CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence, Book 3

by GanonFLCL

Chapter Twenty: Rapport

Blackburn was the first to arrive down in the hangar bay that evening, outside of the technicians and docking crews that were always present when ships came into dock, of course. Well, that was unfair; Gadget was literally half a second behind her, but a half of a second later still made Blackburn the first to arrive, natch.

After the tense first day of the summit and the hectic few days afterwards, Blackburn was desperately hopeful that the expedition team had good news. When she saw the Comet Chaser in the hangar, though, she voiced her immediate thought to Captain Ember, who was the first to disembark:

"What happened? Starboard engine damaged, rear cargo bay ruptured, notable scarring on hull. Impact points, not electrical damage. A crash? Hmm, not to the rear of the ship. In any case, implies problem with shields. Belt too much at that depth?"

Captain Ember shook her head. "Oh no no, not at all. The shields worked great as always, but boy am I glad I had the forethought to add an extra generator to the configuration. We ran into some trouble, and not from the Belt. The Belt's actually pretty tame at that depth."

"In Athenos?"

"Amongst other places, yeah." Ember gestured at Twilight Sparkle, who was just now descending the ramp. "Princess Twilight and her team have a lot to tell you, I think. I was only privy to some of it and didn't understand most of it."

"Why is it 'Princess Twilight's team'?" Winter scoffed before Twilight could even open her mouth, shimmying past the taller mare and looking as disgruntled as ever. "I'm the one who formed this expedition up, I'm the one who needed to be there. Why isn't it 'Winter's team'? Huh?"

"Because you're too short to be the leader," quipped Rainbow as she squeezed her way by. "Everypony get outta the way already, sheesh! Do we need to do this right on the boarding ramp?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, then addressed Blackburn with a smile. "We definitely have a lot of information to give you, and not just about what we learned in Athenos but about a few other things we found down there. It's quite a lot to digest."

Blackburn raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. Meeting room already arranged; follow me, don't want to wait." She turned to Captain Ember. "Well done, Captain. Your team is on leave for one week; rest, relax, then return to duty. Earned it."

Captain Ember saluted with a smile. "Thank you, Your Majesty." She nodded at Twilight. "Princess Twilight, it's been wonderful working with you and your team."

"You too, Captain," Twilight replied.

Blackburn and Gadget then led the expedition team up through the elevator and into the royal palace, making a beeline for the arranged meeting room. It was one of the mid-sized meeting rooms, too big for just Blackburn and the team, but the extra room was useful for Pandemonia. Or, it would be, if she was in her alicorn form; Blackburn was unsure why she'd taken her unicorn disguise, Puzzle Box, for the moment.

"Pandemonia," Blackburn greeted with a nod. "Or rather, Puzzle Box?"

It still felt so odd to her that she referred to a physical goddess by just her name. There was no title before it, no Lady like Silvertongue's "Lord", no Mistress, not even a Princess like with Twilight, who didn't even like being addressed like that in the first place; there wasn't even a formal way to address her without using her name, whether it was Your Grace, Your Holiness, or Your Eminence. Did the southern ponies really refer to Harmonia in the same manner?

Bizarre.

"Expedition team has returned," Blackburn continued, gesturing at Twilight and the others as they took seats at the round table. "Claim to have found new information, have not revealed anything yet; wanted you to be first to hear it."

"I appreciate that, Your Majesty," Pandemonia-as-Puzzle Box said with a smile and a nod, taking her own seat at the table. "I look forward to hearing what they've discovered."

"Question!" Rainbow said, raising her hoof in the air. "This is Pandemonia? I thought she was a big ol' alicorn mare, not a little unicorn mare." A pause. "Not as little as Winter is, but y'know, relatively-speaking."

"Har har," Winter snorted.

"This is the 'disguise' that I use when exploring the city of Hope's Point," Puzzle Box replied. "After witnessing the reactions of the southern delegates to my appearance, I find myself agreeing that it would be best if I maintain the disguise in the public eye for the time being. In these trying times, I wish not to cause undue distress."

Rainbow nodded. "Well yeah, okay, that makes sense. I mean, I guess I'd freak a bit if I'd never seen an alicorn before and then one just sat next to me at the bar."

"But why now? All of us know what you really look like," said Hourglass, gesturing at the group. "It doesn't bother us."

"I wish to ensure that I am comfortable taking this form for extended periods. I transitioned into it at midnight and took an opportunity to practice 'sleep', and have not transitioned back since. I intend on keeping myself in this state for a full twenty-four hour period."

"Well it's good that you're getting all this time in to practice," Twilight said. "You're lucky that you're able to change your form like that so easily. I still have to hide my wings when I go out into the city, and I know that I get lots of stares because of my height." She patted her chest a few times with both hooves. "Not that I'm uncomfortable with this body, but I look forward to not needing to hide it anymore."

"Are you planning on going on another tour with Missus Gray?" asked Sunspire.

Puzzle nodded. "Yes, later tonight, after the city's traditional dinner hours. I'd inquired about an establishment that caught my eye a few times in passing, and after having its purpose explained to me I wished to partake."

Blackburn raised an eyebrow. "Which establishment?"

"I believe it was called the 'Eggplant Lounge'?" Puzzle said, tapping her chin. "I was most curious about it. Such establishments were not common in the south in my era, but they did exist."

Blackburn grinned wide. "Aha… interesting. A good choice from my understanding. Gray is taking you?'

"Yes, as a 'chaperone' so to speak. She said she had no intention of partaking in the offerings herself, just making sure that I received the best experience that I could."

"Before leaving, ask Gadget for recommendations," Blackburn noted, gesturing towards the door with her head. "She 'partakes' every Spring. Will visit herself in a few weeks; nearing the northern Spring, after all."

"I see. Then I shall do just that. Thank you for the advice, Your Majesty."

"Always ensure guests in my city enjoy themselves. Honored guests especially so."

"What the heck is this 'Eggplant Lounge'?" Rainbow asked, crossing her hooves over her chest. "Sounds neat if you're giving it such a glowing review. Some sort of bar?"

Blackburn was about to answer—nopony else in the room knew but her—then realized that Sunspire was in the room. So she carefully thought of how to reword her answer; she didn't know if Sunspire knew about "the birds and the bees" as the southerners would call it, and didn't want to discuss that here in a room full of mares. The poor kid might not recover.

She did not expect Pandemonia to beat her to the punch. "It is a brothel that exclusively hires stallions and caters to servicing mares. I have never experienced sexual intercourse from a personal perspective, but as a southern goddess I often encountered thoughts of lust in mortal ponies; after all, sex is one of the leading sources of frustration, and thus Adversity, in mortals, be it an absence of it or disappointment with what one receives."

Blackburn watched the collective reactions of the expedition team with amusement: Rainbow's jaw hung open just slightly, Winter's just a little more, though neither seemed bothered by the concept, just surprised at the bluntness of Pandemonia's spiel; Hourglass was red in the face and barely stifling giggles; Twilight's face was equally red, and her wings had gone to Sunspire's ears. Sunspire's expression was oddly… unfazed.

"P-Pandemonia!" Twilight stammered. "Y-you can't just talk about that kind of stuff in front of a young colt!"

Puzzle Box tilted her head. "Hmm? I was under the impression that Sunspire was roughly ten years of age?" She looked to Blackburn. "Was I mistaken?"

"Yes, he's ten! Only ten! He shouldn't be listening to… to stuff like that! He's too young!"

"The colts and fillies of my era were taught about sexual intercourse from a younger age than this. Most fillies enter their first estrus cycle in their pre-teen years and it was ill-advised for them not to understand the consequences of sexual activities. We lacked the medical technology of the modern era with which to prevent… sorrow."

"I have been educated on the subject of sex," said Sunspire, who could apparently hear just fine despite Twilight's best efforts, and who seemed none the worse for wear. "We studied puberty in school on… actually, the same day that I left on my expedition with Winter and Hourglass, come to think of it. Wow, it's been a while. I hope I'm not behind in my courses…"

Twilight balked, then shook her head. "B-be that as it may, he doesn't need to hear about… about a house of ill repute! It's one thing to be aware of sexual activity, another to know that it's carried on in such a… a distasteful manner. Sex is supposed to be between two ponies who love each other very much, not with a random stranger and especially not somepony you pay."

Blackburn lightheartedly responded with: "Says who?" She was amused immensely that Rainbow had responded at exactly the same time in exactly the same way; she'd already deduced the cyan mare and her pink wife enjoyed inviting guests. Another commonality between herself and Rainbow, it seemed.

Twilight let out a frustrated sputter. "Whatever! I think we're getting off-topic here. Can we just… deliver our information to Pandemonia and go about our day?"

"I apologize if I've caused any discomfort," Puzzle Box said with a slight frown. "I understand that discussions of sexual matters can sometimes be uncomfortable for those who have never experienced it—"

Twilight threw her hooves in the air, ignoring giggle fits that Rainbow had gone into. "Gah! That's not—" She snorted out her nose. "Anyway! We found Athenos! Don't you want to hear about it?! I sure wanna talk about it! About anything else, really!"

Twilight then proceeded to talk about it, everything that had happened from the moment she and the team had left Hope's Point all the way up until they got back. Blackburn was interested in the entire tale, particularly that there was life at the bottom of the sea in the Belt. Sea serpents? Seaponies? What else was there down in the depths that had yet to be discovered?

Blackburn immediately started formulating plans in her head to recall the other exploration vessels and get them all organized to find this "Aquas" if they could; establishing contact with these seaponies before the world merger seemed like a good idea. Not just because they'd need to know what was going on, of course, but because having good relations with them would potentially benefit both societies.

The Athenos discussion, though, was the more critical one, and the one that the group would actually address here; the rest was of no use to Pandemonia's story, and so could be ignored for the time being.

"They killed my Warden…" Puzzle Box muttered, slumping down in her seat, despondent. "They murdered her to get to me. All because they were under the sway of this… this 'Nihila'." She shook her head. "Until now I did not know who this creature was whom everyone spoke of with such disdain and dread, but now I understand."

"Nihila's origin, unusual, distressing," Blackburn noted. "Described as a 'presence' from Beyond. This 'Beyond', not the Dreaming; Harmonia and Pandemonia would have noticed her. Perhaps a mortal, used Malygnes to perform ritual, ascended to deific status as Silvertongue did…

"No." Blackburn shook her head. "Malygnes's description suggests unknown presence, alien or eldritch in nature. Not of mortal plane, not of the Dreaming. No, only other consideration: another world." She pointed at Twilight. "Twilight opened connections to this world from her own; Nihila could have done the same?"

Winter tapped her chin in thought. "No, that's not it. Twilight's spell was designed only to view this world, not to influence it. Influencin' a world from another would require a mastery over Void magic. It's not about power in that case, but skill, precision. Even a small amount of Void magic can overpower alicorns with the right applications."

"Taught this control to Malygnes, allowed him to use Warden as a conduit," Blackburn muttered with a nod. "Implies Nihila has knowledge of Void magic."

Twilight sharply rose upright. "I just thought of something! The force that took over my spell, that brought us here: what if that was Nihila?!"

Winter nodded. "I was thinkin' the same thing, actually. Been thinkin' about it for days now." She shook her head. "But for Nihila to have that much knowledge and control over Void magic, she'd have to be a Chronomancer, and that's definitely not the case. HQ documents agents extensively."

"Then how does she have so much power over the Void?"

"Originates from there," Blackburn said matter-of-factly. "Able to communicate through it, manipulate it, teach control to others, use it to overpower Pandemonia and Twilight. Implies deep understanding, instinctive use."

"You think that Nihila is some sort of… alien? Like a real alien, from the Void itself?" Twilight asked.

"Logical conclusion. Other possibilities to consider, but this one seems most likely. Purposefully caused imbalance to bring Void here, was stopped twice before, is attempting again. Implies interest in bringing the Void to the world specifically."

"That's… really concernin'…" Winter muttered, tapping her hoof over her mouth. "That might mean she's been causin' some of the rifts we've dealt with over the centuries. I'll need to bring this up to HQ. It won't change anything about our plans, but with this in mind I think we don't actually have a choice but to find her and destroy her."

Blackburn nodded. "Yes. If Nihila originates from the Void, could potentially survive world's destruction, go on to other worlds, perhaps gain strength from process. Would target Twilight's first, petty revenge; might see your Princess Luna as a potential possession target like Pandemonia was. Similar connections to Dark magic based on information I have."

Twilight sighed and leaned back in her seat. "Then we really don't have a choice. This isn't just about saving this world anymore, or even saving my own. If Nihila can actually do what we think she can do—even if we're overestimating her tremendously—we have to stop her. She could be a threat to other worlds. To all worlds."

"She did come to this one before it had a Chronomancer, too," Winter noted, still tapping her lips. "So even if I informed HQ about her, she could potentially hide in a world that HQ doesn't have in its records yet and bide her time. There are more worlds out there without Chronomancers than with them, theoretically of course."

"Pandemonia?" asked Twilight. "Are you alright? I can't imagine this information makes you feel any better."

Pandemonia-as-Puzzle Box was silent for a moment, looking down at the floor in contemplation, then slowly looked up at Twilight. "Actually… it does. At least now I know what happened to me. This Nihila creature, she is… a virus. A cancer. Her attempt to use me to destroy this world that I love is… it's pure evil.

"But the old world I loved is gone. Because of Nihila, it has been replaced by… this." She gestured around the room. "This new world. I have not been in this world for long, but I have seen it from a new perspective. I have enjoyed the company that I keep. I have found things that I enjoy, things that I dislike, and things that I look forward to trying. This world… it is more real to me than that old world ever was.

"And Nihila has put this world into its death throes." Puzzle Box rose up straight, placing her hooves firmly on the table; the translucent image of Pandemonia's true form superimposed itself over her. "If I cannot save this world, then I will do everything in my power to prevent Nihila from destroying the next. I will do everything in my power to protect the creatures of this world so that they might live on in another."

"And so will I," Twilight said with a hard nod. "I've seen too much of this world and made too many new friends to let Nihila take them from me. I was prepared to do whatever it took to keep this world safe even before we found out what Nihila was capable of, and now my resolve is stronger than ever. Especially if she's planning on going to my home afterwards."

"Yeah!" Rainbow chimed in, slapping her hooves together. "This alien's goin' down!"

"We are all agreed," Blackburn said, steepling her hooves. "Plan in place to ask Harmonia to help destroy Nihila for good; Curaçao seeking Nihila's allies to prevent her escape through them—Silvertongue suggested it was done before. Next stage of our plan: garner support in the south, fortify the north, prepare for battle."

"And I'll be happy to help with that too, however I can," agreed Twilight. "If the ponies and other creatures of this world are moving to mine, then it is in everyone's best interests that they know who I am and what I am. We still don't know what the exact transition process is going to be like." She looked at Winter. "Right?"

Winter shook her head. "Not until we're further along with all of this, no. HQ is going to take at least a week or two—from our perspective—to figure out where this world's societies are gonna fit in your world. And now I have to throw them a new piece of data, the seaponies of Aquas, which we don't even know the location of." She turned to Blackburn—

"Already forming plans to find it," Blackburn answered before the smaller mare could ask the question; she was glad that Winter's thoughts were on the same path as her own.

"Good on ya."

Puzzle Box rose out of her seat and sighed. "This has certainly been… an enlightening afternoon," she said, rubbing her temple. "It is one thing to fall into a deep sleep and wake up with no memory of your time lost. It is another entirely to learn that while you were sleeping, a creature was using your 'body' to perform acts of evil."

"Are you going to be okay?" Twilight asked, reaching out to touch Puzzle's shoulder.

"Yes. I will be fine. This only puts a new perspective on things, inspires my resolve further to keep the creatures of this world safe from harm." As she headed for the door, she added, "There is still so much of this world left to experience, however. If I am to be its guardian, I wish to experience it all."

Twilight's ears flattened, her face red once again. "After all this, that's what's on your mind?"

Blackburn chuckled. "After all this, will serve as adequate… stress relief." With a tap to her chin and a sly look towards Twilight and Winter—which neither noticed—she added, "Can think of quite a few ponies who could use it."

*****

Sunspire returned to his guest chambers at the royal palace following the meeting with Pandemonia, expecting to have a chance to rest and recuperate after the at-times harrowing expedition. He'd wanted to get back to reading the set of texts that he'd been working through on the subject of the world's ocean, now mainly to compare his experiences with what had been presented, and to draw a few maps.

They'd certainly never mentioned sea serpents and seaponies, so he wondered what other information might be inaccurate and in need of correction.

However, he had not been expecting company, so he was rather surprised to see that there were two ponies waiting for him outside his door, more surprised when he saw who they were, one more than the other: Green Guard and Serendipity.

"Sunspire!" Green said first, bounding over and giving his friend a big smile and an equally big hug; the large colt had become a lot more friendly and open with him over the past month, more friendly than anypony else Sunspire knew, except maybe Miss Velvet. "We just heard that you were back from your trip. How are you? How was the expedition?"

"Hello to you too, Green," Sunspire said, glad that his friend knew his own strength and didn't hug too hard, at least not anymore. "I'm doing well, thank you, and the expedition was quite an interesting and educational experience. How are you?"

"I'm great, thanks for asking. I've just been, y'know, worried about you, that's all. I wish I could've gone with you."

"Ah. Well, there was no need to worry, I assure you. Between experienced ponies like Winter, Hourglass, Princess Twilight, and Missus Dash, there were plenty of protective measures to go around."

Sunspire was very careful not to mention all of the life-threatening experiences that he'd been through down in the depths of the ocean; he didn't want to worry his friend, no matter how much he wanted to share. Not just because he didn't want his friend to be worried for his own sake, but because he was certain that if Green got worried right now, he might tighten the hug too much.

Sunspire's eyes drifted over to the approaching Serendipity, and he broke away from the hug with Green to give the pegasus filly a little wave. "And hello to you as well, Serendipity. I didn't know that you were here in Hope's Point. When did this happen?"

Serendipity was eyeing the two colts with an odd expression; Sunspire was certain that she was upset—she got that expression on her face a lot when talking with him—but he didn't know why. His immediate thought was that he'd done something to upset Miss Dawn and Serendipity had volunteered to reprimand him like she always did.

"I got here a few days ago with Miss Dawn," Serendipity said. "She's here on a diplomatic retreat and I asked if I could come along to observe and learn. Also, I wanted to check up on you."

"Check up on me?"

"Yes, dummy, to check up on you. You left the tower without telling me…" A pause. "Or anypony else, for that matter. I had to hear from Miss Velvet that you'd gone on some sort of adventure out in the Wastelands with ponies that were basically strangers." She slapped his shoulder; she never hit hard, of course. "You should've told me."

Sunspire rubbed the spot she'd hit. "W-well, it was Miss Dawn's idea, actually. She thought that I'd be useful—"

"I know all of that now, but I would've liked to have heard it from you. You're such a workaholic that you couldn't take the time, huh? Isn't that always your excuse?"

"Oh. I apologize, in that case," Sunspire said, rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Miss Dawn gave me the assignment and I had to leave right away. I barely had the time to ask the Overseer to adjust the fit in my goggles so that they'd be comfortable over the course of the trip, and to obtain traveling equipment and an emergency communicator."

Serendipity rolled her eyes. "And then you just stayed here in Hope's Point? Why didn't you come back to the tower as soon as your expedition was over? A lot of us have been worried about you."

Sunspire blinked; he was used to hearing the question, but not in that particular way. "Um… well, to be honest, I never asked Miss Dawn to take me back. N-not that I didn't want to ask her, but I just guess I never had the opportunity to do so. She never asked me if I wanted to go home either, come to think of it."

"My mom's pretty mad at Miss Dawn because of that," Green said with a nod. "She says that Miss Dawn forgot all about you and basically left you here because she doesn't care."

"Miss Dawn wouldn't do that," Sunspire said, tilting his head. "Would she?" He wanted to doubt what Green was saying but he didn't think Missus Gray was a liar, either. There must've been a miscommunication.

"Of course she wouldn't," agreed Serendipity, giving Green a harsh look. "She told Missus Curie that you were supposed to be helping with this 'Pandemonia' pony. She's really important, so if Miss Dawn thought that you could help, then it's a good thing that you were here."

"I thought you were worried because I stayed here? You sounded upset."

Serendipity paused, red in her cheeks. "O-oh. I mean, no, I wasn't worried, and if I sound upset it's because you worried others. I was just curious why you stayed, that's all. I mean, I know Miss Dawn gave you another assignment but I was just wondering why you accepted it. That's all." She slapped his shoulder again. "Don't be a dummy, asking questions like that."

"Hey, don't call him a dummy," Green said, standing up big and tall over Serendipity. "Sunspire's super smart, not dumb."

Serendipity was unintimidated and looked Green right in the face, though she had to look up to do so, even though she was tall for her age. "No, he's a dummy. Sure, he reads a lot of books and knows a lot of stuff, but he doesn't know everything and he's dumb about a lot of other stuff."

"I'm right here, you know," Sunspire said, tilting his head.

"He's not dumb," insisted Green. "I've seen how smart he is—"

"I've been friends with him longer than you," Serendipity quipped, nose in the air as she pulled Sunspire over to her side. "So I know him better than anypony, and I know he's just a dummy who knows how to read good."

"Read well," Sunspire corrected.

"He knows way more than just how to read good," Green fired back.

"Read well," Sunspire corrected again. Could they not hear him?

Green then put his hoof around Sunspire's other shoulder, so that Sunspire was practically squished between the two. "He also knows how to draw and make maps and he knows a lot about all sorts of things that I bet you know anything about. So don't call my friend a dummy, dummy."

Serendipity growled. "Who're you calling a dummy, meathead?"

"Who're you calling a meathead, jerk?"

As the two argued back and forth, Sunspire—literally caught in the middle—couldn't help but wonder: What the heck is going on? I just wanted to take a nap and do some reading…

*****

Dawn hadn't slept well in days. Her music wasn't soothing her nerves whatsoever, so she'd stopped bothering with it; in fact, she'd nearly broken her device in a fit of frustration so now it wasn't working well anyway. Instead she spent all of her time reading, even though she already knew that it didn't help her sleep much. It was better than the alternative, which was thinking, contemplating, and reflecting; those just… hurt.

Still, despite this she did everything in her power to ensure that nopony would notice her horrible sleep deprivation, from using makeup to cover the bags forming under her eyes, to showering frequently so that she was clean and alert, to drinking coffee almost constantly to keep herself awake and energetic. She'd even applied a black tint to her glasses so that nopony would see the red in her eyes, and so that she wasn't bothered by how bright everything was.

But today would be different. She got word that Twilight's expedition team had returned from their deep sea adventure and that the information they'd discovered had been incredibly beneficial to the cause. She'd read the reports later; for now, she just wanted to see her friend again. Because that was it, that was all that Dawn needed to prove to everypony that they were wrong about her. Twilight was her golden ticket.

She found Twilight in the royal palace's lounge that afternoon, enjoying a small meal and what looked like some sort of pleasant conversation with Winter. This was a good thing; Winter was a friendly acquaintance, and though the three of them hadn't spent any time together as a trio in seven years, it would be easy enough to just get right back into their old rhythm.

"Twilight," she said as she approached, nodding to Twilight. She then nodded at Winter. "Winter."

"Oh, hey Dawn," Twilight said with a smile and a wave. She patted one of the empty seats at the little table. "Pull up a chair, join us."

"Thank you." Dawn hopped up into a chair across from Twilight and next to Winter, then flagged down one of the wait staff for a coffee; he already knew her and knew what she drank, so he'd get right on it. "I am pleased that you two are unharmed and healthy following your undersea adventure."

"Aww, were you worried about us?" snickered Winter, sipping from her assuredly alcoholic drink; Dawn was in no shape to try and determine what it was by appearance alone. "Hey, what's with the shades? The lights aren't that bright in here, are they?"

"I have been… experiencing headaches over the past few days," Dawn carefully responded. "I have taken the step of applying a tint to my glasses so as to alleviate one source of irritation. It helps."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Twilight said with a sweet smile. "Do you need any headache medicine? Sometimes I would get bad migraines at home, and I'd take some medicine that my friend Zecora would whip up for me. Cleared those migraines right up."

"I refuse to partake in any medicinal aids for my woes. I am apprehensive about developing an addiction."

"Ah. Yeah, I can understand that." With a look to Winter, Twilight added, "Some ponies can develop pretty bad addictions, don't you think?"

Winter smirked the entire time that she drained the rest of her drink… which was nearly a full glass. Dawn could never understand how any pony could enjoy alcoholic beverages so much, much less how somepony with Winter's diminutive size could handle such large quantities of the stuff without suffering severe liver damage.

"Did you just say I'm diminutive?" Winter asked, eyes glaring at Dawn.

Dawn blinked. "Oh. Um. D-did… did I vocalize that thought rather than keeping it internalized?"

"Yeah, mate, ya did. I get it, I'm fuckin' short, but ya don't need to rub my fuckin' face in it by using different vocabulary. Bloody hell."

Twilight sighed and shook her head. "I'm sure that she didn't mean anything by it. Did you, Dawn?"

"Ah… n-no, I did not intend it as an insult," Dawn replied.

"Ah, it's not big deal, I'm just takin' the piss," Winter said with a small grin. "I've had to listen to Rainbow harp on about it all week. I'm used to it."

Dawn cleared her throat, hoping to change topics as quickly as possible. "So, Twilight, we have not had much of an opportunity to 'catch up' as it were. I must apologize, as work has been exceedingly strenuous over these past several weeks, and I am afraid that our brief meeting last week came at a rather unfortunate period."

"If anypony understands what it's like to stress out over work so much that they forget about stuff, it's me," Twilight laughed.

Twilight took a sip of coffee, and Dawn did the same—hers had just arrived—and then Twilight laughed again, though this one was more a giggle. "Y'know, now that I know the truth about everything, I think it's kind of funny that you like coffee as much as you do, which is almost as much as I do."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? What is amusing about that? Friends typically share common interests, do they not?"

"Well, yeah, of course they do. But that's not what I meant. I mean, you have a big thing for coffee, just like I do." A pause, then another laugh. "Okay, maybe not like I do. I remember that donuts were your 'thing', but you do still like your coffee. Even if you're drinking it wrong. Coffee is meant to be consumed black."

Dawn looked down at her cream-and-sugar-filled coffee, then back to Twilight. "I fail to see how this is amusing."

"Oh. I just meant that I think it's funny that you like coffee so much, since you're my clone and all."

Dawn squeezed so hard on her coffee cup with her magic that it shattered and spilled coffee all over the table and floor. "What did you just say?"

Twilight's eyes widened, shocked and horrified. "Oh… I th-thought you knew. Oh wow, this is awkward." She slapped herself on the forehead with her hoof. "Stupid Twilight. I knew that I should have broken this more gently. I honestly thought that you knew."

"I am aware of the circumstances of my… birth," Dawn snarled through clenched teeth. "But you were never intended to be made aware of it. Who told—" She paused, then directed a powerful glare at Winter. "You."

Winter stopped sipping from her second beverage and pointed at herself. "Me? 'Me' what?"

"You conniving drunkard. You informed her of my origins? That information was provided to you in good faith with an understanding that you would not inform anypony of the truth. My sisters all know not to inform anypony of these facts. Our father—" Another pain in her chest; even thinking about him hurt. "Our father intended for us to maintain secrecy!"

"Alright, look, you're gettin' ahead—"

"Do not attempt to finagle yourself out of this, you abbreviated dipsomaniac. I have borne witness to your heinous scheme, and I hope that you are ashamed of yourself for sinking to such low levels. Now I understand. You have poisoned Twilight against me, just as my sisters have done with my father."

Winter snorted out her nose. "Mate, ya don't know what the fuck—"

"Oh, I do not? I do not know? You divulged secrets to Twilight so that you could sabotage our friendship. Why? The three of us were a cohesive unit, a band of like-minded individuals with similar interests and a pleasant bond. Why would you seek to ruin that? What do you stand to gain?"

"Dawn—" Twilight started.

"Do not make an attempt to defend this inebriated charlatan, Twilight. She has deceived you into thinking—"

"Dawn," Twilight repeated, so firmly that Dawn couldn't help but stop; she couldn't be sure, but Twilight looked… angry. "Winter didn't tell me anything. My friends did, after your sisters told them. I didn't find out until so much later because Applejack and I were stranded with Winter. And Winter never told us anything."

Dawn froze, her eyes drifting to Winter, who was just staring at her and had returned to drinking from her drink. She couldn't see Winter's mouth, but Winter's eyes just had this look of… angry pity was the best Dawn could think of to describe it. She never was good with reading ponies.

"Now, I don't know what the heck all this is about or why you're so angry about it, but speaking to friends like that is just… it's not acceptable, and I'm disappointed in you for doing it. I've already had a talk about this with Winter, funnily enough, so now I'll say it to you." Twilight took a short breath. "Apologize to Winter, and we can just put this behind us, okay?"

Dawn felt her heart tense up again, like it had the night when her father had expressed how disappointed he was. And now Twilight was telling her the same.

Something inside Dawn just snapped in that instant.

The only thing Dawn could do was laugh. "You're right," she muttered. "I'm just a disappointment."

Winter stared at her wide-eyed. "Did you just use a fuckin' contraction?"

"That's all I am. A disappointment. A failure. A worthless leader, a bad friend, an insufferable sister, a terrible daughter. I just needed one pony to tell me that I was right and that everypony else was wrong… and nopony could do it."

She lit up her horn, and with a flash and a pop she teleported back to her room, and crumbled into a ball on her bed. For all she cared or knew, the world had already ended.

*****

It was past midnight when Dawn managed to drag herself back into the royal palace's lounge, alone—okay, she teleported, but only because she knew the door would be locked at this hour. She could still teleport just fine and knew where all of the tables were supposed to be when the lounge closed, so there was minimal risk.

The room was completely empty, and dark, luckily; the only light sources were the little lights that surrounded the bar area that apparently never turned off. They were just bright enough that Dawn was able to find her way over that direction without too much trouble, though she did quite nearly trip into a table and knocked over a chair in the process.

She climbed her way up and onto a stool by the bar and managed to slump herself over the counter proper so that she didn't fall backwards instead; she was so tired that she couldn't keep her balance whatsoever. How she managed to accurately teleport in here was a miracle, but she honestly didn't care if she'd messed up at this point.

The liquor behind the bar was all locked away in cabinets, but those were easy enough to break open. The glasses weren't locked up, but they also weren't as easy to telekinetically float over to her, either; she didn't know how many attempts it had taken—somewhere between three and ten—but she eventually managed to get a glass over to her intact. And it was a big glass, too, maybe a foot tall and plenty thick, and with a handle as well.

The liquor bottles were heavier and sturdier, so it didn't take as much effort to get those over to her on the first try with each. She tried to read some of the labels but they seemed to be mostly brand names from what she could tell, and those were irrelevant to her. The liquids inside were either clear or one of the various shades of brown or gold, and she managed to get… seven of them over? No, ten. Definitely twelve.

She unstoppered one of the bottles of clear liquid and poured some of it into her glass—sloppily, unfortunately—before setting it down and pushing it aside. She wasn't sure if it had toppled over, but she knew she hadn't put the stopper back in so she just tossed it over… somewhere. She did the same with each and every bottle of liquor that she'd gathered, all… thirteen of them. Her glass was now full of the assuredly potent mixture.

Though it took a little effort—the glass was quite heavy now—she managed to lift it up to her lips with a combination of magic and her own two hooves. She managed to take one, two, three, four, five gulps of the concoction she'd made. It was absolutely disgusting, probably the single worst thing that Dawn had ever tasted in her entire life, and it burned like fire going down her throat.

She set her glass down, noticing that she'd barely even managed to drain a tenth of it, and berating herself for—

Then she felt her stomach lurch and she leaned over to vomit all over the stool next to her. Now, instead of just berating herself for being unable to drink a satisfactory amount, she also had to berate herself for her weak constitution and for making a horrible mess all over the floor, the stools, the bar, and especially herself.

And the worst part was how well she could see it all, too, as if somepony had turned the lights on in the room. Maybe that was why her eyes hurt all of a sudden? Everything was blurry anyway, as she'd forgotten her glasses upstairs.

Somepony sat down in the stool… not next to Dawn, but one over. And on the opposite side from where Dawn had puked, thankfully.

"Drowning your sorrows?" asked the voice of Queen Blackburn.

Dawn grumbled… something… under her breath. She couldn't even register what her own words were. She could just barely register the fact that Blackburn had pulled her hard-won drink away and done something with it. Emptied it out somewhere maybe?

"Interesting concoction," the queen continued; Dawn could hear her sniff the drink as it was pouring out into what sounded like a drain. "Ah, tequila and vodka, four different scotches, two whiskeys, bourbon, two rums, gin, and… grenadine. Unusual combination." A pause. "I'm cheating, of course; can see all the bottles. Would have to taste it to guess otherwise."

"What do you want," Dawn said, utterly incapable of putting in the effort to make her statement into a question.

"Hmm. To be rid of my mustard allergy, for the bathroom to be closer in royal bedroom, for cheaper sushi options from Seaside. For husband to grow a mustache without looking like a teenager." A pause. "A beard would also suffice. Lockwood would look distinguished."

Dawn groaned. "You're mocking me."

"No, answering your question."

"Then you misunderstood—"

"No, understood completely. Still waiting for answer to my question." Blackburn pushed over a tall glass of water. "Here. Rehydrate. Not healthy otherwise. Not a request; royal command."

Dawn grunted and, using her magic and her hooves together, managed to drink a sip of the water. Okay, more than a sip; the whole glass. It felt good washing down the burning in her throat from alcohol, vomit, and vomited alcohol.

"How'd you know I was even here?"

"This is my home, know everything that goes on here. Please, answer question."

"Fine," Dawn grumbled. "Yes, I'm 'drowning my sorrows'. I've heard that most ponies do so in times of misery and stress."

Blackburn nodded. "Yes, common 'solution' to that problem. Though most do so at a bar, or at home on couch."

"I'm at a bar," Dawn growled; the lights were getting to her now and making her head hurt as much as her stomach.

"Technicality. Bar is closed. Breaking and entering, mixing own drinks." Blackburn took a breath. "Unprofessional. Still, answered my question, will answer yours: I want to know why."

"Why what?"

"Why you are experiencing misery and stress. Obviously serious; you've been using contractions, smaller words. Uncharacteristic behavior."

"It's none of your—"

"Will reiterate: breaking and entering, stealing, vandalizing, damaging property. In my home. Very much my business."

Dawn paused, groaned, and pressed her forehead against the bar. "Just leave me alone."

"No. Not until you explain."

"Leave. Me. Alone."

"No. Not until—"

Dawn slammed her hooves down on the bar counter and glared at the pestering queen. "I've ruined everything! Alright?! I screwed up! Everypony hates me! All I am is a failure, a disappointment! My sisters can't stand the sight of me! I don't have any friends! My father—" There was the pain in her gut again. "My father… is angry with me… because of what I am, what I've done. My actions might just undo everything he's worked for!"

Blackburn nodded. "Yes, noticed familial troubles over the years, friendship troubles more recent. Father issues, only just hearing about. Why do you think they all hate you?"

Dawn turned her head so that her cheek was on the counter, just so she could give the queen her most incredulous look. "You're mocking me again. You obviously know—"

"No. Want to know why you think they hate you. Not why they do, but you think they do. Distinct difference."

"I… that…" Dawn paused, then grunted and pushed off of the counter to sit upright; she barely noticed the queen extend a wing to make sure she didn't fall out of her seat. "Everypony hates me because all I do is keep secrets from them. And every secret I keep just… just hurts everypony involved.

"I don't share news with anypony unless I think it's worth my time. I didn't tell Gray when Velvet was attacked. I didn't tell you about the Chameleon-class." Dawn sighed and dropped her head back to the countertop. "If I had told you, maybe… maybe your friend would still be alive."

Blackburn leaned her back against the bar and looked up at the ceiling. "Maybe. Or maybe not. Ponies responsible for attack, maybe they'd take different airship. Phoenix-class, perhaps.

"They fight their way out of NPAF airfield, kill dozens, hundreds of soldiers before defenses scrambled. Maybe they still reach the Wyvern, make frontal assault. Phoenix-class has defense shields that Chameleon didn't. Maybe Havoc comes to the rescue, can't get through shields, killed by counterfire. Maybe Wyvern hit by glancing blow, crashes, somepony aboard killed. Gadget and Crossfire would get royal family to escape pods; most likely would not escape themselves.

"Or… maybe no attack happens at all. Peace summit goes off without a hitch. Royal family goes on vacation afterwards to southern continent. Then Winter Glow finds Pandemonia, delivers news to you, you cannot take her to Hope's Point without me there. You take her home to Pandora Tower instead. Unknown results."

Dawn groaned again, leaning forward and slumping her head back onto the counter. "What are you trying to tell me, Your Majesty?"

"That you made a decision. Results are because of decision made. Cannot change it, cannot second-guess it. Must live with it, move on with results." Blackburn shook her head. "Cannot change the past."

"Hmph. That certainly is one way of looking at it," Dawn mumbled as she rubbed her eyes; the lights were still bothering her and she couldn't see well without her glasses, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Her head was feeling a lot better all of a sudden, and her stomach too. "What was in that water? I do not feel as groggy as I did a moment ago…"

"Just water… plus antacid," Blackburn said simply. "Hard to hold conversation with stomach pain."

"I cannot argue with that." Dawn sighed, straightened up, and shook her head. "It still does not change the fact that everypony I know despises me because of the kind of pony I am. And I cannot blame them. I am a despicable sort who lies to her family and friends, treats them with disrespect and contempt at the best of times."

"Hmm. True. Question: do you think you're wrong?"

"Yes, of course. Everypony hates me for it—"

"No. Do you think you're wrong because what you did is wrong, or just because of how it makes others treat you?"

Dawn blinked, then contemplated the floor tiles for a few moments. "I… I am of the opinion that my actions were inexcusable. My sisters and I would often argue about things, but I never… I never used to treat them with such scorn and neglect before. We would talk often about things, even when I found it annoying. I… I do not know when it changed, but…"

"When, why, and how, do not matter," Blackburn said, shaking her head. "Important thing is you acknowledge it."

"Too little too late," Dawn sighed. "I have thoroughly ruined my relationship with my sisters. I have tarnished the only friendships I have ever had, and my father—" Another pang in her stomach, though not as harsh as before. "All I know is that I have made mistakes, and now my family and friends hate me."

"Hmm. Question: are they dead?"

"What?

"Are they dead?" Blackburn paused, tapping her chin. "Philosophical component as it pertains to your father; still possess means of communicating with him, not considered 'alive' by typical standards."

"They… yes, of course they are alive," Dawn replied, eyebrow raised. "You are well aware of this."

"Then not too late to change things."

"What?"

Blackburn looked up at the ceiling and let out a breath. "Lived life with few regrets. Most are private, cannot share with you yet. One is well-known. Regret my relationship with stepmother, Silver Glow." She glanced at Dawn. "Treated her as you treat your sisters. Disrespect. Contempt. Scorn. Was always angry; accused her of trying to replace my mother.

"Had a single bonding moment with her," she continued with a small smile. "Very brief. Told her about Lockwood; she was happy for me. Apologized for prior treatment, but knew it wasn't enough; made pact to return home, make amends. Knew Lockwood would like her, vice versa." A breath. "Never had the chance."

Dawn frowned. "Yes… I am aware of the tragedy surrounding that particular attack on your city."

"Regret that I could never truly fix our relationship." Blackburn then turned and set her hoof on Dawn's shoulder. "You still have time. If you want to. Do you?"

"I… I do. It was never my intent to hurt my family. I did not do the things that I did because I took pleasure from it or gained anything tangible. I just… I just did it. I do not know if it was just because I felt as though it was the proper thing to do, the proper way to act, but…" Dawn shook her head. "But I want to fix this. I must. Not just for my sake and that of my family, but for the world itself."

Blackburn leveled Dawn with a hard look. "Then what's stopping you?"

"I do not even know where to begin," Dawn scoffed, setting her head against the counter again. "I even ruined my relationships with Twilight and Winter, and that cannot even be reasonably blamed on a lack of respect, but on a lack of time. We used to spend every day together. Surely we cannot maintain that."

"Hmm. You know, my husband has many, many ponies who he considers friends, and vice versa. Hundreds of them, maybe thousands; even he could only make an estimate of the number. Do you think he spends every day with them?"

"No, but—"

"How about every other day? Once a week? Once a month?"

Dawn grunted. "I understand your intended gist, Your Majesty."

"Friendship is not about just spending time together. It is about making the most of the time you do spend. Of sharing an interest, a passion, a personality trait. You and Twilight aren't friends because you spend every day together; it is because of what you have in common."

"Naturally, as I am her clone—"

"Irrelevant. Havoc and Rainbow, close friends due to shared interests, passions, personalities; not clones of one another. Myself and Gadget, share few interests—I'm too "masculine"—but share passion, sense of humor. Twilight and Winter, few shared interests—"

Dawn grunted. "Twilight would never want to be a friend to me, as she possesses such a good friend to her as Winter. It is clear that she made her choice weeks ago; when she had the opportunity to do so, she would rather observe Winter rather than myself. She chose her friendship with Winter over mine; how could I argue against that?"

Blackburn tilted her head and paused for a moment. "Yes, well… more to it than that. Thought it obvious, that everypony could see it, but could be wrong."

"See what, exactly?"

Blackburn set her hoof on Dawn's shoulder again. "Do not concern yourself with that. As said, a pony can have multiple friends. Some better than others, closer than others, yes. Sometimes more than that, too. Biased against seeing it because of your orientation, perhaps."

"My… orientation?"

"Aromantic, asexual."

"I never revealed—"

"Figured it out myself."

"Ah. Still, how would that have anything to do with— Nevermind. I am not sure exactly what you mean, but I think I understand the intention of the message." Dawn shook her head. "But how? How can I hope to mend all of these relationships? None of my sisters would likely even accept any attempts by me to make amends."

"Can only try. If you fail, try again. Simple concept."

"Yes, I suppose." Dawn shook her head. "Why are you making an attempt to assist me? I was under the impression that you despise me as much as any of them, perhaps moreso."

Blackburn hummed, tapping her chin. "Hmm. Maybe. But have been observing you lately, seen what is happening. As said, recalled my experiences with stepmother, recognized in your experiences. I regret being unable to fix it before her end. And… if plans fail, would not wish you to have same regret."

Dawn just looked at Blackburn a moment, then nodded. "Thank you, then. Your concern is… appreciated." She sighed and shook her head. "I still do not even know where to begin. I have never engaged in a heart-to-heart with another pony before, let alone a friend or family member."

Blackburn smirked. "This isn't a 'heart-to-heart'?"

Dawn paused, looking at Blackburn again. "I… yes, I suppose it is. But we are not—" She paused again, unsure what to make of the conversation anymore. "Are we… friends?"

"If you want us to be, then yes, we are," was Blackburn's simple response.

Dawn paused again, then smiled lightly and nodded. "I… think I would like that, Your Majesty. Blackburn. Thank you."

"Mmhmm." Blackburn then hopped off of her stool and offered to help Dawn off hers. "You should get cleaned up."

Dawn accepted Blackburn's help climbing down from her stool, then glanced back at the… mess that she'd left and grimaced. "I apologize. I have never partaken in such hard liquor before and my body has been under duress for days. I fear that the combination was not ideal. Should I assist with cleaning—"

"No need. Have staff for that, used to cleaning up after lightweight mares crying and puking in here after hours." A pause. "Though Gadget usually warns me first."

Dawn paused as well, then she and Blackburn shared a good laugh, a laugh she hadn't had in many, many years.

Comments

[RoboRed]

Yeah, Nihilia having the power to reach out to other worlds and be a threat if not fully stopped once and for all here is...definitely concerning.

"Logical conclusion. Other possibilities to consider, but this one seems most likely. Purposefully caused imbalance to bring Void here, was stopped twice before, is attempting again. Implies interest in bringing the Void to the world specifically."

What if...what if this has happened before? What if Nihilia's actually responsible for the destruction of other worlds, like Hourglass's? That's even more troubling.

I guess I didn't really know what exactly to expect, but Pandemonia took the news about Athenos and the fate of her warden more calmly than I expected.

"I apologize if I've caused any discomfort," Puzzle Box said with a slight frown. "I understand that discussions of sexual matters can sometimes be uncomfortable for those who have never experienced it—"

Blackburn chuckled. "After all this, will serve as adequate… stress relief." With a tap to her chin and a sly look towards Twilight and Winter—which neither noticed—she added, "Can think of quite a few ponies who could use it."

Man, the burning shots at Twilight and Winter here.

As the two argued back and forth, Sunspire—literally caught in the middle—couldn't help but wonder: What the heck is going on? I just wanted to take a nap and do some reading…

Ahh, prepubescent/teen angst. And poor Sunspire has no clue.

Dawn felt her heart tense up again, like it had the night when her father had expressed how disappointed he was. And now Twilight was telling her the same.

Something inside Dawn just snapped in that instant.

That's it. That's it right there. That's the turning point. The breakdown.

The only thing Dawn could do was laugh. "You're right," she muttered. "I'm just a disappointment."

Winter stared at her wide-eyed. "Did you just use a fuckin' contraction?"

I love how this is this thing that Winter fixates on.

Big points to Blackburn for being the one here playing logic here/being the reassuring voice where Dawn's logic/thought process has otherwise hit a solid wall. She really has grown on me as a character since her first appearance years ago.

"Too little too late," Dawn sighed. "I have thoroughly ruined my relationship with my sisters. I have tarnished the only friendships I have ever had, and my father—" Another pang in her stomach, though not as harsh as before. "All I know is that I have made mistakes, and now my family and friends hate me."

I have to wonder a little bit here if those pains are actually guilt or if Silvertongue subltely did something after their meeting to prod her in the right direction. I'm pretty sure he's quite aware how much of her drive is looking up to him and not disappointing him and tying physical pain to thoughts of him could prod her along.

On the other hand, maybe that theory is a bit of a stretch.🤔

"I… I do. It was never my intent to hurt my family. I did not do the things that I did because I took pleasure from it or gained anything tangible. I just… I just did it. I do not know if it was just because I felt as though it was the proper thing to do, the proper way to act, but…"

And to be fair, I never got the vibe she was getting off on being malicious or anything. Dawn's always been business, logic, and "the plan" comes first no matter what. But she really, really needed a wake-up call to what her actions have been doing because she was inexcusably oblivious.

But now she finally has, acknowledges her mistakes, and is genuinely trying to figure out how to make amends.

"I apologize. I have never partaken in such hard liquor before and my body has been under duress for days. I fear that the combination was not ideal. Should I assist with cleaning—"

"No need. Have staff for that, used to cleaning up after lightweight mares crying and puking in here after hours." A pause. "Though Gadget usually warns me first."

Dawn paused as well, then she and Blackburn shared a good laugh, a laugh she hadn't had in many, many years.

Heh.