//------------------------------// // Forty Five: Confrontation Situation // Story: Obsidian: Shards Of Sombra // by Randimaxis //------------------------------// To be fair, Obsidian didn't like this situation either. Either Sapphire and Quartz had already escaped this place, or they didn't care at all whether or not they would be visited by anypony. In both cases, the open door meant they had reason for concern... Though being called 'sweetheart' by somepony like Onyx was obviously reason for concern as well. "Hopefully my siblings are still here," she mused aloud while reaching with her magic to open the doors. The large door creaked open, making the others wince a bit. Inside was a massive storage room... and nothing else. Well, nothing important; there were cardboard panels taped over the windows, and a box of junk mail sitting underneath the mail slot - otherwise, the place was barren... and looked to have been so for quite some time. However, there were two sets of noises that were coming from two separate ends of the building; one sounded like shifting and dragging, coming from the left, while the other was a steady, rythmic sort of rattling, from the far right. Vexyx's horn gave a glow (which, Obsidian noticed, was the wrong magic color for her disguise), and her ears grew longer - like a donkey's - and she tilted her head to listen. And it had the bonus to Siddy of making Onyx look like a jackass; she'd have to remember that one. "The one on the right is a sewing machine; I'd know that sound anywhere - the other one, I have no clue... but I can only make out ONE set of hoofprints." Markathyst spoke low. "What do you suggest, Your Majesty?" She smirked at Obsidian. "Well, I'd say the expert here would be the one to ask, wouldn't you?" To be fair, she more or less expected the queen to be more of an expert than her. "Let's check the unidentified sound first. Does anypony see the stairs to the rooftop?" With a quick look around, the back wall had a double doorway that led to a t-shaped hall. The dragging sounds had stopped, and a metal rattling echoed to them from the left hall. To the right, the sound of sewing chugged along continuously. There was a sign that looked as if it had been there since before the Crystal Empire had come back: [<- WAREHOUSE] [<- SHIPPING] [PRODUCTION ->] [OFFICE ->] [STAIRS ->] To the left, she assumed, was Sapphire, who was quite possibly dragging something - all alone. To the right however, was probably Quartz - or some kind of enchanted sewing machine, possibly? Whatever it was, it wasn't stopping its work, even for a moment. "Cupcake, dear? Take care of the stairs, and don't make any unnecessary noise - I still hope that we'll be able to chit-chat with my siblings without any unecessary discord between us. Onyx, Amethyst - let's check the left side." Cup nodded, then reached behind him and pulled out what looked like... bunny slippers? Yes, bunny slippers; he then proceeded to put them on his hooves, and then he began to creep along the path to the right... oh! He wasn't making a sound - that's what he was doing. 100% pure Cupcake. Of course, it simply proved he was the perfect choice for the job - he was able to pull off anything, no matter what she asked him for, no matter where, no matter when. Prepared for everything... she only wished she could say the same about herself. Obsidian and company took the path to the left, inching carefully down the corridor until there was the thick, smoky rumble of a truck's engine - a BIG truck, from the sound of it - coming from that direction. Vaxyx charged forward, with Markathyst right behind her, headed for the far end quickly. When Onyx and Amethyst darted forward, Obsidian had no real choice but to follow after them - especially as she had some bad feelings about this truck and its possible load. Arriving in the Warehouse, they saw a place where there was enough room to stack crates up to three stories high... yet currently, there was only one crate sitting there, closed up and nailed shut. The windows here were also taped over with cardboard, but there were sigils written on the backs of them - Crystallian sigils. They looked to be magic seals, which would mean that every window covered would be well-nigh impenetrable; nothing short of an alicorn's magic blast would break them. It worked well as a theft deterrent, but the power level was a bit much for mundane clothing... wasn't it? However, of the three loading docks available, one of them had its' roll-up door open - outside, there looked to be a rather snazzy-looking black luxury sedan parked by the back fence...and a squat cargo truck driving away. Markathyst flashed, and Markannus remained. Taking wing, he yelled back, "Guard the queen with your LIFE, Obsidian!" and took off after the truck, taking care to try to stay in its' blind spot as he did. Vaxyx raised a hoof in protest, but said nothing as he was quite quick. Turning, she glanced at the crate, then at Obsidian. "He'll catch up to that truck, I'm sure of it - but can he deal with whomever's driv-" "ON IT!" came a familiar voice from above, yelled through a vent, and they saw the vectors left behind as Thunderclap darted off the rooftop, following Markannus and the truck. She had to admit, the changeling was rather skilled when it came to art of deception and disguises... but could he keep a hold on the the unknown driver? Hopefully it was Quartz and not Sapphire - she could be outright deadly, as far as Obsidian was concerned. However, concerning said driver, there was very little she could do right now. And to be fair, she had a momentary thought that they might take this luxury sedan to use in the chase. Luckily, neither Markannus or Thunderclap had the same idea; it WAS a crime to steal vehicles, after all - Flurry Heart had taught her that... unintentionally. "CLAP... WAIT!" Wart's voice called out, but as if someone had called a race, she was already gone. "DAMNATION, Clap! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO... Cupcake!" Well, he'd made it to the roof; at least poor Wart wouldn't be stuck up there... Vaxyx lifted an eyebrow, eerily imitating Onyx's own skeptical look as she turned to Siddy. "Okay... I won't mention your loose cannon if you won't mention mine." "Loose cannons? I don't see any loose cannons. Do you have a loose cannon?" she replied with as bland and neutral of a voice as she could. "Well since we can't do much more here - to the sewing machines, then. Clap will catch the truck, there's no doubt about that... though hopefully, she'll do so without pulling another Sonic Rainboom." Vaxyx nodded, then followed along with her as the two of them made their way back down the hall, arriving at the place where the source of the sewing machine noises were coming from. It was an office-sized room with a cardboarded-and-sigil-covered window with a very old and well-worn industrial loom nestled at the back wall, chugging along rapidly as the stallion standing at it was working faster than a pony safely should. Quartz wasn't missing a single stitch, though - his hooves were lightning quick and deft as he continuously ran the machine loom, stitching together what looked like the seams of a shadow. The garment was black as pitch, and gave off no reflected light... but there was a faint, random sparkle every now and again, as if something magical was alive in the darkness of it. Quartz himself looked exhausted; his suit, loud as it had been, was hanging open with his fancy collar sticking out to his right, and one of his spats were missing. His mane was limp, sweat was rolling down his muzzle, he was panting like a dog after a mile's run... and there was a yellow-orangish light that seemed to glow in his eyes, with no pupils visible at all. So Quartz was able to make a suit that didn't hurt the eyes, eh? Too bad he had to imbue it with Dark Magic, and was doing so under Amber's mental influence! "Quartz! Wake up! Fight it off!" She decided to scrap the element of surprise in exchange for playing it fair. She tugged at his hoof with her magic, trying to lead him away from his task. His hoof pulled away from his work... and the glow vanished, instantly. However, Quartz himself remained... and he looked much less trendy and fashionable than he had just earlier - he appeared to have aged twenty years, figuratively, since she and Cup last saw him. Cupcake skidded to a halt behind Siddy and Vaxyx, stopping short of impacting the queen's flank. He stared at Quartz, and asked in alarm, "What happened to him?" "What happened, Mister Sprinkles," Quartz spoke in a weary and resigned voice, "was that my charming sister Obsidian has proven to be a bit too smart... and our other sister isn't happy about that. Not one bit." He sighed as his horn suddenly lit up with Dark Magic, and the suit itself leapt off the table and stood up, facing them with an empty hood as it took an offensive stance. "Obsidian, I... I am so very sorry; you cannot imagine how much I've pleaded for your well being... but I've been told I am to dispatch with you. I really, truly wish it was not so..." She saw his eyes tear up a bit as a sword, a sleek and fancy rapier, slid out from the back of his suit and raised in a duelist's salute. "For what it's worth... I am glad to have had at least one chance to speak with you, to learn about you, and to meet you - you're even more than we thought you would ever be." The suit thing he'd been working on stepped forward, lunging at Vax while she dropped her apparently useless disguise as Cupcake moved to stand between Obsidian and the suit's progress. "We've got the suit - you deal with Quartz!" he spoke over his flank as he began to charge in towards the criminal clothing. Her brother stood there for a moment, looking miserable but determined. "Have you a blade to accept my challenge?" he said, his voice firm but his expression pained. The manure had just hit the fan, and Obsidian could only hope that she'd be able to minimalize the damage. There were so many things that could go wrong at this moment, and no matter how much she'd try, there was simply no damned way that it would end without at least a few new problems. The universe just hated her too much for that. Her blade was rather lacking; it was just a knife - a simple, miserable carving knife from her own kitchen. So instead of drawing it at all, she channeled magic into her horn and cast one of the lesser spells she'd learned not-so-long ago, in her utmost best attempt to waterboard her brother. The closest source of water was a half-empty bottle of it, sitting on the counter nearby; it would have to do. It wasn't much of a waterboard, but it was an effective enough means to catch him by surprise when a tendril of water leapt from the bottle and slapped him squarely in the eyes. He stumbled back, surprised enough to topple over onto the floor... though the sword he held was still in his magical grip, lying on the floor as he swiped his hoof across his eyes. "ACKGH!" he sputtered, then began to chuckle. "Shame on me for leaving myself open, eh? Well-played! Very well, then..." His horn gave its' boiling green aura again, and Obsidian suddenly felt her cape fly up and completely cover her head, bunching up around her muzzle and mouth to cut off her oxygen! "... fair is fair, my sweet sister!" It turned out that capes had a few tactical disadvantages, and Obsidian was learning a painful lesson about it. Who would think that she would ever regret putting this thing on? She should at least have taken it off before approaching him... Damnation, where was Wart? After all, somepony had to defend the changeling queen! Obsidian, as quickly as possible, grabbed the knife she was holding onto under her cape and slashed at the knot that was holding it up. With nothing connecting the cape with her body, she could try to force it off her muzzle with her own horn. There was a snap as it gave way, and it only took a single blast of magic to free herself from the cape - and luckily, it looked like she'd cut only the clasp; the rest of the magnificent cape wasn't damaged, thankfully. However, she wondered if she had the same luck coming to her physical form, as the first thing in her vision was the edge of the rapier going under her sightline, the tip of the blade pressing oh-so-lightly on her neck. But there was no death blow; instead, Quartz looked into her eyes intently, and spoke in a low and firm voice. "Do... you have... a blade?" he asked. It had been a while since she was this close to death. "A... a k-kitchen knife," she replied carefully. Come on - she had a damned RAPIER pressed to her neck! He lifted an eyebrow, and his horn gave a glow. His magic enveloped all of her, for only a moment, as it focused on her knife and pulled it from her outfit slowly, hovering it over to himself and regarding it for a moment. He then took three steps back... and turned his own blade around, offering her the hilt even as he took up the kitchen knife in his own grip. "Then here... I at least want this to be a fair fight. Besides, I'm eager to see what my sister can do." Something in his eyes was seemingly speaking to her... they looked like a gaze of iron - which was only a helmet's faceplate over a weariness and resignation that wanted only release. "Please," he asked smoothly as he gave a short bow, "as a last request?" Did he train in fencing as well? She really didn't want to have to kill him, but the fact that he switched her knife for his rapier probably meant that he was either VERY bold, VERY skilled... Or that he wanted her to kill him instead. The last option would obviously be the worst one, because Obsidian had no intention of becoming a murderer again; even if Peridot was feeling much better, it was quite a terrible weight put on her heart. She took up the blade in her magic and took a defensive position. "Call off your suit - I don't want it to hurt the queen or Cup during our fair duel," she asked, watching him carefully. His eyes never left hers... but now, his smile became a bit more natural. "Fear not; it's an annoyance to them, at best - fair play for you and I." "GEPH IPH OPH MIIIIII!" came muffled from behind her in Cupcake's voice, and the sound of magic blasts sounded off from Queen Vaxillaria... but she didn't think it would be even a BIT safe to take her eyes off her brother - even for a second. "They'll be busy, but that's all - I like Mister Sprinkles, and I think you quite do too; you have my word, on my honour, that they will be scuffed, but fine." The smile then turned feral. "Now... engarde!" He swiftly dipped to his left, but the kitchen knife came at her from the right, purposely trying to confuse her approach. Fencing for unicorns was a bit different than the other tribes; as long as a blade was held by magic, it didn't have to follow the movements of the body, just the magical grip. She had to be mindful of his potential range - and of course, any attempt by either of them to simply lurch forward would be too dangerous for either side. She just had to survive and find a way to take him down - hopefully in a non-lethal manner. She deflected the strike more to his right in an attempt to disrupt his hold on it, her blade quickly striking to his other side immediately after. He feinted, dodging back as he deflected in turn with the simple kitchen knife. "My, but you're quick!" he chirped (?) as he rolled to the other side, his small blade fending off any blows coming at him. There was now a bit more energy in his manner, a bit more fire in his eyes. He waited until he was squared off with her again before he took a quick jab at her with the knife, close enough to cut - but only the handle bopped her side, a quick knob of ouch on her left shoulder. "Ha! A point for me!" Quartz smiled as he then swooped in for another grand swipe. Okay, so perhaps it wasn't exactly a death wish to trade a rapier for a kitchen knife. He was quite quick and, all things considered, she should be dead already... twice, at least. She had the advantage of having a longer weapon, so in theory she should have a much better chance to strike her opponent... So how did HE get a point? Obsidian growled angrily, feeling a marked increase in her frustration. He was good, and she hadn't trained her fencing skills in a good while... in fact it seemed that her fighting skills had atrophied since she first appeared in Equestria. Foolish mare! She didn't know any immediately useful battle spells... hadn't trained in fencing... even jogging with Clap didn't work! She was only getting more fat and lazy, a-and she was no good to anyp-... no. Calm down. Focus. "Onyx didn't happen to mention you being a swordmaster," she mused aloud, calming her breath and taking up a proper stance once more. He gave a light chuckle. "Swordmaster? My dear, I am unmatched with a sword; with a kitchen knife? Only sliiiiiighty worse." He grinned at her with only a touch of snark in his expression. From behind, she could hear Cup and Queen Vax struggling with the suit, and it occurred to Obsidian that Quartz was not only dueling with her, but he was also being enough of a challenge with his magical manipulation to control the piece of clothing as well, as it had no animation of its' own. Truly, there was a depth to her brother's skill, no doubt. How far was she in over her head? Quartz made an almost casual thrust in her direction, his eyes never leaving the battle. 'Just a harmless suit maker'. 'Can use defense magic'. 'Prissy boy'... trusting Onyx's opinions were always a bad idea, it seemed. "Onyx called you a mistake," Obsidian mentioned while she swiftly made to deflect his blow, barely managing to do so. "She is a rather terrible judge of character, isn't she?" His blow deflected, Quartz then whipped the small knife sideways and struck the empty water bottle, sending it flying at her and using the distraction to lunge inward... to playfully poke her right on the tip of her snout with the blunt end again. Quartz gave a light shrug. "Onyx had only ONE GOAL in her mind; reviving Father. She was certain he would make everything better... because she was the first, and she was loyal. That didn't leave much room for me, having come quite so late in the program, so to speak." He made a showy flourish with the knife... then stumbled a bit, catching himself against the wall. Despite his obvious enjoyment of the moment, he was still weak and somewhat winded from when he'd been working at such a breakneck pace - and Obsidian reckoned those bags under his eyes had been there all along; he'd covered it with makeup, which was now obvious as his sweat began to remove it. "Now, guard UP, head DOWN; watch the hoofwork, not my horn..." Was... was he instructing her? Obsidian really didn't know what sort of game he was playing at - if he really wanted to, she'd be already bleeding out on the floor. "We could achieve so much together, my brother," she tried. At least he didn't seem to follow in Peridot's hoofsteps with plans that were outright suicidal and/or genocidal. "I always leave room for my siblings in my life... or at least I'm trying to." She decided to follow his fencing tips; it couldn't make her situation much worse. He circled, and she saw that his hooves were moving in almost a swaying pattern; he was light on them because he never stopped moving. "Alright, now - you have to make a move at some point; we cannot keep this up forever. And, as much as I would love to climb over to your side of the fence... I'm afraid that, so long as I am a tool, you and I shall be at odds." He then gave her a very odd look as he slowly started to spin the small knife in mid-air, making it difficult to tell where or how it would come at her from. "But... were you to win out, well... IF I'm alive to see it happen, I'd be most honored if we could chat more, you and I; que sera sera, I suppose." The knife began to spin faster and faster within his magical grip. "Come now; if you don't attack, I shall be forced to make you wish you had." The words were a bit taunting... but she could tell he had no real want to harm her. Simply a tool, eh? Well, he would survive, either way - even if she managed to put the rapier's point through his brain. Not that it was any sort of pleasant thought... but to defeat him, she had to attack him. She struck, feigning a slash from her right side, only to quickly move the rapier to the left, striking directly at his horn in an attempt to end this battle quickly and decisively, even if it cost her brother his magic. The horn, she missed - but his suit, she tore the collar off of, narrowly missing his neck. He rolled to one side, looking a bit surprised... then he smiled, and even gave a light laugh. "Good, good - improvising is a marvelous strategy when you're facing a superior opponent! Now, what else can-" A metal grating suddenly dropped from above them all and slammed down onto his head, sending him to the floor like a sack of potatoes and making him drop the knife. Standing on top of the grating was a very smug-looking Stalwart Stance. She leaned down to bring her lips to Quartz's ear and spoke softly and sweetly, like she was telling him goodnight after tucking him in. "Have at you... vile fiend," she smirked. The instant the unicorn went down, so did the suit; a good thing too, because it had wrapped itself around both Cupcake and Queen Vax, and they were both smooshed together in the wrap of the suit itself. Very, very closely smooshed together. "My apologies for my late arrival, Lady Siddy," Wart said, "but I felt that sneaking upon him from above would be a grate idea." Cup howled laughter from where he was still bundled up with the flirty changeling queen... who, by the look on her muzzle, was most certainly enjoying the closeness. One very smug smol pone - that's exactly what Obsidian needed right now. While Quartz seemed to enjoy their little repartee - which in a way was a very strange bonding moment - it was better to end it quickly and decisively. Grate... heh. Obsidian moved towards the wrapped up pair. "Stalwart, help me unbundle these two without damaging the suit; I'd like to take a closer look at it later." Cutting it off them would separate the salacious queen from her coltfriend, but Obsidian could survive a little bit of jealousy... for now. Wart's magic enveloped the two, and she carefully worked them free from their cloth prison. As she did, Vaxillaria tried to use the opportunity to give Cupcake a bit of a nuzzle... but ultimately, one he didn't even notice, as Cup's eyes were on Siddy and Wart. Mostly Siddy. The queen didn't look like she much cared either, frankly... though after a moment, she seemed to realize he wasn't reacting to her advances from right next to him. The light look of hurt in her eyes vanished quickly as she put on another sultry smirk - but it was one that seemed a little less energetic than before. As the two of them were finally separated, Cupcake made his way over to Quartz and carefully tied his hooves together with the cord from the sewing machine after he bit it free from its' machinery and improvised. While Cupcake was tying Quartz down, Obsidian took a moment to bundle up the magical suit as well - she didn't care so much if it got creased or anything, but she just wanted to be sure that it would be packed into a more or less round shape and surrounded with enough cord to prevent it from being 'activated' once again. It was at the point where the police cars were showing up outside, sirens blaring, when Thunderclap Dash flapped her way back into the parking lot... carrying a limp Markannus. As soon as the queen saw him, she gasped and lost all interest in Cupcake. "Markannus! What-" she began, but Clap cut her off. "He's fine - just out cold. Literally." She gently set him down, where Vax began to dote over him like a mother, her horn glowing as she healed his wounds. Clap turned to Obsidian. "You shoulda seen it, Sids! She made the ground shoot up at us, and threw fireballs at us, and even shot a bolt of lightning at me! AT ME! She zapped Markus, but I managed to buck the truck off the road." She then scowled. "But when I checked the front cab, she was already gone. Sorry, Siddy - but we still stopped the truck, right?" Siddy's heart stopped for a beat when Clap appeared with a broken-looking Markannus, but it seemed that his queen was taking proper care of him, which was good, as she did like Markannus... but was even better since it pulled Vax's attention away from her coltfriend. However, now they possibly had a bigger problem. "You know, I'm a bit worried about the police, considering that this time we didn't act right in front of an authority figure such as Princess Twilight; they may arrest US for all of this..." Cup looked concerned, but Wart spoke up. "Lady Siddy, if you wish, I shall deal with the authorities when they enter; we can have Quartz locked up in the jailhouse for now, and possibly have him transferred to Twilight's dungeon once we leave Manehattan." Cup looked over at Vaxillaria, who was caressing Markus' muzzle with a hoof, and sighed. "I hope he'll be okay," he said softly, "'cause he's kinda nifty to find in other towns - he's like a walking Find 'Em Puzzle." Clap walked over to the two of them; she looked a bit bedraggled herself, as she was a bit dirty and had a tear in one of her sleeves... but then again, with the getup she was wearing, it just added more style to her. Cup glanced back towards the police lights out front. "Should we stay here for this? I mean, I dunno - I've never really done this before; should we?" "Are you sure that they'll be ready to jail him immediately, Stalwart? And that we won't end up in jail instead of him?" Obsidian was a bit skeptical; Fate itself put a laywer on her path to Manehattan - and considering how so many things lately seemed to have a deeper meaning, she was afraid that it might be the case here. "Whatever will happen to us, running from the police is hardly a good move, Cup. We could also ask for medical help for Markannus," Obsidian admitted, a bit resigned to whatever Fate awaited them all. Maybe Harmony itself would aid them now? A sudden blessing or something? Friendship lasers? When the doors opened, a number of stallions and mares in blue uniforms came inside, horns glowing or weapon-like devices in their hooves, pointing them all over... but not at Obsidian, Cup, Clap and Wart. The lovely Queen Vaxillaria was nowhere to be seen; instead, there was what looked to be a homeless mare, scampering away with a shopping cart that looked suspiciously full of unconscious changeling... "Miss Obsidian, I presume?" said one of the officers, "We were sent this way by a stallion by the name of Mica Chip - you know him?" "Yes, we know him", Obsidian confirmed, a bit relieved that no weapon was pointed at them at the moment. Hopefully it would stay like that. The officer nodded. "He told us quite the story, about what was seemingly something sinister going on with Smoky Quartz... and from the looks of this place, he may have been right." "He's always right," Cup said, "'cause he's never been a liar." The officer nodded, then walked calmly over to Quartz's prone and unconscious form. "Well, he's right because we got a tip-off tonight about a number of illicit shipments that have been 'approved' by Celestia, of all ponies... forgeries, of course... and it just so happened that some of them led right to Mister Quartz's front door, so to speak." He looked up at them. "In other words, we have a lot of questions for Mister Quartz when he wakes up." He motioned to two of the other lingering cops, who came over to Quartz's prone form, shackled his horn, and began to untie him from the electrical cord to get the hoofcuffs on him. "Now, if the lot of you wouldn't mind," the officer said, "I think we should take this downtown, to the station. Yourselves included." "Is it that easy to forge princess Celestia's approval?" Obsidian complained. At this rate, everything shady in the entirety of Equestria could be signed falsely by Celestia. At some point, her siblings could probably forge a royal pardon for King Sombra, as the 'true and only ruler of the Crystal Empire' - and some fucking idiot would release him! "Well, then - downtown it is." Obsidian nodded. "And please, be gentle with my brother; I think he might have been influenced by some manner of spell or mind control..." She sighed - there was simply no point in prolonging the possible outcome. However, she took up the knife from the warehouse floor as she passed it; they still needed it in the kitchen, after all. =[ Two Hours Later ]= The door to the interrogation room opened, and Captain Cold Case walked in and sat down in front of Obsidian, Cupcake, Stalwart and Thunderclap. The four of them had been spoken with, quite politely, and had given their own versions of what had happened. "Okay," she said with a sigh, "we've got Quartz booked, so he's not going anywhere; you four have checked out, and we have no reason to stop you from leaving - although, from some reports we got in earlier tonight, there might have been something else to deal with..." she pointedly looked at Wart, who looked away innocently. "But you're a hero of Ponyville, and I don't want to be seen as a heel for keeping you any longer than we have. Hopefully, the judge should be available for his case in about, oh... two weeks, more or less." Captain Case then looked at Obsidian. "He's requested to see you before you leave, though - it's your call, ma'am. He's been shackled, so he's no threat... but if you don't want to see him, i'll make sure he at least knows that you & I spoke." All things considered, it could have gone worse - far worse. In fact, Obsidian had fully expected that it was bound to be a disaster that would leave them stranded in Manehattan for quite a long time. She was actually surprised that it went so smoothly. "Of course, I want to see my brother," she replied. Damnation, she didn't expect that the 'fashion party' would end like that; her fight with Quartz and her worrying that the police would decide to detain them all didn't help... but she still had enough energy to meet with him. Case nodded, then looked to the others. "The rest of you will have to stay put for now; only one visitor. Sorry." The rest looked fine with not being a party to Obsidian and her brother. Case led the way to the holding cells, and brought her to cell #12; she tapped on the window, then looked back at Obsidian. "I'll give you ten minutes; after that, you'll have to see him wherever he's transferred to." That said, she walked outside of the room, closing the door behind her. "I suppose," Quartz's voice drifted out from the open slot-window, "this means I'm no longer invited to the wedding? Oh, I hope not; I was looking forward to it." "You're still on the guest list, brother - don't you worry," Obsidian reassured him. Ten minutes? In this dreadful room? Unless his clothes were made of authentic, self-cured pony skin, she hardly knew why they were being so harsh towards him with such quarters. "How do you feel? I hope that the strike didn't hurt you too much." He gave a soft chuckle. "Frankly, I had no idea what hit me until I was told - your small friend. She must be something to see in battle, as I heard she's a Royal Guard... my skull is still ringing slightly, but I believe I will... w-will live..." The last word sounded a bit choked up... possibly because he obviously hadn't expected to win to begin with... nor, apparently, to survive. "Oh, you'll live - if sister Amy survived a knife in her back, then a single, gentle slap with a piece of steel obviously wouldn't kill you," Obsidian once again assured him as she trotted closer to the open slot window. "I'm sure that soon enough you will join Amy, Tourmy and Diamond and myself in Ponyville... and possibly Ruby and Onyx as well." Inside the window, she could see him seated on a wooden bench. He had a shackle on his magnificent horn, his outfit was a disheveled mess, and he had his hooves cuffed together, a small chain allowing him some form of short movement. But... he was smiling. "Oh, I daresay the authorities shall have a bit of sport with me first; after all, it was my own hoofdiwork which forged Her Majesty's signature. Which is quite an offense, I've heard. So I may be here for longer than you know... but truly? I was willing to just DIE, so that you could continue on, dearest Obsidian. But once again, you surpassed all expectations and stalled me until your miniature war machine landed on my face." "Well, at least you didn't participate in a zombie invasion that killed one of the elements of Harmony and brought back one of the most loathsome villains in known history. I'm sure that a good word put towards Celestia and claiming that you were influenced by Amber will help your case immensely." So she'd been right about him being willing to die... "So, if you didn't want to kill me, then why didn't you simply stop fighting at all?" she asked curiously. "Because-..." He stopped, then looked around a bit and leaned in as close as he could to the window. "Obsidian, I was afraid that if I didn't make at least a show of trying to attack you, Amber would have taken control and she would have made me see you as a manticore or such - I'd have been compelled to attack you WITHOUT mercy, if I didn't at least play along with her plan a bit." "Listen to me - the cells in here have all manner of barriers, so I believe I'm actually safe from her eavesdropping on me, as she was doing all night long at the party; if you have ANY questions to ask, now would be the time to ask them, because I may not be able to later, should Amber find me first." Amber had been monitoring him at the party? Then, did that mean she'd heard the rest of what they'd said, as well? "And for the record, I would much rather gallivant with you and your Siddy Six than spend my days and nights sewing like a madpone without mercy." "Do you possibly know which barriers are keeping her from eavesdropping? We have her shard, so if we could isolate her..." It could be the best thing ever, to deal with a problem as easily as that. Quartz looked up sharply. "You have her bucking shard!?!? Obsidian, you have to stop her - you have no idea, the cruelty of Amber and how much she revels in it; she makes Onyx look SOFT, by comparison." A sobering thought. "I'm not sure what they have here, but I can't feel her in my head for the first time in THREE YEARS... and it's such a relief not to have to overthink everything before I speak!" He gave a great gust of a sigh, then spoke up. "Onyx's plan? Amber's STILL carrying it out - in fact, she's been making us work quintuple time, since Onyx herself died. I still don't know what it all is - only Amber and Onyx herself ever knew - but I know what MY part was." Quartz looked at her seriously through the slot. "Those suits I was making? They absorb magic and negate it - specifically Light Magic. It nullifies and protects the wearer from any harm that might come from a source powered by Light, and effectively makes each such attack useless." His voice then took on the weariest sound she'd ever heard in her life. "And I've been making them, almost non-stop, for the past two years. I was allowed to sleep for six hours, and two hours for eating and listening to her orders for the day. Because of this, I am reluctant to tell you that there are over three million suits like this... and the only one who knows where they're being taken is Sapphire." He sighed. "Poor, poor Sapphire..." Obsidian groaned. Light Magic - but of course, they had to nullify Light Magic. That kind of spell-making that didn't explicitly require its' user to poison his own mind and soul with darkness. Oh yes, it was making a lot of sense. And three million suits... three million... by Darkness. "I'm glad to hear you'll be able to get some rest, brother. Now praytell, would you be able to make some suits for us? The Siddy Six? If we're going to have to fight against three million Umbrals immune to light magic, we could use every possible advantage we can get." She simply had to learn the spell Flurry had put into the bracelets! In fact, she still had it on, didn't she? Flurry? Hearest thou my voice still? There was no reply from Flur; perhaps she was asleep, or maybe showering, or a million other possible things... ... or, of course, she may have been murdered. But she wasn't trying to think about that just yet. Or at all. If she could help it. She almost could. "Suits? For-... wait, may I..." He actually gave a full-on laugh; it sounded hearty and melodious, not to mention like it was a sound Quartz had missed. "You wish for me to design hero costumes for your entourage? Truly? I... I believe that is both a ridiculous request AND one I would be delighted to do!" A slight jingle came from inside his cell. "As soon as they decide to allow me to, of course." "Yes, design our costumes! Design them carefully, since as soon as we stop Amber's evil plan, I believe we'll become even more famous. Then obviously, we'll start writing books and drawing comics about our adventures. We shall become rich!" Obsidian joked as she smiled at him. It was rather ironic that he would be able to finally rest only after being imprisoned - but, eh, it was better than nothing. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me, brother? Because I'm not sure what else I could ask about... except perhaps about Radiant Hope..." "Hope..." he nodded. "Well, I will state that Amber has Opal working about as hard as I am, but I have not a clue as to what; I haven't actually seen her in over a year, by this point. And I do miss her dearly; if you can stomach Lapo, then Opal's quite a sweet and thoughful mare." He sighed again. "Lapo is what we called Opal when she flipped her internal switch to 'defense' mode; Opal is a sweetheart, brilliant and goofy... but when she feels threatened, her eyes turn red - THAT is Lapo, and it's also a sign that something terrible is about to happen." Quartz's voice continued. "Rest assured - BOTH sides are Opal, but she uses Lapo as a mask to hide herself behind. Please don't take too much offense with her when she gets like that; it was the only way she could deal with Father's pressures on her..." After a slight pause, he added, "And Sapphire has been working harder than BOTH myself and Opal put together, now that Amethyst and Tourmaline are no longer with us... though Amber wants to get her hooves on them BADLY." He then groaned. "And if what you say is true, she'll be after Diamond as well. Lovely. Obsidian, I..." There was a pause. "... I'm so terribly sorry for all I've done to you tonight. For what I've done to Equestria, for it IS a grand place. I may not deserve your kindness here, but... but for what it's worth, I shall do my utmost best to never cross that line again." "Please, forgive me sister," he said softly. "There's nothing wrong that I could forgive you, brother; you were mind-controlled, and yet you managed to stay in control long enough for us to stop you. To me, you are a hero," Obsidian said solemnly, "and I will do my best to free you - as soon as I can put a stop to Amber." Not that she had idea how to do so, except grinding her shard into dust. "Later on, I'd also like to order a magical suit to make interacting with Jade easier, but uh... that's a task for later." "Your inner beauty rivals even that of your outer one, my sister. Thank you so very kindly, and I do hope that this will be over with, soon... I can hardly wait to get to know my Lost Sister more personally." "TIME," called the guardpone, and she came and looked in on the prisoner. "If you're ready now, we'll bring you something to eat and some water, Mister Quartz." "Yes, I believe a good, simple meal will do wonders for me, thank you. Goodbye, Obsidian - and goddesspeed." The guardmare led her out to the waiting area, where her friends were gathered. "Don't worry, hon," she said as they walked, "Mister Q's a known philanthropist and has a number of rich friends; he's not just gonna disappear into the system somewhere, I promise you." "I shall see you later, my brother - I can hardly wait to meet with you again." Obsidian nodded to him and left. Perhaps she could contact Justice Spark to help him out? Though it ironically might make things worse... since as long as he was in that prison cell, he was apparently free of Amber's influence. "I hope so. He really is a hero; he was doing his best to stop the mind control he was under." Obsidian then gave the guardmare a curious look. "By the way, do you know where I could request information about the details of this prison? I really need to find out what sorts of wards they put in the walls..." She chuckled. "Sorry - one of the force's most delicate secrets is what protections we have woven in to the concrete when we make these cells; can't have the bad guys preparing for an escape, now can we? Besides, we replace a single wall each year, to make sure no one figures it out." Cup and Wart stood up as Siddy arrived, while Clap was snoring in her seat, leaning on a considerably cleaner Mica Chip. "Sorry I sent the 'party crashers'," Mica said, "but it seemed like the right thing to do; I did give you a twenty minute window first, though." "Is he okay? Is he mad?" Cup asked. Apparently, she would have to ask Princess Twilight directly to request this knowledge, it seemed. It could potentially save all of Equestria... just as Mica saved them, it seemed. Without his help they would have had to deal with Quartz unconscious. "Don't worry, Mica - it was the right choice. The police did help us - and no, Cup, he's completely sane, actually. He was simply under the influence of mind control. As soon as we stop Amber, he'll be able to join us at our wedding," Siddy then made a concerned face. "I forgot to ask him if he's colorblind, though... I mean, have you seen his suits?" Mica rolled his eyes. "How could you miss them?" Cupcake shrugged, "I liked the suits... but even Momma would've found something less..." "Mentally screaming within your eyeballs?" Wart offered, making Mica and Cup giggle. "Yeah - less THAT." Clap came closer. "So, okay, we won this round, yay us - so what's next on the list?" "The incident within the woods, and then Opal, I believe?" Wart spoke up. "Next on the list? Sleep, souvenirs for Gypsy, Diamond, Amy and Tourmy, and then Opal. I want to face her army of Dark-Magic-fueled technological golems as soon as possible." Clap nodded, satisfied with that answer. "Yeah... sleep sounds like a plan and a half." The group of them made their way outside; Mica had already hailed a cab, so there was little wait before they were on their way. The cabbie was a simple unicorn; it wasn't Markannus... and the thought of what condition the changeling was in hung in the air, but nobody brought it up. Reaching the Rockhoof, they all got out and separated; Clap and Mica headed to his room, while Wart followed her and Cupcake to theirs. They made their way in, too tired to really say very much. It had been a long day, what with the museum trip, the party and then the ordeal at the factory; Obsidian's hooves ached with overstimulation, and Cup groaned too as he flopped down onto the bed... then he sat up and looked at it again. "Wow... that's soft," he remarked, then turned to face her with a bit of a sultry smile. "So, I guess it's time for-" "Sleep, yes Cupcake," Wart interrupted as she slid in next to him, between the stallion and Obsidian. Cup turned and looked at her. "Wart, you can't just-" "Cupcake..." she gave a snarky grin, "... shush." Cup looked at her, then at Siddy... then smiled, shrugged and nestled down into the soft bed, actually putting a foreleg around the tiny mare before inviting his Dark Princess to the other side, so they could frame the Royal Guardmare. By Darkness, it was almost as if they would be cradling a foal... She had promised Cup something extra-nice, which obviously meant their 'relationship activities'... but she forgot about Wart. And to be fair, she didn't think the little unicorn would get straight into bed with them. And not even on the side, but between them. In fact, Siddy was a bit uncomfortable about the idea... Whoa... this bed really was soft. She hesitantly followed Cup's invitation, though it occurred to her that she'd never slept with anypony besides her coltfriend... Wart was seemingly determined not to allow them a moment alone to do... uh, whatever they were gonna do. Totally innocent things. But the little mare just settled herself right between them... and did she have a tiny, smug smile there? Well, if she did, it only served to make her look cute as she slept softly and soundly. Surrounded by friends. ... the little spoilsport.