Secrets of the Everfree

by PaisleyPerson

Chapter 75: TARDIS Conference

Chapter 75
TARDIS Conference

“Whoa! It really is bigger on the inside!” Ditzy led the string of ponies inside the police box, all their mouths hanging agape but hers. Time Turner proudly held the door aside, chest puffed out, finding great amusement in watching the ponies’ expressions.

“What kind of magic is this?” Shining Armor gawked, examining the console.

“Don’t touch that,” Time Turner advised. “And it isn’t magic. It’s time lord technology from my home planet, Gallifrey. I’m not from Equestria and I’m not really a pony... didn’t I mention that?”

“But I didn’t believe it,” Spectrum dazedly spoke, running a hoof over the complicated array of buttons and levers.

“What did I say about touching?” Once everyone had entered, Time Turner bounded up to shoo them all away from the controls. “Oy. This way. There’s a bigger room with a table and chairs... away from all the blinky buttons,” he again had to slap Winter’s hoof before the hippogryph could start fiddling with another row of switches. Next, he took the lead in navigating the complex network of winding hallways of his, TARDIS, was it? to find the room only he and perhaps Ditzy knew of.

Shining Armor attempted to follow, but as he strode deeper into the TARDIS, his horn began to flicker out, and hence, the shielding spell. “Wha-? My horn! What’s happening?!”

“Oh. That is problematic, isn’t it? Here, let’s try something.” Time Turner experimentally nudged the prince back a few paces. As he re-entered the console room, his horn ignited once again.

“What was that?!” Shining Armor demanded.

“Well, when you entered the TARDIS, you actually entered another dimension,” Time Turner explained. “Each room in the TARDIS, hallways included, is another dimension. I suppose your spell can’t carry through so many dimensions.”

“I can’t leave the town undefended!” he protested.

“I guess we’ll just have to work in here,” Charcoal shrugged.

“How uncomfortable!” Time Turner exclaimed.

“Doctor?” Ditzy sternly raised an eyebrow.

“Oh... fine,” he groaned, plopping on the ground. The others also began to take a seat where they stood. It was rather awkward, as they had to fill in the space around the console, which got in the way and made eye contact with everyone impossible. Charcoal also sat down, making sure to keep his pets close- his grabby, thieving weasle had already attempted twice to remove a couple of Time Turner’s trinkets.

“Before we start, is anypony hungry? I’m starved!” Time Turner popped back up and briefly disappeared into a room branching immediately from the control room wall. “Aw, the cupboards are empty. Ditzy, did you clear out my muffin stash?

“They’re muffins, Doctor! Muffins!” the mare justified. Time Turner momentarily returned with a shrug.

“Eh, no matter. There are a few good planets I know where we could stop for a bite to eat. Any takers?”

“Ooh! Can we go to the bakery with really good muffins on Cariballa?”

“Uh, hate to interrupt but... changeling invasion, evil, all-powerful destral to deal with here?”

“Yeah, can we just get on with it? We don’t have time to lose!”

“What part of ‘time machine’ don’t you understand?”

“Time machine? Hey, does that mean we could we go back in time before the invasion started and prevent it all from happening in the first place?” Charcoal hopefully piped.

“No. I’m afraid that would cause a paradox loop.”

“Paradox loop?”

“He talks about that pair of boxes all the time,” Ditzy whispered to Cascade, seated beside her. “Even I still don’t get it.”

“It means that if we went back in time and prevented the invasion, then Ponyville never would have been destroyed, so Charcoal never would have left and united the hippogryphs and hippocampi. Therefore, he would have no reason to visit Tall Tale Beach, where we all meet. And if we never meet, then how will Charcoal go ask me to prevent the invasion?”

“I... but... what?!” Whirl Pool clutched her head and toppled over, complaining of a headache.

“I see. Preventing the invasion would cancel out future events, actually making it impossible,” Current repeated.

“Exactly!” Time Turner praised.

“I didn’t get any of that. Could you explain it again?” Shining Armor shook his head.

“I’ve learned to just go with it,” Ditzy shrugged.

“There’s no way to get around your... paradox loop? We definitely can’t use that?” Charcoal scratched his head and squinted, still trying to grasp the concept.

“Unless you want to rip all of time and space.”

“Ooh. That sounds bad,” River winced.

“Yes. It is very, very bad.”

“Okay, what’s plan B?”

“If I may?” Fink grunted, struggling to ease down to a semi-comfortable position on the hard floor.

“Please, go ahead, Fink,” Charcoal raised his voice to silence any other conversation. Fink had finally managed to settle in, but squirmed again as all eyes turned to him.

“During the short time I was made to serve Kindling Pyre, I learned some of his plans- that is why he disconnected me from Chrysalis’ hive, because there were some he did not want her to discover.”

“What’s with all the secrecy? Aren’t they on the same side?” Hawk spoke.

“That is what Chrysalis is meant to think. Kindling has been using her to get to her army, but planned to overturn her once he learned to take over her hive mind. I was the test subject for his rerouting spell. As you know, it worked.”

“I knew that creep couldn’t really have feelings for Chrys!” Charcoal triumphantly whooped.

“Indeed, he did not. He despised Chrysalis. He wanted to take control of her hive as soon as the spell was complete, but did not have enough strength to cast a spell that powerful. He has been studying her original notes that led to the creation of the changeling race.”

“Changelings were created?” Jet’s eyes widened.

“Pardon me. Perhaps I should start from the beginning. Kindling has been alive for more than a thousand years- he was Princess Essence’s student in the days of the original destral empire, and later graduated to become captain of her royal guard. Around the same time, thestrals came to the destrals, feeling rejected by the other pony types and seeking their help. Kindling proposed to perform research dedicated to helping them fit in with the others, and it was such a popular idea that Essence agreed. A crystal destral by the name of Smoky Topaz was named Chief of Research, responsible for solving the thestrals’ plight.

“First she attempted to disguise thestrals as one of the other pony types, hoping that their changed appearance would be more appealing. She successfully gifted thestrals the ability to shed their wings and appear as earth ponies. She was going to attempt to offer the disguises for unicorns, pegasi, or eventually alicorns as well, but the project was cancelled before her research was complete. Though, we later learned that she had successfully managed to perform all four disguises herself.

“Kindling had been so impressed with her abilities that he requested permission to assist her in the effort. By ‘offering assistance,’ he meant ‘taking over the program’. As Essence’s student, he carried more weight with the Princess than Topaz, and therefore convinced her to do as he said. The transformation program was cancelled, and replaced by an ‘upgrade’ program, meant to make thestrals more productive. The resulting spell offered thestrals super strength in the form of earth-quaking. Another spell gave them night vision. These were, of course, supposed to make them look useful so the other ponies would hire them, but Kindling had other plans. In fact, he had been using the entire research program as a ruse to create a powerful, unstoppable force. He was building an army.”

“War machines. He was turning ponies into war machines!” Shining Armor gasped.

“I understand the night vision was lost during the creation of the seventh Element, but you have retained the other traits, have you not?”

“Yeah,” Charcoal woozily nodded. The abilities he’d always assumed to be naturally occurring had actually been created in a laboratory?

“What about fire dancing?” Glitter inquired, not nearly so disturbed as curious.

“Fire dancing and cloud-walk are natural abilities, to my knowledge.”

“So what happened with Smoky Topaz?” Kelpie asked, huddled with her sister, both girls obviously enthralled by the tale.

“Kindling next vouched for a more aggressive approach: to force the other ponies to love thestrals by means of a love spell. Topaz was against the idea the whole time, as love spells are dangerous and unethical, but as I said, Kindling had all but taken over the operation. To maintain a clear conscience, when the spell was complete, Topaz wished to be the first test subject.

“Something went wrong, and instead of creating a love of thestrals within Topaz, the spell turned her into a changeling, forever cursed to consume love.”

“WHOA!” Winter jumped up at this plot twist. “Smoky became a changeling?!”

“Smoky Topaz became Queen Chrysalis.”

“CHRYSALIS?!”

“In addition to transforming, Topaz was locked in a preserved state, unable to age. She has survived all this time. She took on the name Chrysalis shortly after the initial transformation.”

“Are you preserved, too?”

“Drones are not ageless, no.”

“What could have possibly gone so wrong as to transform a beautiful crystal pony into a hideous monster?” Cascade shuddered.

“Our knowledge is limited by what the queen permits us to know, but one theory is because Topaz performed all four disguising spells on herself; that is, she was able to transform into an earth pony, pegasus, unicorn or alicorn even before she became a changeling. The transformation magic she used is so similar to natural changeling abilities that we assume the love and transforming spells in her clashed, resulting in an all-new species.

“Only feeding on true love could reverse the spell. She became desperate to convince anypony to love her, but none could see past her new ragged appearance. Out of anger, she cast the same spell on most of her coworkers. According to the spell-clash theory, perhaps the reason they became less-powerful changeling drones was because a smaller amount of the transforming magic was present in them. This is not likely, for now Chrysalis is transforming all sorts of ponies into drones, and pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies would not have been exposed to her original transformation magic. Only Chrysalis knows.

“As I was saying, in her angry rage, Chrysalis began turning all ponies who rejected her into drones. But when she came across Kindling, he was able to convince her that he would be her true love. It was by this deception that he managed to gain control of her new army, and combine it with his own powerful thestrals. Together, they had an unstoppable force, and planned to unleash it on the rest of Equestria. Essence had to be removed, of course, but because she was tied directly to the Tree of Harmony, it would not be possible to kill her. Rather, he devised a device, a stasis orb, to imprison her. This was the beginning of the first thestral uprising.

“Over time, a rebel force rose up to fight Kindling’s thestrals. The rebels thought that if they eliminated Kindling, they could put down the insurrection, so they used one of his own stasis orbs to imprison him. Chrysalis was infuriated, and focused all of her changelings on locating Kindling’s orb. Meanwhile, she ordered the thestrals to find a way to redirect the Tree of Harmony’s power from Essence, which would give them an opprotunity to rid themselves of Essence and tip the odds in their favor. If they could not redirect it, then they were to destroy the Tree. There, they came across Princesses Celestia and Luna.

“Celestia and Luna were not able to redirect the tree’s power either, but they found that they could channel it through it’s fruit- the Elements of Harmony. They used the Elements to defeat the thestrals once and for all, absorbing much of the Tree’s power in the process. That power was what granted them such incredible longevity. Neither alicorns nor destrals were originally intended to be immortal, you know.

“The defeat of the thestrals and the Princesses’ newly acquired power frightened Chrysalis into hiding. Quietly, she continued to send out drones to hunt Kindling’s orb, but the secrecy greatly hindered her progress. It wasn’t until recently that she located the orb, and released Kindling once again.”

“So that’s how he got out,” Charcoal nodded.

“How do you know all this?”

“The hive mind is like a giant data bank. Chrysalis’ memories, or at least, the ones she has not concealed from us, are collectively shared knowledge.”

“I knew the story as well,” Shift agreed. “All changelings do.”

“Well, it’s certainly an entertaining and informative story, but how does it help us?” Shining Armor asked.

“It could be very helpful! We just have to figure out how to turn their own power against them. I didn’t see any free-roaming thestrals around their base in the Everfree, so they must be relying on changeling drones.”

“But how do we turn transformation magic against them?”

“I would suggest that you use Kindling’s more recent inventions as a means to his end,” Fink suggested.

“Such as?”

“Some feats cannot be accomplished through magic alone. Such as in Essence’s case; even today she cannot be killed before the Tree revives her. Kindling worked around this by creating a prison that could contain her. He has created many such orbs. I know he used another orb to imprison Essence once more, as well as Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. I believe he is also holding the Elements within one.”

“The squad sent to capture you and your dragon friends was also equipped with an orb. I know Spike and Blaze were imprisoned, as well as some of our own changelings that were caught in the cross-fire.”

“He’s trapped our parents in one of his orb do-hickeys?!” Spectrum jumped up. Fink dipped his head.

“My condolences.”

“But... that means they’re okay, right? They’ll be safe?”

“They are safe for now, yes.”

“Good,” Charcoal collapsed back to the floor.

“Do you know how the orbs work?” Gilda wondered.

“I do not know how they work,” Fink shook his head. “Kindling withheld that information. I do know how he makes them, however. My role as his assistant was mainly to fetch and organize his materials. I watched him make more of the orbs, which means that he probably has more targets in mind.”

“Do you think Shining Armor could repeat the spell he cast to make it?”

“There was no spell involved,” Fink shook his head. “Kindling relied solely on the materials he used to create the prison.”

“What the kelp did he use?!” High Tide exclaimed.

“In the stasis orb, Kindling combined the shell of a sandfish egg, a dose of manticore venom, bog sprite hair, timberwolf bark, and a carbuncle gem. I am not sure in what ratio he used the materials, or what any of their significance is.”

“What’s a bog sprite?” High Tide scrunched up her nose.

“Another supposedly mythical pony, most often sighted out in the Everfree Bog,” Fink informed.

“Charcoal?” Spectrum turned to the son of Ponyville’s infamous myth-busters.

“Don’t look at me,” Charcoal held up his hooves. “Even I’ve never heard of a bog sprite. Or at least, I don’t remember Mom or Dad mentioning them before.”

“Another dead end,” Hawk groaned.

“Not necessarily,” Current coolly spoke. “Your parents may be able to help us yet.”

“How? They’re imprisoned with the rest of the elements, and there’s no way we can take the changelings. If there were, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Whirl Pool cynically reminded.

“Before Acrylic and Torchwood departed on their first visit, I left them with a book on our kind. It is possible, if not probable that they collected similar books on other races.”

“They sure did! Our house was full of them- mostly on hippocampi and hippogryphs, but there were some on other species. They’re full of notes and notations, too.”

“We need that research,” Shining Armor determined.

“But it’s all the way back in Ponyville. We just came from that way,” Winter groaned.

“And how are we going to get all the way back without being spotted?” Gilda agreed.

“Here’s where I can help!” Time Turner cheerfully smiled.

Author's Note:

A/N: The idea of how the ‘ingredients’ work is heavily based on the concept of using and combining artifacts from Warehouse 13 (another amazing show). This basically means that each artifact, or in this case, ingredient, already has some sort of power, but it’s harnessing and/or combining them that’s dangerous and often unethical.