Chapter 99
All the lights were now on, and the sleepy atmosphere of the room had been effectively obliterated. Except for Fluttershy, who was still unconscious. I'd checked over the scorch mark a half a dozen times already, and it was discovered to be a blackened char on the wood of the floor, remarkably shaped exactly like Twilight's Cutie Mark. Besides obviously screaming of magic, there was no additional ash or soot anywhere. If a pony had, well, disintegrated in a flash of heat, there should be at least some remains left. I ran the idea through my mind already that it might have been blown away when I tried to expel the smoke from the building, but there was no trace whatsoever of anything.
I paced, pinging the link once again as I bit my lower lip. The ping timed out after thirty seconds on its way to Twilight. This was beyond strange, because that meant it had started to try to go 'somewhere'. If the link were simply gone, it would have just reported failure. But if it timed out trying to get somewhere, reporting successful departure, that meant she was outside of the range of my communication array. I... What? If I wanted to, I could bounce my signal off the moon in orbit. So all I could gather was that she was alive 'somewhere' but not on Equus. What did that even mean?! Rarity lifted a hoof up, resting it against my chest as I paced past her.
"Okay, calm down. We can still feel her link. Mender's found many inconsistencies with her disappearance. The magic probably teleported her somewhere," she reasoned. Probably accurate, but I refrained from mentioning my range. Could my signal be blocked by something?
Rainbow gave a huff at that before reminding, "Weren't you the one who screamed?"
The pearly unicorn looked away from her, closing her eyes and looking indignant for a moment. "It was surprising! And don't be insensitive. Poor Fluttershy fainted, after all!" she defended.
My hoof traced the edge of the black star on the floor, and I frowned. I looked to Spike after, and got an uncertain expression and shrug. The letter had already been sent to Tia. No reply back yet, of course. I doubted she was sleeping, but she might have been doing something directly to fix the situation.
I gave a weak sigh, and Derpy drifted in behind me and started to massage my shoulders. "Relax, uncle. We're all here for you," she assured gently, giving me a softer smile from over my shoulder. I gave her a smaller smile in return, then nodded. Wait... Uncle.
Turning to my other niece, I asked, "Did you see anything out of the ordinary, Aura?" How I'd failed to ask the necromancer already present was beyond me. I blamed overwhelming stress. And the panic. Definitely the panic.
Her frown didn't diminish, as she'd been staring at the spot the whole time. She looked to me, then raised an eyebrow. "You mean... ordinary in comparison to what everypony else saw, right? Because watching the Elements of Harmony fire off, and whatever that was, is already quite a bit outside of my usual realm of experience," she admitted, looking back to the scorch mark. She was surprisingly calm for the situation, which didn't honestly surprise me, now that I thought about it.
I chuckled lightly and nodded to her, the relaxing presence she seemed to exude being contagious. She slowly shook her head, however, and then explained, "It happened fast, so I can't be sure apart from it being 'weird'. Her spirit is not here, one way or another, but given the unexpected and shocking nature of this incident, if she'd been killed by whatever that was, there would most assuredly be a ghost here. Well, unless she was a very relaxed and easy going pony. Um, was she?"
Rainbow started laughing, as did Pinkie and Applejack. Heh. Okay, yeah, that was pretty divorced from Twilight's personality. Rarity giggled even, then corrected, "I think she's serious, but no, in that case. Twilight's known for being, well, fairly high strung."
Aura nodded to that, then smiled, slipping back into her slower speech patterns with, "Then I can guess with most certainty that she is not dead." That hesitation again. I raised an eyebrow, and she looked away from me before coughing lightly. After another moment of hesitation, she appended, "That was exceedingly strange, however. The orb of light around her reached into her very being, seeping into her like water into the soil. Her link to the Ether simply... It's hard to describe. It's like it expanded, growing exponentially larger than normal before becoming the whole size of the bubble. Then it pulled inwards and exploded. She disappeared at the same time."
I stared blankly at her, and she slowly blinked back in return. "Uh, so... she got pulled through her own link to the Ether? Can... Can that even happen?" I asked, frowning at the thought. She shook her head a moment later, frowning again.
"When a pony passes on, their spirit gets pulled through like that into the Ether, where it joins the Ether permanently. But, um, I've never known anyone to physically go into the Ether with their body, too. That would be remarkably unhealthy. Only Ancients are known to be able to do that," she murmured, tilting her head to me afterwards. Ancients? Oh. Oh hell.
My ears lowered, and I stared for another moment before asking, "Like... an Alicorn?" The spell was supposed to guide a pony through the steps to doing what happened with Cadance. It only worked on ponies with both the potential to become an Ancient and the specific genetics. Tia had already mentioned that Twilight had the genetics. If she had the potential already as well... Ugh. I suddenly realized that Tia had probably sent her the damn book with this outcome fully expected.
"Uh, you suddenly look kinda annoyed," Rainbow muttered, shooting me a skeptical look. Sighing, I shook my head and looked back at the Cutie Mark shaped scorch mark.
"Too many coincidences are adding up. If my educated guess is accurate, Twilight's fine, and Tia's not responding because she's actually with her right now. Probably in the Ether," I guessed, shaking my head slowly at the whole situation. A bit of forewarning ahead of time would have been great if that was the case.
Aura perked up at that, eyes widening slowly. "Cadance...?" she asked, searching my expression until I nodded, causing her to squeak. I opened my mouth to elaborate when a sudden knock came to the library's door. Everypony looked at each other after a long moment's hesitation, and I sighed, walking over in the direction of the door. With Twilight missing and Fluttershy unconscious, that meant that Spike and I were the only ones left that actually lived here, and I doubted he wanted to see who it was.
Opening the door, I lifted my eyebrow slowly as I came face to face with Luna instead. She smiled and gave me a little wave before explaining, "Sorry I'm late. I don't get out of the castle very often, and I found a lovely pastry shop in Canterlot that's open all hours." She slid a large bag from her side and opened it to show off at least thirty wrapped donuts. I blinked, and she giggled, then added, "It's going to be a long night, so I brought treats. We'll probably need drinks, too. May I come in?"
I gave a sigh, then nodded, letting her pass me, followed by four night guards, before glancing outside. Sure enough, the sky chariot was parked right in front of the library. If I remembered right, catching the proper thermals and on a good day, a pegasus could glide down to Ponyville in a mere twenty minutes from all the way up on Mount Celestia. Eh, at least she brought donuts... Shutting the door, I followed after them into the main room, where everypony was already bowing.
* * * * *
"So, um, Twilight's okay?" Fluttershy asked quietly, tucked gently into my side and peeking over my back. She'd felt the link herself and it disappearing off into the Ether, which I apparently didn't get signal to. Regardless, confirmation was nice and all that.
Luna snickered, then nodded while taking another sip of her tea. "Quite. Our sister predicted that this outcome would happen, but not nearly this soon. We are surprised as well, but nonetheless, Twilight Sparkle was shunted into the Ether by her spell. Tia went to meet her, and is undoubtedly residing with her still," she assured, giving a comforting smile towards the yellow mare. Dash, further down the couch, gave an excited wing flutter after.
"So the explosion pushed her into the Ether?! I didn't know an explosion could do that!" she asked, grinning at the concept. She then gasped after, and tacked on, “Ah! She’s getting wings! I’ll have a new flying buddy!” Oh boy.
I shook my head, however, and then corrected the explosion bit, "It can't. She was teleported into the Ether by the spell. The spell just happened to explode afterwards." It was a subtle distinction, but one I was very happy for regardless.
Applejack still looked less than thrilled, however. "Is it supposed ta do that, though?" she asked flatly, sounding frustrated.
Luna nodded again, then furthered, "Yes, it is. If the individual contains both the proper genetics within their body, and the correct conditioning to their magic." The orange mare looked surprised by that, but I just lightly massaged my temples.
"Yeah, Element of Magic. Prone to absurd levels of magical power inside of her body. Capable of extreme feats of magic when pressed, to the point where it almost looks like she's a force of nature," I muttered, noting I'd personally witnessed it at least once, when she hyper-charged her teleportation spell and literally hauled me through a dimensional barrier without it being fully locked onto me. Just slightly scary. Oh, and generating enough raw magic to break the Wings of Icarus, which were technically not even physical, being a visual effect created by a quantum reaction. So essentially she just laughed and broke physics because she said so, somehow... Not that I wasn't grateful, as she also saved my bacon there, but it still frustrated my inner engineer. Things were supposed to be consistent! Drop an apple and it heads towards the closest gravitational force. It's a rule you can rely on! That was like... like... Dropping the apple and having it turn into a cat!
Rarity gave me a gentle nudge, then revealed, "Mender, you're doing that thing where you stare off into space with an angry expression again." I blinked, then exhaled and nodded to her.
"Uh, thanks! Um, what was I-" I started to ask. Thankfully, Pinkie landed on my back from the stairwell a moment later, with a friendly reminder.
"You were letting us know why it was important that she's really awesome at magic! Not that her being really awesome at magic isn't an important thing by itself! That would be kinda contradictory to the art of magic, in both science and culture, having both instrumental and intrinsic values when adhering to the larger-" she started to ramble.
Rarity coughed, causing the confusing pink one to perk and look over at her before nodding happily. "Right! So why is it important in this situation?!" Pinkie asked, instead summarizing without getting into the theoretical debate.
I nodded, explaining, "She has both the genetics, and the conditioning. She's probably been using that 'hole' in her Ether network her whole life, if I could hazard a guess. I assume she's always shown bouts of extreme magical releases, especially sporadically and when pressed?" Applejack and Rainbow gave each other a sheepish stare, and Rarity coughed again, giving me all the answers I needed.
"Well, turns out, that was probably intentional on Tia's part. Probably for this. Chances are, Twilight will be coming back with a couple new limbs," I muttered, giving a tired sigh. Pinkie immediately gasped while lying on top of me, and I regretted my choice in vagueness almost as quickly.
"Is she gonna have six legs?! That would be awesome!" she asked almost instantly. I sighed. Twilight probably wouldn't think it was quite so amazing.
Luna gave a giggle instead, then corrected, "We believe he means wings. And he would be correct. Like Cadance, we believe Twilight is currently becoming a new Alicorn. An Ancient." The gasps resounded around the room, and I sagged a little on the couch. It was weird, having all of the implications and hints but without any final confirmation. With it confirmed right in front of me, my mind sort of settled finally, it sinking in slowly. So apart from Twilight becoming a non-ancient Ancient, what exactly did that mean?
Deciding that was my most pressing question, I voiced it with, "How exactly is this going to change things?" Everypony, minus Luna who already had been, turned to look at me at the same time. I raised my eyebrow up, looking between them all. "Uh, what?" I asked, starting to wonder if I'd blundered into one of those social taboo things again.
Rarity frowned, then spoke up. "You seem remarkably unfazed by this turn of events, is all. Well, unfazed or very pragmatic," she explained, then looked to Luna after. The Alicorn shook her head, however.
"We believe he came to the conclusion of what was actually happening far before anypony else here. Further, he has had significant amounts of things happen that are out of the ordinary, and is reasonably new to this world still. All those combined probably gives him a fairly dampened perspective on Twilight merely gaining a pair of wings," Luna explained, looking to me for confirmation. Eh? So her explanation was that I was decidedly jaded, and had a lack of association for what it meant to be an Alicorn? Well, okay, that's not too far from the truth.
Shrugging, I explained, "I don't fully grasp what exactly an Ancient is, so yeah, it's probably not as big a deal for me. Does anypony care to enlighten me?" I gave a confused look to Luna, and she chuckled softly, then opened her mouth again.
An excessively large flash of light hit outside before she could say anything, however. And by 'flash of light', I actually meant it looked like a new sun had suddenly formed on the surface of the planet right outside the library. I winced, shielding my eyes from the window as a chorus of surprised yelps and squeaks sounded out around me.
A few seconds later, the link came back online. I was moving before I fully acknowledged it, barely getting the door's knob turned before the rest of me hit it and I was outside a heartbeat later. Applejack followed me mid-leap off the step, and Rainbow shot over us with a single flap.
My eyes searched skyward, showing not one but two burning disks in the sky. They shed light out over the entire area like it was the middle of the day, waves of heat and energy coming off them. The center started to sort of 'sag' out of the middle a moment later as they bubbled downwards. What the hell?! Splashes of color came through a moment later, swirling out from the center. The first disk shifted a bright golden color, and the other went dark with deep indigo and mulberry swirls. Oh...
It didn't take long for the disks to sink entirely into orbs, falling through the air and descending down towards the area like fiery comets. My eyes widened as they came in fast, and I skidded to a halt along the ground. Dash squeaked, dropping and doubling back, landing behind me as I lifted both my forehooves upwards, a flare of energy coming out in front of me. We got too close!
Applejack barely rolled behind the barrier as I suddenly shadowed out a surprisingly large shockwave, two impacts of what felt like raw magic blasting out over the ground. Most of the energy was released in a pressure wave, dirt and grass blasting up around us and against the shield. The bubbles squished then bellowed out in the blast, energy contained within them radiating out into the area itself and leaving a faint luminescence to the air.
Light pollution clearing slowly, it didn't take much effort at all to make out the two shapes standing in the radiance. Tia stepped forward, horn radiating as she pulled the energy back into herself suddenly, dimming the area except for the light of the library behind us and the glow of her horn. Twilight stood next to her, eyes closed as she gave a full body shiver, her horn glowing with energy and, both expected and entirely disbelieved, two large wings expanding off her back. Crap... I could only imagine how her becoming an Ancient was going to affect our relationship, now.
I felt him first. Looking to my left, Discord stood next to us, looking about as amused as I'd ever seen him look. Yeah, that show of energy was like a sun on the surface of Equus, so he undoubtedly felt it from wherever he found himself most of the time. "Very, very interesting..." he murmured, grinning after as he stroked the tuft coming off his chin. Twilight's eyes opened a moment later, locking on to us instantly as they widened to full size. Yeah, 'interesting' was one word for it. Suddenly, I suspected that Fluttershy was the only one that was going to get any rest tonight...
* * * * *
I was convinced now. Things in Equus never, ever slowed down. Instead, I took my naps where I could get them. In this case, I was half asleep while lying on my side on one of the lounge couches. The palace staff buzzed around us in and out, half in a panic. I sympathized, anyway. My eyes stayed closed, and I relaxed with Fluttershy while listening to the others talk around me.
"I'm just not sure why we have to have a full coronation so soon. What are your active duties as a princess even?" Rarity asked, sounding a little annoyed. She felt it, too, from the link. Everything was a rush. We hadn't slept at all last night after Twilight got back, and I felt dead tired now. We'd all been rushed back to Canterlot via royal carriage, and now Rarity was taking measurements on Twilight with her new appendages for making a ceremonial dress. Given my choice, I'd take the slower train any day over that. Maybe it was my subtle Earth Pony preferences coming through, or a natural sense of self-preservation of wanting to stay near the ground, or as close to it as possible, at least. The train could slow to a stop and get repaired if need be. A flying chariot couldn't exactly stop and pull over if something broke.
Twilight herself gave a frustrated sigh, shaking her head slowly. "I... don't know. This is all happening so fast. Ah, I... I have wings now. I'm an Alicorn. This is just too... ugh," she muttered, sagging a little. Rarity coughed lightly, causing the newly created Alicorn to groan and stand up straight again.
Repeating her sigh, I nodded in sympathy. "Fully agree, there. We're going to really, really need a vacation after this. And do I have any any 'duties' as a 'Prince' now?" I asked, dreading the answer I'd get. I understood that Ancients were generally seen as, well, ancient, and usually quite wise and powerful. Twilight had that 'powerful' bit down, but she was immensely young compared to the par. So was Cadance, though, and she ruled over an entire empire. This was just crazy...
Applejack huffed at that, crossing her forelegs over her chest before pointing out, "Ah think ya have enough on yer plate with tha DReg stuff. Ah don't see why they'd dump new duties on either o' you." I really, really hoped she was right.
"Oh dear. Does, um, that mean I'll be a Princess, too?" Fluttershy asked hesitantly, wiggling a little back and forth while against my side. I gave her a softer smile and kissed her cheek, earning a little blush and soft smile from her.
Twilight smiled too, relaxing as she watched Fluttershy. "Yeah, but don't worry. I'm not going to have you do any public speaking or presentations or the like," she assured. Oh, joy, so she was going to make me do them, then. She grinned towards me as I gave her an annoyed look, and Rarity snickered.
"I believe this is just for official capacity, and to publicly recognize Twilight's status as an Alicorn now. I cannot see them having official responsibilities for any of us this soon. However, Fluttershy has another perk, now being a Princess and in a herd with a Prince and Alicorn," Rarity pointed out. Oh? My mind strained to think of another advantage, but Fluttershy's ears suddenly dropped almost instantly, drooping down as she physically shrank. Uh...
"R-Rarity!" she whined, followed by, "N-Not here." Uh oh. My 'bad news' sense started tingling rather abruptly, and I frowned down at the yellow mare, causing her to wince again and rapidly shake her head.
The pearly mare frowned after, then asked, "Oh dear. You didn't tell them, did you?" My ears lowered as I looked to Fluttershy as she rapidly shook her head. Twilight frowned as well, looking to Fluttershy, and then over at Rarity.
"We have an hour to get ready. We should talk about it if it's a problem," the lavender mare suggested, glancing back to Fluttershy after.
The yellow pegasus gave a weak sigh, then nodded. "I... Okay. Just, um, somewhere more private?" she asked quietly. Twilight gave a smile and nod to her, closing her eyes a moment later. I started to raise an eyebrow, but a beam of light hit all of us, then yanked us into a singularity a moment later, everything collapsing around us and streaking away. Okay, she was just showing off now...
Our world fell back into place with a padded flop, the bed shaking and dipping with its mattress as seven ponies and a dragon landed on it all at once. Rarity balanced herself carefully, then shrugged and continued to take Twilight’s measurements after the lavender Alicorn had stood back up again. I wobbled a bit on the large bed, then looked around, discovering us in Twilight’s old room in the tower. Huh. Wait… she just teleported me onto a bed… The temptation spiked in me suddenly, and I barely resisted just falling over sideways and passing out. No, I had to hear Fluttershy’s information first!
Pinkie shifted up and started to lightly massage Fluttershy’s back as she rested against me again, and I nodded to the yellow mare. She gave a nervous swallow, and then returned my nod before closing her eyes. It was almost ten seconds before she admitted, “Um, I got a letter from my parents, is all…” Oh? I’d never seen or heard anything about Fluttershy’s parents, which, admittedly, was a little strange now that I thought about it. Twilight had talked about her parents quite a bit, despite failing to, well, warn me about their various eccentric behaviors. Rainbow told me about her mother and father, and her mother being a past Wonderbolt. Rarity had mentioned hers, especially in regards to her sister deciding to stay with her to finish out school here in Ponyville, despite them moving to Canterlot. Pinkie had told me all about her family and rock farming, which was surprisingly more interesting than I’d anticipated with the alchemical condensing of raw Ether into rocks. Applejack had even mentioned her parents, although I never asked what happened there. I simply knew that they’d passed on already, rather unfortunately, it would seem. Fluttershy, the mare I was probably the closest to, had never, ever even mentioned her parents, however.
Rainbow went from smiling to a grimace instantly, slapping a hoof to her forehead before groaning out, “Oh no. What did they want this time?” Or maybe there was a reason Fluttershy had never mentioned her parents…
Fluttershy shrank down against me, and Rarity shot Rainbow a stern look. “Dash! Do try to have some tact. This obviously is bothering Fluttershy,” she pointed out. Rainbow flattened her ears down a little, then gave a huff.
“Of course it is! Her mother’s a complete monster of a controlling noble prune, and her father’s a spineless doormat! What did she say this time, Fluttershy? Do I need to fly over there and give her a piece of my mind again?!” she asked, turning back to the shrunken and shivering pegasus. Again?
Sighing, I requested, “Rainbow, calm down. You’re scaring Fluttershy, which obviously isn’t your intent. Being upset is okay, but don’t go overboard.” The pegasus gave a tired sigh after, then relaxed a little and nodded to me. I returned it, then looked to Fluttershy, who had buried her face in my shoulder fur. Ah, the ol’ ‘if I can’t see them, they can’t see me’ trick.
Fluttershy took a few more deep breaths before letting out a low, pained sounding whine. Sagging for a long moment, she explained, “My, um… well, my mom wants to try to get a court denouncement of me as family lineage. She, uh, doesn’t like the fact that I’m with a unicorn and earth pony.” What.
Applejack’s jaw dropped, eyes widening as she stared at Fluttershy. Rarity shook her head sadly at it, and I could almost see the blood vessels in Rainbow’s head flooding with undiluted rage. Giving a small sigh, Rarity appended, “They, well, I really should say she since it’s obvious it came from only her mother, also oh so untactfully sent along a packet of Silphium. Disgusting, really.” Huh?
“Silphium… That’s an herbal contraceptive, right?” I muttered, frowning at the implications therein. Rarity nodded to me before sighing weakly again.
“It implies just as poorly as you’d expect. She’s giving a tactless hint that Fluttershy should not have any foals with either of you. Rather disgusting, if you ask me,” she murmured, sounding rather offended. Well, that was awkward. Idly, I wondered how horribly they’d flip out if they found out about Fluttershy actually being pregnant.
“Augh!” Twilight growled out before huffing twice. Shaking, she finally managed to reveal, “No court system has done a family denouncement in over seven hundred years! No court in Equus would pass that request! What is wrong with her?! That sort of thing only happens in cheap drama serials.”
Rarity nodded to that, then agreed with, “And even then, it’s treated as abhorrent and a major disgrace to the issuing party.” That I could see. Applejack shot her a raised eyebrow a moment later, and the pearly unicorn huffed, then defended, “I get bored sometimes, and they’re entertaining!”
I put two and two together from her earlier comment suddenly. “And you’re anticipating a sudden change in heart now that she’s instead in a herd with a crowned Princess and a Prince?” I asked skeptically, looking over at Rarity again, who perked up.
Dash snorted, however, rolling her eyes before answering instead with, “They value that kinda stuff. Well, Fluttershy’s mother does. Her father comes from one of the ‘older’ and ‘noble’ pegasi families, too, but isn’t nearly as, uh, devoted to the bloodline, so to speak. They might have even done an arranged herd or something, which would be about right up their alley…” Oh, that sort of politics I was well aware of. Keldarians did that crap, too, and I thought it was stupid then, as well.
Fluttershy whined, then protested with, "He... He isn't a bad pony! I love both of them, and he tried his hardest. Mother just..." Her eyes softened a little, and I frowned before resting my muzzle against her shoulder. She relaxed a little and swallowed before looking back at me. After a moment's hesitation, her focus came back and she closed her eyes before continuing with, "She's not a bad pony either. She grew up the same way, and doesn't know anything else." Ah.
It was weird, knowing that somepony didn't approve of me despite having never met me, but I suppose that was BEID's whole operational standpoint, so it didn't really surprise me, so to speak. That didn't make it set very well, regardless. "Well, I suppose we should wait and see what their standpoint is after the news gets out," I suggested, then tacked on, "Preferably before going over to have a talk with them." A glance at Dash caused her to roll her eyes and huff for a moment, crossing her forelegs over her chest as she hovered there next to the bed.
Applejack gave a snort, then hooked her tail with her right foreleg, dragging it down with her ankle and pulling Rainbow next to her on the bed, flopping onto her stomach. "Don't worry. She ain't gonna do anything rash. Ah'm plenty mad, too, but Mender's right. Ain't no point in jumpin' inta action without seein' how they react. If their opinion is unchanged, then we go talk ta 'em," she suggested, giving a pointed glance down at the cyan pegasus, who glared up at her over her left shoulder.
Coughing lightly, Spike drew our attention back to him before suggesting, "What about extending an olive branch?" Oh?
"Oooh, good idea! Olives are delicious!" Pinkie declared. I, uh, what? Honestly, I couldn't tell if she was confused, or hiding a suspiciously deep statement in that.
Rarity simply giggled, then asked, "What did you have in mind, Spike?" He was momentarily distracted by swooning in her general direction before Twilight grinned and coughed, snapping him out of it.
"Ah, right! Well, the front row seating in the outdoor auditorium is reserved space, right? For press representatives, court, and dignitaries. But we know that only, like, a third of the court is even here due to the suddenness of this, and there are no visiting dignitaries! That means only five ponies, one from each of the major press organizations, is using it. What if we convinced Princess Celestia to give Twilight's and Fluttershy's families dignitary seating during the coronation? Huge honor, right? And a front row seat for the show!" he suggested. Oh.
Twilight looked momentarily surprised before she suddenly nodded and grinned. "Spike, I love you. That's perfect!" she declared, floating him up and pulling him into a huge hug. He wiggled a little, blushing lightly before just relaxing and letting her hug him.
"Aww, shucks, Twilight. It only came to me because you had me write down the entire coronation's itinerary," he defended, his modesty starting to show.
He immediately shut up when he realized Rarity was literally right next to him, and gave him a fluttering eyelash look. Oh, she was pulling out the big guns! Well, whatever was the appropriate term in Equestria, given they didn't have firearms. "Nonsense, Spikey Wikey. That was a brilliant idea! Why should we wait for them to make up their minds, when we can influence their opinion ahead of time with a show of tact and grace? Plus, it will blow her ugly display clear out of the water, and truly give her something to think about!" she declared, potentially implying an ulterior motive on her part. Not that I was touching that statement with a ten foot pole. Despite being amazingly polite and passive, Rarity scared the hell out of me. Always make peace and friendship with the ones with the silver tongues.
Twilight grinned, then nodded again, handing Spike over to Rarity instead and standing upright. "Okay, then! I'll go ask Princess Celestia right now. Plus, they're probably wondering where we are at this point, so we shouldn't keep them waiting. Mender, you're on stage setup this time. With luck, we won't end up with the floor being impaled by the projection screen. Again. Rarity, costume work. Fluttershy, stage prop setup. Think pretty flowers. Dash, synchronize with the weather team and try to push back any bad weather for a few hours if there's any planned. Any leftover time, help the pegasi deliver the announcements. Pinkie, concessions. Work with the castle staff, please. Applejack, help the guard keep the reporters at bay until we're set," she quickly shot out, nodding to each pony in return. We saluted back, and she grinned until Spike raised his hand up.
"What do you want me to do?!" he asked, giving a pleading expression.
The lavender mare grinned, not missing a beat before pointing out, "Absolute number one assistant, Spike. You're with me on organization detail. Let's go, ponies!" He grinned at that, and Twilight's horn flared up again. Giving a weary sigh, I felt the world implode in against us, once more sucking us away to another place. Guess there wasn't any rest in store for us anytime soon.
* * * * *
Giving a grunt, I rotated the final bolt into place, then gave a nod down to the two burly construction ponies supporting my ladder and tossing up tools and parts. The projection screen was now fully repaired and placed back up on the standing wall, and now very, very firmly rooted in place. Proper leverage support was everything, and you couldn't afford to skip out on details when you were dealing with a three hundred pound projection screen hanging two stories in the air above a stage that ponies walked on. That was just an accident waiting to happen. That had already happened. Twice. They were lucky the only thing broken so far was floorboards and a few screws.
They nodded to me, the one moving back and the second gripping the ladder with both forelegs. I turned and slid down the front of it step by step, dropping onto the stage again. "Secured and sturdy, and the gearbox is repaired. The projector is set up as well. How's the slide presentation of Twilight's spell research, Snapshot?" I asked, looking towards the forest green mare who was loading the projector up.
She giggled, then admitted, "We're lucky she numbered the slides. I have literally no idea what she's talking about on half of them. All loaded in regardless, Sir! We're set!" She hopped around to face me with a large grin, then threw a salute up that I returned.
"Excellent work. Power up the big slide button on the podium, and let's get out of the way," I ordered. She slid forward and flicked on the podium, making the giant button on the front of it glow a soft cream color. At least it wasn't red. We nodded once more to each other before heading towards the side of the stage again, ponies starting to file in already. I caught a shot of both Applejack and Rainbow Dash in shiny guard armor, sans-enchantment, helping direct ponies into the auditorium area and looking like they were having fun doing it. Smiles?! Very unprofessional for guards, which was probably a good thing given that they weren't.
Chuckling to myself, I promptly almost ran into Fluttershy as I turned back around. She gave me a pleased nod, pointing to the last spot to move the pretty flower arrangements into. She had an almost curtain of complimentary violets and indigoes which matched Twilight's colors rather nicely and was rather clever on her part. Using her special brand of Fluttershy charm, there was also a full chorus of birds relaxing along the upper stage, all doing sound tests on a rather pretty song they were working on. I didn't ask how she managed that.
"Everything looks splendid!" Rarity chirped, putting the finishing touches on Fluttershy's mane before gesturing me over. I saw the full tux she held up in her magic, and sighed. Damn it. The two construction stallions gave a chuckle towards it as they walked past, the tan one on the right giving me a sympathetic smile before they headed off the stage. Ugh. Wait... Frowning, I looked closer at it, and she grinned. This wasn't the suit I'd worn before.
Straight up black fabric, it looked like it almost hummed with enchanted energy. This one was a full three piece, with a double-breasted, notched lapel jacket, four button black waistcoat, and white undershirt. She then had accessorized it with black tie, a silver and sapphire tie bar, and matching cufflinks. It was tailored to my measurements by the looks of it, and I suspected she hadn't just pulled that off one of the back shelves in the castle storage.
"I was working on this already for you, and this is reason enough to have finished it. Inspiration taken from a very specific source, I might add," she revealed, opening up the jacket on the right side. My eyes widened as I saw a large series of adjustable straps on the inside, neatly sewn into the jacket itself. It was set up to mount the mechanical workings that my father had designed for his suit!
Snapshot, suddenly standing next to me, immediately chirped, “Ooo, it looks awesome!”
I gave a start, looking over at her in surprise for a moment before exhaling softly. She only grinned at me however, and I rolled my eyes before turning back to Rarity. "You modeled it after my father's suit?" I asked, causing her grin to widen a little.
She giggled, nudging me into turning around before answering with, "Yes, I did. It's designed off his original diagrams, but I added my own touches. The harness straps on the inside are reinforced, and should manage sizes three times what he used. I also made them adjustable with multiple loop slots, in case you tweak his designs on the mechanics themselves. Oh, and it's loaded down with durability treatments for temperature and physical force. Almost as solid as the armor the guards wear, I believe." Credit given where credit was due, I admitted she'd earned the bragging rights for this one.
Smiling now, I gave a nod as she helped me into the suit. Her magic made the task rather easy, with buttons hooking themselves up and tugs being made here and there to straighten the fabric against my body. Something was a bit off, though… Raising my eyebrow after a moment, I asked, “Is this magically vented or something?” I kept waiting for my temperature to take a hike, but for some reason, it felt like the air just flowed right through it.
The mare giggled, then assured, “I know the discomforts wearing elegant clothing can bring, so yes, there are many spells in the industry to help alleviate those issues.” Okay, this was awesome. I loved magic.
“You’ve really outdone yourself with this one, Rarity. This is amazing,” I complimented, watching her perk up and grin again.
Snapshot, still eyeing up the suit, nodded rapidly to Rarity as well, asking, “That is awesome! Could I, um, maybe commission you for a dress later? Spy gear included, please!” I raised an eyebrow at her specific request, then chuckled.
“I’m pleased you like it, Mender,” Rarity admitted, then appended, “I always get concerned when I make clothing for ponies who don’t know they’re getting the article, or haven’t put any specifications into it. It can be risky.” Ah, that made sense. She also lifted a skeptical eyebrow to Snapshot after, then snickered. “The commission would be a bit more expensive than my normal works, but certainly, Snapshot. I do believe I can consider you a friend of Mender’s at this point, right?” she inquired, tilting her head a little.
The green mare perked at that and nodded rapidly. “Certainly! I mean, I got completely conned into almost doing something really bad to Mender when he totally didn’t deserve it! I started out just wanting to make that up to him, but… He’s a really kind stallion, and I’d be happy to call him my friend at this point,” she explained, giving me a softer smile.
I blushed a little at that, then returned it with a nod. “Of course, Snapshot. It’s not like I’m going to turn down your friendship,” I explained, then looked back to Rarity again. “Well, I’m grateful, worry not. Thank you, Rarity,” I assured, giving her a warmer smile as she finished tying my tie up and adjusting it. She gave a pleased murmur, but the three of us were interrupted by a flash of light violently blasting in to our left.
Wincing, I held a hoof up to block it for a moment before frowning towards the newly appeared Twilight. She hopped back and forth on her left and right legs for a moment before quickly asking, “How’s everything on this end?! Is the stage ready and not on fire? Everypony dressed?!”
Giving a roll of my eyes, I assured, “The stage is fine and set up properly. We’re all dressed now, and things are going smoothly.” I’d been tempted to tell her that it wasn’t on fire but exploded instead, but she probably wouldn’t have appreciated the joke.
“Oooh, I got the projector set up! Oh, and all the slides are right this time,” Snapshot tacked on.
Twilight raised an eyebrow to her at the ‘this time’ part, but relaxed regardless, giving a sigh of relief. Her shoulders sagged ever so slightly, which caused the fabric of her dress to shift and flow.
Rarity gave a giggle, then added, “Calm down, Twilight. Take deep breaths and relax. Everything is going smoothly.” The lavender mare nodded to that, setting her hoof her chest before exhaling softly and moving it away again. After a few of these, she relaxed and nodded to both of us.
“Yeah, sorry. Just, well, a bit nervous! All ponies know is that there’s a coronation of some kind, and not what’s happening or anything. What is everypony even going to think?” she asked nervously. Heh, I was more fascinated that word hadn’t spread faster than this, given quite a few ponies in Ponyville had woken up during that sizable flash of light and display of raw power.
I chuckled, and Fluttershy gave a soft smile, nuzzling up against Twilight and massaging her side. “Twilight, they’re going to think it’s lovely. Why would anypony have a problem with you becoming an Alicorn? You’re still you,” she murmured softly, nuzzling into her neck.
Twilight relaxed a bit more and nodded to her, closing her eyes and nuzzling back. “I… no, you’re right, Fluttershy. I was just being silly. I’m still me,” she agreed, snuggling in closer to the mare. I smiled as I watched both of them for a moment until my eyes caught movement behind them. Looking past, I spotted Tia moving up onto the stage and taking her place at the podium, and took a stab in the dark that we were about to begin.
Looking back to Twilight, I assured, “Relax, Twilight. We’re all here for you. It looks like we’re about to start.” She perked at that, then turned around and looked back at the stage. Fidgeting for a moment, she then nodded and glanced back at us. Rarity smirked next to me and gave her a wink.
“You’ll be fine. I’m going to go join Pinkie in the front row, then. The five of us shall be cheering you on!” she assured, giving her a warm smile before heading down the steps and out the side door to the stage.
Snapshot grinned, then nodded to me as well before adding, “I’ll be there too, getting lots of flattering pictures of you guys! Don’t worry, Boss. I’ll get your best angles!” Uh, was that really necessary? She took off after Rarity before I could ask, and I just shrugged. We watched them go, leaving just Fluttershy, Twilight and myself on the stage. Oh boy. I controlled my own nervousness as I waited for Tia to start speaking.
“We are gathered here today in celebration of a momentous occasion. My most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, has done many extraordinary things since she's lived in Ponyville…” she started, the crowd falling silent instantly. Okay, Twilight goes out first by herself, then we come out some time later when our new ‘status’ is revealed.
Of course, at that exact moment, a ping came in. Crap. Twilight perked, feeling my spike in irritation, and looked backwards at me. Fluttershy glanced to me as well, as did all four mares in the front row. Honestly, I don’t think I’d ever get used to the shared empathy thing. I nodded to her, then warned, “Ping from Keela. Go on as normal. I’ll see what she wants.”
Twilight nodded to me, and I slipped backwards, moving further into the dark of the backstage before flicking up my inner eye displays. I knew the ambient light made my eyes glow, which would probably be a bit ‘weird’ if ponies were to see it. That went against the whole ‘making a good impression’ thing we were trying for, I imagined.
Keela popped up instantly in the display, and immediately declared, “Mender! Thank you, thank you! I was hoping you’d pick up. We need to talk.” Well, that sounded positive! Her dire expression didn’t help matters much either.
I frowned, then asked, “What’s going on? We’re kinda in the middle of a coronation here.” She swallowed, then rapidly shook her head.
“This is important. Really, really important. Ten minutes ago, while we were finishing up our analysis runs on the wreckage and about to pack up our bags, an FTL signature was detected,” she revealed. Eh?! Okay, that was probably bad.
“The odds of an FTL signature being a friendly at this point are astronomically slim. You should get out of there as fast as you can,” I warned, frowning towards her.
She swallowed, then rapidly shook her head. “I know that. But it was tiny, and not giving off any other energy signatures. We… already looked at it,” she explained, then softened her eyes as she pulled up another screen. My eyes locked onto it, and I recognized it almost instantly, my database bringing up the exact model.
“It’s a Grosh probe. Deactivated? They FTL jumped a deactivated probe into your sector? There’s no visible damage on it at all, unless something inside it is-“ I started to theorize.
Keela sighed and shook her head. “It’s just deactivated. Intentionally. All its hardware is gutted except its database and short range broadcasting antenna, which was set to go online and start indiscriminately pinging the area fifteen minutes after warping in, but we disabled that,” she further explained. What?
Frowning, I considered that for a long moment. The Grosh had never done that before, to my knowledge. There was no strategic benefit to doing this, unless… “What was on the hard drive? The only reason I can see for anyone to do that is to leave a message behind…” I asked, looking back up at Keela. And if everything else was intentionally gutted, it wasn’t an emergency message. It was intentionally sent out like that.
The Keldarian swallowed, slowly nodding her head before admitting, “We… have a problem.” She hit a few more buttons, pulling up yet another screen, this time with an audio wavelength display and analyzer up. She hit play on it immediately.
A voice I wished I’d never have to hear again came through the link an instant later. “This is a message to my sister, Keela. I’m sorry for probably worrying you. You’ve undoubtedly already figured out I’ve been captured by the Grosh. I’d gotten to thinking, really. Your new male confuses me. He made me think about a lot of things. Honestly, I never realized how selfish I was before now. I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t want to kill me, despite having every reason to, personally. Until I realized he wasn’t thinking about himself there. He didn’t kill me because he wanted to make you happy,” came through in what sounded to be Nirru’s voice.
I frowned, but it continued. “So, after thinking about it, I realized that I could still at least help out our race, or even other races that are being attacked by the Grosh. Further, I could still get my revenge against that little rat that put me in this state. So I contacted the Grosh using low density pinging magic to get it around your wards, while you were unconscious and wouldn’t pick them up yourself. Almost screwed up when you changed the entire ship’s sleep schedule to sync up with those rats, but thankfully I picked up the guard shift change. So I called them, told them where we were in exchange for a service and information,” she explained. Oh hell. Keela gritted her teeth on the other screen, but said nothing as it continued.
“Now I’ve been taken in by them, and I’m going to lead them into a brand new dimension. A dimension of easy pickings and all new worlds to conquer, without a single thing to challenge them. They’ve promised, in return, to let me command their preliminary invasion force, and to leave this dimension for the new one instead. So I both get my revenge, and single handedly save our entire race. I’m sorry that it’s had to come to this. Also, I don’t forget my debts. Any of the rats you take in and let onboard your ship will be spared. He spared my life, so I’ll spare his. Destroying everything he loves is enough of revenge for me. See? Selfless. Anyway, two days time, eighteen hundred hours, our time. You know where I’ll be. I want you there to watch the start of the invasion. You won’t be fired upon, don’t worry.” I sat there, body numb now as I listened to the recording. Keela searched my expression, eyes wet as a tear slid down her cheek. I looked back to Twilight, who was out on stage already, and frozen in mid-walk now, looking back at me with a frown. Fluttershy looked my way, too, both obviously sensing the distress.
Nirru was heading for area with the weakened dimensional barrier. She was coming alongside a full preliminary invasion force of Grosh. We had two days to prepare. Well, so much for that vacation…
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Oh.
Piss.
Wait, but, WHAT! Has she forgotten that Mender is a Galaxy-Killer class super weapon? He can just consume the Grosh as they come through the portal!
Great, he can't get a little of time for himself. Not even during a coronation.
Oh, so the Grosh are going to spare her and hers? ...right.
6248060
This isn't piss. This is the entire septic tank, and someone's chucked a grenade into it.
6248109
That would be kind of hilarious.
"Sir, the invasion fleet appears to have been ... eaten."
"...what."
Ugh, finally. This has been coming a long bloody time, and... frankly the more, um, jaded readers like myself probably saw it the minute Mender didn't kill her.
SO! Anypony else think it'd be funny as hell to move the entire planet over, and put the sun where they're expected to come out of the barrier? Go through a wormhole directly into the belly of a star. Problem solved.
Although if we were going completely Godzilla Threshold here, Mender always has his instant 'win' button, especially if he just turns off the DNA gathering portion so he doesn't get a bunch of evil vorpal rabbits gunking up his everything.
Dam this story is just one thing after another. Mender gonna have to kick some serious ass and with twi having gone OP eternal alicorn god mode. I don't see the gross having much if a chance.
Ooooooh crap....
That is one effective way to kick off the final arc.
Guess Mender will have to wait on his vacation time... again.
Well, you said this was going to be about 100 chapters, looks like we're going into the final stretch!
6248128
This actually happens in The Hitchhiker's Guide. An entire armada is accidentally eaten by a small dog. No one notices.
6248217 I thought if he used it he'd become an indiscriminate killing machine though.
Blah blah blah princess stuff, blah blah blah family problems, blah blah blah coronation blah blah blah Nirru...
HOLY CRAP
Also, the next chapter better be at least 10.582 words. Kiroberos, this is an opportunity for a double milestone to end all double milestones.
6248419
I think that just depends on the control programming for the weapon.
...which he hasn't touched at all, so far.
Well.
6248314
Woof.
Wrong.
You dont have 2 days.
Why would your enemy tell you exactly when they were coming, if only to have you start working to a timeline, only to arrive early and brush through the nothing you have currently.
6248581
Then just chuck him through the wormhole, activate it, and have his new superpowered girlfriend grab him again after a time limit's up. The entire invasion force goes byebye, Nirru gets eaten, Mender doesn't have to worry about friendly fire, and then after he runs out of things to OM NOM NOM he turns back (I'm pretty sure that thing has an off switch), and gets fished back to Equestria.
Short, sweet, to the point.
6248621
The Grosh have a history of toying with their enemies from what we have seen. I think they just enjoy a "good" fight- which for them still means guaranteed victory. They haven't lost in so long that the mere concept of a complete defeat is almost incomprehensible to them. I mean, we are talking about a race that see any new race they meet as an exciting opportunity to commit genocide.
So in the end, they might think that handing over vital intelligence would slightly elongate the war. More fighting => good times.
6248744
Even worse, tht means Mender is working on an assumption of the enemy he knows.
But Niru is leading the force.
She wants to get the poisoned barbed knife in quick, so tshe can then play with it at her lesiure.
6248217 Ah but if he doesn't turn off the DNA thing he will never have to eat anything again because he will have so much rabbit to eat
Mender carries a weapon that was specifically made to completely destroy the Grosh. He's afraid of the princesses because of how much more powerful they are then him.
That would be an interesting preinvasion pep talk if they knew this.
"Men, in that dimension is a weapon that will destroy us all if it goes off. Next to it are several beings who are powerful enough to move the stars with more speed and agility then our ships are capable of."
"Sir, do we actually have a chance?"
"No we do not."
...and just like I thought no one mentions how screwed up Mender, Twilight and Fluttershy's lives are going to be now that Twilight is immortal.
6249025
In all honesty though I think if Mender ever went completely evil/loco he would most likely be unstoppable. I seem to recall that part of his "Galaxy-Killer" class weapons purpose was to consume all non-friendly inhabited planets and (I think) stars. Plus he's a pony and thus has a connection to the Aether and therefore could probably find out a way to get in there (where Ancients keep most of their power and beings if I read that explanation right.) Which would lead to the (until now)unkillable Ancients having a star-consuming creature likely the size of multiple solar-masses by this point, on their turf with their bodies. Admittedly it also said that their physical forms only ever have a fraction of the Aetherial power, but still if an all-consuming nano-technical monster the size of a few (hundred/thousand/million etc. depending on how long he just spent eating things) suns were to show up in the Aether, it would at very least be a fight for the ages.
It is going to be interesting to see how the story will progress. Mender didn't have any idea of what An Ancient was, so it seems that the Grosh haven't had to deal with a race with what is essentially an immortal force of nature as their rulers. Sure, the physical portion of them is just a tiny fraction of them (Like a finger poking through a hole), but they're still a force of nature. And no matter how many times you stomp on that finger and force it back into the Aether, it's going to just keep poking back through.
Do they have any idea of what an Ancient is and how to deal with one, let alone five of them at once (Discord, Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight).
Not including the walking, talking galaxy sized WMD.
...Mender should've snapped her neck like a twig when he had the chance.
6248903
6248658
I thought the Keldarians were rabbits and the Grosh were toad like... the only evil Keldarian left is Nirru. Hardly a fitting meal.
And the fit is about to hit the shan.
shtfliving.com/pictures/shit-hit-the-fan.jpg
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Even in the future, the worst still happens.
minhou-tech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Connection_TimedOut_IE.png
Then someone has change the rules so that the apple is supposed to turn into a cat as long as you want it to.
Unless it breaks the apple dropping physics of life.
And as for the Grosh...
Oh Discord! Would you mind defending the planet from total utter destruction?
And every other powerful being ever.
Called it.
6249845
Keldarian's or whatever are cat people. The Grosh are... evil rabbits. The first story even made the joke about making sure to give Angel a carrot more often.
6249999
Don't worry, I'm sure they'll all be gimped in time for an epic showdown and all kinds of stress and drama leading up to a massive confrontation, near loss, and then an asspull to save the day.
I'm pretty sure there's a formula for this by now.
6250187
I see... this screws with my mental image of the story. I always pictured them as long eared bunny women, and the Grosh as slimy froggers. But I think I remember the Angel comparison. Just always thought it was because Angel looked like his other self.
Umm... unless Twilight got more than just wings from that whole alicorn transformation thingy, I don't think momma purebred needs to worry about Fluttershy having foals with Twilight.
And still no pants. Gotta love how ponies, no matter how much they wear on the front, will always prefer to go around butt naked.
6249573
Twilight as a unicorn can break physics because she want's to. Alicorns are even more powerful. Discord can distort reality for his own amusement.
I would say that we just have to wait and see what happens, but that particular fight isn't going to happen so there's no point in waiting.
6250371 I believe in the previous chapter it mentioned to RD how there was magic so 2 mares can have a foal because AJ wanted to at some point. Also this is a fandom that futa is common
............Excuse me for a moment. *leaves room* ....RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARH!!!!!!! *Crash* *Bang* *BOOM*
*comes back in* I hate Nirru so much right now.
6248109 But it doesn't discriminate, so he'd kill so many innocents...
Didn't expect this turn of events.
[youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U206PQSMMLc]
6248765
You assume the Grosh are anything slightly resembling trustworthy, and won't just vaporize her the moment she's gotten a portal open. Or worse, stick control wires into her brain to use as an on-demand magic repository.
6251495
Personally I was thinking they would give her a nice command necklace, torq, that happens to double as a problem removal device. Remove it, it detonates, mess with it, it detonates, times out it detonates, remote control detonates. block the remote control, it detonates.
Dont forget, Mender can eat Galaxies, Celestia can throw suns around, Discord can rewrite reality.
Pinkie Pie can walk through the 4th wall, and alter the script.
Great scott, this is heavy.
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when it rains it pours.
at least they have a goddess of magic now!
Well.
Fucking hell, they just cant get a break, can they. If Mender wasn't so scared of the weapon inside of him, they could just sic him on the grosh, or toss discord their way.
Send in the Fleets! We must protect the barrier.
Comrades! If we cannot win, hold the line. If we cannot hold the line then pull them down with us! No Grosh shall pass!
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6252987 Greatness
Hey Mender, remember when you jumped from the train and Twilight came after you? What you saw from her back?
Welll... FUUUCCCCKKK!!! Good job we got a new alicorn with already untold magical powers.
Discord just goes up to the Grosh turns them into cake.
Problem Solved!
6250213 It's cause the Grosh are based on the Grox the last race you have to beat in Spore to get to the center of the galaxy, they control all the planets around the center and kill literally everyone that isn't them. and they look like evil rabbits (sorta).