//------------------------------// // 30 -- A Certain Honesty // Story: A Method to his Madness // by Luna-tic Scientist //------------------------------// There was the occasional pony running past, but nopony came for them. Neighmann gave Libi another nuzzle, pressing close to her, flank to flank, as they lay in the twisting corridor outside the summoning circle. He kept his eyes closed as a wave of indigo light swept along the deck from the direction of the bow. The glow was pure and bright, like that generated by a laser, but not unpleasant -- which was fortunate, as it seemed to emanate from everything at the same time, including the insides of his own eyes. The feeling of numinous power that surged in time with the light passed, then built again as the next colour, a shade of red like a well-ripened apple, followed the previous, near ultraviolet, hue. He risked opening his eyes, but the face of the mare next to him was completely unknown. The smell was right, but the rest... He rolled his eyes, squeezing the lids together as hard as he could, as if the problem was one of blurred vision. Neighmann looked again, studying the mare's face and trying to find anything familiar in the colour of her mane. It's not my eyes, it's my brain. They always did say the deep level sharings held some risk. Disconnection of brain from body could produce some odd effects; sometimes they fixed themselves, sometimes not. Tears came, but he blinked them away. Oh well, if an inability to know you by sight is the price I pay for this, I won't complain. I can still know you by other means. He rested his muzzle against her withers, inhaling Libi's familiar scent. I've got you back, for however long it lasts, and that is everything that matters.  Abruptly, the light vanished and both ponies tensed, heads coming up and ears scanning the corridor. The numinous feeling hadn't vanished, but it had changed, had become stretched, elongated and distant, like the power was being directed. It was like being next to some giant orchestra, one that played both searingly high and bone-shakingly low notes at the same time, and it caused a rapidly building pressure at the centre of his head. He gritted his teeth and hissed, pressing against Libi with all his might, then the magic vanished. Something went crack, just through the wall at his back, accompanied by a stinging slap of thaumic feedback that resonated within his horn like it was being rubbed across a rough stone wall. Weird harmonics lashed through the background magical leakage seeping through the bulkhead from the summoning circle, strange enough to make the hair of his mane twitch, then that too went away. "I guess that was it," he said softly. Libi looked up in askance and his ears drooped. "I think the circle just suffered a thaumic quench." She sighed, closing her eyes. "Now what? That thing will require months to get back to a stable field." Something groaned off in the distance, a great wailing moan that should have come from the death agonies of some giant sea creature. The floor tilted again, little shocks running through it. This time they didn't fade away. "I don't think they are coming back for us... we should get out--" There were seven quick tones through the address system, followed by a longer one, all loud enough to make his ears fold reflexively. "All crew, this is Admiral Twister. Abandon ship." The voice cracked on the penultimate word, and there were more orders after that, but Neighmann wasn't listening. He scrambled to his hooves, horn flaring as he lifted Equilibrium to hers. He looked wildly from left to right, ears twisting at the sudden sound of drumming hooves on the metal decking. The urge to do something, anything, was building, and he forced it down. "Remember where the muster station was?" he asked in strangled tones. "This way," Libi said promptly, setting off at an unsteady trot along the now alarmingly tilted passageway.  The movement did something in Neighmann's head, easing the near blinding urge to gallop away, and he fixed his gaze on Libi's rump and swaying tail. I still recognise you from this side. In seconds they were away from the complex spaces around the circle and in one of the main thoroughfares. This thronged with ponies moving with purpose and at a steady, collected canter. Others, all in pairs of a pegasus with one of the other clades, and all wearing panniers and wide harnesses coloured a brilliant orange, were directing the traffic and helping where required, and it was one of those that noticed Libi and Neighmann. The pegasus of the pair, a stoutly built mare with a close-cropped peach-coloured coat, leaped over a cluster of earth ponies dragging stretchers between them, the bodies of crewponies, so badly burned that the clade could not be identified, loaded on them. She had the look of a pony focused on a complex task, one which they'd interrupted. "Why in Tartarus are--" she said, voice loud and tinged with anger, then stared at Equilibrium and swore softly. "Sorry; they must have forgotten you. This way." She waved a wing at her partner, a grey earth pony stallion, who pushed through the stream of hooves, horns and wings to join them, then the little herd merged with the flow. "We'll get you into one of the boats," she shouted over one shoulder, while fishing a spare harness out of her panniers and passing it to Neighmann. "Get this thing on; we'll check it and do your mate's when we stop." Like Tartarus you will. I'll not leave Libi to the last minute, Neighmann thought, dropping the compact package on her back. Carefully folded, and with fat, numbered pull-tabs on each side, it straddled her withers like an abbreviated set of panniers, unfolding when he gave it a tug. He was familiar with the operation -- regular evacuation training was part and parcel of working in the Monster Room -- and even at a canter it wasn't hard to pull the straps fore and aft of her belly, fit the crupper, then clip them together under her sternum. This earned him an approving glance from the crewmare, and another harness for himself, which he'd just finished adjusting as they turned a corner and entered the port-side hangar space.  The complex trackway, glimpsed through the side doors when Luna had brought them in, was empty, apart from a couple of blocky transports, their ducted fans idling even as wounded ponies were loaded. Along one side were a half-dozen hatches, all open to the rain-soaked air, each at the end of a heavy-looking section of track studded with faintly glowing crystals. The two transports were aligned with the central hatches, while fast-moving lines of ponies queued at the others. It was noisy, full of shouts and the loud ringing of hoof on deckplate, but there was no panic. Everypony seemed to know exactly what he or she was supposed to do; there the stretchers were being clipped to mounts on the insides of the transports, surrounded by the glow of telekinesis and a haze of more sophisticated healing magic, here the flightless clades were paired up with pegasi, harness joined to harness by telescoping rods running between the girth straps, then leaping out into storm. A few, equipped with flat black equipment, rather than the bright colours of the majority, were hitching on wide bat-wings, the test pulses of their levitation drives sending hastily discarded trash skittering across the floor. These were heavily armed, departing in groups of three or six, and were lost from sight the moment they jumped out. All this was taken in at a glance, and through eyes still blurred by the sharing, as they were bustled up through the central aisle of one transport, past silent bundles smelling of seared flesh and burned fur, and into the cockpit, where they displaced one of the crewponies. Neighmann felt a flash of guilt at this, but that didn't stop him from securing Libi to one wall of the stall. The other pony, a unicorn, winked at him and grabbed a flight pack from an overhead locker, horn glowing as he pumped energy into the spellcraft levitation system, then locked him to the other wall. It was a tight fit, but the system had been designed to accommodate a pony with a full military pannier set, and there was just enough room for the pair of them. To his left, the pilot, a grey pegasus mare, finished whatever she'd been doing and started to mutter into her throat mike. The sound of the engines abruptly grew deafening, then died away as the rear doors slammed shut. A second later there was a sudden push against his rump, and the transport lumbered from the Express.  The pegasus swore softly, then curved the aircraft around. The view through the front ports was one large HUD, festooned with tactical markers and script too fine for Neighmann to read in his current state, but he could make out the highlighted apple-pip shape of the Express. It was lit from the inside, a bright white light from the open ports and launching bays, and from the flickering, electrical glare of something burning near its tail. The aircarrier was tilting nose up, the angle getting more acute with each passing second, and visibly falling against the backdrop of mountains.  "The Admiral is going to use the scuttle charges," the mare said, gesturing through the window. "I thought they might be able to recover her later, but--" Pin-points of light rippled along the aircarrier's flanks, and the slow fall became a plummet, ending in a pall of dust and splintered trees, followed by more explosions that seemed to map out some of the interior spaces. The pilot turned them away, just as laggard sound caught up with them, a crackling roar, like surf on a gravel beach. === Rock exploded outward, flung away from Luna's body in a sudden fountain. Fields of force followed, a general telekinetic impulsion that pushed away the dust and ash rain, enclosing the mountain top in a bubble of clean air. Celestia slid to a halt next to the still form, dropping to her knees amid the sharp gravel, magic probing for any sign of life while she swept her wings forward to lay her snowy-white feathers over singed and blackened fur.  No no no no--  There, a flicker of motion within the ribcage, the distant thunder of a beating heart, the swell of lungs and a twitch of muscle. "Alive..." she whispered, "It's not too late." Tears ran down her muzzle and she pressed close, nuzzling at the junction of Luna's neck and chest. "Wake up, please," she mumbled, nibbling gently. The mare tasted salty, a combination of sweat and tears, layered with charcoal and the acrid flavour of burned fur. A dark wing shakily came up and touched her on the cheek, tracing the damp patches of fur beneath her eyes. "Don't cry, Celestia. I got you back. After all he's done... you've come back to me." "It was Equilibrium; whatever magic Discord put in her head was a trap, and I galloped right into it." Celestia leaned back, turning her head away with flattened ears. "Yes." Luna carefully rolled upright, waving away Celestia's offer to help. "All the rest of this chaos was just a distraction. That was the plan; infect our ponies, then use them to get to one of us." "All this is my fault; if I'd just been stronger I'd have..." Fresh tears worked their way down her cheeks.  Luna lurched to her hooves and stood there for a moment, as wobbly as a new-born foal. "Discord is very good at what he does, and we've both had a lot of experience with mind control -- you know how hard it is to stop if you don't catch it right at the start." Her wings flexed, then a ribbon of violet magic snaked over her body, stripping away the dirt and grime. She took a step, grimacing and favouring one hind leg. "He's done so much harm this time; I don't know how to even start fixing this." Celestia stood up, flinching at the nasty-looking burn on Luna's flank. "I'm so sorry; yet again you've had to bear the brunt of my stupidity." A gentle touch on her forehead made Celestia lift her head, and she looked up into Luna's teal eyes. The other mare leaned forwards, resting her neck against her shoulder. "Even in the depths of this, I never blamed you for any of that. You are a trusting pony, and some people just take advantage of that. Don't let this change the sister I love." Luna pulled back, a sudden anger making her ears fold flat, nearly vanishing in the hair of her mane, and Celestia quailed in the face of this fury. "Our little ponies are tough and they will get through this, but there is something we should take care of first." Celestia nodded jerkily, then lit her horn, pulling up the Elements and passing three to Luna. They immediately changed from featureless grey to cratered and patterned globes, one hemisphere bright, the other dark. Luna straightened, energy seeming to flood back into her body, then looked down at them and smiled, a hard edged thing that didn't reach her eyes. The Elements lifted into the air in a haze of indigo light, describing lazy orbits about her head. As they moved they always looked the same, as if illuminated by some distant source. With her mind clear and only three of the artefacts to control, it was a matter of moments to attune them to her will, changing them back to little crystal spheres, each containing a point of light far too bright to do more than glance at. Yes, plenty of time for blame later. Celestia opened her wings and leaped off the mountain. "You sent the Express to Razorclaw -- you think Discord is still there?" she called back, spiralling upwards, hunting for that elusive taste of not-quite-Elements magic. The bearing is about right... and if that's the case, what do we have locked in the Monster Room? "I felt the Specials fire; it has to be them." So that is what it was. There was a gentle pressure at the back of Celestia's mind, akin to standing flank-to-flank with a friend, and completely unlike the insect-crawl of Discord's magic. She accepted the mental sharing, ears folding back at the pulsing flickers of pain reported by Luna's body. I'll be fine, sister. With you at my side and the Elements in our control there is nothing in this universe that can stop us. There was a sharpness to Luna's thoughts, an eager predatory intent. Light, heat and a sudden darkness, swathed in steam from a vaporising ocean. Information came down the link, detailed memories of what it had been like inside the Express during her first attack on her sister. Celestia took the memories, pushing aside her own feeling of sickness and extracted the location details, completing the teleportation enchantment. Halfway around the world... but there is plenty of water; good. There was a feeling of assent, then both mares pushed-- ~~~discontinuity~~~ --emerging in heavy rain. Deep, surging craters were blasted in the surface of the stormy ocean, soaking up the excess momentum from their long-range jump. Visibility was effectively zero, so Celestia switched back to shadow sight. The universe went black, darker even than the rain lashed midnight of Razorclaw. To one side was Luna, a blown-glass pony sculpture filled with violet vapour, wings like great fans of laser light shining through fog, while further out... Distant glints and glimmers, the hard colours of spellcraft machines moving in curves and making fast dashes against unknown assailants. The deep-sea creature shape of the Express, faltering waves of polychromatic light rippling out to touch the heart of the fading storm system. Not nearly enough power to maintain their weather control. The thought was immediate, and Celestia wondered how much damage the aircarrier had sustained. Changelings. We should remember the Elements, next time we have to move against them. Discord's linkages, yes. The same non-causal channels... but it's not them. No. He has hidden it well... would we have ever found it without the Express? Air started to pummel Celestia's flanks and she channelled some tiny fraction of her power to diverting it around her body. Beneath her hooves the water convulsed, smashed apart as the Mach cone formed.  Even as she asked the question, Luna was shaking her head, the wet slap of her soaked mane stinging on the abraded skin of her neck. Not with a whole world to search. They flew in silence for a moment, then Luna shared a sensation of motion, something flicker-fast travelling at the tip of a plume of energetic gas. It was heading in their direction, lofted on an arc that took it above most of the atmosphere. The pair changed course, but the projectile followed suit. Re-entry shock was starting to build up at its needle nose, then it split apart, shedding a flimsy aeroshell to release a sheaf of submunitions. Too many to count, they felt like a heavy cloud in Luna's shadow sight, a fog of high density death vectoring in on their path. Almost like old times, she thought. Luna laughed, actually laughed, and Celestia felt her heart lift.  It's been quite a while since someone has shot at me with hypersonic weapons, Luna sent back. It has a certain honesty to it. What do you think they are tipped with? Celestia cast her will outward, finding the rapidly closing warheads. The Elements make this so much easier. When I remember what it was like before... not just kinetics; antimatter catalysed fusion, I think. Magic poured into her mind, spells to modify the strong interaction and render the weapons inert. Aw -- I was hoping to show them the fireworks! I think that is best left to their imaginations; if they think they have a chance, it may stop them from doing something really silly later. Luna pouted, then burst out laughing. Spoilsport. A flicker of power and she gave them a nudge, sending the projectiles tumbling. Light flared high overhead, silent, bright and flickering, then died away. The coastal mountains of Razorclaw were upon them, jagged things covered with snow, then they dropped into a glacial valley, scattered with burn scars and explosion craters. There, Luna thought, dumping velocity to hover above one cliff. There was a small landing platform and a metal door, big enough for cargo. Deep in the rock was that source of magic, carefully hidden yet terribly strong. With it was... "He's here," Celestia breathed, reaching for her power and using it to guide the Elements, "and there are others with him." Lots of others, compact masses of gryphons and, even deeper, the tiny jewelled shapes of ponies. That is how he did it. Anger built, but she held it in check, sculpting her magic into the form she desired. He will try to leave, Luna thought, watching Celestia for a moment, then following along. Try, yes. Succeed, no. There will be no escape for him this time. There was a flood of wordless assent down the sharing, then the two mares released their power. === Even though the interruption to his power was over in moments, Discord did not look happy. The jovial air of one used to control had vanished. He variously paced, floated and flew around the chamber, doing something arcane that made the fur on Chirr's flanks shiver. The coil of light, still twisting at the centre of the ring of ponies, swelled like an incandescent balloon, becoming far too bright to even look near, and rendering everything in the room in a high contrast monochrome. Chirr could feel the magic plucking at his mind, a whirlpool of flashing images laden with emotional overtones. It was like being part of something larger, a kind of mass insanity similar to that felt when any group of ponies panics and just wants to run from some unknown terror; it was the logic of the herd and it had a will all of its own and brooked no dissent or compromise. There was no stopping it, no resistance, and the play of other lives overwhelmed him-- --trembling and silent, eyes searching the cubby for an escape route that didn't exist, while the heavy hooves of somepony she'd once trusted slammed into the flimsy door, sending cracks racing through the plastic-- --seeing that idiot gryphon walking across the open parkland between the smouldering Manehattan tower blocks; oh so arrogant, like he didn't have a care in the world, then the bite of feather in air and the thrill of weightlessness, followed by the shock of impact-- --a magnified image of some vehicle park with a targeting reticule superimposed over the top of it. Little ant-like shapes scurrying for cover, lit by the flickering shadows of the first burning aircar, moving to escape the cross-hairs like insects under a magnifying glass. Power, so much power, as the autoloader hummed and delivered the next kinetic harpoon-- --and they flickered, drawing away behind layer upon layer of gauzy, monochromatic light, not the hard glare of Discord's arcane trap, but soft, like a foal's fur or the caress of a dam or a willing partner. The haze thickened and curdled, spreading through Chirr's mind and out into the world, wrapping itself around all the lives he was connected to via the mental contagion. The images, blurred and distant, started to change.  Hooves raised in anger were lowered and weapons dropped, then came confusion and a feeling of being awoken. Ponies who had been running in terror cantered to uncertain halts, staring back as suddenly tear-stained assailants gave up their pursuit. Some turned and headed back, drawn by the looks of absolute horror on those faces and, as the chemistry of fear drained away, reached out to offer comfort. The last images blinked out, but the soft glow was still around him, smothering and extinguishing the floating light and coating the walls, floor and ceiling with a never-ending rainbow of colour. The circle of ponies fell silent, crumpling to the ground or swaying unsteadily on their hooves. Across the other side were Blevie and Night, both staring open-mouthed at the light, then the earth pony cantered over to the unicorn, heading for the pinned shape of Waits. Frozen by the memory of the things he'd seen, Chirr watched them go out of the corner of one eye, but all his attention was on Discord. He was still there, forelimbs raised and frantic, as if he was conducting an orchestra where all the instruments were out of tune. "Oh, come on! That's not fair -- I'm sure it's against the rules, or something. I lose focus for one lousy moment and you can do all this?" A delicate vibration went through the floor, little more than what might be felt when somepony walked next to you. It got stronger, building until Chirr could hear a faint rumble, like the sound of a distant waterfall. He looked up, imagining what must be happening to make the mountain shake, and smiled. I don't care if you bring the whole thing down, he thought. "Things not going to plan, Discord?" Chirr took a step, then froze, muscles locked solid when those mismatched eyes fell upon him. "They think they have me, but it won't work." He vanished with a noise like a thunderclap, only to reappear at the edge of the rock wall, paws held protectively over his head. Quick as a flash, he spun, bounding on all fours like an oversized ferret, heading for the exit. There was nothing between him and it but the insubstantial film of rainbow light, but it might as well have been made of armour ceramic. Discord bounced, body folding up in coils and curves, ending up on his back with tail in the air. The sound was louder now, a continuous rumbling groan that made the floor jump in sympathy and little runnels of dust cascade down from the ceiling. Chirr, still frozen with a foreleg half raised, laughed. "I would not want to be in your fur when the Princesses come through the roof," he said, pain of his paralysed muscles making his voice half crazed.  "Excellent point," Discord snarled, body folding in on itself, shrinking down in both size and length. His colour changed, becoming a slate grey, and limbs altered shape to become matching pairs. "Thank you for volunteering," he said, voice now squeaky, flicking out one membranous wing at Chirr.  Lightning raced along the chiropt's flanks, twisting and distorting as it went. Chirr's muscles loosened and he fell over, unable to control the great lengths of brown-furred flesh that stretched behind his suddenly mismatched forelegs. "What have you--" His words boomed out, then died suddenly, as if his voice box had just been smoothed over. "Can't have you giving the game away, can we? Do you think I've made them angry enough to just blast you out of hoof?" Chirr's clone waved a foreleg down its flank, muzzle stretched into an unpleasant grin. Great, bleeding, gashes opened up through the fur and delicate wing membranes were slashed and torn, but the smile just widened, exposing sharp teeth, then the pony tossed his head. "Perhaps a little something to encourage fast reactions on their part..." Chirr's body moved, tubular torso straightening itself out, and he padded forward, lifting one of the sleepers into the air. The pony awoke as if electrocuted and, seeing where he was, let out a terrified whinny and started to struggle. Claws penetrated, releasing runnels of blood, then he transferred the stallion to his mouth. The taste of old iron flowed across his tongue, and Chirr fought to prevent Discord from biting down, but his new body only obeyed the orders of its creator. Sweet Luna, don't let it end like this, I can't... His jaws flexed and the pony wriggled, screaming high and shrill. The rumbling stopped, then the rainbow of light brightened to solar levels and kept going. Sightless, eyes filled with blues, yellows, greens, and reds, Chirr tried to add his own voice to the stallion's terror, but even that was denied him. Heat and an arctic cold flooded in with the sound of beating wings, bringing with them the prickly touch of powerful magic.