//------------------------------// // The Plan // Story: Amber Ashes // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// The Starcross ship had dug an immense hole into the Crystal Sea, so deep that the truckloads of sand that had been sitting above the crust were not enough to fill it. Nopony could see the bottom of the gaping tunnel, despite the soft amber light that shone from its walls. Pinkie stood at the edge of the hole, the other five behind her. “I’ve got a plan.” Pinkie said, turning around. “And it uses all of us.” The five of them nodded. “We have two villains that need to be stopped. Rx’len and Scarcity. We’re going to have to split up to accomplish what needs to be done. If it goes well, we should defeat them both at the same time. We’ll win, we’ll be the heroes.” Rarity spoke up. “How are we being split up?” “Rx’len is a beast that cannot be defeated by armies, he would kill so, so many. So the armies are going to be sent to Scarcity – tracking down wherever Quasar vanished. Three of us will go with them. Three of us are going to stay here and dig the rest of the way through this hole to face Rx’len.” She smiled. “It won’t expect a thing.” “Who’s going where?” Twilight asked. “That was the hard decision,” Pinkie admitted. “I knew I had to be on the Rx’len thing, since that’s the plan that needs my ‘Prophet Powers’ to do stuff. Fluttershy as well, to build the most legendary armor of all time.” “…Do we have time for that?” Fluttershy asked. Pinkie shrugged. “Pretty sure there are ways to accelerate time around here. The Unity Helix can probably figure something out for you.” Twilight nodded. “If we can tap into your mind, we can make you experience a year in a day if we so wished.” Fluttershy frowned. “And I could craft armor like that?” “I think so. It’d be complicated, but the Unity Helix has never shied away from a complicated problem.” Pinkie giggled. “That’s my plan. Regardless, Fluttershy and I are just the background influence for the real hero of the operation, which… was really hard to choose. Both Twilight and Rarity fit the requirements to go face off against Rx’len.” “Alone?” Rarity gawked. “Wouldn’t simply looking at it drive us insane?” Twilight asked. “Yep!” Pinkie admitted. “Which is why the Unity Helix will be with you, protecting your mind and helping run the armor. It will take a lot of its focus to keep you aware of everything in there, but surely a galactic A.I. has enough processing power to analyze an eldritch abomination, right?” Twilight nodded. “Right…” “Anyway, it was a tough choice between you two. Space queen of unlimited magic potential who has been snorting in the faces of godlike beings for the entire adventure, or the mare who has been cheated out of her life by this monster? It was nearly impossible to choose… but then I realized.” She pointed at Rarity. “Twilight has no compelling story if she’s sent to take out Scarcity. You do.” Rarity nodded slowly. “I… I suppose she is me.” “I can almost guarantee that you’re going to face her. Get ready.” “I am always ready.” Pinkie chose not to mention the other reason she was putting Rarity on the Scarcity mission. She might actually have a curse of tragedy. It may not have been possible for her to defeat Rx’len under any circumstances, simply because that was the way her story had always gone. With Scarcity, she would be dealing with an out of context problem outside her own story with lots of backup. Pinkie turned to Rainbow and Applejack. “You two are with Rarity. Rainbow, you know Scarcity, and you’re good at commanding. Applejack, you get to keep your fellow Mechanics from losing it.” Rainbow saluted and Applejack nodded in understanding. “Go with the fleet and find Quasar. Then take out the rest of the Starcross Society.” “Should be easy,” Twilight said. “They can’t have that many forces at their disposal. “Should be easy,” Pinkie said. “Should. Here’s the thing, something is going to go wrong with both parts of the plan. I will be writing one specifically into the attack on Rx’len to make the story more believable – no, I can’t tell you what it is, that’d ruin it. According to Rainbow, ayway. Even though I’m not going to be writing the Scarcity mission directly, if this is like any novel I’ve ever read… Well, no plan survives contact with the enemy.” “And we’re still going to win?” Applejack asked. “Yep!” I hope. Applejack shrugged. “I still don’t get it. But I trust you.” Pinkie giggled. “Little did I know that I was so good at predicting things because it really was a story.” “We are a legend,” Fluttershy said. “Every last one of us brings something special.” “Do your best and fight to your last,” Rainbow added. “We’ll prevail. Heroes always do.” Pinkie caught Rarity shaking her head. She knows that isn’t always true. She knows all too well. “Hey, Rarity? We’ve got you. Okay?” Rarity frowned. “I know.” “Do what you can.” “I always do.” Pinkie smiled sadly. “…Heh… You’re a lot stronger than the rest of us.” Rarity nodded, saying nothing in response. Twilight cleared her throat. “Everyone – whatever happens, no matter how bonkers this ends up, I want you all to know something.” Rainbow smirked. “Gonna go all sappy on us?” Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “Well, I am glad I met all of you…” “Heh.” “But I was actually hoping to remind you that you’re all huge dorks!” She grinned cheesily. There were a mixture of laughs and groans. “But yeah, you’re all great,” Twilight winked. “And insane,” Applejack added. “Sanity is overrated,” Pinkie said. Fluttershy’s smile brightened. “It only leads you to the expected places.” “And you’ll never get anywhere by doing the expected,” Rainbow chuckled. Rarity let out a resigned, but somehow pleasant, sigh. “We’re so crazy this just might work.” “That’s the spirit!” Pinkie cheered, holding out a hoof for Rarity. Rarity hesitated for a moment before rolling her eyes and bumping it with her own hoof. Everyone else stuck a hoof in as well, creating a six-way bump of hooves. They were ready. ~~~ Fluttershy walked into the back of one of the larger Unity ships, a large room with a glass floor and hundreds of mechanical arms along the sides. The majority of tools from her workshop had already been teleported in here – anvils, furnaces, ingots of metal, and a handful of enchanted clippers that could be used to expedite the process. On the other side of the room were numerous computers, technological bits, a few screens, and a large vial of sand from the Crystal Desert. She walked over to the vial, laying a hoof on top of it. It was slightly larger than she was, filled with the sparkling amber ashes of the Runes of Rarity’s world. “How exactly is this going to work, Helix?” Fluttershy asked. The eye of the Unity Helix appeared on one of the screens. “I will interface with your mind and remove all your natural perceptions of the outside world, creating a sort of ‘dream world’ for you to act in at a rate much faster than normal. Furthermore, since you will be connected to me, you will have access to every tool and arm in this room, allowing you not only to create faster, but better and more complicated armaments.” “And how are you going to connect with me?” “For normal ponies, I would just us a psychic link. Your mind is highly unusual and that may not be safe. So I will have to implant a chip in your brain. Normally I’d use anesthetic for this, but we need you awake and alert as soon as possible, so it’s going to hurt. A lot.” Fluttershy let out a shaky breath. “Let me get ready first.” “Of course.” She took off her armor once again, laying her shield down with a massive THUNK. There was a reason she rarely used her greatest creation – it was so large it generally prevented her from carrying other weapons for ponies to use, and even if she did have others it covered most of her body, making it hard for others to reach her. It was generally best in the few situations where she was alone. “Okay,” Fluttershy said as she removed her last boot, standing free once more. “Can you hold on a second?” Pinkie asked, walking into the room. “Sure,” the Unity Helix said. Pinkie walked up to Fluttershy. “Hey.” “Hey.” There was an awkward silence. “I’m sorry,” they both said at the same time. This mirrored response prompted amused smiles from both of them. “That… that’s a relief,” Pinkie said, wiping her brow. “I was worried…” “I can’t hold a grudge,” Fluttershy admitted. “And I got too angry.” “Some of that may have been my fault.” “Some of it was mine.” “So it was a big ol’ screwup then, huh?” Pinkie rubbed the back of her head. “For what it’s worth, I’m also sorry I wrote your… curse.” “You didn’t know you had any power. You were just writing a story.” “Yeah, I know. I know it a little too well. Still needed to be said.” She pulled Pinkie into a hug. “Everything is forgiven. Just… do better.” “I will. What you’re about to make? I’m not touching it. It’ll be all you.” “Thank you.” “And… I’m not going to be writing books again, if that means anything.” Pinkie’s smile faltered. “…It’s too dangerous.” Fluttershy couldn’t bring herself to disagree with her. “It’s put a horrible feeling in my stomach. Like…” Pinkie twirled her hoof in the air, looking for the word. “My dreams are worthless.” Fluttershy laughed. “W-what?” Fluttershy pointed at her armor. “Find a new dream, Pinkie.” She patted her on the back. “I did.” “I might try that.” She stepped out of Fluttershy’s embrace, moving toward the door. “Good luck.” “There’s something else bothering you.” Pinkie sighed. “I… I’m struggling with the idea of enemies.” Fluttershy cocked her head. “The world is better if you don’t have enemies, if you’re kind to those who are cruel to you, if you make peace with all. But here we are… fighting with everything we have. And I don’t see another option.” “You think Rx’len…?” “Not Rx’len,” Pinkie said, shaking her head. “That thing is basically just a demon. I mean… Scarcity. She’s a pony, just like us, with hopes, dreams, motivations… and we’re sending an army after her.” She bit her lip. “It feels wrong.” “In my world, ponies only learned to fight so well because they had to. There is nothing wrong with defending the lives of everypony.” Pinkie smiled softly. “I know. I don’t have to like it, though. Ponies are going to die.” “That’s… true. On both sides. But more would die if we did nothing.” Pinkie was silent for a moment. “It’s a good thing I’m not on that side of the conflict. I don’t have the strength to follow that through personally. I have to hide behind a book.” “I hide behind plate armor and a giant shield,” Fluttershy pointed out. “Each of us help in our own way, Pinkie.” Pinkie chuckled. “Thanks, Fluttershy.” “Don’t mention it.” “Now get to making legendary stuff!” Fluttershy nodded, waving goodbye as Pinkie left. “…Okay Helix, I’m ready.” “You might want to sit down for this.” Fluttershy did. And then her head exploded. She maintained consciousness through the entire second it took to shoot the chip through her ear canal and into the folds of her brain. There was an excruciating pain and an explosion of blood as the chip broke through her eardrum and flesh between that and the brain. Somehow, she managed not to scream or cry, but the pain was so excruciating she couldn’t move for a few seconds. “…When you are able, cast a low-level healing spell on your ear,” the Unity Helix said, resonating in only one of Fluttershy’s ears. “We will activate the interface after that.” Fluttershy breathed heavily a few times before shakily bringing her wing to her bloodied ear. A quick pulse of magic brought her hearing back and removed most of the pain. She let out a sigh of relief. “You weren’t kidding.” “You deserved to know exactly what was happening.” “So… when do we begin?” “We already have. You are currently standing in a dream-construct of the creation room. In the time it has taken you to ‘hear’ this sentence, less than a tenth of a second has passed in the real world.” “…Neat,” Fluttershy said, walking back to the vial of sand. “Your machines will be able to keep up with everything I’m doing?” “Absolutely. Everything in this lab is keyed to what you want to happen. I can even upload information directly into your brain concerning the more technical aspects of what’s available to you.” “How long do we have?” “Assuming we have until tomorrow in real-time… over a month.” “Then let’s start by smelting the sand,” Fluttershy said, flying over to the sand and pouring it into the furnace. “When heavy attacks hit it, it fuses into glass. Not a normal glass either. Since it was once part of the Runes, I believe we can forge it into something Runic like the Starcross have… except with a lot more enchantments, style, and of course whatever technology you feel the need to insert.” Fluttershy spread her wings, igniting the furnace. “You have Twilight’s dimensions. We’ll need to design around them.” “Naturally…” And so it began. Making the greatest suit of armor she had ever created, out of glass. The first enchantment to go onto the glass as it was fashioned into large sheets was reinforce, to keep it from shattering due to blunt force trauma. The consistency of the clear material took several ‘days’ to treat properly, but in the end the glass was more like metal than anything else. Here, she never seemed to run out of magic – no doubt being given as much as she asked for by the Unity Helix from reserve stores. With the material ready, she started work. Every square meter of the glass was laced with Unity microbots that created a complex technological circuit within the material. Currently it had no purpose, but it was inlaid so it could be programmed later. Runic designs began to appear on the glass the more it was shaped, glowing at a similar intensity to the blackened Runes that dotted the Crystal Sea. Due to the size of Twilight’s frame, dozens of amber Runes fully formed along the armor’s edges, giving the armor a truly otherworldly quality. The legs were completed first, simple for the most part, except for some light-elemetnal enchantments in the hooves. Most of the enchantments were to be light, for that was known to be most effective against eldritch creatures. This did not stop Fluttershy from adding her usual lightweight and speed enchantments to the armor every time a piece was completed. The wings were the most interesting. In almost every suit she had created before, the wings were left either completely free or trapped. This time, however, she had more options with Twilight’s immense limbs. She created a glassy rim that would trace the edge of Twilight’s wing, fusing several extensions to the armor that would give Twilight’s wings bat-like reinforcement veins. Adding to this she incorporated hooks, blades, and numerous smaller projectiles that would respond to the magic in Twilight’s feathered limbs. Necks were notoriously easy to injure, but they needed to have freedom of movement. Normally Fluttershy countered this by having the bottom of the helmet splay wide, but this time she opted to use a series of levitating rings charged with electricity. The helmet was designed mostly by the Unity Helix – Fluttershy shaped it, but the AI had to install the visor, communication systems, and microcomputers that would allow the Unity Helix to focus most of its attention on Twilight in order to keep Rx’len from driving her insane. And the breastplate and stomach lining… those were the most important parts. Their basic forms had been shaped near the beginning, but now they were to get their additions. The stomach lining received a coil of glass somewhat like a spring designed to take Twilight’s magic and amplify it continually in a feedback loop until she wanted to unleash it. The chestplate was originally going to have a complex reflective enchantment bestowed upon it… but near the end one final Rune appeared directly on it. The symbol: five circles around a sixth, glowing not with an amber color, but the green color Fluttershy had prompted from the Runes. “Find a way to get the essences of all the others,” Fluttershy said. This was not difficult. The armies had only just left, and a few teleports was all it took for the Unity Helix to grab Applejack and Rarity for a few seconds. Fluttershy didn’t see them in her state, but she saw the central Rune light up with white and orange power. Shortly thereafter, pink and purple were added. There would be no blue. The Rune’s full power could not be activated. No more instant victory, like there was supposed to be. But this was close enough. It continually shifted through the five colors, a beautiful rainbow of power and connection. Fluttershy stood back, admiring her masterpiece. She didn’t feel tired – there had been no sweat, no pain, just constant focused work. She hadn’t even needed to sleep. But it was done. A glorious amber pony stood before her, wings splayed, glass reflecting the light of the room into several rainbows. “How’s the one in the real world?” Fluttershy asked. “Haven’t quite added the finishing touches to the buffing,” the Unity Helix admitted. “But otherwise, it is done. Do you wish to return?” Fluttershy nodded. Suddenly, the room shifted – all the objects were in the same place, but the armor itself had several dozen metallic arms working on it, working so fast on buffing it that Fluttershy had a hard time keeping track of its motions. Both Twilight and Pinkie were there, watching the machines work in awe. Fluttershy smirked – this was pretty impressive. Ten seconds later, the arms retracted into the wall and the armor was lowered to the ground. Wordlessly, Twilight approached it. “Woah…” “I think you’ll find that it fits absolutely perfectly and perfectly reacts with your magic,” Fluttershy said, more than a little proud of her creation. “What are you calling it?” Pinkie asked. “It was made from amber ashes…” Fluttershy spread her wings for some dramatic flair. “But it rose to life once more. Behold, Twilight, the Amber Phoenix.” Twilight had no words – but she did have a stupid grin on her face. That was all Fluttershy needed to see. ~~~ Rarity stood in the cockpit of a ship named Sunskimmer, but she wasn’t paying all that much attention to the ship itself. She’d seen enough shiny metallic rooms already. Instead, she was looking down, through the glass bubble at the ship’s front. She saw the ocean. The water really did go on forever. Somewhere that wasn’t dry or desolate on her home… But it was still dying. She had seen the plants along the edge of the water and beamed at them – at first. Then she saw how sick they were, how haggard. Even here, they struggled. The sea provided life, but the sea itself would run out of life to give, in time. Only the lands closest to the shore were actually green, the further you looked the more brown and dead things became until eventually it gave way to nothing but sand. And it was here in the last repository of life that Quasar had vanished, and presumably where Scarcity was hiding. Scarcity… In truth, Rarity was glad Pinkie had decided her best place was here. Even though the pink mare would have never done it without editing her own mind… it was for the best. If the ponies had placed all their faith in Rarity alone to take on Rx’len? Rarity couldn’t see that ending in anything but disaster. But Rx’len wasn’t her problem anymore. It was Twilight’s. Even then, Rarity’s quest to restore her world was not over. Scarcity, another Enchantress, a warrior, herself, had decided to come onto her turf and threaten her world. She was a problem separate from Rarity’s endless tragedy, as Pinkie had said. Different. Maybe… Maybe she could break the cycle here. Maybe she really could succeed. After all, Scarcity had what, a few handfuls of soldiers, Glimmer, and some fancy magic technology? They had an army of Unity ships, Mesh mechanics, Thieves, and hunters. They could take out a mare and her desperate plan. Don’t get hopeful, Rarity… She couldn’t really help herself. She felt… invigorated. “Somepony’s happy,” Applejack observed. Rarity didn’t even try to hide her smile. “I really, really should keep my hopes down.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “For all you talk about there being no hope… The idea really does help you move forward.” “It’s not necessary,” Rarity said. “For you.” “Perhaps I am unusual…” Rarity shook her head. “But, regardless… in the moment, hope is… nice. It’s when it comes crashing down there’s a problem.” “Well, might as well get your hope in now. If it comes crashing down now there isn’t exactly going to be a next time.” Rarity didn’t know why she found this so funny. Applejack didn’t seem to mind her legitimate, hearty laughter, so Rarity didn’t dwell on it. Rainbow’s shouting interrupted them – not that she was talking to them, but rather the entire fleet. “We’re heading into the ocean, everybody! Get into your suits – you don’t want to be caught underwater without air now, do you? I didn’t think so! We don’t expect to find anything quickly, but suit up anyway! Rainbow out!” She stopped shouting. “That goes for you two as well.” Rarity was already in the provided wetsuit – it was form-fitting to her legs all the way up to her neck. She had her swords, meteor rifle, and hammer strapped to the outside. The fabric of the suit felt weak, but she was assured it was a ‘space age material that could withstand even the most ridiculous of pressures.’ All that remained was the helmet – a glass sphere. She popped it onto her head unceremoniously. “Ready.” Applejack took her time getting ready – a lack of traction hooves made it awkward, and she insisted on keeping her tools and wearing her boots on the outside. She refused help, so Rarity spent her time looking out at the water. The moment they descended she saw fish. Fish. She’d only heard about fish. She had no idea how long she stared at the fish. Long enough for the water to get black, lit up only by the lights of the fleet itself. Eventually, she held a hoof to her head, blinking rapidly. “Wow, you spaced,” Rainbow said. “I… excuse me, I haven’t seen the ocean of my world before, much less the life that survives beneath.” Rarity couldn’t tear the smile off her face. “There’s a poetic beauty to it. It ends in the last bastion of life. Tha- what’s that?” Down a fair ways was an amber, glowing crevasse. A few of the smaller ships sped ahead of the Sunskimmer to investigate the seafloor. “An exposed part of the Rune…” Rarity realized, eyes wide. “We’re down that far?” “You were ‘spacing’ for a long time,” Applejack pointed out. “It seems I was…” The small ships returned, one of them holding a massive scale in a grabber. It sparkled with the stars of night. Rainbow stated the obvious. “Quasar went in there.” She moved to a console, tapping a screen to address the fleet again. “The Starcross Society is probably down that crevasse! Some of our ships are too large to fit through the gap, so you will be on defense here! Everyone who’s free, move to a smaller ship or launch out in water-tight fighters! We’re bringing everything we can to them!” She removed her hoof from the screen. “Rarity, would you like to do the honors?” Rarity blinked. “The what?” Rainbow pointed at a green arrow on a nearby screen. “Tap that. We’ll go right in.” Without a fuss, Rarity trotted up to the screen and tapped the arrow with her hoof. The Sunskimmer lurched forward. Even though it angled its nose downward, Rarity still felt herself drawn to the floor rather than the front of the ship. Rarity didn’t think about that. For now she could see the life of the deep… swimming among the light of the Runes.