Episode 159: Destination Abyss
There were times that Celestia found herself detesting the overt manner in which rooms within the royal palace of Canterlot were decorated to be as cheerfully gaudy as possible. Pearl white walls, combined with royal purple and blue carpets, and excessively ornate tapestries, lit bright via golden chandeliers all worked together to under normal circumstances give most chambers in the palace a sense of grandeur. Right now the atmosphere just didn’t match the mood at the meeting table, a circular affair of polished marble surrounded by comfortably high backed chairs of gold painted wood and velvet purple cushions.
Seated around the table was Celestia herself, with Luna sitting close at hoof to her left. Her sister wore a shadowed expression, but it was nothing compared to the look on the mare seated across from her and Celestia. Princess Cadence still bore some bandaging that covered the worst of her wounds suffered during the raid upon the Crystal Empire, but despite it she sat with back straight and head held high, despite a look like stone in her eyes that Celestia wasn’t used to seeing in the usually warm and loving mare.
Hearing the details of what had occurred in the Crystal Empire had left Celestia feeling as if she’d swallowed a cold piece of iron. She’d known the likelihood of an attack upon Equestria or it’s allies was very high while she would be occupied with Starlight Glimmer, and had done all she could to place defenses where she felt it best. Logically she was aware there had been little more she could have done, but a sense of responsibility still weighed down her shoulders as she’d listened to Cadence’s recounting of the battle.
And it wasn’t just Cadence’s tale that had been told that day. There were two other mares at the table.
One was Radiant Hope, who could not have looked more nervous to be seated at the same table as Equestria’s alicorn Princesses. Celestia suspected that the young mare still harbored a great deal of guilt over the events that had led to Sombra’s return and eventual confrontation with his Umbral heritage. While that incident had ended well enough, it could have gone horribly askew had things gone a little differently, and Radiant tried and failed to hide her fidgeting as she’d explained the skirmish with one of these new “Reigai” that had appeared at the city library.
Disturbing enough that Starlight had been able to create these clones of Soul Reapers from Earth, but for one of them to be of Starswirl left a bitter taste in Celestia’s mouth. It seemed her mentor truly couldn’t rest in peace, and she wondered not for the first or even dozenth time that day what the shadowy being that called itself Stygian might be doing inside that prison of his. Celestia had never known all the details of what Starswirl and his friends had faced that day so long ago, and she wished he hadn’t been so tight lipped about it, even if he was likely doing it to protect Celestia and Luna. He would have known full well that the sisters would have tried to help him and the Pillars, had they been told of the Pillars’ intention to sacrifice themselves to seal away whatever dark entity had infected one of their own.
Finally, the last mare at the table wasn’t technically there at all, but rather was utilizing a long distance projection spell combined with a crystal ball enchanted for the purpose to create a flickering image of herself at the table.
Twilight Sparkle, perhaps, looked most worried of all, and had not taken the news of the attack on the Crystal Empire well at all. Even now, amid the silence all the mares briefly shared once the story was tone, was swiftly broken by Twilight’s careful but concern laden voice.
“Cadence, are you sure you’re alright? If that... that monster did something to you when she had her claws on your soul, we can’t leave anything to chance.”
Cadence offered her sister-in-law a phantom of a smile, but one that did at least still carry a flicker of warmth to it, “I can’t say I’m sure of anything right now, other than the need to ensure that what happened yesterday never happens again. I’ve been checked briefly by medical experts in the Empire, but Celestia has already offered to examine me personally alongside Luna, and I can’t think of any two more qualified to do so.”
“Rest assured we will do our utmost to ensure that Cadence is in good health both physically and metaphysically,” Luna told Twilight, “Now more than ever we all must be ready to fight together against the forces arrayed against us.”
“At the very least I did discover that for all of her power, Chrysalis is not truly invincible,” Cadence said, although her eyes grew pained at the memories of her battle, “Her regenerative powers appeared to briefly weaken when I struck at the hole in her body, although I can’t be sure if that was because of the hole itself, the siren gem she bore inside it, or the strange red markings surrounding the hole. Whatever the case, my attacking that spot truly set her off.”
Cadence shuddered then, “If only I’d been able to get in one more good hit. One more dose of power from the Crystal Heart-”
“May well have killed you,” Celestia said with an uncharacteristically harsh bluntness that rapidly gave way to relief and warmth, “I’m just as glad you did not make such a final sacrifice, Cadence, not even to destroy such a monster. Now more than ever your people need their Princess.”
“I... I should have come back,” Twilight said, her voice conveying a strain of guilt so strong it nearly punched Celestia in the face, “Pinkie’s senses went off and told us something was wrong, but I didn’t think the Treasury could make the journey fast enough. But I could have teleported us-”
“No, Twilight,” Celestia said plainly, “You could not have even known specifically where the danger was most dire. You said that Pinkie’s warning concerned me, not Cadence. Believe me when I tell you that had you teleported into the middle of my confrontation with Starlight Glimmer, things would have become only more chaotic, especially given the mental state I was in as a result of Eos’ tampering with her Relic. With you and your friends having unlocked Astra and her companions’ Relics, Eos may have interpreted you as a target and gone after you instead. I would not have wanted that.”
“And if you’d ended up in the Crystal Empire I can’t even say for certain if it would have been enough,” Cadence said quietly, “Perhaps all of you might have been able to fight this Hollow version of Chrysalis off, but it might have also cost any of you your lives. I’m... I’m glad enough you didn’t come, Twilight. I wouldn’t have wanted you to have to face that kind of horror.”
“Rather, it sounds from your own tale that you’ve found horror enough in the form of these sahuagin and their ruler, Charybdis,” Luna spoke with leaden gravity, leaning forward on the table with her hooves propped up to hold her chin, “It sounds as if she’s trying to unlock the power of this Eye of the Sea, which by your description sounds like a Relic all it’s own, of Domare.”
Twilight still looked shaken and worried over Cadence, but her projected image flickered as she gave a quick nod, “Yes. Wavecrest thought the Eye of the Sea would be in the ‘Treasury’ of Aqualania, but as it turns out the Treasury is actually a ship, quite the extraordinary one. It does have a vault with many artifacts in it, some of which my friends and I discovered to be Relics, and there may be more that we’re unaware of. But the Eye doesn’t seem to be among them. Which means its possible Charybdis already has the Relic, but just doesn’t have the means to activate it, not being an Inheritor herself.”
“Um, n-not to interrupt, but is it possible the reason Charybdis is so focused on siren sisters is because they might be Inheritors?” suggested Radiant Hope, and Twilight looked to the more with a brief smile of acknowledgment.
“We’ve floated the same hypothesis over here. Aria and Sonata can’t really confirm anything to us, but given both have started experiencing headaches over the past twenty four hours definitely seems to point towards them being Inheritors. Huh... now that I think about it, Trixie has complained about headaches as well...”
“Those ‘headaches’ would be the magic of the Relics calling out to their Inheritors, now that the seals have been broken on so many of them,” Celestia said, “Each broken seal weakens the others, so at this juncture almost every Inheritor in the world ought to be feeling the pressure of their Relic’s call. When I decided to break the seal on my own Relic, I knew it’d cause such a tipping point so that there would be no return. Other Inheritors, all over the world, will be drawn to seek their Relics out, and from there we will need to deal with a new age in which the power of the alicorns of old will return to our world.”
“Will anycreature with a Relic become an alicorn?” Radiant Hope asked, and shrunk a bit at Celestia’s look, but Celestia merely shook her head.
“Not every creature. Ponies with Relics may in time gain the physical traits of alicorns, but even that isn’t a guarantee.”
“I’m starting to sift through Astra’s memories,” Twilight said, sounding a tad tired as she rubbed at her head, “There’s a lot in here that I haven’t really been able to assimilate yet, but I’ve gotten at least some notion of how the Inheritor system was supposed to work. Becoming an alicorn still requires a certain powerful alignment with the spirit of Harmony, which is meant to regulate the magic of alicorns. So if you have a Relic, you’re a step closer to that state, but it’s not a situation where use of a Relic equates to becoming an alicorn, it just increases the likelihood. We may also start to get more natural born alicorns like Flurry Heart, but not necessarily a lot.”
“Putting that aside we must now decide on our next course of action,” Celestia intoned with no lack of gravitas, “We cannot expect the Hollow Chrysalis to remain inactive for long, nor do I suspect we’ve seen the last of Starlight Glimmer.”
“Do you fear this ‘Stygian’ might gain her cooperation?” asked Luna.
“Even if he does not, he is an entity of incredible power and could force Starlight Glimmer to give up her power and use it for himself,” Celestia said, “And its not impossible she might try to do the same.”
“But what can we do about that?” asked Cadence, frowning deeply as she ran a hoof over a still somewhat ragged mane, “If Stygian is as powerful as you say he is, nothing short of the Elements of Harmony would be enough to stop him, right?”
“Or Discord,” Celestia said, and then she looked to Radiant Hope, “Has there been no word yet from Sombra?”
“N-not yet,” Radiant replied, and Celestia’s heart went out to the mare as she heard the pure worry filling Radiant’s voice, “Wherever he’s tracked that Reigai too, he’s either still tracking him, or...”
“Then we can only trust that Sombra will return to us as soon as he’s discovered something of use. If he can track the enemy to their stronghold, then there’s a chance we can break Discord free of their grasp,” Celestia said, “Short of that, our best chance to dealing with Stygian is for myself and Luna to both become more stable in the use of our Relics. The combined power of Eos and Iah was not a force to be so readily ignored when the two sisters fought as one, rather than against each other.”
“Is Eos still inside your mind, sister?” Luna said gently, filled with a note of understanding that perhaps only Luna could have truly held, given her own experience, “Even after the Elements of Harmony banished the specter of ‘Nightmare Moon’, I still often felt an imprint of Iah’s rage combined with my own wounded ego stirring in my thoughts.”
Celestia reached over with a wing to brush Luna’s own wing in a comforting gesture, “Oh, the powermonger’s voice remains, but I have confidence that between the both of us I can excise her personality while still absorbing her memories and magic. Eos had laid a crafty trap, but I think she underestimated the resolve of we Royal Sisters. We are not her and her sibling, even with our own spats.”
“It’s so strange,” Cadence said, looking at the pair, “Anteros... he wasn’t like that at all. His mind, his memories, they feel almost like a second skin. Even after a day, I don’t feel any hint of those memories trying to take me over. Even Twilight had some trouble with Astra’s memories at first, right?”
“I did,” Twilight said, “But my friends seemed to absorb their respective Relics’ memories pretty easily, like with you and Anteros. I think it really does have to do with the compatibility between the alicorn and the Inheritor, although I can’t claim to understand the specifics. Maybe as I explore Astra’s memory more I’ll get a better understanding of it... including whatever dark force this Stygian is.”
“Wait, what does that have to do with it?” asked Radiant Hope.
“I’m not sure, but Celestia’s description of Stygian’s power just sparks some kind of familiarity in Astra’s memories,” Twilight said, “I think it’s connected to the Spirit of Harmony that the ancient alicorns created. I just don’t know what.”
“Regardless, while we await word from Sombra we must shore up our defenses,” Luna said, “We’ll send as much relief as possible to help rebuild the Crystal Empire, and I also suggest redeploying the dragons from Ponyville to the Empire as well.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” said Cadence, “Ponyville is important in it’s own way, and, well, I did send Sunburst and my daughter there specifically because it had the dragons protecting it. Besides, Spike is an excellent babysitter.”
“An understandable concern, but I was thinking that my sister and I would use our old castle in Everfree as our training ground,” Luna said, eyeing Cadence in particular, “Yours as well.”
“Mine?” Cadence said, blinking.
“You’ve awakened your Relic, and Celestia and I must fully learn to control our own. The three of us will undergo intensive training at our old castle. That’s close enough to Ponyville that any attack there will draw down all three of us upon it, and I fully intend to ensure the town has sufficient protective spells placed upon it that the three of us will have plenty of early warning in case of attack. Meanwhile I believe we can trust King Thorax and Dragon Lord Ember to ensure that the Crystal Empire is not only rebuilt back to pristine condition, but that any second attack there meets with the stiffest of resistance,” Luna said, and Celestia nodded her agreement, as she and Luna had both discussed this idea before the meeting had even started.
“It is for the best, Cadence,” Celestia said, “Our Relics give us great power to draw upon, but we must still work to realize their full potential through continued use. Together, that is what we shall do. I only regret that Twilight cannot join us, but Twilight, do take this into consideration yourself as you continue your quest against Charybdis. Work with your friends, including the ones who have not yet found their Relics, to better unlock the new powers within you. Remember, all of you, that it is not just the Hollow Chrysalis or Starlight Glimmer, or even Stygian who are our only threats. Sunset Shimmer and her noble friends face a deadly war still raging on Earth, one that may well have puppeteers behind it even more powerful and dangerous than what we now face. I fear a day may come soon when all of us, in Equestrian and on Earth, will need all the strength we can muster to stand together against what’s to come.”
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All where light touched, so too did shadows reach. It was like an endless series of river tributaries that spread through every corner of the world, and for one like Sombra who could become a part of that unending system, it was no simple feat to shake his pursuit.
It certainly helped that the Reigai of Starswirl had not departed Canterlot in any great hurry, allowing Sombra ample time to track the man’s passage as he shifted from shadow to shadow along Starwirl’s route. There had been little preamble once Starswirl had taken a turn down an alleyway and nonchalantly withdrawn a scroll from his robes. Sombra did not recognize the language of the symbols inked upon the scroll, but he’d been keen minded enough to surmise that Starswirl was about to use it to make an escape from the city.
Sombra had merged with Starswirl’s own shadow in that moment, doing all he could to cloak his presence and remain undetected as Starswirl had pressed the symbol upon the scroll. All perception of the world shifted, and soon Sombra found himself with Starswirl standing within an expansive chamber. Still merged with Starswirl’s shadow, Sombra remained silent and hidden as he watched events unfold around him.
From then on he’d spent the day doing little other than observe and learn what he could of these interdimensional interlopers. He’d watched as one by one those who’d been sent out to battle had been retrieved via the use of those scrolls to singal and pinpoint the targets for teleportation. Sombra was somewhat daunted by the view of this “Crossgate” that surged with powerful energies unlike any he was familiar with, and observed as it transported others to the chamber. He didn’t recognize any of them, save Queen Chrysalis whom he was familiar with from his ill-conceived attempt at “revenge” against the Crystal Empire. She looked quite a bit more down on her luck than she’d even been back then, and Sombra had been struck by how unnerved the changeling queen seemed, especially concerning the fate of this Starlight Glimmer.
“What in the world was that imbecile thinking!?” Chrysalis had ranted, pacing about with her wings buzzing, her disheveled mane flopping about her head as she shook it, “Remaining behind like that was pure madness!”
A blue colored unicorn mare that Sombra gathered was named Trixie stood beside an imposing stallion seemingly made out of solid black iron, with a mane of misty gray and black. Sombra was a tad jealous of the stallion’s armor, honestly.
“Don’t insult her like that!” Trixie said, “She sent us ahead to protect us.”
“I didn’t ask her to protect me,” Chrysalis snapped past clenched teeth, “And that’s not the point! What good is saving us if she ends up captured or killed, hm!? Answer me that, you love-sick puppy! Sure, she saved us, but guess what? There’s nocreature left to save her, is there!?”
“Could both of you keep it down, please?” Starswirl said, yawning as he kept flipping through one of the books he’d taken from the library, “Or if you’re going to insist on screeching pointlessly at one another, at least wait until I’ve left the room.”
“As much as I dislike agreeing with him, I would prefer that you both keep calm,” said one of two near identical unicorn mares of a pale coated nature, neither of whom Sombra recognized but he did note that one of the mares had a distinct set of burn scars over her body, while her identical companion was pristine. The scarred mare eyed both Trixie and Chrysalis with a firm gaze, almost projecting a physical aura of solidarity and self-control.
“We do not know for sure what’s become of Starlight Glimmer, and as soon as we can I shall conduct a search of the battle site at Ponehenge to determine what I can. In the meantime panic or argument serves no purpose. Now, I must go attend to Firefly’s condition, now that I have a means to heal her wounds. I would like both of you to come with me so that your own wounds can be tended to, especially you, Chrysalis. Do you not even notice your own condition?”
As if slapped by cold water, Chrysalis blinked and looked down at herself. She was indeed rather battered from what Sombra could see, and the changeling sagged suddenly as if abruptly realizing her own injury and exhaustion.
“Yes... I suppose I’ll... do that, Platinum.” Chrysalis muttered, still wearing a look of shell shock as she took a few deep breaths and stopped pacing like a caged panther.
Platinum had then looked to the two youngsters who had remained near the Crossgate’s controls, neither of whom Sombra knew but he could tell at least one of them, the young female, was not a normal pony.
“Ocellus, Pipsqueak, continue monitoring the situation. If you can find Starlight’s signature, bring her here at once. Otherwise remain vigilant for Zecora and the Espada’s signals. Assuming all has gone according to plan, they should be nearing finished in the Crystal Empire.”
Sombra didn’t like the sound of that, but there was little he could do about it. He had no idea, precisely, where he was or what these individuals had done in attacking other areas of the world. Just by listening he gathered Celestia’s confrontation with Starlight had gone at least a little in Celestia’s favor, but what any of the others had done, or what was happening in the Crystal Empire, he could only guess at. However, the next thing Platinum, or rather the other Platinum, whom Sombra guessed was a Reigai, said caught his immediate attention.
“All that aside, did we at least manage to nab that Discord fellow? Wasn’t he the big threat in all of this we wanted to take off the board?”
With an entirely too cheerful energy did the young filly that Sombra believed was named Ocellus raised a jet black hoof and waved it about, “Sure did. Not Mom and Miss Starlight’s plan worked like presto, even if Miss Starlight is kinda MIA because of it. I’ve got him sitting tight in a special spot Miss Starlight prepared for him, so he’s not going anywhere.”
“Ugh, your referral to me as ‘Not Mom’ aside, while I’m glad to know something went right today I don’t think we have time to worry about Discord when without Starlight Glimmer we’re lacking a rather key element in entire reason this malcontent collection of misfits has even formed!” pointed out Chrysalis with a hefty stomp of a hoof, but the burned Platinum, whom Sombra imagined was the real one whilst the unscarred version was likely a Reigai, went up to Chrysalis. Platinum raised a hoof as if to place it on the changeling’s withers, but then appeared to think better of the action and instead just spoke in a level voice while holding Chrysalis’ gaze.
“We will attend to Starlight Glimmer’s situation in due course, but not by giving in to panic, and not without our full strength mustered to the task. Why don’t you join me in the medical lab? I shall see to Firefly and your wounds both.”
“I... ugh, very well, I’ll allow it,” Chrysalis said under her breath, all but stomping out of the room. Platinum watched her go, then glanced back at Pipsqueak and Ocellus.
“Please inform me when you receive word from Zecora and our other Chrysalis. And... don’t mention anything about Starlight when they arrive. Allow me to handle that.”
“Actually, is it alright if I come with you to the medical lab?” asked Pipsqueak, the colt’s words seeming to startle Platinum somewhat as he turned to look at her with earnest brown eyes. “I would like to be present when Miss Firefly awakens.”
“That’s fine,” Platinum said, but with a voice that caused Sombra to look at her in curiosity. Why did Pipsqueak’s simple request make this mare respond in such a shocked manner? He could see her eyes seeming to hold back a shimmer of emotions, and her tone had been almost fragile as she’d responded.
Pipsqueak nodded at her, then turned to Ocellus, “You’ll be okay by yourself?”
“Pfft, yeah, duh,” said Ocellus, “I can handle teleporting mom and Cora back, and don’t worry, I get it. I won’t say anything to mom to let slip that Miss Starlight’s in trouble. Heh, bet you’re all worried she’s gonna go all kill crazy if she thinks the leash is off, right?”
“I’d like to see her try,” said the Reigai Platinum, but the real Platinum gave her copy a harsh look.
“Do not let your cockiness get us all killed. Together, as a whole, we might still restrain the Second Espada, but if we let our guard down she could potentially kill us piecemeal. I do not know how she will respond to Starlight being... indisposed. I’d rather ensure all of us are in the same room and on the same page when she finds out.”
Having said that, she eyed Ocellus and Pipsqueak with an unsteady look of mistrust, or rather, Ocellus the mistrust, Pipsqueak an uneasy concern. Sombra felt as if there had to be quite a bit of subtext occurring here from information he wasn’t privy too, but he did make note of how unstable this whole group of mismatched individuals seemed to be. This was hardly a united front, which gave him some measure of hope that they could be more readily beaten. He knew from personal experience how poorly forged alliances melted in the face of unity and harmony.
The Reigai of Starswirl and Platinum remained in this main chamber with Ocellus, while the real Platinum joined Chrysalis and was followed by Pipsqueak in departing. Sombra followed them, at first marveling at the size of the chamber as it swiftly expanded beyond the area containing the Crossgate and became a cavernous space crossed by a suspended bridge of steel. He saw various strange things, perhaps most notably a humongous tree of white wood bearing unhealthy looking fruit shaped like skulls. Other odd objects he could only assume were part of various projects filled other spaces in the chamber, none of which he could discern the function of.
Not far past that main chamber was a series of branching corridors, one of which led to a mechanical lift that Platinum, Chrysalis, and Pipsqueak used to move up several floors in this vast underground complex. Sombra tailed them the entire way, remaining melded with the shadows.
These people had somehow managed to capture Discord of all beings, a feat Sombra could only find equal parts impressive and horrifying. Even he at his peak would not have wanted to challenge the Lord of Chaos openly. How had Starlight Glimmer and Chrysalis pulled it off? Regardless of the how, Sombra knew now his best course of action would be to try and free Discord in some manner. However he didn’t know where the draconequus was being held. Ocellus had not given a location. He’d just have to be patient and bide his time, gather what information he could, and wait for the right moment to make his move.
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She felt like she was waking up after a full weekend bender, hitting every bar in a ten mile radius. Her mouth was dry as mud, her limbs felt as solid as jelly, and her head positively throbbed with the percussion of a full on heavy metal band. Firefly coughed several times as she opened her eyes, near closing them again against the glare of the light above her.
“She’s waking up!” said an excited young voice she recognized as belonging to Pipsqueak. That alone helped give Firefly the strength to open her eyes again and blink against the glaring blur until they adjusted to her surroundings.
A gentle glow of blue Kido energy hovered around her in a spherical haze, produced by the hooves of Platinum herself as the unicorn sat on her haunches next to Firefly’s bed. Firefly licked her lips, tasting a strange minty aftertaste in her mouth, and noticed an empty vial sitting on a medical table next to the bed she was laying in. Platinum’s focused look that was fixated on the bandaged wound on Firefly’s side now flicked over to the bedridden mare’s face, and the once ice-queen’s expression cracked with a look of genuine relief that seemed to nearly bring the mare to tears.
“How are you feeling?” Platinum asked with a cautiously quiet voice.
“Like I’ve been sitting in bed near death for a week,” Firefly replied in a raspy voice that she tried to make sound lighthearted, “Uh, gonna guess that’s not too far off from the truth?”
“It’s been longer than a week, but close enough,” said Platinum, and then Pipsqueak raised himself up and propped his hooves on the bed, his own happiness all but beaming off the lad as he smiled at her.
“Mother actually went to Canterlot itself and dueled a Princess to get the potion that helped heal you!” he said, and Firefly could see the way his words all but froze Platinum with a combination of embarrassment and shocked relief. Was that the first time he’d even called her ‘mother’ again since they’d arrived in Equestria? Firefly didn’t know the details, but she was flooded with a sense of warmth and a knowing happiness for Platinum, having had her own issues with her Rainbow Dash.
“Dueled a Princess, huh? How’d that go, exactly?” she asked while experimentally trying to sit up. Her body still felt weak, an ached in every conceivable place, but she found she could sit up without too much difficulty. Platinum was either getting better at healing Kido, or whatever ‘potion’ she had acquired was really something else.
“Not as well as I would have liked,” Platinum replied, a bit of her usual haughtiness returning, if only as a shadow of its former pride, “Princess Luna is a truly skilled and powerful foe. Doubtful I could have fought her to a draw without assistance, and I suspect she may have been holding back a trump card or two. Regardless, circumstances allowed me to convince her to provide the elixir required to finally heal your cursed wound.”
“Well that was nice of her,” Firefly said, experimentally stretching her limbs and wings, then she caught sight of someone hanging around the medical lab’s entrance, shuffling on her hooves as if unsure of even being there. At first Firefly thought it was the Second Espada, but upon a closer look she noticed that this Chrysalis didn’t wear the Espada’s customary white dress, didn’t carry a Zanpaktou, nor was her horn the bone white of a Hollow’s but rather a natural onyx black that matched the rest of her carapace.
“Holy crap, is that the Equestrian Chrysalis?” she asked, and the changeling in question frowned and gave a simple snort as she took a step into the room.
“I would hope to not be mistaken for my psychotic counterpart, at least. Do not mind me. I’m merely here to have a few scrapes treated once Platinum is done with you.”
“Heh, nice to meet you too,” Firefly said with a smirk, looking back at Platinum, “Looks like Starlight’s grown the family since I was out. Where’s she at? Something big must’ve gone down if she’s not here for my big awakening.”
The way Platinum’s entire expression turned as shaded as an approaching fog bank gave Firefly a strong enough impression that she was almost afraid to ask further, but if things had gone sideways then she needed to know. “I’m going to guess by that look that I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear.”
“I was not present to witness everything myself, but I'll tell you what I know, and Chrysalis can fill in the rest,” Platinum said, and Chrysalis in turn gained an annoyed curl to her snout as she approached and buzzed her wings in a huffy manner.
“I shall deign to explain what I may, but if you’re going to heal me you may as well do so as we talk so as to not waste any of our precious time.”
Firefly sat back and kept herself as patient as she could manage as she got the whole story from Platinum and Chrysalis, only pausing long enough for Pipsqueak to go grab her some water, which she drank as eagerly as she might have done so with cider from Sweet Cider’s own farm. It took a bit of time, but eventually Firefly was left to digest everything that had occurred while she’d been unconscious as the others watched her. Platinum had been using her healing Kido upon Chrysalis, and was nearly done with the changeling queen’s own mostly superficial wounds.
“Mph, I suppose I should thank you,” Chrysalis said in such a low and mumbling tone that it was hard to even be sure she said it, but Platinum didn’t seem to mind as she bowed her head in acknowledgment.
“Allies needn’t thank each other for such basic things, but you are welcome regardless.”
“Just... don’t go expecting it as a matter of course,” Chrysalis fumbled over the words before giving a haughty huff and sitting up from where she’d been sitting, “Now what precisely is our next course of action, hmm?”
At the question, Firefly quite suddenly and with great agility threw the covers off her bed. She reached out with a hoof to snap up her pair of flight goggles that had been sitting on the bed stand next to her and firmly set them upon her brow. She then leaped out of bed with a forward flip that landed her near the medical laboratory's exit. The pegasus mare groaned as she stretched her wings and legs, then like a cat limbering its whole body she arched herself with an audible series of cracks and pops across her spine.
“Aaaah, that’s better! I’ll tell you what our next action is, Chryssy-”
“Chryssy? Really?”
“-First, we’re going to go make sure Hollow You knows the score and doesn’t go murder happy. Once that’s squared away we’re going to keep our eyes on the prize. Gain powerful magic, weaponize the everloving hell outta it, then prep the Queen’s Key and Crossgate to crash Zero Division's party in the Soul Palace.”
“But without Starlight Glimmer and her Hogyoku is that course of action not missing its key player?” asked Platinum, and Firefly shot back a cocksure, heated grin at her and the others in the room.
“Only for now. I know my girl Starlight. She never does anything without a plan in mind, and she wouldn’t have leaped headfirst into that shadow prison without having a damn good idea of what she was doing,” Firefly said with confidence, although deep within she did have a reserved kernel of doubt.
But even if that doubt proved true, that Starlight truly was lost to them, Firefly still knew what she had to do. Zero Division still had to go down, and if it wasn’t going to be with Starlight, then so be it. Starlight Glimmer had already ensured there’d be another to take her place, and Firefly could only hope Sunset Shimmer, her daughter, and the rest of that gang would be up to the task.
----------
Over ten thousand feet in the air, the wind was swift and cool across the mighty and shining hull of the Treasury. The adaptable underwater vessel now cut through cloud and wind currents alike with the same agility and speed it would slice through water and wave. Great unfurled wings that looked like majestic fins had extended from the sides of the vessel, thick spokes of enchanted bronze filling out aerial sails of deep blue cloth. The engines upon the back of the ship had retracted their underwater propellers and extended in their place similar fin sails arranged in a vertical formation. Magical energy crackling blue and pure surged amid the sails and generated the force to propel the ship skyward, while numerous small crystal notes along the underbelly of the hull helped generate a current of magic to help keep the massively heavy ship aloft as it flew.
According to Twilight’s calculations the Treasury was fully capable of maintaining flight operations for a period of at least four days before needing to reconfigure back to water operations for recharging. The more she delved into the marvelous vessel’s design and systems the more she felt impressed with the Sequestrian civilization’s engineering and magical progress. Or at least the progress it had made before Aqualania fell, and Seaquestria as a whole became a shell of what it was. Granted in many ways Equestria had advanced just as far or further, especially in the advancement of raw magical study. In terms of Magi-Tech, Twilight could see some ways in which Seaquestria had surpassed her homeland, while in other ways they had not. It seemed to her that Equestrian focus on agriculture and industry had yield efficiency, as opposed to Seaqeustria’s focus on warfare yielding power.
The Treasury was most certainly meant to be a weapon of war, and Twilight was simply glad she and her friends could put it to good use as opposed to it having served it’s originally intended purpose as Princess Scylla’s personal warship in a campaign of conquest.
Although for a warship, it was remarkably comfortable and luxurious to travel in. While the internal structure still had qualities that were constant reminders that it was a seapony ship, the builders had considered amenities for when the Treasury wasn’t underwater, and hence also filled with water. Most quarters had beds that were quite comfortable, and were rather roomy as well. Heating and lighting extended to every chamber, and the kitchen was extremely well appointed, although even with preservative magic the food contained within was questionable in how safe it was to eat.
Not that such minor details was something that slowed Pinkie Pie down when it came to cooking, and fortunately Captain Celano had shared some of her own airship’s provisions before they had parted ways with Twilight’s group.
Leave it to Pinkie Pie to even make airship rations and centuries old preserved algae into an appetizing meal. Twilight ate with everypony seated around the galley’s central most table. Pinkie Pie had served steaming bowls of soup and bread to all seated, then vanished to go deliver trays to Seaspray and Tempest Shadow, who remained on the bridge to guide the ship and keep a lookout for danger.
“Gotta give it ta Pinkie, weren’t too sure she’d make any o’ that canned algae stuff edible, but...” Applejack took a big slurp from her bowl, licking her lips, “Seems like she pulled off a miracle. What’d ya’ll reckon she put in here ta give it this spicy kick?”
“Beats me, but I ain’t complaining,” Rainbow Dash said after a light burp, “Just glad she’s got a magic hoof when it comes to food.”
“If any of us get sick off of this stuff, I’m going to remember first of all you crazy ponies thought it was a good idea to eat that canned crap,” Aria mumbled, although she ate as readily as the rest of them, while Sonata utterly devoured her own bowl with happy swishes of her siren tail.
“Mmmm, what’re you so worried about, Aria? This stuff is delicious!”
“Would’ve been better if we’d set down to do some fishing,” Aria said with a small snort, but Twilight shook her head at the siren.
“As I told you, I think it’s too much of a risk to approach the north seas by water. Even setting down briefly might give Charybdis and the sahuagin an opening to attack us.”
“So what?” Aria replied in her usual, curt tone, “We’re going to need to fight them anyway once we get all the way north. Might as well be doing it with some actual meat in our stomachs. I am sooo tired of eating plant matter! These canines aren’t for show, you know?” She pointed a hoof at her teeth, and the prominent fangs within. “Can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m actually missing being on monkey planet. At least there was chicken nuggets.”
“Aawwwww, nuggies...” Sonata drooled, then shook herself and went back to inhaling her soup.
“I’m going to guess you two are still feeling those headaches?” asked Fluttershy in a pointed yet still soft manner, “Did the medicine I gave you not help?”
Aria’s agitated manner subsided slightly as she rubbed at her head with a hoof, “A little bit. Weirdest freakin’ headache I’ve ever had. Never fully goes away, and feels like it moves around in my head. Kinda pisses me off. This whole Inheritor biz looks cool when you get the damn super powers, but it’s a pain in the butt when it’s just drilling a nail into my skull. Yo, Twilight, you sure me and Sonata’s Relic whatevers aren’t on the ship?”
“If they were, I can’t imagine you and Sonata couldn’t have found them by now. The weapons you two grabbed before clearly are not the objects you’d need, otherwise you’d be getting a stronger direct reaction from them,” Twilight said, referring to Aria’s dagger and Sonata’s crossbow, “And you’ve both gone through the vault again and felt no compulsion to take anything else. So wherever your Relics are, I think we can rule out the Treasury.”
“Maybe they don’t work ‘cause Daggie ain’t here?” said Sonata, which gained her several wondering looks, and Rarity, who was seated closest to the sirens on that side of the table, spoke up.
“That’s an interesting thought Miss Sonata. Are you suggesting that the Relics of you three sisters are connected in a way that would require all three to be together?”
“I dunno,” Sonata said with a shrug, “But me, Aria, and Daggie have always done everything together since forever. Don’t see why this Inheritor stuff would be any different. I mean, you guys did your big zap bang boom together too, right?”
“Huh, whad’ya know, the gal’s got a point,” said Applejack, “Don’t rightly reckon our own Relics would’ve popped off like they did without the whole crew together.”
“That’s silly,” cut in Trixie, who had barely touched her own soup and kept her hat shading her eyes as if the bright crystal lights burning across the top of the galley ceiling were agitating her own headache further, “Why would they do that?”
“Truthfully there’s still a lot we don’t know about Inheritors and Relics, Trixie,” Twilight pointed out, “I know Astra designed the ones she and her friends made to be different than the others to a degree, so I don’t see it as impossible that other groups of Relics might also have had slight changes made to their function, including ensuring they only activated as part of a group. It could be that some of the individuals investing their power into their Relics wanted their Inheritors to also be related as friends or family? I could theorize all day on it.”
“Can’t you just ask Astra yourself?” asked Trixie, “And while you’re at it ask her if she ever met a devilishly brilliant, beautiful, and talented sorcerous goddess who would be her ultimate rival (and superior) and where this no doubt prodigy of paragons might have hidden her Relic?”
Rainbow Dash tried to hide a snorting laugh amid her soup, which didn’t really end well for the pegasus staying dry, while Twilight just looked at Trixie with a patient if somewhat eyebrow twitching smile, “W-well asking Astra directly isn’t exactly simple. Her consciousness gets more integrating with my own each day, and I can’t just peruse her memories like picking a book off a library shelf. I’ve been experimenting, but it’s taking me time to work out exactly how to sift through all the information that got stuffed in my brain. My friends are all in the same boat.”
“Yes, it’s rather like having a series of dreams you only half remember,” Fluttershy said, rubbing her hooves uneasily, “I sometimes find myself just staring at nothing while some memory of Penthia flashes through my head.”
“It’s doubly weird when the memories are of being a dude,” Rainbow Dash said, wiping soup off her chest with a napkin, “Last time I tried to use the privy got real awkward, lemme tell you.”
“Please don’t,” said Rarity, “Some of us were also paired with male memories, but I need not be reminded of the fact. At any rate, Trixie, I take it Twilight will tell you the same as she’s told our siren friends. If you do indeed have a Relic somewhere, it is unlikely to be on this ship, otherwise you would have been compelled to pick it up by now.”
“Which is why I was asking if she could pick Astra’s memories for where it might be!” Trixie said, waving a hoof about, then grunted as she rubbed her forehead, “If Trixie must endure these irritating headaches, she wants to rightfully claim the power that will make the pain worth it. Oh, I can just imagine what magnificent magics I might command! I mean, I’m pretty amazing already, but you can never have too much of a good thing.”
“If I learn anything, either about your Relic or the sirens, rest assured I won’t keep it to myself,” Twilight said, then glanced over at the galley entrance as the doors opened.
In walked Flash Sentry, soon followed by Pinkie Pie, who in turn led in someone nopony present expected to see and drew all eyes in curiosity.
He looked rather gangly and unsteady walking rather than swimming through the water, and his bulbous white eyes flicked with secondary membranes as he shrunk back a bit both from the bright lights of the galley and all the stares coming his way. Ulgriv was not bound in any way, but Flash Sentry remained close and vigilant as the sahuagin was led into the galley with a smiling Pinkie Pie bouncing beside him. Twilight knew that Pinkie had visited their prisoner once or twice since they’d gotten underway, but hadn’t pressed the mare on just what she’d talked with Ulgriv about. Honestly she’d nearly forgotten they even had the fish man on board, as her own mind had been awash with thinking about what she’d learned from the meeting with the other Princesses, along with just focusing on planning her group’s next steps.
“What is he doing here?” said Wavecrest, the first the seapony had spoken up as Twilight and her friends had chatted. With the ship no longer filled with water, Wavecrest had adopted the shape of an apparent earth pony, but still always kept her magical staff close at hoof. Now she gazed with mistrust upon Ulgriv.
“Well after slinging soup up to the Admiral and Tempest McGrump I bounced down to engineering to give Starlight some too and realized I was out of bowls, but we still had a hungry fish to feed,” said Pinkie Pie, grabbing a clearly uncomfortable Ulgriv as she all but hauled him like a barrel towards the table, “So I went and got Ul to come on down for a friendly lunch chat! With Flash’s blessing, of course.”
“By that she means she pleaded with me until I couldn’t take it anymore and said yes,” Flash Sentry said with an apologetic shrug, “I figure as long as we’re alert, he can’t do too much harm. Still, sorry for not clearing it with you first, Twilight.”
“It’s fine,” Twilight said, then looked to Wavecrest, “He’s unarmed and there’s a lot of us. I don’t see any harm in him eating with us. Might give us a chance to learn more about his people and the place we’re going.”
“Hmph,” Wavecrest pushed her soup away and made to stand, then seemed to think better of it and remained seated as she folded her forelegs over her chest, “I don’t know that you could trust anything from a sahuagin’s lips, but I’d best remain to ensure he doesn’t try to do any harm.”
Ulgriv gave a gruff, gurgling noise from the back of his throat and spat on the table, “I did not ask to be brought here. The mad pink one is... physically stronger than she looks and gave me no choice but to halt my prayers to be dragged here to your soft kin table.”
“Trust us, buddy, I don’t know anycreature that can say ‘no’ to Pinkie once she’s decided you’re coming to a party,” Rainbow Dash said with a half chuckle, “Might as well pull up a seat and get something hot in you. Assuming you fish dudes dig soup?”
Ulgriv eyed the bowls hesitantly, but a rumble from his stomach indicated that as resistant as he was to being there, hunger did plenty to persuade all on its own. With a reluctant grunt he sat down awkwardly, while Pinkie Pie gleefully patted him on the back and went bouncing off into the kitchen to get him a fresh bowl. Meanwhile Flash Sentry took up a watchful post by the door, to which Twilight gave him a questioning look.
“Not hungry?” she asked.
“I’ll grab something later,” he said, “Still technically on duty.”
It was a little cute and endearing the way he took his job so seriously, so she didn’t fault him for it. Pinkie Pie returned with a bowl for Ulgriv and plopped down in the seat next to the sahuagin warrior as if the pair of them were old friends. Twilight was a tad worried for her friend, but while she sensed a great deal of tension inside Ulgriv, his hostility didn’t seem violent. If anything, picking up on what little she could of his body language, she got the sense that he was more afraid than hostile.
A few seconds of uneasy silence followed, but Pinkie Pie was swift to take a hammer to the ice as she said, “So, Ulggy, got any friends or family back home? What do sahuagin do for fun? Do you guys throw parties? I mean, other than the ‘invade cities’ kind?”
The sahuagin near choked on his soup, with a concerned Fluttershy reaching over to pat him on the back. His large fish eyes swiveled around the table before resting on Pinkie, “What kind of question is that?”
“Uhhh, a pretty normal kind,” Pinkie said, “I mean, Starlight has kept up the neato magic that lets you talk to us, so I figure we oughta make the best of it and get to know each other. Like me, I’ve got all my friends here, plus everypony back in Ponyville, and of course there’s my family back on the farm with Ma and Pa and my three sisters, Marble, Limestone, and Maud. Oh you’d like Maud! She’s a riot! Do you have brothers or sisters?”
“I...” Ulgriv looked about at the others as if asking for somepony to make Pinkie Pie stop, but Applejack was first to speak by leaning in towards him.
“Gotta admit, I’m kinda curious myself. Ain’t only met you sahuagin fer a bout o’ hoofticuffs, so ain’t like I’ve had a chance ta know what ya’ll are actually like when ya ain’t tryin’ ta stab me n’ mine.”
“It’s not like we want to force you to answer if you don’t want to,” said Fluttershy in a voice soft as wind chimes.
“Why not?” Ulgriv said sharply, “You did so before, with your surfacer magic.”
Fluttershy winced, but answered, “That was different, but I am sorry we had to do that. We needed to know things about the city back then, for our own safety. Now, we just want to talk.”
“This is foolish,” Ulgriv said, “We are enemies. I am a prisoner. You should kill me and have done with it. I’ll give you no information you can use against my kin unless you pry it from my mind by force, as you have already shown you can.”
“If we wanted to do that to you again, Ulgriv, we would have done so already,” Twilight pointed out, “I know I can’t expect you to trust us, but Pinkie Pie really is just trying to be friendly. I’ll be as truthful as I can with you, we are on our way to the Abyss. We’re very likely going to confront and do battle with Charybdis, and more of your people. But please understand that none of us want to hurt anycreature. Charybdis is doing things that will bring harm to not only my people, but many people outside Equestria. We don’t have any choice but to stop her. Yet despite that, I and my friends here don’t bear the sahuagin any real ill-will, so please, anything you can tell us to better understand your kin and their relationship with Charybdis might help us avert harm on all sides of this conflict.”
He at least took a few moments to consider her words, although Twilight wasn’t sure what he was thinking behind those eyes that never blinked. She did see him slowly raised a webbed hand to clasp an amulet around is neck that bore a sigil of an eye surrounded by eight tentacles in a spiral pattern. Ulgriv mouthed a few words under his breath before releasing the talisman.
“I don’t trust you, but I have seen the power you surfacers command. You bested warlord Morgawr, and even a great Terror Beast created by an anointed shaman of our Deep Mistress. I still believe with all my soul that you will break upon the fury of her waves, and I know my brethren one and all would give their blood gladly in her defense. Yet if a few words of mine might blunt your spears with compassion for my kin, I’ll give them.”
“Thank you,” Twilight said, “So, um, Pinkie Pie did ask a question I too was curious about. What kind of family structure do sahuagin have?”
Ulgriv glanced at Pinkie Pie and scratched at his head, “You said brothers and sisters? These are kin of the same spawning, yes?”
“Yuppers!” Pinkie chirped, then blinked, “At least I think so. What’s a ‘spawning’?”
Ulgriv tilted his head, “Do surface ponies not have a broodmother who spawns them?”
“Hoo boy,” Applejack said, “Guessin’ it ain’t quite like what we got, fella. How ‘bout ya just tell us ‘bout yer childhood, an’ we’ll parse it out from there.”
“Hmph, very well. I was spawned as part of the seventh clutch from Broodmother Tishlura of the Warrior Blood. There were forty eggs in that clutch, of which nineteen of us survived to meet our sires and be claimed for our pods.”
There were more than a few gasps, with Fluttershy covering her mouth with her hooves while Rarity openly blurted, “Nineteen... out of forty? W-why would so many children die?”
Ulgriv just looked at Rarity in confusion, “It is natural. Food is limited. The depths of the Abyss are harsh and cold. I was proud of my spawning. Nineteen is a good number. Others of weaker blood sometimes have less than ten reach the age of claiming.”
“That’s so horrible,” Fluttershy whispered, “I can’t imagine how it must have been to live through that.”
“I don’t get it either,” said Rainbow Dash, “Wouldn’t it make sense to just leave the Abyss if it sucks so hard?”
Ulgriv made a gurgling growl and nodded towards Wavecrest, “Ask your seapony. The Abyss is not our choice of home, but our prison.”
Wavecrest’s response was a hard stare right back at Ulgriv, “And before you seek sympathy perhaps tell these mares how many seapony’s have been killed by your kind over the generations? Even before we drove you into that place, when your kind had their chance at coexistence with the other races of the sea, the sahuagin were ever warlike and caused untold havoc across every ocean. And even now, when your race does leave your Abyss, it is not with envoys of peace or trade, but warbands that plunder and kill! So do not lay blame upon us for killing you right back and doing all we can to keep you in that dark place. It is no less than what is deserved.”
Ulgriv shook his head, “We fight because it is our right to seek retribution, and were our numbers greater we could break through your sentinels to lay claim to territory outside the Abyss. Your kind force us to do what we must, soft kin!”
“Wait, wait,” Twilight held up a hoof, sitting up slightly, “I need to understand something. The Abyss is inhospitable, clearly. And the sahuagin have not been able to settle elsewhere because of...?”
With a huff, Wavecrest made a gesture with her staff at the table. With a thick glow of green magical energy, a map was lit upon the table’s surface. It showed the northern seas, with the great continent bearing Equestria to the west, and another continent jutting downward from the east, where the Dragon Lands were. The northern section was covered in a crown of ice, and from there probed a series of dark cracks in the seabed, a series of vast trenches.
“The Abyss is a series of deep trenches that exist just below the surface south of the polar icecaps,” Wavecrest said, “Ages ago, the sahuagin were driven there by the seaponies of Seaquestria, with the help of other aquatic races. And while our own civilizations did dwindle in power, in those olden days the sahuagin were kept in check by a series of fortress outposts crewed by highly experienced warriors who ensured no warbands could rampage at will, nor any settlements could form outside of the Abyss’ trenches.”
A series of several dozen dots of magic light bloomed across the map, showing a network not unlike a fence that surrounded the Abyss.
“Alas,” Wavecrest said, “In our modern era, the fortresses have dwindled along with the fortunes of my own race. What once were dozens, now stand just three.”
The lights vanished one at a time, until three points of light remained, all in a small string on the southernmost point of the chain of fortresses.
“These last fortresses are called the Three Watchers, now, and are still garrisoned by the most aggressive and capable of seapony tribes. It is they who still keep the sahuagin from resettling elsewhere, and it is tribes like my own that still send supplies and the occasional volunteer recruit to keep the Three Watchers strong. However, warbands still slip by, and with magic objects such as that teleportation sphere we saw in Aqualania, the sauhaguin have other means to send their killers across the seas.”
“Hmph, you mean we have been blessed to have new ways to strike back at those who would keep us starving in the dark,” Ulgriv spat, “Yes your Three Watchers have ever been our bane, but our Deep Mistress has long assured us that one day they will fall, along with the rest of the seas.”
“Ulgriv,” Fluttershy said suddenly, “You grew up believing so much in Charybdis. Can you tell us about that? What is it like? What is she like, in your eyes?”
Twilight was a bit uncomfortable with that question, as her own feelings towards Charybdis were rather pointedly and severely negative, to say the least. Yet Fluttershy was asking an important question. The fervent faith the sahuagin had in their “Deep Mistress” was clearly a central element to their culture. It was worth knowing just how deep Charybdis had sunk her tentacles into these fish folk.
Ulgriv seemed to almost relax upon hearing the question, and he rested back in his heat, voice quieting.
“Our Deep Mistress, who’s kindness and wrath are both equal in their boundless nature, is one every sahuagin spawnling is told of from the very first moment we can understand words. Broodmother Tishlura sang countless prayer hymns to us as we struggled to survive in the spawn pools. Oh, how I drew strength from those prayers, even as my belly twisted from hunger. To know that She was watching over us, and that even if I were to die, she’d keep my soul safe from the clutch of oblivion. It was a comfort. Is a comfort. Every sahuagin knows that death is not our end. She saves us from it. Keeps our souls protected from the True Abyss that is death.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Wavecrest, her hostility momentarily halted by a spark of curiosity, “She ‘keeps’ your souls?”
“That is the promise she gave us when she came to my people, long ago,” Ulgriv said, “She would grace us with strength, lead us to prosperity, and keep our souls in death so that we would not fade into the True Abyss. You grew pale hearing how many spawnlings died before reaching adulthood? Well, before our Deep Mistress, far fewer lived. Her magic grows food, makes parts of our home warmer, and she slew the monstrosities of the trenches that preyed upon us. The Abyss remains harsh, but not a death sentence for our race, all due to our Deep Mistress’ compassion.”
“And what, all ya gotta do in return is fight n’ die fer her, without question?” Applejack said, snout scrunching up, “Ain’t none o’ ya thought maybe that ya’ll were bein’ used?”
“I would not expect a surfacer to understand,” Ulgriv grunted.
“Hold on,” said Twilight, “When you said ‘True Abyss’, could you be more specific about what that entails?”
He looked at her as if she was missing something obvious, then said, “It is what awaits in death for those who have not the Deep Mistress’ grace. Emptiness. Oblivion. Only by her power are our souls preserved to be reborn.”
“...Where does she ‘keep’ your souls, exactly?”
“There is a place within the deepest trench of the Abyss,” Ulgriv began, but then clamped his mouth shut and shook his head fiercely, “No, it is not something I will speak of. None but the favored shamans and champions, chosen by Charybdis Herself, may enter that place. One such as I has never laid eyes upon it.”
“It’s okay, Ulgriv, we won’t force you,” said Fluttershy, who upon seeing Ulgriv’s increased discomfort turned a look towards Twilight, “Maybe that’s enough questions for today?”
“Yeah,” said Pinkie, “Lunch is near done and I think Ulgriv needs some fun to unwind. Hey, Ulggy, want to see the top deck while we’re flying? I bet you’d be the first sahuagin ever to check out the clouds from above them! Come on!”
“A-above!?” Ulgriv gave a startled cry as Pinkie Pie grabbed him, and proceeded to drag him off. Flash Sentry reluctantly followed them, giving Twilight a quick nod before going.
“Well that was... something,” said Rarity, “It sounds like Charybdis’ hold upon the sahuagin heavily revolves around this belief that she’s saving their souls.”
“It is not without some potential truth,” Wavecrest muttered unhappily, “Loath as I am to say such, Charybdis possesses great power over such unnatural magic. It may well be she does take the souls of those that die in her service.”
“Perhaps, but at the same time I feel as if it’s possible even Charybdis believes that she’s somehow ‘saving’ the sahuagin,” Twilight said in a disturbed tone, “Every word she’s said has been a twisted version of the truth, but it hasn’t been without truth, I think. If the magic she’s unlocked through her studies gives her some understanding of how the soul works, and how the Cycle of death functions, it wouldn’t be crazy to say she thinks preserving souls, even in the form of Wraiths, is better than allowing them to move through the Cycle. Especially if the Cycle is still not fully healed from the war of the ancient alicorns.”
“Ugh, this is all waaaaay too heavy for me,” Rainbow Dash said, hanging her head with a hefty sigh, “I just want to punch that nutty sea witch in the face, save the day, and go home. I wasn’t built to think about complicated stuff like souls, Cycles, and the ethics of generations’ worth of war.”
“Ahem,” spoke up Trixie, “It may not be the Silent yet Studious Trixie to put her two bits in after the fact, but it seems to me that the sahuagin are essentially dupes, even if Charybdis is sincere in trying to help them. But they’re very fanatical dupes, which means there’s very little chance of avoiding having to fight through them.”
“Hate to admit it, but it looks like you might be right, Trixie,” said Twilight, “Everything Ulgriv has told us leads me to think we can’t talk our way through this, even if my gut still wants to try.”
“A battle is likely inevitable, yes,” said Wavecrest, and she suddenly looked over at Aria and Sonata, “And for this battle I am considering whether or not it may be safer to leave the two of you with one of my tribes, perhaps even at the Three Watchers, before we delve into the Abyss itself.”
“Huhwhat?” said Aria, “Whoa, hold up! Why? That crazy undersea bitch has a piece of our sister’s soul! No way we’re sitting this out!”
“It is exactly because Charybdis has a piece of your kin’s soul that makes me think taking the two of you into the Abyss is a poor decision,” said Wavecrest, “I have been thinking about this since we departed Aqualania. Where is the Eye of the Sea? The more I think about it, the more likely it seems that Charybdis already has the Relic in her possession. Yet she cannot access it’s power. And it is clear she wanted the two of you. Sirens. A race older than almost every other aquatic species. Two Inheritors, and no doubt your sister is one as well.”
“So what?” said Aria.
Twilight was the one to answer that, as she’d been thinking along similar lines to Wavecrest, although not quite to the same conclusion, “It means it’s possible, even likely, that the three of you may be the intended Inheritors for the Eye of the Sea. Now I know we can’t confirm that, but it would explain why Charybdis wants the two of you. If she got a hold of your souls, then that would complete the set, so to speak. It may allow her to use her soul magic to somehow gain access to the Eye’s power. It would be risky to bring the two of you right to Charybdis’ lair, if that were the case.”
“Precisely,” Wavecrest said, but Twilight held up a wing to forestall the seapony.
“That being said, I do think we should take Aria and Sonata with us.”
“Why?” asked Wavecrest, not quite aggressively, but she did turn to face Twilight fully, “What possible advantage would that bring us?”
“First of all, there’s no guarantee they’d be safe in the Three Watchers,” Twilight said, “Charybdis could send a warband to try and abduct them, just like they were back at Mt. Aris, and we wouldn’t be around to stop it that time. Secondly, if we keep them close we can ensure they’re protected, especially considering my friends and I have the power of our own Relics to draw on. And thirdly, the potential to activate the Eye of the Sea might go both ways. Having Aria and Sonata there might allow us to steal back the Eye, and if we can obtain that piece of Adagio’s soul, then it’s possible Aria and Sonata could use the Eye themselves.”
“...And defeat Charybdis,” Wavecrest said, taking a hoof off her staff to rub her chin in thought, “I did not consider that option. A difficult prospect, given we do not know where Charybdis is keeping both the Eye and the part of Adagio’s soul she took, but it could work. Hmm, it shall be as you say then, Twilight Sparkle. It seems once more I will trust in your intuition.”
“Rarely goes wrong to bet on Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Well, let’s not celebrate yet,” Twilight said, “We’ve a daunting task ahead of us, and not much time to prepare for it. On that note, while Pinkie Pie has Ulgriv up on the top deck, and now that we’re all fed, perhaps we should all go up there?”
“Training?” asked Applejack, referring to the exercises and testing of their new Inheritor forms that Twilight had been speaking of having them all do.
“Training,” Twilight confirmed, “When we face Charybdis, it may well be the final confrontation of this quest we find ourselves upon, but Equestria itself remains in danger from other forces. When the time comes, I want all of us to be ready for it.”
Even as she said it, she still worried, as was her nature. She knew the challenges ahead of them were numerous, and that even after Charybdis was defeated there was the looming threat of Hollow Chrysalis and the rest of Starlight Glimmer’s group. And Twilight wasn’t about to dismiss the possibility that the human Starlight would return. Then, beyond all that, Twilight knew her dear friends from the human world were still dealing with battles of their own, battles that Twilight hoped she and her own friends would soon be able to help with.