//------------------------------// // Twilight: Nor'Easter VIII // Story: Game of Worlds // by DualThrone //------------------------------// When they had walked far enough that Twilight was sure she couldn’t be overheard, she fixed the hallucination with what she hoped was a stern look. “Yes, Nightmare meddled as Dawn suspected,” the hallucination said. “It is not difficult for a mneumonician of exceeding skill to deliberately create the visual and auditory hallucination normally attending mental illness and then meld the fragment of consciousness into memory. I am not a spirit, or some ally of Nightmare, or some kind of spell fragment she left behind. The reason I seem self-aware and to think independently of you is that like anyone else, you have never experienced the phenomenon of the thoughts generated by talking to yourself being audibly articulated.” Twilight blinked several times. “So you’re a mental illness.” “No more than the thoughts you have when you talk to yourself are the result of mental illness,” she said. ”I am entirely natural; Nightmare’s work was to transform internal thoughts into speech audible in your mind’s ear.” Twilight frowned again. “What possible purpose could that serve?” “Logic would suggest that since transferring the whole essence of her understanding of the powers she was giving you required extremely exotic measures, bridging the gap between that understanding and your conscious mind would require similar measure, inasmuch as she was doing whatever she could to avoid damaging you.” Twilight nodded, thinking. “That makes sense, and it tracks with your--well, my--ability to read those runes.” “And the form of the reading,” Twilight said. “Your method of learning to read something that has no explicit and direct translation to Equuas has always been to…” “...learn the literal meaning, and then derive the colloquial.” Twilight sighed. “So assuming this is  all true, you represent a resource I can’t access if I get rid of you.” “That would logically follow from the previous conclusion.” “Alright, so what can you tell me?” Twilight realized something and held up her hoof to forestall the reply. “If you’re just part of me, how can you panic?” Twilight smirked. “There are no friendship problems, what shall I do?” Twilight actually blushed a little. “Point taken. But before we continue, I think I need a way to address you.” “Muninn.” “Muninn? Why?” “The name literally means ‘mind,’ and since I am your mind speaking to you, it’s the most appropriate name to give me.” “Good enough. So, when you were panicking, you were reacting to knowledge you have about Penumbra in the way I would if I had access to that knowledge.” “Yes.” “What knowledge is that?” “That with all the awesome power of the Element of Honesty, a power far greater than Applejack realizes, Penumbra could have struck her dead with a word,” Muninn said. “Which means that Penumbra and her father have been at work here longer than Ember realizes. Because according to the knowledge that Nightmare infused into you, Celestia could not do it. Luna could not, nor could fundamental beings like Order and Discord. But Chrysalis could do it despite having substantially less pure magical power than others.” “Why?” “Because over a thousand years, Scarabi has become fundamentally tied into the changeling queens. It has become their desme, the heart of their power, giving them every possible advantage against an adversary.” “Penumbra and her father have done something like that to this place.” “Yes.” Twilight thought. “She lied about how she neutralized the Element of Laughter.” “Yes. It does not work here because Penumbra, or her father, or both wish it to be so.” “I wonder if she was lying about her motives for manipulating that sadistic construct into cutting up Pinkie.” “That is difficult to determine,” Muninn said. “The claim is far from implausible, because what the sadist did to Dawn would have caused debilitating pain requiring long-term care to recover from.” “Except Green Leaf’s salve turned weeks of recovery into minutes,” Twilight said, “something impossible to anticipate unless Penumbra was aware of the effects of Green Leaf’s novel new science.” She sat with this a moment. “So it’s reasonable to assume that she can suppress all of our Elements while we’re here.” “That is the most reasonable interpretation of the facts before us.” “Well knowing how bucked we are, as Dawn would put it, is a good starting point at least. “Bear in mind that this is all supposition,” Muninn said. “Every part logically follows from observations, but there is no way to test those observations.” “Starting from the assumption that you know nothing can only get you so far,” Twilight said. “But all of this sidesteps two of the most important questions.” “What is the nature of the being she calls ‘Father’...” “...and why do they want us to stay here?” Twilight looked at the audiovisual representation of her mind. “There’s something they gain from us being here, doing nothing in particular.” “There’s somewhere we could be, and something we could be doing, that they don’t want us to do and don’t want us to go.” Muninn was silent for a moment, looking contemplative. “The best and most cautious strategy is to assign your opposition the best version of your own abilities, and assume they know everything that you do.” “Caution appears to be their modus operandi,” Twilight said. “Feeding us and making us comfortable. Offering us idle diversions. Pushing Applejack’s buttons so she would provide an object lesson about the futility of fighting, and yet not harming her in doing so. Simultaneously incentivizing us not to do anything yet, while subtly threatening consequences if we try to do something.” “A proactive but subtle strategy.” Muninn paused again. “It occurs to me…” “...that if this is how they behave when they’re on a time limit, they must be very dangerous when they have as much time as they need.” Twilight nodded. “Speaking of time, as useful as this was, I think Penumbra is going to notice that I wandered off to a corner out of earshot and am having a lively conversation with thin air, especially for a notable length of time.” “Yes,” Muninn agreed. “I am your own mind so can be consulted at any time, though I suggest doing so silently.” “At least Penumbra hasn’t demonstrated the ability to read thoughts like the sadist could.” “An unexpected boon.” The party Twilight returned to was much more subdued than the one she’d left. Applejack was looking a little stunned, Thalia and Ember both had expressions that would have been politely neutral to anyone unused to being among nobility, where very careful control was routine; Twilight picked up a touch of disbelief in both. The rest were various flavors of concerned or skeptical; Pinkamena was being Pinkie, probably the only disguise no amount of magic or knowledge could penetrate. “Sorry, did I…?” “Later, sis,” Dawn said. “Apparently, we’re about to receive a visitor.” “A projection,” Penumbra corrected her, “which you understand just as well as Twilight.” Dawn rolled her eyes. “You said they could talk to us, so it’s a visitor.” “He can, but you will deeply regret giving any indication of your presence.” Penumbra looked at Dawn with an expression of solemn severity that did not belong on a face that young. “Not because of what I will do to you, or what Father will, but the person in the projection rune-circle will do on his end.” “And what…” “Kill a considerable number of ponies before he’s stopped.” Penumbra looked at Twilight. “That being said, Princess, what follows is something that you will want to see.” “Why?” “Because up until now, the evil that you have seen is Tharalax; you have no personal knowledge of the rest. I and Father have also claimed benevolent intentions, but talk is air without action.” She smiled a little. “And perhaps with the perspective of actually seeing Zambet at work, you will understand her a little better, and be better prepared for encountering her.” “And?” Applejack said. “And you will see,” Penumbra said evenly. “Father, would you like to deal with him or shall I?” “YOU ARE CONFINED TO A PHYSICAL FORM, CHILD.” “Granted, but it is… incautious to assume that he’s too stupid to tell the difference.” “SOME DICE MUST BE THROWN. AND DO NOT FORGET HIS ARROGANCE AND HIS PREDILECTION TO ASSUME THAT ZAMBET’S COMPETENCE IS MERE SHOW. ANY INCONSISTENCIES WILL BE SMOOTHED AWAY IN HIS MIND BY HIS DELUSIONS.” “Hubris has always been the fatal flaw of the emperors.” Penumbra bowed her head slightly in the direction of the dias. “Thank you, pater.” “YOU ARE WELCOME DEAR” ‘Father’ said with a tone of affection. “WILL YOU BE INVITING ZAMBET OVER?” “This is the best place to position her, although the Waste might be better.” Penumbra made a shooing gesture. “The projection should appear at any...” “Finally.” Even Penumra was visibly startled as a rasping, unctous voice slithered out of thin air, seeming to come from just in front of the dias. “Are you certain that it will…” “Even if I was not, I would say I was if only to enjoy your impotent rage.” The second voice was feminine cultured, and pleasant with the barest hint of musical lilt Twilight recognized as characteristic of mares who’d been put through the finishing schools exclusive to the very oldest-money nobility. It was how she’d worked out, before it was made more obvious by later encounters, that Fleur de Lis was not at all the shallow trophy of Fancy Pants that she sometimes masqueraded as in public. “But I know this will ride the lei current to all of its concentrations, thanks mostly to Lashaal giving good service at long last.”  “Tha...” Rarity gaped in Penumbra’s direction, looking visibly shocked at what was clearly the voice of Zambet, before all sound from her direction ceased completely, accompanied by Penumbra fixing her with a look that made Rarity wilt and subside. “Nightmare spoke of the zambets as independent creatures,” Muninn commented, “so that polished accent isn’t her just grabbing some kind of puppet, she is actually speaking in an accent that is not only local to a single city, but to a specific social class in a specific district of that city.” “Imitation?” Twilight thought in the direction of her mind made manifest. “It’s too perfect and fluid to be imitation,” Muninn said. “She’s duplicating her chosen dialect exactly, as if she was taught it the way any other debutante would be. As if she’s a native.” “A predator who, at least by accent, can blend in perfectly among the most powerful nobility in the capital city.” “Highly eccentric as well,” Muninn said. “The flatter, more ordinary nobility accent or the low-affectation accent common to the entire Canterlot precinct would make it easy for her to go where she desired and blend in as a native. Yet she chose to learn how to speak like the extreme minority of upper-class Canterlot society.” “For Void’s sake, just get on with it.” Even when growling out of frustration, Zambet retained the affectations of her chosen accent: the slight fade of the ‘h’ in ‘with’, the ‘o’ in ‘for’ drawn out very, very slightly more than the precise annunciation of the more common nobility. “You don’t like me and I don’t like you…” “...although it’s more accurate to say that you hate me and I regard you with utter contempt, but continue…” “So I’m making sure that you didn’t include any… surprises.” “The only surprise will be mine when you, as the locals put it, do your bucking job.” The bickering between the two seemed… odd to Twilight. Even in private, without the need to keep up appearances and full of enough drink to be bolder than wise, Twilight had never heard the nobility bicker with her mother. Disagree strongly, but the puerile sniping back and forth just didn’t happen in Celestia’s presence. Well, except between the sisters but… this bickering also doesn’t seem like the way siblings fight. “Sotto Voce, your prize is here!” Canceros shouted. ”I do not know what it is, and I do not care! You will give me my due, for I have done my part!” There was a pause and then, with the very slightest touch of uncertainty, he continued. “And the confirmation?” “YOU HAVE NO PATIENCE, PAPER EMPEROR.” Twilight twitched at the sudden floor-rumbling voice as Penumbra’s father used, now coming from the seeming filly. “FOR THIS ENTERPRISE TO SUCCEED, PATIENCE AND BALANCE IS REQUIRED. THIS IS WHY YOU ARE ENTRUSTED ONLY TO TORMENT THE KINE AND CARRY A MESSAGE.” “Kine?” she asked herself. “Antiquated term for a herd food animal, although not used on this world,” Muninn supplied. “It seems that it’s how Canceros sees ponies if Penumbra used the term in speaking to him.” “THIS IS THE CHAMBER OF THE VAUNTED TREE OF THE ELEMENTS, IS IT?” Twilight blinked and furrowed her brow at what Penumbra was saying, and she spied the same confused look on her friends. “As you say, Lord Voce.” Penumbra’s eyes shifted to them and their looks of confusion as Zambet replied, looking mildly confused but then seeming to understand. “YOU HAVE DONE WELL TO DIMINISH IT, ZAMBET. YOUR PRICE WAS DEAR, BUT WISELY SPENT.” Penumbra’s horn glowed and suddenly, as if they were looking through a window, the image of an abandoned but still glorious chamber appeared in front of the dias. What tiles that had survived what Twilight was sure was hundreds of years were polished white and seemed to glow silver in the radiance of the Tree of Harmony. A raised wall around the Tree implied a pool or fountain had once surrounded it, and on the walls were the cracked and aging remains of various murals depicting events that Twilight recognized from Equestrian history--Starswirl the Bearded confronting three sirens, the binding of Tirek, and towards the edge of the magical window, what appeared to be a black unicorn turning into smoke, the only reference that Twilight didn’t recognize. The Tree itself looked like a weeping willow made of glowing silver with strange growths in the branches that looked like the outlines of their Elements. It was clearly blindingly bright normally, but the light was dimmed and flickering, some kind of construct that looked all the world like it had been made from glass panes streaked with coal soot stretching over it with the precisely-engineered appearance of a geodesic dome. “AND YOU HAVE DONE AS YOU AGREED, CANCEROS,” Penumbra continued. “IF NOT FOR YOUR IDIOCY IN COMMISSIONING VORKA TO ALTER THE SICKNESS, YOU WOULD WARRANT YOUR PAY IN FULL.” Canceros had the odd appearance of an upright-standing corpse that had been mostly mummified, his features completely flat, noseless, and with holes in his head where glowing green spheres of light floated like irises. His mouth was rimmed with what looked like crudely-applied tar and was constantly gaping open, showing off a triple-row of serrated teeth. What appeared to be a poncho of sackcloth hung on his emaciated frame and what ‘hands’ he had appeared to be made entirely of extremely long and spindly fingers. “I have done as I agreed!” He said in a tone of offended dignity, his mouth opening and closing in time with his words but in the way of a puppet, the rest of his face remaining frozen and showing no sign of forming the words he was speaking. “The sun princess is incoherent, Ponyville drowns in waves of constructs, and we bleed the freaks for no particular cost! And you have the location of your prize.” “I CANNOT DECIDE WHETHER YOU ARE IN EARNEST, A LIAR SO CONVINCED OF HIS WORDS THAT HE DOES NOT KNOW THEM AS LIES, OR AN IMCIBILE OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.” Penumbra visibly rolled her eyes and very obviously mouthed “idiot” before she sighed heavily. “AND YET THE ONLY THING YOU WERE REQUIRED TO DO IS BE MY CANARY IN A COAL MINE. YOU HAVE SHOWN ME THE DANGER, AND MY EYES BEHOLD THEIR PRIZE.” “Then you see where I have shown you your prize?” “YES, I SEE WHERE MY PRIZE IS AND WHERE IT MIGHT BE COLLECTED.” “Good, now do as you vowed. Give me these colorful herd animals for my pleasure and amusement, and the pleasure and amusement of my own.” “...did I just hear that right?” Twilight merntally asked herself, rocking back on her hooves a little. “Did he just say that Penumbra and her father promised to give us to him as his playthings?” “You heard that right,” Muninn confirmed as they watched Penumbra going back and forth with Canceros, the zebracorn smugly informing him that he’d have to actually claim his prize, and then looking increasingly exasperated as Canceros whined, actually whined, about this. “But keep listening. I obviously cannot have feelings but there appears to be some lawyering involved with the promise.” “Lawyer…?” Twilight stopped as Canceros’ complaining finally turned into an accusation of betrayal and with a sudden grin, Penumbra delivered a grandiose and extremely hammy villainous rant about being accused of betrayal, and Twilight could see that the visible shock among her friends at Canceros mentioning what he had been promised was turning to repressed snickers at Penumbra grandstanding and clearly enjoying every moment. “I think you’re right.” “Of course you do.”  It was at this moment that Zambet moved forward, smirking as she reminded Canceros of the exact wording of what Penumbra and her father had promised (confirming Muninn’s speculation) and Twilight could finally see her clearly. She was… shockingly ordinary. Somehow, it wasn’t any surprise that she’d adopted a pony shape to go with her use of a pony accent but the shape she’d gone with was a bundle of all the average traits among the nobility. Slim carriage, but not enough that anyone would take notice. Good care of her mane and grooming, without the hundreds of tiny accents that would make natural prettiness into striking beauty. Fit without being formed, a horn average in all respects, the expected adornments going no further than the bare minimum social expectation. The only thing that stood out was that her eyes did not fit her shape. The subtle brightness of life was cold and sharp, like her eyes had been cut from gemstones, and her irises smoldered with amethyst flames--with scarlet red pupils. And she was leering with vicious, sadistic pleasure in the direction of Canceros as she added “to deliver them was never vowed.” “Her eyes look like objects,” Muninn observed, “and yet her features are as expressive as any living pony’s would be. I speculate that we’re seeing the rest of the disguise that she began with a foundation of the accent.” “But that’s…” “...unthinkable,” Muninn finished. “A vicious creature, servant of Penumbra and her father, strolling about Canterlot. But to what end?” “Espionage,” Twilight concluded, “like the spying that the changelings were constantly doing.” “That is a high probability, and yet there is a subtle variation that is higher.” “...monitoring.” “Yes. She waited, watched, and then brought word. But of what? It seems that is the all-consuming question.” “The return of Aunt Luna from her moon.” “That’s by far the most plausible explanation. We can put aside for the moment why father and daughter would employ her that way, although given that Penumbra has stated in this very conversation that her services were very expensive, it’s difficult to imagine that it was for something so… pedestrian.” “...slaying a demigoddess.” The statement from Zambet seized Twilight’s attention immediately. “By overcoming the greatest terror of the atermors. By grasping your payment in an iron fist and claiming it for your own.” “YOU LIE TO YOURSELF AND YOUR OWN, CANCEROS,” Penumbra said, and while Twilight had been interacting with Munninn, the zebricorn had taken to levitating a black pawn in her telekinesis, looking idly at it, a smile of vicious pleasure edging over her face as it twirled and tumbled. “FOR EVEN NOW THE KINE GRIND YOUR LEGIONS TO DUST AT PONYVILLE… AND THE SUN PRINCESS WALKS AGAIN. LAY LOW HER PRIDE, SLAY HER, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE THE REGARD YOU HAVE ALWAYS LUSTED FOR.” “Not… incoherent…” Cancerous’ voice sounded distant and vacant, like he was lost in thought even as he spoke. “INDEED.” The vicious pleasure eased a little and Penumbra shook her head with a barely-audible sigh that Twilight doubted would carry through the connection. “YOU ARE A FOOL, CANCEROS.” And suddenly, ‘Father’ was in the chamber, speaking in his own earth-shaking voice. “BUT EVEN YOU MUST HAVE REALIZED THAT IF I DID NOT SLAY YOU IN THIS PLACE, CELESTIA WOULD. GOOD-BYE, CANCEROS.” “Bye-bye Mister Canceros,” Penumbra added in a girlish falsetto, making a gesture at the image and as if her hoof was brushing it out of existence, it disintegrated into motes of light and drifted away. “And when it’s over, Zambet, please meet us at the Glass Waste. You know the place, I expect?” “Yes,” Zambet’s cultured voice replied out of thin air. “I’ve invited the Sisters there, one less explicitly than the other. I expect that Luna will be bringing Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash with her, along with the changeling ambassador to the Provinces and Einspithiana. Celestia will certainly be accompanied by Bellatrix Lulamoon, Shining Armor, Chidinida, and the two Honor Guards Chrysalis assigned to her daughter. Possibly others as well; time will tell.” “Contingencies?” “One, unfortunately. I had to expend the other due to an anomaly so as to be able to maintain the timetable. To our benefit, however, I now know what form Kindness and Loyalty take when directed against an enemy.” “I should like to hear more when you arrive.” “I should like to tell you more when I arrive.” Zambet’s voice sounded like she was smiling. “Did you arrange for this little show, Milady Umbra?” Penumbra smiled as well. “I can’t take any credit for the arrangement, although I anticipated that it stood a high chance of occurring. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m entertaining guests. Traditional obligations of hospitality command me to see to them.” “Oh, did Princess Ember finally see sense?” “Not exactly.” Penumbra looked at Ember. “But she is among the guests to whom I need to attend. At the Glass Waste, when time and circumstances permit.” “At the Glass Waste, when time and circumstances permit,” Zambet repeated as Penumbra turned and looked at all of them. “I took the liberty of procuring the proper accoutrements for extreme cold while I was gathering victuals,” she told them. “Even for you, Princess Ember. I recommend you all get a good meal in you before we set out.” “‘Scuse me, but Ah don’t think we’re going anywhere till you tell us what the hay that was,” Applejack said. “Ya said it was something we would see, an’ that there was a purpose, and that it would show you two ain’t just all talk, and a whole bunch of other malarkey. Instead, it just seemed to be you taunting this ‘Canceros’, talking about a prize, and showing us what yer ‘Zambet’ friend looks like.” Penumbra looked at her for several seconds, although there was something vacant in her expression as if she wasn’t really seeing Applejack, before she closed her eyes and grimaced. “Well, horseapples,” she sighed. “YOU DID FORGET TO…” “Yes, I did.” She sighed again. “We really do have to…” “IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO TRAVEL IN AN ORDINARY FASHION WITH THEM.” “I’m not terribly comfortable with moving them through the Void, and the book can only interpret magic that I can see, so Princess Tettidora’s experiments with runic-stabilized point-to-point teleportation are unavailable.” “VERY WELL. SO GIVEN THOSE LIMITATIONS, WHAT WILL YOU DO PENUMBRA?” Penumbra hesitated a moment before tilting her head back as far as she could, as if ‘Father’ was looming above her. “It can’t be done over, so it must be done right.” “GOOD GIRL” Despite the overwhelming presence of his voice, despite his alien nature, ‘Father’ sounded like exactly that as he said the words. “I WILL WAIT FOR YOU THERE.” “I’ll be there soon.” Penumbra turned to them. “I’m going to give you the clipped notes to give you some idea, and then explain the rest as we travel. Those who aren’t comfortable with this arrangement will remain here, because I have a timetable.” “You’d just… let us go,” Rarity said, “just like that?” “Of course she will,” Dawn said, glaring at Penumbra. “She’d love to leave the Elements out of the equation. That’s why Flutters and Dashie got mentioned, so you know that you need to be there too to round out the six. That was some pretty ham-hoofed manipulation, kid.” “Sometimes it’s important that a message be clearly stated.” “Well, I’m staying here,” Ember said, crossing her arms. “In which case, I’ll dismantle the desme structures as we leave, and restore your subjects’ wills to themselves,” Penumbra said without missing a beat. “I’m sure you can see to the freedom and care of your father without my interference.” “Lemme guess… not useful to you anymore?” “Still useful, but no longer needful,” Penumbra said. “So unless you plan to reconsider, I have a summary to convey and an expedition to prepare.” “Fat chance of that.” “Splendid.” Penumbra looked at Thalia. “What is *your* preference, Ambassador das Pupa?” “It you’re dismantling the magic that’s interfering with direct communication with my sister, I’d be a fool not to linger.” “Then I suppose I’ll next see you arrayed for battle, at Queen Chrysalis’ side.” Penumbra nodded a couple times. “Good, it’s where you belong.” Thalia grinned. “What are you talking about? I’m a fantastic ambassador.” “Your hooves are,” Penumbra said, grinning right back. “Good fortune to you, Thalia das Pupa.” “I’d say the same to you, if I knew what you were up to.” “As Rarity could explain to you--in soul-destroying detail, no doubt--we mares rather like pretty things,” Penumbra said, smirking just a little now. “It just so happens that I’ve got my heart set on a very particular... crystal.”