"Where's the bomb?! I'm a loose cannon with nothing to lose!" Wall Breaker shouted, spraying the unicorn with spittle as he stomped a hoof down on the table that he, Agent Coltson and Skyelight were sitting around.
Skyelight wiped Wall Breaker's saliva from her face, clearly unimpressed as she turned to Coltson, who was simply sitting across from her and smiling calmly. "Okay, so that's the 'bad cop' bit. And since you're just sitting there looking like my high school math teacher, that makes you the 'good cop?'"
Coltson didn't say anything, but Wall Breaker was suddenly beside her and pointing at him from across the table. "Calm down, Coltson! Just calm down! I've got this. I'm sorry, Ms. Skyelight, but my partner goes nuts sometimes, and I can't control him. Now, I want you to walk out of here as much as you do, but you need to give him something, or there's no telling what he might do. Just tell us where you hid the formula, and you can be on your way home tonight."
Skyelight stared in confusion at Wall Breaker. "What about the bomb?"
"So you admit that there is a bomb," Wall Breaker retorted, suddenly wearing a Zebrican ritual mask, which Skyelight realized was too large for him to have been carrying around without her noticing. Never mind that she hadn't seen him put it on. Shaking a wooden rattle in her face, he exclaimed, "I call upon the spirit of truth to possess this unicorn!"
Skyelight blinked a few times. "Sooooo... now it's 'culturally offensive cop?' And that makes you..." She turned to look at Coltson again, and while the agent hadn't moved, he was now wearing a bright red fez. "What the drek...?"
While Wall Breaker started dancing and shaking his rattle around Skyelight, Agent Coltson gave the hacker a calm smile. "I have to give you credit, Ms. Skyelight, you really did an extraordinary job slipping in here and getting access to our most secured information. But despite your antagonistic stance, I'm thinking that we can still get along."
Skyelight scoffed. "Yeah, I've heard that one before. Usually before somepony like you pulls out something sharp and pointy." As if waiting for the cue, Coltson bent down and pulled a small black case up from under the table. Setting it down, he flipped it open to reveal a large syringe filled with a clear purple fluid. "... Like that."
Agent Coltson grinned warmly at her, though the way the syringe's tip gleamed under the light hanging over the table dominated her attention. "It sounds like you've had a rough time over in your home dimension. That's why I'd really rather not have to use this," he assured her.
Less than assured, Skyelight asked, "What's it supposed to be? Truth serum?" When he shook his head, she started to sweat. "Some sort of... torture juice?"
Agent Coltson laughed and shook his head again. "No, no, this is the antidote," he explained while reaching into his coat to pull out a pocket watch.
Skyelight blinked, not feeling any better about that in the least. "A-antidote? For what?"
At the same time, Wall Breaker had taken off his Zebrican mask and instead danced around with his face painted a bright orange and his mane done up in stiff green curls. "~Oompa loompa doompity dugh! Tell us your secrets or we will--" Coultson pressed a small button on the side of his watch. There was a tiny *thwip* sound as a needle shot into Wall Breaker's neck, causing the stallion to blink and wobble groggily before flopping over with an "Ugh!"
"For that," Coltson replied while pulling his fez off. Seeing Skyelight look between him and Wall Breaker in shock, he assured her, "Oh, don't worry, he'll be fine. I can wake him up, if you prefer." He gestured toward the syringe on the table. When Skyelight shook her head vehemently, his grin widened. "So, Skyelight, why'd you let yourself get caught?"
"Excuse me?"
Agent Coltson leaned back and shrugged. "Well, like you said, you just 'jandered' in here and tricked Wall Breaker into bringing that device into the ANUS to access our systems. If you hadn't hijacked the Nexus so obviously and started taunting us, I'm willing to bet that you could have been out of here already. Nopony would have been at all the wiser if you hadn't taken the time to do that. You wanted to get caught."
Skyelight sucked in a deep breath between her teeth. "... You are pretty good. Okay, you're right. I made sure you'd know I was there."
"And why did you do that, Skyelight?"
The unicorn grinned a little more confidently. "Because sifting through all that data would take a while without my best tech available. By making you aware of a security breach, I was able to determine what you prioritize most highly when you... clenched your ANUS, so to speak. And while the Director and I were having our back-and-forth, I was also busy transmitting that data to my partner on the outside."
"So you were working with somepony else? Who?"
Skyelight leaned back smugly as she replied, "Another Twilight with a particular set of skills. Skills that make her a nightmare for ponies like you. Now, you can let me walk out of here and that will be the end of it. If you don't, she will take your deepest secrets, she will expose them, and she will use them to destroy you."
-----
Celestia tilted her head quizzically at the director of BUTTS. "Night Light, why are you crying?"
Night Light wiped his cheeks, which were streaked with tears despite the wide grin on his face. "I... I don't know, your highness. I just felt this enormous sense of fatherly pride all of a sudden."
Prince Blueblood scoffed and opened his mouth to speak when the throne room doors exploded inward, turning the noise that came out of him into a cross between a gurgle and a high-pitched scream. This was thankfully cut off when a gold-armored pegasus was hurled at him through the now-open doorway, knocking him out. The guard was more fortunate, being merely shaken up as he righted himself and immediately ran to Celestia's throne, weeping and blubbering the whole time. "Princess Celestia! She's a monster! Help us, pleeeeease!"
Night Light and celestia both looked toward the door to see a Twilight step into the throne room, her body clad in a long black coat and surrounded by a purple glow. Glaring murderously at the ponies at the other end of the room, she asked, "How dare you? HOW DARE YOU?!"
Stepping forward, Night Light said, "Now, Twilight, I don't know what you're specifically talking about, but I'm sure that you're confused. If you'll let me, I can explain--"
Before he could finish, Night Light found himself yanked up off of his hooves, surrounded by an aura of the same energy that surrounded Twilight. In his case, though it began squeezing him with enough force to force the breath out of his lungs.
Focusing her attention squarely on Celestia, Twilight growled, "You think that pulling memories of my father out of my brain is going to stop me from ending you? Did you really think that I'd forget the truth so easily?" Narrowing her eyes at the princess, she squeezed harder. "My father never existed in the first place!"
Truth, Dare, or Drink
by CrowMagnon
A few minutes later...
Princess Aurora reflexively leaned back as the newcomer formed a singularity right in front of her. Her own horn glowed, grabbing it with her magic and holding it away before it could reach her. Once it was clear to both that the singularity wasn't going to reach Aurora, the regal alicorn gave her a motherly smile. "Oh, my, you've created a powerful, tightly focused positive mass field? That's amazing! I haven't met a unicorn capable of that since Sta--"
President Twilight didn't give Aurora the opportunity to finish. Instead, she aimed her horn at the captured singularity and fired off a warp field.
The instant that the two fields of biotic energy met, the warp explosively unraveled the singularity and sent Princess Aurora flying backward. Despite also being in the blast radius, President Twilight stood firm by bracing herself while her biotic barrier absorbed the energy of the blast. In the aftermath, she looked from side to side as she saw other forms moving around the edges of the room. She snorted with anger, her left front hoof pawing at the ground in front of her. "Come on! You think you can break me? Just try it!"
While she laid down her challenge, a lasso fell around her neck. "If y'all insist," Zapapple retorted around the other end of the rope as she yanked it taut hard enough to lift President Twilight off her hooves and swing her around. The Madam President's biotic barrier prevented the impromptu noose from squeezing her throat enough to cut off her air. Even when she hit the floor again, she was more disoriented than hurt.
Picking herself up, she focused a warp field on the lasso around her neck, unraveling the rope on a molecular level so that she was free before the earth pony could yank her off her hooves again.
At the same time, Seafoam came up on her from behind and swung her tailblade at the President's head. As hard as she swung it, though, it simply bounced ineffectively against her biotic barrier and served only to get the President's attention. With barely a thought, a kinetic blast struck Seafoam with the force of a runaway truck, slamming her into the far wall and keeping her pinned there.
"Get her, Twiley," a male voice cried out, and the Madam President turned to see a flash of purple flying toward her. She reacted swiftly and entirely on instinct, unleashing a warp field on the attacker, only to realize a moment later that it was nothing more than a bag of flour with what looked like her own face crudely drawn on it.
The warp easily tore through the bag, but the powder inside continued to sail toward her, the fine grains slipping through her barrier and covering her from hose to tail in flour. She immediately started coughing, her vision temporarily obscured by the cloud. By concentrating on her biotics, however, she was able to push the powder off her body.
Still, the moment it took her to get vision and lungs clear gave GL, once again in full costume, to summon up constructs of chains and shackles which wrapped around her body and held her in place. This included a sheathe that slid itself down over the black-clad unicorn's horn.
"Nice rope-work, Zapapple," the hero said to her earth pony counterpart.
Dusk cleared his throat. "Uh... you know, she wasn't the only one who helped," he pointed out.
"You're right! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to exclude anypony."
The stallion smiled. "It's alright. I'm just glad--"
GL used her ring to lift up the tattered remains of the flour bag. "If it weren't for 'Twiley' here, we'd have all had a much bigger fight on our hooves. Let's hear it for Twiley!"
Dusk's face fell, the corners of his mouth immediately dropping downward. "Wha... what? But I--"
GL cut him off with a grin and a wink. "Seriously, you did good," she told him before looking around. "Everypony else okay?"
"I am alright," Princess Aurora insisted as Abstract Twi and Twicora helped her up. At the same time, Captain Sparkle helped right Rollypolly, who had been knocked onto his back.
President Twilight didn't have much room to move her head, but she used what she had to look around in disbelief as more of the... her... stepped forward and surrounded her. "What the hell is this?" she growled through angrily clenched teeth.
"This is us kicking your supervillain flank," GL retorted. "So, are you one of Nightfall's goons, or independant?"
"Supervillain? Are you certain?" Faith asked.
"Wearing a coat like that? What else would she be?"
"Madam President of the Equestrian Herd," Aurora replied before President Twilight could.
Dusk Shine asked, "I don't suppose we could shorten that to 'MP'?"
"May we?" Aurora asked the shackled unicorn. "Then perhaps we could discuss the situation, leader to leader. I would like to clear up any misunderstandings which might be fueling this hostility you have for us."
"Speak for yourself. I'm good to go another round," Seafoam groused.
For her part, MP Twilight's glare eased for a moment against Aurora's continued calm and diplomatic approach. That did not last, though, and her face hardened again. "If you want to know more about the Herd, look us up on the extranet. You aren't getting anything more than that out of me. I know what this is... you're just trying to confuse me, like those weird security programs."
-----
Several minutes earlier...
In the infirmary for the Royal Guard, several soldiers sat around in a circle. A pegasus turned to show off his bandaged wing. "So when Twiock was smashing stuff, I got hit with a chunk of that bakery that sells those great mini-quiches. Broke my wing in five places."
"That's nothing. Just look at what Delirium did to me," squeaked the pony next to him, who looked normal except that his head had been shrunken down and turned into that of a mouse.
The next one scoffed. "You guys both got off lucky. Baby Twilight ate me!" When the others turned to stare at him in disbelief, he sheepishly added, "... I got better."
After him, a unicorn Guard with a thousand-yard stare trembled, eyes watering as he practically whispered, "Captain Sparkle... she... she..."
"It's okay, man. Let it out," one assured him, supportively wrapping a foreleg around the traumatized unicorn's shoulders.
With a grateful sniffle, the Guard burst into tears and sobbed, "She... said I was the sorriest excuse for a Royal Guard she'd ever see-he-heeeeeeen! Why would she do that?!"
The others gasped in shock before gathering around to offer their support and condolences. "There there... it's okay, you're safe now," the mouse-headed soldier squeaked soothingly. "Twilight Sparkle won't be terrorizing us anymore."
That was when the wall exploded, and MP Twilight strode through the opening. Looking at the soldiers, she narrowed her eyes. "Oh, great," she muttered to herself. "And me without a record player. Guess I'll just have to do this the Shepard way."
The Guards collectively clutched each other and let out a high-pitched scream as her horn lit up a biotic aura.
-----
"So what are you all supposed to be? Are you designed to lower my guard by evoking specific emotions? Or are you reflections of the memories whoever's on the outside is trying to pull out of my head?"
Her counterparts blinked in confusion and looked at each other after MP's accusation. Dusk Shine stepped forward and said, "I don't know what you think is going on, but everypony here is just as real as you are."
"Stop lying to me!" MP shouted, straining against her shackles as desperation entered her voice. "I know what's real! I spent my entire life in a lie, and I'm not going to get sucked in again!" Glaring at Captain Sparkle, who swayed slightly from the starshine in her system, she growled, "You and the green one, you're just reflections of how I need to constantly be strong for everypony!"
Turning her head toward Zapapple, she snapped, "And you're here to make me feel guilty about Applejack!"
Zapapple took a half-step back at that, her eyes going wide. "Why...? What'd ya do to mah sister?"
Instead of answering, MP turned to Abstract Twi and Faith, focusing on their metallic wings. "And you're probably here because of what happened to Rainbow Dash..."
Then she turned to Aurora. "You're obviously supposed to be Celestia..."
"Seriously, what happened to Applejack?" Zapapple asked.
Next, she looked to Seafoam. "And you... okay, I don't actually know what you're supposed to be. Some kind of... krogan-hybrid thing?"
"Krogan?!" Seafoam's nostrils flared as she snorted angrily and reared up on her hind legs. "No pony calls me a krogan!"
Dusk Shine quickly leaned back away from the temperamental capricorn. "Woah, careful there! What the hay's a krogan?"
"...No idea," Seafoam admitted, "but I didn't like the sound of it."
Smirking at Captain, Twicora piped up to the Ranger, "This level of denial is rather familiar. Have any ideas for getting through to her?"
"One..." Captain replied. "We could get her drunk so we're all on a level playing field."
Dusk gave her a bemused look. "What?"
"Yeah... I don't do so good with the planning when I drink," Captain replied. A few of the others looked at her more closely, and saw that she was obviously having a little more trouble keeping her balance than the others. Rollypolly made sure to roll up beside her so that she would have something to lean on.
"Lightweight," Seafoam playfully snarked.
Zapapple asked MP again, "Seriously, what happened ta Applejack?!"
MP glared up at the farmer and snapped, "You know what happened! I kept her out of prison, even when she started screaming at me that I'd betrayed our friendship! Is that what you wanted to hear?! Fine, that's a freebie, but you're not getting anything else."
Zapapple sat down, unsure whether she should be worried about the unanswered questions that response brought up, or relieved that her sister's counterpart sounded like she was alright.
Meanwhile, Twicora looked around and mused, "You know, I just realized that it's awfully quiet. You would think BUTTS and the Guard would be responding to this riot."
-----
A few minutes ago...
Celestia looked down at the hole that MP had made in the ground below after getting herself forcefully ejected from the throne room by the sun goddess's magic. Beside her, Night Light lay wheezing on the floor.
"Oh dear, she's punched a hole straight into BUTTS headquarters. I should mobilize the Guard immediately before one of the good Twilights gets hurt."
Blueblood rolled his eyes as he got his head bandaged up by a palace medic and sarcastically scoffed, "Nooooo, you think? She's just a super-powerful lunatic, she couldn't possibly cause any trouble."
Celestia thought about it and smiled. "You're probably right. Guard, tell your men that they don't need to get involved."
The pegasus who had earlier collided with Blueblood nodded enthusiastically at that order. "Gladly, your highness!"
-----
"Yeah... I dun' think the Guard in this world would be much help, anyway," Captain replied.
Faith decided to step forward and get everypony's attention. "True. That being the case, we should ensure that the Madam President here doesn't cause any more damage."
"Sure thing. I can carry her to the holding cells, no problem," GL replied.
"Actually, I was thinking of letting her go," Faith replied, to the shock of everypony present, MP included.
"Y'all outta yer cotton-pickin' mind?" Zapapple asked.
Abstract Twi rolled her eyes. "Yes, he is, but let's hear him out. If we don't, and he turns out to be right, he'll be even more insufferable."
Faith grinned at his partner. "This is why we get along so well," he replied before turning back to MP. "The issue, as I see it, is that you believe that we are all illusions, designed to confuse you and dredge up your secrets. I assure you, neither is the case, but let us assume for the moment that you are right, and we are all just pieces of your mind made manifest. That doesn't mean that we're you're enemy. Did you consider the possibility that we might actually be here to help you? A mental defense mechanism to keep you sane while fighting off whatever is being done to your mind."
MP looked up at the abstract as though he were crazy. "That's... that's ridiculous. Even if I could believe that, you don't look like a piece of my mind. I don't even know you."
"I'm Faith. That's both my name and the abstract concept I represent," he replied. "That means that I'm your sense of faith, if I truly am just a projection of your inner self. As such, I'm thinking that the rest of us should place some faith in you. After all, you don't want to hurt any real ponies, do you? You just want to get back home and take care of your herd."
MP hesitated, searching Faith's words for hidden traps. "You know that's what I want," she replied.
"So how about this? Green Lantern here releases you from those chains, and you are under no obligation to say anything that you think would harm the herd. We will do everything that we can to help you get home and whole again, and in return, would you please stop trying to destroy us? You would only be harming yourself, in any case."
MP thought long and hard about what Faith was saying to her, her expression flickering back and forth between cold anger and an almost desperate need for hope. "That's... I just... how am I supposed to believe you? How can I be sure this isn't just a trick?"
"That's why it's a leap of faith," the abstract replied. "But even if you can't believe me, or them, or anypony in this entire world, you do have somepony that you do believe in, don't you? Your friends."
MP's body stiffened at the mention of the other Directors waiting for her back in New Ponyville, a faint sparkle shining in her eyes that wasn't there before. "My friends...?"
Faith nodded. "Even if you can't believe in anything you see, I know that you have faith in them. They'll come through for you. As long as you stay strong and believe that they're on their way to save you from whatever peril you are in, nothing will be able to break you."
MP looked up into Faith's eyes, then around at the others. She saw confusion, uncertainty, and some lingering hostility in a few cases. Her own mind was a roiling storm of doubt and fear, but as her thoughts turned to her friends and her number-one assistant, she knew that Faith had a point. Even after everything that had happened to the Herd since the foundation of New Ponyville, they would turn the galaxy inside-out to find her. And though she wouldn't want them to put themselves in danger for her sake, she could have faith that when they pulled themselves together, they could achieve anything.
-----
Meanwhile, in the ANUS, Agent Coltson grinned as he watched events in the training room play out over the video feeds. Beside him, Skyelight, aka Hacker Twilight, was still looking surprised at having been allowed to physically enter the center of BUTTS's information hub.
"Is that why you brought me here?" she asked, tilting her head toward the image of Faith and MP on the monitor. "Even after I said I wanted to destroy you and everything you stand for..."
Agent Coltson gave her a nod. "Granted, it seems really contrived that Faith there tried the same approach at the same time, but I really got the feeling that you just want to make sure that our world doesn't wind up making the same mistakes that yours did. So to keep that from happening, you'll have access to our intel, and you can make any suggestions you like that will help us do our job without abusing the information in our hooves. Call it a gesture of good faith."
Skyelight looked at the surveillance systems and replied, "Huh... Okay. I really wasn't expecting that... Alright, Coltson, I'll play along for now."
Agent Coltson smiled warmly at the hacker while pointing toward MP on the screen. "Glad to hear it. I'm just glad to have you and your partner there on our side."
Skyelight turned to Coltson with a blank look. "Partner? Wait, you thought she was my partner?"
Coltson blinked a few times, his good mood faltering. "Well... yes, with the destroying and everything. You mean she isn't?"
"Noooo... Oh, drek! I forgot to tell her to hold off on the next phase of the plan!"
-----
"Now then, it's time we moved on to the next item on the agenda," Princess Celestia said. "Regarding Prince Blueblood's proposal that all ducks in Canterlot should be required to wear long pants, I believe--"
Before the loud cry even finished echoing throughout the throne room, another Twilight strode in. This one was wearing a smartly tailored lavender business suit. On the lapels, two pins were attached on prominent display, one on either side. On the right lapel, she bore a badge shaped like a pink heart with the scales of justice in the center. On the left, she bore a badge shaped like a silver spiral twisting toward a small blue sapphire.
Standing tall and confidently, the new Twilight pulled a stack of papers from her saddlebags, telekinetically presenting them to the princess. "Twilight Sparkle, ace attorney," she proclaimed by way of introduction. "Princess Celestia, you are hereby issued a Cease & Desist order, requiring you to immediately put an end to all BUTTS activity!"