[HEART] 014 - Magitech Part 1
Rarely was the Mirror Portal surrounded by so many beings from so many different universes – ponies and humans mostly, though there were a smattering of gorons, demons, furry Binaries, and some of Ganondorf’s Gerudo. It was, needless to say, a special day, for it was time for the Mirror Portal to be moved once again.
One particular pony in the crowd was trying very hard to not be recognized. She wore a large black cloak that covered every part of her save her face, and that was covered by a simple round white mask. She was certainly setting people on edge with her presence, yes, but there was no chance any of them would recognize her, which was exactly what she wanted. She needed to get in and get out quickly, and she knew she could do it. Would do it. There were no chances, not this time.
She found herself mildly interested in the ‘ceremony’ that was taking place. All four Princesses had shown up, even the usually-distant Princess of Love, Mi Amore Cadenza. The secretive mare studied her, determining that she was rather basic. No power like Celestia, no mysterious wisdom like Luna, no excitable intelligence like Twilight, just… The cliché pretty pony princess. She didn’t have anything distinguishing about her from first glance.
Now, the mare knew Cadence was more than she appeared, but first impressions were everything in the games that were being played with entire universes. It was worth pitying her. Not too much though, should she ever end up on the opposing side…
The train of thought was interrupted when Celestia began talking, bringing the entire room to a hushed silence. “Today, my ponies, my people, my others, we finally put the Mirror Portal out of our hall and into the hands of all, to be used freely in communion. The Hub has been built in the demon’s jungle, and it awaits the Mirror Portal’s presence. We are gathered here today to move this powerful portal out of the monopoly of Equestria and to a place all can gather.”
There was a round of polite applause.
Celestia nodded, lighting her horn. The masked mare knew she was channeling cosmic power, more than enough to open a portal all on her own. A golden rimmed ring appeared in the air, leading to another world entirely, one with shiny gray floors and yet another crowd. Twilight stepped forward, removing the Mirror Portal itself from all the excess machinery, leaving only the green diamond itself in the frame. The connection faded away leaving a dull, plain mirror behind. Luna went next, lifting the Mirror away from Twilight with her magic and carrying it through Celestia’s opening. The three princesses followed the mirror, and Celestia’s portal closed behind them.
“And now we wait,” Cadence said, “it shouldn’t be long before they re-establish a connection, from what they told me.”
The entire hall was silent, the loudest noise being the gorons’ breathing. The masked mare counted down in her mind, tapping her hoof in the air slightly with each second that passed. Some of the Binaries started to look at each other nervously, like something was wrong. One of the Tau’ri coughed loudly. The masked mare simply kept counting.
She set her foot on the ground at the exact instant a shimmering mirrory surface appeared on a nearby wall. Twilight poked her head through. “Sorry for the wait, it’s working now. Come on through!”
Cadence nodded. “You heard her.” Slowly but surely, the entire crowd filed through the opening. The masked mare made sure to place herself in the middle of the group, so as to draw the least attention. Even the crowd around her didn’t pay her any mind – the atmosphere around them was simply too momentous to care for a slightly creepy mare. She moved unnoticed.
The other side of the Mirror Portal was the Mirror Portal. It was affixed to a single glass column filled with magical gasses instead of the rather messy conglomeration of random devices that had been attached to it previously. The appearance was much more orderly, intentional. One large screen hanging above the Mirror Portal showed the name of the current location dialed: “Equis Vitis,” with the coordinates displayed beneath. Two consoles stood to either side of the Mirror Portal, each scrolling with large quantities of information. A few meters in front of the Portal’s opening was Bon Bon’s desk, where a video camera stood and Bon Bon herself was furiously scribbling, trying to keep track of everything.
The masked mare didn’t care if Bon Bon saw her or not – the secret agent was not going to find her as interesting as, say, General Sunset over there. If the masked mare was noticed at all, it would be as a simple checkmark. The camera would hardly show anything damning either. After all, all she was doing was walking.
“Welcome to the Hub!” Celestia shouted, using the Royal Canterlot Voice to make sure her voice was heard throughout the space. The main room they were in was large, circular, and lined with a few hundred people. “This building is owned by no one and yet everyone at the same time. We are currently in the very large central room, where we expect lots of interdimensional traffic to come and go. Through the doors there are hallways that lead to rooms that are mostly empty for now, but soon there should be shops, embassies, and other things. For now, feel free to wander around and mingle. Luna and myself should be available for the next few hours, as well as several other world leaders.” She smiled and let everyone get to whatever they wanted to do.
The masked mare found it interesting that the only media coverage was from Equestria – it was the only world with an active media that didn’t keep the existence of the multiverse from its population. She wondered how long that would last, even if it wasn’t really her business. She shrugged to herself and walked towards the edge of the central room, the large metal doors sliding open for her.
A dragon could fit through the gap, and the masked mare had no doubt that was how they were designed. The largest creature in here right now may have been Siron, but the architects here had planned for the future. They couldn’t see like she could, but educated guesses were worthwhile.
She walked through the door, finding that some people had already entered the outer rooms. The hallways were bare and dull for now, but would soon be filled with decorations from every sort of world. The hallways snaked around in a mixture of geometric patterns and artistic ones – though the mare stayed on the one that led directly to the edge of the hub itself.
She passed Iroh and Zuko looking at two separate, but adjoined, ‘rooms.’
Iroh scratched his chin. “…Embassy right here, and tea shop right there.”
“Uncle, you can’t run an Embassy and tea shop at the same time.”
“Watch me.”
The mare smiled under her mask. Zuko would indeed watch him. And be very very surprised at how effective the combo was. She liked the little ironies of life, sometimes. Especially when they helped her.
The mare walked right out the main doors, leaving the hub entirely. From outside it was easy to tell the structure was built with several conflicting ideals in mind. Overall, it was a perfect flat cylinder, a single silvery white color. Yet, while the doors were simple and effective, the outside wasn’t smooth, but instead was covered with many relief sculptures. They had been crafted by magic, largely carved by the ponies, but they made sure to include images of humans and the many other races as well, including some the mare had never actually seen. The theme was harmony, as always with Equestria. As always. They were a little crazy about that. Harmony wasn’t always a good thing, and the mare knew this all too well.
The jungle that surrounded the hub was decidedly less pretty. One day, it would grow back to its once lush state, but now it was dry, charred, and showed almost no signs of life. Siron had not been kidding about the oddly scheduled fires. Days after that meeting, the jungle had been swept by fire, killing everything that couldn’t run. The demons no longer lived here. Nothing lived here.
Except for the mare herself. She took in a deep breath, took a moment to think, and set out in the direction she deduced she needed to. She walked past dinosaur skeletons, shriveled flowers the size of towns, and charred spires of wood that scraped the sky. Through all this, she kept her cloak and mask on tight, even though she knew she didn’t need to. There was nobody watching her.
Well… Nobody that mattered anyway.
Yet.
She eventually arrived in what had once been a beautiful clearing filled with magic, but was now just a charred mess with a single point of interest. A brilliantly glowing altar, shining as a beacon of hope for the charred land around it. A few tufts of grass had sprouted up next to the holy altar of the Blue Moon Spirit, signifying that eventually the jungle would return. It flooded the mare with powerful, calming magics.
This was what she had come for. It was time.
The mare took off her mask and removed her hood, revealing herself to the few who were watching. She was an oculus with blue eyes, a version of Pinkie Pie from Lai – otherwise known as Sage Pinkie. She held the simple white mask in her hoof, approaching the altar.
The Blue Moon Spirit appeared on top of the altar, four arms pointing at the Sage with an accusatory finger each. The Sage did not do more than glance the Spirit’s way with her ever-shifting eyes. She saw right through the Spirit. The Spirit could not bring herself to harm the Sage. Any oculus would not have feared this being, for in the Spirit believed she was too ‘pure’ to bring harm.
The Sage found this disgusting. Nothing was that pure. Had she been an obviously evil pony, the Spirit would not hesitate. But no, the Spirit had to hold herself back. Not because of any morals, or altruism, but because of the way she perceived her own nature. That such actions were beneath her.
The Sage admitted to herself that, if the Spirit knew what was about to happen, she probably would retaliate with lethal force. As it was, this would be too easy.
The Spirit warned the Sage not to come any closer, but the Sage ignored it. Judging the Sage unworthy, the Spirit pushed her back with a gust of magic. The Sage simply walked forward again, mask outstretched. The Spirit pushed back once more, harder this time, and still the Sage came, mask outstretched.
The Spirit moved her hands to fashion a more complicated spell, and then the Sage jumped positions, appearing behind the altar in an instant. She laid the mask on top of the altar, beneath the Spirits’ dangling legs.
The Spirit could not speak, but if she could, she would have been screaming. The mask drained the power from the altar, and by consequence the Spirit herself. She clawed out with a dangerous attack for the first time, but the Sage was already behind a tree. The Blue Moon in the sky shook slightly, sending a beam of blue light that razed the ground where the Sage was.
She would have died, had she not already been on the other side of the clearing.
The Spirit lost her power and will to fight, falling to her knees on top of the mask, slowly being absorbed into it. The Blue Moon lost its lustre, dulling in the sky above. No one would notice the change until the Blue Moon rose at night, which would not be for several days. The Altar turned to plain stone, and the image of the Spirit vanished completely.
The Sage walked back to the altar and picked up the mask. It shone with a slight sheen now, but nothing too unusual. She placed it on her face and walked away.
~~~
Corona asked herself a very important question: had she touched Pinkie today? She didn’t remember it, but being this excited was rather unlike her. Sure, her dream for the last several months was finally being realized, but that was no reason to literally feel like running around the base dancing, right?
Because that was what she was doing. Dancing down through the AID base, grinning to herself and twirling around. She was making a fool of herself, yes, but given her current emotional state she couldn’t have cared less. She was taking her secret-agent sunglasses on and off over and over again in a horrible recreation of some musical she had seen recently.
Ike took out his phone and started filming. “Man, I wish I could post this to Youtube. This would get so many views.”
“I’m not even sure you’re allowed to have videos of this base on your phone,” Mike said.
“Ah, probably not. But Storm’s pretty understanding. He just gets the need to record amusing things.”
Mike was about to correct him, but then saw that one of the security cameras that was usually sweeping the room was instead following Corona closely. He shrugged.
Corona tapped the ‘down’ elevator button while humming to herself, prancing in the moment it arrived. The two agents in the elevator shifted to the sides of it to give her room to twirl. They got off before she did, since they didn’t need to go to the bottom of the base. They were happy about this, Corona was rather oblivious to their feelings. She waved goodbye to them, eagerly awaiting the time when the elevator would hit basement 13.
That time was not far off at all. When the elevator finally went ‘ding’ at the correct floor, she jumped out, lit her hands on fire, and grinned. “Carter! Is it ready?”
The blonde human woman from the Tau’ri looked up from a laptop she had in her hand, stopping whatever she was explaining to Tempest. “It would seem so. We’ve just got to perform some tune-ups on the interfaces, but we’ll be able to test within the hour.”
“Yes!” Corona said, turning to what had her so elated. The two spires she designed poked out of the ground, humming with electricity from a nearby power plant. In between them was a stargate, sitting on the ground with a thin, clear ramp leading up to it. The gate was of a different design than the one on Earth Tau’ri, as it was blue and filled with constellation-designs instead of symbols; not to mention that the inner ring didn’t turn, it only lit up. But that didn’t matter, not for what it was going to be used for anyway.
“Were you able to encode it to nine chevrons?” Corona asked.
“Easily, actually,” Carter said. “The Ninth Chevron really does appear to be a catch-all, allowing it to initiate any program we have set, even bizarre ones. Makes me think the Ancients designed their gates with it as a ‘catch all’. Seven for within the galaxy, eight for extragalactic, and nine for whatever unusual uses they would find in the future.”
“Wonder if they ever used it to travel realities…”
“You’d have to ask Daniel that one, and I doubt he’ll remember.” Carter typed a few more things on her laptop. “The hardest part wasn’t getting the Ninth Chevron program open, it was getting the gate to accept a possible connection without anything on the other end. It’s not designed to do that.”
Corona cracked her knuckles. “Well my arches are. Punch a hole into any universe. The gate is just here to get the gravity right. Wormholes.”
“I’m curious what the event horizon will look like,” Carter admitted. “Your portals can be seen through, but the Stargate is usually one-way only. We’re combining two things that operate on different principles.”
“And without magic!” Corona grinned. “No magic at all! Meaning this will work even in universes where magic is dead or completely gone.”
“Maybe there are universes that can’t be dialed with magical methods?”
“I don’t know! This is how we’re going to find out!” She poked her head over Carter’s shoulder. “How’s the interface going?”
“It’s ready. The gate isn’t complaining about the alien program anymore, and the arch-spikes are ready. …Do you have a better name for your things?”
“I was going to just call them the gateway,” Corona admitted. “I think that now, ‘arches’ works. Even though they’re not touching at the top. But pillars just sounds silly.”
“Fair enough. Power levels are optimal, gate is loaded with the program, arches pass all pre-test checks…” She closed her laptop. “People! We’re ready!”
Tempest stood up. “Finally. What are we waiting for then? Do it.”
Carter flipped open a box with a lever. She handed it to Corona. “This is mostly your invention. You do the honors.”
Corona took off her glove, feeling the lever with her hand. There was no emotion to feel coming from the lifeless piece of metal, but she couldn’t bring herself not to feel it with her own skin. She looked directly at the gate-arch combo and pulled the lever down.
The arches lit up first, crackling with electricity. The arcs of purple lightning were attracted to the gate. The gate remained unaffected by the arcs of electricity, dialing like it always would. The ring swirled with blue patterns, quickly lighting up seven symbols. Eight. Nine.
Kawoosh. The gate’s connection burst forward, a torrent of unstable energies tearing into the room, putting everyone on edge – but the disturbance of the kawoosh was reined in, until the gate held what appeared to be a rippling pool of water inside it. Not opaque blue-white energy, but something clear. The light was distorted by the ‘liquid’ nature of the event horizon, but Ardent could clearly be seen on the other side.
A small helicopter drone was sent in to test the waters. It hit the barrier between worlds, shook a bit, but righted itself on the other side easily. It flew around for a few seconds then came back through, landing in Carter’s hand.
Corona grinned. “Okay. It works. Are we safe?” She checked the pulses of electricity coming off the arches – they would be rather painful if they hit, seeing as she didn’t know how to redirect lightning.
“They’re all grounding at the gate,” Carter said. “It shouldn’t be a problem unless there’s a power surge. Most of the power’s being funneled into the gate anyway, so even then that’s remote. I would fix it as soon as possible, but it’s fine for initial prototyping.”
Corona had heard all she needed to hear. She slipped her glove back on and jumped through the stargate’s new connected portal. It didn’t feel like water, but it didn’t feel like air either. She felt like she had to pass through a membrane of semi-fluid rubber that was somehow infinitely thin. A minor impediment that she overcame quickly, but it was notably disorienting.
She fell a couple of feet to the ground. Right. The gate, being a raised circle, would create a portal a few feet above ground level. Something to remember in the future.
She stood up, dusted herself off, and laughed. She was standing on Ardent right now, in the great Hyrule Field. Behind her was a giant circular opening, brimming with white wispy energies around the edge. In front of her was a beautiful land of adventure and…
…Black scars from Ba’al’s attacks. Her mood darkened considerably as she looked upon Hyrule Town in the distance. Sections of the wall were completely decimated, the castle had lost one of its impressive towers, and she knew many districts didn’t even exist anymore. It was sobering.
Here she was, celebrating that one of her life dreams had been completed, when some people had just suffered a horrible travesty. It made her feel guilty, even though she knew this wasn’t her fault, and that she’d helped put an end to it.
She had flashes of the death… The blood… The master sword through Pinkie’s chest…
She shook her head, clearing it. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath – she needed to be strong. Not everybody could be strong, but she could. Pinkie was fine, Ardent survived, and Ba’al was on the run. She should feel happy that things went as well as they did.
Carter and Tempest finally stepped through the portal behind her. Carter shivered slightly. “That certainly feels different to a normal gate transit.”
“It’ll work better once we figure out how to make our own stargates,” Corona noted. “Then we can just make it part of the arches.”
“Good luck. Not even we’ve figured out how to build them. Very advanced.”
“Challenge accepted.”
“Someone’s coming,” Tempest said, readying her weapon. Carter and Corona looked up to see a brilliant white horse riding up to them, alongside a significantly darker one. Both had familiar riders.
Corona raised her hand to Tempest’s gun. “It’s just Zelda and Ganondorf. They probably sensed us, or something.”
“That I did,” Zelda said, gracefully dismounting. “Seeing as you probably haven’t been here long, it was likely a premonition.”
“Must be nice, knowing what’s going to happen,” Corona said.
“Bit of a curse, really,” Zelda said, looking at her hand. “…It’s rather selective about what it shows me. Makes it untrustworthy.”
Carter blinked. “It?”
“The Triforce of Wisdom.” Zelda said, holding out her hand and revealing a triangular glow shining on it. “It shows me things and improves my judgment considerably.”
“…What exactly is it?” Carter asked.
“An ancient relic created by the goddesses,” Zelda said. “Legends state that when they created the world, they created the Triforce to keep it balanced. Three separate parts – Courage, Wisdom, and Power. The parts tend to seek out those who personify them most, though when brought together it can apparently grant a wish.”
Ganondorf held up his hand and smirked. “Power, here.”
“Link has the Triforce of Courage,” Zelda revealed.
“Does that mean you guys can make wishes?” Tempest asked.
“We could…” Zelda said. “But then the Triforce would split and be lost once again. For now, we just reap the benefits of each individual piece.” She frowned. “I would appreciate you not reveal this to my people. If they knew all three pieces of the Triforce were available, they would demand a wish.”
“Understandable,” Corona admitted.
“Also, try not to put your portals out in the open like this,” Zelda said. “People will start asking questions.”
Carter blinked. “…Why do you need to keep it secret from them? Ba’al already attacked, blowing the secret wide open.”
Ganondorf grunted. “Nobody officially knows where Ba’al came from. Most think he’s an alien, which he is, but know nothing of another universe. The town that did, Termina, was mostly destroyed. Those of us who did know agreed not to reveal it publicly because there would be an outcry and probably war.”
“War…?” Corona said.
Zelda nodded. “The nations of Ardent do not get along. We are not the Elemental Nations, nor are we Earth. Being transparent would be disastrous.”
Corona wasn’t sure about this. She fixed Zelda with an unsure glance. “What do you think’s going to happen when they find out you’ve been lying to them?”
“It will be revealed at such a time when retaliation would be minimal, if at all,” Zelda affirmed, turning to Tempest. “As I recall, your world has been hiding the existence of magic for millennia.”
Tempest nodded. “That’s right…”
“Why can we not do the same? Blame the attack on aliens and demons, and move on.”
Ganondorf chuckled. “The words of someone about to bite it.”
“If I am about to bite it, you are as well, for you are in on it,” she spat.
Ganondorf shrugged, saying nothing further.
Corona glanced at the portal behind her. “Well, I suppose you’re right. We probably should close it then and respect your wishes. See you around.”
“Likewise,” Zelda said, bowing slightly.
“By the way…” Corona said, looking back. “…do you know anything about a weird mask salesman who calls himself the Happy Mask Salesman?”
Zelda looked at her with a confused expression. “No… Should I?”
Corona shrugged. “I don’t know. He lives in your world, and he’s got something mysterious about him. Maybe you should ask Link.”
Ganondorf folded his arms. “Yeah. Ask Link. Like he’ll be easy to get ahold of.”
“…He’s not here?”
“No. For whatever goddess-forsaken reason, he’s gone and hitched a ride on the Apollo and has been there for the last few weeks as far as we know.”
“The Apollo’s not exactly hard to find,” Carter said.
Zelda nodded. “Admittedly not. That said, being in the right place at the right time is not worth it if we only need to ask him one thing. I’m just letting him do what he wants for now, he’ll come back eventually. It’s not like he’s really doing anything that important. He’ll return when the world needs him.”
~~~
“We are not any closer to finding Majora’s Mask.”
Link glanced at his shadow. “Midna, we know Ba’al has it.”
Midna popped out of his shadow, settling her impish self on his shoulder, twirling her glowing orange-red hair around like she was trying to make a point. “And that’s all we know! And how much closer are we to finding out where he has it hidden?”
“Not much,” Link admitted. “But these people are our only lead.”
Midna yawned. “Didn’t they admit to thinking Ba’al was defeated until he invaded Ardent?”
“Yes. But they still know more about him than we do. How he thinks. What he’s likely to do.”
“But, alas, we can’t exactly just ask where they think he’d hide something, can we? That’d be too obvious.”
“Knowledge of the mask is dangerous. You know that.”
Midna bit her lip. She did in fact know that. She knew of the mask, and she heard it calling to her in her sleep sometimes. Though lately it just laughed. “True. But you and I both know that this ship isn’t just hunting Ba’al, it’s doing other things. For instance, what have we been doing all day?”
“Diplomacy.”
“Right. Diplomacy. The most boring of all boring things where no bad-guy hunting takes place. Ever.”
Link shrugged. “It is necessary though. It is gracious enough that we are allowed to stay on this starship, and engage in the hunt when it does happen.”
“That’s another thing. We keep rooting out Ba’als, but they never tell us what we need to know. Where the mask is. Something tells me they don’t just keep it on their mobile mothership.”
“But they probably do move it around,” Link said. “Which does make it a big problem. Ba’al is clever, and after his first mistake of charging headfirst, he’s biding his time. He’s smart.”
“Eventually, however…”
Link grimaced. “I’d prefer that we find the mask before that happens. It makes him easier to find, but more dangerous.”
Midna nodded. “Yep. Mixed blessings all around. What I’m saying is that we need a new plan.”
Link raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“We’re out here in the multiverse, right? Surely there’s something here we can use to find it. Or even defeat Majora once and for all!”
Link shook his head. “Then we’d have to ask questions. And questions lead to questions in return.”
“Zelda could probably find it…”
“We are not giving her knowledge of it,” Link said, standing up suddenly.
“You know I could go ask her without your permission.”
“You won’t.”
Midna sighed. “Fine. Find some other prophet-type to find it.”
“Too dangerous.”
“Well if you aren’t willing to use anything, are we just going to let it all explode in a shower of deranged laughter and chaos?”
Link smirked. “No. We have time, for now.”
“Sure we do.”
“We’ll collect what we can from here,” Link said, leaving the room. “And we can use what we find. Just like old times.”
“Another grand adventure!” Midna cheered, a bit too intensely to be serious. She vanished back into his shadow as he left. “Just remember, we’re on a nonspecific timetable here. Could be next week he loses it, could be next year. Maybe even longer, if he’s smart enough. But he won’t last forever.”
Link nodded, walking down the halls of the Apollo to the bridge. His plans were to see how much longer it’d be before O’Neill was done with the diplomacy and could order the Apollo somewhere else.
It turned out that O’Neill was already done, since he was sitting in the captain’s chair with a slight smirk on his face. Someone Link didn’t recognize was next to him.
“Ah, Link! Just talking about you,” O’Neill said, waving him over. “This here is Director Storm, the only sane person on this round rock we’re orbiting.”
Link looked Director Storm up and down. He wasn’t sure what he thought of the tall man. “I’m Link, though I guess you already know that.”
Director Storm shook his hand, smirking. “Indeed I do! I hear you’re quite the classic adventuring hero, aren’t you? Saved your world from a great evil, saved it again from alien invasion, and now are seeking to save multiple universes from the same aliens! Truly, an epic man on an epic quest!”
Link felt like he was being buttered up. “Do you want something?”
“Me? No. Well, besides having you on my good side. I’m sure you can guess why.”
Link nodded. “Yeah. Of course, that makes me a tad suspicious.”
Storm threw his hands into the air. “Ah, what can I do? Alas, my advances are all seen as ploys. Perhaps I am but doomed to be seen as a conniving mastermind. Oh, woe…”
O’Neill pointed at the Director. “This guy…”
Link nodded slowly. “So, I take it things went badly down there?”
O’Neill reclined back in the seat and put his hands over his eyes. “Their President is an absolute moron.”
“I’m sure there were other leaders there.”
“None of them were the ones I already knew, yet they were oddly similar enough that I felt like I could say certain things and everything blew up. Alternate universes – who needs ‘em?”
“Need is such a strong word,” Director Storm said.
O’Neill gave Director Storm a look that was torn between amusement and annoyance. Director Storm just smirked.
Link turned back to O’Neill. “Are we ready to get back on our mission?”
Director Storm nodded, as if he were expecting this. “Always eager to get back to the mission, to return to what must be done.”
O’Neill put his chin in his hand. “Well, seeing as we accomplished nothing down there, I’m ready to be done with politics for a while. Storm, you’re going back down. Don’t die from political suffocation.”
“Likewise,” Storm said, smirking.
O’Neill pressed a button on the intercom. “Beam Storm back down. And this time don’t interfere with a weather satellite, I don’t want to sit through that soul-wrenching discussion again.”
Soon, Storm was gone, leaving just the regular bridge crew and Link.
“Any leads?” Link asked.
“We had to extract one from a senator within the last twenty-four hours.” O’Neill sat up straight, grimacing. “He’s trying to get a hold on everyone we’re connected to. He doesn’t seem to be able to infect ponies, though.”
“Gorons? Zora? Binaries?”
“No idea. We’ve found nothing but human cases. But he’s spreading. The Elemental Nations lack the infrastructure to root him out so he’s probably everywhere there. We only caught one with the Goa’uld sensors installed in the Hub. He’s moving around carefully. No more information about his mothership, and none of the clones can tell you where it is because it keeps moving.”
“They must have some way to contact it.”
“It seems like it contacts them somehow. But I don’t know for the life of me how he’s pulling that off. I like to think we’d have caught a message by now…”
Majora…? No, there’s no way he’s advanced that far along. There’d be signs. Link shook his head. “Do we have anything on him?”
“Besides evidence of him spreading? No. He’s just being too damn careful…” O’Neil clenched his fist. “I don’t like being outmaneuvered, Link. Yet he always seems to find a way to weasel out of final defeat… Always. He’s like a zombie plague.”
“…A what?”
“Nevermind,” O’Neill shook his head. “Let’s think about something less depressing. Like ponies. We’re going to the main pony world.”
Link raised an eyebrow. “Is Ba’al there?”
“No. Not as far as we know anyway. What is there is that Ha’tak that’s going to launch today. We’re going to be there in case it blows up so we can save every little pony on board. “
“…I see…”
O’Neill sighed. “Look, I know you want to go guns blazing and hunt Ba’al down, but it’s just not that simple. He’s hiding. We don’t know where he is. We don’t have any leads that will take us to the mothership. Unless you’ve got something that can just tell us where he is, then we’re stumped until he makes a mistake.”
“Triforce of Wisdom…” Midna whispered from Link’s shadow.
O’Neill blinked, looking around. “What was that?”
“What was what?” Link said, managing to hide his frustration at Midna.
“…I’m hallucinating noises in my old age…” O’Neill muttered. “Anyway, take us to… What are we calling it now? Equis Vitis? What does that even mean?”
“Equis Vine, I think. Sir,” one of the crew said.
“And what does Equis mean?”
“Something to do with horses.”
O’Neill shrugged. “Sometimes I marvel at how literal their names are. Anyway, take us there.”
The Apollo’s drive activated the dimensional device, cutting a circular hole through the fabric of space. The ship passed right through without incident, appearing in orbit around Equis, both the moon and miniature sun visible from the bridge.
“Love this place. The sun orbits the planet,” O’Neill rubbed his hands together. “Tell them we’re ready.”
The communications officer frowned. “They’re not. Apparently there’s some technical difficulties that arose. They’re suggesting we wait a few hours.”
Link abruptly left the room, heading back to his given quarters. He was going to try and take a nap. Operative word being try.
Midna chuckled. O’Neill grunted about hearing things again.
~~~
Luna and Celestia were walking down the halls of the Hub, surprised to see that already a few of the rooms had been occupied. They were even more surprised that some of them weren’t embassies.
“We’re creating a culture here faster than I was anticipating…” Celestia mused. “Apparently everyone had plans and was just waiting for it to become official.”
“And yet, still no signed accords,” Luna said. “The Binaries refuse to be reasonable and the ponies of Lai just don’t care. No offense to my counterpart intended, but she could stand to get her ponies more organized.”
Celestia smirked. “Luna, really, who cares about that now? So what if we’re not really in an official alliance. Friendship with paperwork always means less, know what I mean?”
“I do, sister, I do. But I also know that humans love loopholes and exploits. Not to mention Ba’al…”
“Ba’al is a force of darkness,” Celestia said. “He is our collective enemy. And, as of now, the only one. In many ways, having an opposing force brings ponies closer together.”
“Never let anypony hear you say that. Or anyone.”
Celestia smirked. “I know. Not all can see things from our perspective. In fact, few can. How many immortals have we found out there that aren’t just versions of us?”
“…A few. The Spectacularium. The Ascended.”
“The point is a human could easily count the number of them on their fingers.”
“Well the Ascended are a race…”
“Luna, you’re being nitpicky again.”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “Sometimes you need to examine all the details.”
“I do not think that is now. And – oh would you look at that. It’s Twilight.”
Luna raised her eyebrow. “Isn’t she with the ship?”
“Sparky, Luna.” Celestia gestured at one of the rooms that had been clearly furnished into a shop called Earth Gizmos. Human Twilight was inside, sorting strange rectangular devices into and out of boxes. “Let’s pay her a visit, hrm?”
The two strode into the little shop, and nobody inside noticed them at first. Twilight was busy scrambling around, freaking out about how this totally wasn’t going to work, and everyone else was watching her. Celestia took a moment to recognize everyone, but eventually she worked it out. Micro Chips, Sandalwood, Lyra, and Principal Celestia.
“Hello,” Princess Celestia said, smirking.
“Ah!” the Principal said. “I was wondering when we’d get to meet!”
Twilight stopped in her tracks, turning her head around slowly until she faced Princess Celestia. “P-P-princess! What are- Why- Wha?”
Micro Chips hid behind Sandalwood while Lyra just started scribbling furiously in her notebook. Princess Celestia found the antics of the humans amusing. “I just saw you and decided to drop in. As a friend.”
“But we’re not ready yet!” Twilight blurted.
“Ready for what?”
Principal Celestia smirked. “This is the ‘group project’ of the dimensional explorer’s club. Every club in my school has to accomplish something beyond having fun by the end of the year, and that is quickly approaching, so they’re in a bit of a panic. They’re going to operate a shop in the Hub and sell… ‘Earth Gizmos’, and learn about economic processes while they do it. A wonderful learning opportunity!”
Princess Celestia nodded. “And what exactly are these Earth Gizmos?”
Everyone looked to Micro Chips. He cleared his throat. “Well, those of us on Earth h-happen to, uh, have a love of technology. We, er, well, figured since you don’t have it, we’d be able to do pretty well in selling it to you. Yeah. We’ve got TVs, computers, and other similar things. And we’ve also got a lot of entertainment – game consoles, movies, TV shows, and videos you can normally only see on the Internet. B-bringing a bit of our world to the others, if they want it.”
“I know of a few ponies who would love all these things,” Princess Celestia mused, taking a look around at the half-stocked shop. “How could you afford all this? My understanding is these devices aren’t exactly cheap.”
“Rarity’s family is stinking rich and Micro’s dad works at Best Buy,” Lyra offered. “We don’t have a lot of stuff, but what we do have will give us a start.”
“And how are you going to power it?” Luna asked, looking at all the places cables needed to be stuck in on a flatscreen TV. “Not everyone is the masterful unicorn Starlight is, able to convert magic directly into electricity. And those areas of our world that do have electricity won’t have the same outlets.”
“I’ve got outlet adaptors!” Twilight said, opening up a box filled with rectangles that would stick into a pony wall socket and turn it into an earth outlet. “Also, we’ve got a way to give you at least some electricity. See, in the back we’ve got…”
A light blue unicorn marched out of the back room and slammed a tray of softly-glowing cylinders on a counter. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has created another batch!”
Princess Celestia blinked. “…Trixie?”
Trixie looked up. “Yes, who wants to kno-“ her arrogant expression vanished. “PRINCESS CELESTIA!?”
Princess Celestia nodded. “Yes. What are you doing here?”
“Uh, well Trixie’s helping out some friends make magic batteries! Yep! Just like at the power plant!”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “You’ve worked at the power plant?”
“It was slightly better than the rock farm,” Trixie muttered, then shoved a hoof over her mouth. “I mean, not that rock farmers aren’t worthwhile, I’m sure they’re excellent ponies, it’s just that I found the power plant work more rewarding. Yes. Heheh.”
Luna snickered, turning away from Trixie and her power-enchanted cylinders, focusing instead on a shelf lined with many green rectangular cases. She took one off and popped it open, finding a disc inside. “…What is this?”
“Video game, for one of those consoles,” Micro said. “I think in that one you play a girl who wants to collect hats and hourglasses. Or something. I haven’t played it.”
“It looks adorable,” Luna said. “…I think I’ll take it. And whatever you need to play it. See if these ‘games’ are any better than our little arcades.”
“That’ll be a console, the game, and a screen,” Sandalwood said, grabbing what she needed right then and there. “That’ll be eight-hundred seventy-eight dollars. And in bits that’ll be-“
“We can’t charge the Princess!” Twilight shouted.
“Yes, you can,” Luna said, conjuring up a Royal Treasury Note. “How much in bits?”
“Seven-hundred and twenty-six,” Sandalwood said, taking the Note as soon as Luna wrote the value on it. “You are now the proud owner of a gaming system. It comes with a few games already installed on it, since it was used before. Hope you enjoy!”
Luna smirked. “We shall see. I doubt I’ll get that into it, though.”
Princess Celestia was mildly impressed that Sandalwood had worked out a conversion rate already. All they’d done previously was assume the value of the bit based on its construction from gold, nothing else. “I see you’ve all got this well under control. I’d expect a lot of traffic in this little shop of yours, assuming other people don’t have the same idea.”
Principal Celestia shrugged. “I think they’ll do fine.”
“Yeah! You’ve got Trixie helping you!” Trixie raised her hoof into the air.
“…Do you want to be paid now or something?” Twilight asked her.
“Uh… Yes please.”
Twilight took a box of peanut butter crackers out of a nearby box and handed them to Trixie. She grabbed them and grinned. “Trixie now has an entire box of the best snack in existence!”
Princess Celestia blinked. “…I suppose money isn’t everything.”
“Definitely not,” Twilight agreed. “Anything else we can do for you two?”
“Not now, no. We may be back though. So prepare yourselves.”
“We will!” Sandalwood said, giving them a thumbs up. The two princesses left the store with their items.
Celestia smirked. “I expect you’ll be up all night playing that thing.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Oh? Don’t remember losing sleep so many nights because you’d found a good book?”
Luna flushed. “I’m significantly older and wiser now, sister. Such things won’t affect me anymore.”
Celestia leaned closer to her sister and grinned.
“…Affect me as much.”
Celestia leaned even closer, raising her eyebrows.
“Are you just trying to make me uncomfortable.”
“If I am, is it working?”
Luna sighed. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but let’s talk about politics again.”
“You know we can’t drop this now.”
“...Celestiaaaaaaa…”
Celestia chuckled. It was always fun, messing around with her sister. It was their little ritual. Something they could no longer do with many other ponies due to their position. Just a sad fact of life.
~~~
Applejack held up a glass bottle of apple cider in her hoof. “Ready?”
“Ready!” Princess Twilight called over.
“Throw it already AJ!” Rainbow Dash begged.
Applejack hefted the bottle and threw it as hard as she could. It flew far into the air, spinning through it in a perfect arc. It smashed against something hard and metallic, spraying glass and cider everywhere.
“I declare the Equestrian Starfinder spaceworthy!” Twilight shouted, for once using the Royal Canterlot Voice so everypony could hear. Applause – both with hands and hooves – filled the air around the Starfinder. What was once a brutalized and broken Ha’tak was now a shimmering pyramid of a largely white color, covered in pink and purple magical runes that glowed softly, giving the ship the illusion of life.
Pinkie Pie pressed a button and confetti exploded from all sides of the Starfinder, down its pearly sides and onto the ground in a colorful blanket. “WOOHOO!” She shouted.
Starlight smirked, ready to give the gathered crowd a show. She lit her horn, activating the pre-programmed test flight response. The Starfinder’s engines activated for the first time in months, encasing the bottom of the ship in a brilliant purple fire. It floated several stories into the air and then stopped, holding position far above the crowd. There were many ‘ooooh’s and ‘aaaaaah’s, mainly from the ponies who had come to see the show, rather than the humans who’d helped work on it.
“Ponies of Equestria! Our first starship is ready to explore the Stars! Wish us luck on our outing!” With a quick spell, Twilight teleported herself and her seven friends onto the bridge, which was still the same as the default Ha’tak bridge, golden and a bit excessive. They hadn’t had time to paint the interior. “Okay, now I can stop talking like that. Gak.” She rubbed her throat. “Never like it.”
“You sounded great,” Spike said, giving her a thumbs up.
“I agree. I think,” Fluttershy said, unaware that her ears were still folded back on her skull.
Twilight turned to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “Glad you two could make it today. We’ve… We’ve missed you.”
Rainbow Dash grinned. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world! I mean, come on, the first spaceship we get flying without Rainbow Dash? Tell me that doesn’t sound crazy!”
“It doesn’t sound crazy,” Starlight said, smirking.
“Ladies and gentleponies, introducing Sarcasm Glimmer,” Rainbow Dash muttered.
“I’d call that more deadpan.”
Applejack chuckled softly. “Glad to be here as well, Twi. Not as invested as Dash over there, but Ah figure it’s been long enough since Ah’ve joined ya. When was the last time?”
Fluttershy raised a hoof. “The Tree of Harmony asked us to calm down a dispute between the demons and the swamp tribe.”
“Ah. Right, that,” Applejack said. “Ah don’t remember that very well.”
“It wasn’t very memorable.”
Rainbow Dash grabbed her head. “Can we get moving already? We’ve got a spaceship to fly!”
Twilight laughed. “Sure, Rainbow Dash, sure.” She tapped one of the consoles in front of her with a hoof, telling the Starfinder to rise into orbit. Rainbow Dash’s grin only grew as she saw Equis get smaller and smaller on the screen in front of them. “Yessssssss!”
“Hey. Incoming message,” Spike said, pointing at a flashing green light.
Twilight smirked. “Accept the call, ensign Spike!”
“Oh, so we’re all part of a bridge crew now, is that it?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Just put it on screen.”
O’Neill’s face quickly lit up the board. “Well, you’re pretty lucky. It took us several years before we managed to get a full blown spaceship.”
“Well, you did build the Prometheus more or less from scratch, right?” Rarity said.
“Eh. More or less. Anyway, we have a teleport lock on all… sixty of you in that ship. If something goes wrong we’ll have you out. It might be a tight fit though.”
Twilight shrugged. “Hey, if the ship blows up, I’d much rather live in a tightly compressed transporter room than explode out here in space.”
“When you put it that way it doesn’t sound so bad.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “What part, the exploding, or the cramped space?”
“Does it matter?” Applejack asked.
Pinkie giggled. “Oxymoron.”
O’Neill facepalmed. “You’re still on about that?”
“I’m always on about everything.”
“…It’s hard to argue with that.”
Twilight chuckled. “Anyway, Starlight, set a course for Proximus. ETA… Four minutes.”
“Right awa-“
There was a flash of silvery light. Instead of Discord appearing, like half the ponies were expecting, it was an elderly gray unicorn with an impressive beard. His large, pointed hat jingled as he shook his head. “My Stars, that was a difficult teleport…”
Twilight’s jaw dropped. “S-Starswirl!? What are-“
“You’re going to visit a Star. I have a particular one in mind I want answers from. I would have appreciated being informed prior to launch.”
“Nopony knows where to find you half the time!”
Starswirl scratched his beard. “Fair enough. I won’t hold anything against you. But I have a long overdue conversation with Malat, and it looks like you have the ship to get me there. …If you don’t mind.”
Starlight groaned. “Fine. Malat. Ten minute travel time. Okay?”
“Yes, much faster than the hibernation I was expecting.”
O’Neill raised a hand. “Who’s the old guy?”
“Starswirl,” Twilight said. “The greatest mage in all of Equestria’s history. Also apparently has an overdue conversation with a particular Star. Trained Celestia and Luna. And… Well…”
“Needs to learn a thing or two about politeness,” Rarity muttered.
“That wasn’t very polite, Rarity,” Starswirl shot back.
“Touché.”
O’Neill shrugged. “Okay then, not going to ask any more. You ponies ready or not?”
“Actually, don’t we need to check the weapon?” Pinkie said. “We’ve never fired it.”
“Right,” Twilight said. “Spike, fire it into space.”
The main cannon of the Starfinder lit up, fusing the normal golden energy of the Ha’tak cannon with magics that made it significantly more potent. The purple energy bolt shot out of the Starfinder with perfect cohesion.
Then it hit the moon.
Twilight turned to Starlight, panicked. “Engage!”
Starlight facehoofed. “That sounds stupid, Twilight.”
“It sounds like Star Trek,” O’Neill added.
“Oh, so I need a different line then?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Just activate the hyperdrive before Luna gets here!”
Starlight pressed a screen with her hoof and the Starfinder shot into hyperspace. They had expected the hyperspace effect to be different – the Apollo had already reported that the color pattern was different in every universe – but this was far from what they were expecting. It was rainbow, with a larger quantity of pink and purple than any other color. The colors were bright, but also calming. The vortex could hardly be called a vortex, for it wasn’t violent. It was just a hypnotic swirl of color.
Rainbow Dash grinned. “I am space.” Applejack facehooved.
Twilight turned to look at Starswirl, trying her best not to let her annoyance be obvious. “Okay, Starswirl, I know you’ve saved Equestria a lot and all, and I know we owe a lot to you, but I still want to know why we’re going to Malat.”
“She’s a Star I had a conversation with long ago,” Starswirl said. “What about? Many things, but of chief importance was the nature of the Harmony forces. The moment I asked about what I and the other pillars represented, she fell silent. She wasn’t the most helpful voice of the heavens to begin with, but that was unheard of.”
“Wait, how many Stars have you talked to?” Starlight wondered.
“Dozens. It is my special talent, after all.”
“Oh,” Twilight said. “…That makes sense, actually.”
“Why wouldn’t it? Did you think I was just good at crafting spells, or something?”
Starlight raised a hoof. “Does this mean I’m related to Stars in some way then?”
“Probably not.”
“Wow. Dreamcrusher, right there.”
Starswirl shrugged. “Sorry, just not likely. I’ve been contacting them with spells since I was a foal. Most won’t listen. Some listen often, but don’t respond. Others respond but just don’t care. Malat was somewhere in the middle. Thought herself high and mighty but wasn’t above ‘messing’ with ponies.”
Starlight turned to Twilight. “Why did we need to wait for a spaceship to get answers? We could have just talked to Starswirl.”
“Nopony ever knows where he is, Starlight, how would we have found him?”
Rarity raised an eyebrow at Twilight. “Just blow up something in the vicinity of the Tree of Harmony. It’ll work wonders.”
“Please refrain from doing that,” Starswirl said, looking straight ahead, into the vortex. “Most interesting… Perhaps I should read some books on the subject of this ‘hyperdrive’.”
Twilight smiled. “They are pretty interesting. It works by accessing a sub-framework in reality where laws of nature can be superseded, an odd concept that I wouldn’t have thought possible, but here it is.”
“Peculiar. How would such a sub-framework be accessed without prior knowledge of its existence?”
“I have no idea! Every hyperdrive seems to have been based off another one!”
“They’re eggheading. Oh no,” Rainbow Dash moaned.
“It’s what their kind do,” Starlight said. “They’re basically marvelling over the fact that hyperdrive should be impossible to invent.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Applejack said.
“Exactly what I told Twilight,” Spike said, “but did she listen?”
“Noooooo!” Starlight droned.
Twilight shot them all a look. “I’m trying to have an educated conversation here.”
“We’re going to be there in a couple minutes, Twi!” Pinkie said. “How are you going to have a big conversation in that much time?”
“I don’t know, actually.”
“I know some time distortion spells,” Starswirl offered.
“No.” Both Twilight and Starlight said.
“…I feel as if I’m missing some context here.”
“I used your time spells and almost destroyed everything,” Starlight said. “Remember?”
“No.”
Fluttershy held up a wing. “Er… Can we all play a little nicer now? It seems like all we’re doing right now is yelling back and forth, sometimes excited, sometimes angry…”
“We’re all on an emotional high!” Pinkie shouted. “Come on Fluttershy, we’re on a starship! How could you POSSIBLY stay CALM at a time like THIS!?”
“…Practice.”
Rarity shrugged. “Makes as much sense as anything else that’s been said in the last few minutes.”
“And how,” Spike muttered. “There’s just too many ponies here trying to get in on everything.”
Pinkie shrugged. “A nine-way conversation is a bit much. Even I have trouble keeping track of everypony!”
“And dragon,” Spike said.
“Yes, and dragon.”
Twilight shrugged. “Anyway, trying to reign this in… We’re going to Malat to learn more about the Stars. …Which apparently we could have asked Starswirl about, but we’re doing it anyway because we had the ship all ready to go. He has some questions to bring to Malat about previous conversations, and uh… I guess we head back after that with a successful mission. Or failure, if she doesn’t want to talk. …Wait, Stars have gender?”
“Their voices do, anyway. At least when I spoke with them,” Starswirl said.
“Are they biological beings in any way? Do they have a culture? Are-“
“I have no idea about any of the questions you are about to ask and Malat will not answer those questions. They prefer to be selectively secretive.”
“Ah have a question,” Applejack said. “How can they see us while we’re in Equestria if they’re so gosh darn far away?”
Starswirl blinked. “That remains a mystery to this day.”
“Something to figure out then!” Twilight clapped her hooves. “Oh I can’t wait!”
It turned out that she could wait a few more minutes. The Starfinder eventually dropped out of hyperspace next to the star Malat, a red dwarf star that was still hundreds of times larger than Equis itself, brimming with red power.
Twilight blinked. “Well, I was going to try a broadcast spell, but… Starswirl? How’d you do it?”
“Well I used rituals back on Equis. But there’s no need for that. HEY! MALAT! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!”
The sudden shouting made Fluttershy cover her ears and wince.
There was no response from Malat.
“MALAAAAT!” Starswirl yelled. “We’re RIGHT on your DOORSTEP, I know you can’t ignore that!”
Silence.
“Oh, giving me the SILENT TREATMENT, huh? Is that your strategy now? Just refuse to talk like a spoiled brat.”
This evoked a response. The red sphere before them shook, flaring in brightness for a moment. “STARSWIRL, YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE COME HERE.”
“Oh look, deflecting,” Starswirl muttered. “Malat, listen, we never finished our conversation-“
“IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW, STOP ASKING.”
“Where did the Harmony forces come from?”
“TWILIGHT SPARKLE, IT IS A PLEASURE.”
“Are you just ignoring me?”
No response.
Twilight gulped and bowed. “Uh, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Malat.”
“WE’VE BEEN WATCHING YOU FOR A WHILE.”
“Really?” Twilight echoed. “Why?”
“Malat this is trying my patience!” Starswirl shouted.
“TWILIGHT, YOU ARE THE ELEMENT OF MAGIC, ONE OF THE MOST DESTINY-DRIVEN BEINGS ON YOUR ENTIRE PLANET. YOU ARE WATCHED CLOSELY SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU ARE CENTRAL. MANY HOPED YOU WOULD DISCOVER HOW TO CHANNEL OUR VOICES.”
“That’s… Great! What did you want to talk about?”
Starswirl grabbed his beard. “How does she do this? Why does she do this to me?”
Pinkie patted him on the back. “There there, it’ll all be fine Starswirl…”
“OH, YOU MISUNDERSTAND TWILIGHT. I WAS TALKING ABOUT US AS A WHOLE. THE GROUP OF STARS. I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU AT ALL. THEY’D JUST BE DISPLEASED IF I DIDN’T INFORM YOU.”
Twilight cocked her head. “Uh… Okay?”
Starswirl facehooved. “Oh great Harmony, here we go…”
“YOU ARE PATHETIC LITTLE FLESHBAGS. YOU ARE NOTHING TO US. YOUR ONLY PURPOSE IS TO DISTRACT US FROM MORE IMPORTANT THINGS.”
“There it is!” Starswirl shouted. “Happy now Malat?”
“This entire exchange just makes me feel guilty for some reason,” Fluttershy commented.
Rarity rolled her eyes. “It just makes me feel disappointed that so many ponies worship these beings.”
Starlight took in a deep breath, and then breathed out. “Okay Starlight, just because this one’s a jerk doesn’t mean all of them are…”
“YES, GO TALK TO SIRIUS, I’M SURE HE’LL BE NICER. ALSO QUIETER. SEE, THE NICER ONES TALK LESS, BECAUSE APPARENTLY HEARING FROM US DRIVES YOU SLOWLY INSANE.”
Rainbow Dash looked at Starswirl. “Hrm… That would explain a lot…”
Starswirl shot her a look. She slapped her hooves over her mouth and blushed.
Twilight shook her head. “Is everything we do pointless to you?”
“YES. OR, WELL, IT USED TO BE. APPARENTLY YOU’VE GONE AND DONE SOMETHING THAT HAS EVEN THE ONES THAT DON’T CARE LOOKING AT YOU. DIMENSIONAL TRAVEL.”
“What? That’s what it took to grab your attention?” Starswirl shouted. As usual, Malat acted like Starswirl didn’t exist.
Rarity spoke up instead. “What does your kind think of it?”
“WE HIGHLY ADVISE YOU CEASE IMMEDIATELY. YOU SEE – WHY IS YOUR REACTOR CORE CHARGING UP?”
“…What?” Twilight said.
“YOUR ENERGY LEVELS ARE SPIKING DANGEROUSLY.”
It was at that moment the Starfinder’s alarms went off.
A second later a purple explosion shook the entire ship, blowing off a chunk of the bottom, shaking everything out of alignment. The Starfinder tumbled end over end through space, tumbling toward Malat at high speeds.
Malat would have blinked were she able to. “…THAT’S GOING TO INTERFERE WITH MY CORONA.”
~~~
Pinkie Pie the Sage approached the Hub again, mask on her face. Some of them may have sensed her coming, though they didn’t know what she was. Plus, the magic she had in her was a holy magic, nobody would think holy magic was dangerous. Not even those badly named ‘demons’ would come to that conclusion.
She knew this. For certain. Was it her oculus powers or something else? Did it really matter? She just knew.
She also knew that now was the perfect time to strike. The Hub wasn’t as crowded as it had been when the Portal opened. People were moving into the many divisions, and everything was falling into routine. A routine she was going to royally screw up.
She took a deep breath. “Okay…” Her knowledge of what was to come did not make her any less nervous about the events soon to take place. It would be intense, powerful, and very dangerous. Just because she knew didn’t mean she couldn’t change it by screwing up. And that was what she feared – a bad judgment call on her part.
As an oculus, the first thing you learned about your eyes is that, even though they show you what is to happen, or what is hidden, you also have to know that nothing is certain. By being able to see more of what is to come than any other pony, you are ironically cursed to live a life of less certainty in many areas.
The curse of the oculi.
She put a hoof on her mask and walked in.
She hoped they wouldn’t scream all that much.
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Boy, that escalated quickly
I hope they meet Flagg.
8643654
Have a little hint:
Who do you think the "man in black" was in the first scene of the first chapter?
-GM, master of COMMENTUS.
And the great all powerful being(s) are Idiots/Asshole. Parr for the course in Equestria.
I guess you could say that Malat really dwarfs all those other stuck up beings, don't you?
8767810
Yea, i guess that area is a little in the red isn’t it?
9460057
There's some brief references to DBZ/DBZA later on, but nothing major.
-GM, master of mines.
I love how much snark is in this chapter.
Best line right there.
Are people trying to hide their identities not weird here?
Only now do i get this reference.
Is gold in the "equestria girls" earth also cheap? because In real bits would be WAY more worth than dollars (talking about luna buying the console etc for over 700 bits)
10563221
Let's assume that the physical value of the currency already caused its panic and now it just has a standard exchange rate protected by some kind of interdimensional law.
How specifically would this work? I have no idea, but both sides would recognize that flooding the markets would be Bad™ so they'd come up with something.
-GM, master of ice.
10448401
It evades me, would you mind explaining it to the unenlightened?
FACTS
Since when are Zelda and Ganondorf friendly to each other?
10663073
Videogame by the name.of A Hat in Time.