//------------------------------// // Chapter 37: The Night // Story: Dissonance: A Hidden World // by Braininthejar //------------------------------// It rolled on the floor, then whirred. She teleported, but only had the time to grab the few closest ponies... Twilight’s eyes snapped open. She was laying on her side, breathing heavily, the squishy softness underneath her casting her chamber in pale, green light, which grew more pronounced as her mind woke up. She turned her head, looking down at her bed - a modified changeling pod, set horizontally on the stone floor, flattened as she rested upon it. It was as comfortable as the changelings could provide, essentially a waterbed filled with a softly glowing liquid. The surface was warm and rubbery. It’s like laying on a giant blister, decided Twilight with disgust. Perhaps Spike- The reality returned in an instant, a cold shiver down her spine, and a heavy, sour knot in her stomach. She rolled onto her back, staring at the stone ceiling. There was no Spike. There was no Shining Armor. It was not a nightmare - yesterday really did happen. Twilight remembered crying herself to sleep; she had held strong during the battle, and later through the journey in the caves, then through the Queen’s Gate, then more tunnels leading to this hidden hive. But once she was alone in her personal chamber, the membranous ‘door’ closed behind her with a slurp, the adrenaline that had kept her focused through the past hours evaporated; she instantly broke down crying, and didn’t stop until she fell asleep. My eyes feel sore, she realized. I must look as horrible as I feel. I can’t let my friends see me like this. What time is it anyway? There are no windows here. She rolled onto her side. I need to find a bathroom, and make myself presentable. They’re counting on me, I need to be strong. Do changelings even have bathrooms? They never need to do their manes or anything, they just change them. Obsidian will notice anyway, won’t he? And he will be snide about it. ‘To be a sentient being, is to experience loss,’ ‘Learn, and grow stronger, then you can protect those you love.’ Oh, how I hate him… With a groan of frustration Twilight turned onto her back again. She closed her eyes, and spent some time listening to her own breathing, until she felt a fresh, warm tear rolling down from the corner of her eye. What do I do now? What will I tell mom? How will I even… meet my friends in the morning? She turned, and rolled out of her bed. I can’t do it anymore. I won’t fall asleep. It’s probably near morning already anyway. Might as well look for that bathroom, and see what I can do. Everypony is counting at me. The door twitched when she approached it. She lit the tip of her horn, and the membrane slid aside, like a closing wing. Twilight looked out into the corridor cautiously. It was dimly lit by glowing cysts stuck to the ceiling, same as the rest of the hive, at least the part they managed to see before going to sleep. There were more doors on both sides, leading to other guest rooms.  As soon as Twilight walked through the door, her ear caught a sound of chitinous limbs moving. She looked to her left, and saw a changeling walking down the wall, stopping at her face level. “Is there anything I can help you with, miss Sparkle?” he asked in a polite voice. Twilight averted her gaze. “I’m just… looking for a bathroom,” she said. The changeling hopped onto the ground, and pointed down the corridor with his leg. “This way, please.” Twilight started walking in that direction. She didn’t look behind her, but she could hear the changeling following in her steps. “Are you watching me?” she asked. “The hive can be confusing,” answered the changeling. “We wouldn’t like you to get lost here. My name is Morph. I have been assigned as your personal assistant during your stay.” “I don’t… need an assistant,” blurted Twilight with irritation. “I’ve been told of your loss,” said Morph behind her. His voice remained polite, and coldly formal. “I’ve been showed all the relevant shapes while learning about you, so if you ever need me to-” “No!” Twilight spun on the spot, facing the changeling angrily. Morph crouched, and bowed his head. “I apologize. I only wanted to help.” “You don’t help like that!” shouted Twilight, clenching her jaw to muffle the last word as she realised, mid-sentence, just how much of an echo the corridor had. “Why did you even think it would work?” she finished in a terse whisper. “That’s how we do things,” explained Morph. “Turning into loved ones is what we do.” Twilight closed her eyes. “With such a way of thinking… how do you even manage to pass for ponies?” “Infiltration training, miss,” replied Morph. “I haven’t received it yet.” “Well then, remember this lesson at least,” said Twilight. “Yes, miss,” said the changeling. He kept walking behind Twilight as she trotted down the corridor. As she reached the T shaped intersection at the end, Morph flew up, taking a place on the wall over the membranous door there. “I’ll… wait for you here,” he said. Twilight walked in, and looked around. The bathroom looked… weird was the word. Like all the other chambers it looked like a cave, the walls roughly carved in rock. There was a trough by one wall, through which water was constantly flowing, emerging from one wall and disappearing in the other. On the other side there were three stalls, with wooden doors that looked like they didn’t belong there, as did the large mirror standing opposite the door. There was a layer of green gunk on the floor, just hard enough not to stick to the hooves, but softening the sound of hoofsteps. Several melon-sized changeling sacks glowed on the ceiling, making everything appear greenish. Twilight walked around the room, first to the toilet, which turned out to be a hole in the floor leading into darkness. Was it always here, she thought, or did they drill it somehow? You’d think with them taking so many faces, one of them would know how to do proper plumbing. She then turned towards various cleaning utensils set beside the trough. The water was icy, but it failed to wake her up any more, only making her feel cold and miserable. Finally she stood in front of the mirror. What she saw in front of herself was a tangled mane, a coat slightly grey with dust from yesterday’s battle, with darker tear marks splotched around the cheeks and temples, eyes red under the swollen eyelids.  By… Harmony… It’s so weird not to say ‘By Celestia’ anymore… I look as horrible as I feel. I think I’ll start with washing my face. Then request some hot water perhaps. Of course I don’t have my brush with me. She tried to use her magic to put her mane in order, but she couldn’t put her heart in it. In the end, she just got her mane wet with icy water, and then let it fall flat, hoping it would be enough for the time being. She heard some movement behind the door. Remembering that she’d left Morph waiting there, she turned towards the exit to walk out and ask him about hot water.  The door slid open, and there was Rarity there. Dusty, unkempt, red eyes surrounded by smudged make-up, her own assistant skittering up a wall outside as te door slid shut. The two mares spent whole three seconds looking at each other, unsure of what to do, each tensed, ready to turn away and hide her face, a clumsy excuse forming on either tongue. The moment passed, and no words came. None were necessary. There were only two mares collapsed on the bathroom floor, hugging each other and sobbing. *** There was some alarmed barking when Enigma appeared inside the cave. The guards sprang to their feet, baring their teeth, growling at an unexpected intruder as servants scattered to safety. As for the chieftain, a bulky, bulldog-faced brute with slightly greying fur, he just stared, sitting with his mouth agape, the light of the fire pit turning his face into a horror prop. “I am Guilt of the Shattered,” proclaimed Enigma aloud. “I would speak with whoever is in charge here.” He looked at the chieftain, and saw a telltale twitch of his jaw muscles. With a sigh, he prepared for the next step; this part couldn’t really be avoided, not with the limited time he had, but it didn’t make the diamond dog’s predictability any more exasperating. The bulldog rose in his stone seat. “Oh, you’ll be shattered all right… sic em!” The guard dogs pounced. Enigma waited until the very last moment, shifting away when the monsters’ claws were mere inches from his flesh. The two most eager guards couldn’t stop their own momentum; they flew through the now empty space and collided head-on. The third managed to redirect his charge with a sharp turn towards Enigma’s new position, snapping his jaw at the stallion’s neck. His jaw closed on a perfectly cubical piece of granite that appeared where his target had been standing. Enigma reappeared in front of the chieftain. The last guard, apparently slower than the others, came at him from behind. The unicorn punched forward, the first movement of a limb since he entered the room, and shifted twice, blinking in front of the attacker in time to strike him in the throat, with just enough restraint to not crush his larynx, and then out of the way, allowing the big dog to fall reeling at his master’s feet. “I will kill the next one who tries that,” he said to the chieftain. “Now, I want to speak with you.” The old dog perched higher on his stone chair, making a visible effort to stay as far as possible from the intruder without leaving his seat. “Who are you?” he growled. “I’ve told you, didn’t I?” said Enigma. He walked forward, the recovering guard crawling out of his way. “We have been forgotten, but no longer. A war is coming, dog. And when it starts, it is important that you all remember why. " A long string of heavy crystal beads appeared out of thin air, falling over the surprised chieftain’s shoulders. He grabbed them, startled, and then looked at the crystals in fascination.  They were in different colors, each about three inches in diameter, too heavy to be jewelry, unless for a giant. Each was cut into an irregular shape, a seemingly random combination of grooves… until the stone was held against the light. Then everything changed in an instant - the light painted images inside the crystal, shapes and letters appearing underneath the surface, shifting as the stone was slowly turned around the string to expose new pictures. The chieftain’s eyes went wide. “Story stones. I’ve never seen… I’ve only heard stories. But-” “Can you read them?” asked Enigma impatiently. “If you don’t, you’ll just have to take my word for all I have to tell you.” The chief shook his head. “No, no… I can’t.” Enigma looked at the floor beneath his hooves. “How exactly did you end up a chieftain? No, don’t answer that. I bring you the legacy of your ancestors, and all you can do with it is be awed.” “Clever dog,” said the chief. “We have one. He’s old and… clever. Perhaps he knows how to read. Go, fetch Inky!” he barked at one of the smaller dogs skulking in the entrance of the cavern. “You do that,” said Enigma. “And just to be clear,” he continued, “I moved that rock you bit into, instantly. I could move a bit of your blood, and replace it with a bubble of air. I won’t bore you with details, but your heart would stop. An embolism is a bad way for a proud warrior to go, isn’t it?” Behind him, a guarding dog, who was preparing to pounce, turned and scurried away, spitting out a piece of a broken tooth.  Enigma closed his eyes. This was going to be a long night. *** “You’ll never get away with this!” sobbed Princess Cadence. She was in a dungeon lab room, standing with a bench set diagonally under her barrel, propping her upright, chains securing her legs and wings, and a crystal-studded metal clamp on the base of her horn. Princess Luna and Dr Stone were there with her, Spitfire having left moments before. Luna suppressed a groan. “What is that even supposed to mean?” she asked in an aloof voice. “Do you expect me to reply ‘I already have,' or some such nonsense? Should I laugh maniacally? You can try to hold to your delusions, Cadence, but the sad fact is, you are the villain here. Nothing showed it more clearly than what you did to my brave soldiers.” “You murdered Shining Armor,” hissed Cadence. Luna turned to Dr Stone. “You would think she would be more responsive.” “My formula is doing its job,” replied Dr Stone. “It just seems she’s very stubborn.” “But you designed her,” said Luna. Dr Stone nodded. “Covertly. There is only so much backdoor access one can introduce discreetly. And if I medicate her too hard-” Luna flapped her wing impatiently. “I know, I know. We’ve done this hundreds of times before. It’s just that we don’t have the time.” She leaned closer to Cadence, lit up her horn, and touched it to the other alicorn’s forehead. “I need to know,” she said. “Where are the Elements?”  Her response was silence. As the light of Luna’s horn intensified, Cadence kept staring forward, another tear falling through the matter fur of her face. Finally her mouth started to move slowly. Luna withdrew her horn, and leaned closer to hear. “Monster… you murdered him,” stammered Cadence under her breath. Luna withdrew her head, and sighed dejectedly. She turned when she felt movement in the entrance behind her. Lightbringer was peering into the interrogation room. “Howdy,” he said with a crooked grin. “What are you guys up to?”  “Oh, good evening, Light,” said Luna. “We are trying to find out where our enemies have retreated to, but our best lead remains stubborn in her defiance.” Lightbringer raised an eyebrow. “Against you? That’s new.” He walked in, and approached the bench. Luna noticed how his hooves suddenly started to make a sound against the stone floor.  Oh, he was using his power to sneak. I was too busy to pay attention to magnetic fields. That’s why I didn’t notice him earlier. Now that I think of it, we should put more carpets here, the noise is obnoxious. Lightbringer leaned in, taking a closer look at Cadence. “Long time no see. So this is the new alicorn. Were you planning to make me a pretty, pink princess?” “It is not… one of those,” explained Dr Stone hastily. “We just needed somepony who could reliably wrest control of the tower from… Sombra,” she finished uncomfortably. “So, she’s a designer baby royalty?” asked Light. ”Where did you get the blueprint?” “We didn’t,” replied Stone, her professional facade returning. “We couldn’t design her from the ground up without knowing exactly what we were aiming for. Fortunately, our archives contained enough information to track down some distant relatives of the royal family, who left the protection of the Empire during the Reign of Justice, and later during Discord’s rule. We only recovered scraps, barely more than nothing, but we extrapolated, and after centuries of work, it was enough to recover the bloodline.” Lightbringer stared at Dr Stone, wide eyed. Then he laughed loudly. “A breeding program? You really didn’t have enough things to keep you busy.” “Be grateful she did not,” replied Luna. “It was all for your sake.” “So, what exactly is wrong?” asked Light, turning back to Cadence.  The alicorn gave him an empty stare, jaws clenched shut. “We’re trying to find the Elements before they endanger Equestria again,” said Dr Stone, “But wherever they went, Cadence won’t tell us.” “Against all your powers?” asked Light, his face pensive. “There are things we would not try,” said Luna. “And things that would take too long, like Dr Stone rewiring her brain.” “You’re all monsters!” shouted Cadence unexpectedly, causing everypony to turn towards her. “Murderous… unnatural monsters!” Then she erupted with sobs, choking on whatever she had intended to say next. “Tell me something I don’t know,” replied Lightbringer. “Like… where to find Obsidian and the Elements of Harmony?” He didn’t stop smiling, but his ears twitched with every muffled sob. Luna lit her horn up, and Cadence was silenced, her eyes turning blank once more. “Many lives depend on it,” said Luna softly. “Tell us, where to find the Elements of Harmony?” Cadence’s lips started moving slowly. Lightbringer leaned in closer to listen, and then withdrew, smacking his lips in disapproval. “I think I know what the problem is.” “What?” asked Luna, turning off her spell. “She doesn’t know,” he replied. “How can she not?” asked Dr Stone. “Even if they left without telling her where, they would at least have told her that. The Elements don’t abandon their friends.” “I don’t know,” said Lightbringer. “Perhaps you don’t know them as well as you think. Perhaps something unexpected happened. What I know is, there isn’t a pony that could resist the two of you for three hours, which is how long I’ve been hearing her whining. At this point you’re just obsessing, because she’s your best lead, and you’re out of ideas.” “We haven’t yet tried entering her dreams,” said Princess Luna. “Let me help you,” said Light. He reared. “No-” Luna opened her mouth, but it was too late. Light’s hoof shot towards Cadence’s head. There was a thump, a short crunch, and a spray of blood. A couple droplets landed on Light’s smiling face. Luna recoiled in shock. “Light! What have you done!?” “There,” said Lightbringer, “Distraction’s over. Now you can focus on looking for other options.” “Light,” said Dr Stone angrily, reaching to the tools table for a cloth to wipe her glasses with. “How many times have we told you not to do that? Do you realise how long it took me to reconstruct the royal bloodline?” Lightbringer shrugged, turning towards the exit. “Yea. And now she’s served her purpose already. If you really need her again, you’ve got your precious bloodline all over the wall. Clone her or something.” “Lightbringer,” said Luna to his back. “Why don’t you go to Tartarus?” Lightbringer turned his head towards her with a chuckle. “Hah, Tartarus has nothing on what I’ve been through.” “No,” clarified Dr Stone, “It’s an actual place. While working on a plan to save you we researched sealing and unsealing spells. At one point we created an underground prison for magical monsters, to observe their escape attempts and learn from them. But now, since you’re back with us…” “We no longer need them,” said Luna. “Truth be told, we have not checked on Tartarus for months. If you feel, you need to… indulge in violence…” she glanced at the body still propped upright behind her, “Why don’t you do something useful, and go put them out of their misery? You’ll be able to vent, and we’ll be able to work in peace.” Lightbringer gave her a flat look. “Do you realise just how insulting that was?” Then his mouth stretched into a grin again. “Just tell me where it is.” *** Twilight was walking down the stone steps, descending deeper into the caves, the green glow-sacks on the walls lighting her way. The illumination was rather dim, but Twilight would not light her horn; she hadn’t slept much for the rest of the night, and now she was feeling the beginning of a headache. Her stomach was still a knot, not in the least improved by the small breakfast she’d managed to force in when she woke up. Almost stumbling in the dark was better than dangling a source of bright light right in front of her face. Morph was walking by her side, making sure she took the right turns. Finally, after walking what must have been four floors down, she heard the sounds of fighting. Walking in that direction she quickly emerged in a huge cavern shaped like an amphitheater. Her friends were sitting in the stands accompanied by some changelings - Twilight had already learned that each of them had got a changeling assistant to guide them through the tunnels. Other changelings were sitting in tunnel entrances up on the walls, or clinging to the ceiling; it seemed the commotion had already brought about three dozen onlookers. In the center of the cavern there was a raised stone platform surrounded by glowing crystals; there were several changelings channeling their magic into the biggest ones, which in turn projected a bubble of force surrounding the arena. Inside, two pegasi kept bouncing off the barrier and off each other, exchanging blows in a shower of sparks. “You can go faster than that,” said Aurora, landing on all fours and skidding to a halt. Dash hovered on the opposite side, flapping her wings slowly. Her armor aura was extended, spreading from her pinions in red, spectral blades. “If I go all out, I’ll hurt you,” she protested. Aurora smiled at her, preparing to leap back into the air. “Don’t underestimate me. And your foes will go all out. If you let them, they’ll kill your friends. Your job as Loyalty is to prevent that. So show me all you’ve got, and I’ll show you how you can do better.” As the two mares clashed again, Twilight approached the spot where her friends were sitting. “I’m sorry I’m late,” she said. “What did I miss?” “Just Dash and Aurora fighting,” said Applejack. “They’ve been going at it all morning,” said Scootaloo. Twilight noticed the filly was sitting in the middle, putting other ponies between herself and any changelings. “The arena’s not big enough for all of us,” said Pinkie Pie, “And they won’t let us take our turn.” “Everypony deals with grief in their own way,” said Obsidian. Twilight looked at him, a venomous comment on her tongue. Obsidian turned towards her, small dots of blue light at the bottom of his pupils.  “Me?” he asked. “Do you really want to know? Is the evidence of your eyes not enough?” Hasty to change the subject, Twilight averted her gaze, looking instead towards the arena. “What are those crystals?” she asked. “They don’t seem like they’ve been placed here, more like they’d been here from the start, and the arena was carved around them. But then, why are they in a circle?” “The central ones were removed, and the rock reshaped,” replied Chrysalis behind her back. She was descending the steps, a bag made of stretchy gunk slung over her side. “It was a natural crystal formation, but it took a lot of work from our ancestors to make it focus our magic like that. Since then it has served as place where we could hone our magic without revealing our presence - the background aura of these caves will hide all the magic that doesn’t penetrate the barrier. It also allowed us to fight formal challenges without fear of hitting our audience. This is where I became the queen.” “You mean…” asked Fluttershy. “Yes,” said Chrysalis. “This is where queen Protea died at my horn. All according to her plan, though I didn’t know it at the time.” Fluttershy gulped. Obsidian put a hoof on his chin. “So, you used this place in Aurora’s times? That means the Shattered know of it.” “They do,” replied Chrysalis. “But they haven’t been here for centuries. They’ve been around for thousands of years, they’ve seen more hidden caves than they’d care to keep track of. Though I admit it’s a kind of a double bluff for us to be hiding here.” “You know,” said Obsidian, “I’ve been thinking of what you said earlier, about keeping your involvement secret. I don’t think your plan is sound. There is already no way to stop the Shattered from coming after you. Won’t it be a safer bet to give us your full support right away?” “No,” said Chrysalis. “If you aren’t ready, our help won’t change anything.  We can survive you losing. The Shattered will lick their wounds, then restore the status quo. By the time they come after us, we will have scattered and disappeared, my image a bugmare to scare bad foals with. They might find some of us, but as long as they don’t take me alive, they will not find all - we have a lot of hideouts.” “But if we were to go to battle and bleed ourselves out for your failure, the Shattered would not rest until both we and you are dead. Between that and the actual battle losses, our species might not survive. This is not our way. I will not be the queen who leads my kind to extinction. We’re already gambling a lot on you.” She then turned towards her bag. “And just so it isn’t all sour with me…” she reached in, and pulled, then swung her neck towards Applejack, “Here, catch.” Applejack extended her hooves instinctively before the thought of using her newfound telekinesis could cross her mind. She looked in surprise at the round object in front of her.  “Ma hat! Where did ya get it?” Chrysalis smiled. “One of my scouts took it from your closet while escaping Ponyville. I thought you’d miss it. Just don’t get it incinerated in a fight. I only have the one. Now...” She turned towards the arena. “It’s time your pegasi friends let you get some practice too.” She approached the bubble, and nodded towards the changelings on barrier duty. They returned the nod, and the barrier visibly weakened. “Why don’t I tire them out a bit, so they can be persuaded to take a break?” Aurora and Rainbow stopped their fight, and looked towards her. With a grin, Chrysalis discarded the bag, covered herself in a film of green magic, and walked through the barrier. *** *Two days later* “So, ‘nafaka’ means food, right?” asked Sweetie Belle.  “Yes,” replied Apple Bloom. She was sitting in front of a hut, using a flat stone and her hooves to crush some grains she couldn’t quite recognize. “I never knew you had a talent for languages,” said Sweetie Belle. “What else can you say in zebra?” “Not much,” replied Apple Bloom. “I actually know that one from Zecora.” “Oh.” Sweetie Belle was clearly disappointed. “I was hoping you were beginning to understand them. It would be great to be able to talk to anypony other than that kooky shaman.” “Yea,” replied Apple Bloom, “he gives me the creeps. With all that doomsaying, and rattle about prophecies.” She shoved the contents of the stone into a flat bowl. A passing zebra took the bowl in her teeth, and walked away. “I wish I knew what they were arguing about,” said Sweetie Belle. “I mean, I know Uchongo thinks we’re bad news. But at the end, they gave us food, and place to sleep, didn’t they?” Apple Bloom looked around. Since the day they arrived, the initial excitement had died down. The villagers kept watching them, but with their curiosity sated, they gave them a wide berth. This was disconcerting. Nopony tried to shoo them out of the village, but Apple Bloom could see few smiles. It was obvious enough that the zebras were not comfortable with their presence. There also seemed to be fewer of them now, so much that on the second night the fillies were given a proper place to sleep in one of the huts. “I don’t know if it’s true, or just the things Uchongo’s sayin, but they all look worried. They’re really expecting trouble, aren’t they?” “Do you think they’re right?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Do you think they are?” asked Apple Bloom. “I mean, I wouldn’t like to give anypony trouble.” Sweetie Belle looked around the camp. “That Enigma guy said-” “I know what he said,” said Apple Bloom, tipping a jug full of grain to put some more on the stone. “I just wish we knew more. I think he told us the truth about the necklaces. But is it a good thing, or a bad thing, that they can’t find us now?” Sweetie Belle lifted her hooves to the sky. “We don’t know anything! There could be changelings ruling Equestria now, and we wouldn’t know!” “Don’t worry, Sweetie Belle,” said Applebloom. “Whatever it is, I’m sure Applejack, Rarity and Twilight can handle it. We’d just be be getting underhoof.” “But…” asked Sweetie Belle, “Aren’t they worried about us?” To this, Apple Bloom had no answer. *** That night, when the two fillies slept, huddled together in the corner of the hut next to its two remaining inhabitants, a hidden spell that had been counting down time reached zero. With a sound too soft to wake anypony up, the stone in Apple Bloom’s necklace cracked, a whiff of powder blue magic leaking out and disappearing in the night air.