The sound of birds chirping outside greeted her, and Cup's warmth next to her brought her focus out of the fuzzy haze it was in, and back to the reality she was lying next to. He still wore the necklace, and had a tiny smile on his muzzle as he sighed, his snout buried in her mane with his lips right next to her cheek, his sweet breath rolling across her face.
Shit, SHIT, SHIT! Obsidian practically leapt out of the bed. Luna - she had to meet with her personally; either she hadn't gotten her messages, or she couldn't get to Ruby, or it was something completely different... damnation, Ruby looked half-alive! It wasn't about just lack of ability to talk with her anymore - it was about her life! Or at least about its' poor remains.
Bathroom. Kitchen. She had to go back to Silver Shores, NOW.
In the kitchen, Tourmaline was busy helping himself to a cup of coffee... yet, when he saw Obsidian's muzzle, he grew worried.
"Obsidian, what is it?" he asked, "I can see something's got you worked up; what's going on?"
"Ruby still couldn't speak with me; she looked half-alive! I need to get to Princess Luna, quickly," she replied as she hastily prepared herself something edible for a fast breakfast. In fact, she should go with somepony - riding a train alone would be a bad idea. "And I should wake up Cup, too..."
Tourmaline stood up, then placed a calming hoof on her shoulder. "Obsidian, the news this morning is that Luna herself has come for a visit to Ponyville; can't be a coincidence, her being here after you've contacted her. Supposedly, she's staying in a suite at Twilight's Palace."
He looked at her seriously. "Chances are, she's here to speak wth you about the same thing you want to speak to her about."
Thank Harmony, the train travel issue wasn't a problem. Obsidian took a deep breath to calm herself. "Her mane and tail were both in an awful state... it's deadly serious," she shook her head.
What a terrible problem. Who would think that Ruby would have so much trouble after her death? "Well, if I don't have to waste my time on the train, I think I'll go and see her with Cup." Now that she thought about it, she helped herself to some coffee as well; waking up in a panic notwithtanding, she really needed it.
Tourmaline gave a somewhat concerned look, then glanced out of the window as he sipped at his own mug. "Your friend Gypsy came by earlier, and said he'd found one or two things he'd share with you when you went to see him and Diamond today. Oh, and he says that Mundy apparently likes orange juice... and he's been asking about your little Wart, as well."
He then looked at her earnestly. "So... Onyx's diary? You still going to let me look at it, or have you changed your mind?"
Obsidian facepalmed. Hard. A bit too hard - ow. "Oh, I forgot to give it to you yesterday. I was, eheheh... kind of busy, you see..." she muttered.
Necklace... hmmmm, her own necklace probably had a locket too; should she put something of Cupcake's in there?
Tourmy gave her a skeptical look, but one with a humorous overtone. "Mmmm-hmmm. Busy, I'll bet - there were still used dishes when I got up this morning. I cleaned them - you're welcome - and put them away already."
He then looked towards the attic stairs. "Amy didn't get in until three in the morning, last night; haven't even seen her at all this morning." He sipped again at his coffee.
Wonderful - NOW what was Amy planning? Damnation! To be fair, it would be nice to talk with her about the things she discovered in Onyx's diary, but she didn't have time for that at the moment!
"Thanks, Tourmy. We got kind of, ah... lost. Heat of the moment. You know the drill," Obsidian muttered. To cover her own slight embarrasment, she walked out of the kitchen to fetch the book for her brother.
When she retuned with it, Tourmaline was standing at the doorway to the kitchen, waiting for her, and when she came in, he stopped her and pointed to the kitchen table.
There, sitting at it, was Amethyst... but she looked horrible. Her mane and tail were in utter disarray, her coat looked dirty, her left ear had what looked like soot stains on it, and to top it all off, she was sporting a black eye on her left. She was sitting there, wolfing down what leftovers were left over from last night. Her eyes were closed, and she had a look that said talking to her might be hazardous to one's health.
"Guess she was hungry," Tourmy muttered to Siddy, watching Amy eat.
By Darkness... Amethyst looked worse than Ruby did! Was it connected? Was it not? Obsidian didn't care about the possible danger to her health - she trotted right inside.
"Sister of mine... what the fuck happened to you?" Obsidian gawked.
Amethyst looked up from the table, and fixed Obsidian with a bleary-eyed stare. "Nothing." She then put on a scowl that, strangely, didn't seem to be directed at her. "Abso-fucking-lutely nothing."
She seemed like she was about to go on... but then, she just went right back to eating the platefull of stuff she'd gathered from the fridge. Frankly, she didn't even seem to notice what she was eating; she was just shoveling it into her mouth, chewing, then swallowing.
Obsidian focused her eyes on Amy; could it be possible? What if... "Sister... does something possibly try to take control your mind in the middle of the night, forcing you to act bizarrely?"
She looked at her as if Obsidian was proving to be the slow sister. "No, stupid. Nothing happened, which isn't at all what I was hoping would happen; there, satisfied?" She angrily turned back to her food, now eyeballing Obsidian as if daring her to say one more thing...
Okay, so perhaps it wasn't Amber after all; it was just Amy behaving like Amy. Just a weird Amy. "I've been preparing lately for our upcoming field trip, learning one or two new Dark Magic spells," she said as she tried to carefully approach her from the other side.
Amy's eyes slowly rolled to look at her. "Really? DARK Magic. What, you get 'em from a box of candy somewhere? You write to Princess Twi-Lip that you needed something spooky and scary to fight animals off with?"
But her eyes were still watching her intently, regardless of her jibes.
"No - from my own sources, sister." Obsidian sighed. "Resources that are sadly somewhat limited, but I hope to get access to something more soon."
Perhaps it was lie, perhaps it wasn't. Perhaps she was considering Amy to be her best direct source of Dark Magical knowledge at the moment - or perhaps she was even talking about her plans to request possession of Sombra's diary.
Or perhaps she was just baiting Amethyst without any further thoughts; it kind of depended on how she reacted.
Amy stared at her for a solid minute, then gave a single grunt and returned to her eating. Tourmaline motioned to Siddy to meet him in the hallway; Amy either didn't see or didn't care.
Stupid Amy. Obsidian made her way back to the hall; at the moment, Amy just really wasn't in the mood, apparently.
In the hallway, Tourmy brought her within whispering distance. "Look, whatever it is that Amethyst is up to, I'll try to figure it out; you have better things to do. Hopeully, by the time you get back home, I'll have answers for you... or, if nothing else, at least something more of what's going on with her."
He glanced back at the kitchen. "Let's just hope that whatever she's doing, it has nothing to do with Umbrals..."
"Perhaps she met a nice stallion somewhere, and they got a bit carried away? Who knows?" Obsidian snarked, slightly discouraged by Amy's behaviour.
It was maddening! Tourmy had a lot to lose from betraying them all, plus he'd found his own life and liked it; Diamond? He was far too nice and kindhearted to ever betray them (unless his kindness was just a way to hide his true intentions so he could slit their throats in their sleep)...
Amy, however? She had nothing to lose from plotting against Equestria... and/or against Obsidian, for that matter.
"I'll go up and wake up Cup. Good luck brother," she gave an exasperated sigh, "I have a feeling you'll need it."
Tourmy sighed, then headed back into the kitchen. "So, I guess you were busy last ni-"
"Drop. Dead."
Well, Tourmaline certainly had his work cut out for him, didn't he? At any rate, she made her way to the bedroom she shared with her fiancee (it WAS fun to say!), and found him snuggled up tightly to her pillow, with his muzzle buried in it as he softly snored on.
Okay, Obsidian might have to do something very, very naughty, here. One may have thought that she'd reached the depths of her sadism when she forced Amy to try to integrate into Modern Equestria, but it was going to be peanuts (Correct? Right?) compared to this scheme.
"Cuuuuup?" she lilted softly, "Oh, Cupcake Spriiiiiiiinklllllllles, it's time to wake uuuuuup..." she nudged him with her hoof and shook him gently.
Cup gave a soft groan, and lifted a leg to give a soft fart into the soft mattress. "... zzzzzzzz... but I don' wan' brussels sprouts, momma... zzzzzzz... I wan' da watermelon-flav'red bowling ball... zzzzzzzz..."
Strangely enough, it wasn't the weirdest thing she'd ever heard him say in his sleep.
She leaned down closer to him, and purred sweetly into his ear. "Cupcake, did I hear correctly? Is your marefriend... pregnant?" she grinned wickedly.
"... mhrrmrhrrrr?" He stirred, then slowly sat up until he was upright. Of course, his eyes were juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust barely open, and he looked at Obsidian dully.
"Dish soap bubble gum is nashty," he said in a mutter as he smacked his lips dully. Okay, she got at least some sort of reaction from him.
"Cuppy," she nuzzled him lightly and kissed his cheek... twice. She needed him in working condition, after all.
His neutral muzzle crinkled into a smile, and he returned the nuzzle. "Mmmmmmmmmmmm... I never get tired of waking up to you, Siddy," he said with a lazy grin as he gave a s-t-r-e-t-c-h, yawning as he did. When he finished, he scratched at his flank for a moment, then looked at her fully.
"Mornin', beautiful," he smiled, "feel like some breakfast yet?"
"Sorry - I already ate," Obsidian admitted, "I quickly made something in the kitchen and almost ran off to do all those important things, before I realized that it would be a better idea to take you with me!"
She then lowered her voice. "Princess Luna visits Ponyville today, and I really, really need to see her; I didn't talk with Ruby again tonight - something is STILL blocking her. It's serious, too - her mane and tail were in a terrible state, Cuppy!"
Hearing the worry in her voice, Cup rubbed his eyes and seemed to focus himself a bit more. "Oh, no... poor Ruby! You're right, we have to speak to Luna about this, right away! Okay, I'll get up and get myself ready - I shouldn't take but a few minutes. Go ahead and get ready to go, and I'll be down shortly."
Cup gave her a quick kiss, then got up and started to rummage about, getting himself ready for going out - good. Luckily, her fiancee understood gravity of the situation. Obsidian nodded, then went down to prepare her saddlebags - and to check and see if Tourmy was still alive.
Downstairs, she could hear talking in the kitchen as she approached:
"... fucking business!"
"It IS my business! You show up, beaten to Tartarus and back, and simply expect me to let it go-"
"YES! For fuck's sake, you little shit, am I not allowed to have my own life, like you clowns!?"
"You are - as soon as we have PROOF that you won't spend it like Onyx spent hers..."
"Oh, go fuck yourself with Gunther's dick!"
With that, Tourmy came striding out of the kitchen, and glowered at Obsidian in passing as he went to his own stairwell.
"That BITCH can ROT for ALL I CARE!" he growled as he made his way downstairs, slamming his door behind him.
Okay, apparently that wasn't the best idea - though he proposed it himself; Obsidian had trusted that her older brother was subtle enough to go through with it. Sadly, it seemed like it didn't work... and it also seemed that Amy knew about Gunther, but had kept that to herself... well, until now, anyway.
She carefully peeked into the kitchen; hopefully, Tourmy hadn't made things worse.
Amethyst was seated at the table, turned facing the wall; her muzzle was in profile, and as she sat there staring at the table below her, Obsidian could see tears tracking down her cheeks, falling into the plate of food beneath her as she quiety sat there.
Amy was... crying?
By Darkness... that mare was impossible to understand. Utterly impossible! Who would have thought that she was able to cry? And yet, here she was...
She stood up, dumped the half-eaten plate of food into the sink and made her way to her stairs, where she began to plod up them - one at a time, as if her limbs weighed as much as her heart seemed to.
"Amy?" Obsidian trotted closer - but not too close. "Amethyst, please, we... we're just worried about you. Really."
The mare stopped her upward progress. "Look. You have a life that's yours to do with as you please. So does the moron. Both of you are expected to make complete lives for yourselves, and to integrate into this society of 'Harmony'," she said the word as if it tasted like sulfur and charcoal, "while making all sorts of stupid friends and becoming oh-so-sweet-and-kind..."
She hadn't turned to look at her. "Me? Everyone expects me to be up to no good, executing some dastardly plan, murder a few citizens and end up getting either statued like father or being out-right KILLED to preserve the current order..."
Now, Amethyst turned to look at Obsidian over her flank. "... even you."
She turned away again, but when she reached the top of the stairs, she spoke over her shoulder. "This Ghastly Gorge thing... it had better be worth my time." Entering her attic space, she shut her door behind her.
Amy was hard to deal with, and it really didn't help that at least half of the time, Obsidian actually was worried about some kind of dastardly plan she could come up with... but the 'even you' part still hurt.
It also didn't help that the darkest thoughts Obsidian recently had were about using Dark Magic to dominate Amy completely and utterly - and Amethyst, at least a few times, had encouraged her to work more on her Dark Magic... which could end badly for her.
Unfortunately, there was nothing more to do here. What in Tartarus did that damnable mare like? Training, skulking around, a nice dresser... maybe she would enjoy dancing? On another hoof, Obsidian couldn't help but think about metal music being something her sister might enjoy.
Bah - if Amy was annoyed that they kept suspecting her of something, then perhaps she should communicate with them more often! Obsidian would be suspicious of anypony behaving in that creepy way, and Amy - let's be fair - was NOT your average pony!
There was nothing else she could do at the moment... unless she felt like shattering the doors and barging inside, planting Amy facedown on the floor with her magic and demanding her to stop being so fucking enigmatic!
She trudged back into the living room; hopefully Cup would get here quickly.
As she reached the wide hallway, Cupcake Sprinkles pranced downstairs, looking proud of his saddlebags and how well he'd combed his mane out. He continued the high-stepping gag until he saw Siddy's expression... when he came down the rest of the stairs normally, and made his way over to her with a questioning look.
"You okay?" he asked, "Because you look like someone just rankled your fur the wrong way..."
"Amy's being all mysterious again," Obsidian waved her hoof dissmissively. "You know, for a pony who complains we don't trust her, she never tries to explain what she's doing..."
She then trotted over closer to Cup, whispering safely into his ear, "This time, however, she was crying... so it's a bit more serious than usual."
Cupcake looked at her and mouthed the word 'crying?' with a stunned expression. He looked upstairs at where the unicorn mare had closed her door, then he gave Obsidian a seriously worried look.
"You know, Dad says depression is a REAL thing, and it can do all sorts of nasty things to you... even kill your sense of humor. He said it took Mom's hard work to get hm to laugh again, even though he thought he'd lost his laugh for good."
He pondered a moment, still staring at Amy's door. "Maybe she's just depressed, and it'll take someone doing something really special for her to get her out of it? Or maybe we 'll have to try to include her in more stuff we do? Either way, we could maybe do more to make her feel welcome..." he sighed, "because Dad also told me that there are some... dark things that can cross your mind, f you're depressed. REALLY dark things."
Obsidian tilted her head a bit... Dark things? "Like... using energy from the souls of pony slaves to destroy Equestria?" she tried to guess. That's surely what she would do, if in a very bad mood - but perhaps it really would take somepony special to help Amy.
Cupcake's words were so quiet, she almost didn't hear them: "Dark things like taking your own life."
He looked serious about that one, as if his father had basically told him he'd almost committed suicide during his depression... and the thought of just coming across Amethyst's corpse, killed by her own hoof, was sadder than even the sight of her crying.
In theory it would be a great thing to convince Diamond to give he a second chance - but that might take a LOT of doing to achieve that goal. Even if he could be convinced, there was just no way he wouldn't be too scared to make this 'second chance' look real.
"It would be rather diffcult to incude her more... especially as she always sems to be busy with something. I'd offer to do something she'd enjoy... but even after all this time, I still don't know what she likes," Obsidian shook her muzzle. She was just one pony, with lot of things on her poor head. "Let's go to Princess Luna... and perhaps your mother would know what happened to Amy last night."
He shrugged. "Well, maybe we could ask Tourmy or Diamond if they know what she likes, right? I mean, wouldn't they know? At least something?"
He followed her to the door, then out they went. As they began their trek to the castle, Cupcake seemed to ponder out more of his thoughts. "I mean, we know she likes sharp things... and jerky... and frilly dressers, I guess... and acting mean... and her dagger. I'd say we could give that back to her to see if it helps... or, er, maybe a replica?"
"I'm not so sure about that, Cup; I think it be more like salt in the wound," she mused. A replica of a thing from her past which made her much more dangerous and terrifying? Really, it would practically be mockery.
"Tourmy doesn't exactly idolize her, as you've noticed - and Diamond is terrified of her - you'll understand why as soon as you'll see the scar. Jerky... well, that's why I want to go with her on a field trip."
Cupcake looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "I... don't actually trust her, Siddy... but I trust you, and that means I have to trust that you know at least some of what you're doing with her. If not, well, it feels like you're on the right track. Maybe it WILL help? We'll just have to do what we can, I guess."
Reaching the palace, the guards recognized them and allowed them entrance. They soon found themselves in the main foyer, the other hallways around them leading to all points palace-wise.
"So, where're we headed?" Cup asked as he glanced around.
"Supposedly, Luna stays in a suite.... though sadly, I didn't learn which suite it was," Obsidian sighed, "but Diamond should be in the Rainbow Suite, so we can safely assume that Princess Luna is not there. Alternatively, we could just ask somepony if they've seen her."
Cupcake turned to her, a look of excitement in his eyes. "Orrrrrrrrrrrr... we could go see your brother and ask if he's seen her, couldn't we?" Cup was just eager to meet Mundy... but, then again, it wasn't a bad idea to ask if he'd possibly seen a royal blue alicorn passing by?
"Diamond most certainly is somepony, so it fits my idea - and perhaps she's in one of the suits closer to his room," Obsidian agreed. And if not, then at least they could meet with Gypsy.
"Diamond apparently likes orange juice," she sighed, "and I was so worked up about meeting the princess that I forgot to bring him any from home..."
Cupcake smiled, reached behind him, and brought out an entire sack of oranges. "Well, maybe he'd like to try making some himself? We can give him these!" He then smiled at Obsidian and, without further ado, began to merrily skip his way down the hallway, whistling a catchy tune as he did.
Well, that was her fiancee, for better or for worse. Obsidian could only stare in shock and disbelief; she really, truly should be used to it by now. Lucky her - getting used to it would make its novelty and magic disappear.
He skipped on for a bit until he slowly came to a stop, glancing up and down the hallway before turning to Siddy. "Uhh... where are we headed again? I was going to the Rarity Suite... because, well..." Because that's where he'd met Obsidian. "... because I memorized where it was, but I'm not sure where the others are..."
"That's fine - we're almost there," she smiled at him.
At the Rainbow Suite, the door was open, and voices floated out to greet her...
"{... and even Pancho thinks so!}"
"{Does he, now?}"
"{Oh, indeed! She was so kind to free him from the clutches of the toy store, and he is SO happy to be living with me now!}"
"{He does seem to enjoy your company... are you aware that my own sister once kept a phoenix as well?}"
"{REALLY? A real one?}"
"{Indeed; Philomena was a fine friend and companion to her for many years. Eventually, she left to begin her own family, but she still soars the skies of Silver Shores on occasion... with her children in tow.}"
"{Oh, that is a lovely story, Miss Luna!}"
Well, that solves that mystery. What a nice turn of events: instead of running around everywhere in the palace, looking for Princess Luna, BOOM - everypony she needed was already in one place. If Gypsy was there as well, then everycreature she needed would be there!
"His stuffed phoenix is named Pancho; try not to overdose from cuteness, Cuppy," Obsidian giggled as she happily trotted to the door of the Rainbow Suite. Cup just grinned; he was going to understand, soon enough.
When she opened the door, Diamond looked up and smiled broadly. "{Sister Obsidyan! How wonderful to see you again! I have been visited by an alicorn!}"
Luna gave a soft laugh. "Your brother is adorable, Obsidian; he acts so young, yet he is so very knowledgable! I dare say he knows more about healing magics than even I do!"
Gypsy, who was seated on the couch, wagged his tail as he saw her. "Greetings, Obsidian - your b-b-brother has been enj-j-joying his company today!"
Ah, so it was everycreature - wonderful! "{Good morning, brother...} Princess Luna..." she bowed shortly to her, "and Gypsy. It's good to see you all here... "
Two children of Sombra, a retired alicorn, a diamond dog speaking ancient Crystallian and a sugar-fueled unicorn; what a motley crew.
"{Gypsy, you didn't have the opportunity to meet my fiancee yesterday... Diamond, meet Cupcake Sprinkles!}" She introduced him as soon as she crossed the threshhold.
Cupcake stepped through and looked down at Diamond, who looked back at him with equal interest. They stared at each other for a moment, then they both leaned in close, coming almost snout to snout.
"I like your phoenix," Cup said, matter-of-factly.
"{You smell like sweet things!}" Diamond chirped.
Cupcake looked at Obsidian excitedly. "So, what'd he say? Does he like me?"
It was a far less earth-shattering first impression than Obsidian had thought it would be... in fact, she had been somewhat expecting a small apocalypse. The actual reaction was a bit underwhelming...
"He said you smell like sweets," she obediently translated for her coltfriend, looking with expectation at them. Aaaaaaaaany minute now...
Cup looked back at Diamond. Diamond looked at Cup. Their stares got intense...
Then, without warning, Diamond simply reached over and picked Cupcake up off the floor in a hug. "{Oh, Obsidyan, he is also a wonderful pony! SO MANY wonderful ponies I have met! He smells like The Sweet, and he likes Pancho! May he be my friend as well, please?}"
Luna gave a low chuckle. "I admit, he surprised me with the power of his hugs, as well... however, he means no harm."
Cupcake just started laughing. "WOW! He's got some muscles!"
When Mundy finally sat Cup down, the bigger stallion then held out the sack of oranges for him. "Siddy said you liked orange juice, so I thought I'd bring you some oranges! These are the fruits where OJ comes from!"
Diamond's eyes widened. "{Are... are these all for me?}"
"See, Cup? That's why I said he could possibly help out a lot at Sweet Apple Acres!" she beamed.
Cup smiled. "And how! He could get a LOT accomplished on a farm, I'll bet!"
"{And yes, Diamond - they are all yours. As you can see, Equestria is wonderful... Cupcake is wonderful... practically everything is wonderful...}" Except for Amy's depression... or Ruby's current state... or Jade's curse... or Amber's mind-controlling powers...
"{Diamond, what about your dungeon duty?}" she said as she realized that her small brother should be toiling under the harsh 'care' of Stonewall Peavine - not relaxing with Princess Luna in his room.
Diamond looked at her as she asked her question. "{Oh, I have already performed my duties for today; the Captain wanted to assign me further work, but Miss Luna came to visit, and she told him I was going with her. He looked so funny when she told him this!"}
Luna gave a light sigh. "Ah, yes... Captain Peavine. I could tell he was not amused at having his latest 'project' removed from his care for the time being, yet he knows better than to try to tangle with the likes of me."
"{Soooooooooooooooo woooooooooooooonderfulllllllllll!!!!!}" Diamond began to dance a small, quick waltz around the room. Naturally, Cupcake joined him, and the two were waltzing smoothly across the floor, laughing like twin loons.
Luna looked to Obsidian after getting an eyeful of the show in front of her. "Actually, you and I must speak on matters most important, regarding your other siblings... and the suspicions I have gathered. It might also be best to speak more privately, as well."
Obsidian peeked over at Diamond and Cup - they seemed to be having fun on their own, and would be fine for a bit. "Perhaps in another suite, then?" she said with a hint of resignation.
Suspicions... *siiiiiigh*... it sounded like a terrifying amount of work. Or danger. Or dangerous work. In any case, there would likely be threats of death and so on...
Well, with the help of her friends, nothing was impossible to solve or defeat... but still, she was becoming downright paranoid when it came to her siblings.
Luna looked to Gypsy, who nodded and motioned with his paw for them to leave; doubtless, he'd overheard them with his keen hearing. The diamond dog began to clap a three/four beat, and the two stallions (who looked ridiculous holding each others' hooves like that) continued the dance, both of them giggling like schoolfillies as they did.
Luna led the way to the room next door; another suite, but this one unnamed and bare of furniture, save for a single chair and a candleholder.
"Obsidian, I'm afraid I have rather disturbing news..." Oh, that couldn't be good.
"I have used the past few nights to venture into your dreams, to see if there was something that could be done from within your own mind to defend you against control. It was there that I encountered an entity most powerful, and fought with it to ensure your mind remained your own."
She looked at Siddy, and for a moment, the look she wore spoke every single second of her long and weary life. It was almost as if the youthful appearance she wore had... faded from view for a moment... and beneath, the mare Obsidian saw was so very tired and worn, not to mention somewhat jaded and even a bit bitter from all her years of life.
Then, with a shake of her pretty head, Luna was what she appeared to be again... albeit, some of her inherent invincibility was diminished, in the wake of what Siddy had witnessed just now.
"The second night was the same, with my fight being difficult and prolonged until you woke in the morning from your slumber. But after that night, I realized what I was fighting was not coming at you through your dreams... but through YOU, directly. Obsidian... the call was coming through your very soul."
The alicorn began to pace as she spoke. "I put much time into the venture when I awoke, finding what I could on such connections in the past. From what I have learned, it is becoming apparent to me that your sibling Amber has some form of connection to you that surpasses magic... and stopping your dreams is the best way to blind it..."
Luna then looked at her gravely. "But I cannot stop it."
By Darkness - nothing that starts with 'disturbing news' could be good. Obsidian kind of expected bad news, but if an ancient alicorn calls something 'disturbing', then it was obvious that the situation was exceedingly serious.
A most powerful entity that an alicorn princess had to fight just to ensure that her mind would stay her own... coming directly through her soul... with Amber abusing this connection with her... and Luna unable to stop her in her dreams.
Perhaps the idea of turning Amber's shard into gravel wasn't as bad as Obsidian initally thought; it would make her list of dead siblings longer, of course... but it was in self-defense, as well as the defense of poor Ruby. And of course, it was Amber's fault.
"So... we might have to free Amber to stop her personally?" she tried to guess at the best way to deal with this.
Luna closed her eyes. "May the seas boil before we have to resort to that; there is no telling how powerful she would be, should she ever regain a mobile body. Pray we never have to resort to such a dire solution."
She looked up again, and resumed her pacing. "Last night, there was another development... two, in fact. The first was that, when I came to defend your mind again... I found no need to; the presence never showed, not even once. I wandered some of your dreamscapes, but I found no trace of anyone there. Some interesting scenes," she gave Obsidian the smallest of smirks, "yet no sign of Amber's hungry, slithering magical signature. That worries me, as it leaves me to wonder where her presence currently IS, if it is not here."
It made sense, in a way; Amy's disheveled appearance, combined with Amber's lack of presence, worried her. Siddy hoped beyond hope that it was merely a coincidence; if Amber was taking Amy's mind over to do underhooved things on the sly...
"I made sure to scour your own mind to make certain it was no trap or ruse... which is where I have come across the second discovery I made." Luna leveled her stare right into Obsidian's soul... and Siddy could tell the alicorn mare was almost afraid. "You exist, of course... and Ruby does as well, within you. Yet, even with this knowledge..."
She visibly gave the slightest of shudders. "... I do not believe the two of you... are alone."
By Darkness...
"An extra presence within my mind... could it be Onyx?" she whispered, almost too afraid to say it aloud. Why didn't Ruby say anything? Obsidian had been asking her about their late sister, after all - was it that hard to tell her 'your brain has just been turned into a hotel'? Just how much had that damnable mare planned, or how much luck did she have?
And why was it that every sibling of Obsidian's seemed to have cool powers that allowed them to practically attempt a world conquest by themselves... while she had to accomplish everything the normal way?
"Third? Obsidian, I sensed at least FIVE." Luna whispered. "Yourself, Ruby... and three other, distinct minds within - one of them being very powerful."
Obsidian could only stare back at her in shock.
Luna sighed. "I could not identify them, as I have only met yourself and Diamond before; they are unknown to me, yet even as I cannot know them, I can feel them... and each of them is part of what was ultimately assisting me in defending you from Amber's attacks. I do not know if they are there to assist you completely, or if they have more sinister purposes... but I believe that your soul houses other entities within you, aside from yourself and your sister. Further, I believe that Amber no longer seems to have any interest in you... which would behoove you to investigate your other stray brethren as soon as possible."
Luna looked at her very seriously. "Because I doubt they have the same caliber of defenses that you currently possess."
Obsidian rubbed her temple nervously for a quite long time - to say that her hoof was shaking would be an understatement.
"Okay, let's try to figure this out... Ruby died in my presence, as well as Onyx. Peridot was technically dead when I destroyed the curse that pinned his spirit to this world, but perhaps he survived this way, too. Of course, there's possibly my father, but he was first stripped of magic and then turned into stone... quite a shame, but at least it stopped him from trying to possess our bodies."
They were assisting Princess Luna with her mental defense? Somehow, that made the entire situation even scarier, in a way.
"There's also the case of the mysterious disappearance of Radiant Hope. Perhaps she's somewhere in there as well..." Five minds in one body, and only one was in control the whole operation - how very annoying.
"Princess... did you notice anything strange when you visited my dreams for the first time? Was I alone then?" If that presence was already there, then perhaps it was long-lost Hope. "And I've glimpsed Ruby during these last few nights, but only for a moment - she looks worse with each passing dream, and gets more and more desperate to say something. Each time, my dream is cut short before she's able to. Is there anything, now that you're here personally, that you and I could do to talk with her again?"
Luna looked at her solemnly. "I am... afraid to consider what may happen, should I remove the Dream Barrier now, yet I wish to help poor Ruby. And I shall not deny that yours is a situation that I do not envy... yet, to be sure, I shall still assist you in this endeavor. Tonight, I shall lift the veil that prevents you from dreaming, and I shall be there personally to ensure nothing happens to you through Amber's direct influence. If she does not show, then I would make haste to your siblings to check on them, as they would be likely targets."
"I shall not interfere with your dreams, so that you may experience Ruby in peace... yet know that I am watching over you, and you will have nothing to fear." Even Luna sounded as if she were trying to convince herself of the last part. "And, to help in these matters, I have managed to convince my sister to allow me to place an enchantment upon one of your friends that will help us communicate more directly. To this end, I will require Gypsy's assistance, but we can get to this in a moment."
She leaned forward, concern writ large on her lovely muzzle. "Are you... will you be okay?"
Obsidian didn't feel okay, and doubted she would ever really be okay... at least until she found out which family members were there in her brain - and until she could stop Amber, of course. The fact that Gypsy could help them with sending messages was very reassuring, but the main problem was still present. Plus, there was also Opal, who was probably trying to invade Equestria with some Dark-Magic-Powered robots or something. No rest for the wicked, eh?
"I can only hope so, princess... however, perhaps it would be a good idea to try sleeping right now? I'm sure I could find some sleeping pills and try to communicate with Ruby while Amber is not targeting me." She really had to find out what Amy was doing... IF it was Amethyst at all.
Luna looked at her. "Seriously? If the plight is that dire, then come and curl up here on the floor; I shall tend to thee-... er, I mean, I can induce sleep magically, if need be."
"Her tail and mane were ruined... which, in Ruby's case, is a sign that something is very wrong. Besides, she seemed to have something to tell me - it could help us in the fight against Amber, or possibly help identify these other minds that are buried within me," she explained quickly.
Luna nodded, then waited for Obsidian to get situated on the floor. Once she was ready, she ight have looked up to say something more, but Luna's horn and eyes flashed at that moment.
"SLEEP..."
~>-<~
Ruby looked over at where Obsidian was standing, and when it registered who she was, the mare began running at her.
"No! NO! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME HERE AGAIN! PLEEEEEASE!"
She reached Siddy, and almost bowled her over as she tacklehugged her and began to cry in great, heaving sobs. "Oh SIDDY! You're HERE! You're really really really here! Oh I missed you! I'm sorry! I'll do better from now on, I promise! I PROMISE! Oh, please don't leave me alone like that again, oh SIH-HI-HI-HI-DEEEEEEE..."
She was shaking like a flag in a windstorm as she clung to Obsidian's barrel, nuzzling her chest as she sobbed heartbreakingly. The poor thing looked like she hadn't bathed or eaten in days.
By Darkness, it felt so good to once again talk with Ruby! To see her... to hold her. Obsidian hugged her right back - though the better word would be 'clutched', as she grabbed her and held on as if she wouldn't ever let her go.
"Ruby! Ruby Ruby Ruby, I missed you so much! Soooooo much!" She then started to cry as well, pulling her sister closer to her...
Wow, she was really getting emotional lately, eh?
It took a few minutes straight of sobbing from both of them before it finally tapered off enough for the mare to regain some control over herself; she still kept hugging Obsidian, but now she was making sounds that approached conversation-type words.
"I thought... th-thought I'd messed up, somehow... that I'd said... or d-d-done the wrong thing... and you got angry with me, and you wouldn't... wouldn't..." Her muzzle began to crack again, but she maintained control at the last moment, fighting off tears to stay talking with her sister. "... but you're here, which m-means I probably didn't mess up, and it's been something else, right? Something else going on outside of all this, right?"
This teary-eyed reunion was hardly proper compensation for the loss of the last few days, when Obsidian was unable to talk with Ruby - but it was fine enough for now. Damnation; perhaps she wouldn't have been hit so hard by this moment if she hadn't been so scared for her sister's very existence! Unfortunately, the mere fact that Amber was skulking around somewhere mentally, plotting dark things and nasty surprises, was enough to make Obsidian triply-worried.
"Ruby, my lovely, wonderful sister... do keep in mind, if I'm able to withstand Amy's attitude when she's in her typical foul mood, I can't imagine anything that could make me that angry at you!" Obsidian kissed her sister's forehead - that poor, sweet forehead, barely protected by an unkempt and lanky mane.
"But... yes, Ruby - plenty of things are going on outside of this, I'm afraid. Our sister... you know which one... has breached my dreams, and her invasive presence utterly terrified me; I asked Princess Luna to block my dreams for a few nights, so I could find some counter-measures... but things got even more serious, and I've been unable to contact you or her. I've only managed to meet you again tonight because Princess Luna herself visited Ponyville personally - and I felt I had to rush to see you, as soon as I saw the state you were in!"
Ruby squeezed Obsidian in her embrace. "I'm so so so so SO glad you did - I feel like I've been dying in here without you!" As she spoke, Obsidian could already see a bit of color returning to Ruby's pale cheeks, her mane and tail beginning to regain a bit of their former body.
"Oh, Obsidian - when is the world gonna ever get tired of messing with you, huh? Why can't my favorite sister just have a few days off to enjoy life, learn to love and grow, and have tea parties with me? Is that too much to ask, Fate?"
She then gave an attempt at a light and snarky laugh; it sounded far weaker than Ruby had ever sounded before, and it made Siddy's spine shiver. But she was certainly starting to show signs of recouperation already, thank Harmony; Obsidian wasn't going to let her go until she was completely back to her old self again.
"But wait, what do you mean, 'things got even more serious'? Are you okay? What else could be going on?" Ruby looked highly concerned.
"How should I put this," Siddy sighed, "our sister is apparently strong enough to put up a decent fight with Princess Luna for my mind. While she was there, the princess also found not one, not two, but three additional minds inside me - not counting myself and you." Well, that was brutally brief.
"... but, ah... on the bright side, I no longer have a coltfriend - I have a fiancee now." She grinned sheepishly.
"Amber is fighting off alicorns? Oh, that's not good - not good at all... a-and there's three others in here with me? Why haven't I seen them by now? Oh, Siddy, if I'm not alone in here, that could mean some-..."
She suddenly jerked back and stared at Obsidian. "YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!?"
There was a burst of light from the tip of Ruby's horn, and just like that, she was her beautiful old self again, her eyes wide with shock and awe, a huge smile on her muzzle. She laughed loud and hard, just like Siddy remembered, and hugged her tightly.
"Oh, Siddy! Cupcake? That's wonderful! Oh, I'm so happy for you! Oh my gosh, this is incredible news! My favorite sister is getting married to the stallion of her dreams! Oh Obsidian, congratulations!"
Now THAT was much, much better... but Obsidian still wan't going to let her go; she had a debt of three nights worth of hugs to make up for. "Yes Ruby, Cupcake! We've got matching engagement necklaces and everything! And you look much better now, sis - your mane and tail are perfect again," Obsidian smiled at her.
"But now that you feel better, we should get down to business. I was hoping if you could tell me what it could mean, that there are three other minds present? I'm wondering about a few guesses... Onyx? Peridot? Applejack? Radiant Hope? Maybe, somehow, Sapphire? I've seen Onyx once before, after everything that happened; you were sitting next to her in some sort of spirit form after Thunderclap made her Sonic Rainboom."
Ruby looked at herself, smiled softly, then turned her eyes to Obsidian and nodded. "Well, uhhhh... all I know is the little area around me, where we always meet; I haven't seen or heard from anyone else in here. Maybe they each have their own separate little places too, and you have to find them yourself? It's your mind, after all; I might get lost."
"That would make sense, but there's one small problem... I'm... not exactly certain how I found you; you just started to appear in my dreams," Obsidian pointed out.
"Maybe... maybe you'd have to... I mean... I don't know! How would YOU hide, if you were in someone else's head?" Ruby sounded exasperated, yet she still hadn't quite let go of Siddy, either. "Maybe you have to actively look for them? Like, the way the items in the Nightmare Spell were, where you'd have to seek out each one separately? Of course, where would you even start?"
Probably at a pharmacy, buying something potent to abolish the headache she was forming after learning she had three unknown (and possibly unwanted) guests in her head.
"So assuming that I was right about Onyx and Peridot, I might have to look for their diaries, perhaps fall asleep while thinking deeply about them, and do so only in Princess Luna's presence - because, let's be honest, meeting with those two probably wouldn't end with a tea party."
It still left an issue of the third guest - but, considering that all three of them were helping Luna, perhaps other two would know her/him.
Ruby sat back, regarding Obsidian solemnly for a moment. "Well, if that's the case, then I guess we should be getting to it, shouldn't we?"
She stood up, finally letting Obsidian go and helping her to her hooves as well. "Okay, if I can help, I will... but chances are, it's gonna be all you. But if you can come back freely now, I can always see you tonight, right?" She could tell Ruby was still a bit skittish about the idea, but she was being brave for Siddy; it was the properly sisterly thing to do, after all.
"Probably... but I have to find out what to do about Amber; if she's that dangerous as a shard, then who knows what she would be able to do after regaining her freedom?" Obsidian sighed deeply. "Even alicorns seem to be afraid of her, and brother Tourmy was terrified when he heard the news about her and Jade. I'd hoped she would be less dangerous under our watch... but it seems that it didn't quite work out as I intended."
Ruby sighed. "Amber... is a hoofful." She stepped back from Obsidian, her beautiful mane and tail looking as elegant as ever. "Father doted - if you could call his actions doting - on Amber and Amethyst for quite some time. Between the slave helmets and the mind control, it was like they were the key to his takeover... even though Peridot said the likelihood of their success alone was abysmally low. He always seemed to be more involved with them than he was with most of us."
"Amethyst just fought her way through it, but Amber was almost obsessed with the idea of keeping father happy; she did anything and everything she could to gain even the smallest favor with him, including informing him when we... did things other than how he wanted them done. I think SHE was the one who blew the whistle on Jade, honestly."
"But because of it, she was INTENSE about her training, and she was constantly practising on whomever she could; slaves, workers, US... and she was GOOD at what she did, because she not only wanted to please father... but she enjoyed it."
Ruby shook her head sadly. "Amber loves being cruel, and never misses an opportunity to do so. If she got her magic control on you... oh, Siddy, I'm afraid of what she might do to you!" Then she gave a nervous gulp. "Or what she would do with you."
"Is it possible to physically destroy a shard?" Peridot was dangerous, but sick - and Obsidian was forced to destroy him for good. Amber, however, didn't even have the excuse of mental sickness - just brainwashing. While the Grey Princess didn't like the idea of killing ANY of her siblings, she had to know - juuuuust in case...
Ruby blinked. "I... I don't know. I mean, it would make sense that it could happen, I suppose... but... are you really considering going that route?" She shuddered. "Siddy, yikes, that's pretty damned extreme, don't you think? I mean, yeah Amber's a problem, but... are we really considering this alternative?"
"Yes," Obsidian said emphatically, "I prefer to know how to kill her and not use that knowledge, than to not know; I already had to finish Peridot because I couldn't find any other alternatives." Considering that everypony seemed terrified of Amber, and the cruel nature of mind control, it would be better to know how to end her for good, even if she was family. "Besides, considering your own presence here - as well as Onyx's and probably Peridot's as well - our family is actually rather terrible when it comes to dying."
Ruby shook herself, but didn't argue any further. "Well... if they're even here, I guess it would be some incentive to find them, right? I mean, it's not like there's signs to follow or anything..."
Ruby had a point; the entire area they were standing in was pretty much a hilltop near Ponyville, with a great view of the town. Fireworks would be beautiful from here...
"Plus, it's super creepy that I haven't been alone this whole time," Ruby worried.
"I know how you feel, sister - I consider it super creepy as well that I have unknown guests in my brain." Obsidian had to agree with her - at least she had a nice landscape in mind. This view was breathtaking... but Obsidian had a nasty feeling that she might have to travel to less pleasant places.
She had no idea where she should look for Peridot - at least not in Ponyville - but Onyx, of all ponies, should be easier to reach... unfortunately. "Now, let's see what's in the school library in this dreamy Ponyville, shall we?"
Ruby looked at her, then nodded as understanding hit home. "So, we're taking a tour of the old haunts? Well, I guess it could be worse... and yeah, Onyx spent a LOT of time in there, so it'd make sense to check it first. Okay, then!" With that, the two of them began walking down the hill, headed for town.
Ponyville looked... strange. There were no ponies on the streets, none hanging out of windows, no one passing on the sidewalk. When Obsidian had first arrived here, she would have LOVED to have experienced Ponyville without the ponies... but now, it felt lonely and a bit creepy, how the usually bustling little village was as quiet and solemn as a grave.
They reached the Friendship Academy, and headed inside to seek out the library.
"So, uh..." Ruby asked hesitantly, "if we DO find her here, what are we gonna do about her?"
"Erm... hug her and tell her it's nice to see her again?" Obsidian suggested uneasily.
She would love to have spoken with Peridot first - he seemed to accept her, and in a way even like her. It was a real shame they tried to kill each other (and that she succeeded), but hey - no hard feelings, right? Onyx, however, was something completely different; it didn't help that Obsidian was well aware that she was somewhat naive, and Onyx was a skilled manipulator.
"The last time I saw her, she was sitting next to you with a grumpy expression. The mysterious presence detected by Luna was helping her fend off Amber, too; perhaps it won't be... that bad?" Ah, these words were practically inviting disaster! The creepy, silent Ponyville around them wasn't helping in the slightest, either.
Ruby looked at her. "Riiiiiiight... I keep forgetting you never really spent that much time with her."
She began to glance about as she spoke, seeking who-knew-what as she did. "Onyx... is weird. She always had nothing but disdain for us, but she still seemed to have issues with plans that would have killed us outright. She was always harrassing us, but she kept up with our successes and failures. She never told any of us that she cared for us, but I remember many a time where she would speak to father on our behalf; kept some horrible punishments from being doled out, during my time."
Ruby then sighed. "Honestly? I have no idea how that mare's mind works - only that it works like a steel trap, and stuff you and I might think is a coincidence is nothing but another plot in place to her. I'm half-tempted not to believe anything she says, as it might be a setup for something even WORSE."
So Onyx was a skilled manipulator with some more positive feelings being visible through a hard shell of father's brainwashing, personal anger issues and some complexes that led her to believe that, apparently, bringing King Sombra back to life was a great idea. Obsidian was fairly certain that Onyx cared about her siblings - at least those around her, as her treatment of her younger sister was a bit rough.
"If only we could have Peridot with us... he would accurately calculate the chances of this whole situation being yet another trap by Onyx," Obsidian mused under her breath. "Apparently, from what you're telling me, she cared about all of you - in a rather wicked and difficult-to-understand way, but still. She could be truly great - if only she wouldn't waste her time trying to bring back that one, specific pony whose resurrection killed her. A shame, really; our entire family could be lauded as the greatest heroes in all of Equus, but instead..." Siddy shook her head slowly.
Ruby sighed. "If only saying something made it true, right?"
The library was as empty as the rest of the town; the stacks felt even more ominous and looming, without even so much as a bird's chirp from outside. Nothing but smooth, cold quiet. "Siddy... I have a bad feeling abou-..."
Suddenly, the color scheme shifted; the room now had a distinct purplish tone to much of the surroundings. Nothing had so much as changed, as the ambient light that filled the place seemed to now have the lightest of purple tints to it. What was more, Ruby simply vanished from view; she was as alone as-
"I'll take it this isn't a trip to return that book you borrowed, is it?"
And there she was... in her librarian guise, no less. Standing behind the counter, busily stamping books, was Onyx herself. The Miss Tome look still fit her well, and took a lot of the sting out of seeing her again.
"I knew that, eventually, you'd figure out that you weren't as alone as you thought," she went on, "but I have to admit, I expected you a few days ago. You're falling behind schedule, Obsidian, and I don't like it."
Of course Ruby had bad feelings about this - Obsidian had those too, and for very good reasons. But lo, it was a time for a touching family reunion with the mare that tried to torture and imprison her, kill her, and murder her friends as well. The fact that she was serving a mad king and eventually died in a gruesome fashion was good enough to warrant the suspicion, though.
"My apologies, sister - I've been a busy mare," Obsidian admitted, trotting closer with her eyes focused on the guise of Onyx. So she was here - the entire time? How much did she know? How much she was able to do? "but, I have to ask - why did you keep to this form? It's just you and I here, after all."
'Miss Tome' gave her a withering glance. "Oh yes, because you have so many better memories of my true form, don't you? It was mere whimsy that I thought it would be fun to show up like this," she snarked, stamping a book with an extra hard stamp. "And we may be alone here, but that hardly means we're completely alone. Other things are at stake, and I don't have much time for dawdling, Obsidian. I suppose you've come all this way to ask questions, haven't you?"
Well, now that she put it that way, taking a guise of a nice, kind librarian made sense.
Onyx then put on a little grin. "Well, ask away - after all, it's not like I don't know what's going on. Just understand that I still have plans at play, and I won't reveal them to you... but I'm more than happy to derail any other plans you may have stumbled across." Knowingly, she looked at Obsidian. "For instance, whatever it is that Amber is up to seems to have you rather upset."
"You know... you're right; if I'll want some small-talk, I can always return after dealing with this current crisis - assuming I don't die," Obsidian mused. "Fine, sister - how can I stop Amber? I've seen that even you were unnerved by her, and if only I could face her without any fear of being mind controlled, I could simply lock away her magic, either with a spell or with a ring. However, at the moment, it's not exactly possible..."
"First of all, if it were that easy to ward off mind control, then it would be the most useless ability in all of existence; there's a reason it's such a feared ability, you know," Onyx said as she adjusted her glasses, "but as far as Amber goes, you won't be looking at zombie-minds or the like... Amber enjoys messing with minds under her control, steering them into doing things NOT because they were 'ordered' to, but because they reached the 'logical' conclusion by themselves."
"For example," she went on, still stamping books as she did, "if Amber were to take control of a mother and her child, she wouldn't force the mother to kill the child flippantly - that's too easy for her. Instead, she would make the child see the mother as a playground playset, where he would start climbing on her... and then, Amber would make the mother see the child as a venomous snake, trying to bite her as it held onto her, and once the 'snake' was dead, she'd lift the veil from the mother's eyes... and laugh while the heartbroken mare sobbed and wailed, knowing she'd killed her child."
She stopped stamping, and looked Obsidian dead in the eyes. "Amber loves inflicting agony, be it physical, mental or spiritual... never forget that."
She then began to ponder for a moment. "Well, I can't say I know any surefire way to stop Amber, but I'm fairly certain she could be slowed down... if, that is, you'd be willing to sacrifice a playing piece to the game for the chance?"
Of course it wasn't that easy. And of course Amber was enjoying playing with her victims - granted, if Obsidian was a sadistic bitch with mind control powers she probably would have loved doing those things too. Luckily for Equestria, she wasn't.
"I don't like the idea of sacrificing anycreature... but I'll hear your idea. What is it?" Maybe Peridot would have some better ideas - assuming that he was there and that Obsidian would have the time to meet with him.
Onyx gave a light grin. "Well, I could certainly put up enough of a magical smokescreen to ensure she can't locate you for a while, but i'd need a body to do that. Preferably a unicorn - but an alicorn would work just as nicely, I'm certain."
She looked at Obsidian. "Find me a volunteer, and we can shunt my soul into their body, allowing me to do what must be done to stave off Amber's attacks. It'd be easy for me to do, having known her for such a long time, and you'd be free for... about four days, before I'd wager my energy would be used up."
She went back to stamping idly. "Of course, that's just my idea; I'm sure there are other, more time-wasteful ideas you could try... if you have enough time to search, that is." Her smile was slightly smug as she continued stamping books.
Onyx in a unicorn body? Or, Darkness forbid, in an alicorn body? Obsidian could only glare at her for a moment, unsure if she heard her correctly. Oh, it would work well, she was certain - but she had no idea if Onyx would return said body in good shape. "And what about after those four days? Would you return here?"
Onyx gave a slight chuckle. "No, dear sister, I would not. I'd most likely demand to stay inside the shell I was put in, and might even make a run for parts unknown with it. I HATE being stuck in here, and I'd probably lie through my teeth to stay in a body. That is why I'd ask for a sacrifice to this game we're playing; because it would only be proper that I would earn the rights to a body, in exchange for keeping Amber off your tail. It would be the only proper payment for such a task..."
She sighed again. "But, I suppose that would be a small price to pay, in the face of what Amber could do if she took over, oh let's say Stalwart Stance, for instance. You remember 'Wart', don't you? The one I was going to make into a vest?"
She smiled as she continued stamping. "I'd daresay she would make the little greasestain crazy, making her see threats to Equestria at every turn, and even making her believe they've all become vile changelings, intent on taking over. Of course, little Wart would fight her very hardest to rid Equestria of every last one... and then, Amber would drop the veil, and your precious little friend would probably kill herself in shame and remorse."
"And that's just ONE example..." Onyx said ominously.
Yes, just one example... and Obsidian held no doubts that Amber could get creative with all of them. However, it absolutely did NOT mean that Obsidian was just going to sacrifice some poor bastard to Onyx. Even Stonewall. Probably.
"Do you happen to know how father created our bodies? Could it be possible to put everyone in my head into new ones, one day?" It probably wasn't that easy, but with the knowledge about those Umbral Altars, there were a lot of possibilities. She had to discover their whereabouts, though.
Onyx looked at her for a moment, as if trying to decide whether or not she was making a joke... then, she closed her eyes and put her stamp down. "Obsidian, only TWO individuals know the details as to how we were created; one vanished from the face of Equus, and the other is locked in stone. No spells exist in any of my archives that even come close to duplicating that spell."
She then looked up. "However, we aren't trying to create a new shard, are we? We're merely trying to RE-body an old one... so it should be feasibly possible to accomplish, I'd think. At least, in theory." She picked up a different stamp, and set back to work again. "A NEW body for an OLD creation... it might work, at that. But there's no precedent, so you would be flying completely blind in doing so. But, all things considered, you seem to have a knack for getting out of trouble... so I would say the possibility isn't off the table."
"More to the point, you'd have to go through the trouble of creating a shard that would be capable of housing a soul... then it would be a matter of shunting said soul into the crystal, before waking them up to inhabit said form." Onyx looked at Obsidian carefully. "I take it this is more about getting Ruby out of here than getting me out, isn't it?"
"I've started to think about the possibility with both of you in mind, actually," Obsidian corrected her. "There are also apparently two more minds hidden inside me, though; I think they would be interested as well... by the way, would you happen to know who they are?" she asked so carefreely that it was obvious she'd been waiting for some time on a good opportunity to ask.
Onyx gave a cryptic smile. "Oh, there's no doubt that Peridot is in here with us as well," she said, "and he's probably got his own little world, just like each of us do. But further than that, I couldn't say; I know of his and Ruby's existence, yet she didn't know I was here as well. Maybe he knows, maybe he doesn't... but either way, you won't find any of us speaking together - we're sectioned off for a reason, Obsidian."
She stamped another book, then lightly set the stamper down. "Because if we mixed inside your skull... we might not be able to properly separate again. You'd have the potential for getting a conglomerate of Ruby, Peridot and myself - a mix that I'm certain just bring you the best possible thoughts."
Ruby's looks. Peridot's brain. Onyx's power. They would be united in a way no other family ever was; no backstabbing, no plotting, no trying to usurp anypony. A single, united, perfect spawn of King Sombra! Granted, it would require destroying their unique souls and so on, so it was out of question anyway - at least as long as she wanted to be a good, moral mare.
"But IF I were to guess where he might be in his own world, well... if you think about it, you'd be able to figure it out as well, I believe. Where was he known to spend much of his time?" Onyx finished with a raised eyebrow.
"In his Libratorium, of course. I'm sure that, with his brain, he's already figured the identity of my last guest," Obsidian smiled at her. "I'll go there as soon as possible. Thank you for your help, sister... now, last question - it's just a theoretical musing, worry not. How did all of you end up here? If I went into a wild frenzy and murdered Amy and Tourmy, would they join the rest of you as well?" she asked with interest.
Onyx looked at her for a long minute... then, strangely, her eyes got soft, and she spoke with a quiet voice.
"Obsidian... you have enough space within you to hold every soul in Equestria, if you so chose. Your reserves are limited only by what magics you fill them with, and the space we occupy is the smallest corner of the universe, in comparison. I believe we ended up here because we're not actually REAL souls; we were created to ACT as them, but we're only manufactured entities. There IS no 'afterlife' for us... except, apparently, living on within you. Literally."
She picked up another stamp, and began on a new stack of books. "And I highly suspect that, were any more of our family line to be extinguished, they would end up in here as well, yes. Perhaps you're a safety net, allowing for us to stay alive in a manner of speaking, instead of merely fading away..."
Stamping another book, she glanced around the library. "... though stading here and stamping an infinite number of books is hardly what I'd call a decent afterlife, for the record."
What? What did Onyx just say? It took Obsidian some time to digest this... EVERY soul in Equestria? Inside her? Was it some kind of power she had? She was a damned safety net for artificial souls crafted by her father!
It was... big. And it explained fairly well why Peridot ended up here, too. Was it her own 'personal' trait, just as Amber was able to control minds or as Ruby was able to teleport so easily?
Her face expressed sheer terror at first, but it slowly gave way to a more contemplative look. "That's... fascinating... and as soon as I find out more about creating fresh bodies for the souls harbored inside me... I could... I could..."
It would be glorious; if she could learn how to do the same for other souls as well? Why, she could end death. Forever.
Onyx made no movement towards Obsidian, and fixed her with a single-eyed stare. "Yes, yes... you'd have the opportunity to bring back your entire family, and hopefully allow them to live lives of peace and harmony and blah blah blah, I can see that as well. And it would not be an ignoble goal, I'll admit..."
"Thank you for this discussion, sister, I'll be leaving soon - I want to meet with Peridot before waking up, and hopefully find out the identity of this last mind inside me. So, since we have a moment more... care for a hug?" Obsidian offered happily.
Onyx sighed, then returned to stamping the books. "I'll tell you what; the day you finally manage to prove to me that you're worth my time, and that I'd be better off WITH you than WITHOUT you? I'll hug you then, and not a moment sooner - until that day, hooves off."
She then gave the lightest of smiles. "But do tell Peri I said hello, would you?"
"Well, I can either bring you back or let you stamp books for the rest of my life - the choice is easy," Obsidian shrugged slightly, but returned the smile. "I'll do that - see you later, dear sister of mine."
She turned away to leave the library, but as she was leaving, Onyx said one more thing behind her. "Oh, and Obsidian? Do you recall that Ruby stored away part of her soul inside a hoof mirror? I promise you, she knows more than even she realizes..."
With that, the coloring shifted again, and this time the world around her took on a greenish tint, and when she stepped outside...
She was back in the Crystal Empire... but it wasn't modern at all.
The air held a heavy pang of sweat and sulfur, and the buildings around her were FAR older than they had any right to be. Everywhere she looked, she saw her father's banner blowing in the breeze, and not a single parlor or restaurant existed. Obsidian was home, at long last, in a world she knew all too well.
The Delvar Libratorium stood where it always had, but it didn't look like a fashionable library, or a hangout spot for the geek elite; it looked more like a fortress, and there were all sorts of warnings about staying out unless cleared by Lord King Sombra himself. However, as Ponyville had been, the entire place was bereft of even a single sign of life.
No guards, no slaves, no one. It made the creepy and disconcerting surroundings even moreso.
Onyx's final words made Obsidian stop for a moment. Hoof mirror... she was certain that part of Ruby's soul vanished after using up all her energy to fight Onyx. Was it still around, perhaps? And how exactly did Ruby manage to do it?
To be fair, Obsidian half-expected to meet Ruby outside of the library. The fact that she went straight into the ancient Crystal Empire confused and annoyed her - and, obviously, scared her a bit.
Ah, but home, sweet home - banners everywhere, the stench of Dark Magic and fear in the air, no sign of anything cheerful in the sight.
Shouldering something between a sigh and a shudder, she carried on, going straight for the Libratorium. Apparently her brother didn't even have to put his spirit into some cursed notebook to survive - he could have simply fallen into Obsidian's mind and waited.
The Libratorium was as silent as a tomb as she entered it. It was FAR more impressive than it had been when she saw it in modern-day Equestria; there were at least five times as many books as there had been, and many of them looked to be hundreds of years old! A far, far cry from the small, reserved shelving she'd seen back in the real world.
At a table in the central rotunda, she found a stallion seated. He had a small stack of books next to him, and one open on the table... but he wasn't reading it. He was looking up at Obsidian... and smiling.
"Obsidian... thank you for killing me; this place is perfect."
To be fair, that was the last thing she had ever expected to hear from anypony. Peridot was pretty unique, wasn't he? Obsidian carefully, out of sheer curiosity, looked over the books to check their content; were they made with her memories? Or perhaps with Peridot's knowledge? What was the nature of this place?
"I'm glad to see you're so pleased with your afterlife." What else was she supposed to say? 'The pleasure is all mine'? "Sister Onyx says 'hello', by the way... I assume, by your statement, that you wouldn't have much interest in being resurrected, then?"
"I am happy with all of this... it's what I wanted in the first place; no one else alive, as far as I can behold, to fill my head with their thoughts. No one to disturb my studies. No one to bother me. It's as if the horrible grinding in my brain that I've had to endure for so long is just... gone."
Peridot rose from his seat and stepped over to meet her. "Obsidian, without other minds to produce their mental static, I'm finally at peace; with myself, with others, with the world. I can finally think straight, and it's so much of a relief, to not have everyone's thoughts clouding your mind..."
He then leaned in and hugged her tightly. "Even your presence here is fully and completely welcome, because I cannot feel your thoughts anymore - I hear no one's thoughts anymore! My mind, after all this time, is finally my own... and I cannot thank you enough for this delicious clarity, my sister."
The mysterious nature of this dream and its landscape was practically begging for more in-depth research. Sadly, a great number of things in Obsidian's life begged for exactly that, but she had so little time!
She returned Peridot's hug; perhaps it was a very unexpected meeting, but it didn't make it an unwanted one. In fact, the realization that her brother was still alive was a calming one. She didn't kill him, after all - quite the contrary, she practically offered him a new and better life than what he had before!
"I'll keep in mind to visit you more often then, dear brother, to be sure you're doing well... and to possibly ask you for your help from time to time. Perhaps I could even deliver a message for you? I'm sure Sister Amy would like to know that you've finally found peace."
Peridot stepped back, then motioned for her to follow as he returned to his table, where the stack of books was waiting for him. "I would actually appreciate your company, now that I am not adverse to such things as the presence of others. However, if my calculations are correct, you're here because of something happening in your own world... and you're looking for answers."
He sat down again, and idly placed a hoof on his book. "Now, if I calculate this out, I would say that there is a 79.6% chance you're here because of another sibling's shenanigans. Next, if this is the case, I calculate within the 88.2% chance that the sibling in question would be Amber. After all of that, it would most likely be a 94.6% chance that you are here to try to find a means to lock her out of your head, yes?"
He nodded, then simply shrugged. "But it cannot be done, because the connection she uses is not magical in nature, but telepathic. She gets a stronger connection as she learns more of who she's attempting to control, and anyone as familiar to her as we siblings would have zero chance of keeping a determined Amber out.
"However, it would be more worrisome when you factor in the chances that she has already found another sibling, and has begun to do what she excels in, so that she might take control when necessary. If she was having too difficult a time infiltrating your head, then she wouldn't waste further time and effort on you."
Peri sat forward and fixed Obsidian with his gaze. "What other potential siblings are available for her to peruse?"
He was obviously correct with everything he'd said; sadly, the more he spoke on, the worse of a mood Obsidian was feeling. If it wasn't magical, then sealing away Amber's magic wouldn't help anything - what else was left? Killing her? After all, it wouldn't be as if she was going to die for good - it would only imprison her inside Obsidian, apparently.
"Amethyst, Diamond and Tourmaline - those are the only siblings of ours that live in Ponyville at the moment, where Amber's shard is located," she quickly informed him.
"Hmmmmm... of the three of them, the highest percentile as to whom Amber would possibly attempt to control would be Tourmaline; he was a favorite 'toy' of hers when we were living in the palace, and it would be no short stretch of the imagination to envision her going back to him like a favored blanket at night. Through her connections, she can possibly forge more from the memories of the victim; tell me, has Tourmaline made any allies since his time in your presence? I calculate that there is a 77.3% chance that she may be searching his mind for any connections that you two may share."
Obsidian nodded. "He has a coltfriend.... or, er - griffonfriend, whatever it's called."
Peri nodded. "Then it would behoove you to ensure that he isn't already under Amber's influence; the mare can leave suggestions that might not trigger for years, but will still be executed as soon as they are triggered. A worrisome conclusion, I'm afraid... but not a hopeless one, yet."
He looked up for a moment and muttered numbers, then looked back down at her again. "The odds are... not complete, I think. There are other factors that I'm missing in my calculations. Please, Obsidian... are there any of our fellow siblings whom you haven't considered yet? Diamond is strong-willed, and Amethyst is immune to mind control... but it doesn't mean Amber isn't able to look through what they already know and glean more information."
Immune? Amy was fucking immune to it? What a damned-lucky mare she was! It seemed that she was possibly going to be a bit more important in the oncoming struggle against Amber - yet another reason why Obsidian had to quickly improve their relationship.
"Hmm... well, there's also Opal; she's made a big industrial business, and apparently is illicitly gathering knowledge about Dark Magic. Quartz - he's apparently a fashion designer, and doesn't seem all that dangerous. Aquamarine or Sapphire are enjoying their freedom too, methinks. And... well, Jade is still a shard. Though now that I've mentioned him... there is probably no easy way to lift this curse from him, I'll wager?"
Peri closed his eyes as he worked his hoof through the air, as if he were writing invisible calculations. "I would say... an... 82% chance that Amber will be trying to get into Quartz's head, as he is in a position where he receives more news, and she will be looking to discover what she can. That in mind, I would suggest having cutting utensils or other sharp objects upon your person, as he is surrounded by fabric, and there is a 77.2% chance he will attempt to tie you or one of your allies up.
"Opal... unfortunately, I calculate a 91.6% chance she is up to something behind the scenes; she can be reasonable, but beware the red eyes - that's a side of her you do not want to deal with."
"Aquamarine and Sapphire... hmmmm... if you can get me more information about their current activties, I can make a more educated guess as to their plans. As for Jade..."
Peridot blinked, then looked up at the ceiling as he seemed to count. "... the curse I fashioned upon him by father's command is a potent one. Though father gave the stipulation of him performing a 'noble' act, I made certain to make that a rather broad category. However, as I last saw him, his spirit will have to be bolstered for him to even conceive of a chance to redeem himself. Though, to be fair, his chances remain at 0%, so long as he remains within his shard."
Obsidian sighed. "I don't have any information about Aqua's and Saffi's activities, sadly - I know that someone is destroying part of the forest near Mount Arris with fire, but I don't know any more details. That could fit both Aqua's explosive powers and Saffi's control over elements."
It's always nice to think about problems before they start to be problems - even if it was just a choice of a cute nickname.
"I'd admittedly kind of hoped you'd left some way to disable it without all this 'noble' acting. Will you be able to help me make plans for containing him after un-sharding him, then? It's a task for later, of course... because at the moment, I'm mainly concerned with Amber - but it would be nice to get your help. Tourmy was terrified when he heard I'd brought Jade to Ponyville."
"As well he should be," Peri said, "because Jade's very presence is toxic."
He looked solemnly out at the rotunda around him. "The curse I placed on him acts as a Toxin Spell, but one that created a type of energy I have never witnessed before... an energy that poisons anyone around it, an energy that glows, that is hot without fire."
"He cannot control this energy, only endure it... and it causes him great pain to do anything more than exist. To awaken him, it would be about a 67.6% chance that he might not be able to handle being awake and aware again, and could possibly have a bit of a rampage."
Obsidian facehoofed - this time, far less painfully than last time. "Well that doesn't sound good. You know far more about this energy than I do - would you be able to, at a later date, give me some tips about preparing a place for his awakening? Some advice on proper magical shields, barriers..."
"Lead," he said simply, "and lots of it. This energy can affect others through suits, through containment... unless there is a lead lining. And I would still advise against remaining in his presence too long, lead-lined suit or no."
He then turned to look at his book. "When the time draws near to deal with poor Jade, come and find me here; I shall start designing what could be useful in containing him safely and kindly. Kindly, because I gather from your words that you seek to add him to the 'family' you are creating, yes?"
"Not 'seeking to add' - he's already part of the family... just a part that can't even stand next to us without killing everypony around, at least for the time being," Obsidian corrected him a bit. "But yes, I DO want him to be included. Maybe we're not exactly the closest family in Equestria - but we are a family, still."
Peridot looked back up at her... and smiled. "Obsidian, I do not quite understand it completely, but... I find myself drawn to your kindness, perhaps because I can better appreciate it, now that I am not constantly bombarded with thoughts. Though I paid it little attention in the past... I feel compelled to seek it now, perhaps due to my current... 'quarters'... so to speak. But I believe I am beginning to enjoy the idea of belonging to a family."
He actually made a strange little sound that, after a moment, Obsidian realized was a wry laugh. "A distant relative, perhaps... but one all the same."
Okay, she didn't expect to hear him laugh. "I wonder if we would be able to bring Amy here... considering that we have this special connection between us, maybe she could share a dream with me?" Obsidian mused. A changed Peridot would surely help influence Amethyst to change as well... or at least improve her mood a bit. "She's been behaving rather strangely, as of late- hey, what do you mean - distant? You are our brother too! And for me, you are as close as any other, no matter if you live in my house or in my head," she smiled warmly at him.
He gave her a grinning yet flat look. "Distant, as in 'existing in another's head', Obsidian. It was an attempt at a... joke." He said the word as if he were tasting it in his own mouth for the first time, and found it interesting. It was funny, but Obsidian noticed that Peridot seemed more... vibrant? Colorful? There was something about him that seemed much more alive than the way she'd seen him in their last shared dream together... was it because he was finally free of all that mental static?
"I'm glad to see you feeling so much better; it would have been a terrible thing if our final meeting in life would end so tragically," Obsidian couldn't stop herself from voicing her happiness. If Peridot was behaving this way, then perhaps Onyx would, one day, feel better as well?
Or at least maybe she'd get so bored of stamping books that she would just declare allegiance to Harmony, just to leave this place?
"Hm, so I need to get a lot of lead and check on our siblings and on Gunther, Tourmy's griffonfriend. Onyx proposed that, in exchange for a working body, she could stop Amber for a few days - but, fairly speaking, I don't think I'll be considering this offer. Any other tips from you?"
"Using Onyx to delay Amber would have a 79.1% success rate... however, there would be only a one in seventeen-million,seven-hundred-thousand-and-four chance it would end well for you. Or Equestria." He pondered a moment, then nodded. "If what I forsee is correct, then I expect that Luna is guiding your way here right now. Tell her to go seek out the dreams of Aquamarine and/or Sapphire; the sooner we locate them, the better."
"Next, I would advise that you keep your circle of friends close; as long as your group remains at least six strong, then you and your friends will be fine, in the long run. Trust in the numbers, Obsidian - they have done well by me in the past, and will do well for you in the present, perhaps even the future."
He looked at the floor for a moment. "And whatever may come, have faith in those you love and cherish... because there is a 47.8% chance that Harmony itself may be involved in your future... and that number is slowly increasing."
Peri then focused on his books, sitting in the chair directly. "Oh, and don't rid yourself of Amethyst; you're the best chance she has of finally letting the world know her truth... and the rest of ours, as well."
He then looked up again. "If you wanted to indulge in another embrace, now would be a moment to consider."
Well, that was still a higher chance than Obsidian herself initially thought, to be completely fair. After all, releasing Onyx into the world - especially after sacrificing somepony to this end - would not only free her, but also ruin Obsidian's reputation, morality and other things that had allowed her to defeat Sombra himself.
But first things first - and at the moment, the firstest of them all was hugging Peridot, which she gladly did.
"I am sometimes... embittered or annoyed by Amethyst, but she is our sister - I'll be doing my best to help her. Do you want to tell her something, a message for her?" Even when Obsidian was thinking about finding a different place for Amy, it was only because she thought it would be better for both of them.
And, Harmony itself? Wonderful... simply wonderful! Hah! The thought that yet another ancient, mystical force (along with the Umbral Altars, Grey Magic and so forth) was within reach of her hoof was making Obsidian quite giddy with excitement.
"Let's hope we manage to finish this crisis without too many sacrifices- Oh! Peri! Do you know, perchance, who the last presence in my mind is? Besides you, Ruby and Onyx?" Maybe he could calculate the odds...
Peridot looked at her for a moment, as if studying her muzzle intently. "For the information that will lead you to that answer, either look in father's diary... or ask Amethyst. Either way, you'll appreciate the answer only if you find it for yourself."
He stepped back, then returned to his seat and began to read his book... a familiar-looking book...
Wait... was that... Onyx's Diary?
~>O<~