//------------------------------// // Chapter 28: Laughter // Story: Harmony Theory // by Sharaloth //------------------------------// Upon receiving their Element, all Bearers begin to experience the world in new ways. The change in perspective is partially due to the Intrinsic Understanding ability granted to them, as well as an increased synchronization with their Element’s purpose. This shift is not sudden, and not incongruous to the Bearer. Rather, it is subtle and seemingly natural. To an external observer, however, it can be quite obvious and sometimes jarring. The severity of this perspective shift will wax and wane depending on how much energy the Bearer is drawing from their Element, and thus will often come on in response to an emotional crisis. At the extreme this can become blinding to the Bearer, leading to erratic behaviour and irrational thinking. All of my friends have gone through such an extreme at some point or another, though Applejack and myself seem to experience them most deeply. For myself, the manifestation is in a need for control, though I will often parse it in different terms. For Applejack, it was an intense desire to forge or deepen connections, especially with her family. Coupled with whatever emotional turmoil initiated the energy draw, our actions usually became counterproductive and occasionally dangerous to those around us. For the most part, however, this was merely embarrassing. We would fall into this twisted perspective, cause some amount of havoc, then snap out of it, none the worse for our experience. It is when a Proxy Bearer experiences this phenomenon that things become more serious. The shift in perspective comes with an increase in power and a sense of absolute certainty. Worse, whereas a True Bearer uses their Element mostly as unconscious reflex, a Proxy must intentionally draw on their Element, allowing them to enter this state practically at will. The combination has a high potential to become addictive. Though Princess Celestia has related stories about the Bearers in the first Royal Sisters period that fit the criteria for such an addiction, thankfully this did not become an issue with the modern Proxy Bearers. Though, in retrospect, there were a few incidents that could have led down this dangerous path, were it not for the presence of myself and my friends. -From the fifth section of Harmony Theory by Twilight Sparkle Chapter Twenty-Eight: Laughter Nightmare Umbra dove into the Everstorm, shrieking her rage into the uncaring winds. The power that fueled the eternal tempest–her power, ultimately–folded around her like a leaden blanket, dragging her from the tortured skies down to the broken earth. Her army was left behind, flowing in a massed cloud of ash and bone the long way around. They could not travel through the Everstorm, its forbidding might denying even her minions passage. She did not like coming here, but it was for entirely different reasons than those of most ponies. It wasn’t the terrifying visions, the constant attacks on life and sanity, or the vast supernatural defenses it arrayed against intruders. She cared nothing for those, and they could not harm her in any case. No, what made the Everstorm so unpleasant wasn’t the Storm itself, but the thought of the one who had created it. Lightning struck at her, made of both magic and electricity, engineered to strip away the power of flight. She did not resist, folding her great wings and letting the gravity of the world take her. She plummeted to the ground like a meteor of ash and shadows, and struck with the deadly force of a bomb. The impact shattered her body, but such agonies were paltry compared to the will that drove her. She stood from her self-made crater even before her legs had healed and stumbled her way towards the whirling clouds that surrounded the center of the Storm. Stepping into the Eye was like being born again. Magic, as pure as sunlight and abundant as the ocean, surged in with every breath she took. She basked in it for a long moment before pushing away from the edge of the Storm and striding with slow purpose deeper into the Eye. Ponyville rose around her like the ghost of a concrete forest. Ancient buildings stood untouched by centuries, but not intact. No, they had been half-ruined by the armies that clashed here before the Storm split Equestria. Umbra stared at the devastation with an unflinching gaze, the city a brutal reminder of the cost of failure. She took her time, immune to the dangers that would hurry a lesser pony. She chose a meandering route to her destination, passing places that had once been landmarks. Revisiting memories not her own. Long ago, these places had stood as touchstones in the lives of the ponies who had lived, played, and died in the town of Ponyville. Then, as the town became a city, they had been crowded by new construction and forgotten by new generations. They became crumbling edifices kept around only for historical value, and finally mere plaques speaking of what had once stood there. She stopped by one such plaque, commemorating the acres of hilly ground that had once been Sweet Apple Acres. It had been overcome by an expanding need for real estate, the land sold and turned into a commercial district. Deeper into the city, Umbra noted that there was nothing left of the Carousel Boutique at all. Ponies had been more interested in preserving Rarity’s much larger and grander operation in Canterlot. Sugarcube Corner remained, but it had been remodeled time and time again until only its street facade resembled the original shape, and that only barely. Umbra stopped by the ancient storefront, taking in the still-bright paint and the chalkboard sign advertising the daily sale. An ephemeral memory of taste and texture whispered through her vast, shadowed mind. A memory of something sweet and light, made with joy and served in friendship. She let the memory fade. It was part of her, but it was not truly hers; she had no need to dwell on it. Instead, she turned her attention to the rest of the building. It had been spared from most of the destruction. A few windows even still had glass. She stared into one of those intact windows, her eyes scanning sullenly over what she saw there. “It won’t get any easier,” Twinkle Shine said, her voice quietly sighing from the reflection. “Ease Is Irrelevant,” Umbra growled back. “Then why delay?” Umbra turned away from the glass, continuing her walk. “To Fail Here Would Only Further Erode My Purpose. I Am… Afraid.” Twinkle Shine made a purely-mental noise of surprise. That statement had been uncharacteristically candid of the Nightmare. “I’m sorry,” she said, speaking from reflections in shards of glass and metal that Umbra passed. “That can’t be easy.” “I Require No Sympathy,” she snarled back. Umbra paused for a moment, shaking her head. When she started walking again the hard anger had mellowed some in her voice. “I Was Meant To Be Feared, Not To Fear For Myself. Somehow, Centuries As A Mere Pony Have Damaged Me.” “No. Don’t try to blame me,” Twinkle Shine said, an angry frown crossing her reflected features. “I kept to my own business. I didn’t interfere!” “Gamma.” Twinkle Shine paused, taken aback. “Once,” she said, cautiously. “The First,” Umbra whispered in rebuke. “Then Many Times Over. The Student.” Twinkle Shine was silent. No denial was possible. “Taking Her In Was A Mistake. I Allowed It To Forestall The Madness Of The King, And Fell Victim To A Different Madness Because Of It. I Was Infected With Sentiment. Now I Am Afflicted With Fear.” There was a long pause before Twinkle Shine spoke again. “Taking Star Fall in was the best thing I’ve done since I was made.” She spoke the words as a challenge to the Nightmare. For once Umbra did not rise to the bait. “Of Course It Was,” she said. Then, keeping her eyes from any reflective surfaces, she picked up her pace and trotted towards the center of the city. She passed by city hall with barely a glance. The grand structure echoed the form it had taken in Ponyville’s past, but done in steel and crystal. Most of it was a shattered ruin now, but the bones of the great building still reared high above the tops of the surrounding structures. Her destination came in sight soon after, and though it was not a building on the same scale as the others she had passed, it still held a place of great pride among the towers of the city. The Golden Oak Library. A tree grown with care and magic to become a match for the original building that had borne the name. It took a careful eye and a lot of experience to see that it was not the same tree Twilight Sparkle had lived in for the first few, pivotal years in Ponyville. With the amount the city had changed since those early days, even the fact that it was half a mile from where the original had stood wasn’t too much of a giveaway. Umbra walked up to the tree and laid a hoof on it. She could feel the life sleeping beneath the thick bark, the slow, seasonal heartbeat of the living wood. Alive, but as much in stasis as the rest of the city. Leaving the tree for the moment, she walked around it to the small park beyond the library’s front door. There her true target stood. The statue was exquisite in its detail. Vibrantly colored and so realistic it was easy to imagine it coming to life. Twilight Sparkle, in her youth. A unicorn just beginning to find her destiny in the magical land of Equestria. The Element of Magic gleamed on her brow. Such a simple, unassuming thing. It was hard to believe it was capable of so much evil. Umbra circled the statue, coming around to stand face-to-face with it. She gazed into the upturned, hopeful eyes of the statue and stilled. She stood, unmoving, for a long time. She was so still that an observer might have been mistaken into thinking she was the statue, so cold and dead she seemed. Finally, she drew a slow breath and spoke. “I Despise This Place,” she said. The anger in her voice was that of poorly banked coals, calm for now but eager to explode into a roaring inferno. “This Sick Monument To A Past That Lost Its Relevance Before It Lost Its Princess. I Would Wipe It Away, If I Could. Perhaps I Will Yet Get The Chance.” She stepped forward, her muzzle coming within an inch of the statue’s. “I Loathe This Entire World. Filled With Cowards And Fools. Ruled By The Pathetic Wills Of Ponies Who Cannot See Beyond Their Own Petty Wants. A Kingdom Of Friendship? They Will Never Achieve Such A Thing. All They Are Destined For Is To Be Ruled By The Strongest Hoof, Or Ground To Dust Beneath Mine.” She reached out, touching the stone face with her forehoof. “I Hate Their Weakness. As I Hate My Own. I Hate Having Waited For Eight Hundred Years, Only To Have The Plan Undone By One Little Pegasus Who I Allowed To Get Too Close. I Hate That I Am Bound By A Purpose That May Never Come To Be. I Hate That I Am Driven By The Lives I Hold Within Me. I Will Drown The World With Flame To See My Destiny Fulfilled, And I Will Hate The Ashes That Are Left In My Wake.” She came even closer, whispering in the statue’s ear. “But Most Of All, Dwarfing Every Other Together, I Hate You.” Her eyes blazed with insane rage, but she pulled away. She swept past the uncaring statue and to the library. She unlocked the door with ease and walked inside. It had been turned into a museum, a place that celebrated Twilight’s life and deeds. She sneered at the welcoming banners and large portrait of the once-princess of Equestria, passing by without a second look. She stepped around the shelves of books that would have been a priceless treasure trove of knowledge in the outside world. They could burn for all the Nightmare cared. She had them all memorized in any case. She walked up the stairs, past ancient photographs and mementos that had not been seen in eight centuries. Finally, she walked up to a bedroom alcove. It looked perfectly cozy, clean and tidy, the bed crisp as if it had been made just that morning. Just the thing for a too-humble librarian. Umbra settled herself on the bed, curling up as she was much too large to lay full out in it, and caught her reflection in a mirror hanging on the wall. “Why leave it?” Twinkle Shine asked. “It Will Require Witnesses To Be Believed,” Umbra replied. “I Know How The Student Thinks. They Will Come. I Will Wait For Them Here.” “It could be a long wait,” Twinkle Shine said, but didn’t argue. “If… when Star Fall does come…” “The Student Will Have Her Explanation,” Umbra promised. Twinkle Shine nodded in relief, then faded away, leaving Umbra to her dark thoughts without mentioning the conversation with the statue. Umbra did not have to guess why. It was one of the many things they shared. Twinkle Shine hated Twilight Sparkle every bit as much as Umbra did. *** Senator Alan Birchfield’s mansion was on the long side of a T-intersection of two streets. Not major streets, but important enough that shutting down this area would create hell for commuters throughout Orion City. Hoof traffic was steady, though not as crowded as it got closer to the city’s core. The neighborhood was an old one, and not as upscale as the mansion itself. This created a strange effect where the elegant, if massive, house was surrounded by four and five story apartments. Back alleys and side streets created a maze between those apartments for blocks in every direction. Not an ideal situation, but they could work with it. “Are you sure he’ll go for it?” Captain Rivers asked, looking out the front window of the car at Senator Birchfield’s mansion. “He hasn’t exactly been playing nice with the unit since you spoke to him last time.” Hard Boiled nodded. “He’ll go for it.” He flashed the other stallion a confident smile. “I’ve got his number, Ger. He’ll play ball.” “I hope you’re right,” the Captain sighed. “Well, this is your plan, so it’s your show. The future of the Special Investigations Unit is in your hooves, HB.” Hard Boiled spent a long beat looking at the front door of Birchfield’s mansion, waiting for his magic to show him if there was anything new to see. As soon as it came back with a negative, he spoke: “Let’s go.” The Captain clicked on the radio. “All units, all units, we are a go. Repeat: we are go!” Hard Boiled was already out of the car and moving towards the mansion before the Captain was done with the message. He let a burst of magic flash from his horn, a pulse of truth lighting up the world in his eyes. He spotted Traduce immediately, disguised as a gawking civilian. He didn’t think she’d have any trouble slipping through the perimeter the police were about to put up around the Senator’s mansion. Two other ponies highlighted themselves with darting eyes and tense stances that picked them out as having a more-than-civilian interest in the sound of sirens and the sudden appearance of a phalanx of Orion City’s finest. He couldn’t be sure if they were spies or merely nervous criminals, but he wouldn’t take the chance. He pointed a hoof at each of them as he walked, and squads moved to secure them immediately. The Captain caught up to him as he was halfway down the walkway leading to Birchfield’s front door. HB was surprised at how quickly his superior had agreed to this plan, but as the Captain had reminded him: they knew each other, and he knew that there was no way HB would ask for something like this unless it was absolutely necessary. He’d kept Barry as far from the action as he dared, leaving him to be part of the coordination efforts rather than bringing him inside. Traduce had given a grim promise that if he tried to run she would do something terrible to him, and Barry believed her. Hell, HB believed her, too. There was nothing she hated worse than a sunland spy, and the only thing keeping him from her wrath was staying in HB’s good graces. That should have been enough to keep him loyal, but again HB was taking no chances. Barry would stay close enough to grab if it became necessary, but far enough to be out of the loop for the important things that could be said inside. The door was opening even as they walked up to it. Birchfield’s uptight unicorn butler glared imperiously at the pair of cops with the temerity to invade his employer’s home. “I assume you have a warrant for this…” He paused, turning his horn up at the cops clearing the street and spreading out around the property. “...intrusion?” “Don’t need one,” HB said. He pushed past the butler, ignoring his outraged protest, and stepped into the grand foyer. It was exactly as he remembered it: high, glass-domed ceiling, art adorning walls and short column-shelves, and a central feature of plants and statuary. It all screamed money and privilege, and that almost distracted from the object given pride of place. A statue of an earth pony mare, done in some pink-hued stone. Now that he was looking at it properly he could see the exquisite detail of it, the life-like illusion of vitality, like a mare caught mid-laugh and frozen in time. A golden necklace with a blue gem in the shape of a balloon sparkled at the statue’s throat. It only confirmed what HB had already guessed deep in the jungles of the south. “What is going on here?” Birchfield demanded, limping into the foyer with his ears laid flat and his wings held partly open. The disheveled state of his mane and beard suggested that their arrival had woken him, which suited the detective just fine. The Captain looked to Hard Boiled, and he tore his attention away from the statue to face the Senator. The startled look on Birchfield’s face as he realized what Hard Boiled had been looking at was not lost on the detective. “Senator, there has been a threat made against your life.” “What?” Birchfield blinked in surprise, gaze flicking between HB and the statue for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes and glared at the police still coming in. “And you think that gives you the right to barge in here? To my home?” “Yes, sir. It does,” the Captain replied. His tone was politic, his manner professional, but HB’s magic picked out the secret joy in tweaking the nose of one of the powerful. “In the case of a credible threat to an elected representative, the Orion City Police are empowered to take whatever steps are necessary to protect that figure. Part four, section ‘C’, subsection 2-b of the Orion Republic charter.” Birchfield sneered at that. “Come, now. If Senators got this kind of response to a mere death threat, we’d never get any work done! What is this really about?” “The threat is real, Senator,” HB said. “And I think you know that.” He looked pointedly at the statue. “All of them were lost, you said. Well, I guess not that lost.” Birchfield’s eyes tracked to the statue, then back to Hard Boiled. He could see the understanding in the old pegasus’ eyes, but decided to make it clear in case the Senator wanted to drag this out. “Yes, I can see it just fine. And I’m sure I’m not the only one. We spoke about him, last time I was here.” “Max Cash,” the Senator said, eyes widening as his wings sagged. “You think he’s coming here? For that?” “I’d stake my career on it.” Birchfield stood in silence for a long moment, then gave HB a hard look. “You just have, Lieutenant. Very well. I’ll instruct my staff to give you anything you need.” “Thank you for your cooperation, sir,” the Captain said. “Hopefully this will just be a precaution, and you can be back to your business as soon as possible.” Birchfield barked out a laugh. “I just hope it is enough, Captain. Max Cash is not known for half-measures.” *** There was neither clock nor window nor any other device that could be used to tell time in the soundproofed interrogation room, yet Calumn could still feel every minute tick by with agonizing slowness as he watched the battle of wills and wits taking shape between the room’s other two occupants. He flicked his gaze between Gamma and Straff, becoming more and more uncomfortable as their mutual and complex history turned the air in the small room into an emotional miasma. They sat on either side of the table in nearly identical poses of controlled rigidity, their eyes locked on each other’s, barely blinking. Calumn sat on the short side of the table in his Strongheart form, between the two of them. Ostensibly, he was here for lie detection and emotional analysis. In reality, his presence didn’t make much sense at all. He’d admitted that he was compromised, had stated his intentions to quit the RIA to Straff. Even if the pale unicorn somehow still trusted him, he should have been locked in his own personal interrogation cell, or at least kept with the others that had come through the Storm. Even if Straff didn’t want what was being discussed to be heard out of a select circle, surely Traduce would have served just as well as he could. Though now that he thought of it, he hadn’t seen Straff’s right-hoof Changeling at all since he’d been brought in. “This still seems too fanciful,” Straff said, repeating a sentiment he’d expressed a dozen times before. “Fanciful or not,” Gamma replied, again almost from rote. “Those are the facts as I know them.” “Magic necklaces and resurrected heroes.” Straff’s tone was cold and even, but displayed the clear depth of his cynical disbelief. “Rainbow Dash reported the same to me,” Calumn spoke up. “And she, at least, honestly believes herself to be an ancient hero.” “I am aware,” Straff replied without looking away from his opposite number. Calumn had been thoroughly debriefed already, so Straff knew the full extent of his story. Rainbow Dash had also figured prominently in the discussion, Calumn had also taken special care to ensure that the Director understood the severity of Cash’s unnatural powers of persuasion. “But as this ‘Rainbow Dash’ is an admitted agent of the Kingdom’s Secret Service, anything she says is suspect.” “I was in her head, sir,” Calumn said, remembering the explosive, immense power that had filled the pegasus. “If anyone’s the real deal, she’s it.” “You saw what Rarity is capable of,” Gamma put in. “You even admitted the truth then. Will you now doubt your own eyes?” “When it comes to you, Gamma, I would doubt Luna Herself.” Gamma kept at him. “Do you doubt Max Cash is a threat?” “Not even for a moment.” She leaned forward. “Then do not doubt that I believe the same. My presence here, of my own will, is a testament to how much I think he needs to be stopped.” Straff was quiet for a long time, in which neither he nor Gamma so much as twitched. Finally, he sighed, letting his rigid posture relax a fraction. “That is precisely my fear. That nothing in what you have presented is false, and that Cash truly does represent a threat dire enough to have you turn yourself over to me. That would make him far, far more dangerous than I had ever imagined.” He flashed her a hard look. “However, that fear does not blind me to the possibility that you are using the very real threat of Cash to force me into rash action that will leave the Republics vulnerable to some other scheme you have waiting in the wings.” Gamma tilted her head in acknowledgment. “It is possible.” “It’s likely!” Straff countered. “I trained you to think that way. A spymaster should never act unless it accomplishes more than one purpose. Wheels within wheels. So tell me how I should see it, Gamma. You’ve come now, of all times, offering to help. But you’ve brought along a living weapon and a sunland Dragon Lord. Right into the heart of my operation! What if this is all a ruse to get them into the right position?” “Master Spike is neutral,” Gamma cut in. “That is well known.” “His ties to the Kingdom and the Royal family are also well known.” “He just lives there.” “Please!” Calumn cried out, slapping a hoof on the table. The two looked at him with identical hard, blue stares. He weathered it. “Agent Gamma, Director Straff, sir. Arguing over theories and semantics isn’t going to help. The fact is that Cash is a threat. To both our nations. You both clearly recognize this, and I know it on a very, very personal level. I do not know your history, but this… squabbling is getting us nowhere!” Both unicorns shared a glance, then simultaneously relaxed. “You’re right, Straff,” Gamma said. “I’m trying to do more than one thing here. None of those things are suborning your nation. Above all, the first and greatest priority is ending Cash’s threat. If I can’t do that here, then I can see us having maybe one more shot.” “What are your other goals?” Gamma shook her head. “In short? Preventing the war. What did you mean ‘now of all times’?” “You are not asking the questions here, Gamma,” Straff said, a cold warning in his tone. She ignored it. “This is relevant. What did you mean?” Straff betrayed nothing of his thoughts. Only Calumn’s Changeling senses allowed him to feel the spike of self-directed annoyance from the Director. “The Senate is in an uproar, the RIA has to step carefully or we face being dissolved.” Gamma frowned. “No. That’s true, but something else is going on as well. Your statement was in reference to my offer to help. Thus it relates to Cash. What’s going on?” Straff was silent for an extended beat before responding. “Very well. One of my assets has uncovered what we believe is Cash’s next target.” “A statue,” Gamma said. It wasn’t a question. Straff gave her a silent glare, which was all the confirmation Gamma needed. “The statue will have a necklace. That necklace is one of the Elements of Harmony. He cannot be allowed to take possession of it.” “Of that, I am well aware,” Straff replied. “Then you know you need to send every possible agent to secure that Element.” Another long pause from Straff. “Yes. That would be a preferred solution.” “Except you can’t,” Gamma said. Again, it was not a question. “Because of your problems with the Senate.” Straff let out a very slight sigh. “It’s worse than you think. The Senator who initiated that stupidity is also the one in possession of the statue.” Gamma’s eyes narrowed slightly at that. “But you aren’t leaving it completely unguarded.” “I have put the Orion City Police in a position to protect the statue.” “They won’t be enough.” “If what you’re saying about the power of these Elements is true, I’m not sure what would be.” “Not just that. Charisma.” “I’m aware of the capabilities of your former pet psychopath.” “No. You aren’t,” Gamma said, and Straff’s eyes narrowed as he got her point. “She was spotted several weeks ago when she was still in the Kingdom. She was flying at supersonic speeds and carrying another pony, likely Cash.” “What?” It was a measure of Straff’s shock that he allowed his surprise to show so clearly. “How?” “I don’t know,” Gamma said. “Not for certain. I believe the Elements are involved there too, but that is as much due to lack of information on their capabilities as it is knowledge of their power.” “If she is able to do that much…” “Yes. No force fielded by the Orion City police will be adequate.” “The RIA cannot step in without risking disbandment. Even if I try to make a unilateral move regardless, the other directors will block me. I don’t have enough votes on my side to order an intervention of the scale necessary.” “Democracy is such a burden, isn’t it?” Gamma asked with a level tone and a quirked eyebrow. Straff gave her a pointed look, which she returned with a steady gaze. “This is information that would have been useful to have earlier.” “To what end? Your hooves are just as tied now as they would be if I told you two days ago. I’ve been trying to impart the truth that the real threat is Cash and the Elements he carries. If I’d told you about Charisma earlier, I ran the risk of you focusing on the threat from her to the exclusion of everything else.” She leaned forward. “Now, surely you are seeing the same opportunity that I am.” He snorted. “I do not think it’s as much an ‘opportunity’ as you seem to believe, but yes, I am aware of the rather convenient timing.” “I did not know of your discoveries until you told me of them right now,” Gamma said. “If there is contrivance here, it is not by my design. Regardless, my team is here, it is powerful and not tied to the RIA. Allowed to assist the police, they could very well tip the balance in our favor.” Straff made a rough noise of agreement. “With one exception.” He poked a hoof at her. “You are not going anywhere.” Gamma sighed. “You can trust the others about as much as you trust me. You take no additional risks by allowing me to coordinate them.” “Of course I do,” Straff scoffed. “Simply having you here, alone, in this room and still breathing is a risk. I have no illusions about your capabilities, Gamma. I’m not putting you anywhere you can get a message to your agents, no matter how remote the possibility. The others? Their power is impressive, yes, but they’re hardly spies. If I let them into the field I can trust that they won’t be playing a dozen different games at once.” Gamma tsked. “Then I suppose you’re going yourself? You’ll need someone who can coordinate, who will be able to act with understanding, decisiveness and speed.” “I’ll be sending Calumn,” Straff said. “Sir?” Calumn asked. “If the RIA can’t interfere, then my being there will be just as bad as you going yourself.” Straff gave him a thin smile. “Hardly. You’re a rogue, Calumn. Officially. You were disavowed the moment you were dragged into the open in the sunlands. Which, by the way, was sloppy work and beneath what I know to be your capabilities. Further, your actions here have just reinforced your status with the rest of the RIA. If you had come in quietly, then perhaps I could have massaged it away, given you another chance. As it is, you were seen openly and in your true form destroying your cover identity while also escorting an enemy of the state. Ponies will talk, and for something like this, so will Changelings. As far as the RIA is concerned, you are blacklisted, and quite possibly destined to be hunted down and sacrificed to a hive. For the moment, this puts you in a unique position. Of all the assets I have, your official unreliability means, ironically, you’re the only one I can rely on.” Calumn swallowed hard. He knew all of that was true, but had kept himself from dwelling on it. “Cash has got to me before.” “Then ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” Straff said, and that was that. “If you perform up to your former standards, I will ensure that you are either exonerated or given the chance to escape. That should be plentiful motivation to do this right. The local who is running the police side of things is Lieutenant Hard Boiled. He’s been working for me, investigating Cash. Traduce is with him. They won’t be expecting you, but integrating with them shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll have a dossier on him and the other major players sent to the conference room. Go there and tell the others to get ready. The sooner they get out there, the better I’ll feel about this. And you,” he turned back to Gamma. “You are going to tell me everything else you’ve been leaving for a ‘more opportune moment’.” *** Calumn left for the conference room several minutes later, feeling drained. Straff had filled him in on what had been discovered while he’d been in the sunlands. Specifically, the locations of the two statues. It was strange, he almost felt as if he was ahead of Max Cash for once. Agency guards bracketed the door, and there were a half dozen others standing along the hallway. As tired as he was, he still managed to recognize two fellow Changelings among those guards. It wasn’t any flaw in their physical disguises that gave them away, rather, it was the looks they shot him. The accusing glances that sent little spikes of disgust and rage through the emotional makeup of the hallway. They knew that he’d been compromised, or at least they’d heard enough to come to that conclusion. A part of him felt like he should cringe away from those looks. He didn’t. They didn’t understand. They probably never would. That wasn’t their fault, and he wasn’t ashamed of what he had learned about himself on the other side of the Storm. So he kept his head high and didn’t return the glances he caught as he made his way to the conference room where the rest of his companions were having a late dinner. “... and then the fish said: ‘you got great legs, lady’!” Blaze’s cheerful voice drifted out the moment Calumn opened the door. The green stallion was seated near the middle of the long, oval table, a messy assortment of take-out boxes scattered around him. “How perfectly dreadful!” Rarity said. She sat across from Blaze, shaking her head while Spike chortled next to her. Their own meals looked picked clean, and neatly so. “I thought it was funny,” the Dragon said, then noticed the door opening. “Strongheart! Come on in. Your buddy was just telling us a joke.” “One of my sister’s favourites when we were kids,” Blaze said. “The one with the vain mare and the avocado?” Calumn asked, though the punchline was unmistakeable. “Good choice. I’ve got some news, if you’re all interested?” “Absolutely!” Rarity said, practically climbing onto the table in her excitement. She wasn’t the only one who perked up at those words. Spike focused his reptilian attention on Calumn, and even Melody pulled herself out of her black introspection to sit up straighter and pay attention. Blaze just smiled at him, utterly unfazed by their confinement and boredom. “Two days of sitting around with so little to do in this drab place, and I am at my utmost limit! Why, I’m almost ready to start ripping up the carpets to make a dreadful, if well-tailored, vest for Spike.” “A vest?” Spike asked. “It would draw attention to your arms, darling,” Rarity said. “And arms like yours deserve to be shown off!” Calumn did not miss the sense of pleased pride that rolled off of the Dragon at the compliment. Spike even looked down at one of his arms and flexed. Calumn had to admit that it was, indeed, impressive, but in his experience Dragons were rarely anything but. “Sorry about that. We just, well, we couldn’t have you wandering around the city. It wouldn’t be good for anyone.” “I understand that, Strongheart,” Rarity said. “But, please, you were saying you had news?” “Director Straff has reviewed everyone’s testimony, and has decided that, at the very least, this is not all some elaborate sunland scheme.” “So he’ll help us find Cash?” Spike asked, and at this Melody fully woke up, dragging the full intensity of her awareness into the conversation. “Yes,” Calumn said, feeling the mood of the room both intensify and focus. “More importantly, we know where a statue is.” “It was found?” Spike’s eager question held several layers of importance. Calumn was getting to know Spike well enough only to tease the deeper meaning from a few of the emotions he was sensing. “Which one?” “All of them,” Calumn said, watching the eager glee unfold on Spike’s face. “According to Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle’s is in the Everstorm, and thus out of reach. The other two are here, in the nightlands. From the descriptions, it looks like Fluttershy’s statue is far to the south, in the middle of the jungles. Pinkie Pie’s, however, is right here in Orion City.” There was a gasp from Rarity. “We have to go to her! Immediately!” Calumn held up a hoof at her, hoping she wouldn’t bowl right over him. “We will, but there’s also bad news. Cash knows about Pinkie’s statue too. He might also know about Fluttershy’s, but we’re not sure about that one.” “All the more reason to get moving,” Spike growled. “Director Straff is getting the transport ready now,” Calumn assured him. “But first you need to understand the situation. There are a lot of police already on the scene, waiting to see if Cash will show up. None of them are going to be too keen on letting a group of unknowns like us just stroll in and do what we want. Add to that the fact that most of them don’t speak Solar and Rarity doesn’t speak Lunar and we’ll have to be careful in how we do this.” “I don’t speak Lunar either,” Melody said. Her voice was quiet, but determined. Calumn could feel her chaotic emotions beginning to bend all in one direction: murder. She was determined to kill Cash, and he knew that she would ignore any order that seemed to take her farther from that goal, which meant she was a liability to bring along. However, he couldn’t see how he could leave her behind without confining her, which wouldn’t sit well with Rarity. He would just have to keep a close eye on her and hope for the best. “Alright, so we have two who don’t speak the language, one of whom had her picture in the paper as one of the heroes of the Solar Kingdom.” “The paper? Oh! How did I look?” Rarity asked, brightening at the prospect. “I haven’t seen it,” Calumn said. “I just know that the news is all over the Republics. We don’t have the time to work up a proper disguise–” “Give me some cloth, a needle and thread, and I could do a cloak with a hood in a few minutes,” Rarity offered. “It won’t be terribly pretty, but it will keep me incognito from a casual glance.” “You’ll still stand out,” Calumn said, but nodded. “But not as much as being recognized would. I’ll get you set up. Spike, there’s nothing that will work for you, but you’re not likely to be seen as anything other than a Dragon. Rare, but not riot-worthy. The rest of us should be fine without anything.” “Am I coming too?” Blaze asked. “Yes, you’re the one who knows Charisma and Cash the best out of all of us. You could provide some insight on what to expect from them.” Blaze frowned at that. “I’m not so good at fighting, buddy. I don’t think I’ll be much help there.” “She still loves you, right?” Blaze gave a half-shrug. “Close enough at least that she might hesitate to kill you outright. That hesitation might be what we need to survive this.” “What’s up, buddy?” Blaze asked. “I know how badass Charisma is, but you’re talking like we won’t have a ton of cops with us.” “We… Gamma said that they caught her carrying another pony at over mach one.” Spike and Melody’s eyes went wide, the latter gasping and curling protectively around her doll. Blaze just gave Calumn a small frown. Rarity looked at the grim expressions and raised a hoof. “I’m sorry, darlings, but I’m not seeing why that’s so shocking.” “It’s not possible, Rarity,” Spike said. “Not anymore.” “Oh,” she closed her eyes for a moment as she understood. “Of course. But what does it mean if she can do that?” “It means she’s been given an Element,” Spike replied. “And if we’re very lucky just being faster and stronger is all she’s figured out how to do with it.” “What else could we expect to see?” He shrugged. “It depends on which Element she’s been given. He’s got Loyalty, Generosity and Honesty. I don’t see any of those being a strong part of Charisma’s personality, though.” “She could do Generosity alright,” Blaze said. Everyone else looked at him and he shrugged. “It’s about how she sees the world. She could maybe be Loyalty, I guess. Honesty? Nah, I can’t see that one. But I’d peg her as Generosity for sure.” “Okay… Well, that would be… better,” Spike said, slowly. “I know Generosity.” “Good, then you are in charge of confronting her if and when she appears,” Calumn said. “Blaze, Melody, I’ll need you both with me at the command center.” “I need to get Cash,” Melody whispered. “You’ll get your shot,” Calumn said, not sure yet if it was a lie. “But everyone has to work with me on this. Director Straff is only letting this happen because I can coordinate all of you with the police. There’s a lot more riding on this than just whether we get Cash or not. If this goes badly, it could cause serious consequences.” “Strongheart, believe me,” Spike said. “If Cash gets all the Elements, none of those consequences are going to matter.” “I believe you, Spike,” Calumn said, then in a flash of green fire he shed Strongheart’s form, eliciting gasps from both Rarity and Melody. They’d seen his true form before, but this was their first glimpse of the actual transformation. Melody flinched back, a natural reaction for a sunlander, but in Rarity’s eyes he saw a gleam of inspiration. He smiled at that. “And for the record, my real name is Calumn.” *** Charisma stared at the newspaper in dumbfounded shock. There, with a headline screaming about a new sunland super-soldier, was a huge, full-color picture of Rainbow Dash. A blue coat and a multi-colored mane didn’t in any way disguise the mare that had fought so well from Charisma’s eyes. In the picture Dash was hovering in the air, looking very pleased with herself while Lady Fallen Star and the Solar King looked on in awe. The image stirred Charisma's heart to beat faster, sending a pulse of whispered expectation through her. "Well, well, well," she said, her lips slowly spreading into a wicked grin. "What have you been up to, hot stuff?" She almost took the paper. The temptation was strong, but she had nowhere to put it, and with the strong likelihood of having to make a rapid escape from the city, she didn't think she could take it with her in any case. So she reluctantly tore her eyes away from the image of the mare that haunted her dreams, quietly sure they would meet again in the flesh before it was all over. She turned to Cash, who was chatting with the street vendor he was buying food from. The smile on Cash's face was as worrying as the easy, quick patter he was using to charm the foolish mare who was wrapping their meals in waxy, checkered paper. He'd been quiet, unusually so, for the majority of their journey to Orion City. She'd never known him to sulk before, but she supposed his plans had never been so badly disrupted before either. Lyssa's death had upset him, and that was such a new experience that she found herself carefully re-examining all her expectations of his behaviour. He’d always had an unpredictable streak, but he'd also always been in control. Every surprising move would later be revealed as carefully calculated, every apparently random choice made with a glib remark and a wild laugh would inevitably turn out to be another step in his plans. It was part of what had convinced her to follow him: when he had made his promises to her, she knew he would have a way to fulfill them. Now, though, things had changed. He'd admitted it himself in Precious Corners. His plan, so long in the making, was falling apart around his ears, and all he could do was try to ride the avalanche and pull victory from the chaos. She didn't know if even he knew how it was all going to play out anymore. She certainly didn’t. It didn't seem to bother him. In fact, the only thing that did seem to bother him was Charisma killing a pony he was specifically trying to kill himself. No, not even that. It wasn't that Charisma had killed Lyssa that had angered him, it was something else. Something connected to the murder, but not directly. She knew him well enough to see that, but nowhere near well enough to figure out exactly what it could be. She was still trying to make sense of what he had said when he'd found Lyssa dead; speaking of 'fate' with such venom in his voice. She couldn't understand it, and her lack of understanding only made it harder to figure out what Cash would do next. All she knew was that he was going after the Elements, and that he would do anything to get them. A memory of a crimson teardrop changing into a lightning bolt crossed her mind. The sensation of speed and power. A spark of something deeper, like a door she had never even known was there being opened. Her breath caught, lungs suddenly seizing. She held back the impulse as she rushed to a nearby alley, barely making it in time before the coughing fit took her. Blood spattered the wall she leaned against, her body shaking with every new wracking cough. Her wings flapped in helpless distress as she gagged and heaved until her breakfast joined the blood. It was over soon enough, and she spent a minute breathing slowly, making sure that she could take full breaths without falling into another fit. "You okay?" a voice asked. She looked over to see a trio of dirty, unkempt ponies shying back from her. One of them clutched a ragged blanket around herself and was shivering slightly as if the day weren't warm. A stallion stared at her with dead eyes, and her Talent hissed violence into her brain at his gaze. The last one, a zebra mare whose stripes were barely visible due to how dirty her coat was, spoke to her again. "You need help?" "Leave," Charisma growled at the homeless ponies. "Hey, we don't–" "Leave!" she screamed, her wings flaring as she fought the need to kill them. Something about her must have warned them that she was dangerous, or perhaps they were just so used to being beaten down that they didn't consider resisting. Either way, they scattered, rushing down the alley and out of sight in moments. Charisma leaned her head against the wall, taking deep, gulping breaths. The sound of hoofsteps made her look up towards the mouth of the alley. Cash was there, chewing casually on his sandwich as he watched her with mild, amused interest. "So," he began, licking a daisy petal off his lips before continuing. "I'm guessing you don't want lunch anymore?" Charisma rolled her eyes. "This is all your fault, you know." "A lot of things are my fault," he said. "Care to narrow it down?" "Your damn magic healing," she snarled. "It's going wrong." He smiled, superior and condescending. "If a certain someone hadn't gotten herself blasted into a wall, she wouldn't have needed the healing in the first place." He chuckled, the sound disconcertingly familiar, like a parent would chuckle at the antics of a young child. "No, Charisma, this time the blame is squarely in your court. Careful how you play with it, because it's stickier than you expect." "What?" "Come on," he jerked his head towards the street. "As much as I love hanging out in alleys with you, we have a Senator to kill." She pushed herself away from the wall, finding her legs strong enough to carry her to her employer without shaking. When the fits came, they hit hard, but she always recovered quickly. "So he's the one you need to kill?" He laughed. "Not in the strictest sense, no. He's not connected. I just kinda want to. I still don't know who the right person is." "How are you so sure the 'right person' will even show up?" "They will," he said, and the conviction in his voice was so casual and so absolute that she couldn't help but believe him. "I'll just have to keep my eyes open for them." He laughed at that, as if it had been a joke. They walked through the city, passing the blissfully unaware citizens who scurried about their tasks. Dozens of eyes looked out of the nooks and crannies of the city, the destitute and the forgotten filling the alleys while those who could still afford to moved along the bright streets. Charisma hated the Republics cities. It wasn't the size of them that bothered her. She had been born in the Solar Capital, which rivalled a Republic in size. No, her issue with them was that they were uniformly dirty, crowded, and littered with impoverished and broken ponies who could disappear without being missed. They made things so hard, and try as she might she had never learned the Republican knack for ignoring them even when they were right in front of their eyes. Their sheer numbers helped dull the edge of her need, but it wasn’t enough. Nothing was ever enough. They were out on a sort of reconnoitering mission. Charisma had wanted to see their target for herself, to get a feel for what would be needed to assault and hold the area. She had also been unwilling to leave Cash alone in the company of the mercenaries he’d hired. She didn’t trust him not to do something dangerous to them. When they rounded a corner and got their first look at Senator Birchfield’s mansion, they stopped dead. “Well,” Cash said, clicking his tongue. “That’s annoying.” Charisma made a quiet noise of agreement as she looked towards the police barricade that closed off the streets leading to Senator Birchfield’s mansion. Her Talent whispered a massacre into the back of her brain, and she could see no other way to get past the perimeter the cops had set up. “Your distraction plan won’t work.” “No,” Cash said, then shrugged. “Too bad. What’s your idea?” She gave him a sidelong look. “What? I didn’t hire you just for your winning personality.” “I thought you had planned for this, Max.” “I did,” he replied with an infuriatingly confident smile. “I hired an ex-special forces soldier to be my personal bodyguard.” She looked back towards the mansion. “It’ll be bloody,” she said. “Right up your alley, then.” She snorted at that, but nodded. “I hope you realize that this will kill any kind of stealth. All the bribes in the world won’t stop them from hunting us down after we start a war in a Republic.” “Ah, you sunlanders and your decisive government,” Max said, garnishing his words with a wistful chuckle. “Trust me, by the time they’re done with the committees and the debates and the bureaucratic minutia, when they actually manage to send anyone after me it’ll be too late.” “If you say so, Max,” Charisma sighed, then turned away from the scene and trotted back through the side streets towards the plain, unmarked van that was their transport around the city. “I’ll need everybody we’ve brought for this one.” “Don’t be wasteful,” Cash said, laughing at some private joke again as he got into the van before her. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover before it’s all over.” The ride back to their hideout was quick and painless. Charisma spent the time pondering angles of attack and necessary troop numbers. It was an exercise she hadn’t engaged in for years, and even then it had mostly been theoretical. When she had been part of the Kingdom’s military, she had never been in charge of a large force. Squads and training groups, yes, but never more than a dozen soldiers at a time. It was all her rank would allow for. No matter her proficiency in dealing death, a pegasus could not become an officer in the Kingdom. Her opinion was asked once or twice, but she had never been given the privilege of being the one to truly plan an operation. She was usually a solo fighter, but she didn’t have to be. Her Talent incorporated all assets at her disposal into its urgings, giving her an instinctive understanding of combat at every level where blood would be spilled. Tactics, fields of fire, terrain usage, an entire battle plan came together like the pieces of a puzzle solving itself in her mind’s eye. It didn’t help with the bigger picture, the why’s of a fight, of course. Her Talent didn’t care why people died, only that they did. There were a few glaring flaws in her planning, three specifically that she could see being dangerous. The first was that she hadn’t personally vetted the mercenaries. Their abilities and coordination were unknown quantities. At least she knew how to incorporate unknowns like their nebulous skill into a larger plan. It just required redundancies to be put in place. A bigger problem was that she had no clue how long Max expected this to take. A couple of hours, she thought they could handle. Four would be pushing it. However, so long as it was all finished before the army was called in, her plan would work. There was only one other major issue she could foresee, and it was one she couldn’t do much about herself. “We need to keep the mercenaries from desertion,” she told Max before they arrived. “Once they know what we want them to do, no amount of money is going to keep them there.” “Oh, I’ve got a fix for that!” Cash said, grinning. “There won’t be any desertion problems from my troops.” “No,” Charisma said. A flash of crimson memory sent a shiver through her, making her coat feel as if it was standing on end. “I guess there won’t.” The warehouse they were using as a base for their forces was large and nondescript. Charisma had seen dozens like it in her career with Max Cash, and they never failed to have some sort of dark secret of his hidden inside. She supposed that not every warehouse could be filled with contraband or illegal art or a small army, but every one Cash took her to invariably was. Inside, the space was mostly taken up by the soldiers and their vehicles. They were at ease now, lounging around, playing games or cleaning weapons, the things that soldiers do when the violence is imminent but not quite there yet. In one cordoned-off section of the warehouse there was a table set up with various maps of the city splayed out on it. The leaders of the mercenary groups were poring over them, discussing their parts in Cash’s original plan. He had thought to create havoc, sending teams of mercenaries to attack simultaneously in several places across the city. The idea had been to draw the attention of the police and ensure that no one would be able to investigate what was going on at Birchfield’s mansion until it was too late. The heavy police presence already there meant that plan was unusable. “Hey, guys,” Cash said, sidling up to the table. “Good to see everyone taking this seriously. I’ve always felt a strong work ethic is key in the murder-for-hire business. If they catch you sleeping, you’re not gonna wake up, right?” There were a few polite chuckles at the joke, but Cash seemed to find it especially funny. He sobered quickly, giving the mercenary commanders an exaggeratedly pensive look. “Well, I told you when you signed on that we might have to play fast and loose with this one, and lo and behold, my prophecy is fulfilled. We’ve run into a snag. Not totally unexpected, but still much earlier than I would have liked. So! My associate Charisma here is gonna explain how things are gonna go a teensy bit different than what I’d told you to plan for. Charisma?” She stepped up to the table and indicated the maps with their drawn-on plans of attack. “The distraction plan won’t work,” she said. As she spoke she met the eyes of each commander in turn, trying to get a feel for them while her Talent gleefully filled her in on how to best kill each of them before the others could react. “I’ve devised a new one.“ She quickly sketched out what she had come up with in the van. Their reactions were predictably nonplussed. “That’s gonna put a lot of us right in the line of fire,” one of them pointed out, a gray unicorn stallion with a prominent scar permanently squinting one of his yellow eyes. He seemed to be the oldest and most experienced of the commanders. “Yes,” she said. “It’s necessary.” She didn’t bother explaining further. If Cash did what she thought he was going to do, they wouldn’t need anything more than that. “After the initial surge it’s down to simple defend and delay tactics. Once the signal is given that the objective has been met, you switch to strike and fade and head to the rendezvous point.” They looked to each other, and she could see them weighing whether the money they’d been paid and promised was worth the very likely sacrifice of many of their soldiers. “This is more hazard than the contract laid out,” the scarred unicorn said. “I think I speak for all of us when I say that without knowing what this is all for, we aren’t willing to take that risk.” There were nods of agreement all around. “Max?” she said, turning to her employer. “You’re up.” He grinned and jumped up on the table, startling everyone around it, Charisma included. “Ladies and gentlecolts!” he began, skipping across the table like it was a stage. Charisma wondered if it would be sturdy enough to hold him or if it would crash down in the middle of his speech. She wondered if that would even matter. “Your attention, if you please!” He certainly had that. Most of the mercenaries had stopped what they were doing to stare at their employer. “Hi. I’m Maxamillion Oswald Cash, I’m the one paying your salaries. I’d like to take this moment to talk to you about what you’re going to be helping me accomplish tonight. It’s been a long while getting here, I admit. There’s been a lot of sitting around doing nothing, waiting for an update, any update on when it will finally be time to get to the action. A lot of wondering if it’ll all be worth it when the day comes. Well, the day has come, and it’s time to answer that question.” He paused for a moment, looking out over the crowd. When he continued he wasn’t smiling anymore and his voice came out in a measured, friendly cadance, like a priest of Celestia giving a sermon. “I’d like to tell you a bit of a story. I promise it won’t take long and there’ll be a point to it. You see, there was a time, when I was young, when I didn’t know where I was going. When I didn’t know what I really wanted, in that all-important big-picture sort of way. It started when I got a shock, one of those life-changing events that makes you question everything you thought you knew about yourself and the world you live in. I got so turned around, so confused, that for a while I thought there was something seriously wrong with me. I made some bad decisions, then. Really bad. I alienated a lot of people. My family, my friends. All gone, all because of me. It was about as low as I have ever been. So low, I thought there was no coming back from it. But you know what? It turned out I hadn’t lost everybody. There was one stallion, one friend, who stuck by me. Through the worst of the worst, when all hope was gone, he was still there. He reached out when no one else would and helped me get back to my hooves. My best friend. James Bay. “Jim, well, he wasn’t what you’d call the sharpest pony. Not stupid, no, but he didn’t get nuance. If you wanted him to know something you had to come out and say it to his face. A nod and a wink were never good enough for him, and I guess that’s why he never got the message that I didn’t want friends anymore. All he knew was that I needed one.” Cash paused again, looking down in a moment of solemnity. Then he chuckled and his grin came back full force as he looked back at the mercenaries. “He’s dead now. But that big, stubborn pony showed me something incredibly important: loyalty. The kind of loyalty that can’t be bought or sold. That kind of loyalty requires something from both parties. So when you ask if it’s all going to be worth it? Well, if I want your loyalty, I’ll just have to show you what you’re fighting for.” His horn lit and out of his saddlebag floated three golden necklaces with large central gems that were so brightly, solidly colored that they seemed to glow with a faint inner light: purple diamond, orange apple and crimson lightning bolt. Charisma’s eyes went to the red gem at once, and she found that she couldn't look away. It grew in her vision until the crimson light was all she could see. She remembered that gem in another shape, a teardrop like the ones that adorned her hips, and a sense of connection, of purpose so deep she could drown in it, filled her. She didn't even realize she was stepping onto the table and reaching for it until Cash's hoof touched her, gently pushing her back down to the floor. "Uh-uh," he chided. "Not tonight." "I..." she trailed off, not knowing what it was she wanted to say. He stared at her for a long moment. His expression was almost entirely unreadable, but she thought she caught a flash of anger in his eyes. She wasn't sure if it was anger at her, or at something else, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. He replaced his blank look with his customary smile and set the Elements spinning in a circle above his head. "Maybe later," he said, giving her a sly wink. He turned back to the assembled soldiers. “These are what it’s all about. They’re a matched set, and I’m after another one tonight. Now, I know what you’re thinking: ‘we’re risking life, limb and freedom over necklaces?’. Let me tell you, these are not necklaces. Yeah, sure, they look like it, but trust me, these babies are magic. Who wants a demonstration?” There was a chorus of affirmative noises from the crowd. He brought the Element of Loyalty down in front of him, touching it with a hoof. It flashed a bright red, little sparks of electricity beginning to flash from the gold. “Ooh, it’s feisty tonight!” Max whispered to Charisma while the mercenaries watched the Element pulse brighter and brighter. A wild look came into his eyes and Charisma flinched back from it, her Talent screaming at her to kill him before he used the power of Loyalty. “Cool, right?” he said to the crowd. “Now, I know a lightshow isn’t going to impress everyone, but that was just to get your full attention. The real demonstration will happen in a moment. You see, this little thing is a relic from the old world, before the Schism. Hell, it’s even older than that, and I can assure you it’s lost none of its potency. This one necklace has all the power needed to conquer the entire world, and it belongs to me. I am the pony with the plan and the power, all I need are the people. If you are going to be those people, then all I want from you is one thing. The same thing Big Jim once showed me.” He flashed Charisma a sly wink. “Loyalty.” The change in the crowd was instantaneous and palpable. Where before they were half-listening or watching the shining Element, now every eye was riveted to Cash. The mercenaries stood straighter, holding themselves to rigid attention like raw recruits just being taught how to salute. She saw a few begin to pant as if they had run a mile, their expressions going beyond professional or even devoted into a kind of worship. Charisma shuddered at the sight. She remembered Melody, and knew that these soldiers were unlikely to survive long. "Do I have your loyalty?" Cash demanded. “Yes sir!” came the thundering reply from the assembled soldiers. “Well then,” Cash said with an evil smile. “Let’s get to it.” *** Lieutenant Hard Boiled stared at the pink statue as Birchfield came into the entrance hall, flanked by a pair of Strength Talent sergeants. He didn’t look away as the Senator spotted him and began walking over. The statue itself was simple enough. Expertly crafted and unquestionably beautiful, but made of stone and mineral. The necklace it wore, however, was something else entirely. His Talent was Finding Truth, but the truth of that necklace was impossible to find. His magic kept telling him that it both was and was not really there, like it was illusion and reality both at once. Worse, it couldn’t agree on what shape the necklace actually was. A blue balloon, or a simple octagonal gem, or, strangely, a foot-wide stone sphere among a dozen other shapes that flickered across his awareness. Every one of them seemed just as true as every other, and the constant contradiction was mesmerizing. He suspected it would also be a serious migraine were it not for the close proximity of Traduce, currently masquerading as one of the uniformed officers stationed around the hall. He was careful to avoid staring at her, not wanting to break her cover, but he couldn’t help catching her eye and nodding once to let her know he knew she was there, and was thankful for it. Senator Birchfield stepped up next to HB. He had calmed considerably since that morning, but had still spent a considerable amount of time fuming about the invasion of his privacy. “You can see it,” he said. HB quirked an eyebrow at the lack of leading small-talk, but accepted the welcome thrust straight to the point with a simple nod. “How? No one else I’ve met has been able to keep their eyes on it for more than a few seconds. They barely acknowledge that it’s there.” “There’s a spell protecting it,” HB replied. “I know that much,” Birchfield snapped, though he kept his voice low. “I want to know how you can see it.” HB shrugged, he didn’t see the point in refusing the old pegasus. “I found another one. It was protected like this one is, but I managed to break through the spell. I guess that broke this one as well.” “You found one.” He sounded awestruck, almost reverent. “Which one?” “Yellow pegasus,” HB said. “Three-butterfly Talent Glyph.” “Kindness,” Birchfield breathed. “Which one’s this?” HB asked, indicating the statue in front of them. “Laughter,” Birchfield replied. “Well, now that you know how I can see it. How can you?” The Senator let out a deep sigh. “I wish I could tell you, Lieutenant. I found it in the ruins of Las Pegasus fifteen years ago.” Hard Boiled listened intently, openly running his magic to let the Senator know that he would catch any lie or omission in his story. “I was exploring the ruins as part of an expedition I was funding. It was standing in the buried remains of one of the city squares that we excavated, right out in the open. The diggers had cleared it off, but hadn’t taken it out like they had with the other artifacts. I didn’t know then what they had found, I just thought it was part of a larger statue that was still being unearthed. Eventually, though, I came to realize that none of them really saw it. They looked at it, but it didn’t register for them. I… I realized that it must be a find of great significance, and I had to have it for myself. I managed to convince others to help me move it, even if they didn’t quite realize what they were moving. I took it, and no one ever knew. It was never entered into the logs as part of the dig. Pictures were taken, but no one has ever even commented on the statue that was there.” “You didn’t even know what it was?” He shook his head. “I didn’t start researching the statues until after I had it. I learned how important they were, how unique. I bought the maquette just to get closer to having another one of the series. I had practically given up hope until you came to me asking after them. Max Cash! I don’t doubt that son of a bitch has some way to see them too. He knew too much twenty years ago, too.” “Twenty years ago?” The Senator barked a laugh and gave him a sidelong look. “Sorry, detective, that’s a national secret, and not one you can wheedle out of me.” HB frowned. Birchfield wasn’t lying about the details of it being a national secret. Whatever had gone on then, it didn’t feel like it would be worth it to press, so he let the subject drop. “I’m absolutely sure Cash is coming for this statue. I don’t know why, though. Or why he hasn’t come before now.” “You should have brought me in from the beginning, Lieutenant,” Birchfield said. “I could have helped you. We could have avoided a lot of… unpleasantness… with your backers.” “I couldn’t then, Senator, and the only reason I’m here now is because you’re a target.” He gave the old pegasus a professional smile. “Honest cop, remember?” Birchfield harumphed at that and turned away. A commotion at the front doors caught his attention. Instantly he was on alert, his telekinesis enveloping his gun to ensure a quick draw if needed. He walked over to the door, his magic picking out the tells of shock and nervousness from the officers there. “What’s going on?” he asked as he came up to the door, but the moment he could look out to the street he didn’t need to ask anymore. A Dragon was coming up the walkway. Twice the size of a large stallion, purple scales tight over corded muscle that shifted with predatory grace as he moved, he was a terrifying sight all by himself. At his side walked a unicorn mare whose features were concealed beneath a dark cloak that his magic told him was likely made of ballistic cloth with a heavy plate lining. Behind them came three others. One was a pegasus mare whose darting eyes and twitching limbs screamed an almost psychotic readiness to attack. She wore a bag at her side, out of which peeked a unicorn doll. Beside her was a green earth pony with a pair of yellow streaks through his mane who was grinning like the proverbial village idiot at everything around him. The last one, bringing up the rear and talking to Captain Rivers as he went, was a Changeling in disguise. HB blocked their way as they came to the door. The Dragon sat back on his two hind legs, rearing up to stare down imperiously at all around him. The mare, her face hidden in the shadow of her cowl, offered HB a polite smile and a nod. He was having trouble reading her, but he didn’t know if it was some sort of interference or simply the distracting presence of the Dragon. “Where is she?” the Dragon asked, his voice nowhere near as booming or growling as HB had expected. “What?” was all the reply HB could manage. He supposed that Traduce must have been eating some of his fear too, because he doubted he would be so coherent facing down a possibly angry Dragon under normal circumstances. “The statue. Pinkie Pie. Laughter.” It clicked for him then, and as realizations tumbled into place his dull fear relaxed. “Master Spike, I presume?” The Dragon nodded. “My name is Lieutenant Hard Boiled. Before I can let you in to see the statue, I need to know your intentions here.” “My intentions?” Spike asked with a quirked eye ridge. “My magic will allow me to detect any untruth or omission,” HB explained. “This is a sensitive situation, and I need to be absolutely sure of anyone I let inside.” The Dragon smirked. “Nice. I’m here to stop Max Cash from getting his grubby murdering hooves on another Element of Harmony. And kill him, if I can.” “Element of Harmony?” HB asked. Spike shrugged. “Long story, don’t know if you’re allowed to know yet. If I can, I’ll tell you all about it.” “I’ll hold you to that,” HB said, then turned his gaze to the hooded pony. She shrugged at him and looked up at Spike. “She’s… uh, not local,” Spike said. “She’s with me. Same goals.” “That’s…” HB looked past them to where Captain Rivers was giving him an ‘okay’ signal. “That’ll be fine. I assume the rest of you will say the same?” “Nope!” the grinning green pony replied, while the pegasus mare looked at him with the same incomprehension as the unicorn had. “I’m mostly here in case my ex shows up. I’m not gonna kill anyone.” “Your ex?” “Yup!” “Who’s your ex?” “Charisma.” The name meant nothing to the other cops around them, but Hard Boiled remembered her well from the dossier on Max Cash. “You dated that?” “It was an experience in time and pain management.” “I bet. Well, come with me, then.” He turned and walked back into the entry hall. The large room seemed smaller with the Dragon and his entourage crowded in, but there was more than enough space for all of them to gather around the statue. Birchfield’s eyes went as wide as saucers at the sight of the Dragon. HB quickly motioned to the other cops to keep him back, an act which earned the detective a furious glare from the Senator. “Here she is,” Hard Boiled said, ignoring the commotion Birchfield was putting up. “Now, anyone care to explain exactly what this is all about?” “Uh, am I missing something, buddy?” the green pony whispered to the Changeling. Of the five of them, only Spike and the mystery mare were seeing the statue. “Oh, Spike, it’s wonderful!” the cloaked mare gushed. HB’s Solar was rusty at best, but he knew enough to understand, especially with his magic running. “Why, it’s so lifelike I can practically hear her laughing!” Spike smiled with pride. “Thanks, Rarity. You should have seen yours.” “Oh, Spike. If I ever want to know what it looked like, all I need to do is find a mirror.” “What!?” Hard Boiled cried out, staring at the cloaked mare with renewed intensity. An impossible mare. The thought was like lightning, questions bursting like sparks from its strike. Blaze let out an agonized hiss and leaned towards Rarity. “I think you’re busted.” HB turned his gaze to the Changeling. He was more likely to get answers out of one of Straff’s minions. Especially with Traduce backing him. “You. I need a private word. The rest of you, do not go anywhere.” He stomped off, only waiting long enough to see if they were obeying his instructions before heading into the hallway and towards one of the many rooms. He caught Traduce’s eye and jerked his head, telling her to follow as well. She fell into step beside him as he marched into a plush study, the walls lined with leather-bound volumes and overstuffed chairs just begging to be sat in. He closed the heavy door once they were all inside, finding that it locked with a thick bolt, the kind too heavy for most unicorns to shift. Having secured their privacy, he turned and glared at the Changelings. “I want an explanation, and I want it now!” Traduce shed her disguise and shrugged. “I honestly don’t know what’s going on either. Hello, Calumn. I heard you went rogue.” While she kept her doubled-over voice even, HB could practically feel the disdain in her address of the other Changeling. Calumn flashed into his true form as well, wincing as he picked up on Traduce’s feelings as clearly as HB did. “Traduce. It’s good to see you again.” “Pleasantries later,” HB snapped. “Explanations now. I do not care how much you’re supposed to keep secret, I need the whole story.” “It’s long, and very complicated,” Calumn said. “The simple version is this: there’s a series of statues, made by Master Spike before the Schism. Each statue has a necklace on it which are part of a set of potent magical artifacts called the Elements of Harmony. Max Cash has been stealing these Elements, and each time he does the statue sort of… comes to life as the person it was modeled after. One of the companions of Twilight Sparkle, who was the founder of, well, a whole lot of magical schools and contributed to practically every other scientific discipline. To say nothing of her religious significance.” “I know who Twilight Sparkle is,” Hard Boiled said. “You’re telling me statues are coming to life?” Calumn shrugged. “I said it’s complicated. One of them, Rainbow Dash, woke up just outside of Orion City a few months ago. She was confronted by officers who attacked her, and fled.” Hard Boiled remembered the injuries on those two ponies. He didn’t think this ‘Rainbow Dash’ had fled so much as casually left. “Rarity, the mare in the cloak, is another one. Look, these Elements are incredibly powerful. World-ending powerful. Cash has three of the six, and that one out there will be the fourth if we don’t stop him.” He frowned. “Though I… I’m going to have to take your word that it’s actually there, because I can’t remember anything about it.” There was no lie in what the Changeling had said. In fact, HB was sensing more honesty from him than he’d ever seen from Traduce. Even now, Traduce always seemed to be holding back or hiding something. This Calumn, even in his assumed form, seemed… comfortable with himself. He wasn’t lying about his identity so much as putting on a suit to project a certain image. Hard Boiled turned away, massaging at his head, which had begun to hurt a little with Traduce’s ire at Calumn. “Okay... Okay. This doesn’t change anything. Calumn, can you vouch for those people out there? Will they actually be able to help when the time comes and not get in the way?” “Yes.” The utter confidence with which he said it had HB half-convinced on its own. “They’re dedicated to stopping him.” “Even the green one?” “Trail Blazer? Oh, yeah. He’s got different reasons and different skills, but he’s probably our best shot at subduing Charisma.” He was holding something back there, but HB didn’t press for the moment. Hard Boiled sighed. This was too out of control for his liking, but he supposed everything about this case had been that way. “Why not? Alright, I’m gonna want to talk to these people, get a better feel for them. Spike said he might be able to tell me more about these Elements, and I want you to let him know that it’s okay to do that. Alright?” Calumn nodded. “You’re also gonna have to impress on them that I’m running this show, and when the shit hits the fan they’d better pull their weight.” Calumn nodded, smiling enough to show his fangs. “You got it Lieutenant. You can count on us.” *** "Honestly? I lied" *** Applejack jerked awake, looking around in startled confusion. The first thing she saw was an immense wall of churning clouds and flashing lighting rising high into the sky, and while it was not a heartening sight, it did help her remember where she was. She sat up slowly, tearing her eyes away from the Everstorm and looking around the small camp they had set up near the base of the unnatural barrier. Star Fall and Astrid were engaged in an intense, hushed discussion on the other side of the fire while Rainbow Dash was standing by her side, reaching out a worried hoof. “You ok, AJ?” Dash asked. Applejack looked down at herself and found that she was tangled badly in her blanket. “Was I thrashin’?” “Yeah. Me too,” Dash replied. She indicated her own disturbed bedding, which didn’t actually mean anything where Dash’s sleeping habits were concerned, but Applejack accepted it as honest evidence all the same. “You remember what you were dreaming about?” Applejack shook her head. “Ain’t the first time this’s happened, neither. Happened every other night in the palace, accordin’ to the servants. Never know what it is that’s makin’ me twist in my sleep.” “Star says I’ve been freaking out in my sleep since I got here,” Dash said. “You think this is happening to Rarity too?” “Wouldn’t be surprised.” Applejack disentangled herself and began to stretch out her limbs. Cuts and bruises from the fighting in the Solar Capital still stung a bit, but otherwise she was back in top shape. The transport had dropped them off in what Star Fall had called the ‘Everfree Verge’, just within the foothills of the mountains that had once held Canterlot. Taking stock of their exhaustion from the day’s events, they had collectively decided to spend a day resting before trying to brave the Storm. Applejack had done her part to put the camp together before letting exhaustion have its way, carrying her into what had been a long, dreamless sleep. Or so she remembered. As the sweat drying on her coat attested, the sleep hadn’t been as restful as it felt. “What time is it?” she asked. The sky was filling with clouds, but she could still see patches of stars between them. “Just after sundown,” Dash replied, then frowned. “Doesn’t this bug you, AJ? These nightmares we can’t remember?” “‘Course it does,” Applejack grumbled, folding away her bedding and stowing it in her saddlebags as Dash haphazardly did the same. “But I don’t got the first idea what they mean or what to do about them. Do you?” “What? No, I–” “Then what’s the use in worryin’?” Applejack sighed and turned to look her friend in the eye. “There ain’t nothin’ about this whole darn adventure that don’t rub me wrong. If I spent all my time fussin’ over it, I’d never get another thing done. So until you get some idea of what it all means, or run into someone who does, you should focus on what does make sense in all this time-travel craziness. Helpin’ our friend.” Dash bristled for a moment, then sagged. “I get what you’re saying, AJ. It just, you know, seems important. Like we shouldn’t ignore it or it’ll come back to bite us.” “I’m not ignoring it, Rainbow, I’m just focusin’ on the job I got in front of me.” “Yeah, okay,” Dash said, waving Applejack’s explanation away. She was clearly still upset, but Applejack knew that she’d have to work it out for herself. “Hey, Star!” she called out, catching the attention of their two friends. “What’s the discussion about?” “Fall thinks we should be heading through the Storm tonight,” Astrid said, clearly nonplussed by the idea. “As soon as possible,” Star Fall said. “It looks like there’s going to be a storm –a normal storm– here in a few hours, so we won’t get any more rest than we’ve already had. Besides, the longer we wait here, the harder it’s going to be to catch up to Gamma on the other side.” “That still the plan?” Applejack asked. “If we’re going to catch Max Cash, finding her is the best bet on finding him,” Star Fall replied. “Are y’all up to goin’ through, uh, that?” Applejack asked, pointing a hoof towards the Everstorm. “Come on, AJ,” Dash said, giving her a playful shove. “You know Star’s a pro at this.” “I know the past couple days have been hard on her,” Applejack said, returning the shove with a pointed and rueful look. “From what y’all have said, the Everstorm’ll jump on any weakness it can.” “I can handle it,” Star Fall assured them. “Don’t worry about that.” “No, what you’ve got to worry about is the pit-stop,” Astrid growled. “Pit stop?” Dash asked. “Dash, you remember going through the Eye, right?” Star Fall asked. Rainbow Dash brightened. “Ponyville! Twilight’s statue! You want to see if we can get the Element of Magic!” Applejack frowned. “Hold on a minute. Ain’t that just gonna be glued to the statue like Rarity’s Element was?” Star Fall shrugged. “Maybe. The Eye is concentrated magic, it should have eroded any spells inside it to nothing by now. I think it’s encouraging that we could all see the statue fine the last time. If the obfuscation effect is gone, the adhering one might be as well. At the very least it’ll let me confirm if the Element of Magic is still there, that Cash hasn’t gotten to it already.” “You’re ignoring the fact that the last time we went through the Eye it almost killed us, even with your spell protecting us,” Astrid pointed out. “I’ve refined the dampening spell,” Star Fall said, frowning at her guardian. “It shouldn’t let as much of the Eye’s magic bleed through this time.” “But will that be enough?” Astrid asked. Star Fall looked down. “Not for long,” she grudgingly admitted. “But it should be more than enough time to get to the statue, see what we can do there, then get out. If we don’t dawdle. Or get distracted. Or–” “We get it, Fall,” Astrid said. “We gotta do this at a run.” She sighed. “You just have to make life more interesting, don’t you?” Star Fall smirked up at her. “Would you want it any other way?” Astrid snorted out a laugh, then set about disassembling their half of the camp. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood staring at the storm for a long moment. “So, Ponyville’s inside that thing?” Applejack asked. “Right in the middle,” Dash replied. “Not, like, the Ponyville we came from, though. It’s a big city now. Tall buildings all over the place and everything. If it hadn’t been for the library, I wouldn’t have recognized it.” “It don’t feel right,” Applejack said. “Yeah, it’s pretty messed up weather.” “It goes down too,” Applejack said, stomping a hoof into the dirt and feeling the rumble of tortured stone deep in the earth. “Far down. This was all the Princesses’ doin’?” “I guess. Them and Umbra, yeah,” Dash said with a shrug. “I never knew they had this kind of power.” Applejack shook her head. “Makes you wonder why they needed the Elements at all.” “AJ,” Dash said, her voice gone dark and serious. “They needed them because they couldn’t win without them. Discord? Nightmare Moon? What they fought was stronger than they were, and the Elements were even stronger than that.” And Max Cash has three of them. Applejack didn’t voice the thought, knowing that Dash was thinking exactly the same thing. So they just stood in silence, watching the shifting, flashing patterns of the eternal Storm until Astrid told them it was time to go.