Dissonance: A Hidden World

by Braininthejar

Chapter 30: The Actress

Aurora's ear twitched. There it was again, the sensation of being watched. She’d been having it more and more in the past weeks, her hearing catching the sound of hoofsteps not quite like the others, somepony purposefully trying to be sneaky.

She turned around, but couldn’t locate the source. There were a couple chosen nearby, but nopony seemed to be paying any attention to her.

Warily, she returned to her cleaning duties. The next house was marked as empty, so she didn’t have much work to do there beyond simple dusting. There was no chance of squatters in the Inner City, so empty houses just stood there waiting for new ponies to arrive. Aurora shut the door behind herself, propped the broom against the wall, and sighed deeply.

She had already spent a week working among the chosen. Fortunately, her blunder on the first day had not got her fired. It seemed violence was a common occurrence here, and the servants would often skip work on account of minor injuries.

But this was where her luck ended. She spent much of her time looking for a good hiding spot, but to no avail. The Inner City homes were universally small, too small to reliably conceal long distance teleportation, not to mention a bunch of ponies hiding there.

They could probably fly there in the night, evading the guards of the outer wall, and taking one of the empty houses - there were always some in the district, vacated after their inhabitants succumbed to old age, or more commonly, to their own insecurities regarding some imagined imperfection; the mental condition of the chosen seemed to only get worse with age. But for all their apparent obliviousness, the locals were frighteningly quick to pick up on abnormalities in their surroundings.

Bubble Burst might have been right, there’s nowhere to hide here, she thought in frustration. Even if we take over an empty house, the cleaners will come in a couple days. Perhaps we could use Jingles to fool them? Could he pretend to be a chosen?

A sound of a horn echoed from up high. Aurora looked up in confusion. What was going on? The sound did not repeat. It hadn’t sounded like an alarm, more like a fanfare. Aurora moved to the window. There was a commotion outside.

What’s going on?

Taking the broom in her teeth, Aurora scurried out of the house. The street was full of chosen, their faces alight with excitement. All were headed in one direction. “The Lady! The Lady is calling us!” one chosen stallion exclaimed.

Aurora’s blood ran cold. “Is Vengeance here? What do I do?”

She remembered her encounter with Envy. Has Vengeance heard of me yet? Discord said she was crazy and out of touch, didn’t he?

She looked towards the cart. Her partner for the day, an earth mare everypony called “Polish” was standing there with her back turned. Silently, Aurora backtracked inside the empty house, and closed the door. She took the broom, and started some token sweeping, But soon she found that she couldn’t focus on the task. The looming danger absorbed all of her attention, and worse, she soon found that her fear gave way to something much more alarming: curiosity.

She looked in the direction the chosen had headed, then dropped the broom with a dejected sigh. “I’ll go crazy if I just wait here,” she said under her breath.

Swallowing loudly, she finally made a decision. Moving slowly, she approached the window, opened the shutters, and flew out over the grass following the crowd.

***

The square was bigger than the others. Located directly south of the tower, it had clearly been designed to be the central point of the district. There was a stone platform in the middle of it, like a permanent stage, and just enough space for all the chosen to gather around it without stepping on the grass.

Aurora caught up with the crowd just as the last of them were taking their places. She took a hiding spot behind the corner of the nearest building, and waited.

Just moments later a loud “aah” sounded from the gathered crowd. From up high two ponies descended. One was a unicorn, standing on a flying platform, just like the one Envy had used. The other was a tall, white alicorn. She was flying freely, descending upon the stage with powerful flaps of her wide wings. Her mane was straight and milky white, just as her coat. Her body, bare and unadorned, was eerily perfect, a template of which the chosen were only pale reflections.

As her hooves touched the stage, all the gathered ponies fell to their knees, but didn’t lower their heads. Instead, they were stretching their necks towards their ruler, their eyes and ears fixated on her, ready to catch her every word and gesture.

Vengeance folded her wings. She stepped forward, looking down on the audience. Her face, initially emotionless, slowly formed a benevolent smile, a practiced, artificial gesture, that only her fanatics could mistake for genuine affection.

She has no heart, remembered Aurora, she doesn’t love anypony, only destroys those who displease her.

“I have come to gaze upon you, my children,” said Vengeance aloud, her voice magnified over the square. The tone of her voice didn’t quite match her words, more a blunt statement of a soldier than a proclamation of a monarch. And yet, the chosen seemed suitably impressed, the crowd echoing with a collective gasp.

“I am pleased with your continued efforts to maintain the perfection of this fine city, this small slice of order we have carved out of the chaotic world. It brings me peace to gaze upon your faces after all the work I have put into making this world a better place.”

The smile disappeared like a candle light blown out.

“And yet, it is not for serenity that I come to you today. I am here so you can bear witness to me doing my duty, and restoring the proper order of things.”

The square was stunned into silence. Vengeance turned her head, taking in the chosen’s reactions.

Aurora’s heart started racing. Did she look at me? Did she see me, or was she just looking at the chosen in my direction? Suddenly, coming to the meeting started looking like a horrible idea. Aurora’s mind was flooded with memories, rumors she had heard since she was a foal.

“Is it true what they say, that she never forgets anything? I heard she can hear your nerves, see heat, and tell a liar by his smell.”

Oh Sun and Moon, what am I doing here?

Meanwhile, Vengeance opened one wing, indicating the flying platform on the stage beside her. “This pony used to be a guard of peace, responsible for keeping our supplies safe. He betrayed that duty, and our trust, allowing theft of common goods for his personal profit.”

If she took note of a frightened pegasus skulking at the edge of the gathering, she didn’t show it.

Aurora looked at the guard. He walked off the platform and to Vengeance’s side, moving in an awkward, stiff gait, as if his legs were dragged along by the shackles on his ankles. He didn’t seem aware of his surroundings, his face stuck in an expression of numb horror.

Vengeance rose into the air, wings spread wide. Her voice boomed over the crowd.

“Tell him, where his place is in the order of things! What is the place of parasites who undermine the common good?!”

The mood of the crowd shifted so dramatically, Aurora felt it as if there was a storm gathering, her pegasi senses instinctively looking for signs of shifting air pressure.

“There is none,” growled an older mare.

This was a signal. Within seconds, the crowd exploded, the chosen rising from their knees, snarling and hissing. “Traitor!” they shouted, “Parasite!”, “There is no place for you here!” “Begone!”

Vengeance stayed suspended in the air, listening, her face bearing an expression of cold satisfaction. After 10 seconds, lightning arced along her extended wings.

The sound silenced the crowd, and they just stood there, completely still, staring at the stage.

“They speak the truth,” said Vengeance, looking down at the guard. “For such as you, there is no place in our world. Therefore... begone.”

Lightning flashed, and the stallion’s body spasmed, his gasp of pain lost in the sizzle of electricity. Aurora could see his fur catch fire briefly, and then suddenly dissolve into thin air, layers of his flesh and bone unravelling in split second, until he was gone, only the empty shackles falling onto the stage with a clunk.

Everypony released the breath they didn’t realise they’d been holding. There was nothing left of the guard, not even a smudge of soot.

“It is done,” said Vengeance. Both the shackles and the platform disappeared, leaving an empty stage. The chosen bowed their heads in deference as the alicorn left them, rising higher into the air, and flying back towards the tower. The crowd watched her go before turning and scattering, the white ponies going back to their homes to resume their interrupted activities.

Aurora didn’t see that part. She was already dashing back at breakneck speed, half running, half flying back to her work place.

***

She got inside the house one street ahead of the crowd. She shut the window, and just managed to grab the broom before there was a knock on the door, and Polish stuck her head inside. “Are you repainting the bloody house, or what?” she asked with a smile.

Aurora mumbled an apology through the broom handle, and rushed outside. The cart had already been moved along the street. Polish grabbed a bucket of cleaning utensils, and headed to the house across the street. Calming her breath, Aurora put her broom under her wing, and approached the next house in line.

She pushed the door lightly, and when it didn’t budge, she reflexively knocked.

Oh, wait. If it’s locked, they don’t want me here.

But before she could leave, the door opened. The white unicorn inside looked at her with surprise, before assuming the chosen’s trademark serene smile. “I don’t need your service,” she said.

“Of course,” said Aurora, retreating with a bow. She turned to approach the next house, as the chosen shut the door.

This one seemed more awake than most, she thought, she seemed to actually notice me. Wait a minute...

A week-old memory surfaced. With their similar built, identical robes, and white coats, the chosen all looked the same - they’d blend in the background as much as the caretakers did for them. But this one, Aurora was sure she had seen her before. She pondered the problem as she walked the street, moving aside to get out of the way of the chosen returning from the gathering.

Yes, I’m sure. She was the one that saw me when I was flying back then, and looked me in the eyes. It feels like she’s different from the other chosen, but what’s the deal with her?

Aurora returned to work with a nagging feeling that she was missing something important. It wasn’t until she was ready to finish work, when it suddenly hit her.

She was there when I came back. But the chosen never run! She wasn’t at the meeting!

***

“The next day they moved us to a different quarter. I couldn’t slip away from my work place long enough to investigate. I tried to check if she was still tailing me, but it looked like she had stopped. So I kept doing my work, looking for anything that could help my friends infiltrate, while waiting for another chance. It wasn’t until a full week later that I finally got it.”

***

It was near midday. Aurora looked around the street nervously.

This is the house. It looks like she’s inside. I shouldn’t let her see me. What about…

She looked aside. For that day she had been paired with Polish again. She saw her enter one of the houses, its inhabitant watching her movements with cold scrutiny.

That should keep her busy, thought Aurora. She moved aside, taking a position that let her keep an eye on her target while staying out of sight, and maintaining the illusion that she was working.

Any minute now…

And there it was, the first sound of a bell calling the chosen to lunch. Aurora grabbed the broom harder with her teeth, and pretended to sweep the pavement, all the while looking over her shoulder, waiting to see the silhouette of the suspicious unicorn.

There she is!

Aurora turned away, forcing herself to count seconds, until she was sure her target had turned the nearest corner.

There. Now let’s see what’s really going on there. Hopefully it will be something we can use.

She felt the tug of the communication spell inside her head, and prepared to transmit the picture from her eyes. Propping the broom against the nearest wall, she turned around.
She almost ran towards the house, moving as quickly as she could do without attracting attention. She looked over her shoulder - fortunately Polish hadn’t returned yet.

Behind the door there was nothing unusual. The house looked no different from the other ones: white walls, simple yet elegant furniture of light brown polished wood. “Nopony chosen above the others” was the district’s unofficial motto, and this house clearly expressed that sentiment.

Aurora suppressed a sigh of disappointment, her tension dropping suddenly. There’s nothing here. But should there be? It’ not like nopony ever looks through the door.

Calming herself down, she started searching the house, looking for places where somepony might try to hide something. There weren’t that many. The simplistic decor left very few spots concealed from sight. There was nothing under the bed, or in the drawers, nothing in the potted plants, at least as far as Aurora could verify without leaving a mess. When looking on top of the wardrobe revealed nothing, Aurora ran out of obvious ideas.

If I were a unicorn trying to hide something, where would I… what’s that smell?

She sniffed once, then once more, trying to locate the source. The smell reminded her of something she couldn’t quite put her hoof on. It made her think of something sticky and organic.

The bathroom! I should’ve started there.

Aurora walked towards the closed door. The smell was stronger there. Slowly, she pressed the doorknob. With its perfectly oiled hinges, the door opened soundlessly. Considering what was behind it, one could really expect an ominous creaking sound.

The inside of the bathroom looked like something out of a nightmare, white tiles around the door giving way to strands of dark green resin overgrowing the opposite wall. There was something there in the corner over the toilet - a green bubble, like a giant blister, filled with murky liquid in which a thin silhouette could be seen.

Aurora nearly screamed. She forced herself to step in and take a closer look. There was a familiar looking chosen unicorn in the pod. She wasn’t showing any signs of life.

That’s bad, very bad, thought Aurora as she retreated from the bathroom. There’s a changeling here, but why? All the changelings serve Deception. Did Vengeance allow one of them to feed on her chosen? This one looks dead.

Aurora’s eyes widened with a sudden realisation of a very obvious truth.

What am I doing?! I need to get out of here!

She closed the bathroom, and moved towards the exit, but found that the unicorn was already there, back from lunch way earlier than her neighbours, and now blocking the doorway with her body. She looked down disapprovingly at Aurora.

Aurora smiled nervously. “Cleaning service?”

The unicorn stepped forward, forcing her back into the house. “I do not require service. You know that,” she said.

Aurora was looking for a chance to push past the fake chosen, and out the door, but the mare kept shifting into her path.

“I have a lot to do today,” tried Aurora, her muscles tensing, preparing to leap into the air, “If you do not require my services, then I-”

She didn’t leap. Suddenly the unicorn’s horn lit up in green, and in an instant her eyes seemed to fill the whole world. Aurora tried to look away, but she just swayed with a whimper as the mare advanced at her. At the edge of her hearing she caught the sound of the door closing. A part of her mind registered the fact that she was trapped, but she couldn’t get her body to move… no, she couldn’t get her brain to formulate the intent to move. She observed what she thought would be her doom, with numb detachment. She felt she bumped into something - she had walked back so far that her rump touched the wall.

The unicorn opened her mouth, flickers of green flame crawling over her body, revealing a hairless, black shell, and a jaw full of sharp teeth. Slitted green eyes bored into Aurora’s soul.

Aurora blinked. Some gears in her head started turning, until a thought pierced through the numbing haze.

“Cristal?”

It was the monster’s turn to blink. The haze thinned, and Aurora could force herself to speak some more. “Cristal, it’s me, Aurora. We met at Portus, remember? I was with Whisper and Jingles …” her voice trailed off as the power overcame her again. The image before her shifted, the snarling face disappearing, replaced by her sister’s, then Whisper’s. For a brief moment, it was her mother’s. She felt a movement of air around her muzzle, as if somepony inhaled deeply right in front of her nose. Then her mind went blank.

***

She awoke in the bathroom. Jumping to her hooves, she found herself pulled back, slumping against the wall and hitting her head on the tiles. She tried to scream, but found something slick and stretchy covering her mouth just below the nostrils.

“Don’t struggle,” said Cristal, looking down at her.

Amber looked up. The changeling had already returned to her pony guise. Her intense glare was gone too, replaced by a cold, but calm expression.

“I’ve told your companion that I require your services,” continued Cristal. “I was very convincing. She won’t bother us until the end of her shift. I could wear your face then, and leave this place… but I do remember you. You freed me. But you tried to kill me too, didn’t you?”

Aurora tried to think of something to say. She attempted to mumble a reply through her gag. She now knew it was changeling resin - she had been glued to the wall.

Cristal sighed. “I will free your mouth now, but remember, nopony will get to you in time if you start screaming. Do you understand?”

Aurora nodded vigorously. Cristal’s horn flashed green, and the strand covering Aurora’s mouth dissolved into clear liquid.

“Now, explain yourself.”

Aurora closed her eyes, and tried to calm herself, or at least not show how terrified she was. Instinctively, she remembered the lessons she had had drilled into her by Sauti on how to screen her heart.

Cristal tapped impatiently with her hoof. “Don’t do that.”

Aurora opened her eyes. “Don’t do what?”

The changeling frowned like a dissatisfied teacher. “Don’t hide your emotions. I know how it works, Sauti taught me too. But right now it is very important that you don’t lie to me.”

Aurora looked her straight in the eyes. “I’m not trying to lie to you.” She took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly, releasing her blocks. “I… yes, we were trying to kill you there. But we thought you were too far gone to save. You just… thrashed in that jar, snapping your teeth…”

“A monster,” finished Cristal.

Aurora swallowed. She looked sideways towards the pod hanging from the wall.

“Yes,” said Cristal. “I’m a monster now. And I killed this one. She kept me fed for weeks, but there was only so much I could give her back. So what do you do now? Still want to put me out of my misery?”

Aurora considered the question. “I… I don’t know. Not that I could right now, but… anyway… you seem much more… awake now?”

“Lucid?” supplied Cristal helpfully.

“Yes, lucid,” said Aurora, nodding. “Much more like yourself now. So… how miserable… I mean, do you want to die?”

Cristal seemed lost in thought for a couple seconds. “No,” she finally answered. “No, I want to live. What now?”

“I don’t know,” replied Aurora, desperately looking for some solution. “How often do you… I mean…” Very smooth, she thought to herself.

Cristal rolled her eyes. “I don’t think I need to kill at all. I just need enough food that I don’t take too much at once from anypony. I built this pod on instinct. I don’t remember most of it. "

"I was...a beast when I escaped, just as you said. I managed to sneak past the guards and get in here during the night, caught a pony, and stole her face, then just smiled and nodded while I tried to remember how to speak. It took me a week to say my first words. I’ve been here since then, going out only to eat, and shooing away cleaners, only growing bolder when my prey started dying, and I needed to start hunting outside. It was hard at first, but thinking did me good. I started remembering things, and meeting you seems to have given me the last push I needed.”

“The chosen are made to love Vengeance. Their love is fat and bitter. You tasted much better, refreshing. I think I needed a normal pony to start thinking clearly. Still, I’m a monster, whether I remember my old self or not. What do you propose we do now?”

Aurora took a deep breath. “Well, if you don’t need to kill ponies, and you can think for yourself, perhaps you can help us get into the Tower of Justice?”

Cristal stared at her. “What?”

“That’s why I’m here,” explained Aurora. “We’ve learned that the missing Elements are being kept there. I’ve been looking for a place to set up a scouting spot, to learn more before we try to get in. If you live here, perhaps we could use your home?”

Green flame flickered on Cristal’s form. Her horn became sharp and jagged, the legs extended, bending at weird angles, The changeling shifted her weight, her wings opened wide. Aurora stilled herself, and looked at the display without flinching. Cristal pushed close to her, the fangs aimed at her throat, eyes fixed into hers.

“I could kill you now,” she hissed.

Aurora returned her gaze. “But you didn’t. You’re still you.”

“I’m a monster.”

“You reacted when I called you Cristal, and Cristal was our friend.”

“Was.”

“You still are, however you look. Even as… whatever Deception has turned you into, you can still tell that all this is wrong.” she looked around, with a gesture that indicated she meant a much wider area than just the bathroom. “What do you want to do about it? Because that’s the question that’s really important here.”

Cristal’s horn glowed green. Aurora felt the pressure on her body disappear, as her bindings dissolved.

“Clean yourself and go,” said Cristal. “I need time to think.”

***

Aurora had just gotten out when she saw Jingles moving down the street. He was powdered white and wrapped in a towel. He was walking stiffly, with his head high, looking at everypony with a condescending smile. When he saw Aurora, his body tensed, ready for a fight.

What is he doing here?, thought Aurora. This is dangerous! Wait, of course. The spell Sauti used to look over my shoulder. She must have seen me get in trouble.

Aurora looked around, and seeing nopony paying attention to her, walked casually towards Jingles. “Everything is okay, sir,” she said with a smile.

He kept smiling, but his eyes bored into her. Aurora gasped softly as she realised his line of thought. “Yes, it is me, “ she said. “Please, follow me, sir… before somepony sees through your veil,” she finished in a stage whisper.

Jingles looked down on her in a poor imitation of the chosen’s default expression. He started following her slowly, keeping out of range of her kick. “I’m sure you can prove your intent,” he said.

Aurora looked back at him. “I have found something that might interest you, sir. A most peculiar thing made of… Cristal.”

Jingles’ eyes almost popped out of his head. "What we have seen," he finally said, "was very hazy... Is it true?"

Aurora flashed him a smile. “I will entertain you with a story once my duties here are done. You’ve done a good service to your Lady. Now you can go home, and have some rest.”

***

“It took smuggling Whisper in to get her to believe we wanted her back, and a couple more days to get her to help us. I think she was as creeped out as we were at the beginning. In the end, we moved into her house, Jingles using his tricks to deter cleaners, while I worked to keep up appearances, and Cristal took a direct approach. She used to be an actress, and had been a spy before falling into Deception’s trap. I had no idea how brave she was until I actually saw her work.”

Twilight raised a hoof to indicate a question. “Did you ever find out what Deception had wanted with her?”

“Not until it was too late,” answered Aurora. “We spent some time talking about it, trying to make sense of any bits Cristal had heard while captured, and the notes Whisper had taken. In the end, we figured she was trying to make a pony changeling she could possess without destroying its magic. She had tried using changelings before, but only ended in a useless bug pony shell. She was looking for some way to isolate different energies within one body.”

“You’d think that idea would appear sooner,” said Obsidian.

“Oh, I think it did,” replied Aurora. “She’d probably spent centuries trying to work it out. I think Cristal was just the last of hundreds of similar experiments.”

“And the final result were the fake alicorns,” finished Obsidian, “with your soul trapped within to fuel the magic, while the Shattered controlled the body.”

Aurora nodded. “We didn’t know that at the time. None of us had the knowledge to figure out what was really going on. I wish we had put more effort into understanding Deception’s plan instead of just doing our thing and letting things happen.”

***

“I’m taking this side,” said Aurora cheerfully, grabbing her bucket, and taking off before her partner for the day could put a word in. The order of the day was cleaning windows, a task that practically ensured she’d get to enter every single house.

She knocked at the first door, grinning through the handle of the bucket at the chosen who opened. The elderly stallion moved aside with a sigh, letting her in. Setting the bucket on the floor, Aurora made sure there were no out of place objects she could knock over opening the window. Once she made sure the inhabitant hadn’t dared change the usual setup, she took her tools out and started her work.

Will he keep watching me?

As it turned out, he did not. As soon as Aurora started working, the chosen walked out to work on his garden. As soon as he was out of earshot, Aurora stopped cleaning, and closed her eyes.

Okay, that’s as close as I can get right now. Let’s see if I can see anything.

In only took her a couple of seconds to catch a stable link. The spell Sauti had cast to connect her friends worked much better over shorter distance. With the day’s work schedule, Aurora got tasked with serving as a conduit, transferring the visions from Cristal’s eyes directly to everypony hiding in her house. As she caught what she was looking for, she relaxed, allowing the spell to work. She could see the main road leading towards the tower, just outside the wall.

Cristal was there, walking confidently towards the front door. Aurora couldn’t see her through her own eyes, but she knew Cristal would appear male - she had found a minor clerk from the tower, and put him in her thrall, taking his face for the task.

There were now dozens of employees walking the same road, passing the security checkpoints to enter the lower levels and start their day. No matter how efficient the Shattered were, controlling everything required information, and keeping the tower informed required lots of ponies to just sit there processing the papers. Cristal had already got past the first checkpoint, a guarded outpost meant to block the path of obvious intruders. Now she was approaching the front door, walking up the stairs towards the desk where a pair of unicorn security guards made everypony walk through an arch made of crystal. This one was meant to see through illusions, and catch any impostors.

Aurora held her breath, waiting for the inevitable.

Cristal walked through the arch. The guards jerked up, staring at her. They looked from Cristal to the enchanted mirror on their desk, and back.

“Sir…” started one of the guards, their eyes widening.

“Ignore it,” said Cristal, in a soft, but firm, male voice. The guards froze, swallowed loudly, and returned to their seats.

“Yes… Sir, have a good day,” said the closer guard nervously.

Aurora released her breath. It worked! she thought. She was right. Deception’s in charge of all the spying, including internal investigations. Nopony questions a changeling.

This was when she heard hoofsteps approaching the front door. It was the time to stop slacking off. Trying to keep enough focus to maintain the vision, she returned to her cleaning.

***

“Did all the changelings serve Deception during your times?” asked Twilight.

“Of course,” said Aurora. “They were among her most infamous creations, her eyes and ears everywhere, hiding among ponies, making sure you couldn’t trust anypony.”

“They were not,” said Obsidian. Both mares looked at him in surprise.

“Much as I’d like to, I can’t attribute this particular atrocity to Deception,” said Obsidian. “The changelings already existed in my time, spies and assassins created from ponies with some dark magic, cursed with craving for love they could not feel themselves. But I’m interrupting. What did your friend learn?”

***

Whisper looked down on the table. It was covered with pieces of paper, sketches of the tower, and various notes.

“We’ve eliminated the basement, and the lower half of the tower,” he said.

“That leaves the upper half, and Vengeance’s personal chambers,” replied Jingles. “Do you think she just sits on them like a hen?”

“I dunno…” said Aurora. “She’s not always home, and it seems quite easy to drop in from the top.”

“Not that easy,” said Sauti. “I have watched through the eyes of birds. None fly close to the tower, and those who do, die. They seem to be killed by lightning, but how, I do not know.”

“I think we could power through if we combine our powers,” said Aquila, levitating herself over the table for a better view. “But that will alarm half the city, won’t it?”

“Yes,” said Cristal with a nod. “This is the same as when you entered the labs to... look for me. The later we’re discovered, the better our chances of getting out.”

The ponies around the table exchanged guilty looks.

“So, what did you find about the upper levels?” asked Jingles.

“Nopony goes up there,” replied Cristal. “Nobody knows what Vengeance eats, if anything, but she doesn’t use servants. There is a reinforced door on top of the office levels that supposedly leads up, but it is locked. Officially, the floors are left empty, until more office space is needed. But only the three floors above seem to have windows. The rest of the tower is armored.”

“So, nopony knows what’s there?” asked Aurora.

“Nopony,” replied Cristal. “I’ve only heard rumors. Some say this is Vengeance’s treasury. But she never cared for wealth. She never needs to buy anything. Others say her chosen guard reside there. But there hasn’t been any food delivered there either.”

“Either way, we can expect it to be a deathtrap,” finished Jingles, “lovely.”

Whisper looked at the sketches. “So, how do we get in?”

“Well, there is the obvious armored door,” said Cristal, "or flying to the roof. Either will alert the whole tower of our presence."

“What about a short distance teleport?” asked Aquila. “I think with you here, we could get enough power for a jump. At least to some place that has windows, so we know where the floors are.”

“That won’t work.” replied Whisper. “Too many ways this could go wrong. There could be magical wards inside to stop exactly that.”

“I don’t think they use much magic there,” said Crystal. “The tower is protected from magic. Same difference - teleportation could get disrupted, and kill us all.”

“Protected?” asked Sauti. “The tower is well away from any chimneys.”

Cristal lit her horn, lighting up lines on some of the stolen maps. “There are chimneys sticking out of the top of the tower. They don’t project outside, unless there’s an emergency, but the pipe system circulates the fumes through the outer walls. And the outer shell is made with all sorts of magic resistant minerals. We couldn’t get through it if we had dragon fire.”

“So, what you’re saying,” said Aquila with a smirk, “is that there are thick pipes going along the building, on the inside of the shell? How wide exactly are they?”

Cristal stared at her. “It doesn’t matter how wide they are. You’d cook and suffocate long before you can die from getting your magic snuffed out.”

“There must be some sort of pump station on the lower levels, maintaining the supply as the fumes decay, doesn’t it?” asked Whisper.

Aurora looked Aquila in the eyes. “Bubble Burst would get an aneurysm if we told her, but I think it might be crazy enough to work.”

Author's Note:

And so, we've reached half the story.

How do you like it so far? Where do you think the story is going?

As always, I crave comments

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

How many chapters long will this story be?

[Braininthejar]

9849756
60
There is one chapter that is super short, serving only the big reveal. But there is a Halloween bonus chapter to compensate for that.

So, what are your thoughts at this point?

[Tailsic]

Cristal is Chrysalis, isn't she?

[Braininthejar]

10252702
Is is a wild guess or do you have a theory?

[Tailsic]

10253370
theory, the names are similar, i can see Cristal changing her name to Chrysalis over the years,the changeling involvement so far, how they want the elements alive, and i'm not %100 sure, but I thing it was Chrysalis who was the clock figure in Twilight dream with she was at Zecora hut when she saw herself as a alicorn. and finally the biggest hint, is how Obsidian say Rainbow can't fully connect because Aurora still alive, so what if it's the same for Rarity, her bearer is this alive and she a changeling (I'm wondering if Rarity figuring that out herself, i'm on chapter 35 right now) and Chrysalis seem like the best choose.

[Braininthejar]

10253625
Dude, your comment reads like a Game Theory episode.

You're literally the kind of reader I've written this story for.

(I eagerly await other stuff you come up with, as you read. Just make sure to comment in relevant chapters, so future readers don't get unexpected calls forward )