Oscura remained silent as the door behind her closed. The mare continued her way down the hall, and stopped to gaze upon one of the stain glass windows:
A grey coated Unicorn with a wild mane of black was depicted being sealed away by Princesses Luna and Celestia.
A slight frown appeared on Oscura’s face.
“A universe where mother is both a stallion and evil…” Oscura shook her head.
“Ahem. We are on a time limit,” Maud impatiently called out.
“Ah, my apologies.”
Oscura continued her way down the hall, finally stopping in front of Cadance and the others. After a quick, polite bow from Oscura, an awkward silence filled the room.
“…I believe you said there was a time limit?” Oscura broke the silence, “I realize that it would be… difficult to see someone who looks so much like an enemy.”
“…True,” Cadance reluctantly agreed.
“But from my point of view,” Oscura continued, “It appears that my mother’s nemesis has overthrown her, taken control of her kingdom and enslaved my father.”
Big Macintosh’s mouth twitched at her statement, but he remained silent.
“Why did you join Golden Gem on her quest?” Cadance continued on.
“When they arrived in my universe, it was unexpected and…shall we say violent? After mother got the situation under control, I head Gem’s story.”
“And what did you think about it?”
“That she is a terrible liar,” Oscura chuckled, “The corner of her left eye twitches when she lies. We both noticed as she mentioned that it was completely safe.”
“…And?” Cadance asked.
“That if it was safe, she would not have attempted to recruit Fantasia, Bellona and myself,” Oscura motioned down to her sword, “We do represent a significant amount of magical capabilities, and I believe she has not attempted to recruit Sparking Cider, Bliss, Idun or Novamac because that would have been seen as too suspicious.”
“…Temporal and Stratos said the same thing.”
“They have been with her the longest, it would be logical that they are equally suspicious,” Oscura nodded, “Bellona doesn’t care, and Golden Sweet is probably just as suspicious of her.”
“And Rhapsody?”
“It depends on who I ask. Gem says she’s vital, but Stratos and Temporal believe that she came along by accident. Either way, I am not… certain,” Oscura paused, “I have… reservations about bringing such a young child with us. The more I look back on things, the more I realize we were ridiculously lucky to end up somewhere safe. Imagine if I had appeared here, what would you do?”
Big Macintosh and Cadance exchanged a quick look of uncertainty as Oscura chuckled.
“Imprisoned with little to no chance of being freed, correct?”
“Highly probably,” Maud shrugged as the royalty stared daggers at her. Maud shrugged again, “Don’t lie to me, your highness.”
Cadance sighed, “Yes, we would have.”
“Exactly my point, but we are getting off topic,” Oscura shook her head, “I am here because my mother felt that I would be able to handle myself and…”
Oscura’s aura reached into her armor and pulled out what appeared to be a bladeless knife handle. Smiling, she spun it around, revealing a switch.
“This is a multiversal beacon. It’s specifically tuned to release a pulse that will alert my world’s version of A.R.M.O.R. to which dimension I am in. It’s my failsafe.”
“…How do you know it works?” Maud’s eyebrow rose.
“I don’t think my mother would risk me,” Oscura smiled, “I just have to close my eyes… and leap.”
“…That is all, please inform Golden Sweet that we wish to speak to her next.” Cadance abruptly cut off Maud’s next question.
Oscura nodded and turned around. Pausing for a moment, she looked behind her, directly at Cadance.
“While in my universe, Frenzied Tempo was not one to be trusted, I also realize that is not true in every universe. I hope you realize that.”
Oscura continued out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“…She’s right, you know,” Big Macintosh spoke.
“…I know,” Cadance sighed.
The door swung open again, as Golden Sweet entered. The mare stopped in front of the group, frowning.
“Look, I don’t know what happened in this universe, but I don’t need guards watching my every move, for Discord’s sake,” the mare grumbled. “Just because I came from a universe where the Princesses were overthrown, it doesn’t mean I’m going to do it here.”
Maud, Cadance and Fantasia exchanged quick glances of uncertainty as Big Macintosh sighed.
“I mean they had weapons and manpower and the Elements of Harmony!” Golden Sweet continued to rant. “You know what I have? Nothing.” Golden Sweet paused in thought before shaking her head and continuing her rant, “Well, I have Bellona, but it’s about fifty-fifty that she’d turn on me.”
The mare turned and glared at Cadance and Big Macintosh.
“So what, they don’t trust me going to the bathroom by myself, lest I start a rebellion, but they can leave me in a room with the monarch and her heir?”
“….I will admit, this is hardly the fairest way to deal with someone from a universe like yours, but you have to understand,” Maud paused, “there are almost no universes like that.”
“I’m the abnormality, but that does not mean that I am contagious.” Golden Sweet interrupted.
“I know,” Maud continued on, “But dimensional travel is-”
“Besides, I was in Rhapsody’s universe for months, practically a year.” Golden Sweet continued on. “Don’t you think that would have had a bigger impact than a few hours locked up in a castle?”
“…Point taken.”
---
“…So why does she have to talk to all of us individually?” Bellona placed her head back on the table.
“Because unlike some other ponies, she doesn’t want to send her heir to die,” Temporal replied.
“You make it sound like my mother does not care what happens to me.” Oscura grumbled.
“It’s still foolish,” Temporal shrugged.
“I am an adult, I can care for myself,” Oscura countered, “Not like some other ponies.”
“Is that a jab at moi?” Bellona placed an offended hand on her chest, “I almost feel offended.”
“At times you can be more childish than Rhapsody.” Temporal motioned towards the sleeping filly, “She at least learns.”
“Why is she of all ponies judging me?” Bellona turned her attention to Oscura and Stratos, “She wasn’t there with us.”
“Stratos told me stories about you and Novamac,” Temporal shrugged, “Even Prince Lunatique is better behaved than you.”
“Who’s that?” Golden Gem cut off Bellona’s response.
“Princess Luna and Discord’s son.” Temporal flashed Bellona a predatory grin. The other ponies looked back at Bellona. The hybrid’s face remained frozen in an exaggerated display of horror.
“You… you…” she stuttered, breaking her shock, “You mean I’m related to Novamac’s counterpart?”
“….We have the same dad,” Golden Gem rolled her eyes, “You didn’t freak out over that.”
“This is different!” Bellona wailed, “It’s through Discord.”
Bellona smashed her head into the table, leaving a massive imprint of her face on it. She rotated her head towards Oscura, eyeing the mare’s sword.
“Give me that, I’m going to kill myself.”
“I refuse.” Oscura shifted the weapon away from Bellona’s reach.
“Come on… do me a favor…”
“We are not going to permit anyone in this room to die,” Silver Spoon coughed. “The Princess will not appreciate it.”
“...Geh.” Bellona smashed her face back into the table.
“…Why exactly did that happen in your universe?” Oscura looked back at Temporal and Stratos.
“We don’t know.” Temporal shrugged, “Mom mentioned that Discord was always did this teasing, flirty thing with Princess Luna, and next thing we knew they were getting married.”
“They even had Prince Icarus and Princess Ziz serve as the ring bearer and flower… what did they call her?” Stratos looked at Temporal, scratching his head, “Hippogriff?”
“Right.”
“…Flower-hippogriff?” Silver Spoon cocked an eyebrow.
“Who’s that?” Gem ignored Bellona’s moans.
“Icarus is Princess Cadance and Shining Armor’s son, and Ziz is Princess Twilight’s daughter with Prince Godfrey.” Stratos finished, “We were all kinda little, so we don’t remember much about it.”
“Who?”
“Grand Duke of Euleburg-Lippe. Griffon Duchy in the Holy Griffon Empire.” Temporal shrugged.
“…Who did Discord marry in your universe?” Silver Spoon turned her attention to Golden Gem and Oscura.
“Princess Twilight.” Gem shrugged.
“Some pony named Giorgio Warmbodi. Do not ask who’s counterpart that is, I have no idea.” Oscura responded.
“…This is starting to give me a headache,” Silver Spoon sighed.
---
“…So ultimately, you came for an adventure,” Big Macintosh concluded.
“Dad held his own against Nightmare Moon and Shining Armor. Mom and all of the farmers held off the Kingdom’s invading army. Aunt Rarity defeated Twilight Sparkle and Trixie, twice. Aunt Dizzy is the Pirate Queen. Uncle Thunderlane is the one ultimately responsible for Celestia’s rehabilitation. Aunt Lemon Hearts fought Chrysalis in hoof-to-hoof combat and won. She’s still technically the Changeling Queen, too.” Golden Sweet shrugged, “Changeling customs are weird. And out of all of this, Uncle Time Turner rejected everything offered to him. He could have gone into politics as a hero, he could have become an alicorn, he could have become an honorary prince of the Kingdom of Equestria, but he rejected it all, and he’s still in Ponyville with Luna and Romana.”
Golden Sweet drew herself up straight.
“I want an adventure. I want to make a difference for someone.”
“…That is all. Please inform the others that we will reach a decision soon.” Cadance sighed.
The earth mare nodded and headed to the door. The mare pushed open the door, and paused, turning to face the other ponies.
“An adventure is something everypony wants; whether or not they think they can have one. Even under her demeanor, she wants an adventure and she’ll take it even if you say no.
I know I would.”
Golden Sweet finished her remarks and closed the door behind her. Silence swept over the ponies left in the room.
“…Your Highness, if I may make a suggestion…” Maud trailed off waiting for a sign to continue. Fantasia nodded, prompting Maud to continue, “We have an eccentric group of ponies here, all of whom know something is not quite right with their task. That said, I believe they are fully capable of taking care of what threats come their way.”
“And if they are forced to use more… drastic measures?” Big Macintosh fumbled over the words.
“If you are asking if they will kill if they need to… I think only Oscura will,” Maud paused, “But I find that unlikely.”
Big Macintosh shrugged. Cadance closed her eyes, deep in thought.
“If I may say something, Mother, Father?” Fantasia interrupted, “My duties here are important, but I believe this is something of equal importance. You have told me that my duty is to help those who ask for it, and they are asking for it.”
“…” Cadance opened her eyes, “I have made my decision.”
===
“So let me get this straight,” Time Turner rubbed his head, as he stared at one of the screens, “You went to the wrong universe?!!?”
“They tricked me,” Carrot Cake shrugged on one of the monitors, “I don’t know where they went, it’s apparently out of our jurisdiction.”
“A.R.M.O.R. is useless,” Spitfire rolled his eyes on another screen.
“Well have you had better luck?” Time Turner shot back.
“…Not really,” Spitfire shrugged, “Their destination is under our jurisdiction, but… we lost contact with our agent there.”
“From what?” Carrot Cake asked.
“…We don’t know.” Spitfire responded, “The last thing we got from our agent was a scrambled, panicked call and something about… the Elements collapsing.”
A silence overtook the other ponies present.
“I need to get there. Now,” Lyra stepped forward.
“I don’t think-”
“SHUT UP!” Lyra slammed a hoof onto the console, causing the other ponies present to wince, “My daughter is out there, and in danger and I am not going to take no for a goddamn answer!” Lyra punctuated her statement with another bang.
The stallions paused, thinking their answers over.
“I tried tracking them to their real destination, but I have had no luck,” Carrot Cake replied, “Wherever they went is beyond my scope.”
“I keep an eye on things, but even I miss some things,” Spitfire shrugged.
A burst of static from one of the other screens interrupted Time Turner’s response. All ponies present winced as the static briefly grew louder before fading into a voice. On the final screen, a pale grey olive unicorn mare with a red mane streaked with white appeared, fiddling with something off screen.
“Confound and blast this stupid thing,” the mare muttered, “I told Shimmer I needed more copper to redo the wiring… let’s see if it…” the mare looked up at the screen, “Oh it did work.”
“Who are you? This is a secure channel,” Spitfire demanded.
“Evidently not,” the mare beamed, “My name is Snake Oyl, Dimension six-one-six. If that doesn’t sound familiar to you, then oh well. But anyway, I have been ordered by Queen Umbra to inform you that there is a way to figure out where they are.”
“What is it?” every pony asked in unison.
“The Princess has been given a small device that will send out a pulse once it is activated, and we have several other devices that will respond to it, allowing us to pinpoint her location,” Oyl’s smiled flickered, “The problem is, we don’t have extra machines to pass out and notify your dimensions, so we will have to contact you about it.”
“…And this will only happen if Oscura activates it?” Time Turner’s eyebrow rose.
“Yes. She cannot do so accidently; it needs a little burst of magic to jumpstart it.” Oyl shrugged.
“Well, so we’re stuck with more waiting.” Lyra grunted, “Great”
“Missus Lyra, this is progress, even if it is not a quick as you would like it,” Oyl smiled again, “Fear not, I will keep you updated on the situation. In the meantime, I would suggest that Spitfire, Mr. Cake and Time Turner keep monitoring the situation, who knows?”
Oyl’s grin turned predatory.
“For once one of you might figure out how to fix a mess you made.”