Adding Some Pepper

The walk to the post office was a bit lengthy, but the best route would be through the middle of Ponyville itself (or, as Short Round called it, P-Ville), and perhaps actually get a chance to relax on her own for a moment. It was good weather out today, and there were a number of others about, all doing their own little things in their own little lives. It was a nice day for a casual stroll...

And Obsidian did stroll casually along... well, perhaps with a bit more hurry than normal. After all, she still had a few other things to do and really, really wanted to get back home early enough to spend some time with her wonderful coltfriend. Perhaps any other mares would be satisfied with a small trip to the Crystal Empire, or an (in)famous dance during her own party... but after living with Sombra for so long, Obsidian had to play 'catch-up' to quite a few loveless years.

She was passing the center fountain in the middle of town when the voice first spoke up.

"... Obsidian, right?" It was a familiar voice, but not one that she could place right off the bat. Plus, from the lack of any other reactions to it around her, the voice was apparently also only heard by her. It was also decidedly female, and it almost sounded as if it were purring in her ear. "Good to see you about in town; makes me feel as though you're on your own time for once, and not someone else's."

She'd heard it before - who was that voice? By Darkness, no... "Amber?"

She really hated when something surprising happened while she was already quite the paranoic about her siblings! Exactly how many females did she know well enough to be familiar with their voices, but not well enough to recognize them without any problems? She never heard Opal speak, so she couldn't be on the list... Onyx was dead...

"Jynx?"

"OH! Right in two!"

She felt a tickle at her shoulder, and standing there was a miniature Jynx, who was smiling and gave a gracious bow.

"I'm pleased you remembered me! I mean, you and I haven't really ever... y'know... talked before, have we?" She was a perfect copy of her full-size self - only small enough to stand on Siddy's shoulder.

"It's hard to not remember you, Jynx... and it is nice to see you again," Obsidian said as she breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "It's been a while, hasn't it? How are you? How is your father?"

Good, no crazy umbral shards this time; just a young draconequus - nothing really dangerous. As long as Gypsy wasn't around, there was probably no risk in chatting with her for a bit. Now that Obsidian thought about it, did Cup get to go to this whole 'Ogres and something-something' thing they'd been planning?

Jynx smiled. "Oh, just peachy, babe - I've been doing what I do, and looking good doing it, too. Granted, I've heard how you've been so busy lately, so I didn't think one of my flashier entrances would be appreciated. Plus, Tiny Me is just as dynamite as I am at full height, just cuter!"

"You know, you've got a point," the unicorn considered, "it's quite possible that with all this mess going on with my siblings, one of your flashier entrances would possibly... well, let's say I'd defend first and ask questions second." Damnation, it really HAD been ages since they last met. And Obsidian, who was busy being rather suspicious and emotionally distant at the time, hadn't really even forged much of a relationship with Jynx at all.

Jynx laughed, but it slowed down and petered out as she ran a paw through her mane. "Daddy-O is... well, he's getting by. The whole thing with the Umbrals recently left him a bit drained, and he's still feeling under, demanding glasses of water, blue skin color, yada yada yada..." She spoke flippantly, but Obsidian could tell from the look on her muzzle that the young draconequus was quite possibly worried about it.

"Blue skin color? That's, er... not an idiom I don't know, is it?" Anything and everything was possible with draconequui. "Is it an illness? Is there a remedy available? I admit, I'm not very familiar with beings of Chaos and so on."

Jynx waved a dismissive paw. "Oh, no, please, we creatures of Chaos have all sorts of ways of expressing fear and worry; Pop's done this before, and it was when he felt he wanted attention. Okay, so he's been wanting a lot of attention lately, so Mumsy's been coming back to see him each day."

A lot of attention? Funny thing was, Jynx seemed to be the only creature who actually had a father among Obsidian's friends - Jynx was actively talking about him, and Obsidian was well aware of who he was. It almost seemed as if the rest of her friends only had mothers... or perhaps they were ashamed of their paternals, like Obsidian was?

To be fair, she most certainly had her reasons - and she doubted that anyone else (except for her siblings, of course) would ever have any sort of similar situation to hers.

Jynx gave a shy chuckle. "But, uh, yeah... good on ya for offering, Obzy; I 'preciate it." She skittered up Obsidian's mane and sat carefully on her head. "So, how about you? How's Cupperino?"

"Cup? Oh, he's perfect - always surprising, very hard-working... and he dances quite well. I'm really glad we ended up together; without him, I would still be... what was that idiom... sticking out like a sore hoof." Hopefully it was correct; she was really trying. "I still need to learn a lot about normal life, but it has become a rather pleasant subject to study."

Jynx gave a trilling little giggle, then crept over to Obsidian's other shoulder. "For what it's worth, everyone sticks out like a sore body part, at least a little bit - it's what makes us all individuals, after all!"

She then nodded. "Isn't he just a catch, though? I admit, there was a time where I had my eye on him... but he's much better as a friend! And besides, I thoroughly enjoy sweets, and if I had him for a coltfriend, I'd never get to have any!"

"I'd actually say that I probably have more sweets than I could ever want! I'm simply not used to eating this kind of food because, well... my father, as you probably already know, was a selfish bastard." Obsidian scowled a bit; to think that she would be eating better food as a 'civilian' in Equestria than as a 'princess' in the Crystal Empire!

The little draconequus then smiled and spoke sweetly. "So... have you possibly reconsidered my offer to play some O&O with your beloved and the others? Not pushing, mind you - merely questioning if you've given the offer any further thought?"

"To be fair, I haven't thought about it too much," Siddy considered, "but truly? I think I would like to give it a try, yes."

Hopefully, it would be more exciting than 'Bingo'.

Jynx leapt up off her shoulder, snapped, and then her full-sized form was walking right next to Obsidian. A few folks around them jumped at such a sudden appearance, but Jynx seemed to take no notice; the look on her strange muzzle said she was too busy contemplating what this new addition would bring, in terms of fun.

"Oh, you'll just love it! I can have character sheets, dice, pencils and such ready with a snap of my-... say, you weren't meaning right this minute, were you?"

She sighed dramatically... then abruptly grinned eagerly, and began walking rather close to Siddy as she began to explain. "Okay, so - the premise is another world, filled with monsters and mayhem, magic and marvels, dungeons and dra-... well, you get the point, I'm certain. But yes, YOU play an adventurer, a grand game of pretend where the stakes are imaginary, the risk is non-existent in reality, and you can pretend to be someone else for a while!"

Jynx seemed rather excited about the whole affair, as her tail kept curling snakeishly behind her while they walked along and her voice and expressions were animated and alive, as if she was talking about the one thing she knew best.

"This game," she said proudly, "is the one thing I know best, and because of it, I am an absolute MASTER of any given dungeon! Oh, this is gonna be so INTENSE! We haven't added a new player in years!" Jynx gave almost a whinny of a giggle, punctuated at the end by a snort.

Oh yes, Obsidian simply loved to pretend; for quite a few years, she'd pretended to be an important pony - a princess of the whole damnable Crystal Empire - and that her father was worthy of any sort of positive feelings towards him. Hopefully this time, 'pretending' would be more fun.

"Who are the other players?" Obsidian asked with interest. She wasn't sure if she understood all this stuff about adventurers and pretending - though she could always ask Cupcake for a better explanation. But not today; today, she had different plans...

Jynx lifted her paw, and ticked off 'fingers' as she counted. "I run the game, then there's Cuppie, Markannus, Hollow Echo and Flinteye - and you'll make six! I've run games with as many as eighteen before, so this should be a walk in the proverbial park!"

Jynx hopped in place and clapped her mismatched appendages together in excitement. "I'll have to bring extra snacks, of course, and I'll let Hollow know to bring more punch - she makes it herself, you know - and Cup'll just have to make more tarts!"

"I don't believe I know this 'Hollow Echo', or 'Flinteye'. Are they students too, perhaps?" Meeting new ponies was usually nice... and with Cupcake by her side, there should be no problems with getting socially accepted into said group. Six ponies... and even eighteen could play it... wait, it wasn't a board game, was it?

Jynx smiled. "Hollow Echo is a batpony; she's the group's Cleric, and she heals up the damage the characters take during the adventure. Flinteye is a Kirin, and he's the group's Paladin - or Holy Warrior, so to speak. They're both local; Flinteye is one of Ponyville's best-known psychiatrists, and Echo is one of the mares on Luna's night shift - a palace guard, like Stalwart."

She snapped her claw, and a sheet of paper appeared in the air in front of Obsidian. "Here's the address, and the time and day - you'll notice it's roughly two weeks from now, which should give us plenty of time to figure out what you'd like to try playing! OH! This is so exciting!!!" The draconequus almost seemed obsessed over this game; was it that good?

Obsidian blinked a few times in confusion. "Kirin?" It felt like the first time she'd heard about this species (or, to be more precise, the second, as the first time was by Flurry in one of her vulgar sayings), so obviously she got even more interested. Diamond dogs were fascinating - but then, so were all the other creatures in this modern, strange Equestria. She took the paper, to check the address; it wasn't far from where she lived - good.

"So, this is supposed to be the part where I tell you all about the history and setting of the game," Jynx smirked, "buuuuuuut, unlike Daddykins, I also understand that others have stuff going on, too. If you're currently busy, we can always approach this conversation another time - but I warn you, it'll be on my mind until we accomplish something about it!"

Daddy-whats? "Well, I am a bit busy, unfortunately - I have a few things to do, and I can only hope that none of my siblings will do anything strange or violent during the next few days," Obsidian sighed. "Give my regards to your parents, please. I'm truly sorry I couldn't attend Miss Fluttershy's classes lately, but my brother was trying to end the world and so on."

Stupid Peridot. It was an absolute shame he had to die.

Jynx laughed merrily. "Ah, yes - ending the world scenarios... with my father, you get used to those on an irregular basis. At least, he likes others to think he wants to end the world. Honestly? He LOVES this place, and anything that anyone claims he says about ending it is a pure, bald-faced lie."

She nodded to herself, then whirled a finger in the air as multihedral dice popped into existence began to hover aound her in an orbit, as if they were moons and she was the sun. She withdrew a sheet of paper from her left ear, and a pencil popped out of her mouth. Then took up both and began jotting down notes.

"You know, it would be considerably easier, were my siblings to have a similar attitude." Obsidian felt as though she was complaining about her siblings a bit much lately. Of course, she had her reasons; she'd discovered seven of them in a relatively short span of time. Plenty to complain about... especially when almost each one seemed to sport a penchant for being at least somewhat devious.

"To be fair, I've mostly read about your father's presence in older tomes, back in the Crystal Empire. The things I hear about him in Modern Equestria don't quite match up to my old knowledge, though... perhaps my father was simply feeding me propaganda?" Obsidian shrugged slightly with resignation.

"That all depends, my dear Obsidlienne," Jynx said with a flourish, "on what all you've heard? I mean, Daddy's given me 'The Talk' about it, sure... but that doesn't mean he covered all the bases, now does it? You may even know something I do not; unlikely, but there's still a chance."

Jynx, lost in making her notes, almost walked into a lamppost... yet, at the last minute, the lamppost itself moved aside to let her pass unmolested, then bent back into the shape it was before.

"A long and turbulent reign of terror, utter chaos everywhere one could see, anarchy in the air, panic in the streets, and so on, and so on. Though to be fair, I'm really not sure how my father would define any 'reign of terror', considering his own time on the throne." At least Discord seemed to be good enough to not outright die upon first contact with the much-lauded Mane Six... or perhaps he was simply too powerful to die; he still lived after two blasts from the Elements of Harmony, after all.

"At least your father's rule can be defined at all," Jynx bemoaned, "as my own Dadski's time on the throne is always described as 'a thousand years of chocolate rain', or other such colorful yet utterly uninformative allusions. Your father is feared; mine is usually laughed at. Of course, it's all his own fault, so karma having its' way with him now seems appropriate. I mean, yah - sucks - but it's not like I'm screaming whyyyyy at the stars or some such nonsense."

"Perhaps, but your father lives and enjoys life, while mine serves as a toilet for pigeons. It seems that being laughed at is the preferable option." Besides, as far as Obsidian was concerned, Discord's antics were supposed to be entertaining... well, at least entertaining for any creatures that weren't diamond dogs. Frankly, she was considering inviting Jynx to her house today... but chances were, Gypsy probably wouldn't appreciate that.

The draconequus chuckled merrily. "Oh, father's spent his time under birds, to be certain - he's far more familiar with the sensation than your persnickety paternus is, I promise you that."

She gave a languid stretch... including limbs completely separating from her torso, each hovering a few inches above where it was supposed to connect. After a mighty yawn, she fell back together and continued walking with Obsidian.

"It also depends on the personality, too; your father possibly might have thought the exact opposite of you, and would rather have died than be laughed at. And don't think Poppa takes it all in stride, either; been many a night, where I've watched him weeping to himself as he gouges his own mind with each sling bullet of mockery and each arrow of jilt that he'd taken that day..."

Jynx forcibly shook her head. "Still, the idea that your own Daddoo was feeding you a line might not be so far from the truth - have you considered that anything else he impressed upon you as fact might, in fact, be fiction?"

Obsidian gave Jynx a look... or, rather, The Look. "Oh no, not really... I obviously still think that every single other creature in the world should be my slave, and that they should be quite happy with their lot in life. I'm also sure that Princess Celestia wants to raze the entire Crystal Empire to the ground and salt the land..."

She tapped a hoof to her temple in thought. "Or perhaps it was Princess Luna? Wait, no - Princess Luna is the one who sneaks into minds of her subjects during their sleep to torture them, yes?"

Jynx giggled, a high-pitched tittering that sounded more like a madness-filled sound of glee than a simple laugh. "You... I think I like you. Nice little sense of dark humor, there; I definitely dig that. Still, I get it - you're aware of that stuff. Good. I mean, I truly care for Cuppie, don't get me wrong... but the colt's utterly clueless, sometimes. It's nice to meet someone who isn't just breathing air, you know what I mean?"

A gathered group of children smiled and waved at them both in passing, but the teacher accompanying them took one look at Jynx and hurried them all along. The draconequus waved back to the kids, stuck her impossibly long tongue out at the teacher, then simply seemed to shrug off the rest as she kept walking alongside Obsidian.

"Feh. 'Dults," she said, non-committedly.

Ah, finally someone who was able to appreciate a bit of a darker shade of humor! Most of the ponies she knew seemed to be terrified every time she tried to crack a somewhat-less-than-cheerful joke. Sometimes they were even terrified of her normal, completely honest statements - like Flurry did when Obsidian was simply explaining that conquering the world was, at the moment, too difficult for her alone.

"I think I know what you mean... though I'm still trying to appreciate even ponies who are,er... just breathing air. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would turn out to be a bit too Sombra-like," she sighed a bit. "Or worse, Amethyst."

"Well... wanting to follow in a father's dubious steps isn't a crime; the idea is to follow their success, not the road they used to get to it." Jynx gestured emphatically as she explained, "I mean, look at my own Papa, for example; do I want to rule with a chaotic clawgrip, endlessly amusing myself for the forseeable future?"

She laughed. "Oh, no! I would want to forge an armada, capable of utilizing Chaos Magic in many ways, that would be able to devastate any other obstacles in their path of domination, as I cover the entire planet like a blanket of power, and seize control of any and all who would say even the slightest mar towards my character..."

Jynx, who had grown louder and more animated as she'd gone on, now stopped and slowly settled herself down again, speaking at a normal volume once more. "... but that's just me; honestly, I do enjoy the presence of others, and I learned that others will enjoy one's presence more when one isn't an absolute ass. Took Dadski centuries to learn that one, and he's still not very good at it."

Jynx then gave Obsidian a sidelong glance. "Amethyst? Is she the grumpy unicorn who keeps buying 'jerky' from the marketplace, when she has no clue it's actually made of soy and seaweed?"

Well... er... okay, that sounded a bit ominous. Just what sort of armada did she want to make? Was it even necessary to create an armada, as a being made to throw Chaos around like confetti? Obsidian was fairly certain it'd be a bit of overkill.

Obsidian shrugged. "Alas, my father lacks any real successes... at least, none that wouldn't eventually turn against him..."

Wait. Waaaaait. Soy and seaweed? Obsidian turned her head to look straight at Jynx. "That... you know, it actually explains why she enjoys it with jelly; I doubt any kind of meat would taste well with sweet jelly, but soy and seaweed... I believe it could work."

"Oh-ho-ho! She eats it with jelly, you say? Well, she certainly does like strange tastes, eh? Interesting..." Jynx pulled a well-worn, little red notebook out from behind her left ear, made a quick note in it, then placed it into her right armpit, where it promptly vanished.

"Now, if you don't mind my being nosy," she snapped her claw, and little noses with legs began to swarm out of Obsidian's saddlebags, running little circles around them both, "may I ask what you're up to right now?"

"Oh, but of course - we are - semi-unofficially - friends after all, right?" Was Jynx planning to do something pertaining to Amy? To be fair, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea - Amy needed more contact with others... if only to get rid of her murderous tendencies.

"I need to send a message to Princess Luna, then I just want to visit Miss Pie and return home. I think I did everything I could do today," or at least, Obsidian considered, everything she should do outside the home. Granted, she still had some magic to cast - just to be sure that Amber wouldn't try anything during the night.

A smile curled around the young draconequus' lips like a snake slithering into it's favorite striking position. "Oh, now? A message to the most illustrious Luna? Then spending some time with the soon-to-be-in-laws? Well, sounds as though you have your work cut out for you, Obsi-Dobsi; all this, and with what I hear has been happening lately? Well, you're just one mental breakdown away from being the next Twilight Sparkle!"

She giggled that weird giggle again. "Next thing you know, they'll be fitting you for wings and a crown!"

"Damnation... now I have to wonder whether one breakdown is a too high of a price for being a pretty alicorn princess or not. I'm already freaking out over my numerous siblings, but... wings, ahhhhh..." she sighed aloud. "But! Could you imagine the reaction in the Crystal Empire at the news that Sombra's daughter became an alicorn? I bet the ensuing panic would be legendary!"

Jynx laughed - loudly; this was no giggle, but a full-on guffaw as she slapped a knee with her paw. "Holy Shit! They'd have a friggin' meltdown, that's what they'd do! Or at least Prince Shining Armor would - he's well known for his dislike of anything related to Ol' Sombrero - saaaaayyyyy... does he know about you, yet?"

"To be honest, I... can't recall. I befriended Flurry Heart, and had a short talk with Princess Cadance when Cup and I visited the Crystal Palace, but... I'm not sure I've met Shining Armor..." She thought about it for a moment. "Wait - maybe I did? I think he was one of the stallions pointing weapons at me after I was found by Princess Twilight. Hardly a good first impression. And I... think... he spoke to me after the incident with my brother? Hunh," she blinked, "mayhaps I do know him, after all?"

Jynx cocked an eyebrow. "Well, then I guess it would be safe to assume he knows of you, then - ah, well; there go my practical joke plans for giving you one heckuva introduction!"

She reached into an unseen (?) pocket and pulled out a hankerchief, then waved it at the surrounding noses, all still jogging circles around them. As soon as they saw the hanky, the noses all gasped and ran away into some nearby bushes. Jynx waved the hanky at Obsidian. "What better way to deal with runny noses, eh?"

Ah, puns. Draconequui puns, no less. Potentially dangerous things. "They, er," Obsidian said as she eyeballed the bushes where the noses disappeared into, "... they won't try to build their own civilization in the bushes, right?"

Jynx laughed, then grew thoughtful. "Hmmmm... you say you made friends with Flur, have you? Best not to let Thunderclap know; she'll be totally jealous, and would posibly do something foolish to prove she's a better friend to you than 'Hurry Fart' possibly could be."

She then grinned. "In fact..." Again, out came the little worn red notebook (from behind her back, this time), more notes were made, and it was returned (to the back of her right knee).

"Aaaaaaaaaanyway, Shiny's all business to most folks, except his wife, his kids and his sister. Otherwise, he's got a pride for Equestria that borders on zealotry. Be careful around him; if he decides you're the enemy, you'll never rest well again."

Okay, it was starting to worry her - these notes Jynx was making couldn't possibly be good. Or funny. Well, perhaps not funny for Obsidian and her friends, anyhow.

"I know that, for some reason, Clap doesn't like Flurry... but it can't be THAT bad, can it?" she asked with a naive, foolish hope. "And as for Prince Shining..." Obsidian tapped her cheek, doing a quick math in her head. "... haven't I already saved Equestria more times than he has?"

Jynx chuckled. "Oh, I assure you - just because there's no public knowledge about it, Shiny's saved the Empire, Equestria and all of Equus before; he's a veteran hero, and you'll have to do better than exorcizing an alicorn and beating up some zombies."

"It's not my fault he didn't invest in proper public relations." Saved Equus, did he? Did something happen that Obsidian wasn't aware of? Hopefully he wouldn't find out that somepony smuggled three potentially dangerous crystal-bound beings out of the country, then.

Jynx then raised an eyebrow. "Still, I'm a bit surprised that you haven't heard about what went down between those two... has nobody told you yet?"

"No - no one, not a single creature. I didn't exactly have much time to ask about it at the time I met her, because 'curse' and 'Peridot'... and really, whenever we meet, it doesn't cross my mind to ask," Obsidian sighed.

Jynx grinned. "Oh, well, it's a good thing we have this conveniently long walk to tell the story in, eh?"

She cleared her throat. "Back in what they refer to as 'The Day', Clap wasn't exactly the bravest of pegasi, and she took an enormous amount of teasing for it. Yet, among the very few who would stand up for her was the ineffable Flurry Heart; even at a young age, Flur didn't tolerate bullies, and ended up saving Clap from more beatings than she'll ever realize."

"But when Clap had finally had enough of the beatings, she began to dole out cruelty of her own... and Flurry Heart still wouldn't abide bullies. And now, her best friend was one. She tried to talk to her, but Young Thundercap listened even less than our Clap does, and she ended up actually getting into a fight with Flur."

"Clap had the physical advantage, and the fight brought a lot of other students over to watch the proceedings. Clap almost won the fight, but that was when Flur took off the proverbial kid gloves, and blasted Clap with a bolt of her magic. Fight was over, right there. Clap was out cold, and would have to spend a week in the hospital because of what Flur had done."

"It embarrassed Thunderclap that her tough new persona had been bested by a princess, and it hurt Flurry to have to do such a thing to someone she thought was her friend. That fight drove a wedge between them. Ever since that day, the two of them have never liked each other, and they can barely stand to be in the same room together."

Ah, the past. The place it truly belonged best was in the past; it made no sense that they still didn't like each other because of things that happened when they were young and foolish. At least this time, no crazy Umbral shards were trying to possess anypony.

"Oh, come on - is there a single young alicorn that Thunderclap did NOT antagonize when she was young? Midnight, Flurry... maybe more?" Obsidian complained.

Jynx shrugged as she continued. "To be fair, all three main pony races had representatives among those who teased Little Clap; her pent-up rage got taken out on everyone, regardless of what their heritage was. She was an equal-opportunity opportunist."

Jynx sighed. "Little Thunderclap was a victim; Tween Thunderclap was a bully... guess Teen Thunderclap will have to figure out what she is now, right? And maybe, just maaaaaaybe, she could use some advice from her crystal-loving, time-travelling, grey-magic-wielding friend?"

Obsidian sighed. "Yes, she probably could. I know that I'm supposed to do things like that, Jynx - there's no need to outright remind me. Especially as I don't think I like the situation where two of my friends dislike each other that much."

In fact... "Which reminds me - if we are talking about 'old times', then perhaps you could explain with more detail why Gypsy Rover is so terribly scared of you? I believe I heard that there was something to do with with diamond dogs and your father..."

"Oh, that," she said with a bit of hesitance. "Y-yes, well... there was a point in time where Dad... um, went... a bit... n-nuts."

Jynx settled herself into a slow walk, and spoke low and softly as to avoid eavesdroppers. "You see, he started claiming he felt as though he was feeling the onset of 'old age'; of course, many of those here simply saw this as another ploy to garner attention... and dutifully ignored him."

She glanced nervously around. "Poppa only had Mom to help him... and believe me, she's a helper... but, it wasn't enough. I mean, she also had classes to teach, the Sanctuary to run, and raising ME was no picnic. And she does care greatly for him..."

She then sighed. "But, she's not a draconequus like us; she can't split into multiples or answer her problems with a snap or a pun. She can only do so much. So, when Big Bad Voodoo Daddy discovered there was a delivery she had to make to the diamond dogs, he decided to play mail deliverer."

"The diamond dogs, er... weren't expecting him. Many of them had never even seen a draconequus before, and they... panicked... a bit. They didn't attack him, no - but those who weren't warriors began to howl and run about, while Dadoo tried to tell them he was no threat."

A passing mare looked at them both curiously; Jynx's head turned, locked eyes with her, and stayed right in place. She kept staring even as her body continued to walk along. When the mare finally noticed, she balked and hurried away, and Jynx's head snapped back into place as if her neck was made of rubber.

"He... doesn't really remember much after that, but what we were told was that he just started snapping, again and again, causing all sorts of random chaos that the poor pups couldn't handle. Terrified the poor things, but not a single death... I think."

She shrugged. "By the time Mom got to him, Ol' Pop-Pop was just sitting in the town circle, staring into the dirt, surrounded by chaos. And not noticing it."

That was it? The Lord of Chaos got irritated and started to terrorize the poor diamond dogs? And only because he wanted to deliver mail?

"When I heard that something terrifying had happened after something dealing with Miss Fluttershy, I expected something a bit more... how would Flurry say it... Sombra-like fucked up." She'd said it correctly, right? The varied and creative usage of the word 'fuck' was something completely new to her, after all.. and honestly, she was rather easy to influence.

"For something such as that, Gypsy is afraid to stay in a single room with you? I... I don't understand why it would be hard to fix that..." Obsidian questioned.

Now that she considered it, a situation where she wouldn't be able to have all of her friends in the same place for fear of a fight wasn't exactly normal - especially not in an Equestria ruled by the Princess of Friendship! Obsidian still considered herself to be rather fresh with this whole business, but damnation, she won't be stopped by it! Sooner or later, she'd have to at least think about a way to get Flurry and Clap to talk again... as well as help Gypsy with his past trauma.

"I'll have to think about a plan... something not involving brainwashing or mind control, that is." Dark magic would easily fix some of these issues, but it was hardly something that would be found acceptable. She probably wouldn't be allowed to pass it off as 'Gray Magic studies on Friendship Coercion'.

Jynx shrugged. "Hey, they're easy solutions; don't knock 'em off the list 'til we try it!" But then, her expression fell. "And no, he wasn't irritated; that's the thing. He wasn't even registering he understood what was going on, much less what he did. Mom got him to a doctor, and - after dealing with Papi's shenanigans - they discovered he had something they called 'OldTimer's Disease'."

When she spoke the name, Obsidian could see small details of Jynx's physical recations; her ruffle of fur seemed to deflate a bit, her scales seemed to grow a touch dull, a bit of the light in her eyes went dim.

"They say it's just something that happens to elderly creatures, sometimes. They get old, and their brains... well, they don't work quite as well as they used to. They fog out, forget things, and even may end up doing actions that may harm others or themselves - wihout even realizing what they're doing."

She looked off to the side a bit. "And it was quite fucked-up, thank you very much! It took the diamond dogs eight months to fix their town properly, and they're still finding the occasional leftover prank. The entire populace was in sheer terror, and the pups have never seen draconequui the same again."

She sighed. "A shame, really; Gypsy Rover and Skrunge look adorably pettable, but neither of them will come anywhere NEAR me. And the other three are triplets, so they're excessively clique-ish. But, in light of the fact that Dadicus seems to be losing his mind the BAD way, I'd say that a bunch of frightened puppies aren't exactly on my 'list of immediate concerns'."

"Not that I wouldn't try to change things... I just haven't had enough time to do EVERYTHING I do and that too, so I make sacrifices. I'll get around to it eventually; until then, I just watch them watch me as I pass by, and long for the touch of their warm fur someday." She sighed wistfully... then shook herself out of it, grinning at Siddy.

Considering that Celestia and Luna were already more than a thousand years old themselves, it was very disconcerting to hear that Discord, a creature at least as old as they were, was apparently showing the signs of such a terrible disease. Even moreso, as it seemed he was losing only control over his mind, and not his powers...

At this rate, he would sooner or later turn into a being of Pure Chaos, with no mind or conscience behind any of his actions.

"Are the two of you the only known draconequui? I have to admit that I haven't researched such a thing yet..." Perhaps other creatures of the same species could help his plight... or at least understand it a bit better?

Jynx shook her head. "Oh, not by far - there's an entire colony of them. On the moon."

She smiled as if she were enjoying knowing something Obsidian didn't, but there was no mockery; instead, she began to explain. "About two decades ago, Fatherlicious managed to convince some of the brighter minds in Equestria to explore the outer space between Equus and the moon; it kickstarted the ESEP: the Equestrian Space Exploration Project, where lots of ponies - along with some diamond dogs, a few kirin, some dragons and one exceptionally intelligent yak - made history by managing to find a way to not only explore space, but made it all the way out to the moon."

"Imagine the confusion when they arrived in the middle of a Fair Day in the Dracolony? Fireworks, balloons, music... all this, they came upon. It was awkward; the draconequui there hadn't expected company, or they would have snapped their colony into invisibility. But they greeted the pony explorers well enough, and they liked finding out about Daddy even more."

"That was when... well, that was when they and Mom... had a few... a-arguements." She sighed. "There were a number of available, single females there, and they wanted the Ol' Drac to, uh, 'add his genetics to the pool', as they said. But Mom wouldn't have it, saying that he wasn't just a resource to be used. The colony didn't like hearing that, but they chose to honor Mom's wishes. But, as a result, they told the explorers to get out, and leave the Dracolony alone."

"Princess Twilight officially recognizes them as their own independent colony, but has placed them on an official list that makes it a crime for anyone to visit or otherwise disturb them. A shame, 'cause I wouldn't mind actually getting to meet draconequui other than Pops or myself; do you have any idea what it's like to be so alone in the world, Obsidian?"

"I was kind of isolated from others by my father, but that's all - I can only imagine how it feels, being actually alone in the world in such a manner," Obsidian spoke softly.

A colony. On the Moon. Well, they apparently either didn't run across Princess Luna, or she simply didn't mention it when Obsidian inquired about her life there - and both cases were equally plausible. The colony surely would have noticed an ancient, mad goddess on the Moon, right? And Princess Twilight kind of went with a little bit of overkill; considering they were the same species as Jynx and Discord, those two should be allowed to visit this colony without issue.

"'Genetics to the pool?' What do you mean by 'genetics'?" Obsidian asked, just as clueless as she was about anything related to foal-making, sexual idioms and other things like that. Granted, Gypsy explained quite a bit to her... but she would most likely need more than a single discussion to fix all the voids in her knowledge. "And what exactly IS the punishment for breaking that one specific law?" Maybe if it wasn't too severe, it would be worth the risk?

"The punishment for breaking the 'leave Dracolony alone' rule? Oh, it's so clever, nobody wants to dare try it; Princess Twilight allows the draconequui to punish the rulebreaker. As she made the announcement of such, not a single soul has even tried to break it. Of course," she smirked, "it helps that it's on the moon; hard to break a rule you can't reach, am I right?"

Oh. Ohhh... oooooooh... Obsidian changed her mind instantly; any plans for making a secret run to the moon died instantly the moment she learned that draconequui themselves could punish the criminal. Just the thought of what might happen sent shivers down her spine - and NOT the good kind.

Jynx fixed Obsidian with a surprised look. "Genetics? To the pool? You mean, you don't... uhhhhh, okay. So, essentially, they wanted his... seed..." she shivered with momentary disgust, "so that he could help them make more draconequui. You know... babies?"

She gave an exasperated sigh, and looked at Obsidian flatly. "They wanted him to fuck a bunch of single females to make babies that, for once, didn't come from JUST them."

Well, now that was interesting. Seed, she understood that. Babies, she understood that. But...

"So, if I'm hearing you correctly, that is what the word 'fuck' means? But, wait... I thought it meant 'joking around' or something like that," By Darkness, didn't Flurry ask Obsidian if she was 'fucking with' her? Was it a bad attempt at seduction?

"Fuck," Jynx began, in a grandiose and almost teacher-like fashion, "is an extremely versatile word; it can allude to a number of meanings, possibly even at one time. Fuck is universal, as every language on Equus has a version of this word in their vocabulary, and can be made to fit a number of situations."

"In the context of 'fucking with me', then yes - it means 'joking'. But used in a sexually descriptive manner, like 'I'm going to fuck his brains out', refers to sex. Or it can be used as flavoring or emphasis, as in 'I hate this fucking rain', or 'the rock you threw hit me in the fucking head'."

She grinned with a naughty smirk. "It can also be utilized for a direct stand-in, vocabulary-wise, as in, 'look at this stupid fuck', or 'are you one of those angry fuckers'. It can also describe situations both good AND bad, as in 'that wall of fire means we are so fucked', or 'he and I fucked around for hours'."

Jynx shrugged. "It all depends on context and timing; no one likes to talk to folks who use that word too often - as it tends to have some stigmata, or bad connotations, attached to it. But believe me, it can be a very useful word."

Obsidian had a notebook from her saddlebags, and was dutifully taking notes. This could be useful later! "Emphasis, stand-in, good, bad, context... hmmm... okay! I think I've got it," she closed her notebook. "I've learned a lot lately - thanks kindly for the explanation."

"Not a problemo, hopefully-soon-to-be-good-friend; I appreciate your not being afraid of me, nor disliking me for being what I am. You're good folk, Siddy - may I call you Siddy? - and that speaks well of the others you keep around you, for them to already see it in you."

"But of course you can call me that - everypony does!" Obsidian smirked slightly.

Jynx shrugged again, her claw/paws spreading wide. "Me? Well, I run a good game of O&O... but I don't think it really amounts to much, in the real world. So, I have a long way to go. But at least I'm still eager to see what lies ahead; haven't gotten jaded yet, and I have few plans to in the future."

Good folk? She could get used to that. Perhaps she wouldn't have to worry so often about abusing her Dark side. Not that she actually abused it, really, not even once... but she most certainly could! Really. More or less.

"Plans? Oooh, plans! It's always nice to have plans, even though they tend to get derailed at the first opportunity..." She could recall all the plans she'd made... which then, Onyx trashed without any effort. She'd been good - evil, but good. "What are your plans, then?"

The draconequus teen gave a slight chuckle. "Now, now... I'd be doing my Pater a disservice, were I to just blurt out all my plans at once, you know! Wouldn't do for us draconequui to give away all our secrets, now would it?"

Jynx then gave Obsidian a smile that spoke of mischief. "Though, truly? I do have aspirations on trying to liven up some of the more traditional events around here; I think Hearts and Hooves Day would be much more fun if a few drinks around town just happened to have a few drops of Love Potion Number Nine in them, and Hearthswarming would certainly be more intense as there should be a few gag gifts thrown in with the rest: a random number of loose mice, foul-smelling gas, a manticore - you know, that sort of excitement! Make each holiday a memorable one!"

She then looked at Siddy. "And yours? After... whatever thing you're doing here... do you have any tactics for tackling the forseeable future?"

Hearts and Hooves Day, Hearthswarming... were those holidays? Events for pairs? For ponies looking for pairs? Well, chances were that she probably should find out about these days as soon as possible, considering her current relationship with Cup.

"Well, I certainly need to continue researching... Grey Magic," Siddy growled the last words a bit. "Considering that I should apparently be able to use it easily, it would probably be a good idea to put more research into it... but it's proving difficult to focus on any given thing for very long. There are some other interesting fields of research that I really, really want to learn about..."

"Grey Magic? I wasn't even aware there was such a thing as Grey Magic... how curious." Jynx spread her claw/paws as she spoke. "You're meaning to say that there are spells out there which use both Light AND Dark Magic?"

"Apparently so. You see, during the issues with my brilliant, yet stupid sister, I was first drained of the entirety of my Dark Magic... then drained again, this time of Light Magic. Yet, at the climax of the battle, I was somehow able to use them both simultaneously. I've considered it, but... honestly? Trying to figure out the theory behind it all gives me a rather nasty headache," Obsidian shrugged slightly. "Even Onyx herself was surprised."

The draconequus mare gave her a very long, careful look. "Weeeeeeeeeelllllllllll... I may not be any sort of expert on magic, but I AM a heckuva muse when it comes to ideas; what would you say to perhaps, some day in the future, you and I spending time trying to possibly work out what sort of magic that you're capable of. With my Chaos Magic, I'm fairly sure can most certainly help you surpass any boundaries you may have, or at least test what skills you may not know you possess yet."

Jynx then smiled and looked at you. "Well, admittedly, I didn't think my aside in this story would amount to much, but it's become rather interesting! I suppose, however, I should get back to it before my breaking of the Fourth Wall is noticed, eh?"

She pointed straight up with both claw/paws and the tip of her tail. "The sky's the limit, Siddy, if you practice and experiment. And with the posibilities that Chaos can accomplish, there's even the chance you might witness results NO ONE has ever known before. So... interested?"

Obsidian's eyes were alight with sparkles... Chaos Magic? "Yes. Very yes. ALL my yes."

... wait, what did she say? "Er... what wall?"

Jynx waved away the question. "Anyhow, that's for another day - today, you already seem to have a full schedule, so I'd be a poor friend if I taxed you any further. Besides, I have a few things to see to, myself - and one of them is at the Pony Express office. That particular Pony Express office, in fact," she said as she pointed ahead of them.

It was a short, squat building with little decoration, save for the rather lovely flowers planted along the sides that were lush and well-cared for. "Well, tell you what, Siddilicious - go do what you have to do, and after your first O&O game, you and I can work out the details on when we can get together and make da magics happen. By then, you should be through with all this, right? Here's hoping, anyway."

She reached the doors to enter the building, but stopped short and turned to fully face her. "Sincerely? Thank you so very kindly, Obsidian, for doing more than merely tolerating my company; I hope I made a distinct impression upon you this time, and I hope it was a decent one, at that."

"Well, if Equestrian ponies can tolerate the company of the daughter of one of the most fucked-up (Obsidian was starting to like versality of this word) villains known to history, it'd be pretty hypocritical of me not to tolerate others, yes? Without a terrified Gypsy around you, Jynx... you do make a much better impression, yes. Friendly hug?" After all, what better way to confirm that somepony was a friend than to hug them?

Jynx gave a wicked smile, and her tail slithered around Obsidian, encasing her in coils that firmly (yet thankfully carefully) squeezed her as she brought her eye-to-eye with herself, where the draconequus gave her a silly little nuzzle on the cheek, then planted a tiny nip of a kiss on the end of Obsidian's snout.

"Friendly enough?" She said in a most sinister way... then, the entire imposing expression fell away to one of innocence as she asked earnestly, "No, really - IS that friendly enough? I mean, Cup thought it was hilarious, but Thunderclap didn't appreciate it much at all. Having experienced a 'hug' from me now, who would you say was right?" She honestly looked as though she were asking, waiting for the Dark Princess to respond... and, thankfully, not squeezing her so hard that she couldn't breathe.

Hmmm. A review, then? "Well, the squeeze wasn't too hard, so I'd say that part is optimal, and the nuzzle was a nice touch. I'm not too sure about the kiss, as I've never had something like that during a hug - with the exception of Cupcake, of course. I'd say it most certainly qualifies as friendly, but I'll have to inquire as to why Clap didn't care for it." Obsidian felt she'd been honest, yet fair. She managed to wiggle her forehooves free enough to squeeze Jynx a little bit. Wrapped up in coils, it would have to do.

Jynx looked somewhat surprised for a moment... then smiled broadly as she gently unwound herself from Siddy, bringing her to rest unharmed on the ground, right in front of the doors. "Well... how refreshing! To actually get a critique when asked for one! I have to say, you just shot a number of points up on my personal 'Me Likey' List! I'm honestly really looking forward to your first O&O game!"

The door opened, and an older stallion in a business suit stopped there; Jynx, with her large form and all the space she took up, was blocking the exit, and the earth pony looked annoyed as he stood there, trying to find a way around the draconequus.

"I always do my best to be honest," Obsidian looked at the draconequus, "and um, we should probably move to one side."

Jynx looked back behind her, then shrugged and stepped aside. The stallion stepped hurriedly out, sending an ice-meltingly angry glare at the draconequus as he passed them with his briefcase in tow. Jynx looked at Siddy with a raised eyebrow, and as soon as the stallion reached the end of the block, she snapped her 'fingers'...

Suddenly, the briefcase opened and started barking at the businesspony; he stared for a moment, until it 'bit' his foreleg, then he ran from it yelling in panic as it chased him down the street, barking madly at him as they vanished around a bend.

Jynx shrugged. "Call me a tool of Karma, I suppose. Shall we?"

"It seems like a rather harsh punishment for merely, well... looking at someone angrily," Obsidian pointed out, not really certain if it counted as karma if the stallion was annoyed because of somecreature blocking his way, was enough to justify this jest. Still, it reminded her that Chaos Magic was full of potential... perhaps she really could follow in her father's hoofsteps - not all of them, obviously - and re-create a pony body with an Umbral shard?

"Yes, we shall. I do need to send this message off, and the sooner, the better." Obsidian trotted inside.

Quick message. Send. Go to visit with Miss Pinkie. Return home. Should be easy enough...

The post office was small, but bright and cheery thanks to a number of posters and potted flowers. At the counter was a very somber-looking mare wearing a postal outfit. Her visible cutie mark was a pretty flower in a pot, with a dark raincloud over it, pouring drops of water into the pot.

"Welcome to the Ponyville Pony Express office, my name is Tulip Downpour; how may I be of service on this fine, fine day?" The words were kind, but she sounded and looked as though she were bored almost to the point of falling alseep on the job; her attitude reminded Obsidian a bit of Mica's, excpet he looked casually neutral. This pony looked as though the entirety of existence bored her to her very soul.

For a place that looked more positive than the post office in the Silver Shores Community had, the mare working here seemed to be the living incarnation of boredom. At the mere sight of her, Obsidian had to fight off a yawn.

"I would like to send a message to the Silver Shores Community, addressed to Pri-... er, to Luna, and I'd like it to get there as quickly as possible, please. How much does paper cost here?"

"Two bits for four pages - and no, we don't sell two sheets for a bit, because if you wanted to send a letter, you should have brought your own paper." Still in that same listless monotone - was she possibly a distant relative of Mica's or Maud's?

"I didn't ask if you sold two sheets for a bit," Obsidian grumbled to herself, irritated.

Jynx grew a look of ire, reached into her own ruffle of chest fur and pulled out an entire pad of lined notebook paper. "That's okay, Siddy," she said a touch loudly, as if to make a point of it to the postal worker, "this one's on me."

The mare behind the counter didn't even flinch.

"Thank you kindly, Jynx. Okay, let's see now..." Honestly, if she'd ended up with sheets she didn't use, then she would simply give them to Gypsy - no big deal. Why did this mare answer the question Obsidian didn't ask, especially in such a snide manner? Some ponies, apparently, were simply unreasonable.

The message was fairly short; she simply informed the princesses that her siblings were in Ponyville and Diamond was already free, that they were under Princess Twilight's protection, and she'd found a number of spells for protecting against mind control. In other words, she informed Luna that there was no more need to stop her from dreaming, especially as she sorely missed her dear sister Ruby.

"Hopefully, that should be good enough," she reassured herself as she took her coinpurse from her saddlebag to send the message along to two specific ancient princesses.

The mailmare looked at the simple letter, then at its' twin that appeared when Jynx snapped. Unfazed by the suddenly-appearing letter, she looked up at Obsidian. "Six bits for normal post; fourteen for same-day delivery. Overnight is ten bits, but we only do overnights on the weekends."

"Why?" Jynx asked bluntly.

"So our mail carriers don't have to worry about nighttime airspace traffic being thick as the week's usual. Yes, even at night, ponies travel through the air."

Jynx looked a bit chagrined at Tulip's manner, but the mare hadn't really done anything mean or bad, so the draconequus was restraining her want to snap at the mare. And by 'snap', she might not have meant her temper...

Well, it was a little costly, but most likely worth it. Obsidian really needed to get it to Luna before her next sleep. She took fourteen bits out of her purse. "The same day, if possible. It's rather urgent."

The mare looked at her flatly, nodded, took the payment and the letters and placed them into a bin marked 'Urgent: Same Day'. From there, she looked up at them again. "Anything else?"

"Yes, in fact," Jynx said as she pulled out a giftwrapped box that was bulging at the seams; whatever was inside was barely contained, and looked as though it would simply burst at any given second, "I'd like to address this to Canterlot Palace, please, care of the Royal Guard, addressed to Prince Shining Armor."

Most mailponies might give such a package a skeptical look; Tulip simply looked at it, unflinching, then said, "Eighteen bits for regular mail, which includes shipping insurance."

Jynx grumbled to herself as her tail came forward and deposited the proper amount on the counter, each bit stacked on top of each other neatly. Once finished, Tulip took the bits and pressed a stamp to the package that said [HANDLE WITH CARE], leaving the words stamped across the bulging top.

"There," Jynx grinned, "errand done, right?"

Okay... just what was Jynx sending? It didn't look safe...ly packaged.

"Yes, that's all here," Siddy nodded, "now - straight to go see Miss Pie. Would you want to walk a bit more with me... or do you possibly have something more important to do?"

Jynx grinned. "Alas, though I would adore accompanying you to see the Pies, I'm afraid that duty does call - I'm headed to the Cloudsdale Rainbow Factory, to provide them with some interesting colors for their next creation. It's a side-job, but work is work, so I'm bound to it. But, I will say, it has been enormously entertaining to chat with you... and you have such a dark and witty sense of humor!"

Jynx gave a bow, then turned and looked into the sky for just a moment. "I appreciate your company, Siddy... and, for what it's worth, I would love to get to know you more. I do hope the feeling is at least somewhat mutual?"

Obsidian grinned in response. "Oh, but of course! I'll hopefully get to spend more time with you in the close future. I always like to spend time with my friends - especially if there are no zombies, Umbrals or any of my siblings. And of course, there's also this game you've invited me to. I'll keep in mind to ask Cupcake for details, as I'm sure he'll gladly explain to me... well, everything."

Jynx smiled... almost ferally. "Oh... I hope he doesn't explain everything about it... you'll see." With an enigmatic smile, Jynx gave Obsidian a light wave. "Ta, Siddy - 'til next we dance!"

With that, she reached down and tugged on her tail; she then rolled up like a windowshade, and the rolled draconequus vanished in a puff of smoke that smelled vaguely of honey and burnt toast.

So if Cup was participating in this game, then it surely wasn't dangerous, right? Even if it would be, then he would certainly alert Obsidian about anything worrisome, so she should be safe... but mayhaps draconequui just were a bit too powerful not to worry when they started smiling in a specific way.

Obsidian was glad they were friends now - neutrality was OK perhaps, but the mere thought about a potentially hostile Jynx was not a pleasant one. Luckily, it didn't seem as though she had anything to worry about... except for her siblings, of course. Maybe her schoolwork - though with saving the world and all, maybe she deserved a bit of a break?

Enough - onto visit with Miss Pinkie Pie, then. And where does one look for a pink party pony? Why, at Sugarcube Corner, naturally! Where else would she be?

During her walk to SCC, it gave Siddy a bit more time to herself. With everything she'd experienced lately, precious time on her own to just think could be something she needed more than she realized. And through all of that, the realization of Diamond began to come home; she really had another brother, and he was kind and good - unlike many of her other siblings. How he maintained that kind nature in the face of what her father had done to them was a mystery, but it was certainly a most refreshing change from attempts at murder or false faces.

Perhaps the answer could be found in the order of their creation - after all, their father had been using parts of his own soul. From what she could tell, Radiant Hope helped him with the first of his creations - for reasons unknown.

What if Diamond was actually made from the portion of her father's soul that held his kindness? What if Sombra turned into the monster that everypony knew because he used up all his positive aspects to create new life? It was merely a theory, of course - but worth researching. Hopefully, Ruby would know something more... or perhaps Tourmy would.

It was a true shame that Peridot had been silenced for all eternity; with his brains he could easily have solved many of Obsidian's problems.

Didn't her father supposedly have some notes about all of this? Princess Twilight had mentioned something about notes, or a diary, yet had never produced them for Obsidian's perusal. Maybe it was time to make an official inquiry into their status? Still, it did bring up another question; if Diamond held Sombra's kindness, what about Tourmaline? Amethyst? Ruby? What about herself?

Of course, it was quite possible that Diamond didn't hold ALL of Sombra's kindness - he could have saved something for Ruby. And there had to be something which qualified as not too malicious in Tourmaline (he may have tried to kill her at first, but he adapted quickly to Equestrian life). In Amy's case, however... well, she probably had something rather nasty inside her.

As for Obsidian herself... she simply had no idea.

Sugarcube Corner looked only a bit busy; a mare leaving with a box of cookies, another stallion going in with a look of anticipation on his muzzle. From a glance in the front door, Peppermint was working the counter today; she was cheerily smiling as she fetched a box from a nearby shelf for the hungry-looking stallion, pointing at the price on the register. The stallion paid up, then took his goods and skipped merrily out of the bakery, grinning happily. Pepper seemed to watch him go, then turned and buried her muzzle in what looked to be some sort of science magazine, with what looked like a mechanical bird on the cover.

Ah, perfect! Perhaps it would be possible to discuss plans with Peppermint as well. Obsidian trotted happily towards her.

"Hello, Peppermint! How's it going?" She checked around to make sure she wasn't interrupting any other customers. It was a shop, after all - she didn't want to disturb any actual business going on.

The rest of the shop smelled delightfully warm and tasty, but there were no other customers there; they were alone, more or less. Pepper smiled and waved when she recognized Siddy, then gave the Dark Princess a smiling wink to indicate how things were going. Apparently, she was working the counter alone today. She wore a bowler hat, and a pair of round-lensed glasses with green lenses - though neither one seemed to be able to rein in the massive thatch of curly red mane that spilled out from practically everywhere it could on her scalp!

"I only hoped to meet your mom, but now that you're here... I'd like to ask: do you perhaps know anything about 'Pola Industrial'?" Obsidian really planned to just do her own private things today, but she really couldn't overlook an opportunity to deal with some of the more important stuff - like her siblings planning an apocalypse, for example.

Pepper nodded eagerly, then grabbed up the magazine she'd been reading, and turned to a specific page. On it, there was a picture of what appeared to be a very modern-looking mine, with a number of mechanical devices in view, all being tended to by workers. The artcle read:

{Pola Industrial: Work Smarter, Not Harder}

The Milkcan Mines, site of some of the biggest finds in recent Equestrian history, are benefitting from some of the most top-notch industrial equipment to assist them in their mission. For the past few years, Pola Industrial has proven time and again to be an innovator in the realm of mining equipment, and has produced a number of machines that take much of the danger out of traditional mining. These devices have safety measures that make them safe enough for foals to operate, yet effective enough to be employed by mines across the nation. Mechanical technology like this has been more and more prevalent since the inception of Pola Industrial, proving its' validity in the modern marketplace-

The article went on, but on another page apparently. Pepper grinned as she displayed it, happy to share what was so fascinating to her. She pointed a hoof at the article, then at Obsidian, then lifted an eyebrow in interest.

Well, Obsidian certainly approved of that - smart work was better than hard work... which meant that smart AND hard work would be completely and totally awesome!

"l suspect that my sister could work there - I was hoping to investigate it soon. Perhaps you would be interested in joining us? I haven't planned anything specific yet... but I will, sooner or later."

Peppermint's eyes practically bugged out of her head. She slowly, deiberately pointed at the article, then at herself, then back at the article with a look on her muzzle that was practically begging Obsidian to please, please not be messing around with her on this.

"I'm dead serious, Peppermint - you have no doubt heard that my siblings have a tendency to behave in rather non-friendly ways, so I wanted to investigate it. I'd need somepony who knows something about modern technology, because most of my own knowledge is rather... let's say, 'obsolete'."

Peppermint wore a stunned look on her muzzle, but she carefully set the magazine down, then came around the counter and slowly embraced Obsidian, nodding happily as she did. Once done, she stepped back and made a motion like she wanted Obsidian to speak further, spinning her hoof in a circle between them.

Oh. Uhhh... that was pretty much everything she'd wanted to say at the moment. How to expand on that..?

"We have proof that Pola Industrial illegally works wth Dark Magic. Considering that my sister, Opal... Opal, Pola, yes THAT is what she calls it... is very skilled with technology, I'm somewhat afraid she could be working on some sort of machines fueled by Dark Magic." Would it be enough to tempt the earth pony's sense of curiosity?

Pepper jumped as if she'd been bitten, then grew a troubled look as she picked up the magazine and began flipping through it manically, until she reached a particular page, where she opened it and pointed at a picture there.

The picture was of the outside of a large warehouse, and there were a number of ponies who were busy moving what looked to be a heavy crate into it. In the foreground, there was an exceedingly thin and lanky-looking unicorn mare who was wearing a hard hat and looked as though she were speaking out loud to those moving the crate. She looked intelligent, especially with her spectacles on, and her expression was one of someone who didn't seem to care much for waiting around for things to happen; she looked like a go-getter.

The caption read: {Industrial genius Shaded Pearl directs the latest piece of her project into the Pola Industrial Warehouse; though she keeps her projects hush-hush, she assures us that what she has planned for the future will be 'amazing to behold'.}

Pepper pointed at Shaded Pearl again... and with a bit of looking, it was obvious to Obsidian that the mare shared a few traits with the rest of her siblings. Namely, the slight red in her curved horn - proof positive of her being a direct relation to Sombra's shards.

Obsidian still had the picture of her siblings she took with her to the Silver Shores Community - and it was time to bring it out. She reached to her saddlebag for said piece of paper.

So dear sister Opal apparently had become somewhat famous. A mare of great success, really - luckily Onyx didn't cooperate with her during the Umbral Invasion; with an army of mechanical monstrosities, they wouldn't even need undead Umbrals, who had turned out to be rather squishy, though exceedingly numerous.

Sure enough, glasses and all, there was Opal. In Diamond's drawing, she looked a bit sheepish, though her smile was sweet enough. She looked like the sort of mare you might completely overlook, unless you knew who she was. Peppermint looked at the drawing closely as Obsidian brought it out. At one point, she placed a hoof on one of the pictures - a stallion - and looked at her with a question in her eyes.

"Those are my siblings, Pepper - ten of them. I'm obviously not here because I was isolated from the rest of the world... for some mysterious reason..." Obsidian rubbed a hoof against her temple. "I'm trying to identify all of them... let me think... That's not Tourmaline, Diamond or Peridot. It's also not Quartz... so this brother of mine must either be Aquamarine or Jade," she deduced.

Whomever it was, they were quite solid and severe-looking. The muzzle was one that looked stoic and firm, one that a loner hero might wear. Pepper looked at Obsidian, then at the picture, then back at her again... then blew a sigh of exhaustion, holding her hoof to her belly as she looked over how many siblings she had. She probably thought they were born traditionally, and was feeling sympathy pains for their mother.

Well, even if they were born traditionally, there was simply no reason why they would come from one single mare. A bastard like King Sombra would be able to use slaves for his wicked deeds, after all. She would need to ask Tourmy about that mysterious brother in the picture. "All of us were crafted, not born. Dark magic and crystals, you see," Obsidian said to try to calm her a bit.

She cocked her head to one side, looking at Obsidian curiously... then, she removed a pencil and pad from the counter, and made a quick sketch. Finishing, she showed it to Obsidian. It was what looked to be a small, black crystal - strangely enough, it looked almost exactly like one of the crystal shards she'd just liberated from the Crystal Empire, not long ago.

Obsidian looked at the sketch, then at Peppermint. "Er... yes. Have you ever noticed something like that before?"

Patty nodded, then went over to the register, where she retrieved a saddlebag with a stylized gear for a buckle. She opened it and rummaged around a bit, then pulled out a small, flat and shiny disk. She held it up for Obsidian's perusal, then pointed at Siddy's horn... then at the disk. Did she want her to pick it up with her magic?

Obsidian had only come here to talk with Miss Pie. She was a mother of her beloved coltfriend and, as such, Obsidian felt a need to maintain a good relationship with her. What was more, she wanted to be a good marefriend; asking Cup's mom what to do should be the best way to become better, yes? "... is there... a shard inside it?" she asked very carefully.

She shook her head no, then pointed at Obsidian's horn and back at the disk again. Then, she made wavy motions from her own forehead, as if trying to pantomime magical energy coming from it. Then back to the disk again.

Obsidian activated her horn and held the shiny thing with her magic; if there was no shard inside, then it should be safe... right?

The disk began to spin very rapidly, and Obsidian experienced a weird 'doubling' of the area around her; it was as if she was seeing another world, yet the one she was in could still be somewhat seen through the illusion.

"Okay, Your Majesty - he signals that we have visual."

"Good; I want this captured for posterity, as I'm hoping whatever we find in here could be put on display in a museum somewhere - and having the actual recording of its' discovery would be special!"

The first voice, she didn't recognize... but the second one was, without a doubt, Princess Twilight Sparkle. But the thing that made Obsidian's spine shiver was the location she saw...

She was in the crystal tunnels, right around where her own room was.

Well, that certainly wasn't something she expected to discover when she went to meet her (hopefully) soon-to-be-mother-in-law. Just how was Pepper able to come across this? Why did she have it? Maybe the princess gave copies to the other Element Bearers? But it was apparently important. And the technology - ah, the technology was marvelous! Far more advanced than mere cameras.

The view seemed as though it were directly from whomever was recording this; it looked around, then seemed to focus on Twilight for a bit as she walked and gave a lecture about the Crystal Empire's history. During that speech, the camerapone's view went to the princess' posterior about six times, lingering there for as long as it could until he thought he'd be caught staring, when he looked away.

When they rounded the corner, Twilight's horn lit up with a ring of energy, and a pulse rolled outward... and revealed the hidden door to Obsidian's room. The alicorn stopped short. "Wait... the tunnels weren't supposed to be this developed down here... I thought these were supposed to be unused tunnels?"

She lit up her horn and apparently used some sort of opening magic on the door, examining the threshhold carefully before turning to look back at the camerapone. "Ooooooh, we might have found something new! Oh, this is so excitng!"

She carefully pushed the door open... and the lot of them stared into the room. It was basically as she had last seen it... except for a single detail. In the middle of her desk, there was a small, black crystal shard on a wire stand.

Twilight saw the shard and walked over to investigate. "Oh, aren't YOU pretty? You look like someone wanted to take good care of you, little crystal. I wonder if you're magical..?"

Twilight non-chalantly picked up the shard with her magic... and it began to glow. "Uh-oh... ummm, that's not good..."

The camerapone's view shuddered a bit, then grew bright white as the glow from the shard overwhelmed everything else. When it faded out, there on the floor was Obsidian herself, fast asleep.

"... what in the wide, wide world of Equestria..?"

The camerapone caught a quick glance at Twilight's flank, then focused on Obsidian's sleeping form. She looked peaceful and serene, even if she also looked like she was one meal shy of starving to death. The camerapone then focused on Obsidian's flank for a moment.

Whoever was recording it, apparently really liked flanks.

Obsidian was somewhat terrified by the sight of... well, her own shard form. It was just so small, so fragile, so... artificial. She could have been turned into something like that and not even remember it - come to think of it, she couldn't remember how her father had turned her into a crystal in the first place, or the moment when she was released.

And let's be honest, it wasn't too bright of Twilight to just grab the mysterious crystal she'd found in Sombra's dungeons. If she would have picked up Jade's shard by accident... well, it would have ended with a lot more casualties. Luckily, it seemed Harmony was protecting her.

"... damnation, I looked terrible," Obsidian muttered to herself.

Twilight stared for a moment, then she called out in a shaky voice over her flank. "Shiny? I think we have a problem here!"

Into the room came Captain Shining Armor; he looked proud and regal, and seemed to be ready to deal with any situation at a moment's notice. He came forward, his grey mane and beard shot through with blue, and eyeballed Obsidian carefully.

"Princess, you might wanna be elsewhere, in case she wakes up in a cross mood. What do you want done with her?"

Twilight pondered a moment. "Find out who she is and why she's here - maybe she's some sort of missing link? But be careful; there's no telling how long she's been like that, so she may be disoriented when she finally wakes up."

"I can do that, Twily. You just be ready to-... HEY! Are you staring at my sister's flank!?"

The sight cut off immediately, and Siddy could now see a curious Peppermint standing there... along with Pinkie Pie, who was doing an uncannily perfect impression of Peppermint, sitting right next to her.

"So... was it a good movie?" Pinkie asked.

Author's Note:

UGH, this chapter was so long... but I couldn't find what I felt to be a proper place to cut it in half, so I simply left it together like this. My apologies that it took a bit to come together, but I finally managed to get through it.

'OldTimer's' disease? yeah, I'm sure you can guess the parallel in our world - and to know that Discord is going though it? Well, it possibly explains why Jynx isn't around very much, if she's tending to her father - which, by the way, I thoroughly enjoyed coming up with all of Jynx's different nicknames for him.

What fourth wall break?

The idea of the Dracolony actually came from a few different sources, but it was an *INSTANT* decision to make it a crime to visit, and to let the locals punish the wrongdoer - honestly, what better way to scare the Tartarus out of would-be explorers? But it's at least nice to know Discy and Jynxy aren't alone.. right?

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