Chapter Eighty
Chapter Eighty
Thursday, July Ninth, second year of the new calendar: After Nightmare Moon
Observational notes pertaining to progress made in the operation dubbed "Rainbow Reparation"
Day Twelve
After three days of effort, we are no closer to unraveling the mystery behind Rainbow Dash's speedy -and supposed- recovery from the trauma that has been constantly plaguing her for the past twenty seven days. Despite continuous questioning as to how exactly this turnaround has occurred, she continues to assert that she simply got over it.
Understandably, we remain skeptical of her claims. As much as the diarchy, and Rainbow Dash herself, wishes to believe the claims are true, it would be foolish to do such. Mental trauma of this degree and magnitude is not simply overcome through sheer strength of will. It is a matter of impossibility, that she willed herself to forget what she has been led to believe occurred. As much as there is a desire to believe her claims, I have done enough studying on pony psychology to conclude that there is no rational basis for her claims. To simply stop being bothered by what she claimed to experience, without first undergoing years of extensive psychological care, would require a Hollow-like mindset; something that she simply does not have.
The inconsistencies of Rainbow Dash's supposed mental recovery aside, she continues to display signs of progress that at least lend some measure of credibility to her claims. However this only goes to deepen the mysteries. Since her attempts at self-therapy, insane as they were, she has displayed a near-complete turnaround with the fear brought on by dark places; a fact that she has bragged about with pride. Whether or not this is a result of forcefully suppressing her memories of the trauma, and fooling herself into believing that she's recovered, has yet to be determined.
Her measurable reiatsu output continues to remain elevated to early June levels, prior to the point when everything went wrong following the manticore attack. Some minor degree of fluctuation can easily be explainable, and attributed to the living condition. But for this extreme of a difference, I have no way of explaining either how, or why, this particular development has occurred.
Ulquiorra paused his writing, momentarily taking stock of his current surroundings, and the positions of everyone within the area. He then returned to his work, starting a new paragraph.
On other matters, is Rainbow Dash having spent three consecutive nights sleeping in the library. This behavior was easily understandable the first night, when she was locked out of Princess Celestia's quarters, and opted to remain in the library where the greatest measure of security under the circumstances could be found. But there is no sense in her choosing to do the same during subsequent nights; there has been nothing preventing her from staying with the diarchy during the night, as she has been doing previously.
For whatever reason, Rainbow Dash has apparently chosen to forgo creature comforts. At the moment I can only speculate as to the motives behind these actions, and-
There was a knock at the door, interrupting Ulquiorra's writing.
"Come in, Rainbow Dash," he stated, pencil hovering above the paper, ready to continue once the interruption was addressed.
At hearing this, Rainbow Dash pushed the door to the room open, and poked her head inside to look around, before finally spotting Ulquiorra.
"It never gets old how you can do that," she stated, before stepping into the room all the way. Now that the door was no longer blocking her path, she could look around better, and take note of the furnishings in the room. "How come you're not in the library?"
"The janitorial staff has been complaining about my constant presence when they're supposed to be working. Supposedly my presence is unnerving to them," Ulquiorra explained, before turning around to face her. "What are you doing here?"
"Finding out where you disappeared to," Rainbow Dash replied, "I had no idea you had your own quarters in the palace. That's pretty awesome."
What wasn't said, however, was what she thought at seeing how the room was decorated and furnished. This was almost as bad as the room she'd been staying in during the early days of her suicide watch. But then that was compared to what these rooms usually looked like, based on the few other times she'd been a guest at the palace.
"Now that you've found me, what is it that you want?" Ulquiorra asked.
"Oh, you know, nothing major. Just fame. Fortune. Respect. My own theme song. Maybe a line of action figures of me," Rainbow Dash replied. Ulquiorra didn't even blink at her attempt at being humorously upbeat. That in itself was enough to deflate her mood somewhat, bringing about a sigh in response. Time to be serious again. "Could I stay here tonight?" she asked.
"It makes no difference to me where you stay," Ulquiorra stated simply. "The only question I have, is why you would select here of all places?"
At this, Rainbow Dash simply shrugged in response. "Celestia tends to snore, making it really hard to sleep at times. I mean, seriously, have you ever heard her? It's like sleeping next to a dragon when she really gets going."
"That still fails to answer the question of why here," Ulquiorra pointed out.
"Well, believe it or not, Luna's got court duties to tend to, so I can't exactly snooze in the throne room. And you're the only other one that I tru- er, that I can trust, to not become possessed by some wacko demon thing, and murder me in my sleep," Rainbow Dash explained.
That was an explanation that certainly made sense to him. It was hard to argue with the logic being presented.
"Fair enough," Ulquiorra replied, and left it at that. He really didn't see anything else that needed to be said.
"Thanks," Rainbow Dash replied, before shutting the door behind her. But then a bit of a conundrum came to mind, as just where she should actually lay down. "Uh... I don't wanna put you out or anything. You got any preference for sleeping?" she asked.
"Seeing as I don't sleep, it makes no difference to me whether you take the bed, or the sofa. So long as you don't interfere with my work," Ulquiorra explained.
"Oh," Rainbow Dash replied. However that still didn't help her out much. She looked between the sofa, and the bed, before finally opting to climb up and lay down on the green sofa off to the side. She quickly learned that it was a lot more comfortable than it initially looked.
Now that she was here, however, silence was quickly in the process of settling in, with the only distracting noise being that of Ulquiorra's pencil going to work once again. She considered asking him why he wasn't making use of the desk that was just across the room, and what possible benefit he had in standing up the whole time. But she figured he'd probably point out how the books currently resting on the desk would make it difficult.
That thought had her turning to look at the bookshelf, and the number of books from the library currently stacked there. The guards she'd heard grumbling about being tasked with taking books between the library and his quarters really hadn't exaggerated about the workload they were under; there were a lot of them present, and all of them about various topics. Some she recognized, others she didn't have a clue what they were about. Geography, magical theory, mechanics, and a number of others.
All of it kinda made sense if he had been chased out of the library. But then again it seemed hard to imagine him actually caring enough about the complaints of others, to actually go along with what they were saying. That was just plain odd.
"Hey, Ulquiorra-"
"If you ask for a glass of water, or a bedtime story, I'm going to kick you," Ulquiorra warned without even looking up from what he was writing.
"Funny," Rainbow Dash replied, despite the frown she currently wore on her face as she said it. Out of everything he could've said, she hadn't expected that to be one of them. "Uh, no, nothing like that. I was wondering whatever became of the whole dialysis idea that you, and Malar, and the others were cooking up. Wasn't that supposed to clean me out, clean me up, and get me back to Ponyville?" she asked as she crossed her forelegs in front of her.
"That was the idea," Ulquiorra replied as he paused his writing once again. "But dialysis is a medical procedure still in its infancy in this dimension. And it is a subject on which I had no knowledge of back in my own dimension. While it would filter the impurities out of your blood, it would do nothing to remove the hallucinogenics still in your tissues. For dialysis to work, we would need some special binding compound capable of bonding with the intended target, and moving it into an area we can target," he explained. That was a development that they hadn't considered, and now they were paying for it. All of that effort was wasted, and they were back at square one. "All of that, in addition to the need of identifying a binding compound that is capable of working as intended. That complication, is further complicated by the fact that the hallucinogenics are not being metabolized as they should be. This may mean they've been shielded by enchantments, rendering them impervious to their surroundings-"
"Meaning that whoever's behind this is somepony with a knowledge of high-level magic, and a correspondingly high degree of magical aptitude, which would be necessary to use a type of shielding enchantment actually capable of allowing something to be protected from its surroundings, while simultaneously allowing for attacking its surroundings," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Meaning that whichever asshole is responsible, it's gotta be a unicorn even more powerful, and more knowledgeable than even Twilight. That in itself should be an already short list. And its one that should be even shorter, since whoever's doing it would have to know how to avoid being detected by you, meaning they'd have to have knowledge of how you work."
Ulquiorra turned to look at Rainbow Dash as he listened to what she had just said. It was certainly an impressive degree of insight into the matter; more than he'd given her credit for. If she kept this up, he'd have to engage in a significant reevaluation of her character. He hadn't even intended to go into such details. And now he didn't have to.
"And since so few ponies would actually know anything about you, that means we're back at square one all over again," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she rolled over onto her back, her head hanging off the edge of the sofa, allowing her mane to tumble. "Unless... the unicorn pulling off this spell is in cahoots with who or whatever knows about you. That'd be a little more plausible, but a lot more complicated to work with since we'd have to expand the suspect pool and all..."
"Is there a particular reason you choose to obfuscate stupidity, and portray yourself as being a moron?" Ulquiorra asked her bluntly.
Rainbow Dash shrugged in response, folding her forelegs across her barrel, as she rested her hind legs against the backrest of the couch. "Twlight's the egghead in the group, not me. I'm not comfortable being the one asked to actually think things through, and come up with complicated plans about how to proceed. Besides, it's not exactly a fair comparison, she's on a whole 'nother level of smart than I am. If my smarts could fill a fish bowl, hers would fill an ocean."
Ulquiorra hadn't made any comparisons between her and Twilight Sparkle. None recently that he was aware of. He merely inquired about why she didn't display her intelligence more often. But whatever the motivation was for her decision, that was a matter for another time; perhaps when he had nothing else to do, if such a circumstance was ever to occur.
Rainbow Dash, oblivious to whatever the Espada was thinking, yawned and stretched as she rolled back over on the sofa, laying her head against the leg rest.
"Anyway, I'm gettin' kinda tired, I'm gonna try and get some sleep," she stated as she rolled over to face the back of the couch. "I don't know what it is, but I seem to sleep better when you're around. No horrible nightmares for the last three nights..." she said as she yawned again.
Ulquiorra merely remained silent, before returning to his notes.
-through the processes of elimination, and experimentation, conclude that Princess Luna was correct in her earlier evaluation.
+++
"I can't accept your offer," Ulquiorra stated simply.
"W... what?" Luna asked, taken by surprise by his words. That wasn't what she'd expected to hear. That wasn't how this was supposed to go. Curiously she pulled back, using her hooves on the Espada's shoulder for balance to look him in the eyes. "But... but why?"
"The social, and political complications that would arise from such an arrangement actually taking place, are quite significant. It is doubtful that something of this magnitude could ever be concealed from the general public. And then what? A foreigner, from a faraway land no one has ever heard of, and can't find on any of this world's maps, becoming a member of the royal family, is sure to cause a number of scandals to develop, and the fallout will ripple outward through the nation. You've said yourself how you're still trying to reconnect with your modern subjects, and overcome the legends of Nightmare Moon. What sort of repercussions do you believe would arise, should word of this were to ever get out?" Ulquiorra asked.
Despite being tired, Luna listened -or at least tried to listen- to what Ulquiorra had to say about her proposal. Some points of what he had to say, she had anticipated. Others, not quite so much. What she didn't understand, however, was how he had managed to consider these points in such a short amount of time, and then put them into words. Was she simply more tired than she thought, and her perception of the passage of time was off? If so then maybe he wasn't thinking things quite so fast, she was simply recognizing them slowly.
"I assume you're considering going through official channels for this. The same that were used in the adoption of the one who became Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?" he asked. She nodded. "Then that would mean induction into royalty. Which in turn means induction into this world's unique bureaucracy, and being tasked with official duties of government. Official duties that would only serve to hinder our investigative efforts; something that is already being experienced as we speak."
"I... I did not consider such," Luna replied slowly as she withdrew and set her hooves back down on the ground. The more Ulquiorra spoke, the more she felt like an idiot for not considering all of these complications that would need to be addressed. But now that he had mentioned them, she couldn't deny seeing as how those would certainly be possibilities they would have to contend with.
"There's more," Ulquiorra stated.
"I am quite certain that there is, Ulquiorra Cifer. But presently I can tolerate only so much, in being informed of how idiotic I was in my efforts. Perhaps it would be best to simply take my leave for this evening, and try to put this behind myself," Luna replied and stepped away. She couldn't take anymore ridicule right now. And she really didn't want to say something that she might end up regretting later on, for the wrong reasons.
"I never said such," Ulquiorra stated, causing her to stop her departure, and look directly at him. "I merely clarified that the net benefit of accepting the offer, would be outweighed by the corresponding cost involved with such a decision. That said, however, I'm already in possession of that net benefit," he pointed out.
"Pardon?" Luna asked. She felt like she knew what he was talking about, but... something just felt off; like something being lost in translation.
"The underlying system of support you spoke of is already in existence; it has been since three days after my arrival in this dimension, when you brought Twilight Sparkle to the palace, going against Princess Celestia's wishes of managing my integration into this world. The inclusion of arbitrary titles of familiarity would do nothing to change that fact," Ulquiorra explained.
Luna remained silent, uncertain of what to say in response to the explanation she'd just been given. To her it sounded positive, but she knew that when it came to Ulquiorra, it was difficult to truly tell. But for right now, she would interpret it as being positive; she would dare say even complimentary.
"This is in addition to another fact that must be addressed," he stated. All Luna could do was look at him, and wait for his explanation of what other unintended wrinkle he had spotted in her plan. Finally it came. "There's a good chance that Twilight Sparkle's ability to coherently focus on matters in Ponyville, would be significantly compromised if she were to learn that she had a new cousin added to the overall family..."
All Luna felt like she could do at the moment was blink in confusion at Ulquiorra's words, and wonder just how their conversation had lead down this particular path. What sort of twisted logic was currently unleashed in his head, that had led him down this particular path? Had he been spending too much time around Pinkie Pie, and now as prone to randomness as she was?
But then it hit her, much like a slap across the face, as all of the pieces fell into place, and she could see the sequence of points that had lead up to that statement. She did the only thing she could possibly do in light of the realization being brought to her attention; she laughed. She laughed genuinely, and heartily, her whole frame quaking with amusement. And the fact that it had been Ulquiorra himself to deliver it, in such a deadpan manner, had made the presentation all the more humorous.
+++
Luna snorted in surprise as she jumped and her wings violently sprung open at her sides, wide awake, and unaware of her surroundings, frantically looking around. She soon became aware of the fact that she was in the throne room of Canterlot palace, with two of her guards looking at her in concern, and her sister standing in the doorway.
A hypnagogic jerk. That was the only thing that made sense right now. She absolutely hated to experience one of those, only to be jolted out of a state of near-unconsciousness, and into a state of fright. Sighing, she waved her right wing dismissively, signalling that everything was alright, and for the guards to return to their duties at the base of the throne.
"Was I asleep?" Luna asked Celestia as she approached the throne.
"If you can call it that," Celestia replied as she made her way to the base of the stairs that led up to the throne, before coming to a stop. "Are you alright, Luna?"
"Merely tired," Luna replied as she stretched her wings out as far as they would go, before tucking them back in again. "There are certain petitioners who have a way of talking, that can sap the very life essence out of anyone within earshot of them, leaving nothing behind but a withered husk," she explained, before pausing to scratch at an itch under her chin. "They present large charts and graphs to disguise their evil magic. I am most certain of it."
Celestia couldn't help but smirk at Luna's comment. She had been in that position far too many times for her own liking. She didn't want to admit to it, because it sounded so immature, but a small part of her was thankful that Luna was getting a taste of what those particular petitioners were like; usually she was stuck with them as they came in the daytime.
How the guards managed to stay awake throughout it all, she didn't have a clue.
"What is the current time anyway? Did I oversleep?" Luna asked.
Celestia shook her head in response. "It's still a few minutes before dawn starts. Plenty of time to do our duties and begin the start of a new day."
"That is good then," Luna replied as she climbed down from the throne and descended the stairs. "What of Rainbow Dash?"
"I believe she's in the library with Ulquiorra once again," Celestia replied. As much time as was spent there, she was giving serious consideration to having it renovated to include a small lounge area; if nothing else, it would save from sleeping on the provided reading tables.
Once again Luna's thoughts were brought back to the past. Her observations about the similarities of the experiences of Ulquiorra and Rainbow Dash always seemed to hold more relevancy when they were found together. And Rainbow Dash's dreams didn't seem quite so terrible when the Espada was around; that left her wondering as to why.
Her thoughts on the matter, however, were interrupted as a loud, deep, thromming-type noise suddenly erupted through the open balcony, as a bright lavender beam shot up into the sky over the palace, and spread out like water being poured onto the floor. The unanticipated display had actually caused her to jump, as she turned and quickly made her way out onto the balcony to observe it. And then as suddenly as it had started, it had come to an end.
"Goodness! What was that?" she asked as she turned to look at Celestia.
"A beacon spell," Celestia replied. A beacon spell that carried Twilight's magical signature with it; which made sense since she was the only one who could project it all the way to Canterlot from Ponyville, from where the beam originated. Something was obviously up if such was warranted. But why hadn't she simply sent a letter? Had something happened to Spike? This was going to require a response. "Luna, I need you to find Ulquiorra, quickly, and have him come here immediately, while you take over watching Rainbow Dash."
"As you wish, dear sister," Luna replied, doing her best to keep her nerves under control. Anytime Ulquiorra was needed immediately, it was never a good thing. With that fact in mind she quickly teleported away, heading for the library.
Twilight slumped as the spell cut out. It had taken a lot of magic to get the beacon all the way to Canterlot, and now she was starting to feel the effects of the expenditure. And the worst part of it all, was the day hadn't even officially begun yet; it was way too early for this!
Three days. Three days ago, they had sent urgent word to Canterlot, informing them about the latest development that had nearly broken down their door in the middle of the night, and requesting an audience for further discussion. And for three days, not a word had been sent back to them; not through Spike, and not through Ulquiorra conducting another investigation. Twilight couldn't come up with any possible reason as to why this was. What could possibly be going on up in Canterlot, that would take precedence over what they themselves were going through?
She knew that it was ridiculous to believe such. But until such time that they actually received a response, Twilight couldn't help but feel like she was alone right now. Granted she still had her friends by her side, but so few of them could still be turned to right now. Rarity was trying her best to tend to Fluttershy, none of them had seen Pinkie outside of Sugarcube Corner since her late-night visit, leaving her to have to rely on Spike and Applejack for support, as they tried to tend to Zecora, who was just short of being a basket case.
That had been the reason for the beacon. If official channels of communication weren't going to work for them, then it was well past time for an attention grabbing "get the fuck over here!" type of bellow that nopony could ignore. Whatever was going on, that was so important it demanded they be ignored, she wanted an answer as to just what it was. And she wanted that answer yesterday.
Standing back up again, Twilight turned around and walked off the top balcony, and made her way back down to the ground floor to check on the others.
Three days. For three days now, their little group had been looking after Zecora since her late night arrival. Whatever it was that had managed to scare the zebra out of her home in the Everfree Forest, it had apparently scared her to the point she couldn't even speak to them. It was only now that she was using actual words once again, rather than various grunts or other noises. But those words were few, far between, and -most disturbingly- carried no sense of rhyme about them.
The only bright spot of this whole mess, was that she seemed vaguely aware of her surroundings, aware of her own needs and -for the most part- didn't have to be led around by the hoof everywhere. Although she was still quite clingy, to the point she was terrified of being left alone. That was a mistake that Twilight wasn't going to be making again anytime soon...
Applejack tried hard to present a positive appearance as she combed Zecora's mane out, doing her best to help the distressed zebra feel at ease. It was the classic elder-sibling tactic employed to keep the younger sibling calm during a troubled period. Except this time around it was a tactic that was being used with a significantly older mare, which left her wondering about its validity; it was easier to convince a little filly that everything would be alright, than it was a full grown mare who had seen untold terrors. And being fully aware of that fact, it was hard to keep up the act that everything would be alright.
"There ya go Zecora."
That was one of the primary reasons she was fussing over the zebra's mane like she was; it gave her something to focus her attention on other than pretending to be in control of the situation.
Unfortunately, whatever natural care products that went into maintaining the zebra's mohawk, she had neglected to bring them along with her. And after the first hot bath she'd taken since getting her, gravity had taken over, leaving her looking not too dissimilar from her first Nightmare Night. Minus the plastic spiders of course.
"Thank you..."
It was a short sentence. But at least it was a complete sentence this time around. Applejack could at least smile about that, and regard it as being a sign that whatever had happened to Zecora, she was slowly coming out of it.
"It'll have ta do fer the time bein', until we can get Rarity ta see us. That, er get those danged spa ponies ta open up their business again," Applejack replied as she set the comb aside on the library's table. Unfortunately now she had nothing to distract herself with, putting the weight of her charade entirely on her own withers.
"Okay..."
Fortunately for her, Twilight had come back downstairs at that time.
"I've sent the beacon to Canterlot. Hopefully that should get the point across that we're in need of help," Twilight explained as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs, before bracing for Zecora coming over to hug her. It wasn't that she minded this or anything; truly she didn't. But Zecora was a lot stronger than she looked, and seemed to be under the impression that her hugs needed to be firm. All she could really do was grin and bear it until she was let go, while stroking Zecora's back with her free hoof in an effort to help calm her.
"So all we can do now is wait?" Applejack asked as she watched the exchange take place, being unable to do anything else right now.
"Well... I suppose I could've tried to teleport us all to the palace instead. But it's a risky prospect that I don't want to try at this point in time," Twilight explained as she slowly worked herself free. There were just way too many things that could go wrong with such an attempt. She shuddered to think of what the outcome could be.
It was at this time that Spike came into the main room from the kitchen, carrying a tray of four steaming cups of coffee with him.
"We really need to start buying more coffee beans if this keeps up," he stated as he set the tray down on the table. If this kept up they'd need to switch from being a library, to being a bed and breakfast.
"I know, Spike," Twilight replied, before levitating her selected cup with barely restrained enthusiasm to sip at it. She couldn't help but sigh in response, feeling it hit the spot after such a rough start to the morning. Her attention then turned to Zecora for consideration. "I know you're not crazy about coffee, Zecora, but I'm afraid we don't have any tea. But I did have Spike put some sugar in yours to try and make it more palatable." she explained.
"Uh, actually... I couldn't," Spike replied slowly.
"Whadda ya mean ya couldn't?" Applejack asked.
"Well I put the sugar in and stirred it up real good, but..."
"But what, Spike?" Twilight asked. What was so hard about adding sugar to coffee?
"But... the coffee sort of dissolved the spoon. I didn't think it'd be a good idea to give that to Zecora, so I threw it out..." Spike explained.
Silence overtook the library, none of them saying a single word in response to this revelation. And slowly, all eyes turned to Twilight, who was still holding her coffee cup, as a sick feeling started to overcome her.
And then Spike started snorting, before bursting into all out laughing.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist," Spike stated in the middle of his laughing. "We needed a tension breaker with all this shit going on."
Twilight scowled at Spike, despite the fact he was oblivious to the fact with his eyes being closed. Making jokes about her coffee was definitely uncalled for. And her displeasure was only added to by the fact that Applejack had found it amusing as well. But then she saw the amused smile on Zecora's face, and that took the wind out of her sails. That was the first time she'd seen Zecora smile since her arrival here. For her sake, she supposed taking one on the chin wasn't so bad if it meant putting some mirth on her muzzle.
She'd find a way to get him back for it later. In a totally passive, purely humorous manner of course.
"So how long do ya think it'll take fer 'em ta respond ta yer beacon anyway?" Applejack asked, deciding to change the topic.
"I don't really know. It depends on whose currently on duty, who saw it, and how it gets reported. But I'm being optimistic, and hoping we only have to wait a few minutes for a response," Twilight replied. At least that was what she was telling herself; that she was being optimistic. If she admitted how she was really feeling right now, she might lose her composure entirely. She needed to hold it together, for just a little longer, and then she could turn the reins over to somepony else while she took a private moment to vent the building freakout attack.
"So what do we do in the meantime while we wait?" Spike asked. Starting breakfast was always a possibility, but he'd really hate to get started on cooking for the four of them, only to find out halfway through preparation that they'd be joined by numerous others. It was already difficult enough with Zecora being on the list; primarily because he never knew just what to make for her. Even if she ate it without complaint, that still didn't make it any easier on him to know what to cook.
"I think waiting is all that we really can do right now, Spike," Twilight replied, before taking another sip of her coffee.
And so that was what they did; they simply waited to see what sort of response they would get. Standing around -or otherwise sitting- was really the only thing that could be done at this point in time, what with their limited resources.
"Hey Zecora?"
The wait was stretching on. Another couple of minutes and the sun would be peeking out over the horizon, signalling the official start of the new day. Being the farmpony that she was, Applejack was well aware of that fact. She wanted to consider herself as being a patient mare, but waiting in silence for sompony to respond to their urgent message was simply intolerable. She needed to speak up, to hold a conversation.
And right now, that conversation had to do with something that had recently come to mind. Most might not consider it important, but then again she wasn't most ponies. Just because it was relatively recent, didn't make it any less important.
When the zebra turned her head in acknowledgement, she continued. "Ah've been doin' some thinking, an' Ah was wonderin' if ya'd like ta come back ta Sweet Apple Acres fer a while. Ah reckon Apple Bloom'd be as pleased as a pig in mud ta see ya, an' have ya around fer a few days. She's been mighty lonely since Scootaloo an' Sweetie Belle can' be seein' 'er."
Applejack didn't want to admit to it too quickly, for fear that even acknowledging it to herself might jinx her luck. But slowly, ever so slowly, she'd been entertaining the notion of returning to Sweet Apple Acres again, back to her home, and her own bed. She'd pondered the idea of spending the night in her own bed, surrounded by the familiar scents of the farm, rather than the lilacs and lavender that she associated with Twilight, and the odd mix of sulfur and cinnamonesque spiciness that she attributed to Spike.
She didn't want to admit to it, but ever since her episode in the orchards, the prospect of spending even a single night on the farm scared her. As long as the sun was up and shining brightly, she could work there all the live long day without nary a worry. But as soon as the sun started to dip behind the horizon, she didn't want to be anywhere else but inside the library. There was just something about being here, with both Twilight And Spike, that left her feeling secure.
What she would admit to, however, was not liking how she felt afraid of the prospect of spending a night in her own home. That was just plain, positively unacceptable! She wasn't some scared little foal, she was a grown mare! And so, bit by bit, day by day, she'd been weighing the prospect of marching herself back home, and forcing herself to spend the night there, to convince herself that there was nothing to be afraid of.
She just... hadn't gotten around to doing that yet...
That fact aside, she recognized that she couldn't stay here forever, even if Twilight would let her. Sooner or later, she had to return to not just her home, but also to her life. And if she had to return to Sweet Apple Acres... well why not invite Zecora along? Twilight was certainly a wonderful host, but the mare was wound exceedingly tight; she had seen the kind of meltdowns that could come from having too much on the plate to address. And right now she was starting to feel like she was either on that plate, or was soon to be added like a side order.
Truth be told, she was a little afraid of what might come about developing. Despite their best efforts at getting along, the three of them were starting to get annoyed by each others habits. She had seen how such things developed in the past in other situations, and she really didn't want to be present for that. She'd much rather leave on her own accord, than be asked to leave.
And if she was leaving to give Twilight more breathing room, she was going to see about bringing Zecora along. That would be two less obstacles in Twilight's way, and two less ponies interfering with her efforts in finding a cure.
But Zecora never got to answer the question. And Twilight and Spike never got the chance to give their input on what was being proposed. All of them were cut off from any further discussion, as a bright flash of light filled the entire room, before fading away to reveal Celestia and Ulquiorra standing in the middle of it.
For Applejack this was a sign of relief. Going days without word back from Canterlot, and seeing neither hide nor hair of Ulquiorra, had left her wondering just what could've been going on outside of Ponyville. For a while she was afraid that something terrible had happened, and they were truly left on their own. But now those concerns could stop, and she could take a well-needed breath, before expressing how relieved she was to see them.
"Where the fuck have you been!?"
Or maybe choke on her breath at Twilight's sudden obscene outburst at seeing the pair. She'd expected... well she didn't know exactly what to expect, other than Twilight being Twilight. And based on the expression Celestia was currently wearing, she hadn't been either.
Considering everything, maybe they both needed to update their list of behaviors they commonly associated with Twilight.
It was a rant that was filled with both fury, and obscenity, as they all watched Twilight venting for the group, their worries about the total lack of communication during the last three days, despite word of it being urgent. Anger, hurt, betrayal, fear, it was all pouring out freely, all at the same time. All of that composure she had maintained prior to Celestia's arrival, had quickly melted away, giving way to an obviously distraught unicorn, whose overactive mind had conjured up worst case scenarios, like Canterlot having fallen to enemy invasion, and everyone being killed off.
"Yep. Definitely wound up way too tight," Applejack thought to herself as Twilight's tirade soon gave way to tears. Although it was a whole lot less tears than what had been shed in the aftermath of the changeling incident. And much like back then, Celestia was there to offer Twilight comfort and support when she broke down. She would chalk it up to another step in the healing process of what had transpired between them.
And then she noticed Zecora, who apparently still had enough grasp of her surroundings to have assumed a kneeling position on the floor out of respect for meeting the country's ruler. She didn't know whether to leave their friend there like that, or interrupt the current prostration, since it looked like Celestia was going to be spending a fair bit of time tending to Twilight, in a bid to get the excitable unicorn calm again.
Over where Ulquiorra stood, his senses had finally cleared just in time to come into the middle of Twilight Sparkle's outburst, primarily aimed at Princess Celestia. Or more accurately, close to the end as sadness set in not long after, and she proved to be in need of consoling.
Without so much as a word, he walked over to where Applejack and Zecora stood, getting himself out of the way of the emotional drivel, as Twilight Sparkle was advised to take deep breaths, and that everything was alright.
"Better?" Celestia asked as she looked down. Twilight nodded silently as she sniffed, and used her foreleg to wipe her eyes. Celestia responded by pulling back, and allowing her stand on her own four hooves again. "Now then, once more. With clarity, and without the doomsday scenario. What is it that happened?"
"Yeah, I've got this," Spike spoke up as he stepped over to where the others stood. "Three days ago, Zecora came pounding on our door in the middle of the night, scared bad enough that she couldn't even talk," he stated, gesturing to the zebra who was still in her bowing position. "Anyway, we sent word to Luna three nights ago asking her to come, but we didn't get any reply back. The next day, we wrote you asking the same thing. We even wrote Ulquiorra. Never a word back. So, yeah, it's been kinda hectic around here." he explained.
Twilight nodded enthusiastically at Spike's explanation of the events of the last three days; even if he did leave out a lot of details that she wanted to add. But right now there were other important matters to tend to.
"What happened? How come we never heard anything back?" she asked, trying not to lose her composure all over again.
"Twilight... none of us have received any communication. Had we, you know we would've been here immediately," Celestia explained, before quickly -and gently- placing her right hoof against her student's lips as she was getting ready to start talking again. "Whatever is behind this lack of communication, we'll get to it. But not right now. For the time being, it would be wise to address the matter that originally brought us here, correct?" she asked. Twilight slowly nodded in understanding as she withdrew her hoof, and set it back down on the floor.
With that matter addressed, she slowly approached Zecora.
"Arise, please," she spoke softly, bringing the zebra back to a standing position. "It's nice to finally meet you face-to-face, Zecora. Twilight has told me a great deal about you," she stated, trying her best to help the mare feel at ease. But by that look she currently wore, it really wasn't doing much good. Perhaps it was time for a different approach.
This wasn't the first time she'd ever met with a zebra before in the past. But it had been the first in several years, so her familiarity with the native language wasn't the most practiced. She could only hope that what she remembered, she remembered accurately. "Siku njema."
"Siku... siku njema," Zecora responded in turn slowly.
Apparently, yes, she correctly remembered that the phrase meant "good day." It was a start.
"I would continue in your native language, but it's been quite some time since I last had reason to practice, and I might wind up saying the wrong thing," Celestia explained as she sat down on her haunches. She briefly wondered if sharing a rather humorous story from the past would serve to help ease the tension. But humor was always so subjective, and it might not go over well. Best to play it safe for the time being. "Now then. Can you tell me what happened the other night?"
Over where he stood, Ulquiorra observed as Zecora stammered and stuttered as she tried to get the words out, pausing before she could get more than a word out. At this rate they would never get anywhere. He was fully prepared to take over the interrogation, conducting it much as he had done with Rainbow Dash previously. But before he could move, he detected magic being at work. Or more specifically, Princess Celestia's magic. It felt like the same spell he had witnessed during Rainbow Dash's stay in the palace's infirmary when she'd been frantic.
Being aware of that, he opted to just hang back, and continue observing how things played out. At least for a little while longer.
"Zecora," Celestia spoke softly, "it's true that I'm here in an official capacity. But it's equally true that I'm here in a friendship capacity. Whatever is going on, it's affecting not only my subjects, but also my friends. I find that to be completely unacceptable. And if you know anything about what's going on... absolutely anything... I would be most appreciative if you would share it with me," she stated, the kindness in her voice never wavering, even though she was speaking in a firmer tone now. "The Everfree Forest is still a part of Equestria proper, and as such is subject to my rule. And as you choose to live there, that makes you one of my subjects, subject to the same protections, and considerations, as any pony that was born within these borders. But I need to know how to help, before I actually can help. I need you to meet me halfway, and tell me what's happened to you," she explained.
Zecora listened silently, finding a measure of comfort in the words Celestia was offering up to her. She couldn't explain it, but she could feel them helping put her at ease during this trying time. It was a level of comfort that she hadn't experienced for herself in quite some time, and it was very much welcomed. It was all quite relaxing to hear and experience.
"Now then," Celestia spoke up as she lowered her head, bringing herself more to eye level with Zecora. "Tell me what happened. Please. Otherwise I won't be able to help you."
"I... I... Y-Your Highness, might I, um... t-that is to say... could I... c-could I..." Zecora stammered slowly, constantly tripping over her own words as she tried to speak. And every time she tried to speak, Celestia couldn't help but notice that there was a distinct flushing of red showing through the portions of white fur on her cheeks.
And then a thought came to Celestia. Without a word to intent, she sat herself up again, she swept her right foreleg off of the ground, holding it outward to the side. She then flexed her hoof. She could see the confusion in Zecora's eyes as she blinked, leaving her to wonder if she needed to be more vocal. But that wonder stopped when Zecora finally took the hint, and hurried over to where she sat, not even hesitating before sinking into the waiting embrace.
This -surprisingly- wasn't the first time one of her subjects had actually asked her for a hug. It was just that those who did tended to be much younger, and still overflowing with youthful innocence. There had been exceptions to that standard, but that had been a very long time ago, back when the political landscape had been different.
Oh how she missed some ancient traditions.
"Better?" Celestia asked as she looked down at her. Zecora simply nodded.
Off to where Twilight and the rest of them currently stood, watching silently at how things played out, there was a certain measure of disbelief to be had. What they saw ran contrary to the mental image that they'd long held regarding Princess Celestia.
But then again that mental image had been taking a serious beating over the past few weeks. There was the near-constant need to reassess long held notions about their ruler in light of everything that had been seen. What had been the image of a perfect white alicorn who was above mortal issues, sought out for divine wisdom on various matters, was slowly but surely being replaced by the image of just another pony, as prone to errors as everyone else around her, while possessing a very strong motherly instinct; one that suggested anyone who was stupid enough to get between her and her ponies was going to regret that decision.
Ulquiorra, meanwhile, waited as patiently as he could for the insanity to end, and the answers to begin.
"Ukungu wa jinamizi..."
Maybe it was magic, or maybe it was mundane. Whatever the true answer was to the question, it still remained unbelievable just how quickly Zecora had calmed down in Celestia's embrace, to the point she could actually start piecing words together on her own again.
Unfortunately those words seemed to be in her own native tongue, making it difficult for Twilight and the others to make sense of what she was saying.
"Ah know Ah'm not the straightes' talkin' o' ponies 'round these parts. But Ah didn' understand one danged word outta all that," Applejack stated, more lost than whenever Rarity got to talking fancy when she was upset.
Twilight nodded in agreement. She knew that she had a language dictionary around here somewhere that would assist in the translation... but she didn't have a clue how to go about spelling the words Zecora was using. Wordlessly she looked to Celestia, hoping for answers since she seemed to have the most knowledge on the subject, based on their initial communication.
"It's been quite a while since my last interaction, so my command of the language is a bit rusty. But if I'm remembering correctly, I think it translates to... mist of nightmares?" Celestia asked as she looked down at Zecora, who looked back up at her and nodded silently.
"Mist of nightmares?" Twilight asked and blinked. But she didn't even wait for confirmation, before looking up towards Ulquiorra to see if the term had any relevance to him and his studies. The response she got left her with no doubt that he didn't have the slightest clue about the term; he looked back at her, and without even taking his hands out of his pockets, he shrugged his shoulders. Instantly she turned back to Celestia. "I've never heard of it before."
"It's a very archaic term from a long time ago. It's actually been a long time since I last heard of it myself," Celestia replied as she looked down at Zecora and gently stroked her back. Right now she could only assume that the term still had relevancy in the zebra's homeland. "If I remember correctly, the more contemporary term for the phenomenon is terror fog," she explained.
"Terror fog!?" Twilight asked.
"Wha' in the hay is terror fog?" Applejack asked, stumped by what they were saying. At least when it came to not understanding Zecora, she had a good excuse. But they were all speaking the same language right now, and she was still lost.
Twilight was about to explain, but so was Celestia. She recognized that it might be best if Celestia covered this one herself, and shut her mouth accordingly. But her efforts at letting Celestia take the lead were rebuffed by a simple nod of the head from the alicorn, signalling that she was clear to take the lead on this explanation. With that fact in mind, she readied herself, trying to remember everything that she'd read on this subject so long ago.
"Terror fog is a phenomenon that's not well understood. The scientific community classifies its existence as unverified, because there's no hard evidence to serve as confirmation. There's nothing indicative of where in the world it's native to, or how common it is. The only evidence to suggest it even exists is anecdotal, based on the testimony of ponies who were unfortunate enough to stumble across it. They reported being confronted by vivid, and even graphic, hallucinations in the fog, that supposedly manifested as their worst fears," Twilight explained, trying to remember if there was anything else to cover. "As you can understand, nopony knows what the exact makeup of the fog is. But based on what's known, it's theorized that it must include some type of strong chemical-based hallucinogenic compounds, because those that were exposed were still suffering from hallucinations for hours, even after they managed to find their way out of the fog," she continued. "This... this actually makes a great deal of sense now that I think about it. That would explain almost everything, if that's what this really is. There was a lot of fog the morning Rainbow Dash suffered her delusions. She said she needed to clear it, before the clouds could be cleared away since the forecast for that day was sunny. That must've been when she was first exposed..."
"Now wait jus' an apple pickin' minute," Applejack spoke up as she looked directly at Twilight, brow furrowing in the process. "Ya mean ta say ya knew about this terror fog stuff all along, an' yer jus' now bringin' it up fer us? Why didn' ya mention it when RD firs' went nuts weeks ago!? Why've we been runnin' all over Ponyville in a frenzy this whole time!?" she asked, growing more and more aggravated as she continued. The idea of it all was just way too much to tolerate.
Applejack knew full well that she couldn't fault Twilight as far as this whole incident went concerning Rainbow Dash. With just one pony to go by, and no detectable pattern. She couldn't even fault Twilight after she'd gotten affected. But as more and more of them started piling up, some sort of pattern should've emerged for that big unicorn brain to pick up on.
And yet... she was just now learning that her friend knew about what was going on around here. So it went without saying that she had some explaining to do.
Twilight, to her credit, barely flinched at Applejack's fury, and simply continued to stand her ground, waiting for a break in the tirade before speaking up.
"For starters, Applejack, it's like I said, there's no scientific evidence that confirms or even supports the existence of terror fog. There's nothing that I could readily, and consistently cite from a book to suggest that it might be the culprit. And even if there was, anecdotal reports of terror fog are so sparse, there would be no reason to believe that it was applicable in this case; Ponyville gets fog all the time in the mornings. How would we have ever known that something might be different this time around? Why would we have reason to be suspicious in the first place? It would be like suddenly being suspicious of your apples." she pointed out. But she was just getting started on making the matter perfectly clear. There was still plenty to detail. And right now she was seriously tempted to crack her neck to get loosened up.
"There's also the fact that I'm not always awake early enough in the day to watch the weather ponies clearing away morning fog. Why would I have reason to find it as being suspicious, when apparently even the weather service wasn't?" she asked. But she didn't even give more than a second's pause before proceeding onto the next point. "In addition, out of every account we've taken so far, none of the afflicted ponies who came forward reported anything that properly matched the accounts given by those who were afflicted by terror fog. For them the hallucinations started just minutes after exposure; not hours or days later. Nor did the hallucinations continue haunting them days and weeks after the fact. Yours certainly didn't stop after the first night, did they?" she asked.
Applejack flinched at that particular question, uncomfortable under the new scrutiny. This certainly wasn't where she'd thought the discussion would go, otherwise she never would've asked. These were the exact thoughts she'd been trying so desperately to suppress, and not think about. The ones she'd been trying to drown out, and pay no attention to them, after hearing about how badly Rainbow Dash had nearly gone to pieces. They were the reasons she didn't sleep well at night, and would wake up terrified.
"No. They didn't," she replied and shook her head slowly, now wishing she hadn't asked Twilight the question.
"That's why it wasn't considered a possibility until just now, it didn't match what was known about it. But now with Zecora that changes everything. Now we do have some idea of what's going on around here," Twilight explained.
"So what do we do now?" Spike asked.
Twilight stopped before she got started talking again. Her scientific side was screaming itself hoarse with utter excitement about the implications of this discovery, and what it could possibly mean for the academic community.
But the scientific side of her, the one that had been cultivated back in Canterlot, wasn't in control of her right now. And as much as it was making itself known to her once again, another aspect of her was drowning it out. That was the part of her that had learned how the value of friendship trumped the value of pure science. This wretched fog had caused unspeakable harm to both her friends, and so many others, that she didn't want to have anything to do with it; not even a scientific paper with her name on it, that would find its way into well respected medical journals for decades to come.
But right now, neither one of her two sides knew precisely how to proceed. That was a question she couldn't immediately give a definite answer to.
"I don't know, Spike," she replied as she slowly shook her head. "Scientific significance aside, I don't know how to proceed. We know that it's like terror fog, but the discrepancies still leave me really uncertain on just what we're facing, and what we should do," she explained. So many questions... it was all making her head hurt horribly. Out of hope, and desperation, she turned to Celestia for the prospect of answers. "Princess, do... do you know what we do from here?"
"At present, I really don't. I'm sorry, Twilight," Celestia replied and shook her head. "This certainly provides us with a number of answers and solutions. But only to a point. I could easily use my magic to evaporate it, and prevent anymore ponies from being afflicted by its horrible effects. But doing that will do nothing to help those who are already suffering. Destroying the fog will only amount to prevention, rather than a cure. To the best of my present knowledge, that's something I'm afraid just doesn't exist in this world," she explained solemnly.
"So that means we don' do anythin'?" Applejack asked. That was certainly how it sounded to her.
"No, certainly not. I'd never suggest such a course of inaction under these circumstances. All I'm saying is that there would be no miracles for us," Celestia clarified.
"There's another issue that must be raised for consideration purposes, before we can proceed with any course of action," Ulquiorra spoke up, bringing their attention back to him. And now that he had their attention, he was going to use it. "Evaporation of the fog may end up causing us far more harm than good. Transformed into a full vaporous state, it will rise in the atmosphere, and condense into the clouds; quite possibly taking whatever hallucinogenic substances are present with it, and thus contaminating the clouds. Not knowing what concentration of hallucinogenic compounds are necessary to trigger the attacks we've witnessed, we could wind up triggering a widespread epidemic, as the compounds will be dispersed not only over a wider area, but in a form that will invariably leech into the groundwater, and contaminate everything it touches. Water supplies, food supplies, plants... the list goes on," he explained.
It wasn't necessarily a bad idea on their part, but it was still something that needed to be addressed before they did anything. These were the kind of things that needed to be taken into consideration, when determining what course of action they would have to take.
Of course that was all assuming the worst case scenario hadn't already happened, considering what the nature of fog was. For all they knew, this had already come to pass, and had been doing so for ages. But if that were the case, perhaps the chemicals had simply become far too diluted to present any type of risk. Unless there was the cumulative effect in play, and they simply built up into the system, until a tipping point was reached.
"Oh that's just wonderful," Spike groaned as buried his face in his palms while standing next to Twilight. "So we know what's causing this whole mess, we just don't have any way of stopping it, because we might make it like a thousand times worse in doing so! Is there any other good news for today? Like, I don't know, the whole town is contaminated by the fog so it's quite literally everywhere we go, and any one of us could succumb next? Or maybe a giant meteorite is gonna come crashing down on top of us?" he asked as he looked back up and them, gesturing excitedly with his hands in the process.
While Spike's second hypothetical was -statistically speaking- nonsense, the first was definitely a possibility. The research team had conducted a widespread search of Ponyville and the surrounding territory in search of whatever narcotic substances were in play, and according to them, they were still compiling the results of their findings. If the fog that had been continually draping Ponyville was responsible for everything, then it was certainly a possibility that anything it had touched had become exposed, which would then transfer to anything that had touched it.
In the wake of discovering the mystery reiatsu that had saturated just about every inch of the surrounding territory, the evacuation of Ponyville was a possibility that had been given consideration. But that notion had been discounted not only by the deaths of Ready Stance and Dr. Thrush, but also the marketplace incident with Fluttershy. Whatever was responsible was openly mocking them, letting it be known that it could get in and out without any of them noticing, and do so at its leisure. Attempting to evacuate the entire village would prove futile under those facts alone. But in light of this new information, they might as well be trying to swim up a waterfall.
He was about to point out how Spike's hypothetical could certainly be the case. But Applejack had started talking first.
"Ah know Ah'm jus' a non-magical earthpony, bu' what if we jus' freeze it solid? Big ol' chunks o' ice would be more manageable ta dispose of, wouldn' they?" she asked.
No one spoke as they looked at one another after hearing the question. Could something like that actually work? Granted it wasn't the simplest of approaches that they could go with, but it certainly wasn't a hyper-complicated, multi-step process where any number of things could go wrong.
"Could... could that actually work?" Twilight eventually asked as she looked over to Celestia.
"It could work. There would need to be a significant bit of coordination before it could be attempted, but I'm not coming up with any reason for why it wouldn't be a possibility," Celestia replied as she slowly nodded. Yes, that was certainly a viable option, if they could go about carrying it out properly. "It might take one or two days to get everything lined up before we could actually proceed with such a plan, but I do believe it would work."
"I trust there's a method of condensing the fog into a specific area, so that it can be frozen in large masses, rather than being turned into frost or snow?" Ulquiorra asked. He received a nod in response. "Then at present I don't foresee any noteworthy complications to take into account," he replied. As far as magical solutions went, it seemed fairly solid. Contamination was far less likely with ice than with water vapor that couldn't be accounted for.
As far as he could tell, the only real downside was that it couldn't be attempted today; both out of need for organizing the endeavor, and because it had already been cleared by the weather service ponies.
"Better watch your back, Twi', looks like Applejack's coming for your genius crown," Spike snickered as he elbowed her.
"She deserves it with an idea like that," Twilight replied, unable to stop smiling. Or at least she couldn't, until a particular thought came back to the forefront of her mind with a vengeance. "But that still doesn't change the fact that there's no cure. This still won't help the ones already suffering."
Once again the room returned to silent, the good mood they'd had going from the suggestion of freezing the fog solid, was tempered by the knowledge that it still did nothing to help those who were already afflicted. And based on what correspondence she had been getting from Canterlot prior to this, time itself was no answer to their problems; not with how the chemicals weren't breaking down in the body like they should.
"There is a cure..."
It was such a soft, quiet murmur that came from Zecora, it would've been very easy for them to miss it.
It would've been. But they hadn't. They'd heard her statement as she looked outward to face them, and immediately all eyes were on her for clarification.
"There is? What is it? Where is it? What do we have to do to get it?" Twilight asked quickly, the only thing keeping her from being nose-to-nose with Zecora being Spike holding her back.
"I'll admit, this is information that I'd like to hear," Celestia stated gently as she looked down at Zecora, doing her best to temper her own excitement to avoid unnecessarily scaring her. "What is this cure, Zecora? How do you know about it?"
"It is... it is a concoction of my native land. Ukungu wa jinamizi has been much more common there than here in the past," Zecora explained as best she could, trying to speak coherently. "The... the ingredients are common enough, for the most part. But... but for it to work, it will need fresh cherubic root from the start..."
The first rhyme she'd heard in three days had nearly brought a smile to Twilight's face. But hearing what Zecora had just said was enough to suppress that desire to smile.
"Wait. You mean you know how to safely manage that?" she asked, curiosity asserting itself with a vengeance right now.
"What's cherubic root?" Spike asked, curious as to what had gotten Twilight so curious.
"Part of a plant that's mostly indigenous, but not limited, to certain areas of the Everfree Forest," Celestia explained, her horn aglow as an image was summoned to give them a visual representation of a flower that looked like a black and orange lily. "They're more commonly known as death blossoms, because of how toxic they are to ponies if they're ingested. I'd heard that they had certain medicinal properties about them in other parts of the world, but I've never seen it for myself."
Ulquiorra remained silent. Using certain poisonous substances in a medicinal role was far from unheard of. But then again no one had asked him for his opinion.
"Does this mean that things are finally looking up for us?" Spike asked. To him it certainly sounded like they were, because now they had an idea of not only what the problem was, but how to go about addressing it.
"I'd certainly say they are, Spike," Twilight spoke up, a smile forming over her face. "There are still a lot of questions that this doesn't answer, I can't deny that fact. But right now we at least have an idea of what we're currently facing, and how to go about properly dealing with it. That means we can stop it, we can bring Rainbow Dash back home, and we can get back to being a united front. And then, when we finally get everypony back together, and find whatever asshole is responsible for this, we can deliver the epic level beat down that's so richly deserved!" she stated.
If Bulk Biceps was close by, she was positive her statement would've been met with a resounding "Yeah!" in response.
All around the room, high spirits and optimism were being experienced. There was nothing particularly wrong with that as far as Ulquiorra was concerned. But optimism had to be grounded in reality. And among these ponies, he was reality incarnate. He was the black cloud that hung over their prospects of throwing a parade.
"The only things missing are an evil laugh, and a flash of well-timed lightning," he thought to himself. "This would certainly qualify as good news. But there's still one important issue that's not currently being addressed. Specifically, why was a beacon set off above Canterlot?"
Silence returned to the room after his statement. That made it easier to concentrate on the problem at hand. He had heard the statement of sent messages not being responded to, but that had taken a back seat to all of the discussion pertaining to the terror fog. Now that they had an idea of how to address what was being faced on that front, it would be wise to turn their focus to other pressing matters before they were forgotten.
"Oh. Right," Twilight replied and nodded. "Well as Spike said, we've been sending letters ever since Zecora appeared, but we never got a response from anyone. And after three days, we started to get worried that something bad might've happened. To be honest I don't know what would've happened if we hadn't gotten a response from the emergency beacon. I suppose we could've taken the train up to Canterlot, but it's not like we could do much good as fractured as we are," she admitted.
Celestia nodded to signify that she had heard Twilight's words, and had been paying attention to what her student had to say. All the time she wore the same face she wore when overseeing the day court, and being forced to listen to petitioners that she would rather see just shut up.
It was back to the court being held while naked, the minute she got back to Canterlot.
"I remember. But as I said, Twilight, we haven't received any correspondence at all. As far as reports go, all has been silent," she explained.
"But how is that even possible? We've been..." Twilight started to object, but then stopped, her brow furrowing in concentration. "Spike!" she called, instantly summoning a rolled up scroll, before levitating it over to him. "Send this to Princess Celestia right away."
"But she's right here," Spike pointed out, not seeing the point in what seemed like an exercise in redundancy to him.
"I'm well aware of that, Spike, but humor me and just send it anyway," She instructed. "Please," she added, far softer than her previous tone.
Spike just shrugged, before deciding to focus on the task at hand. He grasped the presented scroll, focused on the signature that was Celestia, and exhaled a stream of green fire, reducing the scroll to nothing but ash and smoke with ease.
All eyes in the room turned to Celestia, watching and waiting, to see the scroll materialize. And waiting. And waiting.
The seconds ticked by with an excruciating slowness, the whole room filled with a tense silence; like the slightest noise would undo everything.
Finally an entire minute passed by, with no sign of the scroll making any attempt of rematerializing.
"Spike, are you sure you sent it to Celestia? Are you positive it didn't go to Cadance and Shining Armor by mistake?" Twilight finally asked.
Spike frowned in response. "I'm sure, Twilight, trust me on this. I've sent hundreds of letters and reports to her over the years. Her signature is the well-worn path of magical fire communication. I could be woken up in the dead of night, and have no idea who I even am, and I could still send it right to her," he stated.
"Well then how come it didn't..." Twilight paused, her mind at harder work than her mouth at this point. "Wait. Could it be something as simple as the spell on your fire needing to be recalibrated again?" she asked.
"I... I don't know. I went up to Canterlot for that purpose not all that long ago. But I guess it's possible," Spike replied. Magic was definitely a complicated and tricky subject. He didn't understand the exact mechanics of how it worked, so he couldn't rule it out as being the reason for the lack of communications.
"Ugh," Twilight groaned and hung her head, "I feel like a moron for not thinking of that first. We could've saved ourselves two days of worry if I had..."
Celestia rubbed her chin in thought, stroking it with her left wing. The flame network spell could certainly be out of calibration, even if Spike had been looked over just a few short months ago. Much like a dentist appointment, twice a year he had to be examined up in Canterlot to make sure everything was properly, well, calibrated. And although everything had been good so far, that didn't mean that something hadn't gone wrong at some point down the line, and simply hadn't been caught yet.
"That certainly could be the case. As much as the spell has been stretched and modified in recent times, I'd honestly be surprised if everything is still working the way it should," she replied and nodded as she tucked her wing back in. "But without an examination, we can't determine anything."
Spike groaned at hearing that, not liking where this conversation was going. "You mean we've gotta go all the way back to Canterlot?"
"Hopefully that can be avoided this time around," Celestia replied as she slowly stood up, drawing herself away from Zecora in the process. "We'll need a quiet place to work, though."
"Will the library's basement work?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, I believe it should for what's being required of it," Celestia agreed and nodded. "Ulquiorra. While I'm examining Spike, if Zecora is up to it, I'd like you to go about helping in the acquisition of however much cherubic root she believes will be necessary to cure everyone in Ponyville. It's a dangerous task to go looking for such, and I'd feel much better if you were participating," she stated.
"Such was intended even before it was asked," Ulquiorra replied. The sooner they could gather the necessary ingredients to begin facilitating the creation of a cure, the sooner this entire crisis could be stopped. And seeing as he was the only one not vulnerable to whatever poison was contained by these flowers, it made the most sense for him to go about acquiring them. "Simply get me a map of where to go, and an idea of how much of what to bring back."
"On it," Twilight spoke up. "Zecora, I know you've been through a lot, but I need your help for this. Do you think you can do that?"
Zecora looked away from where Celestia stood, before turning to look at Twilight, and slowly nodded in answer to the question.
"Alright then! Everypony's got an assignment to do, so let's get to doing them!" Twilight stated enthusiastically. This day might not have started out all that good for them. But that did nothing to stop it from shaping up to be good as it went along. They finally had an idea of what they were facing, and they had an idea of how to address it. Rainbow Dash was coming back home one way or another, and once she did, they were going to be doing some serious ass kicking!
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If it helps, I really liked this chapter!
I know who done it the Coffee industry!
You're on the front page again, just letting you know.
That part caught me off-guard
It's nice to finally see the problem being addressed. Or so we may think. Chapters bearing moments of respite in times of chaos are always a good read.
great chapter as usual
"Oatburgers are mashed into panties and fried in butter."
"mashed into panties and fried in butter"
"mashed into panties"
"panties"
Those are some kinky foodstuffs there Charlie_K and I don't know if I like it better that way or not.
It could be that the fog mutated because the power of Ulquiorra? Maybe when he unleashed his zampakutoh and make the green rain?
-falls to his knees- Yyyyeeeesss!!! Oh God yes....forward momentum...sweet sweet forward momentum is building up my friends. The metaphorical wheels of plot spinning in place due to the muck of 'ANNOYINGLY VAGUE COWARDLY THREAT WE DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIGHT` has ended!
Please sweet Faust let this continue...I want to see some justice!
Beyond that though good chapter...and I wanna snuggle Zecora and comfort her so much, she is adorable at times to me.
6117059 That sounds plausible. With Ulquiorra's 'Aspect of Death' being 'Nihilism' and the fact that upon using his Resureccion that he tells the target of said release will be shown 'what it is to despair', you might say that it's this, coupled with Equestria's inherent magical nature that could've caused all this.
On a side note, I'm somehow convinced that Aizen is involved. Don't yet know how, but he is. And the thought of Aizen in Equestria terrifies me something fierce.
And I fear the day that Equestria is forced to bear witness to Segunda Etapa...
6118014
If I'm remembering correctly its not his normal ressurection that invokes "true despair" but segunda etapa that does.
Also good chapter, we finally see the second half of Luna and Ulquiorras conversation about adoption.
6118014 I don't think so... If Aizen is there, not even Celestia or Discord could do anything.
Another enjoyable chapter. Well done.
Alright, we've finally narrowed down the weapon the big bad is using and it seems both effective and terrifying due to its obscurity. It's a good thing Zecora is acquainted with the phenomenon... Wait, what if Zecora's been mind whammied into making an even worse situation! They know the flower in question is a terrible poison, so this could all be an elaborate trap!
...Charlie, I think you've turned me into one of those conspiracy theorists with this story of yours.
Below are the edits for the chapter:
*at an inch under - at an itch under
*take precedent over what - take precedence over what
*to present positive - to present a positive
*combed zecora's mane - combed Zecora's mane
*saw it, and how gets reported. - saw it, and how it gets reported.
*even if Twilight would let - even if Twilight would let (delete extra space between "would" and "let")
*And much line back then, - And much like back then,
*her composure allover again. - her composure all over again.
*Rainbow Dash's say in the - Rainbow Dash's stay in the
*She recognized the it might - She recognized that it might
*by terror for. For them - by terror fog. For them
*discounted not only the death - discounted not only by the death
*letting it know that - letting it be known that
*asked him for his position. - I think instead of "position" you meant "opinion", but I could be wrong.
*There was noting particularly - There was nothing particularly
*of where the go, and - of where to go, and
Below here are the edits from the deleted scenes area:
*freely. She shocking aspect - freely. The shocking aspect
New information received… Conducting analysis and hypothesis...
Enemy X utilizes 'Terror Fog' material, and alters it into a diluted form, saturates it in the target area (I.e: Ponyville), and then allows the Terror Drug (name is still a WIP) to build up in all targets in area. Then, Enemy X hits target (i.e: Rainbow Dash) with special 'trigger' chemical. The 'trigger' chemical potentially bears similar traits to Clostridium botulinum, a poison which dissolves into the victim's bloodstream, leaving no evidence of the 'trigger'.
In summary:
-Enemy X uses altered 'Terror Fog' hallucinogenic chemicals
-Enemy X saturates area with 'NightMare' drug (Much better!)
-Enemy X hits target with 'Terror Trigger'
-Target suffers hallucinations
-Terror Trigger dissolves, leaving officials to find only hallucinogenics in victim, and thus they can be written off as drug-addicts, or otherwise poisoned by something else, and leading official investigators off Enemy X's trail.
Well, this explains how they do it, but a certain factor is still to be considered. Look:
-Certain parts of the hallucinations had too much… 'force'. The hallucinations still seemed to be manipulated, meaning that Enemy X has some sort of dream-walking ability.
-Enemy X gives off a distinct reiatsu signature that Ulquiorra notices above others.
-Enemy X is still knowledgable of Ulquiorra, which, again, is a major factor to be considered.
Conclusions:
-Enemy X is a syndicate of which reaches high into the government and has contacts which relay all acquired information regarding Ulquiorra (thus why they aren't aware of his healing factor's limitations)
-Enemy X is the Nightmare which escaped from Luna at the last minute, because the Elements recognized the Nightmare as a sentient life form, and thus they spared it, but weakened it, thus explaining the dream powers, and it may possess multiple ponies, thus explaining the science factor
-Enemy X is Kyoka Suigetsu, as I originally stated a while back, but s/he/it has assistance, since not even Aizen, and thus his zanpakuto, would know enough about chemistry to create this weapon
-Ulquiorra's still drifting in the Void, and he entered a coma in order to pass the time, and made a dream to pass the time, thus why everything is so limited and scrapped together in nature, thus meaning none of this even matters
-Enemy X is the Soul King's zanpakuto, which he let run around across the Void and forgot to call it back. Obviously, this bit him in the ass horribly, especially in regards to the current story arc.
-Enemy X is Shrek
Took your ass long enough. Can we move forward now plz?
Fog
As for your author's note, it is my personal opinion that one need not worry too much about splitting chapters.
"As far as magical solutions went, it seemed fairly solid."
6120321 There was one Espada with the knowledge for this sort of biochemical/magical tinkering...
1b.img.v4.skyrock.net/7547/39787547/pics/1903525955_2.jpg
But how could he have survived? Hmm... though... his body didn't turn to dust with Kurotsochi's sword sticking through his heart, at least not in the anime. But then, that was one of the inconsistencies that showed up in the series. Several others when they died didn't turn to dust either... some did... it was one of the annoying things about "Bleach" once it got to the Hueco Mundo arc and beyond. Attention to detail began to become sorely inconsistent and frequently contradictory.
Still, that plot hole leaves a convenient loophole for fanfics to exploit, since a couple other Espada and their fraccion thought dead were in fact alive later on: Grimjow and Halibel (and her 3 fraccion).
6170916 He'd have recognized the Octava Espada's signature right away. Which means that, assuming that the mad scientist is involved in this, he's not stupid enough to directly do field-work. He may have created new Arrancar minions of sorts, potentially from pony souls. Thus, they would have a unique signature, but also be unfamiliar to him.
6172104 He might have found a method to mask his reitsu. He could already greatly weaken Shinigami's power simply by observing how their various skills worked; disguising power wouldn't be too far of a stretch from that ability. Some sort of cloaking field which wrapped the ambient magical field around himself might do it, or a perception filter.
We must also keep in mind he'd have been able to study Equestria's magic. Who knows what he'd come up with after a little while?
With even the possibility that he could be the culprit, it really does open up options given his prowice for adaptation and innovative use of spirit energies.
6172126 Fair enough… Someone put this sh*t on the WMG page over at TV Tropes!
6209126
actually, I didn't even know what that was until i looked it up and goggle told me i was a dumbass and spelled it wrong
6248182 you just keep telling yourself that buddy.
Good chapter, glad to see some light added to the subject, as it were
Dem Deleted scenes though
In this context, the word should be "archaic".
Something that is "arcane" describes something mysterious, obscure, or only known to a select few; the name of a super secret society, for instance.
But the term "archaic" refers to something so old or outdated, that it may as well belong to another era entirely. For example, Luna's manner of speaking in the current Equestrian era could be considered archaic; it was normal 1000 years ago, but it's awkwardly outdated in the present.
And in this case, the term "mist of nightmares" is likely the original term that preceded the modern term of "terror fog", as stated by Celestia.
Why did none of them consider the notion that Spike's ability had been hijacked?