Fallout Equestria: Blue Destiny

by MagnetBolt

Chapter 59: A Little Piece of Heaven

“Changelings?”

I’d been stripped out of my armor and put in a prison cell. It was a pretty sturdy one, too. That didn’t mean I couldn’t break out if I tried, but it would take a little while and I’d have to use enough effort that I’d be hard-pressed to pretend it was an accident and I’d tripped and fallen and broken down the door.

“I shouldn’t be surprised you don’t know about them,” Destiny said. She was in a much smaller cage, basically a birdcage barely large enough for the floating helmet. I had no idea where they’d even gotten it. “They were pretty obscure even in my time.”

The cot was pretty well-made. The frame was a single piece of contoured metal, and the padding seemed brand-new. Maybe they hadn’t needed to take prisoners before.

“When I was a filly living in Canterlot, they attacked during Princess Cadance’s wedding, and there was sort of a big thing, and…” Destiny shrugged, in a sort of head-only motion that was mostly just implied. “I was too young to really understand what was going on, but I remember the scary bug ponies.”

“They’re not that scary,” I said. “They seem kind of like anypony else, except buzzier.”

“That’s because it takes a lot to scare you. To ponies before the war, Changelings were terrifying. For weeks, everypony accused everypony else of being a changeling imposter! See, they could use magic to change shape to look like anypony. Thus the name.”

“So anypony acting strange had obviously been replaced.”

“You got it. But then they just… didn’t attack again, for a long time. Ponies sort of forgot about them for a while. The war was just so much more important.”

“And now they’re here,” I said.

“I don’t know how they found the Exodus White or what they’re doing, but we need to be very careful,” Destiny warned me. “They eat love.”

“Kinky,” I said. “Should I get some extra electrolytes so I don’t get dehydrated or--”

“Not that way! They consume emotional energy. It’s a magic thing. Don’t ask me to explain it, literally nopony ever bothered studying it, not even Princess Cadance. I don’t think they can drain me, but you might look like a nice little meal.”

“I think I’d prefer kinky to weird magic,” I groaned, lying down and trying to get comfortable. I still felt like garbage, but at least I was garbage on a soft bed and not on the rocks.

“I’m worried about the Queen,” Destiny said quietly. “I only heard rumors, but they say the Changeling Queen defeated Celestia in single combat during that first invasion. I have no idea how she could still be alive, but… there’s no way you can beat her.”

“I don’t think it’d be a good idea to even try,” I sighed and closed my eyes. “Changeling or not, they can talk and didn’t immediately try to kill us. That practically makes them our best friends right now.”

“Good point,” Destiny conceded. “You were able to make friends with the Zebra, maybe you can do the same for the bugs.”

“That’s the plan.” I tried to get comfortable. The ache made it hard to rest. “We’re going to cooperate and not make things worse for ourselves.”

“That’s good,” a new voice said. I opened my eyes and found a white mare standing on the other side of my cell. She had a dark brown mane and glasses that shimmered with a rainbow finish on the lenses.

“Hello?” I tried.

She smiled. “Hello. I’m Raven. I came here to investigate your identities before your appearance before the Queen.”

“Well, I’m Chamomile.” I held a hoof to my chest, then pointed at Destiny. “She’s Destiny. We’re not from around here.”

“Yes, that’s obvious,” Raven agreed. “You wouldn’t happen to be Destiny Bray, would you?” She turned to address the small birdcage.

“I… am. How did you know that?”

“That armor matches some designs in the database and has several elements common to BrayTech designs,” Raven explained. “Can you confirm your identity with your personal security code?”

“My command code is Destiny-Pi-1-1-Alpha,” Destiny said. “If you’re planning on using it for something, it’s not going to work unless you have my biometrics, and I’m currently lacking in biology.”

“No, that’s fine,” Raven said. Her smile grew. “I’m very glad to see you again, even like this.”

“Again?” Destiny asked, taken aback.

“I apologize, but I am not authorized to give any information at this time until the Queen has had a chance to interview you herself,” Raven said. “But now I know I can vouch for you. Can you tell me your relationship with this mare?”

She motioned to me.

“Hey, I can speak for myself,” I interrupted. “I’m Destiny’s best friend. We’ve been traveling together for months.”

“Chamomile can be trusted with anything you’d tell me,” Destiny said. “I trust her implicitly.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” Raven said. “I’ll tell the Queen. In the meantime, while I’m not authorized to give you information, you’re clearly injured, Chamomile. Can I offer you a healing potion?”

“I would absolutely love a few,” I said.

Raven nodded and reached back into her saddlebags and produced a slim vial, passing it to me through the bars of the cell. I popped it open and swallowed. If they were going to drug or poison me, it was better to get it over with now, and something about the mare made me want to think she wouldn’t do that. She gave off good vibes, for lack of a better term.

The potion tasted like chalky berries, and my aches and pains immediately faded. The internal bleeding turned into regular blood being where it was supposed to be, and the trickle of external bleeding finally stopped, the nasty cut on my shoulder scarring over.

“Do you need another?” Raven asked.

“That was a big help,” I said. “Thanks a bunch.”

She nodded. “Here’s some soap and a manebursh so you can clean up a little before your meeting.” Raven produced a heavily-scented bar of soap and a sturdy plastic brush, pushing them through the bars. “I’m sure you want a shower, but that will have to wait for approval for you to be treated as a guest instead of a prisoner.”

“If you’re giving prisoners medical treatment and soap, you’re already the most civilized ponies I’ve met in ages,” I assured her. “I’ll try not to look like a total disaster when we meet your Queen.”

Raven smiled and bowed slightly. “I’ll give you a few minutes to get cleaned up.”

---

I felt much more like myself by the time I was being led to the throne room. It wasn’t at gunpoint, exactly, but the guards were all very much armed and politely not pointing them at us with stances that said their aim could be adjusted to include me at a moment’s notice.

“We need to be polite,” Destiny whispered, floating next to my head. “I doubt the Changeling Queen likes ponies much.”

“You say that, but half of the ponies I’ve seen have been, well, ponies,” I said. I glanced down a hallway. Ponies with glittering coats spoke in whispers, at least equal in number to the changelings that spoke to them or stalked the hallways.

“Changelings can disguise themselves,” Destiny reminded me. “Don’t trust your eyes! She’s probably going to be holding a long grudge against Equestria after what happened.”

“The Canterlot thing?” I asked. I checked myself in one of the mirrors. They’d built most of the castle using crystal where other ponies might use masonry, but it was somehow grown in place, even overgrown around some edges, in a sort of artful, wild way, alive but maintained like a stone garden.

“I’m sure that wasn’t a great day, but no. The Queen had a grudge against Princess Cadance. One of those lifelong nemesis sort of deals. There were all sorts of little plots but the Empire was technically independent and after the War started they tried to distance themselves from Equestria politically to remain neutral. Princess Cadance had a foal, and a few years later… the Changelings decided attacking the foal was the best way to get at Cadance.”

“That’s a terrible idea,” I said. “Even I know that’s a bad plan!”

“I’m sure you can guess what happened next.”

“Princess Cadance brought down the hammer,” I said, absolutely sure that the wrath of an angry parent was totally eclipsed by the wrath of an immortal, all-powerful parent and ruler of an Empire.

“No. Princess Cadance was trying to negotiate. She was the princess of love, Chamomile. She wasn’t much of a fighter. What happened was that the changelings had abducted Princess Flurry Heart on her thirteenth birthday and she wasn’t very happy about it.”

“...When you say not happy…?”

“A bigger body count than the majority of battles in the war, and almost all of the casualties were on one side. We all thought the Queen was dead after that, but I guess we were wrong.”

“Maybe she got blasted all the way here,” I said. “I really hope this isn’t the afterlife because if it is, it sucks eggs.”

“Just try to be polite and don’t trust anything she says,” Destiny cautioned me. “Remember they can sense emotions, so whatever you do, show no fear. Just be a grey rock.”

“Got it,” I said. “No fear.”

The doors ahead of us were made of silver filigree, most of the framework open like heavy metal lace. The guards ahead of us stood at attention and pulled them open. Inside, the room was dark, set up more like the CIC room onboard a warship than a meeting room. Ponies and changelings (or maybe all changelings, not like I could tell) were gathered around a number of circular tables displaying magical projections of maps, graphs, and wireframe models, engaged in quiet discussion.

It was still a throne room, though. In the center, half-surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped bank of consoles, was a throne twice as large as a normal pony might need, carved out of glittering diamond and set with a plush black velvet seat and back.

Raven stepped out from another entrance, this one with curtains over the doorway.

“Announcing her Highness, Queen Flurry Heart,” she called out. The changelings and ponies at the consoles and tables stood up.

“Oh buck, oh buck,” Destiny whispered. “I was wrong. It’s not the Changeling Queen! Kneel, Chamomile!”

“What?”

“Just do it!” Destiny hissed, lowering herself, the helmet descending to the floor. I awkwardly knelt down. “We’re going to be lucky to get out of this alive!”

The curtains parted with a touch of multicolored magic, and she stepped out. I’d seen an alicorn before, briefly, on the surface. She’d been regal and haughty and strong enough to send chills down my spine.

Queen Flurry Heart stepped forward and I could feel my soul screaming at me that this wasn’t at all the same kind of being. Flurry Heart was an oncoming storm. She was a force of nature given flesh. I couldn’t meet her gaze, and she seemed so much more real and alive than the rest of us. I’d swear gravity itself changed for her, recentering itself around her, putting Flurry Heart at the center and apex of all things.

“You’re afraid of the changelings,” Queen Flurry Heart said, settling down on her throne casually. “There’s no need. These ones are mine.”

“I’m so sorry for intruding,” Destiny said quickly. “We don’t even know how we ended up here--”

“Destiny Bray,” Flurry Heart said firmly. Her voice softened. “Do I inspire such terror in you? It has been so long since we last met, and both of us have changed. I recall you being somewhat taller. Or perhaps I’m the one who has grown?”

She chuckled at her little joke.

“And you’ve brought a friend. A friend of yours is a friend of mine, I should hope. Welcome to the Exodus White, and to Limbo. It is a place between places and if you have come here without meaning to, you are indeed very lost, and you have my sympathy.”

“Limbo?” I asked, daring to look up a little. Flurry Heart was sitting back, with her rear hooves kicked up on the consoles in front of her.

“Yes,” Flurry Heart said. “This is a place of the banished. The unfinished corner of the universe that creation never reached. It is where things go when they are truly and utterly expelled from the world. It is where the Crystal Empire went for a thousand years, and it is where I sent the Exodus White when all other options were expired.”

“You sent the whole ship here?” I asked. I’d seen the Exodus ships. They were massive, more like floating cities than ships. Even Thunderhead-class cloudships were dwarfed by the flying wings.

“It is not such an impressive feat as it sounds. Even Sombra was able to manage such a banishment.” Flurry Heart waved a hoof dismissively. “It was necessary to protect those under my care. Crystal ponies and changelings alike.”

Destiny floated up a little. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting to see you. When they said they had a Queen, I assumed…”

“You assumed it would be Chrysalis,” Flurry Heart finished for her. “A natural thought. No. They serve me. I defeated their old Queen, and they are loyal and valued friends. Perhaps I can calm your worried soul -- you’ve seen the crystal mirrors?” She motioned to the walls. “They reflect the truth. Amygdala?”

Flurry Heart motioned, and one of the guards stepped over next to a mirror and erupted in green fire, transforming into… me.

“Look into the mirror,” Flurry Heart said. The changeling looked like me, but its reflection still showed a chitin-covered insect-horse. “I trust them, but I prefer to trust and also have assurances than rely on trust alone.”

“Wild,” I whispered. The changeling turned back, shaking itself off like it had done something unpleasant.

“Tell me how you came here,” Flurry Heart said. “It has been some time since I had news from the outside that didn’t come from a single rather disgruntled source.”

---

I let Destiny do the talking for a while, and sat on the side with Raven. She passed me another healing potion and I sipped at it.

“Thanks again,” I said. “I was in pretty bad shape. Usually I bounce right back, but…”

“I’m just happy to help,” Raven said. She looked down at my right leg. The carapace was still torn apart where a Steel Ranger had cut through it. She motioned for me to lift my leg and held it in her hooves, taking a closer look. “May I?” she asked.

“I don’t mind if you look,” I said. “Healing potions don’t really seem to be helping it. I don’t know if it has to heal naturally or…” I trailed off when she kissed the edge of the wound and silver liquid flowed into it, the ragged edges stitching together and healing.

Raven pulled back and gave it a closer look. “Please let me know if I need to adjust anything. This seems like it was grown in situ, so no blueprints are available.”

I blinked and flexed my right forehoof. “No, uh, you got it right… but how did you do that?”

“It’s well within my abilities,” Raven said with a smile. She let go of my hoof. “I am the Exodus White’s SIVA Core. My primary functions are to mend and defend.”

“You’re the-- but the other cores were… big dragon things!”

“They must have been malfunctioning,” Raven said. “I can tell you’ve had exposure to micromachines from the Exodus Blue and Exodus Green. I’m sorry if you had a poor user experience with them.”

I sighed. “Well this makes things awkward. You’ve been listening to what Destiny said about the other ships, right?”

“Yes. And that your mother would probably want to kill and eat me,” Raven said. “I hope you don’t intend to destroy me. I wouldn’t fight you, but the ponies here depend on me.”

I weighed it in my head. It was a faint danger, having her here. But Mom couldn’t get here even if she tried, and she wasn’t malfunctioning or hurting anypony. “Nah,” I decided. “You seem cool. If my mom shows up your Queen can probably blow her away and keep you safe.”

Raven smiled. “I believe she could.”

“Chamomile,” Queen Flurry Heart said. She tilted her head to gaze at me, her eyes seeming to glow in the uneven light of the throne room. “Destiny Bray tells me she gave you her augment.”

“The one in my brain?” I asked. Flurry Heart inclined her head a fraction more in a slight nod. “Yeah. I got shot in the head and she saved my life with it.”

“It is quite precious cargo you carry,” she said. “Do you know what it was designed to do?”

“Make her smarter?” I guessed. “It made me good at math.”

Flurry Heart smiled slightly. “On the surface, yes. But it also made her immune to the mind-reading spells of the Ministries. It made it safe for her to deal with them.”

“I thought there was some kind of magical geas?” I asked, looking at Destiny.

“It’s always better to have a backup,” Destiny said.

“Her most precious memories and secrets were stored away on it, beyond the reach of those that would try to take them from her. It was so effective, it made her all but immune to spells that affect the mind.”

“That’s why Cube couldn’t read my thoughts…” I mumbled. “And if the codes are still on it… that’s why I knew the access code for Kulaas!”

“Indeed,” Flurry Heart said.

“But why would she need to hide stuff from the Ministries?” I asked.

Flurry Heart laughed. “Did she not tell you?” Flurry Heart asked, leaning her chin against her hoof. “Her grand game against the Ministries? Her mirror-match pitting pawn against pawn, knight against knight, princess against student?”

I shook my head.

“I see,” Flurry Heart said, smiling. She looked at Destiny. “I am the breaker of all things but I will not shatter your secret. You must decide if it is worth anything, two centuries past expiration. Do you wish it to be one more mystery that passes along with all those who knew the answer, or will you go back on your word so you can reveal how clever you are with your grand hoax?”

“I… I’ll tell her when I can,” Destiny said quietly.

“It may come to nothing, or it may save both of you,” Flurry Heart said. “Secrets are things that live in the dark, and there is too much darkness encroaching on this last bastion already. I believe you have seen some of it.”

“The undead, and those… zones of darkness.”

“Yes. We call them Eclipsed Places.” Flurry Heart stood up. “I ask you for your aid to break the curse that has taken hold of my city. Will you help me, Chamomile?”

I looked around. “I mean… sure.” I shrugged. “Of course I will. Who would say no?”

She smiled. “Good. Raven, I believe it is time to have a meeting with the Pillars.”

“Of course, My Queen,” Raven said, bowing.

---

Raven led me into the room, trailing behind the Queen and two armored guards, one a pony and the other a changeling. It was a richly appointed meeting room, with another one of those tables projecting illusions into the air over its surface. There were three ponies around it already when we walked in.

One of the ponies looked up and met my gaze and I saw his expression twist through at least five separate emotions, all of them exotic varieties of annoyance and surprise.

“You?” Star Swirl the Bearded, the most venerated unicorn of all time, asked. “If you’re here you bungled that whole pyramid mess.”

“I didn’t--”

“Bungler!” Star Swirl reproached, stomping over and picking up a scroll and hitting me with it. “You’re just lucky you slammed the door shut with your fat flank on your way inside!”

“Ah, good, you two have met,” Flurry Heart said. She walked inside and sat at the head of the table. It was a round table, and shouldn’t have had a head, but the moment the imposing alicorn sat down, that became the head of the table by default. “That saves some time.”

Star Swirl scoffed and stalked back over to the table, sitting down.

“Good day,” one of the other ponies said, a pegasus mare with the heaviest eyeliner I’d ever seen. “You must be Chamomile. Star Swirl has told us about you.”

“What Somnambula means is, he used a lot of rather impolite words that I don’t care to repeat,” the other mare said, an earth pony in a ruffled dress, her mane pulled back to keep it out of her eyes. She looked me over and frowned. “Are you sure she’s in shape to help us? There’s something about her…”

“Don’t even bother, Meadowbrook,” Star Swirl said. “She needs a mechanic, not a healer.”

“I’m not a robot,” I said.

“Just sit down,” Star Swirl said, motioning to the space next to him. I sat down, mildly annoyed. “Thankfully, we have need of somepony exactly like you.”

“Brave, resourceful, and accompanied by an old-world genius?” Destiny suggested.

“Expendable, impossible to kill, and already involved in this mess,” he corrected.

“Star Swirl,” Flurry Heart said lightly. He tensed up. “She is a valued guest. Please treat her with respect.”

“Yes, yes,” Star Swirl mumbled.

“Star Swirl has probably not explained things well,” Somnambula said. “He has an understandable dislike of repeating himself, which is ironic.”

Meadowbrook smiled. “Because of the time loops?”

“Yes, because of the bloody time loops!” Star Swirl snapped. He grumbled and leaned back, pouting. “And the worst part is, I’m the only one who can explain things properly. If I leave it to you, you’ll leave out some important details!”

Flurry Heart hummed curiously. “Please brief Destiny Bray and her companion Chamomile about the current situation. You have been complaining you need reliable help and to my estimate it has fallen into your lap. Make use of it.”

Star Swirl grimaced. “We don’t have two centuries to tell the tale, so you’ll get the abridged version. Save questions for after I’m done.”

---

The darkness is evil, three idiots are stuck in it, and I can’t rescue them for reasons I don’t feel like explaining to you, so you have to do it.

---

“Star Swirl,” Flurry Heart sighed. “Perhaps more detail than that?”

---

More than a thousand years ago, six of us defended what would become Equestria. A scribe and scholar followed us, and out of jealousy and anger he was twisted into a vessel for a primal force of evil. The power of his desire was strong enough that it took all six of us to sacrifice ourselves and seal ourselves and him in Limbo, for what should have been an eternity.

But that clearly didn’t last.

The darkness that had consumed him searched for any way out. Any new vessel that might house it. A jealous sister. A coven of zebra witches. Anyone and anything with a hunger large enough that they would cannibalize their own potential to feed on it. There were more and more of those as time went on.

When the Exodus White came here, we were awoken from our sleep. With the Princess’ help, we defeated the Pony of Shadows once and for all, and we went back into the world to try and save it. And that was our greatest mistake.

I’m practical. Somnambula and Meadowbrook have hope that Equestria can be rebuilt. The others… lost themselves. They’d been listening to the Darkness for centuries while we imprisoned it, and at their lowest point, I lost them to it, just like our scribe had been lost before. If we hadn’t still been bound by the same spell, they might have destroyed what few survivors the bombs hadn’t killed.

I managed to send us back to Limbo, and now we’re at a stalemate. We are divided, half taken, half not. The spell I used to banish the Pony of Shadows, the one keeping us here, will end if a majority of us decide to end it. All that requires is for one more of us to be taken.

---

“Worse, the spell is fragile,” Star Swirl sighed. “If one of us dies, any one of us, it will shatter. The way I used it already strained it to the limit.”

“Nice,” I said. “So you can’t go out after them.”

“Nor can I,” Flurry Heart said. “My power is destruction. I doubt I could stop them without risking their lives. There are other reasons I am reluctant to risk the ponies under my protection. Things in the dark they should not face.”

“Cool, cool,” I nodded. “So the undead are powered by the darkness?”

“Technically speaking, they’re animated by the life they could have lived,” Star Swirl said. “It’s an ontological nightmare, very quantum.” He waved a hoof. “If they escape, the damage they’ll do is incalculable. I’ve seen it. Ponies in the wasteland are so full of hunger and desire and unrealized potential that the darkness will roll over the world in a final eclipse. I’ve tried again and again and again to stop it.”

“Limbo exists outside of conventional time and space,” Somnambula said. “Star Swirl has been using it to his advantage.”

“It always ends poorly,” Star Swirl sighed. “I can only go back so far, and there are so many things I need to do to make it all work…”

“This has never happened before though, has it?” Meadowbrook asked, pointing at me.

Star Swirl looked at me. “No. Usually she dies closing the pyramid and never makes it here.”

“Glad I beat the odds on that,” I mumbled.

“I hate to admit this… but we need your help,” Star Swirl said. “All of us have been working on a ritual that will free our friends from the darkness, but there are many, many requirements. The most important part of the ritual is a totem that represents the pony we’re trying to save.”

He looked at me expectantly, raising an eyebrow.

“Rockhoof’s shovel,” I said, after a moment. “That’s why you wanted it?”

“Yes. I have reason to believe he will be the easiest to retrieve. He’s unlikely to die when subdued, he’s left a lasting mark on the world, and he shouldn’t have all that many tricks up his sleeves since he’s an earth pony.”

“You might be awful surprised about what earth ponies can do,” Mage Meadowbrook reminded him.

I shrugged. It wasn’t my place to say anything, but we’d learned in school in the Enclave that earth ponies were respectable, decent ponies, but strictly inferior to unicorns, who were themselves equal to pegasus ponies, if less industrious and ambitious.

Part of me was vaguely aware that it was propaganda, but it was propaganda I’d heard since I was a foal and that made it hard to forget.

“You know,” I said, thinking. “My first time on the surface, in that village with Rockhoof’s shovel? Those zebras knew a lot about healing and fighting the darkness. They set up these talismans in a hospital that trapped a necromancer and kept the zombies and stuff from getting away.”

Mage Meadowbrook nodded. “The zebras were some of the best healers and alchemists in the old world. They’ve been fighting the Darkness longer than Equestria existed.”

“I’m sure Star Swirl’s plan is even better,” Destiny said. I could still hear some of that hero worship in her tone. “I’d love to know what he’s got planned for us!”

“Mm…” Star Swirl closed his eyes and nodded, basking in the praise. “Naturally, I have a brilliant plan. Tracking Rockhoof is easy. Raven has been doing that.”

“Indeed,” Raven said. “SIVA micromachine veins enable a low level of vigilance across the entirety of Exodus City.” She looked at me and lowered her voice. “That’s what we call the city we built from the Exodus White’s superstructure and the landmass displaced along with it when the city was banished to Limbo.”

“My spell apparently carved out a deep crater,” Flurry Heart said, mildly amused. “I suppose even in fleeing danger, I left destruction behind me.”

“That must have been the crater next to the Exodus Green!” Destiny said. “That explains a few things.”

“Mister Rockhoof creates geomagnetic disruptions whenever he is present outside of an Eclipsed Place,” Raven said. “He causes ground fissures and local quakes, which makes it possible to discern his location even with very limited data.”

“You’ll need to fight and subdue him, without killing him,” Star Swirl said. “It shouldn’t be difficult. He’s a brute, but that’s all he is. I’d do it myself but I don’t like raising a hoof against a friend.”

Somnambula giggled. “You’d do it yourself but you know he’d tie you into a bearded bow.”

Star Swirl scoffed. “I have to come along anyway. I’ve got this,” he produced the shovel from under the table, putting it on the surface. “When he’s down, I can cast a few analysis spells to determine exactly what was done to him, then use the psychothaumic imprint left behind on this shovel, I can… well, it’s probably too complicated for you to understand.”

“I am a psychothaumic imprint,” Destiny said. “I understand perfectly well.”

“Mm.” Star Swirl hummed. “You are the brains of the operation. Essentially, everything Rockhoof is, at his core, is bound to this shovel. The enchantment on it isn’t deliberate, it’s something that exists because it’s an extension of him. An extension that remains pure and uncorrupted. It’s a hoofhold we can use to cleanse the rest.”

“He’s in pain,” Somnambula said. “If he can be shown that his efforts weren’t for nothing, he could be reasoned with. Before you resort to hurting him, try reasoning with him. If he has any control, you can talk Rockhoof down. There’s always a way.”

“And when that fails, you can hoof-wrestle him,” Star Swirl said dismissively.

Somnambula’s expression fell at that.

“The bonds between us aren’t trivial or purely forged from magic,” Somnambula said. “Saving him from the Darkness isn’t just a matter of breaking a curse.”

“I know,” Star Swirl said, raising a hoof. “I want to save him as much as you do. Working through it step-by-step and leaving my feelings out of it… that’s the only way I can get to a solution.”

“I’ve been repairing the power armor Miss Chamomile arrived in,” Raven said. “A significant number of the thaumoframe tiles were damaged or missing, and I’m fabricating replacements. Can I suggest rest until it’s finished?”

My stomach rumbled. “Think I can get some lunch, too? Or dinner? Or breakfast? Whatever’s on the menu.”

Flurry Heart inclined her head. “You were in poor health when you arrived. Rest. Eat. Let Mage Meadowbrook treat your lingering injuries. But do so quickly, because we are almost out of the time that does not flow in this place.”

Comments

[Ahsoka Tano]

Interesting I wonder if the clouds will be parted by the time they finish returning the crystal empire