Chapter 12: Invisible Connections
If all my warnings throughout the previous sections of this book have somehow passed you by, then I will take this opportunity to be blunt. The purpose of this book is not to explain the various attributes of the Elements of Harmony and the underpinnings of how they work in order to educate, entertain or instruct. The purpose of this book is to make the case that the Elements should not and must not be used except in the most dire of circumstances. Those circumstances being the certain annihilation of all life in the universe.
Let me be additionally clear: Every use we have put the Elements to save one have failed to meet this criteria.
The reason for such a strict condition of usage? Because anything less would not justify the damage using the Elements causes. We can solve all problems with the Elements. We can solve any problem with the Elements. Yet we must not use the Elements, because the mechanism of that solution is abhorrent, unthinkable, and utterly, utterly devastating.
If, after all that has already been revealed in this book, you need more convincing, then read on. Read on and learn the truth of the Magic of Harmony.
-From the opening paragraphs of the sixth section of Harmony Theory by Twilight Sparkle
Chapter Twelve: Invisible Connections
Star Fall was freaking out. The rain poured down in huge, cold drops that set her shivering, but she was barely capable of noticing. They had just fought Nightmare Umbra. The Nightmare Umbra. A being that had taken two Goddesses becoming one with the cosmos to defeat originally, and she had blasted at it with her inefficient spell-sheet based combat magic.
“I’m going to be sick,” she said, not intending it for anyone in particular. A moment later she made her pronouncement true, falling to her knees and retching up what breakfast she’d had. She kept gagging and dry heaving for a while, only stopping when Astrid’s warm wing fell over her in a comforting hug.
“We beat her, Fall,” the Griffon assured her. “You did good.”
“I don’t... Astrid,” the pegasus said, clutching at her friend. “Did you see what she did? Do you know how much power she was using? This storm? That... that...” She waved a hoof vaguely at the place where the massive chunk of the plains had been used as a supersonic weapon. “How did we win? How could we even... I don’t ... I can’t.”
“Sshh. It’s good, alright? We managed it, we’re still here and she’s not,” the Griffin kept her voice low and soothing, letting Star Fall cry into her feathers as she shook. “If you need to lose it, now’s good. You kept it together in combat, Fall. I’m proud of you.”
“I... I did, didn’t I,” Star Fall said, smiling up at Astrid.
“Yup, bravest little pegasus I know,” Astrid assured her. There was a choked sound from where Dash lay staring up at the storm. “You don’t count, superpony!” Astrid called over, then turned back to Star Fall. “We gotta get back to the capital, Fall, but if you need scream a bit you can do it now, I won’t judge.”
“She was so strong, Astrid,” Star Fall said, shivering again. “So strong, and she said that wasn’t her full power! She could do ... all of this, and she wasn’t at her best!”
“I’d probably take that as sour grapes,” Astrid assured her. “She was getting her butt kicked, and she was kinda arrogant about the whole thing. That kind of person doesn’t like it when they’re beat. It's like a bully getting stood up to at training camp. They start to boast that they’ll be back, but this time they’ll bring their big clanmates and you'll be sorry! Me, I know that if you aren’t going to be serious about a fight the first time, then you shouldn’t be fighting at all. Even if she does come back with more power, we’ll beat her again.”
“No,” Star Fall said, pulling away from Astrid. “No we won't. You’re thinking about her as if she’s another pony or Griffin. She’s an immortal. A Goddess. She didn’t take us seriously because why would she? What reason could she possibly have to see us as anything more than insects to be crushed or ignored?"
"We will win, Fall," Astrid said, golden eyes hard. "We've seen her now, what she can do. She caught us by complete surprise, and we still sent her packing. If she shows up again we'll be ready, and I promise you it'll go just like it did this time."
Star Fall hung her head and sighed. "She’s not dead, right?”
Astrid shrugged. “I doubt it.”
“So we pulled out the stops, tore her apart, put holes in her, everything we could think of, and all we did was make her step back for a bit. She surprised us, we surprised her back. We didn’t beat her, Astrid.”
“Fall, we sent her packing. That’s beat in my books.”
“No, it’s...” Star Fall shook her head, trying to think of a way to explain it to her friend. “She’s not a pony!”
“Yeah, got that message loud and clear,” Astrid said.
“No!" Star Fall stamped her hoof in frustration. "You're still thinking of her as if she were a pony. She’s not a pony, she’s an army.”
"An army?"
Star Fall nodded. “All the Magic Talents and Telekinetic Talents in the Kingdom working together couldn't have accomplished this as quickly as she did," she waved again towards the wide field of devastation all around them. "If this was only a part of her power I can't even imagine what she's capable of at full strength. She alone, right now, is as strong or stronger than a full regiment of our military. So she's not a pony, she's an army. She’s a foreign nation that has declared war on us. If you think of it that way, what was this?”
“A skirmish,” Astrid said, frowning as she thought about it. “A probing strike.”
“And we fought it off. What comes next?”
“Full-scale assault. Invasion. War.” Astrid’s grim tone said volumes on how she felt about that idea.
“This is... Astrid, this is big,” Star Fall said, shivering from far more than the cold rain. “Nightmare Umbra hasn’t been seen in twenty years, and last time she destroyed a battalion in the Republics before vanishing. This time she chose to attack Dash. Just Dash. And we surprised her and fought her back. This isn't like last time, or every other time she's appeared. This isn't random, wholesale slaughter or destruction, this was targeted."
"Why?"
"I don't know," Star Fall said, staring like a terrified foal up at Astrid. "But I think I have an idea."
"What is it?" Astrid asked, coming close and extending her good wing to keep the rain off of her friend. "I'd take your guess over anyone else's certainty any day of the week, so if you think you've got this figured out..."
"I don't," Star Fall said. "But I think I'm beginning to. She has this much power already, but she said she would return with her full strength. She wasn’t lying, I'm sure of it. But we already know that. We know that she isn't at her full power because her full power is sealed away in the Everstorm. A creature like her wouldn't bluff, there would be no point to it. She told us the truth, she’s going to regain her full power, and soon.”
Astrid's eyes went wide as the implications hit her. “We’ve got to get back to the Capital,” she said, breath coming faster. “If you're right, if she is going to return at full strength, we have to get the army ready. Fortify the cities, arm the population.”
“No,” Star Fall said. “We have to keep going.”
“What? Fall, you just said she was a fucking enemy nation that declared war! Screw Cash! Getting an army is clearly the priority here.”
“No! Astrid, don’t you see?" Star Fall pleaded. "That’s what she wants. Why did she stop us now? How does she know about Dash?" Star Fall's gaze turned inward as her mind raced across the possibilities. "Rainbow Dash is connected to Cash through these digs. We head towards one and the Shadowed Alicorn just happens to show up specifically to kill Dash? That's not a coincidence. She was trying to keep Dash away from that dig, trying to stop us from hindering Cash. This one's going to be something important. He’s going to be at this dig, and there’s going to be something happening there. Something that might be giving Umbra back her power. Something we have to stop.”
“That’s pretty thin reasoning, Fall,” Astrid said.
“Maybe," Star Fall allowed, wings drooping. "But think about it. Why else? What's the simplest solution here? What makes the most sense? That the Nightmare just randomly was in the area and decided to kill us, or that this is all connected, like it always has been. Dash, the digs, us, Cash, Umbra. All of these are part of a puzzle that’s coming together right in front of us. If we don’t go now, we could be missing something that will make it all clear. Worse, we could miss our chance to stop Umbra from regaining her full power. We have to keep going.”
“I agree with Star,” Dash said, flipping to her hooves with barely a wince of pain. “I don’t know about everything else she was saying, but you don’t turn tail and run just because the road gets a little rough.”
“A Goddess tried to kill you, Dash,” Astrid deadpanned. “That might be more than a little rough.”
Dash shrugged. “Nothing I haven't faced before.”
“And you don’t have magical rainbow-shooting necklaces or Twilight fucking Sparkle to back you up this time,” Astrid snapped. “If we hadn’t shown up you’d be paste. This has gone way beyond Gamma’s cloak-and-dagger shit. This is bring-on-the-army time. I say we turn around and don’t stop ‘till we’re in front of the King and surrounded by Steelwings.”
“Astrid,” Star Fall said, laying a gentle hoof on her friend. “We can’t take the chance. The stakes just got too high.”
Astrid let out an angry shriek to the sky, but her shoulders slumped. “Only for you, Fall," she sighed. "Dash! Are you up for running?"
Star Fall breathed a small sigh of relief. If Astrid had insisted on going back to the capital, she wouldn't have been able to force the issue.
"Uh, I'm pretty beat up," Dash said, looking back at her dirty and bruised body.
"Can you keep up with me and Fall?"
Dash snorted. "Yeah, sure. You two aren't exactly winning any races."
Astrid rolled her eyes. "Good enough. We do this quick and dirty then. We get eyes on the site, see if Cash is there, message Gamma, then book it back home. We're way behind schedule, so we'll be there by nightfall at the earliest. I want to be heading back to the Capital by sunset, and I'm not going to budge on that one. Are we clear?"
"Yes ma'am," Dash said, laughing for a moment before trailing off into pained coughing.
"I'll need to get a close look," Star Fall said. "If what he's doing is empowering Umbra we have to know."
Astrid narrowed her eyes. "I can't walk in there with you, Fall."
"I managed it last time, outside of Orion City," Star Fall pointed out.
"That was then, this is now, and we've got an angry Goddess gunning for us."
"I'll take Dash with me," Star Fall said. "She's fast enough and strong enough to get me out of there, even injured like she is. You've seen what she can do, you can trust her with me."
"I can't trust anyone with you, Fall," Astrid whispered, barely loud enough to be heard over the rain. "Fine. Get as close as you need to, but get out fast. I don't want to have to come in there and save your butts."
"You won't have to," Star Fall assured her, grinning. "Come on, let's grab the supplies and get going. We've got a long run ahead of us."
"Got that right," Astrid snorted, and the three of them set out into the rain.
***
The room Calumn and Blaze had been tossed into was clearly meant for storing boxes instead of prisoners. Calumn could see about eight different ways to escape it before considering what could be accomplished by using mind-magic on the guards. He didn't try anything, though. There was no way to tell if there were additional defences beyond the walls of the room, so he would have to gather more information before he could guarantee that he and Blaze could make it out safely.
Their guards followed Charisma's instructions to the letter. Calumn and Blaze were given food and water, and allowed to relieve themselves, but were kept tied up and under watch the whole time.
Calumn spent much of the time huddling against Blaze, as if seeking protection in his larger form. The guards had snickered at this, and Calumn had caught a few lewd remarks, but nothing overt. Which was worrying. If these had been mere thugs, the kind of hired goon that you could pick up off the street of any major city, he would have expected them to be a lot more leering and grabby. With their demeanor and their calm attention he was sure they were trained soldiers. Anyone with serious discipline training was difficult to establish a mental hold on, though it was easier to maintain once that hold was in place.
The fact that they were guarded by professionals also meant that Cash was investing serious resources into wherever they were, and Calumn had to be extra-careful not to alert them to his true nature. That was the first reason for huddling against Blaze, it made him seem small, weak and insignificant. They were more likely to overlook him so long as he was playing the frightened mare.
Another reason for his keeping close to his friend, it allowed them to talk quietly without the guards being overly interested in what they were saying. So far their conversation had been limited to Calumn reassuring Blaze that they would get out of there, and Blaze reassuring Calumn that he believed that and wasn't worried. Calumn drew strength from his friend's trust, and while he was no longer receiving a steady flow of love, trust and friendship were enough to let him slowly gain strength as the hours passed.
The room had no windows save for the door, so it was hard to tell the time, but Calumn's internal clock said that they had been in the room through another night. No one had come to question them, the guards changed shifts every four hours, and the food was served by the same ponies watching them. If it weren't for the constant noise of work that came clearly through the thin metal walls the place might have seemed deserted.
Sometime around early morning something strange occurred. Calumn didn't know what it was, but his magical senses caught the edges of something massive and rage-filled. He couldn't help but look at the wall in the direction he felt the huge power coming from, wondering what it could possibly be. Minutes later the entire room had shook as a crack like close thunder rattled the walls, and the feeling of power and immense, furious anger faded away. Blaze and the guards hadn't reacted except to the room-shaking noise, so it was clearly a magical phenomenon, but Calumn had never felt anything like it. In truth he hoped that he'd never feel anything like it again, especially not any closer than he was now. Whatever it was, it made his blood chill.
The rain had started shortly after that, pitter-pattering against the metal walls and roof of the room in little bursts at first, but growing into a full-on deluge in short order. The shouts from outside indicated that the rain was wreaking havoc with whatever work was being done here, and there were calls for barriers and sandbags to keep the flooding down.
Around noon the door opened to a trio of those professional guards. One of them pointed at Calumn. "Get up, you're going to answer some questions," he said.
"Hey, why not me?" Blaze asked. "I'm really good at Q and A stuff. I can answer all sorts of questions! I've been told that I'm the very model of a modern information sponge. I..." One of the guards kicked him in the head.
"Blaze," Calumn said, whispering to him. "It's okay. I'll be okay."
"You sure?" he asked, rubbing at his bruised head.
"I am. Trust me."
"Okay, see you soon," Blaze said, letting him get up.
The guards escorted Calumn through the narrow metal hallways and out into the rain. Calumn kept his head down, but made sure to look at everything he could.
As he had expected they were in another of Max Cash's dig sites. this one was larger than the one near Orion City had been. The entire side of a large hill had been shorn away, and a townful of pre-fab metal buildings and large tents were arrayed in front of the artificial cliff face. A half-dozen boxy watchtowers rose above the other buildings, dark-clothed ponies looking out from their open sides. Bright spotlights illuminated the excavated hill through the murk of the storm, and Calumn could see what they had uncovered. It was a building, ancient and long-buried, only the face of it jutting from the surrounding dirt and rock. A large square door stood open and dark, leading deeper underground.
Teams of ponies pulled carts of rocks and soil out from that door, clearing out the debris from the excavations going on further in. The rain turned the torn-up ground to slick mud, and even more work crews were building sand-bag barricades or stringing up tarps in an effort to keep the excavation from being flooded.
Calumn caught sight of Conrad talking to a few of the workers, a bright grin on his face as they listened to whatever he was saying with dark expressions. Calumn still had a connection to Conrad, though it was faded and wouldn't last the day, and through it he could feel the fear in the unicorn. It was still that strange fear of a colt caught with his hoof in the cookie jar, though none of it showed in his expression or posture.
All too quickly Calumn was back inside, getting shoved into another room. This room wasn't empty, though. This room had two chairs in it, one more sinister than the other. The first was the standard sort of metal chair you'd find bundled with these pre-fab buildings. Simple, utilitarian, uncomfortable as hell. The other was bolted to the floor.
Calumn put up the expected amount of resistance as the guards forced him into the chair, binding his legs and even tying a rope around his neck that kept him uncomfortably upright and prevented him from leaning forward. He tested the restraints, finding them well done and perfectly inescapable for anyone without a horn or able to change size at will. Calumn contemplated escaping right then and there, but he didn't know if he could get to Blaze before they hurt him, so he decided to bide his time.
The guards left, and Calumn was shut in the room with only a single bare bulb for light, tied down and barely able to wiggle in the chair. He knew the interrogator's playbook inside and out, and he knew that isolation and anticipation could break most people far better than any actual torture could. Changelings were actually very vulnerable to isolation, but only when they didn't have a source of emotion to draw on, and only if left for prolonged periods of time. It was actually the only real way to question a Changeling.
Changelings were otherwise the worst sorts of creatures to subject to interrogation. All interrogations required the interrogator to form a relationship with the subject. Theoretically that relationship was always one-sided in the favour of the interrogator. However, to a Changeling such a relationship also created a channel for them to feed from the interrogator and know their emotions. Changelings could then use this channel to influence their interrogator, gaining more and more power over them until the whole dynamic reversed itself.
There had been tales of Changelings caught and subjected to intense questioning, only to have their supposed torturers assist in their escape, often defending them to the death. It was for this reason, among others, that the Kingdom didn't capture Changelings or allow them trials. They were too dangerous when given time, dangerous enough that the brutal response of unleashing the Griffins was entirely called for. Even Calumn had to admit it was the only smart thing to do.
So he sat and waited and hoped that whoever was sent in to torture him knew proper interrogation techniques. Amateurs never understood the importance of establishing a relationship in getting a pony to talk.
Finally, after what was probably two hours of waiting, the door opened again. Calumn's hopes sank when he saw who walked in.
"Hello, little spy," Charisma said with a bloodthirsty grin. "Let's talk."
"Please, I don't know why I'm here," Calumn pleaded, wide-eyed and tearful. "Please, I haven't done anything to you."
The blow came too fast for Calumn to see. It caught him just under the ribs, Charisma's hoof jabbing in and cruelly twisting. Calumn rocked in the chair, muscles spasmed as he tried to curl up on himself but was prevented. For a long moment he couldn't breathe, mouth working but lungs refusing to inflate. Finally the paralysis that had gripped his chest faded and he was able to suck in a breath. "Wha... why did you do that?"
"You were whining," Charisma said, stepping up to stare into Calumn's eyes from only inches away. "You whine again, you don't get to breathe." Calumn focused on playing the frightened mare. Charisma was not the kind of interrogator he could influence. As far as extracting information went she was as amateur as they came. She was, however, extremely good at causing pain. "You understand?"
"Yes," Calumn said, vigorously nodding in the little bobs the rope around his neck allowed. "Yes."
"Good." Charisma's smile could have been mistaken for beautiful if it weren't for the deadly gleam in her eyes. "Why were you questioning Conrad Sherman?"
"Questioning?" Calumn said, cringing. "No! I was just trying to get laid! I didn't know he was involved with you, whoever you are! I swear!"
Charisma set one hoof on Calumn's left shoulder joint. She pawed at it twice before settling into place. "Don't lie to me," she said, then pressed her hoof down. Calumn's eyes bulged and he thrashed, trying to pull away as an intense pain shot across his torso. It felt like an extreme muscle cramp centered on his shoulder, one that was getting worse as Charisma pushed harder. It grew to such strength that he was almost afraid that she was going to wrench his arm out of its socket, but she pulled back and he sagged. "Why were you questioning Conrad Sherman?"
"I wasn't! I swear I wasn't!" Calumn said, letting tears well up in his eyes and gasping for breath. Charisma laid her hoof back on his shoulder. "No! I swear I'm not lying!" The pain came again, just as intense and lasting longer than before. "Please! Please stop! I didn't do it! I didn't!" Calumn wailed. Charisma's hoof caught him in the torso again, robbing him of breath while the first hoof continued to cause intense pain in his shoulder.
"I thought we agreed you weren't going to whine anymore," Charisma said, leaning in close and lapping at the tears that fell from Calumn's eyes. "Though, by all means keep up the lying."
Finally she pulled away again, letting Calumn slump as much as the restraints allowed. "Okay, okay. I was questioning him. I was," Calumn said, shuddering and twitching. "I wanted to know... I wanted to know what his business was... so I could... so I could blackmail him?"
Charisma rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. Right knee this time." She placed her hoof on the knee of Calumn's right rear leg and twisted. Again the pain was intense and there was nothing he could do to mitigate it. This was Charisma's art. Not her Talent, but certainly connected to it. Calumn screamed and mentally settled in for the long haul. She wasn't going to break him, not with mere pain, but he had the feeling this was just the warmup. Eventually she would get bored and leave, and then Calumn would have his chance. He just hoped he would be in the shape to take advantage of it when it came.
***
The ashes of the Nightmare flew across the Kingdom, carried on an artificial jet stream that skirted the bounds of what wind was capable of. They passed over towns and villages, unseen save for a vague shadow in the clouded sky that left a chill of dread in its wake. When the ashes reached the Capital they dropped from the wind, spiralling down like an apocalyptic snow towards the tall buildings of the city.
Finally, the ashes came to the balcony of Twinkle Shine’s penthouse. The ashes swirled about themselves, a small tornado of shadows and embers, wrenching the doors open with a flare of dark magic, then rushed into the estate. Black fire and golden light flashed from within the spinning mass of the ash cloud, and it began to take a definite form. By the time the cloud had reached the ritual magic room it had taken on the shape of a unicorn mare.
Once inside, the pony-shaped ashes gained more definition, becoming solid and heavy. In a flurry of motion the ashes peeled away from the body of Twinkle Shine, becoming a screaming cloud of darkness that poured itself into her open mouth. Within moments the darkness was gone and the Professor collapsed, coughing and retching on the floor.
“Get Up,” the Nightmare growled at her.
“Give me some time to recover at least,” Twinkle Shine wheezed out.
“There Is No Time For Weakness.”
“There’s always time,” the Professor replied, lying still as her coughing eased.
“The Plan Failed.”
“The plan might have worked better if it had been followed,” Twinkle Shine pointed out.
“Her Knowledge Cannot Be Allowed To Spread.”
“Agreed." Twinkle Shine lay still for a long moment before drawing breath to speak again. "She knows about Luna, she knows about the Elements, she knows about Discord.” Twinkle Shine shivered. “She nearly performed a Sonic Rainboom. That isn't something a mere construct can do. Evidence for her story is mounting fast.”
“It Is Impossible.”
“No, just very, very unlikely,” Twinkle Shine wearily pushed herself up and looked into the mirror. The Nightmare’s hard gaze met hers, showing none of the fatigue she was experiencing. “I need more information, which is what the plan was supposed to supply.”
“Time Grows Short.”
“I can afford to wait.”
“I Cannot.”
The Professor hung her head. “Just a little while. A few weeks, that’s all I’ll need. Star Fall is taking her to Spike, I can show up there, test the resonance. That should tell me everything I need to know.”
The Nightmare’s eyes narrowed. “Very Well. But Should The War Begin...”
“I will keep to the arrangement,” Twinkle Shine promised. That was enough for the Nightmare, and the glow faded from the Professor’s eyes. She lit her horn in order to see, the golden light thin and guttering in her exhaustion. She staggered from the room, stumbling through the penthouse to her waiting bed, and collapsed into a black sleep.
She was awoken by a pounding on the front door of her penthouse. She startled up, legs scrambling and horn lighting with defensive magic. It took her a long moment to realize that the pounding wasn’t the Nightmare’s heart beating its violent rhythm in her ears. Once she had calmed, she sighed and trotted on heavy hooves to the door.
She quickly worked the lock, but before she was able to open the door herself it was pushed open and an unwelcome friend shoved her way into the penthouse. “Where the hell have you been?” Gamma demanded, kicking the door shut behind her.
Twinkle Shine winced at the sound, a headache beginning to throb behind her eyes. “Here. Sleeping,” she said, her tone full of undisguised annoyance. “Which I would like to keep doing. Why...”
“We have no time for pleasantries. Grab whatever you need, you are leaving,” Gamma said, eyes darting around the penthouse hallway. Her demeanour was nervous and tense. She seemed scattered and distracted, which was something Gamma never was.
“What’s going on?” Twinkle Shine asked, alarm creeping into her tone.
“This morning there was a major magical event,” Gamma said. Twinkle Shine did her best to feign surprise, but she knew her exhaustion dulled the reaction. She should have expected that Gamma would be on her the moment she returned. “It buried the needle on every thaumograph from here to the coast. Every Magic Talent felt it, some have had to be hospitalized. I felt it, Twinkle. Where. Were. You?”
“I was in my ritual room,” Twinkle Shine said, frowning. “It’s warded heavily. If I wasn’t doing high-magic experimentation, I probably would have noticed it through the wards. As it is, I didn't feel a thing.”
“That would explain why the locator spells I’ve been having search for you have come up empty until an hour ago,” Gamma mused. Twinkle Shine nearly groaned. An hour of rest was nowhere near enough. “Fine. The King is calling for counsel. I need you with him.”
“Of course,” Twinkle Shine said, nodding. "Isn't a Griffin escort normal for an emergency summons? Why are you here yourself?"
“Because I've redirected the escort," Gamma replied. "They'll arrive in minutes. I need you to know what's happened now, before you panic in front of the Crown,” Gamma said.
Twinkle Shine frowned. "Why? What's happened?"
“The Shadowed Alicorn has returned.”
Twinkle Shine froze, eying Gamma carefully. “Are you sure?”
Gamma’s hoof came up to touch her scarf, and the scar beneath it. “Absolutely." She brushed past Twinkle Shine, rushing into the penthouse and up to the Professor's room. Twinkle Shine had no choice but to plod after her. When she got there she saw the room alight with the blue glow of Gamma's magic, grabbing various items and throwing them into a saddlebag. "It gets worse," Gamma said, not even looking at the Professor as she worked. "This is why I need you to hear this now. The epicenter of the magical event is about where I expected Star Fall to be today.”
“What?” Twinkle Shine put as much feeling into the exclamation as possible. Long years of practice allowed her to fool even Gamma’s acute observational skills, but it helped that the spymaster was distracted.
"Twinkle, she's alive," Gamma said, turning to the Professor and laying a hoof on her shoulder. “Locator spells are having a hard time locking on to her at this distance, but we have confirmed that she is alive, and still moving towards her goal,” Gamma stepped back, but kept eye contact. “Whatever Nightmare Umbra was doing, she was in the middle of it. She was there, Twinkle, and she's still keeping to her mission. That means that she thinks the mission is more important than getting news of the Shadowed Alicorn's return back to us. Your student is no fool, Twinkle, and if she thinks it's that important she must have a damned good reason."
This genuinely shocked Twinkle Shine. She'd expected Astrid at least to force them to return. What was Star Fall thinking? "What? You have to get in contact with her! Order her home!"
"I can't," Gamma said. "Too much magical interference, too much distance. That's why I’m taking three squads and a military transport and heading out there myself. I need you to stay with the King. He has to be protected in case something happens, and he needs to be kept in check. At least until I can find out what’s happened.”
“Why?”
“You know his obsession with Alicorns better than anyone," Gamma sighed, shaking her head as she hefted the full saddlebags onto Twinkle Shine's back. "News of Nightmare Umbra will only make it worse. We are poised on the edge of war already, this will only increase tensions. Worse, he might think he can use her,” Gamma took a deep breath, shuddering. “The Nightmare can’t be used.”
“Gamma, calm down. This isn’t like you.”
“You’ve never seen her, Twinkle!” Gamma snapped, rounding on the Professor. “You’ve never felt her power wrap around you and start to squeeze the life out of your body. You’ve never seen what she does to armies. I have. She’s back, and the King will be all too eager to do something stupid because of it. We, you and I, we are the ones who have to stop that from happening.”
“The Shadowed Alicorn isn’t all-powerful,” Twinkle Shine said, hoping that her inner voice was listening as well. “And the King isn't a fool. He will respect Umbra as the danger she is. You know that. Why are you so worried?"
Gamma hung her head. “I’m frightened,” she admitted. “There are invisible connections between these events. Things I'm not seeing. I’m sure of it. Rainbow Dash, Umbra, this damn inevitable war. All of them are connected, I’m just not sure how!”
“You’ll figure it out,” Twinkle Shine assured her. “You always do.”
“But will I do it in time to stop it?” Gamma asked. She grimaced, face tightening in anger. “Max Cash. It always comes back to Cash. He is the glue that holds this whole thing together. He was there twenty years ago, and I never found out why. Now Umbra has returned, and he’s involved again.”
“It’s just a coincidence,” Twinkle Shine sighed. “You have no evidence of connection, and you of all people know what jumping to conclusions will lead you to.”
“It isn’t coincidence,” Gamma insisted, head coming up. “There’s too many layers to this problem to be just coincidence.”
“Maybe so, but you’re not going to peel them back by panicking in my hallway.” Twinkle Shine sighed, leaning over and touching her horn to the other unicorn’s. “You know the Shadowed Alicorn better than anyone, and you know conspiracy when one is hiding from you. Would she be working with Cash?”
It took a long time for Gamma to answer. “No,” she said finally. “None of her behaviour, historically, has been consistent with her acting in any way but utterly alone. She has too much power and too much arrogance to work through proxies.”
“Okay. So if she’s not working with Cash, what other possibilities are there?”
“Rainbow Dash," Gamma said immediately. "She is another common element, and an explicitly unusual being. The Shadowed Alicorn could have been targeting her. Or been her.”
“I highly doubt Umbra was going around disguised as anyone, let alone someone as ridiculous as Rainbow Dash,” Twinkle Shine pointed out. “Why would Dash be a target?”
“A pegasus from the past? Any number of reasons. She could be a threat to Umbra, she’s claimed to have defeated Alicorns before.”
“A claim that, like everything about her, should be taken with a grain of salt,” Twinkle Shine advised.
“There is a third commonality,” Gamma said.
“What?”
“Star Fall.”
Twinkle Shine shook her head. “My student is special and precious, but hardly in the same league of notability as Rainbow Dash or Nightmare Umbra.”
“She is, to a certain subset of the population. A subset that happens to have both wings and a horn," Gamma said. "The King wants her to bear a Goddess. What if Umbra is attacking her to prevent that?”
"How would Umbra know about the King's delusion?"
"How would the Goddesses know about anything? I've heard the lectures, Twinkle, she could have found out any number of ways. My point is that if Umbra is trying to prevent it, it might not be so delusional."
"It is," Twinkle Shine said, tone brooking no argument.
Gamma snorted. "Fine. Too many possibilities, not enough evidence for any of them yet. Speculation is useless without more information." There was a loud screech from outside as the expected Griffin escort arrived on the balcony. Gamma stared hard at Twinkle Shine, her professional mask once more slipping into place. "I don't know what's going on anymore. Until I do, I can't properly advise the King. You will have to be the one to keep him constrained."
"I'll do what I can," Twinkle Shine promised.
"Good," Gamma said. "For my part I will protect Agent Fall to the best of my abilities. Your priority needs to be the King. It will do no one any good for you to be fretting over your student."
The Griffins knocked on the door. The wards were programmed to let them pass if they needed to break in, and since this was a summons from the King they would do so if they thought it would hurry her up. "Keep her safe, Gamma."
"Keep us all safe, Professor," Gamma said, then turned and cantered out of the penthouse.
Twinkle Shine watched her go, letting the Griffins get more insistent in their knocking. "What have I begun?" she asked, her voice absorbed by the darkness all around her. Then, gathering her weary body, she walked to the balcony and her summons from the King.
***
"What are they doing there?" Dash asked.
"Digging," Astrid replied. "Always digging."
They were lying just behind the crest of a hill about a mile out from Cash's dig site. Astrid and Star Fall were using binoculars to scan over the excavation. Dash had used them for a bit, but her unaided sight was good enough to catch most of the details without them.
The cold, drenching rain made Dash's wings heavy and her sore muscles ache, but it had to have been worse for Star Fall. The white pegasus was holding up surprisingly well, though. The run here had been a miserable one, but Star Fall hadn't even uttered one complaint, focusing on the path ahead with a determination that made Dash smile.
"Yeah, but what are they digging for?" Dash asked.
"We don't know," Star Fall said. "I'm hoping we can use this opportunity to find out."
"Security's good, but this rain's hurting them worse than us," Astrid said, pointing a talon down towards the sentry posts they could see. "They've got no visibility out here, especially with all the lights pointed at the ... whatever that's supposed to be."
"Looks kinda like a barn," Dash said.
"Or a municipal building of some kind," Star Fall mused. "A library or a town hall. A permanent structure that could take the strain of being buried like this one obviously was."
"Whatever it is they're more interested in keeping it lit than giving them a good view of their perimeter," Astrid said. "That's good for us. What's bad for us is the teams of guards they've got wandering around. These are the real deal. I'm seeing Glyphs for Strength and Toughness on the earth ponies, and a few for Speed among the pegasi. They've got body armor and visible weapons, and they're moving like they know how to use them."
"Nothin' we can't handle, right?" Dash asked, grinning.
"One on one? Yeah, we can take them. In groups? No," Astrid said. "We're not in the best shape already, and any fighting we do will bring the whole compound down on our heads. Worse, the asskicker might be around."
"Asskicker?" Dash asked.
"Charisma, Cash's chief enforcer," Star Fall clarified. "Ex Kingdom Special Forces. Her Talent is usually described as Combat. Fighting her is not an option."
"We just beat up an Alicorn this morning, Star." Dash pointed out.
"Different thing entirely," Astrid explained. "Umbra had power and was the toughest bitch I've ever fought, but she didn't really know how to fight. She just stood there and took all the hits, being too damn invulnerable to care. We brought her down because she barely defended herself at all. Charisma's different. She doesn't have fancy magic or super regeneration. She's all physical combat, and very, very good at it. Any one of us could outrun her. Dash, you and I can outmuscle her. None of us can outfight her. The only way to deal with her is to avoid fighting her, use our advantages to go around or trap her."
"Oh," Dash said, frowning. "I could take her."
"Don't try, Dash," Star Fall warned. "We don't need to take the chance."
"Hey, it's cool. I won't be looking for her or anything. I just think she can't be that tough," Dash said, raising her hooves defensively. "Anyway, how are we going to get down there if we've got to avoid attention and there are all those guards?"
They returned to looking over the compound. "See those?" Star Fall pointed a hoof at the sandbags set up around. "They're keeping the water out of the dig. Something like that takes manpower to set up, and is disastrous if it fails. I can put together a spell that will knock that sandbag wall over. If that happens they'll have to scramble everyone they can to fix it. That'll thin out the perimeter for us."
"Fall, that's a lot of weight to shift," Astrid said. "Can you do that?"
"Not directly," Star Fall said. "But I can work on the soil under it, undermine the wall and it'll collapse. It'll take a couple hours, though."
"How many?"
Star Fall cringed. "Five. Maybe."
"Not good enough, Fall. We gotta be gone by sunrise."
Dash took a long look at the compound while her companions discussed options. She could see what Astrid meant about avoiding the patrols, and she thought that Star Fall's plan sounded good. She also thought she had a much better way of doing it than waiting five hours for a wall to collapse. "Guys," she said, quieting the other two. "I've got this."
"Dash, you can't just smash into it. They aren't supposed to know we're here," Astrid warned.
"What? I wasn't going to smash into it!" Dash protested. "Why would you even think that?" Astrid just shrugged in reply. "Look, guys, we're in a giant storm."
They looked at her blankly. "Yeah, and?" Astrid asked.
"And I can control the weather," Dash said.
"Oh yeah!" Star Fall laughed. "I forgot about that."
"Woulda been nice if you'd remembered this on the way over," Astrid said. "Saved us from running hours in the rain."
"I can't stop the storm, it's too big," Dash explained. "But I can direct it. Or, parts of it. I got this."
"Work your magic, superpony," Astrid told her.
Dash leapt into the sky, flapping hard and rising up to the clouds. She didn't go too fast, wary of the bright ethereal trail that would give her away if she did. Her sides and neck burned as she flew, overstressed muscles complaining after a long day of running that had started off with a thorough beating. She worked through it, barely acknowledging the pain was there.
She hit the cloud layer and moved over the compound, hovering and feeling out the storm. There was a lot of power up here, the remnants of Umbra's magic still clinging to the sky. The storm was no longer unnatural, though, just a result of the forces that set it in motion. As such it responded to Dash's prodding eagerly, lightning gathering about her in invisible, crackling static. She pulled one section of cloud away from the main body of the storm, compressing it down to a usable size and forcing all the lightning she had gathered into it. The dark stormcloud was then pushed into position, and Dash took careful aim.
She could just smite the sandbags directly, but she figured that wouldn't cause quite the ruckus she wanted. Instead she aimed for the legs of one of the watchtowers. It was metal and well grounded, so under normal circumstances it wouldn't suffer from a lightning strike. A concentrated blast of lightning from a pegasus-guided cloud no longer counted as 'normal circumstances'.
Dash bucked the cloud and it spat forth a bolt of blue lightning. The bolt hit the tower just about where Dash had wanted it to, destroying one leg and wrecking some of the structure of the others. The tower wobbled, then fell. It crashed into the sandbag line around the dig, as well as the tarp strung up above. The tarp came down, the sandbag wall was toppled and water began pouring into the excavation.
Instantly the whole compound erupted in motion like a kicked anthill. Ponies rushed back and forth as they tried to mitigate the damage that had been done. Dash watched with satisfaction as many of the patrolling guards also rushed to the scene to start helping. Mission accomplished.
She flew back down to Astrid and Star Fall, dropping next to them. "How's that?"
"Magnificent," Star Fall said, glowing awe in her voice. "We've got our window."
"Alright," Astrid said. "Good work, Dash. That's pretty damn impressive, even for you. I'll be out here, waiting. Remember, you two: stay inconspicuous."
"We will, Astrid," Star Fall said, then rose to her hooves. "Come on."
"See you soon, don't get bored without me," Dash said, laughing as she rose and followed Star Fall down into the compound.
***
Calumn sagged in the chair. The rope around his neck had been removed, but that was all the mobility he had. Charisma's torture had been some of the worst he'd ever experienced, mostly for the fact that she seemed to care less about what answers he gave than that she was hurting him to get them. He'd played his part, screaming and crying and making up any answer that he thought might get her to stop.
Fortunately she hadn't done any long-term damage. Every technique she had used inflicted pain, but little else. It was better than being cut open or having bones broken. He could at least move once the muscle cramps and lingering agony subsided. So when she had finally stopped he just sat and recovered, waiting to see what they would do next and watching for his chance to escape. There had been some sort of crash and commotion outside not too long ago, and he'd nearly taken that opportunity, but he'd still hurt too much to make a good run for it, and so had held off.
There was a knock on the door, which was odd since no one would have any reason to do so. After a few moments the door opened a hoof-width.
“Can I come in?” The voice brought Calumn’s head up. He’d heard recordings of that voice, and it always seemed a very ordinary one for inspiring such strong reactions in ponies. Hearing it in person he began to understand. It sounded off. Very slightly, below the conscious level, not wrong, just strange. As a Changeling, Calumn was a being who focused on those little details, absorbing them in case he ever had to imitate a pony. This was something he didn’t think he could mimic.
Max Cash slid into the room, looking around as if he was expecting someone else to be in there as well. “Hey, there,” he said, closing the door behind him and stepping over to the empty chair. He flipped it around and sat on it such that his forelegs rested on the backrest and grinned at Calumn. “Sorry about the noise outside. Just a few technical difficulties. Oh, and sorry about Charisma. She’s got some ideas about talking to people that involves a lot more punching than the rest of us are comfortable with. I’d talk to her about it, but it’s so hard to find good help these days and I don’t want to screw with a good working relationship. How you doing?”
“I’m ... good,” Calumn said, his voice as weak and thready as he could get.
“Really? ‘Cause I would have said you looked pretty bad,” Cash said, leaning towards him. “You want a cookie?”
“What?”
“I always feel better when I’m eating cookies," Cash told him with the air of someone divulging a personal secret. "Chocolate chips are my favourite, but my personal chef has started feeding me these raisin ones. They’re good, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes a stallion wants chocolate, dammit! So I sneak them whenever I get the chance, and I’ve got a few on me. Want one?”
Calumn knew all about forming bonds, and this was a classic technique for an interrogator to get his subject to identify with them and thus feel more open about sharing information. The police in the Republics called it ‘good cop, bad cop’. Charisma had been the bad cop, beating the hell out of him and demanding answers angrily. Cash would play the good cop, offering to take care of him, with the threat of Charisma’s return as incentive to take the offer. It was a good system, but it was a well known technique. Even though Calumn wasn't going to risk trying to control Max Cash himself, when you knew what was going on you could use known techniques against the interrogator.
Calumn nodded, and Cash’s magic pulled out a small brown cookie. He floated it over to Calumn, who was about to bite into it before he noticed the horrible smell coming off of it. Like formaldehyde and vinegar. “Is this poisoned?”
Cash chuckled. “Yeah,” he said, then tossed the cookie into the wall, where it shattered. “So, no cookies then. I was just offering to be nice, you know. Blaze has rolled on you, by the way. Took ten seconds, tops, before he was spilling his guts. Not literally, mind, because Charisma still holds a torch for him. She’s probably immolating him with it as we speak.”
Calumn didn’t know how to respond. Cash had virtually destroyed any chance to create a subject-interrogator bond with the poison cookie. Now he had switched tactics entirely, going for an attempt to isolate the subject from allies and indicating that they were already given up. It implied that the only way to make things better for the subject was to capitulate as well. This was, again, a well-known and highly effective tactic, but it was best applied with some finesse, which was not what was happening here. “I don’t think he has,” Calumn said.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Cash agreed, smiling amiably. “She’s still probably burning him, or cutting him, or something that hurts, but he didn’t roll over on you. Or maybe he did, I really don’t know. I’ll go have a chat with Blaze later, but right now I want to talk to you.”
“Why?” This was getting weird. Cash had casually discarded his second interrogator’s gambit and moved into entirely unfamiliar territory. If it was meant to get information from Calumn it wasn’t going to work, but if it was supposed to unnerve him then it was completely effective.
“Well, you know, sometimes a guy just has to talk. You like guys who talk, right? I mean, you’re with Blaze, after all. All huddling close and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ear. That guy can’t keep to a single topic for more than two sentences.” Calumn blinked, but Cash cut him off before he could respond. “Or not. No. You’re not ‘with’ Blaze at all, are you? Too bad, I have a lot in common with him, and I was hoping you’d warm up to me.”
“I’m not going to tell you anything,” Calumn said, playing defiant and hoping this would lead somewhere.
“Sure you won’t,” Cash said, nodding and smiling. “Tell you what, you don’t tell me anything, and I tell you a story. You like stories, don’t you? Of course you do, everyone likes stories. So sit tight, relax and listen."
Cash shifted his posture, laying his head on his folded hooves and adopting an expression of fond nostalgia. “My family lived in this little place in the country with the creatively brilliant name of Horseshoe Valley. The closest full Republic was Leo City, so we were legally in their jurisdiction, and realistically on our own. We didn’t get a lot of government interference, and not a lot of help either. Lots of farming in Horseshoe Valley, a bit of mining too, but mostly it was crops and livestock. There weren’t any theatres in town, so us colts and fillies had to make our own fun. Two thousand ponies, the whole of my world when I was young.
“My family was one of maybe three unicorn families in the Valley, and I was the only unicorn around my age in the whole place. Kids can be cruel to those who are different, and I counted. Honestly, I think it was good for me. If I hadn’t been so cut off from other ponies I might never have developed my magic and found my Talent. At the time, though, I was miserable.
“I had a couple good friends, though. One of them was Big Jim. Two years older than me and the size of a full-grown stallion by the time he was ten. When the bigger kids wanted someone to kick around he was the biggest kid in the yard, and he made sure they didn’t kick me. Me and Jim, we’ve been through thick and thin together. BGFF, Best Guy Friends Forever. Lots of hoof-bumps, no hugging." Cash laughed, grinning widely before continuing his story.
“Another friend was Swiftwind. He didn’t start out as a friend, but he was another loner, like me. He read so much, always hitting the books. He got kicked around a bit, and he blamed me for it. It was like it was my fault that the mean kids chose to pick on him, when they’d be just as happy to pick on me if they could. Swifty, well, he got this prank-war going with me. The usual kids stuff, but it was epic as far as I was concerned. Glue on the seat, buckets of water or erasers above doors, 'kick-me' signs, the whole deal. I gave as good as I got, and we spent so much time scheming against each other, trying to come up with the perfect prank. I’m pretty sure I won that game. Good memories, all around." He smiled wistfully while looking up into the air before continuing.
“One day, Swifty fell in the local river. This wasn’t a little creek, but a really fast-flowing and dangerous place. All us kids knew where the safe places to swim were, but Swiftwind had fallen into one of the dangerous parts. When they pulled him out of the water he looked so cold, so still. He got rushed to a hospital in Leo City, and for two weeks we didn’t hear anything about him. We thought he might have died. Big Jim and I tried to keep it together, but I could tell the big guy cried about it once or twice.
“Then, all of a sudden, Swiftwind was back. They said he had hypothermia and it had taken this long to recover, and everyone was happy. Even the big kids stopped kicking him around, and from then on Swifty was the darling of the town. Even though I was celebrating his return with everyone else, something about him seemed wrong to me. I tried to prank him, but he just took it. Didn’t try to prank back or anything. He said he just wanted to be friends. I nearly lost it. It didn’t seem like the same guy. But after I yelled about it one time I got talked to about traumatic experiences and how they can change someone.
“After that I got to know him better, without all the pranks and rivalry. Turns out that Swifty was a pretty cool guy. He really came out of his shell, started talking more, playing with other kids. He befriended everyone, big kids, small kids, nerdy kids, popular kids, and me. We were awesome together for a couple years there. Total gold. The experience every propaganda movie about togetherness and colthood camaraderie likes to portray. Even through all of that, though, I still felt like something was wrong. Like Swifty wasn’t who he seemed to be."
Cash focused his gaze on Calumn. “Well, one day I was proven right. We went down to the river to go swimming. I swear, it was like a total replay of two years before. Swifty fell in the dangerous part of the river, and he was thrashing and screaming. As I watched he just... stopped being Swifty. One moment he was the friend I’d known for years, the next he was this big, black thing. All fangs and sharp angles and legs like rotted cloth, full of holes. Crazy, huh?”
There was a long moment of silence as Cash stopped speaking. The quiet stretched out as Calumn began to realize that was the end of the story. “What was the point of that?” he finally asked.
“Basically, I spent two years being best friends with a bug. After all that, don’t you think I'd know one when I see one?” Cash asked with a grin. Then his horn pulsed with magenta light and a beam of magic blasted out, scouring over Calumn. The Changeling twisted and screeched as the magic burned into him, stripping his disguise away and leaving him in his true form. “There, isn’t that more comfortable?”
“Damn,” Calumn breathed, his entire body stinging from the spell.
“Oh, hey, there you are,” Cash said. “Let’s do introductions. Hi. I’m Maximillion Cash, but you can call me Max. What’s your name?”
“I’m not telling you anything,” Calumn said, readying his power. He’d have one chance to escape, and that was it. Cash wouldn’t be vulnerable to his power, any Magic Talent unicorn could fight a Changeling’s mind magic. He’d have to hit the guard, presuming Max didn’t just try to kill Calumn himself. He had enough energy from absorbing Blaze’s love all night and friendship most of the day that he could control two, maybe three ponies before it exhausted him, so he would have to make the first shot count.
“You’re not? Why, I’m shocked!” Cash said. “That’s really rude, a guest not giving his name to his host.”
“I don’t care about being rude to you. You’re going to kill me anyway.”
“I am?” Cash looked down at himself, feigning surprise. “You think I’m going to?” He started laughing, a wild, braying laugh that grated on Calumn’s nerves and cut off as quickly as it began. “Sure, maybe,” he said. “It’s definitely in the cards, but the fun of the game is that you never know what hand you’re going to draw.”
He hopped off the chair and began to stalk around Calumn. “Now, what’s a Changeling doing in the sunlands? Poking around my friends? Sure, but they can do that just as easily without the threat of Griffins back home. And impersonating a Secret Service agent? Tsk tsk, that’s going to get you in hot water.” Calumn said nothing, refusing to even turn his head to watch Cash circle him. “You know this was basically a suicide mission, right? Of course you do, your kind is trained to think of these things. Watch all the angles, see all the important decisions. You know the score: you get caught, you get dead. Well, you got caught, now you’re just waiting for part two of that equation.”
Cash stopped in front of Calumn, spearing him with his gaze. “What if I told you it doesn’t have to be like that? Would that interest you? What if I told you that I don’t have to kill you? That I could just let you go? I can, you know. I'm not a bloodthirsty Griffin, or some oath-bound government agent. I'm a private businesspony, I get to do what I want, and right now I’m in the mood to offer you a chance. All you have to do is break one little protocol. Give me one little secret.”
“I’m not going to tell you anything,” Calumn repeated.
“Not even your name?” Cash asked, leaning in close. There was something to his eyes that held Calumn fast. He couldn't have looked away if his life depended on it. “Give no answers, that’s what they told you, but they also told you to go to your death. You don’t do one, you don’t have to do the other. It’s that simple. Come on, what’s the price of your life? Surely it’s worth one. Little. Betrayal.”
Calumn stiffened. He couldn’t see a lie in Cash’s eyes. He couldn’t help but think it over. Straff had sent him to the sunlands knowing the danger, and had sent him with so little support he was practically asking to get killed. And for what? For a pegasus mare who may or may not have anything to do with a mere criminal. Why should he risk his life for something so trivial? Was Straff really so callous with Changeling lives? Did he simply not care? Did anyone? If they didn’t care about him, why should he care about them? What was stopping him from just telling Cash everything and walking away? His oaths? His hive? His loyalty?
No. He had no loyalty to them.
“Calumn,” he breathed. “My name is Calumn.”
"Hello, Calumn," Cash said, grinning and stepping back. "Nice to meet you."
Calumn reeled as Cash's gaze stopped holding him. He couldn’t believe what he had just done. He’d given up his name. A small betrayal, but one that should never have happened. It was like for that moment all his loyalties, all his ties had disappeared. Worse yet, he hadn’t felt any magic at work. Cash hadn’t cast a spell on him, hadn’t used drugs or torture or any of the ways to break someone. He had just spoken, and Calumn had folded. He had done it casually, almost like it was a game.
“Was that so hard?” Cash asked. Suddenly there was a sound from outside, cutting through the din of the rain on the roof more easily than all the machine noises had been able to. It was a keening scream, high, feminine and agonized. It wailed on for longer than seemed possible before trailing off into silence. A moment later an alarm sounded. “Huh,” Cash said, frowning. “That’s odd.”
There was a knock on the door, which opened to admit a guard. “Sir, we have intruders.”
“Really? I thought it was just cat-torturing time,” Cash quipped. “Please tell me Charisma’s on this one.”
“She’s apprehending the intruders personally,” the guard said.
“Spiffy. Well!” He turned back to Calumn. “We’ll have to cut this conversation short. But, hey! You passed the test! I don’t have to kill you. Ta-ta for now!”
“Wait!” Calumn called out before Cash could make it to the door. Cash froze mid-step, eyes turning to look at the Changeling. “How?”
“How what?”
“How did you know he was a Changeling?”
“Swifty?” Cash laughed, relaxing. “Well, my first clue was that he was still alive. You don’t go through all that trouble to drown someone without making sure they’re dead. Having him just pop up right-as-rain two weeks later was a pretty good indicator. Fortunately,” Cash giggled, grin wide and monstrous. “The second time was the charm.”
Calumn stared after him as he left and the door was secured again. He couldn’t still his shivering, couldn’t believe what had happened. He slumped in the chair, wide-eyed with shock and disbelief. Blaze had been right, there was nothing equine about Max Cash.
***
Dash tried to look everywhere at once as she and Star Fall crept through the compound. There were ponies rushing all over it, but things were beginning to quiet down for the most part. The damage Dash had done to the sandbag wall had been fairly easy to fix, and once they got a new tarp strung up their dig would be safe once again. All Dash and Star Fall had to do was figure out a way into the site and they could get a look at what all the work was for.
"So, how are we getting in there?" Dash whispered to Star Fall.
"There," Star Fall pointed at the place where workers were dropping off cartfuls of soil. "We'll steal some work clothes and sneak in with a crew."
"Won't they see that we're new?"
"In the rain, in the dark, when there's a hundred ponies running around?" Star Fall said, shaking her head. "Not as long as we keep our heads down."
They slunk around the side of one of the buildings, keeping to the shadows and out of sight of the patrols that were still making the rounds. "You really think this Cash guy is giving Nightmare Umbra back her powers?"
Star Fall shrugged. "I can't be sure, but it makes sense. I'd lay odds that he has something to do with it, even if he's not doing it intentionally."
Star Fall took a quick look around the corner before darting to the next building. Dash followed her and they pressed themselves up against the corrugated metal wall, listening carefully for the sounds of anyone coming up to them. Only a few more buildings and they'd be able to grab hardhats and work-suits without being seen.
"But something he did brought me here, right?" Dash asked.
"That's a working hypothesis, yes," Star Fall replied, carefully timing their next move.
"So is my being here what's giving Umbra back her powers?" Dash asked, worried. "'Cause if it is, why was she needing to kill me? Maybe I'm the key to stopping her now."
"Maybe," Star Fall said. "Maybe not. I wish I could tell you, Dash. I really do, but I'm as much in the dark as you are. More. You're the one with previous experience fighting Nightmares. Was there anything like this before? With Nightmare Moon?"
"Uh, no, not really," Dash said. They rushed across to the next building, Dash tripping a couple times along the way. "Nightmare Moon wasn't like Umbra at all. I mean, they're both crazy, but Nightmare Moon wasn't that serious about killing us. Most of what she did was aimed at getting us to give up and go home. Or betray my friends. The worst she did out of everything was drop us off a cliff, and with two pegasi, well, that wasn't really an effective strategy."
"Sounds like you got off really lucky, if she really was an Alicorn Goddess," Star Fall said, only half-listening to Dash as she watched another patrol.
"Well, I don't know about the Goddess thing," Dash said, leaning up against the wall. Her breath came in short, fast gulps. "But Princess Luna's definitely a real Alicorn."
Star Fall snorted. "Of course she is. She creates ... the ... night," Star Fall turned to Dash, eyes wide. "Luna? Nightmare Moon was Luna?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. I thought I had mentioned that," Dash replied.
"But... why? How?"
Dash shrugged, pressing a shaking hoof to her head as her vision blurred. "I'm not really sure, that's more Twilight's thing than mine. Something about jealousy and ponies sleeping at night or something. Anyway there was this big fight, and then she got stuck in the moon for a thousand years, then came back and we made her all better. So it's all good," Dash grinned at Star Fall with chattering teeth.
The white pegasus pulled her mind away from the implications of what Dash had told her as she took in the condition of her friend. "Dash, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Dash said, dropping to sit on the muddy ground. Her eyes rolled in opposite directions. "I'm having trouble seeing you, though. It must be... must be raining harder than I thought."
"Dash! Stay with me!" Star Fall said, grabbing Dash's face. "Come on, focus!"
"I'm good, Star," Dash insisted, even as her wings drooped and her body shook. "What's the big deal?"
"Head injuries," Star Fall said, the words sounding like a curse. "Umbra slammed you through a ton of rock. Of course you'd get a concussion!"
"I don't have a concussion," Dash assured her. "I know what a concussion feels like, and I'm not feeling it now."
"What are you feeling?" Star Fall asked, frantic. "Come on, tell me what's wrong!"
"I'm feeling... scared," Dash said, surprised at her own answer. "Really scared. Star, something's wrong."
"Celestia's day," Star Fall breathed. "Dash, your eyes are glowing."
"Oh, well that can't be good," Dash said. Her body stilled its shaking and her eyes focused on Star Fall. "Hey, Star, looks like whatever it was is ov..."
***
"I'm betraying you"
***
The scream filled her ears, louder and more pervasive than any siren. She listened to the scream, picking apart the many layers of emotion that wound their way through it. There was fear, yes, so much fear. There was also pain, the pain of losing something dear. Underneath both of those was anger, the hot kind of rage that burned fast and furious and left nothing in its wake but white ashes. There was more to the scream, sounds that couldn't be placed with their emotions because those emotions were just never usually expressed this way. She admired it, in a way, expressing so much with such a simple sound.
Rainbow Dash knew the scream was hers, but she had no idea why.
Finally the scream faded from her throat and she fell over on her side. The mud covered her and her right wing was trapped uncomfortably under her body, but for the moment she didn't think she could move more than her eyes. She looked at Star Fall, her fellow pegasus staring at her, blood dripping from her nose.
"Move," Dash tried to say, but her mouth barely twitched. "Get away."
Star Fall blinked, her entire body twitching violently once as if she had been awakened from a deep sleep. She scrambled over to Dash. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Run," Dash managed to whisper out. "Star, run!"
Star Fall heard her, rearing back and spreading her wings to take off. It was too late.
A pink blur slammed Star Fall into the side of the building, denting the metal wall. The scholarly pegasus let out a sharp scream and fell to the ground, curling into a pained ball. Dash looked up at her assailant, seeing a light pink pegasus mare with a cruel smile on her face. "Well, well, well," Charisma said, leering down at her two captives. "Isn't this interesting," she turned to the other guards who had rushed up. "You, bind them. You, help him. And you, find Cash, he's going to want to see this one," she kicked at Star Fall.
"Why her?" the guard asked.
"Come on, don't you know nobility when you see it?" Charisma laughed. "I just caught the Lady Fallen Star."
"What do we do with them?" asked the guard binding the still-unmoving Rainbow Dash.
"Throw that one in with Blaze," Charisma said. "Give him someone to play with."
"And the, uh, noble?"
Charisma grinned wickedly at Star Fall. "I'm taking her straight to Cash's room. Give the poor dear a cell appropriate to her station." Her laughter followed Dash as she was hauled away, control over her muscles only returning enough to twitch feebly.
"I'll save you," she promised as she was carried into one of the buildings, the words only a whisper but the intent a promise. "Just hang in there, Star. I'll save you." She kept mouthing that promise right up until they came to the makeshift prison, and she was thrown into darkness.
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shit was so cash
*hops around in circles* Yesyesyesyesyes!
Nice to finally see an update for this thing. I was starting to worry about long update times :P
Of course, Astrid would be a griffon. I mean, let's face it. She was a badass she-viking in HTYD, and now she's a griffon, which are just as battle ready and crude as vikings. Ahhhhhhh, perfection.
Shit boy
Dang, Cash is kind of badass.
This is put on my read later cause I have to sleep
but you had me at griffin... 
Things to take away from this chapter:
* Max Cash probably has a connection to Nightmare Umbra. Star Fall theorizes that Nightmare Umbra is attempting to prevent them from inhibiting the dig. She also suggests that Cash may be empowering Nightmare Umbra. Additionally, Nightmare Umbra last appeared twenty years ago, and Cash had some connection to her twenty years ago.
* The case for Dash being the real Dash is strengthened when Twinkle Shine points out that she was on the cusp of performing a Sonic Rainboom, which she feels is an indicator for Dash being the genuine article.
* The dig site triggered some sort of reaction in Rainbow Dash. Given that her reaction consisted of fear and anger, I would suggest that Dash is the one being betrayed, rather than the betrayer.
* The Elements of Harmony are so dangerous, they should only be used when reality itself is at stake.
* Max Cash is a sociopath, any chance of him being an anti-hero has been pretty much blown out of the water.
---------
Updates for Character Traits
Name: Gamma (Appears in Chapter 8: The Maul)
Species: Unicorn
Sex: Female
Coat: Dark green
Mane/Tail: Black
Eyes: Deep, dark blue
Talent Glyph: Intelligence
Magic Aura: Blue (Update)
Other Attributes: Short black scarf with red monogram
Name: Maximilian Oswald "Max" Cash (Appears Chapter 12: Invisible Connections)
Species: Unicorn
Sex: Male
Magic Aura: Magenta (Update)
Name: Swiftwind (Mentioned Chapter 12: Invisible Connections)
Species: Pegasus (?)
Sex: Male
Other Attributes: Colt
this story is pure excellence
i eagerly await further updates
And thus Blaze and Dash finally meet -- the two sides of this battle come one large step closer to being one.
Careful Dash, you might be a super pony but you are not invincible. Don't get cocky.
Cash broke a changeling in a interrogation. Scary.
Well, I can't help but throw my two cents in. Everything I'm about to say has probably been said before and by smarter people than I am but ... man, that's a lot of comments!
The Elements work by creating or empowering destructive forces. They do this by forcing an increase in 'good' which - balance dictates (assuming this is part of this world-view) - would necessitate an increase in the bad. That's why Luna was shot to the moooooooonah when used by Celestia but she was 'cleansed' when they were used by the Main 6 (Elements not used for a thousand years, threat level lowers). Then Discord was turned to stone. Increase in threat, increase in power. Which in turn increases the next threat. Discord did this because 'fun' is different to a multi-dimensional Elder One. Also because he wanted them used on other, lesser evils to increase his own power but did not foresee them becoming strong enough to be used on him.
Umbra is the Main 6, created by Twilight Sparkle and empowered with the corrupt Elements of Harmony in order to 'create the lesser of two evils' because of overuse of the Elements. I'm going to betray you. Whether this was done with the blessing of Celestia/Luna or not remains to be seen. Also, the weakening of the binds on Umbra might not have been anticipated even if it was sanctioned by the Princesses.
Cash is either a pure villain that wants the Elements to do ... something (Umbra a threat to his organization, wants their power, etc.) OR he's an anti-hero that wants a return to pre-Cataclysm Equestria and seeks the Elements to destroy Umbra and unify the Republic and Kingdom. Probably under his rule but self-sacrifice is not ruled out ('no matter the cost' type of thing). I'm still leaning towards Max being an anti-hero, TBH. He's just committed to his course and he removes 'problems' that come up.
As a side-theory to my previously stated one: The Elements (the physical ones) were locked away in the statues of safe keeping and as a 'contingency' in case the universe was threatened. When Jim Joseph Jimmy was killed, he had accidentally triggered the failsafe put on by Twilight Sparkle pre-Umbra (or maybe post-Umbra, she might have been working on the Umbra thing prior to locking up the Elements) which either malfunctioned due to lessened Magic or - darker - worked as intended. This failsafe was either never known (probable, would you want a potentially world-destroying artifact in your city?) or the knowledge of it was lost during the Cataclysm. I'm thinking it malfunctioned in some way or just never worked as intended. RD in future bleak-land was probably not what Twilight was going for.
All-in-all, I'm expecting that the Elements are going to be let loose but not used because either friendship or sheer bloody-mindedness of the population to do what it likes to do. You know, breathe. Also, with how bad the Elements screw up the world, I doubt they're going to be used.
Really enjoying this!
It's snowing outside but it's nice and warm in here and I get to read this wonderful tale! Thank you for taking me on this journey! I'm really looking forward to the next update! It might be a while but hey I think it's worth the wait!
Another excellent chapter! Shit really hit the fan in this one. I dunno what's wrong with Dash - her connection to the Elements is making her go kinda crazy, maybe? And I know it sucks that Dash and Star are captured, but at least the two groups are now going to meet. Plus, they've still got Astrid on the outside, and Gamma on the way with reinforcements, so hopefully they'll get out before too much damage is done. To be honest, Star might be better off with the 'bad guys' than back at the palace with Nightmare Twinkle and a delusional king who wants to force her to procreate in the hopes of making a Goddess. And damn, Cash's last few lines to Calumn - He truly is a good villain. Looking forward to the next installment
Whoa. That was intense.
But i'm kinda confused, did Dash actually scream, or was that her imagination? And I don't get the Harmony Theory at the beginning of this one.
All theory aside, the interrogation scene was some dam fine writing. Nice use of The Stare, too.
K, got around to reading all this, and wow it is amazing.
The only problem I have is the amazing cliffhangers, it gets intense, then boom, chapter over. 
Now, I wonder if Dash will recognize Blaze? I mean, did she get a good view of him? We shall hopefully find out in the next chapter! Can't wait 
Cash is an amazing villian.
And all doubts on Twilight's opinions on the elements can be pretty much laid to rest. She really hates them and only thinks they were used justifiably once in a situation that threatened all life in the Universe.
Cash is quite the interesting villain. I also have a few more theories on Umbra given this new information, but I imagine they're just as wrong as before.
If you only knew, Gamma.
If you only knew.
why do i feel like cash is related to →
>this one was larger
"this" should have a capital T
I can't help but compare this Cash guy to Gentleman Johnny Marcone, and it is probably the most awesome baddy I've ever seen!
I love it!
Love what he does with his eyes, and the description of his voice is haunting
Discord, I'm guessing.
If the Elements rewrite reality then I'm not surprised that they can solve any conceivable problem.
Either I missed it so far, or it's a completely new detail that Umbra has been making any recent appearances. I had been assuming she's been out of commission for the 800 years since the Everstorm was created.
Wow, Charisma is straight up nuts.
Nice work Dash!
Oooo, Max Cash finally shows up, and demonstrates that he is a full on sociopath. Between him and Charisma, that's a fun crew.
Rainbow Dash, master of the obvious.
Wow, Cash is like, Anti-Loyalty or something. I guess this is the "Inverse" effects that the book mentioned way back when.
Finally Max Cash showed up. I knew him showing up would be epic. And he is insane! He's that worst kind of evil. That affably evil that so enjoys being evil.
I like Max Cash, he's evil sure, but he's a genuinly nice guy despite that, he reminds me of Discord in a way, both are dangerously insane, chaotic, you have no idea what's going on in their heads, they always seem to have some sort of plan despite their acting like there is no plan, and they are both The Dreaded in a sense.
Don't do it Calumn, he's playing with your head, he's that good.
DAMMIT CALUMN!
Max Cash, he's like the worst sort of cross between Discord and Pinkie Pie. Random as Pinkie Pie, and just as crazy and manipulative as Discord not to mention enjoyable evil...
I - I've been reading Max Cash's lines in Handsome Jack's voice... I only realized it after I finished the chapter... But it fits him so well.
12 chapters for Max Cash to show up, and when he does... not a single line of physical description of the pony. What he looks like, what he's wearing, his distinguishing features... NOTHING.
I understand that you already described him once... 11 chapters ago! And that was a description of a photograph! That's not nearly adequate, especially for an introduction 11 chapters later.
Hmmm. Two competing hypotheses at the moment, re: Cash. Either he's got Discord in him the way Twinkle's got the Nightmare, or he's somehow taking on some manner of power from the Elements as he invokes them into the current world. What he did there, getting Calumn to give up his name, without any magic coming out to play... I'm not quite sure how to articulate what that would be in the first case, something about scrambling the changeling's awareness or knowledge of the world or something; whereas in the second case, he'd be tugging on his heartstrings directly. I suppose it could be something else entirely, but those are all that particularly come to mind.
...
No, Brain, seriously, we don't need to see changelings with Feruchemical duralumin abilities. Even if they would probably mostly get used along the usual lines of F-bendalloy.Alright I haven't finished this chapter yet, but I still think I can predict something. Rainbow dash is going to become a bit like vegeta in that she is constantly good enough to hold off the bad guy, but not good enough to actually win any major battles.
Yup. Max is Discord.
I think the Rainbow we have here is Loyalty itself using an imprint to remake Rainbow.
Max Cash is my new favourite character in this fic. He is absolutely wonderfully written, and his lines are on the same level of quality as the Joker is The Dark Knight.
For some reason, what little I'd heard about Max Cash made me picture a ponified Christopher Walken (at least voice-wise).
Now I actually get to read his dialogue... and it's a perfect fit.
1873200 The Stare? Interesting theory. I was thinking that perhaps Max Cash somehow can tap into the Deep Power that Celestia and Luna were talking about in the prologue.
On a different topic, why isn't anyone asking the question of how Nightmare Umbra knew that Firefly was really Rainbow Dash? She was in costume on the way to the dig site!
7319170
We can probably attribute that to Twinkle Shine (and by extension, Umbra) being introduced to her back in the classroom.
So lemme see if I got this all in order....Twilight Sparkle found something wholly improper about the Elements of Harmony, Rainbow Dash ended up in what seems to amount to a Dystopian future of sorts where most everything normal was thrown out and a whole new system was made up and put in its place. The new Nightmare seems hell-bent on causing death but isn't really saying WHY, a certain professor is messing with things she seems to not wholly understand and its costing her. And we now have a ruin of a sort that remains unidentified to a point, but seems to have a direct connection to Rainbow herself in some fashion.
Hopefully those opening paragraph parts finally shed SOME clue as to whats going on, or otherwise a chapter gives a more solid clue, cause right now I am struggling to figure out whats happening wholly.
Also I wonder if Rainbow slaps Celestia and Luna for doing such a stupid plan.
I think Max Cash's ability is BETRAYAL.
The power to influence others to abandon their morals and loyalties under the influence of an alien power.
So this cannot be The Sealings of Discord or the Nightmare Uses - those were two each. Following this logic, Discord's freeing can't have met the criteria either, as that required a minimum of two uses. Tirek wouldn't have destroyed the universe, plain and simple and neither would Stygian. Sombra definitely would not have, and we can also infer that Grogar wouldn't have either.
This leaves only one case where the complete and utter annihilation of all life in the universe would have been possible: Umbra.
And who wants ponies to live and definitely not be turned into stone? Discord. It's...suspicious that both he and the Elements appear to have been erased from history by the Nightmare. Perhaps the only weapon able to defeat her, and the only being with the power to make them?