//------------------------------//
// The Power of Lies 
// Story: Dark Matter 
// by moguera 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 21: The Power of Lies

Dawn pushed open the door to the library and cautiously stuck his head in.  After school had gotten out, he'd decided that he wanted to take the chance to speak with Swift Stride again.  Thus, he'd excused himself from his friends while they went to play for the afternoon and had flown back into town (although Rumble and Scootaloo had to return to their homes immediately, as usual).  Swift had mentioned visiting the library earlier that morning, before Dawn had left for school.  Dawn hoped that Swift was still there.
Sure enough, there the stallion was, standing just behind Twilight as she inspected a scroll she'd withdrawn from a large stack that had been piled off to one side of the library.  Neither Spike nor Arkenstone were anywhere to be seen.  Dawn opened his mouth to call out to Swift, but the words died on his tongue when he saw what Swift was doing.
The black-garbed stallion had extended a dangerous-looking blade from beneath the sleeve of one foreleg and was now advancing on Twilight from behind.  The oblivious unicorn was too busy examining a scroll to notice as Swift raised the blade and positioned himself for the strike.
"Stop!" shouted Dawn, rushing through the door, causing it to slam against the wall as he bulled forward.
Swift froze in place for an instant before looking over in surprise as Dawn charged in.  Twilight also dropped her scroll, surprised by Dawn's outburst.  She turned around to look at the colt as he closed in.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw light gleam off of something and turned her head further to look behind her.  When she saw what Swift was doing, Twilight screamed.
Swift's body blurred as he lunged forward, aiming the blade for Twilight's throat.  There was a flash of silvery light and the knife scraped across the armor that had suddenly formed over Twilight's neck.  A crackling discharge of violet energy ran up the blade from the point of contact and into swift's arm, causing it to jerk spasmodically as the arcs of Twilight's magic threatened to reach into his body and blow out his nerves, a stunning effect that Twilight had designed into the armor produced by her arcanasteel ring.
Instead, Swift whipped out his arm, casting the sparking nimbus of energy away as though he were simply shaking off some water.  At the same time, Twilight took advantage of the situation to vanish in a burst of light before reappearing next to Dawn, who had come to a stop when he'd seen Swift's attack miss.
"Not bad," commented Swift, studying his blade, "You've definitely improved your reflexes and lowered your casting lag.  You've gotten pretty good with that ring too."
"Is that what this was?" demanded Twilight, "A test?"
"Not really," admitted Swift with a sigh, "I was thinking about how dangerous you are.  I thought it might be better to deal with you before you become a problem later."
"What in Equestria are you talking about?" demanded Twilight, her eyes wide.
Swift's face was deadly serious as he advanced on Twilight and Dawn, his icy blue eyes clearly visible.  "You're way too smart for your own good," he said, "Do you have any idea what you just figured out, what it might mean?  You're probably the first pony, aside from Morning Star himself, to gain such a clear understanding of Dark Matter.  To make matters worse, you did so in a matter of months."
"So..."  Twilight's eyes narrowed.  "Wait!  Don't tell me you've been working for him the entire time."
"Do you really think I'd do that?" Swift scoffed, "If I was actually working for the guy, I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of blowing up his machine.  No!  It's the opposite.  I want to stop him and I need to do whatever it takes to do it."
"Then why are you trying to kill me?  I'm about to figure out how his Dark Matter works, how we can affect it." demanded Twilight as she began to backpedal, keeping herself between Swift and Dawn.  The colt might have his magic back, but there was no way that Dawn was in any condition to fight yet.  Under these circumstances, it fell to Twilight to protect him.
"That's just the problem," said Swift, "Why do you think it took Morning Star ten years to create his array?  It wasn't just an issue of building the things.  Every piece of each one had to be designed individually.  It's a device so enormously complex that you could probably write an entire archive's worth of books on all the components.  More importantly, Morning Star's not done with it yet.  He still needs to finish the last piece.  After that, who knows what else he might have to do to actually bring about the effect he's looking for.  It's taken him years, decades even, of complex calculations and careful design to come this far.
"But you've already worked out much of how his Dark Matter works.  Knowing Morning Star, I can easily see him making that attribute of yours work for him.  If he can tap into your intelligence and use you to work out the necessary calculations and conceptualizations he could probably finish his work in a matter of hours."
"What?" gasped Twilight, "What makes you think that I would help that pony?"
"You may not have a choice," said Swift, "I saw what Morning Star did to that pegasus...Flash Spark was his name, I think...He could easily do the same to you, put you under his thrall and then put you to work helping with his project.  It's better to take you out of the equation entirely."
Twilight stared at Swift aghast.  She'd been worried about Arkenstone's feelings, but now she realized just how terrifying this stallion was.  Was Swift Stride really willing to go this far just to stop Morning Star from carrying out his plan?  Was any of this even true?  Was Swift simply acting on vague speculation?  Or was he even telling the truth about what he was trying to do?  There was no way to tell.  That sense of uncertainty made Twilight quiver.  Swift was a pony who turned the concepts of truth and lies on their ear.  Knowing that he was a liar didn't help, because there was no way to be certain what parts of his statements were a lie and what was the truth or what he was actually lying about.  Any of it could be a lie.  All of it could be a lie.
Twilight came to one conclusion, she had to get away and take Dawn with her.  Liar though he was, Swift Stride was a Knight of the Celestial Order, one whom even Arkenstone and the other Knights regarded as the strongest of their number.  She had no hope against him in a fight on his terms.  Right now, the best she could do was to go to the pony she knew actually stood a chance of stopping him.
Twilight's horn blazed.  A second later, she vanished, teleporting out and taking Dawn with her.  For a moment, Swift stood there, staring at the scorch marks on the floor where Twilight had been standing.  His ear twitched.  The buzzing had stopped.  Did he bite?



Arkenstone observed quietly as the construction workers finished hammering together one of the walls of his new teahouse.  The foremare had initially been a bit irritated at having to alter her designs so far along into the construction.  However, taking the living quarters that had originally been upstairs in the design actually promised to save some time in the long run, given that her workers hadn't built that far up yet.
Arkenstone actually felt a little giddy at the prospect of moving in with Twilight and Spike.  It was a big step.  It had apparently worked quite well for Caramel and Fluttershy.  Arkenstone could only hope that he might have so much success with his fillyfriend.
His nose twitched as it picked up the faint smell of ozone.  Turning about, he sniffed and noticed that the smell originated from the library.  What was more, it was tinged with the smell of Twilight's magic, a sign that she was using her power in an agitated manner, possibly with violence.  Sniffing more, Arkenstone could pick out other scents, fear, surprise, and anger.  Something was wrong.
Before he could go investigate, he felt the air nearby burst outward as it was abruptly displaced by a foreign mass appearing in its location, accompanied by that smell of ozone and magic.  Twilight was there, Dawn Lightwing with her.  The colt stumbled slightly, clearly caught off-guard by the sudden teleport.  Still, he didn't seem any worse for wear to Arkenstone's senses.  The faint clank of something that sounded vaguely like metal told Arkenstone that Twilight was decked out in her armor.
"Twilight?  What's wrong?" asked Arkenstone.
"It's Swift Stride!" exclaimed Twilight, "He's going crazy.  He's trying to kill me?"
I should be more upset about this, thought Arkenstone as he turned to face the library, But I'm not very surprised.  Just what is he up to?  One way or another, if Swift even thought about trying to kill Twilight, Arkenstone would kill Swift first.
The library doors opened and Swift Stride stepped out into the afternoon sunlight, his expression just as serious as it had been when Twilight had last seen him.  He walked at a sedate pace towards the three of them as Arkenstone stepped ahead of Twilight and Dawn to confront his fellow Knight.
"What do you think you're doing?" demanded Arkenstone, his eyes opening, their empty white gaze glaring straight at the other stallion.
"My duty," replied Swift as he continued to approach.
"You will not touch Twilight," said Arkenstone, the ground beginning to groan as he drew in the earth's power.  Everypony in the vicinity was assailed by the strange sensation of the ground beneath their hooves tilting in Arkenstone's direction.
"You don't have a choice in the matter," said Swift, his tone just as serious, "She's much too dangerous.  If you get in the way, I'm taking you down."
"I always knew you were never trustworthy, said Arkenstone grimly, "But I never thought you were capable of this.  You disgust me."
"I'll accept that," said Swift, "I deserve it.  But that won't stop me from doing what needs to be done."  He surged forward.
Arkenstone was already responding.  His tail lashed through the air, scattering pine needles, which crackled with his power, transforming into enormous black swords that vanished as they accelerated rapidly towards the approaching Swift, threatening to cut him to pieces.
As the swords were about to pierce his flesh, Swift seemed to trip over his own hooves, going into a rapid tumble that sent him rolling along the ground.  The first blades passed harmlessly above him.  The next set of blades came jabbing down from above even as the first set reversed their direction and spun about, slashing at Swift's flanks from behind.
Swift came back up on his hooves in a clumsy-looking lurch that jerked his body to the side, even as he threw himself into a jump, kicking his hooves off the ground and going into an airborne flip that carried him over one of the blades slashing at him behind, even as the lurch took him out of the way of the swords slamming down into the ground where he'd been less than a second before.
Swift's hooves had barely touched down on the ground before he shifted direction yet again, the movements still looking clumsy and awkward, even as they seemed to miraculously carry him clear of Arkenstone's attack.
From his position behind Arkenstone, Dawn was awestruck by the display.  Through his wind-sense, he could follow Swift Stride's movements even more clearly than he could with his eyes.  Though Swift's motions looked clumsy, drunken even, to the casual observer, Dawn could feel the tautness of Swift's muscles, even through the interference caused by Swift's clothes and the multitude of objects the foxlike stallion seemed to be carrying on him at any given time.  His motions, jerky and uneven as they appeared, actually showed off a finely-tuned sense of balance that allowed Swift to assert complete control over his movements in even the most awkward of positions.  Furthermore, the constant shifting of his posture seemed to allow him to go in any direction at any time, making it impossible for Dawn to predict where he would go next.  I know that he has the whole lying theme going on, thought the colt, But I never thought it would extend so far as to allowing him to use his body and movements for deception in battle.  This goes far beyond merely feinting.
Already, Swift had nearly closed with Arkenstone.  The dust thrown up by Arkenstone's attacks was already beginning to swirl and condense around the blind stallion, joining together and becoming plates of ebony armor.
"Uh oh!  Can't have that now," said Swift, darting in even closer, skipping past another pair of blades threatening to skewer him from either side, even as he jumped by kicking off the flat of another blade slashing at him from the front.  The swirling dust around Arkenstone congealed into another set of blades that flashed upwards at Swift as he came down from his jump, trying to impale him while he was in midair.
Seeming to kick off the air itself with one hind leg, Swift twisted like an acrobat, actually contorting his body to fall between the blades.  As he did, Arkenstone brought them together, trying to use their edges to slash at Swift Stride from all directions.  Twisting his hips in a manner similar to what Dawn had seen him do the previous evening, Swift actually lashed out with the trailing ends of the white sash wrapped around his waste, whipping them about with enough force to actually deflect Arkenstone's blades before they could close in.
By this point, Arkenstone's armor had already covered a significant portion of his body.  His head had come first, but the plates were now forming along his back and down his haunches.  His entire form crackled with power as he prepared to take the battle to its next stage.  Ponies in the vicinity were fleeing, many of them realizing that this incident was threatening to turn into a repeat of Arkenstone's fight with Terra, possibly with equally dangerous consequences.
Landing directly in front of Arkenstone, Swift sank down into a crouch that actually lowered him well below the level of his opponent's head and surged forward again, his motion actually carrying him under Arkenstone's chin.  Rather than try to strike at Arkenstone's head, which was already fully armored, Swift instead allowed his movements to carry him past Arkenstone's forelegs on one side as he aimed his own forehoof for the one section of Arkenstone's body that had yet to be encased in armor, his stomach.
Driving his hoof upward, Swift punched Arkenstone in the belly...hard.  The breath exploded out of Arkenstone's lungs and the force of the blow actually sent him rearing upward, backpedaling as he did so to get Swift out from under him.  Rather than try to press the attack, Swift instead pulled something else out of his clothes.  It was another cylinder.  However, rather than throwing it, Swift instead held it as he swung it through the air in front of Arkenstone's armored face.  The end of the cylinder flipped open, sending a clear liquid splashing through the air, splattering against the armor...just in time for Arkenstone to inhale in an effort to soothe his abused lungs.
Arkenstone was immediately beset by the putrid smell of rotting flesh.  It was so intense and overwhelming that he gagged and reeled back as he came back down on all fours.  Despite that, he maintained his hold over the armor, continuing to form it, even as a twisting stream of dust came rushing around from one side, forming into a massive blade that slashed at Swift, who went into a leaping backflip to avoid the attack.
"How do you like my perfume?" asked Swift in a taunting tone, a grin once again decorating his face.  The fact that his icy eyes remained fully visible gave his expression a malicious quality as he landed.  "I call it Essence de Rafflesia.  You think those fancy fashion designers'll like it?"
"Do you really think something like this could stop me?" asked Arkenstone, stepping forward.  Yes, the smell was incredibly potent and revolting.  However, as a Knight, Arkenstone was not unfamiliar with the smell of death, even if it was in the form of an imitation produced by a flower.  He'd always been aware that his acute sense of smell was a vulnerability his foes could exploit if they knew about it.  As such, he had trained himself to not allow his magic to be disrupted by potent scents.  The only reason Swift's tactic had caused him to react at all was Swift's clever technique of using a strike to force the air out of Arkenstone's lungs and then catch him with the scented oil when Arkenstone inhaled afterward, ensuring that Arkenstone got a powerful dose of the scent.  Even though it lingered, Arkenstone was still able to discern the scents connecting him to the surrounding dust and his pine needle swords.  He could still fight at full strength.
Despite this, Swift's grin widened.  "Actually, I think it will.  After all, I'm borrowing a page from your book."
"What-?"  Arkenstone's voice cut off abruptly as he was suddenly assaulted by a crippling wave of nausea that washed over his body.  The reaction seemed to have been triggered by him inhaling again, thus drawing in more of the rafflesia oil's scent.  His stomach roiled and threatened to rebel.  His legs suddenly felt as though they were made of rubber.  The other scents he had been tracking, the ones connecting to his weapons and even the smells of the other ponies in his vicinity, were completely wiped away by that smell of rotting flesh.  Arkenstone's armor crumbled back into dust and his blades disappeared, leaving a few pine needles to flutter lifelessly to the ground.
"Wha-what did you-"  Arkenstone tried to take another breath, breathing through his mouth.  However, the scent still rose up from the back of his mouth and reached his nose that way, the smell of rotten meat once again sending a disorienting wave of queasiness rushing through his body.  "H-how-?"  Trying to speak only made things worse, as he still had to inhale in order to speak, each breath further aggravating the nausea rampaging through him.  Arkenstone wretched, bile rising in his throat as he fought desperately to keep from throwing up.  But it was a losing battle.
"Like I said," said Swift, "I took a page out of your book.  I bet you didn't even think that your particular form of earth pony magic could be used in this manner.
"Scent is a potent sense, even when it isn't as acute as yours.  It ties directly to several triggers in your brain for powerful physiological reactions.  By using the scent as a conduit for my magic, exactly how you use it to form your blades, I can use it to send a powerful impulse directly to your brain and bring about a physical reaction tied to the scent itself.  Rafflesia was an easy one, but I've actually been experimenting with several odors to see what kind of effects they have."
Swift began to walk forward.  "Now...I think it's time I finished my work.  You're not gonna be in any condition to stop me, but I don't like leaving bad feelings behind, so I'll make sure you and Twilight Sparkle die together."
Before Swift could get much closer, an ebony blur rushed over Arkenstone's body to land directly in front of the incapacitated stallion.  Dawn sank into a partial crouch, spreading his wings out so that the feathers splayed upwards and outwards, forming into a shield that partially obscured the stallion behind him from view.  "I won't allow this," said Dawn, glaring grimly at Swift.  Behind him, Twilight came up next to Arkenstone and lit her horn, the magenta waves of a cleansing spell washing over Arkenstone as she used her magic to try and purge all traces of the scented oil Swift had scattered from his face, and hopefully all traces of Swift's magic along with it.  However, such a treatment would take time, time she suspected Swift wasn't about to allow them to have...unless Dawn did something...drastic.
"I thought you weren't up to fighting strength yet," observed Swift, affecting an amused expression as he watched Dawn.
Dawn's eyes narrowed and he surged forward, twisting his wings back around to their usual position even as he swept them in front of his head, lunging forward to put the full force of his body behind the motion.  As he did so, his muscles strained and ached, protesting the exertion of his out-of-practice body.  Still, Dawn followed through, grasping the air with his wings and thrusting it forward.
The blast of compressed air tore a shallow trench through the ground, throwing up rocks and dirt in waves to either side as it rushed towards Swift Stride.  Swift stood there, his stance almost casual as he waited for the attack to reach him.  At the last instant, he produced another small cylinder from within his sleeve.  With a casual motion, he tossed the cylinder off to one side, where it exploded outward in a burst of fire and smoke.
Dawn's eyes widened as the oncoming blast of air swerved, drawn to the point where Swift's bomb had exploded, brushing harmlessly past the black-garbed stallion, whose white sashes danced in the passing wind, but otherwise showed no signs of the powerful attack he'd just avoided.
Dawn couldn't believe what he had seen and felt through his wind-sense.  Swift had used the bomb to blow away the air in an area off to one side of him, creating a vacuum that drew the oncoming attack away from him.  Even more amazing, Swift had somehow pushed the explosion itself in the direction away from him, thus ensuring that the vacuum's flow would pull in air from the direction where Dawn's attack had been approaching.  By barely exerting any effort himself, Swift had successfully deflected a strike from the Gale King, even if said strike was less powerful than Dawn's usual standard.
Panting, Dawn tried to focus on his opponent.  He was feeling lightheaded after that last attack.  He'd only been able to manage it because he'd spent the time Swift had used to explain the nature of his magic to Arkenstone carefully gathering and focusing what little strength he had.  In his current condition, a second attack, much less a prolonged battle, was completely out of the question.
Swift frowned as he faced Dawn, clearly not happy with the situation.  "I don't want to fight you, kid."
"Nonetheless...I...will not...step...aside," panted Dawn as he forced himself to remain standing with his wings spread.  His threats were empty and Swift could probably knock him over simply by breathing on him too hard.  However, Dawn refused to move from where he was.
"Geez," muttered Swift irritably, "I just wanted to be quick about this.  There's no need to start another fight and level the town again."  With a sigh, he sagged down.  "Fine then.  I give up.  I didn't want to get you caught up in all of this."
Dawn blinked as he stared at Swift.  "You're giving up so easily."
"I didn't really want to kill Twilight Sparkle," said Swift, "But I still think it needs to be done.  But I really wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I drew even more ponies into the fight.  So I'll go.  I'll have to work things out from another angle."
"I won't let you kill her," said Dawn, glaring at the stallion who had spent the night in his home, "Not ever."  In his chest burned a fire of anger.  Though he'd found Swift to be unusual and eccentric, he'd found a certain respect for him.  But seeing that Swift was not only capable of, but willing to commit such a heinous act filled him with anger and confusion.  Why would he go so far out of mere speculation?
"Forever is a long time," said Swift with a wry grin, "But I don't think we have all that long."  Turning around, he began to stalk away.
Dawn watched him go as the stallion trotted casually off into the distance.  Now that the fighting seemed to be over, the other ponies were beginning to come back out to see what damage had been done.  Fortunately, aside from the ground between the library and the teahouse, which had been ripped and torn by the combination of Arkenstone's swords and Dawn's gust, there had been no other damage done.
After Swift vanished from view, Dawn turned around...or rather, he tried to turn around.  However, his legs seemed to turn to rubber and he staggered and stumbled in a clumsy effort to move his body.  It took him a few seconds longer than usual to finally move his body around to face Twilight and Arkenstone, who had not moved from their previous position.  Arkenstone's stomach had apparently given up the ghost, as evidenced by the pool of vomit in front of the blind stallion.  He stood shakily, supported by Twilight, who had removed her armor and was now gently running her muzzle through Arkenstone's mane, trying her best to comfort her coltfriend.
"How are you feeling?" asked Dawn, no longer panting now that he'd had a moment to catch his breath.
"Mortified," grunted Arkenstone, grimacing, "I've never been so utterly humiliated in my entire life."
"Arky," whispered Twilight, "It's okay.  You said yourself that he's supposed to be the strongest."
"But that is no excuse for him to beat me so easily," muttered Arkenstone petulantly, "I couldn't protect you at all."
"It'll be fine," said Twilight, "We're all okay.  Let's get you into the library."  She looked over at Dawn and frowned.  "You too.  You weren't doing yourself any favors by pushing yourself like that, especially considering your condition."
"I'm sorry," said Dawn.
"Don't be," said Twilight, giving him a warm smile, "However reckless and dangerous it may have been, the fact remains that Arky and I might have been dead if you hadn't stepped in.  Thank you for that.  But you do need to get some rest after pushing yourself so hard."
"I suppose I sh-"  Dawn tried to take his first steps towards the library, but stopped talking as a bout of a dizziness swept over him, making him sway dangerously.  I really shouldn't have done that.
Before he could fall over, Dawn was swept up in a cloud of Twilight's magic as she scooped up both him and Arkenstone, carrying them towards the library.  As she did, she heard a familiar voice calling out.
"Twilight!"  Spike came rushing from amongst the crowds of onlookers as he sprinted on all fours towards Twilight.  Having grown even more in the past few weeks, he'd been finding it increasingly hard to walk on two legs, especially when he was in a hurry.  As a consequence, he had taken to moving on all fours when he tried to run.  However, moving in such a way was not yet second nature to him, so his run was complicated by the occasional stumble that threatened to send him pitching snout-first into the dirt.
Spike came to a skidding halt, his claws plowing furrows through the dirt as he took in the scene.  "What in the hay happened here?"  Spike had left the library to fetch additional quills an parchment to meet Twilight's ever-growing need as she continued to research Morning Star's work.  He'd heard the commotion in the distance and had abandoned his task to return to the library and find out what was going on.
"Swift Stride happened," said Twilight with a sigh, "Come on.  I need to get Dawn and Arkenstone settled.  Then I'll tell you about what happened."  Looking around, Twilight took in the rest of their audience.  "All right everypony!  There's nothing left for you to see here, so you'd best move along."
With some reluctance, the crowd began to break up as Twilight and Spike took Arkenstone and Dawn into the library.



Once they had Dawn and Arkenstone settled, Twilight opted to immediately report the situation to the ponies she knew could help.  Using Spike's flames, she sent a letter to Princess Celestia.  Spike was still recuperating from using his dragonfire too much during the Royal Guard campaign against the Cult Solar, but Twilight believed that an emergency like this required the quickest action possible, a sentiment Spike heartily agreed with one he'd heard what happened.
A second letter was sent to Spitfire by way of phoenix feather.  When she'd met the Wonderbolt Captain and Celestial Knight in Cloudsdale during Rainbow Dash's Wonderbolt initiation, Spitfire had given Twilight a small collection of feathers from her phoenix companion, Ouranos.  Those feathers allowed Twilight to send a letter directly to the phoenix, who, in turn, would deliver the letter straight to Spitfire.  Letters delivered in such a fashion were considered emergency missives and were given the highest priority by Spitfire.  One of the other Celestial Knights threatening her life and beating Arkenstone in his attempt to kill her certainly qualified as an emergency in Twilight's mind.
Though she was loathe to continue working Spike, Twilight still sent him off to retrieve Fluttershy so that she could come to collect her son.  In the meantime, Twilight tended to both Dawn and Arkenstone.
Arkenstone's nausea and dizziness had faded after Twilight had purged all traces of the rafflesia scent from him.  Doing so had cut the link between Arkenstone and Swift stride's magic, but there was still a fair bit of Swift's magic still remaining in Arkenstone's system, keeping him feeling slightly sick as the afternoon waned.  Not having had much training in healing magic, Twilight couldn't do much to purge the remnants of Swift's magic from Arkenstone' system and was simply forced to wait until it faded over its own time.  Arkenstone had said it wasn't necessary for her to fetch an actual doctor, seeing as he hadn't actually suffered any injuries.
Dawn was a different matter.  Exerting himself while still recovering had strained both his body and his magic.  The ebony colt had drifted off as soon as Twilight had set him on the couch, barely even stirring as she settled a blanket over him.  She'd been worried that he might have aggravated his condition.  But an examination on her part indicated that he would be better with some rest.  Silently, Twilight thanked Celestia that Swift Stride had not chosen to press the issue and continue fighting against Dawn or she most certainly would have needed a doctor.
As she tended to the two ponies who had fought to protect her, Twilight reflected on Swift's stated reason for trying to kill her.  His words lingered in her mind, making Twilight wonder if there was any truth to Swift's speculation.  Did he truly believe that Morning Star would try to use her in such a manner, that she and her knowledge of Dark Matter could be used as some sort of computing device for Morning's purposes?  Where had he even gotten the idea?
But then, Swift Stride had been the pony to spend the most time in Morning Star's company lately.  He probably knew the current Morning Star better than anypony, even Princess Celestia.  When he had come down from Canterlot, Swift had brought with him another troubling piece of information that Celestia had discovered shortly before his departure...that Wight Shade, Luna's majordomo, had, in fact, been Morning Star in disguise.
As disturbing as it was, such a revelation made a certain degree of sense to Twilight.  Using the Cult Solar as a cover for the construction of his array was all well and good, but Morning Star would want eyes and ears in Canterlot and the Royal Palace in order to keep informed of what ponies knew about his work and about him personally.  Who better to keep track of such things than himself?  It also explained how Wight Shade had known about the secret archive that Princess Celestia had kept with all of Morning Star's writings contained within.  However, Twilight initially could not fathom why Morning Star would deliberately show his collected works to a pony who would almost certainly turn that accumulated knowledge against him.
But set within the context of Swift Stride's assertions, Morning Star/Wight Shade's action made more sense.  Had he deliberately revealed his work to Twilight in order to prime her for use as an instrument in his schemes?
Even if it was true, it certainly was't justification for Swift to try and kill her.  More troubling was the fact that, for all his stated determination, Swift had abandoned his efforts rather easily, almost lackadaisically.  If he wasn't truly committed to killing her, then what had he been trying to accomplish?  Twilight could only sit and ponder those questions silently as she waited for Spike to return with Fluttershy.



"You seem rather pensive," observed Kombu as he approached Wight Shade.  The white-horned unicorn was currently in the house's study, staring off into space.  Ever since he had been outed within the Royal Palace, Wight had taken to staying in the house that he had obtained in order for him and Kombu to have a workspace to outfit Perlin Bluestreak with his new pair of wings.
"I just heard something rather interesting," remarked Wight with a smile, "It's something I hadn't considered before.  I find it to be such a pity that Swift Stride must be an adversary.  In many ways, he's as much of a scientist as we are.  Using the data he has available, he certainly came to some very interesting conclusions."
"I see..." said Kombu in a rather perfunctory manner.  In reality, he did not see, which was perfectly understandable.  Morning Star-Wight Shade, Kombu corrected himself-had unique  ways of gathering information, even from distant and secure places, where even the most powerful and potent of scrying spells could not hope to penetrate.  How he collected this information was a mystery that Kombu had yet to unravel.  It certainly seemed odd.  If Wight could use his methods to infiltrate places so effortlessly without having to actually be there, then why had he bothered with secreting himself into the Royal Palace all those years?
"And what will you do with this information?" asked Kombu, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not sure yet," said Wight, "It certainly is a tantalizing idea, something that could reduce my workload immensely.  I will have to give Swift's idea serious consideration."
"I see...What shall we do in the meantime?" asked Kombu.
"Well, I see no need to halt my current work," said Wight, "I take it the Royal Guard is still combing the Crystal Caverns."
"Yes," said Kombu with a nod, "They have not yet found the central focus of the array, but they are patrolling the vicinity of its entryways.  We may have to consider closing them off.  With your abilities, I am certain you do not need a direct passage."
"I do not," agreed Wight with a nod, "I can make my own passage, even when it is time to move the final piece into place, I can do so with ease.  However...I am concerned."
"How so?" asked Kombu.
"Celestia is not a fool," said Wight with a sigh, "She has seen my array for herself and she had no doubt figured the lateral location of its exact center, where the final piece needs to be set.  She will not give up on trying to locate the last mechanism simply because I have closed off all normal forms of access to it.  The longer it takes for her and her Guards to locate it, the more desperate and driven she will be to find it."
"Mayhap you should try and explain to her exactly how your array functions," suggested Kombu, "Surely she will understand that this is much safer than any other method used to try and breach the boundaries of our reality."
"I did," said Wight, "some ten years ago.  She reacted then as she does now.  She does not believe that it is worth the risk, that the threat is much too great."
"Then perhaps we should arrange for another distraction," suggested Kombu, "Perlin is undoubtedly looking for an opportunity to put his new wings through their paces.  You also have that other stallion you've modified...What was his name again?"
"Flash Spark."
"Yes!  Him.  He might be a useful means of keeping Princess Celestia and the Royal Guard occupied."
"I suppose..." said Wight uncertainly, "The problem is that Celestia is fully aware that Flash Spark's modification was my work and that he essentially serves my purposes.  She won't be distracted by him so easily.  It might even drive her to search all the harder because she will realize she is pressing me."
"Perhaps," agreed Kombu, "But if the danger is great enough, then she will not be able to ignore it, even if she realizes your purpose in doing so.  The wonderful thing about your Dark Matter is that, even if ponies recognize it, it is still dangerous enough that they cannot afford to overlook it, even when they know you are using it for a distraction."
"We shall see," said Wight, "I need to consider my options quite carefully.  Flash Spark and Perlin aside, I no longer have the assets that I did.  I cannot use the Cult Solar or the Noble Court as cover for my actions any longer."