When all was said and tallied up, it was found that Ponyville had gotten off fairly lightly in the attack. The town square was an absolute disaster area of course, more crater than ground and every free-standing structure within it, such as Town Hall, had been obliterated, but the damage hadn’t even touched the foundations of the surrounding buildings. Walls and roofs had been damaged by flying rocks, but it was nothing Ponyville’s experienced repair and construction crews hadn’t seen before. Teams of pegasi that had been sent to investigate Trixie’s story of the battle on the road reported miles of destruction that grew worse the farther south toward Hoofington they went. Every citizen and visitor in Ponyville had been accounted for, with only a few minor injuries reported, although the clock maker, Sepia Tock, had been found unconscious in his basement, covered in sticky green slime and babbling about Changelings.
At Twilight’s request, Princess Celestia had come down from Canterlot with a cohort of Royal Guards to provide what assistance they could, but ultimately they mostly stood back and watched as Ponyville managed itself. After some squabbling and debate, Traev, Ash, and Twilight each used the Emerald of Earth in turn to restore the town square – the stallions doing the heavy work of fusing the dirt and stone back into single, solidly integrated unit and Twilight getting the topography back to its original state and ensuring it could be worked by mundane means later to lay the foundation for a new Town Hall. Tremolo had awakened in a violent temper, and by the time Twilight and Celestia had arrived to question him his guards were of the opinion he was certifiably insane. When all he did during the interrogation was rant about Trixie and the need to “make her pay,” the Princesses were inclined to agree with the assessment, and Celestia ordered Tremolo to be taken to a secure ward in a Manehatten hospital for treatment and kept under constant supervision.
Trixie’s wagon had been another casualty of the destruction, although almost everything of importance to the showmare and her troupe’s acts had been recovered when the ground was repaired. Celestia, acting as a proxy to her sister, commissioned the construction of a new stage-wagon for the troupe, and the troupe accepted, over Trixie’s protests, the offers of room and board in town until the wagon was finished.
One of the last things to be seen to was the Lirin. Celestia added her power to Ash and Twilight’s in righting the craft and setting it gently back on its landing struts, and then Gale wasted no time in rushing inside with PC to check the damage. Celestia noticed Ash hadn’t gone in himself and asked why. “As I understand it, this is yours more than anyone else’s.”
“I’d just be in the way,” Ash replied. “PC knows what’s supposed to do what, and Gale’s the one who’ll wind up doing most of the repairs. I’m not much use when it comes to technology.”
“I just hope it doesn’t need anything replaced that we can’t get around here,” Soul Mage said. “This is our ride home after all.”
“You guys don’t have to hang around and watch, you know,” Gale called out from within the ship. “Make sure our doubles aren’t getting into trouble. I’ll come find you later.”
“I’ll save you some food if we find dinner,” Heart called back. Celestia and Twilight walked with the twins and Ash as they headed toward the library. Immediately after the town square had been repaired, the Bipersonality Team had taken the Diamond, Emerald, and Sapphire and went off on their own and hadn’t been seen since. Ash and the others could only hope they’d merely retired to some familiar landmark like the library, rather than going off on their own to stumble into some new kind of trouble outside Ponyville. A few blocks from the library, they encountered Rarity coming from the other direction, looking quite miffed. When she saw the group, and Ash in particular, she picked up her pace slightly with a loud sigh of relief, but her expression barely changed. Whatever was frustrating her evidently weighed so heavily on her mind that the sight of Princess Celestia hardly registered, since she didn’t stop or bow to the great white alicorn. Instead, she went straight to Ash and leaned against him lightly.
“Problem, Rarity?” Ash asked, slowing and accepting the weight.
“I’m having less of one now that I’ve found you,” Rarity said sweetly. “It’s that other one, Traev. I’m finding it very hard to believe that I ever had him confused for you, Ash.”
“I won’t hold it against you,” Ash assured. “He and I are identical, right down to the cutie mark.” He paused and glanced at his flank and the yellow insignia of Meis Thamule that sat there like a brand.
“I’m talking about his personality, dear,” Rarity said, rolling her eyes. “He has absolutely none of your charm or ability to at least act friendly. I just tried to offer him and his friends – although I wonder if they could even be called that – my thanks for their part in saving the town, and an invitation to join us for dinner, and he just huffed and turned back to toying around with those Gems!”
“That actually sounds pretty similar to Ash’s attitude in the early days of our association,” Soul Mage said.
“But you guys cured me of that before even a year had gone by,” Ash countered, “and did you say ‘dinner’ and ‘us’ in the same phrase, Rarity?”
“I did,” Rarity replied with confident dignity, “and I meant, at the very least, you, Soul, Heart, Gale, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and me. You’ve all had what must have been an exhausting day searching through the Everfree Forest, fighting a giant magical monster, and repairing the damage. I intend to make sure you all have a good meal to end the day on.”
“Oh,” Ash said. He caught a glimpse of a sly look forming in Soul’s eyes and rounded on the unicorn. “Not a word from you,” he said sharply.
“Spoilsport,” Soul said, sticking his tongue out. “Much appreciated, Rarity,” he said more seriously to the fashionista, “although, things went quite swimmingly in the Everfree.”
“Ah yes, I kept forgetting to ask,” Ash said. “You all came back sooner than I expected. Was the Sapphire just laying around somewhere?”
“Not… exactly,” Heart said.
“Well?” the great green dragon asked impatiently. At least, Soul thought it was green. In the blue light of his and Johnten’s horns, color was difficult to determine with much accuracy. Green was a typical draconic color scheme though, so it was probably a safe bet. “I’m giving you a chance to leave unharmed,” the dragon said pointedly, “but you’d better act fast, ponies.”
“Pardon us, sir dragon,” Johnten said in a diplomatic tone, complete with a bow, “we meant no disrespect, but there wasn’t a means to announce our presence outside your door.”
“Of course there wasn’t,” the dragon snorted.
“You see,” Johnten continued, unfazed, “we happen to be in the market for gems, and-” Everypony ducked as the dragon roared and a gout of flame erupted over their heads.
“And you thought to take some from my hoard?” the dragon said incredulously. “Amusing. At least you had the good manners to announce your intentions beforehand, unlike this little thief I caught a few years back. Perhaps I should spare one or two of you so other ponies will get the message: no one steals from a dragon’s hoard!”
“How about trade?” Soul shouted as the dragon started to inhale for another blast of fire. The dragon paused, but only for a second.
“Hold on!” Heart shouted, her spirit aura flaring brightly and her voice taking on a tone that demanded obedience. “If you’ll just listen for a moment, we can all come out of this in a better state than we came into it. Dragon, could you honestly begrudge us a single gemstone if we were to find a way to make your horde larger overall? Answer me honestly.” Relief and gratitude washed through Soul’s mind as the dragon’s mouth closed and its head drew away slightly.
“I feel the loss of every carat that has ever left my possession,” the dragon said at last, “but perhaps if you could bring enough treasure to equal what I’ve lost…”
“Easy peasy,” Rainbow Dash said, “I know just the ponies who can arrange that.”
“But,” Soul Mage cut in before the Dragon could respond, “we’d prefer payment up front. One gem, of our choosing, from your hoard, and we’ll deliver as many in return as it takes to satisfy you.”
The dragon cocked its head to the side in thought, and then grinned, showing every one of its sharp fangs.
“Wait,” Ash said, smiling wickedly, “you seriously talked a full-grown dragon into giving you a part of its horde?”
“We have to bring it a cartload of gems within two days or else it’ll come and take the price out of our hides,” Soul said, “but yes. Why does that amuse you so much?”
“Spike owes me fifty bits,” Ash said with a chuckle, “and it hasn’t even been a day. He will be good for that, right Twilight?”
“The two of you shook on it,” Twilight answered in a neutral manner, “but don’t expect payment right away.”
“I’ll discuss the details with him,” Ash assured. “Besides,” he added, glancing at Rarity with a smile, “dinner’s already on somepony else tonight.” Rarity smiled back, and Heart and Soul shared a look that quickly became conspiratorial.
They found the Bipersonality ponies right where Rarity had left them, near the library and deep in heated discussion as the three Gems that had been located so far floated around Traev in a manner that could only be described as juggling. They stopped talking as the group approached and turned to look at Ash expectantly. While everypony else stopped when the two groups met, Ash merely nodded at Traev, Johnten, and Carrie and kept right on walking toward the library, evidently planning to talk to Spike about their bet. “Hey!” Traev shouted after him, “Do you have a lead on the next Gem?”
“Nope,” Ash called back casually, and then disappeared into the library.
“Your dedication is admirable, Traev,” Celestia said, “but the day is nearly spent and you must be feeling a little tired from your efforts. Take some time to rest, and leave the remainder of the Gems for tomorrow.”
“Ha, victory,” Johnten said smugly.
“Fine,” Traev said with reluctance, “you make a good point, Your Highness. Vanatos is not likely to rest though, particularly if he’s aware that he lost the Emerald to us.”
“I’ve already sent out warnings to every city in the land,” Celestia said. “If we find any signs of trouble or clues to where the remaining four Gems landed, I’ll keep you informed. Now, Twilight, I should return to Canterlot soon, so if there’s anything else I can do for you?”
Twilight shook her head. “I’m so sorry I pulled you away unnecessarily,” she said with slight embarrassment.
“Nonsense,” Celestia replied, smiling, “it was worth the trip just to meet our newest guests personally. I’ll be in touch.” She spread her wings and prepared to take off.
“Stay safe, Princess,” Heart said quickly. “It was good to see you back on your feet, and I don’t want to change.” Celestia gave the pegasus a grateful smile, and then launched herself into the air and, after getting well above the town, vanished in a flare of bright light.
“It occurs to me,” Soul said in a conversational tone, looking toward the early-evening sun, “that our new friends here haven’t been informed about their sleeping arrangements yet.” He gave his sister a look out of the corner of his eye, and she nodded almost imperceptibly before sidling over to Twilight and throwing a leg over her shoulders.
“You’re right,” she declared, pulling the lavender alicorn alongside as she set off toward Sweet Apple Acres, “let’s go take them to AJ.”
“Wait,” Rarity said, “what about Ash? What about dinner?”
“You two can go ahead without us,” Soul said with a wink and a grin. “We’ll manage on our own.” A faint blush came to Rarity’s face as Heart and Soul led the Bipersonality Team and a confused Twilight away, but she let them get away without further protest. Once they were out of earshot, she allowed herself a little squeal of happiness and pranced in place.
Down the street, Twilight finally caught on to the twins’s plot and extracted herself from Heart’s grip with a dubious expression. “You just set Rarity and Ash up on a date,” she said accusingly.
“Guilty as charged,” Soul said with a cheeky grin.
“Why?” Traev asked with clear disapproval in his voice.
“Because,” Soul answered, “Rarity likes Ash, Ash is quite unattached, and watching him try to decide whether or not to be ticked off at us later is going to be fun.”
“And it was bound to happen sooner or later,” Heart added.
“You shouldn’t be encouraging that sort of relationship,” Traev said. Heart was about to retort when Carrie suddenly staggered and tossed her head. When she regained her balance and looked at Traev with a mild rebuke, her entire posture had changed and her eyes seemed to have become a shade lighter.
“You’re hardly one to talk Traev,” she said in a voice so unlike her own, lighter and with a hint of an accent on her r’s and l’s, that everyone except Traev and Johnten did a double-take. “You, alien, were courting Samantha, after all.”
“It’s not an issue of species, Seroh,” Traev said, rolling his eyes. “And now you’ve blown their little minds,” he added, indicating the confused looks on Twilight, Soul, and Heart’s faces.
“It can’t be that bad,” Carrie, or rather the spirit controlling her, said with a roll of her eyes. “We’ve already told them Carlez and I exist, so my staying silent doesn’t make that much sense anymore.”
“Seroh,” Soul said slowly, looking at Johnten. “You used that name earlier, in the battle, to copy the Element Wheel. This is the ghost you were invoking?”
“She is,” Johnten said, “but she didn’t ‘copy’ the Element Wheel; it’s her unique, er, signature ability as a ghost. Tell me, Gold Heart, is it unique to you in your world?”
“Well, Soul can’t do it,” Heart said, “but I can’t either without being soul-linked with him.” Johnten nodded, looking satisfied, and suddenly it dawned on the twins, a realization that both of them were afraid to speak aloud lest it be confirmed. Heart did so anyway, forcing the words out in a quiet, hesitating tone. “‘That makes perfect sense.’ That’s what you said earlier. Johnten, Seroh is… your sister?”
“My twin sister to be precise,” Johnten said, smiling approvingly at the deduction. That smile faded quickly as Heart and Soul shied away from him with matching looks of horror.
“Warlock,” Soul hissed, lowering his horn dangerously.
“Come again?” Johnten asked, confused.
“We should have guessed,” Heart said, casting a mournful glance at the possessed Carrie and the glaring dangerously at Johnten. “Why, though?” she asked. “How could you not know any better?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Johnten said, taking a step back and holding up a foreleg protectively. Traev stepped forward with a dangerous look in his eye, and the three Gems spinning around him started to glow warningly.
“Everypony stop!” Twilight said sharply, stepping into the middle of the stand-off. “Heart, Soul, what is your problem all of a sudden?”
The two golden-yellow ponies blinked, looked at each other, and then relaxed slightly. Drawing closer together, they began to speak in turn. “Spiriters are always twins,” Soul Mage said.
“Bound together, heart and soul,” Gold Heart continued, “Two minds, but of one purpose.”
“Most, at least those who make a difference in the world, embrace that and build off one another’s power.”
“A rare few go bad, however, and for them cooperation isn’t good enough.”
“They believe the strength of two can be better focused in one.”
“To that, they kill their twin and… enslave their spirit somehow.”
“A dark path,” Johnten said in grim comprehension.
“That is not what happened!” Seroh said in sharp anger. “I died months before Johnten’s powers awoke, and he had nothing to do with it!”
“And yet you still hang around him,” Soul said darkly, keeping his eyes on his double.
Seroh closed her eyes and another subtle change came over the brown earth pony body. When it spoke again, it was in Carrie’s own voice. “Seroh hangs around me,” Carrie said, “or in me to be more precise. She was suffering under a deadly curse, and in a desperate bid for relief we cast a spell that bonded her soul to mine. We later learned how she could manifest her spirit anywhere within about twenty feet of me, but for a while we were constantly sharing a body.”
“Oh, oh!” Twilight said, excitedly, “I know about that! That’s Multi-Mental Occupancy! There’s a spell in your world that does that on purpose? How fascinating. Do you remember how to cast it? It’s probably pretty dangerous though…”
“There’s no going back once it’s cast,” Carrie said, “and we call it a Bipersonality.”
“Bipersonality,” Twilight said, “hence the… oh, I get it now.”
“Kind of a weird thing to call yourselves after,” Soul said flatly, “unless more than one of you is a ghost host?”
“Just Carrie and Seroh,” Traev retorted. “And what do you call your group? Order-naries, right? What kind of a name is that?”
“A descriptive one,” Soul said acidly. “Right off the bat you know what we are: mercenaries who fight for order and peace.”
“Sell-swords, eh?” Traev sneered. “And you think you have the right to judge us?”
“We fight evil simply because it’s the right thing to do,” Johnten added, “Pro bono.”
“So you’re vigilantes then,” Heart said with distaste.
“Ok,” Twilight said, uncomfortably, “everyone’s nerves are running a bit thin here. Maybe we’re just cranky because we’re hungry? We should definitely find a new topic of discussion or something else to do. Maybe?” She felt a tap on her shoulder as she trailed off awkwardly.
“Can I make a suggestion?” Pinkie Pie asked as the lavender alicorn turned around to face her. Twilight nodded, and the excitable pink pony bounced up into the air and spread her front legs wide as confetti rained from above. “The ‘welcome to Ponyville and thanks for saving us’ party is ready!” she announced gleefully before slowly coming back down to earth. The Bipersonality Team looked at her in bemusement for a moment, and then at Traev’s cue turned around and walked away. “Hey!” Pinkie said indignantly. “Don’t walk away from me! It’s your party.”
“It’s ok Pinkie,” Heart said, patting her on the back, “Gale and us will be there, and we’ll party hard enough to make up for those poopers.”
“Nuh-uh,” Pinkie said determinedly, “No way, Josie. Those ponies need to smile, and I’m not going to rest until they do!” She pulled a rainbow-patterned propeller beanie and a party horn out from somewhere and ran off after the departing trio.
“Part of me wants to stop her,” Twilight said wistfully, “but I think she’s entered ‘the zone,’ and nothing short of complete cerebral shutdown is going to deter her now. Let’s go wait for them at Sugar Cube Corner. And I hope you two will still be able to work with those three.”
“Four,” Soul corrected her.
“Five,” Heart corrected him. “They have two ghost members, remember? And yes, we’ll try to get over it, although it’s bringing up some bad memories.”
Noctus drew in a deep breath and tried not to wince as what felt like every inch of her host’s windpipe rattled with the effort. The Changeling’s mind had submitted to her will almost immediately after she’d touched it and had become silent within a couple of hours, so the only thoughts in her head were her own. That wasn’t good. There was no conflict, no passion, no initiative in the insectoid equine. Or was it an equine insect? Whatever it was, it gave her nothing and now the body was starting to fail.
Up ahead, she could make out the hidden entrance to the Changeling Hive, and she had just enough strength to fly the remaining distance and stagger inside before collapsing. A pair of sentries emerged from the shadows, and after a brief discussion one trotted off, presumably to fetch medical help. The sentry that remained nudged Noctus with a hoof, and she buzzed weakly in response.
“What are you doing here?” the sentry asked. It looked closer, and if it noticed the strange tint of her eyes and the weak, wavery aura-mane it clearly didn’t consider them any more noteworthy than signs of deterioration all over the host’s body. “What happened to you?”
“Qu… Queen,” Noctus gasped out, “Must… see…”
“The Queen is out,” the sentry said, “personally overseeing a scouting mission. Whatever you need to tell her, you’d better tell it to me now, in case you don’t make it.”
Noctus gasped and nodded, gesturing for the sentry to lean in closer. It obliged, and once its ear was mere inches from her mouth, she whispered, “You’ll do for now.” She didn’t even give the new puppet a chance to process this sentence before she leaped out of the old carcass and insinuated into his mind.
Please tell me you hate your job, or something.