//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: The Trigger // Story: Dissonance: A Hidden World // by Braininthejar //------------------------------// The day in the Crystal Empire was calm and sunny. They all were, the magic keeping the surrounding land warm and habitable despite the cold of the north waiting just outside the borders. The two ponies who suddenly appeared on a small, grassy hill, looked around cautiously. Enigma was dressed in a slick, black uniform covering most of his body, with a ragged, black cloak draped over his withers and bladed bracers on his front legs. A metal cannonball rested on the grass in front of him. The other pony was a white pegasus in shiny plate armor that left only the wings exposed, the plates so heavy it made him look like a statue, He had no visible weapons with him. As the pegasus surveyed his surroundings, his wings twitched nervously, dropping a single feather to the ground. “You should get these preened,” said Enigma, looking sideways at his companion. “I might just get them chopped off,” said the pegasus. “All they do is itch and it’s not like I need them anyway. So, are we starting, or do you want to do some more sightseeing? We have ponies to kill.” Enigma gritted his teeth. “You don’t need to remind me. I look ridiculous in this outfit. What about you? Shouldn’t you paint the armor black at least?” The pegasus shrugged. “No need to. I might paint it deep red later. Less hassle with cleaning. So, we take the tower, kill the rulers, steal the heart, and then await the pretty princesses to drive us away?” “A monster of darkness existing just so your light could shine all the brighter. That was the plan, wasn’t it?” “Minimal losses this time,” said Enigma. In front of him the cannonball disappeared, appearing high in the air and falling past him only to disappear again, in a loop that kept it constantly moving, faster and faster. “There will be collateral damage, we are making a show, but we only really need to kill two ponies.” He beamed at the two alicorns. “My pattern has been suppressed, and now the madness is gone. The power inside me no longer rages out of control. It is a part of me now, melded into me, all at my command. I have been… perfected.” “Light…” asked Celestia with a frown, “You were only supposed to play a tyrant… How many Empire citizens did you kill?” "Lightbringer, are you ok?" asked Enigma. The pegasus shook his armored head. “Just spaced out a bit. I’m ready when you are.” “You know, I can do it on my own,” said the unicorn. “Not a chance,” replied Lightbringer. “I’m in a mood to break somepony. Take us there.” Enigma sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that. So, do we start with the heart?” “No,” said Lightbringer. “I don’t even want to get close to that thing while there is somepony who can fire it in my face. We start with the princess, then the heart will be useless.” “As you wish,” said Enigma. “Let’s get it over with.” They appeared next to the tower, in the air above the large balcony overlooking the city square. Two crystal pony guards were keeping watch there. They had just enough time to look surprised when Enigma’s cannonball appeared next to them. It flew sideways, smashing the guards’ heads together and sending them both tumbling towards the opposite wall. “Spoilsport,” grumbled Lightbringer. The armored pony leapt forward, falling onto the balcony with a mighty crash, leaving visible cracks in the crystal beneath his hooves. Enigma followed, appearing right next to his companion. He could already feel more guards approaching, even with the magic flowing through the building dulling his senses. He watched as Lightbringer sprung forward, launching himself head-first into the massive doors looming in front of him. Though unlocked, they weren’t even given a chance to swing open, the impact blowing them straight off the hinges. “Well,” whispered Enigma under his breath. “I think we have the ‘theatrics’ part done.” He shifted forward, appearing in the throne room, in front of four guards that had just ran in. He swung his foreleg forward, making the collapsible blade on his bracer unfold, then shifted again, appearing right in front of a charging guardspony, the tip of the weapon finding the small opening at the front of the guard’s decorative armor, leaving his own momentum to impale him through the heart. “Less pain this way,” whispered Enigma to the surprised guard, before shifting away, leaving the pony to slump to the ground. The other three guardsponies were preparing to charge him, but right then Lightbringer strode into the throne room. “Hah, still the pushovers?” he said loudly. He then looked around. “They’re not here! Find them and kill them!” he barked at Enigma. The unicorn disappeared, making a series of short jumps from room to room, all the while shifting the falling cannonball with him, wrecking windows and pieces of furniture as the falling weight kept flying through the spots he searched. He couldn’t hear the fight from the throne room over the noise he was making himself, but he could still feel all the way there. It looked like Lightbringer was ‘having fun’ again. There! Finally Enigma’s senses caught what he was looking for, a pair of unusual ponies running towards the throne room. Trying his best to ignore the fight behind him, he shifted towards his target. *** “You thought something here could threaten me? This was the easiest task I ever got. The guards only knew how to parade with their weapons. Do you know they jousted for fun here?” Two of the guardsponies had spears affixed to their barding. Lightbringer smiled underneath his helmet as they charged at him, standing his ground, just to watch the ponies’ expressions when the tips bent out of shape, not even scratching his armor. The last pony slid on the crystal floor, turning around to turn the momentum of his charge into extra force as he bucked Lightbringer in the chest with all his strength. There was a loud clang and then a grunt of pain. The guard stumbled forward. “Won’t even… budge.” Beneath the helmet, Lightbringer’s smile widened into a grin. “No. You… budge.” He lurched forward, rearing, then pushed with both front hooves. There was a noise of metal breaking, pieces of crystalline enamel flying off as the guard’s armor bent out of shape, then a loud bang as the pony was launched across the room, flying past the throne before colliding with a wall, the initial noise turning into a wet crunch as the broken body slumped onto the floor, covered in pieces of crystal rubble. The other guards’ eyes widened in horror, but they were too slow trying to get away; Lightbringer was already in motion, much faster than the massive armor should allow. As he swung his hoof down, a spray of blood splattered across his face plate. “Now I don’t have to hide who I am, what I am,” continued Lightbringer walking up to the crystal pony until his nose was almost touching her neck. “It doesn’t matter what they think about me, because at the end of the day, I will be the one to decide what they think. Isn’t it so?” *** Enigma appeared, right in front of the running Shining Armor, the tip of his blade coming into being an inch from the unicorn’s right eye. There was a shower of sparks as the blade was pushed aside, the assassin disappearing a split second before the heavier unicorn could ram into him. Passive shielding. Where did you learn that? he thought, as he reappeared under the vaulted ceiling, letting gravity do the rest of the work. He saw Shining Armor turn, blood running across his cheek where the blade had grazed it. He focused his power into his sword as he was falling - this time it slid right through the defensive spells. Shining Armor fell sideways in a desperate defensive roll, the descending blade ripping through armor, but only grazing across his barrel instead of impaling him straight through the back. Enigma was thrown off, but shifted again before hitting the wall, appearing in the adjacent room. “Armored and ready,” he noticed, rolling back on his hooves. He could feel both ponies through the wall, still confused, but now actively looking for an attacker. I don’t have the time to fool around. He could already feel the magic around Cadence intensifying. If he allowed it to continue, she would be very hard to reach. The falling cannonball appeared right above her, landing on top of her head. The alicorn was way too tough to die from such an attack, but what Enigma needed was a distraction. Her magic wavered and as Shining turned to shield her, a split second too late, Enigma fell again, shifting once more to pop up beside the unicorn, his fall transferred into a horizontal drop kick that sent Shining Armor flying. Regaining his footing, Enigma turned around, swinging his blade at Cadence. She was still reeling from the blow, unable to shield herself in time. A blast of green energy came along the corridor, passing through the space where Enigma’s front hoof would have been. Another unicorn, a teal stallion dressed in officer’s armor, had ran into the hall and was now firing shot after shot at Enigma, forcing him into a sequence of dodges. That’s agent Prism. What’s he doing here? thought the Shattered as he avoided the next attack by appearing right behind Cadence, using her as a shield. He was about to strike her down, only to be foiled again, a fuchsia bubble of force erupting around her; Shining Armor was down and bleeding, but not out yet. This is ridiculous, thought Enigma, looking at Prism. Will she be angry with me if I kill him? No, he’s expendable at this point. A horrible, gurgled scream echoed through the castle. Enigma groaned inwardly. Damn you, Lightbringer. Can’t you ever- A loud explosion followed. And then something that made Enigma forget about his opponents. Suddenly he realised that could no longer feel Lightbringer clearly, the background magic that had been kept at bay by his pattern presence now filling the spot where he was standing. “Oh, for crying out loud…” *** The armored hoof descended again, like a pile driver, breaking bones into splinters and spraying the floor with red. Lightbringer grinned wildly. “You deserve no better, weaklings.” “Like this!?” shouted Celestia, stomping her hoof, a disc of light appearing underneath her to support her weight, her wings no longer flapping but now flared in anger. “This is what you call your perfect solution? A lifetime of mind-numbing terror for everypony but you?” He looked down at his victim’s eyes, widened in their final expression of pain and horror. “In time, they will come to love me with all their hearts, and then the suffering will stop… won’t you, my crystal slave?” Behind him, he heard more guards running into the throne room. He turned around just in time to see color drain from their faces at the sight they beheld, their coats changing from sparkly and crystalline to a dull sheen of old glass. Slowly, Lightbringer started walking towards them, each step accentuated with a stomp that cracked the crystal floor. “You silly little ponies…” he growled through clenched teeth, “You thought killing me would be enough? You thought tearing me to pieces would be enough? That I would be gone like a bad dream?” “I command you to love me.” One of the guards, braver than the rest, braced himself and stood his ground.  “Not a step more, monster!” he shouted. “So, you want the old Lightbringer back,” he said with a smile. “You prefer Hate, the destroyer of Portus.” “If you want me gone, you have to try harder!” Lightbringer took a low stance and then pounced, the sudden, impossible acceleration turning him into a pony bullet. The whole tower shook as the armored pegasus plowed through the guards in his way, then through the thick, crystal wall behind them, sending crystal shards bigger than a pony flying in all directions. His armor was now smudged brick red, covered with a thick mix of dust and blood, but he didn’t even notice that anymore. “Always the one to screw up, always the destroyer, the killer, a monster among monsters you pretend not to be. A ‘little brother’ you can pity and a force of rage and murder you can unleash on your enemies. And now, when I’ve finally succeeded at something, when I’m finally in control… YOU CAN’T BEAR IT!” When Enigma appeared in the throne room, the dust hadn’t yet settled. He instantly found Lightbringer, but even as he opened his mouth to ask if everything was okay, he realised it would be a futile effort; the pegasus was standing among the carnage, shaking all over, and there were now wisps of purple smoke coming out through the eye-slits of his helmet. *** "Is this all?" asked Twilight Sparkle, looking down on the stone castle floor. Obsidian was standing in a large circle covered by runes. It had taken him mere seconds to burn the symbols into the stone, but now he was focusing his magic into them and that was taking considerably more time. “Almost,” answered Obsidian. “I’m done empowering the main circle. Now I’m just adding a line of protection effects to hide our signature when we teleport. Once that is done, I will transport you.” Twilight approached the circle, giving a close look to the symbols, which were now starting to glow a soft blue. “This is… very much like how you told me not to use magic,” she said after a while. “What exactly are you doing?” “As I’ve already told you,” said Obsidian,”I’m harnessing the power of the leyline, or rather, what’s left of it after the tree has absorbed most of it. Because the power isn’t coming from me, it is much harder to properly control. Even in the old days, this is how it was done. Trust me here, you don’t want magic from an unfamiliar source flowing freely through your head.” “Can’t we just use the Elements?”  asked Rainbow Dash, flapping over the two ponies. “We need to get to the Crystal Empire before the princesses do.” Twilight looked up at her friend. “She is right. The Elements are a part of us. We don’t need to control them. And we really do need to hurry.” “In that case,” answered Obsidian with a scowl, “stop interrupting me. I’m almost done here.” He looked below his feet, then back at the mares around him. All six were watching him intently. The stallion sighed. “Yes, we could use the Elements. But you were almost catatonic with despair half an hour ago, and half of your friends have somepony dear they left behind when we retreated. You are all but in harmony now. To let you direct a teleport spell together would be asking for a disaster. Not to mention the fireworks would be visible all the way from Canterlot.” He kept looking at the six ponies, judging their reactions. None of them looked happy. All kinds of emotions were flashing across their faces, from disappointment, through barely concealed despair, to determination. Rainbow Dash went with anger. “So what if they know where we are?” she asked, flying down to Obsidian’s level. “We’ll be gone by then! And it’s not like they can’t guess where we’re headed. We need to get there before them!” Obsidian’s staff swatted at her, but this time the pegasus was ready, flinching out of the way at the last moment. “And stop doing that!” she shouted. “Then let me work!” growled Obsidian through gritted teeth. “I have waited too long for this chance to waste it because of some missed detail.” “If you want to have it your way,” said Rarity, trying her best to keep her voice calm despite her own inner turmoil, “you should really work on making a better impression. No matter how right you may be, you can’t make ponies listen to your advice by beating them with a stick.” Obsidian sneered. “Wanna bet?” He then took a deep breath and relaxed. “You do have a point though. I had let my social skills get rusty. In either case, I’m ready to transport you. Stand around the circle, touching the border. Pinkie Pie, you go inside.” The mares closed in reluctantly. Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow. “Why me?” “I’ll be using you to target the spell,” replied Obsidian. “You have been where we want to go, and you should be the least distracted-” He paused and took a long look at Pinkie. “Relatively speaking.” *** The bed was clean, but hard. As Tourmaline’s senses started returning, she lazily identified it as one of the beds in the lab. Dr Stone gave me some medicine to calm me down. I was getting a headache and she was afraid- As the details clicked into place one by one, Tourmaline’s eyes slowly opened. She knew better than to jump out of bed, instead examining her surroundings carefully, until she was sure she was in the state to stay upright. The first thing she noticed was her mother sitting beside the bed. “Are you okay, honey?” asked Bluebonnet, getting up to lean over her daughter. Tourmaline examined her body, moving each limb in turn. “I think so.” Bluebonnet breathed a sigh of relief. “I was so worried about you. What happened to you?” This made Tourmaline wake up at once. “Where is Scootaloo? Is she okay?” “I don’t know,” said Tourmaline, “She’s being detained, Pierce is looking after her. I’ve been told she was affected with some mind control magic. How did she get out of her room?” “There was an alarm,” answered the filly. “I followed the evacuation procedure. Then she saw Twilight Sparkle and ran after her. I tried to keep up, but she’s much faster than me.” “Ah right, the princess told me she found her. But that means…” she leaned forward and nuzzled her daughter. “I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have left you alone watching your friend. It’s just I was so tired after preparing the modulator, I couldn’t stay up anymore. The explosion woke me up, but by the time I knew what was going on, it was already over.” “Mom,” smiled Tourmaline, pushing her mother away gently. “I can take care of myself.” She slowly got out of bed. “I’m more worried about Scootaloo. She ran ahead of me and… when I caught up with her, she was raving, saying horrible things about princess Celestia. The princess had to put her in a force bubble.” “I’m sure she’ll be okay soon,” answered Bluebonnet. “Princess Luna is an expert when it comes to nightmares. She’ll know how to help her.” “Do you think they’ll let me see her?” asked Tourmaline. “Probably not right now, I’m afraid,” replied Bluebonnet. “I’m sure you’ll be able to see her when princess Luna manages to undo… whatever it was that happened to her. Actually… Dr Stone has asked that you stay in the lab for now, for your safety.” “What? Why?” asked Tourmaline, suddenly worried. Bluebonnet looked at her with a frown. “I’m not sure, dear. I don’t fully understand what is happening. But you can be sure, princess Celestia is doing all in her power to keep you safe.” She paused, looking at her daughter’s face. Tourmaline’s face didn’t show an obvious emotion, but the way she shifted nervously betrayed an inner struggle. Finally, she spoke. “Can I go to my room at least? I don’t want to stay here.” Bluebonnet looked at her in confusion. “What? of course you can. Why would you think that?” Tourmaline took a sudden step forward and hugged her mother. The engineer stood there, surprised, before returning the hug. “I know I’m just a kid,” said Tourmaline, “I’m not supposed to know some things,” Bluebonnet looked down, trying to see her daughter’s face, but found herself unable to do so without breaking the hug. Before she could interrupt, Tourmaline continued. “But you will tell me when you find out what it’s all about, promise?” There was a surprised pause. Finally, the older earth pony whispered softly. “Promise.” *** “Hey, you jerk!” shouted Scootaloo, banging her hooves on the window leading to the corridor. Since she woke up, she spent most of her time trying to get out. To her frustration, both the door and the window proved much sturdier than they looked. For all the cleanness and modern decor of her room, she might as well have been locked in a dungeon. There was a sound of hooves on the stone floor from the corridor. After a moment, agent Pierce walked slowly into view. He was still limping a bit, but had replaced his coat with a new one. He shot Scootaloo an annoyed look through the glass. “I’ve already told you,” he said in a tired voice, barely audible through the glass. “You can’t see her. No visitors till they’re done fixing your mind.” Scootaloo’s wings furrowed. “Fixing!? There’s nothing wrong with my mind! I’ve heard what the princess is. And I saw her try to kill Rainbow Dash!” The unicorn suppressed a groan. “You’re under a mind control effect. It’s making you irrational.” “No, it isn’t,” said Scootaloo, stepping away from the window and staring at her hooves. “The Elements of Harmony are the heroes of Equestria. They saved everypony more than once. I bet they saved you too! And the princess wants to kill them because they know what she is!” Pierce glared at her through the window. “There’s no point arguing with you. Just sit here and wait. I’m not enjoying it either.” He turned around and walked away. “You’re one of the bad guys, can’t you see!?” shouted Scootaloo behind his back. Pierce tensed. “I’m doing my job. Don’t make it difficult,” he grumbled, almost sure the filly could no longer hear him. *** “How are they?” asked Celestia, closing the door behind her. Her mane had lost her usual flow and there was slight twitchiness to her movements. Dr Stone looked up at her, an expression of worry on her face. “They were both asleep, last I checked. Dr Bluebonnet is with her daughter now.” Celestia nodded, looking down at the doctor. “Was she affected too?” The earth pony shook her head. “not that I could detect. I will run some more tests on her once she calms down, just to make sure.” “And her friend?” asked Celestia. “I’m working on it,” answered Dr Stone. “We were already planning to wipe the last day from her mind. Now, with Honesty affecting her, we’ll need to be more through, the memory is very vivid and we’ll have to make sure-” “When?” interrupted the princess impatiently. “As soon as my lab is fixed,” answered Dr Stone. “I’m bringing in spares from my other labs, but it will take some time to get everything ready. That pulse fried half of my equipment. Unless princess Luna can help me with her magic?” Celestia shook her head. “I’m afraid not. We need all the magic at our disposal to look for the Elements. Both Luna and the seers’ tower are busy. I’m afraid you’ll have to handle this one yourself.” Dr Stone bowed. “You can count on me.” Celestia smiled. “Yes, I can. That is a rare quality nowadays. Have Lightbringer and Enigma reported in yet?” “Not that I know of,” answered Dr Stone, “They would have reported to you probably. Is that why you’re so worried?” She turned her back on the Princess and walked towards one of the tables. She returned with a tray in her mouth, two cups of hot tea upon it. Celestia lit up her horn, picking one of the cups and sipping from it. “One of the reasons, yes. If everything went smoothly, Enigma would have been back with a report by now. But there’s more than that. Before they departed, I tried to contact agent Prism. But he hasn’t responded yet. That means, either something has happened to him, or…” Dr Stone was sipping her own tea. “But you’d picked him personally for the task, your most trustworthy agent.” “I did,” admitted Celestia with a sigh. “But what if he isn’t?” The earth pony’s face took a worried expression again. “What do you mean? Is there something I should know?” Celestia’s face turned grim. She swallowed the rest of her tea and set the empty cup on the tray. “The other two children are gone. Somepony stole them away in the confusion.” “But who could have done it?” asked Dr Stone. “Obsidian wouldn’t have had the time to find accomplices, would he?” “Perhaps he already had some,” said Celestia. “I asked everypony and some servants claimed they had seen a blue-coated unicorn guard entering the quarters. I watched their memories, but they had never stopped for a closer look. I didn’t see any details. Still, I’m wondering if perhaps-” “Changelings?” supplied Dr Stone. Celestia paused, her train of thought suddenly interrupted. “What?” “It could have been a changeling,” answered Dr Stone. “We already know they’re involved. For all we know, they might be responsible for the Elements meeting Obsidian. And even with our screening, a single infiltrator could have gotten through while everypony was distracted.” Silence fell. Then, slowly, Celestia released a deep breath. “Thank you, Eve. I don’t know what I would do without you” The earth pony frowned. “Please, don’t call me that. Evening Embrace is dead, she’s been for millennia. I’m Dr Stone. We are the ponies we choose to be now.” Unexpectedly, Celestia walked forward, putting her wing around the earth pony. “You’re right of course. I’m princess Celestia now. Equestria relies on me. We’ll get through this, calmly and rationally, as we always had.” “It’s not just the two of us, you know,” said Dr Stone. “There are others too.” The wing over her withers suddenly hugged her tighter. “No,” said Celestia. “I’m sorry to say that, but… Enigma is no longer one of us. Lightbringer is unstable.  A…” Celestia hesitated. “...Luna… means well, but.. she thinks she could be a better leader. She would do things behind my back if she thought it was for the better. Remember that letter to Twilight she faked, sending the Elements against a dragon?” “We can only win this if... we work as one,” said Dr Stone, suddenly sounding like somepony much younger. Celestia smiled. “Yes. You’re right. But you are the one that stayed with me for a thousand years, when Enigma abandoned us, and all the others were… gone.” She took another deep breath. “You’re the only one I can fully trust.”