Betrayal (Sparkle Census, Part 2)
Beneath the mysterious vortex, the Train chugged onward. The eternal wasteland stretched off in every direction, marked only by the occasional dead tree and the endless rails that marked the Train’s path. The engine churned forward, pulling the cars along, closer and closer to an unknown destination—a destination that might well have been more of a metaphorical concept than a place.
Many cars back, Cinder jumped out of one of the car doors and scrambled across the bridge to the next one. Behind her was a tall, humanoid robot with swords for arms that wanted her very dead.
“All I did was say hi!” Cinder wailed. “Was that so wrong!?”
The robot said nothing, continuing the pursuit with mechanical efficiency.
“Why does this always happen to me?” Cinder cried out, even though she knew the answer. She jumped through the next car door and slammed it behind her, locking the robot on the other side. Unsure if the robot could force the door open, she ran ahead—ignoring the sphere creatures that occupied the current car. They no doubt had some problem she could help them with, but right now she was a little more concerned about her possibly soon-to-end life. She pushed through, jumping to the next car, and the next, and the next. To her relief, none of them had locked or hidden doors: they all allowed her easy passage.
Once she felt like she was far enough from the death-bot, she flopped against the inner side of one of the car doors, desperately trying to catch her breath. Glancing down, she checked the number on her hoof.
19.
“Well, at least it didn’t go up…” she gasped. Standing up with some difficulty, she finally observed her surroundings, using the opportunity as an excuse to rest. The exit door was right in front of her, but there were no walls to hold it. The realm went on seemingly forever in every direction, with a ground made out of a bunch of pink fabric bundled up in a way similar to the folds of a brain. In the distance, she could see grandfather clocks and giant pocket watches embedded in the brainy fabric.
“Weird stuff…” Her earlier exhaustion nearly forgotten by now, Cinder was intrigued enough to take a look around. She trotted right up to one of the pocket watches, cautiously placing her hoof on it. Immediately, the clock face vanished, replaced with a mirror-like surface. It didn’t reflect a unicorn, though—it reflected a calm fractal pattern of a pristine white color. Energy flowed to and from the smooth curves, radiating a power mixed with some kind of intelligence. Cinder, strangely, felt a connection to this being on the other side of the mirror. It must have felt the same, for one of its wispy tendrils reached for the surface of the mirror… but it was replaced with the clock face before contact was made. Cinder pressed her hoof to the pocket watch again, but nothing happened.
That means something…
She trotted to one of the grandfather clocks. Sure enough, its clock face became a mirror—but this one reflected a pristine white alicorn with a pastel mane and an elegant form. Her eyes, though, weren’t the usual green of a Sweetie, but a piercing orange.
She tilted her head the same time Cinder did—but in the opposite direction. Then the clock face returned.
Mustard was so sure I was a false princess…
At this point she walked to the next clock on autopilot, placing a hoof and looking into it deeply. This time, it showed her Herobrine. He looked at her with hate and moved to tear out her neck, but of course the image vanished.
“I’m going to be wondering about this for a while…” She skipped up to another pocket watch, twirling around to add a flourish before lightly tapping the watch. This time, it showed her a rose. A rose that was far too vibrantly red to be real. Cinder sensed an immense majesty emanating from it, a regal importance, but with a snap, it disappeared as quickly as it had first appeared.
Cryptic. Don’t know what I was expecting. Let’s see what the next piece of the puzzle is! With another skip and jump, she made her way to a grandfather clock, tapping it with her hoof.
This one showed her the robot that had been trying to kill her all a few minutes ago.
“Huh? What does he have to do with anyth—“
The moment the clock returned to normal, red hot pain flared in her spine. Looking down at the metallic point sticking out of her front, Cinder had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen. But she wasn’t looking forward to it in the slightest.
Her consciousness never fully faded. While her facial muscles and body might have made it look to an outsider like she was losing sensation, in reality, the pain was only heightening. As her awareness drifted slightly away from her body, the presence of the sword through her very being only became more obvious. If she were able to scream in this state, she would have—but she knew the worst was yet to come.
Watching as though from a distance, she saw her body devolve into a white, glowing goo. She felt as each and every synapse in her unicorn body was turned off like a little firework until there was nothing remaining but her consciousness. Soon, even that slowly dissipated, and her awareness became nothing. For a moment, all was dark. No sight, no smell, no sound.
She was alone in endless nothing. No… that wasn’t quite true. If she really focused, she could feel the Tower. Somewhere, always connected. It told her nothing, for she had no Awareness. She just knew.
Cinder did not remain in this state for long—if she did, it would have been the short way to madness. However, when sensation came back to her, it didn’t feel real. It was as though she were receiving information about the outside world through a computer terminal. The sights, smells, and sensations were described to her, but they weren’t happening to her. It was at hoof-length.
The one thing she did feel, absolutely, was what it meant to be a sword-armed robot. Every thought and process that ran through its head was displayed to her consciousness. Every action it considered, every impulse it ignored, and how much it wanted to kill. It had never known anything else.
Her now-robotic body had no idea it had been Cinder. As far as it was concerned, it had just stabbed Cinder—and now there were two sword-armed robots in the car, and no Cinder. Obviously, Cinder had transformed into a copy of it, so it needed to exterminate her.
Naturally, the original robot came to the same conclusion at the same time, though it had more reason to believe its processors. They attacked each other, each easily deflecting the other’s blade. Every swipe was perfectly countered by exact programming, and neither could get the upper hand. Curiously, the robot that was Cinder still had the Train’s number 19 on its arm. The Train knew it was her.
Cinder knew for certain the fight wasn’t going to go anywhere without any outside interference. She considered forcing her normal body to come back—it was the one thing she knew how to do here, become a unicorn again. But the other robot might just stab her again while she was recovering, and then that would trigger the transformation again, setting off a dumb endless cycle.
So she resolved to wait until something happened. After all, it wasn’t exactly uncomfortable to exist as nothing more than a spirit tangentially attached to a sword-robot creature. She might as well take the time to learn a bit more about it.
She had no control whatsoever over what the robot did, but she had access to all of its thoughts. She could focus on parts of it, examining what memories it recalled at any given time, its motivations, everything. All things considered, it was rather depressing, since all of the thoughts were about efficient killing, but at least it wasn’t as bad as Herobrine had been. It had been decidedly unpleasant to be him. …If this could really be called “being”.
What am I even going to call this? I need a cool, exciting name for this ability!
Before she could continue with this line of thought, her fight with the robot was interrupted. A burst of fractal-energy came out of nowhere, turning the opposing robot into a small pile of dust that exploded into little cherries.
A voice reverberated from the being into Cinder’s head. Not the robot—Cinder, in her distant existence.
“What are you doing here!? This Train isn’t safe right now!”
The robot decided to try to kill the energy being, slicing right through it to no effect.
“Drop the Replacement already,” the energy being said. “It serves no purpose.”
Okay… Cinder told her body to let her spirit back in. The robotic form returned to a blob of white, reforming quickly back into a unicorn. The reforming process was a lot less painful than the initial transformation, since Cinder was being rebuilt at full health and energy without a sword poking through her. The pixelated rose formed last, resting neatly in the folds of her mane.
“Hi!” Cinder said, extending a hoof. “I’m Cinder, League of Sweetie Belles. You… look kinda like one of Them. Are you?”
“Them!? What game are you playing? I—“ The energy creature paused for a moment. The alarm and concern vanished from the entity’s tone with its next words. “You… Traitor…”
“W-what?” Cinder took a step back. “I don’t even know who you are!”
“You abandoned yourself… and now you’re here to kill me.”
“No!” Cinder shook her head emphatically. “I don’t want you dead, whoever you are. I just… want to know what I am, if you don’t mind?”
“How could you have done this to yourself?” The entity asked. Cinder sensed that it was talking more to itself than to her at this point. “To think that a Replacer could…” The fractal pattern suddenly became energetic and its focus was back on Cinder. “Your fate was sealed long ago. We cannot permi—“
Both of the doors to the car suddenly exploded, leaving holes in the brainy reality that led to the wasteland outside. There, against the vortex in the sky, she saw a single object. The object was blue, but otherwise hard to focus on—not just because it was moving around quickly enough to dodge the energy blasts coming from the vortex, but also because it wasn’t a cohesive object. Several pieces of metal flowed in and out of higher dimensions Cinder couldn’t see, and the pieces that were there seemed to all be moving different directions while still somehow maintaining a cohesive whole. It clearly did not belong in this universe, and given the energy coming out of the vortex, the universe didn’t want it here. It was also shooting at the Train, which may have been part of the reason it was unwelcome..
“This was your plan all along!” the energy being shrieked into Cinder’s mind, making her wince. “A Beyonder rampage! I should h—“
A mech suit composed out of a material similar to the “ship” in the sky jumped through the hole in reality. Unlike the ship, which phased in and out of reality consistently, this being had a more permanent presence—the suit kept the same number of limbs at all times. However, it was also disconnected, with parts that floated separately from the main body. Bursts of blue electricity coursed between the metal parts in seemingly random patterns and timing. The very space around the creature rippled like a pond in a rainstorm. Whatever was inside that suit was not meant to exist here, but the technology forced it to anyway.
The Beyonder punched, forming a black hole larger than the train car. For a split second, Cinder felt like she was spaghetti in a field of darkness, with only a single pinprick of light telling her there was a world outside. She could just make out a flash of blue.
Next thing she knew she was being thrown across universes, passing from realm to realm with enough force to tear through their reality like paper. Physics broke down wherever she passed, leaving a trail of fissures as she went.
She didn’t have any idea what was going on. Every second, a new reality passed in front of her eyes, and a new hole was torn.
However, she knew one thing for certain.
The Beyonder was following her.
~~~
Suzie sat cross-legged on the ground before the main altar in the church. However, the electric lights weren’t on—rather, she illuminated the area around her with a bunch of tall white candles. It gave her enough light to feel warm, but otherwise the area was dark in a way that was more welcoming and peaceful than ominous.
She breathed in and out with time, a soft smile on her face. She was fully immersed in the moment, and she could feel both the smallness and the bigness of her being… the paradox that needed to be for truth to arrive. Both an insignificant speck and yet holding the very soul of meaning, the point of being a person, i—
She heard the door creak behind her and the moment was broken. She let out a long, deep sigh.
“Do the candles really help?” Rev asked, cocking her head.
“Believe it or not, they do.” Suzie blew them out one at a time and stood up. “What’s going on? You wouldn’t have interrupted me if it wasn’t important.”
“I have someone I think you’d want to see.” The Starlight stepped to the side, letting Cryo and Adder through.
Suzie looked to Adder with wide eyes. “Is she…?”
“She’s fine. And she promises to come back soon.” Adder launched into the story of what had happened to her and Cinder on their journeys, including the Train, the world of cubes, the encounter with Cei, and a few other things that seemed important. She ended with what happened to Cinder at the end—going all white and becoming what had attacked her.
Suzie frowned. “She’s really not a pony…”
“She’s still Cinder though,” Adder said.
“And she’ll be back soon!” Cryo cheered, bouncing up and down. “Think of it, you can see her again!”
Suzie smiled softly. “It… would be nice.”
Cryo frowned. “Surely… you want her to come back?”
“Yes. Absolutely. Don’t get me wrong. It’s just… well, I wouldn’t be able to go back out there with her.” She waved her hand out in the air. “Still have my Stand, still can’t go anywhere.”
“Oh…”
“And it’s not really a problem.” Suzie closed her eyes and lifted her head upward. “Having this… time to explore myself… it’s been better than being out there. I only miss being with all of them.”
Cryo shifted uncomfortably. “You’re just… fine here?”
“Absolutely. I’d appreciate an excuse for the others to visit more often, but this has been a great time.” She patted Cryo on the head. “Sometimes what we need is a simple life without the grim specter of death hiding behind every corner.”
“Hmmm…”
Adder nodded. “Glad to hear you’re alright. Now, Ah gotta go tell a lot of others…”
“Let’s just go to the League,” Suzie said, pulling out her dimensional device. “I’m sure we can get Nausicaa to process a report from you, and we can send out a little message to everyone. Anyone with more questions can just come to us.”
Adder nodded. “Sounds like a plan!”
“And a way to get a bunch of Sweeties together,” Cryo said with a smirk.
Suzie rubbed the back of her head. “W-well, uh, that might be part of it…”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
~~~
Cinder knew she wouldn’t be able to come to a stop until she hit a universe able to withstand the heavy warping of reality. There was nothing she could do to change this—she was just along for the ride as she rode the torrential wave from reality to reality. It went on for long enough that she began to wonder how she was still breathing, and a more pressing issue, why the Beyonder hadn’t been able to catch up with her. Was it only able to move as fast through the realms as the shockwave it had created?
The beginnings of a plan were beginning to take shape. It wasn’t a very good plan—she’d let the Beyonder take a stab at her, and she'd become it, and then hope something in its thoughts would give her a way out or something.
She was already coming to find her “new” power slightly annoying. You’d think it would be exploitable, but no, the copy was exact and by nature could never be stronger than the opponent. Seeing as she was alone, there was nobody to back her up and tip the odds in her favor.
Her fate, in the end, depended on where exactly she stopped.
It just so happened that the first reality-anchored object she hit was a massive purple crystal shaped like a Twilight’s cutie mark. She flailed her limbs as she flew towards it, trying to avoid slamming face first and breaking all her bones, but to her relief, the crystal began slowing her down as she got closer. She still belly-flopped against it with a comical “oof”, sliding off of it like a fish thrown out of water. She was lucky the crystal was so well-designed, but as it was, she’d still broken a rib from the impact.
Only a single rib… Cinder thought to herself. I’m way too used to the possibility of injury… With a grunt, she forced herself to stand up—unable to keep a shriek of pain from coming out of her mouth.
The crystal sat in the midst of numerous gears, wires, tubes, and magical sparks that swirled around tremendous pistons. Given the presence of a purple color and the familiar designs, she deduced that she was in the Sparkle Census.
And so was the Beyonder. It didn’t slam into the crystal-like she had. When it tore through reality, it pulled it apart with its bare hands and stepped in, its mechanized form dominating the mechanical room.
Cinder braced for impact.
Luckily for her, the Beyonder was so outrageously overpowered that one direct swat from its hand-like appendage vaporized every nerve in Cinder’s body immediately. There would be no pain in the transformation today—and yet, she maintained a distant ghost-like awareness of herself for a moment.
In that moment, she sensed a scream of intense rage. Just before her senses were fully suspended, she saw Blink make herself visible and charge the Beyonder’s head, brimming with Void energy.
Blink, no, don’t do something stupid, I’ll be back!
Her senses went black. She had no idea what was happening—her body was busy transforming into a Beyonder. Blink, somehow, please be alive when I get back. I… I can’t be responsible for that!
The senses of her new Beyonder form came to her—but she purposefully ignored the rapid influx of information about what it was like to live in a different number of dimensions, instead focusing on the purely visual component of what was before her. The original Beyonder was there, holding Blink in one of its hand-like appendages. Two of Blink’s reality bracelets had already been broken, and her efforts to phase out of existence were being countered by some kind of pink electricity coursing around the Beyonder’s metallic suit.
Why aren’t we attacking? Cinder wondered. Come on, fight yourself! She examined the thoughts of her new body to figure out the reason. Despite the non-Euclidian nature of the thoughts, the reason was simple enough: why would it ever attack another Beyonder? They were of one army, one force, one power. This was not the time for personal honor at the expense of others, this was a mission. This other identical Beyonder was acting exactly as a Beyonder should—attacking the enemy.
A third reality bracelet broke. For all Blink’s Void, all she could do was delay the assault. Cinder screamed at her body—but it couldn’t hear her. It was a Beyonder. Instead of standing by, it helped its colleague, shattering the fourth reality bracelet.
For a moment, Cinder stopped, as if holding her breath. Waiting for Blink to vanish into nothing.
But she didn’t. She remained in the clutches of the Beyonder.
Oh, right. Relief swept over Cinder. We’re in the Sparkle Census, of course they’d set physics to allow ghosts to persist.
She caught more good news from the thoughts in her Beyonder body—they were trying to erase Blink from existence, but found it difficult since the Sparkle Census’ reality anchors actively worked against that sort of thing. They’d need to spend an inordinate amount of effort to truly kill the ghost.
So they crushed her flat and threw her into the ground. As a ghost, she lived through the entire thing… but the pain had to be more than Cinder could imagine. She didn’t blame Blink for making herself completely invisible the moment she was free of their clutches.
At this point, the Beyonders started talking to one another. The more they did, the more Cinder felt her stomach sink, despite not currently having one. The two didn’t speak with words so much as movements transmitted through a conduit of their natural spacetime. Of course the suits were capable of translating this into speech, but when addressing each other they had no need.
I am Ulthizar.
I am Ulthizar as well. There was a Replacer.
A Replacer that would dare to be so brazen?
There is something else going on here. However, I remember seeing you come from the Replacer.
Then I must be eliminated.
That would just bring her out again. So long as she allows you to exist, our strength is doubled.
How will we eliminate her?
I do not have any ideas you do not.
Unfortunate.
It was at this point several hundred Twilights appeared, around them, ranging from alicorns, to full-grown dragons that barely fit in the space, to miasma-like plasma beings.
The enemy! Both Beyonders shouted at once, charging to kill.
No! Cinder ordered. She did the only thing she could do—force herself back into her natural form. Her Beyonder collapsed in a pile of white while the original continued its assault. As her body’s senses cut out again, she caught the Twilights opening a portal right in front of the Beyonder.
By the time she was Cinder again and opened her eyes, the Beyonder was gone. But so were at least a dozen Twilights standing over her with curious expressions.
“…Cinder?”
Cinder opened her eyes to the face of none other than Daylight Sparkle, the Twilight she’d helped save from the eternal day. “Yeah…”
“You’re a Beyonder?”
“No, apparently I’m a Replacer. Not that I have any idea what that means.” She shook her head. “I… I’m sorry, this is partially my fault. It attacked me and I just…”
“You had no control over where you ended up,” Daylight said. She shot a death glare at another Twilight, a kirin with a fiery red mane, that was about to correct her.
“I… yeah, I guess not.” Cinder shook her head. “Hey! Blink! You can come out now!”
“…Blink?” Daylight cocked her head to the side.
“Yeah, she was down here. Tried to help me, but she didn’t really do much. She’s probably in a lot of pain…”
“Cinder, you have no idea where you are, do you?”
“Uh…” Cinder glanced up at the crystal. “Am I not in the Sparkle Census?”
“You’re somewhere in the Sparkle Census. Somewhere you really aren’t supposed to be.”
“What would that have t—oh.” Cinder frowned. “Somewhere Blink wasn’t supposed to be.”
“Exactly.” Daylight grimaced. “I’m afraid we’ll have to hold an investigation.”
“I’m sure she had a good reason for being here!”
“Good reason or not, I don’t think this is going to go over well, especially with the impending Beyonder threat…”
Cinder blinked. “You’ve been expecting something like this to happen. The Beyonders are up to something, aren’t they?”
“I don’t know much, but I do know that we’ve been on-call in case something like this happened. A—“
“That’s enough, Daylight,” an alicorn said—the Grand Secretariat of the Sparkle Census, standing taller than most Celestias would. “I’m afraid we really are going to have an investigation. It is best not to tell her too much.”
“I understand,” Cinder said, standing up.
“Luckily, the other Sweeties are currently here,” the Secretariat continued. “So we can perform this investigation by taking you to them.” She smiled. “I’m sure it’ll be a grand reunion.”
Cinder beamed. “…Yes. Yes, I’d like to see them. I—“ She frowned, glancing down at her hoof.
Despite not even being on the Train, she still had her number. 9.
“…That’s not supposed to happen. The Beyonders screwed something up…”
~~~
“So…” Celia began as she slowly sat down in the captain’s chair. “…How’d their visit go?”
Swip’s avatar was lying on a virtual couch, her back towards the display. “Mmmf.”
“That bad?”
“I told them to get lost.”
Celia smiled sadly. She said a lot worse than that… “Anything I can do?”
“Can we go back to scanning star systems?” Swip asked, tilting her head back to look at Celia with exhausted eyes.
Celia glanced at the rest of the crew—Burgerbelle, Squiddy, Seren, and Nira. All of them, including Burgerbelle, were unsure of what to do with themselves. Cry? Yell? Both at different times? It was impossible to fully understand. “Yeah. Yeah, I think we could all benefit from going back to simple scanning. Set a course dear.”
“Setting…” Swip’s tired eyes became confused. “Hold on, the Sparkle Census is denying us permission to leave.”
“Did they say why?” Celia asked, forcefully pushing her melancholy out of mind—this could be serious.
“No. But the Secretariat wants permission to transport to the bridge.” Swip tapped her fingers together nervously.
“…We can’t exactly say no now, can we?”
Nira coughed. “We can. Legally speaking she can’t even keep us here without inciting an incident.”
“But that wouldn’t be proper, and, attitude aside, I am still a Rarity.”
Swip glanced at the batter crumbs that had piled around Celia’s seat over the last few weeks.
Celia nonchalantly cast a spell that animated a dustpan that swept the crumbs up. “Now, Swip, if you would be a dear and give her permission to come in?”
“This is how you get vampires,” Seren whispered.
“Glad to see you doing better.”
“I—well, th—“
Whatever conversation may have transpired had they been given a few more seconds was silenced by the appearance of a majestic purple alicorn. An alicorn that everyone ignored in favor of the little white unicorn standing to her side.
Celia locked her eyes with Cinder’s. The unicorn broke out into a huge grin.
Celia couldn’t help but grin back despite herself. The two rushed into a tight embrace. “Welcome back, Cinder.”
“Glad to be back.” Cinder nuzzled Celia just below the neck.
“Cinder!” Seren cheered rushing into the hug as well, magic sparks flying off her scepter as she threw it to the ground. Her impact with the other two toppled them over until they were little more than a loose pile of giggling bodies on the ground.
Squiddy stepped over Cinder, covering her in shadow. Slowly, she uncrossed her arms and offered her hand, which Cinder readily took. Their embrace was much shorter and less exaggerated than the one that had just transpired, but it was nonetheless real.
Nira shuffled uncomfortably.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Cinder said, winking at Nira. “You’re safe. But… Swip!” Cinder jumped and pressed herself to the main screen. “You’re so unhuggable! This is unacceptable!”
Swip generated a plush version of Cinder in the virtual realm and squeezed it until it squeaked so hard one of the eyes popped out.
Cinder blinked a few times. “Huh.”
Swip shot her a finger gun gesture—that Burgerbelle matched exactly. The Flat proceeded to throw Cinder up into the air like a basketball, slam-dunking her into the captain’s chair.
After spinning in the chair a few times, Cinder came to a stop looking out at all the Sweeties. Her smile faltered slightly. “Where… are the others?”
Celia’s smile faltered. “Ah… Well, Blink’s on vacation—“ That made Cinder flinch. For the life of her, Celia couldn’t imagine why. Something to ask her about later. “—Suzie’s still off-duty and it looks like it’s going to stay that way.”
“Is she… okay?”
“She’s actually happy where she’s at.”
“She misses us, though,” Seren added.
“You’ll get to see her when we get you back to the League,” Celia promised. “Sweetaloo…” Celia had to force herself not to let out an angry rant—but how she wanted to. “Sweetaloo was split up into her component parts, Cinder.”
“And they’re not going back together?” Cinder tilted her head sideways. “I thought they liked being Sweetaloo.”
“You’d think that wouldn’t you…” Celia muttered under her breath. “No, that wasn’t the case. She lied to us, Cinder.”
Cinder’s eyes lost focus. Slowly, her gaze fell further and further toward the ground. “…This is the price. I had to go. And I missed her. That’s wh—“
“Don’t think that,” Nira said. “You had no control over this.”
“You don’t understand, do you?” Cinder asked, focusing her eyes directly on Nira. “It’s not directly related, but it is the price. I’m paying for leaving. That’s… just how it is.”
Seren shook her head. “S-stop it! Cinder’s back, we can’t just go back to being super sad! We… we’re together again!”
“Unfortunately not,” Cinder said, shaking her head. “I’m afraid there’s a reason the Secretariat is with me. Celia. You said Blink was on vacation?”
“Yes…?” Celia cocked her head. “She’s taking an extended vacation in Skaia’s Dream. Going home, as it were, to avoid our scanning assignment. Still there, from the last message I got from her.”
“I was afraid of that.” Cinder let out a sigh. “I saw her. Here. In the Sparkle Census.”
“Where?” Celia asked, sure she wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Within the Reality Defense nexus,” the Secretariat said. “Which wasn’t functioning properly because several key components of the technology were missing. Stolen.”
Celia snorted. “Oh, and you think she did it? Pfft, she was probably trying to stop whoever actually did. She’s one of us, not some tech thief. I would have noticed if she was, Sweetaloo would have noticed if she was.”
“No, you wouldn’t have,” Nira said.
“And you’re an expert on observing people now?”
“No. I’ve just long suspected that Blink was using her powers to actively remove her emotional turmoil and hide what she was really feeling. Think about it. She was often just too happy, too carefree. I had thought it was just her shunting her sorrows away, but… it could be more. Much more.”
“Her powers do let her just… fade into the background.” Seren’s eyes widened. “She could have been crying her eyes out, and if she didn’t want us to know, we wouldn’t.”
“But that’s not her,” Celia said. “She’s been with us for years. We know her. She came to us and has been our friend. Part of this… family we’ve got here.”
“Family can still contain thieves,” Nira countered.
“Damn her…” Squiddy muttered.
Celia raised an eyebrow. “Squiddy, let’s not jump to any conclusions h—“
“She was fine!” Squiddy shouted. “She was violated every bit as much as I was, but she was fine! I felt weak because she was doing fine, but I wasn’t! But there’s no way someone can just be… fine like that, is there!? Is there!?”
Seren was bawling in a corner now.
“…Swip, you’re the one with perfect memory,” Cinder said, pressing her front hooves together. “I remember at least two times when technology from the worlds we explored mysteriously went missing. That Equestria that was at war was one of them.”
Swip’s avatar stopped animating for a second while she searched. “…Holy mother of… at least one in twenty places mentioned technology or artifacts going missing.”
Cinder turned to Celia. “And you remember when I first met Tab? Where someone tried to fully download the contents of her tablet?”
“We never found the culprit…” Celia breathed.
“Yeah. We never did.”
Slowly, Celia took out her communicator. Carefully, she dialed Blink’s number. Blink was in Skaia’s Dream. She had to be. And that world was covered head to toe in Merodi technology. The only way the signal wasn’t going to reach her was if she was heavily Voided at the time.
Celia stamped her hoof on the ground in rage when the call went to voicemail.
“Sh-she could answer back…” Seren suggested.
Celia shook her head. “No… that’s not happening. It appears… we have a traitor. And have for a long time.” Her ears drooped. “…Anyone else?”
“…What?” Seren asked.
“I said anyone else!?” Celia shouted at the top of her lungs.
“I… I…” Seren couldn’t take it anymore. She ran out of the bridge to her room, locking the door behind her.
“Not her. Good.” Celia shot death glares at the rest of them. “Anyone else want to come forward with some lies or secrets!?”
“I have done terrible things,” Nira said.
“We know that,” Squiddy said. “That’s not what she’s asking.”
“Let me clarify. I have done terrible things to you.” She glanced with a hard expression at Swip. “And I am not ready to say what they are, for it carries with it too much shame. But know this.” She walked up to Celia, face hard. “I have done what may have been considered a betrayal of trust. And I did it for selfish reasons. I have no intention of going anywhere or losing any of you. The kid is right—this is a family.”
“And when a family messes up…” Cinder began.
“…They work to bring it back together,” Swip added.
Burgerbelle nodded in approval at the sentiment.
Celia’s hard anger softened. “You’re right… Nira, whatever you’ve done, you’re still part of us. One day, I hope you’ll come far enough to talk to us.”
Nira shuffled uncomfortably.
“But that day is clearly not today.” Celia held her head up high. “Today is Blink’s day. Today i—“
“Have you already forgotten what happened with Ser!?” Squiddy shouted.
Celia’s surge of confidence shattered. That’s right. He…
“Suzie tried to keep him on, to keep him part of the family. He’s dead now. You can’t always just take people back, Celia!”
“I can try,” Celia growled. “And I hope you realize you’re pushing Nira further and further into her self-doubt by doing this.”
“I’m not even half done with that! I’m never going to trust her again until she reveals what she did! Until all of you reveal every stupid thing you’ve done! How hard can it be not to be a duplicitous little bitch!? Am I the only one who tells everyone what I am to their face!?”
“Listen here, you little squid.” Celia rammed her snout into Squiddy’s nose. “How about me!?”
“Yeah, and you needed an entity of darkness to get you to do that! What about before? Huh? Got any secrets from then?”
“Stop it! Stop it!” Cinder shouted. “I didn’t come back to cause this, I just… I don’t even know who I am really, and there’s Beyonders coming, and it’s all my fault, and… and…” She curled up into a ball and started crying. For the first time since she’d arrived, she looked like the filly they’d met at the start of everything.
Burgerbelle was the one who approached Cinder, pushing the filly’s mane out of her eyes. She didn’t do anything else—she just smiled at Cinder. A perfect, silly smile. It didn’t make Cinder stop crying, but it did get the tears to lessen. Enough that she could stand up. She was still in the Captain’s chair, looking out at all the others.
“This is no fault of yours,” Nira told Cinder.
“You don’t under—“
“Ka may bring things about,” Nira said. “It may twist and turn events to change people in particular ways. It may ‘punish’ you or ‘exact payment’ for the things you do. But it will do that for both the good and the bad. Ka cannot be the final say on morality. I don’t know what is, but I do know you can’t blame yourself for this. All of this would have happened one way or another, or we would have gone on keeping secrets for eternity. Sweetaloo never would have broken up, Blink would never have been found out, and I would never have dared speak of what I had done. But… it occurs to me that we don’t really want to live a life of lies, do we? Would we have rather Sweetaloo kept lying to us? Would we have rather let Blink keep stealing from everyone under our noses?”
With a grimace, she turned to Swip’s avatar. A tear of black tar rolled down her cheek. “Would you rather I never told you that I… I am the one who forced you back into this ship’s body. Because I didn’t want to lose you. Because I am a selfish little pest with a hero-worship problem.”
Swip face twisted through the phases of shock, rage, sorrow, and confusion, finally settling on tired.
Nira stood in front of her, nervous. “I have betrayed us all. I understand it y—“
“Don’t go,” Swip said.
“You’re not…”
“I’m absolutely livid and want to shoot you out an airlock,” Swip spat. “But I’m not going to do that. We aren’t going to do that.”
“We’re a family,” Seren said.
Everyone turned in shock to sear her tear-stained face standing in the doorway. Shakily, she pulled herself forward using her scepter like a cane.
“Families fight. Families… scream. Families hurt each other. But families… families work to move forward. To stay together. No matter how angry they are.”
“…Dammit,” Squiddy said, crossing her arms. “She’s right.”
“…What about Ser?” Celia asked.
“I don’t give a damn. Suzie was probably right, even. Bastard probably could have been redeemed.”
“I’m absolutely shocked to hear you say that,” Celia said.
Squiddy snorted. “What, you we—“
“And I’m so proud.” Celia pulled her close with a leg. “C’mere. Never let anyone tell you that you aren’t strong. Even considering forgiving him for what he did to you… I’m not sure I could do that. Part of me wants to get angry at you for considering it. But the other part of me…” She squeezed Squiddy tighter.
“Agh…” Squiddy struggled to release herself from the Gem’s grip. “I… geh…”
Celia released her and let out a sigh. “Well… does anyone else have any dirty laundry they need to let out? Now seems to be like the time for it…”
“I’ve got a long story,” Cinder said. “But it’s not exactly a secret. I think… I think we need to find Blink first. Or at least get going on that.”
“Right.” Celia tossed her mane back. “Let’s hear what she has to say.”
The Secretariat coughed, reminding everyone that she was there, prompting more than a few embarrassed blushes from the Sweeties. “It pains me to say this, but I cannot allow you to just hunt her down and have a ‘talk’ with her like you’re planning. She has committed crimes against the Sparkle Census and, from the sounds of things, many other peoples as well. She will have to answer for what she’s done.”
“We will not deny you that right,” Celia said. “If it makes you feel better, you can send an agent with us as we investigate.”
“I do not believe that will be necessary,” the Secretariat said. “I am sure you will handle it as needed. I have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment, and I doubt the MU will risk a diplomatic incident over one ghost.”
“No…” Celia shook her head. “No, they will not.”
“Good. All you need to do is keep me posted. I wish you luck. I grant you all temporary clearance since there is no chance Cinder won’t tell you everything. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some meetings to attend.” She lit her horn, teleporting away.
“…Where would Blink be?” Cinder asked, wiping her eyes.
“I haven’t the foggiest idea,” Celia muttered. “If the girl can hide her motives and emotions with the flick of a switch, we can’t assume we know her at all.”
“And she’s the best at hiding,” Nira added. “Nobody will even be able to sense her if she doesn’t want us to.”
“Then we’ll need to get creative. Any ideas?”
“W—“
Cinder suddenly dropped to the ground. Celia would have thought she passed out—but her eyes were wide open and every limb of hers was shivering. It was almost like a seizure.
Celia sensed an alien magic acting somewhere in the back of the mare’s mind.
“Cinder!”
~~~
“This is a bad idea,” Cei muttered under her breath.
From the other seat of the runabout, TwilAI chuckled. “It was your idea.”
“I know. I still hate it.” Cei tilted her head back and closed her eyes. “Are you sure you can’t send out a message?”
“Look, I’m running a huge risk of my plausible deniability falling apart at the slightest twitch of my eyebrow. We need a third party to carry your little message, and they seem like the best option. As you said.”
“They’re really it?”
“Who else has the knowledge of multiversal structure without being directly devoted to the Capra Coalition Council?”
“Good point.” Cei folded her hooves. Their ship was moving at sublight a short distance away from Deep Space Nine, approaching a seemingly empty position of space. “Can’t believe Kira gave her blessing for this.”
“She’s desperate too.”
“Yeah, but we don’t worship them. She does.”
“It is an interesting position we find ourselves in,” TwilAI admitted. “But let’s save the philosophy for later. Right now…”
The roundabout neared its destination. Once they were close enough, a brilliant vortex of blue and purple erupted from the nothingness of space, settling into a physical tunnel through spacetime. The Bajoran Wormhole, one of the great Wonders of the Galaxy, invited them into its rippling folds. Most often ships simply flew back and forth from the other side of the galaxy through it—they rarely spent any time in the wormhole. And this was for good reason, those who lingered within its interior increased their chances of being contacted by the inhabitants, and most people weren’t prepared to have their souls touched by the Prophets.
It just so happened that was exactly what Cei was here to do. They brought the runabout to a stop within the purple-pink ripples of energy within the wormhole.
Cei let out a breath. “Okay, Cei, these are just… godlike beings. You’ve dealt with Silvertongue and Shimmy. This isn’t going to be a problem for you.” She stood up. “TwilAI, if I start having a seizure, don’t touch me.”
“O-okay…”
She left the controls and moved to the back of the runabout. The cargo hold was devoid of the usual boxes of supplies and replacement parts—instead, there were several pedestals. Most of them had candles softly burning atop them, but the central one had an object of such importance to the Bajorans that Kira was kneeled at the ground before it in reverence—preparing for the moment that was about to come.
The object in question was contained in a solid rectangular box with two cabochon crystals on the front doors. Inside lay one of the Prophet’s great Orbs, objects of untold and mystic visions.
Kira was praying in Bajoran when Cei came in, but the translation spell allowed Cei to hear the tail end of it. “…and take to her as you first took to Sisko.” Slowly, Kira stood up and turned to Cei. “They’re waiting for you.”
Cei took a deep breath. “Right. Right… here’s hoping they listen.”
“Oh, they’ll listen all right. But trying to get them to do anything…”
“…Often has a price.” She frowned. “If they exist out of time, I wonder why they bother…?”
“It’s for our sake, not theirs.”
“Right…” Cei sat down at the foot of the box’s pillar, staring at it for a few seconds. Then, carefully, she reached out with her magic and opened it up. The Orb of the Emissary awaited her on the other side—an hourglass-shaped crystal of such a blindingly bright light that it made Cei flinch, although she found herself unable to look away.
For a moment, Cei thought nothing was happening. That she had been deemed unworthy. I don’t know what I was expec—
And then everything was white.
“Hello?” Cei called into the nothingness.
Puppysmiles looked up at her with an eerily blank expression. “It is linear.”
“They all are.” CelestAI towered above Cei, the stars swirling around her mane like they were insignificant little bugs.
“For a time.” Blood was running down Rarity’s face as the sun started moving across the sky.
Cei winced. Right, they appear as images from your past. Don’t think too much of it. “I am h—“
“It seeks to avoid its linearity.” Kira tilted her head in Cei’s direction. Both of them were standing in the temple on Deep Space Nine. “But it also seeks to adhere to it.”
“That’s normal for them,” Puppysmiles said, sitting on a bouncing ball like it was the most stable seat in the world. “Past, present, future. Sequence.”
“That’s all very fascinating,” Cei said—once again to the empty whiteness. “But I am… here to ask for your help. On behalf of the Capra Coalition.”
“We are of Bajor,” Kira said, holding a baseball in her hand.
“And Bajor is part of the Capra Coalition!”
“Their concept of ‘is’ is fascinating,” Silvertongue said impassively—though his hoof stroked Cei’s mane.
Cinder stood in a field of impossible roses. “Bajor is Bajor.”
“Yes, and the Beyonders are coming here on a rampage!”
“She speaks of the warriors.” Suzie cracked her knuckles on the bridge of Swip.
The Capricious Crown sat alone atop a purple pillow. “They are not Bajor’s concern.”
“How can you say that?” Cei asked.
“Limited,” Silvertongue said.
“Arrogant,” Shimmy added.
“Adversarial,” Cinder concluded.
“I am no—“ CP stopped herself. “Right, okay, I am limited, arrogant, and adversarial. You all exist out of time, and somehow your prophecies seem to be able to take multiversal nonsense into account. I don’t even pretend to know how that’s possible. I thought I could waltz in here and ask you all a favor, and I got angry when you didn’t act as I expected. Pretty silly, if you ask me.”
“We do not ask,” Erin said, shifting between a pony and a human before her eyes.
“Right… my point is, you’re above me in basically every conceivable way. But that also means you know why I’m here—and what I’m asking of you. And…” She paused. “This entire conversation is just for my benefit. You’ve already made up your minds and everything. If you can even be considered to have minds to make up.”
“Its thoughts expand,” Shimmy said, standing on top of the balcony in Quark’s bar.
“It is still limited,” Isekai said while shaking a drink.
“But she is trying.”
The image from that last voice was not one Cei had met personally—a tall, bald, black man in a red Starfleet uniform from a few decades ago. She realized with a start that he was actually standing in front of her, in the whiteness. Unlike all the other images, who’d had flat faces as they spoke to her, this one had a soft smile.
Cei stood to attention. “Captain Sisko! …Emissary! I…”
Sisko threw a baseball into the air and caught it next to Cei’s ear without taking a step. “The game has ups and downs, scores and losses. If only you could see it all at once.”
“I…”
This time, the vision changed, and there was no person there to talk to her. Cei only saw the Tower standing against the night sky, somehow blacker than the darkest voids. There were no roses around it, only clocks that wound backward and forward, each showing a different rate of time.
The vision changed to a man who looked an awful lot like Sisko sitting at a desk, writing furiously with his pencil. Standing over him was John Egbert, looking very confused. An impossibly red rose was in his hair.
And then Cei was back in the endless whiteness.
“Our message has been sent,” Sisko said, somehow standing below the ground Cei was on. “It was always going to be sent. To her who was most receptive.”
“Th-thank you, Emissary,” Cei stammered.
“It is not for you that we do this.” Then he was gone.
“The Sisko speaks well to them,” TwilAI said, looking up from a data pad.
“The price will still be exacted.” Silvertongue sat in his throne, hooves pressed together.
“There was always going to be a price,” Cei said.
“How nonlinear of it,” the Capricious Crown noted.
And then Cei fell over, back in the cargo hold of the runabout. “Ooogh…”
Kira closed the doors on the orb. “It worked.”
“Yeah…” Cei slowly stood up. “It’s sent. Though… I’m not sure I did anything? But if I hadn’t come here they never would have sent it but they always knew they were going to send it and…” Cei shook her head. “Not going to try to figure it out.” She took a moment to stretch her legs. “…I saw Sisko.”
Kira nodded. “Did he look… fine?”
“Well, he wasn’t an emotionless rock like all the others. He showed me some strange stuff…”
Kira put a finger to Cei’s lips. “And that was your private orb experience. Carry it with you. Perhaps one day you will understand what he was trying to tell you.”
“Right…” Cei shook her head. “Let’s get back to the Station and… wait.”
~~~
Cinder’s mind was assaulted with so much she fell out of the chair. Her awareness of her physical form went in the middle of the fall. For a moment, she thought she was transforming again—but this time, she was in a plane of endless white. Suddenly, she was sitting at a table, looking CP right in the eyes.
However, it wasn’t CP, not really. The eyes were empty, devoid of emotion, and the crown didn’t glitter with any colors whatsoever.
“We need help,” CP said.
“You are partially linear,” an unknown voice said—coming from a bald man standing just behind CP. “You are of Prophets.”
“Aren’t we all?” Cinder found herself asking the empty whiteness.
“You know how to find us,” CP said, drumming the table. “We need help.”
Cinder heard a train whistle in the distance. The number 9 still on her hoof jumped off and started running away. “Catch your destiny.”
A three-pronged space station appeared, rotating slowly in front of a wormhole. A Beyonder appeared, holding it on the tip of a metallic finger-like appendage.
“Come, Cinder.”
Blink was surrounded by flames. Sweetaloo lay motionless under her hooves, the fires slowly consuming her mane.
And then Cinder was back on Swip, looking up at Celia.
“Cinder…?” Celia cocked her head. “Are you…?”
“I’m fine.” Cinder sat up, shaking her head. “I think I just received… a vision, of some kind? CP was asking me for help.”
“CP?” Celia asked.
“The Crown Princess. She’s changed her name.” Cinder tapped her hoof. “I think we need to go help her.”
“But… Blink?” Burgerbelle asked, cocking her head.
“I saw Blink in the vision… she was surrounded by fire, and standing on top of Sweetaloo.”
“…A lead, perhaps?” Celia scratched her chin. “Odd, we don’t usually get visions for that sort of thing… Wonder what’s different today?”
“Higher beings toying with us,” Nira grumbled. “I’d rather not be involved in something like that, you understand.”
“Oh, naturally,” Celia said, nodding profusely. “Nira, you go back to the League and search for Blink through the official channels. Swip, I would send you with her, but I have the feeling we need you where we’re going.”
Swip and Nira nodded, glancing at each other awkwardly.
“I will be back,” Nira promised. “I’m not running.”
“You better not.”
Squiddy jumped up. “I’ll keep tabs on her, don’t worry.”
Swip managed a smile. “I bet we find her first.”
“I’m not an idiot, I’m not taking that bet,” Nira said.
“Then I’ll put your wager in for you!”
“Then how’s it a bet?” Nira asked.
Swip shrugged. “Just get back here so we can… talk.”
Nira nodded. “We will.” She grabbed Squiddy in her magic and tore a portal into reality. “Good luck.”
“Bye Nira!” Cinder waved. “Oh, while you’re there, make sure Adder’s okay, and tell Suzie I’m back!”
“Will do,” Nira said. The portal closed behind her with a pop.
Celia carefully strode to the captain’s chair and sat down. “Right, Cinder, I think now’s a good time for you to tell us your story.”
“Ah, one thing first!”
“What’s that?”
“I have to tell you how to get to the Capra Coalition.”
“…The what?”
“Just promise you won’t send the coordinates back to the League, CP wouldn’t appreciate me giving it away.”
Celia blinked slowly. “You found her home?”
“Well, one of the worlds near it. We ran into each other while exploring, there was this whole deal with Puppysmiles—look, that’s part of the story. Just, promise me you won’t keep a record.”
Celia nodded. “Right. Swip, I order you to purge the coordinates from your memory banks once our mission is complete.”
“Yes sir!” Swip saluted, her avatar suddenly in a green military uniform.
With a thankful smile, Cinder trotted over to the console and pressed a few buttons, plugging in the coordinates.
“Helping the Crown Princess…” Celia shook her head. “I wonder why I’m not balking more at the idea.”
“Too much else going on?” Burgerbelle suggested.
“Probably. Now… Cinder.” Celia levitated Cinder over to her. “How about you tell your story, starting with that number on your hoof?”
“Right. Well, see, when we were leaving Sunset’s Isekai, there was this train…”
~~~
It had been a long time since Suzie had walked through the front doors of the League of Sweetie Belles. It wasn’t like she was barred from coming here, it was just that she’d had no reason to. She wasn’t on call for Celestia City operations or missions of any sort, so if any of the Sweeties wanted to see her they came to her. She didn’t come to them.
She knew the instant she walked in that her choice to stay away had been a mistake. Even if she was perpetually grounded, she had missed out on so much of the Sweeties’ culture. As the hundreds of white creatures scrambled around before her eyes, she wondered how she ever could have distanced herself.
“Hey, you’re back!” Jade said, walking up to her.
“Not really,” Suzie said. “Just got some business to report.” She gestured behind her at Cryo and Adder. “But… I think I’ll drop around more often.”
“And you’ve changed your outfit!” Jade started circling her, noting the pink jacket, long yellow skirt, and striped shirt with the crusader shield on it. “The altered Standard Sweetie look, I like it.”
Suzie tossed her fluffed hair back. “Well, it didn’t make much sense to walk around in the military uniform anymore. And I’m not exactly meditating…”
Jade let out a “woof” and nodded in agreement. “Some of the Sweeties were a little worried about you despite Allure’s assurances.”
“Well, now you can let them know I’m fine.” She crossed her arms and smirked.
Jade grinned. “I suppose I have to ask, what brings you here?”
“Going to file a report on Cinder with Nausicaa.”
“Ooooh, debriefing!”
Adder cocked her head. “Is this gonna be borin’? ”
“Not as boring as telling two-dozen people the same story again and again.”
“Ah. Right.” Adder put on a smile. “Where do we start?”
Jade pulled out her phone. “Just give me a sec… Hey, Nausicaa? Yeah, Suzie and Adder are here to see you for a debriefing, information about Cinder and related things. Not busy? Good! They’re in the main lobby right now.” Jade hung up. “She’ll be right over.”
“And now we wait.” Cryo flopped onto the ground. “And prepare for the incoming paperwork…”
“Be glad it isn’t the Sparkle Census paperwork,” Nira said, coming in the front doors with Squiddy on her back.
Suzie raised an eyebrow. “I thought you girls were supposed to be on scanning patrol?”
“Things have happened.” Nira glanced at Adder. “Some of which you are likely already aware of.”
Adder blinked. “Did you find Cinder already?”
“She found us,” Squiddy said, jumping off Nira. “The others are off on some wild goose chase prophecy-vision to the Crown Princess.”
Suzie couldn’t help but smile. “Sounds like old times.”
Nira looked at Suzie with immense pain in her eyes.
She rarely lets herself be that vulnerable. Something’s wrong. “Nira…?”
“Do you want it told to you slowly, or bluntly?” Nira asked.
Suzie glanced from Nira to Squiddy and realized asking either of them to be something other than blunt was a bad idea. “Go ahead and be blunt.” She sat down on one of the lobby couches. “I’ll be fine.”
“I sure hope so.” Nira took in a deep breath. “Sweetaloo was split into her three components. Neither the Sweetie or the Scootaloo had wanted to be part of her, she’d been lying to us this entire time.”
An icicle went through Suzie’s heart. Not again. Not again…
“And we found out who tried to steal the data to Tab’s tablet. It was Blink. She’s been stealing things and hiding it for… who knows how long. Squiddy and I are here to report her…”
Nira kept talking, but it faded into the background as nothing more than murmurs to Suzie’s senses. At the moment, Suzie could only see Blink in her mind’s eye. Smiling, laughing, playing with Cinder, childishly jumping around. But whenever they’d needed her to hide anything or be sneaky, she’d done it absolutely perfectly. Of course she could hide things from them. And she really was the only one who could possibly have tried to tap into the tablet. And how many things had gone missing under Suzie’s command? She heard the words ‘but it’s gone missing’ so often it never even raised a red flag. Nothing more than a thing the Tower let happen a lot around her.
Again, she’d let someone pull the blinds over her eyes. First, it was Ser. No… no, Ser came onto the team after Blink. Blink was the one. The one who had always been there.
With a screech of rage, Suzie stood to her full height, clenching her fists hard enough that the fingernails drew blood. U-Catastrophe manifested behind her, wrapping its tree-like coils around her arms and legs, preparing to unleash righteous justice on the traitors of the world. Not one would survive the…
She dissipated her Stand and sagged back onto the couch. No, she couldn’t do that. It wasn’t in her anymore.
But she could deal with this.
“Cryo, Adder…” She looked into their eyes. “We’ve got something else to deal with right now. Nira, tell me everything you kn—“
“Hold it,” Nausicaa said, jumping into the conversation with a flap of her wings. “Suzie, I forbid you to investigate. Any of you to investigate. Blink is too close to you.”
“She’s too close to you, too!” Nira snapped.
“Which is why I’m handing the investigation over to a third party the moment this debrief is over. I will be doing nothing.” She ruffled her feathers. “Now, all of you, my office. You will be explaining everything you know. And then you will go home and wait for other Sweeties to do their job.”
Suzie wanted to argue, wanted to shout, and wanted to fight. But she knew better. That wasn’t who she was anymore, nor what was needed right now. With resignation, she gestured for everyone to follow Nausicaa.
They didn’t even consider taking a different path than the Captain.
~~~
“…And then Daylight was talking to me,” Cinder said, wrapping up her story.
Celia, Burgerbelle, Seren, and Swip were all staring at her wide-eyed.
Cinder rubbed the back of her head. “So… yeah. That’s everything.”
“She really was an impostor,” Burgerbelle said, blinking rapidly.
“So, you’re a changeling then?” Seren asked.
“Not really?” Cinder tilted her head to the side. “The Beyonder called me a Replacer. Whatever that means.”
“Cinder, I hate to bring this up, but…” Celia pressed her front hooves together. “How do you know that you’re not just a replaced body of something else?”
“I… hmm.” Cinder scratched her chin. “You know, I suppose there’s no way I would know. But I don’t think I am. It’d be awfully cruel to have a story where the protagonist was a fake the whole time, and all her relationships and events were reduced to the acts of some other, distant being. I’m pretty sure I’m Cinder, and Cinder is Cinder. And a Replacer.”
“Still, a Them-like or Them-related creature…” Celia tapped her hoof on the arm of her chair. “I wonder what made you crash into your Equis all those years ago.”
Cinder shrugged. “Beats me. But the thing that knew what I was didn’t like what I was at all.”
“We need to get you back to that Train so you can figure out what you are,” Seren declared.
“CP first,” Cinder said. “How’s it going Swip?”
“I’ve found her dimensional device’s signal,” Swip reported. “Been following it slowly. However, I am trying to be stealthy, remember? This ‘Capra Coalition’ might just shoot me down if they see me.”
“Do you know where we’re going yet?”
“Bwa bwaaa bwaaaa bwaaaaaaaa!” Burgerbelle shouted, suddenly in a Starfleet uniform.
“Flat’s right,” Swip said. “That station you saw is Deep Space Nine. Visit the Bajoran Temple on Celestia City, ask about it, they’ll give you an earful. Assuming standard ‘Star Trek’ star layout, I can get us to the local Deep Space Nine. …As soon as I’m in the right universe, that is.”
“Any idea on ETA?”
Swip shrugged. “CP’s been traveling in a zig-zag line, apparently, with numerous different trails. It could be hundreds of universes before I find the correct path, or it could be the next one.”
A green light went off on the piloting console.
“Would you look at that,” Swip deadpanned. “We’re here.” She snapped her fingers, displaying the stars outside. “Behold, yet another variation on Star Trek, of which there are maaaany. Galaxa Quadrants is the primary MU world, this is something like the nineteenth we’ve found.”
“Something like?” Celia raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, it’s exact.” Swip brought up a star chart and traced her finger from their current position in the galaxy to Deep Space Nine. It was about a quarter of the entire galaxy. Luckily for them, their FTL drive was exceedingly fast. It was only going to take a minute to get there.
“So… what do we say when we arrive?” Seren asked. “They don’t like us…”
“Just say we come in peace and we’re here to help,” Celia said. “And mention Cinder’s vision that led us here.”
“That might backfire,” Swip pointed out.
“It won’t,” Cinder said.
Swip paused. “I missed having your little assurances.”
“I missed telling them to people other than Adder! She’s not even impressed anymore.”
“They aren’t always right, either,” Celia pointed out.
“Eh…”
Swip dropped out of FTL to the side of Deep Space Nine and sent out the signal. Not a single one of the ships around the station readied weapons or shields. If anything, they gave Swip a wide berth.
“We’re being hailed,” Swip said.
“Onscreen,” Celia said. “This is Captain Chalcedony, Celia of the League of Sweetie Belles, Merodi Universalis.”
A woman with a wrinkled nose appeared onscreen. “This is Vedek Kira Nerys of Bajor, the United Federation of Planets. The Coalition is probably going to have my job for this if we survive the next few days, but welcome to Deep Space Nine.”
“Permission to dock?” Celia asked.
“I’d rather not. The longer we can go without the rest of the Coalition figuring out you’re here, the better. I’d prefer to beam over to your ship, assuming that isn’t a problem.”
“Not at all! Swip, give them the coordinates of our little meeting room. Cinder, you’re with me. Burgerbelle, you have the bridge. Seren… you might want to start crafting spells to catch Blink.”
Seren frowned, but nodded. “I’ll try.”
Celia and Cinder made their way down the short hall to the meeting room—a simple white room with a table and a large window. Celia was suddenly struck by how rarely she used this place. Suzie had used it all the time. Then again, Suzie’s command style was a bit more formal and regimented than her own.
Kira appeared on the other side of the table with CP.
“Hi CP!” Cinder waved. “Are you… doing better?”
“Much,” CP said. “And its Cei now. ...And I am sorry. But we have more pressing matters. The Beyonders are approaching this sector of the multiverse.”
“Oh, we’re well aware,” Celia said.
Cei frowned. “Your government is already aware? What are they doing?”
“We’re quaking in our boots,” Celia explained. “That’s what we’re doing.”
“Really?” Cinder asked.
“Okay, no, we’re sending out teams in various places trying to trick ka into giving us a victory, or hoping the Beyonders just miss our inhabited universes,” Celia explained. “Not much we can do about it.”
“Then why…?” Cei furrowed her brow. “The Prophets bothered to send you a message.”
“Prophets?” Cinder cocked her head.
Kira put a hand to the bridge of her nose. “How to explain…”
“They’re the gods of Bajor,” Swip offered from above. “They exist in virtually every Stark Trek based universe. They’re annoyingly difficult to understand and we can never make long-term contact with them, even with our eldritch associates.”
“So they sent me a vision,” Cinder said, trying to keep track of everything. “Because of you?”
“They were going to send it anyway. Maybe.” Cei rubbed her head. “They don’t exactly have a concept of time… Point is! They got a message to you secretly without the Capra Coalition knowing, that was the whole point. I was sure you could help us, and I thought with how much I’d fought being helped in the past, it would have meant… something.”
“Very sorry, but we can’t do anything,” Celia said. “We’re scrambling just as much as you are, hoping the TSAB can figure out a way to appease them for us. Class 1 Societies are no laughing matter.”
“Maybe we can help…” Cinder said, tapping her hoof.
Celia frowned. “How?”
“Me.” She stood up on the table and started pacing. “Think about it. I was on the Infinity Train when the Beyonders attacked it. They must have attacked it for a reason. And I…” She looked at the number on her hoof. “Have a connection back to it.”
Kira turned to Cei. “The Prophets always have a plan.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Cei shook her head. “The question right now is what are we going to do with this connection? Even if this Train has something to do with why the Beyonders attacked, if we go there, we can’t face them. We’ll need a plan.”
“Well…” Cinder sat back in her chair. “Any ideas?”
~~~
Three fillies walked up to an old, abandoned, and rotting clubhouse sitting in the top of a slightly overgrown apple tree.
“…Still here, after all these years,” Apple Bloom said, walking up the ramp to the doors. “Really could stand some cleanin.’ “
“Yeah…” Scootaloo said, hoofing the ground.
“…Somethin’ wrong, Scoot?”
“Rainbow Dash wasn’t exactly… thrilled to see me,” Scootaloo said. “She took one look at me and said, I quote, ‘I’m not getting in this mess again.’ “
“She’ll come around,” Sweetie said.
“Oh? How do you know?”
“Rarity had a response like that at first and tried to hide it.” Sweetie smiled softly. “She felt terrible immediately afterward. It’s… awkward, but we’ll move past it. Even though they had moved on without us, they will still take us back.”
“Hmph. How’d your visit go Apple Bloom?”
Apple Bloom smiled awkwardly. “It’s not like nothin’ happened… but Applejack and Big Mac didn’t have any problems. Sorry you two had… awkwardness.”
“Just great,” Scootaloo huffed. “The only one who comes back to a family is the one who wanted to stay.”
“Scootaloo!” Sweetie chided.
Scootaloo folded her ears back. “I’m… I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Apple Bloom said. “You’re angry. Ah get that. Ah’m a little upset myself. But we ain’t Sweetaloo anymore, we’re the Crusaders. And we’re together.” She walked the rest of the way into the clubhouse and pushed the doors open, kicking up a cloud of dust. Coughing, she managed to get out the rest of her mini-speech. “We’ll get through this here, just like old times. It won’t be exactly the same, but it’ll be something. Somethin’… new.”
“Yeah!” Sweetie said, jumping in after her.
“Heh… yeah.” Scootaloo trotted in after them. “First order of business?”
“Get this clubhouse back in working order!” Apple Bloom cheered. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, clubhouse builders, ya—“
Their cheers were cut short by the door closing on its own. The moment it latched, Blink revealed herself, smirking. “Hey.”
“Oh. Blink.” Apple Bloom shuffled awkwardly. “Look, Ah’m sorry we didn’t come visit you, but we didn’t know where you were, an—“
“Oh, that’s not why I’m here.”
Sweetie blinked. “It’s not? Why are you here?”
“Need to get a few things off my chest, I suppose you could say.” She removed the Void around a strange disc-shaped device composed of black and green metal. She threw it at the three of them. It snapped in half, enveloping the three of them in a burst of green energy.
One moment there were three fillies. The next there was one small alicorn, tears running down her cheeks.
“Why did you do that!?” Sweetaloo shouted at Blink. “Why did you do that!? They were free a—“
“Listen here, Sweetaloo,” Blink said. Her smile was unwavering, but her voice was decidedly unfriendly. “If you want to live, you’re going to do exactly as I say. We’ve got a little... mission to go on. Unless you’ve changed your mind, decided you don’t want to be alive. But we both know that’s not going to happen.”
“B-blink… what is this!?” Sweetaloo stammered.
“As I said, I’ve got some things I need to get off my chest. And you’re going to hear all of them on this mission.” She gestured for Sweetaloo to follow her. “Come on, we’ve got work to do.”
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...
Updating on my birthday, then my sister's. Talk about coincidence...
Huh. You'll have to forgive me, but I need to try to phrase this metamorphic resurrection ability in my preferred medium. Ahem:
"If Cinder would be destroyed, regenerate it. When it regenerates this way, it becomes a copy of target creature that dealt damage to it this turn, except it gains this ability and its name is still CARDNAME."
(It's not exactly getting shoved out of the universe by a World-Healing Wave—quite the opposite, actually—but there are similar principles at work.)
Oh, that's never a good sign.
Bug: Passengers suddenly exiting the Train through exotic axes retain their numbers.
Told you Void was looking sus. I saw her vent in the crystal room.
... Oh. Oh. Curse my accidentally prophetic ways.
Yeah, I was wondering how long the Secretariat would let the found family drama play out.
Given that the Prophets' messages are assembled from the listener's memories, I'd love to know the context for this one.
Ha! Oh, the joys of context and connotation.
If you listen carefully, you can hear Janeway curse a blue streak.
Oh, this is going to change things. The scars this will leave on the group dynamic will never fade completely, to say nothing of the deeper questions about Replacers. We'll see where it goes from here.
Ah, so she’s the one who stole that information the Everykid found before the whole Silvertongue thing, I assume? Interesting... We assumed it was CP who took that data from the one person, but it could just as easily have been Blink. The plot thickens...
Now I’ve got to wonder why she’s doing this. Secret society? She’s part of the Crusaders of the Lost Multiverse? She building a ghost army? She serving some Eldritch being that wants the entire multiverse to be void?
So many possibilities...
...Random question, though, are the Beyonders like the Beyonders from Marvel comics, or like the Torivors from the Brandon Mull book series titled ‘Beyonders’?
10495896
Loosely based on Marvel beyonders.
I say loosely because there was so little information on them.
-GM, master of marve.
Wow, blink became badassXD, ow I'm waiting what's next.
Hooooo boy that was... A lot. Can't wait to see where this goes next...
Still, that the heck, Blink. Rude.
I now have idea's on what Cinder is.
Damn Blink, didn't see that coming.
Well, that was a turn of events. Wow.
Can anyone point me to where the "Them" that keep getting mentioned come from? Or what they are? They aren't exactly easy to look up.
10883827
You can read about Them in Songs of the Spheres.
That said, Them are *VERY* loosely based on a race of beings outlined in one of the Star Trek novels that I've never read and only heard about. They are a massive Class 1 (very powerful) multiversal society that is immortal and struck with a supreme case of boredom. So they use their powers to torment lower civilizations with games and such.
Them's name is just annoying. Likely on purpose.
-GM, master of Them.
"This was no accident."