//------------------------------// // Huzzah! // Story: Gears in the Void // by Lab //------------------------------// What had been seen couldn’t be unseen, and there wasn't a single drop of eye bleach to be found in all of Equus. I officially knew more about ponies than I'd ever wanted to, and that was before the book's halfway point. Despite this, I trudged through the rest of the pages in a single night, with only Dave and the sound of crickets to keep me company. He refused to look over my shoulder like he had for the other books, and when teased about it he snorted derisively and shake his head. At one point, when I was taking a small break to look at something other than text and blush-worthy pictures, Dave asked, "This making you feel any better about the pregnancy thing?" "Until I found out I have a heat cycle to look forward to." The moment that chapter had surfaced, I knew that week would be absolutely excruciating. Sunlight poked into the room through the simple curtains as the book closed with relieved finality. A yawn escaped my parched lips as I stretched on the bed to work out the kinks caused by laying immobile for so long. After the sound of satisfying cracks died away, I debated whether to endure the day or take a small nap. "Hey Dave, what should—" —— Ponyville sprung up around me, the buildings and citizens popping up like weeds in sidewalk cracks. At first glance, the colorful town was more or less like it should have been, but something felt off. Maybe it was some of the houses being stacked upon one another or the lethargic, polka-dotted ponies, but Ponyville had seen stranger. "This is a rather dull dream." And if this was a dream, anything was possible. I could go flying, possibly explore what my mind thought Cloudsdale looked like. Perhaps an adventure would be my choice, a grand epic for the ages. With a decisive nod, I turned towards Sugarcube Corner. Free dream pastries with zero calories? Sign me up. "Good plan, I should actually be able to eat something." Dave chuckled happily, a hollow smack sounding off as he patted his belly. Thirty slices of moist, ambrosial chocolate cake later, a sonorous boom from the heavens interrupted our guilt-free binge. "Hey, Luna. What's up?" I waved at the midnight blue alicorn as she strode through the door, the scent of fresh rain mingling with the homey fragrance of the bakery. The simple tiara she usually wore was absent, but her symbol, a silvery crescent, was still present and shone brightly from her ebony collar. "Sterling, David, it is good to see both of you again. I'm sorry to intrude like this, but we are rarely asleep at the same time. This may come as a shock, but you, Sterling Gears, are dreaming." She took the opposite seat, using a wing to brush aside a mound of pastries that promptly drifted away, unhindered by something as silly as gravity. Luna stared at me with an overly serious expression, as if daring me to call her bluff. "Okay." I decided not to tell her I wasn’t finished with dessert. "She's not that clueless, Luna.." Princess Luna would have done a spit-take if she'd been drinking, if the shock in her widened eyes was any indicator, but she was forced to settle for a surprised—and thoroughly unflattering—snort. "Truly?" "We're in Sugarcube Corner, and I don't see Pinkie anywhere." Oddly enough, she didn't show up right then and there. "Not to mention all the slightly less weird stuff like Dave being able to eat stuff or the ceiling being painted like the Sistine Chapel's. Oh, and don't forget the swimming pool over there." "What a fascinating mural. How did I not notice it?" Luna muttered as she looked over the ponified work of art. Neither royal sibling was present in the mural, each instance of God played by a pony with a bushy white beard that made Starswirl the Bearded look like Starswirl the Clean-Shaven. "Those are excellent points. Such clarity is interesting..." She trailed off, trying to fast forward past the lengthy explanation she'd suspected was necessary. "Very well, I suppose this is an advantageous turn of events. Do you know why I am here?" "Because you're bored?" I shrugged as my knight punted Luna's pawn into the kitchen. "Not quite, though I will admit boredom would be preferable to this painstakingly slow research." She smiled as her bishop moved into place. "Checkmate." The chessboard burst into yellow flames, not even leaving ash or chess pieces behind. Due to the combustion technicality—if the board bursts into flame, a draw is the result you must claim—the first chess game I'd played in years didn’t end in a loss. "What have you found out?" "It's a simple creature, more akin to a fungus than any beast or sentient species. But the mind belies its 'body,' and I fear I will be unable to progress, which leads to the reason for my visit. I request your assistance in gleaning more information from the voidling, as your previous connection with it may lend us a fresh perspective." "Lead the way." Beyond a crumbling wall stood a plain, dirt path floating on an endless ocean, slowly undulating with the gentle waves and sending tiny plumes of sea spray into Sugarcube Corner. "Nice work, Luna, but I'm not mopping that up." She chuckled and led the way. "This is not my doing. It is amusing to see a pony with such influence over their dreams… whether or not they completely control it. If you can learn to still your mind, I believe you will be awestruck by what can be accomplished.." "Am I going to need a life jacket?" Dave nervously asked as he dipped a hand into the temperate water. "Hey, don't leave me here! Dammit." He tottered from edge to edge as he awkwardly ran to catch up with the two ponies and nearly stumbled over every wave in his haste. "You guys suck." He panted, leaning heavily on me for support. Ignoring the bony elbow digging into my withers, I said, "I guess this is a bit beyond what I'd call lucid dreaming, but I'm no expert. Does this normally not happen with ponies?" "I am unfamiliar with that term, but I can discern its meaning easily enough. No, this level of control is not commonplace—it is rare I see even a quarter as much. Perhaps it is a side effect of the spell used to bring you here previously." The ocean abruptly ended in a thundering waterfall stretching off into the distance, but the path remained, suspended by nothing as it meandered through a starry expanse. "Not complaining." "I am." Dave frowned, inciting chuckles at his expense from the two ponies he walked between. What I had previously thought to be stars were other dreams—I was back in their realm. A niggling feeling in the back of my mind hinted my control ended where the dream did. Luna chose to keep the now-level trail and steered it towards a distant speck separated from its brethren. A pizza place would have been a welcome stop, but my stomach was still content with all that heavenly chocolate. "Hello again, Barinzan," Luna cooed as we arrived at the voidling's dark blue enclosure, shades of azure swirling about like a soap bubble. The creature still lacked a definite shape, but there was clearly something inside the magic sphere. Lacking discernible edges, it was all I could do to compare its size to a jungle cat's. Distracted by Luna's high-pitched tone, I clumsily stumbled, somersaulting into the air as my momentum carried me away. Luna simply smiled as she righted and placed me at her side with a flash of her horn. "Good catch. You named that thing?" Threats of endless headbutts dripped from my voice. "Of course. You may bear some completely understandable animosity towards Barinzan, but it was just trying to survive." Animosity was putting it lightly. "However, I strongly believe there was an outside force causing it to take its feeding to such extremes. Sterling, this creature was manipulated, twisted out of the relatively docile form before you." "Whatever it is, it's butt-ugly." Dave sneered as he poked at the sphere, chuckling quietly with each ripple his actions sparked. The voidling certainly wasn't going to get invited to any birthday parties, but if Luna was right, there was something far more deserving of a hoof to the head. "So what's really behind those nightmares? More importantly, can I get first swing?" Sighing sadly, she shook her head. "That is something I do not yet know, but I have determined it is the same being that besieges central Equestria. Barinzan's kind feeds on the malignant energy generated by nightmares, but they lack the ability to 'stoke the flames'." It was official, hooves made air quotes so much better. "What the actual enemy desires from the abducted ponies is still a mystery." Despite my rage, some small semblance of pity tweaked my furious expression. Snorting, I turned away from the sphere and found Luna… nuzzling the barrier with a dopey grin on her face. "At least you like it." Smirking, I said, "Thinking of taking in a pet?" Luna mused over my words, part of her smile still remaining. "A pet? I suppose Tia does have Philomena." She nuzzled the sphere again and spoke with the baby-talk known to rev a dog's tail to painful whipping speed. "Do you like that idea, Barinzan? You can stay here with me, and I'll take good care of you. Yes I will. Who is a good voidling?" "Are you sure it's safe to have it around? I doubt you'll keep it in this giant hamster ball forever." Even then, I doubt anypony would welcome something like that rolling through their dreams, snatching their nightmares up. Looking up from his fruitless attempts to antagonize the voidling, Dave grumbled, "Don't want to think about what this thing could do with free reign, even if you insist it can't farm nightmares. Ugh, that creeps me out just thinking about it." "I am entirely certain no trouble will arise." Dave and I shared a look that promised future gambling on how long it would take for this to bite us in the flank—ass for Dave, but rears would be bitten in both cases. A few minutes passed in which Luna cast several different spells, mumbling results to herself each time her magic switched off. "It seems your presence has little to no effect on its behavior. Curses, I was certain that was a viable avenue of research." "What are its weaknesses?" At her shocked look, I facehoofed. "Luna, I'm not going to snuff your pet. That’s bad manners. I wanted to know what I could use against the voidlings actually in Equestria." "My apologies. Barinzan shares their vulnerability to magic, flame, and light. Although untested on the other voidlings, I found it also has an aversion to liquids." Melon-sized samples of the weaknesses materialized as Luna spoke of them, bobbing up and down as they circled her. "Water?" "Not just water. All tested liquids proved effective." "Good to know. I'll stock up on water balloons." Luna shifted her weight, hesitating on what she needed to say. With a sad smile and sigh, she said, "There is another reason I chose to contact you. Do you know what will happen when the source of the voidlings is discovered?" "Elements of Harmony fire the Friendship Laser?" Or Celestia could send it to the moon along with everything else she didn't want to deal with, like tax forms or evangelists. "Precisely. However, I fear they will not work on this foe. They purge chaotic impurities from whatever they touch, but voidlings are neither chaotic or orderly. They simply are." "Are what?" "No, I mean to say they just exist. Reports of the other voidlings have mentioned they speak of their pain and suffering. No good or evil, right or wrong, up or down. Normally this would be neutrality, but that word still fits improperly. We are getting off topic. I called on you because of your affinity for destruction. If there is any pony who can find an effective—if unorthodox— way to harm something the Elements of Harmony cannot, it is you." "Hate to admit it, kid, but the pretty pony princess has a point." "Flattery will get you nowhere, David," she replied with mock haughtiness. Luna: one, Dave: zero. I sighed and gave a half-hearted salute at my task. "You got it, Luna." "I am sorry to ask such a thing, but I thought your special talent dealt with explosions of all kinds." "And accidental self-injury." Dave shrugged at our glares. “What? You know I’m right.” "Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a good explosion or ten. I just have so many other ideas piling up. Not to mention it's more fun when it's something I'm not supposed to be trying for. You said magic, fire, light, and liquid, right?" "Correct." Luna's ethereal mane barely shifted as she nodded. "I think I can—wait, fire or heat?" Luna looked back at Barinzan. “Hmm.” A deep frown crossed her muzzle and she said, "Sorry, Barin." Her horn lit up and pain pulsed out from the voidling in a bizarre sensation that felt like forced empathy. Luna and I winced as it washed over us, but Dave remained unaffected and smirked at Barinzan's misfortune. "Heat." "Can you bring up a chalkboard so I can write some stuff down?" I was barely able to finish the sentence before one appeared inches in front of me. Blanching in disgust, I added, "And some better tasting chalk?" Luna tittered, and my tongue was visited by strawberries while the tiny rod scratched across the black surface, eagerly marking the previously pristine slate. "Magic, heat, light, and water—yes, I know all liquids count, but bear with me. I don't know where magic would fit in, but the other three feel like they have something in common." "It is strange seeing heat and liquid on the same side. Usually they conflict." "Fire and water maybe, but not heat and liquid," Dave said. "The opposite of heat is cold. Actually, cold is just the lack of heat..." He trailed off as he stroked his chin in thought and paced, mumbling incoherently and shooting the occasional glance at the chalkboard or Barinzan. "I think I just figured something out." "That's great, care to share?" A delightful crunch signalled another piece of strawberry chalk meeting its demise in my mouth. "Name the three places that got attacked that night." He plopped down in an overly plush armchair with green upholstery, creating a loud "ploomph" in protest to the sudden weight. "David, where did that chair come from?" inquired Luna as she circled said furniture, prodding it with a hoof. "Ooh, this is soft." "You like? You'd be amazed at the things you can learn if you pay enough attention to Pinkie Pie. So, how 'bout those places?" "Appleloosa, the Crystal Empire, and the Gem Hills," Luna replied, not taking her eyes or hoof—now slowly stroking the comfortable fabric—off the chair. "More specifically the caves under the Gem Hills. Dry, cold, and dark. They're all absences! Whatever we're up against, it loves places with a lot of a lack of something else." Realizing his last sentence sounded strange, he grunted and added, "You know what I mean." Luna's head rested gently on an upturned hoof, her brow knitting in thought. "Appleloosa was experiencing a record drought, so there is no doubt it was the driest place in Equestria the night of the attack." Excitedly gasping, she stomped her hoof and said, "This entity must be weakened if it can only attack where it would be strongest. And to attack those three locations simultaneously—its actions reek of desperation. Sterling, stop eating the chalk." "Why? It's not like I'm eating real chalk." It still got stuck in my teeth like real chalk… I had been curious and really hungry. "Fair enough. Hmm, these are quite delicious." Dave cleared his throat, summoning a sheepish smile below Luna’s reddening cheeks. "Well deduced, David. This should be specific enough to scry. I will need time to work nothing into the spell's parameters. Sterling, this should give you plenty of time to put together an appropriate weapon, especially if the report on the library's damage sent to my sister was accurate." "Hey, I told her to stop charging it." Not that I wasn't glad to learn what happened when you overcharge a gem with magic. "Do you know how many time's that library has needed extensive repairs since it was created? Eighty-six." "Nice. I bet I could get that to an even hundred in less than a month." "I would rather you did not. Of those eighty-six times, only seven were before my return." "Great, now I have to catch up to Twilight's record." Luna royally facehoofed. "That is not what I was getting at… never mind, just avoid blowing up my sister's student. Or her assistant. Or friends." "Celestia's assistant and friends or Twilight's?" "Does it matter?" "Probably not. But I like Twilight's assistant. Celestia has all sorts of prissy nobles for assistants that I haven't met but am unjustifiably certain are unbearable." "This is the first time I have been ailed by a headache in this realm," Luna muttered. "Do you have any further questions?" I already had a feeling what the answer was, but it needed to be asked. "Is there any way of saving those already taken?" Luna looked off into the distance, away from me, Dave, and even the glittering specks of dreams. It was too long before she cautiously spoke, like her words were made of brittle glass. "There is always a chance for a miracle." Another pause. "But I do not think so." "Figured as much. They will be avenged." Appleloosa, Metalhead, my fallen packmates, generic ponies A-Z—their fates would be answered for. A reckoning was coming. This apocalypse would die in its infancy. The barest skeleton of a smile flashed across Luna's face. "Are you clear on your task?" "Build a bomb and work in those four things. I should be ready by tomorrow." Would have been sooner if C5 were an option, but Equestria lacks a ready supply of gelatin… and that would be way too awkward to explain. Luna nodded. "Very well, I look forward to seeing what you come up with. I shall send you back to the waking realm to get started." "Aww. But there's so much more cake back in Sugarcube Corner! There was other stuff I wanted to do too, but free food, Luna!" "Now is not the time to gorge yourself on sweets. Goodbye, Sterling Gears, I will be in touch." Her horn ignited in a familiar glow, and tendrils of magic swirled around me, growing in number until my vision was completely blue. "Wait, I want to touch your swooshy mane first—crap, I'm already awake." Despite my best efforts, there just wasn’t a substitute for snapping fingers. "Judging by the look on her face, I'd say she heard you." Dave laid next to me on the simple bed—little more than a cushion just big enough for a single pony to stretch comfortably without poking a limb over an edge. "Nah. I'm sure she was just in a hurry." After all, why wouldn't Luna have let me touch her mane? It was a perfectly reasonable request, since her hair looks like it's made of friggin' space magic. Dave's eyes rolled for the umpteenth time that day. "Regardless, you should get started on whatever you're going to make." Yawning and rubbing the last bits of sleep-gunk from my eyes, I stumbled through a delayed morning routine and delved into the caves to locate the largest gems I could find. Larger gems probably meant more magic storage, and more magic storage meant bigger boom. Hopefully, Twilight would be able to fully charge them herself, even if it took more than one sitting. Also hopefully, she wouldn't detonate them again. But before I could visit the Golden Oaks Library, a bribe gift was in order.