//------------------------------// // Chapter One Hundred Twenty Three // Story: HiE - A Hollow in Equestria // by Charlie_K //------------------------------// Chapter One Hundred Twenty Three A loud POP sounded, carrying all the impact and force that would be experienced from a firecracker going off by somepony standing right next to it. It'd been more than enough to break Rarity's concentration and send her tumbling back in surprise, her concentration broken and her posterior surely bruised underneath her fur from falling square on her flanks. This wasn't the first time such had been experienced. And judging by the way things were shaping up, it really didn't look like it would be the last time either. When Celestia had explained the process of walking back a core was just that, a process, she had most certainly meant it. There was a myriad of small, minute details about what was involved, and how everything had to be done for it to be successful. Everything had sounded simple when it was first being explained, but that was where the aspect of simplicity ended. Comparatively it was like teaching somepony to sew. They might be able to learn how to perform basic repair stitching from listening to an explanation of what was involved, but that didn't mean they'd know how to sew in the sense of running a sewing machine and making a dress from scratch. The steps involved were numerous, the sequence of what had to be done and how was involved, and more than once she'd found herself reaching over Twilight's hastily written checklist of what the procedure required. Just to make sure she was following the instructions properly, and that the current setbacks weren't due to her own misunderstandings. With a grunt of annoyance and pain, she pushed herself back up into a standing position once again. "Reset it, let's try that again," she stated. The fact there was a training dummy readily available for her practices, something that seemed roughly like a cross between one of her ponnequins and a CPR dummy, did a great deal to suggest there was much going on behind the scenes than she would ever truly be privy to; Celestia had just teleported it right in as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, as if she'd known right where it was should it ever be needed. The exact details, she didn't particularly care about, she was just thankful she had a practice dummy to work with, and wasn't actually attempting to learn and understand the process while practicing on Twilight herself. That was more stress and awkwardness than she was ready for, and she knew it. Over where she stood, uneasily watching events as they transpired, Twilight bit at her bottom lip but nodded regardless as she flared her magic, doing whatever it was that made the dummy a proper working analog of herself to learn on, with a pseudo core that needed to be locked down and brought back under control before it went off. "Not going so well?" Rarity's concentration was broken almost immediately from Twilight shrieking in surprise as if she'd just been poked entirely unexpectedly from behind. Causing the dummy to detonate yet again, before she'd even had the chance to fail in her efforts. That little setback aside, they quickly found the source of the unexpected voice to be none other than Spike, as he stood there watching them in confusion. "Spike?" Twilight asked nervously. "How... h-how long have you been there?" "Long enough to know that Rarity's trying to do something that looks difficult, but not long enough to figure out exactly what it is," Spike replied. "So what's going on?" "Rarity's decided to learn how to keep Twilight's core from suffering a meltdown." The statement from Celestia had been so blunt, so straight to the point, so devoid of any attempt at a cover story, the sheer shock of hearing it spoken out loud had nearly floored Twilight. Rarity hadn't been very far behind her in that department. After all the emphasis on just how important it was to not let the information get out to the general public, she was just bluntly telling Spike about it like it was nothing? "Really?" Spike asked. "Nice. It'll be a relief to have somepony close at hoof in case things go bad." The confusion Rarity and Twilight were feeling only increased in response. "Spike? Do you mean that you've known about Twilight's... predicament... this whole time?" Rarity asked. "Ever since I was made her assistant," Spike confirmed. "I mean, sure, it was all about teamwork and helping Twilight understand nopony could do everything by themselves. But it was a lot more than that at the same time. Celestia wasn't about to let Twilight go without some kind of support system in case something ever happened and she needed help; she said the day might come when Twilight needs help, and I'd be the only one who can help her. She told me what signs to look for, made me memorize a whole lot of important details, she even gave me a special scroll to send immediately if I ever saw those signs for myself." "Spike, how... if you knew, then how come you never told me that you knew?" Twilight asked as she finally felt her reasoning ability returning after that bombshell of a revelation. "Because I didn't wanna talk about it," Spike stated bluntly. "Seriously, knowing that you could die from something you had no control over, and I was the only one who might be able to stop it? That's just morbid and depressing to think about. Not to mention stressful. Besides, you knew about what you were going through, and you weren't letting it slow you down any. I mean, really, what would you knowing that I know, actually do to make things better? Were you going to try and hide your condition so I wouldn't have to worry about you? There'd be no point in me being your number one assistant if that were the case. We're supposed to be working together, Twilight, not keeping secrets from one another." Try as she might, Twilight couldn't fathom or muster a proper rebuttal to Spike's points. Maybe if she were more well-rested, she might be able to come up with something to throw out there. But at the moment she honestly didn't feel like she could trust herself to do that. Instead she did the only thing she could really do at the moment, and trotted over to spike in order to pull him into a tight hug. Which he was all too willing to reciprocate. Rarity smiled, quite pleased by the news. But pleased or not, there was still work that needed to be done, and she knew that. "Twilight, darling, I'm as happy as you are right now, knowing that neither one of us is actually alone in all of this. But if it's not asking too much, could you possibly postpone the hugging until after you've reset the training dummy again? I still have a lot of work to do if I'm going to figure all of this out before Applejack gets here for the night," she pointed out. "Unless of course Celestia wants to read her in on everything as well." "If at all possible I'd rather not," Celestia confirmed quickly. "Oh. Right," Twilight replied sheepishly as she let Spike go. One quick flexing of lavender magic, and the training dummy was once again reset and ready to be the subject of Rarity's attention. "Very good then," she muttered to herself as she sat down on her haunches and rubbed her forehooves together. "Now. Let's see if we can't achieve better results this time around..." Despite the hunger that Luna presently felt, and the driving desire to tear into the meal in front of her with a complete disregard for anything that resembled table manners and basic etiquette, it was difficult to not notice that Princess Twilight wasn't currently eating. She hadn't even had the benefit of lunch during the day to quell what had to be a growing appetite, and should be positively famished at the current hour. And yet despite that, what should've been, she was mainly picking at her food with a fork held limply in her magic, in a distracted and disinterested manner. "Is the food not to your liking, my young friend? Would you prefer something else instead?" The question seemed sufficient to snap her out of whatever was presently on her mind and interrupting her dinner. "Your counterpart seems to quite enjoy the cuisine of the Hayburger in Ponyville. It would be a simple matter to have something delivered if you would like." Twilight, reluctantly, shook her head in response. "I really appreciate the offer, but that's not necessary. There's nothing wrong with the food, I'm just... not really hungry. I mean, I am hungry, but I can't really seem to focus on eating. I've got a lot on my mind at the moment." "About returning to your home reality?" Luna asked. "Well there is that, but not at the moment," Twilight replied and shook her head. "What exactly are we supposed to say if Princess Celestia gets back before Ulquiorra, and he's not here to greet her when she returns?" The question was most definitely an unusual one. One that just begged clarification. Thankfully it seemed her confused silence was enough to spur Twilight on to provide that clarification. "I didn't really give it any thought at the time, but we didn't inform her about what we were going to do. We didn't even tell her that we were planning it. We just proceeded with the plan as if we were the ones in charge, without any regard for keeping her in the loop about what events transpired after she left," Twilight pointed out uneasily. "There's a fifty-fifty chance that Princess Celestia is going to return from her business first, and Ulquiorra won't be here when she gets back to the palace. She's going to know that something's up, and she's going to suspect us. What're we supposed to say when she returns first? What am I supposed to say? I know me, she's going to take one look at me and I'm going to crumble like a house of cards, and start spilling the beans about how we went right ahead with orchestrating a political assassination behind her back! We-" "Princess Twilight Sparkle." The statement was soft, but carried enough firmness that it immediately shut up the younger alicorn. "First and foremost, you are far too tense," Luna stated. "Secondly, we did not go about orchestrating an assassination. We are performing a search and rescue operation, looking for a lost pony who is in desperate need of help and compassion from those who have her best interests at heart, and who is currently in the custody of an opportunistic, parasitic warlord who will kill her the moment she is no longer of any use to him; a fact that you yourself have confirmed." Twilight didn't immediately speak up, despite there being a pause in Luna's explanation. "Third, I admit that I do not fully know how things are done in your world, but Ulquiorra Cifer does not "greet" my sister whenever she returns to the palace; not in this timeline at least. He tends to spend most of his time in the library, reading for hours if not days on end. Were it not for the occasional crisis needing to be tended to, we would almost never see the Espada. He interacts with the palace staff far more often than he does us, simply because they have more reason to venture into the library for janitorial duties. She will not find his absence upon her arrival unusual, as she will have no reason to be aware of his absence. In truth she would have far more reason to be suspicious if he did greet her upon her return. "Fourth, I am my sister's equal and have just as much legal authority over matters as she does. I answer to her purely because she is my sister and I love her dearly, even if she is an annoying pain in the butt at times. If I so decide then I will proceed with whatever course of action I deem fit, without her consent or involvement. What is she realistically going to do, spank me? "And fifth, my sister has made more than her own fair share of bad decisions in her time without first consulting others beforehoof, simply because she believed she knew better on the matter; a fact that Ulquiorra Cifer can attest to if asked. She has no room to object in this matter, even if we told her to her face what we did. I made a decision based on what information we had at the time, I will stand by it, and if she does not like it then she can simply suck it up, as I was merely following her own example on how to proceed. If she does not care for somepony else doing what she does, then she should not be doing it herself!" Twilight physically recoiled in her chair at the conclusion of Luna's statement, slightly wide-eyed in response. The idea of Celestia and Luna bickering like... well, like siblings... wasn't really that unheard of, even in her own reality. But never quite to this extent that she could remember. Everything over the past couple of days, from the foul language, to the mention of an ongoing prank war, to what she just witnessed, was painting the two of them to be less like royalty, and more like average, everyday sisters. "Do you feel better now?" "... Strangely enough, I actually do a little bit," Twilight admitted and nodded. "That was some serious big sibling energy just now. That spiel carried the same sort of oomph that Shiny used to deliver when I was a filly and afraid the monster under my bed was going to gobble me up in the night, and he'd take care of it for me." Luna couldn't quite help but smirk at the comment. It certainly wasn't the first time she'd been referred to as such, but at least this time it was under much better circumstances. She briefly wondered if she would be considered as much an aunt to Princess Twilight as she was the other Twilight, but she decided to not voice the question at present time. They had enough on their plates -metaphorical and literal- to add that on top of everything else. "Um, Princess? Do you mind if I ask you something?" Twilight eventually squeaked out. "As long as you do not mind my eating while you ask," Luna retorted. "Not at all," Twilight quickly clarified. "When you and Ulquiorra went to check the school admission records, just to make sure Tempest wasn't actually a student here in this reality and we'd be setting off on a wild goose chase, did you happen to come across the names Sunburst or Starlight Glimmer, by any chance?" "Not that I can recall," Luna replied in-between bites. "But at the time we were focused on the names Tempest Shadow and Fizzlepop Berrytwist. We had no reason to focus on any other names. And going back as many years as we did in the name of being thorough, all the way to the year you were born, there were a great many names to sort through, none of which we were looking for. It is possible they maybe have students at one point in time, but that would be another matter for another time." "Oh. That makes sense..." "Are those names relevant?" Luna asked. "Not to Tempest specifically, but in the general sense of keeping Equestria safe, sort of," Twilight admitted a bit uneasily. "Starlight Glimmer was yet another villain we faced but eventually managed to reform. Her descent into villainy was all kicked off when her foalhood friend, Sunburst, got his cutie mark and accepted into Celestia's school, while she didn't. She... sort of blamed cutie marks for his leaving. It's... kind of complicated." "She became a villain because her friend got his cutie mark and left her? She did not try to make other friends?" Luna asked further. Twilight shook her head. "From what I understand, Sunburst was her first and only friend. And his departing like he did had a profound effect on her." "That... that is stupid," Luna stated in what could only be called disbelief. "She is stupid! I know that friendships ending can be a painful thing to experience, but that is simply the natural order of all things; they exist for however long they do, and then they inevitably end for whatever reason. That is not an acceptable reason to descend into the realm of villainy, and I speak from experience on that matter! That mare needs therapy; therapy and a swift kick in the ass!" Twilight's ears folded flat against the base of her skull in response, giving her an appearance like she was wilting in response to Luna's outburst. "Well, in my defense, I never said otherwise," she offered up weakly. "I'll admit, it's a really weak explanation. But it is what it is. And if there is a one-to-one ratio between your world and mine, with regard to certain villains, it might be best to nip the matter in the bud if at all possible before the situation escalates in the amount of intervention needed. Not every scenario needs Ulquiorra's... unique approach... to settling business. That's something I was trying to address in my notes. If we approach preemptively, we might be able to avoid a lot of pain and suffering." "I certainly do not dispute the validity of that particular point. I do not think even Ulquiorra Cifer would choose to dispute it," Luna clarified. "I am certain we will take this matter under advisement, just not right now. We are already dealing with enough as is. One thing at a time, one villain at a time, one meal at a time. The future is uncertain, but breakfast is now!" "Oh. Right. Of course," Twilight replied and quickly nodded as she understood what Luna was getting at. And in truth, she really was feeling enough of an improvement in her own mood to more readily eat something. Celestia knew that there were going to be consequences had at some point down the line, for the actions that'd been taken in the Golden Oaks Library. She knew that she'd been gone from the palace for far too long, leaving royal business effectively grinding to a halt. Countless ponies had been left waiting, appointments had been missed and would need rescheduling, and so much paperwork would need to be done late into the night. It was questionable if she would even get any dinner tonight... But she just hadn't been able to bring herself to leave. She knew, better than anypony, just how important what they were doing actually was. Rarity understood that point as well, otherwise she wouldn't be struggling so hard, and pushing herself through her numerous failures and setbacks with as much determination as she presently was, despite how much of her own time was being invested. No, leaving them alone just wasn't something that she could bring herself to do, regardless of her own circumstances and responsibilities. Those would simply have to take a backseat. Which made it all the more rewarding when all of them eventually heard a pleasant DING coming from the dummy, rather than the loud POP they'd slowly been growing accustomed to, signalling success had finally been achieved. And then that same DING was heard again, and again, and again in three separate attempts indicating that the first success hadn't merely been a fluke, but could actually be replicated consistently. That had made every bit of hell she was going to catch later on, all worthwhile. "Congratulations, Rarity," she spoke up, despite not wanting to break the mood that was currently being experienced by the room. But good news like this had to be acknowledged. "It would appear you have this well under control now." Despite the amount of fatigue she'd worked up over the last several hours, both physical and even mental, Rarity couldn't help but perk up at hearing this. "Every unicorn palace guard learns how to prevent a core breach at the academy before graduation. But I don't recall any of them managing to get the hang of it quite that fast," she continued. "Well in all fairness, I was under the direct tutelage of you and Twilight this entire time. I doubt the guards have the benefit of that degree of hooves-on learning," Rarity offered up. She was technically right in that assessment, but that wasn't worth bringing up right now. Instead she simply opted to teleport the training dummy away, returning it to where it belonged. "I would suggest periodically practicing what you've learned here today, to keep your new skills and knowledge as honed as your ability to work wonders with needle and thread. I'll have another dummy made available within a few days. But for the time being, take the opportunity to relax while you can," she advised. "Yes, I believe I'll do just that," Rarity replied and let out a tired huff. "But later. For now I just want to go home, get cleaned up, and get something to eat. Applejack will be here soon, and I don't want to make things complicated by being here. The less reason she has to be suspicious, the better. Twilight, darling, I'll see you in the morning. Don't be afraid to ask if you need any further help." Rarity turned and got one hoofstep away before the library's front door was swung inward from the outside to reveal Applejack standing there, off to the side as she held it open to allow Spike to enter, pulling a red wagon behind him that was loaded with rolled up paper bags, and a heavenly aroma making its presence known inside the room. "Howdy, Twi'," Applejack greeted as she stepped into the library herself. "Ran inta Spike comin' from the Hayburger an' figured Ah'd come over a bit ear-" It was only then that Applejack apparently realized they were there. The urge to facehoof in light of this development was monumental, and Celestia could feel the muscles in her right foreleg spasming, just utterly begging for her to follow through and provide them with the relief that could come from not resisting the gesture. So much for keeping the spread of information to an absolute minimum. "... Is somethin' wrong?" she finally asked. "Not at all, darling," Rarity replied and quickly shook her head. "Celestia was simply bringing us all up to speed on the appearance of Twilight's royal counterpart, and what it means for her. Ulquiorra wrote her last night without concern for the time of day, and the poor dear's been up half the night, worrying herself to a frazzle that it would mean she was destined to become a princess as well. The answer is "no" by the way." Celestia couldn't help but notice Applejack's posture in the wake of Rarity's answer, and how she seemed to relax greatly at hearing it. "Tha's a load off mah withers right there," she commented and smiled. "Ah almost thought 'bout cancellin' tonight 'cause Ah was afraid o' sayin' the wrong thing. Glad Ah don' have ta." "Quite so," Rarity replied with a subtle nod and smile, before turning back to the rest of them. "If you'll excuse me, Twilight, I'll be taking my leave now. I've taken up more than enough of your time today, and I wouldn't want to get in the way with everything." "What, you're leaving?" Spike asked, confused by this sudden development. "But you've been busy all day helping Twilight out. Don't you even want to stay for dinner? I got us all takeout so all the commotion that goes with cooking didn't disturb your work." The mention of anything related to food was more than enough to catch the attention of Celestia's stomach and send it rumbling in protest of its own empty state. All the more reason she wanted to return to the palace. "Helpin' Twilight wit' what?" Applejack asked, her curiosity currently piqued. "It's... highly technical," Rarity stated quickly in a desperate bid to prevent the discussion from going in a direction they didn't want. "Twilight needed some help with... what was it again, darling, two-party magic?" she asked as she quickly looked back to Twilight for clarification, before turning back to Applejack without even waiting for a response. "The gist of it, is that she basically needed an extra set of hooves for learning something that simply can't be performed solo. And being her friend and a fellow unicorn, I was happy to volunteer my services." "Oh. A'right then," Applejack replied, before giving a nod. "Mighty friendly o' ya to do, sugarcube." This time it was Celestia's turn to relax at the potential crisis being averted, eternally thankful for Rarity's socialite skills being what they were. They way she'd stepped right up and assumed command and control of the discussion, all in a technically truthful manner that didn't raise Applejack's suspicions, was certainly a blessing. She would have to thank her later. "That said, would you and Twilight mind if I joined you for dinner? Spike did take it upon himself to get food for all of us, I'd hate to let it go to waste by not being here." Applejack looked past Rarity over to Twilight, who simply nodded back in response. "Ah don' see a problem wit' ya stayin' fer a spell. Be mighty rude ta jus' send ya away after ya've been helpin'," she replied. As much as Celestia wanted to smile at everything slowly, naturally returning to a calmer, less stressed tone, she just couldn't manage it right now. She'd smile later, but for now she really had to go. "If you'll all excuse me, I have things that need tending to now." "Yeah? Well before you go, you might want this," Spike stated, before reaching into the back of the wagon and withdrawing the largest of the present bags. "One haybacon double cheeseburger with tomatoes and pickles. One large order of hay fries. And a large chocolate shake," he said, listing off the contents as he held the parcel out for her. The rumbling of Celestia's stomach returned with a vengeance, leaving her licking her lips in anticipation. Just the fact Spike had thought to bring her something along with anypony else had been quite touching. Without a hint of hesitation she eager snatched the bag from his claws with her magic, and opened the bag to better inhale the delectable aroma contained within. "Spike, I adore you," she sighed contentedly, already planning on devouring everything at a pace that may or may not allow her to taste the bag's contents. "Thank you, I'll take it to go." But just before she teleported away, she stopped herself, and thought about it better. "On second thought, I'll have it before I go. Just as sure as I show up at the palace with this, Luna will steal my fries without even a hint of remorse. The little brat." Anypony who wound up spending any amount of time around Pinkie Pie knew that she was very... unique in how she conducted not only herself, but also how she went about conducting her business, regardless of what that business actually constituted in real world terms. But even the Cakes, who Pinkie had lived with for years and thus had the greatest level of regular exposure to her, were having trouble wrapping their heads around exactly what the pink party pony was currently doing, down in the room that constituted her workshop. The biggest indicator that something wasn't right was just how quiet she was currently being, as she sat at the combination desk/work table over in the corner, illuminated only by a hanging pendant light. There was none of the usual noises she was well known for, only quiet and unintelligible mutterings as she sat and fidgeted uncomfortably like her own skin didn't properly fit her frame. Carrot turned his attention away from Pinkie and back towards his wife, who was presently doing the same thing as they stood in the doorway, taking in the sight before them. And silently having the conversation of just who should be the one to approach and figure out what exactly she was doing. Finally, after much back and forth deliberation in silence, it was determined it would be best for Carrot to step up to the task at hoof. "Uh... Pinkie?" he spoke up uneasily as he stepped forward. "What exactly are you doing down here?" The only indication that Pinkie gave of even hearing him and acknowledging his presence, was raising her head momentarily, before it was immediately lowered right back down as she went back to whatever scribbling she was presently doing. Again, Carrot uneasily looked back at his wife, hoping she could offer something that he couldn't. The look currently resting across her face suggested she was just as lost and helpless as he was, along with urging him to continue trying. "Pinkie, honey, it's starting to get late," he continued, trying to be undaunted as he turned to face her again. "You've been down here a long time. What say you come upstairs for dinner?" The fact even Pinkie's stomach remained dead silent at the mention of getting something to eat was more disturbing than her own present behavior. It was almost like she hadn't even heard the question being asked. It was starting to feel really creepy... "Is there... anything we can do to help?" "Help..." The response didn't sound like Pinkie at all. Despite being her voice, it didn't possess any trace of the usual spring she was so well known for when she spoke. It sounded dry, strained, even weary; as if she hadn't spoken in years. "There are forces at work here. Forces that're beyond our comprehension. Forces that were never intended for our world. Forces that our world was never intended for. Help? Nopony can help us with the current path that we're on, nopony..." Slowly, she turned away from the table she was perched at to face them, looking quite haggard as if she hadn't slept in several days. And not the type of not sleeping that went into planning one of her big parties. "Mr. Cake, Mrs. Cake... if you ever hear me say "Code Meatloaf!" you need to run. Drop whatever it is you're doing at the time, grab the twins, and just run. Run far, run fast, and don't look back. Just run..." The warning alone had been disturbing enough in itself. But delivered by Pinkie in her current state had just made it all the worse, and all the more terrifying. "We will, Pinkie. We will," Cup assured her as she finally spoke up. "But where exactly should we run to? Where should we go for safety?" Pinkie's response was little more than a quiet, forlorn shake of her head. "I don't know," she admitted, sounding as if she was on the verge of being broken by her own words. "I don't know. Just... run. Run until you can't run another step, and then keep running more. Run far, run fast, and don't look back. Just run..."