9: Single Personality Disorder
The day Velvet spoke with Celestia and Blitzkrieg.
A few days had passed since the last Summit. Aegis was standing on a raised platform looking down with pride at the drill grounds below. It was a blistering hot cloudless day on the far southern end of Tradewinds, and the Royal Marine recruits below were going through a rough training course.
Up above, the Long Shot and her new sister ship the Fluke were on station, casting the only meaningful shadows. The new monoplanes buzzed in a wide training area, adding to the din of war. Aegis watched on as one group went through obstacles, another a firing range, while more still did basic running or endurance training. Lastly, on the eastern end of the training facility were the squads closer to graduation who were training alongside clockwerk weapons platforms.
Standing beside her was Equestria’s Secretary of the Navy, Easterly Wind. He was a squat stallion of pale peach fur with a green mane. He puffed lightly on a pipe before removing it from his mouth with his magic. “Very impressive, your highness. I can’t say I ever thought about using air drills above the recruits to better simulate battle noise.”
Aegis nodded appreciatively, and only glanced at Easterly before returning her attention to the drones below. The vast majority of them were purple, many were blue, but the youngest recruits shared Aegis’ new orange and red mane colors. Those, above all others, bore her highest expectations. “Thank you, Sir Easterly. I remember my first battle involving airships.” A wistful smile graced her lips. “The noise made listening to orders difficult.”
He gave her a bemused eyebrow. “Even with your hive mind?”
“Heh, Secretary, it may be a surprise, but loud noises can even drown out the Link. We still have to ‘hear’ it after all.”
“Fascinating…” He tapped his chin for a moment before dismissing it. “I can relate to the noise issue at least. Chaos spawn typically require artillery to bring down, and I believe the army only trains with personal arms clashing.” He eyed the clockwerks with great interest. “I must wonder though…” He paused to take a short drag on his pipe. “Do you think war with the Federation is coming?”
“Blitz doesn’t seem to think so.” Aegis looked through the eyes of a few puppets far out of sight. She could see the series of defense towers dotting the vast stretches of land between Tradewinds and the border of Stratholme’s territory. But those same puppets also saw the constant stream of cargo ships, trains, and personal transports along the route between both cities. “I’ve found war is not easily waged by nations ruled by committee as opposed to a single ruler. The sphinxes will bluster and posture, but I don’t think it will ever go that far. Not unless something changes.”
He hummed in agreement, but not with enthusiasm. “Do you think it was a mistake? Letting the Feds establish themselves on our shores? No other species or nation has challenged Equestrian supremacy for a long time. They might.”
“Blitz doesn’t seem to think so,” Aegis repeated after a long moment. “It’s my role to trust her judgement in diplomacy, and she hasn’t given me reason to think otherwise. More importantly though—” A strange shift in the very fabric of the hive mind reverberated around her head like a tuning fork. Twilight and Rainbow’s voices went off-kilter for the briefest of moments. The hives dismissed it as nothing, a few moments of excitement were expected fairly often. A queen rarely bothered hiding such things from the Link, and it could have been caused by a raunchy or suprising scene in a book for all they knew. A somewhat common occurrence. This time however… Aegis wrinkled her brow with sudden worry. That wasn’t normal. It was more like a muffled scream.
“Is something the matter?” Easterly inquired with a half bemused smile.
Times like this, I’m glad they can’t sense emotions. Aegis let off a halfhearted chuckle. “Just my mom playing a prank. But anyway, I’ve been meaning to review the logistics planning in the event a war does actually break out.”
Easterly nodded with measured enthusiasm. “Yes, I’ve been wanting to do the same, actually. I admit, ever since you and your mother’s hives sprung up, its generated a boom in the railroad industry, and I have some ideas on how we can use that for troop movement.”
While Aegis physically continued her discussions with the general,, she sent a quick request to puppet a drone guarding the royal guest quarters in Tradewinds Castle. The hallway was lined with sterile white painted steel, but the floors were carpeted. After fully taking control, she turned and barged through the guest suite doors, surprising the puppet’s partner.
The guest suite was strictly reserved for other queens of the Alliance, both present and future. It shared the same clockwork motif Rarity had designed for Phoenix Castle, ranging from moving gears within the walls to a curtained bed that could cover or unveil itself with a switch. Currently, Twilight Sparkle was standing in front of a mirror with a hairbrush that had fallen to the floor nearby. She was holding a hoof to her temple while a concerned, distant expression darkened her face. Rainbow Dash was in bed, and still under the sheets, clearly having just woken up. She bore a bewildered expression and had been facing Twilight before Aegis burst in.
“Momma, Aunty, is everything okay?”
Blitz’s own voice came from the puppet’s partner barely a moment later. “What happened? Is there—?” Blitz went silent as their mothers seemed to recover a bit.
“We’re fine,” both elder queens responded.
Twilight turned towards her sister. “Can you see it too?”
Rainbow blinked a few times as realization cut through her morning fatigue. “Holy – I can see out of your eyes!” Rainbow jumped a bit and covered her ears.
“And I can hear out of your ears!” Twilight half yelled in surprise.
The four queens stood in stunned silence, but Aegis was more surprised than anything else. “Sooo… your half-puppeting each other? How did you pull that off?”
“Yeah,” Blitz added with a mix of curiosity and confusion. “Royals can’t be puppeted.”
Rainbow, far from being troubled, fluttered over to stand in front of Twilight with a scrutinizing face. But it wasn’t her sister that was her focus. “Heh, cool, I can use you as a mirror.” Twilight went slack jawed as Rainbow took her sister’s forgotten comb and started fixing her bed head.
Twilight stuttered back to life. “Ra-Rainbow! We have to fix this!”
Rainbow used her magic to straighten Twilight’s head. “The only thing I need to fix is my mane. Gotta look queenly for the trade negoche you’re dragging me to, right?”
Blitz fumed so hard her Link presence steamed to the point that local drones started to catch on that something might be up. “Mother! this is kinda more important!”
“Eh,” Rainbow shrugged as she gave Twilight a friendly nuzzle. “I could think of worse eyes to see through. Namely, ones not looking at my hot self.”
Twilight allowed Rainbow to dilute her anxiety throughout the hive mind, and fixed her sister a reluctant smile. The double vision wasn’t overly unsettling. After all, the four of them had gotten used to it via multiple puppets over the years. Nevertheless, it was still a problem. “Okay, new plan. Blitz, you’ll have to go without me on this one. The rest of us should head over to Blitz’s lab to see what’s going on.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes, but didn’t object. Blitz on the other hand was visibly worried. “Not that I really care, but wouldn’t that be seen as an insult to the Federation or something? You could at least send a representative in your place.”
Aegis perked up and a mischievous grin crossed her muzzle. “Good idea, Aunty. Mom, how about sending Rolled Scroll. I’m sure the sphinxes would love him.”
Blitz freaked a bit. “No! Aunt Twilight, you wouldn’t dare!”
Rainbow started cackling with giggles, yet Twilight felt torn. I know I should say no. RS is good, but not for sphinxes… But… Something was wrong. It had to be wrong, because she was actually considering it. Twilight didn’t know what came over her, but she eventually looked at Blitz. “I’m sure it’ll work itself out. Think of this as one more test. <Rolled, honey, I have a new job for you.>
As Twilight spoke with her ambassador, Blitz sunk into despair. “Why me?”
Aegis slid up to her and gave Blitz a squeezing side hug. “Relaaax, we can just tell the cat-birds mom’s sick and we need to postpone the meet and greet until this evening when Rolled Scroll gets here. Who knows, maybe we can fix the problem before lunch.”
“I really hope you’re right.”
Blitz’s alchemy lab was a different take than Twilight’s own. Instead of more industrialized mass-alchemical jobs, Blitz’s lab was tighter, more experimental in nature. Her capsules had incubating strains arrayed along the ceiling, each capsule had its own readers and sensors, giving at-a-glance measurements that took the guesswork out of using one’s horn. Additionally, the lab was much better lit, but had most of the incubation pods heavily tinted to protect them, save for a viewing port and retractable cover. A pair of separated doors on the west side led into the storerooms. Overall, between the tiled floor, polished white painted metal walls, and the stainless steel instruments, the lab felt very sterile.
Only a scant few alchemists were present, and each of them bowed as the royals arrived. One wearing a white lab coat with blue trim stepped away from an incubator. “Your majesties, are you finally here for the tour mother’s been dying to give you?”
Twilight smiled proudly at Blitz who was having trouble keeping her excitement in check despite the situation she and Rainbow were in. A slip barely even noticeable in her emotional aura. “I’m afraid it’ll need to wait. We have an issue that must be addressed promptly.”
“Let's start with what we know,” Blitz began as one of the drones hurried over with a clipboard in hand ready to take dictation. “What are the symptoms?”
Rainbow’s and Twilight’s eyes shifted color before they spoke in unison. “I can see out of my sister’s eyes. Hear out of her ears. I can even feel the AC moving her mane.” That made them blink and give each other odd looks as their eyes returned to normal.
“R-right,” Blitz said to break the sudden silence, save for the scratching quill. “Better add that to the list.”
Aegis waited for Twilight and Rainbow to reach an empty station. She stepped up to them to scrutinize her mother’s eyes. “I’m not so sure about you two talking in unison, but your eyes change whenever you do. I bet five bits our puppeting ability is still related to the issue. Do you, like, hear each other’s thoughts when that happens?”
Rainbow opened her mouth, but stopped herself short. Twilight averted her gaze to think. Eventually, Rainbow hummed aloud. “I can’t really say, actually. It’s weird, but we sorta just feel…” she rolled her hoof trying to find the right word that refused to come.
“In sync?” Blitz offered.
Twilight buzzed her wings. “Yes! That’s the word.”
Aegis frowned a bit and pulled back. “Ok, I admit, your whole linked minds was cool for a while, but now I’m really worried about you. How does it feel when these sync moments happen?”
“It’s hard to describe it outside of that,” Rainbow admitted with a growing scowl now that she was taking this more seriously. “You two were drones once. How does it feel to be puppeted? Maybe it’s similar.”
Aegis arched a derisive eyebrow at them and crossed her arms. “Uh, why not just puppet somepony after linking in with their sensations first? That way, you can find out personally?”
The Sisters shared a look before shrugging. All in all, it was trivial to find a willing test subject. Not one drone had ever shown even a hint of reservation at being puppeted, and today was no exception. Twilight’s first thought was Intel, who was presently enjoying the sun from aboard an air cruiseship loitering around Sunset Bay. With the standard request preceding her, Twilight delved a little deeper into the vacationing soldier’s mind than normal. I typically feel a puppet’s sense of touch last, so this’ll be new.
From Intel’s point of view, Twilight puppeted her slower than usual. Twilight felt her presence push into the drone like hot water trickling down a cracked stone, filling her with such a euphoric warmth all over that her real body briefly went dizzy. In the end, Intel felt like she was bloated on love, yet the sensation abated after a few seconds until she was merely a passenger in her own body.
Twilight hummed aloud before walking Intel over to a private room before departing her body. “Well, I don’t think that it’s like being puppeted. At least not exactly.”
Rainbow ended her own experience shortly thereafter. “Yeah, that's more like what the name means, right? Like I’m a puppet on strings. I don’t get why the kids love it so much, except for getting off when we leave.”
Aegis gave a toothy grin. “That alone was enough for me,” she said with a giggle. “But if not a straight up puppet misfire, then what else? A curse maybe?”
“What about our souls?” Rainbow offered while raising a hoof. “That demon dude kept saying our souls were merging. Maybe that’s part of the problem too.”
Twilight growled in frustration and closed her eyes to think, only to still have Rainbow’s vision. “But why are we merging? I wish I had the time to figure this out.”
“Didn’t seem like a big deal yesterday,” Rainbow offered with a frown of her own. “Maybe this is why the other queens didn’t share a hive mind.”
Everyone else, even the silently listening drones stared at her with various levels of horror. Blitz and Twilight fell into silent muttering, connecting dots and evidence together that may or may not be related.
Aegis was tapping her hoof until an idea struck her. “Didn’t Granny and Yumia share a hive mind over multiple rebirths?”
Blitz snapped her fingers with excitement. “Hey, yeah, that’s right! If anypony knows about long term bonded queens, it’d be her!”
“Isn’t she teaching an art class at your engineering college, mom?”
Twilight nodded with growing energy as well. “That she is!”
Art class didn’t really take the form of fabric canvas, paints, and oils. No, here, Cadista’s classroom was more akin to a workshop that had a scattering of prize winning works of metal and brass art. The classroom was the size of a small hangar, and had ten projects of five students each.
Currently, the class was seated in a semicircle in front of Cadista while she had a large object behind her covered in a tarp.
The former queen gazed upon her students: thirty drones, eighteen ponies, and two Psykira sphinxes. So long as I live, they’ll be the only kind of sphinxes allowed here. I’ve no time for psychic genociders.
Using a burst of magic, Cadista smacked her baton on the floor, silencing the idle chatter that was droning on when she had flown over. “Class… thus far, we’ve covered nothing but theory and limited you to the drawing board. But as I’m sure all of you have guessed by being here, those days are over. Here at last, you will have a chance to build what you imagine. But!” she punctuated with a slap on the tarp, shaking a little of the sleep still clinging to a few of them. “There is one thing you must never forget: aesthetics!”
“A city, the buildings, and streets live and breathe, not just its inhabitants.” She scanned the focused faces. Cadista had no time for first years. Only those who cared enough to pay attention made it to her class. “A city of plain geometric shapes of concrete and steel may serve just fine in function. But a hive devoid of culture is no better than a parasite for your spirit. Art is what keeps the spirit of a city alive and vibrant. Something I’ve noticed that investors seem to forget. So in my class, young ones, you will learn how to express such culture on a budget and with cheap materials, because let’s be honest, we will have jobs that do not allow for marble statues and gorgeous clockwerk. Now I know not all of you are artistically minded, but construction and invention is not a one-pony job anyway. I have assigned teams based on keeping at least one artist for each.
“Today, I want all of you to start on something special. The school is opening a new branch in the Crystal Empire. It will be the students here who design the school for the great Crystal city.” She grinned at the stunned and excited students who started sharing silent glee with each other. “Our class will be working on a new expanded rail yard. I want you to incorporate form and function to make Princess Cadance proud. You have a budget of four million bits. I know none of you are here to be accountants, but learning to stay within a budget will make your future careers much easier. All relevant source materials are available to you at the stations.” Cadista paused and watched the class until only three of them were still jotting down her instructions. “You all have assigned miniature stations and drafting tables. You may begin.”
The groups splintered off and were already falling into conversations and debates on how to start. Cadista started a slow lap around the stations. She wanted to maintain a presence without looking like she was hovering. Now comes the waiting until the questions start.
Ultimately, that was perhaps Cadista’s favorite part of teaching. Questions meant genuine interest. It meant—
<Momma, I’ve got a really important question!> Twilight all but shouted at her.
The elder mare tripped on her hooves a bit, but managed to stay standing. <I’m listening,> she replied with grim annoyance she masked with expertise.
Twilight hesitated for a moment, allowing Cadista to realize this was not asked lightly. <Do you remember saying Yumia was your other half?>
She breathed slowly through her nose, glad that the students were absorbed in their work. <I do.> Cadista’s mood soured at the memory of her loss. Yet she dared not show it to anyone, and she inwardly chided herself for getting emotional, even after all this time. <Why do you ask?>
<Well, I’ve already told you what Schadenfreude said about Rainbow and my souls are fusing. And now we share sight, hearing, and limited touch.> Twilight didn’t bother trying too hard to sound calm, not to Cadista. <Please tell me you’re familiar with this.>
Cadista stopped walking and rubbed her chin. <Fascinating… Yes, I am aware of such - eh - symptoms, for lack of a more appropriate word. Like you have already experienced with talking together with Rainbow Dash, Yumia and I did much the same.>
<Why didn’t you mention that sooner?!> Rainbow Dash butted in, startling Cadista to a mental standstill. <Woulda helped us come up with a plan.>
I didn’t realize this was a group conversation, Cadista fumed. She tried to ignore the unannounced interruption.
<Rainbow, how did you hear me?> Twilight asked slowly.
<What? You weren’t broadcasting that to me?>
Cadista’s irritation quickly morphed into concerned surprise.
<No, I - well, I thought I made that a private conversation.>
<Ladies,> Cadista said with ancient authority. <Stay focused. A panicked queen is a panicked hive.> The conversation went silent. Good. Twilight always needs her panic attacks stopped before they start. <Now, yes, I know of your symptoms, it was one of the few things we kept track of over our lifetimes. I admit I had assumed they would be in line with what I experienced with Yuma. For us, such mirrored speech and even eye color changes were common after a time. Admittedly, that only started happening roughly four to five hundred years after one of us underwent rebirth. That would reset the clock, as it were.>
<That helps,> Twilight admitted diplomatically. <But Rainbow and I haven’t even been together for thirty years, let alone four hundred.>
<Yeeah, I’m with Twi on this one. I don’t want to have to do a rebirth every thirty years.>
<Did you ever discover the cause?> Twilight pitched.
Cadista saw a student come up and struggled to split her attention on both the student and her daughters. Perhaps I was too aggressive with removing my royal blood. Multitasking is so difficult these days. It took her a long time to think. <If we did, it was not something we kept track of. And don’t bother trying to find a book on it, Twilight, even if the book survived Stripped Gear, I never would have written it down.>
<A pox on old security procedures,> Twilight huffed.
<Yes well, I do remember an alternative solution, something that Yumia and I did shortly… shortly before her death.> Cadista headed off the inevitable and useless reassurances by pushing the conversation forward. <With rebirth not being a viable option… both of you can temporarily separate yourselves from the hive mind.>
The following silence was stark, and was certainly not the wild condemnations she was expecting. This isn’t the first time they contemplated this. How long has this problem been going exactly?
<How temporary is temporary?> Rainbow asked shakily. <A few seconds, maybe?>
<Last I went through it, it took a full day inside an isolation sphere. We took turns holding the Link together, but that was only because it was the two of us. I’m sure Aegis and Blitz can hold things together so you can both go in at once.>
Link silencing spheres. Located within Tradewind’s primary school, they were deceptively simple devices if outward appearances were anything to go by, and yet it dredged up so many unpleasant memories.
Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat. There was a primal fear that she was all too willing to listen to. “I really don’t like this idea.”
Rainbow Dash, barely two paces to her right was practically shaking. “Hey, Twi, are you sure we can’t find another way? Like maybe your books, or the princesses, or something?”
“Granny already said she didn’t have books on runaway puppeting,” Aegis chided diplomatically, “I know this is going to feel really bad, but it’s only for a day.” She gave a nervous laugh at the dirty looks she got from the older queens.
Twilight eyed the sphere with trepidation, and took a long slow breath. She took strength from her own test inside one such sphere. “It’s fine. We’ll be fine. It’s scary at first, but it gets easier.” With her path set, Twilight magically pulled the levers, opening the spheres with the clatter of moving gears. The brass shell irised open, revealing a simple school desk and chair. For the moment, it did nothing to quiet the Link.
As the royals psyched themselves up, a number of drones were dropping off water bottles, some dried food, and a number of books for both of them. But they both knew these were just distractions. Distractions doomed to fail the instant the doors closed. Feels like somepony’s wanting to chop my leg off, Twilight thought dreadfully. A leg. Were it so small a thing to bereft a queen of her Link. A part of her, more than even a drone could understand.
“Hey,” Rainbow called to her with that famous bravado grin. Twilight looked at her sister with a weak smile. “It’s not the end of the world. Have some peace and quiet, read a book, take a long nap and we’re done.”
“Rainbow, there’s only one of those things that would interest you, and I can’t remember the last time you took a nap.”
A crack appeared in Rainbow’s brave face. A dash of black terror leaked into her aura. “Yeah well, even with no wars to fight, security keeps me busy.”
Aegis and Blitz stood next to each other in between their respective mothers. The two isolated spheres were no less daunting to them either. “I remember these evil things. I hated testing in SGU. Should be banned if you ask me.”
Blitz snorted derisively. “We all go through the same isolation exams, and you know why we do it.”
“Yeah well, it’s still evil.”
Rainbow rounded on Blitz with a fiery grimence. “Alright, we’ve stalled long enough. The kids already signaled they’re ready. Just take them off our heads so we can get this going already.”
Twilight tried to take strength in Rainbow’s resolve. She still remembers what it’s like to be alone in your head… she growled at herself while facing Aegis. Don't think like that. She’s just better equipped for this.
“Stay strong, mom.” Aegis said with a hand on her foreleg.
Twilight smiled and nodded. “Right. Like she said, let’s get this over with.” And here I thought I’d only be doing this when I get reborn. “Take good care of them my Little Shield.”
“I’m still just as tall as you are,” Aegis shot back with a weak attempt at joviality.
Mother and daughter touched horns and Twilight reluctantly moved her connection to every last one of her children over to Aegis. In a way, it was far less painful than she expected. Their voices were no less audible to her, no less than before. And yet, she still felt diminished. Small. Like she was just one person instead of being the center of many.
In the end though, neither she nor Rainbow could separate themselves from the Link, nor could Aegis and Blitz push them out. A royal changeling without a hive mind was like a magnet in a sea of iron shavings. Twilight was still latched into Aegis, and there was only one humane, roughly speaking, way to remove her.
Even though the transfer was easy, all of Twilight’s drones felt the passing of the torch. Aegis’ mind felt different, less strictly organized, her song was a slightly different note.
Twilight heard a flood wash over her.
<Be safe, mommy!> <We’ll be waiting for you!> <Do you really have to do this?> <Take your time, we ain’t going anywhere.> <I love you, be careful please!>
That and many more brought tears to her eyes. Aegis have her a tight hug.
“It’s not going to be the same without your voice.”
The two were shaken from their thoughts by Rainbow belting off a hearty laugh. “Geez, Blitz, you keep acting like I’m dying. I’ll be in and out before you know it.” So as to keep her brave face intact, the blue queen marched inside the silence sphere and stood at the ready. “Well, come on, Twi, let’s get it on already.”
Taking strength from her sister, Twilight stepped inside her sphere. Aegis and Blitz hesitated for a moment before pressing the buttons locking their mothers inside their separate spheres.
Silence.
Dead silence.
It was soul crushing, maddening, and terror all rolled into one horrid stillness of the grave. Or at least, that was true for the first ten miserable seconds. Suddenly, the darkness she was left in was banished by the light switching on.
Wait.
The light wasn’t remote operated. She saw the pull string in the pink aura of Rainbow’s magic. “I’m still seeing through your eyes.”
As she feared, Rainbow had heard her. “Whoa, that’s not what I expected. How can we still hear each other?”
Twilight clicked her own light on, and shivered a bit as she felt Rainbow scratching the back of her neck. Troubling though it was, being able to hear another’s voice cleaved through her primal fear, and allowed her to think. “I don’t know.” Whatever is going on must not be entirely related to the Link.
“Do you think that means we can get out of here early?” Rainbow asked eagerly.
Twilight froze in shock. It took Rainbow a second, but she went stiff a moment later. Hold up. That didn’t sound like it echoed off the walls.
I didn’t say that aloud! Twilight screamed as she hugged herself.
Rainbow went sprawling as her forelegs were pulled right out from under her and into a hug. “What in Tartarus is going on?!” She growled in confused frustration as she forced herself to stand back up, only to inadvertently force Twilight to do the same.
Their eyes flashed to matched fuchsia. Both of them started banging on the spheres. “Let me out! This was a big mistake!”
Fear, panic, and confusion washed over both of them equally, their auras perfectly mirroring each other. Twilight started hyperventilating, dragging Rainbow into doing the same. Their thoughts were going a mile a minute. Both of them started blindly feeling around with their magic, trying to pull the lever to reopen the spheres, but both Aegis and Blitz rebuffed their efforts. The surging terror rocketed past their breaking point.
With a heavy whump, Twilight passed out, and slumped on the floor, and Rainbow Dash right with her.
From outside the isolation spheres, Aegis and Blitz listened to the muffled yelling and screaming finally die down. Aegis was the last to let go of the levers, both with spell and hand alike. Blitz was beside herself with worry, and started walking laps around the two pods. Aegis was wringing her hands after the tense minutes left her arms sore, and was close to hurting her wrists a couple of times.
<Do you really think this was the best plan, Granny?> Aegis asked both Cadista and Blitz.
Blitz looked up at no point in particular. <Yeah, there was a lot of banging and shouting, but I couldn’t make anything out.>
By now, Cadesta’s classes were over for the day, and she was currently at her desk writing up a lesson plan. She had been paying close attention to the Link. She rubbed at her temple. <Isolation is never easy. We queens are designed to be social. Isolation is a very bitter pill necessary for times like this. Such dependence on others is the price we must pay for a combined hive mind.>
<Never assume a system is without flaw,> Blitz quoted mechanically.
<I’m glad you remembered.> Cadista tried to project some pride over the Link, but her power was not what it once was. <In any case, you did make sure the spheres were total isolation, correct?>
<Yes, ma’am.> Blitz wanted to hold her mother so bad she felt her eyes watering.
Cadista’s tone lost some of its aloofness. <It is difficult to watch, I know. But there is some good news,> she added with a bit more pep. <They should pass out from the stress before too long.>
Aegis heard a loud ‘whomp’ from inside. She carefully tapped the glass casing. <I think they just did. I don’t hear anymore noise.>
<Good, good. Sleep is the brain’s way of resetting itself. Without each other’s connection the puppeting issue should be resolved. Make sure to not interfere.>
She woke up groggy. As she opened her eyes, the double vision of a pack of well-preserved books and cold ham sandwiches greeted her. Just my luck, it didn’t work.
For a long minute, she contemplated just staying on the floor, guessing her sister would get up first. After a time she grumbled and got up. “The hive never sleeps,” echoed in her ears.
“Hey,...” she reached her sister’s name, but she stopped cold. For the life of her, she didn’t know which name to call. A slow terror crawled up her spine. Finally paying closer attention, she looked down with both heads. She moved her purple foreleg up and down, testing her control. She then did the same with the opposite blue leg. Then she moved all four forelegs, and received not a single hint of resistance. This is a test. I am not alone. I am never alone. And yet she was. There was no echo in her thoughts. Nothing but her voice, and her voice alone.
“What happened to me?” She was drenched in cold sweat as she conjured a mirror to check herself. Her reflection revealed magenta eyes from both faces. Each twitch, each movement, was her action. “What happened to them? I - they… became me…”
Whoever or whatever she was, she forced herself to breathe slow and deep. She possessed both Twilight and Rainbow’s memories. As such, she had twice the experience of keeping a cool head than either of them alone. The hive needs me. Or, it needs its queens back. I can’t - shouldn’t exist. “They should have paid attention to my - manifestation - better, I guess?”
As she searched her memories, her feelings, her thoughts, all were still from Twilight and Rainbow. For their memories and judgments were her own. She hung her head in morose resignation. “But they liked it. Right up until this morning.” Assuming it’s still the same day. I don’t think I saw a clock in the pile. She dispelled the mirror and searched around, and sure enough no clock was present.
She sat back and tapped her chins. “But how did I form so quickly?” Was it the hive mind? She wrinkled her brow before eventually shaking her head. “No, this only accelerated after they were cut off. “The Link must have slowed my formation down. But I can’t rule out that it could have started the process.”
Resolve slowly built within her. “Whatever the cause, I’m not going to figure it out in here.”
Blindly feeling around with Rainbow’s magic, she found the switch and opened the isolation sphere. The classroom was dark now, with only Tradewind’s nightlife spilling any illumination through the trio of windows. With her blue body free, she quickly spotted the corresponding one to the other sphere and unlocked it as well.
Now free to get her bearings, she heard soft snoring towards the exit. The instant she saw Aegis draped on top of some piled together desks sound asleep she psionically latched onto Aegis and reconnected with the hive mind.
It was like fresh water coursing over a droughted river bed. The love, excitement, and happy chittering filled her mind’s ears. Both out of craving the attention, and not wanting to start a panic, there had been enough of that already, she answered to Twilight’s and Rainbow’s names.
<I missed you to!> she said with full honesty. Even if I didn’t technically exist a few hours ago. <Yes, don’t worry, I told all of you it would only be for a day at most,> she lied easily. But it still brought pain to do so. Maybe more of a few days or a week before your real mothers come back.
Mothers. It was only upon thinking that did she realize both of her bodies were ready to lay the day’s eggs. Uh oh… If I don’t fix this soon, which I need to be realistic about… Would these eggs consider me their momma, or… ” I can think of what my relationship with Twilight and Rainbow is later.
All the commotion over the Link shook Aegis from her doze. She rolled over to look at the spheres when she shifted the desks the wrong way and caused them all to collapse. She fell right along with them, causing her to miss the initial rush of hive chatter. “Momma! Ow, damn it.” She magically pushed the outer desks away and physically shoved the ones around her to clear a path. By the time she managed to stand up and dust herself off, the elder queens were still in the midst of receiving their welcome home.
Aegis grinned and raced over to Twilight. She bowled Twilight’s body over and bear hugged her for all her modest strength. “You made it! The Link wasn’t the same without you…” Something felt wrong. Twilight’s aura felt different. Her mind voice was slightly off key, and when Aegis looked up at her mother’s eyes, she did not see the familiar purples looking back. “It didn’t work?”
The blue body stepped up with a pensive expression. “Worse. Twilight’s and Rainbow’s minds fused - into me. Whoever I am…”
“Fused?” Aegis pulled back to stand on her own, also allowing the purple body to stand. “I get that you two were talking in unison, but outright fusion of the minds? When you said you wanted to be part of Rainbow’s life, I didn’t think you’d take it so literally.”
“Yes, well, I don’t exactly want this either. I’m hoping we can keep this discreet until I can be split apart into Twilight and Rainbow again.”
Aegis nodded firmly, a hint of her mischievous smile returning. “Glad to hear that. I’m not exactly sure what I’d do if you wanted to stay like this.” Aegis sensed a growing sense of confusion in the Link regarding their Prime Matriarchs. She had to expend a good portion of her multitasking ability to diverting attention and soothing concerns. <Just give them a day or so. The whole quarantine is exhausting, alright? Now shoo, scat, be gone!>
As Aegis worked on calming the drones, she fixed on her mother—or at least her mother’s body—with a fearful frown. “Um, I - okay, I have to say, I was afraid something like this was possible. Wish I had been wrong. For the time being at least, I hope you’ll still talk to the kids as if you were still my mother and aunt. There’s no way I can keep you isolated without a riot breaking out.”
The two-bodied being shook her heads. “I will try at least, but if you were able to tell I wasn’t two people so quickly, then…”
“Then try to break the news to a handful at a time. But um—” Aegis wringing her hands, her tail swished nervously. “I - have you thought of a name for yourself at least? You have mom’s body, and I guess you are my mom in half, but calling you that feels…”
The purple body wilted at the admission. It stung, deeply, but at the same time, she couldn’t deny it. “I was scared to give myself a name. It felt like I would give my current… status more permanence.”
“Psh, a name is just a label to call yourself.”
“Names have power, my Little Shield,” the purple body replied. “Er - sorry, but-”
Aegis waved off any apologies before they could continue. “No, don’t. As far as I see it, you’re still my mom - ummm - just with Aunty Rainbow thrown into the bowl and mixed around a bit too long. You can still call me any goofy names. First Mother knows I do it to my kids all the time,” she added with a brief laugh as fond memories flooded her.
A smile crossed both of her faces as Aegis resumed a hug, brief though it was. “Thank you. But all the same, I don’t know what to call myself.”
“Eh, let’s go with…” Aegis tapped her chin and her gaze drifted off as she pondered the issue. “Maybe... nah, or, no way, how- eh.”
Each time Aegis sounded like she had an idea, the depressed frown on Twilight and Rainbow's faces deepened.
After a minute or so, Aegis snapped her fingers. “How about Twidash!” She saw distaste for it flow off of Twidash's bodies like a wave front. “At least for now.”
Twidash hissed with displeasure. An act made all the more potent coming from two mouths. “I will accept it as a label, not a name. And it's all the more reason to fix me.”
“Great!” Aegis clapped her hands, only to get a bit more serious. “Now, here’s the thing I was thinking about while you apparently did the opposite of what was supposed to happen. If we want to actually split you back up into mom and Aunty RD, we need to ask him.”
Twidash knew exactly who she meant. Her faces puffed up in irritation. “I’ve - well - my two halves made it a point to use him as a last resort and I’m of the same mind.”
Aegis stubbornly tapped her hoof, her wings teased the air. “Well, since I’m pretty sure this has nothing to do with puppeting anymore, and I don’t know of any of our kids who sniffed around mind magic like this. And I’m pretty sure Starlight only did mental suggestion, not outright merger.”
“It’s still dangerous,” Twidash interrupted. “One of these days, Schadenfreude is going to ask for a price we can’t pay.”
Aegis shrugged nonchalantly. “There’s always a certain friend of Fluttershy who could probably fix this in a snap.”
Twidash's cheeks reddened so much it completely overshadowed her fur. “You little fireball, you wouldn't dare!" she stomped in maternal outrage. “He'd make everything ten times worse!”
Aegis grinned as her trap was set. “It’s for your own good. Sure he'd get his kicks off, but eventually we could guilt him into splitting you up.”
Twidash vigorously waved her forehooves. “Okay, okay, fine, I'll speak to Schadenfreude. Still though, I might be able to discreetly turn to the Sestapo for any information, or the various Psykira we have. At the very least we have to sound like he isn’t our only option.”
Even with her mother's and aunt’s faces staring her down, Aegis was a queen in her own right, and stood her ground. “Just try not to oversell what we got. He probably already knows we don’t have anything on soul magic. Celestia certainly doesn’t, and I wouldn’t trust the Feds enough to ask, no matter how much the Sestapo seems sympathetic. Not to mention he’s the only one who saw your soul merging. I bet the Long Shot he could help you split up.”
Twidash stared Aegis down, but the bipedal bug refused to flinch. “...Fine, I will set up a meeting as soon as possible, but in the meantime, I’m going to start breaking the news to the R&D department so they can start investigating anything related to this. Maybe Granny Momma forgot about something in one of the books we saved from Stripped Gear. And Blitz can—” Twidash blinked and looked around the otherwise empty classroom. “Speaking of which, where is Blitz, exactly?”
“Oh.” Aegis thumbed backwards at nothing in particular. “She had to run off on some side project of hers. Probably some treaty or diet toothpaste crap. I can fill her in later. Now, we should get busy, eh? I’ll sniff out our favorite demonologist’s lair, and you - er...” Despite her status as queen, Aegis didn’t feel comfortable giving Twidash an order, or a firm request for that matter. Whether she was her mother enhanced by Rainbow or an entirely new personality, Twidash still wore her mother’s skin. “Just do whatever you feel you need to.”
Twidash sighed. Some part of her, something she was only barely aware of, felt like splitting apart would kill her. Not Twilight or Rainbow, but herself. It’s for the best anyway… Throwing the thought from her mind, she nodded at Aegis. “Right. I’ll figure something out.”
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How many stories will be in this series?
Oh dear, Velvet is going to meet Twidash before they can get separated again, isn't she? That... could end up going either really good, or really bad, depending on whether Twilight's part of her mind convinces Dash's part that she still wants to rebuild her bond with Velvet, or whether Dash's part fuels the pain Twilight feels for being discarded into resentment.
9949032
Yep the story has been lengthen...
maybe i'm not sure
UPDATE YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
And this time I'm not confused ;)
Yay! Update! I absolutely love this story!
stupid question but...
Did they think to put them in separate silence rooms instead?
9949179
They did put them in separate silence rooms.
awesome, been waiting eagarly for an update for this story. still my all time favorite series. Can't wait to see what happens to our new fused soul here. Very interesting situation they have found themselves in indeed.
I feel so rewarded for being patient for the update! It didn't disappoint and I love your take on the fusion of characters and the thought process going with it. <3
Okay, relatively minor thing, but it's just kinda sticking in my craw, so to speak. Is that supposed to be inventors, instead? Because I can see it going either way.
Also, I vaguely remember semi-recently reading a story with a similar idea--Dash and Twi merging into one--but I can't remember if it was an earlier part of this story, or another one entirely...After a quick check, it turns out it's not the one I was thinking of, so I still have no idea. If anyone does know, I'd appreciate it if they'd share.
likely this is permament.
9949032
Or the internal conflict could be great enough to separate them again.
9949011
Its been said that this will be the final book.
This was a vital piece of story to give context to the previously published chapter. I like it.
9949225
Not sure why this was downvoted. But yes, they were put in separate silence rooms. That's how I read it during proofreading, at least.
Very good chapter, I'm guessing the last one you posted was out of order?
"in a SNAP"
Oh wow two updates! - one from June- wha...
I am calling her Tradewind, because using a shipping name squicks me out.
I prefer "Rainbow of 'Light"
9950665
Yeah Fluttershy befriending Thanos in Endgame was a surprise to us all
Yay new chapter! Also, cool topic change : ). I hope that TwiDash ends up with double the IQ of either pony alone, resulting in a 'girl genius' trip to the madness zone. You know, like what happened with Agitha and the discovery of coffee. http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070525#.Xdb_qhhOkwA
Thank you again for keeping the story going!
Me thinks brains are being fused together.
Yep, thought so. Right big problem this is... I think I teased the thought of Twilight and Dash... No, I never thought they would become one... Still, this is rather large problem, and I don't think that soul separation will work. Too much things in the mix.
Thestrals to changelings, broken magic at the same time, then however many years of whatever evolution worked, then pony to corrupted (evolved)thestral, then this whole crystal array thing... Elements are tied to fate of Equestria, thought, so they MIGHT provide a solution, if anything else... How would Friendship... nevermind, friendship IS loyalty, loyalty to friends... They might as well be one element... Ugh, my head hurts...
9949906
Downvoted probably because it was clear that they were put in separate rooms, in the attempt to remove them from each other's mind...
9955519
But terrycloth's message was a reply to The Weaver who asked, and I quote: "Did they think to put them in separate silence rooms instead?"
So apparently not everyone saw it as they were in separate rooms, and terrycloth was clarifying it for The Weaver... which begs the question of why they were downvoted for being honestly helpful.
9955565
Ah, yes... That single downvote. Ehh, on THAT I have no comment...
9955570
*shrugs* at the time of my initial reply, it had only that downvote and no upvotes. It struck me as odd.
9949366 No, it's clearly meant to be investors from context. Investors being the ones providing money for something to be built.
Cadista here is bemoaning the 'Function over Form' school of thought, where no money is given to the aesthetic features of a project because it just needs to work and the person paying for it doesn't care how it looks.
Woo finally an update!
Literally the first story I have read where a merged personality actually wants to be split up again. It's a nice breath of fresh air
Yes, I support the name Twidash with all my heart!
Dashlight sounds better...
Damn... This reminds me of the Joyager in Star Trek when two individuals fused in a accident...