White room. Black furniture. That sterile light. It was a prison by any other name, just one without locks or bars, the inmate keeping himself in. But to Cauterium, this place was home, as it had been for good many years. Only in his home, his gilded and self-imposed cage, are his thoughts truly one; only there do the monsters go away; only there does his mind unfurl itself and sun, bringing with it all of Cau’s genius.
For it was Cauterium ‘Cau’ who had been sentenced to death. He had often asked himself what crime he had committed, the deafening silence being his only answer in those darkest times. For him there was but one hope: that he defeat his enemy, thus earning his clemency.
For it was Cauterium who could pass his sentence onto his foe. He could buy his life by taking those which stood before him, for his life was already forfeit. And should he fail, he would not only condemn himself but his country and all he holds dear.
To Cau, only death, despair, and enslavement of his countrymen awaited him should he fail or falter. He made no illusions: he was a dead stallion walking. His only choice was to die fighting, or to survive it – and he was already dead. He had been dead since before he had moved to Equestria; since when he had helped create a political entity that sought world domination through slavery and genocide. It was him home, and he would die to defend it. It was only too convenient that he was already without life.
Cau shook his head, clearing his head of his morbid reality. To his left was a light-green stallion with a huge Narcissus Flower in his mane. Narcissus was taking in the deathly sights and sounds with the utmost less-than grace.
“Ohhh, beau! Don’t tell moi dzat this lair is your residence!” Narcissus wrinkled his nose and gagged at the layers upon layers of caked dust. “Dzis place needs a wrap up, beau! Look how much dirt dzere is!” He gestured at the light. “Dzis light is dangerous for your eyes, beau! No wonder dzat you have your glasses always on! You should-“
“WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP?” Cau barked.
Narcissus rolled his eyes, cooing, “Oh, Beau! Don’t be so nervous. Moi just cares about you!”
Cau sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Just-just keep quiet for a minute – please! I need to focus.” He slowly approached the mechanism that made up the room’s centerpiece. There were six gemstones, all wired together, but only five glowed with an ethereal light; the sixth gem did not gleam, for it yet waited for a host.
Cauterium pursed his lips to the side, sticking his tongue out by the thinnest of margins. His brow furrowed in concentration as he observed the device with an almost lustful gaze.
“Is dzat your precious device, beau?”
“No, it’s my vending machine. I use it to serve all the snazziest soda in all of Equestria. Would you like a Diet Rocky Dew?”
A moment of silence.
“Of course it is, genius! What else would it be?”
“Oh, you are nervous again, beau! Calm down. Moi just likes to hear you answer.”
Cau sighed, grinding his teeth as he attempted to block Narcissus out. In an attempt to ignore his twittering compatriot, he grabbed at one of the gems in a field his magic. His particular selection was a crimson and heart-shaped ruby, simultaneously disconnecting the associated wires, as he picked it up. Concentration still well and dandy, he proceeded to repeat the process with the remaining four gems, leaving the final gem, the one without a light, to its own devices.
As the gems floated in air, bobbing up and down as they defied Sir Isaac Newton, Narcissus found himself staring at them.
“The gems of Clarity are just too fascinating,” Narcissus mumbled, eyes unwilling to leave the gems.
Cau cracked a smirk. “Their aesthetics are less-than pressing as far as I’m concerned; it is their ability that harbors my interest.” He chuckled.“ Small wonder why they tried to keep them from my hoofs. Though I must admit, they didn’t put up a fight once I ‘liberated’ them.”
“They’re like changelings, no? Taking on the forms and powers of others. Truly a natural wonder, n'est-il pas?” Narcissus replied in an absentminded tone.
“And now,” Cau chuckled,” now it is filled with information – info on the Elements.” He licked his lips. “Now all we’ve to do is find our fellow comrades-in-arms.”
Narcissus shook his head. “Eet shall be a difficult task, beau. Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, and Honesty. Even if we find ponies dzat are worthy, dzey will not necessarily support your ideals.”
Cau only smiled. “Do you really think that I didn’t calculate that into my plans?”
“Dzen what are you going to do, beau?” Narcissu inquired, tilting his head a few degrees to the side.
“Just watch,” Cau responded, trotting over to a black box in an odd corner of the room. In place of a lock, there was a large hole. Cau made as if to ram the box, only to prod his horn into the container, giving a pulse of magic to activate it.
With a sickly green flash, the chest opened.
“Ou, beau... W-what ees dzat dzing?” Narcissus gasped.
By the emerald green of Cau’s magic, a gemstone rose into the air. The gem was spherical, its surface blacker than the darkest, most moonless night. Within its confines swirled a black, smoke, sedimentary mass of energy – bringing to mind the image of a Tesla coil. The gem looked evil, it felt evil; even the light seemed to shy away from it.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Cau murmured.
“No, beau.” Narcissus gulped. “Eet ees… Eet ees Firstborn Darkness! Eet ees horrible!” Just looking into it, Narcissus felt his soul being torn away from his body, consumed by the raw blackness of infinite night. It was as though dark, hungry fiend had reached out to him, deciding it was him that it would violate with its etched tendrils of shadow.
“You’re smarter than you look, Narcissus. This IS a part of Firstborn Darkness.”
“But where did you get this?”
“I, uh, ‘borrowed’ it from the Garden of the Truth, along with Gems of Clarity.” Cauterium flashed Narcissus an evil grin.
“Those Treowth guys has DZAT dangerous thing in the Garden?”
Cau’s grin didn’t even falter. “You’re surprised? Those freaks get everything and anything, no matter how dangerous it might be, for their research. What else would you expect for ‘Celestia’s finest’?”
“But what are YOU going to do with dzis, beau?” Narcissus asked, taking a single step back.
“Just watch. I’ll going to change these Elements of so-called 'goodness' for, heh, good.”
*****
A bird, a mockingbird, sang his song outside a Ponyville window - a window on a building that ostensibly was a tree. Within the tree, however, was a library.
“Just five more minutes,” Twilight groaned, rolling over, eyes not even open. The mocking bird insisted.
“Wha’ she sssaid,” Spike agreed through a drowsy slur.
The mocking bird insisted that Twilight pay attention to its “beautiful song”, going as far as to hop through the window and onto her bed. Twilight slowly opened her eyes to face the music of the morrow – and the bird.
“Shut up!” she growled, throwing her pillow at the bird. The bird squawked as the mass of fluff impacted him, sending him tumbling to the floor. It sputtered around on the floor before righting itself and yelling curses in its bird language to Twilight who, unfortunately for the mockingbird, did not speak bird.
Twilight grumbled something about getting an electric bird fence put up around her house as she crossed her arms and used them as an impromptu pillow.
Somepony rapped upon her front door; Twilight did not heed it. It came again. And again. Until finally Twilight rolled her way out of the warmth of the covers and into the coldness of her library.
Twilight lolled her head about, craneing a bit of stiffness out from the night prior. The knocker rapped again. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” she called out, shuffling her hooves and yawning the last bits of drowse out of her system.
With a frown, she walked by her vanity, seeing how messed up her mane was. She casually ran a hoof through it, getting ride of the worst offenders amongst it.
The clopping of her hooves remained her nigh silent companion. And then, finally, “M-may I help you?”
A mare stepped forwards through the wooden portal. The god-rays reflected off the glasses on her nose as she bowed her head. Her coat was a mix of azure and faint white stains; her mane was a keen grayish-blue hue, topped off with multiple braids. Her cutie mark depicted two crossed scrolls. The only other notable feature of this mare was a silver chain and clock hanging around the mare’s neck.
“Good morning. My name iz Azure Knowledge,” she offered, her tone very matter-of-fact. “You may call me Azure, Mizz Twilight Sparkle.”
“What’s the ruckus about?” someone called out from somewhere behind Twilight. She glanced over her shoulder to see Spike standing on the stairs, rubbing his eyes, a blank expression on his face.
“Morning, Spike. We seem to have guests.”
“Oh,” he replied, walking off in a seemingly random direction.
“So, um, okay, uh, Miss Azure, do you need something from the library?” Twilight inquired.
Azure shook her head. “Not today, Mizz Twilight.” She bowed her head slightly. “We only have some queztions to ask you.”
“What kind of questions?” Spike asked, suddenly reappearing by Twilight’s side, evoking a small jump from Twilight.
Azure turned her head to incredibly bulky unicorn, her sole companion. His coat was faint lavender, while his mane was dark lavender. The stallion gestured to his cutie mark, a large red-top and white-bottom pill. The way his almost buggy eyes lazily looked about gave Twilight the impression he was dead-tired, a thought contradicted by most everything else about him.
“Doctor Power Pill,” Azure asked, “pleaze show them.”
“Of course,” ‘Doc’ replied, his voice a deep baritone that was strangely calm, almost affectionate in its tone, a curious contrast to his huge bulk. A soft purple light found itself encasing his horn, that same light opened up his saddlebag and levitated out a poster.
The poster floated through the air to Twilight. Thinking her eyes were still adjusting to the light, she fluttered her eyelids. When the image stayed whom she thought it was, she gasped. It was that same light-brown stallion with glasses from the day before.
Twilight adjusted her jaw back to where it belonged, saying, “Y-yes, we have seen this stallion. W-why do you ask?”
Azure Knowledge took a step forwards. “Thiz ztallion is a zuzpect of a crime, mizz Twilight.”
“What kind of crime?” Spike asked, a puzzled expression dominating his features.
Azure blinked, holding her eyes shut for a solid three seconds as she let out a long exhale. “About a week ago, zomeone broke into the Garden of Truth and ztole the Academy’s property. Zix Gems of Clarity, to be exact.” Twilight’s left eye twitched as her jaw fell to the floor.
“Hey, Twilight,” Spike whispered, “what is she talking about?” He elbowed her. “Hey, you okay?”
Twilight shook her head as if drying it of water. “Y-yeah, I’m fine.” She bit her bottom lip. “I’ll tell you later, okay?” Spike rolled his eyes, groaning as he nodded. Twilight turned her attention back to Azure. “Why do you suspect Microscope?” Twilight asked.
“M-Microzcope? We don’t zuspect the headmaster,” Azure replied, cocking a brow into the air.
“No? But-” Twilight started, only to be cut off by Dr. Power Pill.
“Miss Twilight,” he stated, his done lacking any inflection. “Please tell us how you met the stallion from the picture”.
“Ok, here goes,” Twilight replied.
In the span of a few minutes Twilight recounted her brief experience with the stallion from yesterday, conveniently leaving out the parts where she had really weird feeling towards him. Azure intently stared at her the whole while, Azure taking brief notes in a little booklet.
“It that’s all?” the Doc inquired as Twilight finished. Twilight nodded.
“Well there is one thing,” Spike added. Twilight shot him a vaguely concerned expression.
“I’m listening,” Power stated, his expression nigh impossible to read.
Spike scratched at the back of his neck “Now I know how silly this sounds, but is it possible for this stallion to have some kind of magical cologne? I ask ‘cause that guy on the picture there had a very, very weird scent about him. Made me want to bite him, but apparently made a few mares in town woozy.” Spike darted his eyes about, taking care not to meet Twilight’s gaze. While Twilight rolled her eyes at the preposterous convention, Power and Azure exchanged nervous glances.
“Not cologne, but pozzibly perfume,” Azure absent-mindedly mumbled under her breath.
The Doc, on the other hoof, bowed his head to Spike. “Thank you, little guy. We’ll be sure to keep that thought in mind.” He turned to look at Twilight. “Is that all, Miss Twilight?”
Twilight nodded her head. “That I can think of, yes. B-but he spoke with my friends. You may want to ask them if they know anything t-that could help.”
Power Pill nodded. “Thank you. Now listen to me, Miss Twilight. This stallion is a genius and a scientist - a very good scientist at that. He went missing around the same time the Gems of Clarity were yoinked from Garden of Truth. We, the Cerchens, zuspect him of stealing them – though for a number of reason other than just the coincidence, all of which, I’m afraid to say, are confidential. If you see him again, please don’t hesitate to contact us.” He glanced to his companion. “Azure, dear, would you?”
“Of courze!” Azure chirped, opening up her saddlebag and pulling out a bronze cube with complementary key, hoofing both over to Twilight. “In order to get in contact with us just use this dollbox. Simply turn the key three timez; you will know what to do next.”
Twilight accepted the box in a field of magic, exchanged a confused glance with Spike in the meanwhile.
“Now, we shall be on our way,” Power Pill said. As the two began to walk away, Power stopped and turned his head to Twilight. “By the way, my name is Doctor Power Pill, but msot ponies call me ‘the Doc’ or just ‘Doc’. It was a pleasure to meet a legend like you, Miss Twilight.” He made a motion as if tipping an invisible hat to her, then walked away for good.
“Okay, Twilight, tell me what that look was about. You know, the one you made with regards to the Garden of whatchamacallit,” Spike asked, closing the door for his mistress.
“The Garden of Truth is essentially the scientific think tank of Equestria, Celestia’s best and brightest train and study there,” Twilight explained, trotting back into her library.
“If that’s true, then why didn’t you go there, hm?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Because that’s for science and technology. As passionate as I am about the sciences, I’m a sorceress at heart – something for which princess Celestia is without peer. While the boundaries between magic and science are vague at best, they remain two distinct disciplines at their core. Anyways, it only made too much sense to go into the magical arts, and with Celestia my teacher – well, the rest is history to you.
“Ya-huh,” Spike deadpanned. “And of the Gardens themselves?”
Twilight made a playful sigh. “You didn’t happen to read that little book I gave you two weeks ago, did you?”
“Um... I plead the fifth.”
Twilight chuckled, “Whatever.” She marched up her stairs, taking care to make sure there were no more sleep-hating mockingbirds milling about.
“Let’s, uh, let’s say I didn’t read the book – hypothetically, of course. How’d you explain it to me were that the cast – which it totally isn’t,” Spike continued, trotting up after Twilight.
Twilight frowned. “You see, Spike, the Garden of Truth is amongst the most well-protected places in all of Equestria. It holds wonders beyond the imagination, Spike. Some even say it holds technology that Equestria isn’t ready – they say that some of which, in the wrong hooves, can be used as devastating weapons.” Twilight gave a slow, almost remorseful shake of her head. “I believed it was impossible to steal from them, let alone get away with it.” The right corner of her mouth twitched. “Shows what I know, huh?”
Spike groaned. “What’s the problem, Twilight? It’s their problem, not ours. Besides, I’m pretty sure if what was stolen was really, really serious then Princess Celestia would be having every available pony after it. I’m sure it was probably a device that turned oak trees into larches.” He shivered. “The larch, the most evil of all trees. I still have nightmares about those.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and ambled back down the stairs, beginning to pace all about the library as Spike stared at her from the second floor. “But what if he did steal something dangerous? What if Equestria really is in danger?”
“Pffft. You’re worrying too much. Besides, there’s probably nothing we can do about it. Leave it to those Cherchen guys. They probably got their jobs for a reason, you know.”
Twilight shook her head side-to-side, kicking the thoughts from the forefront of her mind to its back. “You know what, Spike? You’re right. Just think of where I’d be if I had let every little thing get to me – and please don’t bring up the times when I did let it happen.” She flashed Spike an oversized grin.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, where she had pushed her dark thoughts, a voice rang forth, uttering a strident reminder. In a loud voice, it called out, “And if you hadn’t followed your instincts, just think of where your brother and sister-in-law would be.” Twilight did her best to ignore the itch of paranoia clawing from within her skull.
It refused to leave her alone. Despite her most supreme of efforts, the thought remained a constant, buzzing reminder of the grim reality of what happened when she ignored her honed instincts. The paranoia just simmered there, itching, scratching, burning, and clawing at the back of her mind to the point where Twilight physically scratched the back of her head.
“Now with that settled,” Twilight chirped, “let’s start the day!” She pulled a large, fat scroll seemingly out of the aether. “Step one: wake up – check!”
*****
“Zo, the report waz right,” Azure sighed, cantering through the busy streets of Ponyville alongside the giant Power Pill. “But what doez he need information on the Elementz of Harmony for? Thatz what I want to know.”
“A good question, but let’s not get distracted from the point. It was him, that’s a fact now,” the Doc offered, a hint of a drawl dancing through his words.
“Well, it doeznt zurprize me!” she snapped. “He’z alwayz been obzezzed with thoze damnable gemz!”
Doc glanced at the Ponyville town hall before looking back to his companion. “And it seems like Narcissus has gone with him.”
“What do you mean?” Azure inquired, pursing her lips to the side.
He sighed. “Think about it. Who help in the whole of Equestria would have not only the gall but the knowhow on how mix such a brew, eh?
Azure gritted her teeth. “You know what? That makez zense.” She stomped a hoof on the dirt. “Narcizzuz, you sneaky b-”
“Indeed,” Power interjected. “Narcissus was the only one to really converse with Cauterium.” He frowned. “Well, except you that is.” He shook his head. “ Furthermore, Narcissus is the only one who ever showed Cau any sympathy... kinda.”
“You’re preaching to the converted,” Azure remarked, casually dodging out of the way of a particularly clumsy carriage puller.
Doc sighed. “You know as well as I do that those were geniuses. I haven’t the foggiest as to what they’re doing, but I can guarantee that it won’t be pretty.”
Azure shifted her eyes towards the heavens. “What are we going to do now, Doctor? I’m open to any suggestions.”
Power Pill gritted his teeth and shrugged. “Nothing pertinent. All we can do is follow the breadcrumbs and hope that pa abandons our wicked stepmother at the end, so to speak. Knowing our luck, we’ll probably get eaten by the witch. I can say this, though: we must find and apprehend him, no matter the cost. He has shard of firstborn darkness. Celestia only knows what he’s going to do with it... And not even our princess dearest knows.”