Dawn woke early that morning, earlier than usual in fact, if only to make some headway on the day's rather large docket. Everything started off rather simple and went exactly as she expected it to, a wonderful feeling considering how absolutely turbulent yesterday had been.
She began with a breakfast consisting of a variety of donuts, a comfort food if there ever was one, because she needed something relaxing today. A simple variety did the trick just fine: one sugar, one glazed, one maple, one magmaberry jelly-filled, and one with rainbow sprinkles. She complemented the donuts with a customary cup of coffee with extra cream.
From there she attended a brief yet significant Committee meeting wherein Admiral Hotstreak formally resigned from his position and gave Dawn the proverbial blank check to choose his replacement. Only Quill Feather was surprised by the news, seeing as he was the only one not to be aware of the attack by the time the meeting was held. Vendetta seemed oddly enraptured by the proceedings.
Incidentally, Dawn also learned during from Doctor Blutsauger that Taskmaster Concrete had been admitted to the hospital the evening prior. As of this morning he was still in recovery, but his condition was so poor that retirement was a serious recommendation. Dawn had had to repress a smile, knowing that it was very likely that she'd be appointing his replacement if everything went well. There was just a matter of voting on the issue and Dawn knew she already had a number of votes in her corner.
Shortly after the meeting had concluded, Dawn opened her mind up to communicate with Curaçao to begin the next step in the day's itinerary. "Sister, we have important business to attend to, if you would rendezvous with me in my office. Immediately, if you would?"
"Oui," her sister instantly replied. "I will be there momentarily."
And so Dawn waited, leaning back in her seat and tapping her hooves on the rests. Curaçao was, as always, punctual and professional, and didn't keep her sister waiting for long at all. There was a knock at the door, and Dawn called out "Enter!", and then Curaçao did just that and the two greeted one another with a polite nod. Curaçao carried a datapad with her, which no doubt carried all of the pertinent information they needed for the tasks ahead of them.
Curaçao set the datapad onto Dawn's desk and connected it to her computer. "I've put together our list of potential candidates for the new Admiral position, as requested," she said, confirming Dawn's thoughts. "Their qualifications should meet the specifications you wanted as well, and I took the liberty of narrowing it down to the best possible options."
"Excellent, then this should be an expedient endeavor," Dawn said with a grin and a nod. She glanced through the names present, of which there was… one? She adjusted her glasses just to make sure, but yes, there was just the one. "Sister, would you be so kind as to enlighten me as to why only Commander Jetstream is present on this list of candidates?"
"Oui, c'est simple," Curaçao said. "Your list of qualifications was, shall we say, unnecessarily extensive? I looked through every single one of the candidates for promotion and, after a very thorough examination, determined that Commander Jetstream is the only candidate that meets the requirements of the position."
Dawn narrowed her eyes. "I find that answer woefully unsatisfactory."
"Oh? I apologize. Was I unclear?"
"No, you were perfectly clear, but the answer is nonetheless unsatisfactory," Dawn grunted; did she detect a hint of impudence in Curaçao's tone? "How is it possible that only Commander Jetstream qualifies for the position? There are a multitude of other candidates that I felt met the requirements far better than he does. I only added him to the list to humor the former Admiral."
Curaçao smirked. "Oui, I'm aware of that. C'est très chanceux that you did, or we would not have any suitable candidates."
"I ask again: how is it that only Jetstream qualifies? Answer me that. Now."
"Oh, Dawn, that is the most simple thing at all: he meets the only requirement on the list that actually matters."
Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"
"Fidélité. His loyalty to our father, and thus to us." Curaçao gave a half-hearted shrug. "We know for a fact that he can be trusted. That is the most important qualification at the moment, and he is the only candidate on the list that I trust without question."
Dawn clenched her teeth. "Sister, his father is an incompetent buffoon who allowed—"
"I think you will find, dear sister, that not every parent passes on all of their best or worst qualities to their offspring," Curaçao said, eyes narrowed. "Natural-born or not."
Dawn blinked, tilting her head at her sister's odd choice in words. This was new information to her. Was Curaçao suggesting that Jetstream was not Hotstreak's natural-born son? Did that mean that he was adopted? Or perhaps that Hotstreak's wife, Breezy Morning, had been unfaithful and thus Jetstream was a bastard?
"Are you… implying something, sister?" she asked, if only because she had to. If either of those situations were true, then there might be hope yet for Jetstream's promotion.
"Oh, non, I would not dream of implying anything. Périsse la pensée—perish the thought," Curaçao said, eyes locked with Dawn's. Dawn wondered why she had the feeling that Curaçao was hiding something. "My words were quite clear: Hotstreak may have made a mistake—a grave mistake, I will admit—but it does not mean that his son is guilty of the same. But again, that is irrelevant, because Jetstream is somepony we can trust."
"But—"
"If you are concerned with whether or not Jetstream is truly qualified for the position, then assert yourself over him so that he is aware that his title is only that of a figurehead, and that you are in command of the NPAF for all intents and purposes. Admiral Hotstreak knew this while he served under Papa, and Doctor Blutsauger and Chairpony Champagne do as well. Jetstream also knew it. I remind you again that he served our father loyally."
"Hmm."
Dawn mulled Curaçao's assertions over for a moment. It was true that their father had trusted Jetstream with great responsibilities—he'd been present to test her and her sisters' abilities shortly after their "birth"—so there was some merit to the decision. Not only that, but he was a familiar face that could easily be kept in line and who indeed could be trusted.
"A valid point," she replied with a slow nod. "I will require a thorough interview with him so that I might gather a more poignant assessment of his character. We should—"
To Dawn's surprise, her intercom interrupted the conversation with a shrill beeping, indicating that there was an incoming emergency communication.
Curaçao raised an eyebrow and eyed the intercom suspiciously. "Quoi? Somepony in the tower is contacting you with an emergency?"
Dawn huffed. "Sometimes, dear sister, issues arise that require the immediate attention of the pony who holds the most authority, and unlike you and our sisters they lack the means to do so quietly. Is that so astonishing?"
"Oui, un petit peu," her sister said, leaning back in her seat and giving Dawn a curious look. "The Shadows are Velvet and Pedigree's responsibilities and would contact them, and the rest of the Pandora Tower staff reports directly to me. You know this because you wanted to ensure you weren't bothered with, quote, 'trivial pursuits'."
"And as such this must be an emergency worth my while," Dawn said, nose in the air. She smirked, pressed the button on her intercom, then spoke into it: "This is Shadow Associate Golden Dawn speaking."
There was a brief delay on the other end before she heard a reply. "Miss Dawn! Hello, and um, good morning? Is it still morning? I have no idea what time it is right now, actually. It's been a long day and we're only just getting started. Oh! This is Sunspire, by the way."
Dawn's cocksure smirk diminished slightly. "Sunspire? What drivel are you expounding now? And why are you utilizing the emergency channel? Surely there is nothing of issue at the library that requires my immediate attention."
"The… the library? Miss Dawn, I left a while ago with Winter Glow and Hourglass to assist them with their expedition into the Wastelands. Remember?"
Oh, Dawn thought. Right.
She'd completely forgotten all about that, what with the fact that she hadn't heard from them since they'd left and with everything going on in the past day. It had utterly slipped her mind.
"Ah, yes, I remember now," she replied, ignoring the odd look Curaçao was giving her. "I had assumed you had already returned from the expedition and merely neglected your responsibility to provide me with a notification as to your success. Nevermind, that is irrelevant. I still require an explanation as to why you are utilizing the emergency channel."
"Well, um, because this is an emergency? We found something here in the old ruins of the gryphon city, and we require your input and assistance with it. Winter says we really just need your help teleporting our find elsewhere. Um… immediately?"
Dawn rubbed her temple, her aggravation swelling up. "Sunspire, at present I am overwhelmingly preoccupied with other matters of tremendous importance. Explain to Winter that I am not some glorified taxi service and that she, and you, can travel wherever it is you need to venture to without my aid."
"O-okay, I'll… I'll tell her?" he replied, sounding a little nervous.
There was a brief delay, then Dawn heard a slight commotion on the other end before Winter's voice suddenly came through. "Dawn, you listen here and listen good." She sounded angry. Very angry. "This isn't a fuckin' joke. I need ya here immediately to help with teleportin' somethin' important, because you're the only unicorn I know that can do it."
"I am aware of my prodigious talents with teleportation magic, yes, but I fail to see what is so crucial that you require my aid," Dawn huffed, indignant. "Nopony has yet provided me with a justifiable reason to otherwise shirk my duties here in order to provide you with this service, and I remind you that I am extraordinarily preoccupied at present."
"Dawn, I can't rightly tell ya what's goin' on over the phone, eh? I don't know who may or may not be listenin'—"
"This is a secure emergency channel, nopony is eavesdropping."
"Ya say that, and ya believe it, but I don't know that for sure and protocol dictates that I keep my yap shut," Winter grunted. "Now, this is a matter of extreme importance. I don't know if I've made it clear before but my work deals with, y'know, world-endin' catastrophes. So if ya don't mind?"
Dawn sighed. "I myself am occupied with potentially catastrophic circumstances, Winter. As you are no doubt unaware—"
"I don't give a flyin' fuck!" Winter snapped. "I don't care if your whole fuckin' city is on fire! This is more important!" There was a brief pause, then: "It has to do with your dad, yeah? Is that important enough to ya?"
Dawn's eyes widened. "With my father?"
"That's what I said. Now, are you comin' or not?"
Dawn looked to Curaçao, who merely sported the sort of curious, thoughtful look she always got when she was parsing through loads of information. "Curaçao," she said, straightening her glasses. "I believe that this situation indeed requires my immediate attention. I can rely upon you to attend to matters until I return, yes?"
Her sister rose and nodded. "Oui, of course. I'll begin immédiatement."
As Curaçao left, Dawn then spoke into the intercom: "I will arrive momentarily, Winter. Place Sunspire's communicator on the ground nearby and clear an area around it of at least ten feet. I possess the means to translocate its position and will utilize it as a beacon with which I shall accurately position my teleportation."
"You got it. Thanks, Dawn."
Dawn then shut off the intercom, opened up a program on her computer, and watched as a signal appeared on a map of the northern continent. It was the only such signal currently active outside of the city; she assumed that Havoc had misplaced her own communicator during yesterday's attack, and planned on reprimanding her later for it since the technomagic within it was valuable and difficult to produce even for them.
Once the signal was located and its position triangulated down to within a few inches of potential error, Dawn lit up her horn, focused herself intently on the precise latitude, longitude, and altitude of her destination, and with a bright flash and a loud pop, she vanished from her office.
She reappeared within less than half of an inch of her intended destination, which she found both laudable because of how extraordinarily difficult it was to teleport to an unknown location with any sort of worthwhile accuracy, but also disappointing because she wasn't exactly on her mark. Still, it was better than any other unicorn could ever hope to accomplish.
Dawn found herself in a dusty old room—part of the gryphon ruins, she assumed—looking right at Winter, Hourglass, and Sunspire. The trio were standing in front of an odd obelisk construct that, in the brief moment that she had to look it over, reminded her of the Beacon situated within the central confines of Pandora Tower, only lacking the odd orange glow that radiated from it on a constant basis.
Dawn's eyes then widened when she saw another figure standing not too far away from the trio of unicorns. A gryphon. A living, breathing gryphon. An old gryphon, to be sure, and one oddly covered with a multitude of technomagic constructs, prosthetics, and apparatuses. Her mind began racing as she tried to think of what would be the most proper response to seeing a tangible representative of a race thought to be extinct.
But she immediately forgot what she was going to say when she saw the familiar figure of an alicorn in the corner, unconscious. There was no mistaking the alicorn's coloration, no mistaking the shape of her mane and tail, no mistaking the thin, elegant build, and certainly no mistaking the fact that she was an alicorn. Dawn would never forget what Nihila looked like for as long as she lived.
"Mornin', mate," Winter said with a cocksure smirk and a wave. "Welcome to the pickle I'm in now. Y'know, I imagine I looked exactly like you look right now when I first realized what kind of a situation I was in, too. Hurts your brain a little bit, doesn't it?"
Dawn merely turned to Winter, teeth clenched, and snarled, "Explain. Now."
*****
"So that's basically the conclusion we've come to at the moment," Winter finished with a shrug. "We have no idea if this is or isn't Nihila until she wakes up, and we didn't exactly want to try doin' that until we had a bit of insurance, so to speak. Namely a unicorn that I've seen with my own two eyes withstand that kind of power."
Dawn grunted and rubbed her temple. "The compliment is appreciated, and now at least I can comprehend your insistence earlier. This is more than just a mere 'pickle', I fear. I should commune with my father to ascertain his opinion on the matter. He may possess insight that I lack."
"Your father, the one who summoned and defeated Nihila with Galdorhoff's ritual?" Gilderoy asked, clearly for clarification; he was just as… "lost" wasn't the proper term here. Disoriented. He was clearly just as disoriented as the others present were, hence the questions.
"Correct," she answered with a respectful nod. "In doing so, he absorbed her powers for himself. No doubt that was Galdorhoff's intention with the spell."
"All the more reason I'm relieved he was exiled from our society," the old gryphon scoffed. "I will reserve judgment on whether or not the success of this ritual of his is of a benefit to the world once I've had the opportunity to speak with your father, whomever he might be. I imagine that that is very much unlikely, given his nature as an alicorn within the Dreaming."
Dawn paused in consideration, recalling that her father had admitted to his role in the genocide of Gilderoy's kind. She didn't imagine that being a pleasant revelation for the old gryphon, and decided then and there not to speak further on it. The fact that Winter had yet to reveal the identity of the pony who destroyed Nihila put Dawn at ease; it meant that Winter also felt it would be of no benefit to share that information just yet.
"It should be impossible for the time being, yes," Dawn agreed with a nod. "However, my father's will and means know no bounds, so if there comes a time where he wishes to commune with others on this plane, I am certain he could perform such a feat. At any rate, I cannot communicate with him at present, not in our immediate location."
"You can't? Why not?" asked Hourglass.
"There is something here in the ruins of… Aeropolis, yes?"
Gilderoy nodded in confirmation.
"There is something in these ruins that has temporarily stymied my connection to my father," Dawn stated, shaking her head. "I am always aware of my father's presence within my very being. I will compare it to a sensation of warmth deep within one's heart, but it is a more complex feeling than that. I have not felt that sensation since arriving here within the ruins."
Gilderoy hummed, stroking his beard. "Long ago, before the war with Nihila here in the north, the gryphons who constructed Aeropolis were under no delusion that our grand city would be a target for the Goddess of Evil and her legions of loyal, sadistic followers. They built the city in such a way that invaders could be easily repelled and that we would possess the resources needed to withstand a siege of many years.
"As for Nihila herself, however, there was no telling what she was capable of inflicting upon the mortal plane directly. The city was built upon a number of specific points that, together, serve as what is essentially a massive runic circle. It effectively shields us from an alicorn's power."
"If that's the case, then how did she manage to, um… do what she did to the other gryphons?" Sunspire asked. "Details on the event are scarce in the history books."
Gilderoy sneered slightly. "Her Warden at the time, a treacherous schemer by the name of Lord Silvertongue, unleashed a blight upon our city that reduced every living thing inside to dust. He had formerly been a Warden of Harmonia and had earned our trust, and so we opened ourselves—our city—to his later betrayal.
"The plague was of unique design, alien to some degree—I have never seen anything like it before or since—and with disastrous results. It affects different races differently as well. For a pony, it necrotizes the living tissue and cellular structure and… well, the effects are rather horrific from there. I won't scar you with the details.
"For gryphons, however, the plague rapidly disintegrates the entirety of their biomass, from skin and muscle down to even the bone." He shook his head, disgusted. "It was not quick, nor painless. Each and every gryphon in this city died an agonizing death within only minutes of exposure. I can only hope that it was quick enough that Nihila did not consume their souls."
"Wow, that's… terrible. This Silvertongue sounds like he was a monster."
"As devious and cruel as they come, it turns out," Gilderoy scoffed. "And none of us saw him for what he was until it was too late."
Dawn fidgeted uncomfortably, and she ignored the self-righteous look that Winter seemed to be giving her. She was aware of her father's role in the matter, yes, absolutely, but he had spared her the details of what exactly had transpired. She'd assumed that a single spell had perhaps painlessly done the job. Did he even know the full extent of what the Red Death had done?
She nervously cleared her throat. "A tragedy of the highest caliber, indeed." She then gestured towards the alicorn that was or wasn't Nihila. "At any rate, without my father's guidance, I cannot in good faith provide an answer as to what actions should be taken in regards to our newfound… discovery."
"Another reason for why I called ya. We need to get her someplace else, and you're the best taxi service a pony could ask for," Winter said with a cheeky grin. "So, back to Pandora Tower we go. Just don't expect a tip."
Dawn paused, then shook her head. "No, that would be an unwise option, given the circumstances."
"Huh?"
"Ah, forgive me, I had forgotten that you three have not been kept abreast of the recent news. I will spare you the precise details and instead provide a short summary: yesterday afternoon, Her Majesty Queen Blackburn and her family were en route to New Pandemonium City to sign the peace treaty, and they were attacked by a seditious element within the NPAF."
Winter's jaw dropped. "Crikey, are you for real? Is everypony okay?"
"Her Majesty's friend, Captain Briarthorn, perished in battle, and my sister Havoc sustained injuries as well defending the royal family."
"Bloody hell, that could set back the entire peace process you've been working towards," Hourglass muttered. "I mean, the whole thing is terrible news, but that's gotta be a big blow to your hopes for peace."
Dawn nodded; she'd come to the same conclusion during a restless sleep the night, but hated to admit it. "Precisely, hence my initial resistance to lending my assistance here. I have been in the process of addressing the potential political fallout of the situation."
"Of which I imagine there's quite a lot," Winter noted. "I've only ever met Queen Blackburn once, but I know her reputation and she doesn't seem the sort to live and let live so easily, eh?"
"An astute observation, yes. It is also why we cannot deliver our new discovery up north. Until I have ascertained the extent of the sedition within my city's military and if it potentially runs deeper, New Pandemonium is not a safe place to bring this alicorn. The sort of power such an asset could provide is troubling."
"Not to mention, if this is Nihila, I would believe it unwise to place her in any sort of proximity to the Beacon," Gilderoy added with a sagely nod. "There is no telling what could potentially occur if that were to come to pass. All of the research data I've accumulated over the years pertains to Nihila as we knew her, not whomever this alicorn is or isn't."
"A worthwhile consideration, yes." Dawn sighed and shook her head. "Our only viable option is Hope's Point, but naturally that presents its own considerably awkward circumstances. I cannot simply teleport beyond the protective barrier with such a group, so we will need to enter through the main foyer.
"However… I consider this a potential opportunity. If I am present when we present this discovery, this alicorn, to Hope's Point, it will not only expedite the process but will grant me the capability of interacting with Queen Blackburn in person, to attempt to make amends for what has happened."
"Great, two birds with one stone and all that," Winter said, rolling her eyes. "Well then, we should get a move on, eh? That sandstorm'll be here within the next few days and we don't know how that might affect things movin' forward."
"Indeed." Dawn took a breath, then looked about the group as she walked over to the unconscious alicorn. "Well then, everypony, gather around and we may depart." She paused, then turned to Gilderoy. "And you as well, Lorekeeper Gilderoy. I daresay that you could lend some insight into any potential discourse."
Gilderoy tilted his head and gave a slight smile. "Me? My dear Miss Dawn, I haven't departed from Aeropolis since well before the destruction of my kind. I have spent hundreds of years confined within the Sanctuary of Knowledge, and I fear that even this brief period spent outside of it will have advanced my aging so substantially that I may not be long for this world."
"Didn't you say it was all of that technomagic that was keepin' you alive?" Winter asked, gesturing at the mechanisms around the gryphon's chest.
"Indeed it is, but I have been unable to properly maintain them in recent years." Punctuating this point—unintentionally, Dawn hoped—he let out a series of coughs, and the light on his chest turned red. He thumped his good talon against it, turning the light green again. "Excuse me."
"You've been doing that an awful lot," Hourglass murmured. "Is everything alright?"
"You must understand that my resources, while great, are not limitless or optimal for every situation. I am well-versed in technomagic engineering but I am no prodigy. Try as I might, I cannot stop time's flow upon me forever." Gilderoy hung his head and sighed, despondent. "As the last of my kind, and the only one with access to our Sanctuary of Knowledge, I fear that with my death, our history will be lost forever…"
"Well, Hope's Point happens to have a veritable motherlode of technomagic know-how," Winter explained with a grin. "Hell, if we're lucky ya might be able to get Queen Blackburn's friend Gadget to take a look at your gizmos. From what I hear she's a wizard with the stuff. A prodigy, like ya said."
Dawn grunted, giving Winter a pointed look. "I would rather offer the Lorekeeper the assistance of New Pandemonium's technomagic scientists. Our Overseer Pedigree possesses equally as much capability as anypony from Hope's Point does, more so in fact." She glanced at Sunspire briefly. "Sunspire, your goggles are an invention of the Overseer's design, are they not?"
Sunspire adjusted his goggles slightly. "Yes, ma'am, they are."
"And they are a marvel of technomagic engineering. Filtering out magical signatures within one's vision is no easy feat—"
"Dawn, ya said yourself that we ain't bringin' anypony to New Pandemonium right now, eh?" huffed Winter. "So shut your trap and get us to Hope's Point already. Their tech gurus or whatever they've got can take a look at Gilderoy's gear and get him all fixed up. I know you're lookin' ta have him in your debt rather than Blackburn's, but tough luck, try again."
Dawn grunted, barely resisting the urge to retort, then turned to Gilderoy. "Very well. Lorekeeper Gilderoy, you are welcome to come along with us as well, and perhaps besides lending us your insight into the situation you would also surely be granted the assistance of Hope's Point—and New Pandemonium—in maintaining your technomagic prosthetics."
"Maybe even an upgrade!" Hourglass suggested with an ecstatic grin. "I mean, hundreds of years have passed, so somepony's bound to have invented better gear by now, right?"
Gilderoy smiled gently. "You are all very kind. Hmm." With a nod and a sigh, he said, "I will accept your offer, knowing well that should your technicians be incapable of helping me, that I will surely lose most of what precious little time I have left in this world. The need for my input in these world-changing matters trumps any sense of self-preservation I might have had, hmm hmm."
"Indeed," Dawn said, lighting up her horn. "Well then, everypony, Lorekeeper, take a deep breath. I have been informed that those unaccustomed to teleportation magic tend to experience nausea, with more severe cases based on the distance and strain, and Hope's Point is a great distance from here and our traveling party is quite large."
As everypony gathered around, Dawn focused her mind on the entryway into Hope's Point, a small building constructed so that it straddled the city's protective barrier and interrupted it, allowing ponies to pass through via the land route. She had never been there herself, but had seen images of it and knew its latitude and longitude by heart, so it was easier than an unknown location was.
Thus, after a bright flash and a pop, she, the other three unicorns, the aging gryphon, and the unconscious alicorn mare, all teleported instantly to a safe spot just a few dozen feet away from the entry gate.
Dawn's warning had not been for nothing, of course, though she herself wasn't affected at all. Winter seemed a little dizzy afterwards but otherwise fine; Sunspire stumbled about slightly then clutched his stomach and rolled onto his side; Hourglass immediately glanced about and found a spot where the others couldn't see her, whereupon she ran over and immediately started heaving.
Gilderoy was equally as unaffected as Dawn was, which she chalked up to either his experience with the sensation or his technomagic prosthetics eating the brunt of the shock—or perhaps him having a prosthetic stomach? Either way, it was impressive.
Out here in the open it was clear that the weather reports had also not been at all exaggerated. Dawn had to shield her eyes just to protect from the veritable typhoon of dust particles flying about.
While it wasn't exactly a horrible sandstorm just yet, the winds had picked up enough lately that it was unbearable to travel by land; soon enough, it would even be difficult or impossible to travel by air, by airship or otherwise, and after that it would outright lethal to move out of doors.
She saw Gilderoy look up in awe at the defensive shield around Hope's Point. "Amazing," he said with an awestruck smile. "This is an astounding feat of technomagic ingenuity. Duplication of a unicorn's telekinetic barrier spell is difficult as-is, but on this scale the complexity is staggering. And this is… 'Hope's Point', you said?"
"Yup!" Winter said, giving the old gryphon a gentle clap on the side; she couldn't even remotely reach his shoulder, where one would typically perform such a gesture, and so had apparently settled on the next best thing. "Now ya see why I'm confident they can give ya some kind of tune-up for all your little gizmos, eh?"
"Yes, I certainly can. I'd always theorized that ponies would advance our technomagic substantially in the centuries that followed our fall, but I had not anticipated such a tremendous development. I am most impressed with the ingenuity on display here."
"I imagine your reaction will be much more invigorated once you visit New Pandemonium to the north," Dawn said, nose in the air. "Our developments are substantial as well, more so than Hope's Point in my opinion. Why, it is the single largest civilized settlement in the entirety of Equestria."
"Showboat," Winter muttered.
Dawn ignored it. "At any rate, shall we proceed?"
She used her magic to lift the unconscious alicorn and carry her along in her field, an easy feat all things considered.
She didn't expect it to be difficult, of course, but there had been a concern in the back of her mind ever since discovering the existence of this alicorn that may or may not be Nihila, a concern that her magic might have some ill effect if she used it around the mare, either by waking the mare up without warning or causing some sort of feedback issue. She was glad to see that neither seemed to be the case.
The group then entered into the gateway building, which was, as expected, utterly empty. Travel to Hope's Point by land had been restricted for long enough now that anypony who had arrived before the lockdown was put into effect would have already finished their clearance process. Thus, it was easy enough to find seats for everypony else to rest in and to set the alicorn mare someplace comfortable and safe for the time being, while Dawn approached the communicator screen.
"Havoc made mention of how the city conducts its clearance process," she explained to Winter. "Typically a prospective entrant would provide details as to their 'voucher', which would be a pony inside the city that could literally vouch for their character. It allows the background check process to be more expedient."
"And you're tellin' me that because…?" Winter said, eyebrow up. "I already know how this shit works, mate. Sure, I typically use the air route when I need to get in, but it's not like I don't understand the rules of the whole city, eh? Gotta be prepared in case of an emergency."
"I only acknowledge the fact because it is my understanding that the duration of the process sometimes exceeds hours or days. We will not be hampered by such delays. Our 'voucher' will be Her Majesty herself, and as the Shadow Associate of the Committee I will be granted judicious leeway."
"Given what ya told us about the situation, are ya so sure about that?"
Dawn smirked and stuck her nose in the air. "Excessively so. Observe."
She pressed a button next to the screen labeled Push To Talk, and within seconds was greeted by the image of a unicorn stallion on the screen, with a brownish-orange coat and a pale green mane styled in a bowl cut. His red and green vest appeared patched together, indication that it was not some form of uniform.
She'd heard that the ponies of Hope's Point were what Havoc called "casual-professional", meaning they did their jobs exceedingly well but did so comfortably and casually. "Professional" wasn't the word Dawn would use. "Amateur" more like.
"Who goes there?" asked the stallion. "And if you could state your name clearly for me there, eh? The winds outside are giving me all kinds of interference."
"Greetings, my good stallion," Dawn said with a polite nod. "I am Shadow Associate Golden Dawn of the New Pandemonium City Committee. I believe it is customary to declare a 'voucher' as a means of expedient entry, and mine would be Her Majesty Queen Blackburn, or failing that, His Majesty King Lockwood. Or, I suppose, Ambassador Gray Skies?"
The stallion on the other end just blinked a few times. "Uh… okay, that there's a loaded bunch of information you just gave me. Nopony's ever used Her Majesty herself as a voucher before, eh? I'm gonna have to check this in with my supervisor—"
"Ah, would that be Chief Storm, by chance?" Dawn asked, tilting her head. "Excellent, she is acquainted with me, so that would also be extraordinarily beneficial. Thank you, my good stallion."
"I wasn't exactly referring to the Chief herself there, no, but uh, if you say you know her then I think that she'd be very interested in giving you a little look-see, eh? Just a moment."
The screen went dark, and it remained that way for all of about two, two-and-a-half minutes before it came to life again. This time the image on the other end was of the familiar visage of Stellar Storm, looking every bit as intimidating—to ponies other than Dawn, of course—as ever with her false metal horn, battle scars, and dark demeanor.
Storm wasted no time at all in getting right to business, an excellent quality that Dawn remembered of her from their last meeting years ago. "Shadow Associate Dawn, I would say that it's a pleasure to see you again but I think we both know that that's not even remotely true, given the circumstances of recent… events."
Dawn expected this, of course, and was ready with a quick response. "I can assure you, Chief Storm, that I was not involved in any capacity—"
"Save the spiel. Your sisters vouched for your role in the situation, or rather lack thereof. Lucky for you that you had some advocates down here, isn't it?"
"Wonderful. It gladdens me to know that cooler heads have prevailed."
Storm sneered. "Her Majesty, and many of us on her Council and otherwise, don't know if that's exactly a good thing. A leader that doesn't know when her own military planned an unsanctioned attack upon a foreign diplomat, attempted to foalnap their kids, and murdered a citizen of our fair city doesn't exactly do wonders for your approval rating."
"The NPAF was not responsible for the attack; it was a seditious element—"
"And we've heard that bullshit too, which just means you've got traitors in your ranks and don't even know who they are. Her Majesty's of the opinion that a coup could crop up at any second. Maybe you should be back home watching your back instead of being here?"
Dawn cleared her throat softly. "I will ensure that all required actions are instituted to rectify this situation with all due expediency."
"All well and good, but I don't need you to tell that to me, Shadow Associate. Tell that to Her Majesty." Storm then tilted her head, indignant. "But tell her some other time. I'll give you kudos for having the guts to come here in person to… make amends, I assume? However, Her Majesty is not in the state of mind right now to speak to you."
"I understand completely, of course, but I must express my sincerest apologies in not acquiescing to Her Majesty's wishes. There is an extraordinary circumstance that must be brought to her attention. Immediately."
Storm narrowed her eyes. "What part of 'not in the right state of mind' didn't you understand? She's grieving the loss of a dear friend who was killed thanks to your rogue seditionists. Give her some time—"
"We don't have time," Winter said, stepping up alongside Dawn.
"Winter, this is my responsibility," Dawn hissed. "I do not require your assistance."
"Blow it out your ass, Dawn. I can tell we're gettin' nowhere listenin' to ya try and play negotiator right now."
"You look familiar," Storm said, directing her gaze towards Winter. "You were at the royal wedding, a guest of His Majesty if I remember correctly. A former associate of his. Obviously quite close if you were invited to his wedding. His… roommate, I believe?"
"That's right," Winter said with a nod. "Winter Glow's the name. The King and I go back a ways, yeah, but it's a long story, so I'd rather we not get into it here if we can avoid it."
"Fair enough, and not really important anyway. I can just look you up in our database if I want answers. You jumped right into this little argument, though, didn't you? What's this about not having time?"
"That's a bit of a long story too, eh? I need to explain it to Queen Blackburn as soon as possible, the sooner the better. It's potentially world-changin' news, and I'm gonna need her facilities—and her discretion—to handle it safely."
Storm leaned back in her seat slightly, tapping her hoof on the top of her desk. "What sort of world-changing news are we talking about?"
"The kind where the less folk who know about it, the better." Winter shrugged. "No offense to ya, Chief Storm, but this kind of stuff is above your paygrade if I can help it."
"Oh yes, because any good security chief is going to just let you waltz on through with that being your story."
"Oh, I get it, I do, so if it helps ease things up on your end, King Lockwood gave me a sort of password to use for when I need to get into the city in case of emergencies."
"You never mentioned this 'password' before," Dawn said, raising an eyebrow. "Why not deliver this information to me sooner?"
"'Cause I didn't think I'd need to if you were actually gonna get us in the proper way," Winter scoffed. "And I'm not exactly supposed to be spoutin' it willy-nilly, eh? Not just because it's a secret password but because he knows that if I'm usin' it, shit's goin' down, so I'm not supposed to use it unless it's a real emergency."
"And what exactly is this password?" Storm asked, hooves steepled.
"R-A-R-I-T-Y," Winter said clearly. With a sidelong glance at Dawn, she added, "The number of ponies who know about her and her connection with Lockwood is pretty slim, so he knew nopony would be throwin' her name around at random, eh?"
Storm quirked an eyebrow as she typed the password into her system, then smirked and nodded. "Well now, look at that, a Protocol Zero password. That pretty much clears you through every possible security check I have, even ones in place that I use in secret. Must be important if His Majesty permitted you to use it."
"Sure is. So, whatever you need to do to get Her Majesty to handle this discreetly and personally would be great, because yeah, the less who know what's goin' on for now, the better."
"I'll take care of everything. Just sit tight for now."
"Thanks, Chief," Winter said with a nod.
Dawn paused, then hastily nodded as well. "Yes, we appreciate the effort, Chief Storm."
"Mmhmm."
The screen then went dark again.
Dawn let out a long, hearty sigh. "That certainly could have proceeded with substantially improved results if circumstances were not what they presently are." She gave Winter a gentle nod. "I appreciate your assistance in any case, Winter."
Winter shrugged. "Meh. Gotta do what ya gotta do when this line of work is concerned, so here we are. Don't mention it, 'cause I certainly didn't do it for you. I did it because it's my job and we need to move quickly."
"Still, it was fortuitous that you possessed such a beneficial bypass to the security procedure. Though I do not quite understand why King Lockwood would utilize Rarity in particular in such a fashion. Naturally the security of it is substantial given the fact that Rarity is no longer present in our world, but—"
"Hey, look, I don't get it any more than you do, yeah? I figure it was just because it was easier for me and him to remember than some complex series of letters and numbers and other shit, y'know, the kind ya might use for loggin' into a bank account."
Dawn considered this, then nodded in agreement. "I suppose that much is true." She turned to the unconscious alicorn and the ancient gryphon that watched over her, then shook her head. "Given my own reaction to the situation that sits before us, I cannot imagine Her Majesty's reaction to be anything less than astounded."
"As long as she helps, I don't care what her reaction is," Winter grunted.
*****
Dawn stared at Blackburn, who—with Lockwood at her side—stared right back with an expression that Dawn just couldn't read. She'd never been particularly good at reading ponies, not like Curaçao was, but she could see hints of aggravation, anger, curiosity, worry, and many more emotions in the queen's eyes as she and Winter explained the situation. Dawn's own expression remained as even and calm as she could manage, but it was difficult not to feel unnerved.
Her Majesty had handled things with a great deal of discretion and expedience, as was expected of somepony of her nature. With all due secrecy, Blackburn herself, along with Lockwood and Gadget, had arrived at the city gate to see for themselves what had warranted Winter's use of the noteworthy password, and though some few moments were used to get over the initial shock of seeing a living gryphon and a physical alicorn, they put their questions aside momentarily.
Now they resided in a room within the royal palace itself, one that possessed what Blackburn called "Ultra-Restricted Access", meaning that only the ponies that she personally permitted entry to were allowed to access it. The way she put it, her absolute authority over the issue meant that she could restrict access to the room even from Lockwood, though she obviously did no such thing.
As such, the number of ponies who were permitted at present included only those that were already aware of the situation at hoof: Dawn, Winter, Hourglass, Sunspire, Blackburn, Lockwood, and Gadget. Blackburn even added Gray to the list, and though Dawn disagreed with the decision—her sister was out of her league in this situation as far as she was concerned—she didn't argue it further.
A single guard, one Commander Pinpoint, a trusted soldier possessing "remarkable skill with a rifle" as Gadget put it, had been left in charge of watching the entrance, but even he had no knowledge of the contents of the room he was protecting. The room was even magically sealed to prevent even entry via teleportation. The secret of the gryphon and the alicorn would remain a secret, for now.
At present, Hourglass and Sunspire had been given leave to eat and rest after a tiring journey, mostly because now that the situation had progressed to this point it was agreed that it was time for the adults to discuss things without younger ponies present. Winter had argued for Hourglass's inclusion, but Hourglass felt it better to just leave it up to the ponies in charge. A wise decision, as far as Dawn was concerned; the younger mare was learning well.
"So that's basically the situation we find ourselves in," Winter finished, shaking her head. "As ya can imagine, it's a right mess, yeah?"
"Indeed," Blackburn said, not taking her eyes off of Dawn. "Circumstances perplexing, leaves more questions than answers. Alicorn's nature unknowable at present, potential threat. Would argue against decision in bringing hazardous material of any kind into Hope's Point given current political climate."
Dawn winced slightly. "Your Majesty, again, I must offer—"
"Save it," the queen interjected. "Understand decision, however. Threat potentially greater if existence of alicorn discovered by unsavory types. In light of recent events, do not trust you to maintain protection of this secret. Best option, no question."
Blackburn then turned to Winter. "Hope's Point will guard alicorn until necessary. If she proves a threat, will deal with it. Understand your desire to maintain secrecy over circumstances of your 'work', will respect privacy."
"Much appreciated, Your Majesty," Winter replied with a nod. "I'll remain here for the rest of the day while we try and figure somethin' out about what's goin' on, but I'll be takin' Hourglass with me to head back to the ruins tomorrow morning."
"What? Why?" Lockwood asked, apparently worried.
"'Cause whatever caused this alicorn to appear where she did is likely linked to those ruins, specifically to the prototype Beacon we found there. We can deliberate on theories and shit as much as we want to, but I need concrete data and that means I need to do a full scan of the entire area. Now that we've moved her, I can get readin's I wouldn't have gotten before.
"Not only that, but we've gotta leave and get there before the sandstorm hits, and we have less than a week to do that. I know a route into the mountains that won't take us through whatever the Gargantuans are doin' in the eastern Wastelands, but my window's tight. As much as I'd love to wait around for her to wake up, I can't afford to."
"I could always teleport you there if that would offer a more convenient solution," Dawn suggested with all due sincerity. "It would not require significant effort, and I could then return here to observe the situation as it develops."
Blackburn grunted. "No. You will be leaving as soon as possible, if not sooner. Your presence in my city…" She took a breath. "Unwelcome."
Dawn frowned. "Your Majesty—"
"Blackburn, while I agree that Dawn being here isn't going to do wonders for anypony's patience," interjected Gray, "the fact is that she needs to be here for at least a little longer. Not just to discuss what to do about this alicorn situation, but because she should be here when Havoc is released from the hospital."
Gray then looked directly at Dawn, a hard look in her eyes. "Isn't that right, sis? You were planning on staying until Havoc is released from the hospital, weren't you?"
"Naturally," Dawn lied.
She'd had no intention of waiting for Havoc to recover from whatever injuries she'd sustained, which were obviously minor enough in nature that she'd not been informed elsewise and yet still somehow required a hospital stay. But, if Gray was providing her with an excuse to be allowed to stay, then she'd happily jump on that opportunity. She wasn't sure why Gray was giving her such a harsh look while suggesting it, but attributed it to the stress of the past twenty-four hours.
Blackburn directed a minor look of annoyance at Gray for half a moment, then redirected it to Dawn. "Very well. But not as a guest of mine, or of Ambassador Gray's. You will seek own room and board, utilize an alias that I provide. Nopony in city is to know who you are or why you're here."
Dawn nodded. "That I can agree to."
"Wasn't asking for approval." Blackburn then turned to Winter. "Will provide you with food and resources needed to prepare for your trip, can offer transport if needed. Fair warning, once sandstorm hits, will be unable to retrieve you. Will need to procure own shelter; even Goldridge Checkpoint potentially unreachable. Will also provide weather predictions, give best information possible."
"Well I appreciate any help you can provide, certainly," Winter replied with earnest. "But I won't burden you much. Just some food and a few supplies to last us for the time. Worst case scenario is we get stuck in the mountains, but I think the two of us can make it work."
"Trust your judgment, understand that you know your limits."
Lockwood tilted his head. "You're sure you don't want to wait until after the storm, Winter?"
Winter shook her head. "Can't afford to wait, mate. The readin's wear out over time, and they're already gonna be a little inaccurate as it is considerin' how long it's been since the initial surge. If we wait for the storm to pass, I don't even know how much of a readin' I'll be able to get."
"Fair enough. You can count on us to help however we can."
"So, too many questions on nature of alicorn," Blackburn said with a slow nod. "Cannot obtain concrete answers until she wakes. Unfortunate, but situation is what it is. Will wait until opportunity presents itself." She then turned to Gilderoy. "Lorekeeper Gilderoy, on other hoof, can provide answers on self."
Gilderoy, who'd remained politely quiet while the ponies deliberated on their internal political issues, gave the queen a small smile. "Certainly, Your Majesty. I would be delighted to answer any questions pertaining to myself or to the situation we currently find ourselves in. I have my own questions for you, of course, about your city and your technomagic and technology."
"Naturally. Firstly, curious about how you are still alive. Not just survival pertaining to supposed extinction of gryphon race, but survival through centuries. Do gryphons possess extended lifespan?"
While Gilderoy and Blackburn spoke—Lockwood, Gray, and Gadget all listened in with rapt attention—Dawn pulled Winter aside slightly to speak privately; the pair of them had already heard enough of Gildeory's story that she figured it would be best if they tried to make more judicious use of their time.
"My offer still remains extended to you and Hourglass if you require more expeditious transport to the mountains," Dawn said quietly. "I can teleport you two there and then return here with minimal exertion of effort, and far quicker than any of Her Majesty's ships could hope to do so."
Winter shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but that won't be necessary. It'll take a few days at most after we leave to get to where I'm intending to go, 'cause we've got more than just the ruins to explore. Long story." She smirked, nudging Dawn gently. "And hey, I won't be taking up the queen's offer for transport, either, if that makes you feel better."
"Why would it make me feel better?"
"Because I can tell you've been absolutely livid inside ever since you had to suggest we bring the alicorn here to Hope's Point in the first place. You don't like that even though it was your idea and even though I contacted you for help, in the end it's Blackburn that's pulling all the weight. Her city, her resources, not you and yours."
Dawn snorted and made to argue the point, then paused, hung her head, and let out a sigh and nodded. "Your assessment is… excruciatingly accurate."
"I know it is. I know you, Dawn, and I know how you've always got to feel like you're the center of attention. You were like that with me and Twilight, too, way back when."
"Hmph… while I vehemently disagree with your vernacular, you possess keen insight into the situation." Dawn chanced a glance towards the conversing royals, then back to Winter. "I feel as though my position in this political atmosphere has been drastically weakened. It has taken tremendous effort to reach this point, and there is no doubt that Queen Blackburn will utilize these circumstances to argue for additional measures.
"What I find most frustrating is that the situation is entirely reversed. It should be New Pandemonium, not Hope's Point, that possesses control over the upcoming political summit. As it stood, the parties were relatively equal, and even that I disagreed with. Our city is exponentially superior to this hodgepodge of desperation, even if our commercial airships are of… mediocre quality."
Winter shrugged. "Woof, that's a bold statement there, but eh, it is what it is, mate. Ya gotta deal with the cards you've been dealt. However, might I remind you that you've got an advantage that they don't have?"
"Hmm?"
"You've got your dear old dad to ask for help. Or did ya forget that the whole reason we took the alicorn out of the ruins was so that you could speak with him?"
Dawn's eyes widened. "Oh! Yes, I had utterly forgotten about that considering the excitement of our predicament. I will contact him immediately. Forgive me if it seems as though I am subsequently ignoring you, for our conversation will be entirely via a mental, spiritual link, and it takes me some effort to communicate with him. I must isolate myself."
"I bet you're pretty good at that," Winter scoffed. "Go on then. Let me know if anythin' comes up that's important."
Dawn stepped away slightly from Winter, took a deep breath, and centered herself on her own thoughts and her own heartbeat. She'd gotten better at doing this over the past few years, but focusing herself entirely on her inner aura was still a tremendous effort while she was conscious; she found it easier to commune with her father while she was asleep.
Though it took a few moments, eventually she could feel her essence waft about her, signaling into the Dreaming, to her father, that she needed to commune with him. It was both a tranquil state of being and yet exhausting all the same; her soul was both at peace and yet being taxed by the sheer effort of breaking the planar barrier. Her father had told her it took decades for even him to reach a point where he could do it without strain.
Then, she felt a familiar warmth in her heart, the feeling she always got whenever she was in her father's presence, even before his ascension. He was here now, with her. "Father," she greeted mentally.
"Dawn, my dearest daughter," came the voice of Silvertongue in her mind. "I would ask you how you fare, but I can sense a tremendous amount of stress within you. A burden encompasses the whole of your body, mind, and soul. What troubles you, my dear?"
"I bear news regarding that surge of Darkness you detected last week, Father. I fear that the news is… incredibly troubling." She gulped; she wondered if her father could hear her do it. "I cannot ascertain the absolute truth of the situation, so I will provide you with the facts that I do know. Winter Glow uncovered the source of the anomaly: an alicorn. A physical alicorn. Her form is identical to that of Nihila."
She was not surprised that her father paused for a brief instant. Even a being as powerful as he was needed a moment to parse through words that, for all intents and purposes, should be impossible. Even for somepony who had physically summoned an alicorn into the material plane and destroyed her himself. Even for somepony who had existed as a physical alicorn for a few hours himself.
"I can sense her," her father's voice said, the sensation oddly cold and warm at the same time, washing over Dawn and flooding her with feelings of tremendous anxiety and relief all at once. "Her power is… almost astronomical. Nearly equal in strength to what I bore witness to when Nihila, in a mortal, physical body, attempted to destroy me. And that power is growing stronger by the second.
"I can sense an odd disturbance within the Dreaming, as though its strength is drawn to her as it should be, yet it does not quite reach her. And yet… there is something else about it all that I cannot properly put into words. She is fueled by Darkness, yes, much as Nihila was, much as I now am, but her aura is different. It is… hmm. Pure. She is pure."
"'Pure'?"
"Untainted. I have not felt such purity of essence since I served as Warden of Harmonia. Nihila did not 'feel' like this, not when I served her in her incorporeal state, nor when I confronted her in her physical form. I cannot properly describe it to you, for you cannot sense it as I can."
"Sunspire, a pupil of mine, suggested a similar theory. He possesses the capability to gaze upon magical signatures."
"One of the Shadow Candidates, I assume?" A sense of elation filled Dawn's heart for a moment. "I knew it was a good idea to entrust them to the care of you and your sisters, my dear. If young Sunspire was capable of seeing some facsimile of this information with his own eyes, then you know my words bear truth."
Dawn frowned, though she was glad to hear that her sending Sunspire with Winter had been of benefit. "What does this all mean, though? Is there cause for concern?"
"There is always cause for concern when an alicorn is involved, my dear. The power that Nihila brought to bear when in her physical form was incalculable, and though this mare's power is not quite equal in measure, it soon will be. You were able to resist Nihila, for a time, but she was untiring. If not for the ritual's exacting preventative measures, she would have destroyed us all."
That sent a chill through Dawn's very core. "But is this her, Father? Is this Nihila?"
"That I cannot say, though I am currently of the opinion that she is… not. She is remarkably similar to her, not just in her physical form, but in her very essence, but as I said, there is something… missing."
"What course of action should we proceed with?"
There was another pause. "I have my theories. I would have them communicated to the others involved with the situation. Bouncing ideas off of others often leads to new theories, I find."
"Then allow me to provide them with the information—"
"You will, my dear, but I must do so through you. Your comrades will have questions. It would be more efficient for me to communicate directly, rather than play this makeshift game of Telephone. You would serve as my avatar for a brief period. The experience will be… taxing. Nihila performed this act upon me many times, and even Harmonia did before her. Unlike Nihila, however, I will ask you for your permission."
Dawn felt another surge of warmth in her soul. "Whatever is required, Father, I will provide you with the means to do so."
"I know you will, my dear, and I thank you for that. Now, you may feel a slight sensation of nothingness—"
~~~~~
Silvertongue lifted a hoof tentatively, glancing down to see both his daughter's and his own at the same time. The physical being of Dawn was still present, but his own astral projection had been overlaid over it, moving in tandem with his movements as if he were in absolute control of both, which for all intents and purposes he was. His daughter's presence existed only in his mind; she was, in effect, in a deep, deep meditative state.
"Uh, what the hell am I seein' here, Dawn?" Winter blurted out just beside him.
He turned briefly and looked upon Winter Glow, the Chronomancer. It was an odd sensation, seeing her both from Dawn's eyes and his own simultaneously, but adjusting himself so that he was only using his own senses was a trifling thing requiring little more than a thought. He was amused just how small she was beneath him. She was already shorter than Dawn by nearly a head, so in his alicorn state, he was nearly three times her size.
"Miss Glow, a pleasure to see you again," he said, his voice and Dawn's projecting in unison. "To answer your question, I have temporarily appropriated control of my daughter's physical form so that I might be able to provide assistance in the matters that plague her mind. I understand that you've found an alicorn? A physical alicorn?"
Winter stared at him for a moment, then sighed and nodded. "Right. Yeah. Fuckin' nothin' surprises me anymore where you're concerned. And if anypony'd be able to help, it's you, eh?" She gestured to the side. "We've got her restin' over there for now. I'm sure that the others would be glad to hear anythin' you've got to add to the discussion."
"Certainly. Shall we join them?"
He turned towards the group of ponies that he heard speaking behind him, and his eyes widened when he caught sight of a familiar face. Well, mostly familiar, at any rate. Lorekeeper Gilderoy was certainly much older than he last remembered him being, and covered with an assortment of technomagic constructs no doubt intended to replace failing organs and limbs so as to keep him alive. But it was still the old bird that had once sat on Aeropolis's Council of Elders.
A part of Silvertongue felt an immense sense of guilt and regret at seeing the old bird again; he'd been the only gryphon that had not been confirmed as destroyed by Nihila's Red Death, but with no proof one way or the other, he didn't make assumptions and just let the situation be. So a part of him was happy that one gryphon had survived—a blow against Nihila's vengeful schemes—but another part was saddened that it was apparently just the one.
Nevertheless, he stepped over to the group and cleared his—or rather, Dawn's—throat to get their attention. "Forgive the interruption, but I believe that I can provide some further insight into your 'alicorn problem'."
The attention of everypony—and Gilderoy—immediately turned to him, then gazed upon him and Dawn in their current intermingled state with varying degrees of awe, confusion, recognition, and, in one case, unadulterated anger.
"It cannot be!" sputtered old Gilderoy, taking half a step back, his talon grasping inside his robes. "No, no, this is… is impossible… h-how—" The old gryphon went into a coughing fit, the light over his chest plate rapidly blinking red.
One of the smaller ponies, the unicorn—Gadget? His daughter's mind was calling her Gadget—approached him, horn alight. She was attempting to prevent the technomagic devices that kept his heart and lungs stable from going haywire. He knew this because he just… did, a benefit to his ascended consciousness. The magic had benevolent intentions and was of a restorative nature, and he could sense her natural talent with machinery hard at work.
"Easy, old guy, easy," she said as she worked her magic. "Golly, you're having one hell of a fit. What's gotten into you?"
"Dad?" muttered Gray, tilting her head in confusion. "Is… is that you? What's going on?"
"Would like to know myself," said the… queen. Blackburn, Dawn told him. Ah, so this was the infamous Iron Queen Blackburn. He'd imagined somepony taller. Or maybe it was just that he was so tall now that she appeared shorter than she was.
He could not resist giving the mare a small smile. "Queen Blackburn, a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, in the flesh. You do not know who I am, but I know you, or of you, rather. I knew of your father, and of your grandfather before him. Hope's Point withstood my test. Congratulations are in order for you, your family, and the ponies of your great city."
She raised an eyebrow, and in her eyes he saw some of the most legitimate confusion he'd ever seen in a pony before. Not the sort that one displayed when they were given orders they didn't understand, or were provided with information that was beyond their scope, no, those were just the underlying results of a lack of intelligence, a lack of comprehension. This mare was incredibly intelligent—he could see it in her very soul—but his words had struck her as outright odd, odder than anything she'd ever heard before.
And so, she was confused.
"What?" was her amusingly simple response.
"Your family succeeded where so many others failed over the centuries. You likely do not know of every attempt to settle outside the Wastelands, every attempt that failed. Hope's Point was the first to withstand the elements, to withstand the Gargantuans, to withstand the NPAF." With a tilt of his head, he added, "To withstand Nihila and her wrath."
"What does any of that have to do with Nihila?" Winter asked.
"Nihila was always opposed to settlements rising up outside of New Pandemonium. It was more difficult for her to exert her influence on ponies if they strayed too far from the Beacon, you see, more difficult for her to devour their souls when they departed.
"Everything that could be done to stop such efforts… was done. Earthquakes, swarms of Gargantuans, the city's military. No resource was spared if it prevented ponies from distancing themselves from her grasp. Hope's Point succeeded where all others failed."
The queen blinked, tilting her head in turn. "Curious. Implies intimate knowledge of situation, of Nihila's influence. Have come to understand nature of Nihila's 'rule', know she had somepony serving under her, a 'Warden'. You. Deceived her, according to Dawn. Destroyed her, absorbed her power, made Dawn your new Warden. You are her father."
He was impressed with her quick, logical thinking. It was no wonder why this mare and her family had succeeded where so many others had failed. "That I am. Proper introductions are in order, I believe." He gave a brief nod. "I am—"
"Lord Silvertongue!" spat Gilderoy, who was no longer suffering from his ailing heart or lungs.
He reached into his robes swiftly and drew out a small metallic rod—a magic wand, which the gryphons used to channel their form of magic—and aimed it right at Silvertongue's chest, which incidentally was where Dawn's forehead was.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Gadget, swiftly drawing the sidearm strapped to her flank and aiming it at the old gryphon. "What the hell are you doing?! Drop the… weapon, or whatever that is!"
"This monster is responsible for the genocide of my kind," the gryphon snarled, not at all intimidated by Gadget's weapon trained on him. "Kill me if you must, Miss Gadget, but I will have vengeance for his unforgivable atrocities."
"Careful, Lorekeeper," Silvertongue said gently, tapping Dawn's chest with her hoof, and only hers. "I am not physically present. Your wand is currently aimed at the head of my daughter, and I very much doubt you wish any harm upon her, especially not after she has been so keen to lend you her aid. Hmm?"
Gilderoy's beak twitched slightly. "Coward. Hiding behind an innocent mare—"
"I do not hide from anypony, Gilderoy. Or anygryphon, for that matter," Silvertongue replied with an even face. "Without Galdorhoff's ritual—which I destroyed—I lack the means to physically manifest before you in a flesh and blood body, but I would gladly do so so that you could attempt this brazen show of force if you so wished.
"And I have no reason to hide from you, at any rate. Why? Do you think I fear retribution? Revenge? Do you think I fear justice? Foolish concepts, all, and concepts far beneath a gryphon of your nature. They would accomplish nothing more than a senseless waste of life on your part."
Silvertongue then laughed, confident and uncowed. "And here I thought you were an intellectual, Gilderoy? A scholar? A pacifist? Would you truly throw away every quality of your admirable character for a feeble attempt at revenge? As if revenge would somehow undo what I have done?"
"You killed every single gryphon in Aeropolis," Gilderoy hissed through clenched teeth. "You held no remorse then, monster, and you clearly hold none now. Do not speak to me of the quality of one's character. You were a paragon of light, a servant of Harmonia, a force of good in the world that stood against Nihila's Darkness and evil. And you betrayed—"
"I betrayed nothing," Silvertongue said, taking a sharp step forward; every pony in the room, bar Gray, took at least a small step back, even Blackburn. "I have lived by my ideals and kept true to my principles through it all, even at my lowest points. It is all I could do to prevent Nihila from overpowering my willpower."
"When last we spoke," he continued, "I extolled to you the need for balance in our world. The gryphon Council of Elders agreed with me then, which is why the Beacons of the north and south were erected and still stand to this day. You cannot deny that our world is in an absolute perfect balance thanks to me."
"Well, not right this moment," Winter interjected, gesturing at the unconscious alicorn in the corner.
"Precisely, and unfortunately so," Silvertongue replied with a nod. He turned back to Gilderoy. "Hence why I am here now: to offer any insight and guidance that I can in order to maintain the balance that I strived so hard to ensure would never falter, no matter what or who needed to be sacrificed in order to make that ideal a reality."
Gilderoy scoffed, his good eye, milky though it was, alight with rage. "Is that what the gryphons were to you? A necessary 'sacrifice'?"
"Yes," was Silvertongue's simple reply. "I will not claim myself to be a virtuous stallion, Gilderoy. I never was, even before I entered Nihila's service. Unleashing the Red Death upon your kind was not a decision that I made lightly, and it cost me dearly. But it was a decision that needed to be made, and there was nopony else that possessed the will to make that choice, to carry it out to completion."
Gilderoy paused a moment, then glanced at the ponies of the group momentarily, specifically at Gray and Dawn, though the latter couldn't react to his next question: "You say that Lord Silvertongue is your father?"
Gray nodded once. "Yeah. He's… my dad…" She didn't sound hurt by it—she knew well enough the things he'd done to achieve his goals—but there was definitely something in her voice that Silvertongue knew meant she did not approve of any of it. "It's complicated. Not something I want to go into detail about right now."
"Exceedingly complicated then, I would say." The old gryphon then stared at Silvertongue, still not lowering his wand. "And you say that you wish to help us with our 'alicorn problem'? Hmm? I can understand why Miss Gray and Miss Dawn would believe your honeyed words, but why should anyone else?"
"Because, as Miss Glow so succinctly put it, the alicorn in question has caused an imbalance in the world, and I have spent centuries striving for nothing more than maintaining the balance that I so carefully crafted." Silvertongue gave a small gesture towards Winter. "As she no doubt has explained to you, an imbalance of sufficient size would be potentially catastrophic. I seek to prevent such a catastrophe, just as I once did centuries ago."
"He's right," Winter said with a nod, glancing towards Gilderoy. "Look, I don't like what he did any more than anypony else, and regardless of what Dawn or her sister's might think, hey, I'm one hundred percent with ya: he's history's greatest monster. I don't trust him with a single fiber of my bein'... except on this. I've seen what he's willin' to do to maintain the balance, and I know he's on our side in this."
Blackburn looked to Lockwood for approval. Silvertongue recognized the stallion from the tower years ago, and was amused that such a seemingly unexceptional stallion had married the Iron Queen of Hope's Point. Silvertongue could tell just by looking at her that she didn't trust him any more than Gilderoy or Winter did, but why was Lockwood's opinion on it so crucial— ah, he had likely told her everything about that fateful day at some point.
Lockwood looked at her, then at Silvertongue briefly, then back to her. "I know that everything he's done is just… beyond awful. Words don't do it justice. But I think Winter's right: he doesn't do evil actions for the sake of being evil. I can't justify what he's done, and I find it a tremendous lack of karmic justice that he's essentially escaped punishment for it and is beyond the reach of anypony that could.
"But… when the situation really came down to it, when the chips fell, I saw that he's capable of doing good just as much as he is of doing evil. I don't think the concepts of good and evil really mean anything to him at all. He just cares whether or not the world is protected, and we should be glad he's willing to help us do that."
Silvertongue withheld his thanks to the stallion for his astute observation. Yes, this Lockwood fellow had certainly proven himself capable. This was the sort of stallion that offered, unafraid, to shake hooves with a god because he was just so damned polite that he hadn't seen any other option.
Gray cleared her throat. "For what it's worth, Blackburn, Dawn's entire peace proposal campaign was our father's idea initially. If not for Nihila, I don't think he'd have ever done any of the terrible things he's done in the name of balance." She looked to her father. "And… I know that he would never do anything to hurt me or my sisters, or our friends or families."
Silvertongue felt a wave of realization wash over him as he looked into his daughter's core. She'd found love. She'd gotten married. She had a daughter—he had a granddaughter. An odd question seemed to be floating around in her mind as well, one he'd have to answer eventually: Lockwood and Flathoof did not need to refer to Gray's sisters as their sisters-in-law twice-removed, since there was no actual familial connection there.
A pang of disappointment came with that feeling of elation, though: why was he only now learning of this? From his position within the Dreaming, he was only near-omniscient; he could detect magical energies, sense powerful emotions, and even exert a certain level of control on the physical realm, such as ushering in new weather patterns to the northern lands.
But he could not see everything, not without his Warden's input. It was part of Dawn's duties to inform him of other such things. And yet Dawn had neglected to tell him that he was a grandfather. Why? A question for once this situation was resolved.
Blackburn paused for a long moment in thought, then nodded and turned to Gilderoy. "Lorekeeper Gilderoy, let us hear what he has to say. Make judgment afterwards."
Gilderoy slowly lowered his wand; Silvertongue wasn't sure why he'd still had it raised all this time, apart from a distant hope that he'd be able to do something no matter how inconsequential or fruitless it would be.
"Very well, Lord Silvertongue," the old bird said. "If you claim yourself to have nothing but good intentions, then let us hear the insight that you have to offer. Just know that I find your presence here distasteful and only accept your aid out of desperation or answers and solutions, and out of respect for my hosts' wishes."
Silvertongue gave a polite nod. "Thank you, Lorekeeper."
He then gestured towards the unconscious alicorn. "I explained this to my daughter earlier, and now do the same for you all: I possess a sense of this alicorn's essence that is beyond what any of you can detect with simple magic or technomagic. It is simple enough to say that her magical signature is 'different', but there is more to it than that.
"Her essence is pure. Untainted. I felt Nihila's essence inside my very soul for centuries, and I can say without any trace of doubt that this alicorn's essence is not Nihila's, not exactly. Similar, but as I said: pure. It is missing a certain… quality to it, a quality which I cannot quantify because I do not properly understand it. It is alien to me."
"Is it possible that she changed her signature?" Winter asked. "We were theorizin' on that."
"Utterly impossible, even for her," he said, shaking his head. "One can hide their magical signature to make themselves untraceable, mask it behind another to fool would-be investigators, even merge it with another's to create something new. All of these are temporary measures, of course, and easy for one with experience to gaze beyond.
"No, this is something far different than a 'change' in signature. Again, it is Nihila's same energy, the same Darkness, but she is missing something crucial that I cannot place my hoof on. Something… foreign, alien to my senses. The best analogy I can give is akin to filtering waste or poison from water to make it potable."
"So this alicorn is like pure water, but Nihila was like… toxic water?" asked Lockwood, scratching his head. "It's the same water, but it lacks the pollution?"
"An apt summary of my assessment, yes."
"Perhaps it is because you absorbed that 'taint' within yourself when you defeated her before?" Gilderoy suggested, his tone hinting that he didn't believe Silvertongue could be more tainted than he already was. It was easier than ever to read one's intentions in this form, Silvertongue found. It rather took the enjoyment of conversation away from him.
Silvertongue shook his head. "No, that is incorrect. I possess intimate knowledge of what the signature is missing, insofar as how to measure and discover its presence within a being. That presence does not exist within my essence. My power is my own, only enhanced by the power of Nihila that I absorbed."
The gryphon scoffed. "We'll just have to take your word on that, I assume?"
"Yes, you will." Silvertongue sighed. "I am afraid that I cannot provide more insight than that until this alicorn wakes, and I fear that forcing the issue may be folly. Whatever reason there is that she yet sleeps is reason enough to believe that waking her could have unforeseen consequences."
"So basically we just have new questions, not a lot of new answers, and still have to wait for her to wake up?" Winter grunted. "Fuckin' hell. I don't have time for this."
"Indeed, particularly if you wish to continue your investigations into what lies within Goldridge Mountains, Miss Glow," Silvertongue said with a small wink.
He knew just from looking at her, not even needing to gaze into her mind or soul, that the ruins of Aeropolis were not the only thing the Chronomancer wanted, no, needed to look further into. Her eyes had the look of mare that needed to know more. He hoped his little project would bear its extraordinary fruit within the next year, and she would probably be one of the first ponies to witness his triumph.
"But take heed," he continued, "the most important information that I have provided is that this is not Nihila, at least not the Nihila we knew."
"If this isn't Nihila, then where is Nihila?" asked Blackburn "Truly destroyed? Changed somehow? Vanished?"
Silvertongue looked at the queen with a deep frown, disappointed that he was in the same boat that she was at that moment. A failing on his part, and one that frustrated him to no end. "That, Your Majesty, is a question I would very much like to know the answer to."