Reflections

by RQK

25 - Hunting

Starlight Glimmer shot another beam, impacting her target. Said target, a pegasus mare, flopped over as her body simultaneously sprayed out blob-like particles.

Starlight could see the way in which the nearby pegasi flinched when the spell hit. She knew who the next targets were.

The pegasi dove toward her. She teleported into the air above and rained several shots down on them. Those shots that hit their marks prompted more particles. Those that didn’t pierced straight through the cloud below, leaving holes in their wake.

A few pegasi emerged from their cloudy homes and started lobbing all sorts of objects in Starlight’s direction. She twisted her way around all manner of picture frames, trophies, pots and pans, and other assorted objects. A few airborne pegasi caught those missed objects and redirected them back at her. Starlight teleported out of the way of each of those as she rained more shots.

And then Starlight felt something ram into her from above and her wind subsequently left her. Her assailant wrapped his hooves around her and the two plummeted through the cloud. She felt the vapor rushing past her face and then she felt cool, empty air again.

Her assailant let go, and Starlight flipped over only to realize that she was below the cloud.

The pegasus let out a salute and then disappeared back into the cloud.

Cloudsdale drew away from her. Starlight flipped over and saw the ground far below. The air whistled in her ears as she streaked toward the earth.

A few thoughts ran through her mind as she fell out of the sky but her expression remained unchanged. She thought about where her assailant was about to end up and then she lit her horn. She disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared at a much higher altitude; she was still falling like before but now from above the city.

And the moment she saw the pegasus stallion poke his head through the cloud was the moment she let off her shot. It plowed right into him and he faceplanted against the cloudy street as particles shot off him.

A bang from far below signaled Crystal Faire’s entrance. Starlight watched from above as Crystal let off several rapid volleys that all hit their targets. Crystal danced about the battlefield below, weaving between targets faster than Starlight could fathom.

Starlight’s eyes fell on a foe trying to sneak up on Crystal and Starlight, still in mid-fall, took him out with her second shot.

Crystal whirled, examined the fallen foe, and then looked up at Starlight. She lit her horn and wrapped just enough magic around Starlight to slow the fall.

And then Starlight’s world folded together, and when it folded back out, she touched down on solid grass.

Crystal, who hovered beside her, shot a blast at a nearby unicorn. Her attack hit its mark and he fell over as blob-like particles shot out of him.

Several other nearby unicorns immediately turned, each audibly gasping. And then they too lit their horns and started to throw spells back in return.

While Crystal parried the initial barrage, Starlight peered at the surrounding architecture which gleamed in the moonlight. There were lights everywhere, especially from the casinos and hotels that ran across that strip. The center itself consisted of bridges that spanned some clouds below. Starlight dashed her way across one such bridge, shielding herself from an oncoming barrage and, as some pegasi took to the air, she shot through her own shield, hitting several marks in the process. Every strike produced more of the particles.

Darn you, Miasmus! she mentally cried.

She heard another loud bang and cocked her head just enough to realize that Crystal was no longer there. Narrowing her eyes and nodding to herself, she turned back to the foes still immediately in front of her and bowled them over.

She could still feel the cloudwalking spell on her and so she vaulted over the side of the bridge. She then used her magic to dislodge a piece of cloud and set it moving upward. Her moving platform sailed down the strip, off which she took several pot shots at foes down below.

In the back of her mind, she briefly wondered how the others were doing. She wondered how Twilight and Sunset were faring. She even wondered about Chrysalis.

As if on cue, there was a loud bang further up the street and Chrysalis fell out of the sky. Chrysalis flipped over, and as several ponies turned and charged toward her, she shot at them.

Thanks, Crystal, Starlight thought as she took a few more shots, especially at the foes right in front of her companion.

Chrysalis charged through her foes, outright headbutting the ones that she didn’t blast with her horn. Between herself on the ground and Starlight from above, they filled the air with the blob-like particles that came off their foes.

Now ponies emerged from nearly every street and every building. They came in droves from near and far and they all charged with assorted battle cries and token attacks.

Starlight levitated herself down and then backed into Chrysalis. “There’re so many!” she cried.

Chrysalis growled. “I’ve battled larger armies than this. Have at us, you ingrate!”

The two shot at foe after foe for a few moments; each hit caused the entire crowd to collectively flinch. There were moments where the entire crowd flinched on its own.

There was a loud bang and the two looked up to find Crystal swooping down the length of the strip. Crystal rained down countless shots across the strip, most of which hit their marks. The volley caused all their foes to cry out and double over.

Crystal doubled back and continued landing shot after shot. A lone pegasus tried to tackle her out of the air but Crystal spot-teleported long enough for the pegasus to pass her position; Crystal promptly shot her attacker down.

Starlight and Chrysalis took advantage of their enemy’s general disarray to land several shots on those that were still on their hooves. They landed shot after shot, seeing numerous particles for their efforts. They caught a few foes trying to climb back to their hooves and struck first.

The numbers dwindled, and when the number of foes reached the single digits, Crystal disappeared with another loud bang. Their foes chose that moment to scatter in all directions.

“Oh no you don’t!” Chrysalis yelled. She let several shots off, most of which hit their marks.

Starlight teleported across the battlefield, reappearing in her foes’ faces before blasting them point-blank. Her foes fell backward, unconscious.

The last enemy, a unicorn stallion, hobbled toward the large and glossy building at the end of the strip. Said building had a mare’s head built into its design. He made his way up the steps and reached the large, golden doors that served as the entrance but couldn’t get them to open.

Chrysalis landed right in front of him and, before he could turn around, swept him into a locking hold.

The unicorn struggled to break free but could not find the leverage. “Unhoof me!” he yelled. “Now!”

Starlight teleported herself next to the two of them and stared the stallion down.

“Oh, my dearest Miasmus… tell me, does it hurt when I do this?” Chrysalis hissed as she twisted his foreleg around.

The stallion (who, thanks to his mustache and striped vest, Starlight was able to label as Flam), let out an agonized scream.

“Chrysalis!” Starlight yelled with a gasp.

Chrysalis looked over. “What?”

“There’s an innocent pony somewhere in there!”

Chrysalis snorted but nonetheless released him from her grip.

Flam shuddered and glared at her. “You dare to chase me across the timelines…? You truly dare?”

“You were warned,” Chrysalis replied.

“You foul insect! You will stop pestering me this instant!” he growled.

Chrysalis picked him up with her magic and slammed him against the door. “You should have thought about that before insulting me to my face!”

Flam’s throat bulged as something drew up it. He then spit in Chrysalis’ face.

Chrysalis screamed and stumbled backward. She reached up, felt at the offended spot, and then scooped some of the saliva onto her hoof and examined it.

Flam threw a laser blast into Chrysalis’ face, but that only served to make her stumble backward more. Starlight, in response, threw her own spell at him. The spell knocked several particles off him and he slumped unconscious against the wall.

Chrysalis wiped some dizziness out her eyes and then stared at his unconscious form.

Starlight collapsed, letting out a long sigh. “You okay?” she sputtered.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “I am fine,” she said as she dusted herself off. “What an annoyance.”

Starlight frowned. “It’s a good thing his attack wasn’t packing any power, right?”

“None of them have been. It’s as I’ve said before… Equestrians are weak.”

Starlight rolled her eyes.

The both of them turned their eyes toward the strip where hundreds, maybe even a thousand ponies lay strewn about. They could see, in some corners, ponies starting to regain consciousness. Their former foes glanced around, teetered about, and otherwise started to string together disoriented conversations on what had just happened.

“How dare he,” Starlight said as she watched it all. “Look at what he did to all these poor ponies. Look at what we had to do to break them out of his control.”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes and said, with a growl, “Oh, how I look forward to seeing him beg for mercy. I look forward to destroying him.”

Starlight chuckled. “Yeah? I’m right behind you.”

* * *

Chrysalis shot a beam at the griffon across the way. Said griffon flipped over from the blast and, as several blob-like particles flew out of her, she fell on her face.

A similar attack from Crystal, who stood beside her, similarly found its mark on another griffon.

The rest of the street was now vacant. A few griffons poked their heads out of the straw houses that lined the street, but they all looked at the fallen foes with wide-eyed shock and suppressed gasps and made no effort to exit their homes.

Chrysalis snorted. “So, Miasmus is now breaking his way into other timelines?” she asked.

Crystal nodded. “It would appear so. He’s appeared in a small number of them in the last few minutes.”

“We must move quickly then. The faster we bite those heads off, the faster he’ll learn not to do that.”

Crystal shifted. The world folded together. When it folded back out, Crystal unleashed a laser blast that hit its mark: a faded earth pony mare with a grey coat, a slick, black mane and tail, and a purple treble clef for a cutie mark. Octavia Melody slumped unconscious on the forest floor.

“Nice shot,” Chrysalis said as she watched the subsequent particles fly off and dissolve.

“Thank you,” Crystal replied. “You’ll want to shoot the green mare on your left.”

The world folded together and back out again, at which point Crystal let off another shot. Chrysalis found the mare in question and let off her shot. Both hers and Crystal’s attacks hit their marks and she watched the particles fly off. Crystal’s target, however, looked strange.

Chrysalis blinked and held up a hoof. “Wait a second…” she said. She trotted up to what Crystal had just struck.

Said unconscious target resembled more of an ape than anything else, but this ape had clothes: a leather jacket that went over a white shirt bearing the image of a lightning bolt, completed by jeans and some sneakers. His pale skin tone complemented the moderate sapphire that was his short and sleek hairstyle.

Chrysalis looked him up and down and finally grumbled something unintelligible.

“Flash Sentry… from the human world,” Crystal wheezed.

Chrysalis searched for words; her mouth moved in an attempt to make something but she finally turned and stared into Crystal’s eyes.

Crystal shook her head. “The human world. He’s from where Sunset’s currently living.”

“…How come we have not gone there? Where in the multiverse is that?”

“It exists parallel to Equestria. There are an entire set of worlds that comprise a timeline, you know.”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. “And why have we not gone to those places?”

The world folded together and back out again. Now they stood in the middle of a concrete street where, immediately, Crystal let loose a blast on the faded pony standing in the middle of it. “Because I can only see Equestria, and I can only travel to places that I can see.”

Chrysalis examined the downed foe, a regular earth pony stallion, and blew a raspberry. “Please.”

Crystal shrugged. “Believe it or not, there are some limitations.”

“I don’t care. But, nonetheless, he was still strange.”

A loud bang behind them signaled another creature, this one towering several times their height, dropping from the sky. The creature, just as faded as the downed stallion behind them, looked like a giant lizard with sharp teeth that stretched well across its muzzle. The creature stood on its hind legs and slapped the ground with its long tail. The only thing small about it was its stubby arms.

It sucked in a breath and then let out a mighty roar that shook the entire street. Many ponies tumbled backward in its wake.

And Crystal hit it in the face with a laser blast of such intensity that Chrysalis had to shield her eyes. When she looked again, the creature had also fallen unconscious as countless blob-like particles flew off it.

Chrysalis frowned. That’s not a dragon… What is it? How… interesting...

Crystal looked over and spotted a vendor on the sidewalk. She lit her horn and levitated a couple of pretzels off the rack and floated them over while giving the vendor himself a sly smile. She then turned to Chrysalis. “Hungry?”

Chrysalis glanced at the baked bread, and after a moment’s consideration, she stared at Crystal with a dumbfounded frown.

Crystal shrugged and took a bite of the first pretzel. After taking a moment to savor its flavor, she shifted again. Reality folded in and back out and the two found themselves standing in the middle of a dirt street. The closely packed-together brick buildings were equally dirty, and the sky above was just as much so. The few residents that they could see (moles and fish-like creatures and other beings decisively non-pony) had sloven colors and smells and demeanors about them; most wore upper garments where not a single article was not at least torn or stained.

Those residents shied away from a faded pony laughing like a maniac in the center of the street. Crystal immediately fired on him and he fell over.

Crystal then, with Chrysalis close behind, took to the air. They sailed over a few streets before they arrived above a plaza of sorts where a dust cloud had formed. The whines of laser blasts and battle cries sounded from within. Crystal unleashed a wind spell which dispersed the dust cloud, laying bare the combatants within.

Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer, who stood in the center below, glanced up and immediately grew smiles. Their foes took the opportunity to attack, but they responded in kind with a laser blast each.

Crystal and Chrysalis fired into the crowd below. A few faded pegasi and some other winged creatures took to the air to intercept them, and while Chrysalis opted to meet them with more beams, Crystal let off another wind spell that threw them off balance.

A few of the natives wrapped their claws around various pieces of wood and metals rods and jumped into the fray themselves, now swinging at the countless foes for themselves and even scoring hits.

“Oh dear,” Crystal said. “That’s not how you fight Miasmus.”

Chrysalis groaned. “This seems pretty par for Klugetown. Besides, he’s going to feel it.”

“Well, it’s helping, I suppose.” She cupped her hooves over her mouth and called down, “You two okay down there!?”

Sunset let off another blast and then glanced up. “We’re fine! Thanks for the hand!”

“We’ll be back!” Crystal called down.

“Okay, Crystal!” Twilight replied.

The world around Crystal and Chrysalis folded together and back out again. They landed in the middle of an empty field of grass which lay in the shadow of the Canterlot mountain close by.

Crystal took another bite of her pretzel and munched quietly as she took a seat. She stared into the distance for a few moments—Chrysalis assumed that she was probably watching the other battles unfolding in the crystallizing timelines out there.

After a moment, Crystal swallowed and turned. “Actually,” she began, “there is something that I have been thinking about pertaining to Miasmus. Perhaps you will want to hear it?”

“Oh?” Chrysalis replied, her eyes widening. “Is this about that thing you mentioned earlier?”

“It is. Miasmus’ possessions all operate on his time. So whatever time his main body experiences, so too do his possessions.”

“Oh really? And you knew this?”

“I did.” Crystal scratched her head. “But I was previously unsure just how useful that information was.”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. “Because it sounds similar to what our spell is going to do; those parts of it that disperse will operate on that controller’s time. And we aim to make that time pass quickly.”

“Thus crystallizing the timeline. So I was thinking… that we could use Miasmus for the same purpose,” she said before taking another bite.

The corners of Chrysalis’ muzzle curled up. “You think so? And how do you propose to do that?”

Crystal swallowed her bite. “We’ll hook his main body up to the part of the machine that does the actual time dilation. We do that, we can essentially time dilate him, which will lead to his possessions crystallizing the timelines for us.”

Chrysalis’ smile grew even wider, so much so that she bared teeth. “So… in effect… we’ll make him help us with the very thing that he chose to oppose!”

Crystal beamed and did a toasting gesture with her meal.

Chrysalis doubled over with cackling laughter. “That’s lovely! The irony is delicious.”

Crystal smiled and then shifted. She disappeared with a loud bang. The second pretzel fell into the grass in her absence. She reappeared a few moments later, now standing, and retrieved her fallen confection. “Now… this supposes that we don’t destroy him when we find his main body. …If we find his main body.”

Chrysalis rolled over to face Crystal again. “Oh, but if we’re going to do that… then I’ll be more than happy to stay my hoof.”

“Excellent.”

* * *

“So we’d have to modify the machine a little bit if we want to get him in there,” Sunset said as she let off another blast. Her attack hit its mark, and the assailing pegasus landed on the ground.

“Just a little bit,” Crystal replied.

Starlight, who stood nearby, hummed. “I’m down with that. Shouldn’t be too hard to tweak it.”

“Yes,” Crystal said, “although I think that it would be a good idea to wait until we actually have him before we give it a shot. We are still on his clock for now.”

Twilight and Chrysalis came trotting up at that point, joining them on the rock that overlooked Canterlot. Water flowed on either side of it which then turned downward into a waterfall that fell the whole way. What looked like a dark cloud on the horizon slowly formed and moved in their direction; a close inspection would have revealed it to be pegasi, dragons, and other winged creatures coming by the thousands.

More faded creatures appeared before them amidst loud bangs. The five let off a series of shots that quickly downed the new foes plus a few more that appeared in the interim.

Crystal turned and nodded. “I’m going to teleport us again. That should buy some more time.”

The other four gathered close and Crystal lit her horn. The world shrunk down to a point and then back out again. The five of them found themselves in the middle of a large structure made of cracked, eroded, and moss-covered stone. Torn tapestries bearing the images of a sun and a moon respectively hung from the ceiling.

Twilight sighed and fell to her haunches. “Good grief.”

Sunset also took a seat. “You said it. Miasmus is really going at it now, huh?” Sunset mused.

Starlight turned to Chrysalis and smirked. “Just like you said would happen.”

Chrysalis stood tall and wore a proud smile. “What can I say? I know how to read him. He’ll build up his defenses pretty soon now.”

After a few moments of silence, during which those standing also sat down, they let out a series of sighs. Starlight stretched herself out, practically laying on the worn carpet. Crystal, meanwhile, stared into the distance.

“How interesting this whole situation is,” Chrysalis continued. “I never would have imagined that I would be involved in something so… extraordinary.”

“For sure,” Starlight replied. “But… uh… do you regret it?”

After a moment’s consideration, Chrysalis shook her head. “Surprisingly not. Having you as allies for a change has given some… fresh perspective. Having that filth for an enemy even more so. I have some things that I must think about.”

A few of the sunbeams that streamed through the ceiling went dark, and all but Crystal looked up to see scores of figures flying overhead. By their direction of travel, they were moving away from Canterlot. When none of those figures swooped down, everypony breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Honestly…” Sunset began, “this whole experience has given me a lot of perspective too. I mean… I feel a lot better about what happened at home, for one…”

Twilight grinned. “That’s always good. And I feel a lot more comfortable with my situation, I think.”

Starlight giggled and said, “I think I’ve learned a few friendship lessons here and there.”

“I think we all have,” Sunset replied with a laugh.

Twilight turned her gaze toward Crystal who still stared into the distance. The others turned and looked as well, and with that, their smiles faded.

At least, I hope we all have, Sunset thought.

* * *

Crystal sat back against the wall and sighed. Her physical eyes stared into the distance while her mental eyes continued scanning existence.

She wondered, briefly, if she would see familiar figures out there. She was sure, however, that they would invariably escape her notice.

Twilight trotted up and wordlessly took a seat next to Crystal. She too sighed.

“I’m still looking,” Crystal said.

“I know,” Twilight replied.

“I sure hope that I can find him soon,” Crystal said as she trailed off. “He’s made a couple of passes at our effects here in the past hour.”

Twilight’s frown deepened and her whole body shuddered. “So… the Crystal Heart?”

“And the supercomputer,” Crystal replied. “He was defeated, of course.”

Twilight sighed. “I guess being cautious paid off.”

Crystal nodded and turned her mental eyes toward some more of the crystallizing timelines. She watched them evolve for a few moments and then, once she saw that their inhabitants weren’t displaying any of the behaviors that she wanted, she moved onto the next timeline.

Crystal frowned. There were a lot of timelines to check. There were a lot of needles to find in a lot of haystacks.

“Crystal?”

Crystal glanced over. “Hmmm?”

“I… if Miasmus can find out where we’re at, then… I wanna guess that all those ponies out there could too. I wanna guess that your mom could too.”

“That seems like a reasonable guess. Look, I know what you’re going to say,” Crystal replied.

Twilight swallowed. “Then tell me.”

“I don’t know what her plan is, per say, but I don’t think she’s looking to stop us from saving the multiverse. I know my mother, Twilight… and so do you.” Crystal took a long deep breath as she switched her mental eyes to another set of timelines.

Twilight threw her hooves into the air. “But… the spell, Crystal. I can’t imagine that she doesn’t know about it. The spell is going to clear out the interverse, Crystal. The spell is going to lead to their demise!”

“Then she must be banking on me being out there with her to make an exception for them. But… truth be told… I doubt she’s in it for the self-preservation.”

Twilight pursed her lips and then shifted in her seat, turning herself to fully face Crystal. “Then what do you think she’s in it for?”

Crystal crossed her forelegs and sighed. “You saw the way she reached out at Manehattan. You saw her spell. Twilight…” She looked over to meet Twilight’s gaze. “I think she wants me back.”

Twilight swallowed. “And… are you going to choose her?”

Crystal ran a hoof through her mane. “I don’t know,” she said simply.

After a few seconds of silence, Twilight nodded and sat back against the wall again. “You’re going to have to decide soon. You know that, right?”

“I know.”

The two sat in silence. Crystal kept her mind’s eye over more and more timelines, trying to find some sign of what she was looking for. A few minutes passed by, during which the other three sat idly, content to crack their joints and otherwise catch their breath.

Crystal finally settled on one and she perked up. She could see obvious possessions but, unlike in many of the other timelines, their numbers were vast. She readily estimated a few tens of thousands, and a quick scan of the timeline yielded even more. Her mental eyes fell on one particular spot, however, as she found an entity with a slightly different aura than the others.

And she could tell that the aura itself was faded. There was no doubt in her mind.

“Girls,” Crystal said as she stood up, “I found him.”

The four of them blinked and then, one by one, made some choice exclamations and shot to her hooves.

“He built up his defenses just like you said he would,” Crystal said to Chrysalis. “I can see it all.”

Chrysalis threw her head back and laughed. “Hah! It’s so amusing how utterly predictable he is!” She leaned him forward. “Now’s the time to strike!”

Crystal nodded. “Yes. He’s still going somewhat strong, however, so we’ll have to wear him down a bit more before we’re able to safely put him into the machine.”

“So then, it sounds like we’ll have to fight for just a bit longer,” Twilight said.

“Just a little bit. Adamantine, Celestia, and the unponies can protect the machine, and we have allies that can protect the Crystal Heart. I say…” Crystal pursed and unpursed her lips as she thought. “I say we fight there for a while, and then… once Miasmus is sufficiently weakened, I’ll bring the machine over, we’ll hook him up to it, and then we’ll go through with our original plan.”

“Then let’s go,” Chrysalis said, her tone firm.

The others nodded in response.

Crystal nodded and shifted in place. The world then folded together and the five were no more.

Comments

[EchoWing]

Somehow, I'm not surprised that Miasmus is being worn down so easily. That said, something tells me there's more trouble on the horizon than just him.

[RoboRed]

Hmmm...something's up. I'm not sure what, but I think something's up.

[Razzy]

Well, Chryssie sure seems to be enjoying it.

Let's take the fight to the dweeb!

'and other wings creatures' - winged

[Csquared08]

I don't remember it too much in the Crystal Ball trilogy, but man do you use the phrase "said [noun]" a lot in this story. Words like this, that, the, etc. are all perfectly fine words.