Starworks

by Sanctae

Chapter 3: From This Moment Forth

3 - From This Moment Forth

I’m afraid to look at the thought. Mustn’t force it. Can feel it out of the corner of the eye. Have to let the idea take shape.

Magic is based off emotion. Magic can change reality. Emotion comes from the self ... that means some-

“Wait ... please...”

Tap hoof on desk. Stare at the crystal nestled amongst the papers. The inner blue glow is calming. Strangely hard to ignore. Calming, soothing- This is going to be big! Shush … just think.

Starlite means I can store magic ... so I can store emo-

“When...?”

I could create emotions ... images ... play them back as reality if-

“I don’t understand. I can’t thi-”

I could create my own ... build sensation ... build a world...

Pick crystal up. Turn it over absently, grinning wildly.

“Too much just stop I can’t-”

I’m going to change the world ... again.

* * *

The sun was hollow and distant. Weak morning light drizzled through the air and pooled on the empty stage. The silence was cloying, the loudest sound the fluttering of bunting and banners in the warm breeze. Nothing in the field moved. Nopony spoke. Over a thousand faces were all held in place, staring forwards.

Long, white legs twisted awkwardly out from behind the side of the podium, sunlight glinting off their golden hooves. The tiara had rolled from her head, curving off the front of the stage and dropping into the sparse grass with a rustle and the faintest clink.

The air cracked as an explosive brass fanfare broke the silence like a gunshot. The crowd reeled back, flinching as clouds of streamers and confetti erupted from the sides of the stage. Magipictorial projectors burst to life to paint the sky with celebration, tracing colourful congratulations to Ponyville and Equestria into the sky; ‘Relax and unwind, Midsummer’s here!’.

The muttering began, a hiss of panicked whispering that began to build on itself and grow as Security shook themselves into action and began pushing through the crowd, encircling the stage. The Mayor stood, pushing her seat away as she cleared her throat nervously and fidgeted at her bow tie. She glanced over at the Security ponies before approaching the podium, stepping delicately between the stray limbs. She didn’t look down.

“Now … everypony, just … calm down. There’s no reason to panic.” She spoke a little too quietly and the waver in her voice betrayed the words.

“I want everypony to just … stay where they are while-”

Another wave of sound sang out over the field, a piercing wail of static, painfully loud through the voice projection. The magipicture words bent and warped above the stage, flickering and melting into something else entirely.

The sky darkened as a face slowly congealed out of the happy messages: a dark blue coat with a mane of stars, a leering grin, and eyes that hid, unreadable, behind a thick, black censor bar. Apart from the Cheshire-Cat grin, it was almost a silhouette. The image didn’t move, save for the stuttering distortion of the ‘Congratulations!’ still feebly trying to force their way back, the colours dying for a moment here and there. The voice was deep and guttural, rich with dark harmonic layers that grated on each word.

“My little ponies. I speak on behalf of Dream Valley, a group of ponies dedicated to saving Equestria from its own short-sightedness and its inability to learn from its own mistakes. Ponykind has pushed itself into an arid abyss of drought and poverty with its relentless pursuit of magitechnology and still we look to magitech for the answers.

“We sold our souls to it, surrendered our freedom to a metal god of our own design; that same figurehead now lies at your hooves. She … it … would push us further into the embrace of our own conceit and further from the roots that made us strong. Nature.”

The word boomed over the crowd.

“So. The time has come for drastic action, as diplomacy and common-sense have failed. We have taken control of the solar shield and we have incapacitated Princess. Even now the shield widens, and soon it will block out the sun.”

A panicked murmuring passed through the crowd, eyes scanning the darkening sky and coats bristling against the cooling breeze.

“We have circumvented the security and, in a little under two days, the shield will become permanently fixed in that configuration. I am sure I do not need to explain to you the consequences of this. Our demands are simple. Destroy Princess and all the notes pertaining to her construction. Reinstate pony-led government, be it a democracy, a technocracy, even a monarchy; anything is better than slavery to a machine. Reverse the course of expansion and construction that has lead us to this point; lower water use and begin replanting.

“Repair Equestria, repair the soul of ponykind, and we will give you back the sun.”

And, with another burst of static, the air was clear, the first star just re-appearing in the fading blue sky as the first pony screamed.

* * *

At first, Trixie was bemused when the picture on the battered receiver winked out. Round these districts the River had been built up in layers as the buildings got taller and the power demands got higher. It wasn’t unusual for some of the old cables to leak, or for newer layers to occasionally short out the older ones.

What worried her, caused her to get up, throw open the window, and look, with growing unease, down the street, was the deep falling hum. It was a mechanical sigh, the sigh of a city relaxing, as lights winked out and a rolling shroud of darkening streets heralded a flurry of confused shouts and cries.

A series of thick, staccato ka-bangs reverberated from the massive River tributaries that snaked up the Cloudsdale anchor cables. Trixie covered her ears as the clatter gave way to a deafening roar, the magistatic discharge inside the roiling cloud finding itself suddenly out of balance, the thunderclap shaking the foundations of the buildings underneath and reverberating through her ribcage.

Emergency systems, creaking, dusty, and slow to take up the slack without Princess’ guidance, laboured into gear, a rising whine from the guts of the city as lights re-ignited and Cloudsdale grumbled back to life. She was still hanging out of the window, watching the shouts and alarm along the street below, when the set behind her sputtered out a picture again, a hard, mocking voice filling the room.

A minute later the door was slamming behind her as she leapt down dingy flights of stairs, magic cushioning her impact at each turn, before she finally burst onto the street. Her cape whipped out behind her, only magikinesis keeping her hat glued to her head, as she galloped flat out towards the Rich Corp building.

The streets were filling. Even as she ran she saw more and more ponies pouring out of tenements and leaning over balcony railings, craning their necks to stare up at the sharp, black disc as it ate out the heart of the sun. The sky was a swarm of colours as pegasi filled the air, a slow blizzard of loose feathers drifting gently down from the flyways.

By the time she reached the city centre she wasn’t running anymore, wading through the crowds as everypony flowed towards the Castle. She could see the distant mass of ponies, hear them baying up at the towering walls. She pushed sideways, cutting across towards her destination, grateful that she would be spared the crush of going deeper.

A feminine voice, clear and soothing, spoke straight into her ears, giving the odd impression of having come from within her own head.

“May I have your attention please, [Miss. Trixie. Lulamoon.] Canterlot City Security Wing has declared a civil emergency in response to the current unrest. We kindly request that you return to your home until the situation is peacefully resolved and the city centre is reopened. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter and your support of city stability. On behalf of Canterlot City Governance, we apologise for the inconvenience.”

The crowd roared, the sound doubling over itself as it rang through the streets. She tried to push it from her mind. Rich Corp was up ahead, a curving glass slab of a building, a golden sculpture representing the artificially eclipsed sun perched on top above the company name. The mirror-finish echoed back the darkening sky, pretending the building was filled with stars.

The crowds here were bad; a malevolent potential energy hummed under the muttering and heckling. Roseluck stood out a mile, standing in the street, perched on a battered metal crate by the severe and ornate entrance gates, shouting over the pack. Trixie could hear the worry and fear in her voice as Rose desperately tried to get through her speech.

“...they know what they do! As the largest biogas company in Equestria they have a duty to halt the relentless expansion of their industrial operations until a safer method of water production can be found. Every day they pump more and more poison into the-”

Roseluck ducked as a tattered work-bag, thrown hard and aimed straight at her head, narrowly missing her eye.

She couldn’t be responsible; it was unthinkable. Trixie wanted to dismiss the idea out of hand. Rose was adrift, the confusion in her eyes shining out like a beacon over the crowd. If she was acting, if she really did know what had happened, then … well, Trixie would have to take some performance pointers.

“Um … into the air. Dream Valley-”

Trixie cursed under her breath and started fighting through the crowd, kicking, barging and applying magical pressure to force her way to the front.

“-wants only to see the heedless destruction of our own-”

“You bucking crazy mare!”

“We’re going to bucking freeze to death!”

Roseluck was staring at the mob beneath her, her mouth working soundlessly at the growling chorus of agreement. To Trixie’s horror, she soldiered on, doing her best to ignore the heckles.

“... our own … um … our actions-”

Oh, for the love of Equestria, please stop talking.

“-at the-”

SHUT. UP.

“-Summer Sun Celebration-”

Oh no.

“-today were to start a debate.”

“Start a debate? Yeah, on what we’re going to do to you!”

Right, that’s it.

Trixie finally emerged at the front, pulling herself up next to Roseluck. The older mare flinched at the sudden invasion of her personal space, a back hoof slipping off the box, as she registered-

“Trixie? What in Equestria are you doing?”

The hissed whisper carried a cocktail of emotions, a bitter twinge of fear underlying the shock and surprise.

“Repaying you. Things have happened. Just stop talking.”

Trixie turned to face the wall of anger, a storm of shouting crushing into her as it found a new target. The wide street was packed with ponies, the rugged, bobbing mass of heads shouting up at the glossy buildings towering above them. She saw so many faces, workers, earth ponies by and large. Instinctively she began profiling; she always adapted her shows to fit the audience’s needs and expectations, did a little something to get them rooting for her by the end. Earth pony audiences tended to be anti-authority, anti-unicorn in their view. She usually had to-

A brick slammed into her hastily erected barrier field, crunching to the ground by her hooves. She instinctively turned, looking down at it, moistening her dry lips. She was suddenly sharply aware she was way out of her depth. This was going to end in bloodshed as the crowd continued to build itself up. There was too much violence here, begging for an excuse, for an outlet. She needed to refocus it … on anything … Come on, Trixie. Improvise, coltdammit!

“Don’t listen to her!”

She flung a hoof out at Roseluck as she screamed the words, Roseluck staring blankly at her.

“She’s just trying to distract you!”

The hailstorm of words subsided. Confusion mixed and muddied the thuggish mood as they stared up at Trixie on her box.

That got what little attention they have. Need to point it at something. Something they all hate. Something we all hate. Something that I hate.

“She’s just another suit … from Rich Corp! Trying to set them up as the victim in this. Don’t let them blind you again!”

Come on, don’t think, just go with it. Pleeease.

“Rich Corp has a hoof in everything! How often do they raise the water prices? Cut the allowances? Claim to have your best interests at heart as they squeeze another few bits from your pockets?”

There was a bellow from the crowd. She hoped it was positive; this kind of misdirection would backfire bloodily if they woke up and noticed what she was about to do. She pulled her hat forwards, crushing it against her horn as she started casting, hiding the telltale glow...

A voice started shouting from somewhere deep in the mass of ponies.

“Down with Rich! Down with Rich! Down With Rich!”

“When … was the last … time … they gave you … fair pay … or...,” she managed to gasp, struggling to focus on saying two things at once. She gazed desperately out at the sea of angry eyes, waiting for them to take the bait.

The crowd picked up the chant, tribalism easily taking over. The few ponies who noticed the deception were immediately drowned out by their compatriots as they surged forwards, tipping Roseluck and Trixie off the crate.

Trixie managed to pull herself to her hooves, battered and jostled by the crowd now banging at the gates of Rich Corp, mercifully ignoring her and Rose. She threw her hat on Roseluck, pulling it low over her head and dragging her mutely along. They reached the edge of mob just as the keening call of sirens began to whine through the wide streets.

“May I have your attention please, [Miss. Trixie. Lulamoon.] Canterlot City Security Wing is enacting curfew measures in response to current unrest. We hereby inform you that all ponies have one hour to begin making their way home. Anypony in the city centre streets after that time is liable to be detained as part of our security measures. Please note that a general curfew of seven p.m. is currently scheduled for this evening. Any pony on the streets after seven p.m. is liable to be-”

Trixie shook her head, grinding her teeth in frustration as the patronising mare kept talking. She could see pegasi in dark blue uniforms, backlit harshly by the flyway lights, sweeping overhead to the Rich Corp building. They must have got footage of Roseluck declaring her allegiance to the world and she’d be at the absolute top of their hit-list. But, in order to deal with this, she needed to be able to hear what was going on.

“-City Governance, we apologise for the inconvenience.”

“About time, Trixie is busy!”

She felt an abrupt tug, as the sounds of the city suddenly came back into sharp focus, Roseluck was pulling on Trixie’s hoof, dragging her to a halt. Her serious expression was almost comical under the floppy brim of Trixie’s hat, too big for her, given her lack of a horn.

“Trixie, please, tell me what’s happening.”

“Not here, we need to go. Trixie is taking you-”

“No, Trixie, now. I’m not moving another hoof until you explain what the … buck is happening.”

A metallic clang echoed around them, all the flyway control lights snapping to red as the aerial roads locked down. Trixie looked up frantically at the gathering stormcloud of Security pegasi, then into Roseluck’s eyes. There was grit there, deep down. Beneath the shaking and the fear lay determination and strength. Not much, admittedly, but still too much to argue through here and now in the middle of the street.

“Fine, Trixie will explain, but please follow Trixie just a little further.”

A few minutes of galloping later and they were crouched in the corner of an alleyway towards the periphery of the centre districts, huddled up in the shadow of some bins. The high walls and narrow streets were, for once, a genuine comfort; it was a cold, metal nest in which they could steal some shelter. The sky was dark now, magitech lighting bleaching the streets.

The flyways were a solid stream of mobile Security ponies, increasingly decked out in heavy riot gear, helmets and armoured wings, flocking towards the Castle. The sounds of screams, alarms, and shattering glass blew through the city, as the crowds surged under their own momentum, showing no signs of heeding calls to stand down and go home.

“So what-”

“Wait a second, we aren’t safe here. Let Trixie concentrate.”

Trixie huffed, drawing a deep breath and centering herself. A pulse of light marked out a thin boundary, just big enough to contain the two of them. The air rippled along the surface, glowing where it butted up against the cold metal bin or the claustrophobic walls. The street, to Rose, seemed to be underwater as it flexed and distorted.

“Allright. Trixie thinks we should be okay for a while.”

The strain was obvious. Her eyes were narrowed and distant, her face lined with effort, still as a statue, only her mouth moving as she spoke and the trembling aura around her horn.

“What-”

“We cannot be seen. At least, not immediately. Now listen, Trixie has a lot to tell you, and then you have a lot to … convince Trixie of.”

Rose looked out at the blurry figures galloping past the end of the alley, the black sky now starting to regain a faint red glow as the first fires caught hold.

“Okay.”

* * *

Twilight was aware that some ponies called her paranoid. She liked to think of it as being prepared, following a borrowed mantra of ‘expect the worst, hope for the best’. Breathe. Clearly, she thought, she couldn’t be paranoid. Breathe. Clearly, she thought, she was laid back - Breathe - an optimist, not one to dwell on all the things that could go wrong. Breathe. Clearly, she thought, because if she was - Breathe - actually paranoid then there was no way - Breathe - that she’d be standing here - Breathe - staring like a foal - BREATHE - with no idea what the buck had happened to her friend - BREATHE!

She gasped out the breath she’d been holding, staggering backwards and sitting heavily down on the grass as the crowd fled past her. A pale-green unicorn barged past her, almost pushing Twilight completely over, and then, only seconds later, the field was empty. Just Twilight and Security.

Hesitantly she took a step forwards, walking round the stagefront, the podium hiding less and less of … oh, Princess. Her heart fluttered as she saw her. She was bald, her mane and tail gone, the projections shut down. She lay perfectly still, one dull eye staring wide at the sky, hooves lying rigidly in a pile. She looked so … lifeless. So plastic.

This was a broken doll, some discarded toy. Not her friend. She wasn’t this. She wasn’t something you could … switch off. She was more than that. You couldn’t just … do this … not to her. She was real, with thoughts and feeling and jokes and ideas and … and...

She remembered them taking tea together in her eyrie one rainy winter evening. She remembered the fake candlelight and the glorious warmth and asking if Princess could even drink tea. What was her favourite flavour? She heard the tinkling laugh and the semi-serious consideration. No-one had asked her that before, she said, it was a toughy. Hmm, probably one of the herbal teas. Maybe ginseng if you were to press her on the matter. Oh? Why ginseng? She hadn’t answered, frowning at the floral china cup. What’s the matter? Oh, nothing. And back came the smile. So, Twilight, how are you finding the term so far?

She jumped as a hoof caught her shoulder, twisting her around to look into a pair of deep green eyes beneath a weather-worn hat.

“Y’allright, sugarcube? We didn’t spot ya runnin’ with the rest of Ponyville so we figured maybe you’d stuck around.”

Twilight could see the other ponies she’d met today, standing awkwardly over Applejack’s shoulder. She didn’t know what to say, as her head inexorably pulled itself round to stare at Princess once again.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

A gruff voice came from the stage carrying just the faintest ghost of sympathy. Security had finished their huddle with the Mayor and now, it seemed, had some semblance of a plan to follow. An earth pony stallion in full regalia had stepped up to the edge of the stage, crouching down to address Twilight directly, briefly acknowledging the others.

“You’re Twilight Sparkle, right? I remember you. You’re on a few of my lists back in Canterlot. Good lists.” he added, seeing her sudden reaction.

“I know you and Princess were close, but we need to secure the avatar. Just go to your hotel room or stay with your friends and we’ll be in touch to take statements soon enough.”

The earth pony leaned down, pushing back the brim of his ceremonial beret and dropping his voice a little.

“And, hey, just a word of advice, don’t go try and go back to Canterlot. Word is that folk aren’t taking the news too well. Official word is that a curfew is being planned, so if you have friends or relatives there, just call them or shoot them a star. Don’t go visit them just yet.”

He gave the reassuring smile that he was trained to give. Twilight still didn’t really know what to say as the hoof round her shoulder began to gently but firmly pull her away.

“Thank ya kindly, officer. We’ll see her back to the library.”

Twilight didn’t offer any resistance as she was led away. She just kept going round the same spiral. What didn’t she do? What didn’t she see? Who did it? How did they do it? Why didn’t she see it? Why didn’t she stop it? Why didn’t Princess stop it? Why couldn’t Princess stop it?

“Twilight, dear, are you allright?”

She shook herself; they were already almost there.

“I was personal student of Princess. She was … we were … friends.”

“Oh, darling.”

Again a hoof wrapped round her shoulder, this time light and comforting.

“...thanks.”

They traipsed over the threshold into the old library, kicking aside the dejected piles of streamers and feathers that coated the cold floor. All the armchairs, backed in aging red velvet and ostensibly used as reading chairs, had been pulled into a wide circle by the archaic fireplace for pass-the-parcel. A low table, covered in bowls and bags of party food, sat in the middle.

The six quietly sat, moving unfinished drinks to other tables and brushing the crumbs and confetti off the stained cushions. Soon, the only noise was the repetitive, arthritic creaking of the springs in Pinkie’s chair as she fidgeted, bouncing up and down with a once-discarded party hat strapped rakishly to her head.

The room was cool and dark, caught in the no-pony’s-land between the fading sunlight being too dim and the artificial lighting being too garish. In the dim half-light they sat, trying to avoid each other’s gazes as they all waited for somepony else to start speaking, nopony wanting to break the silence and everypony fully aware that it was just a matter of waiting for Rainbow Dash to do it for them.

Right on cue, after grinding her hooves into each other almost as much as she was grinding her teeth, Dash slammed the arms of chair, launched herself to the centre of the circle, and hovered a few inches off the crumb-matted rug, staring accusingly round at the group.

“So?”

Applejack was reclining, with an air of resignation, in her chair. She pushed back her hat brim, a tic that Twilight had started to notice, and sighed heavily.

“So what, RD?”

There was pause, Rainbow expecting somepony else to fill the gap as she hovered there. Rarity was curled up elegantly, deeply engrossed in examining her hooftips, Fluttershy was nestled against her chair, nervously avoiding looking at anything or anypony for more than a few seconds, and Twilight was miles away, muttering to herself. She skipped over Pinkie, the pink pony just giving her a cheerful wave.

“So … we gonna do something about this or what? Y’know, go save the day through a mix of excitement, adventure and derring-do?”

Silence.

“We’re seriously just going to sit here and let some ugly floating face break the sun? Gimme a break, you guys.”

“Rainbow dear, what can we do? We don’t know anything about what’s happening and we’re hardly better qualified to deal with this than the proper authorities. Where would you even begin?”

She snorted derisively and threw herself back into her chair, dragging it back a little across the floor. She folded her hooves and glared daggers into the rug.

Pinkie, continuing to bounce happily up and down, piped up.

“Well, I don’t know, but Twilight does!”

Four pairs of questioning eyes turned to Twilight. She was sitting very still, hooves folded neatly in her lap, lips moving to form invisible words. Her coat gently rippled in an infinitesimal breeze, an expression of concentration written across her closed eyes.

“Um … is she okay?”

Rarity slid off her chair, quietly walking over to Twilight.

“She’s fine, Fluttershy. It’s just the mantras for feeding the River, that’s all.”

She caught Rainbow’s blank expression and rolled her eyes.

“It’s ‘unicorn stuff’, Rainbow. She’s feeling a little stressed out, poor dear.”

She turned, and placed both hooves gently on Twilight’s shoulders and getting down to her eye-level, grimacing as she knelt into the dusty, crumb-filled rug. She spoke softly but firmly.

“Twilight? Twilight, darling, wake up.”

* * *

At first she had been terrified, a first time frame-jumper teetering at the edge of the jump. She had been right at the front of the crowd, mere hooves from the podium as she mouthed a rehearsed internal countdown, tensing her legs to make the final short dash up on stage. When Princess collapsed, that energy had tripped over itself, rearing back at the last second. The gear shift into mute confusion had been jarring and left her reeling, glancing around wildly as she tried to find her compatriots.

Blind panic had clawed its way up her chest as she watched the face take shape, a part of her praying ‘Please,’ to any power that was listening, ‘don’t.’

“I speak on behalf of Dream Valley.”

She didn’t hear many of the other words. She just stood, locked in place, shivering. Staring blankly at the ghostly, mocking grin that loomed over her as it took her worst decision and, with great deliberation and care, tore her life to tiny, ragged pieces with it.

When the crowd had turned, the pleas from the mayor and the thin cordon of security drowned out by the wails of fear and heedless desperation, she had run too. She ploughed and barged her way out, eaten alive by the icy need to run, to run and run and run and run, until she was far away and safe. Each choking breath caught on a sob in the back of her throat- where was Bon-Bon?

She skidded to a halt, a pony behind her crashing into her shoulder, making her twist and stumble against the sweating torrent of frightened ponies. Her saddle bags ripped and twisted off their harness, dropping to the floor behind her and spilling a pool of glitter that was quickly trampled and tracked across the field.

COLGATE!

So much noise. She couldn’t hear if she’d shouted or if she’d just thought she had. She fought her way through towards the glimmer of blue she had seen over the waves of terrified ponies. She lost sight of her over the crowd, ponies flowing around her as she struggled and gasped towards her friend. And then they were there, clutching to each other, drowning in a storm as they stared at each other’s tear-stained faces.

“Where’s BB?”

“I don’t know, Ly … I don’t...”

“... Berry?”

“I said I don’t- … Lyra … I don’t know, I really ... I don’t know.”

A moment of quiet, a shared train of thought, and then they were running again.

The meeting spot. The little hotel with the roses in the garden. The flickering candlelight on her face across the table where they had drank. The nervous, edgy laughter as she squeezed her hoof in empty reassurance.

Through the haze of tears she saw dark blue: a hat, a uniform, a glint of a badge. She heard a barked order.

Her throat closed up and her hooves flailed as she bolted right, pounding down the road. She could hear shouts from over her shoulder, drowned out by the roaring in her ears. The stone underhoof gave way to cracked dirt and hard clay as she ran, her gorge rising on each strained breath.

Her hooves burned, her eyes streaming as she threw herself forwards. She couldn’t hear anything, just her hammering heartbeat and each terrified hoofbeat dully thudding into the ground. She stumbled, fumbling around a tree, a sudden line of fire tracing down her side, dead branches snapping as they tangled in her mane. She didn’t dare slow, couldn’t glance over her shoulder. She could feel them nipping at her heels, their teeth an inch away from her tail, the static tingle of magic ready to pin her to the ground.

Finally … her hooves just … wouldn’t … move … she was barely staying upright. She turned, almost tripping over her herself, to face whatever was behind her.

The forest behind her was empty and quiet, barely visible in the returning night.

Thick, panting sobs retched out of her as nausea overcame her. She stumbled towards the nearest dim silhouette of a dead tree, bracing herself against the cracked and withered trunk as she threw up, grimacing and gasping for air.

Minutes passed before she pushed herself away from the trunk, clearing her throat noisily and spitting the bitter taste from her mouth.

It was dark and colourless. She could only dimly see her own hooves, fuzzy grey blobs in front of her face. Shakily, she lit her horn, a beacon of weak, white-green light shining forlornly across the dusty clearing. The ground around her was brittle, parched from years of drought. The edge of the light caught the skeletal tree trunks in a dim glow, exposed and empty, bony kindling that remained tall, strong and arrogant. Twiggy branches were barely visible, black, spidery lines against the black-blue of the starry sky.

The Petrified Forest. She’d not been here before; few had. Old Everfree stretched for miles, defeating all attempts to survey or map it. Some educated guesses had been drawn over the years, estimates of the size of the water basin from the rapid dehydration of the outer swamps and such. But really it was the edge of the map, a sprawling, dead wasteland as far as anypony had ever gone.

There were no birds here, only a gentle clattering of dead twigs in the chilly breeze. She felt incredibly exposed here, she could see maybe ten hooves in front of her, but, to anypony … anything, out in the forest she must be the brightest star for miles. A small, scared lighthouse amongst a sea of dead trees.

She suddenly had to fight the urge to whip round, the hair on the back of her neck rising as she felt eyes in the darkness. Swallowing, taking a shaking breath and trying to rationalise through the adrenaline, she looked over her shoulder. More grey, dead earth, more grey, dead trees. She snorted nervously as the feeling subsided, but didn’t disappear. Her hornlight faded out as she deferred to that primal flicker of fear, feeling safer as her eyes adjusted and she sank back into the shadows.

She saw something, a faint speck of light that danced in her vision like a will o’ wisp, flickering between distant trees, so faint and ephemeral that it was only barely visible out of the corner of her eye. She squinted and bobbed her head from side to side, desperately trying to convince herself it was real as she started a slow trot, her legs aching and groaning on each step, moving towards the pinprick.

“... y...”

The corner of a sound, caught on the breeze, floated by her. She couldn’t quite make out the voice.

“... ra? ...”

The half word echoed between the trunks. She knew that voice.

She couldn’t form words; she barely managed to relight her horn as she stumbled towards the bobbing light. Soon, she could hear the sound of galloping hooves on dirt and her pale green light mingled with a stronger blue. And then the other pony caught her at her last faltering step, wrapping hooves around her shoulders and pressing against her neck.

“You ran … I tried to follow you, you silly pony. You’ve got a real turn of speed on you when you want, I’ll tell you that.”

It was a poor attempt at levity, but Lyra burst into sobbing laughter, face buried against her friend's chest, the fur beginning to mat with her tears.

“Oh Colly … we’re bucked … we’re completely bucked...”

“Shhh, shhh, You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s going to be fine, Ly. You’re okay now. I’ve got you. You’re okay. Come on, sit down here.”

So they sat in their refuge against the darkness, Lyra cradled against her friend, Minuette braced against a trunk, back pressed up against the weather-worn wood, gently stroking her mane. Her tears ran through the soft blue coat and pooled in small dark spots on the ground. The darkness outside was thick, and fluid as it flowed between the trees, the stars just visible through the tangled branches as they shivered in the wind.

She felt a tingling on her side, felt another gentle glow trying to fill the empty clearing, and twisted her head to look. A jagged black line stretched down her side, blood welling up into her coat. A faint blue aura surrounded it, pins and needles dancing around the wound.

“I don’t know much healing, Ly, but this should help. Just lay back down. Looking at it will only make it feel worse.”

She took the advice, wearily dropping her head back and letting herself drift away with the dregs of exhaustion. After a little while the glow faded, the tingling dulling a little, her side feeling strangely numb and cold.

Lyra could feel every breath in the rise and fall of Minuette’s chest, felt the warmth seep through her coat against the wind. She felt her friend sigh, and, mopping a golden eye with a hoof, looked up from where she lay in her lap.

“What are we going to do, Colly?”

“In the long run? ... Not a clue.”

She was staring up at the sky, eyes flicking back and forth and she turned over ideas, a hoof still idly petting Lyra’s mane.

“Should we go back?”

“Ly, right now I’m only half sure I know which direction is back. You were running flat out for almost a quarter hour … You should join a club or something.”

“... We … I mean … that wasn’t-”

Her friend looked down at her, mustering a smile.

“Seriously now, does Rosie strike you as the kind of pony to hold Equestria hostage to stage a coup?”

A soft patter of giggling sparkled between the trees.

“Right, that’s enough, you lard arse. My hooves are going numb. Get off.”

They got to their hooves, brushing grey dust from their coats. Minuette turned to her saddlebags, resting by the tree, rooting around through the glitter.

“... Thanks, Colly … I … I was … well-”

“Ah, shut up, you big softy, it’s over and done. Ah, there we are.”

Minuette straightened, a tiny glass disc floating by her face as she wandered the few paces back over to Lyra..

“Magitechnology. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it, eh? Hmm … this way.”

The pool of blue-green light slowly moved into the distance, meandering through the mummified forest, two ponies walking shoulder to shoulder, a thin cloud of moths fluttering after them.

“... Hey … I just realised. You were sitting like I do.”

“Heh, well, I said I’d give it a shot one of these days.”

“... And?”

“... You’re mental...”

* * *

Looking back, Trixie wished she could have paid more attention to Rose’s expression, but she just couldn’t manage it; making things that were there disappear was far more demanding than than making things that weren’t there appear. So she had grit her teeth and split her mind: holding the illusion, telling what she knew, and trying to glean what she could from the gasps and little facial movements.

Eventually she had finished and, as she had expected, Rose had seemed legitimately shocked. The ‘protest’ was meant to be a simple glitterbombing and maybe a few slogans shouted from the stage. That was to be followed, in all likelihood, by a night in cells at Ponyville Sec, while the three older mares tried to rally support in the streets of Canterlot. Holding Equestria to ransom hadn’t exactly been on the menu.

Free of the burden of trying to tell a story, Trixie had searched for any trace of deceit as her friend had talked and had come up empty hooved. She wanted to believe her. In some ways that was what made her so cautious. ‘Things you wish true are rarely so in life’, or so the saying went.

Still, she had reasoned, if nothing else she was paying a debt and, unless circumstances changed, she would see that the debt was repaid. The problem was that Rose had made that repayment particularly difficult.

“Trixie, I appreciate that you saved me. I really do. But I will not squat in an alleyway and hide while Lily and Daisy are out there in exactly the same amount of trouble. If you felt you had to rescue me then-”

“Trixie rescued you from the city centre. You just told Trixie that the others were in the Districts. It won’t be nearly as bad out there.”

“Then why don’t we go get them anyway?”

“Because. It’s not safe for you. You’re a wanted mare.”

“I’m not stupid, Trixie. I know that. But you said yourself all the Security ponies are in the centre. Nopony’s going to waste time searching for me in the outskirts. I’ll borrow your hat for a little while longer and get to them as fast as I can.”

“But. Ugh, you are impossible. It’s not an issue of going to rescue them at all, the issue is why must you come with Trixie.”

A soft chiming had mingled with the venomous, third-person hiss, ringing softly between the bins. Roseluck didn’t like magitechnology, preferring ‘traditional’ media where she could, but still carried an emergency glass on a string round her neck. It was a tiny thing, smaller than a hoof and cheaper even than Trixie’s low budget offering. Rose had peered at the tiny symbols skittering over the surface, frowning in confusion.

“A dropoff … Secretariat? What? That’s …”

She had looked up at Trixie with an odd mix of accusation and confusion in her eyes.

“Do you know anything about this?”

“What? Trixie doesn’t think you’re making sense.”

“Somepony … hmm, look, the short version is that we set up a simple parcel drop system. Yes, yes, I know. It’s a little silly. We were just starting out and we were a little caught up in the whole ‘being spies and eco-terrorists’ thing. Besides, it’s been useful on occasion.”

Another strange look and a frustrated sigh. Trixie had started to feel like she was missing something.

“It’s complicated and I … I need to think. You just need to go and help me with something. That was an automatic message; somepony made a drop and it’s apparently something urgent. I’ll forward you an address, a box number, and a passkey. Just go pick up whatever it is and meet me back at the apartment, okay?”

“Wait, but that- how many times must Trixie tell you that it is not safe for you to-”

“Trixie Lulamoon, I appreciate your concern for me, but I am a grown mare and I am going to help my friends. You can either help me or you can hinder me, that’s your choice, but you are not going to change my mind.”

The words still rang in Trixie’s head as she trotted across town. The ferocity of the glare, the red and white light throwing Rosie’s face into such harsh relief, it had been … unsettling. She had let her go, had let her borrow her hat, and was now cautiously making her way to a residential tower on the edge of the centre.

The new night had fallen completely. A number of ponies still roamed the streets and Trixie trotted carefully among them, fast enough to not dawdle, slow enough to slip by unnoticed. Most ponies out were earth ponies, and Trixie was wary of some of the looks being thrown her way. Times like this she missed her hat.

The fringe Districts were a mess, nothing like the centre, but still jarring in the change from only a couple of hours ago. A few magitech shops were gutted, looted, windows lying in shattered puddles, alarm systems crying to nopony who cared. A few ponies were propped up against the sides of the streets and against the shopfronts; most were injured, being tended to by friends or, on rare occasion, paramedics and their entourage of glowing glass plates.

Distant shouts and whoops echoed around the wounded streets and Trixie could from time to time see, and avoid, what were obviously loose gangs. The situation had, only an hour from when it began, completely divorced itself from any cause or rationale. The general panic had leached out the love of chaos that arises in large groups, the riots being almost purely for the sake of it. An opportunity had arisen for looting and arson, Security had been thrown into disarray and had lost centralised organisation, and some had seized it with both hooves.

What worried her the most were the fires. Fire suppression was expensive and it was an open secret that many companies shirked on safety to keep the water bills down. Still, she trotted anxiously through the narrow alleys and by-streets, doing her best to just focus on her own safety.

She found the building easily enough and, thankfully, without incident. It was a tall, unassuming structure. Smaller than her home foundation...

A twinge of pain ran choked her. That wound - the invasion - had been buried under recent shock. She leant heavily against the building, looking up at the metal wall as it disappeared into the dark sky.

The regular dots of the exterior lights blended and blurred up the structure until they were just a razor-thin white line arcing up into the sky above her head. Row upon row of lights rose up from beside the long, ruler-straight street, drips and drops of light that ran together into a glowing scaffolding of white fire that seemed to hold up the sky as she craned her neck.

That’s what she’d always seen, anyway. Her mother had felt differently. They’d been walking back from … what had it been from? Hmm, never mind. It had been late and warm, and Trixie had been nestling on her mother’s back as she was only little. Her mother had told her to look up at the sky as a way to pass the time on the long walk home, and had asked what she saw.

She remembered raising her head from her mother’s mane, remembered the smell of that berry shampoo she always used, remembered the gentle nudge and oof from her mother as she’d rearranged herself to look upwards. She’d seen then what she’d seen ever since and had told her mother so.

“What do you see, mummy?”

“Well, I see stars. Little waterfalls of stars that have fallen from the sky and each one of them we put in a little box to keep the dark away.”

“But that’s silly, mummy. The stars don’t fall!”

“That may be so, but you might!”

And her mother had bobbed up and down gently, bouncing Trixie, as she squealed happily and clung back to her mother’s mane again. Things had been so simple.

She shook herself, bringing herself back to the moment, flicking an eye over the post box numbers and then waving her pendant at the right one. She picked up the small package that was presented to her and tucked it awkwardly inside a pocket in her cape.

Now she just had to get back again in one piece and hope Auntie Roseluck had managed the same.

* * *

I was so stupid. I was a bucking foal.

I am what I think. I am what I do. I am what I know.

What did I even do? Nothing. I wasted it. All the time I had.

I am strong. I am steady. I am a ship before the guiding winds.

I didn’t go to the party ... Oh, great, so I wasn’t a complete idiot, just mostly an idiot.

I may steer. I may guide. I have the strength to decide.

Be sure to tell that to Princess when - if - she ever wakes up.

I am more than myself. I am more than my fears. I am more than my weakness.

And even if she does wake up they're just going to destroy her because I didn’t lift a coltdamned hoof to help her.

Those things are immaterial. I am a part. I am a piece. I have a place and I have a purpose.

So yeah, good job Sparkle. I’m weak and spineless. I could easily have spent the entire day working if I’d really wanted to.

I will put to the side things that hurt me. I will put to the side things that anger me.

But no, I wanted it. A part of me wanted to meet new ponies and I know it. I liked the change.

I will watch those things and mind them, but they cannot change me.

I fussed and I fidgeted but at the end of the day I let her die because I was selfish.

I am water. I am quiet. I am strong. I am clear.

NO. She is not dead and I will not let her die. I will fix this. I can fix this. Nothing is broken. Everything can still be fine again. I just need to work. I just need to work really hard. I can do this. I can fix this. She’ll be fine. She’ll be all good. We’ll have tea together. I’ll finish my studies. I just need to work. I just have to fix it.

I flow through the things of the world and the things of the world flow through me.

I hope I can.

“Twilight? Twilight, darling, wake up.”

She blinked, the musty smell of leather and old paper mingling with the aroma of sugary drinks and snacks seeping into her nose again as she re-entered the room. Rarity was holding her shoulders and smiling softly at her. Apparently, she’d gone a little too deep.

“There we go. Now, Pinkie, you were saying about Twilight knowing how we could contribute something to alleviating the disaster?”

“Wuh?”

The party hat nodded up and down like a jackhammer.

“Yup-a-doodle! She built a super-duper codey thing last night that will totally resolve everything! She just needs to pick up the results.”

And then a pink hoof was thrusting Twilight’s workstation in her face, the device completely unlocked and sitting a simple button-press from relaying what the code had learned.

As she cautiously took the device from Pinkie, several questions - many, many questions - tried to force their way out of her mouth at the same time. The one that won was:

“Pinkie … how in Equestria did you get past the screen lock?”

“Oh, I dunno. I just pressed a button here, a button there, offered it a cupcake ... it was really helpful.” The same pink hoof affectionately patted the smooth edge of the plate, a contented smile in her bright blue eyes.

This was a discussion for later. Twilight scooched forwards on the red velvet chair, letting the other ponies see over her shoulder. There was a click and a hum as the room finally darkened enough for the automatic lighting to switch on. With everypony able to see clearly, she tapped the screen.

“Ten hits? Ten hits? Are you kidding? In the entirety of the collected information of Ponykind there are only ten pieces of- Ugh. Okay, so we have no hits about the Elements directly, no hits about threats to Princess that aren’t just reposts of Dream Valley...”

She sighed in frustration.

“Nothing that’s concrete. All the hits are flagged as being ‘circumstantial timing’-”

“And what the hay does that mean?”

“-which means, Rainbow, they are events that the filters thought I would find suspicious or odd which occurred on the date the Elements article was uploaded. For example, if I didn’t already know there was a connection, the installation of Princess would flag as being suspiciously close.”

“And how the hay does it decide all that?”

“Rainbow, you are in a library. If you want to go find a book on personality emulation and emotional influence in Starworks-crawling data parsing algorithms, then feel free. I am going to continue trying to find our terrorists.”

Dash bristled at the condescension, but caught Applejack’s eye.

“So, um, Twilight? What are the … um … hits?”

Fluttershy physically shied away from saying the word.

“Well, let’s have a look … oh, this is fantastic. So, we have,” she cleared her throat unnecessarily.

“A peak in the number of poorly completed tax returns, a petition to make air hockey a recognised sport, three Canterlot primary schools in Cloud-South District that were all closed, a statistically insignificant spike in water usage over a bunch of Foundations.” She drew another breath.

“An unexplained fire in Hoofington town centre, the civil finances not balancing properly in Ponyville, somepony winning unusually big in Las Pegasus, an unusual number of sick leaves taken amongst Las Pegasus Security staff, some minor disorder over a news article about street performers in Canterlot and, last but not least...” She looked up, pausing for dramatic effect.

“The first episode of the now nationally famous soap, ‘Get Outta My Mane’. Truly was this a date for history to remember.”

“Ooo, I know that show. They had this great ‘Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Special’ last Christmas where it looked like Ever Ready was going to be shipped to the North Pole to work as an elf, but then Mysterioso turned out to be Santa as part of his undercover work for the PIA. Only it-”

Rarity cut cleanly across Pinkie as the direction this was going became obvious.

“Well, darling, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but that hardly seems like much to … go … on.”

Rarity trailed off, taking a few distracted steps away from the screen and sitting back down in her chair - after thoroughly brushing a hoof across the velvet to remove the newly settled layer of dust. Fluttershy, of all ponies, stepped in to fill the silence.

“Well, I don’t think you should investigate Canterlot. That nice Security pony said that we shouldn’t.”

Twilight nodded, clearing the half-empty snack bowls and the dregs of the punch to one side of the centre table, and propped the glassware up against a bottle of hot sauce so the room could see it easily.

“Well, we can probably discount a few of these anyway. We should concentrate on the tax returns, the Ponyville finances, the Hoofington fire, and Las Pegasus stuff. Just … which?”

“Excuse me, darling, I don’t want to interrupt but I think I might have remembered something that might be relevant for you.”

Rarity still had something of a far-away look, but was sitting forwards, jabbing the air with a forehoof.

“It was about a month ago, four weeks I think. Two stallions came to my boutique, asking if anyone had a key to the library. It was around the time that Dusty Tome left town for that Hoofington post he’d been going on about.”

There was a chorus of gentle agreement from most of the room. Rarity stood up, pacing around the snack table as she became surer of what she was saying. She was choosing her words as carefully and deliberately as she was choosing her hoofsteps, delicately stepping between the streamers and party detritus.

“They’d decided to ask at the nearest shop as they didn’t want to disturb somepony at home and, since I happened to know where to get hold of the key, I felt it was only decent to help them. They were quite charming actually, perfect gentlecolts to me and to Sweetie Belle. Awfully polite and they were really quite well dressed-”

“Rarity...” A gentle drawl of reprimand.

“Oh, ahem, yes. So, I let them in, didn’t want to leave them to their own devices with the key, so I had to stay. They were understanding of the fact I didn’t know much of the history; they said they were just interested in looking for some information. Financial information. I said I was sorry but I had no idea where to find anything like that.

I stayed for maybe an hour or so before I just had to leave; I didn’t want to leave Sweetie alone in the shop for too long, you understand. They convinced me to them let them borrow the key,; I made sure somepony went by to check on them in short order, and that was that.”

She shrugged slightly, looking round at the group.

“I know it’s not much, but maybe it might mean something.”

Twilight’s horn was already glowing, the tablet floating in front of her as she whispered and poked at it with increasingly pained expressions of irritation.

Eventually she rested the plate back on the table, throwing her hooves in the air dismissively.

“All I can find are end-of-month totals; there aren’t any detailed breakdowns for where the money came from. Why in Equestria would anypony come here to try to find anything more out!”

Applejack bluntly pointed a hoof at a random wall.

“Sugar, y’all in a library.”

Twilight blinked.

“Yes, Applejack, I know that. What’s your point.”

Applejack sighed, resting her chin on a hoof.

“Darlin’, not everything happens on the Starworks. It’s been law ever since the thing was created that as long as you kept a paper record somewhere you did’n have to keep a copy online. Somewhere in here there must be a more detailed set of records.”

“Oh I didn’t know- Wait a second, how do you know that?”

“Oh, ah, er, just have an interest, y’know. Ah always did like all that, er, law … stuff.”

Applejack was suddenly sitting very stiffly, the same scrunchy smile from back at the orchard plastered over her face. Twilight was going to call her on it when several inches of parchment, wrapped in worn, aging leather, slammed into the arm of her chair, raising a choking cloud of dust and a shower of crisp crumbs.

“There you go!”

“Pinkie, were did you find this?”

“It was under ‘e’!”

Twilight flicked a glance at the spine. ‘Equestrian Civil Records - Ponyville (finances): EY 1101 - 1102’. A muscle in her lower right eyelid twitched.

“But … H- … Okay. Great. Whatever.”

She levitated the book, followed it over to a writing desk that had escaped the party relatively unscathed, dropped it heavily and started rifling through the pages until she reached the date she was looking for.

“Hmm, right, well here it is.”

With a flick of her horn, her trusty tablet zipped across the room, lay on top of the page, and flashed a sickly blue light. A moment later the book lay forgotten on the desk as she slowly walked back to her seat, flicking through the numbers on the tablet.

Applejack carefully shut the book, and slotted it back into the shelf with a sigh, while Twilight hmm’d and oh’d over the figures.

“So, it looks like I found our missing bits. There was a large payment made to a Canterlot engineering firm for construction in ‘the Ponyville area’ that wasn’t associated with a change to the town. It just shows up as capital investment but never gets consolidated on … Strange.”

“Oh! I know! It was Dream Valley! They must have paid for construction of their secret volcano lair deeeeep in the Petrified Forest!”

Pinkie was standing on her chair, front hooves waving and eyes wide. The chair springs groaned uncomfortably.

As Rarity gently prodded her to sit down, Rainbow spoke up.

“Y’know, stupid as that sounds, maybe Pinks is onto something there. I mean, they must have built something somewhere with the money and the Forest is the only place for miles where you could maybe hide a building or whatever. I mean you’d have a hay of a time building it, but...”

She shrugged as she trailed off, running a free hoof through her multi coloured mane. Twilight’s brain finally started to rev the engine a little bit.

“Yes … yes, that might explain how they broke into the local signals for the projectors at the Celebration; they’re broadcasting from somewhere in the … um … Petrified Forest.”

It was Twilight’s turn to tail off as she turned the name over in her mind. She’d certainly heard less offputting names for things.

“It’s a stretch, but it would it kind of makes sense … I think this might be our best shot. I think we could do this. If it stands any chance of helping Princess, then I think we almost should do this. Who’s with me?”

There was a collective intake of breath and a general murmuring. Rainbow saluted sharply and was about to reflexively agree when Applejack spoke for the rest of the group, knocking Rainbow’s hoof away from her forehead.

“Now, hold your horses there, Twilight. That place ain’t right. It’s danged dangerous and I don’t think we should just be rushing into this.”

“It’s just a forest, Applejack, and this could really help ponies. Something serious has happened to Princess - to Equestria - and I, for one, want to try to fix it by any means that present themselves. You don’t have to come, none of you do, unless you want to.”

Applejack stamped a hoof, grinding streamers into the rug.

“Look, all ah’m sayin’ is that nopony goes to Everfree for good reason. Ah ain’t no coward, but I just think we should maybe look into some alternatives here.”

“Applejack, we already went through this. This is the only remotely solid lead we have that we can actually use without butting heads with Security - I’ve experience at failing at that - or going to Canterlot. If you want to go to Las Pegasus or Hoofington to do your own investigation then that’s your prerogative, but I won’t be joining you.”

“Twi, that ain’t what ah mean. Ah mean maybe we should be askin’ ourselves why we’re goin’. Let ‘em switch off Princess or whatever. It don’t mean much to me either way.”

“APPLEJACK … How can you say that!”

Twilight was standing open mouthed, gaping at Applejack in abject horror as the farmer tried a more diplomatic tack.

“Look, ah know you said she was a friend, ah understand that. I’m just sayin that some other ponies don’t get such a good impression, y’know? Fluttershy, you spend so much time caring for the trees and birds and such, you can’t say you wanna go save a machine. And Rarity, Pinkie, what’s she done for you?”

“Well, um, actually things were worse before Princess. That’s, um, why she was built; the ponies in charge were nice but they couldn’t stop us running out of water.”

Timidity was an inextricable part of Fluttershy’s voice, but she spoke slowly and firmly despite it, one blue eye fixing Applejack with a cautious stare as she spoke. There was a background of slightly over-enthusiastic nodding from Twilight. Rarity spoke up next.

“Fluttershy’s right, dear. Personally, I’m certainly not queuing up be president of her fan club-”

Twilight opened her mouth, then silently closed it again.

“-but she’s occasionally done some things right...”

“Why are we still talking? I couldn’t care about Princess, but there’s no way I’m gonna let anyone threaten Equestria like that; screw all the boring political stuff.”

Twilight watched as RD threw a few punches at her own shadow. She didn’t really know what to say; even the ponies who were with her weren’t really with her. She turned to the only pony yet to give an opinion.

“Pinkie Pie? How about you?”

Pinkie was still sitting in her chair and had been quietly watching the discussion unfold. She bounced lightly to her hooves and hopped across the floor to stand by Twilight.

“Hmm. I don’t really know Princess, but I know lots of other ponies and if some meanie is going to threaten my friends and make them sad then Pinkie’s just going to have to cheer them up!”

Applejack sighed heavily, a hint of frustration creeping through.

“Either Security will find ‘em or they’ll shut down Princess. There’s nothing we can do and ah’m still not sure that we should try.”

It was Twilight’s turn to stamp on the battered rug, her voice cracking slightly. The act was a little more petulant than for AJ, but the effect was largely the same.

“Fine. Whatever. You all hate her. I know she’s done unpopular things but she’s a nice, kind pony who’s doing the best she can for everypony. I’m going to go help her. If you want to help me then please do. If not then do what you want.”

As she turned and walked out the door she winced a little; it sounded almost whining how she’d phrased it. But it was from the heart. She could hear voices behind her as she walked out into the cooling air.

“Count me in, Twi. Gonna kick some flank for Equestria!”

“I’m sorry AJ. Um, I just think things will get worse if we don’t help.”

“It’s probably all a silly misunderstanding. Let’s find these Dream Valley ponies, give ‘em a big hug, and get the silly old sun back!”

Only AJ and Rarity remained silent, staying in the room as the rest of the group left. Twilight just caught the look that Rarity threw to AJ, an unspoken question, before the door to the library closed.

After a minute or so, Twilight turned to her little group, having slowly come to terms with the fact she had no idea what to say. Everypony loved Princess. That was just a fact, like saying the sky was blue. Well … she looked upwards, finding the faint ring of the solar corona that was just peeking out behind the black circle. This wasn’t what she’d expected.

The library door swung open and, with little ceremony, both the unicorn and the earth pony walked out; Rarity quiet and composed in contrast to the obviously grumpy Applejack. As Twilight opened her mouth AJ raised a hoof, looking her dead in the eyes.

“Ah’m not doin’ this for yer Princess, and I’m not doing it cos I think that Security ain’t up to it. Ah’m doin’ it as ah’m not going to stand by an let mah friends go off an get themselves hurt unless ah’m there too.”

“Thank you, Applejack. I appreciate it.”

She smiled even as AJ snorted and kicked the ground.

“Okay then. Let’s get organised.”

* * *

She stared at the table, at the piece of paper - which was unusual for its own sake, forget about the fact there was writing on it - and the small black stick. Roseluck stood next to her, Lily and Daisy over her shoulder, also staring at the package’s contents.

It had been like this for a few minutes, ever since Trixie had returned, throwing a snide comment at Roseluck to the tune of ‘glad you aren’t in prison’ which had been ignored. Trixie didn’t really know the other earth pony mares, giving them curt nods and largely dismissing them in favour of Rose, as she upended the package on the table.

The stick was fairly weighty for its small size, black, with thin blue rivulets snaking down its length, a solid cylinder of some starlite alloy or derivative. The letter was decidedly less inscrutable.

DV

You’re being framed. There’s proof you didn’t harm P. Take this, it’s all set up to find and copy the data that you need. Just place it on P’s codex stacks in C and press the button. It’s all automagic. Good luck.

Secretariat

“This is wrong.”

Roseluck was shaking her head, reading and re-reading the letter.

“It doesn’t sound like her at all. She hated that ‘automagic’ was a word.”

“Well, we don’t have a choice, do we?”

“Sure we do, we could not walk into the obvious trap.”

“But she must think we need help, and frankly I can believe that.”

“We can’t go out there, they’ll be looking for us.”

Trixie moved away from the panicking huddle, collapsing wearily on the sofa and letting them discuss whatever. It wasn’t her lookout and they weren’t explaining anything to her. Trixie wasn’t stupid, she could work some of it out.

The ‘her’ was almost certainly her mother. If it was something to do with Princess, then few other ponies could just produce, from nowhere, a specific tool to fix the problem and deliver it in under an hour or two. Rose was just trying to spare her feelings, and Trixie appreciated that. Less time she had to spend thinking about her useless … ugh.

She knew Rose and her mother had been close before she’d left; it probably explained why she would help now. Trixie snorted to herself. Yeah, that was just like her. She’d throw mysterious packages at her old friends but not say a word to her daughter, she sneered to herself. Bucking … ugh.

Whatever. She didn’t even care anymore. She was over it. She’d given up looking. She didn’t want to be found, fine. Not like she’d ever given a buck before. Why start now? Trixie didn't understand the nonsense with code names and secrecy, and she didn't care to either.

She just couldn’t escape her mother lately. Seemed everything she did was in the stupid mare’s shadow, or was her fault. She just wanted to forget her like she’d … argh, NO! Stop. Thinking. About. Her.

Trixie kicked herself off the chair, the sudden outburst halting the panicked mutterings, as the trio turned to look at her.

“Trixie has had enough of this bickering. Look at it this way. Regardless of how much you trust the sender, do you want to use the stupid stick or not?”

The trio shared glances, Roseluck apparently being quietly promoted to spokespony.

“Well, the evidence would presumably come up in the investigation anyway so … well, we were just thinking that, much as we want Princess to change, we never wanted it to happen like this- Yes, Trixie, I’m getting to the point. We want the investigation to find whoever’s responsible before something terrible happens. So, if we could present evidence to point Security in the right direction as soon as possible, then-”

“Right, that sounds like a ‘yes’ to Trixie. So, do you have a plan for getting into the Castle and reaching Princess?”

“Well, it’s not something that-”

“So that’s a ‘no’?”

Roseluck sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly.

“No, we don’t, and please don’t shout. I don’t think I can take you being angry at me too, not right now.”

It suddenly hit her, the age difference between them. Rose somehow seemed older, more tired. Trixie softened a little; it was foalish to lash out just because things hadn’t been going her way.

“Trixie, ahem, Trixie is … sorry.”

She pawed at the threadbare carpet, avoiding eye-contact, as she came to a decision. She didn’t want Roseluck to go to prison. She didn’t care a ounce for Princess; that stuff was all just political hot air to her, but Roseluck was distressed, and somepony was framing her for holding a country to ransom. That didn’t sit right with Trixie.

She stepped forward, sweeping her hat from the peg where Roseluck had hung it and levitating the stick into her cape alongside her performing wand. There was a pleasant symmetry between them, two little rods of starlite tucked away like that.

“Trixie. No.”

“No, Roseluck, Trixie still owes you a favour.”

Trixie stepped past Rose as the mare half-heartedly tried to stop her leaving. Lily and Daisy, as they had been doing for a while now, seemed unsure what to say, standing uselessly with worried expressions, wringing their hooves as Rose raised her voice.

“This is ridiculous, you don’t have a plan either!”

Trixie didn’t turn round, her horn glowing as she pushed open the door.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t need one.”

Rose was shouting now, a hint of desperation seeping through the cracks. But she didn’t try to stop her from leaving, just took another half-step towards the door.

“I won’t let you do this. Not for me. Wanda would never forgive me.”

Trixie didn’t know whether to laugh or spit.

“Trixie thinks otherwise.”

She took the few steps out onto the dingy landing, holding the door open for a second longer.

“Trixie. Please.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has a show to attend.”

The door slammed shut behind her.

Comments

[artisticMink]

New Starworks Chapter? Oh well, sleep is overrated anyway.

th03.deviantart.net/fs71/150/f/2011/159/2/9/twilight_sparkle__read_by_skylark_torch-d3idisf.jpg

[Carpinus Caroliniana]

Oh yeah. Shit gonna get real.

Let me guess, the Elements of Harmony are some kind of advanced computer program?

It's nice to contrast the Luddite Dream Valley ponies with the high-tech cyberpunk ponies of Equestria.

[Sanctae]

917687 Thanks! I'm glad you're finding it interesting! Trixie and Twi are just naturally great characters for highlighting contrasts as they are in many ways very similar ponies. Their childhoods have just taken them to different places.

1000012 Hehe, well I hope it was worth it!

1001489 You better believe that the shit is only going to get more and more real

A pretty reasonable guess, given that my approach so far has been 'Can X be turned into a piece of technology/code? If so, do so; if not, try and do it anyway'. We'll just have to wait and see!

[RTStephens]

Another very enjoyable chapter, with more going on than just a set of ponies running into a forest. We have the usual six but then there's the wildcard of Lyra and Minuette/Colgate and their run from the law. Not to mention what Trixie has gotten herself involved in.

I think. Some parts of this story I was unable to follow exactly. Such as the conversation between Rose and Trixie in the alley that switched from present to past back to present points of view. Plus, I wasn't able to follow exactly how Twilight deduced that she needed to head into the forest other than she figured a building was there. Maybe I need to reread this part more carefully but I've been able to follow along pretty well till this point.

I am digging the idea that Celestia in this world isn't the beloved goddess as shown in the series. Some of the characters seem to consider her a nuisance or a necessary evil. There isn't this cry to rush off to fight for queen and country. The characters actually have reasons to go that aren't so patriotic. Neato.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to how all these different groups of characters manage to solve this. This is bigger than a moon goddess coming back wanting eternal night. This is a plot littered with many different ideals clashing together. To put in bluntly, it has my attention.

Keep it up!

[Sanctae]

1001656 Hehe, thanks! I am a little concerned that I haven't made things clear enough; if you had a problem following things then you won't be the only one so let's work this out.

The answers to the questions are fairly straightforward:
Just before the end of Trixie's first scene break she was explaining about the events at the Celebration. When we pick her up again, she is halfway across town, heading towards the package drop. The section in past tense is her remembering the off-screen conversation she had with Rose just after she'd finished explaining about Celebration during the scene break. I wanted to skim over that conversation fairly quickly so I made it a past tense memory so I could get away with only showing the important bits. Basically, after she'd explained about the Celebration, Rose had told her what the protest was meant to be and then had got a message directing her to a package drop which she sent Trixie to pick up. The time skip is maybe 15 minutes.

The reason Twi chooses the forest is twofold: "I mean, they must have built something [in the Ponyville area] with the money and the Forest is the only place for miles where you could maybe hide a building or whatever." and "[...]that might explain how they broke into the local signals for the projectors at the Celebration.". So basically, its a hunch coupled with the fact that they managed to hijack a very localised set of signals when they crashed the Celebration, so they must be somewhere fairly nearby. So, they take a shot in the dark that the only place you could hide a building and the construction work near Ponyville would be the forest. To be fair, the M6 will keep bringing up what a complete long-shot it is and it's kind of a minor character point for AJ, but you should at least have some idea why they made the choice.

So, that's what you were meant to get. I don't suppose you could tell me where and why you think that information got lost and what might help to make it clearer? It's easy enough to add in or clarify a sentence of the text and I'm anxious to keep things clear and understandable.

Heh, I'm glad you like a more imperfect vision of the show. Things always seem more interesting to me when people disagree or have to do things they don't want to do. Trying to sort through it all is great fun and sometimes my characters surprise me with how they'd react to an event or person. In particular I wanted to make Celestia a little more ambiguous than the perfect model of perfection of the show; not that theres anything wrong in that per se, but I felt it wouldnt fit with the more gritty approach I was taking.

So yeah, thanks for the input!

[djthomp]

Ah hah! I knew the Dream Valley ponies in the crowd as well as the flower trio weren't involved in the attack.

So, Trixie will be saving Princess while the M6 are looking into the forest and possibly finding the Elements of Harmony analog, I'm guessing.

[That_one_guy]

Fucking fabulous as always.

[RTStephens]

1003737
Let's see. The scene with Trixie trying to save Rose threw me off at times. There was text set in italics, which I assumed was an announcement, but then you had Trixie's name in brackets and I began to wonder if Nightmare Moon/virus was speaking directly to her. That thought was going through my head during the Rose and Trixie scene later when they were in the ally and I actually thought for a moment that Trixie was the culprit rather than Rose.

Also, Lyra freaking out and running away made it seem like unicorns were being targeted for this message that I spoke about above. I guessed that she was being partially mind controlled and was speaking out in favor of the Dream Valley ponies. Then she ran off once the mind control wore off.

Am I completely off kilter? I did read this late at night and may have missed parts that were important. I think I need to reread this chapter again now that you pointed things out for me. I hope this helps.

[Sanctae]

1005084 Awesome, nice deduction! We'll see if you're right about the next chapter as well

1005201 Thanks!

1005877 Hmm, yeah, you're a little off the mark here. Do you mean the curfew annoucements in Canterlot? They aren't in italics except for Trixie's name. As a rule, text all in italics is the internal monologue of the focus character or, if it is in speech marks, is something that is being shouted. The annoucement with the [Miss. Trixie. Lulamoon.] thing was a little abstract I suppose. The brackets and italics are there because ... you know how automatic tannoy systems always say people's names really slowly and with weird intonation? That's what I was going for. It's a standardised message that everybody in central Canterlot got but they all inserted their own names in that gap. Magic an all that.

The announcement was to everyone within range, like a loudhailer; I tried to flag that it was the same mechanism of hearing voices in your head that the mayor was using for her announcements over in Ponyville.

No-one in Ponyville got that broadcast. It was just Canterlot local Security trying to control the riots by telling everyone to get off the streets. Lyra was panicking because she had just been all but directly implicated in assassinating the ruler and then holding the country to ransom. It's like, if you were part of a group that were going to shoot water pistols at the President but then somebody shot him, demanded a billion pounds, and then said 'Oh, and by the way I'm working for these guys' I think that running in the opposite direction and being paranoid about police officers seems fair.

The message from "Totally-not-a-NMM-analgoue" only got to Canterlot because the event was being broadcast over "not-television". It was, again, just a local, loudhailer style annoucement that happened to have a bunch of "not-television-cameras" pointed at it.

I'm a little confused by >"I guessed that she was being partially mind controlled and was speaking out in favor of the Dream Valley ponies. Then she ran off once the mind control wore off." Lyra doesnt say anything at the event. She was going to glitterbomb Princess but then this "mysterious mare" hijacked the celebration's facilities and delivered the ultimatum. Lyra freaks and runs out. I'm not quite sure where the mind-control thing has come from.

I would suspect that you just misread a couple of scenes and lost track of who was talking to who at times, so I would tend towards suggesting you give it another read, but if I really haven't made things clear enough in the narrative then I'll tweak it.

[artisticMink]

Sadly, still no proper review of the last chapter. I would've to read it a second time but i'm a little busy with work lately x3 Maybe this weekend. However, i found a picture and had to think of your story. I wonder why!

78.46.47.16/mlp/feq/wd/robopony.jpg

[Sanctae]

1087613 Aw, that's so cool! Totally saved. Thanks for the thought!

I'd love to hear what you think in detail, but I get that everyone's busy this time of year. I'm having a hard time getting everything sorted before I go away.

[Sanctae]

Right. IT'S DONE

Geez. So, yeah, new prologue. If you read the old one then you don't have to read this one, nothing has really changed. That said, if you wanna give it a glance over for your own edification then feel free. The main difference is that the long, omniscient description has been moved to Tixie's walk home where it's now her musings about her job. Maybe it's still a little over the top, but I hope that now it also works to characterise Trixie as well as setting the scene.

Other major changes include what I hope is a much more interesting opening segment and a little more scenery for the crossroads scene. Most everything else is just grammar and style. Hope you guys approve and for the love of everything if it's worse please tell me.

Other chapters will be updated much sooner. Like, the only changes to the next chapter are proper ellipses, correcting semicolons, sentence fragments and comma splices, and then re-writing the italics bit. Easy.

[Jade Mer]

Haha, I see a Trixie tag. And Cyberpunk, how fun. Totally going to read this,

[PaladinOfChaos]

Love this! Update!

[Balancer]

Is this dead?

[PaladinOfChaos]

I love this. I wish it wasn't dead.