//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Enter The Maretrix // by Chaotic Dreams //------------------------------// Chapter 2 Twilight thought hard, focusing on the transparent glass orb in front of her. Q: Who is Twilight Sparkle? The crystal ball answered her immediately. A: File 237-A (public domain) NAME: Twilight Sparkle DISTINCTION: Unicorn COAT: Lavender CUTIE MARK: Magic OCCUPATION: Student of Princess Celestia It wasn’t anything Twilight didn’t already know, of course. Now for the harder questions. Q: What is Twilight Sparkle’s purpose for existing? The magical energies in the crystal ball swirled for a moment, as if thinking deeply. Then, finally it replied: A: Question not understood. Twilight sighed, though she had expected as much. If all the scores of books in her library home couldn’t answer this question for her, then what made her think she could find the answer on the magical networks set up by the Equestrian government? Perhaps, though, the purchase of the brand new crystal ball hadn’t been a complete waste. Q: Who is Nightmare Moon? The crystal answered her right away this time. A: File 004-A (public domain) Nightmare Moon (noun)—according to the Encyclopedia Equestria, “Nightmare Moon” is an old pony’s tale derived from the fear that the princess of the night, long ago banished to the Moon for attempting to bring about eternal night, will one day return. Scholars have long refuted this belief, and it is generally accepted to be myth. “But I know otherwise,” Twilight whispered to herself. There were things in books so old that not even the Equestrian government could censor them all, and Twilight had dedicated quite a bit of time to finding said articles. Thankfully, the feds had yet to catch on to her snooping. And if she was careful, they never would—even after she broke into their own network. Q: Who is Nightmare Moon (request classified file)? A: Password is required for Nightmare Moon classified file. Twilight’s horn emitted a soft glow, and the crystal corresponded. Passwords weren’t necessarily required, if you knew how to get around them with the proper spell—which Twilight had spent the better part of the night concocting. She was a studious mare, after all, and had learned everything she could about the government’s invention of the magical networks that ponies everywhere could now use to keep in touch with each other and access public information, like a vast virtual library. But of course, there were other uses for the magical networks that the government kept to itself, and after purchasing the crystal ball Twilight had spent hours studying everything she could about it and experimenting on it with her magic. In doing so, she had discovered a surprising number of useful things—such as how to get around federal security. A: Password accepted. Opening Nightmare Moon classified file… Twilight grinned. Now for the moment of truth… To see if there was anything the government knew about the mysterious ‘mare in the moon’ that they were keeping from the general public. The princess would have never kept anything from her loyal subjects, but during Twilight’s tutelage under Equestria’s beloved and benevolent ruler, Twilight had grown suspicious of the bureaucracy that ran the parts of government even Celestia couldn’t handle on her own. Even if she was an immortal goddess, she was still only one pony—and Twilight detected that all was not right in the Equestrian government. At best, it was nothing, and Twilight hoped this was so. At worst, well…Twilight didn’t really want to think about that. After all, dealing with a bit of paranoia was better than battling a conspiracy that sought to overthrow Celestia from within the government itself, a conspiracy that Celestia was oblivious to. Finally, the crystal ball was done loading. A: File 004-B through Z (classified) NAME: Nightmare Moon DISTINCTION: Alicorn COAT: Black CUTIE MARK: Moon OCCUPATION: Fugitive at large— “What?!” Twilight gasped. She had known there was something up, but she hadn’t known it would be this big. Not only did the government secretly know that Nightmare Moon was real, it knew something that even Twilight hadn’t guessed—that the rogue alicorn was free from her lunar prison and running amok in Equestria! She had to get word to Celestia right away—but better to know all the facts first. —and deemed Public Enemy #1. Nightmare Moon is leader of the Resistance and, if successful in her plan to free all ponydom, will result in the end of all AIM. “Resistance?” Twilight repeated what she had just read. What was this file talking about? “Free all ponydom? But I thought that Nightmare Moon was the villain…how does freeing all ponydom bring about eternal night? And free the ponies from what? And what’s ‘AIM?’ I better get word to the princess immediately. Then we can get those conspirators in the government to explain all this mumbo-jumbo.” Twilight smiled at the thought—she and her mentor taking down a bunch of villainous traitors, together. Then they could go after Nightmare Moon, and stop her from bringing about eternal night. But something about the classified file nagged at Twilight, even as she hastily magically levitated a quill, ink, and parchment over to her and began furiously writing down her findings and concerns in a letter to the princess. What did the government mean by Nightmare Moon wanting to free all ponydom? Did it mean she wanted to free them from Celestia? But that didn’t make sense either—Nightmare Moon might think that bringing about eternal night would free Equestria from what she would probably consider the ‘tyranny’ of her elder sister, but why would the conspirators say that? Wouldn’t they just say that Nightmare Moon planned to enslave all ponydom in eternal night, which is surely how any pony, even a conspirator, would see it? Nevertheless, it didn’t matter at the moment—as soon as she was done writing this letter, she could wake Spike up from his nap and send the important paper on its way to Celestia, who would certainly be happy to help her get to the bottom of this conspiracy. A: Hello, Twilight Sparkle. Huh? A: That’s right, my little pony. I’m talking to you. The crystal ball was suddenly swirling with magical energies again, though Twilight hadn’t asked it a question. Thinking back at it, Twilight tentatively and, fearing the conspirators in the government had somehow discovered her breaching their security, asked the crystal Q: Who are you? What do you want? A: It’s not what I want, Twilight Sparkle. It’s what you want. You asked who you were, and what purpose your existence served. The conspirators couldn’t have known that! She had asked the crystal ball those questions before she hacked into the government’s classified network, so even if they had discovered her breaking into their system, there was no way they could discover what else she had asked the crystal ball. A: I can tell you who you are, Twilight Sparkle. And, more importantly, I can tell you the purpose behind your existence—which is to get rid of what you think is a government conspiracy to overthrow Celestia. Q: How could you have known that?! A: All in good time, my little pony. But know this—the conspiracy is far greater than you know. You can trust nopony you know, even if their intentions are good. Celestia herself is a mere pawn of the enemies you and all of ponydom are obliviously enslaved by. Celestia herself a pawn? How could this be? And who could she trust if even her beloved mentor could be unwittingly used against her? Q: Then how do I stop this conspiracy? A: First, you must follow the white rabbit. “Wait a minute,” Twilight said out loud. She couldn’t believe she had almost blindly believed everything this mysterious voice was telling her. Q: Wait—how do I know anything you say is true? A: You don’t. But when you tell Celestia that Nightmare Moon is on the loose, the first thing she’ll do is interrogate her bureaucracy on the matter, and they will show her a false version of the classified file you just saw, destroying the original. Even now, your meddling has been noticed, and the file has already been deleted. If you don’t destroy your crystal ball immediately, they will trace the break-in back to you. “Erased already?” Twilight echoed. Instantly the violet unicorn requested the classified Nightmare Moon file again and bypassed the security with her custom spell. All she received was A: No known data concerning ‘Nightmare Moon (classified file).’ They had already deleted it! Q: But I still don’t know if I can trust you! How did you even know about Nightmare Moon anyway, and how did you know that I was investigating her? A: Simple. I am Nightmare Moon. . . .