//------------------------------// // So Many Lights // Story: The Minuet // by Noble Phantasm //------------------------------// Chapter 7: So Many Lights Time and Space Await… -Here I find myself shivering in the heart of rain. The clouds whisper down in gusts the answers to my questions, but their replies fall dead on my skin. I cannot know them. It really seemed like the crowd was never going to thin. It was as though this old version of Canterlot contained an infinite number of ponies all who had been waiting for the return of these two baffled sisters. Even after Celestia had the courage to announce to all of them that their attempt to oppose Discord had failed miserably, they still insisted with their renewed optimism that now that they had returned there was still a chance. Celestia had managed to keep a cool expression with them cheering her on from a distance, but now that they were asking her all sorts of questions with an intensity and tempo she couldn’t keep up with, she flustered, confused as to what to respond to. Luna tried sinking away from any pony who tried asking her anything trying her best to hide next to her sister. Colgate stuck next to Sombra and Ruya who for a time could only really watch the mob swarm around their two friends. It was Ruya who eventually plunged her way into the crowd toward them without a care in the world. Sombra’s expression became horrified as soon as he saw her disappear into it. She hadn’t said anything to either of them. The little mare just decided on her own that she knew how to get to them and that she would be fine in her endeavor. Sombra took one step after her and then stopped, putting his hoof down, his face changing to a grieved look as he let out a sigh. There wasn’t anything he could do. Much to his relief, Ruya could be seen momentarily hopping up on top of Celestia’s back and turning to the crowd with the cross expression of a mother upset with her children. They began to quiet down one by one as each realized they were being scolded by a filly who was mad at them for harassing ‘the princesses’ as she kept referring to them even though she had gotten them riled up in the first place. Ruya had a strange presence about her, standing out with the sisters not because she was an alicorn, but because she was the only crystal pony among all of them. Maybe it was just because Ruya had been right about the sisters’ return that they decided to listen to her when she said they needed their rest, Colgate told herself, but there was still something far more unique about her than the simple fact that she was a crystal pony. Eventually she managed to filter Luna and Celestia out to where Colgate and Sombra were standing. “I guess even I underestimated their reaction,” Sombra chuckled. “Although you might be partly to blame for that.” As he said this, Ruya poked her head out through Celestia’s mane wrapping her head around in it. “I confused everypony didn’t I?” She said as if she had meant to and was asking if she had been successful. “Well you did get them all excited and then scold them for being too excited,” Luna replied. Ruya blinked at her a few times and then turned to Colgate doing the same thing. Luna held her stare seeming to think it normal while Colgate glanced to the others, wondering what Ruya staring at her was supposed to mean. “Ruya has contradicted herself,” The filly stated in first person. She seemed to want Colgate to respond. “Um…well,” Colgate started. “You shouldn’t do that.” You’re so good with kids, Colgate thought to herself, you’d think a dentist could do better. In fact, she knew she could do better. She just wasn’t in her element and Ruya didn’t seem like the child she appeared to be. “What should Ruya do then, she wonders,” Ruya said. “She sees strange lights near you and a tunnel that does not end. The waters are clear, but are so deep that the other side is not visible.” Her pupils visibly dilated and despite the fact that she was looking at Colgate, Ruya appeared to be gazing at something else, something that the flitting of her eyes suggested was dancing around in the reflection of Colgate’s. “Okay, time for you to get down,” Sombra said as he used his magic to lift Ruya from Celestia back, putting her firmly on the ground. Her blank stare went away after only a second. “Oo! Come on!” She exclaimed seemingly back to normal. “We have lots to tell them don’t we Sombra?” “Yes,” He said. “Yes we do…” Ruya trotted off to wherever it was she thought they were supposed to go, leaving them no choice but to follow her or have the child vanish from their sight. Sombra motioned for them to follow and they started walking after the mare. “What was that all about?” Colgate asked. “I’d pay you in the finest crystals I have if you could tell me what that filly is thinking half the time,” Sombra replied. “What’s her deal?’ Colgate continued at the risk of seeming overly curious and prying. “We don’t really know,” Sombra explained. “All I’ve managed to figure out is that she gets like that when exposed to strong sources of magic. She starts saying things that don’t make sense.” “You think she’s using magic?” Luna asked. “No, she’s not a unicorn. She can’t use magic. This environment doesn’t help either.” “What do you mean?” Celestia asked. “We’re surrounded by magical energy right now, there’s me, now you too, Discord’s magic is everywhere. When we first got here she wouldn’t stop talking about a mare that was staring at her from above. At first we thought she was talking about Screwball, but she said it was an alicorn and that it resembled the wind.” “That’s…eerie…” Celestia appeared worried. “She always acts like a normal kid around me.” “I know. You two are good for her, but there’s something else here that isn’t.” “What else?” “Inside first.” They took a sharp turn around a bend and met Ruya waiting at a wooden door that led inside a stone structure built into the castle. Sombra opened it and Ruya skipped inside as the others followed. Sombra shut the door as Colgate was the last one to make her way in. The room was a study, not unlike Twilight’s library back in Ponyville. The walls were practically made of books, the shelves curved to make the room look round, a combination of six glowing lanterns lighting the room as the door closed with a soft yellow. Sombra walked up to a desk, one of the lanterns above it casting its illumination on a cluster of scattered parchment in a state of disarray, a quill in an empty ink well at the far left corner. Sombra flipped through the papers filing them around with his hooves and a combination of magic until he seemed to find the one he was looking for. He brought the page into view, holding it up in front of himself for them to see. “These,” Sombra said. “What are those?” Celestia asked squinting at the page. Across the aged paper were scribbles in black ink that managed to from a distinguishable sketch. There were five diamonds, a sixth, larger than the rest, in the center around which the sketch suggested the others rotated. Colgate’s eyes widened. They didn’t look the same, but she knew what they were. “Well,” Sombra admitted. “This is just my interpretation of what they might be. We don’t really know.” “What exactly are…they?” Luna asked. “I’ve done several scans of them with my own magic from up here, but there appear to be six sources of magical energy beneath Canterlot.” “We found them,” Ruya chimed in. “There’s a big hole now! Like THIS big!” Ruya waved her hooves around in the air trying to exaggerated the size of what she was talking about as best as she could. “We’ve been trying to get to them,” Sombra explained. “From what I’ve gathered, their energy spreads through the entire Everfree forest.” “Is that why Discord and Screwball can’t come in here?” Colgate asked rather suddenly. She sunk away bashfully as everyone in the room looked at her.” “That…was my theory,” Sombra agreed slowly. “Dentist pony is smart pony,” Ruya hopped over to her and gave her a nudge with a smile. “What does that mean?” Celestia asked. “If their power resists the magic of Discord as strongly as it does…” He paused for Celestia to fill in the blank. “We can use them against him,” Colgate finished. “How do you know that Minuette?” Luna asked. “How can we be sure we can even control them?” “Well…I…” Colgate fell silent. As much as she wanted to appear intelligent before someone as apparently scholarly as Sombra, it wasn’t worth making them suspicious of her by rattling off all the answers just because she knew them. To her, the presence of what she knew to be the elements of harmony beneath the Everfree explained everything about why it was so unique. But to them, they were only six unknown magic objects buried in the ground. “You’re right Luna,” Sombra continued. “We can’t. In fact, we’ve dug into the cavern that contains them and none of us can enter it. The sheer amount of magic is overwhelming.” “Is there any way to get them out?” Celestia asked. “You two can do it,” Ruya said. “Ruya,” Sombra told her. “I know you have endless faith in them, but-” “No, no,” Ruya assured him “They can do it. I know they can. These two can do anything.” “Ruya…” Celestia’s expression softened as if Ruya’s undying faith were a little painful to see given the circumstances. “You can you can,” Ruya repeated. “Tell her you can Luna. The princesses can!” Sombra gave a sigh. “It won’t hurt to try I suppose,” He gave in. “But I can guarantee nothing.” “We’ll give it a go.” Celestia perked up. “It’s better than nothing at this point.” “Yay!” Ruya chanted gleefully. “Dentist pony can help too!” Ruya leapt over to Colgate and hopped up on top of her. She didn’t fit quite as well on Colgate’s back as she did Celestia’s and Colgate wasn’t used having things like this happen. Yet as she landed on her, Colgate went suddenly light headed. She felt the energy in her that was always causing problems take a reeling shift as if reacting to a nearby force. Ruya’s expression went abruptly blank and her pupils dilated to huge black circles. “The cold gates open and close with sharp clangs,” She muttered. “A young foal screams from under the current, but the waters swallow her voice.” “Ruya,” Sombra spoke. There was no response; the crystal pony kept going with her cryptic prose. “Ruya sees lights around her, so many lights. They are bright and glowing with intensity, but in the reflection of the foal’s eyes they are black holes in the columns of space. The wind is watching her.” “Ruya!” Sombra yelled to her. “The surface of the water is above and below her, either way she could escape, but she cannot swim. On one side, a crooked mare is laughing and on the other she is crying. The cold gates open and close, the cold gates open and close, the cold gates open and close…” Celestia quickly lifted Ruya from Colgate’s back and the sensation in her head subsided. Of all the things she had experienced so far, this was perhaps the eeriest. Even after Celestia took Ruya away from Colgate and Sombra came and took her to the other side of them room, she continued whispering the last of her lines in a desperate tone like if they were not spoken enough times they might not be enough to ward off some unknown curse. “The cold gates open and close, the cold gates open and close,” Sombra laid Ruya down and turning to Colgate narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Where did you find this new friend of yours?” Sombra asked. “Well…” Celestia paused. “She popped up out of nowhere,” Luna said. “We had just gotten beat by Discord and this pony shows up in the cave he sends us to.” Sombra’s horn lit up red again and Colgate could feel him looking at her. “You have an abnormal capacity for magic…” He didn’t really seem amazed by this, it was more like he was puzzled. “Is…that good?” Colgate asked. “I can’t tell…” He said. “It’s not that your capacity is large…looking at it…it’s more…indefinite I suppose is the word.” Colgate felt uneasy. “Wh-uhhheheh…what do you uh… mean?” Sombra had that sinister feeling about him again. It was a vibe Colgate didn’t like and didn’t really understand why she felt it. “Well,” He explained. “Every unicorn or alicorn has a certain capacity for the amount of magic their being can store before any more added energy will begin to harm their body. Your capacity, or perhaps storage limit, is undefined. There is no shape or limit nor is it big or small. It just… is…” “Infinite?” Colgate questioned. “No,” Sombra corrected her. “Indefinite. I cannot say you have an infinite capacity, as that would imply you have no limits…” Colgate was lost. “I…uh…my brain hurts…” Sombra seemed to stop and consider something for a moment. “Luna, Celestia,” He spoke. “What say you to taking today to rest? We can try to send you for the elements tomorrow. This mare’s power intrigues me. You wanted me to help her correct?” “Yes,” Celestia agreed. “I believe we could use that.” “Wh-” Luna expressed the opposite. “But Tia! We don’t have much time!” “Don’t rush Luna. I know you could definitely use a good nap.” “I don’t need a nap!” “Oh look how gwumpy you are. I think woona needs to be tucked in for bedtime.” Luna was lifted up from her place by Celestia’s magic flailing in protest. “H-hey!” She squirmed. “I’m not a filly anymore sis!” Celestia ignored her and walked over to Ruya, giving her a kiss on the forehead even as she was still muttering to herself. “Gotcha.” She said and turned to leave as Ruya was suddenly jarred from her trance. “Wh-” she looked around seeing Celestia trotting away with Luna wriggling at her side. “Did she…Agh!” Ruya leapt up and ran about in a circle wiping her forehead. “Uncle she kissed me! Eeewwww!” Celestia opened the door to the study and turned back to them. “Glad to see you’re better,” She said. “And Sombra, thank you. I‘ll make sure this one settles down.” He gave a bow and Celestia left with Luna throwing a tantrum. “This is your fault Minuette,” Luna cried. “If you weren’t so weird, you stupid weird, pony! Why do I…” Her voice trailed off as Celestia shut the door behind her, leaving Colgate with Sombra, a bit to her own discomfort. At least Ruya was still here. As abnormal as she was, it provided a presence to thin the tension that Sombra seemed to sow without intention. “So…” He began as if he meant to interrogate her. Colgate swallowed as Ruya attempted to run back to her, but Sombra stopped her with an outstretched hoof while holding his gaze on Colgate. “You claim to have stopped time?” “…yeah…” Colgate said hesitantly. Ruya puffed her cheeks and looked up crossly at Sombra. “I’ve studied a lot magic,” He continued lowering his hoof. “And I cannot say that such spells do not exist, but for you to have performed such magic would require a discipline that is far beyond what you seem to have considering it’s been stated that you don’t have full control over your power.” “Well that’s just it,” Colgate said. “I didn’t stop it intentionally.” Sombra raised an eyebrow. “Even less probable. That’s like saying you built this castle by throwing stone everywhere.” “uhhh…I’m not sure I understand.” “Perhaps you could show me then.” “What?” “Stop time.” “Now?” “Now.” Colgate flustered at this demand. “I…well I don’t know how…” She wished Sombra would believe her. The only reason she had been able to before was out of panic. She hadn’t really known what she had wanted her magic to do when Screwball tried to smash Celestia; she just wanted her magic to prevent that from happening. “Wait…” Something occurred to her and Sombra paused from he was about to say as she spoke. He seemed to realize she was thinking. She had just wanted to prevent something from happening, she reiterated in her head. Prevent. She mulled over the word. “Throw something at me,” She said abruptly. “What?” Sombra gave her a puzzled look. “Throw something at me,” She repeated. It was a sound theory in her own head. If she had somehow managed to stop time with the desire to prevent something from happening, the best way for her to try again was to somehow replicate that desire. This seemed like the best, or maybe only, method she could think of. Sombra frowned as if unwilling to go through with it. Without warning a book flew from the shelf behind Sombra and with the speed of a falcon, struck her in the head with a thump only a book could make as it flopped across her face. “Owwwwww,” Colgate cringed burying her face in her front hooves. Ruya fell into a fit of giggles while Sombra lowered his eyelids, clearly unimpressed. “You asked, I delivered,” He said flatly. Colgate raised her head back up, still rubbing her nose with one hoof. “I wasn’t even ready!” “Listen to yourself. Can you hear all that contradiction?” “Wh-whaaat?” “Dentist pony needs more time,” Ruya rolled over on the floor next to Sombra laughing. “To stop time!” “Of course it sounds silly if you say it like that!” Colgate argued. “That is essentially what you’re asking,” Sombra smirked. “She’s not motivated enough,” Ruya affirmed with certainty as she stood back up. “Here.” The filly trotted across the room past Colgate and stood behind her. Colgate watched her, turning her head as she passed, wondering how what she was doing was going to provide her with more motivation. “Throw the book at Ruya,” Ruya said, standing firmly in place. Sombra backed immediately away from this idea. “How about I don’t,” He said. “Get back over here. Weird things happen when you start talking in third person.” “But dentist pony needs a reason. She doesn’t want Ruya to get hit with a book does she?” “Uhhh…well…no” Colgate hesitated. She didn’t have anything against her, but she had laughed at her when Colgate had gotten hit by a book. “Now I like this even less…” Sombra huffed. “Ruya has faith in dentist pony. Smile dentist pony!” Colgate gave Ruya a puzzled look at this request, but gave her a small grin just because it seemed necessary. “See,” Ruya said. “She even has shiny teeth.” Someone finally understands, Colgate thought. You could trust a dentist with clean teeth. Although this reason for Ruya trusting her to use her magic right was really the wrong reason to trust her in the way she was, Colgate couldn’t help but agree with her. “She can do this herself Ruya. Besides,” Sombra told her. “Your father would not approve of me throwing books at you.” “Daddy doesn’t know dentist pony.” “Ruya…” “Toss away.” Sombra frowned and then suddenly seemed to accept the situation. “You know, why not? Maybe this’ll work.” He walked up to Colgate and met her face to face. “If she gets hit, you might die,” he whispered his shadow looming over her. For a moment, it felt like the shade itself was ready to swallow her and Colgate gulped, unable to find any sort of sarcasm in him. He seemed entirely serious. He walked calmly back to where he had been and turned to her with a smile. “Ready?” a book wafted off the shelf behind Sombra and floated next to him. Colgate swallowed again. Perhaps Ruya did know what she was doing. It certainly wasn’t going to end well if she couldn’t do this. Colgate gave a nod to Sombra, unable to speak, her mouth suddenly dry as her nerves took hold of her. She didn’t think Sombra would actually kill her…would he? She didn’t want to find out. She fixed her eyes on the book intently, ready to- Smack… “Owwwww!” Colgate held her face again. “I knew you couldn’t do it,” Sombra said. “Soooombraaa!” Ruya complained. “You’re supposed to throw it at me!” “Consider that a warning.” Colgate wasn’t used to this. Celestia had been such a kind and understanding mentor that the style Sombra was employing came off as rather cruel. Perhaps the future alicorn princess had spoiled her. Maybe Sombra was only trying to get her to realize what she was getting herself into. He had already proved he wasn’t afraid to hurt her for the sake of education. “Okay okay,” She said brushing her hoof across her face. Without warning another book sailed past Colgate and slammed against the wall behind Ruya. “Ah!” Ruya cried out. Colgate turned her head to her and the filly looked back at her with a betrayed gaze. Another book sailed past Colgate passing Ruya on the opposite side snapping its hardcover against stone. “Hey!” Ruya teared up. Colgate turned back to Sombra who wore a bleak expression with another one of his tomes at his side. Colgate didn’t have time to think, she just had to try what she had done before. Her horn lit up and she focused all of her magic at the single object at Sombra’s side with only the intention of stopping it from hitting Ruya. It cut through the air and just as it brushed past Colgate’s mane she heard the toll of a bell. The shackling of closing iron gates rippled through the air and Colgate watched this time as the floor below her turned to an icy gray, its world frozen. Colgate looked up. The book Sombra had thrown was right by her head and to her relief, the unicorn stood starkly motionless. Colgate grabbed the book out of the air and set it to the floor. “Ooo!” a voice rang as if the area were hollow. “I knew you could.” Colgate froze eyes widening. She turned her head slowly like there was something behind her she didn’t want to see, watching the grayscale landscape pan across her vision until her eyes met a sparkling spot of color. The crystal pony Ruya was as luminous as ever, despite everything else being dulled to the state of a statue. She smiled at Colgate, her faith in her still apparent in her eyes as she stood in the frozenness like nothing was wrong with the fact that she was still moving. “Wh-” Colgate stuttered. “How…” Was it broken? Did she do the spell right, Colgate thought? Was it even possible to…miss a spot? Maybe. Colgate didn’t know enough about her own magic to even begin to come to a conclusion. All she knew was that last time the spell had frozen everything and now this strange crystal pony was somehow unaffected by it. “Minuette can use the Timescape,” Ruya proclaimed happily. “The…what?” Colgate’s voice echoed as wall. But then she realized something else too. This was the first time Ruya had called her by her name. Up until now, she had referred to her as the dentist pony. “Timey wimey Timescape,” Ruya said. “You’ve got that funny tick tock in your eyeball don’t you?” Colgate put a hoof to her left eye suddenly conscious of the clicking hands. This was how it started last time. “How do you know about…” “Ruya touches many magics. Funny magics, scary magics, weird magics, and cool magics. I see a lot.” Colgate glanced to Ruya’s cutie mark feeling like the eye might be staring back at her somehow. “Ruya…” Colgate asked. “How did you get your cutie mark?” “I was born with it.” Was nothing strange to this mare? “You know, there really are a lot of lights around you.” Colgate glanced around. There was nothing around her but books and shelves, certainly not anything that could be considered lights, but Ruya seemed to insist that they were everywhere when she looked at her. “Wh-what lights?” “Do you want to see?” Ruya took a step forward. “No no,” Colgate backed up. “That’s okay.” “Oh…” Ruya lowered her ears. “But it’s so pretty.” Colgate’s head started to pound. “I don’t feel good…” “You really don’t want to see?” “No…” “Okay…” Ruya walked toward her and as Colgate shifted away, Ruya picked up the book on the floor and took it over to her uncle. She placed the book at Sombra’s feet, positioning herself at his side with a sincere, but disappointed smile. “You should stop the spell then,” She said. “R-right…” This was the one part Colgate was sure of. Stop, she imagined and the ticking stopped. The bell tolled once again and she heard that sound. Wherever the iron gates were that she kept hearing, opened and the room flashed back into color. The book on the floor gave a shift and Sombra blinked a few times, wondering where everything in front of him had just gone. All he saw was Colgate, with a sheepish expression on her face. Sombra’s eyes flitted about the room until he looked to his side to find Ruya looking up at him like it was where she had been the entire time. “How did you…” He paused. “Get… there…” His eyes shifted to the book at his feet and then to Colgate as he lifted the tome off of the floor with his magic. “She did it,” Ruya said. “I told you she could.” “So it seems…” Sombra stared at Colgate wonderingly, leaving her a bit uncomfortable under his gaze. “You saw this…happen?” “She can even move stuff Sombra. She moved me and that book all the way across the room.” “I’ll never understand your perception of things…” Colgate wondered after this comment if Sombra knew Ruya had been able to move herself or if he was just attributing her assurance of the event to her strange affinity to know events even if she didn’t experience them herself. “But I believe you this time…What I saw was…otherwise unexplainable I suppose.” “What did you see?” Colgate asked, curious of what those who were frozen during her spell saw when it stopped and they were left to the reality around them changed by her somehow while they were away. “One moment a book is flying at my niece and the next she was by my side and the book is at by my hooves. You’ve moved as well.” It really was just a sudden shift. “But you can really do it…” His eyes went misty and for a few moments he seemed lost in thought. Ruya tilted her head at him while he was quiet waving a hoof in front of his face to get his attention. Colgate felt herself shaking. The effects of the magic weren’t as bad this time, but of course she hadn’t been using it nearly as long nor had she moved around as much or carried anything. “Minuette is it?” Sombra finally spoke. “Yes.” Colgate responded in a weak voice. Ruya’s disappointed face was still in her mind. She hadn’t wanted to upset anyone. Maybe she was over thinking her reaction. “Have you ever heard the term noble phantasm?” “No…” “Are you familiar with the unicorn Starswirl?” Colgate had heard the name before, but didn’t really know much about him, only that he used to be a great mage. “Yes.” “He brings the term up in the research of his that I’ve read. You know what it is? A noble phantasm is the greatest type of magic. It’s a type of magic so potent that it can bring about impossibilities, things that can alter reality itself. Discord’s magic is the best example of this that comes to mind that you would know of. I suspect the things buried beneath our city may be on this level as well.” “What does this have to do with me?” “Your magic is the closest I’ve seen since I met Luna and Celestia.” “I’m not that strong…” Colgate remembered seeing Celestia take on an Ursa major and how in her own time the princess could lift something as huge as the sun into the sky every day. What was her magic in the face of that or even Discord’s who had both the sun and the moon careening around in the sky constantly? Sombra gave Colgate another look down as his horn shone. She turned her face away. “There are traces of energy around you,” He said. “Your magic seems to be…spatially based.” He was far too fascinated for his own good, oblivious to anypony else. But, Colgate couldn’t really blame him. Magic seemed to be Sombra’s passion just like dentistry was hers. If only her spells could get her a brush. “I don’t know what that means,” Colgate nearly whispered. “I just want to go home…” “Are you alright?” He asked, his horn dimming as he seemed to catch on. “I’m just tired.” “Oh. Well that’s understandable I suppose. After magic like that I can see how it might take a lot out of any pony. Perhaps we should stop for now.” Sombra was just confusing, Colgate told herself. Maybe it was because she was just frustrated at the moment, but one minute he was throwing books at her in a forceful way to get her to learn and now he was being compassionate. Which one was he really? It was hard to appear sinister and kind at the same time, but somehow he pulled it off. “Why…” Colgate started. “Why did you throw those books at Ruya?” “I had to create a sense of urgency for you, maybe fear perhaps. It’s really the only way a grown unicorn does magic by accident.” “Right…” Colgate turned away. “I’ll be outside.” “You know there are better places to sleep than-” “I’ll be fine,” Colgate cut him off. “Alright then,” he said as she opened the door. “I’ll most likely be here if you need something. Although I can’t guarantee I won’t get sidetracked to somewhere else.” “Thank you…” Colgate closed the door behind her as she walked out. She smacked a hoof against the stone below her. That was an incident short of humiliating, she thought. Sombra’s elation at her apparent success didn’t really make things better. It made her feel like she had been being ogled. This wasn’t how she was going to get home and she knew it. Maybe she was making progress, but it didn’t seem like it was getting her any closer to making a leap in time as large as a thousand years. Colgate looked up as she felt the breeze tingle coldly at her neck. It was actually dark, she realized. The sky was actually the deep blue that night was supposed to have and there even stars and despite the fact that they moved around without discretion, it was still refreshing. She took a deep breath and walked away from the door of Sombra’s study. “Oh poor Minuette. She can’t figure out her magic,” A voice came that seemed to echo all around her. Colgate stopped, looking spastically in different directions. There was no one. “Maybe you need to focus harder.” Colgate spun around and was met with a pair of yellow and red eyes. She stumbled backwards quickly getting back to her feet, and preparing to defend herself. Had her assumptions been wrong? “H-how did you get into the Everfree?” Colgate asked. Before her was Discord, the being she had thought, along with Screwball, couldn’t enter the Everfree. It made even less sense now that she knew the reason behind why it was the case. But had Discord only been pretending? “Let’s just say I’m pulling a few strings,” He said smirking. He teleported popping up behind Colgate and putting his hands on her shoulders again. “Why do you always do this,” Colgate snapped. “It’s creepy.” Discord took his hands away looking offended. “Well. I was only trying to be your friend.” “Since when do you care about that?” “Aha!” Discord laughed. “Listen to you. You reek of loneliness.” “It’s not like you know that.” Colgate turned away from Discord and went to walk away. It was clear he wasn’t here for anything nor did it seem like he could do much. He was just making fun of her. “Please,” Discord said. “We both know you don’t belong here.” “What?” Colgate turned around, but Discord was gone. She rotated around in a circle looking for him in any corner of anything she laid eyes on. There was nothing. Had he really come here just to say that? Maybe her fatigue was getting to her. Colgate took a second look around and then a third. It was Discord after all. Discord. How had he managed to get into the forest with the elements of harmony keeping him out? Even a fourth look around seemed merited. There air was still though and there was no evidence to prove she hadn’t been talking to it and not Discord. Had he actually been there? Colgate shook her head. Nothing. She backed away from the area slowly, making sure he wasn’t coming back. It would be silly, Colgate told herself, for Discord to come here. Even as powerful as he was, Luna, Celestia, and Sombra and who knew how many other ponies were all here. Was he strong enough to defeat all of them? Maybe. But she had sworn Discord had been unable to enter the Everfree before. Had he somehow managed to enter temporarily? That would explain why his visit had been so short. She would have to tell Luna and Celestia about this the next day. For now, she felt like there was something horribly wrong with her, aside from being in the wrong time period. Instead of going inside like she should have, Colgate found herself a corner in the wall surrounding the castle. She curled up in a ball like a cat, laying her head down and folding her tail across her body. She didn’t close her eyes though. Seeing Discord was enough to keep her awake for at least a while. If she had been born in this era she would have never made it, she thought. How could Sombra think she was as strong as Luna and Celestia? If it weren’t for them she would have died in the cave her magic had dropped her in. Colgate heard a hoof click in front of her. She looked up to find Ruya looking down at her with concern. “What do you want?” Colgate asked. After hearing herself she realized how rude she must have sounded. “Ruya doesn’t have to be special to see that a pony is sad,” She said. This was true she supposed, but it was still strange of her to know why she was sad. It seemed that way at least, she knew a lot that Colgate had assumed only she knew. “How did you know I was a dentist?” “I don’t know, Ruya just knew.” “Who told you?” “It always seems like it’s Ruya who tells herself. She tells herself things that are true.” “Do you know what your cutie mark means?” Ruya took a glance at it and, turning back to Colgate shrugged. “No idea.” She said “I guess that makes two of us,” Colgate sighed. “Were you really born with it?” “Yup. Mom and Dad were so confused,” She giggled. “And now I’m confused.” “I got mine when my magic saved me and my friend from a falling boulder…” Colgate paused and then gave a dry laugh. “I guess it’s really the only good thing it’s ever done for me.” “Your Berry friend is special to you isn’t she?” “How did you…” Colgate raised her head. “I knew,” Ruya said. Then, she flopped down, placing herself at eye level to Colgate in a position like a cat about to pounce. “But you know things too! Like them? You know about them right? The things below Canterlot?” “The…” Colgate didn’t want to say it. It seemed like she would be giving herself away. Then again, this mare seemed to already know everything. “Elements of harmony!” Ruya finished, her pale red eyes twinkling with excitement in the starlight. “Y-yes…” Colgate raised an eyebrow at her. “I knew it. You know!” “So…”A thought occurred to Colgate. “Is there a reason why you call Luna and Celestia princesses?” “You know about that too!” Ruya bounced up and down with glee. “They are princesses aren’t they! See I know you.” “But… how?” “Of course I know you. You use the Timescape.” “What exactly is the…Timescape?” Colgate paused mid sentence to make sure she was saying the term right. “Hmm,” For once Ruya seemed flustered. “I don’t know. Or maybe I do. I just can’t say.” “You can’t say or you don’t know?” “Yes.” Colgate let her face flop to the ground. There was nothing sensical about this pony. “You know…” Colgate searched for words, but couldn’t find any. “You’re weird.” Ruya’s eyes filled with water and her expression drooped like she was about to cry. “I-I didn’t mean in a bad- I mean you’re…never mind.” Colgate lowered her head and went back to sulking. How could she even screw up walking to Ruya? Idiot. A nudge removed her from mentally scolding herself. “I knew what you meant,” Colgate looked back to Ruya who was smiling now. She sighed. Pranked by a filly, she thought. She should have seen past that one. “Do you want to see the Timescape?” Colgate raised her head back up. “Can you show it…to me?” “You’ve already been there silly.” “I…have?” “Of course. Where did you think you went?” Suddenly Colgate didn’t know what Ruya was referring to. “Besides I can’t really show it to you.” “Then…why did you-” “Oo! Wanna see something neat?” Ruya interrupted. “Is it the Timescape?” “No no, silly. What gave you that idea?” Colgate gave a mental shrug. Whatever this filly was thinking she would just have to play along with. Offering to show her something she had apparently already seen, but never in her memory been to was strange enough, but then to completely go back on that and Ruya saying there was no way for her to show Colgate whatever the Timescape was and then offering to show her something, but that something being completely different, was so logically bent that Colgate gave up on trying to reason around the crystal pony. “What do you want to show me?” Colgate asked. “Hold out a hoof,” Ruya said. Colgate did so and Ruya stretched out her own and pressed the two together. Colgate felt something on the inside react again like the last time Ruya had touched her. This time though, Ruya didn’t fall into a trance and start rattling off riddles. Instead Colgate watched as the space around her turned into a shining spectral blue sky, lights like stars suddenly all around them. It was like Ruya had somehow brought them out into space and she was looking at the night sky from a place that wasn’t Equestria. Colgate looked down, the ground below her seemingly gone, replaced by the brilliant spatial display Ruya had somehow conjured up. She looked all around her taking it in, wondering what it was all supposed to be and how Ruya was showing her this. “Is this the Timescape?” Colgate asked just to make sure. “No,” Ruya replied. “This is you.” Colgate tilted her head. “What do you mean?” “I told you,” Ruya smiled. “There are so many lights around you. Look at all of them.” “Is this…what you see?” “Sometimes. All of the time. Never.” “Wh-” Colgate let it go. “I don’t get it. What is all of this supposed to mean?” “I don’t know. It’s you silly. You’re supposed to know.” “Know what?” Ruya took their hooves apart and the image faded before Colgate’s eyes like a projector had been turned off. She found herself once again surrounded by dull stone and grass. Ruya stood up and took a step away from her and without a word turned to leave. “Hey,” Colgate said. “Wait.” Ruya turned her head to her as she stopped and Colgate was left wondering what to ask. There were so many things Ruya made her wonder and yet for all the mare seemed to know, she didn’t know why it was that she knew. “How did you do that?” Colgate asked. “You’re not a unicorn. How can you use magic?” “It’s not magic.” “Then, what…?” “Sombra has always said that crystal is one of the best conductors of magical energy. It’s your magic dentist pony. It’s you.” Colgate fell silent. Me, she thought? Even if crystal was an excellent conductor of magic, Ruya still wasn’t a normal crystal pony. Not all of them could do that could they? Colgate had never really met any, but every pony seemed to think Ruya was strange on some level so it must have just been her. “You know if you sleep there it’ll be cold,” Ruya told her. “I…I’ll be fine…” Colgate kept looking at her like if she came back so many times she might eventually see something about Ruya she hadn’t before. There was nothing though. On the surface, she was a normal crystal pony. Ruya turned to leave again, walking slowly instead of trotting. “If you ever feel lonely again,” She said as she went. “Remember all of the lights.” Colgate lowered her head again as Ruya rounded a corner. Remember all of the lights… Why? What were the lights and why were they important? She felt better, that much Ruya had somehow managed to accomplish, but she was at the same time perplexed. It certainly kept her from sleeping for a little bit. She could almost hear Ruya’s reply continuously echo in her ears as she tried to rest when she had asked her if what she had been shown was what Ruya called the Timescape or not. “No,“ She had said. “This is you.”