//------------------------------// // 11 - Priority // Story: Divergence // by RQK //------------------------------// Queen Chrysalis opened the large, wooden door and stepped outside. She took a moment to crack her neck. The airship’s wooden deck stretched a good twenty meters to the bow. Steel handrails ran between the steel pillars connecting the deck to the steel ceiling which clung to the pinkish-purplish envelope which housed those gases that lifted the ship. A clouded and dirtied sky lay just beyond those railings. Dust stretched from here to far above her head and to far below; she couldn’t even make out the ground from this altitude. From her immediate position, she could see a few other airships flanking the one she was on—all of them somewhat smaller. She knew that scores more followed right behind them. She stepped forward. A collection of armored, satyr-like creatures stood in a huddle in the middle of the deck, conversing in boisterous voices. One of them threw his head back and laughed in response to another’s pointed statement, a motion four of the others followed. The last nodded sagely, crossed his arms, and gave a toothy sneer. “Your Majesties,” Chrysalis said. The Storm Kings turned. Each had painted a colored line onto the shoulder plates. The one with the silver on his shoulder smirked. “Ah, Queen Chrysalis,” Storm King S said. “You’ve returned.” “Indeed,” she replied. “It seems they’re starting to catch wind of us,” Storm King C, wearing the green line on his shoulder, said. “You could say… they know that a storm is coming!” The other Storm Kings snorted and snickered. The one with yellow on his shoulder nodded. “Indeed,” Storm King D said. “But we expected this. We just need an opening…” “Well,” the one with the red on his shoulder began, “we also need to finish conquering these other timelines.” Storm King T glanced between them. “Let’s not forget to finish what we started.” “Yes. We want to have as many advantages as we can before we take on the prime,” Storm King S said. “Especially if they are as formidable as is claimed.” “Right.” “As it is, I plan to infiltrate them once more,” Chrysalis said. “Apparently, there have been further developments. Their dealings with the Nameless aren’t quite concluded.” The Storm Kings paused and then turned to face her in full. “Oh, is that so?” the one with the blue line, Storm King N, asked. “That’s right. But it seems to be something else now.” “Is their magic in jeopardy again?” Storm King C asked. “Not this time, it seems. I don’t have all the information yet. But I will find out.” The one with the brown stripe narrowed his eyes. “Do so,” Storm King I hissed. “We can’t afford to have them hitting us with something unexpected.” Chrysalis stamped her hoof. “Take care of how you address me. I still know more about them than you do.” “Yes, yes, of course,” Storm King S said, waving his hand dismissively. Chrysalis bared teeth and then changed shape into the same form as them except twice as large. She—or rather he in this form—towered over them. “And it is thanks to me that you can even be here together right now!” he boomed. “And my skillful procurement of the portal spell is the reason you have been able to combine your armies to take these timelines!” The Storm Kings reeled (mostly because they were staring at themselves) but quickly recovered. “That doesn’t give you power over us. We are all in this together. Remember that,” Storm King N said. Storm King D smirked and chuckled. “Hah. That’s right. So why don’t we just do ourselves a favor and stop while we’re ahead?” “That’s right. Let’s save our squabbles until after we’ve taken over the rest of the Equestrias and taken our place as their rulers!” Storm King C roared. The other Storm Kings brightened up and too fell into their own guffaws. But Chrysalis could spot the grit teeth between them. And she cracked a smirk. Fools. The only one that will be in control when all of this is over is me! Clearing her throat, she started toward the railing. “Anywho, I should be off. I’ll report back in a couple of days or so.” Storm King S nodded and flashed a salute. “Off with you, then. Good luck, and good speed.” Without looking back, Chrysalis flared her pointed, holed wings and leapt over the railing. She hovered for a moment as she adjusted to the air outside the ship and then leaned into the wind to bring herself to a stop; the airships, already moving, floated by her. She lit her horn. A portal appeared, showing plains covered in green and skies filled with a vibrant blue, a definite far cry from the infinite browns and greys of this timeline. Without a second thought, she flew through the opening, taking her thoughts of treachery with her. Tempest Shadow peered from behind the rock at the top of the hill. An airship fleet lay scattered across the dusty, featureless plain below, all parked and idle with their ramps extended. A few bodies, presumably the large, hedgehog-like creatures that made up the Storm Guard, wandered about, likely carrying about their duties. “They’re restocking and refueling right now,” she announced. “Looks like a fleet-wide thing. They’ll be grounded for a few hours, at least.” Three of the others sat in a circle behind her. Wallflower remained silent and almost catatonic as she stroked the Memory Stone with her hooves. Stygian watched her with an unamused frown. Princess Luna nodded. “I’ve almost managed to lower the sun. I must say, I have never done the transition this slowly before.” Tempest nodded. Bits of light lit the dust clouds above but that light faded by the moment; by design. “I know,” she said, “but too quick a change, and they will notice something is up,” Tempest said. She paused and then cocked her head to look at Luna out the corner of her eyes. “Well, they might catch onto something, but none of them are smart enough to catch onto the fact that the sun is going missing.” “Not with that cloud layer, no,” Luna said. With an airy pop, Discord appeared from nothingness. He floated there for a moment, wearing a smug grin as he stroked the crystal ball. “I’m back!” he announced. Tempest whirled around with her expression widened. Wallflower and Luna also winced at his appearance. Stygian merely stared. “Take care not to be so loud,” Grimb’vltr said within the crystal ball. It stopped for a moment to transfer another newly formed stone onto a rack where it joined several others. “We don’t want to give our position away just yet, hmmm?” Discord groaned. “I suppose.” Tempest straightened up. “Is it done?” Discord smiled again and held up a finger. “It’s done! I’ve set up a distraction on the far side of the fleet. It should go off… sometime soon. Second round won’t be too long after that.” “Yes,” Grimb’vltr said. “The first pop should at least get them to raise their heads, and the second should coerce them to move toward that direction to… investigate.” “We should be making our way over by then,” Tempest said. “With that and the darkness we are making, we should be able to approach unnoticed.” “Indeed,” Discord said, poking Luna in her side. “It’s a perfect plan!” Luna scowled and rubbed her offended abdomen. “A-and we’re sure it’s going to work?” Wallflower asked. “Oh ho ho! Don’t worry, it will,” Discord said, patting Wallflower on the head. “I got a little bored while we were setting things up, so I did a bit of reading ahead. I read all of what we did just now. Why, I even read this sentence of dialogue!” He laughed from his stomach, even rolling over in the air. “Anyway, we’ll be on those ships in about, mmm, a little over one hundred paragraphs or so. So don’t worry, we’ll be just fine!” A moment of silence passed. Grimb’vltr shook its head. “I can’t even begin to comprehend whatever insane troll logic motivated that verbal manure.” Stygian, who looked similarly troubled, deadpanned. “That’s just Discord, I suppose. There can’t be anything else to it.” Discord placed his claw and paw on the sides of his snake-like body and puffed his chest out, standing tall and proud. And Tempest couldn’t help but mentally facehoof. There was no way this operation was succeeding. * * * Princess Cadance giggled as she poked Flurry Heart in the chest, earning incoherent warbling and giggling in response; the best a foal could manage, at any rate. Sunlight streamed through the grand windows, lighting them both. Cadance lay facing the ceiling on one of the cushions near the unlit fireplace. Flurry Heart batted and reached at her from within Cadance’s magical grasp. “Okay. Can you say, ‘Mama?’” Cadance asked. “Mama.” “Marm,” Flurry warbled. Cadance giggled. “Mama.” Flurry Heart giggled and let out a “Maam,” in response. The door opened and Shining Armor stepped through. He carried a few small, white, glassy orbs that had to be the size of his snout. His expression looked stern, but it did soften as he laid his eyes on Flurry Heart. Cadance rolled over. “You’re back! Are those them?” she asked. Shining nodded and presented the stones. “Yup. I’ve got plenty enough to go around.” Cadance smiled and sighed in relief. “That’s good. Then we should be all set.” “I’ll set a few of these around the castle. That should cover us, at least. I’ll give some to the guard to spread to the surrounding areas too.” “Good. That’s good.” Cadance stood up and levitated Flurry Heart close to her. Flurry Heart still wore her innocent smile. Cadance wanted to continue seeing that smile. Flurry Heart couldn’t be too far off from her first words. Making it to see that was the most important thing; everything else was secondary. Shining Armor also frowned. “Are you okay?” he asked. Cadance blinked and looked up to see him. She then turned and noticed Flurry Heart now stared at her with those wide, innocent eyes of hers. She extended a foreleg while simultaneously bringing Flurry Heart in. Cadance held Flurry Heart close, not daring to let go. “I…” “Cadance…” Shining said sternly, narrowing his eyes. Cadance sighed. “I just… I know I should trust Twilight. And that other mare that she’s been working with.” “Sunset Shimmer.” “Yes. But I can’t help it. I’m worried.” She held Flurry Heart even closer. “Meem?” Flurry Heart warbled. Cadance’s heart melted and she let out an exasperated sigh. “I-I just hope she knows what she’s doing.” Shining Armor’s hardened expression loosened and he nodded solemnly. He trotted forward and wrapped a hoof around Cadance, simultaneously sandwiching (but not crushing) Flurry Heart between the two of them. He even reached up with his other hoof to stroke Flurry Heart’s mane. “Me too. Me too…” he said solemnly and simply. * * * Twilight Sparkle’s fingers tapped a few characters on her laptop as she put an entry into her spreadsheet. She entered a name, a number, and a location; the last of which was the beach. And she looked up. “Do you need a bag?” she asked. Flash Sentry, who stood across the table from her, nodded. “A bag would be good.” Twilight nodded in response and turned in her chair. Principal Celestia had already grabbed a plastic bag and fit a second bag to it for reinforcement. Vice Principal Luna bent down over one of several bins they had brought out and grabbed a few stones out from them. She dropped four of them into the plastic bags, retrieved three more from the bins, and dropped those in as well. Principal Celestia then walked over, carrying the doubled-up bags by the handles with one hand and held them from underneath with the other. She leaned across the table. “Careful,” she warned. Flash received them and replicated her grip. “Thanks,” he replied. “See you later!” Twilight said. “Sure! See ya,” Flash said. Twilight watched him exit out the gym doors and then she turned to face rest of the gym. Only a few others remained now. Her friends were here, talking among each other at a separate table, pointing toward a map that they had spread across it. The five up them looked up at a sixth girl, Trixie Lulamoon, who listened intently and eventually nodded. Out the corner of her eyes, Twilight watched six bodies enter the gym: one adult and five teenagers. Dean Cadance (or, rather, Principal Cadance) wore her usual blue-ish business suit and skirt while the five with her wore the prim and proper, purple-paletted Crystal Prep uniforms that Twilight knew so well. The six of them spotted Twilight and started for her. Twilight herself stood up. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna also looked over and gave ecstatic “Ah!”s. “Hey! You’re here!” Twilight exclaimed. “Hello, Twilight,” Principal Cadance said, her voice warm. “Sorry it took us so long.” “Oh no, it’s fine!” Twilight explained. “We’re right in the middle of things.” “Yes. It’s good that you’ve come. We’ll appreciate the help,” Vice Principal Luna said. “Do you need me to explain what’s going on?” Twilight asked. Principal Cadance shook her head. “No, Twilight. We”—she motioned to Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna—“spoke over the phone, and they explained it to me, and me to them,” she said, motioning to the five girls with her. She then turned to Principal Celestia. “Which, I have some follow up questions for you.” Principal Celestia stole a glance at the Shadowbolts and then nodded. “Of course. Why don’t we step over here for a moment and give them some time to catch up?” “Sure, that sounds wonderful,” Principal Cadance said as she started toward the side. Twilight watched Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna follow Principal Cadance toward the side of the room. She then looked back at the five. “Hey there. Long time no see.” Lemon Zest, the girl with the long, green hair and the pink earphones perpetually over her ears, flashed a pair of finger guns. “Twilight! Back at you! Awesome to see you here.” “You seem to be doing very well for yourself,” Indigo Zap, with her blue, streaked back hair, said, pointing at Twilight. “Sorry to hear about your friend.” Twilight nodded solemnly and sat back down. “Yes… But… I have hope.” “Oh, yeah, for sure,” Lemon Zest said. “That would be so great if we could get her back!” Sour Sweet, with her moderately rose ponytail, exclaimed with a wide smile. Her expression instantaneously turned sour as she growled out, “If it even works.” “It’s far too fantastic to work,” Sugarcoat said as she adjusted her orange glasses. Twilight narrowed her eyes and pointed at Sugarcoat. “It will work. Just watch.” Sunny Flare, the one with the short, purple-paletted hair, typed something into the computer on her arm. She then looked up. “Not gunna lie, but I agree. This is really strange and weird stuff.” She then shrugged. “But we’ve all seen magic for ourselves, right?” Sugarcoat shrugged. “Sure. That’s a point.” The others shared nods. Indigo Zap stepped forward. “So, uh, you think there’s any chance we could get a few of those stones for our school? We really like what we’ve done to the place, and we’d like to keep that.” Twilight straightened up as a smile returned to her face. “Oh! Yes! Of course. That should be well within budget,” she said as she looked at her computer, finding a number at the top of the spreadsheet. “You’ll need seven for that. How are things over there?” After sharing a glance with the others, Lemon Zest said, “Well, ya know, we’re a little less pressed to be competitive all the time. It’s been nice.” “Yeah,” Sour Sweet agreed. “We’re starting to learn some real cooperation. We know how useful that can be,” she said with a smile and a wink. “And the rest of the school’s been catching on,” Lemon Zest added. “It helps that Principal Cadance has been fostering that environment since she took over,” Sunny Flare said. “That’s great! I’m so glad to hear that,” Twilight replied. She paused as she spotted Trixie making her way over to them now. “You’ll have to excuse me for a moment, I need to take this.” Trixie pushed her way through the Shadowbolts, giving them a couple of glares in the process. “I am here.” “Okay.” “The Great and Powerful Trixie is heading east of town, into the mountains. Trixie will place seven stones there please.” Twilight began typing. “Okay…” She muttered the words back to herself as entered Trixie’s name, the number seven, and the Archback Mountains into her spreadsheet. She then looked over. “Vice Principal Luna?” she called. “Can I get seven for Trixie Lulamoon, please?” Vice Principal Luna, who had been engaged in a quiet conversation with Principal Cadance and Principal Celestia, looked over and nodded. She stepped toward the bins, grabbing two plastics bags as she went. Twilight looked back up. “Are there any other places you want to cover besides Crystal Prep?” “We haven’t thought of any place else yet, but we will probably think of something,” Sugarcoat replied, her tone still plain. “We can always come back, right?” “Of course. The more, the merrier.” * * * Tempest led the others as they ran across the plain, kicking up dirt as they went. Princess Luna stayed close to Wallflower who faltered in her steps, especially with the saddlebags wrapped around her midsection. Stygian ran his eyes over the airships, looking for anything out of place. Finally, Discord kept the crystal ball tucked under one arm while he used his other three appendages to gallop low like the rest of them. From a distance, seemingly from the other side of where the fleet sat, came a flash of light shortly followed by an audible boom. “There she blows!” Discord exclaimed. Tempest looked up. They were rather close now, at least. She could even make a few Storm Guards out at this distance and could even tell, at least with the ones she could see on the ground between airships, that they were walked in the direction the report had come from. She glanced back. “How are we looking, Grimb’vltr?” “Genesis,” Grimb’vltr commanded. “Scanning,” Genesis, who stood by Grimb’vltr’s front leg, said. He stared into space for a moment. And then, “Approach clear. Proceed on current trajectory.” With a smirk, Tempest looked back. “You heard him! Let’s get there!” The airships practically loomed over them at this point. The winds, ripe with pieces of dust and debris, pushed against them in response. They even squinted to keep it out of their eyes. Wallflower stumbled along trying to keep pace, but she steadily fell toward the rear of the pack. Finally, as even Stygian passed her, Wallflower tumbled forward, having just enough time to yelp before her head slammed into the ground. Tempest skidded in the dirt as she whirled around. The others slowed down. “Wallflower!” Luna exclaimed. Tempest waved them on. “Go!” she barked as she rushed back to help Wallflower up. “Keep going!” As the others turned and continued toward the fleet, Tempest wrapped a foreleg around Wallflower and lifted. “Get up. We’re almost there.” Wallflower climbed to her hooves and sobbed. “I-I’m sorry. I can’t really run like this,” she said as Tempest then pushed her forward, prompting her to resume running. “This body is weird and I feel weird and I can’t do this.” Tempest, who now ran right beside her, sighed. “Right. I get it. I didn’t like being in a human body either. I know how you’re feeling, Wallflower Blush.” She looked over. “You’re doing fine.” Wallflower met Tempest’s gaze with widened eyes. And as Tempest gave her a smirk, Wallflower cracked a smile. They reached the first of the airships and pressed themselves up against its hull. There, they spent a few moments panting and wheezing and otherwise trying to catch their breaths. Tempest recovered herself first and sidled alongside the hull toward the aft. She peered around the corner without venturing out, keeping her ears tuned to hear the others eventually creep up behind her—which they did. The immediate area lay empty, which presented a clear path. They’d have to make it to the center of these airships somehow. With a quick nod back at them, Tempest lurched forward, dashing her way across the clearing. The combination of dust and darkness shrouded the so-called streets between ships; Tempest could make out a few silhouettes of Storm Guards but none of them stood terribly close. She pressed up against another ship, turning her head to make sure the others had followed. Genesis sat in the center of the chamber, holding the crystal ball within his grasp. From an outside perspective, the ball appeared a pure white. But Genesis stared holes into it, nonetheless. Grimb’vltr sat watching the ball in silence as well. The five of them sidled around the stern. As they reached the front, Tempest suddenly held a foreleg out, barring their progress. She even backed up a little. And then, without even looking back at them, waved them toward the wall, to which they obliged. A moment later, a pair of Storm Guards came strolling by. They spoke in strange tongues that Tempest recognized as their native speech; something she herself didn’t fully understand. Their paths took them both across and away from the five but not toward any particular airship. Only when Tempest was sure they had gone out of earshot and couldn’t hear any shuffling did she silently motion for the others to follow her around the tip of the stern. They crept around it, losing sight of the guards in the process. The guttural groans and grunts of Storm Guard language reached their ears from decks above them and from ground-level distances away, but they pressed on in relative silence, keeping close to the ships when they could and dashing across the clearing when they needed to. The five of them jumped when a loud horn pierced the darkness; the bellow masked their assorted shrieks and cries. They looked up to see a shape rising through the darkness: an airship, bearing a large banner containing the Storm King’s visage, rose into the sky. They couldn’t see any bodies at this point but the ship itself had been only the next one over. Tempest frowned, knowing that at this distance, all someone had to do to see them was peer over the side. And so, she dashed onward, skidding to a half underneath an extended ramp. The others followed suit, huddling behind her. Tempest then poked her head out to watch as the flagship took off. “Buck,” she cursed. “We’re too late.” Wallflower shuddered. “Uh, what do we do? What do we do?” “I’m thinking, I’m thinking,” Tempest muttered. “You will have to get on this one for now. We will have to think of some other way to get across later,” Grimb’vltr said. Tempest considered it and then looked back at the crystal ball in Discord’s grasp. “What about the cargo hold?” Grimb’vltr looked down. “Genesis.” “Scanning,” Genesis replied. A moment later, “Coast clear. Proceed quickly.” “Okay.” Tempest looked back at the others. “Let’s go before anyone sees us!” The others nodded affirmatively with various degrees of certainty. They, with Tempest in the lead, emerged from underneath the ramp, zipped up the ramp, and disappeared inside the ship. * * * Sunset Shimmer wrote a few lines onto the chalkboard with the chalk in her magical grasp. She hummed contemplatively as she considered what she had written down. Several sequential lines described the step-by-step process for Consensus, at least as far as Sunset could tell as being unique, describable steps. -Init✓ -Take snapshot of reality✓ -Perform averaging calculation -Allocate energy✓ -Move reality to averaged snapshot configuration✓ -Merge✓ -Finish✓ “Most of it is there,” she said. “But… Uh, I dunno.” Twilight Sparkle also stared at the remaining unchecked item. “Yeah. And that seems to be the one we have the most freedom on anyway.” She looked over. “We can do the calculation, right?” Sunset sucked in a breath and nodded. “Y-yeah. It’s doable. It’s already mostly finished. But I just need to make some adjustments to it before it’s something I’m completely happy with. Grimb’vltr and I think we might be able to make some particular things happen.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Really? Like what?” Sunset frowned. “Oh, you know… some little things. Like fixing Princess Celestia’s mirror portal.” After a moment’s thought, Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh! That’s right! She has a somepony on the other side of that.” “Yeah. She showed me the mirror shard she had hanging next to her window,” Sunset said. “So, yeah. Things like that.” “I think she would appreciate that.” Twilight then raised an eyebrow. “Does that include making it so that you’re out?” Sunset grimaced. “We haven’t figured that one yet.” Twilight wilted. Starlight walked up behind them at that moment and she paused a moment to look at the board. She then turned to Sunset. “Uh, as long as we don’t end up breaking it, we should be okay. Right?” Sunset turned poked at Starlight. “Okay, see, that’s what I’m worried about. I’ve done my share of computer programming, and I know from experience that there’s always the possibility of introducing bugs while I mess with it.” She paused. “Or I break it entirely. That could also happen.” “Uh, what kinds of bugs are we talking about? Are these spiders, or ants, or…?” Sunset smiled nervously. “Ah, you know what? Nevermind.” “I want to know that too,” Twilight seconded. Sunset looked over in alarm. “No. Forget I said that.” Starlight rolled her eyes and looked at the board again. “Looks like the only other thing to do between now and then is to turn on the time dilation.” At that, Sunset relaxed and nodded sagely. “Yeah. I’ve set that up to automatically turn on already.” She looked over. “One less thing we have to worry about.” Twilight giggled and looked over. “Can I mention again how amazing it is how much control you have over all of this?” Sunset beamed with pride. “You could mention it more.” * * * Tempest surged forward and leaped into the air, barreling toward the two Storm Guards before her. The first of the Storm Guard cried out as he lunged forward, trying to stop her short with a mighty punch. She weaved around it and even slapped it further along, sending him tumbling forward, before she spun around and delivered a sharp kick to his rear. The second tried to pounce on her at that moment, and Tempest jumped to the side. The Guard landed on all fours and immediately sprang back up, launching himself into her. He left his underside exposed; Tempest used the window to uppercut him, sending him tumbling backward. The first recovered by that point and grabbed her hindleg. He flung Tempest over his head and threw her at the wall, but Tempest flipped over and managed to land on that wall with all four legs. She dropped down to the floor and rushed back at him, noting him reeling back in surprise. She jumped again and landed a solid punch to his face. He tumbled backward as well. The second tried to stand up at this point, but a noodly body wrapped around him. Discord pulled, sending the Storm Guard crashing to the ground again. Tempest followed the first, hopping over a haphazard swipe from the grounded guard. She then rammed her hoof into the back of the guard’s skull, knocking him unconscious. And meanwhile, the second guard tried to stand up from within Discord’s grapple, but he didn’t get far. The crystal ball itself, which had been in Discord’s grasp, rolled to a stop next to the guard in Discords grasp. Within, Grimb’vltr looked up. “Apologies, but I cannot have you interfering any further than you have.” And then it raised its hoof into the air and swiped down. The crystal ball flashed once before a spectral hoof of blackish slime appeared out of it and swung downward, striking the guard on the back of his head. The guard fell unconscious just in time for the spectral hoof to fizzle into nothingness. To the side, Luna, and Stygian looked on with hardened expressions. Wallflower, meanwhile, shook like a leaf as she ran her eyes over the fallen guards. She clutched herself now but loosened up with each passing moment. Tempest hopped off the guard’s body. “That should be the last of them,” she said. “We shouldn’t have any interruptions now.” Discord nodded and stood up, picking the crystal ball off the floor in the process. “Nice hit, Big G.” “My name is Grimb’vltr,” Grimb’vltr growled. “Tomato, tomato,” Discord said with a shrug. “It’s a good thing you can do that.” “Perhaps.” Stygian stepped forward. “To know that your magic can trump the throne’s is of particular interest.” Luna sucked in a breath. “Yes, indeed.” Grimb’vltr chuckled and patted its chest proudly. “Ah, well, what can I say? To one of my station, it is simply an obstacle to overcome.” Wallflower swallowed. “B-but, uh, that could have been useful earlier… Maybe?” Grimb’vltr’s smile faded. “But you cannot rely on it. Interacting as I am, throne or no throne, is not something I can do on the cheap.” Tempest sighed and rolled her eyes. “Right. Right. Come on. Let’s go. We need to cross the gap.” The five of them approached the edge of the deck and peered across the expanse. The other airships collectively flew onward. The large ship with the banner carrying the Storm King’s visage was the one right next to them. Tempest approached the edge and then turned to Luna. “Okay. I’m ready.” Luna nodded and flapped her wings, hovering just above Tempest. She wrapped all four of her legs around Tempest’s mid-section and then, with a mighty heave, lifted Tempest into the air. Luna shot forward, crossing the gap between the ships. Tempest couldn’t help but look down, and she mentally thanked everything that, at this altitude, there was too much of the dirty fog for her to see the ground. On the ship, Discord, Wallflower, and Stygian watched with bated breath. Shortly enough, Luna arrived on the deck of the other ship where she deposited Tempest. She then turned and headed back to the others. Tempest watched the deck of this ship to see if any interruptions wanted to appear; she was prepared to beat their skulls in just like the last guards. The trips occurred in silence. Luna brought Wallflower over next; Wallflower froze up in Luna’s grasp and kept her eyes shut the whole way over. Stygian barely reacted to being carried aside from a hardening of his expression. Luna made a whole trip just for the crystal ball which was easy enough. Finally, Luna brought Discord over; Discord grabbed onto both of her forelegs and hung on for dear life; he flapped his mismatched wings to help the two of them make it across safely. “Thanks,” Wallflower said after a moment. “I don’t know how we would have gotten across there.” Luna chuckled. “Glad I could be of use here.” “The path to the cargo bay where they have the throne is clear. Please proceed,” Genesis announced. Tempest narrowed her eyes. It must be because the outside is still so dark; they’ve gone inside to be in a lit area. That’s good for us, she thought. The five of them approached the doors at the end of the deck, noting the trapdoor on the deck itself that led to some space downward. Throwing the door open, they filed inside. The cold, metallic ship interior greeted them. The air smelled stagnant and featureless, and the halls appeared equally so, lit only by energized crystals recessed in nooks where the walls met the ceiling. They walked forward, their hooves (or hoof and claw, in Discord’s case) clanked as they went, sounds which echoed off the walls. Tempest led them to a nearby stairwell. And the four of them started down. “Detecting two lifeforms within the cargo bay,” Genesis announced. “Scanning. Two ponies detected.” “Hmm, I wonder who they might be?” Discord wondered aloud. Luna narrowed her eyes. “Prisoners, probably. I wonder if, perhaps, Raven is among them.” “Ah, you mean the Raven that went missing, hmmm?” Discord whispered. “I would think.” The four reached the landing. Tempest led them around another corner, and they crept down another short hall. “I-I guess we have to get them out too, right?” Wallflower stammered. “Of course,” Princess Luna whispered. “I have a white earth pony with square glasses and a brooch. Has a cutie mark of a piece of parchment,” Genesis announced. Luna nodded. “That sounds like Raven. I wonder who the other is?” Tempest reached the door that led into the cargo bay and paused in front of it just so that the others could bunch up behind her. Genesis narrowed his eyes as he looked into his crystal ball. “The other is Stygian.” Grimb’vltr paused and looked down. Tempest also froze up. Her eyes remained on the door for a moment. What she had just heard was impossible. Stygian? Already there? …What? She then whirled around. She counted Wallflower and Luna and Discord. Stygian was gone. Impossible. When did he…? The others gasped as they also noticed Stygian’s absence. “Where is he?” Wallflower gasped. Tempest snarled and pushed the door open. “Wait…” Grimb’vltr murmured. “Is it possible…?” The cargo bay had an eerie red glow coming from within the floor. The set of stairs that led down to the grated floor hugged the left-hand wall. A couple of movable cranes attached to tracks in the ceiling dangled chains down the room. A large, rocky structure, sickly green in color and jagged yet filled with curvy holes, dominated the center of the space. And two metallic cages flanked it. The mare in the first cage blinked and looked up. Raven sported a few soot marks on her face and a large crack ran through one of the lenses on her glasses. Her eyes widened and she stood up. “Princess Luna!?” Luna gasped and rushed down the stairs. “Raven!” Tempest hopped off the stairs and rushed to the other cage. And her heart sank. Stygian sat within, but he looked bruised and battered and his bowl haircut can several mismatched frays and ends sticking up. He looked up just like Raven had and struggled to his hooves. “Tempest!” he croaked. Tempest approached the cage. “Stygian? How?” “Thank goodness you’re here,” Raven said. “I was beginning to lose hope that nopony would ever find us…” Luna shook her head. “We figured out you went missing. It was Chrysalis, right?” Raven swallowed. “Y-yes. She ambushed me and knocked me out. Next thing I knew, I was here.” She looked over. “But how did you get here?” Luna pointed at the throne. “We came to stop them.” Wallflower approached the throne. “Yeah. All w-we just have to break this and then we’re good to do everything, right?” Discord smirked and ran his claw across it. “Oh, yes. Then we’ll have some fun.” Stygian frowned. “What? How did you know about the throne?” At once, everyone else turned toward him, with Raven pressing herself against the bars to see him around the throne. Tempest narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean how did we know? You told us about this. You came here with us.” Discord pointed. “Which, that’s another thing. How did you get down here?” Stygian’s eyes darted between them as he confused frown deepened. His eyes widened and he let out a sharp gasp. “Oh no! Oh no no no!” “What?” Wallflower screeched. “That’s not me! That wasn’t me!” Stygian exclaimed. “What do you mean that isn’t you?” Grimb’vltr said. Stygian blinked, looked at the crystal ball, and then shook his head. “I’ve been here this whole time! That Stygian that came to you, it’s—” “Are you looking for me?” Stygian’s voice said behind them. They all whirled to face the stairs and found a second Stygian standing at the top, staring down at them with a smug grin on his face. The new Stygian started down the stairs. And as he stepped, a green flame sprang up around him and then disappeared just as quickly, revealing Queen Chrysalis. And by the time they could all collectively gasp, more bodies appeared on the stairs behind Chrysalis as the Storm Kings made their way down. * * * “Tell them!” Twilight roared. “Tell them what you told us!” Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna stumbled off the portal dais toward them. “Oh stars!” Princess Celestia cried. “The one which we thought was Stygian was actually some entity named Queen Chrysalis in disguise,” Grimb’vltr mumbled. “Stars!” Princess Celestia blurted. Vice Principal Luna surged. “What does that mean!?” she exclaimed. “What is this!?” Sunset clenched her teeth and stepped forward. “They went into a trap. They just got betrayed.” “Tempest, Discord, Luna…” Starlight added. Principal Celestia went pale and she froze. “W-Wallflower…” “You have to get them out of there!” Twilight cried. Grimb’vltr grunted. “I cannot.” “This can’t be happening!” Vice Principal Luna exclaimed, grabbing her temples. “This can’t be. We sent her there!” “No…” Principal Celestia cried. “That’s my sister there!” Princess Celestia screamed. She teetered about, unsure of where to stand. “Oh stars!” “Grimb’vltr!” Twilight exclaimed. “Siiiileeeeence!” Grimb’vltr roared. The entire room shook on its foundations and everypony froze in place. All fell quiet save Adamantine who let out a quick, frightened squeak. Afterward, a long silence passed. “I am using every facility I have to juggle speaking with you, defending them, and looking into future layers to determine the outcome!” Grimb’vltr continued with a sharp tone that oozed with a certain toxicity. “I cannot concentrate with your rabble!” Everypony still remained catatonically frozen. Grimb’vltr snorted and glanced down at Genesis. Genesis also appeared frozen but shortly recomposed himself and stood up. Grimb’vltr buckled, letting out pained grunts in the process. It managed to keep upright, but shudders wracked its body. A few particles flew off it and disintegrated into nothing. It remained there for a few uneasy moments before it let out a relieved sigh and stood to its full height. Twilight swallowed and she shakily approached the ball. “We let them go… We let them fall into this. We failed them…” Sunset’s expression darkened; several creases formed in her face. “How did we miss this? Grimb’vltr, how did you not see?” “Yes. I failed a spot-check,” Grimb’vltr replied. “I do not know the entire state of your world. I knew something differed about Stygian; I could see it. But I thought nothing of it. I simply thought that was who Stygian was.” Sunset and Twilight exchanged glances. After a moment, Grimb’vltr looked back up. Its expression grew sober again. “I’ve determined where this is going, at least. And I know what course to take at this juncture.” “This is precarious,” Twilight said. “I know. It is inevitable they lose this encounter. But, if it will put you at ease… here is exactly what their next few days will look like…” * * * Tempest backpedaled as one of the Storm Kings—she couldn’t tell nor cared to tell which, although maybe this one was actually Chrysalis—thundered up to her and tried swiping with his claws. This Storm King wore a malevolent sneer and even laughed as she dodged another swipe. The other Storm Kings (six of them, to be precise) had corralled Luna and Discord into one corner of the cargo bay. The latter two walled them off from Wallflower who practically tried to squeeze through the corner of the wall, screaming at the top of her lungs as tears ran down her face. The only thing that stopped their advance was the spectral hooves coming out of the crystal ball in Discord’s grasp. A few Storm Guards watched from the stairwell, ready to jump in if need be. This Storm King thundered up to Tempest again and delivered a sharp kick to her front, sending Tempest into the wall. The metallic clang of her hit rattled the ship. She let out a sharp cry before slumping over. Bits of her vision blurred. Parts of her ached and screamed all over. Tempest had no time to compose herself when she felt the Storm King wrap his hand around her throat. He pulled her up. She gasped for air and wriggled in his grasp. “You know,” the Storm King said, “I could have just blasted you with magic, since mine still works here. But defeating you as your old boss? That’s even better.” And then he fastballed her across the room. She bounced on the floor once and then collided with a lever sticking out of the floor. The hit forced the lever into the other position just before it broke off entirely; Tempest’s side felt like it would collapse from the impact. She finally fell into a heap on the metal floor. A hatch in the floor creaked open, allowing some of the brownish hues from outside to enter the room. Bits of dust flowed through the opening, appearing as little streaks that followed the new airflows inward. An audible whoosh also filled the room. “Tempest!” Luna cried. One of the Storm Kings in front of them lunged forward to strike them. A spectral hoof shot out of the crystal ball which only reached far enough to push him back. He let out a growl in response. Another Storm King lung forward only for the crystal ball to similarly repel him. Tempest struggled to her hooves, but after a moment stumbling about, she collapsed again. The crystal ball let out a screech just as another spectral shape formed around it. Discord jolted as the energy surrounding the ball then kicked it out of his hands. The crystal ball shot down and ricocheted off the steel floor, flying between the Storm Kings who scrambled out of the way; the spectral energy lashed out at them as it passed by, smacking them in their sides. And the crystal ball flew right at the Storm King in front of Tempest. And his eyes widened, he snarled, and he allowed a green flame to overtake him. Chrysalis appeared in his place, and she immediately lit her horn. Her magic wrapped around the crystal ball, stopping it in its track. The spectral energy surrounding it shot toward the front and took the shape of another hoof which shot up at her. But Chrysalis was too far away, and the spectral hoof fizzled out. Grimb’vltr grunted and stamped its hoof in dismay. Tempest struggled to her hooves again. She picked herself up and took a moment to secure her footing. She had to do something. But what? What could possibly turn the situation around? A number of Storm Guards had appeared in the stairwell. Her companions were cornered. And Chrysalis had wrapped her magic around the crystal ball and had raised it over the opening as if… Tempest gasped. She surged forward. She dove at Chrysalis, hoping to get there before she could toss the ball. But the loud clanks of her hooves against the metal floor alerted Chrysalis and she whirled, knocking Tempest with the crystal ball. Tempest rolled, rolling onto the edge and not slipping off only because she managed to hang by her forelegs. Her hindhooves dangled over death. Tempest gasped. Her companions gasped. Chrysalis snarled and lobbed the crystal ball through the opening. Tempest watched as the crystal ball disappeared into the dust clouds below. And her heart sank. She tried to pull herself up, but Chrysalis stood over her. Her body couldn’t even work anyway. And so, Tempest stared into the eyes of her enemy. After a moment, Chrysalis’ smile returned, and she transformed into the Storm King again. He bent over so that he hung just above her. The rest of the room fell deathly silent. Even Wallflower turned almost statuesque. “Well, Tempest Shadow, I am the one who wins today.” After a pause, the Storm King placed both of his hands on Tempest’s legs. And he chuckled, showing all his teeth. And he stared into her soul. “Remember that… while you’re on your way down.” He pushed both legs over the side, and the last thing Tempest heard was a high-pitched scream that had to be Wallflower’s before the roar of rushing air brushed past her ears. All sensations left her body as she watched the airship and then airships fall into the distance. Tempest tumbled. While she had not the strength to audibly scream, her petrified, wide-eyed expression screamed for her. And, finally, Tempest disappeared into the dust.