//------------------------------// // Confrontation // Story: The Eternal Sphere // by Xarmar13 //------------------------------// After another experience with warp travel, the group arrived on a floating platform above a vast forest. The platform itself was as gaudy and golden as Lyra remembered the last time she was here. The non-ponies stared in awe at the tower that seemed to ascend to the heavens in height. “So this is the place where our universe was developed?” Fayt asked. “Yes,” Twilight answered. “The Sphere Institute is also the premier research facility for much of our technology that we developed over the past few centuries. The Eternal Sphere is one of many projects that was developed here.” “So this place is a game company and a research lab?” Cliff asked. “I suppose there would have to be more going on here than just the Eternal Sphere to justify the place being as tall as it is.” “More public projects like the Eternal Sphere are developed on the lower floors of the tower while the more private and sensitive ones, such as Project Valkyrie, are developed on the upper floors.” “So where is Project Valkyrie being kept?” Maria asked. “I’d rather not say. I’d rather keep that information classified unless the project becomes compromised.” “I think it’s time for us to head inside and finally meet our nemesis,” Sophia said. With that, the group headed through the entry door and into the building. Once the last person had stepped inside, the blaring sound of an alarm went off and before the group knew it, the door behind them became sealed by thick metal paneling. “At least we know that we have the hacker’s attention,” Sophia quipped. “Indeed,” said a feminine voice as a new figure entered the room from a door on the other side of the room. The figure wore a form-fitting bodysuit with red energy racing around it like a circuit pattern. The mare’s face indicated her royal blue coat and her mane was electric blue with sky blue streaks. She had a small contingent of bipedal security drones. She was also carrying a rifle that Twilight recognized as one of the latest models of covert ops weaponry. Thankfully, she couldn’t make full use of its abilities while indoors. “Welcome to Sphere Institute, boss, associate and anomalies, I am Azure Lazer. I am the chief of security here. I applaud you for evading my trap by using the maintenance terminal. Now that all of you are here, I can delete and kill all of you at once.” “Let Azure go!” Twilight demanded. Azure feigned shock at the accusation. “But Twilight, this is me, of my own free will,” she lied. “Not buying the act,” Sophia said. “I could feel the influence of another on her mind when I sent that feedback pulse against Biwig. I only gave you a headache last time since I couldn’t attack you directly because you were further up the control chain from Biwig and Azure. This time I will give you a major migraine.” “Mind control magic is a felony offense, your status won’t protect you even if you are from the houses,” Twilight added. Azure paused for a moment before she scoffed which turned into full laughter. “That’s rich coming from one of your kind, Xel’naga, given that you’ve been controlling ponykind for thousands of years. So what if I have to control the mind of another to get what my people have yearned for, but were too cowardly to admit it.” “I doubt that you represent Equestria as a whole and I doubt that you could have pulled all this off by yourself.” “Hmph, the brainwashed masses have no idea what they really want thanks to the ‘benevolent’ alicorns and their manipulative ways. The Equestrian Liberation Front will bring the evils of the Xel’naga to light and do what it takes to banish your kind from our world forever.” “So you are a part of some rebel organization,” Maria said. “Silence, anomaly!” Azure barked. “You bugs in the data are nothing more than that! You have no business existing in the real world!” “And yet it’s because of the threat you pose to our universe that we are here now,” Fayt countered. “Why should we care what happens to a bunch of ones and zeroes? You glitches should have simply accepted your lot in life just like that repulsive upstart Sweetie Drops!” “The fact that you used the word ‘upstart’ further convinces me that you are a member of the houses, just as Celestia suspected,” Twilight said. Azure flinched, she, or rather the one controlling her, realized that her enemies were getting information out of her by flustering her. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “No matter, me and my security team will make sure that your first steps into this facility will be your last.” “So why mention only my wife when I believe that some of the houses who remember a thousand years ago that Twilight would also be considered an upstart?” Lyra asked. “Because a certain house would have a vendetta against her for what happened back then,” Twilight answered. “The one house that I would imagine would want to take down Sweetie would be House Platinum. And if the news has told me anything, the head of that house has displayed a remarkable level of skill with computers, and was a top student at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.” She smirked, “Isn’t that right, Crystal Silicon?” Crystal growled which caused Azure to growl as well before she took a moment to regain her composure again. “No matter, you can take your accusations to oblivion.” Azure then raised her hand and prepared to snap her fingers which made everyone else get ready for the imminent brawl in the lobby. Once the small army of machines charged forward at the snap of Azure’s fingers, the two groups were forced into one on one matches against a security drone. Azure stayed back and prepared to snipe at her hated enemies with her rifle. She fired a few shots that grazed Cliff’s shoulder while Albel split a round in two meant for him. Maria trapped her drone in a magnetic field and went after Azure. Azure fired a few shots at the attacking woman but she anticipated the trajectory of the bullets and managed to dodge them. The woman negated another round when she fired a singularity bullet that pulled Azure’s bullet into it. The Gravity Bullet traveled slowly toward Azure but the field was unable to be maintained for more than a couple of seconds. The security chief paid so much attention to the gravitic shot that she failed to notice Maria firing a number of energy rounds until they struck her. Maria closed the distance and knocked her into the air with a powerful kick from her Crescent Locus technique before she followed up with a series of three powerful kicks that sent Azure flying into the wall. Before Maria could attack again, Sophia appeared in front of Azure. The templar’s eyes glowed blue and Azure screamed in agony a moment later. Maria looked behind her to find the drones had been turned into scrap metal. She looked back toward Sophia just in time for Azure to stop screaming and fell unconscious. Sophia turned back to everyone and smiled. “I think I severed the link between Crystal and Azure this time. She should be waking up soon, but she’s gonna have a splitting headache.” Thanatas walked up to Sophia and handed her a pair of capsules. “That should help relieve the pain.” Sophia nodded. She turned her attention to the unconscious mare in time for her to groan and clutch her head. “W-where am I?” Azure groaned. She opened her eyes to look around but regretted it as she winced in pain. “Ow! Did I have too much to drink? I can’t remember…” Sophia handed Azure the pills while Twilight used a nearby replicator to create a cup of water and handed that to the mare. The security chief quickly tossed the pills into her mouth and downed the water. She was surprised to find the effect immediate as she could feel the pain quickly fade. “Now that you aren’t worrying about your head anymore, what was the last thing you remember?” Sophia asked. “Wait, who are you people? Is that Twilight and Lyra? Did I black out or something?” “Please answer her question, Azure?” Twilight requested. “The last thing I remember, I was invited to a dinner party at House Platinum. I had no idea why such an esteemed member of society wanted to see me. Crystal Silicon probably wanted some dirt on Princess Twilight and Princess Sweetie. I know she holds contempt for the alicorns who are not Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Anyway, the last thing I saw was Crystal’s horn lighting up and the next thing I know, I’m lying here. Though I can’t help but feel like I was briefly in the arena in Gemity before I blacked out again. Was that a dream?” “At least she was nice enough to leave you unconscious while she piloted your body around,” Sophia said. “What are you saying, girl? Crystal is one of the nobility. She should know better than to use illegal mind magic.” “She was also saying things about banishing the alicorns from Equus.” “What?!” Azure shouted then looked at Twilight. “Is this true, Twilight?” The mare’s nod of affirmation made Azure lower her head and sigh in resignation. “Then we need to find evidence to pin treason charges against her. Thankfully, my headache is gone and I’m ready to go. I’ll begin my investigation into Crystal’s treachery. Since you guys look like capable fighters, I’ll leave it to you to search the building and find Crystal if she’s here.” Azure walked over to the reception desk and brought up a holo-display. After a few keystrokes, her efforts were rewarded with the buzzing sound of an error. She shook her head and sighed in exasperation. “Seems she has full control over the building’s security system. You’ll have to fight your way through our own security drones. See if you can make your way to the research section on the fifth floor. I fear for the safety of the research staff.” “Will you be alright on your own?” Sophia asked. “Yeah, I’ve had my Ghost training and I have my ways of moving about undetected, even fooling the sensors. Only reason she got the drop on me before was because I never suspected that she would pull such an idiotic stunt like plan a coup. My mind is shielded from her magic now and I won’t let her catch me off guard again. My apologies, Twilight, that you had to see such a shameful display of my lack of vigilance.” Twilight raised her hands defensively, “It’s alright Azure, we had no idea that there was even a real threat to the crown until this situation happened. What matters right now is that we stop Crystal from accessing Project Valkyrie. If she manages to manifest the three goddess prototypes into our world, Equestria will be in great danger.” Azure then looked at the others in the room, then looked at Twilight in confusion. “Is it alright to be discussing the project in front of them?” “They have already been briefed about the project. This is an emergency situation, so I made the call to inform them.” Azure nodded. “Alright, I’ll call in some more Ghosts and investigate.” Twilight nodded before accessing her personal holo-assistant. She then uploaded data to Azure’s assistant. “I am still an official princess of Equestria. I usually don’t exercise my authority, but in this case I’ll make an exception. This is a search warrant for Crystal’s mansion. Princess Celestia already has her suspicions of Crystal’s treachery so I’m sure she will approve the search.” Azure smiled, “Thanks for trusting me.” Twilight smiled back. “We may fight a lot, but we are still friends. I can’t think of anyone better to entrust Sphere’s security to than you.” As Azure walked away, Maria walked up to Twilight. “Are you sure we can trust her?” “I’m sure. Azure and I may often have differences of opinion about different things since she takes a more jaded approach to life while my admittedly naive views clash with her’s, but I trust her because she’s always honest with me.” “Sort of like you, Maria,” Cliff jabbed. Maria looked away to hide her blush, pretending that the wall she was looking at was interesting. “For now, let’s head over to the research section. It’s as good of a place to start as any,” Sophia said. Their exploration began when they approached a holographic pad, that Twilight explained was physically tangible, behind the reception desk. When they got close, part of the wall vanished and the light extended through the door into the next room. They entered a hallway that was being patrolled by more of the bipedal drones that Twilight had called incapacitators, unlike the spider-like models used by the Vendeeni. The first thing Twilight did was lead everyone to the left of the doorway and to what appeared to be a device that looked similar to the transporters that they were used to. Twilight approached it and frowned. “Of course Crystal wouldn’t make things that easy. Looks like she deactivated all of the teleporters in the building.” “You guys still have stairs though, right?” Fayt asked. “Yes, looks like we have no choice but to fight our way to the fifth floor,” Twilight said. Fortunately for them, this was not a problem. With the hallways being narrow, the patrols would be small in number. The rooms, however, would hold more enemies as well as be large enough for robo gunners, the military-grade spider mechs, to move around in. As strong as they were, Twilight, Lyra, Sophia and Thanatas stood back and let the others have their fun dealing with the drones that got in their way. Nel showed off a new technique where she imbued one of her daggers with fire element and her other dagger with lightning element. She assaulted one of the robo gunners with two different elements that melted through the armor and sent an electrical charge into the exposed wiring and circuits inside, shorting it out. Nel called the technique her Mirror Slice. Cliff and Mirage unleashed their own versions of the technique that Sophia used in the arena when she killed the succubus. The Klausians’ version was less destructive than Sophia’s but it did damage the walkway a little. Twilight ended up scolding the two for damaging the building and made the two agree to not use their Acrobat Locus techniques in breakable areas that would be expensive to repair. The group fought the same enemies until they reached the fifth floor where the research section was located. Unlike the previous floors which had a lavender color to the floors and walls, this floor had a maroon and gray theme. Not far into their exploration, they found a circular platform that was in front of a gray circular door. However, the door would not open for them. “This is the security door that is used by the researchers in emergencies,” Twilight explained. “The research staff are likely behind that door. I’m afraid that this door is designed to only be opened from the other side.” “Aren’t you the owner of this company? Don’t you have security overrides?” Maria asked. “I do, but I can’t risk using them without Crystal Silicon learning what they are. She likely has the entire building monitored.” “Then what do we do?” Fayt asked. Suddenly, the security door opened, leading the way further into the research section. On the other side of the door was a familiar figure that Twilight was really glad to see right now. The maroon mare with a green mane and tail waved at them and motioned for them to come inside. Once everyone was inside the door, Grape Vine locked the door again. “I am so glad you came, boss. The staff has been on edge fearing for their lives. The security drones have been getting more aggressive in their attempts to get in here.” “Why would Crystal want into the research section? Does it have to do with her objective?” Maria asked. “She may think that the terminals in the research section might hold a clue to what she’s after,” Twilight answered, then gave the girl a brief mental thanks for her prudence. “So what is she after?” Grape asked. “I’m afraid that you don’t have the clearance to know that.” Grape nodded, “Understood, I’ll lead you to the others.” The group followed Grape Vine down the only corridor available to them until they entered a room with a number of terminals and a number of researchers of various species, including one female Protoss. “Hello Silvara,” Twilight greeted the Protoss. “Do you know where Crystal Silicon is?” “En taro Lyra, Princess Twilight. We have managed to locate her, but that is when we discovered a complication in the situation.” This made Twilight begin to panic. “Did she find access to one of our projects?” “No Princess.” Twilight sighed in relief. “However, she has managed to obtain the administration codes that can take her directly to the Eternal Sphere control center.” Twilight’s panic levels rose again. “She found a way to access the Spiral Tower? This is really bad!” “What’s at the Spiral Tower?” Fayt asked. “Spiral Tower is an intangible space that exists within the Eternal Sphere. It’s a place where only myself and my most trusted employees can access to perform direct administrative actions in the Eternal Sphere, such as creating worlds or deleting them. I can even customize entire ecosystems or design new species there. It’s also capable of completely eradicating the Eternal Sphere.” “We need to stop her before she uses those codes!” Fayt said. “She’ll be headed for an Eternal Sphere terminal in the building. I know how to get there. Follow me!” As they were leaving, Grape stopped Roger for a moment. “Listen…Roger, was it…I know this is a bad time, but could you take this tool set and this AI program with you? I know that my project should be the least of your worries, but if you guys have a little time, could you find a way to get that old automaton in your village to work? I want to see what it's capable of when not used for war.” Roger gave a cheeky smile. “Sure! A real man helps anyone in need, after all.” Grape smiled, “Thank you so much!” Twilight led the group further into the research section. They walked down a narrow corridor and into a room that had a large vertical energy pipe in the center of the room and a door on the far end. A terminal was spotted in front of the pipe. “What’s this?” Maria asked. “We need to get to the top floor quickly,” Twilight answered. “This room contains a manual override to all transporters in the building. I don’t know what tricks Crystal might pull next so we need to act quickly.” “Not quick enough, Xel’naga,” said a voice over the intercom. “Crystal Silicon…” Twilight growled. “How can you stoop so low to betray the kingdom?” “You know why!” Crystal shouted. “I know what really happened when my house fell from grace a thousand years ago. My ancestor was assaulted and his house raided by barbarians like the one among you. My house’s plans to rule Equestria through the princesses’ shadows was ruined by that upstart whorse of a disgraced agent.” “If Sweetie Drops and Lyra were your targets, why are you attacking the Eternal Sphere?” “Because it’s your creation. But really it’s the creation of an alicorn. My hatred toward you alicorns began when I performed some research into the circumstances behind my ancestor’s fate. I wondered…for such a blatant assault on one of the Great Noble Houses of Equestria, why were the perpetrators not punished for this? How was it that two lowly commoners managed to invade our house and get away with it? Soon I found out that Princess Celestia knew about what happened and who committed the offense. “She turned a blind eye to the attack! She allowed that mongrel to assault my home and plant a brain parasite into his head and forced him to act outside of the interests of the family!” “This wouldn’t have happened if Blueblood hadn’t betrayed the agency that he created and ordered all of the agents to be eliminated.” Lyra countered. “So what? Your filthy wife should have been happy that he let her live in that town of savages. She should have been satisfied that she even found companionship in a reject like you. But she just couldn’t be satisfied with living, she just had to throw her little fit and ruin what would have been the best thing that could have happened to Equestria. “But that is only part of the reason why I want the Xel’naga gone from our world. They have been ruling us long enough. It’s time for House Platinum to return to its former glory, as it was before the unification of the tribes. And with my allies among the Equestrian Liberation Front, augmented by my genius with computers, My family will not only have our revenge on you and that upstart, but Equestria will finally become what it was meant to be!” Thanatas yawned, “Are you done yet? I can’t believe you forced us to sit through such a cliched monologue. I’ve heard so many of them in my lifetime, that I actually wrote a list of villain monologues. Yours is similar to number two thousand six hundred fifty-seven on my list.” Crystal growled, “Mock me all you want, but I will have what I want in the end. Still, I need more time to put my plan into action so my assistants shall entertain you until I’m done.” “Seven twenty-nine on my list of used villain quotes.” Thanatas listed. Crystal shut off the intercom. Sophia had a feeling that she smashed the interface. Twilight managed to reactivate the transporters, but that was the least of their immediate worries as the far door was making creaking sounds that it should not have been making. “”Let’s see who’s behind door number one…” Sophia quipped as she activated her energy blades. Everyone else prepared for a fight. The door was soon forced open and two individuals entered. One was a burly brown stallion with a black mane. His wings on his back identified him as a pegasus. He was wearing the company uniform and was carrying a rocket launcher designed to fire an entire salvo. He was accompanied by a black changeling with violet compound eyes. Her body form suggested that she was female or preferred to appear as female. Even after a thousand years, it was still difficult to determine changeling drone gender since they like to appear as their preferred gender. Her head fin matched her eyes. She was also wearing a company uniform. “Swift Burial? What are you doing here? And who is that?” Twilight demanded. The changeling chuckled. “Since the boss has decided to make their move, it was about time for us to reveal our true colors. I am Belzebub and we are mercenaries who infiltrated your company and worked for you until it was time for the plan to go into action. As for the uniform, I tend to take Swifty’s place whenever he’s doing something and he needs an alibi.” “Now it’s time for us to fulfill our contract,” Swift continued, his voice deep and rumbling. “We will eliminate you and Lyra and delete the foreign entities around you.” Twilight sighed, “Great, now I have to screen all of my employees again once this is over.” “You think you will get the chance? You certainly think highly of yourself, princess.” Belzebub giggled. “Our armor is forged from dragonscale. Your magic won’t hurt us so easily.” “So this means that we get to go through you the fun way, by thrashing you two within an inch of your lives,” Sophia said almost too cheerfully. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, bunny!” Swift aimed a rocket launcher at the group and launched a volley of rockets. Sophia reacted by opening a dimensional hole where the missiles flew into it. Before the mercenaries could react, a second hole opened directly in front of them and a familiar salvo of missiles emerged and exploded around them. Belzebub growled and pulled out a plasma whip. Swift loaded another salvo into his launcher. “Hey morons!” The mercenaries looked behind them to see who called them out. They had to take an extra moment to look down to see the menodix with his own plasma whip and a shield with holes in it. They were not expecting a salvo of missiles to emerge from the shield. Swift and Belzebub were blown toward the base of the energy pipe. As the two were recovering from the impact, Swift managed to get on his feet before he was seared and wrapped in Roger’s plasma whip. Swift spun like a top when Roger pulled back his whip and crashed into Belzebub. Belzebub shifted into a snake and slithered out from beneath Swift before she switched back to normal. “I will not be humiliated by some little twerp!” she roared. She then transformed into a manticore and roared at the young menodix before charging at Roger with intent to rake him with her claws. In her recklessness, she failed to notice the small minefield that was set up between her and Roger. The chain of explosions sent Belzebub flying into the air before crashing back onto the floor, losing consciousness before the impact. She shifted back into her normal form. Swift took aim at Roger with his rocket launcher but failed to notice the cloth that wrapped around his waist in time before he was yanked back and launched his salvo into the wall, shaking the room slightly. A small but powerful explosion from a small hand launched him forward a few meters and spinning him again as he was unwound from Peppita’s cape. Swift was dizzy after being spun around so much and couldn’t react to the large ornate hammer that slammed into his gut and sent him flying into a wall. Swift’s body created a deep indentation into the wall and showed no sign of emerging from the wall anytime soon. “Nice teamwork you two,” Sophia complimented. Roger puffed his chest out, “As if that loser was any match for me.” “I ain’t gonna let some jerk make a sneak attack on my friend if I can help it,” Peppita said. Sophia gave a faint smile and an eye roll. “Yeah, friend…” she thought sarcastically. “The teleporters are up and running now,” Twilight declared. “Let’s hurry to the top floor.” The group headed through the door that the two mercenaries came out of and soon came across a pair of transporters. It wasn’t hard to notice that the energy waves displayed by one transporter were moving in an upward direction and the other transporter had energy waves that moved downward. Naturally, they used the former. Twilight used the interface and pressed the buttons for the top floor. Since the transporter couldn’t fit them all at once, she had to instruct the others on how to operate the transporter. After a couple of minutes, everyone arrived on the top floor where they expected to find Crystal Silicon. The drones they encountered on the way to the Eternal Sphere terminal were nothing worth mentioning. Once they entered the Eternal Sphere access room, they saw a number of large spherical pods that could house large groups as well as an interface in the center that appeared to operate the pods. That was when they saw a unicorn mare in the center of the room operating the interface for a moment before moving toward one of the pods on the left. Her coat was pure white and her mane and tail were silver-colored. They also noticed that her mane and tail were also sparkling, which the ponies indicated that nobles often used expensive shampoos to make that way. Sophia began to move to intercept Crystal when she slammed into an invisible barrier that she did not expect was there. “She activated the security force field!” Twilight gasped. Crystal giggled at the templar’s failure. “I hope you enjoy the little present I left for you in the Eternal Sphere. You better hurry up and stop me before my virus destroys your precious universe. Up until now, I’ve kept the viral programs away from the main conflict to watch you struggle against the original programs, but that’s not necessary anymore.” Crystal then vanished in a flash of light as she entered the pod. The force field deactivated soon after. “Number four eighty-one of cliche villain exits,” Thanatas quipped. “Can we go after her?” Fayt asked. Twilight shook her head. “If she went directly to Spiral Tower, then she would be able to change the administration codes. The direct route will be sealed off.” “Then what can we do?!” Fayt shouted. “Calm down kid, there must be another way to get to her,” Cliff reassured. Twilight thought about it for a moment before she remembered something important. “There is. We need to get back to Elicoor and use the door in the Mosel Ruins. We need the Sacred Orb to open the way.” “You intend to use our sacred treasure to…never mind. If you were the one who created the Sacred Orb, then it stands to reason that you would know all of its secrets.” Nel said. Twilight smiled as she approached the terminal in the center of the room and started inputting commands. “I can’t take us directly to Spiral Tower, but I can get us just outside of Aquios. The wards that I put on the orb prevent me from bringing us directly to the Shrine of Kaddan, so this is the closest I can get there without putting us in the middle of the city and starting a panic.” The alicorn finished pressing buttons and gestured toward the central pod invitingly. Everyone headed into the pod that was large enough to accommodate them all. Once everyone was inside, the machine activated and everyone vanished in a flash of light.