//------------------------------// // Chapter Eleven: An Accent Beyond // Story: Ducenti Septuaginta Septem // by Capacitor //------------------------------// Part Two: Theory of Singularity Chapter Eleven: An Accent Beyond [Equestria, Everfree Castle; 2nd of Bloom in the year 1004 after Nightmare Moon] Twilight Sparkle awoke to find the gods talk above her smallish, fragile form. She was filled with instinctive certainty that she had indeed died and was now to be judged by the gods themselves. She had, in fact, only a vague idea why she had died – some fuzzy memories about a hungry, void darkness that had devoured first the sun and then her – but it was the gods' presence, speaking quietly and half merrily half solemnly, that gave her this ultimate certainty. She saw their mouths moving, heard the sounds they made, but the words were trivial, pointless even, a farce. For the true conversation was carried out above the shallow words through indecipherable means, imperceivable, yet, to Twilight, undoubtedly there. Mayhap, there was even a much greater context, one that spanned above the wordless conversation of the gods, a grand, universal context that made in its utter finality all exchange between two simple minds meaningless. Twilight looked at the two gods. One of them appeared very old, face wrinkly, yet full of laughter, the long, scaly form of an old, wise dragon. 'Father Time' might be a fitting name for him, but she wasn't sure. The other god, on the other hoof... On the first glance, she seemed like a normal pony, but when Twilight looked at her features, which were like chiselled from marble, she quickly recognized the Pale Pony, Lady Death herself, a ghostlike unicorn in the colour of bone. It was obvious, really. Twilight had died, and now this old dragon god of Time was negotiating with Death herself over her future. And Twilight heard the calm voice of Death, each syllable an impeccable sculpture untouched by mortal drawl, language of unheard purity, pronunciation as it was designed to be. “Such we shall rest the topic momentarily, as my guest, the relatively esteemed Princess Twilight Sparkle, has awoken from her slumber. Courtesy demands I attend her.” Like a tremendous, toppling mountain, the goddess' head turned towards her, and their eyes met. Hers, deep purple, reflected in the goddess' light rose ones that looked right into her. They seemed unlike any Twilight had ever seen. There was something about them; an inner light, a colour bleeding through, some faint tone undeniably present, yet indiscernible. It might have been a tinge of blue – or red even? Gold? The spark of colour seemed to shift under her gaze, blending from one hue to another without actually being either one of them. An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach as she saw that colour that had no name, and that no pony could possibly see. And yet, there it was, plainly visible to Twilight's eyes. A glint passed through those impossible eyes, amusement in purest form, intellectual fire that briefly lit up those windows to the soul. One small glint of amusement. Twilight's entrails lurched, contracted. The fanciful, illusory haze she had construed peeled off the two gods, and Lady Death made way to a pale, greyish unicorn while the collected, wise smile of Father Time made way to the spiteful sneer of Discord, Spirit of Chaos. The unicorn's lips parted, and she spoke in that melodic, clockwork-precise, inequine type of a voice, velvety smoothness that filled Twilight with shivers as it slithered into her ears. “Your Royal Highness, it is good to see You awake and also alive as the alternative would mean that laying you into a bed had been vain effort, and I really despise wasting my time like that. It is a finite resource, after all.” The unicorn made an odd little motion that might just have passed as a courtesy and was indeed precisely coordinated to just fit within the definition of a courtesy. “For now, I am, as supervisor of the Everfree Technologies Alpha Compound, Your host and at Your service, Theory.” She smiled at Twilight, then quickly added “I would like to note that while technically we already have met, we technically have not met yet, so this is in fact the first time I meet another non-unconscious pony other than myself, which does not really count anyway. So, as the first truly relatable being to interact with me, you shoulder a great responsibility considering the psychological repercussions that could possibly arise from our interaction. You would do us all a great favour if you, if simply for the sake of my psyche, refrained from performing potentially psychologically scarring activities such as raping me or gouging my eyes out,” she concluded happily. The fact that this pony talked about the most heinous of crimes with a smile on her lips and a cheerful tone in her voice didn't really improve the situation in Twilight's book. Realizing she was indeed lying in a bed, tucked in neatly under a warm blanket, didn't help in making it all less bizarre. “Where am I? What's going on?” She struggled with her blanket, throwing panicked glances left and right. The bed was short, allowing little room for movement in direction of head or hoof, yet uncharacteristically wide, forming some kind of a third of a circle. To her left, it was open and to her right laid, in order, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow, the insane old unicorn stallion and Rarity. The bed itself was placed in a round stone chamber, lit up by a chandelier hanging under the high, domed ceiling. The walls were lined with all sorts of shelves, boards, casings, storing a whole variety of things, each with a shining little brass label, which made the room look almost like a weird kind of museum. “You are currently located inside the Everfree Technologies Alpha Compound Relic Storage and I am currently informing You why it is undesirable to gouge somepony's eyes out. For one thing, it hurts, and also renders you blind, which means you can not see. Of course, in my case, I could just grow new eyes, or see anyway, but that would somewhat defeat the purpose of having my eyes gouged out, would it not?” She pierced Twilight with a questioning gaze, but then decided that no answer Twilight could give would be in any form of value and she quickly spoke up again, cutting Twilight off before she managed to get out even a single syllable. “However, while these answers certainly answer the questions You asked, they surely are not the answers You wanted to receive in spite of not asking the correct questions. Thus, Your Highness, let me elaborate on what has transpired.” The unicorn continued in a sing-song voice that made her following sentences sound more like a nursery rhyme than a recounting of actual events. “When you so admirably attempted to banish me with the Elements of Harmony, You compromised the integrity of the barriers around reality. So to preserve your sanity before what you might call divinity, you had a fit of narcolepsy during my descent from eternity. For I am Theory, and of You I plea to not label me as an enemy, as to prevent great calamity.” She, again, performed a small courtesy before the princess. Twilight, having managed to defeat the clingy blanket, left the bed and got back onto her four hooves. “So you came through that portal. You are this—monster.” She glared at the other pony, if that was what she was. Twilight wasn't so certain about that any more. “What have you done to the Princess and Spike?” Grinning, Theory rose a hoof and booped Twilight's nose, triggering an involuntary reaction that caused her wings to flare. Theory chuckled as the alicorn's glare broke down in embarrassment. “First of all, yes. I am what came through the void gate. Second, yes and no. This language provides for no precise term that may describe my ontological relation to the entities your question might refer to. Third, I have done nothing. Celestia is wherever You banished her, and Spike is over there.” Following the outstretched arm, Twilight found Spike sitting on some sort of masonry next to the wall. He was eating ice cream out of a white tub that bore the image of a silhouetted alicorn rearing up in front of a bold, segmented circle, next to it the label 'Everfree Technologies'. Spike waved at her. “I gave him ice cream,” Theory noted. She turned to Spike, giving her voice a sharp edge. “You better be careful with that ice cream, young dragon. This sarcophagus is well 989 years old, and the floor is even older! If I find any vanilla-flavoured stains on them, I shall have to use my tremendous powers to remove them. And let me tell you something, Spike.” She closed in on him, peering at him through half-lidded eyes, nearly shoving her face into his. “I am really proficient at removing stains.” Twilight used the opportunity to get a better look at Theory. For one, she noticed Theory was tall, not as tall as Celestia or Luna, but at least at Cadance's height, a bit larger than your average stallion. It wasn't really a miracle she hadn't noticed before. When you're lying down in a room you don't know and only have a shape-shifting avatar of Chaos as comparison, judging size is more than just hard. Aside from her size and her strangely luminescent eyes, Theory was notably inconspicuous. To her light grey coat came a dark grey mane and tail hanging limply in a most plain fashion, bare of any curl or quiff, completely straight. On her flank was either an invisibility cutie mark or none at all, strange considering she seemed fully grown, yet not strange considering she probably wasn't even a real pony at all. The alicorn nearly jumped when Discord nudged her side with an elbow. His head was right next to hers, and he was obviously following her eyes, looking at Theory from the same angle as she. When she turned to him, he simply grinned and wriggled his brows, earning an exasperated groan. “Right!” Theory whipped around. Discord immediately blinked over to leaning against a wall and whistling innocently. “Greeting the divinity, done. Pacifying the infant, done. Greeting the royalty, done. Next up, briefing employees.” She marched towards the bed. Twilight noticed that it, too, featured brass labels, such as 'Alicorn: Twilight Sparkle' or 'Pegasus: Fluttershy'. “Cease pretence of dormancy promptly, former Listener!” Theory snapped, fixating the unicorn stallion wedged between Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Mister MacMad-Eye, as he was of now called, opened his eyes slowly, as if he feared retribution in case he made any sudden movements. When he however realized what was keeping him comfortably warm from his left and right, he froze, his pupils narrowing to pinpricks and darting wildly from one side to the other. Theory sighed. “That is what you get for employing mentally damaged sociopaths.” Her horn flashed red, and the stallion was teleported out of the bed and onto his hooves. She frowned at him. “First of all, bad news. The Watcher is gone, which means the Order of the Watcher is pretty much pointless. Everfree Technologies is taking over the facility, and as we have no Watcher, we need no Listener. So, congratulations, you are now our new janitor.” She smiled at him, turned away, then back at him. “Janitor, I have some bad news for you. We are replacing all the cleaning staff with automatons. This means you are fired.” Mister MacMad-Eye gazed upon her in utter puzzlement and confusion. “In cultist terms, I am saying you have served me well and I am relieving you of your servitude.” For a couple of seconds, he just eyed her anxiously, then sighed, let his head hang down and whispered “It's not as if I haven't expected this.” He looked up. “The plan has been executed. My purpose has been fulfilled. Tell me, what point is there to my life now?” Theory chuckled. “It is always the same set of questions ephemerals ask those who do not possess their constraints. Listen closely, my little pony, for it is rare that their pleas are answered thus.” She leaned forward, her brilliant eyes gleaming in outlandish light. “Life only has intrinsic meaning to those who are predated by the very intent their life seeks to fulfil. Theirs is the certainty of meaning, which those that are born without such intent do not possess. Yet while those may be damned to wander lost and without direction, only they have the power to shape who and what they are to be, and only they can create their own direction to follow. Giving meaning to another is an action of destruction that voids these possibilities. Receiving meaning from another is always paid with freedom. Asking me what the point to your life is is rejection of the freedom I gifted you with.” As the pulsating light reflected in the stallion's eyes, a wave of colour seemed to wash over him, like a cloud passing from before the sun, letting the warm glow shine anew. His gaze steadied, his breath calmed, his coat and mane seemed smoother, less patchy, more colourful. “What did you do to him?” Twilight breathed, staring at the absent smile Mister MacMad-Eye displayed. “I only helped him.” Theory smirked slyly. “He has lived his whole life in servitude and now that he is free, he sees no sense in keeping on living. I merely lifted his fears of the light, mended his twisted mind and gave him back into the embrace of Harmony. I just gave him what he needed to live happily ever after. Surely you can not condemn me for helping such a poor, unfortunate soul?” Twilight frowned, trying find fault in her reasoning or come up with some kind of response that would wipe away that smug look when Mister MacMad-Eye sighed, causing Theory to turn to him and shush her. “Freedom,” he said dreamily. “I've always felt a bit like a prisoner, always underground, always constricted by walls in every direction, the darkness always stuck in earth and stone.” He shook his head as if to shoo away some bugging, buzzing insect. “And the schedule. Always the schedule. Everything set in stone, one thing after the other, like, like beads on a string. All had its order, the food I ate, the things I did. I remember Aunt Minty, back when I was little, she even had a set date when to die. Took everypony by surprise when she lived five hours longer than scheduled.” He sighed again. Twilight glanced sideways at Theory, eyes wide, but the mare merely smiled and nodded. The olden stallion looked up with sudden clarity, directly into Theory's bright eyes. “I don't want this any more,” he declared. “I want a place, a life where there's no walls in my face. I don't wanna be afraid of the unexpected any more. I want unexpected to be normal, so there's no day-to-day, always the same, trot, where the air grows stale and your hooves step into the same tracks again and again. I want to live in a place where the shadows flow freely. I want to see the night. I don't want to eat any more mushrooms.” “My friend.” Theory placed a hoof around his shoulders and smiled down at him, her eyes sparkling. “The world you desire is right outside. The meadows and hills of Equestria are covered in fresh, green grass. Her air is filled with the song of birds and the music of the winds. It is there you can find the unexpected that may be harmless, even pleasant, if only you have the fortitude to search for it.” “Isn't that dangerous?” he asked, insecurity in his words. “Not more than what you already faced down here. Remember who you are. You are the pony that remained when all else were gone. You persevered. I doubt you will find any danger out there that you cannot withstand, that you cannot overcome. Unless of course,” Theory grinned, “It is your intention to seek danger. Now go, be brave.” Mister MacMad-Eye nodded, managed some nigh-incomprehensible words of thanks before turning away, trotting briskly to the room's exit, briefly ignited his horn to activate a mechanism of pulleys, gears, bars and counterweights that smoothly lifted the great stone bolts and latches, opening the massive vault doors. As he left, Theory called after him. “Use one of the secondary entrances or, if you feel sufficiently able, the spatial translocation nexus. The main elevator is reserved for a certain guest of honour.” “So, who was he?” Twilight asked over the astonishingly quiet sound of the stone door relocking. She shot a suspicious glance Theory's way. “Some kind of slave?” “Oh, Celestia forbid, no.” Theory chuckled, shaking her head. “He was a Listener. He freely chose to dedicate his life to serve the Watcher.” There was some strange quality to Theory's voice or pronunciation that made capitals and punctuation oddly audible. “He did say he always felt like a prisoner.” Twilight pointed out pointedly. “I never imprisoned him in any way. He saw to that completely by himself and on his own account.” Twilight raised a sceptical eyebrow to accentuate the frown she directed at Theory. “The sturdiest of prisons” – Theory tapped Twilight on the chest – “are built inside your own head, and their walls are made from who you are.” And with a smile, she abruptly turned back to the bed full of ponies. “Next point on the agenda,” she chirped, “Is welcoming our remaining guests.” She glanced over the lying pony friends and cleared her throat. “Good evening, and welcome to the Everfree Technologies Alpha Compound. You have been in hibernation for 7443 seconds and are now awake. In accordance to this fact, your hibernation comfort supplementation structure will be terminated in further three seconds.” With an “I'm up!”, Pinkie bounced out of the bed like a spring while the rest of the pony friends just began to stir. Then, after precisely three seconds, Theory stamped her hoof onto the hard floor and the bed with all its sheets and blankets disintegrated in a bright flash of light and violation of the First Law of Thermodynamics. As the ponies still busied themselves with picking themselves up from the ground, Twilight trotted over to join them, while Theory already addressed the small group. “I trust you all had a good rest and recovered well from the shock of witnessing a void gate and the start of an incarnation process. On that note, I would also like to assure you that the situation has been concluded successfully, will not reiterate in the foreseeable future and is nothing to worry about any further.” Theory smiled reassuringly at the now fully awakened little herd. “As we have never met and I have not been heard of it is now time for introductions, I believe. My name is Theory, and I am corporate executive officer of Everfree Technologies and supervisor of the Everfree Technologies Alpha Compound.” “Ugh, my brain!” Discord groaned, interrupting Theory's monologue. “Could you get even wordier, please? I'm not already bored enough.” He fluttered over to her side and dismissively waved his paw. “Yadda yadda yadda, we get it. Long story short, that's Theory, she came through the big silly portal and she is the Spirit of Knowledge and Insight and overly long and complicated sentences.” He stuck his serpent tongue out. “Basically like me, but in a different flavour.” “While your statement is relatively accurate, I would not put it that bluntly. Aside from the detail that I possess world-shattering powers of reality manipulation and an intellect to match, I am an ordinary unicorn.” Theory paused briefly before revising her statement. “For certain values of 'ordinary', at least.” “What's so bad about making things nice, quick and simple?” Discord asked innocently, batting his suddenly very long eyelashes at her. “I thought you like efficiency.” “True, but just walking up to somepony and telling them 'I am Theory, Spirit of Knowledge and Insight' usually has the connotation 'Bow before me lest I devour your soul!', which ticks ponies off, dumps you into the 'evil overlord' pigeon-hole and earns you a free treatment with the Elements of Harmony,” Theory explained, then turned to Twilight and her friends. “By the way, they are in the display case on the left-hoof side, just in case you feel the sudden urge to petrify me.” “You know, Spirit of Knowledge and Insight doesn't sound that bad to me,” Twilight offered, earning some slightly hesitant, but affirmative nods from her friends. “I,” Discord snapped, pointing a claw at her, “find that offensive! It is little things like that which open the door for discrimination and persecution. Before you know you'll make claims like 'Chaos and Disharmony are inherently bad.'” He produced a sound of indignation by sharply sucking in air through his nostrils. “Well, they kinda are,” Rainbow Dash said bluntly. “What?!” Discord nearly had a stroke. Since he didn't want it, he passed it to his past self from a second before. In the end, after a lot of passing around, the stroke ended up somewhere in prehistoric times, resulting in the first thing for Discord to ever feel being a heart attack. “You aren't telling me you like Order and Concord, are you?” “That is, to some extent, the basic idea behind Equestrian society, yes.” Theory nodded at the draconequus with the bulging eyes. “Well, that certainly isn't playing fair.” Discord crossed his asymmetric arms. “Not playing fair? Perhaps we haven't met. I'm Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Hello-o?” Theory replied in perfect replication of Discord's voice, and raised an eyebrow. Discord chuckled, breaking up his indignant demeanour. “Ah, it's good to have somepony who gets my humour.” He leaned himself onto Theory, using her head as an armrest, and grinned. “It really is a boon to at last find a match to my intelligence.” “Well,” Theory deadpanned, “These walls are built from a particularly dense type of stone to better contain the emissions of the arcane artefacts stored in here.” “Arcane artefacts?” Twilight asked with renewed interest through the ruckus caused by Discord gagging and downing the contents of a barrel-sized flask labelled 'pun sickness remedy'. Theory's ears perked up as she registered another opportunity for monologue. “The Everfree Technologies Alpha Compound Relic Storage,” she began, “Contains a sorted assortment of various artefacts of magical significance. The bulk of them are remnants from the past of the Order of the Watcher, though some of them are simply here for safety reasons, for instance to protect the item in question from being lost. While most of the pieces here are relatively mundane, such as the different editions of 'Predictions and Prophecies' or the 'Equigenesis', there are also some illustrious types as the 'Kitab Al'Azif', the 'Panbioticon', the Key of Tartarus or the Elements of Harmony. They were all mostly intended to be used as part of one or the other emergency protocol. Aside from the relics of knowledge, technology and magic, there remain of course some pieces of purely sentimental worth.” She pointed her left front hoof at a collection of oil paintings on the far wall. “These works of art may serve as example. Do you have any more specific questions on any of these items?” Theory turned back to Twilight (and Rarity, whose interest had been sparked the moment art got involved) and quickly adapted a look of genuine surprise when Rainbow Dash, precisely as calculated, flew before her and started speaking quick and loud. “Whoa, whoa; wait a second! You can't just go and lecture us. I mean, where are we even? And what about the princess and that big black hole?” “Rainbow Dash, third Bearer of Loyalty, a pleasure to finally meet you. The Element of Loyalty has always played a rather unique role in the grand scheme of things, and so far nothing indicates you might be an exception.” A wide smile spread on Theory's lips. “Nonetheless, as I have already mentioned, the issue of the portal to the Beyond is not of immediate significance, so you will forgive me if I answer your first question first. To explain what this facility is, let me tell you all a small story.” Lowering herself onto her haunches, Theory gestured the six pony friends to seat themselves as well; an invitation to which Discord instantly responded by conjuring up a king-sized armchair, a pair of thick glasses, a plaid dressing gown and a bubble-spewing meerschaum pipe. “Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there was an infamous tyrant who ruled arbitrarily and created discord for all the land,” Theory began her tale in a solemn, subdued voice. “The Bearer of the Element of Loyalty sought to bring peace and order to all the ponies, yet was powerless against the ruler. But although she was desperate and all hope seemed lost, she did not abandon the ponies she had sworn to protect. She gained unlikely aid from an immaterial being from outside the world, who desired to live within it. Realizing they could only succeed in their respective quests together, they allied, one promising to bring down the tyrant, the other agreeing to bring the first to life.” At this point, Applejack got up quietly to retrieve her hat from one of the nearby shelves, where it had laid next to a plain gold ring. “One fateful day, guided by faint whispers from the darkness, Loyalty used all of her power to tear apart the very fabric of the world and call upon her ally to defeat the tyrant. However, all that came forth was a mere shadow of what she had hoped for, a simple conduit for the mind of her ally. Still, even though powerless, the ally devised a plan to dispose of the despot and guide Equestria to a new age of prosperity as well as make a place in the world for himself. Thus, the Bearer and the conduit, in ultimate consequence of their alliance, joined together to form a new being, a union of minds and body, Watcher and Listener, blessed with the gift of foresight. Together with a group of brave ponies, the Order of the Watcher, she worked relentlessly on Equestria's betterment. And although her unity with her ally was eventually broken, the Watcher, as an immortal being of pure mind, survived, and a new Listener rose to lead the Order.” Getting up, Theory pointed out one particular painting, depicting what seemed to be a festive celebration, a coronation of grandeur surpassing nearly everything in known history. “Soon, the ruler was defeated and the ponies were reunited under two regal sisters who brought back Harmony to the land. Equestria began to recover. The Watcher, however, had realised the fatal flaw in his plan: it relied on a progressive series of events to occur exactly as foreseen, and any deviation would, over time, amplify exponentially, causing events to spiral out of control. So to prevent ill from befalling Equestria, the Listener built a tremendous machine, one that would help detect these deviations ere they could cause harm, the most powerful tool of divination ever construed. Such, the Order could ensure that Equestria followed her destined path of Harmony and help the Watcher on his way to life. It is this system of caverns and tunnels that houses the great machine, the Arcane Field Data Measurement And Processing Plant.” “And that is a true story?” Applejack frowned, small creases playing around her forehead and muzzle. Theory slowly tilted her head from one side to the other as if contemplating something. “That depends on how you look at things. Naturally, I abbreviated for the sake of time and omitted detail for the sake of the bigger picture. So, while it is true, it is certainly not the complete truth. Then again, who or what can claim complete truth, safe perhaps That Who Is?” She shrugged. “But nonetheless this story has certainly served as subjective truth for many a generation.” “How come I've never heard of this?” Twilight asked. “I understand that our knowledge of the time before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna is incomplete at best, but even in our earliest records I've never seen anything about such a group of ponies, let alone such a machine.” “You have to understand that the great plan was designed under the assumption that nopony knew about it. Surely you can see that ponykind at large would display different behavioural patterns if knowledge were to circulate of an institution that made certain pony history would follow the path of Harmony. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy is validated by being made, this plan of the future would have been invalidated by being made known. Secrecy was compulsory, thus your lack of knowledge.” “And what is this 'path of Harmony', huh?” Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, beating her wings to slowly take off once again. She edged closer to Theory, hovering on her eye level. “Because I'm not convinced you really want the best for Equestria.” “Speaking abstractly, the path of Harmony would, to you, be synonymous with destiny. In a more concrete manner, the path of Harmony is what you see when you look at the last few centuries – aside from one or two little bumps in the road.” Theory frowned thoughtfully, but brightened up again almost immediately. “Still, I think we did a decent job keeping Equestria on her path. You know,” she added cheerfully, “Why not tour around the facility for a bit and show you the most interesting parts? It would certainly be educational.” Discord groaned and liquefied in his armchair. “I don't think I can take much more monologuing from you.” “Oh, come now,” Theory clicked her tongue in the most reproachful manner a tongue could ever hope to click. It did, in fact, unleash a volley of reproaches in such magnitude that it would have been tangible had it been more substantial. “I promise it will not be as boring as you might imagine.” She began moving towards the vault door, upon which Discord sighed, dissolved his chair, dribbled to the floor and flowed behind her. Seeing not much choice, the ponies followed suit, albeit cautious to not step into Discord. Under the cold red light of Theory's horn, the door's wings gave way to a corridor of plain stone, each wall lined with a stripe of some sort of luminous substance that kept everything in a dull twilight. Stepping through the opening and out of their way, Theory turned back to the ponies. “I will only show you a few rooms. The facility is quite extensive, and a full tour would take time I am not willing to supply.” Discord seeped out of the chamber and up a wall, followed (though not up the wall) by the six ponies and eventually the small ice-cream-eating dragon. “We are currently in one of the oldest parts of the facility, one that belonged to the original dungeons of Castle Everfree,” Theory explained. “The relic storage we just left has been used in that very capacity for nearly fifteen centuries, though it has been heavily modified before reaching its current form.” She began trotting down the corridor, still talking. “Even though the Order used the pre-existing deeper levels of Castle Everfree as a basis, the Measurement and Processing Plant as well as the rooms housing it still took about a hundred and fifty years in total to complete. This slow pace is, however, mostly a consequence of the issue of secrecy caused by the many ponies involved into the construction work.” As the ponies followed her around a corner, Discord suddenly boiled and bubbled up, frothing into his usual serpentine shape, solidifying from iridescent foam. Noticing that Spike was lagging behind, Twilight allowed him to climb on her back and jogged after the others. “The original plan was to use memory wipes, but that proved too impractical. The Order of the Watcher eventually ended up using mostly geasa and a bit of misdirection to ensure the discretion of all ponies involved. Nevertheless, this became unnecessary about twelve decades into the reign of the Royal Pony Sisters, when the Order could rely entirely on the abilities of its members as well as mechanical and magical aid, and thus was independent from outside workforce.” Theory stopped in front of an old metal door bearing the same emblem of the alicorn and the cog- or wheel-like circle. It, too, swung aside at the light of Theory's horn. “Please take note of the special safety doors,” Theory said as they all passed the doorway. “These are featured both here, on the entrance to the workshop section, and in each individual room of the wing. They are airtight, fireproof, pressure-resistant, water-repellent, and only one of them may be open at a time, giving this corridor here an airlock-like function that helps to contain hazards like toxic aerosols, explosions and methane fumes.” This corridor they entered was wider than the last, far-spaced doors of similar design evenly lining both left- and right-hoof wall. Exposed piping burst through the ceiling, every now and then a large open vent pointing down like a black, gaping maw hanging overhead. The air that hit them was cool and dry, the moist, mammalian warmth of their breaths creating small puffs of mist. As the door closed behind the ponies, a sound like rushing wind welled up from the metal tubes, dampened but distinguishable; the steady breathing of a monster deep in its cave. It was no inviting place. “And behind every single one of those doors is a room for ponies to workshop in?” Pinkie's critical gaze swept up and down the hallway before locking onto Theory. “Why do you need so super many of them?” “Specialisation,” Theory replied smoothly. “Every room is accommodated to a specific discipline, housing specialised equipment and that ilk. Here we have alchemy, there spellcraft. Over there are genetic engineering and craftsponyship, then there is transplanar experimental magic, robotics, the magazine and a few more.” After indicating every room mentioned, her haphazard hoof stopped flailing and settled back on the floor as she turned back to Pinkie Pie. “It is only reasonable to separate projects that are so different. After all, you would not make dresses in your bakery's kitchen, now would you?” “Of course not,” Pinkie giggled. “They'd get all messy!” “Exactly.” Theory nodded. “When you combine baking and sewing, you just get batter on your designs, and if you try combining genetic enhancements with erratic transplanar magic, you get rampaging shadow monsters.” Theory smiled to herself. “Those are nasty.” “I'm sorry, what was that about dresses?” Rarity asked, having been mildly occupied by fixing up the various sleep-induced ruffles and tousles of her mane and tail. “Ah, yes. Garments and the like are craftsponyship, the second door to the left.” Theory shook a grey hoof in the general direction. “Say, why not visit it? The room is dedicated to most general kinds of artifice and probably the most interesting for most of you. Come along, ponies!” The workshop for craftsponyship was an oblong room, walls hung with many tools and instruments of all sorts and purposes, one or two shelves full of little bits and pieces that could always come in hoovy, lit by dim glass orbs hanging in adjustable altitude over long, solid benches of stone or steel and, back at the far wall, a forge hot with pale-bluish flame. The air was warm, but carried a heavy stench of smouldering metal, unpleasant and pungent. There was no smoke visible though; supposedly, it was filtered away through one of the large metal pipes. At one of the benches next to the fire stood a unicorn, tall and slender outline sharp against its light, polishing a set of armour made from bright, blue-silvery metal, sparkling and shining as if newly made. “I see you are already finished,” Theory spoke out. “A pity, really. I was hoping we might show our guests the workshop 'in action', so to speak.” The unicorn shrugged. Satisfied with its sheen, she set the plated boot she had been working on aside and turned to the freshly arrived party. “I finished on time, which can hardly be seen as reprehensible.” The ponies, recognizing her, were slack-jawed. Eyes darting to and fro between Theory and Theory, Applejack managed a faint “Are y'all seein' what I see?” Discord, dressed in boots and vest, straw in the corner of his mouth, popped up from beneath her hat. Holding up a hand above his eyes to shield them from the sun, he squinted into the distance. “Hard to tell, really. Unless you're suffering from hallucinations, my hard-working friend, I'd say yes, we all are indeed seeing what you see.” He slid down her forehead, shrinking further, and settled, legs crossed, on her muzzle whilst generously ignoring the mare's repulsed shiver. “However, I fail to see what you are fussing about.” “Um, Discord?” Fluttershy shuffled nervously. “I think it's just that there's two of Theory.” She seemed to shrink under the weight of the mentioned unicorns' four eyes. “Not that that's a bad thing, of course.” “But that's just being in several places at the same time,” Discord whined. “–Or, rather, being several times in the same place,” he added more levelly before resuming his nasal complaint. “You never seemed to notice when I did that,” he finished, pouting. “Are you not ever so amusing,” Theory commented in haughty monotone, strutting closer to stand by her own side. “What you should take from this incident,” Theory added, “is that matters of quality and quantity are different altogether. That is always a good lesson to learn.” “Just note that your simple concept of numericals only model a distinct context and become all but inane in any deviating system.” And with that, Theory stepped into herself and was one again. Twilight idly opened and closed her mouth a few times in search of one unbeatable argument in favour of numbers. In the end, she remained silent, with a slightly queasy feeling that if one and two were the same, checklists would no longer work. It should be noted here that being two was actually twice as difficult for Theory as being one. However, it should also be noted that being one was about as hard for Theory as it would be for an ordinary person to be none. It was really just a matter of quantity and thereby, to Theory, a secondary concern. A turn, a flick of the head, her horn bathing in light again, a sliver of magic sprung forth. Theory's spell wisped through the room, pieces of sparkling armour lifted by its telekinetic pull gravitating towards it. Meeting its destination, the spell flared up to deliver a large mannequin for the protective wear to rest on. Another hum of magic, one more flash of the horn, and the armoured pony effigy animated, rose from its dematerializing stand and stepped forward. To Twilight, it was baffling, enough so as to stir her from her pondering of arithmetics. Theory's spellwork was immaculate, unreal even. The sheer speed at which she assembled the spells and the rapidity with which they deployed themselves made it all but impossible for Twilight, who was normally quite adept at analysing a spell on sight, oft even to the point she could replicate all but the most difficile of magics, to pry any information on their structure and function. All she was ever able to discern were crude overlying patterns and vague similarities to her own spells – here an aspect of telekinesis, there a teleportation vector, then something roughly resembling the outline of a come-to-life spell. They seemed like plumb tools, her own spells, next to the art Theory was practising. It reminded her of Rainbow Dash, in an odd way. Theory was flying fast overhead, doing tricks and pirouettes, scaling mountains in seconds where all other unicorns had to crawl around every bump and root like little turtles – I mean tortoises. It was unicorn magic just fine, but on a level beyond everything ever proposed in Equestrian history, save perhaps the most abstract and crackpot theories. As her inquisitive gaze met Theory's glimmering eyes and registered her faint smirk, another parallel between Dash and Theory sprung to her mind: Both excelled greatly at what they did, and both knew it all too well. “I must say,” the sound of Discord's voice diverted Twilight's attention, “I'd rather expected you ponies to pay more attention to this.” He waved his unequal arms to indicate the surrounding space – in his case, the glittering surface of the armour's chestpiece, where he was rested on the etched emblem of a crescent moon. Twilight moved a step closer to bet a better look at the armour. It did seem awfully familiar... “I just cleaned that.” Theory sounded disdainful. “Would you mind not getting your essence all over it? This is hardly hygienic.” The flat draconequus snorted. His talon clicked and a white flash of light heralded the appearance of the stylized picture of an upright wooden pole in boggy environs on Theory's thigh. Not even turning her head to survey the result of Discord's doing, Theory rapped her front hoof on the floor, and Discord was assaulted by the fine picture of some spray bottle pouring delicate images of tiny droplets all over him. One more snap, another flash. The false cutie mark and the spray bottle had vanished; Discord, now back in three dimensions, stood in the middle of the room, dripping wet, reeking of disinfectant. He glowered down at Theory, a strange fire in his eyes, and growled “You have shamed me.” “That I have.” Theory's expression was nondescript. “Then I demand satisfaction for this indignity!” Discord hissed. He raised a paw, crackling with power, and pointed it at Theory. There was a blast like from a cannon, and blinding radiance erupted from his hand. The room shook and trembled at the discharge of unearthly power. Smoke and a stench of sulphur and gunpowder filled the room. Silence fell as ghostly after-images of the blinding outburst danced around everypony's retinas. Discord's arm slackened, sparks of dissipating energy trailing off and falling to the floor. Aided by the ventilation system, the fumes began to swiftly fade away, and soon all were to behold what had happened. Theory was wearing a striped scarf around her neck. She glanced down in moderate puzzlement. “Why do you accessorize me?” she asked, tugging at the band of soft, warming cloth with a hoof. “It is unnecessary.” “That's the point, my dear.” Discord grinned; his fur had been dried in the eruption of heat and light. “You don't like things that are unnecessary, so this is the perfect retribution for” – and he said that last thing overflowing with his own irony-tinged version of pathos – “wounding my pride.—besides,” he added in a subdued tone, addressing the ponies present, “she just looks a lot better that way, doesn't she?” The look on Rarity's face not only conveyed her complete intolerance for the Spirit's antics, but also very clearly signalled that patchwork scarves with wide stripes in garish hues were so out of season she'd rather die than wear one. It was late Spring, after all. “I see. While 'like' would not be my choice of words, I get your meaning.” Theory gave a sharp nod. “Very well, then. I shall wear this scarf as redress for the shame I inflicted upon you, as well as sign of peace amongst us.” “I concur,” Discord drawled. “Please do proceed.” Both extended an arm towards the other, hoof shook paw. “Splendid.” Theory grinned back up at him. “May I furtherly request permit to fraternize with your mortal allies?” Discord shrugged. “Sure, why not. If you want to make friends with ponies, I won't be standing be in your way.” Theory nodded. She turned to the door, grin still persistent, and called out “If you would all come along, I will show you the main entrance.” Theory hurried through the corridors, quickly taking a turn right, then four sharp turns to the left. The ponies followed her, and surprisingly soon, the walls gave way to a large, circular room with a high ceiling. Several other paths branched off the chamber, some quickly leading down steep stairways, deeper into the earth. At the room's centre, surrounded by three strong pillars, was a shallow, circular indentation, a round terrace lowered a hoof's width into the floor. Directly above it was an opening in the ceiling of exactly the same shape and dimensions, a shaft leading upwards. Already familiar glass spheres acted as lanterns, slowly powering up to glow brighter as the group entered. Runic inlays running around the walls and retractable bulkheads, massive stone sliding doors, above each of the room's entrances suggested the possibility the chamber could be sealed off quite thoroughly, possibly to prevent or hamper intrusion from outside via the shaft. “This is the Everfree Technologies Alpha Compound Main Access Lift,” Theory declared. There was a soft slapping sound as Discord sunk a paw deep into his face. “It connects to the surface and utilizes anti-gravitational and inertial fields to achieve a loud-bearing capacity of several tons worth of weight. There is also a mechanical counterweight backup system in case water gets into the catalyst matrix. It is also one of the few mechanisms active by default when the facility is running on emergency power.” Theory frowned. “It is actually a shame that it had to be kept secret. This lift is probably the greatest achievement of pony engineering in the Post-Classical Period. And presumably the safest way of transport currently available in all of Equestria.” There was a hollow clanging sound far up the shaft, followed by a perpetual, low rumble. Flakes of dust tumbled down from the ceiling and the shaft. Metal ground against stone, a dull thud, the rumbling stopped. “What is it with you ponies? It is safe,” Theory responded to the piercing stares of the surrounding ponies. A long, high groan of strained metal creaked down from above, mingled with the sharp ticking and clicking of busy clockwork. “Ah, it is time now.” Fresh enthusiasm filled Theory's voice. “We are expecting a special guest.” As she motioned for the ponies to come closer, the rumbling resumed, stronger this time, more rhythmic, more frantic, thundering away like an oncoming train. “Now, I know all of you might be a bit reserved, and rightfully so, given the circumstances, but I want you to know that the pony you are about to meet is very important; not just to me, but to everypony. Without her, none of this would have been possible, and it is only through her support and dedication that we all have been able to come together on this day. So, be on your best behaviour, would you kindly?” Theory turned, trotting towards the room's centre. The mannequin followed her, its armour slightly fluorescent in the dimness. Discord yawned. The gears and pulleys rumbled on. From the shaft, a round platform descended, congruent to the indentation in the floor below. Its rapid venture downward began slowing considerably and under considerable crunching and screeching. Its landing, however, was soft as a feather's fall, and similarly noisy. The platform settled snug in the ground, leaving only a hairline as indication of its existence. Atop its surface stood a blue mare.