//------------------------------// // Cosmic heart // Story: And you can really surprise // by TenRulle //------------------------------// "W-what is that?" Cozy cast a questioning glance at Twilight. There was a mix of fear and annoyance in her voice. After all, their warriors had almost defeated the Imperials before this thing appeared out of nowhere. "Smooze," Twilight said. Her eyes were wide and her mouth slightly open, her mane fluttered in the wind. "We told you about him at Friendship School when you were still there," the princess continued without taking her eyes off "however after Discord passed away, we didn't know where he had gone. We thought he had disappeared for good, but it seems that this slime had gone underground, and over the years it had been growing, feeding on minerals." "Good report, Mainstein, but what do we do with this monster?" Twilight averted her gaze from her old acquaintance, shifting it to Cozy. "I don't know. However, the last time we saw each other, Smooze wasn't really a villain. Perhaps we're still friends?" Somewhere in the distance, a group of Imperials activated a device that looked like a black cube with a camera on top. It released a beam of light into the sky, that then turned into a huge hologram of a golden cup. Twilight reacted too late. The green mass moved, the mountains shook, and Smooze began to approach toward the hologram. Cozy stumbled back, grasping the alicorn's wing. "Okay princess, this is DEFINETLY a problem." The cyclopean slime was stalking an image of a cup that was also moving away. "They're trying to take him away. But where?" Twilight asked. The realization hit like a shot of thunder. "They're trying to lure him to the city! Even if he doesn't want to destroy it, Smooze won't leave anything of it just by rolling around!" Sparkle spread her wings, threw Cozy on her back. "Hold on." Second. With a whistle and filly's scream the pair dashed across the fields, catching up with the slug. Right, left, down, and up! Twilight flew close to the ground, veering from side to side, dodging sparse trees. Cozy clutched at her hair, trying not to fly off. The princess lunged upward, twisting in the air - BAM. The energy beam smeared the group of Imperials, leaving only a crater with a repeater in the center. Princess landed next to it, lifting the device with her telekinesis. "They used it to bait Smooze... it doesn't sound like that was their original plan. More like an improvisation." Cozy touched Twilight's shoulder. "They've used these before to send messages or exert moral pressure... never could recreate that effect" Cozy rubbed Twilight's hair. She kept twisting the device, examining it from all angles "maybe with the original artifact I can... I'm not sure how it turns off. And it's sturdy, too, since it withstood my attack. Apparently the switch is inside, and unicorns activate it with telekinesis. That way they can be sure that falling into the wrong hands the device will be u-" Cozy tugged Twilight's head to the side, reminding her that a huge slime swallowing shiny things was coming at them, and they were holding the golden cup's hologram. "BAH-" Twilight screamed, and the cube flew out of her hooves, waving the picture of a cup across the sky. Smooze braked, confused by the movement of it's prey. Cozy tumbled to the ground. A little while later she rose, holding a hoof to her head, determining if she had broken something. Twilight flailed from pegasus to cube. She lifted them both up with her magic, turned around. "Okay, we need to get him away from the city." Without waiting for an answer, she galloped around Smooze, forcing him to turn around. "And where are you taking him?" Cozy yelled, trying to free herself from her telekinesis. "And why the hell you taking me too..." "Ah, I... to the mountains! Yeah, if we lure him back up there, we can collapse the passageways. He won't get out. For a while..." "That's a great plan, Twilight. Just freacking ingenious, if I understand it correctly. It's a Sw... oh... oh" Cozy suddenly stumbled over her own thoughts, remembering something. "Yeah, actually... actually it might work. Magic can't hurt him, but you've never tried heat. One of the caves here leads to place where the lithospheric plates collide, opening an underground crevice right into the magma." "I didn't have a plan, but let's just say I was thinking the same thing." Twilight shouted, continuing to run. A gurgling sound of slime echoed behind her. "Where did you even learn that?" "Uh, wanted to be a geologist before decided to take over the world." One of the mountains appeared on the horizon. The slime was getting closer and closer, gradually catching up. Twilight sped up, approaching the entrance to one of the caves. "Wait, you're going to GO into the caves?" Cozy waved her hooves sharply. "Huh?" the passage kept getting closer, as did Smooze behind them. "I thought you were just going to throw that damn box in there! There... I remembered, there might be poisonous fumes!" "My barrier will protect us." "And there are dangerous animals in there, too!" "I'm more than capable of fighting off some bats." "We can't go in there because... because... ah... Ah!" a second and unicorn and pegasus dove into the passage, finding themselves in pitch darkness. Twilight put Cozy on her back, rushing through the tunnels. Caverns alternated, illuminated by the faint light of Sparkle's horn. Right. Left. Forward. Right. Right. Left. Princess lost her sense of direction, beginning to stumble with fatigue. With a puff of breath, she slowed her run, shifting to a step and eventually stopping. Twilight turned around. Smooze's slime remained in place. Even he seemed tired from such a chase. "Now we... need to..." Twilight felt something shaking on her back. It was Cozy. She clawed at Twilight's back, it seemed, not only with her hooves, but even with her teeth. "That's it... phew... you can get off now. He seems tired. And so am I. We need to... phew... rest for a minute." There was no reply. The princess turned her head questioningly, trying to see what was happening on her back. Cozy continued to shiver, tucking her face into her hair. "Um... is something wrong?" Twilight hadn't expected to see her in such way. She seem... frightened? It could still be an act, but Twilight doubted that even Glow could play the part after being nearly crushed by a huge slime. "...m afd f dks..." Cozy muttered to herself under her breath. "Pardon?" "Imfraid of thdark," said Cozy, poking her eyes out of Twilight's hair. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear-" "I'M AFRAID OF THE DARK, YOU STUPID HORSE!" - UNKOWN TIME BEFORE MAIN EVENTS - "Why are you doing this?!" Twilight kicked her hooves against the crystal floor. A web of small cracks spread out from beneath them. The Princess of Friendship stood in the middle of a large room, right in front of the throne where the new ruler of the crystal empire sat, hidden in the shadows. Her silhouette was tall, elongated, elegant. She was not as tall as the other Alicorns, but still taller than most ordinary ponies. The silhouette moved slowly, shrewd blue eyes flashed in the shadows... "Oh, Aunt Twilight!" Flurry leapt across the floor of the room, knocking Twilight off her feet, enclosing her in a tight hug. "Oh, oh, I haven't seen you in over a month! How have you been living? I hear you've had a lot of new work since the war was declared. Come, come, I'll set the table!" The Princess of Friendship was at the table before she could say a word. There was a mug of tea and cookies in front of her, and across from her sat Flurry Heart, with a look on her face like a happy puppy. "Why are you doing this?" Twilight repeated the question. "Because you're my favorite aunt! How could I not buy you tea? You know, I've set up a great tea production, if it weren't for the current world situation, I'd start exporting it to the rest of Equestria. But let's not talk about that, I don't really like discussing politics in my spare time. Although I would be interested in discussing one of our generals. He has such a cool mane, absolutely loooove it!" Flurry stretched out in her chair and closed her eyes, remembering the general. She definitely wanted to call him out to dinner someday. Twilight bent down. She looked at Flurry with her eyes wide open, full of incomprehension. Her eyebrows rose and her mouth dropped open. How? Why? She was ready to see that Flurry had turned into a monster, or gone crazy because of some dark magic, or... or... Twilight clutched at her head with her hooves. "She's exactly the same. Like always" "Uh-oh, Twilight, is everything okay? Are you not feeling well? I can call a doctor." Flurry looked at her aunt worriedly. She was about to leave the table when Twilight yelled. "OKAY? AM I OKAY?! YOU STARTED A WAR! FUCKING WAR! A GODDAMN FUCKING WAR! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?! HAVE YOU SEEN THE BATTLEFIELDS?! HAVE YOU SEEN CITIES FILLED WITH CORPSES?! HAVE YOU SEEN THE VILLAGES BURNED TO THE GROUND?! I SEE!" Sparkle coughed, trying to catch her breath. She'd been holding those words to herself for a month, ever since war was officially declared. "But... I don't understand... why?" "Aunt Twilight, because you're a bad ruler," Flurry replied with her usual smile. "W-what?" "Well, you know, I looked at the economic reports for the last few years, and woo-hoo! Inflation has tripled since Celestia's retire. Equestria has already met two crises during your reign. I understand that this is the result of moving to a more "open economy" and "less government control over industries", but you could have done it better. By the way, we've been through this conversation before. I have been writing you letters for the past six months with various offers of help, but you dismissed them as ineffective. But they are effective! Yes, we would have had to restrict public freedoms a bit" Flurry swiped a hoof in the air "but it would have had a positive effect on living standards in the end. King Sombra used these methods during his reign. And they are effective, look!" Flurry stood up, placing one hoof on the table and raising the others to the sky "I was able to turn the Crystal Empire into a force capable of going to war against the rest of Equestria! A tiny empire that lived off of tourism and small household goods!" A childish pride gleamed in her eyes. "Sombra?! You used his-" "Of course I did! You were always too scared to really investigate his writings - no offense." At these words she winked, leaning on the table. "But I reread everything of his study. Woo-hoo, that dude was a GENIUS. Maybe not the best pony, but his military and economic knowledge was astounding. Oh, and he was handsome as hell, too." Flurry covered her mouth with her hoof, averting her eyes. On her cheeks came a... blush? "Well, yeah, between you and me... don't get mad, but I...tried to bring him back a couple of times...?" Flurry turned away, tapping her hooves against each other. Twilight had nothing to say. Literally. She just heard this stream of words, and she didn't know what to say. She just... what... how... what she... what anypony could answer on that? It's... damn it... it's... "You. Tried. To revive. Sombra." "Aha! Imagine that: the evil King returns to learn true love and become good! Oh, and he's not the only "villain" I want back. You taught me - everyone should be given a second chance. And I want to give a second chance to everyone. I'm sure I could get the sirens back. Oh, and I've already started releasing the umbrum. By the way, did you know that vindigos still exist, too? Well, certainly not in the same form - you vaporized them with a magic beam after all, but I think I could pick them up piece by piece with enough time." Flurry's smile slowly began to diminish "but it's not like I can bring Sombra back. I tried to use his horn, but from whichever side you look, it turned into a mere piece of stone. Ahem..." she coughed before returning to her usual role, "but there's nothing friendship can't handle! When I topple you, I'll make everyone live well, and bring back all the villains so they can be good too!" "You can't." There was no emotion left in Twilight's voice. She seemed devastated by this speech, which she could not characterize in any way other than "a stream of nonsense." "Not all creatures can become good. You're going to run into some that just won't want to change no matter what you do." "Twiliiiiiight! You have redeemed Discord! God of chaos! Twice! Your school is run by the pony who almost destroyed the universe as we know it! Everyone can get better if they just try. And I will help them." "The war you made is evil." "A necessary sacrifice." "I will stop you." "But good always wins. And now the good - Flurry put her hoof on her chest - is me." Twilight walked away in silence. That was the last time she spoke to Flurry. The Empress of the Crystal Empire stared after her with a piercing gaze. The Princess of Friendship disappeared in a flash of magic, and Flurry's smile only grew wider. "You can come out now," she said. Second of silence, and a small body emerged from the shadows of the dark corner. The almost perfectly black body of a fairy-like creature with elongated paws, large wings, and long tendrils. It seemed to be covered in resin, slowly shimmering and trembling. A moment more, and two completely white eyes appeared on its head. "So, did it go well?" the creature asked, flying up to the alicorn. "Oh, Twilight was so cranky today. I guess I should have suggested she take the cookies home." Flurry shook her head. Her long hair, forming messy curls here and there, straightened out, becoming even more lush. "And how was your day Pony... hmm, I thought, looking at you now, that name doesn't seem very appropriate to me. Oh, can I call you Breezie of Shadows!? Please-please?" Flurry stretched her neck, almost touching her guest with her nose. "Pfft! That's an even sillier name for an incarnation of darkness. I'll revolt," the creature lay down on Flurry's hair next to the crown. The one seemed ready to start begging for it. "However, I have something more interesting than a new name." Pony of Shadows clapped his hooves. There was movement in the corner from where he came out, and a black tentacle came into the light, encircling a small purple star-shaped crystal. Flurry rushed toward the tentacle, taking the artifact. Bringing it to her face, she almost squealed with delight, shifting from foot to foot. "Thank you-thank you-thank you-thank you!" she rushed back to the throne. A second and her eyes glowed green, releasing clots of dark fire, and a beam of energy burst from her horn and flew into the crystal on top of the throne. It responded by changing its color to black, casting a shadow that replaced the floor with a deep stairway. Flurry jumped down, flying dozens of flights of stairs in a second, landed at the bottom of the stairs, and ran through the door that stood there. A study opened before her - bookshelves, boxes of artifacts, desks. This was where she had once studied; this was also where she work now. She remembered the first time her mother had shown her this place. She remembered seeing Sombra's portrait looking down on her. Majestic, monumental. She remembered the first time she had come here on her own, not knowing why. How she had breathlessly read the old King's journals, how she had immersed herself in his reflections, how she had learned from his books, and how she had begun to finish them herself. Even now she could feel the burning thrill that enveloped her heart when she found Sombra's horn. Even years later, those memories almost threw her into an embarrassment. But none of that mattered now. She jogged past the shelves, to the open area of the room. Previously a large statue of Sombra had stood here, but now in its place were six large stones. They were cracked and chipped, damaged, broken, and then held together by a dark sticky mass. On one of the stones lay a small purple star like the one Flurry was now carrying. The Empress of the Crystal Empire was burning with delight as she placed the second artifact in its place. The two stars glowed with a faint purple light. "Too bad one of the stars was destroyed. If I had them all, I wouldn't have needed Ponhenge." "Then you wouldn't have needed me, either." The Pony of Shadow's eyes appeared in the darkness between the stones, much larger than on the breezie's body. The stars began to shine stronger, filling the room with their light. "I would have freed you from Limbo anyway. Perpetual confinement in a world of stopped time... brrrrrr! No one deserves that. Just like no one deserves eternal confinement on the moon, or in a rock, or anywhere else." The stars released two beams that struck the floor, releasing a scattering of pink lightning bolts accompanied by gusts of wind. Flurry's hair was fluttering, raging like waves in a storm. Her smile grew even wider, exposing snow-white teeth. A map of Equestria appeared in front of her, and her cutie mark glowed over three different places. "Two down, three more to go. Soon my part of the bargain will be done, and it will be time for yours, Cosmos!"