[Untitled.Uncertainty]

by GMBlackjack

X - Desires - Ponygood11

The Fool cantered happily through the forest, paying no heed to the eerie silence of what should have been a bustling patch of wildlife. He was clothed, now, though not heavily; wearing only a polka-dotted vest with a flower stuck in a chest pocket, and a wide-brimmed hat with four playing cards set in it.

“Forest feels quite different today,” he mused. “Very little forest-y charm, and what remains is muted. Perhaps Death returns, but far ahead of schedule?”

He continued his journey. It took a little while longer for him to finally arrive at the sea of rolling darkness that was the Mass. It was spreading slowly, such that one could outrun it at a casual walk.

The Fool poked the edge of the Mass with a talon. It rippled slightly where it made contact, and a tiny bit of it remained on the Fool’s claw, still spreading mindlessly.

The Fool licked it, smacking his lips. He grinned. “Tastes nothing like Death! But what could it be? Very much a curiosity!”

It was at that point the Mass realized there was actually something there. The bit of itself inside the Fool began attacking him ruthlessly, and a small part of the main body shot toward him, surrounding and crushing him with little effort. He laughed as long as he was able to laugh, and even after his lungs had collapsed his face expressed unrestrained humor, up until the point he was completely consumed by the Mass.

From above, the Fool balanced on top of a lone tree, watching the Mass’s aggressive actions with newfound excitement. “Whee-hee-hee!” he laughed, bouncing eagerly on the tree. “Feisty, feisty! No toy of mine, yet fun all the same!”

The Mass gurgled with a semblance of irritation. It had no sensory organs of any kind, yet somehow it still knew where the overeager griffon was; as evidenced by a large mass of it suddenly lunged toward the Fool.

The Fool was too high up for the Mass to jump all the way up to him, but it was still able to close the distance to the Fool’s tree quickly-- scarily quickly, crossing many yards in only a second. It completely surrounded the base of the tree, snapping it apart easily, and then yanked on the tree to topple it much faster.

The Fool seemed to lose his balance for a moment. Then he simply leapt off of the crumbling tree before it landed in the Mass, flying in a lazy circle above where his other body once was. “I see you like my parting gift!” he taunted. “A special present just for you!”

The Mass was definitely angry now. It retracted the part of itself that had sought out the tree, slowly compressing into a dense blob of dark sludge. As the Fool watched, the blob suddenly burst apart, sending a thick stream of itself straight towards where the Fool hovered.

The fool swooped a few feet to the side, causing the attack to miss entirely. “Greedy, greedy! You want more after I’ve said no!” A claw met the Fool’s chin, rubbing it for a few seconds as he seemed to consider something. “But you’re still oh-so-fun! I suppose it couldn’t hurt to let you have one more thing!” Then he began laughing crazily, dive-bombing himself toward a random section of the Mass, which raised tendrils to try and catch him.

It failed. He exploded as soon as he impacted the ground, releasing a shockwave that tore apart a large section of the Mass’s body and leaving nothing of the Fool behind.

Then he reappeared in the air, juggling an inactive amulet in his talons. His grin was still present, yet it had lessened considerably and became much more malevolent. “A negative contribution from my dear friend. As much fun as you may be, she won’t appreciate you thinking the same of her!”

The Mass still didn’t hear the Fool, and didn’t yet realize its amulet had been stolen. It was focused simply on filling in the hole the Fool had made in it, and what material it did spare to trying to attack the Fool was uncoordinated, as if it didn’t know where he was anymore.

He giggled. “A loner such as she will be difficult to find, for both you and me! But find her I must, and then we can all play together!” He guffawed, flying in a loop-de-loop, and vanished before the loop was completed.

It was only a little while later that the Mass realized the amulet was gone. It pulsated angrily-- it thought it had been close to figuring out how to breach it, but its progress was lost as long as it didn’t have an amulet to use.

It began to spread rapidly in all directions. It flowed around the trees, as knocking them all down wouldn’t be helpful in trying to quickly find the amulet, or the strange thing that stole it. Random animals, on the other hand, were quickly chased down and infected, and immediately pushed to their breaking point running as fast and far as they could to reveal as much of the surrounding area as possible.

~~~

As the yellow pegasus flew, her mind was clouded by questions. From all her travels, she hadn’t seen anything like those meteors. Because of that, she couldn’t really be sure what they were or what they wanted, besides what were doubtlessly evil reasons. She could at least hope that Zecora could successfully deal with the fragments on her own, at least until someone more capable could deal with it.

She wondered for a moment whether they could possibly be enough to distract her pursuers, at least for some time. They were supposed to be ruthless and tireless, and would not rest until they carried out their mission… or they died trying. It was something she knew from considerable experience, as she idly rested a hoof on her pack, reassuring herself that she still had it.

She felt something press against her mind. Unlike the object of her thoughts, she knew exactly what this was. She set down somewhere in the dark, twisted forest, making sure there were none around that could spot her, and vanished.

You called for me?

THERE IS AN UNKNOWN VARIABLE IN STRENGTH’S CANTERLOT.

There? You know I dislike centers of population. You also know I was staying away from that world for a reason.

THIS VARIABLE IS NOT WITHIN MY PLANS. I CANNOT ACT AGAINST IT.

Of course. But you know there is more than just that ‘variable.’ Every world has something new that torments them.

THIS ONE HAS BEEN DEEMED THE MOST PRESSING.

I see. Very well. I’ll investigate this world immediately. But as soon as I am done, I must leave.

DO WHAT YOU MUST.

~~~

Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie appeared on a jagged outcropping, some distance below and to the side of Canterlot.

A sizeable portion of the mountain had been gouged out by the meteor strike. Purple crystals were scattered around, embedded within the rock of the mountain, a sinister purple glow emanating from them. The foreign rock itself was cracked open, a greater purple glow clearly visible coming from the top, though none of the three arrivals could see the source of that light from where they were.

They could also see why the team of guards hadn’t returned. All of them were clustered together, motionless, either impaled with crystals or their own weapons. Those crystals were also glowing, though their light was muted slightly by the blood that covered them.

Twilight unsheathed her Wand. “Stay back,” she told the other two, who nodded and took a couple of steps backward.

Twilight’s horn glowed slightly brighter as she concentrated on the Wand-- imprinting a specific series of spells within it. This took Twilight only a second to do, as she’d cast the spell numerous times in the past, and once it was set, she launched the Wand straight up.

After a moment of flight, the gem flashed, and the Wand’s flight stopped instantly. The handle split apart, unfolding into a detailed flower-like pattern, and the blades surrounding the gem rotated to fill the gaps between the ‘petals.’ The flower-like structure tilted to face the scene of crystals and dead guards, and the light of the gem seemed to focus itself in that general direction.

Twilight’s visor flipped down. She turned her head to take in the environment, the Wand spinning to follow her gaze. “The crystals are giving off some sort of aura,” she told them. “I don’t recognize it. It seems like dark magic, but it’s not doing anything, not even to the guards.” Her visor flipped up. The Wand folded back up into an actual wand and fell out of the sky, being caught in Twilight’s telekinesis. “I’d say it’s safe to look around, but just in case, don’t touch the crystals.”

Rarity and Pinkie had been waiting patiently for Twilight to finish her investigation, and nodded in confirmation to Twilight’s findings. “Right-o, Princess!” Pinkie returned, before nimbly making her way across the uneven rocks. “I will discover the secrets of the crystals!”

Her quirky actions were largely ignored by the other two ponies. Rarity walked straight towards the dead guards, her Rapiers not drawn yet. Twilight, meanwhile, was slowly approaching the actual meteor, stepping carefully to avoid the numerous crystal chunks.

Rarity’s own horn was glowing once she got near the guards. The gem on one of her Rapiers was glowing as well, aiding her as she scanned the guards’ bodies. “They killed each other,” she declared. “There’s evidence of mental tampering. It’s incredibly rushed, but it obviously worked.” Her horn stopped glowing, and she looked at Twilight. “We should probably get them out of here. After we make sure it’s safe, of course.”

“Mmm,” Twilight responded, still looking at the meteor. “Pinkie?”

Pinkie appeared beside Twilight, wearing a gas mask and waving a small chunk of crystal in some tongs. “They aren’t hurting anyone right now! We could probably get away with saving a few in case we need evil space crystals for something!” she suggested.

Twilight nodded. “Possibly.” She was silent for a few seconds. “Something else probably came with the meteor. Either that, or the crystals are hiding their motivations from me, but that seems unlikely. The potential entity might not be a physically strong one or even corporeal, but it may have potent magic or manipulation capabilities,” she concluded. Twilight then looked at Rarity and Pinkie in turn, addressing one after the other. “Rarity, get me a detailed scan on those crystals, and try to get the guards ready to move out if you can. Pinkie, see about gathering as many crystals as you can, and tell us if you spot anything out of the ordinary. Both of you, keep your mental defenses up, and notify us immediately if you spot someone approaching.”

Twilight waited just long enough to hear the others’ confirmations before she acted. A new spell was programmed into the Wand, which took slightly longer than the first one, before being sent to hover directly above the largest crack in the meteor, gem-side up. Its handle expanded into a curved cone, while its blades warped and contorted into a detached ring around the gem.

As the spell set in the Wand powered up, preparing to neutralize the meteor, Twilight prepared a shield spell in case something went wrong. Then the Wand’s spell activated.

~~~

An orange earth pony appeared in the outskirts of Canterlot. There was no-one around to see her arrival, and even if there were, she’d appeared in a darkened area for exactly that reason.

Making sure her cloak was wrapped tightly around her, she started walking.

~~~

Twilight’s destination wasn’t the moon. It wasn’t the sun. It wasn’t even any of other celestial bodies in the Equis system.

It was a black hole. It was hidden from detection by an advanced array of light refraction and cloaking magitech, and was so far away it would take several years for one to travel to it without FTL technology. The only way one would know about it was if they were invited to it… or happened to be the founder of the site.

Luckily for Twilight, she had the technology and knowledge required to travel to it, as she had many times before. She knew firsthoof just how dangerous experimenting with the fabrics of space, time, dimensions, and magic could be, and chose this spot specifically for how far away it was, how easily it could be kept secret, and how easily the facility could be neutralized in an extreme emergency. She may have also had the desire to want a highly secret lab of her own, and a fascination with black holes, but she likely wouldn’t admit those in public, much less the existence of the lab in the first place.

The secret lab itself was, obviously, much smaller than the black hole. It was an elegant structure, with a metallic silver coating that contrasted with the impenetrable darkness it orbited around. It was shaped like a large cylinder, with a large number of rooms branching off from it and more rooms branching off from those, making it seem like a very strange metallic tree. A wide platform was set in the ‘leaves’ of the structure, holding a number of other ships and a small building containing the elevators. Orbiting around the structure was a single ring, every inch of it covered in antennas and other devices, connected to the main body of the lab by several square passageways.

Twilight passed through the atmospheric barrier around the landing platform, and the ship automatically adjusted itself to sudden appearance of artificial gravity, as it always had. Twilight’s ship touched down in its designated landing pad, and Twilight left it as soon as it was sufficiently parked, immediately taking to the air to get to the elevator building as fast as she could. Normally, she might’ve trotted there, taking ample time to enjoy the view, but she just didn’t feel like it at the moment.

She made it to the front doors just in time to meet Spike rushing out of them. He was about as tall as Celestia at this point, with fully-developed wings, though without the etched golden armband he wore, he would have been much larger. He was still very much the friendly, helpful dragon Twilight knew from his hatching, with the maturity and intelligence to match his age. Currently, he looked panicked, and very relieved to see Twilight.

“Twilight! I’ve been trying to get to you for ages!”

Twilight blinked. Her phone appeared beside her, which she realized had a considerable amount of unread notifications. She grinned sheepishly, storing her phone away. “Sorry, I didn’t realize… is everything alright?”

“No! Something’s very wrong here! You need to see this!” Spike grabbed her leg with a surprisingly gentle claw, trying to pull Twilight along with him.

She pulled her hoof out of Spike’s grasp, but followed along anyway. Her earlier disinterest was forgotten, replaced by concern over what could possibly get everyone here so worried.

The brightest minds of all of Equis were invited to this lab. Every one of them had a desire to learn, to understand, the forces of nature and the universe they existed in… or just particularly liked being mad scientists. Every one of them had earned their way into the lab, by the merits of their own intelligence, knowledge, dedication to progress, or a simple understanding of various aspects of the universe.

As Twilight and Spike descended the elevator, the transparent walls of it allowed her to see the sheer mess that was widespread chaos. Members of nearly all species were running around in a panic, lugging around charts and tablets and the occasional artifact for… some unknown reason.

“Can you tell me what everyone’s concerned about?” Twilight asked, unable to take her eyes off the chaos.

“I, uh…no! I can’t!” Spike stammered. “I’m not even sure how to describe it, and they aren’t, either!”

Twilight frowned. She looked like she wanted to probe more, but elected to just stay silent-- especially since the elevator had apparently reached its destination.

They saw Discord snap into existence, wearing a very loose-fitting lab coat and a frazzled head of mad scientist hair. He looked much calmer than all the rest of the scientists, though he was still moving around as if there wasn’t any time to waste.

“Discord!” Twilight called out, running up to him. “Do you know what’s going on here?”

Discord didn’t stop creating specialized research stations out of thin air, though he did rotate his head to look at Twilight and Spike. “I’m just as flabbergasted as you are, Princess,” he admitted with a shrug. “My advice is to check out Containment Bay #3; you really should see it for yourself.”

Twilight could almost swear she heard the pound symbol, but was unable to comment on it or anything else before Discord disappeared, leaving behind a couple of new terminals that some scientists were already trying to use. Twilight broke into a run again, Spike following right behind her, before she realized she should probably teleport there if it was so important. She and Spike disappeared in a flash of magic, reappearing in the room Discord suggested they go to.

The secret lab was more than just a center of scientific discovery. It also doubled as a safe, secure way to contain many of the dangerous artifacts of the world, including such things like the Alicorn Amulet. Sometimes experiments would actually create artifacts, as well, which meant those also needed a safe place to be stored.

One such artifact that had been unearthed was a golden talisman, suspended in the air by nothing except its own enchantment. Initial scans of the object said nothing of what it actually was, except for a self-levitating object, though all those present at its discovery had agreed there was definitely something more to it. Out of fear that it was potentially a very dangerous artifact, it had been moved to the secret lab for people to attempt to study it, though every attempt had told of nothing more than the fact that it self-levitated.

But now it was different. Its surface was shining with a paradoxically bright and dark light, which filled Twilight with a deep sense of dread. The magical field was almost visible around the talisman, stretching and contracting as if it were breathing.

“That’s what got everyone so worried!” Spike told her. “They’ve noticed the black hole is pulsing in the same way, but they have no idea which is causing the other! They have no idea what it even is, either, so they’re-”

Twilight found she wasn’t interested in what Spike was saying. She realized, in that moment, that she really wanted to touch the talisman. She started walking towards it, eyes transfixed in its darkly shining core.

“-we should prepare… Twilight?” Spike stopped his ranting, suddenly noticing how the alicorn was acting.

Twilight didn’t respond. She took a couple more steps toward the talisman, her pace increasing.

“I wouldn’t do that!” Spike warned her. “The last couple people who touched it got hospitalized… Twilight!”

She continued moving toward it. Doubt crossed her mind, separated from Spike’s warnings-- that she wasn’t acting logically, and needed to observe the talisman at a safe distance. Was she sure it was even safe to touch?

She bumped into a claw Spike was holding out, preventing her from moving any further. “I’m being serious, Twilight! You could get-”

Twilight snarled, cutting Spike off from any further words. Before he could react, her horn flashed, and Spike was suddenly floating outside in the vacuum of space.

Spike’s distraction only solidified Twilight’s desire to get the talisman. His attempts to keep her from the talisman only compounded the desire she had of it, removing whatever scraps of skepticism there once were. With no more dragon to stop her, she closed the rest of the distance to the talisman. She regarded it curiously, greedily, watching for a moment as it floated there, giving off its paradoxical light.

She reached out a hoof to touch it.

Author's Note:

Written by the insane Ponygood11