//------------------------------// // Chapter Three - Past Tense // Story: Mixed Crusaders // by LegacyMine //------------------------------// "Why did I kill? Well, the money was nice, but mostly it was because I could." From an interview with "Suicide" Scarcity, First Auditor of the Union and Element of Determination. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ As Spike walked towards the crystal throne room to check up on Twilight’s progress, he took a moment to collect his thoughts about these “Destiny Mark Desperadoes”. Though his decision to put them to work cleaning the castle had been partially motivated by spite, and because he didn’t want to clean it himself, it was mostly to see what their personalities were like. And after supervising them for several hours, Spike had decided that they were absolutely nothing like the Cutie Mark Crusaders. For starters, while Apple Bloom was honest and hardworking, Apple Thorn seemed to avoid work if at all possible, and lied frequently to do it. From “My hoof hurts” to “I accidently shattered my mop” his supply of excuses was endless. And yet, he was the least worrisome of the three. The second colt, Mourning Bell, was a complete jerk. He insulted Spike at every opportunity, made attempts to trip him over and hurt him in other ways and to make it look like an accident, and even tried to sabotage his own work so that Spike would have to do it himself. Very different from the usually kind Sweetie Belle. But Stealthaloo, the last one, was different than the others. He never complained, spoke little, and completed his cleaning as quickly and efficiently as possible. But for some reason, he gave off an ominous feeling that Spike couldn’t quite define, and not just because of his appearance. There was just something . . . wrong about him. Like his very existence violated the fundamental tenants of harmony. Yes, Spike was going to keep a very close eye on those three, even if they were just colts. After all, somebody had to be the responsible one around here. When he reached the throne room, he found Twilight was huddled over a stack of papers, muttering to herself all the while. Making sure not to startle her, Spike tapped her on the shoulder and asked, “Getting absorbed in our work again Twilight?” She jumped a bit before looking up from her research and replying, “Actually I was almost done. But weren’t you supposed to be looking after the colts? I’m not sure it’s a good idea to leave them unsupervised.” Spike chuckled, “It’s probably not. I bet that as soon as I walked out of listening range they either started making plans to kill me, or tearing into each other like rabid chimeras. Or both at the same time. But I just needed to make sure you were doing alright. Just in case the stress was getting to you again.” Twilight smiled bashfully, “Thanks Spike. I appreciate it. But before you go, is there anything else you needed?” “Yeah there is.” Spike answered. “I’ve noticed that you haven’t been all that curious about our extradimensional visitors, even though they could tell you about places and history that you’ve never heard of. Not to mention that one has metal inside him, another looks like a half-demon, and you haven’t tried to examine either of them. It all seems so unlike you.” “You’re right, I do want to learn about them. But I can’t do that until I get the crusaders back. I am the princess of friendship now.” She replied while scooping up her notes in her magic “What kind of friend would I be if I let my friends little sisters rot in some other dimension while I did research? And besides, there's going to be time for that later.” Spike nodded in agreement. Reflecting on the situation, thought about all the progress Twilight Sparkle had made since coming to Ponyville. Where once she would have either collapsed into a neurotic mess or gone on a scientific binge, she now worked tirelessly to help her friends. She was truly worthy of being a princess. Twilight walked to the middle of the room and started to prepare her magic. “Spike, I’m going to need you to go get the colts now. I'm ready to begin my solution.” Spike started to leave, but then doubled back and asked, “You never did mention exactly what you were doing. Would you mind explaining what it is so I can be prepared?” And by prepare, he meant hide under a table. “Well, while I can’t replicate the mirror without more materials and a couple months’ time, I can cast a sort of “half portal”. That way if there’s somepony on the other side, they’ll be able to complete it. And while the connection won’t be stable enough to send anything through we will be able to talk.” After a moment of consideration the dragon responded, “So you’re saying that we will be able to talk to whoever’s on the other side but not actually solve the problem?” “Not exactly, but we will be able to make sure the Crusaders are alright. And getting them back will be much easier with ponies working on it from both sides.” She gave him a nudge towards the exit. “I think you should get the colts. It would be best if they were here for this.” When Spike left she started to charge her horn in preparation for the spell. As she released the charge, Twilight felt a surge of happiness at pushing the boundaries of magical research. After all, friendship may be magic, but magic would always be her oldest friend. The magic surged out from her and clawed its way through the boundaries between realities, crackling with lightning and leaving a faint smell of ozone. After winding its way into a jagged circle, the magic gave a flash and disappeared. Twilight waited for about two minutes for somepony on the other side to respond before the magic roared back from the ether, forming an liquid-like oval in the air. Soon the liquid parted to reveal a black coated stallion with two horns, one right above the other, inspecting her though the portal. Most likely whomever had finished her connection. "Hello there," he said while sizing her up, "My name is Archmagus Dark Star, and I believe that you have something that rightfully belongs to me." _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 70 years later . . . "You're lying." I glared over the edge of my seat at one of my seven grandchildren clustered in front of me to hear my story. "What was that Iron Soul?" The eldest grandson glared back at me. "You're lying, grandpa Mourning Bell, and I'm calling BS. Nothing that you said makes any sense. First off, how would you have any idea what anyone else was thinking? You're not a mind reader." "And how would you know what that alicorn was doing with Dark Star?" Another of my rebellious youngsters chimed in. "As I recall, you were getting your face beaten in by Stealthaloo and grandpa Apple Thorn." That was a bit of an awkward question. I knew what everyone had been thinking because Lord Viris, once know as Poison Pie, had done an investigation into the whole incident about five years later. And Viris very much could read minds. "The Secret Police looked into the whole thing" I answered. "I also happened to win that fight." "I'm sure you did grandpa," leveled Iron Soul, "but what about that whole bit with you getting switched with the fillies? It's a little hard to believe that Twilight just happened to try her spell at the same time you were goofing around with the portal. Far to much of a coincidence." "Your right. Even if dimensional travel worked like that in the first place, which it doesn't, the odds of that happening are far to slim to ever actually happen. There was a lot more going on then just some freak coincidence. But you're going to have to wait to find out exactly what that was. Now do you want to hear the rest of the story? My grandchildren glanced at each other and eventually nodded in agreement. This settled, I continued where I had left off.