//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: At the Edge // Story: Fragment // by Heliostorm //------------------------------// Chapter 9 At the Edge “The grunt on the ground never has any idea what’s going on. All he knows is what he’s told, but he has no idea if what he’s told is right. The only thing he knows for sure is that there’s dust and explosions and swords all around him, and that at any moment he can die without being able to do a thing about it. All he can do it trust his superiors, his country, his friends. That’s why I don’t think about the big questions when I’m out there fighting. For me, it’s all personal.” - Shining Armor, Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard Iced tea poured from the skies, splattering in great green blotches against Shining Armor’s little shield bubble. He was alone now, having left the insufferable mercenary behind to continue his mission without her cowardice dragging him down. Pink lightning flashed overhead, briefly illuminating the roiling neon-green clouds. This could get bad, the commando thought as he followed the tracks of the Manehattan platoon, making sure to keep well out of view. The imprints the Timberwolf’s treads left in the ground were incredibly obvious, but if the storm worsened it could potentially wash even them away. A glint in the sky caught his eye. Silhouetted against the hideously-bright clouds were the white and obsidian colors of a Solarium flying chariot. Shining Armor rose and cast a light spell from his horn, hoping to catch their attention. It worked. The chariot swerved, closing in on him. As it grew larger in his vision, he could make out a total of seven pegasi—six pulling the chariot, and one manning the beam cannon mounted on it. The chariot circled around him once before coming to land on the muddy, soda-soaked hill. “Captain? Captain Shining Armor?” the lead pegasus asked. Shining Armor ran up and dropped his shield. Within moments his mane and coat were soaked. “You know me?” The pegasus nodded, saluting. “Yes, sir. Our squadron found Lieutenant Sparkstorm and her brother, and she told us we could find you ahead here.” The commando nodded. “Right.” His thoughts turned to that mare. However much he despised her, he didn’t have the cruelty to simply be unconcerned. “Have you picked up Crystalline?” “The mercenary? Squad six picked her up earlier.” Of course, why bother worrying about her at all? Shining Armor shook his head. “Alright.” He climbed into the chariot, squeezing next to the gunner in the small space between him and the chariot’s rune engines. It was a relief to his aching limbs to finally sit down and rest, but now was not the time to relax.“The Manehattanites have captured one of your tanks. I believe they’re heading towards the Obsidian Caves.” “We know, the mercenary already briefed us. We’ll be joining a squadron sent to reinforce the blockading platoon.” Shining Armor’s ear twitched in annoyance. He sighed, trying to shake off the feeling focus. They were going into battle again, and there was no time for distractions. ---------- “So, how do I look?” Twilight twisted around from her desk to look at the question’s asker. Her twin was now dyed a light bluish-gray instead of the normal purple, her cutie mark a series of gray stars embedded within a spiral flourish. Her mane and tail were as white as clouds, with two blue streaks running through where the normal pink and purple were. Twilight’s shoulders relaxed a little when she saw that her twin had not put on a fake beard. Her mouth twisted as she rubbed her chin in thought. “The colors and cutie mark are fine, but your hair makes it look like you’re just a recolored version of me.” “Ah—” Other Twilight blinked, then rubbed her chin as well. “Hmm. I kind of like my mane this way though...” Twilight chuckled. “Of course we do. Hmm...” She licked her hoof and then brought it up to her twin’s mane, just beneath the ear, and curled a lock of hair around it. When she drew back the lock stayed curled. “That looks a little better.” Her twin turned around to Fluttershy, who had been waiting in the doorway so quietly that Twilight hadn’t even noticed her. “Fluttershy? How does it look?” The pegasus turned away, her face partially obscured by her hair. “Umm...” Other Twilight tilted her head. “Come on, Fluttershy.” “It... looks nice.” Fluttershy smiled unconvincingly. Other Twilight’s expression was deadpan. “No, Fluttershy, what do you really think?” “It looks nice!” Fluttershy repeated with greater earnest. “I think it looks nice!” She quickly ducked out the door and closed it behind her. Other Twilight sighed and turned around. “Well then.” Twilight shrugged. “I guess we can say we’re sisters or something.” Other Twilight nodded, smiling excitedly and punching the air with a hoof. “Alright! From now on, I’m Starswirl th- I mean, just Starswirl!” Twilight shook her head at Starswirl, unable to understand why the name was so exciting. “Well, now that we’re done with that, I have something interesting to show you.” Eyes lifted in curiosity, Starswirl trotted over to the desk. Splayed out across the chestnut surface were thick sheets of paper littered with numbers and graphs. Twilight slid one particular sheet over. “This is some of the data that was collected from the Harmony Project. Well, what survived anyways.” On the page were several grids with squiggly line graphs. She pointed her hoof at the one at the top, where a smooth curve suddenly jumped up, almost off the graph. “This is where the Khoraic Vortex started forming. Prior to this point we can see where the Harmony Device was trying all sorts of different things, and this is where it committed itself to one course of action: opening up a spatial rift.” Twilight pursed her lips. “The signature is similar to a Khoraic Vortex, but it’s not quite the same. The difference is probably whatever made it link our timelines.” She slid her hoof across the page towards a spike near the middle. “That’s you.” Starswirl leaned in on the spike, ears erect and eyes squinting intently. “That’s your unique magical signature. But more than that, we can see the magic of the Harmony Device linking up with yours...” She levitated another page over, one covered in graphs that were criss-crossed with erratic black lines. “This is the signature from the Chaos Fragment.” She pointed to a sudden dip in the graph. “That’s when the transformation happened.” She slid her hoof over to the right. “And that’s the signature of the newly-reformed Element of Magic. See a resemblance?” Twilight could see the mare’s mind churning away behind her lavender eyes—it was almost as if she could see the gears turning in her head through her pupils. “It’s similar... to... mine!” Starswirl’s eyes leapt open, and her whole body seemed to jump up. Twilight nodded. “And that’s why I think you’re here. My machine was designed to reform the Element of Harmony. It couldn’t do it by itself, so it brought you here so that it could rebuild the Chaos Fragment into the Element of Magic based on your magical signature because of your strong association with it.” Starswirl’s head dipped, her ears lowering as she rubbed her chin. Her eyes were filled with worry. “But... does that mean that if you try to restore one of the other Elements, it will bring the rest of my friends here as well?” Twilight deflated. “Oh, umm...” I hadn’t even thought about that. She turned her head, eyes flickering to the electric lamp on the ceiling. “Well, I don’t know. I don’t think so though.” Or more accurately, I hope not. “According to what you told me, the other five Elements are channeled through the first, so it’s possible that there’s enough of their signature in you to reform them.” Please? Starswirl seemed satisfied with that. “Alright then.” Twilight exhaled and summoned a pen and clipboard. “Alright then, on to other business. I need to make a list of useful spells you know to submit to the General-Secretary so you can teach them to us.” Starswirl raised an eyebrow. “Not that I’m saying no, but shouldn’t you ask me first?” Uhh. The thought that Starswirl might actually refuse had slipped Twilight’s mind completely. She took a deep breath and asked in the most sincere tone she could manage, “Would you be willing to help me make a list of the spells you know and later teach them to some of our magic researchers?” Starswirl giggled. “Sure.” She took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. “Umm, let’s see... Levitation, teleportation, invisibility, shields you all know about already... umm...” She rubbed the back of her head. “Well there’s a whole bunch of transmutation spells, like making mustaches grow, turning rocks into hats or apples to oranges.” Twilight leaned forward. “What about turning things into say, metal?” Starswirl nodded. “Yeah, there’s stuff like lead to gold or rocks to iron...” Twilight scribbled away at her clipboard. “Those could be useful for manufacturing.” Starswirl made an expression of distaste, but she didn’t notice. “Ok, what else other than transmutation?” “Well, there’s all sorts of enchantment spells, gravity spells... Oh, and time travel, and—” “Wait wait wait,” Twilight interrupted, dropping her clipboard. “Did you just say time travel?” Starswirl’s eyes were wide, but she quickly smiled knowingly. “Yeah, time travel! But the spell only lets you go back once, and only for a short while.” Twilight furrowed her brows. “Once? What does ‘once’ mean? Once a day, once a month, once to that particular time or place, once ever?” Starswirl rubbed her chin. “You know, I never really thought about that.” Twilight leaned forward in her wheelchair, her expression eager. “Can you do it? Right now? Can you show me now?” Starswirl’s head moved back, her ears flat against her skull. “Um, well, I don’t—” She was interrupted by the sudden sound of crackling electricity. A white light appeared hovering in the middle of Twilight’s study, swirling and flashing and growing, issuing forth a great wind that blew her papers off her desk and filled the air with them. Lightning snapped and popped until the light crescendoed and burst, revealing a blueish-gray pony with white hair. Twilight and Starswirl stared at Future Starswirl, who grinned awkwardly and waved her hoof. “Um, hi. I’m from about thirty seconds in the future, so... yeah.” Lightning crackled around her again. “Bye!” There was another flash of light, and Future Starswirl was gone. Twilight turned to Starswirl, mouth agape. Starswirl leaned away and looked down awkwardly. “So I guess I have to do that now.” “Wait!” Twilight threw her hoof up in the air. “What if you didn’t use the time travel spell? Would that create a paradox? What would happen if you created a paradox? Would you cease to exist? Would the universe explode? Would—” Starswirl shoved her hoof into Twilight’s mouth. “Look, I’m just going to try it right now so if you bear with me for one moment...” She pulled away and walked over to the middle of the room. Light surged forth from the tip of her horn, then orbited it in a series of rings that expanded downwards to circle her entire body, moving faster and faster until she disappeared in a brilliant burst. Twilight held her breath, staring at the spot where Starswirl had disappeared. For six seconds, she was so motionless that time may well have not been passing at all. Then there was a flash of light, and Starswirl was back. Twilight let out a moan of desire. “You’ve got to teach me that.” ---------- The Timberwolf clanked into position on a small hill overlooking the entrance to the Obsidian Caves. The hill was part of a series that formed the outer rim of an irregular bowl that sat at the bottom of the Chaos Mountains, their sheer black stone violently jutting up from the plains, dominating the landscape like an infested scar. The cave entrances themselves consisted of a series of tiny holes, the largest of which five ponies could walk through side by side. Once past through the entrance, they descended into a maze of black tunnels and chambers that networked underneath the mountains. They were largely unexplored, and nopony knew how extensive they were or how deep they ran, and rumor had it that horrific monsters dwelled in the deeps. For those reasons, the Imperial States had considered the caves a non-issue. Getting heavy equipment through the entrance, let alone tanks or artillery, was unthinkable. Then again, they always did manage to underestimate Manehattan ingenuity. Certainly none of Solarium’s military experts would have conceived of disassembling their tanks, bringing the parts through the caves, and reassembling them on the other side. Unfortunately, the small size of the entrances meant that they were trivial to defend. Solarium had flown in three Timberwolf tanks and parked them at the bottom of the bowl. Their overlapping fields of fire, combined with the two zeppelin gunships floating overhead, made approaching down the open slopes of the bowl suicide. Abandoning all their heavy equipment at Solarium to move faster now came back to bite the Manehattanites in the rear. And that was why Applejack was drenched in a cold sweat as she peered through the gunner’s scope of the captured Timberwolf. This was their one and only chance... “Take your time,” Tech Space reassured her. “They think we’re friendly. Take your time.” Word of the captured tank evidently had not gotten to the Solarium blockade. The soldiers around the Timberwolf Applejack had in her sights were completely nonplussed by their arrival. Some were even looking at them with vague curiosity. She aimed for the furthest tank, targeting the engine compartment, making sure to account for the ballistic trajectory of the shell. Timberwolves could fire three full-power shots before having to recharge. Three shots, three tanks. Every single one had to count. Here goes nothin’. Applejack pressed the button. There was a two-second delay as the flywheels bled their stored energy back into the rune engines, which in turn channeled magic into lightstone capacitors fed that into telekinetic matrices. The sound of thunder echoed across the bowl, and a hurricane of dust obscured Applejack’s sights. There was no recoil—telekinesis was reactionless. “Hit!” Tech Space shouted. The dust quickly dissipated, and Applejack peered through her sights to see a mangled hole in the side armor. In that moment, all fear fell away. She grinned as wide a smile as she had ever. This was power. She smacked the reload lever. The gun breech opened up and another round automatically floated into position from the ammo compartment. Applejack took aim at the second tank, her heart thumping in her chest like she had just finished a rodeo. The scene below was reigned by chaos and confusion, and as her sights zeroed in on the second tank, she almost felt sorry for the ponies scrambling for cover. This is just plain unfair, ain’t it? The cannon boomed once more. “Miss!” Tech Space called, and Applejack cursed as she watched the plume of dirt burst forth two meters behind the target. Still not very good with this thing... She took aim again, swearing not to miss this time, and corrected for her error. “Hit!” A brief mental cheer flared up in her mind, but worry quickly rose up and flushed it out. It would take minutes for the tank to recharge the gun. What were they going to do in the meantime? Tech Space barked orders to the driver, answering the unasked question. “All power to treads!” He lifted one hoof, pointing straight forward. “Charge!” Applejack’s seat rocked beneath her as the Timberwolf surged forward, its rune engines putting every drop of power they had into moving it forward. They raced down the slope, dust billowing out behind them in great clouds. The remaining enemy tank was maneuvering now, swinging around its turret to aim at them. A plume of dust erupted behind them as the first shot missed—Applejack knew from experience how hard it was to hit a moving target with one of those guns. By the time the second round was loaded, it was too late. Applejack grabbed the sides of her chair and hung on for dear life. Their Timberwolf smashed into the enemy tank with all the power of a raging eighty-ton steel behemoth. Sparks flew and steel shrieked from the colossal force as inches of armor gave way before the blunt force. The initial impact sent the front of their tank rising up into the air for a moment, nearly smashing Applejack’s face into the gunner’s sights, then continued to drive the enemy tank across the ground, scraping its treads through the dirt before finally coming to a stop ten meters from where it had been sitting. But the wounded beast was still alive. Its engines were busted, but it still had some power remaining. Its turret swiveled once more and the gun brushed up right against the front of their Timberwolf’s turret. Horseapples. Applejack’s world exploded as the protective metal cocoon became a steel coffin. The explosion threw her out of her seat, smashing into mangled equipment as she hit the floor. Debris from spalling flew through the air, momentarily turning the inside of the Timberwolf into a wood chipper. She shuddered as pain shot through her body. It was a while before her ears stopped ringing enough for her to regain her senses. She realized a warm, sticky liquid drenching her face and chest. “I’m hit!” she coughed through the dust and din. Then Tech Space’s headless corpse flopped onto her, and she realized that the blood wasn’t hers. Light streamed in from above. The shell had blown the commander’s hatch clean off the turret, taking Tech Space’s head with it. Swearing all the while, Applejack felt around for her sword, and found it tucked away in the corner. Grasping the handle in her mouth, she carefully climbed out of the open hatch. The battle outside was now raging in full swing. Unicorns and Earth ponies were charging down the slopes of the bowl, overrunning Solarium machine gun nests with sheer speed and numbers, while pegasi swarmed the air to tear gashes in the helium-filled envelopes of the airships. The Solarium guns took their toll, but there were simply too many targets and too little time. The driver’s hatch on their tank popped open, and a scarlet Earth pony clambered out, wheezing. Applejack waved at her, and she nodded her head in acknowledgement. Brushing off the last of her shock, Applejack leapt onto the other tank’s turret. The hatches were still open—the enemy hadn’t had time to close them yet, so she slid in. The enemy commander was still alive, but thanks to the element of surprise he put up little resistance as Applejack slashed her blade across his body. She climbed out again. The scarlet mare had dealt with the enemy driver, leaving no Solarium soldiers left in their immediate vicinity. Manehattan soldiers were streaming to the cave entrance now, and she saw the Rangers with the Lord Magister running by. Her relief was short-lived, however, as she suddenly saw strings of white shapes on the horizon, a squadron of Solarium gun chariots soaring through the sky. A wave of stillness rippled through the Manehattanites as cries rang out announcing the arrival of Solarium reinforcements, sweeping in towards them on wings of death. Bullets and beams rained down from the gun chariots, causing the Rangers to duck for cover behind the ruined hulk of Applejack’s tank. Applejack leapt back into the commander’s hatch on the enemy tank and grasped the controls of the beam gun mounted on top. The tank’s rune engines were busted, but the beam gun still had some juice left in it. She turned to the Rangers and shouted, “Go! I’ll cover you!” The gray unicorn nodded his head and the Rangers broke for the caves, dragging the Lord Magister behind them. Applejack swiveled the beam gun towards the sky, and started firing. ---------- They were too late. Shining Armor couldn’t hear the sounds of battle from this high up in the air, but he could see the devastation. The smashed hulks of four Solarium tanks and the bodies of hundreds of soldiers littered the bottom of the bowl, and the Solarium blockade was crumpling further and further by the second. “Break formation!” the squadron leader screamed. Shining Armor gripped the sides of his seat as his chariot suddenly swerved to engage the enemy. Sure Strike, the gunner, blasted away at the ant-like specks on the ground as Manehattan pegasi streamed towards them, abandoning their fight with the gunships to deal with this new enemy. There was little Shining Armor could do as a mere passenger except hold on. He tried to pick off the approaching enemy pegasi with his magical beams, but hitting a swerving, rolling target from a swerving, rolling platform was more a matter of luck than skill. The aerial battle was a confused mess as pegasi collided and brawled while the gun chariots riddled the air with fire. His stomach churned as the chariot rolled across the sky, repeatedly swooping down to strafe the ground, the climbing back up to rinse and repeat. And then he saw the Lord Magister being dragged behind the Rangers. Only a few dozen meters separated them from the Obsidian Caves. “There!” Shining Armor shouted, pointing. The chariot swung around and dived towards them, Sure Strike bringing his beam gun to bear... Suddenly a cyan beam tore through the bottom of the chariot, severing one of the bindings that connected it to the pegasi pulling it. The floor beneath him fell as the chariot rolled to almost a ninety-degree angle. Shining Armor slid, smashing into the railing and rolling straight over it, only barely managing to clench his teeth around the metal bar of the railing. His eyes glanced downwards and widened; only a hundred meters of air was now between him and the unforgiving ground. Shit! The chariot swung around wildly as the pegasi pullers tried to compensate for the sudden change in weight. “Hang in there!” Sure Strike shouted, reaching down towards him. Shining Armor tried to stretch for the pegasus’s hoof, but the chariot’s wild undulations made it impossible. Each swing made the railing slide out from his teeth more and more, until... An eerie calmness took him as teeth met teeth. Wind roared through his ears as he watched the chariot grow smaller in his vision. He turned his head to watch the ground rushing up towards him. Sure Strike blasted off the chariot, leaving behind an electric blue trail as he sliced through the air down towards the falling unicorn. The blue pegasus caught up to Shining Armor in mere seconds, grabbing his hooves and flapping his wings as hard as he could. But it was too late to fly back up, and Sure Strike only managed to slow them down as the two hit the dirt. Shining Armor rolled expertly, covering himself in dust before leaping back onto his feet without delay. A quick check of his body told him nothing important was broken. Sure Strike clambered back up as well. “Thanks,” was all Shining Armor said before turning his attention forwards. The cyan beam had come from a small Earth pony manning a Timberwolf’s beam gun. Shining Armor cast a shield around himself and rushed forward with all speed. The orange Earth pony saw him and swiveled her gun around, and bright cyan bolts lanced at him. His shield took the hits effortlessly, and Shining Armor could see the mare’s eyes widen. The gun clicked empty. The Earth pony leapt out of the commander’s hatch and galloped for the caves. Shining Armor jumped straight onto the turret. The mare was fast, too fast for him to catch in so short a distance, so he aimed his horn at the cave entrance. The moment the Earth pony reached the edge of the cave, he fired, but the mare seemed to have sensed the shot coming and dived, the magenta bolt just grazing the top of her head. NO! Shining Armor ran forward, but quickly stopped. The Obsidian Caves would be a deathtrap for him; he had never been in them before and had no idea how to get through. He couldn’t pursue them further. He stared at the black maw of the cave entrance that the orange Earth pony had just filled. Despair snaked its dark tendrils around him, enveloping his body. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. Not again. Not again. Despair turned to rage, and he turned to the rest of the battle. ---------- “So, the mission was a failure then.” It would have been better, Shining Armor thought, if Chess Blitz had sounded angry. Instead his smooth, deep voice merely dripped with disappointment. “Yes, sir,” Shining Armor replied, standing as straight as he possibly could. Meeting Chess Blitz’s subdued gray eyes was almost physically painful, but even his shame could not overcome his years of discipline. Chess Blitz closed his eyes and took a deep breath, leaning back in his seat. Shining Armor stole a angry sideways glance at Crystalline, standing next to him, her head turned to study the wallpaper with intent rapture. The general opened his eyes again and leaned forwards, resting his elbows on the desk and putting his hooves together. His gaze pierced Shining Armor. “There may be one more opportunity...” Shining Armor’s ears perked up as the general’s voice trailed off, every speck of attention now devoted to the old stallion. Chess Blitz pursed his lips and turned to Crystalline. “Our intel is sketchy at the moment, but we believe that the Manehattanites may be moving the Lord Magister to Pitchblende.” Crystalline gave a little jump at that last word. Her eyes flickered towards the general for one moment before going back to intently studying the wall’s spiral patterns. Shining Armor tilted his head. “Sorry, but I’ve never heard of that place, sir.” “You wouldn’t have.” Chess Blitz gestured with a hoof. “It’s an underground Manehattan prison near the Fields of Discidium. Mostly prisoners of war, but reportedly there’s also political prisoners and criminals from Manehattan itself. A group of Diamond Dogs help to run it, and it seems to also double as a mine.” The general leaned back in his seat again and looked at Crystalline. “When we have more information, we’ll call the two of you back for an infiltration operation.” Shining Armor stiffened at the thought, but that was nothing compared to Crystalline’s reaction. The slender mare spun around and stormed towards the door. “Not if all the monsters in Tartarus come forth,” she snarled. Chess Blitz put his hooves together. “You do realize, of course, that we will be rescinding your payment, given that you failed your mission.” Crystalline snorted. “Don’t need it.” Her horn glowed as a telekinetic aura appeared around the door handle. “Actually, you do.” Chess Blitz’s voice was like the cold steel of a dagger strike. “We took a look at the payment you received from Manehattan. Those coins have a layer of gold about .1 microns thick plated on top of ordinary lead. They’re worthless.” It was as if Crystalline had been physically stabbed. Her head dipped forward, her long, curly mane almost spilling onto the floor as her legs trembled, and she seemed to have trouble standing up. Shining Armor heard gasps. “My answer’s still no,” Crystalline finally squeezed out, fighting back tears, and silently she slipped out the door. Shining Armor turned back to Chess Blitz, trying to hide his confusion and failing miserably. The general’s mouth was curled in a slight frown, and his eyes bore the heavy weight of disappointment as they stared at the door. At last he turned towards the commando. “Sir, if I may,” Shining Armor began, “why do you want her on the mission anyways?” Chess Blitz blinked slowly. “She is one of three ponies that successfully escaped from that prison.” He look a deep breath and sighed. “If she continues to refuse, then I will arrange for one of the other two to accompany you.” Shining Armor tilted his head forwards. “Sir, I’m a commando, not a spy. I’m not sure if I will be a good infiltrator.” The general waved his hoof dismissively. The great lethargic deliberateness he had carried fell away as his tone snapped to a more business-like disposition. “It’s a prison for soldiers. You’ll fit right in. In the meantime, I want you to start training a new group of Royal Guards. Dismissed.” ---------- Sitting at her desk in her study, Twilight Sparkle stared intently at the second hand of the clock mounted on the far wall, counting away at the seconds in her head. One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand... For every two mental seconds that ticked, the hand of the clock moved once. Slowed down by half, then... or maybe I’m sped up by twice? She sighed and shook her head in frustration, her ears drooping down the sides of her head. The spell that had taken Starswirl mere seconds to learn, Twilight had yet to master after a week. The first few times she had tried to use it nothing had happened at all, but now it seemed that she was able to slow down time for a short while. Useless. Useless, useless useless... What in Equestria was she doing wrong? Twilight smacked her forehead into the desk, then jumped at the jolt of pain. “Ow!” she cried out, rubbing her head, confused at why it hurt so much. Then it hit her—if time around her were slowed down by half, then that meant she was moving twice as quickly, and that meant she was smacking her head against the desk twice as hard. She slid off her seat—oh, how good it felt to finally be out of that wheelchair!—and paced around the room until the time dilation wore off. Grumbling, Twilight turned back to the work she had been doing before deciding to spontaneously try the time travel spell again. She hunched over the desk, peering through her glasses at equations and charts. To her annoyance, she could hear distracting laughter drift over from the kitchen as Starswirl and Fluttershy cooked dinner. A few minutes later, she was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Come in,” she grunted. Starswirl walked in, a shoddy little flower-print apron draped around her neck. “We’re almost done, want to come eat?” “Later.” Twilight waved a hoof dismissively, not taking her eyes off the equations on her desk. Starswirl trotted over. “What is it that you’re doing, exactly?” Twilight leaned back and took a deep breath. “Working on a mathematical model for that Manehattan airplane.” Starswirl’s eyebrows raised in interest. “Airplane?” “That’s what they call it. It’s a heavier-than-air craft that flies like a pegasus instead of a balloon.” Starswirl’s head lifted up in excitement. “Really? You ponies figured out how to do that?” Twilight’s mouth twisted quizzically. So I guess we do have a few things figured out that your world doesn’t. The thought made her feel better. “Yeah,” she answered, nodding happily. “Well, we’ve known the basic concept of lift and wings for a long time now, but we’ve never been able to get good stability and control on our prototypes. What the Manehattanites have done is add fins onto the tail, and that seems to solve the stability problems.” The other unicorn’s eyes glanced down at the ground as she rubbed her chin. “... Like a bird!” Twilight smiled. “Exactly.” She shook her head. “Such an obvious solution, looking to birds for examples instead of just pegasi. I can’t believe we never thought of that.” “I’ve never either,” Starswirl said, her eyes wide. “That’s amazing!” She looked down at Twilight’s desk. “So, um, what exactly is it that you’re doing with that?” “Trying to come up with a mathematical model for the airflow.” Twilight shifted over one particular piece of paper and pointed her hoof at one particularly troublesome equation. “I need to figure out how to integrate this function.” Starswirl glanced at the function for all of two seconds before lighting up. “Oh, you can’t integrate that!” “What?” She floated over a quill and started scribbling on the page. “Yeah, functions like that don’t have integrals, that was proven by—” Realizing what she was about to say, Starswirl lifted her eyes towards Twilight and smiled embarrassedly. “By uh, an old pony in my timeline. Anyways, you can’t integrate this, but you can do this...” Ink met paper with blinding speed as Starswirl scribbled out an alternative formula and slid the page back to Twilight. Twilight glanced at Starswirl’s solution. It took about half a minute for her to work through the math in her head and conclude that she was right. An inexplicable pang of annoyance shot through her chest. She pushed her glasses up higher on her snout, then looked at Starswirl and lifted the corners of her mouth. “Thank you very much, you’ve probably saved me several hours of work.” And at this rate, you’ll run me out of a job. Starswirl tried to smile in return, but her expression faltered at Twilight’s decidedly unnatural attempt to be friendly. “Uh, well,” she said, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly, “I’d better go set up dinner.” The entire week had been like this. It was mind-boggling how much Starswirl knew that Twilight didn’t. Not just about magic, but about history, math, relationships; there was literally no subject Starswirl couldn’t school Twilight in. For a pony that had always been at the top of every class she had ever been in, it was an utterly bewildering experience. As Twilight watched the other unicorn walk away, a twisting sensation welled up within her that she could not put into words. It was a completely unfamiliar feeling, one that she felt she had heard the name of before, but could not remember. What she could put into words was the knowledge that Starswirl—Other Twilight—was just better than her at everything. The doorbell rang, interrupting her reverie. Twilight blinked and tilted her head. Who could that be at this hour? The doorbell rang twice more before Twilight had trotted through her living room to reach it. She twisted the handle and swung it open with magic, revealing a familiar sandstone-colored unicorn. “Sharp Ink?” Twilight asked.. “Hi.” Sharp Ink’s tone had all the enthusiasm of a pony that had been assigned to scrub toilets. “The General-Secretary wants you in the Secretariat Building, Room 121, at your convenience.” Translation: right now. Twilight furrowed her eyebrows. “Did she say why?” “No. Dress formal. Goodbye.” She walked away so quickly Twilight could have sworn she had teleported. Twilight stood there in the doorway for several long seconds, feeling as though she had just messed up the time travel spell again. Dress formal? What in the world could she need me to do that for? ---------- Dressed in his red military uniform, Shining Armor walked along the open hallway. The hotel was lushly decorated with purple carpet and floral wallpaper, with golden crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It was the kind of high-class establishment usually reserved for Canterlot nobility or industrial titans from Solarium, and any one of the rooms would devour most of Shining Armor’s monthly paycheck to sleep in for a week. Trust that pony to stay in a place like this. He inspected each of the room numbers emblazoned on the doors in turn. 245, 247, 249... And there it was. Starshine Towers, Room 251. He rang the doorbell. There was a short delay, then the door opened to a familiar white and purple unicorn. Crystalline seemed to have her annoyed expression already pre-prepared, as though she had known Shining Armor would be on the other side. “Well, whatever brought you to grace me with the pleasure of your presence?” Her acid tone belied the courtesy of her words. Shining Armor gave nothing away. “Can I come in?” he asked as neutrally as possible. Crystalline raised an eyebrow. “My mother always told me not to let strange stallions into my room.” Shining Armor was impassive. She sighed and backed away from the doorway to make room for the stallion in question to pass through. “Thank you.” Shining Armor walked through and closed the door behind him. The inside of Crystalline’s suite was every bit as lavish as the hallway outside. The carpet alone was softer than some beds the commando had slept in. “I suppose you got the message to report for mission briefing?” Crystalline gave a noncommittal nod. “Yeah. My answer’s still no. Is that it?” Shining Armor took a deep breath and sighed. “I want to know why General Chess Blitz wants you to work for us so badly.” The unicorn mare shrugged. “Why don’t you ask him?” He didn’t answer. Instead he walked to a nearby window to gaze out at the beautiful Canterlot cityscape. “I pulled up your file. Every team mission you were ever in you were always the last one in, first one out. And you always survived without a scratch even when your team took heavy losses. But you always succeeded, so you kept advancing through the ranks.” He paused. “The files didn’t say it, but I can read between the lines. You were a coward that left your teammates to die, and you took the credit for their sacrifice.” Crystalline walked over to the bar and poured herself a drink of white wine. “And why should that matter to you, Captain? I see no reason why you have to be so personally concerned with me.” Shining Armor’s head snapped towards her, his eyes burning. “You killed two of my friends. Of course it’s personal.” The mare shrugged, downing the glass and smacking her lips. “And? How many Manehattanites have you killed, Captain? Hundreds? You can take your hypocrisy elsewhere, Captain Perfect.” Shining Armor stomped over to the other side of the bar and glared. “I don’t think you heard me right. You didn’t kill two of my subordinates. You killed two of my friends.” Crystalline was expressionless. “Twinblade’s parents invited me over for dinner once. His mother baked the worst pumpkin pie I have ever tasted, but she was the nicest little old lady. He had a girlfriend. Her name was Meadow, a delicate little pony that started her own flower shop. They’d been going steady for three years. Two months ago he asked me if he should propose to her.” His gaze grew distant, looking past Crystalline into his own memories. “Spear Shot was always the dark and mysterious type. He never told us much about his personal life, always keeping it professional. But then one day we found him trying to throw himself off the side of the city. Turns out, he had been suffering from depression for years. Nopony ever guessed. I managed to talk him down, and after a few months of therapy I saw him laugh for the first time.” Shining Armor’s eyes refocused and met Crystalline’s. “They’re dead now, because of you.” “Yeah, well, sucks to be them.” Before he knew it his hoof flashed upwards and smashed into the side of Crystalline’s face. She crumpled like a house of cards. Shining Armor stared in horror, first at her, then at himself. Crystalline slowly got back up, staring at the carpet as she rubbed her cheek. “I think it’s time for you to go.” Shining Armor didn’t argue. Eyes wide, he quickly backed out of the room. But before he left the doorway, he gave one last message. “I don’t know why Chess Blitz wants you so badly, but I’m glad your answer’s still no. Goodbye.” ---------- The bar was dark and stank of sweat and alcohol. The neon signs that lined the walls were the only source of light, casting everything in pale hues as they broadcasted messages of varying appropriateness. Loud techno music blasted from the far corner as Shining Armor sat on his stool, staring at his reflection in the empty mug before him. “I shouldn’t have done that.” “She had it coming, mate.” Nightfall downed yet another mug of frothy golden liquid. Shining Armor shook his head, not taking his eyes off his drink. “I know she did. But I shouldn’t have done it. I’m better than that.” Better than her, he added silently. “Oh come on, the lady’s a complete b—” The glare Shining Armor blasted at him made Nightfall quickly backpedal his words. “Uh, a complete jerk, is what I meant to say.” The commando sighed and returned to staring at his mug. “Stop being such a sourpuss, Shiney,” Nightfall said, gesticulating wildly with his glass. “Enjoy the night. Here, I’ll order another round.” “Can’t,” Shining Armor grunted. “I ship out tomorrow morning.” He raised an eyebrow and glanced at Nightfall’s mug. “And you should probably lay off the drinks too.” “No way, this is only like my... sixth? I think?” The black unicorn hiccuped and shifted upwards in his wheelchair. Shining Armor had to try hard to avoid looking at the stumps where his hind legs used to be, but Nightfall was too drunk to notice. “Hey,” he said, pointing at a yellow mare on the far side of the room. “That lady’s quite the looker, isn’t she? Think I have a chance?” Shining Armor glanced over. “She has a mole the size of a ten-bit coin.” “Does she?” Nightfall hiccuped again. “Can’t spot it.” The white unicorn sighed and shook his head, getting up from his seat. “Good luck, loverboy.” “Hey, you should consider chasing some girls yourself.” Shining Armor chuckled. “I couldn’t even get a date for the Graduation Dance, remember?” “That’s because all the mares kept fainting every time you got close enough to ask.” The commando snorted. “That’s not how I remember it.” “And I’d always be the one to catch them.” Nightfall tried to drink from his mug again,only to realize it was already empty. “You know, you could probably bag a princess if you actually cared enough to try.” He looked up at the white unicorn. “Wouldn’t you like to settle down and go steady with a nice girl?” Shining Armor sighed again, smiling and looking at the door. “Have fun, loverboy. I’m going home.” ---------- Dressed in a blue gown that had lain untouched since her first meeting with the General-Secretary, Twilight Sparkle slunk into the conference room. The space was large but full, the walls adorned with maps and charts, and the dark chestnut table and chairs took up most of the space. Despite all the furniture, however, the room was decidedly empty, with only four other ponies seated at a table with room for dozens. Blacknote was the closest, seated right next to the door. Surely it was impossible, but Twilight thought she looked even more serious than usual. The other three ponies were an unfamiliar bunch. Two were extremely dark gray, nearly black pegasi that might have been identical twins, though one wore a dark, ornately-decorated cowbell around his neck. The third was a female Earth pony, only a slighter lighter shade of gray than the pegasi, her body so light and stringy it looked as though she had been pulled in an industrial press. All four pairs of eyes fell upon Twilight, who suddenly felt very small. “Welcome,” Blacknote greeted, and motioned towards a chair. “Hello,” Twilight said uncertainly, taking her seat next to the General-Secretary. She glanced around the table. The Earth pony stood up, a simple act that was somehow made unnatural by the sheer thinness of her limbs, as though it would be more proper for her to collapse like toothpicks at any moment. “Greetings, my fair lady. May you be the esteemed scientist that Madam Blacknote mentioned?” “Uh.” “Yes, she’s the one,” Blacknote answered, saving Twilight from having to come up with an answer to that. The Earth pony nodded and made a deep bow. “If you would be so kind as to allow me to introduce myself, then. I am Light Unseen, official ambassador of Tartarus.” Twilight blinked several times. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly as myriad questions tried to work their way out of her throat all at once, but the only thing that got through was, “Huh?” “Tartarus,” Blacknote repeated, her eyes not leaving Light Unseen. Twilight looked at the General-Secretary. “I... didn’t know there were ponies from Tartarus.” “Indeed,” was all Blacknote said. “We are but an isolated tribe,” Light Unseen explained. Her voice was slow, like undulating waves washing up onto a beach in the early hours of morning. “Three hundred years ago, our ancestors sought to leave great suffering at the hands of the Lord of Chaos. In their flight to the gray mountains of the far north, they discovered the entrance to Tartarus. Their desperation great, they descended through the gate into the Lightless Realm and made the home of our tribe.” This is a joke, right? Twilight couldn’t process what was happening. She kept expecting Blacknote to suddenly leap to the air and shout, “April Fools!” All she could do was shake her head in disbelief. “Solarium first became aware of their existence during the Second Rune War,” Blacknote continued, still staring at the Tartarian ambassador. “A small skirmish took place between us and remnants of the griffon army a short distance from Tartarus. Then they came out and slaughtered both sides.” Light Unseen made a deep bow. “Our greatest apologies. None had come close to the Outer Hall within the living memory of our tribe. Fear for our own safety was great amongst us, and regret has stained our thoughts ever since.” The grand, elaborate gestures that accompanied her every word gave Light Unseen an air of insincerity, but perhaps that was simply a quirk of what was surely a strange and otherworldly culture. Twilight was completely out of her element here. She could read nothing from any of the ponies in the room, not the perpetually-smiling ambassador, not the eternally-expressionless General-Secretary, not even the stoic and unmoving pegasi in the far corner. They could all have been plotting to murder her and she wouldn’t have been any the wiser. Blacknote blinked, the most she had moved since Twilight entered the room. “This is the first contact between us since that event.” Though her head did not turn, her eyes shifted towards Twilight. Twilight looked down. Well, that explains the suddenness. The General-Secretary obviously had had little more warning of this than her. The Tartarians were as much an unknown to her as they were to Twilight, so... “What do I have to do with this?” Light Unseen took a deep breath. Her gaze wandered, seemingly seeing things around the room that nopony else could. “Troubles plague our time. A great fracturing of the powers that we rely on. We have but few unicorns, and none who are so knowledgeable in the magic arts. We need the aid of one who does.” Twilight stared at the desk for a long time. “But... why me?” “Because you are exceptional,” Blacknote answered. “And as there are no ponies alive who have any degree of expertise in this subject matter, a unicorn who is flexible in mind and creative in thought is the best-suited.” Twilight looked up at her, the little purple unicorn’s eyes filled with uncertainty. “Do you accept?” Do I have a choice? Twilight closed her eyes and breathed. Her heart seemed tight, as though invisible ropes were constraining it. “Yes, of course,” she said firmly. “Good. The Tartarians will tell you more once you arrive. Report to Tock Airport at ten o’clock tomorrow, Gate B.” Blacknote stood up and gestured. “Come with me for a moment.” The two unicorns walked into the hallway and shut the door, where Blacknote bent down to meet Twilight’s eyes and whispered. “Sparkle, this mission is of critical importance. These Tartarians have pledged their assistance in the war if you succeed in helping them. I watched one of those pegasi cut a rock the size of a locomotive in half, and Tartarus undoubtedly has access to ancient magic beyond our imagination. If you cannot make any real progress in helping them, then convince them that progress has been made. Understand?” Twilight nodded. “Good. Take extensive notes and report back once you’ve returned. You will take one pony to accompany you. One pony.” Twilight could see Blacknote watching her eyes for the light of understanding. “No more, no less. Understand?” And with that, all the tension in Twilight’s heart disappeared, replaced by the sinking feeling of disappointment. Yes, she understood, and this explained everything. It wasn’t Twilight that Blacknote wanted at all. It was her. “Yes ma’am,” Twilight answered, and Blacknote stood back up. Back at her apartment, Starswirl and Fluttershy were washing dishes when Twilight stormed through the door. In one swift motion she magically tore off her gown and shoved it into the corner with altogether too much force. She glared at Starswirl’s frightened and confused face. “Start packing. We’re going to Tartarus.” -------------------- Unknown Correspondence Dear Princess Celestia, You’re probably never going to read this, so I feel silly writing this. But I have too many thoughts in my head, and I need to put them down on paper. This world is so wrong. Every time I look at the newspaper, it’s all about war and killing. Even the advertisements all talk about buying things to support the war effort. I’m trying to understand it, but none of it makes any sense to me. Nothing I’ve ever learned has ever prepared me for this. The other me, this world’s Twilight Sparkle, is the same. War’s all she thinks about too. Every time I tell her about a spell, she tries to think of a way to use it to make war. And everything she works on is about making it easier to kill other ponies. When I look at her, it scares me. But it’s not because of what she’s like. It’s the thought that I could have been like that, if I had been born in this world. Why? Why is everything so wrong here? Why does this world exist, and why is it so different? I’ve learned a lot about their history, as much as they know, which isn’t much since they have almost nothing from before they defeated Discord. But everything I’ve learned points to a single fact: when you and Princess Luna fought Discord in this world, for some reason, Discord won. I don’t know why yet, but I’ve been thinking. Starswirl the Bearded’s time travel spell doesn’t let you change the past, it only lets you do what’s already been done. But maybe another spell could. Maybe somepony—no, someone could do it, someone with incredible magic, someone who would want you and Princess Luna to lose... But Discord’s good now, isn’t he? He can’t have been that bad to actually want you dead... I’ve been trying to teach this world’s Twilight about all the things I know, about magic and friendship and everything else. But every time I help her she just gives me that smile. I know it’s fake, I can tell because it’s my own face. But I don’t understand why. I want to go home, I miss you and my friends so badly. I’m sure you’re all trying to find me, but I don’t know if you can succeed. And I’m not sure I would go back if you did. I want to fix this world. These ponies don’t know what’s wrong with it, but I do. They need my knowledge, they need me, but I don’t know if I can do it. It’s like a test of everything I’ve ever learned. Actually... It IS a test of everything I’ve ever learned. ... and I’m going to ace it. Thanks for everything, Princess, and wish me luck. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle