//------------------------------// // The Eighth Day // Story: The Final Choices // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// Queen Twilight walked into the main hall, rubbing her eyes. She had really needed some sleep after the events of yesterday, and she’d received exactly what she needed. Spike would probably be making breakfast (if by ‘making breakfast’ she meant ‘carving a bagel out of Discord’s food mountain’) and she should get a new pony out of the Roots slightly before that. ...She hadn’t gotten anypony new out of the Roots yesterday, just Rarity. Maybe she sh- “Hi, mom!” Princess Ichor said, tackle-hugging Twilight to the ground. Twilight yelled in surprise, quickly following it up with a laugh. “Good morning, Ichor! ...I see you’ve found my old dresses.” Ichor struck a pose, phasing her wings through the dress since they lacked the holes. “Like it?” “Rarity will probably gasp and call it a crime against fashion to wear something of hers that old, but I like it.” She nuzzled Ichor. “Spike making breakfast?” “I think so.” “Think you can go get Sweetie? Don’t want to load too much on him.” Ichor nodded eagerly, phasing out of the dress and the castle walls. A few minutes later Spike returned with a bunch of giggling pancakes. “...Couldn’t find any normal ones?” Spike snorted. “I swear Discord watches me whenever I go breakfast hunting.” “You could ask Rainbow, see if he does.” “Maybe later. I’ll turn these into something edible, give me a few minutes. Who’re you bringing out today?” “You’ll see,” Twilight grinned coyly. “‘Kay.” Three seconds after he left, Ichor returned, holding Sweetie in her hooves. “...We could have walked, you know,” Sweetie commented. “Walk? Who needs to walk when you’ve got wings like these?” With a smirk, Ichor showed off her misty limbs. “I think she’s finally comfortable here,” Sweetie said, shaking her mane as she landed on the ground. “So, what’s up?” Twilight smiled warmly. “Just… watch.” She lit her horn, creating two bright lights of Harmonious energy in front of her. Quickly, the two lights shifted into the form of mares, a pegasus and an earth pony. Sweetie’s jaw dropped. “Applebloom? Scootaloo!?” Scootaloo and Applebloom looked at each other. “Both at once!?” Twilight shrugged. “I don’t think Rarity really counted yesterday, and I can affor-” She stopped explaining when she realized they weren't listening. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had rushed each other into a three-way-hug, laughing and crying, all three trying to talk at the same time and not caring that everyone was talking over everyone else. “Sweetie’s talked about them,” Ichor said, looking to Twilight. “She’s… talked about them a lot.” “They’ve been friends since they were little,” Twilight explained. “And… well, I can’t help but think of them as children, but in many ways, they’re already grown up. Faster and better than many ponies. Ironic, considering how hard it was for them to do in the first place.” “Hard?” “Before they got their cutie marks they were… well, that’s a story you should ask them about sometime.” Ichor nodded, turning her attention back to the CMC. “So, do you girls know what I’m doing?” Sweetie asked once their rushed talking died down. “Yeah!” Scootaloo grinned. “You’re the new Headmare of the School of Friendship, right?” “W-well, it’s not that official, but I do run it, and Ocellus helps. She’s really good with paper and notes and stuff.” “Ah bet,” Apple Bloom said. “And we’re gonna help too!” Scootaloo grinned. Apple Bloom grinned. “Well, duh, but maybe we can get used to livin’ again first, hmm? Applejack’s probably gonna be a bit upset she’s not here to see me.” “And Rainbo-” “ALREADY KNOWS SQUIRT!” Rainbow called from a nearby window. “I’ll know when you wanna find me!” “Where’s Applejack?” Apple Bloom asked. “Barn. Doing barn things.” Rainbow took off. Sweetie grinned. “Then that’s where we’re going next. I’ll introduce you to the students later - though that’s Princess Ichor right there.” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo whirled to look at her. “Princess?” Scootaoo asked. “Yeah!” Ichor latched onto Twilight and grinned. Apple Bloom shook her head. “...Ah say we ask about that later, Ah wanna see Applejack. Nice meetin’ ya!” “Same! See you at School!” Ichor waved. The CMC ran out of the castle - right into Applejack. Sweetie blinked. “But Rainbow Dash said…” Applejack pointed at the barn just a short distance away. “Oh.” Apple Bloom pulled her sister into a hug, squeezing tight. Applejack chuckled. “Welcome home.” “H-home?” “Yep. Home.” ~~~ Sweetie led the other Crusaders into the wraith cavern. Immediately roughly half of the wraith turned to bow to Sweetie in respect. “Wow. What did you do?” Scootaloo asked. “They’re treating you like a princess!” “I kept them alive,” Sweetie said. “I already told you this, remember? Rarity was with you and everything.” “Well, yeah, but…” Scootaloo looked down at a bowing wraith. “...Nevermind, I could get used to this.” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “‘Course you would.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “Well, Rainbow’s ego tends to rub off on you, just sayin’.” “W-well, I guess…” Sweetie rolled her eyes, walking ahead of her playfully bickering friends. “Hey, Ebony!” Ebony pointed her face in Sweetie’s direction, though she kept tracing her hoof across her book. “Hello, Sweetie. What brings you here?” “Just checking in on the wraiths. Seeing how things are going.” “They’re bowing.” “That doesn’t really tell me how well it’s going. They could be complying out of fear for all I know.” Ebony nodded slowly. “I do not think they will refuse your help now that you made your gesture. ...And Twilight proved she was willing to do whatever it took.” Sweetie frowned. “That sounds like fear to me.” “Fear is a part of us. In most cases, it keeps us alive. In Silicate’s case…” She pointed with a wing at the corner Silicate sat in. He looked straight ahead into nothingness, his face red from constant crying. He wanted nothing more than to be invisible, but he could not. He looked pathetic, really. Sweetie had to remind herself forcefully that yes, he did deserve this, and while feeling pity for him was good and all, giving him his powers back would probably just be spat upon. Terrible truth, really. She didn’t think she could befriend him even if she devoted all her resources to it. The wraith was untrusting, broken, and scared of everything. He had acted because he was afraid… “You okay Sweetie?” Scootaloo asked. “Not… really,” Sweetie admitted. “We can talk about it later.” “I take it you are here for a reason?” Ebony asked. Sweetie nodded. “I’m here to introduce my fellow Crusaders, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. We’re going to be expanding the School of Friendship and are looking for more students. Already got some shapers. We wondered if any wraiths would be interested?” “Probably most of them.” Ebony furrowed her brow. “Can you or Ichor personally select a few?” Ebony nodded. “I’ll send some over tonight. Hope you’re ready for them, they’ll be… rowdy.” “It’s okay. If it’s too much of a problem we can just get Twilight to bring Smolder out. She can handle the rowdy.” “Good. Anything else?” “Unless you have something.” Ebony shook her head - but then thought of something. “Actually, this riddle confuses me. It is of a pony trying to poison another. He dissolves a noxious gas and an explosive metal into a cocktail, and the pony drinks it and somehow survives. I do not know how this occurred.” Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom - she shrugged. “Oh, I think I get it,” Sweetie said, rubbing the back of her head. “You probably wouldn’t have been able to get it, it assumes you know basic Chemistry.” “Hm?” “When you mix the gas - chlorine - and the ‘explosive metal’ - sodium - together, you get salt. It’s something all of us are taught in grade school. The writer of the book probably never thought it’d be read by a wraith from another universe.” “Oh.” Ebony blinked. “Understood. ...Have any books on this ‘chemistry’?” “The school teaches more than just Friendship, it is a University, technically.” Scootaloo smirked. “You can find any sort of egghead book in there. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie have all taught Chemistry, you could ask them about it too.” “According to Ocellus, Pinkie teaches it the best,” Sweetie said. Ebony nodded. “Thank you. I will seek them out at an appropriate time.” She returned to her book, moving on to another riddle. ~~~ Twilight was talking to a Gourd when she felt the lowest parts of the Roots tingle slightly. She had been looking for an excuse to quit talking about… the ‘Turnip of Existence’ or whatever it was the Gourd was on about, and this was good enough for her. “Excuse me, some of my magic senses have detected an anomaly.” “Ain’t that the thing, hmm?” “I… yes. Yes it is.” “No, it ain’t.” Twilight twitched. “I just… I’m going to go check on it. I’m sure Chancellor Rarity will be able to take your complaint.” “Complaint?” Twilight teleported to the deepest part of the Roots, where the newest section had just uncovered a new system of tunnels. There was only a small tip of Root when Twilight arrived, but she quickly expanded it so her magic wouldn’t vanish the moment she walked a few feet away. She moved down the tunnel, lit only by the blue glow of the Root growing alongside her. She followed the anomalous magic signature down for about a minute when she finally found it - a pillar of silver metal engraved with soft blue lines of energy. Twilight knew enough about technology to identify patterns of circuitry, though they seemed a bit large and exposed to be just that. The pillar had a flat top as if it were a column holding up the ceiling, even though the top of the cavern was far above the top. The base surrounded by a rocky outcropping, embedded deep into the ground. Casting some analysis spells, Twilight determined that the pillar actually went far deeper into the earth, possibly all the way to the outside of the Sphere. Maybe it was an access point? The Sphere was most likely artificial. If this were some kind of control station… The pillar reacted to the magic of the Root suddenly, flashing a bright blue. Instantly Twilight felt herself invigorated with a seemingly endless source of magical energy - as if she had turned on a water faucet and the pressure was far too high. However, aside from a blue glow in the circuit-like patterns, there was no visible indication of the magic power. “Weird…” Twilight said. Instead of poking it further, she teleported into Sunset’s lab, where she was currently talking to Frostfire. “And this is a resistor. Keeps electrical flow under control in a basic sense. But there are a bunch of creative applications for this little guy…” “Hey, you two,” Twilight said, coughing. “I need you to come look at something I found.” Frostfire raised an eyebrow. “What would I know?” “You are the foremost expert on this world’s magic, you might know what it is.” Frostfire shrugged. “Eh, sure, why not.” Twilight teleported them all down to the deepest cavern, gesturing to the pillar with her hoof. “What is this?” Sunset’s jaw dropped. “I’ve never seen such an immense magical power source…” Frostfire gaped. “A-a mana fount?” “Ah, you do know what it is!” Twilight grinned. “...What exactly is a mana fount?” “Ancient structures that provide magic power. They…” He shook his head. “They are some of the most sought after relics in the world. And you found one that was already active! That’s… I have no idea who would have abandoned one…” “It wasn’t active when I found it,” Twilight said. “It had to interact with the Root.” Frostfire stared at her in shock. “You can just… activate them by getting a Root in there?” “That’s not how it goes, is it?” “No! There’s a month-long ritual required to activate one of these things! Blairne and shapers have fought decades-long wars over control over mana founts! Even today there are some that never see peace long enough to activate!” “And I can just… do it.” Twilight pursed her lips. “That’s not going to make me popular, is it?” “What do you think?” “Yeah, thought so.” Twilight turned to Sunset. “Got anything?” Sunset had her hand pressed to the pillar, her eyes closed. “It connects to the Sphere, all right… but there are other things connected, making everything muddled. Probably other mana founts, if I had to guess.” “What can we do with it?” “Immense magic boost. ...And the locations of other mana founts.” Frostfire gawked at her. “Let me guess, you can’t do that either?” Sunset asked. “I… there’s rumors the Impervious Ruler himself can…” “We really do need to talk to this ruler of yours,” Twilight sighed. “It shouldn’t take much longer for word to get to him, right?” “Probably already has. They’re likely coming back now.” “They have to have a better way to communicate,” Sunset muttered. Frostfire shrugged. “Anyway…” Twilight looked at the mana fount. “I’m not in danger of running short on magic, now. We still need to keep this a secret. I won’t be getting a ton of ponies out of the roots, and neither of you two are going to tell anyone that doesn’t need to know.” “Celestia?” Sunset asked. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Of course she can know. In fact, why don’t you see if you can find another fount with her? You two haven’t gone out together yet.” Sunset grinned. “Sure thing. Frostfire, you’ll be in charge of the lab.” Frostfire rolled his eyes. “...The lab where I can’t touch anything.” “Yep! That’s the one!” Sunset winked. “You can use the smaller computer. Pretty sure it has snake on it or something.” “Yipee,” Frostfire deadpanned. ~~~ Frostfire sat alone in the lab, pressing an oversized keyboard with his hoof. A white snake dashed across a gray screen, slowly approaching a red pixel. It ate the pixel, got a little longer, and kept moving. Frostfire was already addicted. Can’t go back onto the path. Have to prepare for the dot to appear at all possible points. Precision movement is key. Fill the entire screen. I will be the best snake. The BEST snake. The screen affixed to the roots was filled with the faces of people watching him. At first there had only been a few, but eventually more and more had come. At first they laughed, but Frostfire was not one to be discouraged by a little laughter. He had gotten better quickly, and already he had started filling half the screen in his games. They were now cheering him on, hoping that he would reach the end of the game. Clearly, he had spent far, far too long on this, but who really cared? He didn’t. He was alone in a lab for the day, might as well, right? Three left. “Frostfire.” Frostfire jumped, crashing the snake into its body. The screen of the Roots let out a dramatic ‘awwww’ of disdain. Frostfire fixed his guests with a glare. “This is the la-” “We wanted to talk with you, this is where you are,” Ebony said. The pony next to her was a Gourd named… Frostfire had no idea. He wasn’t even entirely sure all the Gourds had names, and given the odd way they talked several of them probably never introduced themselves and just kept talking because they could. Gourds… “What do you want with me?” Frostfire grunted. “He has to ask,” the Gourd chuckled, tossing his mane back. “Really, he does?” Ebony ignored him. “We are here to ask about the blairne. Shapers and wraith have actively interacted with New Equestria. The blairne have, but they left. What do you expect the result will be of relations?” Frostfire leaned back, turning off the feed to the Roots for this conversation. “Honestly, I’m expecting some kind of trade ‘war’ where my ponies will try to manipulate New Equestria into giving up their magic and secrets.” “Foolish,” the Gourd said. “Like Pappy McGee always said.” “And if this fails?” Ebony asked. “They may try to attack,” Frostfire admitted. “You’ve seen Discord though, right?” Ebony pointed at her eyes. “You know what I mean.” “I am aware of his power, yes.” “Yeah. They can defend themselves.” “From the entire blairne army?” “There’s no way the Impervious Ruler sends the whole army to this little settlement.” ...Unless he finds out about the mana fount, but we’re going to work on the assumption he won’t. The Gourd got in Frostfire’s face and sniffed. “What in th-” “You smell funny.” “A- what?” Frostfire stared at him in disbelief. “...You really are a bunch of hicks…” “Eh, probably,” the Gourd admitted. Ebony narrowed her eyes. “Are you hiding something, Frostfire?” “What? N-” Frostfire paused. “Okay, fine, yes, I guess, honesty and all that.” He folded his hooves. “Can’t tell you by order of Twilight, though.” Ebony blinked. “Curious.” “True,” the Gourd added. “True?” “Apricots in June, I suppose.” Ebony decided it was best to ignore him. “Are you certain we are safe?” Frostfire laughed. “We are as safe as we can be. And may I remind mister Gourd here that his ponies can just go back to their Kingdoms at any time. And your ponies, Ebony, are hunted everywhere else. Even if there is a war you might find that staying here is better for your wraiths anyway.” “Perhaps.” “Now get out of the lab, don’t break anything.” The Gourd bumped into a countertop and knocked a flask onto the ground, shattering it. “OUT!” ~~~ Rarity sat in the little office Twilight had given her in the Castle of Friendship. She was Chancellor, after all, might as well have an office. Currently, nobody was there to see her. Technically speaking she probably should have gone out and examined how the work on the barn was going, but she really didn’t feel like that. She just felt like… sitting. Alone. In an office she barely knew. Rarity looked at the ground, silent. There was a knock at the door. Quickly composing herself, Rarity fixed the door with a smile. “Come in!” Sweetie trotted in, smiling softly. “Hey, Rarity. How are you doing in here?” “Oh, you know, fine, fine.” She tossed her mane back. “Probably should go out and get to work…” “But?” “Don’t feel like it,” Rarity admitted, leaning back. “Must not be anything urgent, so…” She paused. “Unless you have something.” Sweetie shook her head. “I just wanted to say hi!” She trotted to the side of the desk and hugged Rarity. “Well you seem happy.” Sweetie chuckled. “Twilight brought both Scootaloo and Applebloom out to make up for not doing anything yesterday. Apparently, she told herself she didn’t have to count you as an expenditure of power.” “Am I going to have to have a word with her about taking it easy?” “Probably!” Rarity rolled her eyes. “Oh, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight… what are we going to do with you?” “Listen to her? She is the Queen.” Rarity chuckled. “But we’re also her friends so we can jump on her case all we want.” “Really?” Sweetie asked in mock shock. Rarity folded her hooves. “Perhaps not! Perhaps she will throw us in the dungeon of the Roots, never to see the light of life again!” Sweetie’s smile vanished. “...Ah.” Rarity let out a sigh and leaned forward, resting her head on her chin. She said nothing. After a while, Sweetie spoke up. “...What was it like?” “What?” “You know what.” “Dying?” Rarity frowned. “Painful for the first moment, but then… nothing, really. Though that was probably because the venom had a numbing agent or something. Then I… well, to be honest, it’s all a bit of a blur after I gave Rainbow the…” She frowned. “It was dark.” “Dark?” “Dark as in nothing. A… lack of sensation. Wasn’t very long, and just when I felt like I might be seeing something… I was in the Roots.” “Something?” “Yes. Something. Can’t describe it.” Rarity shrugged. “It… I don’t know, maybe I was hallucinating. But there was nothing, and then there maybe wasn’t?” She looked at the table. “It…” “Bothers you?” “Yes. Yes it does.” She pulled Sweetie close. “How little we know…” Sweetie didn’t have a response to this, so she just hugged her sister back. Rarity did not mind in the slightest. ~~~ It did not take long for Sunset to track down the nearest mana fount using the one in the Roots’ “basement”. A little bit of an empathic connection and a boost from Rarity and she was golden. She had also been on fire in addition, so they had to create an impromptu vent to get the smoke out of the mana fount’s cavern. Now she could be boosted and touch the fount whenever she wanted without fear of suffocating herself and everyone else down there. But that was neither here nor there at the moment. Currently, she was riding on Celestia’s back as they flew through the sky, away from both the Shaper Kingdoms and Blairne Empire: the wilderness. “Now, I’m pretty sure we can’t just activate the fount without Twilight’s Roots present,” Sunset said. “But let’s be careful just in case. I’m not going to touch it, and you’re not going to try to scan it.” Celestia nodded. “Reasonable. Can I trust you not to go sun-crazed over it?” “What? Yes, you can trust me!” Sunset folded her arms. “I’m not a little filly anymore.” “I don’t know, Twilight never grew out of Twily-nanas.” “Yeah, well, in the words of Rainbow Dash, she’s a huge nerd.” “Sunset, you are literally creating computers from scratch in her basement.” Sunset chuckled. “Fine, fine, you win, you win a- I think I see it!” She pointed at a hill covered in white grass, at the top of which sat a mana fount much like the one under New Equestria, except this one wasn’t glowing with magic power. Furthermore, it was surrounded by four creatures that weren’t biological in nature, but rather pure magic constructs. All of them were eerily smooth, blue, and had eight limbs equally divided between arms and legs. There was no face to be seen on them, though a brightly glowing core may have been the equivalent of a head. The four of them patrolled around the mana fount in perfect timed motions. “Guardians,” Sunset said. “Frostfire was right.” “Wonder why there weren’t any protecting ours.” “It was a little deep in the ground, maybe that had something to do with it?” Celestia furrowed her brow, nodding. “There, another creature.” A being of blue magical essence scurried between the guardians - this one with six legs and six arms, though it was of a much smaller size. It was picking up rocks and making piles out of them. Sunset could see dozens of these piles stretching out along the edge of the hill. “Tender,” Sunset said. “If Frostfire’s right, they’re harmless.” Celestia focused on a guardian. “I’m going to try to communicate.” “Careful.” Celestia focused her magic onto one of the guardians. Hello. Greeting accepted. Password? I have no password, I simply seek information. What is this place? This is a restricted area, please remove yourself from the premises or you will be removed by force. Very well, we shall leave. Where may we go to get information? Central data management. Directions? Query process: error. How can we find central data management? Query process: error. Compliance delay detected. Please remove yourself from the premises or you will be removed by force. Celestia sighed. “Come, Sunset, we are not wanted here.” “Did you get anything?” “We should go to ‘central data management’. But they have no idea where that is.” “...Did you try the tender?” “Actually, no. Teleport us if the guardians start attacking.” Celestia focused on the tender. Hello. Richnepilleanewalknkedniiiir. That… made absolutely no sense. Excuse me? Rimpillsrocksrockseattinbriskinfiroon. “I believe it is mad,” Celestia said. “It app-” A guardian pointed its hand at them and fired a laser. Sunset teleported them away. “Well. That went well,” Celestia said, frowning. “If we need to, we can claim the mana fount by force. I see no reason to do so now, though.” Sunset nodded. “Let’s work with the one we have for now.” They turned around and flew back to New Equestria.