“Mayor Mlinx! Sir!”
Mlinx resisted the urge to let out a deep, exhausted sigh. “Yes?” he asked the reporter at the front doors. If she had only been a few seconds slower…
“Your popularity in the polls has been dropping and Mirador’s has been steadily increasing! What’s your response to your previously uncontested Mayorship being contested for the first time?”
“It’s a democracy, if they want her in charge I’m not going to complain. But she will have to bring her best to the political ring. I’m not going to simply give this seat up.”
“And what about her term-limit accusations?”
“The City has no established term limits, though no doubt if she wins they will be enacted.” He pulled the door open. “Now excuse me, I have business to attend to regarding my campaign.”
She wasn’t an excessively pushy reporter, so he got in without her tailing him. “Thanks for small miracles…” He walked up to the primary reception desk, where Nastasia was waiting for him.
“Not quite late, but cutting it close,” Nastasia said, glancing up from her watch. She pressed a few buttons, prepping the teleporter. “Meeting room is ready.”
Mlinx shook his arms to clean the carapace. He and Nastasia walked onto the pad and were instantly teleported a hundred floors up, to the skyscraper’s special meeting room. Usually this room was filled with leaders within the City and other important people, but today, it was mostly just Mlinx’s staff.
This was about the campaign, after all, and as much as they liked Mlinx the other leaders weren’t exactly devoted to him being the Mayor. His campaign was funded by the City government, not any private lender, so there wasn’t any big reason for them to get involved. It was just him, Rev, Nastasia, and a handful of others who handled most of the paperwork and scheduling.
“I think I already know the answer to this question given my little encounter outside a few minutes ago, but what’s the status of the campaign?”
“Not… great,” a Quartz Gem said, pressing a clicker to turn on a projector, showing a downward-trending graph. “Your popularity is dropping off.”
“That happened during the last election though, didn’t change anything,” Rev pointed out.
“Yes, but…” Quartz pressed a button, switching the slide to show a pale pink pegasus with a pastel blue mane. “You didn’t have any actual competition last time. Nobody was legitimately running against you that the crowd cared about. Mirador’s different. The people love her, she gives good speeches, and she might be able to overtake you if the trends continue.”
“She still going off about those term limits?” Mlinx asked.
Quartz nodded. “It’s one of the primary points she uses in your detriment. She only occasionally brings up your ‘hunter’ ideology and strong-arm methods, simply saying that you’ve served your time. …Mostly. We’ve got a few clips of her going off on you for the standard stuff.”
“What have we got on her?”
“Not all that much. She’s a pegasus from an unknown Equis who stumbled into the City in the second month. We did manage to get some files of her entry into the City, and learned she was part of the volunteer relief efforts in the English aftermath. After that she doesn’t do too much until six months ago, when she suddenly gets politically active and starts a small movement all centered around the whole ‘Reveler’ incident.”
Rev closed her eyes and let out an annoyed breath – she remembered that incident well. Lots of people had been very stupid with a lot of things, including a church that worshipped a bucket of noodles. It was one of the weirdest, stupidest things they’d dealt with and it had all been blown out of proportion because of how absurd it was.
You really had to be there.
“Family? Friends?” Mlinx asked. “Anything?”
“No family, all her friends are involved in the campaign.” Quartz paused for a moment. “And she has a lot of friends.”
“Mhm…” Mlinx sat back. “The people like her, that much I know. She has a good point with the term-limit talk, but her actual policy arguments seem lacking. ‘Encourage more Harmony and togetherness while allowing communities to preserve the ways of life they hold dear.’ Does she even have a policy for this?”
“Actually, yes,” Nastasia said, pulling a small book out of her coat pocket. “She’s outlined it all in here. A lot of it makes sense. I recommend taking some tricks from it after the election is over.”
“If we win,” Quartz pointed out. “Which we easily could not.”
“It’s not a big deal if we don’t,” Mlinx said. “I just worry that one policy of hers is not enough to truly run the City. The longer we have to work, the larger projects we can get completed. I’ve been trying to get the advanced relational network working for eight years and we still haven’t ironed out all the legal kinks.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “She could just end it, and then everyone still has to rely on Nala understanding what ‘discretion’ means.”
|> I have to take into account the desires of the seeker, the person being sought, and the people around them. It’s not a simple calculation like you all think it is.
“Still say we should just disable that,” Rev offered.
“Discussion for another time,” Nastasia said.
Mlinx nodded. “Right now, the campaign. Do we have anything I can do to strengthen my image without resorting to petty insults?”
“The Outreach Charity Event is coming up,” Rev said. “You could make your presence a little more well-known this time.”
“I don’t like making a big deal out of that…”
Nastasia shrugged. “If you’re a public figure, sometimes you have to be public to get things done.”
“It is morally gray,” Rev admitted. “I wouldn’t do it myself, even though I suggested it. You have to come to the conclusion yourself.”
Mlinx folded his hands together. “All right, do it. But give the charity more this time out of compensation.”
“You’re running your personal bank account a little thin,” Nastasia warned.
“It’ll last until election. Then I can worry about it.”
“…Fair enough. Regardless, we do still need to discuss the upcoming Networking Conference, which will take place at exactly ten…”
~~~
Mirador adjusted her glasses and ruffled her wings, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “Don’t worry, you got this…” She glanced in the mirror and decided she needed to loosen up her mane a bit, the natural curls were showing and she didn’t want those to be too obvious – it wouldn’t look as professional. With a swipe of her wing, she grabbed a magitech-infused comb that was able to press the strands of hair down so they wouldn’t spring up in the slightest.
She checked her suit to make sure it fit snugly – all four legs had level cuffs, her tail was carefully sculpted into a crescent shape, and the collar was folded back at the proper angle.
It always paid to look proper in this business.
She picked up one of her political buttons – a small thing with an animating image of her winking with the text ‘New Minds for the New World!’ on it. You couldn’t read the text from any reasonable distance away, but anyone who cared about Mirador’s campaign knew about that little slogan of hers.
Even she had to admit, it wasn’t really a solid part of her policy, but she found it was a little difficult to explain policy nuance within a simple slogan. So she just came up with something tangential and simple and everyone was loving it. Hey, at least it got them to listen to what she actually had to say. Plus, she looked cute on the pin. She liked that.
Someone opened the door. “You’re on in five.”
“Thanks!” Mirador said with a slightly nervous smile. She took a drink of water to make sure her throat was ready for the upcoming event. With a swift twist she trotted out of her room and through the front doors, arriving behind an outdoor stage that had been set up the night before. It wasn’t a complicated stage – but it wasn’t simple either. It was decked on all sides with bright orange, red, and black banners – the colors of the City. A large banner of Mirador herself was spread across the back of the stage, a much larger version of the ‘New Minds for the New World!’ slogan printed along the bottom.
Her campaign managers had tried to insist she look serious and contemplative in every one of her promotional materials. She’d said no – if she was going to run, she was going to run with a smile and a wink and if the people didn’t like it they could just kick her out of the race. So far, they hadn’t, so she was confident that had been a good decision.
There was already applause in the crowd that had gathered – the pre-show speech from one of Mirador’s aides had apparently gone well.
“And may I introduce the mare herself, Mirador!”
Mirador shook her aide’s hand and thanked her for the introduction. She trotted up to the podium and stood on her hind legs to better see the people she was addressing. “Hello everyone! I have to say, this is one of the largest crowds I’ve spoken to, and that’s saying something! I should be thanking you for taking time out of your day just to see me stand at a wooden box for an hour. That takes some commitment!”
There were a few chuckles in the crowd.
“And don’t think I’ve forgotten about all of you watching this from home – your eyes are just as important as everyone else’s. I look forward to reading what you have to say when this is over! Though if I’m a betting mare – and let’s be honest I’m running in this race so I kind of have to be – I’d say about ninety percent of it will be composed of rants, rants about those rants, and an endless slew of memes that’ll poke endless fun at me. Those are always the best. I don’t know what it is about self-deprecating humor but it just hits the spot.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be giving you as much material as usual, and I won’t be able to make as many of you smile, because the sad truth is there are times when the smiles have to stop and we have to talk about serious topics. I usually spend my time here talking about myself, my policies, and occasionally the current Mayor. Instead, I’m pushing all that aside to talk about a major issue within our society today.
“When you all faced Lord English – yes, you all, I wasn’t here yet – our leaders realized they couldn’t win. They saw that you, the average Civilian, had to be the ones to defeat Lord English. And you did! You proved yourselves that by being the least important you could become the most important and forge our own destiny! That was amazing! Something that had never been done before! You weren’t carried on in the sidelines, you were part of the story! You all got to be the heroes!
“The thing is… the leaders? They all recognized that you were important. That the New World should be about you, not them. And they really, really tried to do this. But I’m sorry to tell you this – they failed. You’ve gone right back to the same lives you had before – lives defined not by you, but by the heroes. At first glance, you think they’ve removed themselves from public eye and left the finer details of the City to us, but this isn’t the case!
“Mlinx is a hero, and he’s been our Mayor since we decided we needed one. Eve and Corona have jobs, yes, and Corona’s still under lockdown, but you always hear them giving their opinions on matters – political, socioeconomic, emotional, – they’re there. Corona may work in a workshop, but her responses to scientific papers are highly prized and change the field dramatically. Eve’s counsel is sought out by those who don’t need her services but just want to know how to make a decision. And Pinkie’s Party hasn’t even bothered to hide that they’re doing the exact same thing they’ve always been doing: being heroes and making first contact with other worlds.
“They haven’t let you have the world. You got a taste of it with English, but now you’re back to living in the shadows, the background, the ground level. You sit here where your lives are bent to the whims of those heroes with so much ka that their very words demand attention. This needs to stop – we need to get new people into office, people who aren’t heroes, people who will get people into the government who don’t have some sort of destiny demanding they should be there! We need to stop letting the ‘important’ and the ‘great’ talk for us, we need to be heard ourselves!” She raised a hoof into the air. “We need to shape our own destiny!”
There was a cheer from the crowd – and a couple boos, but Mirador had been expecting that.
After the cheers died down, she cleared her throat – she wasn’t anywhere near done with her speech. “Now, this doesn’t mean they’re bad people, they are our saviors after all, they just need to be reminded of the lesson they were supposed to learn…”
~~~
Mirador looked at a graph on her desk that showed the approval ratings.
Mlinx: 52%
Mirador: 42%
Other: 6%
“This is promising,” her assistant said, smirking. “Mirador, you could do it! The trends show Mlinx dropping like a stone, and you’re rising steadily!”
Mirador let out a short laugh. “Yeah… Yeah, I could do it. It really does look like it.” She pulled her assistant into a hug with her wing. “Look at that! We’re gonna make it into the big house and change everything!”
“I’m so excited! We should throw a party!”
Mirador held up a hoof. “Ah ah ah, hold your horses!”
She hugged her. “I am.”
Mirador rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. We’ll throw the party when we win – not sooner, not later. We’re not going to become laughingstock for premature celebration.” She paused. “Though that would be kinda funny…”
“Your memes are trending again.”
“Oh, what do we have this time?” Mirador asked, swiping her assistant’s phone away. On it was a picture of Mirador at the speech with the caption ‘Remove heroes! Trust me, I’m a hero!’
Mirador let out a short chuckle. “I could see how they think that. But I checked myself several times before the speech, always a negligible ka concentration. Continually.” She walked over to a desk and pulled a drawer open, pulling out her personal ka-sensing pen. She touched it to her front leg. “See, nothi-”
CAMERA: ON. SCENE FOCUS LEVELS.
“…Sassafras,” Mirador swore. “This could be a problem.”
“Think we could have Moly remove it? Or another Flower? Or Monika? Or…” She fell silent, knowing that wouldn’t likely work.
“This was inevitable and we knew it,” Mirador said, shaking her head. “The moment we gained any real traction, ka would have taken hold of us and turned us into its story. I’m not surprised, and you shouldn’t be surprised. I would have just… liked to have been my own person for a little longer, you know?”
“Should I schedule a press release?”
“Not yet…” Mirador said, furrowing her brow, thinking. “We’ll have to tell them eventually, but I don’t want to ruin the steam we’ve set up against their strong ‘destiny’. And we might be able to use this to our advantage here…” She nodded slowly. “We’ll see if the Flowers are willing to do anything – I’d bet not since that’s how they usually are – but you never know. But I think I have an idea on what to do if they don’t cooperate…”
“What?”
Mirador smiled warmly. “We play a game with them. A little tweak here, a prod there, I think I can get them effectively out of the race. Now that the story has ‘begun’ as it were, it’s time to take advantage of it.”
“Ah. What should I put on your schedule?”
“Nothing, I need it to be extra hush-hush. …On an unrelated topic, I should be able to make it to your daughter’s birthday now, so put that on the schedule.”
“But the dinner at Andoi?”
“Let’s be real, the people there are great, but they’re all voting for me already. I don’t think we need to oversell ourselves there. Your kid is important enough for me to do some postponing and shuffling around.”
“It’ll really mean a lot to her – thanks.”
Mirador winked. “Don’t mention it. Now, I have to go out for a while, but I don’t want people asking what I’m doing. Make sure Nala’s ‘find anything’ program is disabled for me.”
“It’s been disabled for weeks so you don’t get mugged.”
“Aw, you really think of everything!” Mirador tossed her mane back. “See you later! Call me if I’m about to miss a meeting or something.”
“Will-do!”
~~~
Eve completed another session with Starbeat and Vriska. They had managed to work through Vriska’s troll instincts endlessly asking her to brutally murder Starbeat. It had… taken over a year to iron them out even with the professional help and some medication, but Eve was happy to give them both a clean bill of health. They probably wouldn’t need to come to her much at all anymore.
“Took them almost eight years,” Eve commented to herself with a roll of her eyes. They took a break now and then with coming to Eve, but their relationship had been a very rocky one with a lot of drama, arguing, and conflict with each other. Eve was more than a little relieved that the real end was finally in sight.
She checked her schedule – a free period was next. She wondered if anyone would show up today or if she’d have another quiet period at the office. It was not something she could predict. One day there would be no one and she’d think the Songs of the Spheres books had finally stamped out her reputation, and then the next day there’d be too many people for her to talk to. It was like ka couldn’t make up its mind about what to do with her.
Now that she thought of that, it sounded silly, but it was rather satisfying to imagine the Tower getting confused about what to do with her. A tad amusing, at least.
She opened the doors to find exactly one pony standing there. Eve thought she looked familiar, like she’d seen the face somewhere important… but then she remembered. “Ah! Mirador. I wasn’t expecting you to show up here, ever.”
“I hope you actually listen to the whole of my speeches,” Mirador said, walking in. “I don’t want to paint you out as the bad guys, that’s just how everyone takes it.”
“I do listen all the way through, and I appreciate that you try to show the other side. But between you and me, you are kinda painting us out to be the bad guys.”
“Being the problem doesn’t make you bad…” Mirador said, waving her hoof in the air. “But that’s beside the point.”
“What is the point? I take it you’re not here for therapy.”
“No, I’m just curious about your opinion on a certain subject you can probably guess. Need to pick your brain and get a better idea.”
“What I think of us ‘controlling’ you?”
Mirador nodded. “Yes. That. Are you?”
“I don’t think we are,” Eve said matter-of-factly. “So much stuff happens in this City that we have no sway over.”
“That was the case in Merodi Universalis. What I’m saying is that we haven’t really changed that model. People like you become the leaders of the society and call the shots. Mlinx is in charge, and all you ‘heroes’ just have to say the word and people will come flocking to you. Even people like Trixie are getting vast success just because of their past and well-known names.”
“Her games are actually good, you know.”
“Starblah is really fun,” Mirador admitted. “But it’s just too convenient, like it’s always been.”
“It’ll change forcefully eventually,” Eve pointed out. “Even if we do have some effect on the way things are run here, it’ll go away over time. The cracks will let whatever you want through. I’ll be just like you.”
“Even in Earth histories, we still see inequality. What if you all still have seats of power when the City is ready to move to the future? You could keep us in an archaic world, one where there is no ka but the effects of it can still be felt through the way you think, act, and lead.” She raised an eyebrow.
Eve smiled warmly. “You have some good points. But in the ka-less sense, there wouldn’t be anything keeping us in power except ourselves, and if we were bad we would be replaced. And I still don’t think it’s a problem in the first place. Most of us are just celebrities and don’t actually lead anything. I’m not going to be telling the City how to run itself anytime soon. That’s mostly Mlinx’s job.”
Mirador was able to sense when she wasn’t getting through to someone. “Ah. Gotcha. I think I understand you a little better now.”
“Feel free to quote me, I don’t mind,” Eve said.
And that’s how you influence the world…
~~~
Corona, Roxy, and Jenny weren’t working in the workshop, for once. No, today they were working on a job in the middle of the field of roses around the Dark Tower. Currently, this project took the form of a circuit board larger than most busses with numerous glowing magical components.
“I’d love to see the phone this thing goes to,” Jenny said, walking by a capacitor larger than she was.
“Jenny, are you getting boot dust on the board?” Corona demanded, flipping up her welding mask.
“Yes, but this board is so big it doesn’t even matter.”
“This board is just as dense as the one in your phone! Every little line you see below is very important! Just wear the protective hypoallergenic boots!”
“I am. I stepped on a wire and, well, blood got everywhere.”
Corona groaned.
Roxy chuckled. “Hey, it’s lunch break anyway, we can fix it later. Or hope that the self-repair adjunct actually works.”
“Never depend on self-repair in something this complicated,” Corona said, jumping off the circuit board and onto a platform they had set up above the roses. None of them liked getting cut by impossibly-sharp flowers and bleeding everywhere.
To their surprise, Mirador was standing there waiting for them.
“Oh, hi!” Corona said with a smile. “Didn’t see y-”
“POLITICS! SKREE!” Jenny shouted, pointing at Mirador like she was the plague. “SKREEEEE!”
“…Is she okay?” Mirador asked.
Roxy kicked Jenny off the platform and into the roses below. “No, but that’s normal for her so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Or at all.”
“My… spleen…” Jenny whimpered from the ground.
“She’s fine,” Roxy insisted.
“What can we do for you?” Corona asked.
“I just wanted to drop by and have a chat with Corona if that’s okay. You can be here for it too, it’s not private.”
Corona shrugged, summoning a sub sandwich. “I don’t see why I can’t talk. I mean, I’m as annoyed by politics as the next guy, but I shouldn’t discredit you for that.” She stuffed the sub in her mouth and took the largest bite she could manage.
“I’m just curious what you think about my whole ‘hero’ business.”
“You are completely right and on the money,” Corona said matter-of-factly through her stuffed face.
Roxy blinked. “Hold on, what? She’s right?”
“Oh yeah,” Corona said, taking another bite. “We define this place without even trying. Even if all of us were to resign in any important jobs, we’d still shape the area. I mean, think about it, we’re here, people will listen to us, and we have a lot to say about a lot of things.”
“I don’t feel like I’ve been influencing everything.”
“You’re the Rogue of Void, you’re special.”
“…True…”
“Let me get this straight,” Mirador said. “You agree with me?”
“Yes. I am voting for you, by the way.”
“Oh, thanks! Hope Mlinx doesn’t mind.”
“Not really, he’s never been a fan of leading. Not that it’s stopped people from electing him.” She tapped a finger on her hip. “Hmm… Anyway, yeah, I agree. We’re doing too much to the City around us. I just don’t think your solution is going to work.”
“Hm?”
“Replace all the government with normal people and we’re still here,” Corona said, smirking. “And people will seek out our counsel regardless. You are right, all we have to do is say the word and people come running. The story loves us and will give us anything we need for the sake of achieving ‘closure’. It’s pretty crazy when you think about it.”
Roxy blinked. “…It is. I don’t think I’d call that defining the City, though…”
Jenny pulled herself up onto the platform and grunted. “It is. Trust me, technically the Beanstalk had a mayor and a bunch of actual leaders, but all my teams had to do to overrule them was say something. The ‘heroes’ have a lot more power than anyone realizes. It’s pretty awesome though.”
“It’s a bit hypocritical,” Corona said.
“Eh, it’s better for them, we heroes are better suited than them for the jobs by nature.” She kicked back and smirked. “They should be glad we’re leading them as long as we can.”
Roxy shoved her off the platform again. “Tsk tsk tsk. So prideful.”
Corona shrugged. “I’m just thinking whatever ‘damage’ we’re doing here is actually necessary to give everyone a buffer for entering the world without ka. Is that theory a little crazy? Yeah, for sure. But it’s the best I got. Sorry Mirador – I do hope you figure out how to mitigate it though. It’d be more appropriate if your people end up in control.”
“Thanks!” Mirador said with a smile. “And you’ve been very helpful – this has been an enlightening conversation.”
“…We’re done already?”
Mirador nodded. “Yep! That’s all I needed to know.” She spread her wings and flew off.
They’re opposites, like expected, but I think I can still count on them to act the same.
A smirk began to crawl up her face.
~~~
Mirador walked into my library.
In a literal sense. She ran right into the doors – they were locked and refused to open for her.
“Wh- hey! What gives?” She checked her watch. It was time for the library to be open; it wasn’t a weekend or holiday. And as far as she knew I hadn’t declared any vacation time or even something similar. But, lo and behold, the library door was locked. Sealed shut, keeping nosy little pegasi from getting in.
She put her face up to one of the windows and squinted her eyes. The lights inside were all off – except for one. This particular light was a ceiling spotlight shining down on a table in the center of her field of view. I sat at this single well-lit table, lazily reading a book.
“Hey!” Mirador shouted. “Twilence! I need to talk to you!”
I didn’t look up from my book.
Mirador took out her ka pen and performed a test. She twitched. “Hey, I know you can hear me! No amount of soundproofing can keep a scene hidden from you!”
I let out an exaggerated yawn and turned the page with my magic. I scribbled a quick note in the margin.
“Twilence, we need to talk. About ka, about what’s about to happen, about… Twilence, I know you can hear me. You can read these words as they’re happening! Before they’re happening!”
She was right, of course. I was perfectly aware she was standing at the window, shouting at me and making frantic movements. I could even see her out of the corner of my eyes every now and then. But I wasn’t about to give her what she wanted – as far as she was concerned I was so absorbed in this book I wasn’t looking at ka. Or listening to the knocks. Or tending to customers. In fact, I was so absorbed I had locked the library up so nobody could bother me!
Of course she wouldn’t buy it, but I was going to give her no evidence that anything else had been happening. Like, say, I simply knew what needed to happen and that was for me not to talk to her right at that moment.
“Twilence!” Mirador shouted. “Twilence, this is about the fate of the heroes in the city!”
If I hadn’t already known that, it would have given me pause. But I’d already read through this chapter and had the list pre-prepared for when it was needed. Nothing she could say could faze me unless she went off-script. I knew she wouldn’t.
“Get out here right now before I get an order for you to open the library! You’re government funded, you have to keep your doors open!”
In about three seconds she was going to realize that I, as a hero, didn’t have to do jack anything, because I had the power not to. Upon realizing this a disgruntled and disgusted expression appeared on her face. She turned tail and trotted away from the library, intent on finding someone else who might be of use.
The pegasus really was quite good at exploiting her current purpose in ka.
I just wasn’t going to let myself be part of it.
~~~
“…and that’s what cantalouping means,” Mattie finished explaining.
Burgerbelle stared at her with a furious blush and a gaze one would give an alien who spoke perfect French while tap dancing.
“What? You asked.”
“You’ve been dropping the word around waiting for someone to ask about it!”
“Heh. True.” Mattie smirked. “But hey, at least now you know more about the wide world of fruit terms!” She gestured at a fruit stand across the street. “Cantaloupe?”
Burgerbelle held up a sign that said “NOPE” and she noped right out of there.
“Eh, your loss. Wonder if they have some good quality cacti…” She trotted over to the market and began the art of shopping. Which, if you were Mattie, was only about a third actual shopping. Another third was dropping innuendos on people who had no idea what they meant. The last third was whatever else she happened to be thinking about at the time – today, for some reason, precious cinnamon rolls. Burgerbelle was probably rubbing memes off on her.
“Beautiful cactus…” Mattie said, lifting the plant into the air. “Too precious for this world, so pure…” She eyed the size closely and chuckled. “But not for loooooong~!”
“Ma’am, are you gonna serenade the cactus or buy it?”
Mattie let out an indignant ‘psh.’ “Balls to you, isn’t it obvious? I’m going to b-” a strange feeling swept across her – a chill that ran from the tip of her tail to her horn. She carefully set the cactus down and looked around, confused.
“Ma’am…?”
“Hold that thought…” She said, narrowing her eyes. No one else had felt that. Which meant it was either targeting her… or it was her Awareness kicking in. She performed a check – yes, she was on camera. It would have been nice to know more, but as every Pinkie from here to the South Pole liked to point out, Mattie wasn’t the best at Aware deductions.
Something was afoot, she knew that much. So, naturally, she would investigate.
It appeared to be something Raritys just did. Most of them had an eye for detail, so it was only natural. It would give her something to shove in that smug Sherlock’s face, too. Maybe.
She edited herself to the back of the market, poking her head into an alley. This is it. She slid along the wall, careful to stay out of sight of any open windows. As she moved further into the alley, she started to hear laughing.
It didn’t take long for her to identify where it was coming from – one of the first-floor buildings with particularly poor soundproofing. The door and windows were closed, but that wasn’t really stopping much of anything. The laughter was lucky no one was there to listen.
That is, no one but Mattie. She slid right under the exterior window, bonking her head on the frame. Luckily, the pony inside didn’t seem to notice – she just kept laughing.
She had no difficulty identifying the voice – Mirador. “Ahahahahahaaha! I’m going to do it! There’s nothing any of them can do to stop me! Ahahahahahaha!”
Gee, overselling it much?
Mattie heard some rustling of paper and some hasty hoof taps. “They have no idea what I have in store for them… They think I’m just some nobody, a pony from nowheresville that’ll give them the power… They know nothing. I’ll take power and I’ll show them all the true meaning of friendship!”
Crikey, you’ve been keeping that in for a while, haven’t you?
“I’ll accept the Mayorship… be inducted into office… give it a few days – to let them think everything’s the same as it always was – and then BAM! I’ll show them who I am!”
Mattie heard the ripping of clothes and decided she couldn’t not look. She poked her eyes slightly over the windowsill, looking in to see Mirador. Except… her mane seemed to be naturally curled, and her cutie mark was a red rook…
Nobody’s ever seen her cutie mark. And I recognize that one. It’s…
“They elected little ol’ Cozy Glow to be their supreme leader,” Mirador said with a menacing smile.
Mattie decided now was the time to edit herself out-of-frame and go tell someone about the diabolical plan. She didn’t need to see any more to be convinced.
Mattie chose Eve to hear the news first.
To say Eve was surprised to wake up with Mattie sitting at the foot of her bed was an understatement. “AUGH!”
Mattie rolled her eyes. “You really need to get more comfortable with yourself.”
Eve was clearly not a pony who woke up with patience. “What are you doing here!?”
“The short version is that Mirador is a version of Cozy Glow and her entire campaign is a conspiracy we need to stop.”
Eve blinked. “…Mirador?”
“I saw her cutie mark. The red rook. Her mane’s naturally curled and she presses it flat. Clearly, we have to do something to end this plot against the City.”
“Clearly…” Eve shook her head. “Do you have any evidence?”
“Let’s ask Scooter for the script,” Mattie said. “Or we can download the relevant memories out of my mind. Or both!”
“Evidence might not be enough all on its own…” Eve said, getting out of bed and starting to pace. “We need to get everyone together and decide what to do, how to resolve this without disturbing the peace – as much as that’s possible. Mlinx – agh, why didn’t you tell Mlinx first?”
“You think he’ll be able to accuse his political opponent of conspiracy? Ha, good luck with that, he’ll be tossed out of the room like a garbage bag.”
“Good point… We should keep him out of this so it doesn’t leave a mark on his reputation.”
Mattie shrugged. “You’re askin’ the wrong girl, I don’t know the next thing about politics. I just know who Mirador and Cozy Glow are. The same damn person.”
Eve nodded, pulling out her phone. “Hey, Corona? We might have a situation…”
~~~
Screens everywhere across the City buzzed to life the next morning, revealing Eve and Corona sitting in comfortable chairs.
“Hello, Citizens,” Eve said, smiling. “I’m Evening Sparkle,”
“And I’m Corona Shimmer,” Corona said. “We usually don’t address you directly like this, but since the political scene is up in arms at the moment, we decided we had to tell you directly. For what it’s worth, before today I supported Mirador.”
“And I support Mlinx,” Eve said.
“…Unfortunately we don’t get to keep that view on things,” Corona said, folding her arms. “It has come to our attention that Mirador is not who she says she is, and that she’s been planning conspiracy against the City ever since she arrived.” She pulled up a few sheets of paper. “This is a partial excerpt from the script of chapter 153 – What We Leave Behind, graciously provided by Scooter Pie. It tells the story of an event that took place yesterday. Mattie Belle, the Aware Rarity of Equis Ultra Fast, was led to find Mirador while she was alone, without any cameras to look at her.”
“The script is available to anyone who wants to read it,” Eve said. “I apologize ahead of time for Mattie’s… colorful way of looking at things.”
“Within the script, we see Mirador reveal her true face. She is not a nobody, she is a version of Cozy Glow – and she has plans to take over the City for her own malevolent ends.”
Eve held up the script to her face. “And I quote Mirador here… ‘They have no idea what I have in store for them… They think I’m just some nobody, a pony from nowheresville that’ll give them the power… They know nothing. I’ll take power and I’ll show them all the true meaning of friendship!’ I don’t think I need to tell anyone that this is a classic example of villain monologue. She says a few more things – annoyingly vague about specifics at all times – but it’s clear that she has some sort of diabolical plan.”
“We’re currently placing Mirador – or Cozy Glow – under arrest for suspicion of conspiracy. This was done without consulting with Mlinx’s campaign. The first he and his people will hear about this is through the message you are listening to now.”
“All we’re asking you to do right now is to retract your support from Mirador. Don’t let her take control of the City even if she does manage to escape prosecution through a loophole. She is the antagonist of this chapter.”
“And Mlinx?” Corona rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry about doing this under your nose. We didn’t think it would go well if you did it.”
“That’s all we’ve got,” Eve said. “All our evidence and story has already been submitted to news stations. Expect nonstop stories about the topic for the next hour.”
“Try to enjoy the rest of your day despite the drama,” Corona encouraged. They waved at the screen – and the transmission went down.
“That should take care of it,” Corona said, cracking her knuckles.
“I hope so,” Eve said. “I can’t believe she had us all fooled… I knew she looked off, why didn’t I draw the connection to Cozy Glow?”
“She hid it well. Her attitude wasn’t sickeningly cute. It seemed earnest. She was a master manipulator.”
“Wonder how she’s enjoying confinement…” Eve’s phone rang, ending the thought. She answered. “Eve here, who is this?”
“She got away,” Lightning said. “I’m not sure how she did it, but I think she had help.”
“Darnit,” Eve muttered. “Can you find her?”
“Trying. I’ll keep you updated.” Lightning hung up.
“She won’t have to find me,” Mirador said, somehow in the room despite neither of them detecting her arrival. She wasn’t wearing a suit, allowing her rook cutie mark to be on full display. “You will.”
Both Eve and Corona readied themselves for a fight.
“I’m not here to fight, I’m here to talk,” Mirador said with a smile. “I’m here to tell you exactly one thing.” She pointed a hoof at Eve. “I. Told. You. So.”
“I… What?”
“You have to insert yourselves into our lives,” Mirador shook her head with a sad smile. “You, as the hero, were called upon to ‘save the City’ from a ‘traitor’. So you took action, specifically cut out the official channels, and got something accomplished. No doubt my approval rating is dropping like a stone since you two decided to say something. To beat the ‘bad guy’.”
Eve was struck by this like a sledgehammer. She had no response.
Corona took it in stride. “So? You’re still a traitor, we did the right thing.”
“Hm? Oh no, I’m not a traitor, I just set that up with a little help from Monika to force you into action that everyone would see. I mean, yeah, I’m a Cozy Glow, but I hid that fact because we’re not known to be the nicest ponies.”
Corona blinked. “…Hold on… you faked that?”
Mirador grinned. “Yep! Specifically rented an area of town that would be abandoned yesterday – I have the title deeds with me and everything – and then I tracked down Monika since Twilence wouldn’t help. All Monika did was give Mattie an ‘itch’ and then everything fell into place. She saw what she needed to, and then you two acted to save the City.” She shook her head. “You two are great heroes and should be applauded for your willingness to help everyone! But you have to admit – I was right. You are able to control us. And I don’t think we want to be defined by you.”
Corona sagged. “This is being transmitted isn’t it?”
“Yep!” Mirador winked. “Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you, you did what you felt was right, just like I did! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I don’t think I’ll be able to continue this conversation much longer.”
“Why not?”
Monika appeared in the room and grabbed Mirador by the neck. “YOU USED ME!?”
Mirador gagged, unable to say anything.
It was at this point Lightning busted the doors down with a million police sirens behind her. She took one look at the situation and realized it was complicated. “…Am I arresting anyone?”
“Monika? Maybe?” Corona said with a shrug. “I don’t know… I think we lost though. Big time.”
“What were we even fighting against?” Eve wondered.
Monika dropped Mirador – which allowed her to answer. “You were fighting against change. …Maybe you should think about that a little more. Change.”
~~~
Later that day Eve walked into Mlinx’s office.
Mlinx saw her and let out a sigh. “Look, it’s okay, she played you, you don’t have to apologize.”
“I still should – even if that’s not why I’m here, per se.”
“I just…” He paused. “That isn’t why you’re here?”
“Not primarily,” Eve admitted. “I am sorry. But…” She shook her head and turned to look out a window. “She was right.”
“…If she didn’t have a point she wouldn’t be a good politician.”
“I’m saying she’s really right, Mlinx. It’s been eight years and… look at what we’re making. Exactly the same thing we left behind. There isn’t really a New World here; it’s just a smaller version of the old with a few odd differences. We… we change things. Simply by existing, we change things. We are giants in a land of little people, and try as we might we can’t hide ourselves in the bushes.”
Mlinx wasn’t sure what to say to this.
“We’re supposed to be preparing the people – and ourselves – for living in a world without ka. A world where they can’t rely on larger-than-life heroes to jump out of nowhere and save the day from whatever crops up.” She looked Mlinx in the eyes. “We’re not preparing them. We’re keeping them from growing.”
Mlinx folded his hands together. “…Maybe you’re right. What do you want me to do?”
“The thing is, I could tell you what to do, and I have no doubt you would do it,” Eve said. “And that’s the whole point of what I’m trying not to do.”
“Eve, I wouldn’t do it because you’re some larger-than-life hero who exists more as a figure of legend than an actual person. I would do it because you’re my friend and I respect your opinion – maybe more than anyone else’s.”
Eve looked at him with sad eyes. “…Maybe you’re right. But I have to know. …Do you really think I’m right?”
Mlinx sat back. “You’re saying that, by being around, we’re keeping the people from learning to live without ka. After having listened to Mirador’s speeches for hours on repeat just to understand them, I see the point. And given the stunt she just pulled…” He put two hands to his chin. “It seems like you are right. That we’re not helping. But I don’t see a solution. You and Corona weren’t in office, or really in politics. You were just living and people sought you out.” He looked up to her. “I’m open to solutions, Eve. I want these people to be ready as much as you do. I just don’t know how to do it.”
Eve looked at him with sad eyes. “I have an idea. I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”
“Try me.”
~~~
Mirador was exceptionally elated. Her approval had shot up to 46% after her little stunt and it was growing steadily. There was no small amount of people who were confused by the ordeal – who wouldn’t be – but they weren’t actually messing with the polls too much. She was still behind Mlinx by a bit in the polls, but if her calculations were correct that wouldn’t last very long.
She and her assistant had given in and done a little celebrating – nothing big, just the two of them and some friends enjoying drinks, an excessive amount of Chinese takeout, and loud music. Mirador told herself the celebration was just for the successful execution of her plan, but really it was for her victory. She was so certain of her victory. She would be the Mayor of this town.
And the moment that solidified it would happen… now.
Mirador flicked the television on. Mlinx had just walked up to the podium at his oh-so-precious charity event and was about to give his speech. This should be good.
Even though he had no real facial expressions, he looked tired as he walked up to the microphone. He cleared his throat. “Originally, I planned to come here and give one of those grandiose, bombastic speeches designed to get people fired up for voting and democracy and the upcoming election. Instead, recent events have forced me to reconsider my position in this race. You know what I’m talking about – Mirador’s trap for Corona and Eve. The proof that we, the ‘heroes’ of the past, are controlling your lives.
“I will cut to the chase. She was right.”
There were gasps. Mirador let out an adorable squee.
“In the interests of letting you all learn to live in a world without ka, I am stepping down from the campaign, effectively resigning my position as Mayor. There are numerous others across the City who will be doing the same. In the next few months, you will see less and less of us. We will leave you to your City – make of it what you will.
“I only have one actual request – that you actually make the best of what you’ve been given. You could just change all your votes to Mirador and let her have the Mayorship. But that would just be giving the torch to someone else with ka-importance. She has been the focus of the chapter we are currently living in – as a protagonist, antagonist, you decide. She has become like us, and by her own logic she shouldn’t be allowed to dictate your lives.”
Mirador tensed. “There’s no alternative, Mlinx… I’ve just been the method… I…”
“There are many third-party candidates who never get recognized by the media or the story,” Mlinx said, leaning forward. “I give my endorsement to the leader of their race, Jocelyn Ramirez. I ask that all of my supporters to go to her, so she can keep Mirador from the Mayorship. Let someone who has never had the spotlight of ka take control of the City, not a manipulative pegasus who played us all for fools.”
“…Dammit…” Mirador seethed. She realized the stupid mistake she had made – she had forgotten about those ‘less important’ than her. She’d forgotten what defeated Lord English. “DAMMIT!”
“And as for what I originally came here for – this charity event – I need to offer an apology. I’ve capitalized on your event for my own personal goals. I give the majority of my campaign funding to you.” He let out a chuckle. “I helped you all build this City. Now that the foundation is here, I need to remove the braces. I hope you not only remain standing, but build it taller than ever before.”
Mirador didn’t want to hear anymore. She shut off the TV and threw her remote through the screen. She let out a scream.
~~~
Mirador tracked Mlinx down to give him an earful. She was not at all surprised to find that Eve was with them.
She was mildly surprised to find them meeting with me inside my library. She managed to grab hold of her anger quickly enough to eavesdrop instead of charging in guns blazing. The front doors were open so she could hear. I had left them that way, though she wasn’t in a good enough mental state to figure this out on her own.
“Is this everyone?” Eve asked me, looking over the list I had prepared several thousand words above this paragraph.
“Yes,” I assured her. “These are the people you need to take with you – no more, no less.”
“But… some people seem to be missing. Nettle’s not on here, for instance, I was sure her ka would be too strong…”
“She is becoming the Mother,” I explained. “She will be able to live a normal life, one of a normal person. The others missing will either do the same, or leave the City in another way.”
“You are not on the list,” Mlinx observed.
I nodded. “That… is true. I will leave the City my own way, go on my own journey. You have to go on yours without my constant guidance.”
“…Is this goodbye, then?”
“We will both return at the end,” I said. “When the Tower crumbles, we will be here, in the grounds of this city.”
“All of us?” Mlinx asked.
“Not everyone on that list will live that long,” I admitted. “There will be some losses. But… Most. Most will come back. Most will live to see the end of ka.” I smiled warmly. “I’m looking forward to that day more than anything.”
Eve sighed, looking over the list. “Some of these people won’t want to leave…”
“They’ll agree to it. I promise you.” I ruffled my feathers. “They’ll know they have to leave just like you two. You really are keeping the City from growing into something new. I couldn’t be the one to tell you that, it had to be something more… tangible. Speaking of…” I teleported Mirador into the library and the full view of everyone. “Say hello to the little eavesdropper, everyone.”
Eve furrowed her brow – and then softened it. “Thank you, Mirador, for showing me what I needed to see.”
“That wasn’t the freaking point!” Mirador shouted. “The point was to get rid of you!”
“So you could be in charge,” Mlinx noted. “We know. We’re well aware that your motivations weren’t treason or for the people. You just wanted power and you knew how to get it.”
“You’re oversimplifying her,” I said. “She did care about the people in some way – it just wasn’t altruistic, and she believes she can help them by helping herself. People who are like you, Mlinx, rarely go into republic-based politics. Mirador’s personality is much more common. You have to put up with a lot in the race, and she’s able to do that by empowering herself.” I looked at her with sad eyes. “It is wrong... but understandable.”
Mirador twitched. “I’m going to show you that I can do it anyway.”
“You won’t. I know for sure you lose. You do not make it to the Mayorship no matter how hard you try. You convinced them too well – they want nothing to do with the story now. And you’re part of it.”
“I…” She looked at the ground. “I never wanted to be part of it. I used it once I had it, but… I didn’t want it.”
“I’m sorry.” I looked at the Eye of Rhyme. “It chooses us. We never get to choose it. It is the tragedy of the curse of ka. There is inequality, true, irrefutable inequality, and nobody gets to choose one way or another who gets what. Maybe when the Tower ends, you can try again. But not now. Your ka has you defeated.”
Mirador looked at me with conflicting eyes. Then she ran out of the library, hooves slamming into the ground angrily.
That is the last you’ll ever read about her.
~~~
Burgerbelle, Corona, Discord, Eve, Everykid, Flutterfree, Jenny, Jotaro, Lightning, Mattie, Minna, Mlinx, Monika, Nanoha, O'Neill, Pidge, Pinkie, Rev, Rina, Roland, Roxy, Starbeat, Thrackerzod, Trixie, Vriska.
Twenty-five people.
I wonder why it wasn’t nineteen… Eve mused as she looked up from the list at the gathered people. They were all standing in the field of roses, floating about an inch above the tops of the flowers to prevent excessive cutting and bleeding.
She counted twenty-three. Twenty-four if she counted herself. And there was one other right behind her.
For a moment, she took a breath and turned around. There was a ship behind her – made of white metal, like most higher-end Merodi ships. The only unusual thing was that it wasn’t a spaceship, it was an airship. It looked like a sea vessel, a bit like a miniature ocean liner, except that it had giant magic sails that glowed with a bright orange magic almost like fire itself.
The ship’s name?
Austraeoh. After the wreckage it was salvaged from.
Corona jumped off the deck of the Austraeoh and landed next to Eve. “She’s working like a charm! The Nova’s in the main bay, the power is charged to full, and we’ve got ourselves a pretty ship-shape navigation system.”
“And your… ‘collar?’ ” Eve asked.
Corona tapped the implant in the back of her neck. “Mlinx disabled for now, you can turn it on if we return. We can start the journey whenever everyone’s ready.”
“…I do not believe all of us will be ready at any point,” Starbeat said. “It is strangely true that most of everyone’s close friends are here. But… this City has been our home. Even those of us who are not really leaving people behind will be leaving this place.”
“I know,” Eve said, shaking her head. “But we have to. At least for now. They’ll be better off if we aren’t here holding their hands.”
“We know. You had to give us all the spiel one by one,” Lightning pointed out.
Eve nodded. “Right…”
“No use beating a dead horse, you might say,” O’Neill added.
“Har-de-har,” Eve said, rolling her eyes.
“Hey, you’re going on an extended cruise with me on board, get used to the horse puns.”
“They will never end,” Nanoha added.
“Right…” Eve said, shaking her head and smiling. “…So, we’re leaving. We’re going to get on the Austraeoh and travel around Nucleon. We have the technology to do that in a few seconds, but we’re not going to use it like that. We’re going to go around slowly, stop by everywhere that looks interesting, and just… explore. Due to the ka-cloud we’ll be out of range of City communication quickly, and we’ll be on our own. We won’t be able to disturb them. However, we will continue to have adventures. I don’t know what we’ll run into during our time on the surface of Nucleon, but I know it will be full of awe-inspiring geography, wonder at the unusual cultures of the world, and… and I don’t know, we’re going the long way around a planet made of several thousand earths. We’ll spend years and years going around this place.”
“Coincidentally, we’ll go all the way around and get back to the City just before the Tower falls,” Mattie added.
“Woah, you can tell?” Pinkie asked.
“Nah. I just asked Twilence.” Mattie winked. “Sometimes you should just take the shortcut to truth rather than trying to puzzle it out yourself.”
“That ruins half the fun!” Roxy complained.
“Exactly. Half of it. Do it often enough and you get your money’s back!”
“A new journey that ends with the Tower…” Roland mused. “Same ol’?”
“Same ol’,” Jenny said with a shrug.
“There will be a lot of things out there,” Corona said. “Conflict, friendship, war, peace, love, hate, impossible, jokes... and we’ll face it, whatever it is, together.” She clasped her hands and grinned. “And then we will return here. To our City.”
“To say goodbye,” I said, appearing on the scene with a handful of people behind me – including Nettle. “Which, coincidentally, is what I’m here to do.” I beamed at them all. “All of you – every last one of you – is a hero in some way or other.”
“Fat lot of good that’s doing us,” Trixie muttered.
“In a way, it is,” I countered. “You get to go have an extended series of epic adventures the likes of which nobody has ever seen. You’ll explore worlds that have never before been touched. You will learn things the rest of us could only dream about. And you’ll get to do it in the last few decades before the Tower collapses completely – you will be the last. There will not be any other opportunities to have wild, unpredictable, crazy, impossible adventures. This is going to be your last stop.” I turned to Corona. “As horrid as ka is and can be… you should make the most of it while it still exists, wouldn’t you think?”
Corona chuckled nervously. “Yeah. Yeah… you should.”
“Then get on that boat and sail off into the sunset.”
“There’s no sun on Nucleon,” Thrackerzod deadpanned.
“I’m a Sunset,” Corona suggested.
“Strap her to the prow – we’ll always be sailing into her!” Mattie said with a laugh.
Burgerbelle facepalmed.
Nettle kneeled down to Burgerbelle. “Go get on that ship.” She turned to the Everykid. “You too. Go enjoy your lives. I had enough of the wild life in the past… but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it.”
The Everykid and Burgerbelle pulled her into a hug.
There were lots of other goodbyes. There were more than a few tears – but everyone seemed to understand that this needed to happen. That the heroes of Songs of the Spheres needed to leave.
Eventually, however, the goodbyes had been drawn out. The twenty-five passengers loaded onto the Austraeoh. They waved. I waved back – and took everyone else away from the field of roses and back into the City. I would begin my journey later that day and lose myself somewhere far, far away… It was nice being a librarian while it lasted, but even with full freedom to do whatever I wanted with my power, I still needed to think of what it meant to everyone around me. What they might do because of me.
I had to make the right choice.
The Austraeoh was loaded and ready to go – there was only one question left to answer.
“Uh… who’s in charge?” Minna asked.
Everyone turned to Eve and Corona in an instant.
“No!” they both shouted, backing up – then laughing.
Eve went first. “We’ve been the leaders of too much for far too long.”
“It’s time for someone else to take the reins,” Corona added.
“Who then?” Pinkie asked.
Eve and Corona glanced at the pink party pony. The two of their smiles started to widen.
Pinkie gasped. “…Oooooooooh!”
Eve and Corona pushed Pinkie to the front of the boat. While there were control consoles below decks, there was a fully-functional ship’s wheel exposed to the elements. Pinkie laid her hooves on it and felt the ship move beneath her.
“You’ve been brushed to the side a bit,” Eve said, placing a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. “Corona and I have taken a lot of what you had. Our lives, our ka… they were too big, too extreme. You were overshadowed… but you’re still deserving. You never took an opportunity to get a lot of power, you always stayed as a team leader.”
Corona smiled. “It’s time for you to take what you probably deserved more than we did.”
Eve let out a chuckle. “Where to, Captain?”
Eve and Corona gave her friendly salutes. Soon, everyone else on the deck followed, showing respect to the pink ball of fluff.
Pinkie beamed. “Th-thank you! All of you! I love all you guys!” She laughed – and then put her hooves back on the wheel, shaking some happy tears out of her eyes. “I say we go… OVER THE HORIZON!”
She activated the sails. They increased the intensity of their light and pulled the airship forward – sailing over the top of the City. Fireworks and other celebratory decorations were unleashed on them as they passed over.
The City was letting them know how much they had been appreciated while they were here. Even though the heroes had to leave, they were still to be remembered as heroes.
The Austraeoh floated into the distance until it dipped over the horizon on a journey the likes of which the City would never imagine in their wildest dreams…
You could end the story there, I think. With them going on to have more adventures in the twilight hours of fate itself, where stories slowly fade into nothing. It’s an ending, of sorts - an open one, admittedly, but an ending nonetheless.
There is more to see, though. It may not be necessary… but it is worth your while.
Let us look beyond the horizon.