//------------------------------//
// Outed 
// Story: Gears in the Void 
// by Lab 
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Where had I hidden myself? I’d galloped as quickly as possible with a cast and taken refuge in the first hiding spot I could find, but I could not, for the life of me, remember what that place was. Much to my relief, there was just enough light to feel safe. Blundering from a new threat into the old one didn't seem like such a great idea.

Sunlight streamed through cracks in the cramped space, illuminating wood brittle with age. The most prevalent detail, however, was being upside down and uncomfortably contorted, like I had tried to dive into a barrel. With my range of motion limited, my hoof couldn’t quite make it to my face.

Through a narrow crack, there was a severely limited view of a cobblestone wall. Over my pounding heart, I could hear little more than Ponyville's usual din. Maybe after another half hour it would be worth the risk to try and upright myself and see where the thankfully previously empty barrel was. Dirt crunched as a lone figure made its way towards me. All I had to do was remain still and it would pass me by.

"Sterling, you do know you don't entirely fit in there, right?" Twilight asked, sounding like she was trying very hard not to laugh. Why was I so bad at hiding?

Using the only part of my body free to move, I stoically defended myself. "Back! Back I say!"

Twilight snorted at my swishing, deep blue tail and asked, "You're stuck, aren't you?"

"Entrenched." A studious alicorn such as her should have been able to tell the difference.

Accompanying an amused sigh, the barrel lifted into the air and spun so that it was upside down and I was not. Yet I refused to budge… until she shook the damn thing and dumped me on the ground. However, she wasn't expecting me to be ready to bolt again, and I took off towards an open field as soon as I got my hooves under me. I made it all of two steps before the ground rushed up to meet my face, my tail gripped an aura that was the most dastardly of colors: lavender.

"Help, help! I'm being repressed!" Nothing I did made any progress on reclaiming my hostage appendage.

"Will you calm down already?" She rolled her eyes, holding me in place with little effort. "We need to talk, and I'd rather do it to your face."

Hesitantly, I turned and faced Twilight, who looked incredibly nervous. "Where is she?" Looking around for any white pegasi also served to work out some of the kinks in my neck, so hooray for incidental multitasking.

"Why are you so afraid of her?" She knew. Anypony could see that much, not that I would have expected less from the student of the being I was trying to avoid.

"You know why." I sighed. "I know you listen to everything she says, but you can't let her send me to the moon. I like air." It was true, breathing was one of my favorite pastimes.

Twilight winced. "Why would you think like that? She would never do anything like that." She nervously looked around and sighed with relief when she saw nopony else in earshot. "You do have to talk to her though. She went ahead to the library while I searched for you, not that it was hard to find a pony that had seen a crazed mare in a cast. I have to admit, I'm surprised you were able to move that quickly."

"It's amazing what recklessness will get done, eh?"

She massaged her temple and sighed. "Are you ready for me to teleport us?"

"Not really."

"Tough. It was less of a query and more of a warning. She's in Ponyville specifically to speak with you."

My mouth hung open, trying to form words but finding my voice to be uncooperative. Celestia was here to speak with me? They hadn’t just happened upon me during a leisurely visit? "Why?"

"That's not my place to explain." She shifted uncomfortably and her wings twitched. "I would really appreciate not having to overpower your reluctance. I've read it's not pleasant to be teleported against your will."

"Fine. Let's just go."

"Hey, it'll be alright. You don't have anything to worry about." The genuine smile she gave me alleviated some of my anxiety. Her horn lit up and there was a fuzzy sensation in the pit of my stomach. It built to a towering peak in an instant and a blinding light radiated from Twilight. I blinked, and when my eyes opened, I was in the library, no worse for the wear other than mild disorientation.

"Here she is, Princess Celestia. I found her in a barrel on the edge of town," Twilight said to the ivory alicorn, who sipped a cup of tea at the table I remembered reading at a couple nights before.

Celestia was even taller when sitting, making the table look like a piece of children's furniture. Every last piece of her royal attire was absent. Power and grace readily bled from her, forming an aura that should have been intimidating but only felt calming. I felt no need to prostrate myself, but this was most definitely a being that didn't need to prove anything.

She looked at me with kind iridescent eyes, changing from blue to green to orange and back again at the slightest change in lighting. No matter the color, they faintly twinkled like her ethereal mane, which I found myself guilty of staring at as my train of thought derailed and violently exploded. It was like watching an aurora strapped to somepony’s head.

"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. Sterling Gears, it is a pleasure to meet you. Again." Her voice was more like a mother's than a ruler's as she chuckled into her tea.

"Uh, hi." I nodded. It felt like I should have bowed a little, but my legs were locked.

"Please, take a seat, both of you. There is much to discuss."

Sitting down, I noticed it was just the three of us. "Where's Spike?"

Nervously laughing, Twilight replied, "Cutie Mark Crusader Dragon Tamers." I winced. Poor guy.

"How are you doing today, Sterling?" Celestia asked with genuine interest as she filled two additional cups of tea. Herbivores drinking tea made sense, but sometimes I wondered what the big deal was.

Small talk was not on my list of possibilities. "Been worse, I guess. How about you?"

"Thank you for asking. I'm enjoying a cup of tea with my faithful student and a rather interesting acquaintance of hers, so I would say I'm doing quite well. And thanks to you, Joyful Bastion is also doing well."

She had to be talking about the guard from last night that actually made it. "I can't take most of the credit. The pack had to save all three of us."

Twilight, who had been content to just glance between the two of us as we spoke, piped up. "I talked to Vinyl and him. The way they tell it, you had ordered a tunnel dug under Ponyville and that was the only reason the diamond dogs could get to you in time. Not that they didn't act admirably, but don't sell yourself short." A quill scratched on paper as she eagerly grinned. "I also heard you created another spell pattern after only a few hours of research. Do you happen to have them around?"

"This one destroys the thaumite when you use it. If I have the matrix in front of me, though, I should be able to recreate it.

A graceful wing reached out and with a touch stopped Twilight from launching a barrage of excited questions. I thanked Celestia with my eyes, and she nodded at me with a warm smile. "I'm sorry, Twilight, but it will have to wait for later."

Twilight frowned. "Alright. Sterling, please talk to me before you use that pattern again. You ended up venting so much magic that some unicorns are getting headaches from just walking through the plaza."

"I suppose you're wondering how I knew you and Sunny Skies were one and the same." I sighed.

"Yes, I am curious of that. I was rather fond of that visage, but if it's been compromised..."

"You're fine, I just panicked over some rumors I had heard long ago." Hiding my origins would have been easier if I hadn’t backed myself into a corner right away.

Twilight arched an eyebrow as she absently reshelved a couple of books with hardly a spark from her horn. "Where did you hear these rumors?"

Pausing for what was probably too long to avoid suspicion, I gently tapped my snout while thinking. "I don't remember where it was exactly, but it was far away. I'm really the only pony in town who knows but wasn't supposed to." How long was I going to have to keep this up? "I'm sorry I fled like that."

"At least you didn't actually have a smoke bomb," Celestia said. "Twilight says you have a knack for interesting technology, and I doubt you would have avoided using one if it would've helped your escape. There is no need to fear me, my little pony." I squeed.

The noise drew a bewildered glance from Twilight and mild surprise from her mentor. Sheepishly, I grinned, and noticed how warm my cheeks felt. "I trust you, Princess Celestia. I just hope for the best but expect the worst."

"A pessimistic view, but I see the wisdom behind it. No doubt it has kept you safe in your trials." She did know! Game over, man! Game over!

My coughs punched my gasp in the face and prevented it from drawing even more attention. It was still conspicuous, but far less so. "My trials?"

There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, playing above what was either a smile or a well-practiced smirk. "You're quite the traveller. I'm sure you've seen many things few others have laid eyes upon."

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes at Celestia prancing around outright accusing me, I continued to feign ignorance in hopes that I was wrong. Like I told her, hope for the best, but expect the worst. "Can't let it stay unexplored terrain forever."

She tittered and sipped from her teacup once more. "Adventure calls to those who call to it." A plate bearing flaky pastries bobbed gently in front of me. "Scone?"

Not seeing any that were clearly raspberry, I tentatively pulled a blueberry one off the platter and set it down on the tiny plate before me. "Thanks."

While I chewed, I caught Twilight shoot her fellow princess an anxious glance. She replied with that frustratingly warm smile and asked, "Sterling, what do you know about dreams?"

That was an odd route for the conversation to turn down, definitely one I didn’t expect. Other than waking up from an unknown, yet familiar, nightmare that morning, I didn’t have much experience with dreams. "Nothing."

The eager scholar jumped at the chance to lecture. "Oneirology, the study of dreams, is a mostly undocumented field of research. What we do know mainly stems from what Princess Luna, as she has reached a level of expertise in it nopony could ever think of matching, has told us. There is a realm where all dreams reside whether they are good, bad, or downright terrifying, and all living things visit this malleable place when they sleep. Memories do have a variable effect on the fabric of this reality, which is why dreams are sometimes of days past. Most importantly, even the most frightening dreams can not actually harm us because Princess Luna both protects us from it and it from us." D'aww. Twilight was so adorkable in teacher mode.

"I change my earlier answer to 'slightly more than nothing'."

"A wonderful explanation. Thank you, Twilight Sparkle."

I figured it was time to start showing my cards one by one—it wasn’t like we were playing go fish.  "Those creatures have nothing to do with me."

Twilight seemed a little surprised at my abruptness, but she hid it well. Across from her, Celestia wasn’t even flustered. "You were not being accused, and even if you were, you've saved the lives of three different ponies as well as yourself. Not to mention beginning positive diplomatic relations with a previously hostile pack of diamond dogs. All that would surely testify your innocence, would it not?"

"Yeah, I guess, but then why do you need me? I don't dream enough to remember anything important. I'll try to figure out how to get rid of those creatures, but I doubt I'll be much help. My headfirst approach to research doesn't mash well with those things. What are they?"

"Their ilk has never been seen on Equestria or Equus."

"It's true. Even I couldn't find anything. All of my books have nothing on them. Spike told me how you reasoned the existence of the secret room, by the way. Some of the most obscure knowledge in existence and still nothing." Twilight looked like she was about to collapse in defeat. "Which reminds me. Princess, is there a secret section in the Royal Archives or Canterlot Library?"

"Both actually." She nodded. "But I'm afraid to say they fail to shed light on this subject."

Twilight gaped, her mouth hanging open as her expression flickered between betrayal and curiosity. "Why didn't I learn about this until now?"

"You never asked. Sometimes minor secrets slip your mind when you've been keeping them long enough."

"I totally nailed it!" I energetically pumped my hoof.

"Minor? How is this minor? So many books I didn't know existed!" She panicked, her breaths coming in quick and short. I looked around for a paper bag.

"Twilight Sparkle." The words' authoritative undercurrent shot Twilight's franticness dead in its tracks, and she meekly stared up at her mentor as she continued, "The books sit on their shelves much as they have for many years, and will continue to do so for many years to come. There is much time for you to read them, but there is a crisis at hoof, is there not?"

"Y-yes, Princess Celestia. I'm sorry." Her lower lip quivered as she hung her head, looking like she had just been pimp-slapped by reason.

Subject change to the rescue! "And what part do I play in this crisis?"

The alicorn—the white one, I mean—easily recognized what I was doing and winked gratefully. How does one express gratitude with a mere wink? You'll have to ask Celestia herself, because I still don't know how she pulled it off. "Simply put, your nightmares are polluting the realm of dreams, and my sister is expending copious amounts of energy and time just to keep it contained. Normally, with her skill at manipulating dreams, these nightmares wouldn't give her pause, but she and I are nearly certain they are comprised mostly of memories instead of fears."

That was just cheating. I’d been doing pretty good at keeping things on the down low, if I do say so myself. I paled at the thought of Luna fighting my memories, since they probably weren’t the warm fuzzy ones. "And memories resist being tampered with?"

"Actually, they are immune to modification at all. There may be spells that appear to change memories, but they merely alter your perception and knowledge of them. The memories are still there, but you'd just gloss over them or view an illusory one," Twilight said as her mood returned to her usual eagerness to learn or teach.

Celestia beamed at the calmed alicorn. "Very well said." Twilight preened at the compliment, and Celestia turned to me. "As you may have gathered, Sterling Gears, your memories will remain until they are dealt with. With Luna occupied with their containment, she has not been able to effectively counter the darkness and creatures we find ourselves beset by every night. If your memories were to remain unchecked, their influence would be too great to contain, even for Luna. The damage would be as irreversible as it is devastating."

Her student gasped and found she couldn't decide who to worriedly stare at. "What sort of memories could do something like that?" Apparently, there wasn't a memo that got sent out to all the princesses. Heh, royal e-mail.

"Ones I would prefer you to suffer in curiosity over rather than learn any details." My ears fell flat as I slouched, content to staring at the half-eaten scone. Even if the creatures weren’t my fault, how many were gone because I was making a mess? And that still hinged on me having nothing to do with the first issue. I cut off her indignant reply and added, "I'm not trying to hide things, Twilight. It's the more pleasant option."

She was still miffed, but no longer thought it was an insult, at least. She looked to Celestia and wordlessly asked for support, confirmation, or to just say anything.

Celestia's infuriatingly gentle, calming smile had been replaced by a hard line forged of protective resolve. "She is right." A tear escaped misty eyes and rolled down her cheek as she looked down to Twilight. "These are not events any being should remember. I will not have you haunted by those horrors. There may soon be a time where she must speak of them, but I wish that day to be long in its coming. If it appears at all."

"I'll be frank. Actually, I'll be Sterling, but you get the picture. How much do you know, Celestia? As fun as it is beating around the bush, you and I both know it’s only wasting time." I levelled a steely gaze at the ancient ruler.

Twilight glared at me in shock, her eyes ablaze with fury at my insolence. Princess Celestia's amused laughter was the water that doused that fire, leaving behind puzzled charcoal. "I was curious how long you could keep up before I cornered you, but you do make a point. Consider the game over." She turned stone-faced in an instant and spoke quietly, her hushed words inaudible to anypony more than a body's length away. "What I'm about to say stays here with the two of you."

"And Pinkie," I added, earning a reproachful look. "Not my fault. You know full well I was trying to keep things under wraps. She's under a Pinkie Promise, so she's not a loose end. I just wanted you to know."

"That filly does have strange ways of knowing things," Celestia quietly mused before turning back to the issue. "Sterling Gears is not from Equestria. Or Equus."

"Excuse me?" Twilight uncertainly asked. She was hesitant to question Celestia, but this was just too absurd.

"That is the mildest thing I could have said. There is much more, but I'd like to have Sterling's permission first."

"What for?" I snorted.

"A courtesy for what is most likely our first and last interdimensional traveller."

"Tell her what you want. You know Twilight far better than I do, so anything you can trust her with, I can trust her with also."

Twilight looked like her head was about to explode. Her eye twitched a moment before she became a blur of movement, gathering extra quills and paper and excitedly sat back down. The quill floated in the air, eager to scratch at the paper.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. I can't have you writing this down." With her own golden glow, Celestia moved the tools aside, much to her student's chagrin. "However, if there are other things she wishes to share that would be appropriate, I see no reason you can't record them."Right, no telling Twilight the really messy details. I'd draw the line at top ten zed kills, but only because I really wanted to tell the one with the garden gnome. "Sterling's home is dead, and she was the last of her kind. She was a human, if I'm pronouncing it correctly, and male." She looked at me for confirmation.

"Spot on." My voice felt as dead as the world she spoke of. I had thought I was done with that hell, but I had dragged enough of it with me to cause problems. Why did they always bring up the gender thing?

Twilight snorted and promptly covered her mouth in embarrassment. Blushing, she said, "I'm sorry, it's just, really? I don't even know why I think it's funny." After another moment, she hastily added, "About you not being a mare, I mean."

I rolled my eyes and spoke sardonically. "Oh good, because I totally thought you were laughing at seven billion dead people."

Even Celestia looked shocked. Did that mean I won a prize? "Did you say seven billion?"

"Yeah, a seven followed by nine zeros. That's just a rough estimate though, it was probably a couple million higher than that."

Abruptly Celestia stood up. The hard line had returned to her face, though it subtly quivered from time to time. "Please excuse me for a moment." Her voice had a slight waver to it, and she retreated to the back of the library, stopping only to motion Twilight back towards the table.

Sighing, I frowned at Twilight. "Equus doesn't have near as many residents, does it?"

"Not even close."

"You're taking this well."

"Me? What about you? That was just a number of ponies I'm having trouble picturing, but you." She paused to let out an exhausted, shaky breath. "You lived it. You watched them… die." Her voice almost gave out on the last word. She was visibly struggling to keep her composure.

"Well, I wasn't at each person's side when they kicked the bucket." I risked a small smile.

"How can you just dismiss it like that? They had lives! They talked, they laughed, they cried, they lived, and you're almost joking about it." She snapped through the tears she wasn't even aware were falling.

"What else was I going to do? There was no time to grieve. I was too busy not joining them. Five years, Twilight. Five years spent scavenging for food. Five years spent watching the rest of my species die. Five years spent fighting monsters, both the original threat and people who wanted my phat loot."

"What did you have that they wanted so badly they'd kill for it?"

"Food, water, medicine. Funny thing is, I would have gladly given what I could spare. I always got lucky when I went scavenging." I laughed half-heartedly and looked away, making sure it was clear I wasn't actually amused.

A sobbing alicorn plowed into my side, wrapping me in a hug as she wept into my fur. "I'm so sorry. I figured you'd gone through something terrible with how jumpy you always acted, but I never would have imagined it'd be anything like...like..."

I patted her foreleg. "I know. It's alright, Twilight."

"Stop it, I'm supposed to console you, not the other way around." She sniffled.

"Tough. You're more broken up about it than I am."

We sat there for almost a minute. Unsure of what to do, I gently patted her foreleg the entire time. Eventually, she broke contact and asked, "What sort of monster kills that many?"

"In retrospect, the number of deaths probably wasn't as appropriate as Princess Celestia intended. Explaining what killed us is definitely beyond that line, so..." I pantomimed zipping my mouth shut.

"I think I'll take your word for it this time." She gave a weak smile and downed an entire cup of tea like she hoped it was whiskey. What would happen if Tall handed Celestia a Bass Cannon.

Princess Celestia strode back to us, as calm and collected as ever, but it wasn't hard to spot the recently dried fur under her eyes. "I sincerely apologize for my conduct. The number of deaths looked staggering, but an actual number was far worse. Twilight Sparkle. I'm both proud of you and ashamed of myself for you reacting better than I did. It seems I was wrong to try and filter what you learned from Sterling Gears. You're a princess for a reason and you have every right to learn the wondrous and horrific events ponies have experienced."

"Thank you, Princess Celestia. It means a lot to me to hear you of all ponies say such a thing."

It looked like I needed to get us back on track before I contracted diabetes from all the sweetness. A cough brought their attention back to me. "Do either of you know what a zombie is?"

"A mindless, undead pony who feasts on the living? Yes, but fortunately they're just fictional." She shuddered at the thought. It took a second or two for Twilight's face to sag once more. "No..."

I nodded. "Yep, zombies. They aren't really that scary once you get used to them and start pegging the stragglers." With a “chk-chk,” I cocked my leg like a shotgun and took aim. "Pew pew and down they go. It's much worse when you don't know where they are." It was my turn to shudder. There had been far too many times where rotting hands grasped from the shadows and came within centimeters of pulling me in. I didn't know what my memories would do if they got out of hand in that dream place, but I didn't like the reaction they got just from being mentioned. "You still haven't told me what I need to do to help."

She looked upon me apologetically, her tone dripping with pity. "Princess Luna needs to take you into the dream realm so the two of you can unravel the toxic memories from the inside."

"Well, shit.”