Isopolity (CRISIS: Equestria, Part 4)
The Everykid woke up to a finger gingerly tracing her face. Rather than freak out and start screaming she fixed the offending human with a glare, not at all surprised to find that it was Diamond Inferno in a human form.
“What, not going to scream ‘stranger danger’ or something, little one?”
You’re pretty lacking in the marbles department.
I like her.
No I don’t.
“Please,” the Everyman said, using one of his deeper male selves to draw attention from the other selves. Sure, he was in a crowded theater at the time and was ruining the experience for everyone else, but since when did insignificant stuff like this matter? “I am captured. The solution is to pool resources to analyze the situation.”
“Your face is so variable…” Inferno chuckled, tracing her finger down Everykid’s neck.
The Everyman cared not about this, though the Everykid specifically involuntarily shivered. She looked around. She was in a dark green room with a dank aura and a single lightbulb in the ceiling. There was a single door locked from the other side, which meant Inferno was stuck in there with her until someone else opened the door.
Unless she locked it herself. In which case she really was a moron.
Regardless, nothing about the room looked particularly familiar, and those parts of the Everyman that had more impressive deduction skills figured it was probably intentionally nondescript to keep the rest of the Everyman from figuring out where the Everykid was.
Clever.
“Not scared at all?”
The Everykid tried to shrug, but the chains pinning her to the wall made that difficult. She tried to access her hats but found that was annoyingly impossible. Her head was bare, making her feel strangely naked.
“Ah, there we are! I was wondering when the discomfort would arrive.”
The Everykid bit her finger.
“Ow! ...I am going to make you suffer you little blowhard…”
“That is not your job, Inferno,” a gray pegasus said, opening the door. “That would be mine.”
“Bu-”
The pegasus glared at her. “Think twice before you say anything.”
Inferno shut up. “R-right. I’ll just…” She scrambled out of the room at top speed.
“Good.” The pegasus turned to the Everykid. “I suppose you want to know who I am.”
Very little of the Everyman actually cared enough about this particular self to really express a ‘want’, and the Everykid specifically was fed up with the whole situation.
“I am surprised you have not broken out already. Your other selves could send you power, all you have to do is ask.”
The Everykid stuck her tongue out. That’s exactly what you want me to do.
“Not the mind of a child, but the stubbornness of one…” the pegasus shook his head. “Allow me to put this frankly. I need you to transfer power through your mental connection to the rest of you. Do that, and nothing further will happen to you; you will be allowed to go free. Do not, and I will be forced to torment you to force the connection out.”
The Everykid rolled her eyes.
“The defiant way out? Very well. Mustard?”
A golden unicorn in priestly robe walked into the room. “Yes?”
“Your spiritual nature is perfect for finding the connection. Hold nothing back.”
“I never do.” He flared his horn and latched onto the Everykid’s soul, already feeling a strong connection to the rest of the Everyman - one that weakened considerably the moment he touched it, trying to squirm away.
The Everykid let out a constant, monotone scream - her brain and body were no longer processing information properly aside from a deep-sitting pain.
“This will take time,” Mustard said. “She will not jump me, she has no control or senses aside from pain at the moment.”
The pegasus nodded. “Very well. I shall leave you to it.” He trotted out of the room.
In the hall, there was a soft conversation…
“...Couldn’t find the Shard of Madness…” a male voice said.
“...Did not expect you to…” the pegasus responded.
The Everykid could not process any auditory signals at that moment.
But that did not mean the rest of the Everyman couldn’t by focusing a collective will. And he was very aware of his Everykid self right now.
~~~
Havocwing decided now was probably a bad time for her to be in charge. They were going to meet with Blumiere, Mayor of this entire city, and Havocwing was well aware that her… colorful way of talking to people probably wouldn’t go over well as the face of the group.
“Hey,” she hissed to Curaçao as they followed the Sweetie. “You take point here, got it?”
“Wh- non non non,” Curaçao shook her head. “I shall observe and report, not speak. We need to be… ‘onest.”
“C’mon Curaçao, you’re fine now. Just chin up, it’s not like they won’t lie to us, right? I mean, politician.”
“...Starlight… Shadow should do ze talking.”
Shadow blinked. “You want me to?”
Curaçao nodded. “You have a way with words, and are less likely to… manipulate.”
“Curie…” Insipid sighed. “You’re better than this.”
“Am I?” Curaçao asked.
“Well, you’re not hiding the fact that you think you have a problem, so that’s something,” Grayscale said.
“I ‘ave not spoken of its true extent…”
“And I haven’t been going on about how everyone’s fear is making me salivate internally,” Velvet said. “You don’t have to announce every little piece of your personal problems all the time, I mean, we all have so many problems we’d be here all week!”
“Oh, are we playing the ‘everypony has problems’ game?” Insipid asked.
“Maybe?” Velvet scratched her chin. “Let’s see… I’m psychotic, carnivorous, have a bizarre series of fetishes, and if I ever lose control of the fear I will turn into an abomination and probably try to kill all of you!” She laughed awkwardly.
Insipid chuckled. “I’m, like, super easy? Stupid.”
Havocwing buried her head in her wing. “Insipid, you gotta stop doing that.”
“What? It’s acceptance, or something.” Insipid shrugged. “Oh, let’s do you next!”
“Insipid we need to talk abo-”
“Insecure…” Velvet said, nodding slowly.
“The anger’s not really an issue anymore,” Insipid added. “But she’s, like, stressed all the time about everything?”
“I am fine!” Havocwing hissed. “I do not spend every waking minute of my life dreaming up worst-case scenarios!”
Grayscale raised an eyebrow. “Oddly specific.”
“Shut up.”
“Shadow next!” Velvet said, bouncing over to the unicorn. Her face was buried in her phone, trying to remove herself from the conversation. “Confidence issues… And, uh, what I’m going to call ‘Silvertongue problems’ and leave it at that.”
Insipid blinked. “But we all have Silvertongue issues.”
“Eh…” Velvet tilted her hoof back and forth.
“She’s also addicted to that phone,” Havocwing chimed in.
“Hey!” Shadow held the phone close to her chest. “This device is one of the most useful ones I have ever encountered in my travels and not devoting myself to scrutinous study would be wasteful!”
“I swear I’ve heard this before…”
“And why are you piling on? You didn’t like it when they did you!”
Havocwing raised her hoof in surrender. “Geez, uh, fairness?”
“Grayscale!” Insipid slid next to the gray pegasus. “You…” Insipid furrowed her brow. “You…”
“Grayscale’s actually got it pretty well under control,” Velvet said. “You go girl.”
Grayscale winked. “I’ve still got it.”
“What’s your secret?”
“Just go with the flow.”
Insipid nodded. “Seems legit. Anyway, we already did Curaçao, so that’s i-”
“I am zis close to ‘aving a mental breakdown from trying to figure out if I am subconsciously lying to you zrough omission, or self-deception.”
Everypony stared at her. Shadow even put down her phone.
“Curie…” Insipid said.
“‘Ow does one know if one lies to zemself?” Curaçao asked, biting back tears.
“Curaçao,” Havocwing said, leveling her gaze with her sister. “You are the master of deception. But you are also the master of knowing when other ponies are deceiving you. You caught Silvertongue! That’s impressive! If you’re thinking about it, I’m sure you can figure out when you’re lying to yourself if you want to be honest.”
“...Do I, zough?”
“Curaçao, think about it a moment. If you didn’t care would you be having a breakdown right now?”
“I… well…” Curaçao fell silent. “Huh…”
Insipid hugged her. “Don’t worry, Curaçao. You’ll never be what you were before. None of us will!”
Curaçao nodded.
The Sweetie they were following coughed. “I hate to rush you, but we arrived a few minutes ago and while I’ve been trying to just let you sort out your personal problems, Blumiere is waiting.”
Curaçao wiped her face. “Of course…” She turned to Shadow. “You ‘ave zis?”
Shadow put away her phone and nodded. “I do.”
“Je vous remercie.”
The six of them entered one of Celestia City’s many meeting rooms. This one had a long, rectangular table fashioned out of a dark wood. A few potted plants grew in the corners of the room and there were paintings of multiversal space landscapes lining the back wall.
There were five people sitting across from the six. Blumiere, two humanoid versions of Sunset Shimmer, a Rarity in a fashionable hat, and a Sweetie with an artificial horn.
“Please, sit.” Blumiere asked without a hint of hostility in his voice.
The six of them obliged without much fuss, though Velvet jumped into her chair like it was part of a bouncy castle.
“I have heard paradoxically so much and so little about you,” Blumiere commented, folding his hands together. “Please, introduce yourselves.”
Havocwing decided she should probably go first here, even though Shadow was taking point. “I’m Havocwing and these are my sisters - Starlight Shadow, Curaçao, Grayscale Force, Insipid, and Red Velvet.”
Blumiere nodded slowly. “Pleasure to meet you. I am Blumiere, mayor of this fine city. To my left are Shimmy, the spirit of order for Earth Shimmer, and Corona, Second of Research and lifebringer of Merodi Universalis.”
The two Sunsets nodded in greeting. Shimmy looked tense.
“To my right is Renee, Overhead of Expeditions, and her sister Allure, a Founder of the League of Sweetie Belles.”
“Charmed,” Renee the Rarity said, extending a hoof over the table and shaking Havocwing’s wing.
“We must have made quite the impression,” Grayscale said. “I haven’t been here long but I know an Overhead is a big deal.”
Renee nodded. “A set of six mysterious mares arrive on the city shortly after we move to Earth Shimmer looking for a ‘Silvertongue’, a clear relation to the ‘silver tongue’ prophecy. It grabbed our attention.”
“What exactly is this prophecy?” Shadow asked. “My research into it has been… vague.”
“That’s because it is,” Allure sighed.
Corona nodded. “Seers of the future have been warning of the coming of a ‘stallion with a silver tongue’ for weeks now. The specifics of why we should be warned always contradict. Some say he’s going to kill the spirit of the age, others say he’s going to bring a new age of quote-unquote ‘enlightenment’. Multiversal prophecies are always a mess but since the ‘silver tongue’ is showing up everywhere, we know it has to be big.”
“So we need to know everything you know,” Shimmy said. “Who is Silvertongue? What does he want? How is he related to you?”
Shadow cleared her throat. “I am prepared to answer that question. I shall attempt to condense it to save time. Lord Silvertongue was born a millennium ago on our world, which we know as Equestria V. He secured a position as Ward of the goddess of order, Harmonia, and convinced the ponies of ‘Light’ to go to war and fight the encroaching darkness of the goddess Nihlia. Using clever manipulation of the Gryphon Empire, he secured this goal, ordering the construction of two magitech Beacons to both amplify and contain the venerable power of the Goddesses. He then proceeded to betray Harmonia, join Nihlia, and commit genocide on the gryphon race.”
“There are never any nice prophecies…” Renee sighed.
“Silvertongue’s game was far from over…” Shadow sighed. “Under Nihlia, he created New Pandemonium City, a municipality that ruled over the entire northern continent with laws that were intended to be abused and bent to fuel the chaos of Nihlia. After this, the world believed he had died, but he lived as long as Nihlia wanted him to, as he proved himself to be indispensable. He waited patiently until six mares, the Elements of Harmony, arrived in Equestria V by accident. He convinced Nihlia to give up part of her essence to create the six of us - cloned from those Elements of Harmony.”
“I don’t sense the signature of Elements of Chaos from you,” Corona said.
“We were… ‘fixed’ later,” Shadow offered. “He lied to us and manipulated us from the moment we were born, calling us his daughters, insisting he was our father, and…” Shadow bit her lip. “He trained us to be abhorrent murdering mechanisms. And that wasn’t even our real purpose - when the time was right, we were used not to fight, but to give him the means to absorb the power of Nihlia.”
“...He spent a thousand years in the service of a goddess and betrayed her just like that?” Allure asked.
Shadow nodded. “We believe he had been waiting all those centuries for her to be weak enough to attempt such a thing.”
“Remarkable patience…” Blumiere observed. “And devotion.”
“Dangerous,” Corona added.
“Very.”
“He wasn’t done even then…” Shadow shook her head. “He kept manipulating events as we and the Elements of Harmony traveled to the southern continent, the land of the goddess Harmonia. We…” she glanced at Curaçao. “We were eventually freed of our dark essence and loyalty to Silvertongue by Harmonia. Shortly before Silvertongue absorbed her and fled to the universe of the Elements of Harmony. We followed… but he absorbed the essence of Discord and the Tree of Harmony there as well. He left us behind. It took two weeks for us to aggregate the required resources to follow him. That led us here, but that was not expected.”
“Not expected?” Shimmy asked.
“As far as we knew, his plan was to go to a universe known as Equestria Prime, which defined all the universes in our…” She thought for a moment. “Secluded Multiverse Cluster. Is that the term?”
Corona nodded.
“He desired to go to Equestria Prime and take control of the world to create what he viewed as a ‘perfect’ world. From a conversation I had relayed to me, we believe that involves purging ponies of all impurities, will, and choice. Essentially he would be the only being allowed to make choices.” She looked at Blumiere. “There was a single path going right to Equestria Prime. But in Equestria III he went here instead of to Equestria II.”
“How long ago was this?”
“As far as we know, he came here almost instantly after he entered Equestria III, which would mean he’s been here a few weeks.”
“Wait, the city wasn’t here a few weeks ago,” Shimmy pointed out.
“Time dilation,” Corona said. “Or just the catchup mechanism. If someone dials a location Celestia City was, but currently isn’t, we have some spells in place to make sure people arrive anyway and don’t just fall into empty space and die.”
“Good precaution,” Shadow admitted.
“Have you found any trace of him since you arrived?” Blumiere asked.
“Not… sure.” Shadow frowned. “We conscripted the Everykid to help find him, but she was captured.”
“We are aware of this. No evidence of her has been found within the City. Investigations are ongoing. Where was she leading you?”
“We were in the bowels of the dimensional drive.”
“She had access!” Havocwing blurted. “She let us in.”
“You are not going to be charged with trespassing,” Renee said, smiling warmly. “We understand the need to get in and out of places. Regardl-”
There was a beep and a voice came from a speaker in the wall. “We’ve got an instance of the Everyman here to see you.”
Blumiere adjusted his monocle. “Let him in.”
The Everyman walked in, this particular self being a brown earth pony stallion with a bored look. “Right, hi, Everyman here, this me’s called Rusty Shoelace, but who cares? The Everykid me woke up imprisoned in a place I can’t identify. You already know about Diamond Dust, but I saw a pegasus of unknown name, a gold unicorn priest named Mustard, and heard another male voice elsewhere. The information is being transmitted to you as I speak. The captors wish to use my connection between my selves for some unknown nefarious purpose and are engaging in soul-torture to get it out of my Everykid self. They have not succeeded yet, but they will with time. The moment I try to send help through the connection, Mustard will have all he needs. I do not want to fall into their trap.”
Blumiere furrowed his brow. “Any sign of a silver alicorn?”
“None. Didn’t sense a power of that level either. While I doubt this is entirely unrelated, it is likely not what you’re looking for.”
“Any other pertinent information?”
“They were looking for the Shard of Madness. Couldn't find it.”
Shimmy stared at him in shock. “...They’re insane.”
“It’s the Shard of Madness,” Grayscale said. “What do you expect?”
“The Shard of Madness is a thing that… somehow terrified the entire spirit of magic in Earth Shimmer in ancient times into hiding away in fear.” Shimmy shivered. “I don’t even know what it really is, much less where to find it. I’m not sure I want to find it.”
Renee sighed. “Chances are we’re going to have to deal with that eventually… either today or some time down the line.”
“I have said all I need to say.” The Everyman turned and walked out unceremoniously.
“...You sure he and Everykid are the same person?” Insipid asked.
Corona folded her arms. “Yes. I am very sure. The Everyman loves his inconsistency, which is ironically the only consistent thing about him.”
“I’ll order investigations into the Shard of Madness,” Allure said, levitating up a data pad. “Renee?”
“I’ll send some teams into the city’s depths,” Renee answered. “We’ll find whatever it was the Everykid is looking for…”
“And what are we gonna do?” Havocwing asked.
Renee’s face broke out into a coy smile. “Well, you don’t have clearance to be down there…”
“Buck that!”
“Oh, I agree.”
“...What?”
“I can get you clearance to work down there easily. I am the Overhead of Expeditions - I can hire you on as Agents and virtually no door will be closed to you.”
Grayscale raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like loophole abuse.”
“Not ‘abuse’ so much as ‘use as intended’. I was integral in the creation of Merodi Universalis’ central code of laws and conduct. Our society is specifically designed to make the bureaucracy easy to navigate when expedience is needed. Naturally, if you want to keep working for me after the fact, you’ll need to fill out some forms, but I can grant provisional status…” She lit her horn and summoned six ID cards out of nowhere. “With a flick of my horn.”
“...We didn’t say ‘yes’ yet,” Havocwing pointed out.
“Were you going to refuse?” Renee asked.
“I’m thinking about it since you’re forcing it on us…”
Grayscale rolled her eyes. “Just take the cards, Havocwing.”
“Fine.” Havocwing swiped them up and handed them out to her sisters. “Can we go back now?”
“Yes.” Blumiere said. “Sorry for taking you from your search. Your information has been very helpful. We will find this Silvertongue, and we will make him answer for his crimes.”
“Long as we’re there to see it,” Havocwing said.
“I will ensure it.”
~~~
Winter Lights was a master of paradox. Not in her words - for paradoxes were messy in the dance of words - but in her situations. For instance, it was both extremely easy and impossible to find her. Those who sought her out specifically looking for her assistance in a job of some sort often found her before they started looking. The others, who usually wanted to punch her face in for being such a “pretentious, arrogant, manipulative bitch” were still looking.
Cryo’s crew was lucky enough to be the former.
“So, where did you say we could find this Winter Lights again?” Cryo asked Mattie.
“Hey,” Winter said, sipping a soft drink she held in her hand. She had specifically saved the last little bit of it for this moment so she could be as loud and punctuating as possible.
Mattie gestured at the bench Winter and Indigo were sitting on. “Ask and you shall receive.”
Cryo looked Winter and Indigo up and down. “...These are just two women. I thought you said she was an elf?”
“Was an elf,” Skuldie said. “The was is important.”
Cryo grunted. “The ‘was’ is never important.”
“Tell that to Apple Bloom.”
Cryo sighed. “Right. So. You two are apparently our guides?”
Winter smirked. “I can be a guide if I wish, yes.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Curio facehooved. “Cryo, she didn’t actually agree to help us..”
“But sh-”
“Cryo. She was an elf. That means everything she says, while being absolutely definitely completely true, will also be as misleading as a ghost saying he’ll eat your soul.”
“She doesn’t eat souls!” Indigo said, indignantly.
“At least not very often,” Mattie said, fixing Winter with a coy smirk.
Winter looked Mattie up and down. “I see a leader before me, one off the beaten path…”
“Already naturally suspicious of me. Good.” Mattie chuckled. “Anyway, I'll let Cryo do her thing, she gets so excited about it.”
“Thank you, master!” Cryo chirped. “Winter Lights! Will you be our guide?”
“I never work for free,” Winter pointed out. “I always exact payment in one way or another…”
Skuldie frowned. “I can tell you visions of the local future. And I have money.”
Indigo blinked. “You do?”
“I’m an official League Agent. I get a salary. Lower than usual since I don’t travel that much, but it’s still there.” Skuldie shook her head. “Look, you can get your usual payment, Winter. Perhaps even more. Scootaloo is missing and Apple Bloom can’t find her.”
“The incarnation of the past can’t locate the present?” Winter frowned. “Telling of the times we live in.”
“Winter…”
Tab coughed. “Let’s not give her a reason to tie us in language knots, okay? Winter, we have payment: work?”
Winter nodded. “I will be your guide.”
“Thank you.” She tapped her tablet. “First off, is it a reasonable assumption that the Fay are involved in the disappearance of Scootaloo?”
“It is certainly likely.”
“Who would do that?”
“To go after one such as Scootaoo it would have to be an organized endeavor with a purpose or a single entity engaging in thievery for amusement.”
Tab consulted the tablet. “So, either one of the Courts or a crazed loner, got it.”
“You rely heavily on your machine.”
“Lets me see through your smoke of words..”
“If you insist. A loner would have returned Scootaloo after you noticed, so unless they are fools, we are dealing with a Court. Spring would never do such a thing, Summer still respects the return of their artifacts, and the Winter would be planning a comeuppance against the League of Sweetie Belles specifically, not Earth Shimmer.”
Tab frowned. “Lovely. Probably going to need to have Fuyu scry for elves now…”
Cryo covered herself in ice. “The Winter Court doesn't know who they’re dealing with…”
Winter coughed. “Cryo, young, impulsive, ‘anime’, magic is harmless by design, puts on a mask of mild insanity because it’s fun.”
“Wh… hey!” Cryo sputtered.
“If you explain my dance, I explain yours. A word for a word.”
Skuldie waved a hand. “Less banter, more finding Scootaloo. That leaves the Fall Court, right?”
Winter nodded. “Certain elements of the Fall Court have been taking greater interest in mortal happenings than is normal for Fay. If they were attempting something pertinent to the present’s perceptions-” Indigo giggled at the alliteration. “-they would see taking Scootaloo as a necessary part of remaining hidden.”
“To the Fall Court!” Cryo declared.
“...I get the impression the Fall Court is huge,” Curio said, looking up from her data pad. “How would we find out if anything is actually going on there?”
Mattie chuckled. “We let Winter do most of the talking, that’s how.”
“...Then why are we going?”
“Oh, that’s for when things go wrong.”
“An understandable precaution,” Winter admitted.
~~~
Twilight Sparkle, incarnation of magic itself for Earth Shimmer, decided tearing out the wall was better than walking through the door. She lead the charge, a flaming Cinder to her left and a magically sparkling Brook to her right. Behind them Blink and Sequin moved, invisible, but still within Twilight’s own perceptions.
There were no bodies inside, which was to be expected. Chrysalis had probably evacuated everyone she could before Red Bull arrived. What they had seen outside - that was just him arriving significantly earlier than expected.
She reached out with her senses. He was cutting through walls, moving right for the center… where Chrysalis was hiding.
With a flash of energy, Twilight blew through several more walls, arriving on the scene just as Red Bull brought his blade down on Chrysalis. She was a tall, agile, and very well endowed woman with a decidedly masterful control over magic. Using a hand coated in magic and black fire, she grabbed hold of Red Bull’s sword. “Twilight! You’re cleaning that up!”
“Chrysalis don’t h-”
“Why do you do this to yourself…” Red Bull deadpanned. He pushed forward with his blade and cut right through Chrysalis’ shimmering hand, cutting half of her fingers off.
Chrysalis shrieked, falling back a few steps. “Fucking magic distractions…”
“How’s this for a distraction?” Brook shouted, firing a magic laser at Red Bull. He cut the beam of light in half with his sword. “Wh- what!?”
“Cuts through most anything,” Twilight said, trapping Red Bull in a magic box - he cut through it without even trying.
“What about nothing?” Blink asked, jumping on Red Bull’s back and making him intangible.
“Yes it include-” Red Bull sliced his blade and hit Blink right in the stomach. “-s nothing.” Had Blink not been a ghost, she would have been cut in half.
As it was, the attack only nicked one of her reality anchor bracelets, shattering it. She screeched as her body forced itself to stay in one piece, flying into the back wall in the process.
“It is more painful to resist the cut,” Red Bull said. He swung his sword wild, creating a wide arc of energy. Twilight had to focus to stop this one, wincing as she strained the magic to resist the ability to cut through almost anything.
“Some help you all are,” Chrysalis commented, throwing a gust of dark flames at Red Bull. All he had to do was swing his sword and the flames parted, as if cut by a cleaver larger than the room. The wall behind chrysalis cracked. Chrysalis whistled. “...If you weren't trying to kill me, I’d cons…”
“DO NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE!” Cinder shouted, punching Red Bull in the back with her flames. He lurched forward, right into a team-pummel of magic attacks from Brook and Twilight.
“I’m not flirting with you am I?”
“My mind is young and impressionable! And he’s trying to kill you!”
“That is getting in the way of the action,” Chrysalis admitted, jumping to the side of another attack. “Plus, I would prefer to have use of both my hands…”
Cinder twitched. “Why…”
“Well, becau-”
“Why as in why me? Why here? Why now? I don’t need any expl-”
“FIGHT, MAYBE?” Twilight shouted, unable to prevent the edge of an attack from nicking the skin on her left arm.
Chrysalis nodded. “Right…” She flipped through the air and kicked Red Bull in the face, driving him to the ground. “After all, I do have standards somewhere in here…” She placed her hand around his neck. “And you are killing my people.”
“You’re the one who protects Tirek,” Red Bull said.
Chrysalis blinked. “How the fuck did you le-”
“CHRYSALIS!” Sequin shouted. “He-”
Her warning came too late - Red Bull had picked up a piece of rubble with his foot and kicked it at Chrysalis. His magic allowed it to sail right through her waist as if every edge were part of a knife.
“Hah…” Chrysalis breathed, trembling. “Twilight, I’d like you to get this taken care of before…”
Red Bull threw her off, breathing heavily. “This is what happens when you stand against justice.”
“I am not… handing him over…” Chrysalis coughed. “Fuck, this…”
Red Bull lifted his sword up…
And then Cinder was in front of him, looking directly at him with those sharp, orange eyes of hers. She didn’t even try to attack - she just met his eyes with her own.
He could have cut her in half like butter. It would have been easy. Even without the hatred fueling his blade, she was not a very durable unicorn all things considered.
But he paused nonetheless.
Before he could resolve to follow through with his attack, Twilight and Brook tackled him at the same time, driving his face into the ground and tying his arms behind his back with magical restraints. Then they went overboard - encasing his feet in purple blocks, wrapped chains around him, and blasted him with so many magic inhibition spells he became somewhat drowsy.
Sequin allowed herself to breathe out. “G-good job Twilight!”
“Thanks,” both Twilights said. They glanced awkwardly at each other.
“Little... Help?” Chrysalis groaned from the pool of her own blood.
Twilight rushed over, laying her hand on Chrysalis and flooding her with healing magic. “You’ll be fine.”
“Of course I’m going to be fine, I’m Chrysalis, some muscular bastard isn’t going to take me down.” She chuckled wryly. “Not without serious planning skills anyway...”
“I’m fine too!” Blink called from her prone pose. “If anyone cares about me!”
Cinder smiled in her direction. “Lost a bracelet?”
“Swip has replacements.”
“You’re a fourth of the way to re-dead.”
“Yep! Confronted with my own bizarre-immortality!”
Cinder rolled her eyes. “You’re fine.”
“That still hurt! Come on, pity me!” Blink tried to whine but ended up laughing.
“Are you legally an adult?” Chrysalis asked. “Cause the Wholesome is all about filling up holes in one’s life, and I don’t know much about ghosts but--”
“EW!” Cinder cried. “Seriously?! Even if she’s mentally--”
“We are not an orgy club!” The woman rolled her eyes. “Seriously, only like five percent of us participate in the mutual support meetings.”
Cinder twitched. “That’s still five percent that’s… that’s… I don’t even have a word!”
“I am legally an adult, by the way,” Blink said. “But I too am equally disgusted by the offer. I am far more amused by Cinder’s reaction, though, so…”
“Traitor,” Cinder muttered.
“And as for the ninety-five percent who do the ‘less creepy’ stuff…” Blink shrugged. “I’m good. I’m Void, if you filled all the holes I wouldn’t be much.”
“Oh, well now I’m obligated to call you the devil figure of our religion.” Chrysalis waved her half hand with a grin. “Begone foul creature, yadda yadda yadda.”
“Man, you should never meet Suzie. She would hate you.” Blink adjusted her sunglasses.
Chrysalis smirked, turning to Cinder. “...I should thank you. Whatever you did there…”
Cinder sighed. “You’re welcome. Just don’t be getting any ideas.”
“I’ll have all the ideas. I just won’t vocalize them.”
“Yay…”
“How about we interrogate the prisoner?” Sequin said, blushing furiously. “That’d be great! Something… more sensible!”
Brook facehooved.
Chrysalis walked up to Red Bull, frowning. “So. You wanted Tirek.”
“He must pa-”
“I know why. That’s obvious. I want to know how. This is not public knowledge. Who told you?”
Red Bull glared at her.
“Chrysalis…” Twilight warned.
“I either twist his mind like a… metaphor certain unicorns in our company would light me on fire for, or I kill him with the groin punch of no return. Your call. Want the information or not?”
“...Fine.” Twilight folded her arms. “Make it quick though.”
Chrysalis reached out, touching a finger to Red Bull’s head. “You are going t-”
There was a flash of light, and a brilliant holy sword appeared in the air and drove itself through Red Bull’s skull, killing him instantly.
“The fuck!?”
A pristine, feminine angel with shimmering white wings looked down at Red Bull with disdain. “Missed one.”
She never stood a chance, so she didn’t even try to resist. She was encased by Twilight, Brook, Cinder, Chrysalis’s, and Blink’s magic all at once and brought to the ground. Twilight punched her. “You… you destroyed it! Why?”
“It needed to be done. That is all you need to know.”
Twilight rammed her palm into the angel’s forehead and tried to force the information out.
But the Angel didn’t have a mind in the traditional sense, for it was a being of manifest spirit. All she got was a name, everything else came back blank.
“Arul…” Twilight frowned. “...Looks like we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.”
“You’ve jumped on the mind-rape train pretty quickly,” Chrysalis said.
“You know she destroyed Warehouse 97.” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “There’s no argument here.”
“You don’t see me complaining.”
~~~
“Well,” Curaçao said. “We’re back here.”
They were once more in the shadow of Celestia City’s dimensional drive, exactly where they had fought Diamond Inferno and lost the Everykid less than thirty minutes ago.
“Question,” Grayscale said. “What exactly are we doing here?”
“Looking for what the Everykid was leading us to,” Havocwing said. “That’s what. That hat of hers was pointing to something.”
Shadow looked up from her phone. “If the ponies who kidnapped her truly are unrelated, Silvertongue may lay at the end of the spoor.”
“...Trail?” Insipid asked.
Shadow smiled. “Yes, actually, good job, Insipid.”
“Huh. I was right.” She wasn’t sure how to parse this.
Curaçao laid her hoof on the blue pipe the Everykid had been following before she was taken. “Let’s start with following zis. If it leads nowhere, zen we try straight and narrow.”
“Isn’t straight ahead simpler?” Havocwing asked.
“Oui, but ze ‘at changed direction several times on our journey down ‘ere.”
“Right. You’re the tracker.”
“I am…” And I’m in charge again. Helas. “Be ready, zey could attack at any time.”
Curaçao trotted along the pipe, running her hoof across it, the other five taking up position behind her. They started bickering about something on Shadow’s phone that was likely just as pointless as the last seven cat pictures she had shown them.
Let them have their fun. She trotted on ahead, following a turn in the pipe that led to a dark, twisting tunnel.
“Hey,” Grayscale said, flying over to her.
“Bonjour, Grayscale.”
“You could stand to learn Insipid’s lesson.”
Curaçao cocked her head in confusion. “Come again?”
“Think about it for a second. You’ll get it - you just don’t want to.”
“Ah…” She frowned. “Be generous? Non, zat has n-” She froze in her tracks. “Nopony’s perfect.”
“Yeah. She thought you were perfect, you didn’t. Now that she’s okay with there being no such thing… you’re trying to be perfect.”
“Bu-”
Grayscale poked at Curaçao with a wing. “Not gonna let you talk, you could run circles around me if you got it in your head to do that.”
“...Pardon?”
“Hey, this is exactly what I’m talking about, you’re not perfect. None of us are. You expect to be little miss tells-no-lies two weeks after making the resolution? Are you nuts?” Grayscale shook her head. “None of us are even trying to turn around that fast, except you.” She ruffled her wings, looking for the right words. “...You don’t have to be paranoid, is what I’m saying here.”
“Are you saying I should lie?”
Grayscale shrugged. “I’m saying that cold turkey is probably a bad thing. We might need you to out-weasel Silvertongue for all we know.”
Curaçao grimaced. She did not want to have to do that. She wasn’t sure she could, even if…
“Look, just think about it, kay? Kay. Glad we had this talk.” Grayscale ducked back to join the rest of the group.
Curaçao continued on, wordlessly, giving the world only the modicum of attention needed to be aware of a possible attack. Her thoughts swirled as she followed the pipe down the slowly turning corridor.
Sometimes there really was no argument, deception was required. If Silvertongue never learned of Equestria Prime or the Elements of Harmony, none of it would have happened. If he hadn’t manipulated the whole planet…
But where was the line? Where did “the ends justify the means” stop? A perfect world was not worth the loss of free will. But was a balanced world worth a genocide? Six redeemed ponies worth a deep betrayal?
Everything had worked together in the end… And had she not lied to them, they would still be trying to kill Twilight and her friends.
I don’t need to solve this now.
Curaçao nodded to herself, agreeing. That much was true, she could push it aside. Right now, Silvertongue did need to be stopped. Whatever he was going to do, it would be terrible, and she knew this with certainty. The fact that she had the certainty bothered her, much the same as their bizarre and unique fortune did.
She needed to focus on the here, the now. Which was a curving tunnel that led…
“We are going right into the dimensional drive,” Grayscale observed.
Curaçao rubbed her chin. “Per’aps zere is somezing wizin? An area off the grid, where ‘e ‘ides?”
Havocwing lit her hoof on fire. “Hello, dad, time for a flaming hoof sandwich…”
Shadow put her phone away and cast simple enhancement spells on all of them. “Ready for anything.”
Velvet readied her bloody tentacles. “If I see him, I’m not giving him a chance. He’s getting diced. Any objections?”
There were a bunch of head shakes from everypony save Shadow - who gave her own shake after noticing the agreement of all the others.
“Sorry Star,” Velvet said.
Shadow shook her head. “Don’t be. Let’s just… do this.”
They charged to the end of the pipe tunnel, ready to attack anything. They popped out in the dimensional drive’s interior, witness to a series of rapidly rotating gyroscopic rings brimming with orange magical power.
There was only one person there - a human woman with purple hair that acted as limbs. She was currently tinkering with a floating horseshoe-shaped device on the floor in front of them, trying to angle it at the rings above. It wasn’t cooperating.
“Bolt-buzzer! I just can’t get this thing calibrated properly! Serves me right for doing this without help…” Slowly, she turned her head around until she was looking at them through the ominous red lenses of her welding mask. “Well, whaddoya know!”
“S-stay back!” Insipid said, lighting her horn defensively.
“Woah, jumpy!” the woman lifted her mask, revealing a normal - if slightly sleep-deprived and hyperactive - face beneath. “I’m not some mad scientist! Entrapta, Research Division!”
Curaçao nodded. “Curaçao. We are wiz Expeditions.”
“Oh, you must be new!”
“Yes, actually…”
“Good, you’ll be easy to tell what to do.”
Havocwing gawked. “We’re not here to help you, we’re looking for Silvertongue?”
Entrapta cocked her head. “Who?”
“I… just… the Everykid’s hat led us here, you have to be what we’re looking for, right?”
“Oh, that ka pinger. Very reliable, compared to the government issue stuff, that hat. I’d love to get my hands on it…” She jumped to Havocwing and grinned. “Where is she?”
“Captured,” Grayscale said. “You missed the fight.”
“Disappointing, but not an impossible setback!” She pulled out a data pad and started running scans. “Well, you’re all ka-rich, so that probably means you’re supposed to be here. I bet my experiment has something to do with it!”
Shadow examined the floating horseshoe and frowned. “What precisely is your experiment?”
“We just got a series of papers relating to the unique reality ripples in this universe with a possible signature of the Equis Universe Generator!”
Shadow pulled out her phone. “Universe Generator. A type of universe left behind by a long forgotten multiversal civlizaiton - usually attributed to the Downstreamers - that is responsible for creating universes oriented around a particular theme. There are several known Universe Generators, but as of now the one responsible for the Equis Cluster remains undiscovered.”
“A universe that makes universes?” Havocwing rubbed her head. “That’s… that’s ridiculous.”
“Cool though,” Grayscale said. “And it explains why there are so many pony universes.”
“If it exists,” Entrapta said. “Some say it doesn’t, or that it was destroyed in the past. But if these theoretical papers are correct… we should be able to access it and uncover the process behind the natural growth of the entire Equis Cluster! Oh, how I wish Tab was here, but she went on that vacation right before the other paper came in…”
Curaçao took in a sharp breath. “Non…”
“What is it?” Insipid asked.
“Curie just figured something out!” Velvet cheered.
Curaçao fixed her gaze on Entrapta. “Could zis Universe Generator be… controlled? To design universes?”
“Probably,” Entrapta admitted. “That was presumably what they were built for, but were just left on the last setting when their civilization fell.”
“Silvertongue ‘as no need to go to Equestria Prime anymore.” She turned to her sisters. “If he finds zis Universe Generator, ‘e can just make ‘is worlds ‘owever ‘e wants zem.”
Shadow blinked. “That… certainly sounds like him.”
Entrapta shrugged. “He doesn’t have anything to do with this. The papers were sent in by a Doctor Shroud, very respectable, has a lot of previous work in Equis Icthus-Corith.”
“Shroud?” Havocwing shook her head. “That sounds familiar.”
“That’s the name of Silvertongue’s secretary,” Curaçao said. “It could be a coincidence… but it bears looking into.”
“I have no results for Equis Icthus-Corinth,” Shadow said, waving her phone. “Nothing.”
Entrapta cocked her head. “But it was in the scientific database…”
“He must have gotten in somehow,” Curaçao deduced. “Then ‘e sent you ze papers, probably written perfectly to suggest exactly ‘ow you would do zis wizout spelling it out. And now ‘ere you are, creating a zing zat can get ‘im exactly where ‘e wants.”
“Wow.” Entrapta looked at the unfinished project. “This is so exciting! A real multiversal conspiracy!”
“...Excuse me, what?” Havocwing asked.
“I never get involved in stuff like this ooooh this will be so good for field research. I’ll have to document everything and get as much footage as possible…”
“Can we focus on what to do about the conspiracy first?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Entrapta said dismissively. “It’s not done yet, I just stop building it until we sort this out. Easy peasy thermite squeezy.”
“Huh.” Insipid said. “That was easy.”
“He’ll have backup plans,” Curaçao said. “We need to be extra cautious. You mentioned a ‘Tab’ that was also working on this?”
“Yep!” Entrapta pulled out her phone. “I’ll just call her for you…”
~~~
Fae Époque was as it always was - a realm of universes sewn together so closely that it was impossible to tell which one you were in at any given time. Walk far enough and you might end up in the sky you had just been looking at. There was no traditional ‘gravity’ though most locations had an up and a down orientation determined by the orientation of the highly consistent ground. There were trees spread around all over mixed with fancy glowing lights. Islands drifted in the ‘sky’, though the sky itself rolled and jostled in such a way that you might as well have been on the island.
There was also a sky whale drifting by. Which was one of the most interesting things Curio had seen since arriving there.
The curiosity levels are off the charts, there’s so much to collect and I’m so close to my next power! I can’t wait to...
Her thoughts were interrupted by another one of Cryo’s dramatic shouts. “HAVE AT THEE!”
“Cryo wa-” Tab began, but she was drowned out by the sound of ice being shot from the filly’s hooves, encasing a poor Breezie in ice. Tab sighed. “Cryo, that. Was. Not. An. Enemy!”
“Why aren’t there any enemies!?” Cryo grunted. “We’re in the Fae Realms! You know, where there are monsters and things lurking around every corner?”
“We are not monsters,” Winter commented.
“Depends on your definition,” Mattie countered.
“By neither mine nor hers is the statement she made true.”
“Ah, but she asked a question.”
“Questions come with their own assertions and deceptions.”
“Those who speak only in questions never say anything at all.”
“Questions are required for the gathering of knowledge.”
“Yes, but what of the gathering of the deepest feelings for another?”
“Would you two quit it?” Tab asked.
Mattie sighed. “Tab, we were jus-”
“My tablet is analyzing all your outward expressions of intent and is fully loaded with all known Fay mannerisms. I know exactly what you two are doing, there’s nothing to be hiding. This isn’t some game we’re on, we’re here to find Scootaloo, not try to see who can one-up each other with word games the most.”
Winter fixed her with an unreadable expression.
“You find Mattie taxing but are annoyed that she is your only viable sparring partner who doesn’t just give up the pretense of the “dance”. You have spent the last few minutes trying to drag her into a conversation of interest relating to the nature of questions that has a 94% chance in ending with some kind of deal Mattie wouldn't have taken, disappointing you. Mattie, meanwhile, is trying to get off as many subtle flirty pot-shots off at you as she can without Indigo noticing.”
Indigo’s eyes flew open in alarm. She latched herself onto Winter like a greedy crab, dragging the pale woman a short distance away from Mattie.
Mattie coughed. “Crikey, Tab, do you have to be such a spoilsport?”
Tab gestured at Skuldie, who had walked a significant distance ahead of them, effectively moving up what looked like the wall to them.
“...Fine,” Mattie admitted. “Maybe it is a bit… much. Skuldie!”
“Apology accepted!” Skuldie called back.
“Hey! You can’t accept an apology I haven't given!”
“Yes I can!”
Mattie twitched. “Can I rescind it?”
“Nope! It was a definite future!”
“Balls,” Mattie cursed.
“...So, should I unfreeze the Breezie, or…?” Cryo asked.
“Your magic is harmless,” Winter said. “Leave her be, she’ll thaw out eventually.”
“Okay.”
They trotted after Skuldie at an increased pace.
“For what it’s worth, I liked the banter,” Curio told Mattie.
Mattie rolled her eyes. “Of course you would, you eat curiosity. Fay banter brings that out like nothing else.”
Curio blinked. “Wh-”
“Rule one: don’t be surprised by Mattie.”
Curio rolled her eyes, “I wouldn’t say I ‘eat’ it, it’s my power source. I need it to…
“I’m just yanking your chain, mate.” Mattie smirked and Curio smiled back. “Are you taller by the way?” She asked with a knowing look on her face.
A wide grin spread over Curio’s face, “I must have just hit level twenty!”
“Level what?” Tab asked, looking up from her invisible tablet.
“Level twenty.” Curio explained, “When I absorb enough energy I get new powers. Kind of like a video game.”
“I thought you were a ghost.”
Curio’s eyes opened slightly “I… am, yes, totally, but ghosts work differently where I’m from and it doesn’t matter. I want you to try and hit me.”
“I’m not going to hit you, we’re trying to-”
“OKAY!” Cryo shouted before punching Curio as hard as she could, foregoing her ice powers. What happened surprised everyone except Mattie. Curio, the clumsy Sweetie Belle with the visor caught the attack before it hit her. Then in one swift motion she threw Cryo to the side. The ice Sweetie didn’t get thrown very far, but that wasn’t what the demonstration was for. Curio wanted to show off her speed, not strength.
“I didn’t see that at all during training Curio-chan, how’d you do that?!” Cryo asked excitedly as she stood up.
Curio looked at her hooves, smiling to herself. I can’t believe I finally got an offensive ability!
“Levels and skill points,” Winter murmured. “Attempts to define the abstract....”
“She does seem kinda...” Indigo waggled a hand. “I dunno, hyperfocused?”
Mattie smirked. “Like you used to be?”
The girl shot a glare at her. “Hey--”
“You did declare yourself a goddess once,” Winter reminded her in amusement.
“Yeah... but you taught me the foolishness of that.”
“So I did.” They crested the hill, arriving at a nexus of rippling hills and mountains. “The Fall Court is not far,” Winter informed them.. “We are fortunate, they are unlikely to attack you for being unbound. Though it would be best if they did not deduce Tab is in possession of a magic computer.”
“Got it, will stop looking,” Tab said. “I-” her phone started ringing. “...Guess we get service in here now.”
“They fixed that after Cinder’s team got stuck,” Skuldie said. “I thought you were part of that operation?”
“I bailed,” Tab admitted. “Getting signals into Fae Époque without actually installing satellites in the realm? Hoo boy…” She answered the phone. “Entrapta, this better be good.”
Five seconds later she froze in place. “What!?”
“I don’t like the sounds of that…” Curio commented.
“Is there a monster?” Cryo asked, excited.
“Shush,” Tab said, pulling her tablet up again. “Holy… how didn’t I see this? You’re right, Doctor Shroud is totally bogus! I - sent in and reviewed by the night shift… Perfect time to slip through security and catch our eyes through lesser vetting… He did his homework. Okay, don’t finish the device, encrypt all your work, and get out of there. Contact Corona and follow the paper trail. Soon as I’m done here I’ll help with everything.” She put her phone away. “Well.”
Winter frowned. “Something’s gone wrong or is going to go wrong.”
Tab grimaced. “Not quite. More like something could have gone wrong. Apparently one of the most recent research papers submitted to the Research Division was written by Nopony McPretendsmith in an attempt to get us to…” She glanced warily at Winter. “...to a type of scientific breakthrough I’m sure would bore you.” She smirked.
“Bragging of your ability to deflect unconvincingly is childishly unbecoming.”
“And annoying, I’m sure. Point is, there’s problems going on back home I have to deal with when we’re done, so we really do need to pick up the pace so we can deal with this Silvertongue.”
Skuldie let out a shriek of pain and fell to her knees.
Curio ran to her. “Skuldie! Are you okay?”
“The stallion with a silver tongue…” Skuldie breathed, twitching. “He… Perfection is the light which shapes all, alone a-” She breathed heavily, as if trying to subdue her own voice. “This isn’t… why? How c- Threats abound from all sides, related but not, seeking the key to get out get out get out the present and the all lie ahead to be saved, do not turn back heroes, do not, face the fall what did you DO!? I didn’t do anything I couldn't do anything he will lie to such a degree that fairies will trust his word and a daughter will why now he feels you, even now. Lord Silvertongue. No one can be prepared, not even him.”
Skuldie fell back into Curio’s hooves, breathing heavily. “That… that’s never happened before… It’s never…” she grabbed her head, grimacing. “The silver tongue prophecy... “
“Perfection shapes... umbarmando.” Winter’s voice was uncharacteristically grim, the hints of fear and disgust crawling even up her visage.
Cryo shook her head. “This is big. We have t-”
“No!” Skuldie shouted, interrupting the incomplete thought. “We have to face the fall as instructed.”
“By who?”
“Me,” Skuldie said, forcing herself to stand. Curio moved to steady her, but Skuldie lifted a hand to indicate she was fine on her own. “We would not be here if we did not need to be. Mattie, don’t confirm, I see you.”
Mattie rolled her eyes. “Well th-”
“Move,” Skuldie said, all hints of cheer gone from her voice. “This isn’t just Scootaloo we’re talking about now. Winter, I trust you understand that we need to play hard ball now?”
Winter nodded. “Words will not be wasted. Come.”
They didn’t walk. They ran. The Fall Court itself looked like much of the rest of Fae Époque, except filled with short Fay creatures with expressions that were usually curious more than anything else. If Curio wasn't so worried about Skuldie and preparing for... something she would have been excitedly scribbling everything she could down.
But she followed Winter. They all did. A few of the shorter Fay waved greetings, or tried to nab them into a conversation, but those who did received either a glare from Winter, Mattie, or Skuldie, and the aura coming off the incarnation of the future was by far the greatest of the three. They did not fear her, per se, they just understood that engaging with her in any way could not result in a positive outcome at the time.
“We will not go to the Court meeting, they will cause delays,” Winter said. “We will seek one involved in the mortal way. Mortal technolog-” Winter stopped mid-sentence, startling Indigo considerably. “Crackling Leaves!”
A female gnome sat upon what looked like a toadstool at first glance, but was really a bunch of painted metal shaped together to look as such. Unlike many of the rest of her kind - who held tinkering devices that could best be described as ‘antiquated’ or ‘fantastical’ like bronze calipers, quills, and adjustable monocles - she had sleek square glasses and a phone in her gloved hands. “Winter Lights visits the Fall Court… in a state of urgency, nonetheless. Unplanned urgency.”
“Alacostame! Umbarmande návecca,” Winter said.
Crackling Leaves nodded in understanding. “What is it you seek?”
“Knowledge. The manifestation of the present for this mortal’s world has been stolen.”
“This hardly seems urgent…”
“It was not until recent events. She is the manifestation of the future. She received…” To the shock of everyone present, Winter seemed to not have the words in her mouth as she needed them. “...multiversal prophecy.”
“Unreliable.”
Winter nodded. “But harrowing. We were instructed to complete our mission to find the manifestation of the present, one Scootaloo.”
“I fear that I cannot help you in that regard.”
Winter paused for the slightest of moments. “Then help in another. Beware the name Silvertongue.”
“It is not a name I have heard.”
“It is a name of power. Male. Mortal, Fay, eldritch, god, I know not. Your Fay are more adept at acting within the fullness of time than others. Do what you need to. Something seeks perfection. I will meet with the Fall Court proper subsequently.”
Crackling Leaves nodded in understanding and ran off, pulling out her phone, presumably to contact the Fay she knew.
Winter waited for her to be far out of earshot. “...She has her.”
Skuldie gawked. “What!?”
“I asked her to speak plainly. When speaking of Scootaloo, she did not.” She turned to them. “She may be working with this… Silvertongue, though she does not know his name. I can only hope she will check her pawns to see if they have a view of the board as she does.”
“What are we going to do?” Curio asked.
“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do…” Cryo grinned. “We are going to follow her and punch her face in.”
Winter frowned. “...There will be more steps and finesse than that, but yes, that is the basic idea. It will be difficult. Her Fay use technology extensively.”
“Then it’s a good thing you have me,” Tab said, smirking. “One omni-tablet hacker coming right up.”
~~~
Entrapta hung up the phone with Tab. “Right, so, Corona.” She dialed the phone number. It rang once.
A spire of ice shot out of the sky and punctured the phone, shattering it into two pieces. “No,” Diamond Inferno said - currently in human form, wearing little more than a few form-fitting pieces of black cloth.
“Shadow!” Curaçao shouted. “Corona!”
Shadow was already dialing.
“Shivershackles… take the phone from her,” Inferno ordered.
The dark, meek looking man appeared behind Shadow in a shroud of darkness. It couldn’t be described as a flash, as most teleports could, but rather a splash of tar-like excretions that dissipated seconds after hitting the ground. He grabbed Shadow’s phone in his hand.
Shadow pulled back with all her telekinetic might, immensely alarmed to find that his grip was so tight she was in danger of ripping his hand straight off his wrist. She pulled harder anyway, dragging him across the ground.
“You useless sack of shit!” Inferno shouted. “I said TAKE THE PHONE!”
Shivershackles let out a howl of agony and pulled, tearing the phone in half in the process of taking it away.
“And now it’s broken!” Inferno shouted. “Good job, idiot.”
“Did you get a bee in your pants!?” Havocwing shouted.
“None of your concern…” Inferno said, smirking. Havocwing charged her, only to run face-first into an ice wall.
Grayscale didn’t miss a beat - she charged into the wall and broke it with focused gravity, sending shattered ice crystals toward Inferno, who absorbed them into herself easily. Inferno responded with a wry smirk and a double flipping-off, shooting Grayscale with a beam of ice and another of fire.
Velvet’s attack was the first one to do any real damage. Her tendril of blood lashed across Inferno’s achilles tendon, forcing her to take a knee. “Ooh, did that hurt?” Velvet cooed.
“I’ll show you what it means to hurt, dear,” Inferno said, driving a hand encased in ice-claws at her. Shadow’s magic grabbed her hand and forced it to the ground. “AUGH!”
“Awww…” Velvet giggled. “Your beautiful fingernails, absolutely ruined! Now nobody will want you.”
“Shivershackles!” Inferno called. “Defend me.”
Shivershcakles teleported again, appearing in front of Inferno, raising a disgusting, inconsistent shield around them. Grayscale and Havocwing attacked at the same time, bashing into it with immense force.
“Hold it, you useless grub!” Inferno shouted. “Hold it!”
“Yes, master…” Shivershackles said.
“You don’t look like you're holding it! It’s splotchy! Remember what he wants? PERFECTION!”
The shield was suddenly a perfect, round, solid black. It would have defended against Grayscale, Havocwing, and Velvet together, easily.
Had Curaçao not already been inside the shield, that is. She remained invisible, punching Inferno in the stomach, knocking her to the side.
“Master!” Shivershackles wailed, dropping the shield.
He saw Curaçao.
“C'est pas bon…”
He kicked her in the shoulder, cracking her bone with ease and sending her skidding along the hard metal floor.
“Curie!”
“Insipid! Now!” Curaçao shouted.
Insipid, face contorted in conflict, turned away from Curaçao and jumped Shivershackles. “MINE.”
“Get her off you!” Inferno ordered.
Shivershackles felt a jolt as Insipid touched him, but he was still easily able to toss her to the side.
“Like, ow!” Insipid called, jumping back to her hooves. “Have a taste of your own medicine, you jerk!” She lit her horn, summoning a dark murk to one of her hooves and jumping forward with a psychotic grin.
“Meet her,” Inferno ordered.
Shivershackles’ fist met Insipid’s hoof. There was a burst of dark energy.
Shivershackles didn’t move. Insipid went flying like a baseball hit by a bat - she would have been flattened against the wall had Shadow not caught her with telekinesis.
Insipid shook her head. “Wh- what? I did the same thing you did! No fair!”
“She’s not dead...” Inferno hissed. “Why didn’t that kill her, Shivershackles?”
“Because, like, I have his power now! Not gonna work on me! Immunity and junk.”
Inferno chuckled. “It’s cute that you think that.”
“Thanks for noticing!”
Havocwing facheooved. “Insipid, she just insulted you.”
Insipid twitched. “...You’re going to have to put a bit in the veiled insult jar.”
“...What?” Inferno asked. “Never mind. Shivershackles, kill her.”
“Insipid! Don’t die!” Curaçao shouted.
“You got it!” Insipid said - and without really thinking about it a dark shield appeared in front of her. “Huh?”
Shivershackles punched the shield, cracking it like it were an eggshell, making impact directly with Insipid’s horn. She instinctively raised a dark barrier around her coat, offering her some protection as she was driven into the ground.
“She’s not dead Shivershackles!”
Shivershackles whimpered.
Curaçao shouted. “Shadow! Is ‘e getting stronger?”
“Yes!” Shadow called, blasting him off Insipid with a burst of Void while Grayscale flattened him against the ground. “I don’t understand how…”
“It’s ‘ow ‘is power works!” Curaçao shakily stood up, holding her broken leg to her chest. “‘e must gain power from… inadequacy or somezing similar!”
Inferno chuckled. “Good eye. Now, tell me… is there any way Insipid can think of herself as worthless as Shivershackles thinks he is, and still be able to fight?”
Curaçao frowned. “Insipid, get rid of his power.”
“Done!” Insipid said, removing it from her essence. “Wait…”
Curaçao winced. The power didn’t give her a choice… “Sorry!”
“It’s okay Curie! Don’t worry about some silly power junk!” She laughed nervously.
Inferno sighed. “Shivershackles… that pegasus’ gravity has kept you down far too long… Get up.”
Shivershackles got up, and no matter how far up Grayscale turned the gravity, he stood tall.
“You aren’t killing her! Kill her! Kill her! Think of what will happen if you fail!” Inferno raised a magic shield to block an attack from Shadow, using ice to keep Havocwing at bay.
“I must not fail…” Shivershackles breathed. He reached a hand for Grayscale. “You must die.”
Grayscale wasn’t looking at him anymore. She was looking at Velvet. “You okay over there?”
Velvet had far more bloody tendrils coming out of her back than she usually did, twisting and pulsating as if they were made of organs rather than simple clotted fluid. “Shivershackles… you… your fear is so strong. I have never met someone so terrified of failure… I...” Velvet recoiled from herself, backing a few steps back. “No no no…”
Inferno looked to Velvet, grimacing. “She’s not supposed to have that.”
“Silvertongue’s knowledge isn’t perfect,” Curaçao said. “Velvet! She’s scared of your power!”
“I’m scared of my power!” Velvet shouted back.
“I zink we might need it, I’m sorry, bu-”
“Kill her before she regains confidence in herself,” Inferno ordered. “You understand that we cannot take any chances…”
“Protect Velvet!” Curaçao shouted.
Shivershackles teleported behind the dark pink earth pony, his fingers growing into immense claws. He rushed forward, only for Grayscale to toss Velvet to the side with gravity. Havocwing, Insipid, and Shadow lined up and encased him in a double-layered Void bubble with a raging inferno inside. He broke out with ease, dropping straight down on Velvet.
His stomach was skewered by one of her bloody tendrils.
“Shivershakles! Don’t you dare lose!”
“L-losing…” Velvet said, wary. “You know how unacceptable it is, Shivershackles? Do you know?”
Shivershackles tore himself off her bloody tendril - somehow healing his body back to full.
“You didn’t get to me in time, Shiver. That’s right, Shiver. Fear is in your N͉̳͌́̎ͭ͂̀̍A̳̻͈͔ͦ̔ͥ́M̾̌̃̽̂̈͏E̎̇! You are nothing BUT fear!”
“Stop being afraid!” Inferno ordered.
All fear left Shivershackles’ face, and most of his power went with it.
“Shit,” Inferno shouted.
“Diamond Inferno… how do you feel about failure?” Velvet was suddenly standing right behind the icy woman, tracing the tip of a bloody tendril down her back. “Not like the slave over there… but I feel it. I see it. You know what Silvertongue does to those who fail, don’t you? No… you’ve just GUESSED! Good guess!”
“Where are you getting this fear!?” Inferno threw a wave of ice shards at Velvet. They cut her in thousands of places, tearing her skin to shreds… but the blood kept moving anyway, becoming even more terrifying as it was now largely free from the pony it had inhabited prior.
“That WEAKLING had so much fear in him it was like a FEAST. I GORGED ON THE TERROR BUILT UP OVER A L̕IFET͟IME ͠O͝F̸ ͏ETERN͏A͠L͠ S̡UFFE͏R͡I͜NG̷ ͞L͞IKE I̶T̵ ̸WAS ͏ÇA͝ŅD̴Y! The people in this city… they are content, happy, relaxed. All together… they have NOTHING compared to the M͝AGI͡C ͟TH̢A̢T W͝AS ̸I̕N̶ ͏HIM!” She lifted Inferno into the air, wrapping her with blood she had shaped into ropes, latching to her wrists and ankles.
Shivershackles attempted to punch Velvet. His fist made contact, but it was lost within the torrent of gore. Velvet ignored him - he was of no concern, and there was no use tormenting something without fear.
“But you have worse, DIAMOND INFERNO, you have worse…” With a flick of what remained of Velvet’s ear, images of hundreds of people and ponies turning their backs on Inferno played in the woman’s mind. “You want so DESPERATELY to be loved! Why do you think you deserve that? CELESTIA TURNED HER BACK ON YOU, ALL THE OTHER SUNSETS TURNED THEIR BACK ON THEMS͏ELVES̷!͡ TH͏E̷Y̧ H̨ÁV̡E͞ ͢T͜H̡E̷ RI̛ĢHT ID́ĘA: THERE ͏I̧S͡ ͘ǸO̶ PĻACE ́FOR Y̵OU I̶N EXIS̶T̛EN̶CE! SHIVERSHACKLES ONLY THINKS HE IS WORTHLESS. YOU ACTUALLY ARE. TO ESCAPE YOU MUST DIE. P̢͕̠͖ͧ͐ͅẠ͕̮̰̙̱̈̐̔ͪ̄ͩT̅̓H̗̥̫͇̬͍ͩ̔͗ͅĘ͉̼̋̐͂ͦ̔̚T̞̝ͪI͔̱̹̝͉̽̎ͪ̌́ͮ͑͞C̙̩̳ͮ̿!”
Inferno had gone slack and had been crying for some time at this point.
“That’s enough…” Curaçao said.
“Enough? E̱͇̞̭̝̯̓̽̊͗͟N̥̭̟̰ͭ͆O̙͖͑̒̒ͪ̒͗ͬŮ̥͍̥̫̭͉̩ͯ͂̇ͬ̾͝G͉̃ͨ̃̚H͇͎ͯ?” Velvet was suddenly in front of Curaçao, looking nothing like a pony anymore. Somewhere in the mess of twisting blood, nightmares, and impossible lines there was a face, but Curaçao could never pick it out for very long. “You should have seen this coming… because THIS is what I FEAR! THIS IS WHERE THE DARKNESS LIES, CURAÇAO! You think LIES and DECEPTION ARE WORTH LOSING YOURSELF OVER? PATHETIC! WORTHLESS!NO̕, ͘T̷HIS, TH̨IS IS ͏A TRU͠E ̧T̡E̶R͝ROR! I AM̕ AFR̡AID͡ ̶ÓF ͝ḾYS͝ELF̛,͠ ̧A͟ND́ B̵Y̢ ̵BÈI͝NǴ ͜A͞F̧R͢A̢ID,͟ I̷ FEE̡D ͡M͟Y̛S̵ELF! Y̕O̸UR̴ DEE̶PE̴ŞT ̢FEAR I͠S ͠N͞O͏THIŃG.͢ BUT ͘YƠƯ D͞I̛D ̷T̢H̛I̡S.̶ Y̕OU ͞TO͢L̀D̵ M̨E,̧ C̵UR͡AÇ̢AO͡. YOU ́BR͟O͢UGH̀T ̸THIS OŅ YO̵UR̷SȨLF!” Curaçao was lifted into what she thought was the air, but really couldn’t be certain of considering how dark everything was. “S͢O̡M̡E̴ ̧LEA͢D̷ER YOÚ ͏A͡RE͢.”
“Velvet!” Shadow shouted, teleporting in front of Curaçao through a purplish burst of Void. “Velvet, this isn’t you! This isn’t you!”
“YOU W̡AN͝T̨ ͘TO ͝DO TH̨ĮS ̧AGA̵IN̸, ‘̕BOS͟S̀?’ RE̛M̕ĘM͝BÉR ̡WHAT HAP̵PEN̨ED LAS͢T ̷T̴IME͠?̨ FAILURE̷. DISAP͟POINTM͝ĘNT.̵ YOUŖ ͘F̢EAR̢S B͠ROAḐC̀AST͝.͏ ̸YOUR ́SH̀OR͏TC̀OMINGS͡.̀ ́H̨OW ͡L͟I̴TTL͟E̸ ͠Y͏ǪU ̨HAVE̸ ̛R͟EALL͢Y̕ CH̶AǸGE-̀”
“I still think of him as father!” Shadow shouted at the top of her lungs. “And it hurts! It hurts every day! I see you all… drifting away, forgetting. I know I should forget too. But I can’t, or I won’t or… or something, and I’m bucking terrified of what you all will think of me when you find out!”
“They all know now, Shadow. They think you will betray them.”
“No! They don’t think that! And they… they don’t know. They don’t really know. But they will! Everything! All of it! I’m… I’m bucked up in the head pretty seriously! I’m attracted to him! Very badly, psychotically, I… I have dreams where I’m with him. All the time. I’m afraid that, when I see him, all he has to do is swish his tail and I’ll do whatever he wants. I don’t deserve the trust of my sisters!”
“Shadow you don’t get to jus-”
“But I’m confronting my fears!” Shadow blurted, tears running down her face “I’m looking them right in the face and SHOUTING THEM FOR THE WORLD TO HEAR!” She took a step toward the monstrosity that was Velvet. “I am terrified, Velvet. I’m terrified of myself. Just like you are.”
“S-starlight…”
“You can face your fears too, Velvet.” Shadow swallowed hard. “You can use them.”
Velvet laughed as the mass of blood behind her diminished. “You… you’re sure using a lot of short words.”
Shadow pulled her sister into a hug, squishing blood all over her dark coat. “How can I spend time coming up with pointless words when I’m trying to save my sister?”
Velvet wiped her eyes. “...You’re not a failure, Shadow. You’re… you’re the best.”
The excess blood released completely, dropping Curaçao, Inferno, and Shivershackles to the ground.
“I… I’m sorry…” Velvet whimpered.
“It’s okay. It’s okay…” Shadow said, stroking her sister’s mane. “It’s okay…”
Grayscale let out a sigh of relief.
“...Worried?” Havocwing asked.
“Yeah.”
Insipid ran over to Curaçao. “Curie, are you…?”
“Leg’s still broken,” Curaçao muttered. “But I am fine, zank you.”
“Well,” Entrapta said, pulling up her welding glasses. “That was simultaneously the coolest and most terrifying thing I’ve seen all month. I got sooo much data!”
“Your priorities are skewed,” Grayscale muttered.
“You are not the first to tell me that.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Get us… out of here…” Inferno managed to wheeze.
“No you don’t!” Havocwing shouted, unleashing a torrent of fire at the two of them.
Shivershackles still had no fear. Without hesitation, he touched Inferno and teleported them away.
“BUCK! SHIT! DAMMIT! BITCH! BASTARD!” Havocwing’s tirade paused for a moment as she tried to think of more swear words, a difficult thing to do when as angry as she was.
“It’s not the vocabulary that matters,” Entrapta advised. “It’s the grammar. Try going for one disgusting statement instead of many foul words.”
“I WILL FIND THOSE BUCKING RATSPAWNED AVATARS OF DUMBPOWER, TEAR THEIR FINGERS, AND USE THEM TO PLAY HEAVY ROCK ON DRUMS MADE OF THEIR BONES!”
“Good first try!”
“They could be back at any moment,” Curaçao breathed as Velvet healed her wounds with her blood magic. “We need to find a way to call Corona.”
“Oh, I did that while you were going all scary,” Entrapta said. “Jury-rigged an antennae over there. She should be here any mo-”
Corona teleported into the dimensional drive, hands alight with the power of the sun. “Where are they!?”
Velvet cry-laughed. “You just missed them. Teleported away and everything.”
“If they used a teleport with enough energy to bypass the barriers…” Corona spread her wings, creating a series of magic circles behind her. “There’s no way I won’t be able to trace it.”
~~~
Sequin looked at the captured Arul and grimaced. Twilight had her hands pressed against the angel’s head, surrounding the spirit being in a disgusting mixture of dark green and purple power. Every so often Arul would let out a cry of pain or a quip of “I remain strong”, but otherwise the entire torturing session was happening out of Sequin’s sight.
“I know it looks terrible,” Brook said.
“That’s… that’s not quite it. This… thing did worse things than Discord, Brook. Discord.”
“...Sequin…”
Sequin sighed. “...I’ll admit, I’m a little… unsettled. But this is necessary, right?”
Brook nodded. “But you don’t have to watch.”
“You can’t look away either.”
Brook sighed and placed a wing around Sequin. “No. No I can’t.”
“That’s the other thing.” Sequin looked down at her hooves. “I… I couldn’t do anything. You, the other Twilight, the Sweeties, Chrysalis… they were all doing something. I tried to yell a warning and nothing happened.”
“Sequin, you’re not useless.”
“Of course you’d say that,” Sequin chuckled bitterly.
Brook sighed. “Look at Cinder, Sequin. Remember her stories?”
“About?”
“Her first missions. She was useless. Just a normal Sweetie with a horn that could light on fire. You saw what she was like here - swinging fire left and right like some kind of phoenix and ready to take the blow for a woman she didn’t even like.”
“Brook, I have no doubt that I could improve. You taught me how to teleport, remember? We could become the best duo of explorers this side of the multiverse.”
Brook giggled.
“But I’m thinking about now. Why am I here? Involved in this mess? I’m just a seamstress…”
“You’re not just a seamstress.”
“Okay, yes, I had a big adventure and… I’m not exactly ordinary. But compared to…”
“Sequin. Rarity. You don’t need to compare yourself to anypony else. And even if you did… if you were honest with yourself, you’d know that none could compare.”
“Even other Rarities?”
“Even other Rarities.”
“I think you need glasses.”
“Probably, but that’d only make it more true.”
Sequin giggled as Brook started nuzzling her neck. “S-stop it. There’s serious business afoot!”
“This is serious.” She gave Sequin a light peck.
Sequin rolled her eyes - but she was smiling. “Well, I don’t exactly feel needed, but I do feel better.”
“That’s the power of Magic!”
“Hey, uh, guys?” Cinder asked. “Can I like… hide over here? I feel like they’re watching me.”
Sequin glanced up at the changeling-humans walking around the room. To be fair, it looked like more than half were looking directly at Cinder.
“How dare they…” Sequin growled. “Do you have no idea of decency?”
“They’re not ogling her,” Chrysalis said. “...Most of them, anyway. She saved me.”
“I don’t want the attention,” Cinder said. “I really don’t want the attention.”
Blink adjusted her sunglasses. “Do I need to buck some bitches in the face for you?”
Cinder twitched. “Blink. We are in the lowest annals of human society. Think about what you just said.”
“Oh.” Blink shrugged. “Whoops.”
Chrysalis looked down at Cinder. “You’re being rath-”
“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” Cinder said, rubbing her head. “I don’t think this is right, but you do, and there’s nothing we can do about that. I need to move past that, but it’s not going to happen instantly, okay? Can we… uh…”
“You’re looking for ‘take it slow’.”
“Oh for the love of…”
Chrysalis smiled. “Sure. I can be patient. Though don’t go around shouting at my people. That won’t end well for you.” She extended her hand - fully healed at this point. “Do we have an understanding? Don’t worry, hand’s clean.”
“Why would it matter if it was clean…?” Cinder asked.
Chrysalis blinked. “I need to stop being astounded by the innocent.” She shook Cinder’s hoof.
Twilight finally removed her hand from Arul. “I’m convinced. She’s just an angel who didn’t object to her ‘god’ not being what she thought he was, and has been descending deeper and deeper into ‘holier than thou’ ever since.”
“Really? Okay.” Chrysalis gave Arul a look. “Hey angel! If god’s so perfect, why’d she make people who would hate penguins for being gay?”
Blink sputtered. “Suzie would really hate you.”
“Why…?” Cinder asked. “...Besides the obvious.”
“Let’s say it’s ‘religion’ and leave it at that.”
“For the record I have a pretty good guess, I just really don’t like ‘holier than thou.’” Chrysalis cleared her throat. “Anywhozits.... How’d she hear about us holding Tirek?”
Twilight frowned. “I couldn't get the specifics out of her. She was ‘told’, though if by a person, information leak, or what, I have no idea.” Her phone rang. “...And that would be Rarity calling, probably with the answer we’re all seeking.” She answered. “You’re on speaker.”
“Right! We found the security leak. Or, well, not exactly a leak…” Rarity paused. “It’s a little hard to explain.”
“It was a fortune teller,” Applejack supplemented. “Got visited by an ‘aspect of Sunset Shimmer’ last week with ‘great white wings’. Was given a lot of extra power, asked a bunch of weird questions, and then was given a lifetime supply of apple cider for their trouble.”
“There were a lot of weird things on the list,” Rarity admitted. “Tirek’s whereabouts were one of them, but so was the number of ants currently on Earth Shimmer, the preferred pizza topping of one Alfonso Machly, something about Screwball, a report on the status of potato farming in a nearby city, and lottery numbers. The lottery numbers were how we found them.”
Chrysalis sighed. “Ten to one odds your fortune teller got brainscrambled after their boosted session. It’s likely the only reason they remembered being asked about Tirek was that you asked them about being asked about Tirek and everything else was just what they think they were asked.”
“The spy business has done wonders for your paranoia,” Twilight deadpanned.
“Wait, she’s a spy?” Cinder frowned. “I thought she was some free love cult goddess?”
“I do many things. Sex, psycological therapy, spying, baking cakes on the side...”
“Diverse, I suppose.”
Rarity coughed. “Either way, we could not confirm the fortune teller was the source of the Warehouse 97 leak since… well, ‘brainscrambled’ is putting it mildly.”
“Ah have no idea how he managed to write the lottery numbers down…” Applejack said.
“Probably wasn’t intended to, dear. We’re lucky he did or we’d still be combing through archives for direct data transfer.”
“Good work, Rarity,” Twilight said. “...I guess that means we’ve wrapped it all up.” She turned to Arul. “Cart you off to Merodi prison or something.”
Arul made no response.
Cinder frowned. “This feels… off.”
Blink sighed. “We didn’t really save the day, we came after it had already been ruined.”
“This is a different feeling. I know what that’s like. Just… I don’t know.”
“It’s h-”
“Wait,” Sequin said, eyes widening. “An angel, probably Arul, gave the fortune teller the information, right?”
“Seems that way,” Twilight admitted.
“If she was really there just to kill everything in the Warehouse, why would she let Red Bull go and tell him about Tirek?”
The only response was silence.
Chrysalis rammed her hand around Arul’s neck. “What’s your fucking game?”
“I remain strong…”
“BULLSHIT! You have something else. The purity thing is just a mask! What are you really doing?”
“I remain strong…”
“She was able to keep it hidden from me…” Twilight said. “I don’t think shouting or traditional torture will do anything.”
“Then we’re going to try something else,” Shimmy said, appearing in a flash of light.
“...Done with the meeting?” Twilight asked.
“Yes.” Shimmy glared at Arul. “You work for Silvertongue, don’t you?”
“I remain strong…”
“Not so much as a reaction. Impressive.” Shimmy clenched her fists. “Too bad I don’t need her to say anything.” She held out a hand and grabbed hold of the very center of Arul’s magic, making her cry out so intensely she ran out of breath and fell silent.
“I can trace her back… her magic is strong, unique, and unmistakable…” Shimmy twisted her fist to the side, narrowing her eyes. “She was on Celestia City before coming here.” She focused. “Hold on, consulting Apple Bloom…” Shimmy was silent for a few minutes. “Either she was very good at precision teleporting and masking her signature, which I doubt, or she wasn’t even the one who blew up the Warehouse. It was just her magic in the bomb.”
Chrysalis grimaced. “...I am starting to get the feeling I’m being outplayed at my own game. I don’t like that.”
“...Who is Silvertongue?” Cinder asked, suddenly.
“I’ll explain on the way,” Shimmy said, releasing Arul. “We’re following the angel’s trail back until we find where she came from.”
Hey, if you havne't already, read CRISIS: Equestria. It's on fimfiction now! No longer will it be stuck in the annals of google docs: now it's on display for all to see and access.
Yes I know it says mature. I really don't think it quite needs that tag, but that's the author's prerogative.
-GM, master of taglines.
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Jeez, I just started this story yesterday and I'm already mostly caught up. This story is just as entertaining as the amount of Sweeties that you can possibly put together in one scene (Answer... ALL THE SWEETIES!!)
Given that the patches holding together Earth Shimmer include Skaian Aspects and pentachromatic magic (which is very good at manifesting the incorporeal,) it's entirely possible that dream ghosts can exist here. Though obviously not worth the risk.
And yeah, multiversal prophecies are not fun to receive. They occupy more dimensions than a prophet's brain contains.
9725638
People sure do have a strange tendency to like Cinder, don't they? 
-GM, master of secrets.
It's about time the Good Guys are getting into gear: the villains may have escaped and have the Everykid, but their numbers have suffered losses and are being tailed, hunted, and Silvertongue has likely planned for this.
But I don't think he's planned properly for Cinder.
I almost figured him as an Heir of Mind, but I think he's an Heir of Light, from the way the prophecy Sculdie spouted was worded. He may have Mind's strategy, but the fact that he KNOWS shit and knows it so well that it's like someone leaked him the script of the story itself and he then tweaked it so it's work in his favor. He's operating like he's Knowledge Itself, bypassing the skills of Rose and Terezi in terms of prediction/deduction, and using others as his minions to create the perfect world that he believes will benefit everyone.
As a friend of mine once said, 'one person's villain is another person's hero' and Silvertongue likely thinks he's doing the Universe a favor. Kinda-sorta sounds like another Light Player I know....
Excellent chapter!! The good guys are finally making progress, and Cinder reveals another special quirk of hers. I have a feeling I know what it is, but I'm not going to spoil it directly in case I'm right, you'll have to beat me at a lesser game of Blackjack for it, but you can't.
I think I made it vague enough, but I don't know if the meaning translated. We'll find out soon enough.
9725573
Which prophet do you mean? Prophet, Writer of stories, or prophet, seer of the future? And if you need more dimensions, can your derpy handle them? lol, I kid, though I don't think we've seen her in here yet, have we. I don't think she would be much help, but she's nice.
9726714
Cinder has no Talent at Blackjack.
-GM, master of heheh.
That is coming back, isn't it, GM?
Well, I’m even more sure that something fishy is going on now. A watered down ‘Want-it-Need-it’ spell? Perhaps a ‘fire’ of love around her? Or maybe Ka over saturation?
Either way, Cinder is not normal.
Claps my hands once Daddy Issues!!
.... Oh not at all. Fimfiction, the name
I'm currently working through my own issues with compulsive lying (a.k.a. pathological lying), and I just wanted to say that Curaçao's inner termoil about the legitimacy of her own feelings and thoughts, and her constant self-doubt about her own convictions incredibly true to life, and I completely feel for her...
Watching her work though this is impactful to me and I just wanted to thank you for writing this. I can't wait to keep reading and see more of her (and everyone else's) stories
It’s easy to forget that Insipid can say smart things sometimes. Because of the 99% dumb things.
That is perfect.
Um, yes, you are. But you're probably the good sort.
Alright, I'm convinced that Entrapta's good. Not to say I trust my implicitly, but she's not planning a betrayal. Whoof, that's a relief, I really like her.
(Not another Fireburst, not another Fireburst...)
I think these are the same person.