//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Incarnate // by Revel Montaro //------------------------------// Twilight had not waited for her friends despite their pleas for her to slow down. She jumped in her car and sped away, wiping the tears that continued to stain her cheeks. She knew they meant well and as always had the best of intentions, but it was not time for good intentions. It was time for science. Twilight parked her car in her usual spot in front of her parent’s house and quickly crossed the yard to the rear of the house through the small white fence that separated the front from the back. She marched her way to the large shed in the back that served as her personal lab and on occasion, fortress of solitude. As she rifled through her keys to find the one for the lock, Spike trotted out through the doggy door to stand next to her. “Hey, Twilight, missed you not coming home last night,” he said in his usual jovial tone. He looked up at his beloved friend and owner and cocked his head to the side and made a small whine noise. He could tell something was wrong from the way she stood and the way she smelled. “Twilight, have you been crying?” Twilight ignored the question and opened the door. Out of habit she held the door open and Spike obediently followed her inside. “I’m sorry if I’m coming off terse, but I have a lot of work to do and it’s a matter of life or death. Do you remember where we put the pieces of the spectrometer I built for the Friendship Games?” Spikes ears flatted back. “That crazy device you had that was sucking in magic and turned you into the flying monster? Why on Earth would you want that thing again?” “Look, either help or get out!” Spike whimpered and Twilight covered her mouth, collapsing to her knees. Fresh tears beginning to fall. “Spike, I’m so sorry!” Spike nuzzled Twilight and gave her a few friendly licks. “Hey, it’s okay, but I can tell you are hurting. Talk to me, I’ve always been a good listener even before I could talk.” Twilight cuddled Spike, gently petting him until she could regain enough of her composure to stand, grabbing one of her lab coats and search for the pieces she needed. While she searched for parts and tools, she recounted the story of what had occurred while she had been away including the plant monster, spending the night with Sunset, and that her now girlfriend was trapped in some unknown state of limbo. “Sooooo, I understood most of that, but can you clear a few things up for me?” Twilight dumped a basket full of parts onto her work table and began sifting through them for what she wanted. “Of course, you know I love explaining things.” “So, you and Sunset are now mated, which I guess is cool if you have feeling for each other. Plus, I like the way she smells. Then, she went to that other world to try and help fix all the crazy magic stuff that keeps happening. Now, she’s in trouble and you don’t know how much time she has before something bad happens to her.” “Something bad already happened that’s why I have to find a way to reach her,” Twilight shuddered, but forced the tears down. Her slightly blurry eyes turned to the computer that was now running analysis on the readings her EMF detector recorded along with the sensor array she had installed more than a year ago on top of the school that only she and Sunset knew about. Her mind automatically reminiscing about when Sunset had pulled out a master key that opened the school’s roof access door. When Twilight had inquired about how Sunset had come to acquire a key she had no reason or right to have possession of, the flame haired girl had shrugged and smiled, commenting that old habits died hard and everyone needed a little space. Regardless, it had given Twilight a safe and secure location for her broad spectrum antenna that would monitor the portal without the risk of delinquent students messing with it and out of sight of faculty and staff. Maintenance workers may find it someday, but they had no reason to access the roof often. Sunset, Twilight pictured the beautiful young woman in her arms. Ever resourceful, ever helpful, Sunset Shimmer. “Please be okay. Stay strong and wait for me. I’m coming for you.” Twilight let out a breath and returned to tearing out the core circuitry from her old magic stealing spectrometer. Spike’s ears perked up and he moved to the lab door seconds before someone began knocking on the door. “Twi? You in there?” Twilight let out another breath before shouting, “It’s open.” She glanced over as her five closest friends entered and stood near the lounge area. “I really shouldn’t be surprised that you found me. It’s not like I had many places I could have gone since my old closet lab at Crystal Prep was long since cleared.” “Darling, we know you are upset, but that is no excuse to run away like you did.” Twilight glared at Rarity then turned back to her work. “I didn’t run away, I went home. And furthermore, I said exactly what I intended to do.” “Yeeeeeah,” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck nervously. In fact, they all looked nervous now that Twilight took a second look at them. “You spat out about tearing apart reality and then drove off in a huff. If it were anyone else, we probably would have just given you your space and called or texted later, but you know, it’s YOU. The girl who actually DID tear holes in the world.” Twilight let out a long breath, set her tools down, and took a few steps towards her friends. If she was going to be able to get any work done she had to put their minds at ease. If she were being perfectly honest, Twilight was glad they had followed. “I know what I said may have scared you, but I am perfectly in control. See? No wings or glowing eyes.” “Is that why you got out all your gizmos and whatnots that look awfully close to the ones that sucked out our magic durin’ the games?” Applejack said with a grimace. “I’m not rebuilding the device, it was too powerful, but it still can provide a baseline to work from. I need to find a resonance frequency, the right one. The computer is currently crunching some of those numbers. And while it does that, I am going to try and build a device that will locate Sunset’s unique magical signature. Then, if possible, just open a small magical hole to either see her or pull her through.” “That still sounds awfully dangerous, Twi.” Twilight nodded, begrudgingly. “I know, but I have to do something. I can’t just give up, not when there is still a chance.” Applejack nodded and took her hat off, running her fingers through her hair. “Hey girls, could ya give us a few minutes? Maybe go rustle up some grub for the evenin’ and some sugar and caffeine. Gotta feelin’ we’re gonna be in for a long night.” “You… you are all staying with me?” Pinkie bounced over to Twilight, not one hundred percent back to her usually crazy, jovial self, but much improved. “No way we are going to make you do all the work trying to save Sunny! She made me a Pinkie Promise. I intend to make her keep it even if all I can do is a food run and happy cheer for science that I have no clue how it works.” Twilight smiled warmly. “Thank you, all of you.” Applejack waited until the others had left and closed the door behind them. She kicked at the plywood floor of the lab with her well worn brown boots. Applejack wrung her hands a few times while she struggled where to begin. It was an unusual sight for Twilight. Next to Sunset, Applejack generally gave off the most self confidence that was not laced with ego and bravado like Rainbow Dash, just honest to goodness self confidence. But she was struggling with something that was weighing upon her mind. Twilight waited for as long as she could before stepping back over to her tools. “Did I ever tell ya ‘bout what happen to my folks?” Applejack finally said. With that single sentence Twilight now understood why her friend had been struggling desperately where to begin. Politely, Twilight set her tools down again and gave the farmgirl her mostly undivided attention. “It was a long time ago, Applebloom weren’t even outta diapers yet and if it weren’t for pictures she’d have no idea what Ma and Pa even looked like. But I remember them, maybe not as clearly as I use to or as well as Big Mac, but I remember them well enough. Gosh, I could tell ya some great stories, but I think this one is more pertinent to what’s goin’ on. “Now I’d like to tell ya that they died heroic-like, savin’ us from some terrible monster or burglar or somethin', but sadly that weren’t the case. No, sadly, they died in a damn car accident.” Twilight gasped. “I’m so sorry.” Applejack nodded her thanks. “Like I said, it was a long time ago. I was six, almost seven at the time. AB and I were at home with Granny Smith and they had just run out one night to get some fresh air. Big Macintosh had begged to go along with them before bedtime and so they strapped him into the back and took a littl' drive. Sure enough, we got a call from the sheriff’s office that a drunk driver had run a light and smashed into their car at way over the speed limit. I overheard them say Ma was killed instantly and Pa died on the way to the hospital. Mac says he don’t remember anythin’ from that night, but I got my doubts about that, especially since he got to be far less talkative after that. Anyhow, the real kicker to the heart of the whole damn thing was that the drunk driver lived. “Now, you are probably wonderin’ why I brought up this sad story now and you probably have already drawn some conclusions, but please just let me finish. So yeah, he lived. They fixed him up too and arrested him and some time later finally put him on trial. But I didn’t think he needed no damn trial. He killed the two most lovin’ parents that ever did touch God’s green Earth and for that he was guilty as sin can be. The only justice he needed shoulda come from me.” “Did… did you do something?” “Damn near. I knew where Pa kept his guns. We learned even when we were babes ourselves how to shoot. Call it a stereotype if ya like, but out on the farm sometimes Pa needed to scare away a coyote or blow a snake away and he didn’t believe in half measures. If a critter threatened his family, they were dealt with by the way of twelve gauge buckshot. Now, that was a little more than I could handle so one night I dug out my daddy’s pistol, a little .38 revolver, and loaded it up and snuck out. See, just before the trial the driver’s family had posted his bail so he could spend a little time with his family before havin’ to face the judge and I thought that was no fair at all. I overheard adults talkin’ about it and managed to nick the address of where he lived from what they had said. I intended to make him hurt the way I hurt. I planned to do somethin’ mighty rash, without thinkin’, damned be the consequences because I was mad and hurtin’.” Twilight looked down at her own hands, for a moment she could see the purple fingerless gloves and corrupted magical power that Midnight had wielded. She closed her eyes and pictured angel Sunset desperate to save her and the rest of the world. Her angel, always willing to put herself between harm and those she cares about. “How… how did it end.” “Well, as it turned out a six year old me was not as sneaky as I thought I was and Granny Smith caught up to me before I could ride my bike all the way to his house. Now, Granny could’ve tanned my hide or done any manner of punishments to me for takin’ the gun, which I would have rightly deserved. But she didn’t, she just pulled me close and hugged me while we cried. See, while I was ragin’ about my own pain I had done plum forgotten that while I lost my parents, she had lost a son and a daughter-in-law. If she had not talked me down, she might of lost a granddaughter too.” Applejack let out a long breath and quickly walked over to Twilight and pulled her into a powerful hug. Twilight hesitated at first, but then returned the hug just as tightly as she could, tears leaking from both their eyes. “I still miss them, I always will and I’m not sayin’ that so that you give up on Sunset. No way, we should try to get her back, but I jus’ want you to know you got people here who love you too. People who would be mighty hurt if you went off and started burin’ the world down in anger and sorrow. So please, for me, for you, and especially for Sunset, please be careful with what you are about to do. It ain’t gonna do none of us no good if you tear the world to pieces to avenge Sunset after she risked her life to try and save ours. You’re better than that.” Twilight nodded soberly. “Thank you, AJ. I can only imagine how hard that was to tell me.” “All the girls know the gist of it, but I ain’t never told any of them the details about what I had planned to do. I told you because ya know what it feels like to stare at the edge. Ya needed to know you’re not alone. As far as the details, please keep them to yourself.” Twilight nodded. “Good, now, in layman’s terms, try to explain to me what I can do to help rescue Sunset.” ---------- Sunset felt herself tumbling through darkness. She felt cold, so cold it chilled her to the bone. When she stretched out trying to find any solid surface her hooves contacted something surrounding her and felt as if she had touched an open flame. Sunset jerked back but pressed outward again, covering herself in a defensive aura. The darkness tried to squeeze tighter around her, crawling up her hindlegs and getting uncomfortably close to her more private areas. Sunset screamed in defiance and let forth a burst of light magic that repelled the darkness and the cloud spat her from its hold. Sunset felt as if she had been shot from a cannon and was moving at the speed of light, but the world around was like nothing she had ever seen before. Colors moved and shifted, mixed, separated and swirled about. It was disorienting and the weightlessness made it difficult to figure out where to go and what to do. Sunset spotted a receding tube that reminded her of a translucent squiggle straw. A part of her was drawn to its familiarity and she attempted to maneuver to follow it. She lowered her shield surrounding herself to divert magical power for a teleport and immediately screamed out in pain only to then gasp and choke. It felt like drowning and asphyxiating at the same time. Sunset’s hooves went to her throat and felt a familiar wiggling sensation at the end of her hoof. She held it up to find that fingers had begun to sprout from her one hoof and a set of talons from the other. Then they began to painfully shift again to a more web like aquatic appendage. Each shift more painful than the last. Finally, she was able to re-power her barrier and her body shifted back to the more familiar pony form. Sunset took a breath, her body shaking. “Okay, so I have no idea where I am, what is up or down and I can’t breathe outside my own bubble. Oh, and there is a glowy eyed cloud out there somewhere that wants to feel me up or eat me, both would be bad. So yeah, I am in deep shit.” Sunset searched for the flow stream she had seen earlier. It looked familiar, she realized, because she recognized the deconstruction threads that she and the others had worked into it. It was most likely retreating to the Canterlot High side of the portal. If she could follow it then there was a chance she could at least get out of this limbo. Something was better than nothing. “Twilight said only an alicorn could survive here and have the power to seal off the magic,” Sunset found the glimmer in the distance she had been looking for and began attempting to swim towards it. “Well, to use one of my favorite quotes, ‘never tell me the odds.’” Despite her determination, Sunset felt as if she was making no progress getting any closer to the receding thread by trying to physically swim. Carefully, she diverted some of her power to will herself forward with magic. The sound of a roar in the distance convinced her to risk using a little more. Even with the magic helping move her around, Sunset felt sluggish and strained to both propel herself and keep her barrier erected. It felt like trying to swim through mud. It was exhausting and cumbersome and Sunset could feel her mama reserves draining. A throbbing pain beginning to build in her horn. When she shook her head and looked again the thread was much closer and flailing about like a fire hose on full power, but with no one to hold it down. “I got this, I got this,” Sunset whispered to herself as she reached out with her telekinesis. The moment the stream touched her hooves Sunset’s barrier flared and then failed, the energetic stream smacking against her horn and causing her to spin end over end. She screamed as her body contorted and shifted again. Defiantly, Sunset reached out with her now formed hand and seized the stream. Briefly, it pulled her along through space at speeds she could not have achieved on her own, but her body continued to change and shift, her eyes glazing over from the pain and lack of air. Just hold on, dammit. Just hang on, Shimmer, and you will get through this! Do it for Twilight and all your friends, be strong! Despite her determination Sunset blacked out for a moment and lost her grip on the flow. When she forced her eyes open again, Sunset found to her absolute horror that her fingers were disintegrating, flaking away like dust in the wind. Sunset tried to scream and could only choke as the in between attempted to drown her once more. She reached out for the flow stream with her remaining hand that had begun to grow scales, the sound of her frantically beating heart in her ears becoming erratic, then the beating stopped entirely. “Twilight… someone… somepony… please… Mother… help… me.” Sunset blacked out and stopped breathing.