A Cog in the Machine

by ManlyDerp

Chapter 10: To Be Heard... Part 2 of ???

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

Far removed from the grand stage, where no eyes can gaze… a scene plays out in silent melancholy

Its meaning is indecipherable

Its purpose not at all clear

Its importance… great

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

…

My eyes gaze out upon… It.

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

My resolve all but gone in the face of… It.

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

My voice… brittle and weak as I speak to It.

“… Hi there… long time no see.”

It… is empty. My words do not change this fact.

Yet… I continue to speak.

“Me? Well… I’m fine. Scared… but fine.”

It remains quiet.

“… That was a lie.

“A horrible lie.

“Probably the worst lie I’ve ever used in my entire life.

“It’s so strange… I’m usually good at these…

“Too good.”

Silence remains.

“…It’s just something I learned how to do; lying. I can even trick myself at times… It helps me cope when things head south.”

…

“… Heh, right… I always aim to be truthful, and never really try to be deceitful… but… things happen, you know?”

…

“… Like now. I’m… sorry,” I plead, my whole heart thrown into my words. “I’m sorry… for everything.”

Still… It remains quiet.

… I didn’t expect anything different.

“… There’s… something I need to do,” I told It. “I’m scared… but it needs to be done… Wish me luck?”

It… sniffles.

“… Thank you.” I utter as I turn to exit. Over my shoulder, I grant It one last look as I sigh and leave… possibly for the last time.

And, strangely… I’m okay with that idea.

… I wonder why…

Snap!

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

With the falling of a single feather… we return to the DJ

***^***

… You know what? Despite having been changed into a different species; despite being miles and miles away from civilization, despite being alone in the middle of a war I didn’t want any part in, despite the long term mental scarring, and despite constantly fearing what’s about to happen to me and the few people I actually care about… I will admit that this little adventure of mine has given me the chance to see some truly gnarly sights.

I mean, Heaven? The very definition of breathtaking.

Tartarus? The very definition of breathtaking… but not in the good way.

The inside of a sea serpent’s belly? Kinda wicked, in all honesty… now that I’m nowhere near it, that is.

Moon Canyon?

Really

Freaking

Metal

… Absolutely bone-chillingly horrifying… but metal all the same. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a picture of this place for my next album cover.

I’d also be lying if I said that this castle didn’t take the cake.

I mean, just look at this place! Despite it being wet everywhere; this place is super easy on the eyes. Fancy chandeliers, unique architecture, decent lighting, spiraling staircases (which are more like waterslides, thanks to the aforementioned flooding), and soundproof walls that block off the sound of the rain… If you had told me that this was the villain’s lair, I would have never believed you. For the first time in a long time, I actually feel safe! No guards, no war, no bloodshed, no crazy dragon worshiping bitch screaming into my mind…

… No maps…

Yeah, that’s the one downside this sw33t place has against it. Not even two minutes into my ‘quest’ to follow the magic orbs and I already lost said orbs’ trail twice due to the twisting nature of these hallways! Ugh! Both times this happened I became discouraged, but both times I was able to pick up the path again thanks to a new sphere appearing behind me. Because of this it was hard for me to tell if I was moving forward or simply being taken down a new path, but I didn’t let such doubts daunt me as I continued to move onwards.

… Actually, it did daunt me. It daunted me a lot. I hope I don’t get lost… well more lost then I already am I mean.

…

…

… I also hope I don’t die of boredom.

I mean, I didn’t expect tailing a bunch of floating light bulbs to be exciting, but I at least expected it to be interesting! My Celestia this is duuuullll! Maybe it’s just because I’ve had nothing but heart attack inducing episodes lately, but finally having a moments calm is starting to get on my nerves.

… I wonder what that says about me as a pony.

…

… Probably that I’m insane.

…

… Nothing new then.

***^***

“Okay… now we’re getting somewhere!” I shouted excitedly to nopony in particular.

Eventually (translation: fifteen grueling minutes), the orb's trail had led me to a grand dining room… one that had been seen better days. There was a giant stretched out table in here that looked similar to the ones royals like to buy for their mansions, but this one was beyond damaged. Holes, lumps, impaled through the middle by a fallen chandelier… this poor thing must have had the stuffing beaten out of it at one point. I wonder what happened…

… Maybe these pictures will give me a clue.

Yeah… this room is special for other reasons besides the table. I noticed right away that this dining room, unlike the long hallways and the previous room I had just been in, actually had stuff hanging off the walls. There was even a window in here!

… One that been bordered up with plywood (how… why… huh?), but a window all the same.

Anyways, the pictures. From a distance I was super excited to have finally found a clue that I could use, but when I reached said pictures I quickly discerned that I wasn’t going to get anything useful out of these quote unquote ‘works of art’.

Each and every painting on the wall had a blue X smeared over them, with the paint hitting the back wall as well. Something was also written on the wall at my eye level, but it was in a language I had never seen before so Celestia knows what it said. Taping into my slowly recharging magic reserves, I lifted down one of the four pictures so that I could get a better look at it.

I could barely make out what was going on in this portrait, thanks to the X. From what I could see, on the right of the scene sat a pink… thing. I think it was a seapony, but she didn’t look anything like those monsters outside so I’m not sure. I couldn’t really make out anything about her either outside of the fact that she was sitting in a chair, had pink scales…

… And a rather round belly… a rather pregnant looking belly. Interesting…

On the other side of the picture stood two creatures. I didn’t recognize them from Heaven, Hell, or even Equestria for that matter! They had hooves like a pony, wings like a griffon (kinda like Celestia’s, I guess)… but their heads were clearly different. They possessed twin horns in the same place as Cogy’s horns, and they had beaks like a griffon as well. They’re kinda cool looking, I’ll admit, but besides being able to see that they had beaks I couldn’t tell anything else. Even their expressions were lost on me, thanks to the blue X. I could only just barely make out their black fur and feathers under all that indigo!

On top of that, I was also just barely able to make out the name plate on the bottom of the portrait. Unlike the blue message on the wall, I was able to make out what this plate said, if only slightly. This picture was titled ‘Queen Gaia, Princess Silphe, BNMM 0034.’

BNMM 0034… let me think… its ANMM 2012 right now… we switched from BNMM to ANMM one thousand years ago… and we switched from YOF in the year zero… holy dubstep track this was painted almost two thousand years ago! Daaaammnn! And these two gals are that Gaia and Silphe ladies Starswirl went on about? Mmmmm… does that mean…?

Hurriedly, I put the picture (which appeared to have been drawn up with watercolors) back on the wall and took down another with my magic.

This one didn’t have what I was looking for. The tag this time was ‘Lord Asterion, BNMM 0140.’ It once again illustrated the pink seapony, but on the other side rested a creature that looked a lot like a… what’s it called? A… manticore! That’s it! He looks like those sweet lion/bat/scorpion things that chill out in the Everfree, only taller and more dog-like… also horns and, like, three times as many wings.

… The seapony was also just as pregnant in this picture as she was in the last one. Odd, considering the date… but whatever. I put this one back up and took down another.

‘Queen Chrysalis, BNMM 0350’ marked this one, and for the third time the pink seapony was pregnant. The creature on the other side kinda looked like a combination of Celestia and those bug like ponies I saw in Tartarus… Again, not what I was looking for so I put it back up.

This time, however, resulted in me finding what it was that I was curious in seeing.

‘Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Captain…’ That was all that was written on this one, the rest having been scratched off, including the date. Didn’t matter though, as I was still able to see the princesses and that was good enough for me.

Ha! Just as I thought! Princess Celestia used to have a pink mane! The rumors were right! Hehe… And Princess Luna looks exactly the same here as she did in the newspapers that came out around her return. Light blue fur, light blue non-ethereal mane, and the same cutie mark as well…

… I didn’t recognize who the other pony in the picture was though. I couldn’t quite make her (at least I think it was a mare) out, thanks to the X, but I could at least tell that she was just a unicorn, not an alicorn like the princesses, had green fur, and her armor was decorated in silvery gems. She must have been the captain of the royal guards back then or something…

For the fourth time, a pregnant and pink seapony sat on the opposite side of the picture… but this time I could tell that she was smiling. Unlike the other pictures her head was tilted to the side this time, thus saving her from the blue X. She, along with the two princesses, were all smiling as they looked on at the captain and her ‘playmate’… a tiny blue seapony kid. The little filly was blushing madly as she looked forward with a paintbrush in her little fin. The kid’s eyes were also slit, I noticed, and a piercing blue colo-

“Brrrrrr!” I shivered.

The sickly feeling of a glowing wisp passing through my body reminded me of why I was in this room in the first place. Turning my head, I watched as the orb phased through the wall in front of me and into the next room. Putting the picture back into its original spot, I exited the dining room and continued my self-imposed mission.

***^***

… This is getting eerie.

It’s only been a half-hour since I started following these things… but that doesn’t change the fact that, in that half-hour, I haven’t seen any guards, despite having gone up thirty floors.

I’ve gone up spiraling staircases that seemingly went on forever…

Traveled through a dozen or so rooms (all of which were empty)…

And I even found the throne room… yet I was apparently still all alone in here.

… The throne room was interesting, by the way, as it had an actual throne in it as well as still-intact pane glass windows. These enormous looking things were similar to the ones Princess Celestia has in her throne room (I got a sneak peak once as part of a school fieldtrip back when I was, well, this age) but unlike the throne room in Canterlot Castle these windows were completely blank, devoid of any murals or bright colors. They were just… dark glass. Rather boring…

What wasn’t boring, however, was the fact that the throne itself was slightly raised and slightly to the right. In this position, the chair revealed that it had a secret door behind itself… one that didn’t appear to be a secret anymore due to the congregation of glowing yellow balls that now occupied the space.

This area hidden behind the throne… was the scariest bucking room in this entire castle. Despite the change in species, I was still capable of tasting the magic that polluted the air of this place… and it was nasty! Bleh! This giant, circular, almost dome like area must have been used for practicing magic at some point. It even kinda sorta feels like that one training area we used to have back in magic elementary…

There’s one big difference though… the magic in this room was still here. It hadn’t faded over time, it hadn’t disperse into the air… it simply still was here. It must be because of these orbs of light… whatever the hell they are. Right now, about four of them are simply flouting in place, overlapping each other, in the center of the room. Why are they her-

…!

Oh, my bad… I meant to ask what were they doing here.

I guess this room wasn’t the final stop, and instead the room beyond it was. As the four orbs phased through the only other door in this chamber, their glowing forms remained glowing, despite the wall. That’s another odd thing I’ve been noticing… my vision of these things has been improving the longer I’ve been chasing them. At first they were kinda fuzzy, but in the last half hour they have grown brighter and brighter and brighter as well as clearer. I could now clearly see that they were yellow in color… and I could still see them through the walls. This was both cool and creepy; cool because it made it easier for me to follow them… and creepy because I was seeing through walls.

… Okay. I’ll admit it. It’s not really creepy at all. It’s all cool. Is this also some kinda landwyrm thing? Well… all the same it’s still pretty cool.

…!!!

What isn’t cool, however, is the fact that all four lights just phased through the floor and took off at high speeds towards the basement! Darn it! W-why did they do that? Was it because of something on the other side of this door?

Staring at the entrance for a good minute, my special eyes started making out another light source through the walls…

… A giant pink light source whose shape was as incomprehensible as it was terrifyingly big.

… Well now I’m at a crossroads here. I can either look inside this room and see what the hell this pink thing is, or I can head to the basement and try to continue following the yellow orbs.

… But I can’t even see those orbs now! They must be too far down…

Well… darn it. Again, I guess I don’t really have a choice.

Moving slowly up to the giant door, I gently opened it…

Skree…

Dust filled the air as the ancient portal became accessible. Water from the room I was currently in started flooding into this new room as well, making it apparent that, unlike the rest of the castle, it was waterless. It must be both old and dry… what are they keeping in here? Squinting, I tried to peer inside past the flying filt-

‘I wouldn’t go in there if I were you, bard.’

I snapped my head backwards.

“Starswirl?!”

‘Thankfully the one and only,’ my… ‘companion’ (big question mark there) replied. ‘Did you miss me? Don’t reply to that; I already know that the answer is yes.’

“Starswirl… shut the hell up.”

‘Were you lonely?’

“I said shu-”

‘It’s not nice to shout in the presence of royalty, Vinyl.’

“Tell ‘Lizzy’ to cram i-”

‘I’m not talking about Queen Lyssa… I’m talking about the other Queen in the room!’

“… Crap!”

Finally getting the hint, I ignited my claws and quickly tried to shut the door I was about to stupidly enter…

SLURP!

… But the appearance of a giant tentacle told me I was too late! Oh sweet baby Luna on high what the hell is tha-

SLURP!

Moving faster than my mind could ever hope to process, the giant pink appendage wrapped its slimy self around my puny form and dragged me kicking and screaming through its doorway… emphasis on the screaming!

‘Bard, calm down.’

“BUCKYOUTOTARTARUSANDBACKSTARSWIRL!!!BUCKYOUBUCKYOUBUCKYOUBBBBBBBBAAAAHHHH!!!”

Despite my best efforts (i.e., my screaming and attempts to scratch my way free), the monster was still more then capable of dragging me into its chamber…

And colt, let me tell you… if the last room only made me feel a little jittery then this room made me want to jump out of my own skin and re-join Starswirl in Tartarus! I was chocking on excess magic here! It was so dense that windows weren’t needed; instead, a literal rainbow of visible energy provided more than enough ambient lighting, allowing me to see everything.

Like how this place lacked a floor, instead possessing a potentially bottomless drop…

And like how the entire room was circular in design, reminding me of the inside of a silo...

… And like how an eldritch abomination now had me in it's grasp, as it’s twelve other limbs allowed it to hang from the walls!

“W-w-w-what t-the hell are y-you?!” I squeaked weakly in the face of the colossal.

… Or, at least I think it was its face! Despite all the lighting, the giant horror was still shrouded in darkness. It was like the shadows themselves were its blanket. The only thing I was capable of clearly seeing were its eyes…

.. Its rows upon rows of slit red eyes!

“… LiTtLe PoNy” it hissed low and oh so very threateningly.

And that’s my cue to exit! Screw figuring out what it is, screw figuring out where the orbs went, and screw wasting any energy on figuring out how it knew I was a pony! It’s time to get the buck out of Dodge Junction! Thankfully, my claws are still glowing with magic ener-

Fwoosh

… I now know where this thing’s mouth is. It’s directly in front of me and possess just as many rows of razor sharp teeth as the face possess rows of evil looking eyeballs. How do I know this, if the monster is still cloaked in shadows? Well… it just sucked up my magic! That’s how!

SLURP!

A-and now its tentacle just shifted its hold on me, this time restraining my claws against myself! Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap!!

‘Vinyl, stay calm.’

“S-shut the hell up Starswirl! I don’t have time for your BS!”

‘Bard, listen; I can help you here but only if you chose to cooperate with me!’

The monster’s mouth grew ever closer.

“B-b-but…”

‘I have nothing to gain in tricking you! I have everything to gain in helping you live! Just do as I say!'

My teeth started chattering as the monster’s own began to open. “O...o-okay…”

‘Good. On the count of three, look directly down and breathe magic on the first body part you see.’

“B-b-but I can’t see any of my limbs!” I whimpered.

‘That’s why I said on the count of three. Now, quickly think about… what on Equestria is the name of that racket you call music? Wubs?’

“A-actually I call it Electronic Basstastic Dubst-”

‘Wubs?’

“… Y-y-yes, wubs.”

‘Good. I’m going to start the countdown now. Think of nothing but wubs until I say three. Start now.’

The monster’s rancid breath was now fully smellable.

“S-s-starswirl?!”

‘One…’

The monster’s teeth were now fully viewable.

“Swirly!!”

‘Two…’

The monster’s drool was now fully feel-able.

“… T-think of wubs… think of wubs…”

The mouth began to close.

I closed my eyes.

…

‘… Three!’

SLURP!!

…

…

… I felt… weightless.

… I opened my eyes… and saw my tail right in front of me.

“Fwoosh!”

I quickly ignited it with my breath. Once it was glowing blue, I did the first thing that came to mind and summoned the power of telekinesis. I now found myself in a slowed free-fall, unable to figure out how I got out of the monster’s grip in the first place. Not having the time to think about it, I stretched my neck out, spotted where the exit was...

Pop!

And pulled off the most amazing straight-line teleport spell I had ever pulled off in my entire life… which isn’t saying much seeing as how I’ve only winked properly three times in said life. Still, I shot through that thing’s teeth, shot through a groove in its appendage, and shot straight through the doorway…

SLAM!

Which was now shut, thank you very much. The monster, despite seemingly possessing massive wells of strength, was just as incapable of opening this door as the seaponies at the entrance were.

… I decided not to look a gift pig in the snout by dwelling on it.

Once my glow left the door, I let out a low sigh…

… Followed by the laughing of a madmare…

… Which was then followed by the wailing of a madmare as I tried to wipe away the sweat from my brow… only to discover that my limbs seem to be missing!

Now I look like a landwyrm!

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

‘Bard.’

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

‘Vinyl, stop. We’ve already been through this song and dance before. There’s no need to repeat it.’

“I need legs to dance, Swirly! I NEED LEGS TO DANCE!”

‘Oh for the love of, here!’

Pop!

‘There! Happy?!’

Blinking once, I raised a claw that had not been there three seconds ago up to my face. A quick once over confirmed that all four limbs were now accounted for.

“How…” I tried to ask as I slowly got back up onto my feet.

‘Greed Growth,’ Starswirl replied swiftly. ‘By making you think of that which is dearest to your heart, in this case your love of music, I was able to force the artificial greed flame within you to burn hot enough for such a transformation to take place. You became a ‘teen’ wyrm for the briefest of seconds, thus freeing you from the hold you were trapped in.’

“W-whoa. That’s… actually kinda cool.”

‘Yes well it’s not something that I can easily do. Such a thing is usually Lyssa’s department, as she’s the one who donates the magic needed for such a thing to happen. Seeing as how you’re my little draconic and not hers, the task of ‘feeding’ you fell to me. I had to pump you with almost half of my mana reserves just to produce these pitiful results… side effects may include an increased tendency to lick the ink off of tomes and the sudden urge for meat.’

I stuck out my tongue. “Yuck!”

I imagined Starswirl shrugging. ‘It’s just the nature of magic transfusions. Shouldn’t matter though, now that you’re safe.’

Granting the doorway one glance, I asked in a hush “S-safe from what, exactly?”

Starswirl laughed at my expense.

‘Why, safe from The Eternal Broodmother: Queen Ambrosine, of course! You just entered the bedchamber of the most powerful being on the twin seas! Lucky you!’

Shaking madly, I took a step away from the entrance to my certain doom.

“Why would somepony like that be unguarded?!” I screamed. “W-wouldn’t I have been stopped by a bouncer or a trap or something?!”

‘You act as though being this close to a goddess is a bad thing.’

“IT IS!”

‘Hmmm… I suppose it would be for someone like you. I personally would relish in such an honor… but different strokes for different folks, I suppose.’

“F-f-freaking shut up, Starswirl.” I shook my head in a bid to forget about what just happened. “Why did you leave me alone earlier?!”

‘Heh, I knew you missed me.’

“…”

‘Greed flames can be fickle things at times, Vinyl,’ Starswirl replied, finally getting serious. ‘I can only communicate with you when it’s burning and it only burns when you feel threatened or when someone is threatening your hoard. Being inside of a sea serpent’s belly, being left out in the open in a warzone, entering an unknown room… these are situations where death is highly possible, thus your flame burned. Stay close to this doorway and we can continue to ‘chat’. Sounds fair?’

“Sounds dangerous and life threatening.”

‘Exactly!’

“…”

Unable to fight that logic, I popped a squat with my back leaned up against the door.

“Well… lay it on me, ya dragon loving nut. What the hell is going on around here?”

‘Eager to learn, are we? My, that doesn’t sound like my bard at all! Who are you and what have you done to Ms. Vinyl Scratch?’

I grunted in annoyance.

“Swirly, please… when the words ‘stop fooling around and get serious’ leave my mouth, you know it’s time to, well, get serious. It’s taking all of my willpower right now not to break down into a crying mess, so the least you can do is help me like you said you would.”

‘Hmmmm, I suppose you do have a point for once. Well then… where shall I begin?’

I blinked as my mind drew a blank. Well… crap. I don’t know where to start myself! My mind is so freaking full right now with questions that it feels like it’s going to explode! I need to know about this weird new vision thing of mine, and I also need to know about that civil war outside. I also want to know why this place is empty and how a door it preventing me from getting horribly murdered! Also… who the heck is Queen Ambrosine anyways?!

‘The Queen of the seaponies,’ Starswirl replied nonchalantly, once again reading my mind without permission. ‘I told you this back in Tartarus, don’t you remember?’

“Well that happened months ago!” I snapped. “You can’t expect me to remember every little detail when that much time has passed!”

‘… Vinyl… that took place an hour ago, not months.’

… Oh.

I blushed. “W-well it felt like months!”

‘Your inability to tell time aside, allow me to answer your questions at my own pace. Once that’s out of the way we will begin to search for a way back to the ship.’

I brought my two index fingers together as I fidgeted awkwardly. “I-is that even possible at this point?” I asked, admittedly rather shyly.

‘What did I tell you about being a quitter, bard?’ Starswirl asked assuredly. ‘Have a little faith in your betters; I’ll find you a way or you’ll die trying!’

I blinked. “Um… isn’t that saying supposed to go like-”

‘Allow me to start with the easier question,’ I was speedily cut off. ‘The one relating to the civil war.’

I stopped flapping my lips and remained quiet.

The old-as-dirt unicorn began by saying that ‘The sea serpent race has long been a treacherous and unorganized one, Vinyl. Being draconics, they worship Lyssa who fuels their inner fires as well as sate their greed. But… this world of ours possesses two oceans, as well as thousands of lakes and rivers. Sea serpents have long been a scattered people, thus no one single ruler has ever been established. Fighting amongst themselves was a common occurrence.

‘That is… until Queen Ambrosine offered them a place in her kingdom. This was long before even my time, bard, but Lyssa has willingly provided for me the memories of serpents long since dead to help me fill in the gap within my knowledge library. From what I’ve seen, the seapony Queen used to be a just and kind ruler…

‘… Unlike Celestia.’

I don’t think Starswirl meant for me to hear that bit. I pretended to ignore it (and prayed that she didn’t hear my mental opinion on it) as she continued.

‘This all changed when the Queen began to decay with age. When it got to the point where she was unable to even form a cohesive thought, her ‘daughter’ apparently took over in her stead. It was her actions that caused both wars. The serpents refer to her as the false goddess but you know this seapony simply as the mare who killed you… Princess Diamrem.’

At the mentioning of my murderer my body felt compelled to shake uncontrollably. It was like my very soul had just been dunked into the freezing cold ocean that awaited me outside these walls.

‘Hmmm, an interesting reaction,’ my mental guide remarked. ‘It is said that when you take a life a fragment of your soul remains behind in the victim’s body… it seems as though Diamrem now holds power over you.’

“W-which means?”

‘You fear her.’

“No crap, Sherlock!”

‘Don’t get snippy with me! I’m just stating the facts! I’ll keep this new phobia in mind though for when we attempt the escape…’

“I-I wouldn’t really call it a phobia,” I interrupted. “I just… don’t want to see her and her ugly mug, that’s all.”

‘How do you know her ‘mug’ is ugly if you’ve never seen it for yourself?’

“Well… if those monsters outside and the one in the next room are any indication, it’s got to be pretty damn fugly. I bet her teeth are nasty as well, and who knows how badly she must stink, what with swimming around in seawater all day long!”

‘… Bard, I know that she killed you and that you’re angry at her… but it’s not nice to say such things about people who are standing right behind you.’

…

…

“…AHHHHH!!!”

Once again screaming like a madmare, I quickly set my fist ablaze and used its magic to lift up the water at my feet. Swinging my claw with me, I turned and threw the contents of my azure aura…

… At the door to the Queen’s chamber. The liquid made a pitiful splash against the ancient wood right before falling back down to the already drenched floor.

“…”

‘Made you look~’

“… Celestia damn you, Starswirl.”

‘Oh she already did that long ago, Vinyl. That is a story for another time… like I was saying; you now have a phobia of the seapony Princess. Simply admit it and move on.’

“… I really don’t want to though. I-I’m going to need to do… well… something with her to end this war, won’t I? I’m going to need to either talk to her or, what seems more likely, f-fight her in the future, so I don’t want to admit that I’m freaking scared of her! At least let me pretend I’m brave!”

Swirly sighed. ‘Fine fine. Live your little dream; just don’t overestimate your abilities when the time comes for you to become useful. Also, speaking of abilities… I can see through your memories that you’ve taken note of your new eyes.’

Gazing forward at the latest balls of light that had just entered the room, I dismissed my ‘dragon vision’ (as I’ve taken to calling it) and enjoyed a moment of stillness.

“Yup, and I’ve got to say… they’re pretty tight!” I chirped cheerfully. “You’ve finally given me something sweet to play with! The whole ‘being a draconic’ thing has kinda already worn out its charm and these claws have turned out to be more annoying than cool… seriously, it’s like having four waggling hooves at the end of your wrists.”

‘Fascinating.’

“I suppose, but I’ve said it once I’ll say it again; give me hooves any day of the week! But, back on subject… what the heck are these things that I’ve been chasing around anyways?”

‘Well, first of all I feel compelled to correct you on your terminology. These red pupils you now possess grant you the power of celestial vision, not ‘dragon vision’… was that honestly the best you could come up with?’

I’ve discovered that shrugging is a much easier action to perform in my new body, now that I’m no longer on all fours, so I decided to do just that in response to Starswirl’s doubting of my l33t naming skillz.

“Eh, it was a tossup between either dragon vision or sw33t vision. Both sounded aight in my head.”

‘But you’re not even a dragon!’

“Well, yeah, but calling it landwyrm vision was just… no. Bleh! Heck, calling myself a landwyrm doesn’t sound right either! You said I can call myself a dragoness, right? Think I’ll do just that for now on… but now I can’t call myself DJ Dr4g0n! Looks like Cogy still has claim to that stage name… hmmm… l4ndwyr- nope. I can’t do anything cool with that! Dragoness it is then… or maybe DJ Dr4g0ne$$...”

‘… Your ability to waste what little brain power you possess on thoughts not even the word ‘trivial’ can be used to properly describe boggles my ancient mind.’

“Thank you! Thank you! You’re too kind!” I answered cheekily.

‘… Where did I put that desk? I have a feeling I’m going to need it in a bit… bleh, I’ve lost track of the conversation. Bard, what you are seeing with your… dragon vision… are the souls of the dearly departed.’

“… Are you pulling my leg again, Swirly?”

‘No, I’m afraid not. I wouldn’t joke around about such a… loaded subject matter. When your eyes glow crimson, you peer into the realm between life and death and see the world for what it truly is. The blue sun outside is proof enough that my words are true.’

“… How does that make any sense?”

‘It makes sense, bard, because the last time both you and I ever saw a blue sun it was at the pearly gates, as we waited to be judged.’

…!

Oh crap, I was right! W-which means Starswirl is also… “Well… buck. T-that’s kinda terrifying, now that I think about it…”

‘You still have doubts.’

“N-no…”

‘I’m in your mind, remember? Allow me to shatter what little amount of skepticism you had left by pointing out something you have not tried out yet for yourself.’

“A-and… and what would that be?”

‘Your vision has been improving the more you’ve been using your new gift, has it not? Now that you are capable of seeing souls through walls, such as the Queen’s massive soul… have you given yourself a once over? I know you haven’t'

“…”

I looked down at my claw.

“…”

-Gulp-

I’m… I’m almost too afraid to even try!

… B-but… but I know I have to. I need to know.

So, again, I closed my eyes…

“… Red.”

… And when I opened them, I nearly fell on my tail in shock at what I saw.

Right there, at the end of my wrist, overlapping my claw… was my hoof… ghostly pink and transparent… but it was my hoof all the same. Cranking my neck backwards, the equally ghostly manifestation of my flank and cutie mark were there to greet me in all their scary as buck glory. Despite this, despite being scared witless over seeing my ponyself again overlapping the tiny body I was now trapped in; despite me having a crap ton of questions concerning the orbs I’ve been chasing and why the hell I could even see this junk to begin with… only one question came to mind.

“… Why am I pink?”

Obviously the most important question.

‘You’re a mare, are you not?’

“Last I checked, yes.”

‘Well then there’s your answer. Have you never wondered why the color pink is heavily tied into feminine things, and blue for colts?’

“Not really, no. In fact, I really hate the color pink! Blue’s more my thang.”

‘It’s the same way for me. I prefer blue over pink, despite the color being prominent in my mane, but preference and who we are doesn’t affect the coloration. It is simply a guideline to how our bodies are supposed to grow and change as we age. The soul forms the body, not the other way around… although; sometimes the body can get in the way of this change, thus creating a dissonance between the two. Keep your eyes peeled in the future for fillies with blue souls and colts with pink… keeping their coloration in mind will aid you greatly when it comes to conversing with them.’

“I’ll… keep that in mind, I guess… wait, in the future? Like, as in down-the-road future?”

‘Well yes. What? Do you still doubt that a future even exists for you, that there is no hope? How many times do I have to tell you, bard? Quitting does neither of us any good. Our goals may be different, but surely you can see that by working togth-’

“No,” I again interrupted. “I’m not talking about that for once. I’m more concerned over the possibility of me being a landwyrm in the future instead of a pony!”

‘… You think the eyes are a part of your new body’s moveset.’

“Yeah… aren’t they?”

‘No… they are not. Vinyl… you peered past the veil that separates the land of the dead from the land of the living. You gazed upon Heaven itself and were chased by the guardian of Tartarus across its cursed soil… did you honestly believe that you would remain a mere mortal after accomplishing so much? These eyes, as well as the gift of celestial vision, are now yours to command. They will remain with you once your body shifts back into its birth form and stay with you for long after.’

…

I turned my head backwards… and confirmed that my tails (both the one with my horn on it and my ghostly ponytail) were now wagging madly like a dog’s.

I’m not surprised… I’m very very happy right now after all.

“I got super powers?!” I squealed excitedly, literally hopping in place.

‘… You were already a unicorn capable of performing the art of magic manipulat-’

“I got super powers!”

‘… -Sigh-, yes Vinyl… you got super powers. Congratulations…’

“Yay! I got super powers I got super powers~ I got… wait,” I abruptly stopped bouncing as something came to mind. “… What’s the catch?”

‘Catch?’

“Yeah! Catch!” I shouted, suddenly very nervous. “T-there’s always a catch for something like this! So, what is it then? Does it feed off my life-force? Does it make me a target for cultists? Gasp! Am I going to go blind?!”

‘… I don’t know much about the series, as I haven’t been given the chance to thoroughly look over your memories yet… but I highly recommend you stop reading so many Daring Do novels. They rot the brain. There is no ‘catch’; these are eyes meant for goddesses! Nearly perfect beings! It would make sense that they are without fault… outside of them activating of their own accord whenever strong spiritual activity is occurring around then, that is.’

Starswirl then muttered something under her breath. ‘…Well… there is also… legend… doom… thousand years…’

I blinked. “… What was that, Swirly?”

‘… Nothing. Nothing at all.’

“You sure?”

‘Positive.’

“...”

I opened my mouth to ask.

‘Don’t even try,’ she quickly cut me off. ‘You won’t get it out of me. I decided that the information was irrelevant and, if anything, it would prove nothing but a hindrance in the long run. Again… drop it.’

I huffed. “You’re acting pretty defensive about something that’s ‘nothing’.”

‘… If I were to tell you now the odds of your success would plummet from the minuscule levels they’re currently sitting at to a point where Cogwill’s survival would virtually be less than zero. Are you willing to risk your friend’s life for trivial information?’

“… This isn’t trivial. I’ve been with you long enough to know that this is far from trivial. I’ll drop it… for now, but I’ll be expecting it later though. Deal?”

‘… Deal.’

Now only a little unnerved as opposed to completely unnerved, I eased up and reorganized my thoughts. Starswirl’s right; I’ve got enough on my plate right now as is… I can’t allow anything else to bother me or else I’m boned.

… Won’t stop me from wondering about it though.

… Doesn’t hurt that I just heard Starswirl gulping on the other side of our mental connection either.

…

Taking a deep breath, I resumed our chat. “…Okay, wait… why are the orbs I’ve been chasing around yellow then if pink is for fillies and blue is for colts? And, come to think of it, why are they orbs in the first place? If my soul has a shape but they don’t… what the hay are they supposed to be anyways?”

Relief filled Starswirl’s voice as she answered me. She must be glad that I dropped the subject… for now.

‘Well, I cannot see them myself; I lack the gift you now possess.’

“Why?”

‘Last I checked I was a demon. I don’t think Heaven would take too kindly to a demon possessing an angel’s power.’

“Oh… okay, that makes sense.”

‘Good. As I was saying; I can only assume that these orbs are the souls of the seaponies being slain both here on this front and out there by Cogwill’s claws.’

I grunted angrily at that last remark.

“Cogy would sooner cry then kill, flankhole! I saw that myself! Don’t you dare try to put her in the same league as these stinky separatist sea serpents!” I stated proudly. Momma always said to always assume the best in ponies… although, that’s already screwed me over once with Starswirl…

‘But… you saw it yourself, Vinyl.’ Swirly argued. ‘Cogwill has given in to her greed… it’s the whole reason you’re even amongst the living right now! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already.’

“Well excuuuuse me for having a little faith in my friends!”

‘… Again, I’ll allow you to live in your little dream world and argue about it no more. Returning to your question… yes, they are most likely the souls of seaponies dying and returning to their Queen in death.’

… My brain hurts.

“Soooo… the blue sun…?”

‘Is there to take the souls of slain sea serpents to the gates of Tartarus.’

“But that’s not the case with the seaponies?”

‘Correct. You didn’t see any being judged in heaven, did you? That in itself should have been a warning sign… after all, Cogwill killed three in your name when your life was taken.’

“… I don’t know whether I should feel honored or sad about that… bleh, I don’t want to think about it. So, yes, dead seaponies don’t go to the afterlife… where do they go then?”

‘You should know. You’re standing there right now.’

“… Here?”

‘Yes.’

“Why?”

‘Well… this is the foot of the Queen’s lair…’

“Yeah, and?”

‘The room beyond this is the chamber of Queen Ambrosine.’

“And that’s important because…?”

‘It is the room of Queen Ambrosine… the eternal Broodmother… it’s all in the name, bard.’

“…”

And thus I lost my lunch for the third time today… making me question how the hell I had anything left in me after all this crap!

“T-t-that’s,” -Umbh- “B-b-bucking nasty!”

‘For once I agree with you.’ Starswirl commented. ‘I always knew that Ambrosine’s gift to her subjects related to something involving flesh… but I didn’t think that every single member of the race were her children. Even those who have passed away are not free from her, as their very essence is recycled in a horrific rotation of death and rebirth. It’s no wonder these souls are both formless and devoid of a prominent color; they have been forced to live for so long that their very individuality has been taken away from them.’

“H-horrible…”

‘Horribly frightening, I’ll personally admit. The prospect of their souls being extinguished must seem like a merciful release to them…

‘Unfortunately this means that the Queen, or more specifically her ‘daughter’ who had the gall to name herself Princess, has a nearly infinite army at her disposal.’

“But, if that’s true… why is this place so empty?”

‘I can only assume that something is keeping her offspring off these grounds… they seem to be rather mindless, so maybe it was by order of the Queen herself? Maybe it was her very last command before age destroyed her once merciful mind… either that or magical seals are what’s preventing them from opening the doors… or a combination of the two. Again, I can only assume.’

“…”

‘… Bard?’

I started pacing back and forth, my claw firmly planted on my aching forehead.

“… I’m… I’m still trying to process all of this in my head, Swirly. It feels like half a library of information has just been crammed into my brain! Even better, I still don’t know why sea serpents are fighting seaponies, or what the hay the Princess’s beef is, or why I even have this soul seeing power in the first place!”

‘I just answered how you received this power three minutes ago!’ Swirly snapped.

“Yeah, vaguely!”

‘No! Straight as an arrow!’

“Well yes I am but what does that have to do with anything?!” I huffed.

There was a pause…

… Followed by the sound of Starswirl’s brain breaking.

‘… I, no I meant, but you, and the…’

WHAM!

‘… Oh dear. It seems I have broken a perfectly good table with the force of my forehead. Please, bard… for the sake of my sanity, let us just move forward.’

I cocked my head to the side. “But… what does my sexual preference have to do wi-”

‘Oh sweet Lyssa stop stop stop! Simply trying to grasp the train wreck that is your though process is causing my own to become just as warped and indecipherable!’

“…”

‘Ugh, thank you. Let me think now… where would be the best place to continue this little game of ‘catch-up’?’

I placed a clawed finger on my lips. “Ummm… how about at the ‘Princess’s beef’ part? I really want to know why I had to die in the first place and what’s Cogy’s part in all this is.”

‘Certainly. All I really have are bits and pieces of Cogwill’s memory to help me on this part… but they’ll have to do. From what I understand, Diamrem…’

My body shook involuntarily.

‘… Wishes to flood the world, as she thinks this was her ‘mother’s’ wish. I believe most draconics think this was Ambrosine’s goals as well… but Lyssa has been telling me a different story; one where the Queen only wished to flood the world with the sound of music. I’m afraid it is impossible to know what the Queen’s true goal was… it may be lost forever to the bowels of history. Maybe the gods who conversed with her would know, but I lack the means to discover the truth.’

“Wait wait wait wait,” I tried in vain to slow things down. “So… she wants to flood the world?! That… makes a whole lot of sense, actually… but how the hell does she plan to do that?!”

‘Well, that brings me to the sea serpents’ part in all this. The rebellion happening outside is due to a disagreement between tribes. One side is aligning themselves with the Princess, the other with themselves. These ‘stinky separatist sea serpents’, as you poetically labeled them, do not seem to like the methods Diamrem has used to achieve her goals. So far on her track record she has ensnared the boat you were on in the hopes of obtaining magic, killed you so that she could get closer to an element of harmony, and-’

With claws waving back and forth, I tried to pause this little ‘lecture’ of ours. “Wait wait wait wait, wait… again. Element of Harmony?”

‘Yes… one of the strongest artifacts in pony history. Gifts from the heavens themselves, as the legend goes. A pony named Rarity is one of the current bearers. She was the seaponies’ target. Cogwill knew this somehow… she claimed you were the element in an attempt to protect you from the Princess’s cruel tactics… as you can see, it didn’t work.’

“… Ow… my head… again. T-this is way too much for me to handle all at once!”

‘You were the one who wanted to know.’

“W-well, yeah… but I didn’t think that there was this freaking much going on! Who the hell can keep track of all this?!”

‘You can and will if you wish to have my aid. I refuse to help ignorant ponies, and I find that knowledgeable ponies are easier to direct and lead. You need to know these things, Vinyl, and you’ll thank me once I leave you alone to deal with this war on your own. You may even survive if you’re very, very lucky!’

“… And suddenly I remember why I hate you. Thanks for reminding me, Swirly.”

‘I’m only doing what I feel compelled to do. With Cogwill the way she is, how else were you going to learn about what’s going on? How else were you going to learn about your enemy and learn about their hostage?’

… Damn it all, Starswirl. Stop being so freaking cryptic.

I sighed and rubbed my temples as I asked the question Lyssa’s minion obviously wanted me to ask.

“And who would this hostage be then? And why should I care? I’ve got enough to deal with as is here…”

As soon as the words left my mouth, Starswirl began to laugh. She laughed the same evil sounding laugh that she had, well, laughed back in Tartarus; back when she laughed at my declaration to change the future. Just as it did back then, her laugh sent chills up my spine.

‘Princess Luna, bard. The princess of the night is now a member of the seaponies’ dungeon… makes you question the amount of power the goddesses of ponies actually possess, doesn’t it?’

“… P-princess Luna’s here?”

‘Indeed.’

“T-t-that’s so… so…”

‘Discouraging? Frightful? Eye opening?’

“Awesome!”

‘… Wha?’ Starswirl asked just as bluntly as confusedly.

“Yeah!” I shouted happily. “Don’t you see?! This is amazing!”

‘… I’m… I’m too afraid to enter your mind again and discover what the hay you’re wailing about for myself. I fear my own mind would get sucked into the infinite hole of stupidity if I did such a thing.’

“Oh shut up, Swirly,” I smiled. “Think about it! This place is empty, right?”

‘Outside of the floating souls, yes.’

“The Queen can’t do anything to me from behind this door…”

‘Again yes. I’d imagine that she is too bloated at this point to leave her chamber.’

“Diamrem is probably busy with her two wars…”

‘Possibly, yes... what are you getting a-’

“This means I have full rein of this castle, dungeon and all!”

‘… You’re… going to attempt to save Princess Luna?’

I slammed my claw against my chest. “Oh hell yeah! Somepony has finally thrown me a bone here! If I can set the Princess free, then this war will be as good as over!”

‘That doesn’t make sense, bard,’ Starswirl was quick to point out. ‘The seaponies were already capable of defeating Luna, thus freeing her wouldn’t give you the winning edge. Need I remind you that the very definition of insanity is trying the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results…’

My smile faltered for a brief second. “Hey, you don’t know that she wouldn’t be of help… d-do you?”

‘Again, I only have fragments of Cogwill’s memory to go off of for my information.’

“So you don’t know how they got her!” I pointed out, smile returning.

‘Well… that is true. I know sea serpents were used, but that’s about it. I don’t seem to have access to said serpents’ flames for some reason so I’m not sure how they did it… they must have been altered with magic or the lik- what in Lyssa’s name do you think you’re doing bard?!’

I raised my foot forward.

‘Vinyl, if you step away from the door your flame will die and you will be on your own!’

I wiggled my toes.

‘A-at least let’s think this through first before you do something dumber than usual! You don’t even know where the dungeon is!’

I pointed a claw at my eyes.

‘… Oh… right… celestial vision… b-but…’

I leaned forward.

‘Bard!’

And forward…

‘This is stupid!’

And forward some more…

‘If you die Lyssa and I wil-’

Slam!

… And with that I took a step forward and allowed the flame to die, thus ending our connection. I’ll admit… that was a really hard decision to make. I’m now alone again… but now I have a chance here! I can’t quite picture a scenario where saving a goddess didn’t equal a good thing, after all! True, she would need to have been beaten before in order for her to have been captured in the first place… but I’m sure they caught her off guard or something. Starswirl herself admitted that goddesses are ‘nearly’ perfect beings, so I bet Luna is just as likely to make mistakes as the rest of us.

She’s also just as pony as the rest of us too, which is good because I really need another pony to talk to right now. There’s only so much I can do on my own. And Starswirl… well I just can’t shake the feeling that she only sees me as a pawn. Doesn’t help that talking to her only gives me a headache…

On top of that, I also can’t shake the feeling that Swirly is going to betray me or something at some point here. After all, she’s probably the snakiest pony I’ve ever met! Yeah, she’ll help me and save my life a couple of times… but she’ll for sure stab me in the back after she does, no question.

… Hehe… and when that time does come she’ll be laughing manically and I’ll be all like ‘nooooo’ and she will be all like ‘mahaha’ and then about fifteen startling revelations will pop up in rapid succession right before somepony admits to being some other pony’s mother and then-

… Wow. Okay… Swirly might have had a point about me reading too many Daring Do novels.

Meh, Harry Trotter is better anyways.

Well… whatever. I’m getting distracted here. I’m sick of this room…

“Now… where’s that dungeon?”

***^***

… Celestial vision isn’t helping me nearly as much as I thought it would.

Reversing the orbs’ trail helped me with backtracking… but that was all that they helped me with. The souls already showed me a good chunk of the castle, but they hadn’t showed me the dungeons. Even the power to see through walls didn’t help me at all either, as each revisited room only rewarded me with jack all. At least all the orbs were a uniform color; this meant that I just had to look for another pink soul like mine or the Queen’s and I’d be in business.

… Wait… would Luna even have a soul? I mean, she’s a goddess… No, wait, the seapony Queen is a goddess as well, right? That means she has to have a soul too.

… But would it be pink, or blue?

… These new eyes have given me a lot to think about. My mind started playing around with the stupid little thoughts it was cooking up.

“Heh… I bet Blueblood’s is pink. I always thought that guy was like a spoiled little princess… wait, is that what the coloration means? I mean… mine’s pink too! Ugh! I wish I kept talking to Swirly now…”

…

…

“… Octy’s… might be blue, now that I think about it. She’s not really a tomboy like me… but she was never really a girly girl like Cogy either. Heh… now there’s a soul I can confidently say is pink! But, back on topic with Octy… yeah, blue, no question. Her tendency to kick flank when provoked; the way she carries herself, some of her mannerisms and little habits…

“Also the fact that she’s a raging fillyfooler.”

…

“… Actually, that might not have anything to do with anything. Ugh… guess I have another reason to live on now then; to see that which nopony has ever seen before!”

…

“… And then I will extort the hell out of the information. Mama’s going to buy herself a new turntable once all this is ove-”

Shuffle

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!”

With both claws glowing bright blue, I jump backward and scanned the environment. I know I just heard something! With sweat dripping from my forehead, I took a step forward…

About-faced on the balls of my feet…

Zap!

… Then turned a mouse into a shot glass. After a few seconds the spell wore off and the mouse, though a little dazed, scurried off to parts unknown. Meanwhile, I remained frozen in place.

“… A mouse? Seriously?” I scoffed, shaking off the excess glow from my claws. “Where did that thing even come from?! Ugh! Okay… I’ll admit that having Starswirl watching my back was kinda nice. At least she could tell me if somepony was tailing me or something… oh well.”

With a shrug, I turned around with the intention of continuing down my path…

… Only to see something large quickly turn the corner in front of me and disappear.

…

Now, a normal pony in my scaly horseshoes (or would those just be shoes?) would be absolutely horrified right now. A normal pony would be screaming at the top of her lungs and running away in the opposite direction after seeing something like that…

… But I’m not a normal pony! Not anymore at least! I have dragon eyes and magic eyes! That split second was all I needed to see what exactly had just turned the corner in front of me…

Or, more accurately… who just passed me!

Breaking into a jog, I started to pursue my new guest. “Hey! Wait!”

I turned the corner… and the figure turned the other corner at the end of the hallway. This granted me a better look at this pony’s major defining feature that had caught my attention initially. Just like how my shades make it easy for ponies to identify me right away, this pony had the luxury of not only being big, but also the honor of having a unique mane.

I mean, nopony else has a rainbow ethereal mane, after all! Nopony… but Princess, Freaking, Celestia! Princess Celestia’s here! She must have come to save Luna! Swweeeeettttt!

Pushing as hard as my tiny draconic legs could take me, I broke into a full on run. Screaming at the top of my lungs failed to catch the Princess’s attention, but keeping my eyes the color red allowed me to see her pink soul as well as keep tabs on her in instances where I was too late in turning the corner. The splashing of water echoed throughout the hallways.

“Yo! Princess! Wait u-”

‘B… b-a-… b-bar-d… Bard! Stop running this instant and listen to me!’

The sudden return of Starswirl’s voice caused me to slow down momentarily, but with the shake of my head I continued my pace.

This didn’t stop the mare from screeching.

‘Vinyl! Pay attention to me!’

“Not now, Swirly!” -Huff- “N-need to concentrate here!”

‘That’s exactly the point!’ She wailed. ‘Stop being so impulsive and instead think! Does this scenario make any sense to you?! How could Celestia be here of all places?!’

-Huff- “W-well who else has a mane like that?!” I argued in between breaths. “Who else?!”

‘Well… Asterion is said to possess-’

“Exactly!” I cut her off. “Nopony! Now if you excuse me…”

Starswirl was at the point of screaming now.

‘Damn it all bard! Think! Think damn you! How am I even able to talk to you right now?! Your life is in danger! Disengage your tunnel vision and listen to m-’

“Hey Starswirl, guess what? Wubs in yo face!”

‘… What in the blue blazes are you talking abou- OH BY LYSSA’S ETERNAL WILL MY BLOODY EARS!’

Heh! Looks like I finally found out how to get Starswirl to shut up! All you have to do is get your mind to play the most annoyingly loud music you can (literally) think of and then set it on an infinite loop!

That being said… sorry, Neon Lights, but you still have a loooonnngggg way to go! Ha!

Now… back to the chase!

…

Or… not?

“Where did she…?” I asked to myself as I re-entered the grand dining room that I had visited earlier. Skimming my eyes around, I failed to locate where the Princess had gone off to. Well… crap in a hat.

“Thanks a lot, Swirly!” I pouted. “You made me lose her!”

‘Make it stop… please make it stop…’ the archmage whimpered.

I huffed in response as I went further into the room. Maybe I can find something that could point to where Celestia ran off t-

Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted something lying on the wet floor. Kneeling down, I picked up the now slightly ruined painting of Celestia and held it in my claws.

“Huh,” I remarked. “Must of gotten knocked down when the Princess galloped by,” I said out loud simply for the sake of momentarily ending the quietness. With the quick gust of magic, I levitated the item back to its original place on the wall. As I did, my eyes fell on the illegible blue writing that I had tried reading earlier.

“Hmmmm…” I wondered, equally as out loud. “Maybe I should have Starswirl tell me what this says.”

“It’s ancient Meremare for ‘Traitors’, little pony in dame's clothing.”

My eyes darted over the blue writing, then over the blue X’s.

“Ouch,” I remarked. “That’s kinda harsh, Starswi-”

…

… Wait.

“Starswirl… you’re still suffering from my wub attack, right?”

‘My bloody ears are literally bleeding!’

... I’ll take that as a yes… But, if that wasn’t her… then who just answered me?!

Once again spinning in place, I found myself all alone in this grand dining room… until a ghostly lock of hair tickled my nose right before exiting through the doorway to another side hallway. Not even a second later, Celestia’s long and (admittedly) glorious mane peaked out from around this corner and beckoned to me as it blew in the unseen solar winds.

… Okay, now I’m a bit worried. Turning my celestial vision back on, I bypassed the wall dividing us and bared witness to a giant, Celestia shaped pink soul attached to the end of the ethereal mane.

So, this is Celestia then. I was right… b-but… but why are my knees shaking?! Something just feels off here.

…

-Inhale-

I took a step forward.

“P-princess Celestia?”

The mane continued to blow.

I took another step.

“H-hi,” I waved nervously. “R-remember me? I’m Vinyl Scratch? The pony that accidentally burned down your hedge maze, like, twice last year?”

“…”

‘Celestia’ remained quiet. When I didn’t receive a response to my words, I halted my advancement and took the moment to consider asking Starswirl for advic-

!!!

Okay… I don’t remember Celestia having the power to change the color of her mane!

I mean, I know it’s like made of pure magic and junk… but why would she change it from a rainbow, to something that looks like Nightmare Moon’s mane… and then finally to something that looks like swampy colored seaweed?!

SLURP!

And sentient swampy colored seaweed at that?! As the snakelike tendrils ensnared me and lifted me off the ground, my mind briefly returned me to my earlier visit to the Queen’s lair, where the same exact thing happened!

‘Bard,’ Starswirl chimed in weakly as my mental music loop shattered. ‘T-that’s… -cough-, n-not Celestia. Also… you, are, an, idiot.’

“Y-yeah, well…” I replied, equally as weakly. “I can’t really argue with you at this poin-”

And that’s when the mane finally reeled me in, allowing me to meet its owner…

… It’s not Celestia in the slightest owner.

The blue-eyed seapony smiled toothily at me.

“Boo.”

And then the world vanished.

…

…

…

… Tick… tock… tick… tock…

Elsewhere… the feather’s owner returns to the stage

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

…

Clickclick

The sound of my claws hitting the cold basement’s floor.

Mrrrrrrrr…

The sound of the giant before me moving his massive neck forward in response to my approach.

… Grrrrrrr…

The sound of his annoyance.

… He quickly vented said annoyance.

“What is this…Yet another child wishing to disturb my slumber? Hmph. Just my luck… What is it you want, bird?”

...

-Sigh-

The sound of what could possibly be my final breath.

“…You’re Cog’s dad, right?” I asked the embodiment of my greatest fear. “Well, sir…”

Clickclick

The sound of me stepping closer to the monster.

“... My name is Nathan De La Griffon…”

Rrrrrrr…

… The sound of my crossbow priming as I took aim.

“And the two of us… need to talk.”

~To Be Continued~

Author's Note:

Artwork by More Dakka!

Also, before ya'll start asking me things concerning celestial vision, know this. It DOESN'T work on Queen Chrysalis... at all. It works on normal Changelings just fine, but not Chrysalis as well as a handful (hoofful?) of other beings. All will be revealed, don't worry

And lastly... lol, please check out this random deleted scene that I wrote while drunk! It was the proto-beginning for this chapter and I think my intoxicated brain was trying to tell me something

“… That was a close one, bard… but I fear those doors will be unable to hold back the horde forever. Head further into the castle now and attempt to seek shelter before they are able to…”

…

“… Bard?”

…

“… Oh by Lyssa’s left wing; she just passed out, didn’t she?”

“RRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!”

“Yes… yes I agree, my Queen. She is quite useless.”

Taking advantage of the momentary calm, I sat up and stretched out my leathery wings. With the wave of my azure hoof, I successfully wiped away the sweat that had accumulated on my brow. Goodness, this whole ordeal has become more stressful that I originally perceived it to be.

… But at least progress has finally been made. “I say, it was absolutely maddening watching her simply sit there and wallow in self-pity. It felt like months were passing before my very eyes, and yet nothing was happening! Who does that, in all honesty?! Who promises great things, yet provides nothing of worth for extended periods of time?! It’s like reading a book that’s still in the process of being written; it’s not ready… yet the author still sets it out there for all to see! Doesn’t even have the courtesy of declaring his work to be on a hiatus when it quite obviously is on one, the no good bast-”

“RRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!”

I blinked at Lyssa’s sudden outburst before realizing my latest folly. “Oh… oh I’m truly sorry, my Queen. I guess my mind decided to go off of a tangent there for a second. Not even quite sure what I was ranting about there either…”

“RRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRR!!!”

I blinked for a second time. “… Fourth wall? What in your name is a fourth wall?”

“ROAR… ROAR.”

“… That’s absolutely horrifying.”

“ROAR.”

“Well thank goodness it’s not a real thing then."

That's all for now!

Comments

[General Derpy]

Wait ... COG IN THE MACHINE? Are you doing World of Goo with ponies? If so, I love you.

[Asa_harris]

fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/186/5/7/what_is_this_i_don__t_even_03_by_zutheskunk-d4p6osm.png
two in one day
it's
it's
th03.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2011/291/7/2/me_gusta_by_felix_kot-d4czysz.png
me gusta

[oldtimeydude]

Let's just hope that the next three or so come out relatively swiftly. I do NOT want to be left hanging like this!

[ManlyDerp]

2038601
I pinkie promise that it won't take as long as these did!
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6tloooEV61qb6fvi.gif

[oldtimeydude]

2038646 For the rest of this 'chapter' or the rest of the story is my question.

[ManlyDerp]

2039503
iambrony.jsmart.web.id/mlp/gif/131720161509.gif?1317475994

[Cavalorn]

And I was like... sweet Celestia! One of my fav stories got updated! Thanks dude, we really enjoy your work :)

[ManlyDerp]

2042274
Thank ya' kindly

[LittleKing123]

I salute you ManlyDerp Great chapter and deleted scene love to see more and FEATURED IN THE BOX

[ManlyDerp]

2058427
It's good to be back

[factorydash]

AW YEAH! My favorite story has a new chapter and is 5 parts long. AWESOME!

[ManlyDerp]

2107621
Oops, my bad! Guess I'll need to change that as soon as the site is a bit less derpy with me. Good call

[ManlyDerp]

2121053
Hmmm... dark, foreboding, with the slightest hint of silliness... yup

[ManlyDerp]

2121206
Hehe, I guess old habits are hard to break

[RiZa]

so long that their very humanity has been taken away from them

Was this intentionally or a error? Either way loving this story, and looking forward to more in the future.

[ManlyDerp]

2122575
Sadly intentional. I tried so hard to use different terms and words for different characters... but I drew a blank on this bit. Pomanity sounded too corny and didn't make sense in the context of it being Seaponies, and I really couldn't think of any other word to use that could describe such a thing properly so... I failed

[RiZa]

2122795

What about 'selves', 'intelligence', 'personality', 'individuality', 'Minds', 'Lifeforce' or my favorite 'Thaumatic Presence'. Just throwing out words.

[ManlyDerp]

2123516
...
...
<_<
>_>
...
*Grabs you by your collar, then pulls out a knife* You trying to make me look bad here, bub? Huh? HUH?! *Licks blade*
...
...

[RiZa]

2123557

Let's Not be hasty! Just say you were under the Weather and had an off day! Please Don't Hurt me!

[ManlyDerp]

2124975
OMG somepony FINALLY got the reference! Day=made

[ManlyDerp]

2125226
... weeellll... there goes MY childhood... thanks

lol I love it! That chant was how I learned how to swim, so I thought "what the heck" and threw it in as a way how to learn how to fly. It KINDA makes sense... right?

[Tome Turner]

2125947 Wait...Nopony else recognized that reference?

P.s. Is it just me or is the notifications broken? I didn't get notified that you replied to my comment

[ManlyDerp]

2128718
lol yeah, I've been noticing that the notifications have been a bit... well... derpy

And yeah... I'm used to it by now, not having references noticed. Oh well... I know that the few people who DO get them are laughing their flanks off and that's good enough for me

[ManlyDerp]

2130042
All of the facehooves

[ManlyDerp]

2132514
Well then great to hear then. Glad you enjoyed yourself I'm aware of the pacing issue of this first chapter, but since this was my first fic on this site its kinda understandable. Later on, I apparently improve greatly and focus more on the actual story and characters. I hope you will continue to enjoy this

[DarkxRedemption]

It has once again been a great pleasure reading these last two chapters ManlyDerp, and I hope that you keep up the good work

[ManlyDerp]

2178760
Mah pleasure I just wish time would permit me the, well, time to work on and finish the three other parts of this particular chapter! *Sigh* Oh well, guess that's just life for you

[Sixpence]

Ahr, I think I faved it too hard. I might have broken the star-thingy up there. Oh, and I really really like this fic. So much fluff! And Headcanon! And awesome!

I mean, yes. It probably has some flaws, like a good few their/they're, your/you're and then/than errors, but the overall awesome of this fic overshadows those puny little things.

I have no idea why I haven't read this before... So awesome

[Scarves]

Now I haven't read all of it but I'm already impressed. That is a very powerful beginning!
I couldn't describe anything like that! It was almost like you could see as a movie playing out in your head! This is just fantastic and I have only read one page!
This is getting liked!

[Scarves]

And now I have read the whole thing.
SO AWESOME!
Just blown away here! Blown away!

[IkioStar]

at the end....DA FUQ? (add extra canterlock for significance)

[Laluzi]

Oh god, what happened to the queen of the Seaponies is just horrifying. I can't wait to find out why.

[Pinklestia]

Well, a playful princess, isn't she?