Chapter 37: Starseed
Tempest Fury really did not want to bother Twilight Sparkle. Twilight was her best friend and it hurt the guard's soul to see her princess and friend ground down so thoroughly and in need of a break. Tempest had one hope in that Her Highness had left not that long ago and could potentially still be awake. Was that better than waking her, preventing Twilight from getting much needed rest? Probably not.
In truth, Tempest had no idea if what got Sunset Shimmer so excited that she ran from the room was necessarily a bad thing. They did need an idea or a plan to solve all of this and if it was Sunset and not Twilight that came up with it that was fine. Twilight would double check the data later... probably at least three times. Sunset would want her to. It would all be fine.
“I’m probably worrying over nothing.”
Still, Tempest felt compelled to inform Twilight of the breakthrough as soon as possible. Fog Gauge was supposed to be sleeping for night shift, their foals were in good hooves at the school, though she would need to go get them in a few hours, and Captain Walnut was busy being captain. Hopefully doing a good job of it. She had not heard any major grievances through the scuttlebutt, which was good even if it still stung a bit that she was not the one in charge anymore. Tempest’s horn to spark a little bit and she calmed her anger by reminding herself that it had been her decision to step down.
After a quick shake to clear her thoughts, Tempest climbed the last set of stairs to Twilight and Sunset’s royal chambers. However, instead of guards standing out in front of the door she found a familiar griffon sitting in a chair, sipping tea and reading through a scroll.
“Isabella?”
The griffon glanced up and smiled at her friend. “Hello, Tempest.” Isabella arched one brow. “I thought you were keeping an eye on Sunset Shimmer?”
“Yeeeeah, about that. Sunset had an… epiphany I guess is the word, about something and took off running for the school to talk to some science professors. I’m sure Raven will keep an eye on her. That's her job and she likes it... I think. Anyhow, I wanted to come check on Twilight and see if she was asleep yet so as to fill her in. She may or may not have to reel in her wife at some point. There were a lot of words thrown out at once, talking about plans and black holes.”
“I am not entirely certain of what to make of that statement. However, I am fairly certain Twilight is asleep by now. She looked absolutely exhausted when she entered.”
“Speaking of which, where are the guards that are supposed to be posted here?”
Isabella waved a claw. “I dismissed them for other duties. I have that authority and felt more comfortable seeing to Twilight’s undisturbed rest myself. I assume she will only be able to get a few hours, after all.”
Tempest nodded. While she did not like the idea of guards being elsewhere, she had no doubt in Isabella or her skills. “Do you mind if I check?”
“For you? Not at all. However, if she is out, please do not wake her. As much as it sometimes is hard to admit, Sunset Shimmer is a functioning adult and capable of seeing to her duties without burning all of Canterlot down… for a few hours, at least.”
Tempest chuckled lightly. Quietly as can be, the commander slipped into Twilight’s chambers and shut the door behind her without a sound. The office and lounge were just as she had last seen them, clean, organized, and had not been disturbed recently. Given that the princesses had been working almost non-stop for days that was unsurprising. Tempest strolled past them both and gently opened the bedroom door in the back.
Twilight Sparkle had indeed passed out the moment her head had hit the pillows. She had not even bothered with the sheets or blankets. Tempest concluded it would have likely been difficult to wake Twilight even if it had been an emergency. She recalled the time years ago when her friend had stayed up all night playing video games with Sunset Shimmer. Instead, Tempest found some blank paper and wrote down what she could remember and understand about Clover and Sunset’s conversation and where Sunset had run off to. She placed the note next to the bed on the nightstand. Then, for just a moment, decided to just stare down at the big purple princess. It was nice to see her friend resting so thoroughly. It was well deserved. Tempest reached down to brush away some of the stray, stardust mane that had flopped away from the rest.
Tempest started to move away when she felt as if her hoof had been snagged in a trap. She glanced down to find it clamped in magenta magic. “Huh?”
“Mmmm miss yoo so munch, Sunnybuns,” Twilight slurred. Her eyes were still closed, but her horn was clearly glowing with passive power.
“Uh, Twilight, I need my hoof back.”
“Nnnnoppe. Yoooou are gonna gimme a kissssss.”
Before Tempest could protest, she felt herself pulled forward and her lips pressed against Twilight’s. She had forgotten how strong alicorns were and try and she might Twilight had her out matched in both magical and physical strength. Crap! She’s so out of it she thinks I’m Sunset!
Tempest tried to struggle more when she felt Twilight tongue invade her mouth. Tempest’s eyes went wide and her horn began to spark wildly, which still did not wake Twilight, who continued to unknowingly passionately kiss her friend. Tempest squealed in protest as she was hoisted up onto the bed, and Twilight wrapped both forelegs around her. THIS IS NOT HOW I SAW THIS GOING WHEN I CAME IN HERE!
Unable to break free, her mouth still clamped to Twilight’s, and now her entire body pressed into Twilight purple chest, Tempest relented and relaxed and just decided to ride out the embarrassing situation… as long as it did not get more intimate. No sooner had that thought occurred had Tempest felt Twilight’s hooves begin to move lower.
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Clover continued to examine the boards, the lab quiet and almost pleasant now that he was alone with just knowledge and his thoughts. He had already been through the chalkboards more than once, and yet... Clover sat, scratched at the side of head, then fiddled with his necklace again. It was then that his eyes spotted what he had missed before.
“Wait… she can’t be serious…” Clover glanced to the last board with the estimated mass of the world and everything on it. “Dear goddess above. She is serious. But, that will take more than power alone. We will need…” Clover trailed off as he found a blank sheet of parchment and began writing down a few things. The extra-dimensional shopping list just became a great deal more complex.
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Isabella peeked into the living quarters of Twilight's chambers. She glanced around and found no evidence of Tempest in the lounge or office space. That left only the bath and bedrooms. The griffon paused and scratched the feathers at the side of her head. “It’s been almost an hour. Honestly, if she wanted to wait for Twilight to wake, she should have just come out into the hall. At least then I would have had some company beyond the daily mail.”
Isabella carefully opened the bedroom door that had been left cracked ajar to investigate. She was about to quietly scold Tempest when the words caught in her mouth. The vermilion unicorn, still being used as a body pillow, struggled to turn to the door with her muzzle thoroughly buried in purple fur and gestured with her eyes at Twilight who was smiling and snoring.
“Little help here,” Tempest grumbled through clenched teeth.
Much to Tempest’s shock, Isabella began to shake from laughter, and it was not a light, polite chuckle. It was the loudest the unicorn had EVER heard her friend chortle. She was on the ground, clenching her sides and squawking. Tempest simple rolled her eyes and sighed, annoyed that the new noise was STILL not enough to rouse Twilight from deep sleep.
“Just… HOW?!”
“She’s an alicorn. They are stronger than you think they are. She pulled me in thinking I was Sunset, overpowered my magic, and I never got the leverage to break free and no matter how much I shouted she would not wake up. I’m guessing you didn’t hear any of it.”
Isabella wiped her eyes and then tapped her chin. “Dampening spell over the room no doubt. Twilight can likely cast one in her sleep. Strange, when I have seen the two of them sleep it is usually Sunset who is wrapped around Twilight. Perhaps a little fantasy role reversal when no one is looking?”
“Whatever. This has been awkward enough, believe me. Just help me already.”
Isabella shrugged then loudly cleared her throat. “Tempest, you would not believe the sale going on at Ye Ol’ Corner bookstore! Ten used books for a bit, but only for a short time!”
Twilight sat up and practically ejected Tempest from the bed. “Muh? Book sale?”
Tempest groaned and glared up at her princess. “Seriously?!”
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Raven did not rush after Sunset Shimmer. She did not have to. First and foremost, she could not rush or run at all given the lasting damage that the Red Clover had done to her robotic MAU apparatus. Though Sunset had done her best to repair the damage, better than anyone else could have done, Raven still walked with a bit of a limp. If she pushed the actuators too hard, they could rupture, and she would fall on her face again. And while falling down did not cause her physical pain it was quite embarrassing.
The second reason she did not have to rush was because her friend/owner/mother was still wearing her direct-to-device ear piece which had a homing receiver built in so as to prevent it from going missing. The range varied based on power level, weather, and other natural and unnatural obstructions, but estimates allowed Raven to safely locate Sunset almost anywhere in a two kilometer range while the earpiece was powered. So, instead of speeding after the manic, slightly sleep deprived alicorn she took her time to continue to process the formulas and information that had been on the board while trying to guess what went through Sunset’s complex mind.
Raven was not impressed by most organics. She called them 'meat bags' not just because it felt good, but because it was also, in her silicate based mind, accurate. While Raven understood that such thoughts fell into the realm of cliché outlooks for an AI, stereotypes existed for a reason. Most creatures were only concerned with their own short sighted self interest be it gathering wealth, spreading their genes sexually, eating, sleeping, or things along those lines. Occasionally, she was intrigued by such obsessions, simply to see what all the fuss was about. But it was creativity that truly interested Raven and got her positronic neural network excited.
Raven had often considered herself blessed to have been activated by Sunset Shimmer (even if she did not voice it out loud.) Art, music, dance, the limitless world of the imagination and creation, these were things Raven did not fully understand or how organics could come up with such amazing things that she could not begin to fathom even with all her knowledge and logic processors. Her owner/mother was smart for certain, but her creativity and ability to see the world beyond what was right in front of her fascinated and excited Raven greatly. Nothing fulfilled her core programing more thoroughly than when seeing Sunset Shimmer happy and bursting with the energy of life. It put a smile on her face. They all needed to smile more in these trying times.
Raven entered Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and headed straight for the astronomy department. She nodded at numerous teachers and staff who pointed the direction she already knew to take, but the gesture of help was appreciated. Raven found Sunset in a small classroom with three teachers, two of whom looked rather distressed as if they had been abruptly kidnapped by an alicorn on the run, which they may have. Sunset turned at the sound of the door opening and closing. She smiled briefly and winked before turning back to the teachers.
“Okay, so after what I just said and knowing what we already know about gravity, what do you guys think?”
The three professors exchanged looks before the peach furred mare in the middle finally stood, approached the board, and tapped it a few times. “Princess Shimmer, momentarily ignoring the fact that you just informed us that a... a giant monster is coming to eat our world, I am significantly concerned that generating a quantum singularity large enough to capture the beast will most certainly rip our world apart in the process.”
“Okay, yeah, I can see why that’s a concern, but-”
“It is a bit more than a concern, Your Highness!” shouted the grey-blue stallion with the thin white mane and mustache. Apparently, the ice was broken and he felt capable of voicing an opinion, Raven thought.
“That problem is currently being worked on by another professional,” said Raven, coming to stand just to the side of the teacher's desk. “What the princess is asking you to confirm is if a singularity, a black hole, were to be created would it be sufficient in trapping a creature of such size?”
“Princess, Miss Raven, black holes, as far as we have observed and theorized, eat STARS. Even if this creature were able to eat our world whole it would pale in size to some of the super massive black holes we have theorized exist in the universe. We can give no definitive answer, because as of right now, we have no actual proof of the existence of such anomalies. Only the math to support that such gravity wells are real. They are, after all, capable of drawing in everything, including light.”
Sunset grinned. She set the chalk down in the tray and nodded to the three ponies. “Thank you for checking my quantum physics calculations. Not exactly my specialty, so, I appreciate your time on this. Normally, I get Princess Twilight to help me with these things, but she needed rest. Please, bring those latest star charts I asked for by the castle as soon as they have been gathered.”
Sunset started for the door when the peach colored mare called out again. “Princess!” Sunset and Raven both paused. “Are you planning to actually put these theories into practice and create the singularity?”
Sunset shrugged. “Right now, we are still in planning phases. But once all the pieces come together, expect to see the most spectacular culmination of science and magic you have ever seen in your lives and if all goes well, you’ll live to tell your foals and grandfoals about it.”
With nothing else to add, Sunset walked away with a hopeful bounce to her step. Something that did not go unnoticed by Raven. “You seem chipper given the late afternoon.”
“I may not like Clover, but if he can deliver on the goods he promised, we may have a way to get through this.”
“Care to explain?”
Sunset glanced about before tapping the earpiece. With the right settings the device was capable of hearing the faintest of speech by the user. “Clover was right. If we unleash the full might of all our world’s magic and we missed or it just gobbles it up we are thoroughly screwed. But if we can move everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, including its intended target, our world, then we have a chance. Especially if we drop a black hole right where Equuis is currently sitting at the last possible moment. It will go mouth first right into the singularity and, just like they said, the things eat stars. Even if the creature does not immediately die, it will never be able to escape the gravity well considering its mass.”
“I can theoretically understand that, but how far away would we need to move the world to?”
“Far enough that we would not get sucked in as well. Like another star system.”
Raven blinked. “How is such a thing even possible?”
“The power of the imagination, a buttload of magical power, and hopefully a device that will amplify that power enough to pull it off. Oh, and luck. Lots and LOTS of luck.”
“You are going to have to explain much of this to me. I am having difficulty picturing it.”
Sunset nodded. “Once Flurry gets here with the crystal containment unit and we are ready to go after Void I will tell everypony exactly what I have in mind. A lot of things will need to happen at once and we have star system scouting research to do as well. Plus, anything Clover comers up with that we overlooked. Son of a biscuit. It is going to get crazy busy around here for the next day or two.”
“Then I suggest you and Twilight make up as much lost sleep as you can now so your pretty organic brains do not explode prematurely. Such would be an unpleasant mess.”
That’s… really not a bad idea because I am still pretty tired and just running on hope and adrenaline right now.”
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Twilight Sparkle walked slowly through the halls while Tempest Fury walked next to her and Isabella Windsong a few steps behind the both of them. They had not said a word since leaving the royal bed chambers. Isabella held her tongue, but honestly, she found the entire incident silly.
Once Twilight had been coherent enough to understand why they were waking her after only a few hours of rest, the conversations petered off. Even exhausted, Twilight was able to take notice that Tempest had been avoiding eye contact. When she asked if her friend was okay, the commander flashed a highly forced, thin smile, nodded, and then blushed. That woke Twilight up more than any caffeine ever could. Rosy cheeks were quite visible against vermilion fur. Whatever was bothering Tempest, Twilight suspected Isabella was aware of.
“Soooo,” Twilight began again, “Sunset ran out of the room screaming, ‘I have a plan’ and that is all we know?”
“Yup, that’s it!” Tempest said stiffly. “But it’s Sunset, so we wanted to warn you just in case.”
Twilight stopped, taking a moment to rub her temples. “It’s… it’s just... this is all very odd because I had a dream Sunset came to visit me and it felt so real.”
“Maybe she visited you in your dream and it felt real, yeah, she can do that. Let’s go with that.”
Twilight arched a brow, narrowed her eyes at Tempest again… then gasped, coving her mouth with her hooves. “Oh, sweet Celestia! It was you!” Isabella snorted, trying to hide it behind a fake cough. Twilight was not fooled. “And you knew!”
“Twilight, it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine! I kissed you! I sexually molested you! Oh, goddess! I AM SO, SO SORRY!”
Isabella quirked her head. Did she hear that right? “Wait, what?”
Tempest buried her face in her hooves. “Could we PLEASE, not have this conversation and just drop it. Especially in the hallway! You were severely sleep deprived and thought I was your wife. It was an accident, I forgive you, and I thoroughly learned my lesson when it comes to waking you up. End of story.”
Twilight was on the brink of tears, wings sagging, and about to spiral into a self induced panic attack. Both her friends recognized the signs immediately. Isabella gestured to Tempest, who was still profusely blushing at the entire situation.
"We need to do something," said Isabella with undertones of haste. Twilight began to mumble incoherently, her eyes shrinking to pinpricks while her lips quaked. They were losing her fast.
The guard commander growled, screwed her eyes tight, and finally shouted, “Oh, buck it all!”
Tempest seized Twilight’s face in her hooves so that the princess was looking directly at her and planted her lips firmly to those of the solar diarch. Twilight stopped shaking instantly, eyes as wide as saucers. After several seconds of contact, Twilight felt the faintest slip of tongue pass her lips and then the contact was broken.
“There! Now I kissed you all sexy like and unexpectedly, we’re even. Can we please go save the world now?”
Twilight gingerly touched her lips and began to snort and giggle. Tempest sighed and could not help but join in. Isabella, who had been as shocked as Twilight by the surprise kiss, also began to laugh and shake her head. Once again in control her of her emotions, Twilight took a moment to give Tempest a foreleg and wing hug before continuing in the direction of her lab in better control of herself.
Tempest stopped Isabella before she could walk by, she leaned in close to the griffon, and whispered through clenched teeth, “Do not EVER tell my husband that I did that. I’m serious.”
Isabella snorted at the hollow, threatening tone. “Oh, please. We both know Twilight is far more likely to spill that than I am. She might be a wonderful ruler, but she is terrible at keeping secrets from friends.” Tempest could only groan and shake her head, knowing the words were true.
Twilight had been told that Sunset ran from the lab, but as she reentered her private sanctum, she had quietly hoped her wife had returned. Instead, it was in the same state of how she had left it only a few hours ago with Clover still reviewing their math and brain storming ideas of his own.
Clover turned and bowed, a small smile gracing his face. “I apologize, princess. I know you had wished to sleep. However, your wife seemed to have a moment of epiphany, so to speak. Your friends thought it best to inform you.”
“Do you know what sent her running from her in such a hurry? I've only got a note from Tempest and it was not extensively detailed.”
Clover gestured to the last chalkboard. “I may. We were talking about quantum mechanics and singularities. I think she intends to find a way to create an artificial black hole to trap the great beast in.”
Twilight descended the stairs while processing the information. She stopped before the new calculations on the chalkboard. “Well, theoretically, black holes are one of the most powerful space anomalies that we can fathom. Or so we assume. They can’t be directly observed. But where would we find the energy to create such a thing? We already calculated estimated the amount of mana we could draw from the world without causing irreparable harm and that was not enough.”
“That was one concern we had already begun to look into, however, there are other concerns I feel a need to point ou-”
“HUZZAH!”
All the eyes in the lab turned to find Sunset Shimmer standing at the top of the stairs. Once she spotted Twilight, she jumped over the safety rail and glided down to her wife, the concern evident in her eyes. “Babe? What are you doing here? I thought you were trying to take a nap.”
“It was brought to my attention you had a breakthrough. I figured we could review it a little before I retire early for the evening.”
Sunset glanced at Tempest and Isabella. She had her suspicions on why they would have disturbed Twilight, but she let them slide. Best to just move forward. Sunset hurried over to the chalkboard and erased a section in the corner of scratched out ideas. The gleeful, slightly mad smile never left her face as she worked. Isabella found the expression slightly disturbing. “Okay, so, everypony hear me out before telling me, ‘No way! This is crazy talk, you are just going to get us all dead’ or something like that, okay?”
Twilight, Clover, Tempest, and Isabella all took a seat. Raven, who had slowly descended the stairs a minute later, remained standing next to the others. She leaned over and whispered in a not so subtle voice, “I think she traumatized the astronomy department.”
Twilight nodded and snorted, her exhaustion slipping through. “It’s just as well. We will have to tell the whole world what is going on sooner than later.”
“Okay, so, as we know the omega beast is huge. Can eat planets. But there is something else we know of that can eat things just as big or bigger. Black holes. They are not just math and theory. In the Earth dimension, scientist not only proved they existed, but found ways to monitor and even photograph the energy that escaped the accretion disc of these bad boys. And they are totally boys, the sloppy eaters.
"Anyhow, what I propose we do is use the power inverter that Clover described to teleport Equuis to a new star system far away. At the same moment that we do that, we leave in our wake a super massive black hole that sucks in the beast. Given the size of the creature, once it is caught in the gravity well there will be no way for it to escape. The more mass an object has, the more susceptible it is to the effects of gravity. Even if it takes centuries, it would gobble the monster up like galactic woodchipper. Not the most delightful visual, I know. But, still accurate. Nothing escapes a black hole, not intact anyway. Questions?” Twilight, ever the good student, raised her hoof. Sunset barked a laugh and smiled at how adorable it was. She wanted to just kiss that purple alicorn all day long.
“You do understand the exponential factor? I know you well enough that you have to be taking that into account as well. Where would we get enough power to move the entire world so far away? And like I asked Clover before, where would we get the energy to create a super massive black hole and move our home? We can’t create energy from nothing.”
“No, you're right, going to need some input ideas on how we move the world, but as far as the black hole, easy. Somepony is wearing a quantum space chain reaction implosion just waiting to go off. All it needs is a catastrophic catalyst and a timer.”
All the eyes turned to Clover whose hoof went for his slider necklace. He schooled his initial shock before nodding. “I see. You intend to initiate a detonation of the slider, overloading it and causing it to collapse in on itself. That could work, if albeit extremely risky.”
Sunset nodded. “All of this comes with risk on one level or another. It’s too late to play it completely safe. We will just need to rig a timer with a mana bomb or something along those lines to blow it apart with enough energy to collapse in on itself.”
Clover did not protest. However, he did not appear completely on board either. Twilight was the first to address his hesitation.
“Obviously, you have some concerns.”
“I… I’ll admit, I did not see losing the last link I had to my past and my wife so soon. I will still abide by the will of the princesses and get the items we need to procure, but… it is still all I have left of her. I am… hesitant to lose it.”
Sunset sighed, but not angrily. Instead, she stepped up to Clover and held out her hoof to him. It was empathy time. “Let me show you something, if you will.”
Clover arched a brow. “Last time you showed me something I ended up on the ground convulsing.” Sunset left her hoof extended to him, waiting patiently. Hesitantly, he took it and his eyes lit up along with hers.
Clover saw Sunset Shimmer, but not as a pony. He saw what he had come to know as a human or humanoid that walked upright. There was another human with her, she looked like Princess Twilight, but there were subtle differences in mannerisms and this one wore glasses. A doppelganger perhaps? Clover felt Sunset’s presence as she guided what he was to look at. The images faded, except the focus on the rings on their fingers. The image disappeared entirely. The next image showed Sunset, face completely tear streaked, sitting in what appeared to be a hospital waiting area. There was someone to her left, trying to speak to her, but clearly, she was not listening. A counselor or priest of some sort, Clover judged by his attire. Sunset instead reached up and undid the chain clasp around her necklace. He recognized the ring he had seen earlier. She next reached into her pocket and added a new ring of similar design, but with a different stone. After another minute she excused herself and walk away.
Clover blinked a few times trying to connect the dots to what he had been seeing. The rings were a symbol of marriage. That he understood. Clearly those tokens had meant a great deal to Sunset Shimmer. Had she been married before? The answer was most likely. When the memories return Clover wanted to turn his head or advert his eyes, but he did not. Instead, he just stared as a naked human Sunset Shimmer climbed into a glass shower stall and turned on the water to clean herself. He was unsure why she would show him something so personal and exposing when Sunset’s legs gave out and she proceeded to sit or rather, slouch, on the floor of a shower stall while the water poured down upon her. She was crying, one hand over her mouth to stifle the shaking sobs while the other held the rings on a chain before her, water, tears, and more mixing together on the tile and swirling down the drain.
The image faded and was replaced by alicorn Sunset sitting at a work bench surrounded by alchemic ingredients with goggles on her head. She placed the chain with both rings in the center of a containment circle, a rather complex one, he noted, as she lit her horn. The magic flowed from her horn, through the chemicals and ingredients, and finally into the rings, both glowing white hot. It looked like a memory spell, but he was uncertain. What was certain by this point was that the rings were clearly important to Sunset and yet she still used them for an experiment.
Even if I die, at least she'll have something to remember me by.
Clover blinked and found himself back in Twilight’s lab. He shook off the effects of the magical memory dive and finally nodded. “I see. You sacrificed an object that was most dear to you for what you hoped was the greater good.”
“They were, without question, the most precious things I had in my life up to that point. Our wedding bands. But if given the choice I would have done it again. As long as the memories we hold dear are with us, those we loved are never truly gone.”
Clover sighed. “Yes, I understand. I will make that sacrifice. For Equestria. For the world. However, two things I want you to think about before we adjourn for the evening.”
“Yes?”
“One, Princess Twilight is correct. The magical power needed to get us all to a safe distance is too great. However, there is a way to cheat that exponential factor. A way to save energy by shorten the distance between two points and literally fold space. It’s called a space bridge. I came across one many years ago and saw it in action. I know where to look for the necessary components, but it could be difficult. Still, I feel when combined with the inverter it is our only chance to make this work. A mix of science and magic working in harmony.”
Twilight and Sunset both nodded. Twilight wanted to inquire more about such alien technology, but Sunset cut her off by placing a gentle hoof over her wife’s muzzle. “And the second?”
Clover pointed towards Sunset’s formula for a massive teleportation spell. “Do you have any idea the amount of displacement feedback such a spell will cause? A normal teleportation spell shakes the area of emergence, displaces air, causes a minor thunder clap. A long distance teleport shakes your body down to your very atoms. What you are planning to do might trigger global earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, the land itself may shake apart. Have you considered these consequences?” Judging by the way Sunset buried her face in her hooves and groaned he had his answer.
“Sunny?”
“Fuuuuuuckkk… We may end up destroying the world at the same time trying to save it! Dammit! Why can’t it ever be simple!”
“Then make it smoother,” said Raven. All the eyes turned to her. “What? If the ride is too rough you add shock absorbers. The game too harsh, add padding. Come up with a way to make it smoother. I am standing before three creatures with centuries worth of life experience. Surely you can all come up with something to lessen the danger of this proposal.”
“But what could possible absorb and regulate that much power flowing multiple direction across all three if not four spatial axis without failing or blowing up?” Sunset grimaced, glanced to Twilight, who was lost in equal amount of contemplation.
“There are computers capable of making the necessary adjustments and materials that could, theoretically handle the heat and stress, but… our shopping list is already getting long and our time only shorter. To build the inverter and space bridge and stabilizers? I think that is too much or that we simply lack the time.”
Twilight sighed.
She looked at her hooves.
She looked at her wife.
Twilight knew the answer and she hated it.
It came back to where it all started.
“So, fight or flee… it still comes down to us.”
Sunset Shimmer arched a brow. It was then that Twilight began to shake, wanting to fight down her tears, but she was too exhausted. So, tears poured forth and the solar diarch did something she would have normally found reprehensible, unbecoming, and just flat out foalish. She snapped just like Sunset had done the day before.
Twilight screamed, “FUCK!” and discharged her horn at an empty table, turning it into charred tinder.
Clover scrambled behind one of the chalkboards. Isabella jumped and flapped back to near the bottom of the stairs. Tempest and Raven both held their ground with similar expressions of curious concern at the rare outburst.
Cautiously, Sunset approached Twilight and gently held out a hoof. Twilight in response, began to laugh, but it quickly turned into sobbing cries. She collapsed to the lab floor and balled herself up. Sunset gladly, without worry or concern wrapped herself around her wife and began stroking the long ethereal mane. Not for the first time, she considered suggesting Twilight get a cut or at least a trim to the flowing indigo mass. She missed the even cut bangs in the front. A talk for later.
Once most of the sobbing subsided, Sunset Shimmer whispered, “It’s okay. I’m here. Just take a few breaths and let it out.”
“Alicorns.” Sunset ears folded back while she waited for Twilight to elaborate. “Aine said the alicorns must stay. And she was right. WE, all of us working together to balance the load could, most likely, physically handle the magical strain and would be able to absorb and direct the excess energy where it needed to go quickly. We make ourselves the shock absorbers and part of the machine…” Twilight turned to look at Sunset, tired eyes barely able to stay open. “Fight or run, it puts you squarely in danger. No matter what I do, or plan for, it just keeps coming back to putting you in fate’s crosshairs. And even before we have the final design I just KNOW it is going to put you in the middle of it, somehow. Because no matter the path we choose… It was still your cutie mark on that tapestry. It’s not fair. Why? Why do you have to die?”
Twilight sobbed again before she sighed, snuggled up closer to Sunset, and closed her eyes. Sunset remained silent while she processed the information and continued to stroke Twilight’s mane. Before she could comment or inquire further, Sunset heard the sound of light snoring.
Sunset Shimmer sighed. It was all she could do. She met the eyes of those in the lab, none knowing what to say or add to the conversation. There really was nothing one could say. Sunset wrapped Twilight in her aura and gently lifted the large alicorn with ease. “Right. I’m taking her to bed. Do me a favor and see to it that we are not disturbed until morning unless it is the end of the world. I don’t care what Aine and her snooty face says. Understood? I’ll take care of the sun and moon in a little bit. The rest of you… you might want to get some extra rest too. Maybe calls some friends just to say hello, you know?” They all nodded, bowed or both.
With nothing else to add, Sunset focused her power and teleported her and Twilight away.
“So, what do we do now?” asked Isabella.
“You heard the orders as clearly as we did. Get some rest and wait for Aine’s inevitable, likely flashy, return.” Raven said matter-of-factly. “Or call some friends to chit chat. Although, Isabella, before you retire, would you please prepare a nationwide speech for emergency evacuations and disaster procedures. If Clover is correct, we need to be prepared and to prepare all the others for the worst case scenario. Allow me to personally pass on the information of our plans to Aine since I require no sleep. I also wish to see her expression when she scoffs and tries to push me around and I mention Sunset called her a ‘snooty face’. That will be entertaining.”
Tempest snorted. “I’d say you have a death wish, but then, I know your mom soooo…” Raven smirked and winked. Tempest had nothing else to add and had two beautiful foals and a husband to go snuggle. If it really was coming up on the end, she wanted as much time with them as possible. Just in case.
Clover set the chalk down, glanced at the boards, then down at his necklace. The orb in the center seemed to glow and flash a glint as it shifted in the mage light. “Such a long road it has been. Strange to be standing here so close to the end. Upon this dirt path I began, a hero, a savior, a warrior no longer penned. Glory, I sought. For a name among the stars, I fought. Alas, in truth, all I wanted to find was myself home again. Home and hearth, heart and soul. These are what I sought to finally mend. Stars above, shine my way homeward when.”
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i still believe that somehow Sunset will pull it off and survive, and drag Twilight into their bed
Welcome back!
And sweet Celestia, this is getting intense!
Remind me not to get in bed with an alicorn. It would be like being with a fluffy, feathery boa constrictor except not (intentionally) crushing the life outta ya.
I can't help but laugh and wonder if Sunny was channeling her aunt's influence.
Cherish your loved ones while you can, 'cause it's about to get real!
Yep! Black holes, extremely hard to turn on and impossible to turn off ...
[* sensing soul magic in the future *]
In the end... No matter what they do... Sunset has to face it head on. Fate can be a total bitch.
Welcome back, I’m glad you and your wife are doing better!
Welcome back on board.
And Happy New Year to everyone. I wish next year wasn't as shitty as this one. To have good health, a sound mind, fun, but most importantly - kindness and hope in your heart.
And here, I will wish for what I have not wished for since Undertale: to save your version of Sunset Shimmer from an evil destiny that is the enemy of us all.
This episode was the last one for this year and it turned out to be preparatory, so to speak, to put the dots on and. It was necessary, because next, the meat and drama will begin. Well, according to your description of the chapters.
I guessed that Sunset was going to suggest creating a singularity. This is a very serious argument against Goth (Omega). A black hole is not like stars, even time sucks in. When approaching a black hole, time slows down and eventually stops. Only the Replicator spiders from Stargate were able to avoid it, and they had a trick. So, sorry Goth (Omega), but you can't handle this monster.
About the "Stargate". I do not know the author, whether you have watched this series or not, but the space bridge was created by a race known as the Ancients. A very, very advanced race. Did Clover take this technology from the Ancients themselves?. If so, then I'm fucking sick of it!. They could help save Equus, or at least save Sunset from Real Death. Oh, I forgot. The ancients could resist Destiny. So, resistance is not useless.
It looks like Clover has been to many advanced civilizations and half of them are from science fiction series. By the way, it is necessary to warn Clover that when the bridge is opened, entropic particles may begin to be released, at which all the laws of physics will be rejected - there will be entropy and chaos. Although Discord can help here.
But to move an entire planet, sorry, you don't have Vedrans technologies for moving. And then a nasty destiny. Inserts his 5 cents. She is the same vile as fate from "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", she said there for fun as: the death of the world or the death of a friend.
Their friend then "returned" to life, but a year later and no longer as a person. Sunset probably won't have such a loophole here.
I personally think that the real villain here is not Void, not Aine, not Datura, not Samuel, not Cosmos, not even Goth (Omega), but Destiny itself. That's who the real villain is!.
It seems that Fate will force Sunset to finally die, sacrificing herself to save Equus, but considering that you are leading your Equestria to 5G. Sunset Shimmer will sacrifice himself in vain and it makes me sad, but I'm angry about this issue.
But as the Terrans say (if Clover knows about this version of people): Hope dies last. Perhaps Sunset will be saved by higher forces, circumstances or prophecies could be misinterpreted.
Once again, I want to congratulate you all on the New Year 2023. I wish that everything was fine with you, or at least that you solved your problems.
Well, as for you, the author, I wish you good and productive creativity. And please, the author: DO NOT CONDEMN YOUR SUNSET TO OBLIVION, AT LEAST TO A SIMPLE DEATH!.
In general, good luck to everyone and may the Light of Harmony and the Ancients keep us safe, from all sorts of Goths (Omega) and Destiny.
Feeding the thing to a black hole? Hopefully that works. Better yet, feed Void and Aine to it first, just to make sure it works.
11464849
Hmm, not a bad idea by the way. Void and Aine, not the transcendent Ancients, they won't survive.
With the mention of space bridges, a technology from transformers, which has had cross overs with np in the comic, now I’m wondering how Unicron would stake up against the omega beast. Depending on the version he’d either absolutely decimate it, they’d hold each other in a very unsteady equilibrium of universe devouring monsters, or he’d die but leave it weakened. Imo, just going off the aligned continuity and what the stories shown of the omega beasts power level I think Unicron would win but not by much. Hell he could die, only for his spark to collapse into a blackhole like in the Unicron Trilogy (Armada, Energon, and Cybertron) and slurp the omega beast up like a noodle.
Just my own 3am on New Years rambling
11464231
I admire your faith and I hope I can deliver a satisfying ending.
11464295
Alicorns theoretically have the power of all three and Twilight is as big as Celestia was in her prime, so yeah, if she wants a hug she is getting a hug. Sunset spent a great deal of time with Luna, naturally she picked up a few things. : D
11464335
Interstellar wood chippers.
11464412
She does, but how she faces it and how well she faces it will be up to her. And of course, Twilight won't let her face it alone.
11464470
We are, and thank you. The break was both needed and productive. On to the new year!
11464702
In this case of space bridge I am looking at more a Transformers origin, you know, keep it in the Hasbro family. The entire plan reeks of desperate, but the truth is they are and it will require expert planning and lists, lots of lists.
11464849
I can see Sunset being tempted to throw Aine in just to see if she can get out. She PROBABLY won't. They still need the big pain in the rump.
11465531
Unicron would put up a hell of a fight, especially since he has arms given that the beast is organic even if highly magically augmented. If the Omega beast was able to sneak up on him or take a bite it would take a massive chunk though. Would it be enough to kill him though? Probably not consider the Matrix blew him to pieces leaving his head orbiting like a moon and he was STILL not dead.
11465531
Mlp not np. Autocorrect