Fall of Equestria: two worlds collide

by Gray Kirin

New unions

07.11.20... from the Accession of the Sisters
Time 08: 12
The Crystal Empire.

A pink pony figure was gliding outside the magic dome. As if not noticing the raging storm, a light winged silhouette, shrouded in blue radiance, was heading north. Deep into the icy wastelands, where there is nothing alive, where the world is permeated by strange magic. Where the border is thin.

After a long hour of flight, the alicorn left the storm behind and went to land. She slid over the ice hummocks, almost touching them with her hoofshoes, and landed on a relatively flat area. The ice under her feet was filled with the same unnatural, wrong magic as everything around her. But here was his node, his concentration. One of many scattered across this terrible icy desert and the closest to the Empire.

What she needs for what she has planned.

Cadance planted her hooves firmly on the dead ice and began to weave a spell. She was lucky to be an alicorn, she didn't need any ritual or trinkets. Only pure will and desire were required.

Mi Amore was fine with both of them. The spell enveloped her horn in a sharply shining spiral. So the stars shine in the cosmic abyss. So the welding shines. So the bursts of plasma machine guns shine. Lifeless, hard and biting light.

At one moment, the weave flared up, broke into sparks and dispersed into the air without a trace. But this was only an appearance. Like a detonator, the Cadence's pell set in motion the inanimate magic of the northern wastelands.

Invisible streams of energy boiled and swirled as something rose into the world of the living. Something dark, strong, long ago sent into oblivion.

When the magic storm subsided, not a single curl of Cadence moved. But now she was not alone in this frozen wasteland. The presence nearby was so powerful that it was almost overwhelming.

Right in the head of the alicorn, bypassing her ears, a quiet voice rang out.
"So. You dare to bother me, Princess. I could disembowel your mind, but I'm very curious to hear the reason why you came, from you personally. There's not much fun in the abyss, you know. So don't try my patience and start talking. Or think. It doesn't matter."
"I am the rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire, shadow! And my mind is beyond your control, otherwise you would not have spoken to me at all,"
"Do you think? Or maybe I'm just bored and I'm glad to have the opportunity to talk? Even like this? Don't get burned, princess... There's no one to help you here."
"Stop it now, shadow! You won't be able to scare me!"
"Oh, I'm just trying to be nice with you. I scare a little differently, you know, Cadence. So still, what brought the Princess of Love here? What made you wake me up?"

Cadance closed her eyes, forming a cluster of mental images. It took time, such magic was not her profile. When the information transfer spell was ready, the princess threw it into the space in front of her. The ball of light flew a few meters and disappeared without a trace, as if absorbed by the addressee.
Who was silent for a long time.
"Are you still here? Shadow?"
"Yes, I'm here. I'm studying your message, Princess. It doesn't hurt you to tighten up your mental magic, you know that?"
"Answer to the point. I showed you the reason why I applied. What do you say?"
"Very artless. Rough work. Who was doing this at all?"
"You're pretty good with pony nightmares, shadow,"

The mental roar almost flattened Cadance on the ice. Trickles of blood spurted from her nose, sweat broke out on her body as the princess somehow put up the shield spell.
"I DON'T WORK SO CLUMSILY, YOU, PINK WHORE!!! I'M A MASTER OF NIGHTMARES, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?! MY HORRORS ARE MASTERPIECES, WORKS OF DARK ART!!! HOW DARE YOU ASSUME THAT THIS IS MY HORN'S BUSINESS?! THAT THESE MISERABLE MARES, WHO ARE FUCKED UP TO THE POINT OF INSANITY, WHO SHY AWAY FROM ANY STALLION, ARE MY WORK?!"

The pink alicorn smiled, wiping a trickle of blood from her muzzle.
"If you're as clever as you say you are, can you reverse it? Can you pull the unfortunate equas out of their nightmares, "master"? No? I thought so. Windbag,"

The shadow no longer roared. Now it looked like the most delicate silk, in which a poisonous snake was hidden.
"Give me a chance, princess. And you will see that I am what I think I am. Only now you would not be in shackles, at my hooves, humiliated and dishonored in a thousand ways... Well, can I show you what a "windbag" I am?"
"I will bring you back to life, shadow. But there will be conditions,"
"What? Conditions? You don't want me to allay the fears of those four, do you?"
"Either you agree, or you will continue to sit in the abyss. Decide, shadow. You are not the last chance of these equass, just the most convenient. There are others,"

The visitor fell silent again. Not for long this time.
"What do you want, princess?"
"I'm bringing you back to life, in full health and strength. You join the work of rehabilitation groups and psychologists. Here and, if necessary, in that Equestria reflection. You help every equa or pony that needs it or asks for it to recover. You are not looking for conflicts and you are not taking revenge for old grievances. You do not harm anyone intentionally, directly or indirectly, and you do not do anything to put anyone in danger due to the action of third forces. The exception is the protection of others, self-defense in case of an explicit threat, or a duel of honor. You do not manipulate anyone's mind if it does not fall under your work duties to get rid of nightmares or is not a tool to protect others and yourself. You abandon all claims to power over anyone and anything, unless it is provided for by your direct work duties. These are my conditions, shadow,"
"It could have been worse. I agree. "
"No, this is not enough. We'll make a deal, as it should be. By accepting this drop of blood, you will accept my help and its conditions unconditionally. If you decide to break the agreement, the magic that keeps you in the world of the living, will dissipate,"

The princess struck her horn on her leg, carving a small ruby drop. Warm, multicolored sparks of magic danced in it. Filled with life, love and light.

And something else that Cadence dug up in closed network archives of humans. On which she pinned her hopes no less than on the correctness of the ritual from ancient books. The princess did not hope for the reliability of methods individually, but her heart told her that together they would produce the desired effect.

This time, the shadow remained silent for the longest time. Finally, along with a gust of snow, a rustling voice came.
"Oh, Lauren the Creator, you are punishing me for my pride. To resurrect to clean up after the crooked inconsistencies... But I agree, and I accept your gift and conditions, Princess."

The shadow's voice barely perceptibly stirred the magic around the prepared response part of the agreement. Cadence chuckled.

And she swung her leg, sending a drop of blood flying beyond the shield. As soon as the red ball hit the frosty air, the magic around it seemed to go berserk. It seemed that from the tension of the raging streams, the world was about to break and everything would fall into oblivion. The shadows lengthened and became deeper, and something began to be seen in them that was not from here. A watery silence devoured all the sounds of the icy wasteland, pressing like the weight of a fever.

The tension of the magic reached its peak. A black dot appeared above the ice, growing into an incredibly deep shadow, the size of a large stallion. The clot of darkness trembled, took complete shape and finally manifested itself in the world.

A tall black pony with flaming scarlet eyes and a curved horn was left standing in the snow. The ancient mage inclined his head slightly in greeting to Cadance.
"Thank you for such a courteous invitation to the world of the living, Princess. And now, will you take me to the... patients?"

07.11.20... from the Accession of the Sisters
Fallen Equestria.
Time 06: 32

After the morning "warm-up", Chrysalis was vigor and cheerful, fluttering around the rooms and humming a soft melody under her nose. However, the Queen barely had time to pull on half of her lingerie, as Smirnov was already dressed in armor. He shrugged at the questioning tilt of her head.
"Habit,"
"Then help me get dressed. Since you're so fast,"

The Major didn't mind. Moreover, he well remembered the sequence of fasteners of the Queen's dress from the evening.

However, outside the door of the chambers, Chrysalis returned to a businesslike mood, to Smirnov's great relief. For the man it was already just uncomfortable her private acting.

The Queen led the Major through the long winding corridors and galleries of the huge hive, introducing him to her people and kingdom.

Changelings didn't seem surprised by their lady's companion. It would seem that there is such a thing - a pale-skinned stranger in a strange armor? If the Queen decided that this creature was worthy of accompanying her, then why not? Let him go, giving their lady an elbow.

But the periodically occurring equas and even rarer equins followed the Major with surprised looks. An earthman, who did not look like any of the inhabitants of this world, attracted attention and carefully looked around himself.

And he noticed that among the pegasuses and unicorns there were almost no one, who were not crippled. Many of the winged ones had artificial feathers made of a translucent green membrane. He even met the equa once, obviously after a recent operation - the wing awns were covered with light dark-green splints and fixing bandages.

And of the unicorns, only four of all the met retained their horns. Others disguised the stump as best they could, with a hairstyle or a hat. But only the cold icicles of despair and hopelessness in the auras and eyes were much more difficult to hide.

Chrysalis, who had not missed Major's stares and psi-scanning, chuckled.
"Yes, there are really so many victims of caribou. And they all need your wonderful medicine, which you sang to me about last night,"
"And everyone will receive appropriate treatment. A ship with equipment and doctors is already on its way and will arrive at ten this morning,"
"He'd better not be too late, Major. Although, yours... Yours astronauts will warn you about the delay, won't they? "
"By all means, Your Majesty, be calm. You will have time to postpone your speech to the people. What? Just a lucky guess,"

The Queen snorted maliciously and lightly whipped the Major's legs with her tail.

The hive opened up to man in all its restless thirst for life. The hum of voices, the buzzing of wings, the ringing of magic intertwined in a single powerful background. It was surprisingly nice and calm here, even for Smirnov, who was wrapped in a multi-layered psi-protection.

After making a circle around a small square near the palace complex, Chrysalis led Smirnov back. But this time their path lay to the lower levels. Protected, fenced off from the outside world.

There was an infirmary there, where changelings treated the most physically seriously injured equas and equins to the best of their abilities and capabilities. The Major asked how it would be possible to deliver equipment here, to which the Queen waved off that it was not difficult for her and high-ranking officers to change the configuration of the passages, somehow they would pave the way

Finally, Chrysalis led the human to a wide transition membrane, from behind which muffled music and singing could be heard. Smirnov watched in amazement as the Queen put herself in the proper condition to enter there. Calms emotions, closes the mind and begins to radiate quiet joy.

When she addressed the human, both a request and a metallic threat were intertwined in her voice.
"Stop, Major. Stop and get your feelings in order. For behind this door are the most seriously injured. The ones that even I couldn't get out of their nightmares,"

The transition membrane trembled under the Queen's fingers, as if debating whether to disperse or not. As if she felt that a stranger was nearby.
"And now they are sleeping, waiting for the moment when someone will be able to help. Look at them, Major. Take a look and tell me, is this also possible for you?"

The membrane parted, allowing it to pass inside. Into a hall filled with an emerald glow from cocoons fixed on the floor, in which equas swam. All immersed in a deep magical sleep, all fueled by the currents of power that were being pulled into this place.

Near the cocoons, here and there, there were guttered candles, soft toys, flowers, withered and fresh.

And in the middle of the hall stood Lyra, playing her instrument and singing a soft and tender song about love and friendship. Closing his eyes, selflessly surrendering to the strumming of the strings and the sound of the melody. Tears ran down her cheeks, either of joy or of inspiration, sparkling like emeralds in the glow of the cocoons.

Next to Lyra, Firefly stood like a silent shadow, not daring to touch or even take too deep a breath, so as not to interfere with the music.

The Major chuckled a little, looking at the Queen, who came up to the singing equa. Of course, his ward was here completely "accidentally", brought by changeling. So that Smirnov would make sure once again that everything is fine with Lyra. A cute little gesture from Chrysalis.

When Lyra finished playing the last notes and the strings of her lyre fell silent, the Queen gently touched her shoulder.
"That was great, honey. Now give me… -

When equa obediently moved away to Firefly, who was hugging her, Chrysalis slightly spread her arms to the sides, sending a powerful wave of power to the sleepers. Happiness, peace, joy and tenderness were intertwined in her with passion and hope. The Queen was doing her duty of hospitality.

And the Major felt very clearly that in the power that Chrysalis poured into the sleeping "broken" there was a lot of that which he "poured" into her at night and in the morning. The way in which the Queen combined pragmatism and selflessness, liked the man.

Having briefly scanned the mental background of the "sleepers", Smirnov confidently rapped out.
"Yes, Your Majesty." We can help them too,

07.11.20... from the Accession of the Sisters
Equestria
The time is 10: 00

The door closed behind Sombra and the unicorn went deeper into the corridor.

To arrive in his old patrimony secretly, like a thief in a shop, to sneak around so that the guards and new neighbors do not notice? The mage didn't like it, but the damned pink upstart managed to correctly bind him with a deal.

And, what was more important for Sombra, to challenge his skill. He was perfectly able to plunge ponies and other creatures into the worst imaginable nightmares. But to pull out of the abyss of fear?

The unicorn was now interested in himself.

That's a heart-butted asshole!

The mage began to recall what Cadence had given him. Scroll through the images over and over again, studying them like a jeweler stones. Yes, the package formed by the princess was terribly incomplete and clumsy, but it allowed at least to roughly understand the picture.

The slow, confident tread of heavy hooves faded into a barely audible rustle of black smoke. And a brisk, crumbly, foal-like trot began to jump in the corridor.

Sombra hardly remembered what he looked like as a child, so he cut his appearance on a whim. Remaining true to his black-and-gray color scheme, the mage turned into a long-legged, big-eyed colt. Fluffy, with a curly mane and oversized ears. The appearance is harmless, cute and deceptive. What he needs for contact with broken equas.

Sombra went to the half-open door, from where the barely audible crying could be heard, put his nose inside. In the corner of the room, a blue pegasus with a blue-white mane was sitting with her arms and wings wrapped around her knees. Her companion was sitting on the bed, silently gliding around the room with an empty look and twirling a crimson strand in her fingers.

Brown eyes met with green ones that were blinking thoughtfully not far from the floor. Sombra decided it was time.

The mage sent the lightest mental message. Calm down, relax, leave all your worries. Forget about everything, as after a deep, long and sound sleep.

Hart Puzzle, having fallen under the spell, blinked in surprise, looked around the situation. She focused on Sombra, who was poking his lop-eared head through the door, and smiled.
“Oh, what a sweetheart... Don't be afraid, come here,”

And Sombra went. Feigning interest mixed with a willingness to run away, the foal clattered to the Puzzle that was pulling at him.

At the same time, he gently touched her mind. Imperceptibly for equa, Sombra was making a picture for himself. The consciousness of the unicorn suffered very much, the injuries even affected the soul. It reminded to Sombra of a beautiful mosaic, so complex that it was impossible to keep track of it, assembled in many dimensions. But it has lost its former luster and brightness, broken and shattered into pieces.

The mage began to carefully adjust and combine the fragments. He found and blurted out the fear he had driven in, the horrors and humiliations he had experienced. In a few minutes, Heart will remember almost nothing about the capture of those "caribou". Only that it was very bad. But there will be no crushing horror, no hopelessness, no apathy. equa will be free from crippling experiences.

Focusing on careful touches and assembling the Puzzle pieces of the mind, Sombra somewhat lost touch with reality. Just for a couple of seconds, but it was enough to be in a strong, chocolate-and raspberry-scented embrace. The foal's body was both happy about this and resisted in the spirit of " I'm already big!"

The mage wheezed.
“U-u-ugh! You're going to crush me to a pulp! Be careful!”

Heart just giggled and buried her nose in the curly top of the colt's head.
“Blue! Look at what a sweetheart has come to us! All fluffy and soft! What's your name, anyway?”
“Smokey Horizon. Or just Smokey,”

Sombra was composing on the go, putting the last patches and connections on the mind of the Puzzle. Just a little...

Pegasus raised her eyes red from tears and also fell under the spell of carelessness and relaxation that the mage spread around him. Vivid grinned and reached out to pat Smokey's ears.
“Guys said that foreign princesses were settled here. And, it seems, they did not lie,”

Blue laughed. Sonorous, iridescent, under the influence of enchantment, forgetting about everything that used to press and prevent breathing. Her fears disappeared, pushed away by a quiet whisper and a seemingly gentle wind touching her face. Now pegasus saw only her friend and a cute unicorn in front of her.

Sombra chuckled to himself. He could conduct the "game on two boards" confidently. And finish with honor in his favor.

An imperceptible mental probe touched the aura of the blue pegasus. Images flowed in a stream into the magie's mind. Her mind was like a watercolor. Complex, fluid, with many layers, flows, jets. Which was soiled by the dirty prints of someone's five-fingered paws and hooves, destroying the harmony and beauty of this consciousness. Sombra began to carefully remove the dirt stains, drop by drop.
“What princesses we are, Smokey, we are comon equas. By the way, how did we get here in the first place? I only remember the flying ship and those golems... Creepy,”

"Smokey", who was currently being caressed by four hands, blissfully closed his eyes and stuck out the tip of his tongue. Which was not completely fake, because the mage found such gentle and soft touches quite pleasant.
"It's not golems, it's... it's.... Infantrymen, yes!

The foal puffed up with pride that he knew such difficult words. In vain. Vivid decided to pat his cheeks.

It seems that Sombra should not in the future weave even the lightest forms of "want-it-take-it" into "touching" charms. Of course, he is only a half-material being, but the embodied body should be protected.
"They're a kind of sentinel... Only they have cooler armor! And beam rifles! Beam rifles instead of spears!”

Thank you Cadence, enlightened at least a little. So he could easily imitate the enthusiastic foal chattering about "cool armor with motors".
“Are you alone here? It's just that the foals were talking about four princesses, and there are only two of you...”
“How big-eyed you are, however. An individual? Let's go to Violin and Scream? Shall we introduce them to Smokey?”

Hart squeezed the colt's flanks a little and kissed the top of the smoke-smelling head.
"Okay, Smokey, do you want to meet our friends yourself?"

Sombra grinned inwardly. The game on the first two boards was coming to an end and it was time to switch to the next two. The mage feigned a lively interest on his face and raised his ears.
“I want to! I really want to!”
“Then let's go. We will introduce you to these "princesses",”

Blue made a strange gesture. She raised her hands and bent her index and middle fingers twice. "Smokey" blinked in confusion. And Sombra was not familiar with this gesture.
“Oh. What did you just do? With your fingers, just right now?”
“These are quotation marks. They mean, like, the conditionality of what was said,”

"Smokey" just blinked his green eyes. Blue went out into the corridor, beckoning to her friend, who was holding a foal in her arms.

Sombra briefly probed the surrounding space. Next to him, literally next door, were two equas, whom he was obliged to help with the deal.

But now it was also a sporting interest. Who would have thought that piecing together a broken mind and soul would be so exciting? The best puzzle in the world, never repetitive, never boring. Always throwing up new problems and material for reflection.

Definitely worth thanking Cadence. Then. Somehow.

While the mage was thinking, Blue with some effort took Sombra from Puzzle's hands, who did not want to let go of the warm foal. She sat him down on her shoulder and knocked on the door to her friends ' room.

“Fillies? Are we coming in? Here such a miracle has come to meet us! He says he was looking for princesses,”

Sombra reached out with magic through the wall, through the door. A veil of carelessness and lightness enveloped equas in the room, erasing the fears and pain from them. Leading to a relaxed mood and facilitating future contact of minds.

The small delegation was opened by a blue crystal equa, to the aura of which the mage immediately reached out. Before Sombra stretched the image of a green valley full of sonorous fast streams. Talkative jets polished colored stones and crushed rainbow splashes on the rifts. Branches and clusters of small blue flowers, like willow trees, bent down to the water. Now the clean streams were littered with garbage, where they were barbarously dug up and put into dams, dead fish lay on the banks. The trees were crippled here and there, cut down for bonfires that stained the green silk grass.

Sombra got down to work. The beautiful valley began to gradually return to its original state.

And crystal equa took the foal from Blue and sat it on her shoulder.
“Whoa, you heavy. Did you say you were looking for princesses? What makes you think we're princesses?”

"Smokey" hesitated. He lowered his gaze before the white thestral mare who came up and muttered softly.
“Guys say that only princesses are so beautiful,”

Moonlight Violin laughed softly. Booped unicorn in the nose and began to stroke his shaggy cheeks.
“And who says so? Other foals?”

Just as the lilac-maned equa touched his nose, Sombra gently touched her mind. A gentle, penetrating melody enveloped him to the depths of his soul. The chords became colored panels, flowing one into another, curling into spirals and fantastic lace. Music was everything here, creating the world around and itself.

And its sound was disfigured by sharp, rude shouts, blows and mocking laughter. The dissonance generated by them killed the beauty and brought somnae of false notes into the canvas of the symphony.

The mage very carefully began to catch and muffle other people's screams. Soften the sounds of blows until they completely disappear.

But still, the music around seemed incomplete, it lacked something indefinite. Important, expensive, taken away a long time ago. Sombra allowed himself to touch the melody a little in the place where the incompleteness was felt most strongly.

The ripples of the music wavered, as if frozen for a second, and a new sound was woven into them. The song is about loss, about a friend who was closer then sister. About the longing for her and the pain of parting.

Sombra did not muffle this melody, let it enter the general chorus and strengthen itself. Even if Violin is pining for her lost friend, meeting her will have such a powerful strengthening effect that the spirit and mind of the thestral will become stronger than they were before she was broken.

Holding and restoring four minds at the same time was difficult, even for Sombra. And “Smokey” began to slow down, as if falling asleep. The unicorn yawned and stretched his words, sometimes shaking his ears and smacking his lips sleepily. But somehow he kept up a conversation with the equas, who pulled blankets and mattresses from the beds and arranged a collective couch right on the floor.

Fillies were discussing how they ended up in the Crystal Empire, where they can go here if there are no bits in their pocket. They scratched the "Smokeys" behind ears, sometimes they rubbed his neck and chin. They stroked his mane, hugged him. They asked about the "infantrymen", who they are and what they do.

Of course, questions about what the equas were doing naked in the rocky hills remained unanswered. "Smokey "was genuinely surprised by such" carelessness". And he expressed the opinion that the "infantrymen" had flown to help the equas, whose clothes had been stolen by some bad ponies.

But that didn't answer the question of how they ended up in the hills. What happened before the flying ship descended from the sky and opened the ramp?

No one could remember. As if bumping into a blank wall, all four of the former broken ones were lost in guesses. And the mage carefully took these memories deeper into their memory, from where they would not just pop up ahead of time and destroy the fragile well-being of souls and minds.

Time after time, casting away the recovery spell, Sombra also touched the auras of Vivid, Hart, Ice, and Violin over and over again. And he understood that even he would need at least two more sessions to say with confidence that the job was done and the injuries of souls and consciousnesses were cured.

Even for him, a master of mind games and nightmares, bound by the will of Faust by a deal to renounce the past, it was not easy.

Having allowed the foal's body to finally "warm up and fall asleep" in the collective embrace, Sombra wondered if he would be able to meet those who broke this and other equas. And say a big professional "Fi!".
Slashing the claymore on the skull.