The Trinity of Moons: Mending Shards

by Cloud Ring

Chapter 52: Reintegration

↯↯↯

The ponies were silent. The Red spoke with bouts of passion, but not much thought or coherence. It was often distracted and sometimes just fell silent. Then Solid Line or Fluttershy reminded it of the last words, and ever so slowly the story came to an end.

“I have a few questions,” Solid Line broke the silence, “I believe it overall but some clarifications are in order.”

Dartline interrupted, "By the way, I have a question for you. How did you wake up? Who helped you? Was it really the Red, as Blackie hoped?”

“Yes,” Solid said without even trying to smile. The smile could be frightening.

Dartline glanced at the Red, and it answered the unasked question, “I did not interfere with Solid Line’s use of my time. Time is plentiful here. I watch all the doubles of the world. For each beat that passes on the other side of the mirrors, here I have as much time as I need, and more.”

Fluttershy came closer to her, “Maybe it's not just that?..” And with these words, standing next to Red, the pegasus winked at Solid, clearly having no such skill.

The unicorn nodded, “Okay, I will tell my story too. If your question was more than the cue to keep the conversation alive... It may be useful as we consider what to do next. When I tried to resolve Dispassion’s paradox around the fact that the Trinity needs to be remaining, destroyed and changed, it was much less of a calculation, and more of a conversation with my shadow,” she nodded to Fluttershy, “Turned out she knows a few more pieces of the global picture, and after a while we started to figure this out… Here is how it, roughly, was.”

∿∿∿

“Do you want to fight the Red?” Fluttershy asked. These were not her first words, but the first question — until then she just listened to Solid Line’s outline of the problem.

This is an easy question.

“No.”

“But it does,” Fluttershy replied.

Solid got it after a beat, “Does it want to fight us, or itself?”

The pegasus made a little nod, without a word.

They walked along the paths of the Forest. The steady sound of the ocean accompanied them, never subsiding to silence. Solid Line was worried that the Red could put her to sleep, despite all her protection from dreams, and everything that happens is in fact nothing more than a long dream, one of those inside which it tortures ponies. Maybe that's why there had been no Signal nearby.

Solid shared this concern with Fluttershy, who shook her head.

“You aren’t asleep and have no dreams, in a common sense. The Red has no power over you. You won't come to yourself until you find an answer. It’s just... you and Dispassion don't know enough to solve your problem... and you are in a deadlock to solve it anyway… as in hibernation of sorts?” Fluttershy said.

“You know the answer, but you want me to guess myself?” Solid clarified, aligning her steps on an uneven path of fir-needles.

Fluttershy shook her head. The narrow paths have all but disappeared among the dark trees that come together and hang over them. The cold, lumpy branches intertwined so that they almost had to crawl one after another along a narrow dark arch, almost a tunnel, pressing to the ground.

Solid got out first, dusted herself off, and helped Fluttershy crawl out, which was more difficult for her because of wings. The resin stuck to the fur.

“This is probably a metaphor for how difficult the task before me is?” Solid asked. She wanted to joke, but Fluttershy's look was serious and sad. The pegasus again slowly shook her head.

Heavy raindrops of recent downpour fell from above and, when Solid was looking closely, the world around was still composed of green neon symbols.

This did not prevent her from feeling the body and being a living pony. Background processes, as if in ‘do not disturb’ mode, did not reflect the likelihood that Fluttershy was offended, and did not even show the temperature and humidity of the air. Solid Line already knew that it was pretty chill around there — enough to envy the pegasus with her cold and moisture resistant coat. And, in general, she could see that there was no resentment in Fluttershy.

They helped each other clean their coats, and it was sensory too. Not so much pain — Fluttershy was very careful — but a viscous aftertaste of resin where it was, in fact, gone. In response, Solid also attempted to superimpose her magic pattern neatly, and chose neither fire nor air but precise touches of void, in order to separate what was striving to be whole.

“Why are you a weapon against the Red?” Fluttershy asked.

Solid Line replied, not losing the rhythm of her magic, “I wanted to avenge my mother. Also, I did it for Black Moon.”

“Do you remember her?” There was a strange hope in Fluttershy's soft voice.

Solid Line reached out for memories, and where there used to be familiar clinging darkness—

—now was everything. Smell was the wormwood scent of Igni’s perfume, sometimes with an admixture of blood. Sight was a golden, huge, warm wing over Solid Line’s back. Hearing was a low voice, always with a hint of grumpiness. Movement was a race for two along a wide, free lane, with no chance of winning, only hoping to catch the wind in which Igni Line lived forever, if only for a few beats. Taste was blackberry ice cream split for two and eaten nose to nose, the dessert sharing color with mom's close-up eyes. Touch was the warmth next to Solid right after dream terrors that are forgotten while mom stays at her side.

Apprehensive waiting — constant, nagging, clawing at heart, as Igni always either was not there, or was going to leave soon again. She felt neither abandoned nor neglected, and Igni Line did care about her filly all the time when she was actually around. Still, too often ‘not there’ became a single possible answer for a ‘where is your mom, little one?’

On top of that Solid Line knew that among many, many quiet waitings for mom’s return there will be one when she will just not come back.

Then a time came for an undeniable, icy knowledge that, indeed, mom will not fly in, never again.

Because the Red murdered Igni Line, and Solid was too weak and knew too little to protect her.

The memory was lasting, curling up in multi-colored loops; there was too little and too much of it, and Solid Line could not and did not want to turn away.

She exhaled; the reply was curt and precise, “Yes, I remember.”

This was a small fraction of the truth. The one Solid could say without gasping for breath.

Fluttershy let out a barely audible sigh.

“It's okay. Will you be okay by yourself?”

“Yes, I will,” Solid Line nodded.

She was not quite okay and soon most trees around her were either cut by her blasts or eroded through their cores by black void of her longing. The latter was her magic too but fueled by raw emotion rather than calculated patterns. She dodged the falling giants by intuitive teleportation, at the same time tracking if Fluttershy would get inside the projected impact area, in these cases arranging a secondary teleport wormhole right beside the pegasus, allowing her to step in.

Fluttershy did not interfere. She was diving into these side-steps without much commentary, and never attempted to fly. With each charge released from Solid’s horn the pegasus frowned and mouthed ‘ouch’, and often called for patience or offered a hug if needed. She did not get too close; and Solid Line needed no hugs either.

Then it didn't hurt so much, and Fluttershy asked, her voice guilty; Solid Line noted that she does in fact hear this guilt without a prompt, "Can we... talk about the Red?"

Solid chuckled vaguely.

“Did Black Moon say that She wants to destroy it, or that you should do it?” Fluttershy asked.

Solid looked up through the records of all conversations with Black Moon by keywords, and replied, “Good question... I thought so, but in fact, it seems, no. It was I who wanted to kill the Red, I came up with the idea of ​​a weapon, and Black Moon only helped me finalize the plan, but She never said that She approves it. Or that She wishes me luck. Or that She will support me along the way. She only confirmed that the weapon, encrypted in my memory, is effective.”

Fluttershy nodded, “There is no death for immortals.”

Solid raised her head sharply, “You mean my effort is futile?”

Fluttershy hugged her, “No! Not at all. Do not despair, please.”

Solid teleported away from the embrace, and the pegasus looked sad, "Sorry," was almost inaudible, and after that, “I— I was wrong to start this way. Please excuse me,” Fluttershy said. “You might succeed. Nopony used a weapon of word and truth against the Moons before. Nopony knows what will happen next. Maybe Time will decide that the game is to be paused until the Red is able to play again. Or it will sum up the results and appoint the winners. But most likely the cube will be disassembled to its original position and hidden in the closet, along with all of us. The Red came to play another game... Are you following me?..”

Solid nodded. She really listened, but did not understand a thing yet, “What game are you talking about?”

“About history and aspects. This is similar to the game you've probably seen. Where stones are placed on the field. And here, too, you can remove your stones,” Fluttershy paused and waited for Solid's nod.

“Yes, I know, and I played it. Three-dimensional version of Weiqi, yes? In flat one there is no self-removal...”

The pegasus smiled awkwardly and went on, “You can step back, against the flow of time and fix something. But every change— with every restart, something becomes inevitable. The very first thing, if I remember White's words, She wanted to understand and hear Her sister. Whatever that means... And then, every next change must keep everything that became inevitable before, you see? With this game you can wage war. The Moons are at war, that much we all see— but before the Red came, the game was not a war at all! White and Blue were growing the world in peace, learning Their aspects, getting used to them... and after the Red, it became a war for control over the field. In your head is a weapon for this war.”

Solid nodded, “So, in short, you want me to ask the Red to stop fighting. Plain and simple task.”

Fluttershy nodded, “Yes. Give up war, explore the universe. Remove its stones. Accept its defeat. Make an agreement with rivals, set common goals... This is not exactly the board that you might have seen in stores, even if the field looks like it! This is the universe, each cell an eternity in itself. Time would not mind that They no longer bother it with rewrites... Maybe this will solve your problem — the world will get more liberty, as a few rules can be canceled.”

Solid nodded, “So it’s not a metaphor. You mean there is actually some kind of game that is played by the rules.”

“There is, and Time oversees it and complies with its turns. And the moves of the game change the world, or vice-versa,” Fluttershy nodded, “That's right.”

Solid shook her head, “Sounds crazy. But if so, then we need to stop the war... so that the Moons can cancel the turns, and the Red would not immediately occupy free zones that would appear. Now I understand. Even if your picture is wrong, we came here to end the war anyway. But how can we persuade the Red?”

“Maybe... give up your weapon first?” it was a question, and at the same time a petition, or even a plea.

Solid shook her head, “I can't. Black Moon and I have already outlined the sigil. Thus, while not yet in its entirety, this Word will not disappear ever again even without me. What was inscribed will be embodied. It is inevitable. Even if I forget it. Especially if I forget it.”

Fluttershy stared at her, long and intently.

“Could you promise not to say it? And... can you forget it? If you remember who you were before. You have already begun to remember—”

“Then I will forget it,” Solid Line nodded, “And the Word will be unleashed from the crypt of my memory, and will find its target sooner rather than later.”

Fluttershy sighed, “Then I'm sorry... I shouldn't have bothered you, then ”

Solid Line stepped towards the pegasus and tried to correct herself, “No, no, Flutters, everything is fine! I do not want and do not intend to say the Word, I will say so to the Red. I will try to abstain from my revenge. If death of the Red could lead to the world really coming to a halt, then— mom would definitely not want that. She was a kind pony, for all the fight that lived in her,” Solid took a deep breath and continued, “And I will ask the Red to stop the war. If you are telling the truth, then it actually resolves the paradox.

“And I will offer it my life if the Red would decide that it is possible to eliminate the threat this way... that is, if the Red still does not believe that my death will only unchain the Word, not destroy it. You gave me insight, and— next time you would help me, warn me in advance, please. I am not annoyed, it was just a tad impolite. My new memory is there by your effort, right? And I did not explicitly ask you for it.”

Fluttershy nodded, without a word.

“I think we can afford some more memories,” Solid Line suggested, “If I start to lose my Word, I will warn you and we will stop, okay?”

Fluttershy sniffed and soon they moved on. From the Forest to the melon field that was stretched to the horizon, then to the house in it; to the primary school; next to the treadmill. Not a single pony anywhere to be found; neither Dotted Line nor his wife, but Solid Line never really needed them. She was breathing in subtle scents, was sometimes touching the walls while they were in an empty cottage; she felt the smooth floor and soft ground beneath her hooves, and the reality of her memory was true because nopony ever truly forgets anything.

She was not, and never will be, the same pony that once was in these places — or could once be — but, for now, she could remember past-Solid, smile, and imagine that she was standing or walking next to that ghost, reclaiming her memories one piece at a time.

She was no longer angry either with past-Solid or with herself.

As the Word of Disentanglement began to blur in her mind, she told Fluttershy about it and they, unhurried, returned to the Forest. The answer for the paradox was clear; they would offer the Red a place in the Trinity -- or, rather, Unity of Moons.

↯↯↯

“So, this is what you came up with and it is a serious offer, not a joke?” the Red asked, its tone notably curious.

Dartline commented, “I am still pretty sure this is a very bad idea but whatever.”

Fluttershy whispered, “Please.”

“I have a different solution but it is important only if you will not agree on the one proposed,” Signal Line finished.

Comments

[Numinos]

There were a lot of Lines mentioned : )

Huh, interesting, I thought before that the Moons rewrite rules of the game as they go, so to speak, but without time jumping. But it's only logical at this point.