...of a Whole.
As far as incarcerations went, the elder Twilight had to admit, this was one of the better ones. The cots weren’t too hard. The cell was clean. Their captors hadn’t felt compelled to lord over them every ten seconds with how brilliant their plan was. The food was even pretty good, so far as nutrient pastes went.
And the company was the best she’d had in years.
“Well, obviously Shining and Cadance had a kid first. But I’m guessing that’s the same in your world as well?” The younger alicorn asked, her hooves folded under her like she was snuggling up for for a good old slumber party.
“Oh yes, Princess Skyla.” The elder sighed, a few memories of ancient headaches passing through her mind. “The absolute picture perfect princess. She’s polite, refined, and probably the one pony Panny absolutely cannot stand.”
The younger winced. “Something of a rivalry there?”
“Oh, it wasn’t always that way. They actually got along well as foals. But as the years passed, they just got more and more different, and you know how kids can be.” The elder sighed, remembering years of escalating pranks and jibes. “I’m hoping they’ll grow out of it, but sweet Celestia it’s taking a while.”
“I know the feeling.” The younger Twilight rolled her eyes in an all too familiar expression to the elder. “Nidra and Prism are taking their good sweet time growing up as well. Though, not to sound judgmental, but I can’t really say I’m surprised.”
“Prism, isn’t that… wait, let me guess.” The elder rubbed her chin, her brain quickly making the obvious connection. “Rainbow’s kid?”
“You got it,” the younger giggled. “For a pony who reads so much, Rainbow hasn’t got quite the imagination you’d hope. You know she turned down Chroma Blaze for a name?”
“What?! Really?” The elder rolled her eyes. Of course Rainbow wouldn’t take a good suggestion. “Probably just because you came up with it.”
“Oh, obviously. But when I get somepony to use Chroma Blaze--” She clapped her hooves. “Then she will see the superiority of the name!”
“Not that she’ll ever admit it,” the elder threw in, the two devolving into giggles. “So, you never told me about your Shiny’s kid.”
“Oh, Valiant Heart.” The younger smirked conspiratorially. “Think Shiny with all of Cadence’s magnetism.”
The elder whistled. “Do you have to beat the mares off with a bat, or a hammer?”
“You’d have to ask Cadance, but luckily he got his father’s morals. Otherwise I’m sure we’d be sorting out bloodlines for the next thousand years.” Again the two giggled. “Oh! Did Spike and Rarity get together yet in your world?”
“Spike and Rarity?” The elder gaped, honestly surprised. “Don’t tell me they actually followed through on that crush!”
From her expression, it was clear that it was the younger’s turn to gape. “Crush? They were a romance for the ages! Love everlasting!”
“Pfft, it was a foalhood crush.” The elder waved her off. “It took years, but he finally saw Scootaloo was the mare for him.”
“Scootaloo!” The younger sputtered, reduced to flailing. “Really? Scootaloo? Not even Sweetie Belle?”
The elder raised her eyebrow. “Yeah, because dating the little sister of your Ex-crush wouldn’t be weird at all.”
“Ehhh, point.”
At that moment, the door opened, and the pair found themselves faced with a guard.
“The administrator will see you now.”
“That’s your idea?!” Starburst hissed, her once golden armor smeared with dirt and grime, until the filth served as improvised camouflage. As much as it galled her to ruin the finish, utility was more important.
“I’m sorry, do you have a better plan than ‘blow it up?’” Pandora folded her paws over her chest, glaring down at Starburst. “Does the guard regularly go over fortress tree assaults?”
Sure enough, the tree was decidedly a fortress. Even before the iron plated sides, the town surrounding the tree was itself built from concrete fortifications, the shops and homes looking more like bunkers than buildings. Even the common ponies were clearly armed, each and every one sporting some form of the strange metal claws and weapons that the soldiers had carried. It made for a pretty bleak assault scenario.
“Yes, actually, we do. And I am not taking a two mare team against that thing when the stakes are this high!” She resisted the urge to flap up into Pandora’s face, the danger of discovery too high this close to the town. “We should go back and get reinforcements!”
“Hey, news flash. I wouldn’t expect a pegasus to understand, but chaos magic ain’t exactly accurate.” Pandora snorted. “Maybe you’d like to fling us into oblivion running back to big daddy Sentry’s apron, but my parents taught me to be independent.”
“We’ll see how independent you are on life-support after I break every bone in your idiot body,” Star snarled, again fighting down the urge to dispense hoof based justice. “Celestia knows you’ll be safer than thinking for yourself!”
“Big talk, shortcake.” Pandora raised one of her paws threateningly, poised to snap. “Maybe I ought to turn you into a shortcake just so you’ll finally figure out who should be running this little operation.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Star growled, flaring her wings wide and making Pandora flinch. To say the response satisfied her would be a gross understatement.
“Or we could take the front door,” Cupcake said, crawling out of the underbrush. Though clearly by no means a fussy pony regarding her appearance, Cupcake currently looked like she’d had a pitched battle with a woodchipper, and won in a nine round slugfest. Needless to say, Star and Pandora were struck speechless.
“Cupcake, what, um…” Pandora trailed off, gesturing vaguely at the mess that was her minion.
“Got in an argument with a robot,” Cupcake stated flatly, picking a few bolts out of her hair, and wiping a bit of oil from her fur. “He came around.”
“I’m not even going to ask,” Star stated. Honestly, she’d seen trained soldiers less competent than this Cupcake.
“Cupcake,” Pandora muttered reverently. “Sometimes you amaze even me.”
“Are you finally going to start paying me, boss?” Cupcake asked.
“Oh buck no, but you’ll totally get a gold star when we get back.” She gave Cupcake a winning smile and a pat on the head.
“Just don’t make it produce fusion this time, boss,” Cupcake said, starting to lead the way. “The last one kept making my cupcakes glow.”
“But that’s half the fun!” Pandora whined.
“Can we please focus on saving our mothers?” Star interjected, a hoof massaging her forehead. And she thought Prism’s family could be dysfunctional. “Before I go insane?”
“But that’s half the fun!” Pandora repeated with a teasing smile.
“Boss?” Cupcake offered. “I think Ms. Starburst has a point. We don’t know if your mother is in danger after all.”
Pandora glanced at Cupcake, surprise blatant on her face, followed swiftly by resignation. “You have a point. But I’m docking you that star for insubordination.”
“Of course, boss,” Cupcake replied.
Star shook her head, trying to massage her head even harder. Yes, she was gaining a new appreciation for madness. “Why is everypony around me insane?”
The group emerged into a roadway. A roadway that also seemed to have been the sight of a small war. Burnt trees wafted smoke into the already blackened sky, their fires joined by a dozen burning vehicles crashed all along the road. Only two vehicles remained intact, both of them trucks, one of them stuffed full of bound and gagged soldiers. Star and Pandora shared a single glance with each other, agreeing silently for the first time since they’d met.
Cupcake is freaking terrifying.
“Right this way, boss,” Cupcake commented, as though she were describing where to find the pickles in the pantry. She casually hopped into the driver’s seat of the truck. “I’ll need Ms. Starburst up front with me. Boss, you’re going to have to hide in the back, if that’s alright?”
Pandora sighed theatrically. “I suppose I’ll survive.” She snapped her paw and conjured a luxurious four poster into the back, curling up into it. “The hardships I endure for family.”
Star glared at Pandora, but just as she opened her mouth for a snide comment, she found a set of fatigues shoved at her. She glanced down at them, then up at Cupcake, who had somehow already slipped into a set of her own. “Ms.Starburst, I’m going to have to ask you to change.”
“Alright.” Star grabbed the clothes, then started to slip out of her armor. It felt wrong, shrugging off what had become her second skin, but she understood the need. It wasn’t hard to figure out just what Cupcake was planning, though the fact that Cupcake already had a plan was slightly disconcerting. After a second or two, she was clad in her new uniform, and scowling profusely at how the sleeves and helmet managed to sit almost perfectly wrong on her body.
“What?” Pandora snarked from the back of the truck. “They didn’t have anything in children’s?”
“Why don’t you check the hospital gift shop?” Star shot back. Without warning, Pandora lifted a paw and snapped. Star almost jumped for her right there, until she realized just what had changed. She glanced down at her now perfectly form-fitted uniform. “What?”
“Don’t say I never did anything for you.” Pandora grinned, slumping back into her bed. “Seriously, don’t. Or else I’m counting it as two favors.”
Star just glared, before climbing into the side seat with Cupcake. This adventure could not be over soon enough. As soon as she did, Cupcake gunned the ignition, and the entire truck roared to life, making Star jump.
“It’s similar to a train on wheels,” Cupcake commented idly, either oblivious to or just ignoring Star’s skittishness. “Fairly clever if one doesn’t want to invest in a rail infrastructure.”
Star stared at Cupcake a minute. First combat, now heavy machinery. “I’m sorry, but what is it that you do?”
“Whatever the boss needs,” Cupcake said, gunning the throttle. “And I bake cupcakes.”
The two Twilights found it impossible to talk as they were escorted through their prison. Everywhere they looked, there were more guards standing watch, a full legion occupying the blank steel halls through which they wandered. Occasionally, one would nudge the other, pointing down a passing hallway at various sights. They passed infirmaries filled with ponies, their hooves still bandaged from the addition of their metal tines. They passed cavernous garages, packed with vehicles of all shape and make. They passed weapons ranges, muted flashes and thumps seen from behind heavy glass.
“It’s like everything here is devoted to war,” the younger muttered softly.
The elder nodded silently, agreeing even as she tried to build a mental map of the labyrinth in her head. Already, the facility was staggeringly massive, with the estimate only growing with each hallway they took. “Not every world lives happily ever after, it seems."
“No,” the soldier leading them grunted. “They don’t.”
Their path led them to a massive pair of doors labelled ELEVATOR A. Waving them ahead, the soldier waited until they were inside, before stepping inside and keying in a combination on the control board. A moment later, the elevator lurched into motion.
“Time to meet our host,” The elder muttered.
Star felt her heart hammering in her chest. She’d been in fights. She’d participated in a few adventures, but all of those had been at the front lines. Armor-clad and hooves swinging. She’d never been one to skulk behind the scenes and worm her way past the defenses. In a way, it was infinitely worse.
She could see the checkpoint rolling up, a narrow gap in the barbed wire and chain link fences that ringed the entirety of the town. Seated at a small concrete kiosk, a bored guard glanced up from what was probably a magazine masquerading as paperwork. Already, it felt like he could see right through her, and a sweat began to break out along her brow. It felt like the truck went slower with every second, leaving her longer and longer to be found out with each passing second.
She suddenly had a newfound appreciation for Illusion’s time spent in disguise.
“Halt!” The guard finally called out as they pulled up to the barrier, looking them over. “What are you doing back? Where’s the rest of the convoy?”
Star massed all her willpower, and shoved down every drop of anxiety she could. It was time to do or die. Drawing herself up, she shot a glare at the guard. “We got ambushed just outside of town. We got wiped out, and if I don’t get this cargo secured ASAP, we’re gonna be riding around in a crater you could bury this town in!” She flared her wings for emphasis, their awkward thumping into the sides of the driver’s cabin only adding to her act of panicked disarray. “Get your ass in gear and get us inside! We’re sitting ducks!”
“Wait, that makes no sense, the convoy was only--” Whatever else he was going to say was lost as a soft snap echoed from the truck’s cargo compartment, and a moment later a massive violet explosion demolished the edge of town. Already rattled by Starburst, the guard snapped. “Crap in a can! This is a code red!” Finally panicked the soldier slammed the gate button, grabbing up some sort of device in his hoofclaws and shouting into it. “We are under attack! Secure the perimeter and radio artillery!”
As he spoke, he waved them inside, Cupcake driving them calmly even as Star battled cardiac arrest. Around them, soldiers rapidly streamed out of their forest of bunkers, those ponies out of uniform pulling up their weapons as well as they raced to defensive positions. Ahead of them, the massive tree lit up like it was burning, a million glowing embers winking to life among its branches and bark, their purpose unknown. Ahead of them, the road led into a massive recessed door at the base of the tree, a gigantic garage already visible as other vehicles streamed out, bristling with cannons and armor.
It took them a few moments to enter the cavernous garage, and get some distance from the tides of personnel. As soon as they were out of earshot, Star whipped around to glare into the back compartment. “What the buck do you think you’re doing?!”
“Selling your little act, princess!” Pandora hissed back, glaring through the back window. “You were bombing it hard, and so I decided to bomb something else harder. And now we’re in, so you’re welcome.”
“They’re also on high alert you lunatic!” Star had to restrain herself from smashing through the back window and throttling her pseudo-semi-sibling to death. “How are we supposed to find Twilight now?”
“We run to the cells in the confusion?” Pandora shrugged. “Geeze, have you ever read a book?”
Star flushed bright red as Pandora inadvertently slammed a figurative hoof on one of her nerves. “Have you ever gone outside?” She snapped right back. “Half those thrillers are crap, and the rest are garbage! Believe it or not, they actually design guard procedure to prevent that sort of exploitation!”
“Well do they design guard procedure to prevent this sort of exploitation?” Pandora snarled, snapping a paw and conjuring up a big grinning bomb in the other.
“Yes, let’s blow our way through the facility holding our parents!” Star all but shouted.
“Brace yourselves,” Cupcake said.
Both girls had just enough time to glance forward and realize that Cupcake was accelerating straight for a pair of closing blast doors within the tree. For the second time that day, Star and Pandora agreed on one thing.
“Foal of a nag!”
And then they blasted through in a tortured scream of metal.
It felt like hours before the elevator doors opened, letting the two Twilights out. The soldier did not follow, the elevator doors closing and leaving the two Twilight’s alone. Sharing a glance, they instead turned their attention forward. Unlike the rest of the facility, this place was lavishly decorated, massive walls of polished crystal forming an arched hall that would have fit in perfectly among the palaces of Canterlot.
As they walked, they found the walls adorned with great oil paintings and glass display cases of various oddities. One was a massive portrait of Rainbow Dash, her mane fluttering in the wind of a new dawn, her polished armor glinting in the sunlight. In the display case beneath it, a pair of goggles sat ensconced in the glass. Beside it was a portrait of Rarity, resplendent in armor of her own, standing proud atop the walls of what could have been Canterlot, her own protection striking a balance between ornament and implement.
“Every one of them’s in armor, even Pinkie,” The younger murmured, looking them over.
“Look at those fortifications in Cloudsdale and Canterlot,” The elder pointed out, gesturing at the paintings. “And the blade motifs in the banners. It seems martial prowess was far more important in this world.”
The two continued their tour, until their path led them out into a massive office. Massive windows lined the far wall, looking out on the roiling skies of black and grey. Below, the countryside sprawled out, a dark green more reminiscent of swamps than fields, great gashes of churned earth marring it here and there. Within the office, the wan light only barely illuminated a lone desk, its dark hardwood almost black.
At it sat a lone pony, her eye fixed on them even in the darkness. “Welcome, Twilight Sparkles. I believe we have much to discuss.”
“Get me out! Getmeoutgetmeoutgetmeout!” Pandora struggled frantically, her half of the truck rapidly being crushed in the elevator doors, her own body stuck where she’d tried to clamber through the back window.
“Oh, if only you were a bit smaller,” Star grunted with more than a little satisfaction as she strained to pull Pandora free alongside Cupcake.
“Oh bite me!” Pandora shot, pulling back as hard as she could.
“I prefer my meals low-fat!” Star snarked, finally pulling Pandora free as she and Cupcake tumbled backwards.
“Oh ha ha,” Pandora grunted from her faceplant on the floor, slowly struggling to her hooves. “Maybe I’ll bite you instead.”
“You’re welcome to try,” Star mumbled absently, already ignoring Pandora in favor of the massive elevator that had become their prison. It was little more than a massive steel platform, wedged into a shaft that stretched up to a distant set of doors above. Along the sides, massive gears ground into tracks in the walls, hauling the platform up and down. Currently, it was heading up. “I don’t like the looks of this.”
“Not one of my better moves,” Cupcake admitted, already trotting over to the controls. Giving it a few experimental manipulations, she nodded, then disemboweled the controls with a thrust of her hoof, roughly splicing a few wires together afterward. “That should get us where we’re going.”
“Where are we going?” Star cut in. Admittedly, she wasn’t inclined to doubt Cupcake at this point, but she would hardly call her current situation inspiring.
“Probably some sort of epic showdown,” Pandora commented with a stretch and a grunt. “These things tend to end in those.”
“Or they’re going to cut the power, and then going to drown us in soldiers,” Star commented darkly. “Nice going, Pandora.”
“How is this my fault?” Pandora shot back, shocked. “It was Cupcake’s idea!”
“It was,” Cupcake agreed. “And we’re headed--”
“Yeah, a bad idea she had thanks to your screwup!” Star stalked over to Pandora, wings wide. “Ever since we got here, you’ve done nothing but screw around! Do you even care?”
“Look who’s talking,” Pandora hissed, her expression genuinely nasty. “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have even made it this far. Maybe I’m a screwup, but at least it matters if I screw up!”
“Yeah, it does! And what do you do? You keep screwing up!” By now spittle was flying from Star’s shouts. “My mother is going to die, your mother is going to die, and it’s all on you!”
“And that must just rip you apart,” Pandora sneered back. “The little never-was. Born to one of the greatest heroes to ever live, and all you’re gonna be is a footnote in history and a corpse in the ground!”
“I’ll kill you!” Star screamed, leaping across the space and taking Pandora right in the middle. The two tumbled across the ground before Pandora got her hooves under Star and kicked her across the room.
“Be sure to save me a seat in the hereafter!” Pandora shot back, snapping up a bomb and chucking it at Star.
Star had barely a second to register the grinning explosive flying at her. It was long enough. “You first!” Rolling on her back, she kicked the bomb back to Pandora, leaving the draconequus only a moment to register the turnabout before she exploded. She flew against the wall with a resounding clang, leaving her open for Star to leap upon.
Snarling, Star took Pandora by the horns, and shoved her head against the wall of the shaft, trying to force her head into the grinding space between the floor and wall. Pandora tried to pull up her paw to snap, but Star was faster, slamming her hoof down on the limb with a crack of breaking bone. “No more tricks!”
Pandora howled in pain, turned her eyes on Star, their depths practically burning with hate. “Wrong,” She stated, and blazing violet energy flared in the depths of her throat. Her head was turned away from Star, so she couldn't hit her, but she didn’t try to.
Pandora let fly with her blast from her maw straight into the floor, knocking both her and Star away, and breaking Star’s grip. As Star struggled back to her hooves, it was just in time to see Pandora leveling another blast dead at her. In that instant, her life flashed before her eyes. With a grim agony she realized Pandora had been right. She would disappear a footnote in history, a blasted crater, just because she’d been born a pegasus.
For some reason, the thought didn’t leave her as sad as she expected.
Maybe, if magic was this important, then it wasn’t a world she wanted to live in after all.
SMACK
Pandora’s blast scored the wall of the shaft, spraying bits of steel across the floor. Pandora herself merely stood there, eyes vacant and blinking. Before her, Cupcake stood stock still, her hoof still outstretched from where she’d clocked her boss. Slowly, Pandora turned back to Cupcake, utter confusion in her eyes.
“Enough boss. That’s enough.” Slowly, Cupcake turned to Star, displaying the first emotion she ever shown: anger. “You too. Up.”
Awkwardly, Star stood up, her joints already aching from the blows she’d taken. Without a word, she trotted over to Cupcake, even as Pandora sat down, still drifting through a state of shock.
“Both of you need to stow it,” Cupcake stated bluntly. “It doesn’t matter if you share a mother or a toothbrush. We’re all failures. We’re all screwups. And we’re all here for the same reason.” She shot one more glare between the two of them. “Now, if you’re done making me watch two of the most talented mares I’ve ever seen sink to the level of foals, we have some ponies to save.”
There was silence.
“Cupcake…” Pandora finally uttered.
“Sorry about that, boss,” Cupcake stated, back to her monotone. “Had to be said.”
“No, no, you… you were totally, right. Thanks.” Pandora glanced at Star, confused emotions flickering across her face. “Look, I don’t like you, alright? You’re the worst kind of hidebound, by the book do-gooder I cannot stand.” She held up a paw as Star began to object. “And a lot of that is because… I know that’s the pony mom wishes I was.” She sighed. “I can’t help it sometimes. The world is just so stupid and rigid and I hate it. But she loves it, her rules and regulations. And I can see it every time I blow up another bakery or cause another custard flood. Why can’t you be a good girl?”
“Boss…” Cupcake muttered, a soft sheen of sympathy glinting in her eyes.
“Look at me,” Pandora muttered, taking a moment to wipe her eyes. “One smack and I’m blubbering like a little kid. I’ve gone soft Cups.”
“I get it,” Star cut in, catching both their attention. “I get it. She looks at me like I’m an alien sometimes. Or even a cripple. You know she forbid Nighty from teleporting inside the house because it was unfair?” Star indulged in a small sniff, quickly coughing and taking a deep breath. “Magic is everything to her. It’s her life. And here I am, bashing heads and working out, and I might as well be speaking another language. Even Aunt Dash likes to read, at least, but I’d rather do, and she just doesn’t understand what that’s like. To hold something in your hooves, to see it for yourself.” She snorted softly. “At least she eventually got the kid she always wanted.”
“Hey,” Pandora finally said. “Sorry I bucked it all up.”
“No, we were probably sunk before that,” Star muttered. “You were right, I was blowing it.”
“Guess our moms were screwed the moment they had us, huh?” Pandora asked.
“Guess so.” Star sniffed one last time. “Least we tried, right?”
“Least we tried, sis.” Pandora reached over and pulled Star into a hug, followed by Cupcake as well. “And thanks Cupcake, for beating a little sense into us.”
“Somepony has to,” Cupcake stated, back to her old self. “Now, if you’d give me a moment, boss, I can explain my plan.”
The two Twilights sat down at the massive desk, awkwardly watching the pony behind it. She was actually quite striking, or had been once. She was a pure white earth pony, with a light rose mane that had been shaved to little more than an efficient stubble. Her one good eye was an almost sky blue, and bored into her guests with a hawklike intensity. She extended a hoof across the desk.
“Sunny Skies. I apologize for the inconvenience, but circumstances dictate.” She shook each of their hooves in turn, before settling back into her seat. “Tell me, do you have any concept of why you’re here?”
“Because you want something,” The elder stated bluntly.
Sunny smiled, nodding. “I would expect that much to be obvious. I’m sure you’ve seen the state the world is in.” She spun around in her chair, her lone eye sweeping across the wasteland that was Equestria. “Not many ponies even remember what it was like, back then. I’ve seen soldiers stare at my old paintings in curiosity. I even had one ask me why the sky was blue.” She let out a soft, bitter laugh, remembering the expression on his face when she’d explained that it still was, above the clouds.
“What… happened here?” The younger finally whispered, her eyes wide.
“A betrayal,” Sunny muttered, older memories boiling to the surface. “The short sighted actions of the fearful and ignorant.” She sighed and shook herself, pushing the feelings back down. “But such is the burden of leadership. If we all knew the proper course, we’d have no need of leaders at all.” She turned back to the ponies, steepling her hooves as her gaze swept over them. “Enough philosophizing. Let’s get down to the meat of the matter.”
“Fair enough,” The elder began. “Why have you brought us here?”
“I have no idea,” Sunny stated bluntly, as though it were the most normal thing in the world.
Dead silence fell.
“What?” Both Twilights asked at once.
“I do not know,” Sunny replied simply. “In truth, I haven’t known what I’m doing for centuries now. All I know is that the visions will lead me true. They always have.”
“That’s absurd!” The younger blurted out, flailing her hooves. “You can’t lead just by visions!”
“You never complained before, Twilight.” Sunny leaned back, a calculating gleam in her eye. “But then, I suppose you never knew.”
“What?” The elder whispered quietly.
“Oh come now. I remember you being a little quicker than this. What earth pony lives for centuries and speaks of visions?” The gleam in her eye turned impish as she watched the gears turn in Twilight’s head.
“Celestia?” The elder finally asked, horror apparent on her face.
“What’s left of her,” Sunny admitted. “But it’s alright. I foresaw this, as I foresaw the rest. As I foresaw two Twilights sitting before me, beneath a black ash sky.” She smiled. “Everything is as it should be.”
“This?” The younger thrust her hoof to the sky. “This is how it should be?”
“Yes.” Sunny nodded. “I know it can be difficult to accept, but this is the best of all worlds. I had trouble accepting it myself. When the visions told my of my sister’s betrayal, I doubted. When they told me of the Crystal empire’s fall, I thought Sombra could never truly seize power. And every time I paid a price so much higher than what they asked.” She turned back to the black sky outside. “I have learned to accept what what I cannot change. A lesson my enemies still reject.”
“Your enemies?” The younger asked.
“Rabbles of idealists still flying the flags of old. Ponies who have not accepted what must be done.” She sighed, her lone eye reflecting the world with no shortage of regret. “Ponies who will fight the inevitable and lose, as I once did.”
“So, that’s it. You just gave up?” The younger spat, standing up. “You just submitted to your visions, to their beck and call?”
“Twilight. I gave up long before I ever met you.” A sad, lonely eye fixed upon the Twilights before it. “I sent an untested filly, without combat training or guard, against an immortal force of darkness I myself could not defeat. And then I did it again, and again. I sent Shining armor against Sombra when I knew he hadn't a prayer, and Cadance to share his doom. I threw the fight against Chrysalis when I could have plastered her across the floor. And I’ve given up my alicorn magic not once, but twice, this time for good. Because it will all work out in the end.”
“That’s insane,” The elder whispered.
“My sister said the same thing,” Sunny said. “She’s dead now.”
In the silence that followed, a flash and an explosion roared in the town below. “And that, I would assume, is what I’ve been waiting for. Come, let’s see what fate holds in store.”
Star coughed, staggering about as muted clangs rang in her ears and the floor lurched beneath her. Blinking, the smoke stinging her eyes, she just barely made out Pandora gesturing something at her. She could only blink dumbly as Pandora threw a rubber ball and knocked the pair of earmuffs off her head.
“Come on! This thing’s gonna go!” Pandora shouted, reaching from the hole she’d blown in the wall. Sure enough one of the elevator’s gears had come clean off its track, and the other sputtered and sparked as it struggled to hold the entire elevator aloft. Star had only an instant to register this before the world dropped away from beneath her hooves.
Reflexively, she spread her wings wide, trying to balance out into a glide. The motion nearly swung her into a wall, and she actually had to jump off the scarred steel to avoid a crash. Still falling, she flapped frantically, a lethal cascade of shredding steel whipping past her as the elevator tore itself apart against the walls. Caught in the elevator’s downdraft, it took her several heart stopping seconds to slow, her massive wings dangerously unwieldy in such a confined environment.
Flapping in midair, she watched as the elevator finally slammed into the ground, sending up one final spray of sparks as it smashed down into a chamber below. A few seconds later, every light in the shaft flickered and died, before illuminating again in a deep blood red. All throughout, alarms began to blare, howling out an ominous message.
“Warning. Curvature array misalignment. Degenerative cascade imminent. All personnel, please evacuate.”
That doesn’t sound good. Star thought to herself, quickly flapping back up to the hole in the wall they’d blown, the opening illuminated by about thirty birthday candles clutched in Pandora’s paws. As Star got there, she couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “Birthday candles, really?”
“Hey, I ask for a candle, I get a candle,” Pandora shot back, chucking away the burning sticks of excessively festive wax. “Chaos doesn’t do practical.”
“Boss, Ms. Star, we should really get moving,” Cupcake pointed out. “I admit my plan didn’t account for meltdowns.”
“Right, we need to hurry,” Star agreed.
Sadly, hurry and access tubes were not terms that often got along. Almost immediately, their progress devolved into shoving and pushing as quickly as they could. This time, however, there were no jibes or jabs, just the silent progress of mares on a mission. After several minutes in flashing red darkness, Cupcake finally stopped. “Here,” she announced, thrusting up a hoof, and kicking an access panel off with one blow.
The three of them quickly spilled out into an opulent, crystal clad hallway, lined with pictures all along its length. Pandora grunted as she stumbled out, taking one glance and snorting. “Well, Cupcake, looks like you did it again.”
Star had to agree. This place had evil lair written all over it. “How’d you know this was here?”
“Saw the windows from outside. It’s really a poor design flaw,” Cupcake commented, already taking the lead down the hallway. "The rest was basic geometry and structural design."
Pandora stopped, glancing at something on the wall. “Geeze, someone has a fetish,” Pandora mumbled, eying the paintings with a raised eyebrow.
Star took her own look, briefly struck by the beauty of the pictures. She’d never seen her aunts like this, armor clad and heroic. To her, for all the adventures they’d had, they were mothers and family first. And yet here they were, venerated as warriors.
Like herself.
“You coming?” Pandora asked, giving Star a tap on the head. “Don’t tell me you’ve got a wingboner for this too?”
“No, I don’t,” Star grumbled, swatting Pandora away. “Just weird is all. Come on.”
Still, something about the pictures lingered in her head. She’d never voiced it, but seeing her aunts, the heroes of Equestria, as just common mares had always bothered her somehow. It didn’t seem right, to trust the fate of Equestria to what would barely qualify as militia. And yet, here they had been warriors, and this world was a place of darkness and violence.
Was it because they had chosen to fight?
“Interesting. Not what I was expecting.”
Star blinked, quickly berating herself for drifting off. Before her was a massive office, bey windows opening on the black sky outside. Before a massive desk sat a sight she’d feared she might never see again. “Mom!”
“Star!” Said one of the Twilights, whipping around to look. “What are you doing--” She trailed off as her eyes flicked to Pandora as well.
“Right on time,” The other Twilight muttered, clearly the elder from appearances. “I expect the explosions were you, darling?”
“You know it!” Pandora announced with a sharky grin. “And I’m just gonna guess that this is the punk we’ve gotta stomp?” Pandora thrust a claw at the pony behind the desk.
“You’re welcome to--” The pony began. She did not finish, however, as inside that second, Pandora let fly with a searing blast of magical fury from her maw, and punted the pony clean against the window. Colliding with a thud, she slowly slid down the surface, her body letting out a slow, prolonged squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek.
The entire room just stared at Pandora.
“What? Was I supposed to let her finish?” Pandora asked.
“Well uh…” Offered the younger Twilight.
“It’s just not the way things are typically done, honey,” The elder explained. “But I suppose it works. Now can you get these rings off our heads?”
“Working on it Ms. Twilights,” Cupcake stated, stepping over to brace her hooves on the rings. With a simple squeeze of her hooves, the rings cracked and shattered, crumbing to the ground like stale cookies.
Star just stared at the felled pony, and her rescued mother. “This seems kind of anticlimactic.”
“Well, the place is still exploding,” Cupcake pointed out. “So there is that.”
“What?!” Both Twilight’s shouted.
“Funny that she wouldn’t have alarms hooked up to her office,” Cupcake commented, glancing at the still smouldering pony slumped against the wall. “Something about her seems familiar.”
The Twilight’s shared an awkward glance. “We’ll tell you about it later.”
Star cleared her throat, the whole exploding thing sticking in her mind. “Everypony, can we go before we’re all more or less obliterated?”
“Of course. This way!” The two Twilights announced as one, glancing at each other, before shrugging and charging down the hall, their rescuers in pursuit. They got as far as the elevator that had taken them there, quickly slapping the buttons, only for it to buzz at them and flash INVALID. “Dammit! Of course it would be locked. Cupcake! Help me out!”
“Star, you as well!” The younger added.
Quickly bracing herself against the door, her mother’s magic glowing beneath her hooves, Starburst put her back into it. Slowly, the door opened with a low screech, a swift gust of air roaring past them as soon as the doors opened a crack. “Woah, what on--” Star had to clutch her wings to her sides just to avoid being sucked out.
“You said this place was exploding?” The elder Twilight shouted over the howling wind. “Because that doesn’t feel like exploding!”
“I don’t think it makes much difference!” Pandora shouted, having grabbed onto one of the display cases herself. “Seems kind of like it’ll make us dead either way!”
“Well actually, that’s really dependent on the nature of the catastrophy!” The elder Twilight corrected, somehow managing to lecture despite struggling for purchase. “Judging by the complexity of the facility, there are any number of systems that could be reacting adversely with unpredictable results.”
“Cupcake!” Star shouted, remembering the warning alarm. “What was the warning it was shouting?”
“Curvature array misalignment,” Cupcake offered, the only pony who seemed to be managing to ignore the wind completely.
“Oh my gosh, this place has a space time distortion manifold?” The elder Twilight nearly squeed with delight, clopping her hooves with glee just long enough to nearly get sucked out the door. “Those are completely theoretical!”
“That would explain how we were abducted through our personal wards!” The other Twilight added, likewise grinning inappropriately.
“That would mean the facility isn’t exploding, it’s imploding!” They both shouted as one.
Star nearly smashed her head into the wall. “That’s great and all, mom, really, but what do we do about it?”
“There isn’t a lot we can do!” The elder offered. “If the array’s fallen out of alignment, then the aperture’s degenerated into an unstable wormhole. If it gets us, we could wind up anywhere!”
“Anywhere?” Pandora asked. “Like, at random?”
“Yes, at ran-- Pandora, no!” The elder wailed, too late.
“Chaos to the rescue!” Pandora immediately let go of her perch, and held out her arms, grabbing up the rest of her friends as she was sucked towards the door. Before she could do anything to save herself, Star found herself trapped in what would probably be the last group hug of her life, plunging into an empty elevator shaft. At the bottom, a churning maelstrom of flickering madness awaited.
What a strange way to die. Was her last thought.
Slowly, Sunny Skies groaned, rolling to her hooves. She hadn’t seen that coming. It wasn’t as though her visions were comprehensive, but she’d have thought they’d at least have given her a heads up. As she stumbled upright, she felt a powerful wind rushing past her fur. Glancing up, she saw her great bay windows broken, the first chunks of acid hail clattering about her office. Out her hall, a terrible howling echoed as the winds tore down it.
“Administrator!” Her desk crackled. “Administrator, are you alright? What are your orders?”
“I’m fine,” she grunted, pulling herself over to it. “Soldier, I need you to…”
She didn’t know.
The sensation hit her like a hammer blow. Frantically, she groped through her mind for that echoing thread of instruction. The path she was meant to follow. Instead, all she found was a chaotic mess of might-yet-be’s. She could order them to try and suppress the breach. She could order them to complete the evacuation. She could dive out her window. She could die with the ship.
She could. She could. She could.
But she did not know what she should.
“Administrator, please respond! What are your orders?” The desk blared. “What are your orders?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered, tears beginning to well in her eye. “I don’t know.”
And all she could think, as her fortress began to lurch, was that this is not how things should be.
Elder Twilight rubbed her head, feeling like she’d just been run through a fully outfitted hammer testing facility. She could hear dull muttering all around her, and as she opened her eyes, it was to a blurred world of color and shapes. Several of which resolved into an all too familiar face peering over her.
And then she realized that she was home.
As relief flooded over her, she reached up and pulled her husband into a deep kiss. “Hey honey, sorry you missed all the fun.”
She then noticed how stiff he’d gone.
And then she noticed Celestia also in the room.
A Celestia whose mane had not been destroyed by gum.
“Oh buck me,” Twilight muttered.
“Way to go, mom!” Pandora cheered.
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AWESOME! I'm sorry for things, can you forgive me Loppoditty? (I know she is/will be here)
5596573 It's 14K of two chapters, and I'm planning a slice of life sequel to toss into the kilala contest this... week? Month?
Just the same, thanks!
Pfft... Wait, how is this story complete?! You can't just end it on that! The Twilights are switched! Gah! >:[
5596634
Spoilers! *flails about*
NOT THE PUNCHLINES
You combining both artists' characters in one story, especially my favorite artists: kilala and Lopoddity? Thank you!
5596646
It seems we have similar tastes then!
Maybe I should have included more moths...
5596655 Hmm, moths you say? I'm now intrigued! Similar tastes, indeed, as a matter of fact I'll also be entering kilala's contest as well.
5596672
If you hadn't guessed, I'm probably doing Star. You?
This doesn't really seem like a complete story. There's so much left unanswered!
5596678 I'm doing Star and Prism, it shall be a little game of fun facts in fear!
5596684
Think of it as being akin of the first lord of the rings. My plan is to get a lot more out of this.
5596685
Ohhh, funny, I think mine was going to involve Star and fear as well...
She's got kind of a theme going, doesn't she?
At first glance the thumbnail makes it look like Discord was wearing a bonnet or something
5596689 She sure does, mine involves her fear of creepy crawlers so I'll be using spiders.
MORE
5596759
Really? So did mine!
5596801 Well what do you know, I guess my story won't be the only one with creepy crawlers in it.
All the AWESOME! Bravo this was a fantastic read!
This is complete? But what about Flashlight Twilight kissing Twicord Discord? How are they going to get home? And what about Dark Equestria? What's going to happen to it? Why is it this way? Why is Sunny such an idiot? WHERE ARE THE ANSWERS TO ALL LIFE'S PERSISTENT QUESTIONS?!
Oh, its part of a Verse. Nevermind.
5596936
In the seeeeeqqquuuueeeeeeelllll.... which would be slice of life, which is why it's not in here.
Now THAT was a fun read! Here's hoping for an equally entertaining sequel!
I got strangely excited about your use of the word 'hidebound.' You wouldn't happen to read Anne McCaffrey, would you?
Awesome.
5597395
I do not believe so...
5597395 I thought the same thing.
Is it wrong I feel bad for Breen-Lestia?
That was fantastic. A truly enjoyable read.
MOAR! Where is MOAR!?
Wow, some pretty harsh acknowledgements there. Nice lesson there, Cupcake (sheer badass btw, well done author ^^).
This story does a good job showing some of the interesting aspects of both universes, and what was said on the elevator could make things more interesting in said universes if other authors followed through on it... or rather if you followed through, author, with this supposed sequel you mention. Better damn well be; cannot end a story like this. And that sequel better be comprehensive and character developing as all hullabaloo, or else, to mostly-quote Big Bill Hell's Cars, you're a dead motherbucker.
In the spirit of the heavy tones you've imparted unto us, have an Unhappy Refrain. All the best, and be sure to edit in your spare time. Them typos can get distracting ;)
5597709
...oh my god. You're totally right. And I actually removed a half-life reference from a previous version.
...
Episode 3 confirmed?
5597915
Yes, I don't have dedicated proofers. So I usually wind up slowly buffing out the typos for a while post-publish.
oh my god you're a genius
This was a lot different than I was expecting... I love it!
heheheheh.... When she said 'for once can you exercise a little 'VWORP'' I honestly thought she'd been telling her to 'VWORP' away the mess all Chaosy like... until I got to the next VWORP XD
Did you know the poem you're quoting in the title is actually satire? It true! Makes any serious use of it pretty unintentionally funny.
If you do decide on a sequel, maybe include HazuraSinner's characters?
"Wait, there's yet another universe? And I'm married to Pinkie?"
5597968 The Combine Pony troops...The moniter stations, both are pretty standard dystopian fair. Then the citadel went critical
Uhh...I'm all for nerdgasms, Twiilights but is this really the appropriate time to be geeking out?
This was well deserving to get a spot on the featured list. I'm not the most up-to-date on both of these AU's but from what I have read you have the characters personalities down.
I love this story.
This is absolutely awesome. Have a like and a fav. Looking forward to the sequel with this smile on my face:
5598249
It's an in-universe thing. I can find you the reference if you like.
5598307
I think humor's my forte at this point.
5598886
Thank you! I do try to bring the material to life.
5599148
I always thought of it as a bit more abrupt.
Oh, nice! Good mix of humor, adventure and action, with a surprisingly dark alternate take on Celestia.
You realize this cries out for a whole bunch of sequels, don't you?
Is that a female Draconequus with Price Illusion
Must...read.
5599433
Oh yes. Oh yes I do.
Is it over?
5599672
Nope! But the sequel will be slice of life, so another story.
This was fantastically injoyable!
5599869 cool
Oh my god this was great. This is 100% original characters done right. Can't wait for what's next