’s not married,” Eve pointed out. “She has time.”
“I talked to her about that. I believe she said something along the lines of ‘Prism’s father was enough of that for a lifetime’. It’s dreadful that she’s been so inoculated to romance because of the incident, but it is what it is. Though there is that Rarity she hangs out with. Now Flutterfree…” Renee pursed her lips.
“Has to be someone within the church,” Eve reminded her. “And she’s not looking particularly hard to begin with.”
“She’s getting a little old for it,” Renee commented. “And she’s not like you.”
Eve raised an eyebrow. “I know. I spend a lot of time with her, Renee.”
“Oh, right, apologies.”
“She’s just not hung up on it. You are unusual for a pony, Renee.” Eve smirked. “No wonder you chose a human.”
“Ah, perhaps, perhaps…” She leaned back and stretched her neck, allowing the conversation to trail off.
“Hey, Renee?”
“Hm?”
“I was wondering if you could transfer your data about universal population. Particularly scientific outposts.” Eve put on a smile. “I’ve got a curious itch I need to scratch.”
“Oh, of course, remind me when I’m back in the office.”
Eve raised an eyebrow. “You have to be back in the office?”
“Well I…” Renee blinked. “Actually, I don’t. I have permanent access from any location. Let’s see…” She pulled out her phone and requested the files, receiving them instantly. “Emailed.”
And they won’t track her personal email. “Thanks!”
Renee didn’t even ask what it was for, moving directly on to another topic. “Now, about my niece…”
The fact that it was so easy to fool her friends just made Eve feel worse. They weren’t suspicious and trusted her implicitly. Here she was, taking advantage of it…
~~~
“It’s done,” Giorno said, dropping his cloak in one of the alleys of Celestia City.
Eve looked up at him. By ‘it’s done’ he meant ‘the black box of Planetary Proxima has been programmed to see a Skarn ship even though there isn’t really one there.’
“And we’re sure everything else is ready?” Eve asked.
Giorno nodded.
Eve took a breath. It had been several months since the plan was first conceived. Most of that wait had been part of the plan – to make it seem the least suspicious. But that amount of time had given them plenty of moments to turn back, to stop themselves. Neither of them wanted to.
It had also given them plenty of time to test. Eve ran through several different versions of Corona’s spells to create one that looked most like Skarn’s shaping – testing it on abandoned universes that nobody ever went to. Nobody would bat an eye that these ‘nowheres’ were gone, if they noticed at all. Using Renee’s files, they had chosen Planetary Proxima because it seemed like a universe Skarn would appreciate, due to its unusual physics, and because it would be relatively easy to evacuate. Giorno had increased spy activity within the Congeries so they would have needed intel for a war, so they were readier than they had been last time.
All that remained was one final lie. The most blatant one of all. She’d even talked with Flutterfree about it earlier – though she wouldn’t give Flutterfree any details out of fear for implicating her. Her advice? “Don’t be afraid to turn around, but do what you think is right.”
“This is it,” Eve said. “…Last chance to turn around. Wrap this up and forget about it.”
Giorno turned to her. “…I’m following your lead on the moral call.”
Eve nodded slowly. Is this right? Do the ends justify the means, ever? Do the lives saved forgive the betrayals, lies, and deaths that are to come of this?
…Will I regret this decision?
…Yes. I will. But I’ll also regret not doing it. There is no way out of this one with peace of mind. No solution that is obviously right. I just have to choose which one is better.
Eve looked ahead. “I’m going to do it. Ready the autospell.”
Giorno nodded. He vanished into an invisibility cloak.
Eve allowed herself to look panicked – it would actually help her sell what she was about to do. She scrambled out of the alley in a gallop. She teleported herself right outside the center of Celestia City – a place where she knew she could find the person she needed.
Aradia Megido.
“What’s wrong?” Aradia asked.
“V-vision,” Eve lied, panting. “Horrible vision. I saw destruction in… a strange universe. Everything was dying. And then… and then you were there, and I woke up.”
Aradia nodded slowly. “What does it mean?”
“It means you need to go somewhere to stop a disaster. I… I think I found the coordinates after a search.” Eve handed Aradia a dimensional device keyed to Planetary Proxima. “That’s… That’s all I know.”
Aradia took the dimensional device. “I’ll check it out. You realize I might cause the disaster, right?”
“Then…” Eve bit her lip. “Then just get everyone out of there.”
Aradia nodded. “Got it. …Wonder what’s so important about this universe that you got a vision about it…” She shrugged, not questioning it further. She left the universe.
When she arrived in Planetary Proxima, she triggered the activation of the spell. Because of this, when she tried to go to the future, there was no future to go to. She quickly evacuated everyone, allowing the universe to be ‘shaped’ without costing a single life, but with the very real threat that lives could have been lost had it not been for a trick of fate.
Aradia would later believe Eve received a vision about the shaping because it had been Skarn’s assault. After all, there had been an illusory ship in there.
She never thought it was because Eve hadn’t had a vision at all.
The Handmaid had been manipulated like a puppet on a string.
And a war had been declared based on a lie.
~~~
Eve had broken down into tears several times in the telling of her story.
But now, at the end, she was all out. She was sniffing, but her eyes were dry, and her head heavy. She sat down on the ground, tired.
Then she looked up to check people’s reactions.
Pinkie, Flutterfree, Vriska, Corona, Spike, Cass, Luna, and Giorno were fixing her with sad – but understanding – eyes.
There were a few she couldn’t read at all. Jotaro, Daniel, O’Neill, Allure, and Toph.
And lastly there were the people who were clearly livid. Nova, Aradia, Renee, Applejack, and Prism.
None of them said anything. They were clearly still processing it all.
Corona took a few steps toward her, leaning down. As a hologram she couldn’t put a hand on Eve’s shoulder – but she could give her a sad smile. “I think you did the right thing.”
“Ex-cuse me!?” Renee blurted. “She manipulated us! She betrayed the trust not only of her friends but of her entire government! How is that okay!?”
Corona narrowed her eyes at Renee. “You can’t tell me you didn’t think about doing it too.”
Renee took a few steps back. “I, er… Yes! I did think about it! For a split second and then I pushed it out of my mind because it was wrong.”
“Sometimes you have to be a bitch,” Vriska said, folding her arms.
“I thought we learned this lesson already!” Aradia blurted. “And… I…”
“I’m sorry I had to lie to you,” Eve said.
“That’s not the point!” Aradia said, waving her hands. “You… you just… you fooled me! I trusted you and I was led to start a war!”
“We could have started the war without you,” Giorno said. “We used you to save lives.”
Flutterfree nodded slowly. “Always, spend as few lives as possible.”
Aradia looked at Flutterfree, eyes sad. “…You’re still on her side?”
“She never lied to me,” Flutterfree said. “She went out of her way to tell me she couldn’t tell me for my own protection, and still sought my counsel. I… I didn’t expect it to be this bad, but I knew it was going to be bad.”
Aradia glanced around the room. Then she looked to Eve. “…I can’t condone your activities in the war any longer. I’m withdrawing all versions of me from the effort.”
“Hold it,” O’Neill said, holding up a hand. “We can’t let this get out. It’d destroy us.”
Aradia nodded. “I know. I suppose I should have clarified only versions of me that are god-tier. You can keep the ghosts. I just… I can’t fight a war based on a lie.”
Renee glanced at O’Neill. “O’Neill, we can’t keep this locked up!”
“Yes we can,” O’Neill said.
“This is an impeachable offense!”
Hearing those words come from Renee drove a pick of ice through Eve’s heart.
“I know it is.” O’Neill leaned closer to Renee. “But we need the face of our people. If we get rid of her, things will fall apart. The inherent trust the people have in their leaders will vanish. Surely you know what happens to the USA regularly.”
Renee shook her head. “But… But if she’s willing to do this, we can’t trust her with this power anymore!”
“Renee!” Pinkie blurted. “Reel yourself in!”
“I’m an Overhead, Pinkie!” Renee blurted. “It’s part of my job to make sure there’s no corruption!” A single stream of tears rolled down her cheek. “And Eve’s just… She’s just…”
“She did what she thought was right, that’s not corrupt!” Pinkie blurted. “Do you really care more about the system than your friend!?”
“I… I…” Renee shook her head. “I can’t let her stay where she is, Pinkie! Not if she’ll ever do something like this again!”
“I Pinkie Promise that I’ll never do this again,” Eve said. “Hear that Pinkie?”
Pinkie blinked. “Eve, you can’t ma-”
“I already did. I’m not doing this again. I thought I was ready to sacrifice my people.” She shook her head. “I wasn’t.”
“Why couldn’t you have thought of that sooner!?” Prism shouted. “Huh? It took mom’s death to get you to see how screwed up you are!?”
“We can talk about that later!” O’Neill barked.
“Jack…” Daniel said, raising a hand.
“Daniel, quiet. We need to make sure none of this leaves this room. We can’t let this fall apart. Does everyone understand!?”
Renee looked at Eve, then back to O’Neill. “I… I… Yes. I know. I see. You’re right.”
Prism glared at O’Neill. “Are you any better than her? Willing to cover up?”
“Would you like Merodi Universalis to devolve into civil war?” O’Neill blurted.
Prism blinked. “Wh-”
“If Eve is impeached, or if the reason for her stepping down is ever uncovered, there are those so fiercely loyal to her they would refuse it. There are a lot of people who will think she made the right decision.”
Prism’s expression became horrified – as did Eve’s. “I… I didn’t realize…”
“You’re so preoccupied with what’s beyond us that you don’t realize the difference you make here,” Toph said. “I’d expect that from you. But Giorno?”
“I thought of it,” Giorno said. “I didn’t tell her.”
Eve stared at him. “W-what!?”
“The consequences of failure should not have mattered. All that mattered was if it was right or not. We were not going to be caught.”
“Giorno, I was going out of my way to protect everyone!”
Giorno looked at her with a serious expression. “Which just happened to make it much, much less likely for us to be found out. You avoided involving people out of a desire to protect them. It just happened to be the pragmatic choice as well.”
Eve’s mind reeled, unable to process that she, the mastermind of the whole scheme, had been manipulated in little ways as well.
“It’s going to be hard to keep this a secret with so many people knowing,” Giorno pointed out.
“We are not wiping any minds!” Eve blurted. “They all deserve to know! They need to know what I did, why I did it, and why Rainbow Dash is dead! That’s the whole point!”
“It took that much for your conscience to get to you?” Applejack asked, walking forward. “Ah’m surprised, Eve. Ah figured you were better than that.”
“Applejack…” Pinkie cautioned.
Applejack ignored her. “That was a really, really big lie Eve.”
Eve nodded. “It was.”
“Got one of your best friends killed.”
Eve winced. “Y-yes.”
“Ah figured Ah would have been able to see the shift in your eyes, the nervousness. But you managed to keep this entire thing secret for several months, and only Flutterfree knew anything about it.” Applejack narrowed her eyes, leaning in. “You couldn’t keep something this big a secret without practice.”
Eve’s and Flutterfree’s eyes opened wide in alarm. Corona bit her lip. Pinkie looked confused.
“What is it, Eve?” Applejack asked. “What other big lies have you kept from your friends? There’s no damn way this is the only one!”
Flutterfree inserted herself between Eve and Applejack. “Applejack, this isn’t what this is about…”
“Oh, you know what they are, don’t you? Why don’t you tell me?” Applejack threw a hoof in the air. “What’s she lied about, Flutterfree? What’s she kept from us!”
Flutterfree winced. “Applejack, stop. Please.”
There was a moment where Applejack looked like she was going to listen to Flutterfree’s plea – but her face returned to anger after a second. “No. No Ah’m not gonna stop. Eve! What is it? If you’re gonna come clean about this, might as well come clean about everythin’ else! And then that Pinkie Promise might actually mean somethin’.”
Eve looked around in fear. “I don’t… I can’t… No…”
“Why not!?” Applejack shouted. “It’s worse than this? How is that possible!?”
“I know what happens if you find out!” Eve squealed, the tears coming again even though she had supposedly run out earlier.
“The truth Evening! THE TRUTH!”
“I… I a-”
Flutterfree put a hoof over Eve’s mouth. “Now’s really not the time, Applejack. Really not the time.”
“Flutterfree, get out of the way.”
Flutterfree shook her head. “No.” The robes of Rage began to billow in a wind that didn’t exist.
“Nova? D’ya mind?”
Nova shook her head. “Not at all.” She grabbed Flutterfree in her magic and tore her off Eve. Flutterfree struggled – but Lolo couldn’t do anything to a telekinetic field, and she was not able to muster up Rage against her friend.
“Flutterfree!” Eve wailed.
“You don’t get to hide behind her,” Applejack said. “And you don’t get to hide behind your lies.”
“Applejack…”
“JUST LET IT OUT BEFORE I GO IN THERE AND DRAG IT OUT MYSELF!” Nova shouted.
“You don’t… I don’t…”
“There’s no way it’s worse th-”
“I AM NOT EVENING SPARKLE! HAPPY!?”
Pinkie’s mane deflated to fully straight in an instant.
“What in tarnation does that mean?” Applejack asked.
Pinkie grabbed Eve by the neck. “It means she’s Twilight-X. That’s what it means.”
“…What?” Vriska asked.
Eve was crying too hard to respond. So Pinkie did it for her. “Let’s go down a trip through memory lane, shall we? Once upon a time, there was a universe that copied every universe that touched it. This universe made copies of all of us! But, tragically, it was destroyed by Rick Sanchez. All our copies… destroyed. Except the Twilight that got killed wasn’t the copy! It was the real one! She’s been lying to us for decades about who she is!” Pinkie threw her to the ground. “You’re not Evening. You stole that name the moment it was created. You’re Twilight.”
“Back off!” Corona said.
“SHE LIED TO MY FACE CORONA! I ASKED HER AS DIRECTLY AS I POSSIBLY COULD OVER SPARKY’S GRAVE!”
“I KNOW!” Corona shouted. “I SAW IT IN TOPEKA!”
“You… you knew!?”
“I didn’t know this was the secret, but I knew there was a secret. And I know she was suffering deep, internal agony about not telling any of you.”
“Lying to us for decades…” Applejack said, face haunted. “What in the…”
“She wanted to tell you!” Flutterfree said. “She really did! She ju-’
“Why didn’t you!?” Applejack shouted.
“Because I was going to lose a friend when I did,” Eve said, unable to keep her face straight. “…That’s not completely true. I kept it at first out of fear, and then just because I kept doing it. But then I talked to Twilence. She… She told me that everything I feared was true. I’m going to lose a friend here today. I’m also going to have broken a bond of trust between someone and it’s never going to be fixed. I’m going to get some people to hate me, and I’m going to drive some people into depression.” She twitched, turning to anger. “Why did you have to drag it out of me, Applejack!? WHY!?”
“Because it was the truth!”
“Yeah, well it’s going to ruin everything! I admit, it was a mistake! I should have told you way back then! There’s no defense of pretending to be someone I wasn’t!”
“And there’s a defense for doing what you did here?”
“YES!”
“NO THERE AIN’T!” Applejack shouted. “THERE AIN’T NO DEFENSE FOR LYING TO CAUSE A WAR, TWILIGHT.”
The use of her old name shocked Eve to her core.
“That’s right. Twilight. You’re Twilight. You don’t get her name. You’re not the Charter-Princess.”
“You’ve known her longer than you knew the original!” Flutterfree shouted.
This fact seemed to terrify Applejack. “Ah… Ah…”
“I’m sorry!” Eve blurted. “I never should have let it get this far!”
“SORRY ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH!” Pinkie roared.
Nova’s anger dissipated for a moment to allow her to look at Pinkie. “…Pinkie? Yo-”
“NO! No I’m not freaking okay! I can see it now! I can see it all clearly. Lost friend? Applejack. Permanently ruined trust? Renee. Hatred? Oh that’ll be Prism over there. Depression? Well whoop-de-doo, that’s me.” She let out a laugh. “How about you all realize just what this means, huh? Flutterfree, you knew and you agreed to keep it from us! Spike, you didn’t notice that your mother-sister-whatever was replaced! Jotaro, that pony you owe that great debt to for fixing your family!? This isn’t even her. And how a-”
Vriska punched her in the face. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
Pinkie was behind her. “You can never shut me up, Vriska! Why don’t you know this by now!?”
“I don’t care,” Vriska said. “All I know is that I may or may not have really known the original Eve. But I know this one. And I know she’s a fucking amazing person and you’re all being assholes! Friendship is magic, idiots!”
There was the sound of a door slamming. Everyone realized Jotaro had stormed off in a huff.
There was silence. The only real sound was Eve’s retching, her body trying to force her to cry more, but she just couldn’t.
O’Neill sighed. “…There’s nothing else for us to do here, right now. None of this leaves this room. Understood?”
Everyone nodded – they had at least gotten that out of this. Most of them turned away from Eve and left. O’Neill returned to his duties, letting his hologram vanish.
Flutterfree, Vriska, Allure, Corona, and Giorno remained after everyone had shuffled away.
Flutterfree held Eve close. She glared at Giorno. “You need to leave.”
Giorno’s face darkened. He wordlessly did as she asked.
Corona kneeled down and looked at Eve’s tormented face. “…I’m sorry. I have to go.”
Eve nodded, gagging on her breath in the process.
“I… I probably should be mad,” Corona admitted. “But… I’m not.”
Eve opened her mouth. “Th… thank you.”
Corona nodded, wiping her face. “We’ll talk later.” She disconnected.
Just Flutterfree, Vriska, and Allure now.
Allure looked at Eve. “…I don’t know what to think.”
Eve looked at her. “…I don’t know either.”
Allure moved to nuzzle her – but remembered she was a hologram. “Oh… …Sorry.”
“It’s… It…” Eve heaved again.
Flutterfree wiped her face. “She means it’s the thought that counts.”
Allure nodded. “Yeah.” She turned to Vriska. The troll’s face was of understanding. The Thief of Light empathized with the horrible feelings churning around Eve’s heart and mind.
Vriska pulled the Charter in. “I know,” she whispered into Eve’s ears. “…I know.”
Flutterfree, Vriska, and Eve held each other, still.
Allure decided she should probably go. She disconnected, wiping her own eyes. She walked down to the ground floor of the League of Sweetie Belles. “I’m going home early today.”
Thrackerzod took one look at her face and decided not to object. “…Need anything?”
“Minna,” Allure said. “…I need to go home.”
Thrackerzod let her go. Allure passed through the teleporter and arrived at the front door of her house.
“Hey mom, what-”
Allure pulled her into a hug. “I don’t know what’s up. Sorry.”
Minna blinked in surprise for a moment, but hugged her back. “…Are you okay?”
“Me? I’m fine,” Allure said, sniffing. “There’s a lot of other people who aren’t though.”
“Oh. Is it about the war?” Minna blinked. “Did… did the soldiers get to Celestia City?”
“Oh, no, no, not that,” Allure said. “We’re still safe. It’s just… An emotional issue.”
“I don’t like those soldiers. There’s something about them that… I just hate. I see their armor on the news and every sense in me tells me they’re… …Why are you looking at me like that?”
“My first instinct was to lie to you,” Allure said.
Minna blinked. “…What?”
“I was all ready to say, ‘don’t worry about it, they’re just the enemy, that’s why you get a bad feeling.’ But… but that’s not it. I know why you feel so strongly about them.”
Minna stared at her.
“We need to stop keeping secrets for the sake of others,” Allure said. “So… here it is. Under their armor they are white skinned white haired humans with purple eyes.”
Minna glanced at herself in the mirror.
“Who can sense the future. And have the ability to appear completely normal to all standard types of scans.”
Minna looked at her hands. Her dull purple eyes flashed, entering a bright, intense state. “I…”
“I know. The Congeries… I think that’s your home.” Tears formed in Allure’s eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“It’s only been a few days, it’s o-” Minna’s eyes opened wide and she reeled forward. “I…” She put a hand to her forehead. “You… you still remember what I am, right?”
Allure nodded.
“Good. I… I stopped it.” She sat down on the couch, staring into space. “…I… A lot of images are flowing across my mind. I’ve been… activated somehow.”
“Huh?”
“I remember… I c-” She winced, cocking her head sideways. Then her eyelids opened fully and her pupils shrank to pinpricks, her bright purple iris shimmering with power she barely knew. She stood up tall, creating a crack in the ground with the force she exerted. “I’m a warrior.”
“Minna, no you’re not…”
Minna waved a hand. “I’m not now, but I was designed to be. I…” She closed her eyes and took a breath. “We don’t have a name. We’re just the soldiers. We exist to protect the Congeries and… to judge? I don’t understand what that means. I…” She put a hand on Allure, trembling. “I… Such pain… It’s too… It’s too much.”
“I’m here!” Allure said, holding her close. “I can take some of it for you!”
Minna looked right into Allure’s eyes. Both of their pupils pulsed in time – larger, smaller, larger, smaller again.
Allure was given a memory. She was a ‘human’ girl sitting in a vat, tubes plugged into her back. Each tube gave her extreme pain, making her want to cry – but she was in a vat, and every part of her was covered in a thick green syrup that made any action impossible.
She had no concept of food, language, family… She barely understood that time was a thing.
But today was the day she was taken out. The image of who took her out was blurry, but Allure only knew of one feminine bear creature. Brell.
Brell touched Allure with a gentle finger. It might have been soothing if Allure wasn't so afraid, and if she didn’t touch everywhere.
The wires and tubes were removed in an instant, sending great pain into Allure. Brell didn’t care about the pain. She just left Allure there, moving to another vat.
The memory shifted. Allure saw other children like her have a knife stabbed into their brains, coming out. The children were alive, but they stopped screaming. Stopped caring. They were ready to listen.
There was a voice. Brell’s? Allure didn’t know. “My beautiful children…”
Allure saw a human man dropped in front of the children. The others jumped him, tearing him limb from limb. Allure didn’t join – but she couldn’t stop watching.
She was dragged away from all the others…
And then the memory ended. Allure staggered back, breathing heavily.
“I… I have to go,” Minna said. “I have to stop it. Have to stop all of them. I… I have to destroy that place.”
It was rare Allure saw anger in her daughter’s face, but she definitely saw it now.
“Minna, that’s in the Congeries! Th-”
“I’m going,” Minna said, looking toward the door.
“You can’t leave Celestia City! We have a travel ban!”
“There won’t be a record of me leaving and nobody will remember,” Minna said. “…I can still think well enough to control it. Unlike the rest of them.”
“But that’s a warzone!”
Minna looked at Allure. “…Mom, I have to go.”
Allure stared at her daughter. Sixteen years old. She’d been such a treasure all those years – kind, quiet, understanding, mysterious, and patient. She’d never gone through the rebellious phase. Allure couldn’t even see this as a rebellion – it was a need. Since Allure had told her, a need had awoken in Minna.
Minna was talking to Allure not like a child, but an adult. An adult who understood the situation.
Allure gulped. “I… I can’t stop you, can I?”
Minna shook her head sadly. “No.”
“…Then I won’t try.” Allure hugged her daughter. “Come back.”
Minna bit back tears. “I will. I will. …Mom, if you see Frigid, tell him…” she paused. “Actually, you know what to tell him already.”
Allure nodded. “Yeah. I do. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Minna pulled back and opened the front door. “Pretend like you don’t remember me leaving. That’ll help you if anyone asks questions.”
“I know.” Allure said.
Then Minna was gone.
Allure looked at her hooves. This all happened because I decided to tell her the truth…
…Was I wrong?
~~~
Eve walked up to the front door of the Apple Family farm and knocked.
Apple Bloom opened the door, a judging look on her face. “Twilight.”
Eve sighed. “She told you?”
“You know how much she hates keeping secrets. Now she has to for national security.” Apple Bloom bristled. “You should consider yourself lucky she’s doin’ it at all.”
Eve nodded. “I don’t suppose she’ll let me talk to her?”
“Nope. And in fact Ah’m supposed to tell you never to come by here again. You’re not welcome.”
“…Oh,” Eve said, drooping.
Apple Bloom’s stern exterior broke, replaced with sympathy. “Look, E- Twilight, Ah… Ah don’t think you need to be ostracized like this. But she’s made her decision. And Ah think she’s sure of it. Very sure.”
Eve said nothing.
“Ah’m sorry. Ah think you’ve lost her.”
“I know I have,” Eve said. She levitated a letter out of her saddlebags and gave it to Apple Bloom. “…Give this to her when you think she’s in a better mood.”
“What is it?”
“A goodbye letter,” was all Eve said. “…And Apple Bloom?”
“Yah?”
“Thanks for being… you.”
Apple Bloom smiled awkwardly. “Uh… kay?”
Eve teleported away. She used Seraphim to override the planetary dimensional lock, appearing in the Hub. She teleported to Renee’s house and knocked.
Daniel opened the door. The sounds of Renee’s wailing could be heard from inside the house.
“…She’s not in the mood to talk to you,” Daniel said.
“…That’s obvious,” Eve said. She pulled out another letter. “This is for her. When she’s ready.”
“What is it?”
“An apology, a plea, and a goodbye. And some other things.” Eve smiled sadly. “You’ll give it to her?”
Daniel nodded. “There’ll probably be a lot of ice cream tubs I give her before this, though.”
“Take as long as she needs,” Eve said. “…Thanks.”
She teleported away. She dialed Equis Vitis again, stopping by Pinkie’s house.
She walked up to the door and knocked. There was no response.
Eve had expected this. What she had not expected was to be able to see through one of Pinkie’s windows into the dining room. Pinkie was sitting on the table, mane perfectly flat, faced away from Eve.
Eve knew Pinkie knew she was watching, and vice versa. Pinkie didn’t turn her head to look at Eve with her eyes, only registering the alicorn’s presence through her Awareness.
That was enough for Eve. She left Pinkie’s letter in the mailbox.
Then she teleported away.
~~~
It was a few days before Apple Bloom thought she could leave the letter for Applejack on her nightstand. Applejack was ready for bed when she saw it – Eve’s cutie mark imprinted on it.
She almost didn’t read it. But, in the end, she picked it up.
Hi, Applejack.
I know it’s over. You and I may never speak again for all I know. Normally I would fight against this with every fiber in my being, but I know that’d just make it worse for both of us. I’m sorry for that.
I lied. I lied a lot, for a long time, to everyone I met about who I was. I lied about other things. But it was always mostly that.
You were right. It trained me to keep my face level, to not visibly react when people said certain things. It turned me into a better liar. It’s the reason I was able to go through with what I did.
For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I hurt you.
I want you to know that, despite the ending, I will always cherish the friendship we had. All those picnics we had with the girls, all those adventures, and all those lessons. Remember the time when you had me feed the pigs and your instructions were absolutely absurd? I was always sure you were the sane one before that day. Or what about the time we worked together to run Flim and Flam out of Ponyville?
But those are her memories, aren’t they? Even though I know they’re not truly mine, I have a hard time separating them.
What of the memories we had afterward? Renee’s wedding? The struggle we shared against the Combine and Horrorterrors? The last mission on the island?
The point is that I will cherish these memories. I like to think you will too.
But I know you won’t be able to accept me. I’m not the Charter-Princess, and you need to grieve for her loss. You’ll never be able to see me as anything other than one big lie that thumbs its nose at your feelings. Which I guess I am, and I will continue to be. It’s okay if you resent me. I understand.
So this is a goodbye.
I’m going t-
Applejack couldn’t read anymore. She crumpled the letter up, threw it in the trash, and proceeded to cry herself to sleep.
~~~
Renee found her letter inserted between a tub of vanilla ice cream and orange sherbert.
She started crying again the moment she saw it, but she opened it up anyway.
Hi Renee,
Trust should be one of the Elements of Harmony.
There are some Trusts that can be repaired – regained over time. Flutterfree and I were like that. But you’re a different mare to Flutterfree, and our relationship is decidedly unique. We aren’t just friends – we’re also colleagues. Colleagues with huge responsibilities, including the charge to keep each other in check.
Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am corrupt. Maybe it’s because I spent so long lying about who I was.
I like to think I’ll change now. But the secrets still need to be kept for the sake of the nation. I wish they didn’t. I’m so tired of secrets, of abused trust. Sick of it all.
I don’t really know what you think about me lying to you about who I was. I hope you’ll move past it, and accept that I am still your friend.
I don’t want to lose two. I didn’t want to lose one.
If you really think I can’t be trusted in my position, come talk to me after I’m back. Tell me why. Let’s talk it out. I’ll say I resigned because I had been the Relations Overhead for too long, and that it was time to pass on the torch. You will have to convince me of that for it to be true.
But first, I’m going t-
Renee burst into tears again, throwing the letter off the table. She just couldn’t handle it right now.
~~~
Pinkie Pie w-
“Just shut up.”
…
“Thank you. So readers! Here I am, sitting on a table, as depressed as I’ve ever been. I’ve been betrayed not only by Eve, but also by my knowledge. I should have known she had a secret. But guess whaaaaat? It was kept from me. On purpose. For the sake of drama and tension.
“ISN’T THIS ENTERTAINING!? ISN’T IT!?
“It is, isn’t it? You like watching us wallow in despair, watching us suffer, watching us struggle. I bet you were laughing at it the whole time ‘aha, Pinkie doesn’t know! How silly! That’s going to bite them all later’ and then you felt all satisfied when you realized you called it. Or maybe you wanted something unexpected to happen and were disappointed?
“WELL WHY DON’T I JUST SLIT MY OWN THROAT RIGHT HERE THEN, HUH? WOULDN'T THAT BE UNEXPECTED!?
“…
“I’m sorry. I… I wouldn’t do that. I just got angry and wanted to hurt you. That was wrong of me.
“I guess I should probably read my letter now. Sun’s setting after all. Appropriate time.”
Hi Pinkie.
I’ve wanted to tell you for so long. I’ve wanted to spill my very soul to you, to tell you everything about myself, about my struggles, about the things I’ve had to see through the eyes of a survivor, about – well I don’t really know.
I’ve had that dream multiple times. Where I’m standing with you at Sparky’s grave, and I tell you everything. I never get to see the ending of that dream.
Maybe I will now.
I know it’s hard to be you. I know that I just made it worse by what I did. I kept things from you, things you should have known. You all should have known.
Should I have told you that first day, Pinkie? Would you all have accepted me? Or would you have grieved over the original and seen me as an unfortunate reminder?
Can you answer that question?
I don’t think you can. Twilence wasn’t able to, not for sure.
It was still wrong not to tell you. I don’t know why I’m rambling like this. I’m sorry. If nothing else, I should have told you that day you asked. You were in pain about your uncertainty. I could have helped you. I didn’t. I was a horrible friend.
I want to thank you for standing up for what I did. It meant a lot.
“It’s because we can’t lose. You deduced that. You knew that, because of who we were, we couldn’t lose… You just never vocalized it.”
I know I can’t fix this. But I’m going to try to atone for it.
I’m going to the warfront.
“Wait what!?”
I’m going to fight in the war I created instead of hiding in my tower, locked away from the danger. I’m going to atone for what I’ve done – whether it was really wrong or not, I will suffer the consequences of it. The secret cannot come out. So I will experience it myself.
I’ll be back. I’m the protagonist, right? Or maybe I’ll just be replaced again. I’ll be fine with that. I should have perished with my universe.
Take care of yourself.
-Evening Sparkle
“Uh… Yeah I’m going to need a scene break.”
~~~
Pinkie’s mane was still completely flat. She glared at Vriska, Nova, Flutterfree, and Jotaro.
“Eve’s gone to the warfront,” Pinkie said. “And she’s going to get herself killed if we don’t do something.”
Vriska and Flutterfree sat up in shock.
“Yes, I know you two helped her arrive at that decision. Yes, I also know you two are thinking ‘hey, what about her being the protagonist, doesn’t that protect her?’ Let’s just cut to the chase. That was stupid and your ka-based decision licenses are revoked.” She cleared her throat. “So we’re going to save her. Now we get to go to the warfront.” She turned to Jotaro. “And before you say anything, remember all the other things she’s done for you. You owe her a lot more than just that one thing.”
Jotaro grabbed his hat. “Yare yare daze…”
“Good.”
Nova sighed. “I’m… I’m still mad at her. But you’re right, we can’t just let her throw her life away.”
“I was so su-” Flutterfree began.
Pinkie shook her head. “I know you were sure. But trust me when I say we have to go help her. We are the primary team – and she’s our friend. No matter what she’s done, no matter how we feel, if she’s in danger we’re going to help her.”
“Right,” all four of them said at once.
Pinkie let herself smile – even though her mane didn’t pick up at all. “I’m glad we’re all on the same page.”
“One problem though,” Vriska said, pointing at Flutterfree. “She’s not a warrior. Never has been. She wouldn’t survive in a war.”
Pinkie glanced at Flutterfree. “You can stay behind if you want.”
“I’m going,” Flutterfree said, jaw set. “There’s no way I’m not going now. And you know this.”
“Yeah. Which is why I asked for a special guest today.” Pinkie clapped her front hooves together. A version of Fluttershy walked into the room. She had a blindfold over her face to hide her lack of eyes, razor sharp tips in her wings, and sharp metal boots on her hooves. “This is Flair, the Fluttershy of Affix’s world.”
Flair turned to face Flutterfree, even though she was blind. “I can give you the weapons I have.”
Flutterfree nodded. “Do it.”
“They are not easily removable without trauma to the nervous system,” Flair warned. “Not to mention your wings are no longer going to be soft and comforting – they will be deadly. Are you certain you want to turn yourself into a warrior?”
“If I want to survive out there, I’ll have to.” She fixed Flair with a determined glare, brimming with a slight aura of Rage. “Do it.”
Flair nodded. She produced a black box and placed it on the ground. She tapped it with one of the sharp tips of her wing, making it open up. Shards of metal shot deep into Flutterfree’s wings. No blood was drawn – but Flutterfree felt her bones crackle and fuse back together, prompting her to scream. Only the tips of the metal were visible at the ends of her wings, one for each clump of feathers. The boots went next – embedding large spikes right into her hooves that replaced much of her lower leg bones, giving her hooves a metallic point at the front.
She grabbed her chest – lucky that the points on her hooves pointed away from her. “Ah… Ah… Ah…”
“The pain will subside in an hour or two,” Flair said. “Your wings are now razor sharp. Careful what you hold with them. Your hooves should still function as they did before, except now you have sharp points at the front. I was able to flood the power of my Element of Kindness into the weapons – your internal Rage should be able to do the same.”
Flutterfree looked at the emblem of Rage on her chest. “Got it.”
“If you react any way like I did, you’ll grow accustomed to this naturally.” Flair put a gentle hoof on Flutterfree’s shoulder. “You are now a killing machine, Flutterfree. Be careful.”
“I will.”
“What are we waiting for?” Pinkie blurted. “Let’s go save Eve!”
“Wait, Renee will try to stop us,” Nova pointed out. “She has close tabs on us.”
Pinkie and Jotaro smiled knowingly. “We have a man on the inside,” Pinkie said with a wink.
“GIRL!” a voice shouted from the other room.
“Oh. Right. Pidge,” Nova said.
“Thanks for getting her off our backs!” Flutterfree called.
“Just get going before she figures out and fires me, okay?”