//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - Mind Games // Story: Ghosts from the Future // by Pix //------------------------------// Chapter 6 – Mind Games They were going to have to give this room a suitable name if they kept using it to meet. ‘The study by the throne room’ did not have much of a ring to it, and it was proving itself a fine venue for their discussions. When Celestia and Luna had abruptly entered to join the five element bearers, the elder sister had magically enlarged the circular table and created seats for the two of them as casually as one might drag over a chair. Maybe they should call it the Crisis Room. Twilight did not feel she was being melodramatic by labelling the current situation a crisis. She had been alive for more than her fair share of Equestria-threatening events, but in the past there had always been an obvious plan of attack. The elements were almost certainly no use in this case, even if they hadn’t been returned to the Tree of Harmony. In this situation it wasn’t even clear how everything was going to go wrong, let alone what they could then do to stop it. And of course it didn’t help that despite each of her friends being sent after ponies from the future, they were really no more educated than they had been before. They all had explanations for why they had failed of course, but Twilight couldn’t help but think that she would have had more success. Rainbow Dash had been unable to reach her target in time, and had been unusually sullen since then, no doubt annoyed at her failure. Pinkie had supposedly been too late as well, and she wasn’t even back yet. Cadance had sent a letter explaining that Pinkie had met some unsavoury ponies in the Crystal Mountains, but that she was fine and was currently staying as a guest at the Crystal Palace. Twilight continued her scan around the table. Rarity had been very quiet about her trip, merely apologising that she got no useful information. She was probably suffering from having witnessed the admittedly gruesome effects of the Infection first hand, and Twilight could definitely forgive her for that. And as for Applejack and Fluttershy… “Ah’m sorry sugarcube, but he just kept jabberin’ away ‘bout nothing. He was like Pinkie’s energy combined with Dash’s big-headedness, it was tiring just listenin’ to him.” “And the pegasus I was talking to seemed very upset about everything. He was, um, very angry with you in particular Twilight.” Fluttershy’s voice was getting smaller, as if she were afraid she would be shouted at for merely passing on the message. “All of the princesses actually.” “Whatever we did to annoy him we haven’t done yet.” “Well yes, but, um, perhaps you should be nicer in the future. Maybe find a way to keep families together when you send them back in time?” Twilight sighed and slumped to the table. “But I have no idea how I did any of that in the future. Even a few days extra work hasn’t given me a clue how such advanced time magic could be used. And isn’t the whole point that we don’t want to get into that situation in the first place?” “Now Twilight, don’t trouble yourself with that yet,” said her one-time mentor calmly. “That isn’t what you should be focussing on right now.” “Maybe not, but I don’t understand why I would have sent ponies back in time at all! I’m not sure the future even can be changed!” “It has to be,” stated Celestia with an unusual severity. “I will not accept that all these grim tales we have heard about the future of Equestria are unavoidable.” Her expression softened and she looked down at Twilight. “And I trust you, even an alternate-timeline future version of you, if I am understanding this correctly. You would not have used such a drastic spell without good reason, and that reason could only be because the future could be changed.” Twilight smiled briefly. It was amazing how, even now, Celestia was always able to calm her right down. It didn’t necessarily last long, however. “But neither of you asked any of the questions you were supposed to?” Twilight queried, turning back to Applejack and Fluttershy. Fluttershy winced, and even Applejack had a shamed expression for a short moment, but then the earth pony and pegasus caught eyes and Applejack’s expression became one of determination again. “No, Ah didn’t. Shoot Twi, he was dying, and he clearly had a lot he needed to say before he went. Ah was happy to be there to listen to him, if that’s what he wanted.” “Um, same here. I did try to ask, but he wouldn’t listen. I think sometimes, when ponies know they’re dying, they stop thinking about everything else except for how their life has been, maybe.” Twilight bit back an annoyed retort. They were right of course, it was a lot to ask of ponies who were dying, but she had managed to get some good information out of Trixie just fine. “Are you sure you learned nothing?” Applejack tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Well, Ah may have got some of the answers Ah would’ve been lookin’ for anyway. Ah know a lot about how the EDF works from the inside, but Ah’m not sure how useful that information is. But there was one thing he said…” Twilight leaned forwards. “Go on.” “He said he was part of the Vanhoover regiment, and that they were on the front lines. Now Ah may be readin’ too much into this, but it got me thinking that whatever happens must happen near there.” “Actually, I’ve just remembered something else,” Fluttershy added, seeming a lot more confident now that she had found something to contribute. “One of the things the pony I met was complaining about was crystal ponies taking everypony’s jobs and homes, and I don’t think he meant those ‘Shard’ things, he meant ponies from the Crystal Empire.” She screwed her nose up in thought. “There isn’t much racism against crystal ponies at the moment is there? Maybe something prompted it.” There was silence as the three princesses tried to digest this information. “Well so what?” asked Rainbow Dash. “What does that mean? I don’t get it.” “It means,” began Luna, “that whatever caused all of this likely originated in the north, perchance near the Crystal Empire, and crystal ponies were doubtless on an exodus southwards to escape it.” Applejack nodded. “That does match Zecora’s suggestion that the dark magic she found in those darn crystals came from somewhere up in the frozen north.” “Oh, that reminds me,” Twilight exclaimed suddenly, drawing the eyes of everypony in the room. “Spike says that Zecora’s gone missing.” “What?” Four ponies looked at her in horror. “Is she okay?” “What happened?” Twilight held her hooves up to quieten her panicked friends. “We don’t know, but she took everything in her hut with her, so she’s probably okay, even if it does seem a little odd.” She shook her head and grimaced. “I can’t believe Spike went into the Everfree without her though, apparently he got chased by a lyrian.” “Oh my poor Spikey-wikey, is he okay?” “What in Equestria is a lyrian?” asked Applejack and Rainbow Dash simultaneously. “Actually I’d never heard of it either.” Twilight looked up at Celestia. “I recognised it from the description," the ageless alicorn replied. "They were a most brutal creature, but classified as extinct several hundred years ago.” She frowned. “I suppose they were not as extinct as we thought.” “Or it travelled through time too,” said Rainbow, matter-of-factly. At the stares from the other ponies at the table she elaborated. “What? We’re already seeing some ponies go through time. Why not monsters too?” “Because this would be going through time the other way you goof,” Applejack said, smacking Rainbow across the back of the head. “Well it probably doesn’t matter. Spike escaped unharmed, fortunately enough.” “And considering his situation,” Celestia began, turning to wink at her sister, “I think we’ll forgive him the price of that desk.” Luna let out a melodic giggle, while everypony else looked on confused. “Forgive us,” the white alicorn said, waving a hoof, “an anecdote for another time perhaps.” “Right.” Twilight tried to seize control of the situation. She didn’t really feel fully comfortable being the de facto leader of a meeting that included both of the ageless princesses of Equestria, but if Celestia had thought she could handle it then she was not going to let her down. “Going back to our previous topic, I don’t see what option we have other than to go to the Crystal Empire to look for clues.” Twilight thought of Pinkie and the ‘unsavoury ponies’ she had apparently met in the Crystal Mountains according to Cadance’s letter. Suddenly it all seemed a lot more suspicious. “Actually, I have an idea, if you would permit it.” Everypony turned to Luna expectantly. “As I understand it, the reason we are uncertain of what to do is because we have not been successful at gaining any useful information from the ponies who have returned from the future. I know that I myself have been unable to detect any of them in the mindscape thus far. If we had more time to converse with one of them this would be a great advantage, but we know of no way to slow the infection they share. “But if I were to meet one, I am convinced that I could enter their mind directly. In doing so I would have as much time as needed to gain what information I could, in addition to having the chance to see their memories of events myself, thereby providing us with a much more reliable source of knowledge.” “Sister, are you sure of this? You recall how dangerous it can be to enter an unwilling pony’s mind?” “I would hope that they will not be unwilling, once we elucidate the situation to them.” “Wow, you can do that? Enter somepony’s mind?” Rainbow Dash looked impressed. “That’s so cool!” Twilight had to admit that it did sound impressive. She had known that Luna was capable of entering ponies’ dreams, but this was a step above. “How does it work?” she asked, wanting to know the limits of Luna’s abilities. “Do you get access to all their thoughts?” “That sounds awfully invasive,” Rarity commented, to a nervous nod from Fluttershy. Luna nodded gravely. “It is not a skill I like to put to use, or not anymore at any rate. And I do not get complete access to a pony’s psyche, I often find myself barred from much of their mind by an internal representation of the pony’s self. It is this avatar that would get quite aggressive were I to enter without consent.” “This is fascinating!” The air around the congregated element bearers and princesses suddenly filled with a flurry of quills and papers as Twilight subconsciously started gathering materials to make notes. She may be a princess now, but she would always be a student at heart. “I don’t suppose that you could teach me how to do it?” Celestia’s smile stiffened and for a moment it looked as though she was about to speak, but at an almost imperceptible brush of wings from her sister, and a meaningful glance, she backed down and let Luna take the floor. “Perhaps I could, but I do not believe it would be wise. It is in my nature as the princess of the night to be accustomed to the dreams and wishes of my little ponies, and therefore I am uniquely qualified to safely use a skill such as this.” Seeing Twilight’s disappointed frown, she softened. “Mayhap in the future you will be more qualified.” Both Twilight and Celestia seemed satisfied enough at this, but Luna continued. “I could demonstrate it to you however. If you like.” She gave an impish smile. “Wait, you mean… right now… here…?” Twilight found she was shrinking backwards. “On me?” The thought was somewhat unnerving and she found that heat was rising in her cheeks despite Luna’s assurances that she would not have complete access to her mind. “Sister please,” Celestia interrupted. “We don’t have time for this.” “Oh, but we do, that’s the wonder of the mind-delve. It appears almost instantaneous in real-time, remember?” Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes, although had anypony been looking they would have seen an amused smile briefly flit across her features. “Fine, if you must.” “Err, hold on, wait,” Twilight said, babbling somewhat as she looked at the almost predatory grin on the face of the princess of the night. “I didn’t agree to this.” “Well if Twilight’s too scared then I’ll volunteer! It sounds awesome!” Luna didn’t seem disappointed at the change of targets, if anything her grin grew wider as she looked across the table to the excited pegasus facing her. “Are you certain?” “Hay yeah, let’s do this!” Luna calmly stood from her seat and began to walk around the table. All eyes were on her as she reached Rainbow Dash, whose confident expression flickered only for a moment before it returned with determination. The dark alicorn closed her eyes and a calm expression graced her features as she bent down to press her horn against the cyan pegasus’ forehead. Then there was a glow of indigo magic and Rainbow Dash’s eyes dropped shut, a tranquil expression crossing her face to mirror Luna’s. To everypony else at the table it seemed that only brief moments passed before the glow of magic faded and Luna’s eyes reopened. Leaning back, she blinked rapidly, as if to reorient herself to her current surroundings, and a second later Rainbow’s eyes popped open and she did the same. The occupants of the room all sat in expectant silence, waiting for some sort of explanation. “Well?” Luna asked, after Rainbow showed no sign of speaking, or even moving. “How was it for you?” That was enough to get a reaction out of the athletic pegasus mare, who started spluttering incoherently. Applejack raised her eyebrows and Rarity backed away from Luna as though expecting to be pounced on next. “I’m told it can feel a touch disorienting,” Luna continued, returning to her seat nonchalantly. “But you should feel fine in a minute or so.” “But what happened?” Twilight blurted out, unable to contain herself any longer. “What did you see? How did it feel?” “Now now Twilight,” Luna began, as though chiding a small foal. “That’s between me and Rainbow Dash.” “Well then it wasn’t much of a demonstration,” she concluded petulantly, acting like a small foal in response. “Um, well, you did have a chance to experience it yourself Twilight,” Fluttershy pointed out, quite unfairly in Twilight’s opinion as it stopped her from feeling justified in her annoyance. Rainbow had finally returned to full consciousness. “That was… weird,” she said profoundly. “But can you use that to help us?” Rarity asked Luna, returning to the matter at hoof since nopony else seemed willing to. “I believe so. I am just as adept at the spell as I remember, I feel confident with this I could learn all we need to about the future.” She turned to Twilight. “If you use your scanning spell we could identify the next pony to arrive and head to meet them. There is no need to defer this any longer.” “Oh, right, sure.” The lavender alicorn slipped herself into the right frame of mind and concentrated on her spell once more. It was much more familiar to her now, and within moments she had identified a few traces of time magic, but the most promising was a pony who would be arriving in the fields south of Canterlot, roughly equidistant between here and Ponyville. “I’ve found one,” she said, and described the location she had sensed. “They should arrive later today. That will give us time to get there and we won’t have to wait too long.” “Excellent work Twilight,” Celestia said, getting to her hooves. “We’ll meet you there.” “You’re coming as well?” The sun princess smiled warmly. “I think it’s about time I met one of these mysterious ponies myself. And with any luck, having all of us there will make them more willing to cooperate.” “Unless they hate you like the pony I met did…” Fluttershy mumbled, quietly enough that nopony else would hear her, as the other seated ponies arose and left the room to get ready for their short upcoming trip. --- “So… You wanna take bets on whether we’ll know them?” Applejack looked up at the impatient pegasus hovering in the air beside her. Almost half an hour ago they had arrived at the field where the pony was expected to arrive. They were all now sitting around making small-talk, unable to get into any deep conversations due to the anticipation of what was about to happen hanging over them. Rainbow was obviously getting bored, and if Applejack was honest, she was getting a little bored herself. “Eeyup. Five bits on us not knowin’ them.” “Okay, but I win as long as at least one of us here can name them.” “Now that ain’t fair, the princesses are sure to know anypony who turns up.” “What, you scared to take a bet?” Rainbow smirked. “Guess I’m just more daring than you.” “Horseapples. That bet’s unfair and you know it! And you still haven’t paid me back for any of the bets you've lost!” The orange earth pony turned towards the hovering pegasus and leaned forward to butt foreheads with her. “But I will take the bet, ‘cause Ah still reckon we won’t know ‘em.” Rainbow narrowed her eyes and spat into her forehoof. “You’re on!” As the pair shared a contract-binding hoof bump, Rarity grimaced and turned back to her worried conversation partner. “Oh, do you suppose she’s okay? She knows we’re missing her, doesn’t she? You don’t think something might have happened to her?” “Relax darling,” Rarity began, wrapping a foreleg around the quivering yellow pegasus. “It’s Pinkie Pie. I daresay nothing in Equestria could trouble her.” “But then why isn’t she back yet?” “Well I know that Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor will want to hear about everything that’s been going on, so I’m sure Pinkie is explaining in great detail. Other than that, well I don’t know, perhaps she’s throwing an ‘I’m in the Crystal Empire’ party?” Rarity smiled warmly. “But whatever the reason, I’m positive she’s fine.” Twilight was standing by the alicorn sisters, but she was not joining in their conversation. She was currently continually casting her scanning spell, with the intention of determining just how much longer they would all have to wait. She remembered that when Trixie had appeared she had been able to detect a huge churning force in the ether just before her sudden arrival, but the disturbance she felt at the moment was a little way off that. It should only be a few more minutes. “Twilight?” “Hmm?” She looked up into the concerned face of Princess Luna. “Do not overexert yourself. You and your friends have performed admirably this last week and we are most grateful, you should not feel you have to keep pushing unnecessarily.” Twilight smiled sheepishly and released the spell, realising as the light left her horn just how draining holding the magic had been. “Sorry.” “No need to apologise Twilight,” Celestia added. “But remember that while we may have tasked you with discovering all you can about this situation, we are always here to help.” “I know,” Twilight said, slightly confused as to why they felt the need to tell her this. “That’s why Luna’s here now.” “Yes Twilight, but even after this. You were my faithful student for many years, and I know well that you put more pressure on yourself than anypony when you have a problem you can’t solve.” Celestia nuzzled Twilight gently. “My sister and I may be busy with duties to Equestria, but please don’t feel you are alone in solving this one.” “I myself find todays politics largely uninteresting,” Luna added. “Any pretext to get away from it would be cherished.” Twilight couldn’t help but laugh at that, and she immediately found that a weight she hadn’t even known was there seemed to leave her stomach. “Thanks. I think I may well need your help too, this-” Twilight was interrupted by a sudden flash of light from behind her, and she leapt away in surprise, almost having forgotten why they were all standing in this field in the first place. Within a slightly smoking crater that had just materialised in the grass knelt a dazed looking unicorn, black-maned and grey-coated, although covered in the now familiar shadowy blotches of the Infection. The unicorn stallion blinked blearily in the light and then looked up to see the seven faces peering back at him. Twilight had to suppress a laugh as the surprised pony recognised who had been waiting for him and immediately threw himself to the ground in a bow, and she heard Rainbow and Applejack completely failing to hold back laughs of their own. Considering that the ponies from the future seemed to have no idea where in Equestria they would appear, he must have been astonished to find himself face to face with three princesses. Luna went straight to business. “My little pony,” she began. “Rising Stock,” Celestia supplied. “Ha!” Rainbow grinned in triumph and turned to Applejack. “Uh, actually it’s Falling Stock, your majesties,” the unicorn corrected, seemingly hesitant to suggest that a princess could be wrong about something. “Ha!” Applejack turned back to Rainbow. “What? No that still counts.” “Ponyfeathers.” Luna tuned out the bickering rivals and knelt down in front of the still cowering unicorn. “Falling Stock, we understand you are here to bring counsel from the future?” “Um, yes,” quivered the stallion, seemingly terrified of the alicorn in front of him. “If you would permit it, we could enter your mind so that we could converse at your leisure, with no distractions.” Luna tried to give a winning smile, although it seemed only to frighten the unicorn further. “What say you?” “Enter… enter my mind?” “Consider it that we are but sharing a dream,” Luna suggested reassuringly. “But uh, you might not like what you hear about the future.” “Undoubtedly not, but is that not why you are here? To warn us?” Falling Stock gulped, but then nodded his head. “Okay your majesty.” Luna smiled and leant her head towards the slowly crystallising unicorn until their horns crossed. Then, with a glow of indigo magic, their eyes shut and the world disappeared around them. --- It was immediately obvious that something was wrong. When she had entered Rainbow Dash’s mind, she had been instantly met by a mental representation of the pegasus mare. Of course, that avatar hadn’t looked exactly like Rainbow Dash. The Rainbow of her mind was taller, slimmer, had larger wings, and flew even more impressively, as would be expected of an ambitious pony with a large ego. But she had also been far more self-critical, and if anything, she had seemed somewhat shy. Luna had not been surprised, the mind of a pony was an intimate place, and it was not easy to allow a stranger inside without feeling like you were under scrutiny, with all your flaws laid bare. When she had entered Rainbow Dash’s mind, she had found herself in a clear blue sky, with few clouds around, and mountains and other landmarks visible only in the distance below. Luna had not been surprised, not only was it a place she imagined Rainbow felt most free, but it was also indistinct enough that it was unlikely to prompt any specific memories, making it a comfortable place for the pegasus to allow Luna access to. Upon entering Falling Stock’s mind, Luna was met with no avatar, and stood only on a barren landscape. This was a surprise. What was worse, she felt a horrible sensation in the air as she looked around, as though the wasteland was aware that an intruder was here, and it was not happy about it. She took a few hesitant steps and glanced around for any sign of life, but the only indication that she had even moved was the echoing of her hoofsteps. What could this mean? She tried to manipulate the environment around her, but could not, which meant that she was not somehow in the global mindscape but was still in the unicorn’s mind. Was this desolate landscape a result of the Infection? Without warning, the ground started splintering beneath her and a dark mist started slowly rising from small cracks that were forming in the earth. Luna backed away automatically, instinctively feeling that it would be a bad idea to get enveloped in the strange fog, but the mist did not spread towards her as she would have expected, instead forming the outline of an ominous figure. Luna took to her wings and flew backwards as the shape started to solidify. She needed to get out of here. When she attempted to leave however, she felt a resounding pain in her head and found she was trapped. How could that even happen? She wasn’t able to wonder for long though, because the misty silhouette in front of her abruptly solidified and the dark alicorn stared into a pair of blazing yellow eyes. --- It was immediately obvious that something was wrong. When Luna had entered Rainbow Dash’s mind, the two of them had remained motionless, placid expressions on their faces. As the six onlooking ponies watched now however, the unicorn started writhing uncontrollably, splintering sounds echoing out as cracks appeared along his still crystallising body. Luna was also shaking somewhat, as though the connection between them was trying to break them apart. Worse, they both had pained expressions on their faces, and Twilight did not want to imagine what was happening inside the unicorn’s mind to prompt this. “Sister?” Celestia whispered, hesitantly stepping towards the squirming pair, clearly wanting to help but not wishing to interfere adversely. Far too much time passed without either of the two resurfacing. The Infection had almost completely overwhelmed the unfortunate unicorn now, and Twilight was aware of Rarity and Applejack both turning away, as though not wishing to witness the grisly result of the pony’s inevitable capitulation. Nothing would have prepared Twilight for what happened next however. As the jagged crystals that had started growing up Falling Stock’s horn reached the tip, they abruptly spread across to Luna’s and started swarming down the alicorn’s own imposing horn. “Luna!” Celestia threw her hooves around Luna’s neck and pulled her away so quickly that most of the other watching ponies had barely registered what had even happened. The crack as the two were pulled apart was enough to spark the sudden disintegration of the now completely crystallised body of Falling Stock, but never had the death of a pony been given so little attention as Celestia shook her still seemingly unconscious sister. “Luna, listen to me!” The dark crystals that had made their way onto her horn were now spreading down the sides of her head. Celestia made to brush them off with her hooves, as though hoping they would simply fall away, and when that had no effect she lit her horn with an intense glow. Twilight had no idea what extreme magic the timeless and powerful princess of the sun was attempting, but whatever it was, it had equally little effect. The shadowy infection spread down Luna’s neck and across her back, all the while seeping into Luna’s skin and turning her body into the same translucent form Twilight had witnessed Trixie become. “Twilight!” Celestia yelled suddenly, turning to the lavender alicorn. “Help her!” Twilight had never seen the ageless princess look so helpless, but she had not the slightest clue what she could do to help. Instead she just looked on in horror as the Infection continued its inexorable march over Luna’s body. A heart-chilling moment followed when the last of the dark alicorn’s body transformed into the jagged crystal, with the familiar shadowy mist visible roiling inside her, and her eyes abruptly opened, pupils as small as pinpoints and looking more terrified than Twilight could ever have imagined. And then came the inevitable and heart-wrenching splintering sound that heralded the end. Celestia looked on with a blank expression as fragments of crystal fell from between the alicorn’s forelegs to the ground, and a shadowy mist swirled up into the sky. Twilight didn’t think she could bear to watch, and turned away only to see the stunned and horrified expressions on her friends’ faces. Everything had happened so fast, and it was clear that nopony could quite believe what they had witnessed. Suddenly a sound filled the air that would haunt Twilight for the rest of her life. She had known Celestia better than most ponies, having been her student for many years. She had seen her happy, disappointed, angry, and even scared, but she had never heard as much anguish in anypony’s voice as filled the agonized wail that erupted from the white alicorn now. Twilight felt her throat go dry as she saw her onetime mentor scrabbling at the shards of crystal on the floor in front of her, as though hoping they would re-form into the shape of her sister once more. “Luna, please… I just got you back…” Celestia sounded so feeble, and Twilight wasn’t sure whether she should approach her or not, but after attempting a step she found she was unable to move regardless. Instead she collapsed to her haunches and stared at the ground, Celestia’s raw anguish only serving to make her feel more hopeless. After a while the surrounding world was lost to Twilight as she fell deep into her own mind and attempted to think of nothing.