Twilight let her head fall against the table. The rest of the library remained silent. Most had sat down at whatever table they happened to be closest to, though there had been some attempts to remain in their prior groups.
“This isn’t what I expected…” Twilight murmured into her forelegs.
Pinkie Pie frowned. “You mean, with the Nameless and all that?”
“Yes…”
Sunset rubbed her temples and groaned. “You’re telling me…”
“Ah always thought it was just some monster,” Applejack said. She took a sip from a cup of water in front of her and then shook her head. “And now it’s… not a monster.”
Fluttershy nodded. “It wasn’t always a monster.”
Rarity scratched her head. “What a concept…”
The table fell silent for a few moments more.
“I don’t like him,” Rainbow Dash finally said. And then she grimaced. “Er, him? Her?”
“It,” Sunset said. “It’s an it.”
At another table, the other Twilight put her pencil down and then looked over. “Princess Twilight?”
“Yes?” Twilight replied.
The other Twilight held up a piece of paper with her magic. “I just finished the calculation… I know when Consensus is going to happen.”
Sunset turned so that she faced the other Twilight and then waved her over.
As the other Twilight trotted over to them, the rest of the Rainbooms (who had been sitting with her) also stood up and meandered over. The Princesses and Tempest merely turned quiet at their table, same with the Principals and Adamantine.
“We’re about a hundred and seventeen hours out right now,” the other Twilight said as she presented her work to Twilight.
Twilight considered the numbers. “So… 8:30 in the morning. Today’s Friday, so… next Wednesday?”
The other Twilight nodded. “That’s right, in a little under five days.”
Twilight set the paper onto the table. “That doesn’t give us a lot of time to figure things out.”
Sunset took a deep breath and sat up. “It’s a little more time than I thought we’d have, though.”
Twilight pursed her lips and then looked over. “Well, if you think that’s a bright side…”
At that moment, Starlight Glimmer trotted into the room. “Hey, everypony?” she called into the room. When everyone looked over, she continued. “Uh, there’s a thing going on out in the foyer.”
Twilight sat up. “What’s going on?”
Starlight motioned over her withers. “The… uh… other Celestias and Lunas are here. And they want to see you.” Her hoof then trailed up to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
Princess Luna stood up and approached Starlight. “Then, it would seem, we should go.”
Adamantine also stood up and trotted toward the center of the room. “The foyer, you say?”
“Yeah,” Starlight replied.
She nodded and then whirled to face as many as possible. “Anypony wanting to go down, gather around. I shall take us.”
After a couple moments of silence, Sunset stepped forward. Everypony else eventually followed her lead and gathered close. And thus, twenty bodies gathered in the center of the room.
Adamantine’s horn lit up and a ball of energy closed around them. It pulled and tugged, stretched infinitely thin, and then streamed into a single point. Reality broke down, and Twilight lost touch with all her senses. They came rushing back a moment later just as her world reassembled herself.
The castle foyer greeted them, and as the world quit spinning, Twilight noticed the congregation standing right in front of the front doors. They were Stygian, Discord, and a pack of Celestias and Lunas. And Spike, with crystal ball in hand, broke away from them and joined Twilight at her side.
For their parts, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna’s jaws dropped with shock. The Rainbooms looked equally surprised and they even steadied themselves against each other.
Princess Celestia stepped forward. “Everypony… what is the meaning of this?”
The Celestias and Lunas glanced at each other. And then a Luna, whose crown was tipped by a green color, stepped forward. Luna C sucked in a breath and then tentatively spoke, “Princess Celestia of timeline R… we’ve come to apologize for our attitudes as of late, and, regretfully… to ask for assistance.”
Princess Celestia looked at her sister. Princess Luna nodded back.
“Well, of course,” Princess Celestia said. “You had many rightful reasons to be angry at us. And we are sorry about that. I’m just… very happy that you’d still come to us, despite all that.”
Luna C cracked a smile and stole a glance at Adamantine. “Well… we did receive your messages. And when we heard of her return… we started to think that perhaps we need not burn our bridges.”
Celestia S, whose crown was tipped by a red color, chuckled and then stepped forward. “That’s right. We would do better if we worked together.”
Princess Celestia nodded. “Yes. That’s right. So then, what do you need help with?”
Luna C’s smile faded. “The Storm Kings have almost completed their conquests of our timelines. And our defensive options are limited to none.”
Luna N, whose crown was tipped by a blue color, nodded gravely. “Their forces have been moving swiftly. We employed our best to try and combat them. But we have been strictly countered. All forms of magic, innate or active, have been nullified.”
Princess Celestia frowned. “How so?”
“We suspected that they had managed to produce an anti-magic field around their fleet. We… didn’t have confirmation… until this morning.”
“How so?”
At that, Luna N looked down at Stygian.
Stygian stepped forward. “From what I know, they’ve taken a chunk of rock that I imagine has similar properties to what Queen Chrysalis’ throne was made of. It might, perhaps, be the same thing. They’ve placed it on their main ship. With the magic-blocking properties it has, it’s given them a sizable advantage.”
Tempest let out a growl but said nothing.
“And as long as it remains there,” Stygian continued, “they will continue to claim some decisive victories.”
Tempest stepped forward. “And how did you come by this information?”
Discord shifted and folded his hands together. “It was my counterpart. He is the one who figured it out.”
Tempest looked up and frowned. “Well? Then where is he now? I’d like to ask him a little more about it.”
Stygian furrowed his brow. “He succumbed to his wounds shortly after he got that information to me.”
A flurry of silent gasps washed over everyone. Discord himself appeared catatonic at this point.
Twilight stepped forward. “So… So… what happens next?”
Luna N licked her dry lips. “I would imagine… that they will take complete control of our timelines… and then perhaps set their sights on this one. They’re likely waiting to have a firm grip before they try on this one.”
“They know it is the strongest of the timelines,” Celestia C added. “Everypony does.”
Twilight shuddered. “H-how… long would it take?”
Luna C shook her head. “We don’t know. It could be tomorrow. It could be a few days.”
“If that is the case,” Adamantine said, “then they won’t have to try on this one.”
At once, everyone in the foyer turned to face her.
Twilight swallowed. “What makes you say that?” she wheezed.
Adamantine looked Twilight in the eyes. She said, with a deliberate tone, “Do you remember what I told you? Consensus… is about bringing things into line. It’s about correcting the realities. Right now… on average… if what they say is right… the Storm King controls nearly all timelines. And thus…”
Color disappeared from Twilight’s face and she found she could no longer stand. “B-but… then…”
“Oh stars…” Princess Celestia wheezed.
“This is horrible…” Starlight said as she grasped at her head.
Celestia S frowned. “I’m sorry. What is going on?”
Twilight sucked in a breath. “Uh, there’s a lot we have to explain…”
“Ah…” Grimb’vltr cooed. That prompted all eyes to center on the crystal ball. “So… this is the dilemma of which my counterpart alluded to. How interesting…”
Rainbow Dash threw her hooves into the air. “Uh, yeah! I guess we’re about to get screwed over, here!”
“My counterpart also said that you… would assemble a team to counteract this,” Grimb’vltr continued as it looked into its crystal ball. “And, judging from what I see… nearly the entire team is assembled now.”
After a moment of silence and the exchanging of glances, Tempest trotted over to Spike and looked into the ball. “Team? What team?”
“The team. Your team. You, Fizzlepop Berrytwist, will combat this. And I can see that you are practically made for this,” Grimb’vltr hummed.
Tempest frowned and scratched her head. “You mean to tell me… I am going to fight them?”
“Yes. You and your team. Which… I see three of the others. And yet…” Grimb’vltr paused as it drew closer to its crystal ball. It hummed thoughtfully for a few moments. “Ah… Yes. I do not see your key player nor the Memory Stone they possess.”
“Key player?” Tempest asked with a raised eyebrow.
Grimb’vltr looked up. “Tell me… where is your key player? Where is Wallflower Blush?”
* * *
Tempest watched as the surface of the mirror portal shimmered and a new mare stumbled out. She had a light green coat and a darker green mane and tail (both of which looked fairly unkempt). A potted plant served as her cutie mark. A brown saddlebag wrapped itself around her midsection. She stumbled in place for a moment, trying her best to stay upright.
The mirror portal shimmered again and Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna filed in behind the mare.
Sunset stepped forward. “Hey.”
Wallflower took a moment to gain her bearings but she eventually settled her eyes on Sunset, and her eyes widened. “…Sunset Shimmer? Is that you?”
Sunset nodded. “Yeah. Mostly.”
Wallflower finally wobbled and fell forward, thankfully landing on all four hooves. She then smiled and chuckled with disbelief. “Uh, wow. I guess it really is true. You really are back…”
Sunset laughed. “Well, not really. But kinda. Did they explain what’s going on?” she asked, motioning to Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna.
Sunset’s friends silently gathered behind her at that moment.
Wallflower’s smile faded. “A little bit. They just told me you were out somehow and that you needed help, and then said for me to come with them.” She sighed. “Here I am.”
Tempest approached. “So, you’re the one.”
Wallflower looked up and cowered under Tempest’s gaze. “Y-yes.”
Tempest smirked and stood even taller in response. “Excellent. Did you bring your Memory Stone with you?”
Wallflower shuddered and hesitantly nodded. She then reached back and fumbled with the saddlebag. After a few moments of clumsy searching, she pulled out the egg-shaped stone. She then scowled at Tempest. “I want to know something,” she half-growled.
Tempest merely tilted her head. “Yes?”
“How did you find out about this? I never told anyone about this stone.” She paused as she glanced at Sunset’s friends. She then compared them to their doubles who stood a further distance away, let her frown deepen, and then she pointed. “Except you…”
The other Twilight frowned. “Us?”
“Yes, you!” Wallflower barked. “I did! And I am pretty sure that I erased your memories. How the heck do you know about my stone!?”
The other Rarity exchanged uncertain glances with her friends and then furrowed her brow in return. “You did what!?”
The other Rainbow Dash glared at Wallflower in return. “Hey, listen! We don’t know anything about your stone of whatever, okay? Don’t go pointing at us!”
Wallflower took a step forward as she held the Memory Stone in one foreleg. “Then who called me over here!?”
Grimb’vltr chuckled. “That would be me.”
All at once, all color drained from Wallflower’s face and she froze. She cowered as her eyes darted around the room in search of the source of the sound. “W-what? Who…?” she wheezed.
Tempest smirked, plucked the crystal ball off a nearby table, and then deposited it in front of Wallflower. That prompted Wallflower to lean forward and look into it. Grimb’vltr stared back at her.
Wallflower swallowed. “Y-you’re…?”
“You may refer to me as Grimb’vltr. Although… perhaps you know me by another name. I have been called the Great Benefactor, or perhaps… the Nameless.”
Wallflower stood as still as a statue for a second. Her eyes could not get any wider. In fact, she looked like she had just frozen solid.
And then Wallflower, with a vacant look in her eyes, turned and stumbled back toward the portal, walking somewhat bow-legged as if she could barely even stand.
Tempest snickered. Oh, that is adorable! she thought.
Sunset surged forward and laid a hoof on Wallflower. “Wait! Wait a second!”
Wallflower paused and looked back with fear in her eyes. “No…” she wheezed.
Sunset came around Wallflower’s front. “What’s wrong?”
Wallflower pointed a shaky hoof at the crystal ball and stuttered out, “I c-can’t… M-monster… Danger monster know me…”
“I know it’s a lot to take in, yeah,” Sunset replied. “Uh, none of us expected it either.”
Wallflower continued shivering but she slowly met Sunset’s gaze.
The other Applejack, along with the rest of the Rainbooms, approached at that moment. “This whole mornin’s been mighty weird. Trust me on that.”
Sweat poured down Wallflower’s face and she meekly nodded. “Y-yeah…”
“Wallflower…” Fluttershy began with a concerned frown.
After a moment, Wallflower straightened up. “W-what exactly am I here for, again? Why do you need me?”
Tempest stepped up alongside Sunset. “That’s what we want to talk to you about,” she said.
Wallflower met Tempest’s eyes but didn’t say anything.
At that, Tempest motioned for one of the vacant tables. “Why don’t we sit down? I’ll explain everything.”
* * *
Sunset looked at the setup before her. A few candles and incense rods flanked a single pillow, all more or less facing this room’s gigantic window. The rest of Canterlot Castle stretched up past the glass, and this view offered a nice visual of Celestia’s tower across the grounds.
The room she stood in completed the atmosphere with its bookshelves ringing the edge, along with the occasional machine tucked within the odd corner. Behind her, a set of stairs spiral into the living area below.
The window had been fixed, but the hourglass had not been replaced. Sunset sighed. It would just have to do.
Adamantine, who stood by, looked at the setup and nodded. “That’s everything?”
“I should be set,” Sunset replied. “Thanks again for bringing me up here.”
“Of course. Just remember to send me a signal when you’re done here.”
Sunset sat on the pillow. “Sounds good.”
Adamantine smiled. “Good luck,” she said. She then lit her horn, and with a flash and an airy pop, she disappeared.
Sunset stared ahead for a few moments as she adjusted herself in the seat. She then flared her horn and the objects flickered to life; a dull flame stood on the tip of the candles while a small and steady stream of smoke wafted off the incense.
She took a long whiff of the incense’s wooden smell and let out a long sigh, content to stay and lose herself in the moment.
Sunset took one last look at her setup and then closed her eyes. Her breath slowed down to a deep crawl.
The tower around her melted away. All her senses faded, and shortly after, her perception of black did so as well.
Peace.
Quiet.
Tranquility.
Sunset took a long, deep breath and opened her eyes.
The sights and sounds and smells of the tower greeted her once again. Nothing had appreciably changed; the candles and incense continued burning like before.
Sunset deflated. “Buck.”
* * *
Tempest folded her hooves together and watched Wallflower’s expression intently. Wallflower considered the crystal ball in silence. The others at the table, namely the princesses, Stygian, Discord, and Starlight, either remained silent or took the opportunity to take sips from their cups of tea.
Wallflower eventually sat back at sighed. “Uh, I guess I’m not really seeing what you’re saying here. Like… I guess I can get that Queen Adamantine is… uh… a projected body and stuff.” She pointed at the crystal ball. “But that doesn’t look like a seal. So how does Genesis work?”
Starlight nodded. “It’s there.”
“Where? I don’t see it.”
Starlight rolled her eyes and then levitated the crystal ball. She pointed into it, even pressing her hoof against it. The cavern was empty at the moment, but the crystal ball remained nestled within the pillar of stone in the center of the chamber. “No, see that little stone pillar in the middle? Look,” Starlight said.
Twilight gasped. “Careful, Starlight! Don’t touch the ball!”
Starlight frowned. “Don’t touch the… Oh,” she gasped as she took her hoof off. “Sorry! Forgot!” She looked back down at Wallflower. “No, but that’s probably what it started out as. The seal is made out of that stuff.”
Wallflower scratched her head. “Okay, I guess…”
At that point, Princess Celestia began giggling like a mad horse, thus drawing everyone’s attention. All raised their eyebrows. Twilight, however, then gasped.
As her laughter faded, Celestia glanced about the table. “I am sorry about that. It’s a little bit funny. A few of us heard that before.”
Twilight giggled nervously. “That’s right. On the train. This has happened before.”
Starlight went pale and her ears drew backward against her head.
Tempest frowned with approval. “So… that means, right now, the layer below us is on the train to Canterlot with Sunset… and now we’re going to start talking about things. Right?”
Celestia let out another laugh. “It would seem that another loop in time has run its course.”
Wallflower frowned. “That’s not something you hear every day,” she groaned.
Twilight shrugged. “We get a lot of time loops around here,” she explained.
Wallflower deadpanned. “That’s not something you hear every day.”
Tempest chuckled. “Well, believe me, this all sounded very fantastic when I was first introduced to all this. You get used to it.”
Wallflower’s expression remained unchanged but she nonetheless sat back in her seat.
Tempest leaned forward and cusped her forehooves together. “Right. Let’s switch gears and start talking about that Memory Stone of yours.”
Within the crystal ball, Genesis walked back into the chamber. He went over to one of the monolithic towers and shot a beam at its side. A wave of light washed over the tower in response and the many lights within glowed.
Wallflower set the Memory Stone on the table.
“What exactly does that do? Where did you even find it? What do you use it for?” Tempest asked.
With a sigh, Wallflower glanced about the table. “So this thing… I found it buried in the garden outside the school. And it’s… it, uh, allows me to erase people’s memories. Or, I guess, parts of people’s memories. So I can make people forget awkward hellos, saying the wrong thing, and, uh, public speaking,” she said with a shiver.
Discord chuckled. “Ah, playing with pony’s minds. That’s a classic.”
Wallflower briefly considered his strange form and let her frown deepen. “Uh, yeah… Anyway, I’m usually pretty low profile—honestly, I’m pretty invisible—but the Memory Stone’s helped out with that quite a lot.”
Tempest hummed. “And how proficient are you with using it?”
“I’d say… somewhat?” Wallflower shrugged. “I mean, I’ve been pretty successful with it, and I’ve learned a thing or two about what it can and can’t do.”
“Would you be able to use it on the Storm Kings and Chrysalis?”
The whole table slowly looked up at Tempest.
“Because here’s what I’m thinking: the Storm Kings are probably are working with each other for personal gain,” Tempest explained. “So, when all of this is said and done, they’d probably try to turn on each other, just like he did with me.” She paused. “Chrysalis too.”
“And you’re certain of that?” Princess Luna asked.
“I got to know him pretty well during our time together,” Tempest replied. “So, if we made them forget about their alliance, or even about practically everything about the timelines, they will definitely attack each other. That will put a stop to them, at least.”
Celestia nodded and turned to Wallflower. “Then perhaps we could ask you to give that a try?”
Wallflower stood up so that she could reach a few papers on the table. One page had the Storm King’s face on it while the other contained Chrysalis’; both expressions were twisted snarls. Wallflower studied them for a moment and then reached for the Memory Stone. “Okay...”
Discord disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared on the table as a version of himself the height of the crystal ball. “Say there, Genesis, can you spare a moment?” he asked.
Within the crystal ball, Genesis looked up. “Certainly. How may I serve you?”
“You’ve been listening to our conversations, right? Could you be a dear and locate this main ship for us?”
“I can. Allow me one moment,” Genesis said as he kept his beam on the tower of rock. A few moments later, he quit that and observed the structure for changes. With a satisfied smile, he headed over to the crystal ball in the center of the chamber. “Scanning,” he said.
After a few moments of staring into the crystal ball, Genesis straightened up. “Scan complete. The Storm King’s forces are currently stationed above the city of Manehatten in the timeline which is now a wasteland.”
Stygian’s eyes widened and he practically jumped out of his seat.
Discord smirked. “Bravo.” He then snapped his fingers.
A portal the size of the crystal ball appeared in the air above the table. Visible within the aperture was an expanse of dull browns as far as the eye could see. Bits of dust flowed through the opening and settled onto the table. In the distance, a crumbled city rose from what seemed to be an island surrounded by an exposed riverbed.
Starlight averted her gaze. Twilight, who sat next to her, reached over and stroked Starlight’s back.
About a score of airships, with purple canopies and hulls of wood and metal, hovered over the city. A few had docked with some of the more-intact buildings. Any other details were indistinguishable from this distance which seemed to be at least a couple of kilometers out.
Discord frowned. “This is as close I can make a portal to them,” he said.
Celestia nodded. “It’ll have to do. Wallflower?”
Wallflower stared up at the portal as well and then nodded. She placed both hooves on the Memory Stone and pointed toward the opening. It lit up with a greenish glow as magic flowed through its leylines. It audibly hummed as its inner working twisted and churned and otherwise worked. It was, evidently, building up to whatever it did whenever it took memories.
And then the light in the Memory Stone died, leaving it silent and still one more.
Wallflower frowned and brought it back down to look at it. She then shook her head with disappointment. “Nope.”
The rest of the table leaned forward. “It didn’t work?”
“Nope,” Wallflower echoed.
Twilight groaned. “I’d guess the anti-magic field stopped it, huh?”
Stygian’s expression softened and he slowly sat back down. He lit his horn, his magic a brilliant green, and took a sip from his tea.
Discord snapped his fingers again and closed the portal. He then pulled on his goatee. “How troubling…”
After a moment’s pause, Stygian shook his head. “I would suspect that the only way to go through with this would be to disable the anti-magic field.”
Tempest sat back in her seat. “I would guess, in order to do that, you’d have to physically go there, huh?”
Stygian nodded. “That’s right.”
Luna sighed. “That doesn’t sound like the most pleasant option,” she said. “You’d probably have to go through the Storm King’s forces just to even get close. And you all remember how much trouble they gave us.”
Celestia nodded solemnly.
At that point, Tempest chuckled and then descended into outright malevolent laughter. As the whole table turned to face her, she made a feeble attempt to curb herself and managed to bring it back down to snickering. “Well,” she finally said, “who do you think taught them everything they know?”
Twilight’s eyes widened with wonder and she leaned forward. “Wait, so then…?”
Tempest smirked. “And even then, they still couldn’t beat me. I could take them on.”
Wallflower’s jaw dropped. “W… what!? You!? Against an army!?”
“Not all at once,” Tempest said with a sharp tone and a shrug, “but yes. Now I see why Grimb’vltr said I was made for this, because I really am.”
Luna straightened up. “You’re going to do it, then?”
“Yes.” Tempest downed the rest of her tea and straightened up. “I’ll go.”
Stygian raised an eyebrow. “And what about the team that thing mentioned?”
At that, the whole table fell silent. A few uncertain glances flew about.
“Yes, that seems to be an issue,” Twilight said. “Grimb’vltr identified three others… and Wallflower Blush.”
Wallflower shuddered.
“Haha, yeah,” Starlight scoffed, “I’m pretty sure Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna would really appreciate us not putting a student of theirs in danger.”
Stygian raised an eyebrow. “Hmmm, well, considering what happened to Sunset Shimmer, it seems a bit too late for that, don’t you think?”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “That’s different. Here we have a choice in the matter, I think.”
“Not really,” Stygian said with a shake of his head. “The Nameless identified her specifically. She’s the key player, apparently.”
Wallflower sunk even further into her seat.
“So, currently, that gives us Tempest Shadow as the main muscle for the team, seeing as she can take them on the best, and Wallflower because she is the best expert we have on the Memory Stone. That just leaves the matter of figuring out who the three supports are.” After a moment’s thought, Stygian smiled. “And, the way I figure it, I would be one of them. I am a battle strategist, after all, so I would be useful going in,” he said, his tone confident. “Plus, I can offer Wallflower some extra protection, if it comes down to it.”
Luna grinned. “My, that’s awful forward of you, Stygian. I like it.”
“Oh ho! I agree!” Discord disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared above Tempest. He laid down on the air itself and grinned. “Well then, Fizzlepop dear, would you mind at all if I came along and lent a hand?” he said as he detached his lion’s paw and offered it to her.
Tempest raised an eyebrow at the detached paw and shakily took it. “Uh, sure. I guess.”
“Oh, how wonderful!” he exclaimed.
“Truthfully,” Luna said as she stood up, “I’ve been itching for some action. That sparring session with Adamantine way back when was very much invigorating, and I’d like to do it some more.”
Celestia gasped. “Luna! You can’t be serious.”
Luna pressed a hoof against her chest as she pridefully swelled. “Oh, I’m very serious! It shall be a glorious battle. Besides,” Luna said, laying a hoof on Celestia’s withers, “I can’t let you have all the fun, battling unponies on a train. I believe I deserve a turn, hmmm?”
Celestia went wide-eyed. She then blinked as she considered it. Finally, she sagely nodded. “I suppose you’re right. Still…”
Luna chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Plus, my counterparts are here. On average, I’ll be okay.”
Tempest chuckled. “I think so too. You seem pretty capable.”
Stygian smiled and nodded. “Then it’s settled. The five of us will infiltrate the Storm King’s fleet. There’s the team.”
Three of the others turned to face him and gave affirmative nods and hums.
Wallflower shot up in her seat. “No!” she squeaked.
The entire table turned to face her.
“Nonononononono. I don’t agree to this! I don’t want to go!” Wallflower exclaimed as she backed away.
“Wallflower, please,” Twilight said. “Can we talk about this?”
“No! I can’t do this!”
Stygian frowned. “What do you mean?”
Wallflower took a few more steps back. “I-I’m just… I’m just a high school student. I’m just a teenage girl.”
“You’re a teenage girl with a Memory Stone,” Stygian said.
“Still!” she screamed. “I can’t go and face an entire army! I don’t want to do this!”
Stygian rolled his eyes and turned. “Princess Celestia.”
“She doesn’t have to if she doesn’t want to. This is asking a lot,” Celestia said with a sage nod.
Stygian frowned. “But the plan—”
“I was pretty content just being invisible!” Wallflower continued. “I was okay with just working on the yearbook at school and tending to the school garden… by, uh, myself. I mean, yes, being noticed does sound a little nice, but…”
Stygian stood up and trotted around the table so that he could approach her. “Wallflower Blush, listen… I’m afraid that there just isn’t the luxury of choice in this matter. You have been called to serve. You’ve been called to make your place. You can’t be so invisible anymore.”
“I wish I could be,” Wallflower croaked.
“But you can’t now. So… ask yourself… Would you rather be remembered as the girl that abandoned everyone in their time of need?” Stygian asked.
Wallflower gasped and even started sweating. “N… n-no! Please no!”
Twilight frowned and raised her eyebrow at Stygian.
“Stygian,” Tempest snapped.
Stygian shot Tempest a glare in response.
Tempest sighed, stood up herself, and trotted around the other side of the table. And Wallflower looked up.
There, Tempest donned a grin. “Wallflower Blush… what do you think about being remembered as a good person instead? What about as a hero?”
Wallflower paused. She looked like her breath had left her. After a few silent moments, Wallflower leaned forward. “Hero…?”
Tempest nodded. “Yes. Hero. You could be remembered for the good you did for all of us. You’d be remembered as a good person. You’d be remembered, Wallflower.”
Wallflower didn’t reply.
“Take it from me. I conquered Equestria once. I used to be on the bad side,” Tempest explained. “I already know I’m not going to be forgotten, but… if I do this, maybe I won’t be remembered as the bad pony that sold Equestria out. Maybe I’ll be remembered as the pony that saved all the Equestrias. To me, that sounds nice.
“And even then, I’ve still found friendship. Now, I’m not the keenest pony on it. I’m not a big fan of the parties and all of that. But it’s still nice.” Tempest took a deep breath. “And this…? This will open up some friendships to you, Wallflower. That is if you want them.”
Twilight stood up and took a few steps forward. She wore a smile all the while, but she said nothing. When Wallflower met her eyes, Twilight offered a nod in return.
Wallflower’s features loosened up and she glanced at Tempest again. “W-well… making a few friends sounds nice. But it just sounds so dangerous…”
“I would imagine,” Tempest said. “But if it’s anything else… think about what Sunset would do.” She chuckled. “Well, maybe think about what Sunset already did.”
A few moments of silence passed as Wallflower looked deep into Tempest’s eyes. Her expression phased between thoughtful and frightened but, as the seconds ticked on, it settled into the former. Finally, Wallflower straightened up.
“Okay…” she said at length. “I’m… I’m listening…”
* * *
Sunset shifted in her seat, double-checking to make sure the incense and candles were still lit, and then closed her eyes. Her breath slowed down to a deep crawl.
The tower around her melted away. All her senses faded, and shortly after, her perception of black did so as well.
Peace.
Quiet.
Tranquility.
Sunset took a long, deep breath and opened her eyes.
An eternal plane of coalescing reds and oranges greeted her instead. Sunset peered across the idle expanse of her own mind and let out a sigh of relief.
She eventually straightened up. “So… I’m going to really have to clutch this out,” she thought.
She stood up and stepped forward. “Okay. Consensus. No one knows what’s in it. Not even Grimb’vltr knows what Consensus actually does.”
A flame containing several arrows pointing toward a single point, along with the faint image of Grimb’vltr’s head behind it, floomed into existence. The flame began orbiting her head.
“Obviously, however, Grimb’vltr or something connected to it has to set it up. Which means that even though it doesn’t know about Consensus now, it will later. That, or the early unponies will go about it.
“So, what does that mean? We got something… and we don’t know what’s in it, but we can talk to whoever put things into it before they even did so.”
A flame containing a lacquered box appeared in front of Sunset.
Sunset gasped. She immediately reached for the flame and held it in her hoof. “No… no way! This is just like the hourglass trick Spike pulled! And then… we get some agency over what’s in the box. In a way…” She watched as the flame containing the arrows and Grimb’vltr’s visage passed by. “We get to influence what’s in Consensus.”
She paused. “It’s… more than that. Grimb’vltr said that its plan was to throw itself into the sun or something.” A flame containing the sun appeared; it too bore the faint image of Grimb’vltr’s head. “But coming up with this plan… will make it switch gears and set all of this up. And if I’m about to more-or-less decide what Consensus is…
A drop of sweat formed on Sunset’s brow. “So this whole idea… this entire train of events… Grimb’vltr sealing itself away, Twilight dying and coming back, the unponies… me taking the fall… This starts with me!”
The flames containing the arrows and sun merged together. Sunset tossed the lacquered box at the result, and the new flame grew to a sizable intensity; this one bore the image of the arrows, like before, but clearly contained within was Sunset’s own head.
She took a deep breath and then took another. “Okay. Buck.”
She reached forward and pushed that flame upward, well out of the way. “Okay. Okay. If… I’m going to go about this, I have to remember what all we’ve seen about Consensus and the seal… First, there’s the first thing we found. How did it go again?”
A sheet of paper containing a few lines of text appeared in front of her. Sunset leaned forward to read it. She skimmed the first few lines and then began reading aloud, “To ensure the ultimate survival and cohesiveness of existence, this seal shall need to absolutely and indiscriminately soak up the magic of these realities, up to the last drop. Only then shall the preservation be true and complete.”
She nodded and allowed a flame to envelop the paper; the paper remained intact all the while. “That’s how it went. There’s that. Now then, there’s the matter of the balls time dilating.” Another flame containing a crystal ball with a clock inside it appeared. “And then there’s the part where the seal specifically mentions the energy requirements for consolidating the layers and timelines.” A flame containing a purple-colored, six-pointed star which had to be the Element of Magic appeared. All three flames orbited her head.
“And then there’s the part where the seal talks about weights.” A flame containing a metallic kettlebell appeared. It floated right in front of her.
“I’ll start with you. The seal talked about taking averages, and that it could use weights to affect the average. Why is this important?”
She paced around the weight. “If I remember correctly, there’s a mechanism by which the seal does some corrections on the realities to bring them into line. It could be something as small as moving somepony over a couple of inches so that they’re in the same place in all timelines. But the realities have diverged…”
An image of a pony split down the middle, with the two halves slightly offset, appeared within a flame in front of her. “So, the seal can’t really do that normally anymore, except Consensus will do this. Consensus wants to force this to happen, even with how much the worlds have diverged. It has to have a way of deciding an average result from eight different outcomes… or infinitely many sets of eight outcomes.”
She nodded. “That’s where the weights have to come into play. We could conceivably make a weighted average… so we could essentially select an outcome that we want to most resemble. In that case… We could set the outcome to most resemble… probably the prime timeline, since it’s remained unbroken this whole time, and it’s not under the Storm King’s control.”
Sunset scratched her chin and then grabbed the flame of the split pony and tossed it at the weight. The two fused to create a weight split down the middle.
“So, the only question on this front is, then, what are the weights? It sounds like they’re a few of them. And… they have an effective radius… of a few kilometers. They must be some sort of objects.” She paused and then frowned. “And… apparently, they have to be connected to the seal for the seal to recognize them as weights.
“What could we possibly use for weights? There aren’t that many things connected to the seal. There’s Adamantine, sure, but she’s only one thing. There’s the crystal ball… crystal balls, but there’re only eight of those… right? You couldn’t cover all Equestria with those. And then there are the…”
Sunset gasped. “That’s right! Stones! There are thousands of those! We’ve just about collected them all.” She gasped again. The flame containing the weight morphed into a picture of a small, purple orb.
“We… we could use those!” she mentally exclaimed. “We could take those stones and spread them around to the areas we’d like to keep as-is. We could secure Equestria that way… since if we weight the average to where the Storm King isn’t in control, he won’t be. And… we can keep the human world the same too!”
Without warning, a flame shot out from the purple orb. This one contained Twilight’s head. Sunset watched it for a moment and then straightened up. “Yes… that’s right. Twilight is some of those stones. So… in this case… she’s actually a walking weight.” She sucked in a breath. “She soaked in a lot of stones, so… she will definitely dominate the average. She might get a lot of extra range, too.”
Sunset nodded. “We can still place stone placement somewhat safe. That’s probably best.”
The purple orb and Twilight’s head fused back together; the resulting image contained both superimposed atop the weight. Sunset let that flame float upward.
“Okay, that’s done. Let’s tackle the time dilation next,” she thought as she turned to the clock. “The worlds are time dilating, with each layer going faster than the one above it.
“The end result that we see is that their layer will eventually be current with ours. Why is this significant?”
She scratched her head. “Do I need to make another symmetry argument here? We’ve already more-or-less proven that the layers above us are following the same steps; that can be proven with the time dilation numbers we got.”
A flame containing an equal sign appeared and began orbiting her head.
Sunset paced about the expanse of her own mind as she mulled it over. “If I do make the symmetry argument… then that means that there will be a point where our layer is current with the layer above us. Going forward… there will be a point where their layer will be current with the layer above them.”
Sunset paused and whirled toward an empty corner of the expanse. “Wait wait wait. I have to see this,” she thought. She created a pair of lines in space. Both appeared parallel to each other but had a sizable distance separation. “So, if these are two layers moving through time…”
The lines began moving to the right side of her vision. The left-most line moved at a faster pace, gaining ground on the line in front of it. Eventually, it reached a point where it met the line in front of it.
“I’ve got two layers racing each other, more or less, and the one further back is moving faster. They do meet at a point.” She narrowed her eyes. “So… by symmetry, I have to introduce a third line…”
The lines reset. This time, a third line appeared behind the left-most one; it also appeared at a larger distance. “And I have to assume that we get the exact same behavior no matter which neighbors I look at.” The lines moved again, with each line moving faster than the one in front of it. Eventually, all three lines met each other at the exact same point.
“So… basically… even though all three layers started out at different distances… because they have equally proportional starting speeds… they will get to the same point at the same time. All three layers become current with each other...
“The actual behavior seems a little more complicated… because some time acceleration is involved, but they all speed up at the same places by the same amount, so I can preserve my argument here.”
A drop of sweat appeared on the brow. “And, by symmetry, I can keep going backward… and I could also go forward… to infinity in both directions!”
She took the flame containing the equal sign and threw it at the lines. The flame exploded into a raging blue inferno that took up a large portion of the space in front of her; the inferno sported an infinity symbol with an equal sign right above it.
“All infinitely many layers will be current with each other at the exact same time! They… necessarily have to be!” She ground her teeth together. “It’s not intuitive… It’s like the infinitely many layers would asymptotically approach the finish line… but I know we all have to cross it!
She kicked at the non-existent floor. “And that… that would bring all the layers into alignment with each other, somewhat. Well… it would take care of everything outside of our light cone… and the differences on our planet are small compared to the grand scheme of things.”
Sunset nodded. “Yes. This has to be it. That’s where the time dilation is going. With that being the case, then… I would imagine that the seal’s reconciliation mechanism would want to bring all of those into line as well. It could do it too, since the difference between layers would be minimized at this point.”
She looked at the infinity inferno. She allowed the smaller flame containing the arrows and her head to float back down and orbit it in return. The flame with the orb and Twilight’s head quickly joined it.
“So… Consensus is going to do all of this. Is that… everything?”
Sunset looked at the fires before her. The flames didn’t immediately fuse together like she expected or hoped. She narrowed her eyes, glanced around, and then spotted the Element of Magic and the sheet of paper.
“N-no,” she thought. “I still haven’t resolved these…”
She looked at the Element of Magic. “There has to be some part of Consensus that deals with this magic and using it for some sort of reconciliation. It specifically mentioned unstretching the realities… back into one single reality.
“As far as we knew, we’d need more than the sum total of all magic in Equestria to do that. But… Grimb’vltr mentioned that could be lessened if we minimized the difference across all the realities.” A flame containing several ghostly images of the same thing: a circle divided into eight slices, each with a picture of what had to be each timeline’s landscape. A ≈ symbol lay on top of them.
“So… if we can get the timelines and layers to look like each other somewhat, then the energy requirements would be within what exists in Equestria.”
Sunset flinched. “That’s… more or less what we’re already doing! If Consensus is going to make all the layers and timelines all look like each other, then… the seal would try to then… merge everything into one single reality!”
She gasped and then turned back to the piece of paper. “But… but then… this thing… about the seal soaking up all magic…” She held her head with both forehooves as she stared at it. “Have… have we been looking about this all wrong this whole time?”
She swallowed. “The seal charged up for its final measure. Then… its final measure isn’t a countermeasure to Grimb’vltr getting out—it could have been that if it needed to, though—it’s Consensus. The seal charged so that it could do Consensus!
“And… with how this’ll work out, we’ll be within energy limits,” she said as she grabbed the Element of Magic. “And once we’re merged… we would look like a reality still full of magic. We would be safe.”
She then grabbed the piece of paper and then threw both flames at the infinity inferno. They hit, and the infinity engulfed them before expanding several times its size, immediately swallowing the other flames (one containing the arrows and her head and the other orb and Twilight’s head) as it expanded. Sunset had to shield her eyes as it grew, licking her coat with its flames in the process.
When she looked up, a blue ember that had to be the size of Canterlot Castle itself gradually expanded right in front of her. Sunset had just a moment to observe the image in the middle; an infinity symbol with what seemed like infinitely many arrows pointing toward the center.
“So that’s it. We’re going to fix this. Where the worlds and layers split up… Consensus will bring them back together.”
The flame continued to expand and finally swallowed her whole. Sunset’s body disintegrated and the rest of the expanse followed suit.
“Eureka!”
Sunset’s eyes flew open.
The rest of the tower greeted her. The shadows had crept to different places in the room from when she had gone under; the golden sky told of an oncoming sunset. A quick look down revealed the lingering smoke ribbons of spent incense and the globbed forms of the candle bases.
She stood up, smirked and then took a deep breath. Adamantine? she thought, specifically trying to project her thought someplace else.
Nothing happened at first. And then Adamantine’s voice sounded within her head. Yes?
I’m done here. And I’ve figured everything out.
Acknowledged. I’m getting low on energy and need to recharge, so I’m going to cancel your body for now.
Sunset squared up and nodded. Okay. I’ll just explain it to you, and you can feed it to the others. There’re a lot of things that we’ll have to get going.
Right. I’ll start gathering them now.
Sunset smiled. And then, in that next moment, this body began disintegrating as well. And as her consciousness slowly filtered into the void, Sunset could help but feel a sense of wholeness; she also felt lighter than she had been. Now, she felt herself standing taller than she had in recent memory. One prevailing thought cycled through her mind:
Things… might turn out okay after all.