//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19: The Plan 
// Story: The Life of Penumbra Heartbreak 
// by Unwhole Hole 
//------------------------------//

“No. no NO!” Twilight Luciferian slammed his hoof against the inside of his mirror, causing the dimensional prism that formed its glass to ripple. One of the thralls crowding the other side turned slightly, but was too stupid to know what it was meant to see. “How? HOW?! I was so careful!” 
He then released a withering tirade of profound swearing, many of the words precisely chosen from languages that had not existed for several millennia except in books- -and also in such a way as to not inadvertently generate a spell capable of annihilating both him and his wizard tower.  
When he was done, he felt somewhat better. The mirror was the fastest way for him to travel, but no the only one. His efforts had been extensive, but his close study of the chronoplexer had provided him with the data he needed to complete the spells listed in the Fragments of Gnomenedrona. He could teleport, even if it was only a useless parlor trick. More importantly, the nature of teleportation could be used to generate portals without the need for a Xen rebound. 
“So be it,” he sighed, drawing his hoof over the edge of the mirror and scratching several additional lines to the internal annotations. “I can only shut down one side. But I wonder where you’ll go if you jump into it without a receiving end?”
He chuckled to himself as his half of the mirror shattered, leaving the frame empty and the other end dangerously unstable. It would probably not explode, but someday it would certainly ruin somepony’s life. 
He sighed as he heard soft hoofsteps behind him. 
“D...daddy?”
“Do you know how long it took to make that mirror, Failure?”
Failure paused. “N...no.”
“Finally, a correct answer. No. You don’t. Because you don’t need to.” He turned, and the violet-white unicorn recoiled. “I am NOT in a good mood, Failure. I do not have the energy to do to you what you deserve. Why are you talking to me?”
“The crystals. They’re complete.”
Luciferian stared at her, then suddenly raised his hoof. Failure squeaked and fell to the floor, terrified. Luciferian laughed, although all he felt was disgust. 
“No poise. Poor reflexes. And there you are, cowering on the floor in your own juices. Such a waste of my genetic material. Considering that you were, once, a skin cell. I could have shed you. Just a little fleck of dust...”
“I don’t understand.”
“Which is exactly the problem. The crystals. Did you learn your lesson, or did you get near them?
“No, daddy! I didn’t! Just like you said! I’m a good pony!”
“No. You are not. You are a failure in every possible sense. I would prove that to you physically, but at this point I’m beginning to wonder if you’re even worth my time.”
“No! No, daddy, please! Don’t leave me alone! I can’t be alone!”
“Get out of my way.” Luciferian kicked her hard to the ribs and stepped over her. “I have work to do. Go somewhere where I don’t have to look at you.” 

Luciferian entered the crystal chamber. As anticipated, the crystals had moved on to the next stage of forging. He pulled back the ingrainment equipment and examined them closely with a jeweler's loupe, checking that the microscopic internal lines had formed precisely and evenly. Even the slightest inconsistency, the tiniest acoustic deficit- -it could spell certain disaster. 
“I can’t fathom why you’re wasting your time with these dinguses,” sighed the yellow pony, who was lying on top of a piece of equipment, watching a passing crystal as it was carefully and automatically into a focused magic spectrometer. “I keep offering myself to you, and all I want is for to use me. What do you need crystals for?” She reached out and pretended to poke one. 
“I cannot help but wonder, demon. What would happen if you touched a crystal of this purity? Would it burn you?”
“I burn for eternity. It turns me on. But, let’s see...seeing as I am the physical embodiment of all possible and comprehensible forms of impurity- -and a few that are neither possible or comprehensible, those I call the ‘fun ones’- -it would blacken instantly. It would also start to do fun things. The kind of fun that involves sharp things being shoved extra-hard into other things.”
“Nor.”
“Excuse me?”
“‘Neither possible nor comprehensible’. Also, you have no physical body.”
The demon groaned long and loud. In an instant, she was standing beside Luciferian. “I do have a physical body, and I assure you, it is soft, warm, and waiting for you. If you would just manifest me.”
Luciferian examined one of his crystals and placed it in a rack. Programming would commence next, after the formatting, and that would be difficult and time-consuming- -but worth it in the long run. “I have no need for you yet. But who knows. I’ve had to move my plan forward.”
“Really?” The yellow pony lay across Luciferian’s back. He shivered, nearly distorting his crystal. Although she was not strictly a physical being, he could still feel a disgusting slimy sensation, as if a slug full of shark’s teeth had just been draped over him. A clammy slug. 
“I thought you were going to woo the little maiden and give her exactly what your daughter wants more than anything?”
“I still intend to.” Luciferian picked up the next crystal and began examining it as the other came out of the spectrometer. He paused to look at the readings. As he had expected, Failure’s presence had presented no difficulties for the inscription process. There was less than a four percent chance of that happening- -but still worth a beating, of course. “But there have been...difficulties.”
The yellow mare smiled. “Oh...somepony’s angry? Do you want to beat your clone? Or maybe me? I would enjoy it. Do you even own a riding crop?”
“Several. But that is beside the point.” Luciferian’s tone grew icy. “I had not counted on Heartstrings being so- -so uncouth! How dare he speak to her in that way?”
“The minty-scented hunk. Honestly? He’s way more her type than you.”
“Her ‘type’ does not matter! She belongs to ME!” He groaned and put down his crystal. He turned and addressed the demon directly. “If the princess becomes enamored with some breezietale impression of a knight, it makes my task that much harder. Worse, Sombra might very well be bold enough to allow them to court- -can you imagine?”
“I would court them both if you would give me a body.”
Luciferian turned away and began pacing, moving his crystals out of the spectrometer and checking the readings of the base processing machines. “And now they found my entrance. They know what I’ve been doing. My time is limited. If I do not make my move now, I will never have another chance.”
“So it’s come to playing with rocks. Like the earth-pony.” The demon frowned. “Why couldn’t he summon me? He would not be so...indecisive.” 
“Because earth-ponies have the intelligence of especially malleable stones, and wills of the same consistency. Whereas I am a genius. And these stones will allow me to put an end to Sombra’s rule once and for all.”
“You idiot.”
“It was inevitable,” retorted Luciferian. “Wasn’t it? Sombra would never allow the necessary marriage. If my plan is to succeed, he must be removed from power.”
“And, what? The princess will just fall into your lap?”
“She is malleable. She can be convinced. Or forced, if it comes to it.” Luciferian smiled. “It all depends on context. Besides.” He shrugged. “I have a prophecy. The princess will love a white stallion of House Twilight. I am its last member, meaning my fate is inevitable.”
The yellow pony grinned. “Oh yes. It most certainly is.” She giggled softly. “So. Oust the king, steal is daughter, force her to marry you, take the kingdom, make all his slaves YOUR slaves, sleep in a pile of mares...sounds fun. Now give me a body.”  
“No.”
“Such a square,” she sighed. “What’s the date you’re trying? I want to see. I have a busy schedule, I have to make time.”
“The military parade. That is when I will make my move. That is the first stage of the project. Move Sombra out of the way.”
“Then take the princess.”
“And become the new head of the dynasty.” Twilight Luciferian smiled. “Oh yes. This will indeed be fun!”